Saturday, April 28, 2007

End of Semester

WMU's Spring semester has ended. After a week of final exams, I start my week of relaxation. No more classes, no more tests, no more responsibilities...

...At least, for one week. After that I begin Summer classes and start work again.

But for this one week, I will relax and do very, very little.

It's gonna rock.

The Xperience had its last service on Sunday. We celebrated the end of the semester by having a huge meal, complete with ham and mashed potatoes. We said goodbye to a lot of people that have been with us for a while and a few new faces will join us next year.

For me, the end of the semester feels like the end of something more and the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

I now lick my finger and turn the first page.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

What Every Christian Should Know #9

I'm a little behind on the updates, but last month Keith Giles posted the second of his ten part monthly blog series entitled "TOP 10 THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW (But Probably Doesn't)". March's subject tackles an idea that the American church pushes a very great deal. Here is just a sample of what he had to say:

Number 9 - "The Kingdom of God is NOT the American Dream"

You'd think it wouldn't need to be said out loud, but more and more I find that there is a blurred line in American Christianity between "The American Way" and "The Kingdom of God".

Maybe it's the feeling that America is God's new Israel? Or maybe it started with The Dallas Cowboys being "God's Favorite Football Team"? Maybe it's something that's been brewing since the first Boston Tea Party? I'm not really sure, but I do know that today we have a serious problem separating good old American Values from the Gospel that Jesus died to proclaim.

If you've ever doubted someone's eternal salvation because they voted Democrat in the last election, then you may have a problem in this area.

Yes Virginia, there WILL be Libertarians and Green Party members in Heaven. You'll probably live next to one, knowing God's sense of humor.

The Kingdom of God and the American Dream are not the same thing, and in fact, they are two opposing viewpoints which are in conflict on many levels.

Believe it or not, Jesus did not come so that you and I could engage in our"Pursuit of Happiness".

The American Dream is founded on the concept of every person's right to the pursuit of happiness. Whatever you can imagine would make you happy you are free to pursue it with all your heart. That's your right.

The Kingdom of God is founded on the concept of laying down your life, your idea of what will make you happy, in favor of receiving what Jesus knows will really make you happy.


I suggest reading the whole article. I think he can come across kind of harsh at times, but these things need to be said.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Saved

I've been reading Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis recently, and a couple of statements he made really stuck out to me. They've got me thinking about Christianity on a deeper level. Although these inspired thoughts aren't the overall purpose of Bell's book, they have been on my mind for a while now and his statements have helped me to put them into words. My next few posts will tackle these issues.

Here's a quote from Velvet Elvis:

"...For many, Jesus was presented to them as the solution to a problem. In fact, this has been the dominant way of explaining the story of the Bible in Western culture for the past several hundred years. It's not that it is wrong; it's just that Jesus is so much more. The presentation often begins with sin and the condition of human beings, separated from God and without hope in the world. God then came up with a way to fix the problem by sending Jesus, who came to the world to give us a way out of the mess we find ourselves in..."

There's more to being a Christian than to simply be "saved".

But that seems to be what the modern church focuses on. That is the purpose of church, right? To get people saved? What are mission trips for? Sure, there are those trips that help bring food and shelter and water to those in need, but isn't evangelism about telling people the message of Christ and to accept Him as their savior?

The dominant message in Western Protestant Christianity is "You're a sinner, but if you ask Jesus into your heart, you will go to heaven when you die." Essentially, it's a get out of hell free card. We don't want to go to hell, so we accept Jesus and try not to sin. But that is far from the point of Christ's message.

Christianity is about changing people's lives. It's about letting God get involved in your life and telling you what He wants for your future. Forgiveness is important; it is the first step in a whole new way of life. But that's not what Christianity is all about. It's not about not sinning either. We should try to do those things that honor God and try to become a good representation of Christ, but sin is not the point. Christianity is not a black and white thing. It is a fluid and dynamic walk with Christ, and we stumble and learn as we go.

Another quote:

"...The point of the cross isn't forgiveness. Forgiveness leads to something much bigger: restoration. God isn't just interested in the covering over of our sins; God wants to make us into the people we were originally created to be. It is not just the removal of what's being held against us; it is God pulling us into the people he originally had in mind when he made us. This restoration is why Jesus always orients his message around becoming the kind of people who are generous and loving and compassionate. The goal here isn't simply to not sin. Our purpose is to increase the shalom in this world, which is why approaches to the Christian faith that deal solely with not sinning always fail. They aim at the wrong thing. It is not about what you don't do. The point is becoming more and more the kind of people God had in mind when we were first created.

It is one thing to be forgiven; it is another thing to become more and more and more and more the person God made you to be."

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Colorado: Day 8

At 6:00 am, approximately the same time we arrived at Horizons a week before, we packed our bags into the van and car and departed from Boulder. The sun was rising as we got onto the highway and began the first leg of our journey home. The mountains behind us reflected the morning light and shined a farewell glow toward us.

Most of us slept for the first couple hours. We stopped in Nebraska for a rest stop and put some oil into the van to keep it going strong. A few hours later, we stopped to get lunch at Arby's and then got back into the cars to eat it on the road. I read another chapter from Velvet Elvis, and it was just as good as the first.


The sun eventually set as we neared Des Moines, and we played the alphabet game a few times to keep ourselves occupied. The two cars talked over Jim's walkie talkies about our favorite memories from the past week. We also came up with some interesting questions for each person to answer like, "If someone were to make a movie based on your life, who would play you?" I think mine was Denzel Washington. In Illinois, we passed Geneseo and said another thank you and farewell to our friends who aided us in our need a week earlier.

I was riding in the car with Jim and a sleeping Riley toward the last leg of our trip. We listened to soft music while the miles went by. When we got to Michigan, we were greeted by a very thick fog. At certain points, we had zero visibility. We had to take it slow for that last couple of hours, but eventually, we made it back to Kalamazoo. We arrived at the church at about two in the morning, got our bags out of the van and said goodbye to each other; to the people we spent the last week getting to know and love.

This year's trip to Colorado was a great experience for me. I really got to learn a lot about the Islamic religion and I was able to make some pretty cool friends in Boulder. I think that God definitely uses trips like these to shape who we are in Him, and this was no exception. God has really been working in me since this trip, and I can't wait to see what He has in store for my life.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Colorado: Day 7

Our last day in Boulder was our busiest. After breakfast, Seth led us in a Bible study. He talked about Object studies - Bible studies based on specific objects or subjects in the Bible. On this day, we talked about wells. We went over the story of Abraham's servant finding a wife for Isaac at a well, and how Isaac's son, Jacob found a wife at that very same well. There was a similar story for Moses and how he met his wife at a well too. And then we went to the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. In fact, they had their conversation at the same well where Isaac and Jacob's wives were found. What was the subject of their conversation? Marriage. Interesting. We went into the study a bit deeper than I can explain here, but I definitely plan on doing more object studies in the future.

After Seth played us a beautiful song on his guitar that he wrote, we went our separate ways for a bit until lunch time. The group brought our pizza and juice to Georges' office and had lunch with him. We ate while he told us stories of his ministry in Middle Eastern countries and of his opposition, both physical and spiritual. Georges is such a wonderful man. I think we all could have stayed in his office and listened to him talk forever. We shared a great time together at lunch and posed for a few pictures afterward. Georges and his son, Pierre were leaving that day for a foreign country. I'm not sure which country, but I think it was one of the 'stans. We said our goodbyes and thank yous to George and left him to finish up his work at Horizons before he had to leave.


After lunch, the group decided to go into downtown Boulder and sing praise songs. So we packed all nine of us and Seth into the van and made our way there. After walking a bit, we found a bench in the middle of a mall, similar to Kalamazoo's downtown mall, actually. Some sat on the bench and some stood around it as we sang some wonderful songs unto the Lord on that beautiful afternoon. Seth taught us a very diverse selection of songs from all over the world, and we joyfully sang them. A few people came up to us and seemed interested and excited about our singing. It was great to just stand there and praise God. It really lifted our spirits after the attacks of the previous night's speaker.




After about an hour or so, we made our way back to Horizons. A few of us decided to read an entire book of the Bible. We chose the book of John, which ironically (or not so ironically), I was about to start reading anyway. We went into Georges' then vacant office and took turns reading chapters from that gospel. It was a wonderful experience. We finished in about two hours, just after dinner began. We went down and ate our last excellent Horizons dinner and went over to CU to listen to the last speaker of the week.

The last night was all about Sunni and Shi'a differences in Islam. A lot of people were very interested in that topic, and it had been brought up all week by the visiting crowd. I think he was the first speaker we had heard that week that didn't appear to have a distinct agenda to change people's minds about Islam. He simply told of the differences in the two sects and the problems and disagreements that have occurred between the two. He spoke nothing of Christianity.

After the speaker, everyone was invited to a dinner hosted by the MSA. It was a nice, formal dinner with fantastic food from different Middle Eastern countries. It was so nice getting to know more people there and continuing our conversations with the friends we had made over the course of that week. We stayed for an hour and a half, I believe, just talking and enjoying the company of others, learning from our differences and our similarities. I think the dinner was my favorite moment of the week. I just felt completely at peace and full of joy. One, by one, people from our group said goodbye to our new friends and trickled back to the Horizons house for the last time.

It was getting close to midnight and most of our group was finishing up packing and getting ready to leave in the morning. Justin and Matt took their sleeping bags up to the Upper Room and slept there for the night. Kennie had met some Afghanis and hit it off with them almost immediately. He stayed up all night hanging out with them and had a great time. The rest of us went to bed, some sooner than others, and got ready to leave for home the next day.

Friday, April 06, 2007

Movie Recommendation: The Passion of the Christ



One of the most controversial films in history, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is much more than sheer violence and blood. It is a wonderfully made movie of Christ's last day.

When I went to see this movie, I was surprised at the level of storytelling it brought. The word on the street was that it was simply a movie filled with senseless violence to make people feel guilty. What I saw was a brilliant, artistic movie that I believe should have been nominated for an academy award. The cinematography, art direction, and soundtrack are all stellar. The very fact that the film's dialogue is in Aramaic and Latin and is subtitled in English makes the experience more authentic than any other film about Jesus that I have seen yet.

That being said, this movie does have a great deal of violence in it, as violence is the subject of the movie, and of today's holiday, Good Friday. The violence is in the movie for a reason, and the reason is far bigger than making people feel guilty or disgusted by horrifying images. When you watch this movie, know that for every bit of pain that Christ went through, you were saved. Again, do not feel guilty, as guilt was not Christ's message. Freedom was the message and the passion of Jesus Christ, and it is by His blood that we can be free.

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Field Trip

My Intro to Aeronautical Engineering class went on a field trip to WMU's School of Aviation today. We got to see the Cirrus SR20s that the Aviation majors get to fly. I can't express to you how jealous I am. I want one. Badly. All I've got to do is save up $450,000 and I can buy one.


Is is Cirruses or Cirri?