Hebrews 6:4-6

I have always been afraid of Hebrews 6:4-6. It’s the disputed passage which provokes most of the talk of whether a Christian can loose their Salvation or not. I have been tackling that passage for the past week now reading whatever I can about it. I still don’t feel like I completely understand it, but for the first time I felt extremely encouraged by it.

The verse just before this section says “And God permitting, we will do so.” I would like to think that in 40 years I be walking with God even more passionately than I am today, but by simply telling myself that I cannot escape the fear of uncertainty. Ultimately the only thing, and best thing, I can do is petition God to continue having grace on me and my friends’ lives. Faith is a gift from God, so why don’t I ask for it more? It would be utterly unrealistic to say that by trying really really hard I can continue walking with God for the rest of my life. It’s only through his grace over me now and in the future that I stand a chance in the real world.

Hebrews 3:12-14

“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be heardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

What is the connection between sin and unbelief? I believe this passage in Hebrews speaks clearly about this. The context of this passage is the author of Hebrews explaining at length about how God declared on oath that the Israelites shall never enter his rest because they “tested and tried me” and because their hearts were hardened with sin. The progression of the Israelites was that they saw an incredible act of God’s power through being released from slavery from Egypt, yet quickly fell into sin. This sin caused them to doubt that God was with them and they began to demand God would display signs that he was in fact with them. This was stabbing God in the back, essentially demanding he show more of his power to them after he had already shown them the greatest visible act of his power in the history of the world. The sin Israel committed caused them to doubt God.

And so it is with us. Sin is deceitful, and possibly one of the greatest methods off deceit sin offers is by assaulting our identity. This is the meaning of the author of Hebrews telling us to “encourage one another daily.” Encouragement is defined as “getting alongside of and helping each other.” We must encourage each other daily of our true identity. We must hold firmly and remain confident that our lives are hidden with Christ, we are holy because of His blood, and he choose us to be of the same family—fellow co-heirs to the Throne.

John the Baptist

JUNE 30 2007

...For some reason updating this blog is really difficult to motivate myself to do this summer...

Here are some reasons why I really admire John the Baptist:

-He knew his role: he was never to be Jesus, simply point people to Him.

-He never tried to compete with Jesus. Rather, he allowed Jesus to take his disciples.

-After a life of doing nothing but telling people that John is not the Christ and that Jesus is coming soon, he was thrown in prison and beheaded.

Here's why I like those things:

-I am not to be Jesus. I cannot solve the problems of the people on my team. I can try, but the best I can actually do is temporarily postpone the problem. Rather, my role is to take them to Jesus, whether hand in hand, ahead setting the pace for them, or behind pushing them.

-My goal is for my men to grow, and if at the end the summation of their growth is from the Holy Spirit transforming them in ways that I can't get near in Bible Studies, doing quiet times with them, or one on ones, that all the better.

-My reward is eternal.

buisness as usual

JUNE 16 2007

Sorry it's been so long since the last post...

Life here is finally rolling along on somewhat of a scheduled pace. It seemed like it was a long time coming, with what seemed like a long waiting period before this, but it finally feels like I'm on a standard weekly schedule that will reflect what the rest of the summer looks like.

Just for a filler, here's profiles of my three guys on my team: (sorry, pictures will come once someone gives me a digital camera... :)).

-Steve Willson:
From CU Boulder. Pretty introverted and quiet, but has a great unique sense of humor, and is one of the more courageous guys I've known. He has a real heart for finding answers and truth reflected in his thought provoking questions, and because of ROTC is one of the more disciplined guys I know.

-Brad Southard:
Industrial Design major at a school near Boulder. He is pretty much a jack of all trade; he even made a wooden workable bike, which from the pictures is pretty sweet. Pray he would connect well with other guys here, as he goes to a school near UCBoulder, so it's a little harder to get involved with the Nav Group there. He is working in maintenance, which interacts with my job alot, which is pretty sweet. That means we get to see each other somewhat often on the job and have very similar scheduled shifts.

-Andy Hlushak
I already wrote a little about Hlushak in another post, but just to reiterate... He's an art major from CSU, who is a mix of Zach Cobos and Trip Carroll, if you know either of those. Very enjoyable to be around and a natural leader, though I don't think he sees himself as such. He is extremely excited about Jesus, and I am really looking forward to how God will root him this summer.

As for myself, I feel like God has been reminding me a lot about my priorities and why I am here. I am here to serve these men in whatever way I can, and to push, pull, entice, or otherwise move them towards Jesus. Their growth, being firmly rooted in the word with a genuine concern and love of others is the Wall that I would like to build in their life (Nehemiah had 52ish days to build a wall; I have roughly the same time to do this through devotion and prayer). I have also been learning a lot from the Gospels, especially through John the Baptist's Father and Mary, about what it means and looks like to trust God at what he has promised to do. Romans 5:17 says of Abraham: "He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Abraham believed God's promise because he knew God can and would give life to the dead and call things that are not as though they were. I believe God has purpose for these men, that he desires their growth more than I do, and that he is more than capable of doing great things in their lives. Would you join in praying that these men would be deeply rooted in Christ this summer?

FROM JUNE 7 2007

40 hours of orientation and counting...

Actually its really not that bad. It even snowed all day yesterday and today, which was pretty sweet.

So far only one dude on my team has arrived, but I definitely can't complain about that. His name is Andy Hlushak, and he's sup[er awesome. Despite being slightly intimidated by him at the beginning due to his sweet beard, but I've really enjoyed being able to spend the last two days with him. His heart is really teachable, and seems to be in the perfect place for a summer like this. I am pretty excited

Like Nehemiah having 52 days to build a wall, I have about 2 months to do everything I can to establish the guys on my team. There are three areas specifically I would love my guys to grow in this summer:
1. Unity, such that our team would spur other teams on towards unity. (Romans 15:5-7)
2. Lasting Fruit. Any fruit I grow by my own power will be puny and best, and picked off by the enemy soon after everyone goes home. My prayer is of John 15:16, for God to develop fruit that will last.
3. Intimacy with Christ. Pray that my guys [and myself] will understand what it means to call Jesus a husband, and to read the Word as if it were a letter written by God specifically to them. (Hosea 2:16)

later

72 Hours In

Hey! so i've been here about three days, endured alot of training, met all the team leaders, and thankfully feel slightly more prepared to be a team leader this summer. I'm pretty excited about it, but i think it'll be realy hard. I can already see me being sacrificial for a week or so, and then inwardly becoming arrogant, selfish, or unloving. Pray against that if you would, and for Christ's power to shine through in these areas of weakness, stretching me and really blessing the men He has entrusted to me. Tomorrow my team arrives (three of them). I'm both exited and nervous.

Yesterday we took a field trip to the Glen and were priviledged to hear Mike Treneer, the intermational president of Navigators, give one of the best talks i've ever heard. He discussed the apparent weakness of the Gospel, referencing the tension between the Cosmic incarnation of God in human form, able to send legions of angels at his beckon, with John the Baptist imprisioned for years facing death and douting whether Jesus was the Christ. Essentially, why do laborers of the gospel face hardship, persecution, and death. What really stuck out to me was an analogy he used of pres. truman during WWII facing the decision of the atomic bomb. i'll try to recap it:

At the end of WWII, america clearly had defeated the japanese, and it was simply a matter of time before they surrendered. Pres. Truman had two choices, drop the nuclear bomb and beat into submission the relentless enemy, significantly reducing american casualties yet taking many innocent lives with the enemy, or sending in soldiers to go door to door and seperate the enemies from the innocent, sentencing countless american soldiers to death. Being the president and obligated to serve america, he chose the only noble choice. however, God does just the opposite. when jesus rebuked peter in the garden after cutting off the ear of the guard, jesus said he could send legions of angels to his rescue at a moments notice, but that was not the way God would have it. He would send salvation in the form of a cross to ensure an opportunity for as many as possible to be released from captivity, and would send laborers door to door into the strongholds of the enemy to face real danger for the sake of saving the masses. the apparent weakness of the gospel is no weakness at all; it is God's mercy withholding his power by sending laborers to reach the harrassed and helpless captives for the expansion of His Kingdom, wishing that none would perish.

how rad is that? Why am I laboring here this summer? because the Kingdom is expanded by one person talking to another, and watching God produce a domino effect that will reach the nations.