I think one thing people should maybe tell you when you set out to follow Christ is that there really is no such thing as a “good Christian”. Maybe I’m a bit extreme, but I inwardly squirm every time I hear this phrase thrown around in conversation. “Good Christian” is often used in the context of a person’s good works and impressive track record to connote a character of constant vigilance and obedience to God. The reason I balk at the phrase is that the pursuit to being a good Christian seems like – ultimately – an illegitimate one. Christ’s blood is, for us, the great equalizer – there are no people who are more or less saved. There are no better or worse Christians – only Christians.
Keeping that in mind, Paul tells us all to run as if to win the race (1 Corinthians 9:24). As believers, we have the power of Christ fueling and supporting us. And because of that fact we often expect to look like champion marathoners in this undertaking – really good, really impressive. We imagine ourselves running swiftly, steadily on a straight dirt path as the sun rises behind us, with a gentle wind conveniently nudging us forward. But this couldn’t be further from our reality! Instead of running like winners towards God, we often find ourselves stumbling forward blindly. Sometimes, we have no idea what we’re doing or what our pace is supposed to be. Our feet will snag at obstacles in the road and we can be in danger of falling off the track completely. [...more]
I have this reputation of sleeping through or skipping class. I don’t know how I got it. I mean, I can’t say I’ve never done it before. I can’t even say it’s a rare occurrence. All I can say is that I’m pretty sure my reputation gives me less credit than I may deserve.
Credit. Good one.
But what I always try to do is go to the first class of the semester. Sometimes, you get professors that give little soapboxes. At first, they’re talking about the purpose of the course. But then they start talk about the eternal significance of the subject matter, and a few of them even go ranting on about the meaning of life. Sometimes, the only significant thing I take away from a course at the end of the semester is that random rant in that first lecture.
During my first class of this semester, my professor was talking about our potential post-graduation plans, and he was recommending that we go to law school after getting our engineering degree. He says he works with some lawyers in California that help save the environment, and they do fascinating things. For one, the Mekong River runs through six countries in Southeast Asia, and some countries want to build reservoirs with it, but that will cause ecology issues in other countries. So they’re trying to rake up a compromise, and they have lawyers who are also engineers working on the issue.
And he went on trying to persuade us into actually going into law, talking about the money we’ll have and the cars we’ll drive and the vacations we’ll take. And then he said his climax, “And after all of that, you’ll go on quite an ego trip.” [...more]
This is something I wrote in response to some hard questions posed by a friend of mine. I’m not sure that they’ll read this, but maybe it can do something for you, whether you are a Christian or not.
Has this ever happened to you? You head out to church on Sunday. You’re reluctant and tired, but decide you’re going to try to get the most out of the sermon that you can while you’re there. So you listen to the pastor as he tries to persuade you why Christianity is such a good idea. Kind of like a first date where the guy flashes his best smile and gentlemanly door-opening behavior, or a big job interview where you flex your credentials. Every sermon wants to make an impressive, convincing case for God. [...more]
Hey guys, I hope that you’re all enjoying the winter break with your family and friends. I know that it’s very easy to get caught up in the gifts and the tree and everything that comes with the season. I think it’s important for us to get together with friends and family and celebrate the true reason for the season, Jesus!
I found this cute video about the Christmas Story a.k.a. the awesome story leading up to the birth of Jesus, and wanted to share it with you all. It’s embed below, and here’s a link too if you need it. To entice you, it features cute little kids with awesome New Zealand accents! Hope you all enjoy it!
Merry Christmas!
Last week, I was working on a project in Upson’s computer lab. It was getting pretty late, so despite my efforts to stay awake, my brain decided to go with its usual time clock and fall asleep. I woke up three or four hours later staring at a black screen.
I shook the mouse a bit to bring my Microsoft Word and Excel back, but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. The computer had restarted. Wonderful. For those of you who don’t know, these computers have this nifty feature in which they automatically restart after half an hour of inactivity. And they erase everything on them too. So, I ended up spending the rest of the night in Upson making up for my lost work. I felt a bit like I had wasted half my night. [...more]