What Am I Allowed To Do?

I feel like I hear predominant questions about Christianity frequently and they always have to do with what the individual is "allowed" to do. I'm sure if we're all honest, we can all attest to asking these kinds of questions too. They always seem to sound like some of the following... Am I allowed to (fill in the blank)? Can I (fill in the blank)? What does the Bible say about (fill in the blank)? Will God be mad if I (fill in the blank)? How far can I go with (fill in the blank)? Can I drink (fill in the blank)? You get the point. 


Whenever I'm asked what God's "take" is on any of those kinds of questions, I always lick the tip of my finger and hit the Bible pages looking for the clear cut yes/no answer. The problem with that is, a lot of the time there are no clear cut answers, and most people, myself included, will take the liberty of assuming its ok to do "whatever" as long as the Bible doesn't give a black and white answer against it. Or if  we find the answer is "grey", we'll justify it to ourselves somehow, usually by saying, "Hey it's a grey area." 


This is why I love Paul. 


Please take a moment to read Romans 14:14-21 (I would type it all out but then no one would read this because it's already too long) 


Now, you can substitute "food" in that passage with a (fill in the blank). 


Basically Paul is saying, Ok we believe that some of the things we do are ok and we are justified in doing them. But some other people may think those things are wrong. So, don't let what you do get in the way of someone's potential relationship with Jesus Christ because... you see, Christ suffered a pretty agonizing death with nails ripping through his flesh to a tree for that person. So, don't ruin God's plan over the things you do, whether you think your'e right in your own eyes or not, or even if you "interpreted" scripture to justify your actions. It is just better to abstain from the questionable things if those things may cause someone else to stumble. 


This way of thinking makes following Jesus a bit more radical in terms of what we're "allowed" to do. Hmm... Jesus was kind of radical too... wasn't He? 

The Platform 1/19/2010

In life, sometimes we just need to take a chance. In the midst of that uncertain leap, we will find ourselves vulnerable. Everything within us will tell us not to jump. Fear will keep us standing on the platform. Fear can reason, and reason will keep us looking out from the safety of the platform. The platform isn’t bad. The platform is where we’ve been our whole lives. It is familiar. It is certain. It is safe. But something within us longs to see what is beyond the platform. So we close our eyes and take a step, only to find ourselves scurrying back to safety. But in the still small moment, when our feet were lifted in mid-step, a voice began to speak. It was small, yet persistent. It was there faintly behind the shouting fear. So we take a deep breath. We focus on the small voice. It is our hearts. After listening for a while, we, despite all logic, jump from the platform. With that jump comes a whole new world. With our breath gone, we manage to see the old platform as a distant memory that is soon quickly forgotten.

My Testimony

I grew up a pastor’s kid. All through my childhood, I was taught the importance of loving God and going to church. I am very thankful for growing up in a Godly Christian home. I believe those were the years that taught me where I should place my priorities. Later on, though, I started to think more for myself, and there came a point when I had to decide if I wanted to follow God or not. Of course, when I was younger I loved the idea of the Creator of the universe caring about little old me.I loved the idea of spending my post-life jumping on a cloudy trampoline in heaven after I died even more. Growing up I knew that I wanted to keep my rear out of Hell. This I was certain of.

Later on, though, I started to think that my way of thinking was a little shallow. At that point, when I became a teenager, I didn’t want to follow God because people told me to, but I wanted to follow Him because I knew from experience that He was worth following. All through this struggle of searching for God to prove Himself to me, I really continued to play “Christian” very well. I grew up a pastor’s kid, so I could talk Bible language with the best of them.

This is when I began to live a very two-faced life. The person I was at school was not the person I was at church. The person who I was with my friends was not the person who I was with my family. I tried to justify my actions to myself by saying, “At least I’m not smoking pot or getting drunk like most kids.” This is when God really started to work in me. I was starting to feel guilty for my two-faced lifestyle. I now see it was the Holy Spirit who was working in me.

It was starting to become clear to me that I needed God in a big way. I would go to youth retreats, get inspired, come home “on fire,” and then cool off in a couple weeks. This continued for a while. I knew that God existed, and I knew I wanted to follow Him, but it was hard for me to follow a God who would seem to continually distance Himself from me.

After a while of the same lukewarm living, my friends and I in my youth group at church were told about an event called “Fine Arts Festival.” Fine Arts Festival is essentially an art competition for church people. We then were told that if you got past the district level, you could compete at the national level which happened to be in Denver, Colorado. We Jersey kids wanted to go to Denver.

To make a long story short, we competed in a couple of Human Video categories, acting out stories to music, and made it to Nationals in Denver. God had a plan for me and my youth friends. It was in Denver, in a huge auditorium seating hundreds and hundreds of God-crazy youth, that God totally changed my life.

God showed Himself to me in Denver, and He inspired me to the point where I wanted everyone to experience God like I had. Something within me “clicked.” I came home with a fire that would not go out. I immediately immersed myself in His Word, the Bible. Then, I started to act out what the Bible was saying and to live the lifestyle God wanted me to live.

I began to experience that as I loved people like God continually loved me, He would fill me with His presence. It really made sense to me why Jesus said the two most important commandments are to love Him and to love others.

My whole view of God had changed. When I was younger I wanted an “in” to heaven; now I didn’t care whether there was a heaven or not. I was experiencing a closeness to God that was good enough for me to continually follow Him and love people, whether there was a heaven or not.

This is exactly where I am today. God has shown me the best way to live, and that is His way of living. I live a life of sacrifice for Him, and I follow the two most important commandments, to love God and to love people. God has continually shaken me to the point of awe as I obey these commandments. My life has been changed, and it is now my goal to spread the quite literal “good news” that Jesus Christ has to offer to people. The “good news” being that there is a very real God, and He wants a personal relationship with every living person.

Skipping Rocks

Once upon a time there was a guy named Bob. Bob was wicked good at skipping rocks. He was the best rock-skipper in all the world.

Bob had two agents who represented him, Tom and Nancy.

One day this guy, Jim, wanted to see just how good Bob was. Jim was doubtful that Bob truly was the best rock-skipper in all the world.

Jim walked up to the first agent, Tom, and said to him, “I don’t believe Bob is the best rock-skipper in all the world.”

Tom immediately got very upset that Jim would say something absurd like that. Tom got so mad that he immediately listed tons and tons of reasons why Bob was indeed the best rock-skipper in all the world.

Jim wasn’t buying it. So Jim walked away.

The next day, Jim walked up to the second agent, Nancy, and said to her, “I don’t believe Bob is the best rock-skipper in all the world.”

Nancy immediately got very excited and said, “It really is something you need to experience to believe!”

This made Jim very curious to see Bob in action.

So Nancy took Jim to the stream where Bob showed up to practice each day.

Jim saw Bob throw a rock and his eyes welled up as he said, “Bob truly is the best rock-skipper in all the world.”

People sometimes struggle with the thought of God and even talk badly and raise really blunt upsetting questions about Him. When people do that, Christians’ first responses, most of the time, are to defend the name of Christ. That’s not bad. In that process though, we tend to get a little heated. If there is one thing I have learned about sharing “the good news” it is that, talk is incredibly cheap and anger brings out more anger. When Jesus went up to someone He said, “Come follow me.” He invited people to experience that He was and is God.

Talk is cheap. Anger is bad. When it comes to “the good news,” help people experience and don’t get mad if they raise some angering questions in the process.

The Jesus Bar

A standard has been set for the way people should live. The bar has been set, and it has been set by Jesus. Jesus lived and went through everything we go through in life. He lived in the same kind of world that we live in today. His mandate was to change everything, and by doing so, He set the bar SO incredibly high. The Jesus Bar was created.

I have to be honest, when I first realized how high the bar has been set, I was extremely discouraged and even angry with God. "God, how can You be so unfair by expecting me to live up to this kind of a standard You have created? You want me try to live this way when I...JUST... CAN'T." After a lot of thought, prayer, and seeking to understand why God would set this kind of standard for living, I got real happy.

Jesus was perfect. He lived a completely sinless life. Perfect. The bar He has set for people to strive for is a bar of perfection. Here is the beautiful thing about The Jesus Bar - we won't come anywhere near reaching it. In fact, we won’t even be able to touch the coat tails of that bar of perfection.

At first, this really upset me. Why would I strive for something I know I could never reach? Now I realize that I do, and will, because God is amazing for setting that bar so high! No matter how good I am, I can be better. No matter how close to God I am, I can get closer. At the very end of the day, when I look back and say I did well and feel very close to God, God recognizes that I did and am; then I am challenged by that bar to be even better and to get even closer.

Jesus has set the bar. The bar is perfection. Our lives and our relationships with God can always be better and stronger. We will never reach our apex in these things. With each step comes a huge feeling of amazement and that will never, never, go away as long as we continue reaching for that unreachable Jesus Bar.