A Compass

Genesis 2:22-23

I wonder what it must have been like for Adam and Eve to experience the level of vulnerability that they did. Up until about three weeks ago I was scarred "shitless" about being vulnerable with anyone. It just didnt feel like it was natural to me, and in a sense it isnt anymore. Adam and Eve experienced something for part of their lives that we can only look forward to in heaven. In this day of being able to change your physical appearance with the slice of a knife or find a spiritual view that fits you best for that situation through church shopping, there isnt a high demand for physical or even spiritual vulnerability. But your emotions, your personality, and who you are to your friends is what is truly worth its weight in gold. Think about Adam and Eve. Naked, in perfect union with God, and really both made directly from the hand of the same creator and from the same essence. Dust. But each had a different role in God's plan. They were there for each other for emotional encouragement. Yes, we can get emotional encouragement from our Father in Heaven and we can feel close to others within a spiritual context of brothers and sisters in Christ, but the emotional vulnerability is what Adam longed for and what God provided for Him. I mean, it must have taken Adam a long time to realize it and thats why God didnt create Eve yet. Adam needed to desire for himself to be that friend, to have that friend, and to serve as a friend to literally his other half. Eve really was part of this transformation as well. Adam's physical body (not in a sexual way) longed for a playful, desirable, friend to live life together and react in a human way (still perfect at this point) to the emotions of being limited by this plain and yet having the desire to worship God "limitlessly" with all that was created here for us. Eve was always there with Adam, albeit as his rib, but she was created from that desire, for that desire of emotional intimacy with God and with Adam.
Within the context of emotions, it is important to realize that it is to be three part balance between the emotional, spiritual, and physical realms that we live in. It is irrelevant whose fault it was that man fell, whether it was the man or the woman, snake or predestined for God's glory to be shone. The point is that it happened. Bad things happen when we dont test our emotional forwardness (of relational commitments) against the spiritual guidance that we have received or are receiving from God. In the same way, if our heart says, "Go put your physical self in unnecessary danger when the simple act of being physically available is more important than the end result of the danger" (see the movie "My Girl" 2001). Dont get me wrong with that last part, I believe that no amount of danger is too much to save the woman you love, but at the same time, to accomplish the winning of her heart should not include taking unnecessary risks that would neither encourage her nor admonish Christ. Very seldom as a man do I feel like I take too many emotional risks, and for certain it is the other way around. There are many different guides that a man can use when making a decision or when seeking guidance, and let it be known that this is simply one way of looking at a situation and does not apply in all cases, nor even in most. But a man's heart sometimes is not his lone compass. "Let your heart be your guide" is often thought of as a fairy tale theme which is often true because as men we are so ADD or ADHD or whatever when it comes to love, friendships, and our spiritual walk. I myself have so many times been caught saying, "Oh, well this no longer benefits me spiritually so it must be God saying I need something else to fill it." When in reality the quality of the sermon or the worship songs selected may not be the reason why I dont feel close to God. And so the trendyness of todays world and the quick fixes of today often leave me distracted from a history of following Christ daily instead of hoping for mountain top experiences. The same goes for love or even friendships. Cedar Pointe, or camping, or fancy dinners, or even vacations are great experiences and highlights of moments shared and vulnerability, but so often they fade into the background of the history of the relationships (friendship or otherwise) and simply are just chalked up as a shared "great" weekend and nothing more. In between these times different compasses smash against the one that God created in our heart to help guide us all our days. Compasses like career advancement, worldly pleasures (drugs, sex, booze, rock and roll), and even things like busyness and the calamity of the everyday life. These "guides" smash against our compass and demagnetize it. They leave us confused and heading in circles asking, "why arent i growing closer to him or her or God?" And its only when we realize that while everything seems alright on the outside, it is when we look at the fine-tuned heart that God gave each of us that we find our true solution. Each day, we must ask God for a new heart in Him. A new heart with a new compass, or rather the old one. The compass that leads us to the the desire for a relationship with God and a relationship with others. A passion for beauty, for art, for life, and for vulnerability. A strength that comes with knowing that my heart is from God and that my value comes from God. For so many times we can feel that our physical or spiritual destiny can be turned on and off and we dont realize that our emotional fortitude is actually the strongest yet. Our emotional strength comes from a compass that points at the heart of God and it is in God's heart that we find our true calling and our true destiny. That when we follow God's true north, or rather get back on track with His true north, everything that he brings across our path or brings us back to is from Him alone. No burning bushes, no holy light illuminating a direction, just obedience leading to unseen blessings of a life full of Him. For when we give up our own self-esteem and become truly vulnerable with others, then we learn that we have our Father God's-esteem.


http://www.goxplore.net/guides/Compass

Sweet Baby James - James Taylor

One of the best songs ever!!!!

^^^Click above ;-)

Experiences Desired

I was like super busy for the last month of school. It as really, really exciting and yet really, really stressful. I had to make many sacrifices, some I regret and some I don’t. Priorities have always been a tough thing for me to struggle with. I think that’s why it has always been so important to me to surround myself with others around me, to build me up, to hold me accountable. I know I’m not strong enough to do this on my own, to live my life on my own. My first accountability comes from God, currently my second accountability comes from my brothers in Christ and my friends, and then thirdly my support and accountability has been my family. I would consider myself close to my family but I feel like I struggle with so many trust issues that come from that third part of accountability. I have been taught that you can’t really count on anyone. That you can’t really trust all you have with anyone. And that the best you can do is hope that God picks up the pieces. I know this not to be true. I know that God is bigger than simply a vacuum. My relationship with God is so much bigger than just letting God sweep up crap in my life. He is the glue that holds my life together. God is the passion in my life, the love that holds me close and the love that ignites my heart. My personality (good and bad) might come from my family, but my destiny within the hands of my Lord Jesus Christ. My joy comes from Him alone and the strength that I train for; physical, emotional, spiritual strength, all of it comes from my Lord. At the same time that my heart is strong, I need to make sure that it is the reflection of a humble, friendly, loving God. His joy should be my joy! As John Eldridge says in W@H, God’s goal is about “restoring a Godly dream in the soul of a man. A desire to truly be a man, rather than a softened-neutered-nice-but-restrained-guy that the world has somehow dictated that Christian males should be.” I often get confused at to what I might think one person whats, what a friend wants, what God wants; when in reality I have learned that all I can do is open my heart to new experiences and to new joys. To be vulnerable is what it is like to truly live. God will take care of the details, and with Him in my life; all the other pieces will come together according to His wisdom.

New Experiences according to God’s plan and timing I hope to accomplish in the next few weeks, months, years (hopefully more than once):
Play lots of Euchre and learn new card games
Skydiving
Camping-often
Scubadiving
Parasailing
Surfing
Sailing
Backpacking in Colorado
Going Snowboarding again…but on fresh powder this time
Visit Europe
Live abroad (not for a while though)
Dance for more than 30 min in a summer rain
Eagle a Par 5 golf hole
Learn to play the guitar
Take and “pass” the GMAT
Encourage others
Grow toward God daily
Be a better friend
Show that I can be a friend within aspects of relationships
Get married (only once)
Live Boldly

IBM

Last night at Brett's brother's high school graduation party three different people made reference that I should have taken the much higher paying job with IBM instead of P&G but one guy said I had made the right choice. I just don't understand how two of those people who claim to be following Christ can ask me or suggest to me to undergo a consulting lifestyle that will not allow me to be connected as well to a home church, or family, or have any decent relationships near where I am living. What prolly really bothered me the most is that one of the people suggested that I should have been thinking of my career instead of my past relationships when making a decision. I personally love the fact I am gonna be with P&G and the fact that I still stand 100% by the decision that I made. I just dont know if I am gonna be ready for the forces coming against me when it comes to this new career path where I am gonna have little to no support group in Cincinnati at first and I am afraid for how strong my support group is going to be outside of that as half of it is leaving Lansing for across the country and the other half is back in Lansing but I may only see them once a month or once every other month. I know I made the right decision but I also know that I am gonna need a ton of support from God as my only true daily bread.

http://www.myutmost.org/

Depths

When I was in late middle school and all throughout highschool the one song that resounded most strongly with my Christian walk was "Did you feel the mountains tremble". So often in my life I have needed that overpowering wave of strength in my life that I have tried to fill with so many other things. It would always be so reassuring to just get swept away in the tide of God. To feel the power of the ocean thunder past me like the rainstorm flooding across a plain. I guess one of the best illustrations I have ever seen/heard was from Rob Bell's first Nooma called rain. Now you can say what you want about Rob Bell and his methods, but in truth, the videos are about assisting others in connecting with God, which is what we all need to do. Sometimes I feel like I am just running through a forest, the choas of life, when a little rain drop falls, then another, then another. Pretty soon I am in a downpour when I can't even see in front of me and I dont know where I'm going. I am sure I am backtracking, if even I knew where I was supposed to be going. I often have felt like I just want to stop moving all together, that wandering wont do me any good. I just need some guidance through the storm of life. Through the aloneness of life. The strength that comes from God is such an overpowering and yet subtle strength. Its the strength of controlling the lightning and thunder, and yet the mere whisper of God and of His perfect plan allows the tallest tip of Everest to shudder in His presence. It is that reminder that while God is scary and the tests of life that are scary, that is when we need to remember that He is always with us and carrying us through the junk and crap, and storms of life. With some of my brothers in Christ during Bible study this past week we discussed how so often we can look back at our lives and praise God about how apparent he was during those hard times and how He was leading us right back to our sweet spot in His arms the entire time. That all the pain and scariness of life, while not needing to be avoided, could have been a lot easier had we stopped fighting His loving arms to carry us through it all.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRfoVc3zCa4

Did you feel the mountains tremble?
Did you hear the oceans roar?
When the people rose to sing of
Jesus Christ, the risen One

Did you feel the people tremble?
Did you hear the singers roar?
When the lost began to sing of
Jesus Christ, the Saving One

And we can see that
God You’re moving
A mighty river through the nations
And young and old will turn to Jesus
Fling wide you heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Open up the doors
Let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring Your hope
Songs that bring Your joy
Dancers who dance
Upon injustice

Do you feel the darkness tremble?
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokenness