“Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’
‘Where, O death, is your victory?
   Where, O death, is your sting?’
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.“

What a bunch of nonsense. …So it would seem anyway. This is literally what we Christians believe will happen as Heaven meets Earth. This doesn’t make any logical sense, does it? The dead will be raised? New, immortal and imperishable bodies? It defies the laws of nature. What’s dead is dead. What’s gone is gone. There is no coming back. That’s natural.

So then, we have Jesus. He died and was raised again on the third day. Many don’t understand the significance of Christ’s resurrection. What is the purpose of Jesus coming back from the dead? Some say that his rising proves that he is God. Lazarus was raised from the dead. A 12 year old girl was raised from the dead. Neither of those two were God… so what makes Jesus so special?

Jesus was the first person to come back with an imperishable body. Jesus today sits at the right hand of God in his immortal flesh. This is significant to us because this is God’s promise to us that we too will rise from the dead and have eternal bodies. Many don’t realize this. Many think that upon death, our soul floats up to heaven, in the clouds, where we have wings and play harps. That isn’t true. We rest and on the Lord’s day, we will all rise with our new bodies to be in God’s kingdom forever and ever.

It’s much easier to believe that our souls are simply carried to heaven by angels, isn’t it?

I don’t know how that terrible theology crept into Christianity, but as hard as it is to believe in resurrection from the dead, that is what our faith, when theologically correct, teaches us.

But this idea isn’t logical! It doesn’t make any sense! What’s dead is dead. What’s gone is gone!

I wonder why people try to make Christianity sound like a reasonable and rational religion. It’s not. It’s absurd! Reason out the virgin birth! Explain turning water into wine! What’s the rationale behind resurrection from the dead? How can a person walk on water? These are things that don’t make sense, and they defy the laws of nature. The very point of miracles is that they don’t make sense to the calculated world. They point to something bigger than nature itself: God. So if God is in the business of defying natural law, why are there so many Christians that believe that our faith is logical? Why are there Christians trying to prove God with science?

What does it mean that the first shall be last and the last shall be first? Those who humble themselves will be exalted? If you are struck on your right cheek, turn and offer the left? Love your enemies? I am the bread of life? Those who eat my flesh will never be hungry? I am the living water? Those who drink from me will never be thirsty? These ways of thinking are backwards in some instances. In others, they are completely insane and make absolutely no sense whatsoever! Many people, even Christians, reject these very important teachings of our Lord because they can’t make sense out of them… But Jesus says they work. How? Why?

We can’t turn our cheeks all the time. If we don’t defend ourselves, we can get hurt, or worse, our loved ones may die! That’s an upside down way of thinking! Jesus seems to be saying, “Exactly!”

What we have in God, is a mystery. Everything about our faith is a mystery. Jesus is God? Yes. But the Father is also God? Yes. But isn’t the Holy Spirit God? Yes. So they are all God? Yes. How does that make any sense? I don’t know. It’s a mystery. Mary is the mother of Jesus? Yes. And Joseph was his father? Well, no. God is. So God is the father of Jesus? Yes. And Jesus is God? Yes. WHAT?!? Don’t ask me how this makes sense, because it doesn’t. It’s a divine mystery.

We live in a world that seeks answers for all of the questions life throws at us. There is nothing wrong with searching for answers. That is how we make progress, but God is always a mystery. Mystery is rare these days, and when we come across an unsolved mystery, we feel uncomfortable and disconcerted. We want answers to life’s most asked questions. When we are dealing with what is spiritual, however, we are dealing with that which can’t be quantified or qualified. The spiritual is an unseen, but still, very connected part of our world. By nature, we can’t prove it’s existence, but we can trust in it’s revelation to us.

Embracing the holy mysteries of God gives a feeling of freedom. It forces one to accept the fact that we may try, but we can never know everything. Mystery is what keeps us human. Mystery allows God to remain holy. Questions of God may arise, as they always do, but knowing that God is shrouded in mystery makes me comfortable to give the answer that many are afraid to give: “I don’t know.”

In the Bible, we have a some instances of people being restored to life after they had passed away. There are a few occurrences in the Old Testament when people were brought back from the dead. The prophet Elijah brought back the son of a widow… The prophet Elisha brought another child back from the dead… Elisha himself was also revived. In the New Testament, we find several more. Jesus revived the son of a widow, a young girl, and perhaps most famously, Lazarus. The apostles did the same work Jesus did. Peter brought a man back from the dead. Paul also did. None of these works are considered to be “resurrection” though. Resurrection in the Bible and in Jewish and Christian tradition has a completely different meaning.

We will look at both Jesus and Lazarus to contrast “resurrection” and “resuscitation“.

Resuscitation and Lazarus
When Lazarus passed away, Jesus came to him after four days and restored Lazarus to life. By this point, Lazarus was beyond dead. He was to the point where he was beginning to decay. Nevertheless, Jesus revived Lazarus, and Lazarus lived again in the body he perished in. The body in which Lazarus was raised, was still a body that was perishable and temporary. Eventually, Lazarus died again.

Resurrection and Jesus
Three days after Christ had died, he rose again. When he rose again, he rose into a body that was everlasting, and imperishable. This is a glorified eternal body. After Jesus’ resurrection, he never did pass away again, but is in heaven with God. Jesus’ was the first (and so far, only) to be resurrected. And this is what the promise of scripture is to us- that we will be resurrected into bodies that are eternal and imperishable and that will be able to be with the Creator God.

Being Theologically Correct
Resurrection is a special word that is designed for a time, appointed by God, in which all that are dead will be raised again into eternal bodies. Resuscitation is a temporary revival after death, into a body that is not everlasting. Resurrection is the action of making all things new again. This is the important distinction between the two.

I almost don’t want to write this because I know the flack I will get for it. I hate being confronted with this question because, undoubtedly, the answer will vary from person to person. This question is asked too often though. I mean, I can’t blame anyone for asking. With 40,000 (+) different denominations of Christianity, it can be confusing. And the reason why there are so many different denominations is because no one can agree on what exactly it means to be a Christian. If I made an attempt to answer this question, some will deem my answer as heresy. Others may consider me to be a brilliant saint. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the faith. We Christians have really found a way to make a mess of things, haven’t we?

The things that split the church can range from big issues like the role of baptism in a Christian’s life, to small things like how the church should handle its finances. Most denominations feel ashamed by how ridiculous we can be. Others seem to look for a fight once their traditional values are challenged. And I believe that’s when we make a mess of things; when we mistake tradition for Christian values. When we encounter the question, “What does it mean to be a Christian?” I think it’s most important to start with what Jesus says. Jesus was less concerned about specific rules that were to be followed. He taught that if we are following rules for the sake of following rules, the rules may as well not even be there. Instead of obeying laws, Jesus taught us that it is at the heart of the rules that’s important and he broke the entire law of the old testament down into two rules: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the very heart of Jesus’ message.

This is as simple as it really needs to be. Everything else is theology. God is more concerned with how we treat each other than how correct our theology is. Of course, Jesus taught us more than that too, but this is at least the very basic. This is significant because these two rules shape our very lives. People will know that we trust in God when we are meeting the needs of others before our own. In a country like the USA, it is very difficult because we pride ourselves on our individualistic culture. I say this a lot, but I will say it again, there is nothing about this country that is “Christian”. Agree or disagree with that statement, but the American way is built on how we can further ourselves, not on how we can further others along with us.

That’s one thing we deal with every day though— asking ourselves if we are living by Christ’s teachings, or if we are living for our own personal interests. You see, Christianity is not a religion that is based on rules. We don’t have rules in Christianity. That’s not how I see it anyway. We have expectations. Sin is still important to me. I pray everyday that I will not fall into temptation, but I also think that “sinning” is very misunderstood inside and outside Christianity too. To “sin” literally means “to miss the mark”. God has a design for us, and for us to fall out of that design is to live in a way that God did not design us for. This is not to soften the reality of sin in our lives, but it does, in a way, put things in perspective for us. Christianity is a lot like marksmanship. We strive for perfection, and Christ is our teacher, and our teacher is very very gracious. Our teacher is patient with us as we can all become better marksmen. Some days, we may hit the bull’s-eye. Other days, we may be a little off center, and some days, we won’t even hit our target. But Christ is forgiving and he always allows us to try again. Again, Christ’s teachings are less about following rules and more about living for God and serving others.

Even though God has expectations (that we may not always meet) for his children, that doesn’t mean that the focus of Christianity is on what we shouldn’t do. Unfortunately, to many, it has kind of become that. We should focus more on what we should do instead, like meeting the needs of others. This is the reason why God became flesh. He met humanity’s needs by teaching us how to serve others. And God did this in the best way. He, in all his glory, became a servant. He made himself low so others could be exalted. This is the way he taught us so that, in this way, through the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we can bring heaven to earth.

Some don’t like that idea. Some will point out that we are saved not by our works, but by our faith. But to them, I would say that if you can’t act out your faith, you have no faith at all. There are atheists with a bigger faith than that! Some would accuse me of preaching the “social gospel” and honestly, they are right. I know of no other gospel than a social gospel… because Jesus was most concerned with others, not himself.

So when someone asks me what it means to be a Christian, I ask them, “Well, what do you see Jesus do when you read the scriptures?” He keeps God first and he loves others above himself. You see, a Christian is a “little Christ”. Jesus said that he only does what he sees the Father do… and when we see Jesus and when we listen to Jesus, we have seen and have listened to the Father. The very least a Christian is, is one who strives to be like Jesus. Jesus, God incarnate, asks us to follow him. To follow him isn’t to mold his will into what makes us comfortable, but instead, to follow him is to be defined and renewed by his will. I think that’s what the church is missing today. We’ve made God into our image when God desperately wants us to see what we are made for.

Being a Christian is to maximize our capabilities as human beings. It’s what God’s created us for; to bring pleasure to him by loving one another. This is what the Kingdom of God is all about, and furthering his Kingdom is what being a Christian is all about.

I love writing blogs. I haven’t been doing it as much lately and it bothers me that I don’t do it enough any more. When I do write, however, I’m reminded every time as to why I don’t anymore.

I used to argue a lot here on Xanga. If I said something semi-controversial and someone disagreed, I would argue my point till my fingers would bleed. I would spend hours of my day checking my Xanga to see if so-n-so had commented against another one of my points, and it really wore on me. One day, I realized that all the arguing really didn’t matter… I wasn’t changing anyone’s opinion. I wasn’t educating anyone on what I believed because, as much as I would deny it, there was hidden (not very well hidden, I should say) hostility. I was less concerned about people knowing what it is that I stand for and why, and more concerned with people believing what it is that I stand for. It turned out, I was doing a lot of turning people away from the Kingdom of God, than bringing them towards it.

I love blogging because I enjoy the wide variety of opinions out there. On the other hand, I hate being misunderstood, which happens a lot because I’m really not a great writer. I love people challenging what I believe, but at the same time, I hate it… These kinds of conversations are always best when they are personal and not through a screen.

What’s the point of arguing, really? I see many people here who are really good at arguing, but honestly have no idea what they are talking about. I see the opposite too: people who are really intelligent and know their subject, but can’t defend it. Then you have the people who are delusional enough to believe that they actually “won” an argument on Xanga… and to me, it seems that winning an argument isn’t so much about cornering a person with words, but rather about kindly and graciously getting someone to see one’s point of view, whether or not that person agrees with it. Then there are the people who just have to argue… they will pick out one obscure phrase and point out how ridiculous it is, even if it has little to do with the entire post itself. I think people either just don’t like to listen, or have terrible comprehension… or maybe people just need to feel right. I don’t know. There are also those who talk up tolerance a lot, but are themselves, very intolerant people. I tend to think that tolerance works both ways. I think many of us need to get over the fact that there are a variety of opinions out there. Maybe some are right and some are wrong, but society can only better itself when we can agree to disagree.

Of course, we can’t go anywhere when we assume that the person we are arguing with is closed-minded, because it can be counted on that the other person thinks the same thing. I try to put a lot of value into people, so I try to comment back to all my commenters, even if I disagree with them… But that’s when problems arise because if I disagree and simply state why I do, people feel like they have to defend their opinions, so they begin to argue. I know this, because that’s how I used to be (and sometimes still am).

What I have here with Xanga is a catch 22. I love people commenting, and I love replying… but that often opens an argument. So then, I don’t feel right replying, and I don’t feel right defending my opinions. Ridiculous…

So in all, all I really want to do is share God’s grace with all of you, my readers. You may not believe in the grace of God. That’s ok. You still have a friend in me. You might not agree with my theology. That’s fine with me too. I understand why you believe the way you do, and you have a friend in me. You might think I’m a fake and have hidden motives behind the words I say. You are entitled to your opinion, but you still have a friend in me.

 

One thing that I think is misunderstood about the Christian faith is its take on the problem of suffering and evil. Traditionally, suffering and evil came to a perfect world through the rebellious actions of a once perfect man. Eve, was tempted by a talking snake and she ate the fruit that God had forbidden her to eat. Adam, tempted by Eve, ate the fruit, and with that, all creation fell from harmony with God, and thus, suffering and evil was unleashed in God’s “good” world.

Some can accept the story as told in scripture as a literal historic moment for humanity. Others look at the story as a parable, an allegory, or just plain fiction. Those who accept the former often feel like they have the problem accounted for. The Bible clearly says how suffering and evil came into this world. The Bible explains why we go through hard times. The Bible says that we are disobedient to God, so we suffer.

Those who don’t take this story in the literal sense sometimes feel as if they are missing something to help the world around them make sense.

I fall into the latter category. I don’t take the story of Adam and Eve and the fall literally. To me, it seems that the more important theme of the fall is that we do disobey God. We do have to deal with suffering and evil. I don’t believe, however, that the focus on the story is how these awful fragments of existence came into the world. I don’t think the “how” is important. It’s important that it just is. The “why” of it all is something we still wonder on a daily basis.

It’s often asked, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” and that’s a very good question, but the question is out of focus. Bad things happen to good and bad people alike. On the other hand, good things also happen to good and bad people too. We have the tendency to lose this focus when something terrible happens to somebody we are close to. And that’s understandable. Nevertheless, as understandable as it is, it is still a question that isn’t focused, but distorted by our own broken feelings. Even God feels these broken feelings. Christians have the ability to be comforted in their suffering because Christ has suffered, and does suffer along with us. This isn’t an answer to the problem. It may even bring more questions. But even the perfect God suffers. Even God feels sorrow and loss. Even God has been tempted by evil. This is one of the amazing things about Christianity. We believe that God is very personal. This isn’t simple bumper-sticker theology. God is literally there with us in our pain as well as our rejoicing.

I’m still trying to find out how, if God even does, answer the problem of suffering and evil. Even in the book of Job, when Job questions God about why he has to go through his pain and torment, God pretty much asks Job who he is to question God. God never gave Job the answer he was looking for… But Job simply asked the questions that we ask ourselves almost every day…

Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?

Is it even God’s obligation to answer the question?

When we look for an answer, we are never really satisfied… and God’s got the entirety of the cosmos so completely balanced that maybe, suffering and evil is simply just a natural part of the God-given gift of freewill. The entire universe, though it is bound to natural law, acts not with God pulling strings, but in order to keep balance… or maybe I just don’t know enough about how the universe works… Either way, would a good God create a world with so much suffering and evil? I think it is intellectually honest to say “Yes”, though the “why” may not ever be fully known.

The reasons why we all go through times of heartache, loss, grief, and pain, may not be clear to us, but I take comfort in knowing that one day, everything will be renewed and all will be right and in harmony with God. That’s the hope we have as Christians. The world may seem terrible, but God made it to be good, and one day, good will overcome.

I promised @canadiansrock that I would post the manuscript to my sermon that I preached last Sunday. If you are the kind of person that can’t stand sitting through a boring sermon, it’s posted below If, however, you are still interested in watching it, feel free to click this link.

 

Truth-tellers

When I was asked to preach on this passage (Mark 6:14-29, the beheading of John the Baptist), I was like, “Uh, what?”  I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard a sermon preached on the beheading of John the Baptist! So, this is my very first sermon ever, outside of a youth group activity… And needless to say, this has been a bit of a challenge, but this is where God lead me this morning.

This story, as disturbing as it is, is deeply rooted in truth. And this is why I agreed to preach on it. John the Baptist was a rather strange man, it seems. He distanced himself from society. He lived in the wilderness, and ate locusts and wild honey. He dressed in camel’s fur. Some people believe that John was a Nazarite. And what that means is that he was set apart for the Lord. One of the characteristics of a Nazarite is that they were forbidden to cut their hair. So basically, John must’ve looked like a crazy person, yelling in the wilderness, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near!” I mean, John was obviously a bit disheveled… The same kind of person we would love to avoid. At the same time, though, he must’ve literally reflected the image of Christ. In the scripture reading, we heard that Herod and others, after hearing and seeing the miracles taking place around them, thought that Jesus was John the Baptist raised from the dead. According to scripture, Jesus and John were cousins, so a resemblance would have made sense, but John was spiritually like Jesus too. John was filled with the Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit, he testified to the truth of Christ, and urged others to repent from their sins, “For the Kingdom of God is at hand!” And as crazy as John must have appeared, the Holy Spirit, that was his fire, drew in crowds of people.
            John’s crowds had become so large based on his message that eventually, word got around to King Herod Antipas about the truth that John was proclaiming. One of those truths happened to be about Herod. John had been confronting Herod about his unlawful marriage to Herodias, who was already married to Herod’s brother, Philip.

Just when you thought your own family couldn’t be more complicated… Apparently, life is filled with Jerry Springer moments, even in the Bible.

Under Herodias’ plea, Herod Antipas ordered John to be arrested. Now, if Herodias had her way, she would have had Herod order the guards to kill him on the spot, but because the crowds knew that John was a prophet, Herod couldn’t allow that to happen. He feared the people would revolt in response to his death. In fact, Herod himself believed John to be a holy man. Even though John would remind Herod of his unlawful marriage, Herod still loved to hear John speak. Our scripture reading said that Herod was perplexed. He liked to listen to John, but Herod could not face his own sins. He could not repent. Herod, though he was being convicted by the truth, was too set in his ways to make the change necessary to be vindicated by the public and in the eyes of God.

Soon, however, Herod had a birthday party where Herodias’ daughter danced for the guests. Herod was so impressed with her that he promised her a favor, anything she’d ask, up to half of his kingdom. She went to Herodias to see what she should ask for and Herodias told her to ask for John the Baptizer’s head on a platter. So that’s what she asked for. Herod was distressed about this plea. He liked John, remember? He liked to listen to John preach. But despite this, he made an oath and he wanted to fulfill it. He had a guard behead John the Baptist. John the Baptist was put to death simply for being a truth-teller. We don’t get beheaded for being truth-tellers.

So, I promised you the truth that is in this story. And you might be wondering where it is… Remember when I told you how John resembled Christ, in a spiritual sense? Well, the good news is that we do too! Like John, we resemble Christ. That’s what we are supposed to be known for. The word “Christian” was originally a sort of derogatory term that we eventually adopted. It means “Little Christ” because the first Christians sought to reflect Christ. So, like it or not, if we call ourselves Christian, this is what we are agreeing to—that we will reflect God incarnate. We will love the way Christ loves. We will serve the way Christ serves. And most of all, we will do what Christ asks us to do. John the Baptist knew what it meant to carry the Holy Spirit. He knew that it meant that he had a job to do. His job as a prophet was to be a truth-teller. He knew to point others to Christ, who is the truth. We have this responsibility as well; each and every one of us. The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church says “Lay members of the United Methodist Church are, by history and calling, active advocates of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every layperson is called to carry out the great commission; every layperson is called to be missional.” But often times, what we find is that some people often come to church and treat it, not as if it’s the body of Christ, but rather, like it’s a club. I can get as involved as I want to. If they ask for help, I won’t volunteer because someone else can do it! I can come visit on Sunday mornings to listen to a sermon and leave. And hey, if I like the sermon, I may just pay my dues. If I don’t like it though, I’ll withhold. I mean it’s a church, not a club!

Friends, this is the gospel. Christ came to die for us so that through him, we can live. It is our privilege to share the truth of this message in whatever way we are able.  And we worship a very big God; a God who, despite how big, still chooses to use us, the church, to bring his kingdom to earth. God stirs in us, and God tells us to go. Go, tell others the good news of Christ. Go, take care of the least of these. Go be the body of Christ.  Go be truth-tellers. But as you can see by the example in today’s scripture, being a truth-teller doesn’t always get us friends. In fact, it has the tendency to create enemies.  No one likes to be told that what they are doing is wrong, even if, in their hearts, they know it is. And not many people like to confront wrong doers, either. We just like to be comfortable, and stay out of the way of others… because we don’t know if they will get in our way and confront us too. We need to be truth-hearers as well…

You know, I tell my youth that if we get to a place where we are content, something is wrong. If we don’t feel the Spirit moving in us, something is wrong. If we feel like we can no longer be transformed into a new creation, if we get to a place where all we do in church is come to hear a sermon and sing a few songs every Sunday, something is wrong, and we’ve entirely missed the point of what it means to be a Christian. Conviction is a good thing. Conviction is proof of a living God, and the church, itself, is a living, breathing organism. It needs every individual to be motivated and set on fire by Holy Spirit to thrive and to be the hands and feet of the living God! The church is not a club. The church is meant for fellowship and good works, not to be a part of our own personal traditions. It’s an organism, not an institution.

If you’re feeling convicted, remember, it’s a good thing. It means the Spirit is alive in you, so don’t turn away, rejoice and see that God has a purpose for us all!

So, in the scripture reading, we have John the Baptist—a man who with every inch of his being, pursued God; a poor man, but rich in the love of God, living in the wilderness who made himself the lowest of the low, so that others could be exalted. He lived in God’s will. He pointed others to Christ. He had the truth in him, and because he did, he knew his responsibility was to be a truth-teller. And he died as a truth teller.
Then, we have Herod—a man who loved to listen to a good sermon, but would not allow himself to be changed by the message that was directed to him. The scriptures tell us that he was perplexed. The prevenient grace of God was moving in him, but he fought it, looking to his own self-satisfying ways instead of the ways of God.  He was a truth-rejecter.

Friends, are you a John the Baptist, or a Herod Antipas? Are you a truth-teller, or a truth-rejecter? We all know what we are called to do, but do we do it? I believe the gospel challenges us to be truth-tellers—to live as a reflection of Christ, so that by the Holy Spirit, we can bring a positive change to this world so that all can know and believe the truth of Christ.

 

Can someone leave me a brief comment so I can read it in my feed? I cannot get on any of my pages or anyone’s page for that matter.

1. Today, I turn 26.

2. One year ago, I wrote “25 Things on 25 Years”.

3. I liked it so much, I decided to do it again this year.

4. I don’t blog enough anymore.

5. I really don’t know how to get back into it.

6. I still read other’s blogs every now and again, but it’s really hard to get into it.

7. Trolls have totally ruined Xanga for me.

8. I have the best wife a guy can ask for.

9. She puts up with me, and really, that’s all I can really ask of her.

10. I introduced her to Arrested Development this week.

11. The TV show, not the band.

12. She likes it.

13. I knew she would.

14. It’s got to be one of the greatest shows to ever be on television.

15. It’s a shame it only lasted 3 seasons.

16. I guess that’s part of it’s charm though.

17. If you’ve never seen it, you can find it on Netflix.

18. I highly recommend it.

19. I am preaching my very first sermon on Sunday.

20. It’s over the beheading of John the Baptist.

21. I’ve never heard a sermon over the beheading of John the Baptist.

22. I’m really nervous about it.

23. Most of my family will be there to hear it.

24. That makes me happy, but even more nervous.

25. I’ve been on a Spiderman kick since I saw the new movie.

26. It was a lot better than I was expecting it to be

My dog is amazing. We adopted him from a shelter last July. He’s about four years old now, but he is still very much a puppy. When we adopted him, his name was Omega. My wife and I decided that Omega was a great name, so we kept it. Omega is a husky. He sheds a lot and has very pretty eyes. Altogether, he is just a beautiful dog. It doesn’t take much for me to think about him in all circumstances. I can’t leave the house for two hours without looking at my wife to say, “I miss Omega.” I’m just so happy to have a dog that is just so awesome.

Omega and me, taking a nap

He’s a good boy. When we first adopted him, he was, for all intents and purposes, fairly wild. He couldn’t make eye contact, he had no personality, he couldn’t listen, he was all scruffy and dirty, and he definitely wasn’t house trained. When I first went to meet Omega, he peed on my leg. I knew, from that moment on, I was his. He claimed me. It happened again a week later, when I went to pick him up from the shelter to bring him home.

He’s come a long way since then, even in a matter of the first few months I’ve had him. He’s now a typical pet. He makes eye contact, he lets his personality show, he listens, he’s clean (seriously, he doesn’t even smell like a dog!), and he’s house trained. He’s a completely different dog, now that he has owners who love him.

Omega must have had a traumatic life before he was taken to the pound. I know he was an outside dog. That always bothers me. I don’t see the point in having a pet, if you just keep it locked up all day, but i digress. He and his sister were both owned by the same master (And yes, his sister’s name was Alpha). From what I’ve heard, she was a pure white husky. We were told by the people in the shelter that they were found abandoned in a vacant house. Their owners just picked up and left, leaving them behind to suffer. Luckily, someone had found them and brought them to the animal shelter.

Alpha was the first to be adopted, weeks before my wife and I adopted Omega. We imagine that Omega suffers from separation anxiety. He’s lost his previous owners, he’s lost his sister, and he’s lost the other dogs and the people who took care of him at the pound. It’s probably been pretty stressful for him. He’s gotten a lot better with his anxiety, but he’s still not perfect.

Omega’s “Room”, our closet

Like a lot of dogs, Omega is afraid of storms. Yesterday, my wife and I left for about an hour to go look at some apartments. It was thundering just a little, and it was sprinkling. In no way, would I say it was storming. But no one was home and Omega was scared from the thunder. Normally, he would hide in our bedroom closet, or in the bathroom trying to fit behind the toilet, or in the living room behind our rocking chair. He loves tight spaces. But it wasn’t like that yesterday. We had left the windows open in the house so it wouldn’t be too hot. While we were gone, one of the neighbors went out to her mailbox to get the mail. She heard some noises coming from the house. She looked and saw Omega trying to jump out the window. She came up to the house and rang the doorbell, to try to get someone’s attention. But when she rang the door bell, a loud crack of thunder spooked Omega, and out the window he went, breaking the screen, falling into the bushes, and finally, running down the street full speed.

When Tesia and I got home yesterday, we walked up to our front porch and I looked to my left and saw that the screen had been knocked out of the window. “Oh no!” I said. Tesia replied, “What?” and I pointed to the window. We immediately began looking for him. We searched all over the neighborhood for about a half an hour. I didn’t know what we were going to do. Finally, Tesia saw a dog crossing the street, not far from our house. “Is that him?” she asked. “Yes, that’s him!” I exclaimed. We drove up slowly to him. He was worn out. He looked scruffy and dirty once again, just like he was when we adopted him. He was scared, head down and tail between his legs. I came up to him and said, “Come here Omega.” He didn’t want to trust me. He wanted to take off again, but he knew he was too tired. With hesitancy, he came towards me and I grabbed his collar. He pulled away slightly, but he realized that trying to play games at that moment was futile. He was too tired and too sore and too scared. But he knew that once we got him in the car, he was in safe hands. He knew he’d be taken care of.

Taking care of Omega is identical to how God takes care of his people. God rescues us from the crap we deal with in our lives. He cleans us up and sets us straight, as we become disciplined so we can live a better life with a bigger purpose. We feel God. We know God’s there. We get comfortable with our new life in Christ. And then, when we least expect it, storms come in our lives, even the small ones, and we don’t know where God is. We get scared that, perhaps, God isn’t coming back. All the while, God is still thinking of us, remembering us, loving us, and wanting to be with us. When we feel like God isn’t there for us, we run and look for other vices that we feel will keep us safe and secure, and hide us from our storm, but it leaves us lost, tired, disheveled, and even more scared. But God is always looking for us. God is trying to pull us towards him, even if we aren’t sure that we want to trust him. We finally come into God’s will though, and when we do, there is no place we’d rather be. We know where we belong.

So take heart, brothers and sisters in Christ. We cannot be separated from the love of God. We cannot run from His grace. God wants us. God does not want to see you in your storm, and if you are scared and you are running, God will find you. Trust God.