As I’ve promised, here are the answers to the questions you’ve asked me.

@TheTheologiansCafe

“If someone gave you $10,000 and you had to spend it in one day and you couldn’t keep any of it, what would you do with your $10,000 in one day?”

The most honest answer I could give is perhaps the most boring. I would spend it on repaying my student loans. I really have nothing else to spend it on.

 

@ToastersNMilkshakes

“What’s been the greatest struggle for you as you seek to live the Christian life?”

I have two big ones. First is, I am so super interested in the theoretical sides of theology that I all too often forget my purpose as a Christian and a minister. Secondly, it’s very hard for me to stand for what I believe is right while not appearing to be on a high horse. I’ve found there is nothing more irritating to me than when I gently correct someone, and they turn on me and accuse me of being arrogant or self-righteous.

“How is project “Skinny Jimmy” going?What change in yourself have you seen in the last 5 years that is the most surprising to you?If you could have 1000 people fight for 1 cause what would the cause be?”

Project Skinny Jimmy is… going… Well, I’ve lost 5 pounds, but I haven’t really been trying. Tesia got a membership at the YMCA, so that will help. If she is exercising, I will be exercising. I suppose I am taking baby steps to shed my unneeded weight.
A change in myself that’s surprised me over the last 5 years is that I’ve found that I’m actually a good student. I’ve never done well in school, but this past quarter, I had a 3.6 GPA. I couldn’t be more proud of myself!
Finally, if I had 1000 people to fight for one cause, the cause would probably be to ignore politicians and just be the change they wish to see in the world.

 

@shopgirl_london

“What motivates you? What inspires you? What do you think true happiness is?”

I think that I’m motivated by sincerity. It seems to be a common theme in my life. I like to see people who are genuine. I’m inspired by beauty. That sounds a bit pretentious, I know, but I think that’s the truth. Happiness to me is holiness. One could find happiness of heart when they are able to give their burdens to God. I think that happiness is in understanding that happiness isn’t the only emotion a person should feel. We are wired with an array of emotions. What makes happiness so great? The idea that it feels the best? That’s an interesting question, isn’t it? Anyway, true happiness, I believe, is found in Christ. When people experience happiness, they are experiencing a grace of God.

 

@Ooglick

“If you could pick any job at all, say you magically had all the skills necessary for it, what would you do? Also, which country would you most like to visit and why?”

If I could pick any job at all, and I magically had the skills necessary for it, I would be an influential teacher of theology in a prestigious school, and I would often be called to talk about my faith on The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and various religious documentaries.
Right now, the country I would like to visit most is Israel and Palestine. I want to see conflict between the two for myself. Also, it would be nice to see the land on which Jesus walked.

@llamalima

“If you could have 1 more hour each day, how would you spend it? If you had 1 less hours each day, what would you lose?”

If I could have one more hour each day, I can’t lie to you, I’d probably take it for granted and just sleep that extra hour. If I had one less hour, sleep would also probably be what I’d cut out of my day. It’s odd that the one thing I’d like more of is the one thing I don’t mind losing, right? Hmm…

 

@t_sheffield

“How much does God love us?”

This isn’t a very fair question because I don’t think we can accurately put “unconditional love” into words.
I do know that God loves us enough to have died for us. I know that God loves us enough that out the entirety of the universe and how miniscule we are in comparison, God still thinks we are in need of God’s love and attention. That, to me, is the most mind blowing thing of all… that we somehow, for some reason, are created in God’s image and that God cares! God actually cares. It’s amazing to think about.

 

 

So do you have any questions you’d like to ask me? What do you think of my answers?

Today is the day when Christians reflect on the time Jesus the Messiah was falsely arrested, beaten, flogged, spit at, mocked, cursed, stripped naked, and nailed to a cross beside two criminals, where he struggled to breath as he bled out for hours. Jesus faced a terrifying, agonizing death, and we celebrate this? What’s to celebrate about this so-called perfect man, this sinless human being, this miracle worker, this prophet, this teacher, God- walking in the flesh, being tortured to death while a mob of people watched?

He did this for you. Even before you were born, he did this for you. Don’t take this for granted. God knows you, loves you, speaks to you, and he died for you- so that you can know what it means to truly live.

 

“Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

I miss blogging on a regular basis. It’s starting to get difficult. Once you get in the slump, it’s hard to get out. I guess I feel like I talk about the same things constantly… I’m also reading the same things constantly. There really is no new content on Xanga.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m not looking to create new content. I’m not looking to be original. I just want to blog about something, so I want to do another “ask me anything” blog. If you’ve got a question you’d like me to answer, feel free to ask it. It could be anything. I’ll give you my point of view.

These never seem to work out for me, but I promise that this time, I will try to answer every question.

Today is Tesia’s and my 2 year anniversary. I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful, loving, genuine, and gifted wife. I praise God for this, who is a giver of all good things. God bless you today.

At work, word got out that I am a minister. I try not to talk about that too much because when people hear that I’m in ministry, they for some reason, feel like they can’t act like themselves around me. For instance, a man who always throws out a “How in the hell are you?” changed his phrasing to “How in the world are you?” as soon as he found out that I’m working in a church. That’s a small annoyance, but this stuff happens a lot. It seems that if a person is not careful about how they speak around me, they instead, set themselves up on a pedestal. It isn’t that I think they are being hypocritical or self-righteous, but rather, they are comfortable enough to “come out” as Christians around me. God bless them for that, but when every conversation has to be about God it gets a little annoying, especially if it is a conversation dealing with theological concepts that I just don’t agree with. On Xanga, I’m a little more audacious, but in the real world, I’m much more diplomatic. I don’t often throw my opinions out in the open unless I’m asked.

Anyway, there is this woman I work with from time to time named Geryl. She’s a wonderful African-American lady in her mid 60′s. She’s kind and helpful at work, and even though she’s never met my wife, she always asks me how she’s doing. Well, Geryl found out that my wife and I are both in ministry, and she congratulated me with a “God bless you.” Ever since then, though, she always wants to talk about Christianity… and if not Christianity, then political ideas that somehow involve Christianity. The last time I worked with her, she went on this tirade about homosexuality. Though I agreed with very little of what she was saying, all I could do was listen and nod my head. She even cursed President Obama for being lax when it comes to gays and lesbians.

Now, without getting too far into what she said (I want to get to the point!), one thing she mentioned is, “We’ve gotta love ‘em… … …but that’s not coming in my house!”

I find something very wrong with that statement.

To me, this raises a very sincere question to my heart: Well, what then does it mean to love them? I’m very passionate about the love of God, as many of my readers know. And I’m passionate about the topic because I often find a giant gap in the places where God’s love is supposed to be. Many make up excuses as to why they aren’t as loving as Jesus wants us to be. I get the idea that we can’t be perfect like Christ. Really, I do… Nevertheless, I don’t believe it somehow makes Jesus less serious when he tells us to love one another, to love ourselves, to love our neighbors, and to love our enemies (especially when they do us wrong).

I know what love is because I love my wife. I know what love is because I love my friends. I know what love is because I love my family. I would hold conversations with all of these people. I would invite them into my home. I would eat with them. I would go the extra mile for them. I would even die for them. So when I hear, “We’ve gotta love ‘em… … …but that’s not coming in my house!”, I gotta wonder what then it means to love. Certainly Jesus would have us invite the sinner into our homes. He would have us eat with them. He would have us go the extra mile for them. He would have us die for them, right? 

My wife realized she really, genuinely loved me when she realized that she likes taking care of me. I would need to agree with her. You can really tell who you love by whom you are serving. I think this is fundamental to the entire structure of Christianity. This idea effects our entire being, from our thoughts, to whom we are inviting into our homes, to how we want our nation to react to hostile nations. It takes a great amount of idealism to follow the teachings of Christ, I’ve found.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? What is love? How do you know when you love somebody? How do you interpret the love Jesus so often speaks of?

I am continually getting busier busier, and I am having less time to sit and write a blog. I wanted to write something really quick in the limited amount of time I have.

My wife is scared of me dying. It’s probably some phase that I should probably take more seriously, but what I do is simply tell her that that’s not part of the plan for right now. Nevertheless, lately, this idea has made me think about my mortality. I don’t really fear death, but what I fear is not accomplishing the things I want to accomplish while I’m here.

Since I don’t make it a habit to sit and think about the things I want to do (shame on me), I only have two major items on my bucket list. First is, I want to travel to Paris, not to go to the Louver or the Eiffel Tower… but to see Jim Morrison’s (Lead singer of The Doors) grave site. Secondly, but most importantly, I want to make an impact on people. Nothing out of the ordinary… everyone wants to be important… However, my goal in life is to earn a headstone that says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Of course, I don’t want to make that decision. It is the King who says this, and it is through the Church that God speaks. So, the church would need to recognize my good works (if any) and pretty much permit this idea. 

Right now, I’m a shy guy. I am too afraid to come out of my shell, which I really need to do. But I believe that one day, I will earn that headstone.

First, I need to mature and step out in faith. Maybe I could be the next John Wesley… That would be nice, though I should strive for high expectations while humbling myself. That is what John Wesley would do. I’m sure that is what Jesus would have me do as well.

Well, I guess I have a lot of work to do.

Shalom to you all.

Throughout history, the eschatalogical beliefs of apocalyptic communities have affected the way they interpret older prophecies because they believe that, in some way, God had revealed a hidden message in the older prophecies to their particular community. Each of these communities believe that they are special and that God is using their community to communicate to the world that they are in the last days. This, of course, often times leads these “special” communities to forget that the older prophecies being reinterpreted had an original meaning that fit the situation and the context of the particular period of time in which the prophesy was written.
An example of this taking place in the New Testament can be found in Matthew 1:18-25. In this passage, Joseph, the “father” of Jesus had a dream where an angel explained to him the significance of the child that he would raise. The angel quoted Isaiah 7, which states, “Look, the ‘virgin’ shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him ‘Emmanuel’ which means ‘God with us’.”
This verse had it’s own meaning in the time Isaiah spoke this word. In that day, the Syro-Ephraimite war posed a threat to Ahaz, king of Judah because Israel and Aram had allied with each other and tried attacking Jerusalem. This eventually led Isaiah to console the king by speaking a word from the Lord, which is now referred to as the “Immanuel” prophecy, found in Isaiah 7:10-17.

“Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, ^‘Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.’ But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on your ancestral house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria.’”

Here, Isaiah comforts Ahaz with the idea that “God is with them”.
The prophecy was originally meant to be taken by Ahaz, in his situation at his time, but the prophecy had later been reinterpreted by the writer of Matthew to refer to Jesus as “Emmanuel”, the Messiah.

This is not saying that the prophecy concerning “Emmanuel” is meaningless. In fact, I believe it shows that scripture is full of meaning. Another important facet it teaches us, too, is that we shouldn’t get too hung up on “End Times” timelines. The fact is, throughout the history of Judaism and Christianity, believers have been trying to predict when the end will come. Many people tend to believe they are in the last days because the world couldn’t possibly get any worse.

We see signs all around us- Earthquakes and other natural disasters, wars, ungodliness all around… we look at these and forget that these have been going on since the beginning of time as we know it. We want to believe we are a special people that God has revealed a secret to… and only through us, can the world be saved from Armageddon. And to a certain extent, that’s correct. The problem is not in thinking that God made Christians to be a special people, but rather in the idea that we often get too caught up in the “end times” theology that we forget our identity as a special people.

I believe the answer to this is in the way we live. The church in Acts 2 is a great example. They literally believed (as many do today) that they were in the last days and that Jesus Christ would return at any moment. Because of this, their grudges, their possessions, their money, anything they had, meant nothing to them. They were able to sell everything and live peacefully with one another, in a prayerful attitude of thanksgiving and charity. This is a utopia of sorts. A “Heaven on Earth”, if you will. And it is this that should be on our minds as Christians; that we join with God in His Kingdom coming on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Our Christian religion isn’t about waiting for heaven. It’s about waiting for Christ as Heaven is being manifested on Earth. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. It’s the joy of being a Christian. And it is this that makes the Christians a special people… not in what is hidden in scripture, but what is bluntly before us- a very sick and desperate world in need of atonement with God.

It doesn’t make sense to me when people are so concerned about gay marriage, yet remain unmindful to the poor being taken advantage of by the wealthy. That may sound a bit liberal, but I say, if we are going to enforce our Christian beliefs, why not all or nothing? Is it for the sake of convenience? Or are people so set in their ways that they are blind to their hypocrisies?

I say, let gays get married, let the rich be rich, but Christians should be willing to live a life counter to the hypocrites of the world. We should be showing a better, more meaningful way of life.

My Bible professor said something today that struck me.

“The core of the Bible is not so much about ‘morality’ as it is about ‘identity’.”

I’ve never thought of it like that before, but it’s true, specifically regarding the Old Testament.

The heroes of the Hebrew Bible are often wicked people who do wicked things to get ahead. Only few actually repent of the evil they had done, but nevertheless, they are the victors and patriarchs of the Christian and Jewish faiths. One could only ask why. If the Bible, at its core, is about morality, then why is it that the wicked are prospering?

Two different times in scripture (Genesis 12:10-20 & Genesis 20:1-18), we see Abraham “lying” about Sara being his sister rather than his wife (although, it could be said that she is both) in order that, if she be ‘stolen’ from him, they would spare him his life. When Sara was ‘taken’ (as opposed to ‘stolen’), the king eventually found out what was going on; that Sara was not simply Abraham’s sister, but his wife. This led the king to scold Abraham for potentially putting the entire nation under God’s judgment.

Note that difference between ‘taken’ and ‘stolen’. These words were used because in the cultural context of this passage, women were regarded as possessions rather than people worthy of dignity. Abraham was not so concerned with the well-being of his wife. He didn’t care what happened to her as long as his life was spared by the king. But when the king found out that Abraham had lied to him, he still spared Abraham his life, though, it would have been completely rational in that time for the king to kill him.

In turn, Abraham, though he was supposed to be cursed, was actually blessed by God. In the first story, the king (or pharaoh) was cursed for supposedly being fooled, resulting in him sleeping with Abraham’s wife. The second story showed the king as innocent, and nothing happened. 

We see this same story happen a third time with Abraham’s son, Isaac (Genesis 26:1-14).

And these stories are just a few examples of the people doing terrible things with a result of becoming blessed.

Now, none of this is to say that the Bible does not support morality. It does, but morality is not the chief concern of scripture. What is at hand here, is a story being told of how the Israel became a nation- through the wicked and the good. And this is what we see in the Law as well. The point of the Law of Moses isn’t to show what is moral and ethical, but how the Hebrews are to be identified. That’s why we see laws regarding circumcision and beard growth. That’s why the law teaches not to mix two different types of fabric together. Most of us can look at the Law now and know that it isn’t immoral to be uncircumcised, to shave, or to wear polyester and cotton together. It is strictly about identity, granted, the roots of these laws go much deeper.

The same can be said when we move into the New Testament. Our sacraments replace such laws. We take communion because it defines who we are–that we are partakers in the body of Christ and washed in His blood. Baptism symbolizes the washing away of our sins, and being birthed anew in Christ. The Bible’s purpose isn’t to give a universal law of morality. If so, everyone, Christian or not, would be required to take part in the sacraments. Instead, our scirptures tell the story of how salvation came to be. In other words, it gives the Christian a history that we can be identified with. Along with a history, it gives a moral code so one could determine whether or not he or she is living in a way that brings glory to the name of God. It’s less about “this is how you must live” and more about “this is how a Christian is to live.” There is a big difference there, as it is the Christian that is to be representing God on earth.

Though morality is certainly a virtue worth finding in the Bible, it is more important to find your identity in Christ first. With study, prayer, participation in the sacraments and being discipled, the morality that comes with it should then, almost naturally, but more, miraculously fall into place.

Below is a never before released song by “The Doors”. 40 years after “LA Woman” came out, they found this song. These are exciting times! Listen and enjoy!

“She Smells So Nice” by The Doors