The redemptive news in all the messiness of a broken and fallen world is that Christ actually entered our broken, messy, and fallen world to love, rescue, and save us.
He showed us the way. He made a way. He is the way.
Take heart: We are not alone. God is with us.
The Son of God became a man to enable men to become the sons of God.
But He’s Good
“Aslan a man? Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the woods and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and make no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about being safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
Mom on My Movember
- Mom: You need to shave.
- Me: Can't. I've got 18 days left of Movember.
- Mom: No, you need to shave now! It's disgusting.
- Me: Jesus probably had a beard.
- Mom: Yeah, and it probably looked good on him AND that's besides the point. You aren't Jesus.
- Me: What if I keep growing it until Christmas? I'll be in all the family photos with a beard...
- Mom: Then you don't get a Christmas present.
- Me: Santa Claus hasn't given me a present in 14 years.
- Mom: And you wonder why? That's because you've been a bad boy all these years! You don't obey your parents.
People often ask when the next step in evolution—the step to something beyond man—will happen. But in the Christian view, it has happened already. In Christ a new kind of man appeared: and the new kind of life which began in Him is to be put into us.
Amidst all the studying, work, and the day-to-day routines, I find myself growing weary. The constant juggling of relationships—of family and friends and my so-called social life—and the challenge of fitting it all in a measly schedule can be quite exhausting and unsatisfying. As mere mortals, we age and discover that time is both a commodity and ever-so precious gift from God. We constantly complain for more time. Yet, too often we waste it, squandering it over useless things—useless if we do not learn from our previous ways. And as my strength is depleted and my soul drained from the robotic rituals, I wonder how I ever kept sane.
As the jazz music continues playing in the background, there is a stillness in the cafe as if time stood still. I am my beloved and He is mine. The great God of the universe is in control. He will strengthen me. He will allow me to endure all things through Him. He will take care of me. I must not lose heart. I must press on.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” -2 Corinthians 4:16
Reinhold Niebuhr’s “Serenity Prayer”
“God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.”
The Highest Point
Have you ever stood at the highest point? On top of a skyscraper with thousands of glittering lights stretched out before you? Or maybe on a grassy hill in suburbia, the stadium where you watched your local high school’s football team win from time to time but mostly lose, visible in the distance? Perhaps even the entrance of a valley surrounded by jungle a village of wooden huts stretched out before you smoke lazily drifting from makeshift fire pits?
Have you ever stood and consider the sheer magnitude of what you’re witnessing? How many lives, how many stories?
Now Imagine you knew each of them by name. You knew every single hope they had, every dream they dreamed and every struggle they faced. Now Imagine that you loved them. Now imagine and they were dying, that something was killing them. What would you do.
I’ll tell you what Christ did.
For God so loved the entire world that He came down in human flesh and gave his body to be humiliated, mutilated, and crucified so that through His ultimate sacrifice He would destroy the power of sin which was torturing, devouring and destroying us. That he rose again three day later, so that those he cared for could likewise rise into a new life free from the slavery and bondage they once knew.
Why?
Because He see us, He knows us, and He loves us, and to Him saving us was worth any price.
