I’ve breached many subjects in the last month or so of this website. And it’s been fun. However, it’s time for it to end. Yes, it feels like it has just started (and it has), but the time for the teachings are over. Except for this last one.
Humility. Such a scary word. And yet, it has the same general idea as submission.
I’ve been wrong lots of times. I know other people who have been wrong in different situations also. What I always find interesting, though, is how people act. Do they get angry, sad, worried, or right? How do they handle the situation? Cause whether they know it or not, it makes a world of difference.
Let’s pretend I’m wrong. I said something at some function to a group of people that I shouldn’t have said. What should my reaction be? Humbling myself into apology. But not just an apology to God — that would be way too easy. I would have to get back up in front of those people and ask them to forgive me. It goes the same way on a personal basis. If you offend somebody, you have to go to them personally and apologize. And that’s humbling.
I think that people have this whole apologizing thing down pack, or they at least think they do. But listen folks: it’s EASY to apologize to God. He’s not going to go and tell everybody what we did. And we have assurance that he will love us no matter what. But to apologize to a friend or group of people…that’s different. A friend can go and tell everybody what happened. And a group of people have every right in the book to think badly of you. It’s a risk.
A rewarding one though.
The other half of humbling yourself is learning. You can’t just apologize and move on; you have to learn from the situation. Otherwise, what was the point of it?
Please, always, always learn from a humbling situation. It’s a gift from God.
Thank you all for your time in reading “Liquid Agape.” I hope that in some sense you have a better idea of how to have liquid agape running through your veins. Please, if you have any friends that you think could benefit from these thoughts, send them this way. The website will continue to stay just where it’s at. Thank you again, and good night.
8.21.2007
8.20.2007
Choices, choices, actions
I wonder, honestly, what people think of submission. Do they think it’s a one time choice? Or do they think it’s something that is done often? Or something that isn’t really a decision, but a series of choices? Maybe a mixture of all three? Or maybe there’s a whole thought altogether that I’m missing. I’m not sure.
The first thing that does come to mind is the apostle Peter. It seemed that when Christ was on earth, Peter was completely devoted to Jesus. There was no end to the submission. But then Christ was captured. Tortured. Killed. No more devotion from Peter. No more submission. This leads me to believe that submission is a continual choice. If we read on in the bible we see that Jesus comes back, and Peter is once again submissive to Christ, and he stays that way for the rest of his life.
However, I also doubt that Peter was able to stay totally submissive to Christ his whole life. I know that there’s a battle that goes on inside me all the time. It’s a battle to be submissive to Christ, or submissive to myself. This leads me to believe that submission isn’t so much a continual decision as a bunch of choices that show submission.
I want you to think for a second. As humans, we can make a choice, but that doesn’t always mean much. On Sunday morning I can easily make the choice to read my bible everyday, but that choice doesn’t mean squat unless I follow through with it. In other words, I can make the choice to be submissive to Christ, but it doesn’t mean anything unless I follow through with it.
It’s the same thing with wedding vows. When you take them you are making the choice to be submissive to the person you are marrying, but it’s not really submission until you do it.
I’m pretty sure that it’s both a choice and an action. But I’m also pretty sure that the important part is that it’s continual. It’s a continual choice followed by an action. And so I think it also has to be said that if you’re not continually making a choice to follow God and then doing it, you’re continually making a choice in the opposite direction.
Which leads me to yet another question:
What choices are you making?
Submissive to God choices?
Submissive to Spouse choices?
Submissive to People choices?
Or submissive to self choices?
What kind of actions are you making?
Submissive to God actions?
Submissive to Spouse actions?
Submissive to People actions?
Or submissive to self actions?
Think ‘bout it…
The first thing that does come to mind is the apostle Peter. It seemed that when Christ was on earth, Peter was completely devoted to Jesus. There was no end to the submission. But then Christ was captured. Tortured. Killed. No more devotion from Peter. No more submission. This leads me to believe that submission is a continual choice. If we read on in the bible we see that Jesus comes back, and Peter is once again submissive to Christ, and he stays that way for the rest of his life.
However, I also doubt that Peter was able to stay totally submissive to Christ his whole life. I know that there’s a battle that goes on inside me all the time. It’s a battle to be submissive to Christ, or submissive to myself. This leads me to believe that submission isn’t so much a continual decision as a bunch of choices that show submission.
I want you to think for a second. As humans, we can make a choice, but that doesn’t always mean much. On Sunday morning I can easily make the choice to read my bible everyday, but that choice doesn’t mean squat unless I follow through with it. In other words, I can make the choice to be submissive to Christ, but it doesn’t mean anything unless I follow through with it.
It’s the same thing with wedding vows. When you take them you are making the choice to be submissive to the person you are marrying, but it’s not really submission until you do it.
I’m pretty sure that it’s both a choice and an action. But I’m also pretty sure that the important part is that it’s continual. It’s a continual choice followed by an action. And so I think it also has to be said that if you’re not continually making a choice to follow God and then doing it, you’re continually making a choice in the opposite direction.
Which leads me to yet another question:
What choices are you making?
Submissive to God choices?
Submissive to Spouse choices?
Submissive to People choices?
Or submissive to self choices?
What kind of actions are you making?
Submissive to God actions?
Submissive to Spouse actions?
Submissive to People actions?
Or submissive to self actions?
Think ‘bout it…
8.18.2007
Sad Days
Sad days call for sad memories.
I work in developmental therapy. For the past 10 months I’ve worked with a particularly special client. Friday, however, brought around the end of my time in my current office. Not that I won’t be around to work with him once in a while, but I’m pretty much done here (well, minus the summers).
And so this brings me to my next lesson: submission isn’t just hard, it occasionally hurts. Bad.
You see, it’s not that easy for me to walk away and go to college. I’m leaving this person (that I’ve spent the 10 last months teaching) in the dust. Not that it’s wrong. I don’t believe it is. I believe that the next step for me is college. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.
What things happen in your life that make you hurt?
What submissions have you made, or do you have to make, that hurt?
I work in developmental therapy. For the past 10 months I’ve worked with a particularly special client. Friday, however, brought around the end of my time in my current office. Not that I won’t be around to work with him once in a while, but I’m pretty much done here (well, minus the summers).
And so this brings me to my next lesson: submission isn’t just hard, it occasionally hurts. Bad.
You see, it’s not that easy for me to walk away and go to college. I’m leaving this person (that I’ve spent the 10 last months teaching) in the dust. Not that it’s wrong. I don’t believe it is. I believe that the next step for me is college. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less.
What things happen in your life that make you hurt?
What submissions have you made, or do you have to make, that hurt?
8.17.2007
Submission Hardness
If I haven’t made this clear yet, I will: submission is never easy.
I’ll point you to my life for this. I’m leaving for college in 7 days. Maybe some of ya’ll have been there; good. Then you know how it feels. I want you to grasp that feeling for a second. If you haven’t done it, grasp on to a very uneasy, excited but anxious feeling.
That’s how I feel.
I can’t exactly say it isn’t wonderful; but it’s not just scary either. What does college have to do with God? A lot! I’m moving out on my own. I have to make my own decisions. I have to choose what the best choice is. How can I do that without God? But I have to be submissive to God in order to do that.
Let’s just take one thing: when creating my school schedule (which becomes “permanent” today) I had to choose whether to take ASL 101 (American Sign Language) or MUS 101 (Music). I received an e mail from the MUS 101 teacher because that’s what I was signed up for. She told me that her class is for mostly Music Majors, and that the MUS 100 would be better. I seriously thought about it. I asked her questions. And I asked God. I had to submit to him to let him guide me.
I know that seems easy, but come on! You talk to God about your school schedule and tell me how easy it is.
Relationships (the romantic kind) are another really hard area. My girlfriend and I have had lots of troubles, and it has come down to us asking God (at times) “is this where you want us?” Those questions and neither of the possible answers would be easy to hear, but the questions and submission is necessary.
Don‘t get the idea that just asking the questions is submission. That’s only the start. You have to actually bow down to the answer. If God told me to take MUS 101 but I took ASL 101, all I’m saying to God is “Thanks for your advice, but I’m going to do this instead.” It’s the same thing with KT and I; if we continued dating when God said to end it, life would be hell (and I mean that literally, not as a curse).
Once again we come to the part where I say that submission is such a huge subject that I can’t cover it all in one paper, and can probably never cover it by myself. It will take many other writers and speakers and teachers in the world. But the point I want to give is it’s not easy to submit. Today I’ve only given examples for submitting to God, but think of your relationships. Is it easy to do what’s best for everyone around you before you do what’s best for yourself? Is it easy to love ALL the people around you? Easy to treat them with dignity and respect?
And what’s life worth if we don’t?
I’ll point you to my life for this. I’m leaving for college in 7 days. Maybe some of ya’ll have been there; good. Then you know how it feels. I want you to grasp that feeling for a second. If you haven’t done it, grasp on to a very uneasy, excited but anxious feeling.
That’s how I feel.
I can’t exactly say it isn’t wonderful; but it’s not just scary either. What does college have to do with God? A lot! I’m moving out on my own. I have to make my own decisions. I have to choose what the best choice is. How can I do that without God? But I have to be submissive to God in order to do that.
Let’s just take one thing: when creating my school schedule (which becomes “permanent” today) I had to choose whether to take ASL 101 (American Sign Language) or MUS 101 (Music). I received an e mail from the MUS 101 teacher because that’s what I was signed up for. She told me that her class is for mostly Music Majors, and that the MUS 100 would be better. I seriously thought about it. I asked her questions. And I asked God. I had to submit to him to let him guide me.
I know that seems easy, but come on! You talk to God about your school schedule and tell me how easy it is.
Relationships (the romantic kind) are another really hard area. My girlfriend and I have had lots of troubles, and it has come down to us asking God (at times) “is this where you want us?” Those questions and neither of the possible answers would be easy to hear, but the questions and submission is necessary.
Don‘t get the idea that just asking the questions is submission. That’s only the start. You have to actually bow down to the answer. If God told me to take MUS 101 but I took ASL 101, all I’m saying to God is “Thanks for your advice, but I’m going to do this instead.” It’s the same thing with KT and I; if we continued dating when God said to end it, life would be hell (and I mean that literally, not as a curse).
Once again we come to the part where I say that submission is such a huge subject that I can’t cover it all in one paper, and can probably never cover it by myself. It will take many other writers and speakers and teachers in the world. But the point I want to give is it’s not easy to submit. Today I’ve only given examples for submitting to God, but think of your relationships. Is it easy to do what’s best for everyone around you before you do what’s best for yourself? Is it easy to love ALL the people around you? Easy to treat them with dignity and respect?
And what’s life worth if we don’t?
8.16.2007
You're not given passion?
I once heard somebody say, “We just aren’t passionate here!” when defending why they were leaving their church. You have to admit, that’s a slightly confusing statement. What people are really saying is “I don’t FEEL like being passionate here.”
In our Western society kind of thinking, we have this ideal that passion is something that’s supposed to be given to us. We think we have to do nothing to be passionate. But this is untrue. In reality, passion is something that we choose to have.
Everybody has talents. One of mine is writing. I like to write. But just because I like to write doesn’t mean that I am passionate about it. I have to choose to WANT to sit down everyday and write. I have to choose to enjoy it. And it goes the other way. I can be passionate about something without having a talent for it. For example, I love singing. My whole body tingles when I stand next to somebody singing very well. I feel passionate about singing, but you’ll never hear me sing outside of the church building.
Passion is something you have, and have to work to keep.
I love my girlfriend. But I wasn’t just given that love; I choose to love her everyday of my life. Otherwise, I might forget to look at her as the person I love, and I just look at her (possibly as the person I lust, instead). It’s the same for the church; you have to choose to be passionate. If you are spending time sitting on a pew and looking at all the flaws in the church body, are you going to be passionate? Hecka no. But when you’re out trying to make things better for the people around you, you maintain that passion.
Another thing you have to do to be passionate is show up. If you don’t show up to the services, you shouldn’t expect to be passionate. And don’t just show up, do something. Don’t turn things away when you’re asked to do something.
You can’t be passionate if you aren’t earning the passion.
That’s the bottom line, folks. Passion is a reward, not a gift.
In our Western society kind of thinking, we have this ideal that passion is something that’s supposed to be given to us. We think we have to do nothing to be passionate. But this is untrue. In reality, passion is something that we choose to have.
Everybody has talents. One of mine is writing. I like to write. But just because I like to write doesn’t mean that I am passionate about it. I have to choose to WANT to sit down everyday and write. I have to choose to enjoy it. And it goes the other way. I can be passionate about something without having a talent for it. For example, I love singing. My whole body tingles when I stand next to somebody singing very well. I feel passionate about singing, but you’ll never hear me sing outside of the church building.
Passion is something you have, and have to work to keep.
I love my girlfriend. But I wasn’t just given that love; I choose to love her everyday of my life. Otherwise, I might forget to look at her as the person I love, and I just look at her (possibly as the person I lust, instead). It’s the same for the church; you have to choose to be passionate. If you are spending time sitting on a pew and looking at all the flaws in the church body, are you going to be passionate? Hecka no. But when you’re out trying to make things better for the people around you, you maintain that passion.
Another thing you have to do to be passionate is show up. If you don’t show up to the services, you shouldn’t expect to be passionate. And don’t just show up, do something. Don’t turn things away when you’re asked to do something.
You can’t be passionate if you aren’t earning the passion.
That’s the bottom line, folks. Passion is a reward, not a gift.
8.15.2007
What does God want?
For a very long time I attended a Nazarene Church (that’s right; no dancing for me!). In fact, it’s pretty much the only church I remember attending for an extended period of time before the Christian Church I’m at now.
When we were there some funky stuff started happening. Some stuff happened with the lead pastor, and he was going in a different direction than the youth pastor (this is NOT the only reason we left, but it’s the reason I want to talk about). Eventually the youth pastor and his wife left and moved out of state. Since that day I always felt a loss. I always missed them. Recently they’ve come back, and it’s forced my to ponder the implications of why they left.
Did it really have to do with the pastor, or was there something more going on?
Did God have a plan?
How does it tie in with Agape?
It is my belief that everything happens for a reason. Maybe God didn’t want that something to happen, but it still had a reason, good or bad.
Sometimes, though, God asks us to leave a situation.
I played soccer my Freshmen year of High School and simultaneously played in the band. My Sophomore year I tried to go back to soccer, but I really wasn’t into it (regrettably, I wish I had still played). I think maybe God had a hand in that. I went on to be Drum Major in the band (something that took ALL my time and effort on top of my job) and had to usher in a new band director. The entrance of this director was not under good circumstances, and it took all the patience my girlfriend (the other DM) and I had to keep things up and running (this isn’t to say we didn’t have the help of Band Parents). Anyway, the point is there was a much bigger reason than me just losing temporary interest in soccer.
Do you think it’s easy to quit something like that? Easy to “quit” a church? Nuh uh! It takes full submission to God.
It takes us bowing down before God and saying, “I can’t see where this is going; lead me.”
I think that’s possibly what God did 3 years ago (could have been longer…) when my youth pastor and his wife left. I know it did some great things for me. And, now their back in town, wiser and ready to start a church. Isn’t that cool?
It’s not easy, though, to submit to God. It means putting aside what we want and pursuing him. Do you think my youth pastor and his wife wanted to leave? It surely didn’t appear so at the time.
Do you think King David wanted to kill all the people he did? Probably not, but it was necessary for survival.
Do you think Jesus WANTED to be persecuted and killed? Oh no. But he loves us.
Definitely not easy. My question:
How do you submit to God?
Think about it, maybe send me a comment and let me know. I’m interested.
When we were there some funky stuff started happening. Some stuff happened with the lead pastor, and he was going in a different direction than the youth pastor (this is NOT the only reason we left, but it’s the reason I want to talk about). Eventually the youth pastor and his wife left and moved out of state. Since that day I always felt a loss. I always missed them. Recently they’ve come back, and it’s forced my to ponder the implications of why they left.
Did it really have to do with the pastor, or was there something more going on?
Did God have a plan?
How does it tie in with Agape?
It is my belief that everything happens for a reason. Maybe God didn’t want that something to happen, but it still had a reason, good or bad.
Sometimes, though, God asks us to leave a situation.
I played soccer my Freshmen year of High School and simultaneously played in the band. My Sophomore year I tried to go back to soccer, but I really wasn’t into it (regrettably, I wish I had still played). I think maybe God had a hand in that. I went on to be Drum Major in the band (something that took ALL my time and effort on top of my job) and had to usher in a new band director. The entrance of this director was not under good circumstances, and it took all the patience my girlfriend (the other DM) and I had to keep things up and running (this isn’t to say we didn’t have the help of Band Parents). Anyway, the point is there was a much bigger reason than me just losing temporary interest in soccer.
Do you think it’s easy to quit something like that? Easy to “quit” a church? Nuh uh! It takes full submission to God.
It takes us bowing down before God and saying, “I can’t see where this is going; lead me.”
I think that’s possibly what God did 3 years ago (could have been longer…) when my youth pastor and his wife left. I know it did some great things for me. And, now their back in town, wiser and ready to start a church. Isn’t that cool?
It’s not easy, though, to submit to God. It means putting aside what we want and pursuing him. Do you think my youth pastor and his wife wanted to leave? It surely didn’t appear so at the time.
Do you think King David wanted to kill all the people he did? Probably not, but it was necessary for survival.
Do you think Jesus WANTED to be persecuted and killed? Oh no. But he loves us.
Definitely not easy. My question:
How do you submit to God?
Think about it, maybe send me a comment and let me know. I’m interested.
8.14.2007
Philosophy 101
In two weeks I’ll start College and one of the courses I’m signed up for in Philosophy 101. The thing I find odd about this is that people are worried about me. For one, my best friend is worried about the subject matter. Perhaps worried that I might start questioning my religion. Or leave it all together. I’m not sure.
One lady I talked to at church saw my Philosophy handbook and asked me if it was Christianity based. I said Philosophy was about questions, and Christianity was about questions, so yes.
She promptly told me Christianity was about answers and walked away.
I agree, but only slightly.
Philosophy asks the basic questions of life: What is the purpose? Does God exist? What is right? What is wrong?
Get the idea?
Most people have a problem with the question “Does God exist?” but what’s so wrong with asking that question? If you’ve never asked it and explored it for yourself, how do you know it’s true? If you’ve never asked what is right and what is wrong, how do you determine what is right and wrong? What’s wrong with asking any of these questions?
The underside of Philosophy is that you never have a concrete answer. You don’t have hard facts. You do have something that you believe and (hopefully) a good argument to back it up. This is the other thing that people have a problem with: they get the idea that Philosophy promotes the idea that right and wrong can be determined by a person. But this isn’t true. Instead, Philosophy promotes the discussion of what right and wrong is. If a Philosopher tells you that right and wrong is whatever you deem right and wrong, then they are simply voicing their opinion, not the opinion of Philosophy itself.
Back to the original question, though. Is Christianity about asking questions, or seeking answers?
It seems to me that question is a little like splitting hairs. You can’t have answers without questions, and questions lead to answers. The true danger, I believe, comes when a person asks a question, gets an answer, and stops asking more questions.
We live in a society that says you ask a question, you get an answer, and you’re done. But in Jesus’ day questions were a way of exploring a subject further. You asked questions to better understand something. For example, I might ask if heaven exists. I get the answer ‘yes.’ So, how do I get there? Follow God and have a relationship with him. How does that look? How do you have a relationship with him? What does it mean to follow God? Follow the Commandments. Which ones? All of them. Is that possible? No. Then how do I get to heaven?
Get the idea of the thought process? It seems a bit confusing, but it makes a lot more sense if it’s played out in your head with your thoughts.
What we must do, as Christians, is submit to God by knowing that we can’t nor will we ever know it all. We must always ask questions. We can’t ever know God nor have all the answers. If we did, God would be obsolete. He wouldn’t be….God.
That’s why Christianity is about questions.
Questions that may or may not lead to answers.
One lady I talked to at church saw my Philosophy handbook and asked me if it was Christianity based. I said Philosophy was about questions, and Christianity was about questions, so yes.
She promptly told me Christianity was about answers and walked away.
I agree, but only slightly.
Philosophy asks the basic questions of life: What is the purpose? Does God exist? What is right? What is wrong?
Get the idea?
Most people have a problem with the question “Does God exist?” but what’s so wrong with asking that question? If you’ve never asked it and explored it for yourself, how do you know it’s true? If you’ve never asked what is right and what is wrong, how do you determine what is right and wrong? What’s wrong with asking any of these questions?
The underside of Philosophy is that you never have a concrete answer. You don’t have hard facts. You do have something that you believe and (hopefully) a good argument to back it up. This is the other thing that people have a problem with: they get the idea that Philosophy promotes the idea that right and wrong can be determined by a person. But this isn’t true. Instead, Philosophy promotes the discussion of what right and wrong is. If a Philosopher tells you that right and wrong is whatever you deem right and wrong, then they are simply voicing their opinion, not the opinion of Philosophy itself.
Back to the original question, though. Is Christianity about asking questions, or seeking answers?
It seems to me that question is a little like splitting hairs. You can’t have answers without questions, and questions lead to answers. The true danger, I believe, comes when a person asks a question, gets an answer, and stops asking more questions.
We live in a society that says you ask a question, you get an answer, and you’re done. But in Jesus’ day questions were a way of exploring a subject further. You asked questions to better understand something. For example, I might ask if heaven exists. I get the answer ‘yes.’ So, how do I get there? Follow God and have a relationship with him. How does that look? How do you have a relationship with him? What does it mean to follow God? Follow the Commandments. Which ones? All of them. Is that possible? No. Then how do I get to heaven?
Get the idea of the thought process? It seems a bit confusing, but it makes a lot more sense if it’s played out in your head with your thoughts.
What we must do, as Christians, is submit to God by knowing that we can’t nor will we ever know it all. We must always ask questions. We can’t ever know God nor have all the answers. If we did, God would be obsolete. He wouldn’t be….God.
That’s why Christianity is about questions.
Questions that may or may not lead to answers.
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