pressing in...pressing on

The one thing about God that I have experienced is that He is constantly in pursuit of our hearts. I know it sounds cliche but I think we miss this often. Saying it is one thing, recognizing it is another.

It is the underlying unsettledness of life.
The ever growing awareness of our weaknesses.
Our lack of control over life events.
The temptation of evil against choosing what is good.
The constant search for meaning.
The desire for a purpose.

It is how the invisible God becomes visible to us. If we just let ourselves get in touch with the reality of what our life is, God shows up clearer than ever before.

The call to be a disciple of Jesus begins with the faith to die to who we were and to trust that Jesus is the Messiah. It seems for me though, that the death of who I was has not been so immediate. There is a constant examination about parts of the old me that live on. As I peel way the layers, more is revealed that I hold on to. I see more and more of my need for the Saviour.
God is constantly pressing in on my heart, desiring that I always be moving toward Him, never idle, always in process, never "just ok", always prodding, always revealing...always loving. (Eph 1:17-19)

So today I'm thankful to be moving ahead in my journey through such a great faith. Following Jesus of Nazareth. Moving ahead with Peter and Paul and James and John and Stephen and Martin Luther and Augustine and C.S Lewis and Bill Bright and Brian McCollister and Jim Zippay and Matt Bartley and Mike Martin and Matt Fink and Jennifer Frabott....you get the picture.

We are told that the end of our journey will result in life eternal; in fellowship with the One and True, Creator God...for once what is "too good to be true"....will finally "be true".

vanilla sky in athens

it feels like it was a lucid dream.

everytime I come back here there is a refreshing of my spirit. this time, along with that refreshing, the song from the final scene in vanilla sky is playing in the coffee shop where I'm writing. I don't do ironic...so it's just a cool moment.

the people change, the places do not. the footsteps sound familiar but faces are different.

the transformation spiritually and personally that I experienced at OU will always stay with me. I still work through it, still uncover it, still live it out.

yes all things come to an end...but for this moment it is good to be back....

the humanness of today

lost sometimes in all the teaching, theology, and interpretations related to the scriptures is the humanness of it all. We follow Jesus of Nazareth. Though God, still man. We follow one who during His time was seen as a nuisance, seen by many as one who draws away the people. Who defies not only Judaism but also Caesar. They crucified people like this and Jesus was no different. When recounting history as a whole, Jesus' life, though respected by many, is but a blurb.

It is what God has allowed us to see that makes the landscape look much different. The followers of Jesus, Christ-ians, as we are called have a perspective that is not our own yet is shared by us all. God has revealed His plans, His mysteries, His Son and His-story to us. We see life through a divine lens. Life for us is a bit different. We push against the grain, sometimes not even sure why or how. Choices we make are obscure to most, understood by few. We are always in process, yet never reaching the end until our days are fulfilled.

We are the "sons and daughters" of those who have gone before us. From those who walked with Jesus, to those who saw Him resurrected, to those who were killed and tortured because of their allegiance to Him, we are the fruit. Today we carry on this faith that began almost 2000 years ago.

As I reflect on Good Friday, I see the Good in it. My prayer is that I can continue to see more of the good than I already do. I pray that I can continually see my sin nailed to His hands and feet.

We don't follow a worldview, or a thought, or a political agenda, or an idea.

We follow Jesus of Nazareth, the"Son of man". May we, as others before, follow Him, with our lives.

Surely He comes quickly.