The Best Thing

Nothing too long here, just a quick thought.

This season of life has been a trying one for me, especially with my job situation. Before I quit my last job, I told my GM that it was the second to last thing I wanted to do: the last thing I could ever do was stay there. But now I am realizing that this truth sometimes applies to more than one area of life. In an imperfect world, sometimes there is no "good" thing to do. In a place bound to friction, sometimes the best thing to do is the second worse thing you could possibly do. I am seeing that in a few areas now.

It's easy to be discouraged. Don't. Don't give up. That is what all the demons against you - and worse, your flesh - want. "Press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Php. 3:14). Continue to do what God has revealed as right, what He has prepared for you. Sometimes it's the second worse thing, but it can still be the best thing.

Ten Things I Learned About Pizza

After working in the pizza world for a year, I decided to make some general observations that are extremely important to the preservation of mankind:

1. There is no such thing as an "Artesian" pizza (unless it's French pizza or pizza that comes from the Artesian Well). It's Artisan ("ar-ti-sin").
2. Pizzas are not made with tomato sauce. Never! It's pizza sauce.
3. The crust is not the fluffy outer portion of the pizza - that's the rim. The crust is the whole piece of dough under the toppings.
4. It's all about metabolism. In the year that I worked in pizza places, I ate approximately 65 whole pizzas. I'm six feet tall and weigh less than 150 lbs.
5. Always tip delivery drivers. If you don't want to tip, don't get delivery. They will hate you. FOREVER!!
6. If you want it on time on a weekend, place a timed order. Pizza people aren't superheroes.
7. When calling Domino's, don't ask for a "meat-lovers" or "stuffed crust." When you choose Pizza Hut or Papa John's, avoid "lava cakes," "parm bites," "cinnastix," and "stuffed cheesy bread."
8. Don't even think about using counterfeit money. We see it. Oh, we see it.
9. Please let the workers just make and deliver your pizza. If you have questions, Google them.
10. Avoid general stupidities and rudenesses people are prone to. Order, pay, tip, and eat. Thank you very much.

The Reason for the World

I must confess that lately I have been focusing on everything but the most important thing. My faith has, as of late, seemed rather weak and my hope, dim. A new semester loaded with information and demands has come down on me. Six months of stress is culminating in a job change. Some days it's hard just to get out of bed.



So I complain, I pray, I doubt, I ask for help - humble desperation mixed with sinful exasperation.



God,

Take my imperfect obedience and my failing strength - replace it with the perfection and power found only in your Son who died to give a reason for the world.

Improved or New?

As my girlfriend, Megan, and I sat together on the couch last night, an interesting report came on the news. It was Fox News interviewing Joel Osteen in lieu of his new book titled Break Out, which is already a bestseller. Any time Joel Osteen's name is mentioned, my reaction is to sit up straight, put my thinking cap on, and listen. And I do so because I believe he does as good a job as any at opening wide the gates of hell to all who will listen.

It's not that Osteen's message is lies through and through. It is sprinkled, battered, and coated with strong biblical truth. But the core of the message is poison. His gospel is not a gospel of complete transforming power - it is a gospel of self improvement. It is the realization of potential already inherent within every human being.

And since I've been meditating on Romans 1:16-17 this week, I began to think about what the gospel does to us. Is it the power of God to make good people better? Or is it the power of God to make dead mean alive, to make sinners saints, to make old people new? Does God stop at improvement? Or does He make the children He chooses into new creations?

The New Testament is packed with illustrations that answer this question. And the Bible states in clear terms that we once indeed were "dead in [our] trespasses and sins" (Eph. 2:1). Part of the glory of God in the gospel is the truth of resurrection. And it is also transformation:

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26).

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17).

Before we say anything about "better," let's talk the gospel. Let's talk about a God who took us when we had nothing to bring to the table and made us new creatures in Jesus Christ.

He Gave

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish

but have eternal life.

Even before the foundation of the world, He saw the catastrophe. When there was nothing, perhaps that Father looked into His Son and presented the eternal plan to hear His dear child say, "Father, Your will be done." The grandest scheme was about to take place. The stage - planet Earth - was set.

And thousands of years later, the fullness of time came. The Father looked into a broken world and sent a Remedy. He looked into sinful mankind and sent them a Savior. He beheld a sick, lost people; He sent a Healer and a Shepherd. Out of the darkness, Light shined.

And on that hideously wonderful night in Bethlehem, God committed a crime for the ages: He sent His dear Boy - God of God - to become man. "He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted." And one day this baby Boy, who was - and is - the hope of the world, would be pierced through and crushed, bent and broken for our sins. This is the gift.

Yes, that night God flooded the world with His grace. He did the unthinkable, the unimaginable. He loved. And in His love He gave.

So let us, with hearts full of joy and praise, also give. Let us give of our hearts and souls. Let us give of our very lives - our own selves. All we are and all we have, let it be His. For in His mercy He gave His all for us; in our worship we give all we are for Him. Not because He needs us, not because we deserve Him, but because He first loved us. 

Because He gave.

RE: A Round-Up of the Holy Hip Hop Squabble

The following is a link to Thabiti Anyabwile's response to a recent panel on reformed rappers. Having watched the video I was greatly disturbed and upset as a close listener to Christian hip-hop. Let it be said, however, that I am thankful for the public apologies that have taken place since this panel happened.

A Round-Up of the Holy Hip Hop Squabble

Giving Thanks for Secured Blessings

Today is the day we gather with family to fellowship and eat. We enjoy our abundance of supply, and we enjoy each other. We relish the cooler weather that so permeates the memories from this time of year. We enjoy a day off. We enjoy football. We enjoy shopping. Today we are thankful for all these things.

But let us never forget that it is today that we have an opportunity to be thankful to God for loving the world and offering His Son. We are thankful because Christ gave. He gave in His live, and He gave in His death. And because He gave, we live. And we give. We give thanks to Him for all He has secured for us in securing the most important thing - our salvation in Jesus Christ that we may know Him.

Romans 8:32 (HCSB)
He did not even spare His own Son
but offered Him up for us all;

how will He not also with Him grant us everything?


Happy Thanksgiving!