Stand and Fight

Allow me to rant. I love war movies! Saving Private Ryan, The Band of Brothers, Braveheart, anything with a lot of action and heroic speeches I'm hooked. I think the reason why I love these movies so much is that it speaks to a deep desire within my soul to give my life for something bigger than myself. In these movies you see men dying for a greater good, for this idea of freedom, for their brothers at arms, and then after a few hours of on screen action I return to the real world. The real world of bills, and repairs, and office hours. The real world dealing with drama, and feelings, and monotony. And I have to wonder, where is my great cause? Where is my battlefield? Where is my defining moment in the heat of battle where I decide to either lay down and die in the mud, or pull myself up and face my enemy gun in hand?
I feel all to often like the men towards the end of Band of Brothers when the European conflict is all over, Hitler is dead and they find themselves without an enemy so they begin to fight each other. I feel as though I am so ready to stop talking about being more, and giving more, and engaging the enemy; that time has past. I feel as though it is time to rally the troops and storm the gates of hell, and yet I am without a direction in which to march. I am sick of the status quoe, sick of inactivity, sick of half hearted commitment. I feel like the guy on the horse in front of the army, or the guy standing on the battlements yelling to the troops, "Who will join me? Who will fight? Who will die if necessary for the sake of the King?" So, will you join me?

fresh snow over fresh poop

I know the title of this sounds a little odd but let me explain. Some of you may know that for my birthday, Albertein bought me a dog. His name is Neo and he is a golden doodle, which is a mix between a poodle and a golden retriever. We knew that he wasn't going to be a small dog, and we knew that he would probably grow to around 50 pounds; however we, or I, didn't know how fast he would actually grow. Because I wanted a bigger dog, Albertein made sure I knew that if she were to get me a bigger dog then I would have to clean up the yard, however I didn't realize how large of a task that would actually be! I thought about this again yesterday as I saw all the places Neo had dropped good sized loads in our front yard and now as I watch the fresh snow fall I am thankful of the fact that at least I wont see his poop until the snow melts. Unfortunately we can all see the problem with this line of reasoning: the snow will soon melt and the poop will remain only sloppier than before and I'll let you make your own applications from here.

God's Will?

At times I find it comical that we are so prone to extremes, or perhaps I shouldn’t lump everyone into the same mold. I guess you can just read this and see if it applies. I started reading a book today called “Just Do Something” where the author makes the argument that there are times when we find ourselves guilty of not doing anything because we are waiting on God’s will. He claims that there are times when believers try and find God’s will in a situation when maybe God is indifferent to that situation. Now granted I am only half way through the second chapter but it is an intriguing idea.
On the other hand, my devotions this morning form Oswald Chambers claimed that if there is any doubt in the heart of a believer about a situation one is in, then the believer is not in the will of God. He states that we must wait until God’s will is absolutely clear before we make a move lest we run ahead of God’s plan and mess the whole thing up.
Well, what is one to think? It can easily be tempting for believers to adopt one or the other extreme: to just run through life doing whatever pleases you, all the while claiming it is the will of God; or to not do anything, take no chances, exercise no faith because you feel a shred of doubt and so therefore it must not be God’s will. I’m sure that both of these authors would agree that it takes equal amounts of both views to follow God’s will. In scripture we see where Jesus’ disciples tried to run out ahead of God’s will and had to be reigned in. On the other hand we see where God wanted His people to move but they were afraid of what that might mean for them.
Ultimately I believe that when we are truly seeking God we do not have to fret about whether or not we are or are not in his will. In Isaiah 30, the prophet is telling the Israelites that when they repent and come back to God, He will receive them and forgive them. Then in vs. 21 he says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.’” Meaning that when we truly seek God, we can take comfort in the fact that he will guide our steps, the only thing we have to do is keep following where He leads.

After Christmas

I really hate this time of the year! Christmas is over but the snow is still around for another two months, It is so cold that I don't even want to go outside, and the Christmas lights are still up but everyone knows they have to come down soon. I think it might be this last thing that is the most depressing to me. The lights are so beautiful and before Christmas I love to look at them because they point to Christmas. It's almost like every house that is lit up with lights is a reminder that Christmas is almost here. Now, however the lights mean nothing. Oh there still beautiful and I still love to look at them but they have a sort of hollow beauty now. Not to overspiritualize everything but I couldn't help but think of how this is a good illustration. To me it represents so many who really do look the part. They try so hard to be put together, and shine as brightly as they can and yet there's is a hollow beauty. We need to realize that if Christ is not who we shine for then we are nothing more than disappointing to those who stop to stare at our efforts to shine.