Why We're More Like Judas Than Jesus on Easter

This week has been a special week; it's been Holy Week. Personally, I've always found it funny that Easter and Holy Week don't seem to get the same sort of attention as Christmas and therefor don't always feel as 'special' as Christmas, but I think it's important to remember that without Easter and Holy Week, there wouldn't really be a reason to celebrate Christmas. I've tried to keep that in mind this week as I've gone about acknowledging the fact the the weight of eternity stems on the events that happened this week 2,000 years ago, and it's been helpful.

This Holy Week has been different than others. I've come to see it in a new light, and I've participated in new aspects of it, such as Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Along with celebrating new aspects of it, a new viewpoint of the Easter story became clear to me, and that's the view point of Judas Iscariot in the Easter story. A simple phrase found in John 13 totally connected me with one of the most misunderstood people in the whole Bible.

John 13:2 says, "During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him."

That's it. That's the whole verse, and that has been the verse that has flipped this Holy Week on its head for me. The simple phrase of "when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him," completely connected me with Judas because I know that feeling. I know the feeling of being so dead set on committing a sin that no matter what anyone says, I'm going to do it. I can totally relate to the thought process, the feeling and the temptation that Judas felt that night when the devil put the betrayal of the Savior of the World in his heart. I can understand how he felt inside and how that sin and thought had such a grip on him that he didn't care what anyone said to him to try to make him stop- even Jesus Himself. He was absorbed with selfishness and greed and was probably fueled by one of those 'sin highs' that we all get momentarily when we enjoy doing something 'bad.' I understand Judas.

This whole idea has made me realize that more times than not in my relationship to Christ, when we're sitting at a table together, I'm not Jesus and I'm not a disciple, but I'm Judas; I'm on the verge of betraying my Savior to pursue some sort of fleeting selfish act. 

This is why I need grace more than I ever thought I did. This is why Jesus had to be betrayed and had to be put to death and suffer for my sins- because I'm Judas, and so are we all; however, unlike Judas, we don't have to take our lives and end it all. We can repent and turn to our Lord, just as Peter did when he had his 'Judas' moment of denying Christ three times. We can acknowledge our betrayal, repent and accept the grace offered to us, oh, so unfairly. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: It's because of Judas that when we become Judas, we have a chance for redemption. 

White As Snow

For someone who sees snow every day for six months a year, snow is normal and maybe even depressing and annoying. For someone who doesn't see snow very often, snow is extremely pretty and a site for sore eyes. For someone who has never seen snow ever, snow is other-worldly and similar to seeing a million dollars because they've heard of it and know it exists, they've just never seen it with their own eyes.

I fall into the category of someone who doesn't see snow very often but finds it gorgeous to look at. I love watching it fall, accumulate throughout the day, and turn the world white, but there's something funny about snow turning the world white; at the same time that it turns the world white, it also creates a lot of brown. 

If you've ever driven in the snow, you've probably noticed that the roads not only get dangerous, but they also get really dirty looking. There's something about snow that makes the cars we drive and the roads we drive on extremely gross. If there's two things snow is good at, it's making everything look clean and white and also making lots of things look brown and dirty.

There's an old hymn that goes:

"What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the Blood of Jesus. Oh! Precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know, nothing but the Blood of Jesus."

I love this hymn, and I love the weight that the words of it carry, not only for me, but for humanity. I love the irony of the crimson of blood being able to wash us and cleanse us. It's ironic- just like the irony of snow being epically white, but also creating lots of brownness along the way, and just like the hymn carries a symbolic message, I believe that snow does too. Just as the crimson Blood of Christ washes away our sins and makes us white as snow, I believe the dirtiness that from the white of snow also represents something about us after we've been made white as snow in Christ. The more we're washed in the Blood, and the whiter we become, the more aware we become of our dirtiness and need of cleansing and grace. Just as white snow reveals brown dirtiness, the whiteness and pureness of Christ reveals more of our dirtiness and our need for grace and washing. 

You've gotta love when nature reminds you of God's grace.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: "Oh! Precious is the flow that makes us white as snow"- and reveals our dirt. 

One of Life's 'Aha!' Moments

You know those moments when you feel like you don't totally understand something to its complete extent, but then you all of a sudden just 'get it?' It would be like in school when you were trying to learn the steps to solve a certain type of math equation- you could follow it when the teacher was going over it, but not on your own, until suddenly, the teacher says something or does something, and it all just clicks. It's an "Aha!" moment- a moment when reason and understanding meet and knowledge lights up the imaginary light bulb above our head that's been flickering on and off.

'Aha!' moments are great. They can do anything from turning a semester's worth of study frustration around to turning around a hard season of faith. Today, I had one of these 'Aha!' moments, and it was easily a day maker. Frankly, it was over a faith topic that I'd never even realized I struggled with understanding, but now that I do understand it a bit more, my imaginary light bulb lit up, and I can't stop thinking about it.

The Old Testament has always had its mysteries to me, as it was a part of the Bible that I've never studied or read much, aside from the classic stories like Creation, Jonah or Daniel and the lions den. One of the biggest mysteries to me was the mystery and the symbolism of the tabernacle and the temple and their role in the Jewish/Christian faith, and it wasn't until today that one of my mentors explained to me over a cup of coffee what their role really symbolized.

The tabernacle and temple of the Old Testament directly symbolize the original Garden of Eden (mind blown). 

I still don't know all of the details and all of the correlations, but essentially, I learned that God had the people of Israel construct the Tabernacle as a place for Him to dwell that was Holy and Perfect- a mini Heaven on Earth, if you will, just like the Garden of Eden was. Just like in the Garden, the entrance to the temple was at the East and guarded by  a flame. The temple also had a similar layout symbolically to the Garden of Eden, as the inner most part of the temple was the Holy of Holies, and the inner most part of the Garden was the Tree of Life and Tree of Good and Evil. God dwelt in the tabernacle and temple, just as God dwelt and walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve. It was like God's celestial palace was on earth temporarily, and two humans got to dwell there with Him. Pretty sweet.

Again, I don't  know all the details or all the theology, and I may have messed up some of what was said above, but still. Think about how cool that is that God modeled His temple after His Heaven on Earth. It blows my mind, and I hope it does yours.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Don't miss the 'Aha!' moments.

Why Can't I See God?

Biology was always a difficult subject for me in school- specifically, microbiology. I was always pretty good at other sciences, but when it came down to the study of microscopic organisms like bacteria, protozoa or fungi, my mind seemed to meet its match. There's just something about my my mind trying to comprehend something small and formless that doesn't work for me. I'm a visual learner, and when I have to try to visualize something that I can't even see, it doesn't usually work out in my favor. When I can't picture something in my mind, like something microscopic or something without form, I have a hard time grasping its reality, and when I have a hard time grasping its reality, I have a hard time focusing on it and learning more about it. 

Cue: God.

Today, I was reading in the book of Deuteronomy (that's a sentence you don't see every day), and there's this passage where Moses is reminding the Israelite people that God has no form, so they should never try to give Him a form. Moses reminds them that they saw no form when God spoke to them out of a fire, and that, because of that, they need to guard themselves from turning 'corrupt' and making an image or carving that could look like anything in natural world around them that they might try to assign God to. 

God has no specific 'form.'

Cue: My struggle and the struggle of many of trying to grasp the reality of God.

I believe there is a God, and I believe that there's a spiritual realm to life that's far above any of our thoughts or ideas; however, just because I believe it, doesn't always mean I understand it or can grasp it. I can't see God- just like, in a roundabout way, I couldn't see micro-organisms in microbiology. I can't see Him, so I have a hard time comprehending His existence at times, but then again, that's also the point. 

We shouldn't be able to comprehend all the things of God. What would the point be of worshipping something you completely understood? You'd get bored. I mean have you ever been in awe of something you completely understood? I haven't. If God had a distinct form or was Someone/Something completely understandable, like a statue or a bull or something, we would get bored. There wouldn't be any depth to that kind of relationship. 

God is not confined to a building, a book or a cloud. God is not white man, and He is not a cross- God has no distinct form. He is God. He is in Heaven above, He is on earth below, and He's the only God there is. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: "Seeing isn't believing, but believing is seeing." 

Thoughts on Computer Screens

Ever since I've entered the 'professional' work world, I've noticed a lot of things I never thought I would notice about the work place, but one thing in particular that I've noticed about the work place is that no one likes to have their computer screen. A computer screen is almost as sacred as someone's credit card information; we all do everything we can to try to not let anyone else see it. We situate our desks so our screens don't face the door, we minimize all our active windows the minute someone walks through the door and we get protective any time someone asks to see something we're working on. Honestly, I just think it's just a really weird work culture attribute. I mean, it's not like anyone is looking at anything inappropriate; we just all have our own projects up, our own news articles pulled up and our own emails and information pulled up. It makes sense that we're all a little paranoid with people trying to read over our shoulder; it's still just funny to me. 

I think the idea of being over-protective of our computer screens makes me feel like we have all have something to hide- not like a conspiracy kind of hide, but like a "I've been sitting at my desk for 5 hours, so I'm not doing 'work' right now" kind of something to hide. At least, that's the way I am, anyway. I know that after I've been sitting around doing work for a few hours, I take an online break to surf some of my favorite blogs or catch up on local news; however, any time I do, even though I know I've been working, I still get a really paranoid feeling. I get a feeling that my supervisor or someone in upper management will come in, look at my computer and scold me for taking a break, which I know they won't because we're all human and we all take breaks. But still, that doesn't stop the feeling of me wanting to be doing something productive, something work related, when and if they come in and look at what I'm doing.

This feeling kind of reminds me of the feeling I get when I think about Christ coming back. It's not a haunting or a 'big brother's always watching' feeling; it's just more of a feeling of wondering what I'll be doing if Christ comes back while I'm still on this earth. Will I be doing something that I know would please Him, or will I be doing something that's more along the lines of "I need to minimize this if my boss comes in because it's not work"?

I think it's safe to say this is a thought that all Christians have thought about at some point- the thought of Christ coming back and what we'll all be doing. I mean, who doesn't want to please the Savior and Creator of the world? I think if we all had a choice, we would all opt to be on some epic mission trip leading a Bible study when Christ came back, not sitting on our butts watching re-runs of Friends; however, that isn't always real life. 

Real life isn't always a mission trip, just like work isn't always 'work.' We all take breaks, we all rest, and we all have our "I feel like I should minimize this" moments. It's just part of life and part of being human. As much as we'd all like to please our boss, or even more so, our Creator, all the time with work and action, that wouldn't be possible; however, just because we aren't always working doesn't mean we are displeasing those above us. Bosses understand, and the Creator of the world understands. They rest, and He rested too. 

Don't feel paranoid and don't always feel like you have to minimize your life. Work hard and work efficiently, but also rest and take breaks- that's the only way we can work to our full potential. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God isn't 'big brother.'

Pick Axes & Six Year Olds

Today, I watched a 6-year-old use a pick axe while wearing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajamas.

It was a site to see, and quite frankly, it terrified me. He wasn't super successful at using it, obviously (because he's six); however, there was still something about just watching him pick it up and try to use it that made it seem successful. In his eyes, he was successful, simply because he picked it up and used it. He lifted it up off the ground, gave it an awkward *this is too heavy for me* swing and struck the rocky ground that was in front of him. Honestly, he looked exactly like one of the dwarfs from Snow White, tool in hand and all. His eyes beamed with success as he looked at me for approval, proving to me that he could do what I do. I couldn't help but smile and give him a word of encouragement (which, I'm not sure was the best idea because he proceeded to use the pick axe, and I'm not sure if his parents would have like that. This is why I don't babysit kids). 

Later on, his dad found out what he had been doing, and he responded with, "That's no problem. He's a go getter." How about that? I might've freaked out if it were my kid. After all, it freaked me out enough watching it, and he wasn't even my kid to freak out over. This dad wasn't worried. He was just proud of his son for going after something new and giving it his best effort, even if that something new weighed just as much as his son and was taller than him. He was just proud that his son went after something new with zeal and confidence.

Sometimes, I wonder how much our Heavenly Father sees us in the same light. He demonstrates something for us, whether it's His love, His mercy or His Grace, something obviously beyond our ability to carry, and He watches us try to display it. He sees us pick it up, give it a swing, fail miserably and look to Him for assurance. He sees us try display His grace toward others, but being humans, we fall short but look to Him for assurance and direction, and He smiles back at us because we are pursuing Him and the attributes of Him. We won't always get it right or be successful, but He's still a proud Father because His sons and daughters have pursued Him with zeal and confidence, imitating Him.  

Whether it's swinging a pick axe at age six or learning to forgive those who let us down, some things are harder to do than others and heavier to lift than others. Regardless, when we try and fail, look up. You'll find assurance, encouragement and the grace to keep trying. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Be careful when you let kids who aren't your kids swing pick axes. 

When Faced With Temptation

Sometimes, there's a sign that says 'closed', but I pretend that I can't read and go inside anyway.

Sometimes, I do things that I know I shouldn't do.

That's a weird statement, isn't it? It's almost an oxymoron. Like I literally KNOW I shouldn't do something, but I do it anyway. It's this really weird wiring inside my brain that I don't understand, and honestly, like anyone would, I hate it. It's like I come across a temptation, and my mind says "NO DON"T DO IT!" but then my body says, "DO IT. PLAY WITH FIRE. THE PLEASURE IS GREATER THAN THE PAIN." Then, my body does said thing, and I hate myself afterward when I face the consequences because I focused on the initial 'perks' of said sin rather than the longterm consequences. It's like I know in my mind what the right thing is, but my body and actions want to/do the wrong thing. It's just like having a steering wheel in a car that causes you to go left when you turn it to go right, or like knowing in your mind how to shoot a basketball into a hoop but then your body completely ignoring that knowledge and making it look like the only basketball experience you've ever had was that one time in 3rd grade when you tried to shoot a wadded up piece of paper into the trashcan but missed, so you got sent to the hall for throwing paper on the floor.

That's a lot of analogies to say this: "I mess up a lot because, a lot of times, I don't know how to handle temptation well, so my actions do what my heart and soul don't want to."

Temptation is a funny thing. It's something we all face and that we all succumb to at some point or another. No matter how 'good' or 'bad' of a person you may be, we all deal with temptation, and we all fall victim to it (yes, some temptations look like sin, but other temptations may look more like bowls of chocolate ice cream). It's a tough battle to fight and an even tougher battle to win, and I can only think of one person who's ever won it every time, and that was Jesus.  

Jesus knew how to battle temptation and win it, and He faced the biggest temptations of them all. Forget me trying to say 'no' to one more pint of beer; Jesus said 'no' to bread during a 40-day fast when all He would've done was break the fast, and He said 'no' to being ruler of all the kingdoms in the world and their glory, and all He would've had to do was bend down on His knees. I can't imagine being in the face of that kind of temptation, but He faced it and He defeated it. It's hard enough for me to say 'no' to temptation when friends say, "Just do it" like they're some sort of Nike advertising agents. He said 'no' in the face of much more than that.

Jesus handled the lies of temptation by confronting it with the Truth He knew. He didn't focus on the instant 'perks', but instead He focused on the ultimate and real desires of His heart. He prayed not to be lead into temptation, but to be delivered from evil. Jesus focused on arming Himself with the prevention for sin, not just the cure for it. Maybe we should do the same. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Temptation is sure to come, so prepare to prevent it. 

Changing People Serving an Unchanging God

Have you ever noticed how much human beings change over time? It's ridiculous, and more often than the seasons. It's no wonder 'mood rings' are an actual thing. But, besides changing moods every hour or so, we change lifestyles, we change the songs on our favorite playlists, and, some of us, even change our clothes. We change from high school to college and from college to adulthood, and life rarely looks the same that it did 'four years ago' at any point. We're a species and people that love change, so we're constantly changing. 

But we were created by a God who never changes.

How does that work, and why does it often feel like God has and does change sometimes?

Lately, I've been doing a lot of reading in the Old Testament section of the Bible. I've read through Genesis, Exodus and Job, and frankly, it seems like God changes a lot through those three books as I read them, like more so than it seems like He might change from the Old Testament to the New Testament. In just three short books, He goes from walking, talking and conversing with man and creation fairly regularly and communicating to many of His servants to only communicating with one or two men on top of a mountain or inside of a tent behind a vail in order to communicate to His people. Then, He sets up the Law, and it all goes downhill from there. It doesn't seem to take long when reading the Bible to question or notice that God, who is never-changing, seems to change and seem different at different stages and points in Scripture.

God doesn't change. It says that in the Bible several times, namely in the book of Micah when it says, "I am the Lord; I change not." It's pretty point blank; however, sometimes it seems like God has changed over time, and it's easy to think and feel that. Heck, sometimes it seems like He's changed more than me; however, that can't be true because that would go against the very thing that He tells us about Himself: that He's eternal. 

It's easy to read into scripture and question that God has changed. Just like I did above^. However, it's even easier to step back and see that He hasn't. He's always been just, He's always been in control and He's always been full of grace- grace that comes every. single. day. That's unchanging. 

I change my socks, I change my tunes and I change my mood. I'm rarely the same person one morning that I was the morning before, and I rarely treat anyone with the amounts of grace I should, especially daily. I'm changing, but God isn't. Hopefully, I'm changing a little bit each and every day to look a little bit more like my unchanging Creator. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Just because God doesn't change, doesn't mean you shouldn't (socks included). 

Why God's People Multiply Under Persecution

Have you ever sat by a stagnant body of water? You know, like an old pond where the water is murky and covered with algae or a just a stagnant creek that hasn't seen the light of day all summer. Maybe I'm alone on this, but I just feel like they're one of the grossest things out there. They're full of mosquitos, moss and weird kinds of bacteria that are bound to cause diseases unknown to man if the water is consumed, and they're in no need of a 'no swimming' sign because that's the last thing anyone would want to do in them. Stagnant bodies of water are just kind of repulsive. 

I sat by a stagnant body of water this weekend. Sure, it's the middle of winter, and there's no mosquitos or moss out yet, but it was still a very unappealing piece of nature. It smelt funny, and I could only imagine what kind of larva were laid in its depth just waiting to hatch come spring time. It was a reminder that there isn't a lot of good that comes out of a stagnant lifestyle.

The other day, I was reading in the book of Exodus, and in the first chapter, there's this verse that says, "The more they (the Israelites) were oppressed, the more they multiplied, and the more they spread abroad." In this verse, it's basically talking about talking about how the worse the Egyptians (the people enslaving the Israelites, God's people) treated the Israelites, the more they multiplied. In other words, the more the oppressed and the more persecuted God's chosen people were by the Egyptians, the more they grew as a people and multiplied throughout the land. Essentially, it sounds kind of like for every one Israelite that might have been treated poorly, 10 more Israelites were born. God's people just kept having babies, and there was nothing the Egyptians could do about it because the harder they tried, the worse the situation got. The Israelites were not a stagnant people; they were multiplying and spreading all over the place. But how and why? They were spreading and multiplying because they were oppressed and God was blessing them in that oppression. They weren't stagnant because they were in the face of persecution. 

 I think this same situation applies to God's people and the Church today. I think God multiplies and spreads His people the same way He has always, and sometimes, we forget that. Just as the Israelites multiplied and spread under great persecution and oppression from the Egyptians, the early Church multiplied and spread under great persecution and oppression from the Romans, and now, in modern times, just as the early Church multiplied and spread under great persecution and oppression from the Romans, the modern Church is multiplying and spreading under great persecution and oppression all around the world in countries like China where Christianity is illegal.

America is different. For the past couple hundred years, the Church here hasn't seen much persecution or oppression. On the contrary, it has seen the opposite. It has been supported by the majority of the population, and is, for the most part, known as a Christian nation. It's for this reason, that it seems like the Church in America has become stagnant at times. It has been a place that doesn't seem to move or multiply as much because it has lacked persecution; however, I think this could be changing, and I think for the first time in a long time, the Church in America may begin to start experiencing some of the persecution and oppression that God has always used to multiply and spread His people. 

As things seem to get crazier and crazier in the 'nation under God,' I believe the Church will begin to lose some of its stagnation. I believe it's going to start to moving again, not that it hasn't in the past couple hundred years, but in a new way that it hasn't before. I believe the American Church is about to shake off some of the moss from its stagnant comfort and ease and move into a new period of multiplication and growth in a time when it's becoming harder and harder to be a Christian in this nation under God. It's going to be hard, and it's going to be different, but I'm excited. I'm excited to see what God has in store for this nation, and I'm excited not to be a stagnant pond any more. Let the waves roll in. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God's people multiply when God's people experience persecution. 

When Prayer Feels Overwhelming

I met with a good buddy of mine every Wednesday morning at the same coffee shop at 6:30 a.m. It sits about 4 blocks from both of our houses, so it's a great location, and it has just about the best dirty Chai latte either of us have ever had (shoutout to you, Shades of Brown). We meet up to read, exchange successes/struggles and discuss random facts of life. It's a great time.

Anyway, today we were talking, and the topic of prayer came up. I asked him a question about whether or not he thought that prayer seemed overwhelming at times, and just as I feel, he too said it felt overwhelming at times. It was a great piece of honesty that I've never gotten off my chest before, and I'm glad I wasn't alone in feeling that way.

I mean, think about it. The Bible tells us to 'pray without ceasing,' there's always prayer requests coming in from friends and family and then to wrap it all up, there's always local, national and global issues and leaders to pray for. It's A LOT, and frankly, much of the time, I'm not sure what to do with it all and how to feel about it.

Usually, I spend my 'high points' of prayer in the morning and at night each day. Those are the times when I shut my door, turn everything off and am able to sit in the presence of my Maker to pray. These are also the times when I find myself most overwhelmed by prayer. As I'm praying, the task of trying to remember all the request I've been asked to pray for over the last few days, the needs of my country and the praises of answered prayers past seems daunting, and I often find myself trying to remember things rather than praying for them. After all, I don't want to be the guy that says, "Yes, I'll be praying for you," and then never actually do it.

So, the more my friend and I talked about this situation and this feeling, the more we realized that praying doesn't have to be a set schedule, and it doesn't always have to be everything all at once. Prayer can be whenever, wherever, and the last thing it should be is 'overwhelming.' It should be the opposite of that, really. Don't worry about piecing all the prayer requests you have stored up in a two minute prayer before you walk out the door. We have 24-hours in a day for a reason, and we're to pray without ceasing for a reason. It's inevitable that the Holy Spirit is acting in the hearts of believers, and He will guide your mind and your heart to prayer. If you randomly think of someone/someone's request in the middle of the day, take a moment to say that prayer for them you said you would say. Odds are, you didn't just think of them randomly for no reason.

God knows our hearts, our minds and our souls, and He hears all of our prayers- the out-loud ones, the silent ones and the ones we stop and say during the middle of the day when it might seem most inconvenient; it's just up to us to acknowledge that wonderful promise and act on it. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Prayer shouldn't be overwhelming; it should be encouraging. 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

I drive a lot. I'm not sure why or how it always ends up happening, but it seems like I always end up spending a lot of my free days driving for at least an hour or two somewhere to see someone or some thing. It's been that way since college for me, really, as the job I had in school required me to drive a lot during the weekends. Driving has become something that I look forward to and enjoy because it's fairly easy going, it provides a lot of time for one to think and it's a time that I can blare and connect through music- my favorite part. 

There's nothing like throwing on some of your favorite tunes and hitting the road by yourself. You don't have to stress about playing DJ or worry about what anyone else wants to listen to. You can throw your music into shuffle mode, hit skip as many times as you want and then land on something that fits exactly how you're feeling without having to worry about whether or not any one else in the car is feeling it. It's a great time to let out emotions, be honest with yourself and play steering wheel drums as loud as you want. This was something I got to do today, and there was one song in particular that I connected really well with that I never have before on an interesting level.

This afternoon during my shuffle session, the song 'The Good, the Bad, the Ugly," came on by Lecrae (no relation to the movie, 'The Good, the Bad, the Ugly). If there's one thing I like about listening to Lecrae, it's his lyrics. Sure, he's revitalized and set a new standard within the Christian hip-hop world with his style and quality of music, but more so than that, he's set a high standard of honesty within his song writing that I don't find in a lot of music. This was something that I connected with today in a new way.

As a writer, myself, I know how hard it can be to be honest in writing, especially when that writing is for other people and available for the entire world-wide-web to read. It's a place of vulnerability and a place that's hard to go to because it exposes everything to everyone. It's kind of like standing naked out in public, but instead of everyone seeing your body on display, it's your heart, mind and soul. It can be scary. 

Anyway, in this song, Lecrae opens up his past for the world to see; all of it, the good, the bad and the ugly parts. He talks about the drugs he used to struggle with, the girls he used to mess around with, and even more than that, he confesses the abortion he supported in order to keep his life the way he wanted it. Really, if you stop the beat and just hear the words, it's a song of complete vulnerability and honesty, confessing to his fans, followers and friends who he once was and what he's once done.

Today was the first time I think I'd really listened to that song before, and it really meant a lot to me. As a brother in Christ, and as a man trying to live a life of honesty and accountability, to hear someone put that kind of intense messiness out for the world to see was really inspiring. It spoke to me heart and I sympathized with him, just through a song. I became aware of the fact that the Church is really full of messy people who are sometimes pretending to look clean all the time. If we were really honest about our good, bad and ugly sides, I think the Church might be closer together than it is. It's just my opinion, but I think if Christians stopped trying to look like a bunch of perfect people and instead were real and honest about our imperfections, we might begin to see more perfection. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: The good, the bad and the uglier the Church, the prettier it will be. 

Trading a Birthright for French Fries; The Short-Sightedness in Our Decision-Making Process

Waiter: "What would you like with your sandwich? We have salad or fries."

Me: (thinking to myself) "Why am I having to choose from two of the most different foods in the entire world as a side? Is there no middle ground?"

Waiter: *waiting*

Me: "I'll have the fries."

I think we've all faced this situation before. The waiter asks you what you want for a side, and you can pick one of two options: The healthy option or the unhealthy option. Rarely is there ever a middle ground. One option, the healthy one, will be better for you in the long run. It's full of veggies, vitamins and freshness that ultimately, will be better for you. It's the option that you'll feel better with after you leave the restaurant and count as a win for the day as far as trying to eat healthier. The other option, the unhealthy one aka: fries, won't be better for you in the long run, but it's also the option that will satisfy what you want at the moment. The fries are the option you pick immediately because you know they'll taste the best, even if it'll cost you some health points at the end of the day. In the moment, it's easy to see the fries as the most satisfying option, but then later, it hits you. All that grease. All that fried-ness. All that artery clogging joy.

We're all faced with these kinds of decisions ever day, decisions that can either give us immediate satisfaction or decisions that require patience. We have to make choices that can either give us joy in the moment or choices that we have to wait and be patient for. Usually, it's the choices that require patience that are the tougher option, and it's also those choices that, usually, lead to the better result, like salad compared to fries. 

I read a story about this today, kind of. It was a story in Genesis of two young guys, one named Esau, and the other one named Jacob. They're twins, but Esau is the older of the two, so accordingly, he received the birthright of being the first born male. One day, Esau came home from work and was hungry, and he saw Jacob cooking some stew, so he asked for some. Jacob, being sly, said he would give Esau some soup if he would sale him his birthright right then. Esau, being hungry, and maybe slightly ignorant, obliged to Jacob's request and swore his birthright over to Jacob. Esau got his soup and Jacob got the birthright. Esau sold a lifetime promise for a moment's satisfaction without a second thought. 

Now, any normal person, or me on any day of the week, would look at this situation and say that Esau made a terrible move trading some Campbell's Cream of Mushroom for a lifetime of right of possession and privilege. It's easy to say he made a stupid decision and didn't think through what exactly he was doing; however, how often do we do the same thing whenever we're faced with temptation? We trade a moment of immediate satisfaction for a lifetime of promise. We want the soup, not the birthright because that's what's in front of us. In our short sightedness, we want what will satisfy us immediately, not what's best for us in the long run. 

It's easy to get lost in short-sightedness in our decision making process, whether it's order a side order to go with a sandwich, or in the face of temptation when it comes to choosing to sin or not to sin. We too easily associate the positives with what we ultimately  know is going to be a negative situation, rather than the negatives. If we want to help our decision making process, adjust your sights, look long-term and weigh both the positives and the negatives; don't just focus on the instant gratification. Look at the ultimate, lifelong promises at hand, and don't sacrifice those for something that will only temporarily satisfy your desires. A lifetime promise is greater than a moment's pleasure. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: If opening a restaurant, include something other than just salad or fries on the menu. Add a middle option too. Like apple sauce.  

The Eye of a Needle

I spent my Saturday fishing. I hopped in my little rental, blue smurf car and headed to a lake that's about 20 minutes out of the city called Lake Keystone. It was supposed to be the warmest day of the MLK Day long weekend, so I decided to take advantage of it.

On my way to the lake, I had the radio tuned to a country station, and a song came on called 'Buy Me a Boat.' In the song, it has this lyric that says, "​I keep hearing that money is the root of all evil, and you can’t fit a camel through the eye of a needle. I'm sure that’s probably true, but it still sounds pretty cool." Now, I'm sorry if this offends you, but I totally fall into the category of believing that country music has some of the simplest/lamest lyrics out there of all the genres. I still enjoy it, but still. The lyrics could get better, especially lyrics like this.  

Anyway, the reason I point this lyric out of this song is because I thought it was super ironic that it was talking about threading something (a camel)​ through the eye of a needle, while I knew I was going to be practically threading needles all day fishing. 

You see, when you fish, you break lines, and when you break lines you have to tie new hooks on, which is, essentially, the most difficult part of fishing. It's tedious, time consuming and takes a steady hand, especially the part of putting the line through the eye of the hook. 

The line from the song is quoting a verse out of the Bible in which Jesus says it's easier for a camel (A CAMEL) to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. This description became a reality for me today as I spent a lot of my time tying hooks, rather than catching fish. It was surprising a lot more difficult than I'd remembered trying to get that tiny fishing line through that tiny hole of the eye of the hook. If it's that difficult to get something that small through an eye, I can't imagine what it would be like trying to get a camel through there. Fat chance of that happening. 

I say all this to say, I totally see where Jesus is coming from. I totally get how hard it is to not rely on yourself and rely on God when you have loads of money. It's easy to rely on yourself when have the capabilities of gaining the world yourself. It would almost seem unnecessary to rely on God. ​It makes sense that wealth is that big of a barrier to knowing God fully. I hope it's a barrier that I can avoid, and I hope it's one the guy who sings the song 'Buy Me a Boat' avoids too. 

​-Cliff

Cliff's Note: On the whole, country music needs to work on its lyrics. 

The God Who Reads Minds

I don't know about you, but when I pray, I usually bow my head, close my eyes and pray silently. It seems pretty rare that I pray out loud, unless I'm praying with/for a group of people or another person. It's something I could definitely stand to grow at, but I just noticed one thing about praying to myself the other day that I think is is cool: God can read minds.

You don't have to have me tell you that God has a lot of really amazing characteristics. He's loving, kind, good, merciful, just, etc., etc. The list could go on for eternity; however, this whole idea of God also being  all-knowing, aka omniscient, really just recently stuck out to me. Yes, all-knowing means that God knows everyone and whats going on everywhere, but it also means so much more than that to me. It means He knows my thoughts, knows my heart and knows my prayers even when I don't verbalize them. Think about that for a second and let it sink it.

Remember all those times you prayed those silent prayers to yourself? All those times you prayed along silently while the pastor prayed out loud? All the times your mind was screaming out for help but your mouth stayed shut? Yup. God heard every single one of those, and this blows my mind.

The omniscience of God gets Him access to everyone's prayers ever. Not just mine, not just yours, but everyone's from all over the world. From the young kid across the big pond saying a prayer for the very first time to the elderly folks down the street praying for their long, lost friends, He hears them all, both the silent pleas we're too afraid to say and the audible cries out for help when we're most desperate. This is extremely comforting.

Psalm 139:4 says that "before a word is even on our tongue, He knows the thought completely," and then He comes back and promises us in 1 John 3 that He is greater than our heart, even when our heart condemns us because He knows all. Essentially, He overcomes all obstacles to knowing us. He already knows us. He knows us better than anyone will and anyone every could, and as scary as that may sound, I think it still sounds more comforting. I'm thankful I have a God that I literally can't lie to because He already knows. I'm thankful that I have a God Who already knows what I need when I need it, even when I may not recognize it yet. Having a God Who reads minds may seem like too much in some people's books, but in mine, it's amazing. I can be honest with Him because He already knows the truth, and He already knows the truth because He is the Truth.

Think about it. God already knows you are.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God can read my mind. Cool. He can hear my prayers even when they're silent. Cooler. God knows my prayers before I even say them. Coolest. 

The Hidden Blessing of Job

I remember the first time I heard the term 'prosperity Gospel.' Honestly, I had no idea what it really meant, but it sounded good. After all, 'prosperity' is a good word, and so is 'Gospel,' so surely combining the two would be a good thing, right?

Wrong.

Now, I know what prosperity Gospel means, and I know that it's founded on the idea that with more faith, positive speech and tithing, one's material wealth will increase. It' essentially the belief that God's will is to financially bless His people, and frankly, when I read the Bible, I don't see this belief holding much of any validity.

I just finished up reading the book of Job. For those of you who don't know, Job was a guy in the Old Testament of the Bible who was considered to be the most righteous man on the earth. God saw him as this, and God knew that whatever happened to him, he wouldn't curse God's name. Then, the devil challenged this belief God had and struck Job with all of these plagues and terrible things, all of which God gave the devil permission to do, as long as he didn't kill Job. Job receives all of these plagues, but he never once curses God, even after his wife tells him to. He and his friends spend about 20 chapters discussing the 'why' of what's happening, but not once does Job curse his God.

Throughout the dialogue of Job and his friend's discussion, you get a glimpse into what Job's life looked like and how he lived. He lived a life of blessing, but even more than that, he really did live a life of righteousness. He fed and clothed the poor with his own sheep and food, he was a father to the fatherless and cared for widows, and he even made a covenant with his eyes to never look lustfully at another woman besides his wife. He truly lived righteously, but even yet, that did not stop the hard things from happening to him in his life.

It's hard to argue that anyone has ever lived as righteously as Job did but lost as much as Job lost. He lost all his sons and daughters, all of his livestock, all his servants and was even inflicted with lots of physical pain and sickness. He was truly tested, and that didn't look anything like 'prosperity Gospel.' It looked like the opposite. No matter how much faith, positive speech and tithing he participated in, he still was pushed to the limits here on earth. Blessings weren't given to him; they were taken away; however, I don't think anyone has ever been more blessed by God than how Job was treated.

God saw Job so righteous that God tested him to the most extreme of human circumstances in his day and time. God knew Job's heart so well that He knew that Job would not break. God knew where Job's treasure really was. He knew it wasn't in his stuff, wasn't in his family and wasn't in his health, but that his treasure was truly with God in Heaven. 

I can only pray that one day God sees me in the light that He saw Job- that He sees me as righteous enough to take everything I may hold dear to me away from me in order to prove that my heart really is with Him no matter what. That's my prayer.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Blessing doesn't always look like 'being blessed;' sometimes it looks like suffering.

The Seventh Day

​“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”​

This is the Biblical account of the seventh day of the world, and unlike the days before it, nothing was created, but everything was finished. The seventh day was a day of rest. 

I'm not sure if you've ever thought much about what God resting might look like, but think about it for a second. What does it look like for the Creator and Sustainer of the world to rest? Does He nap? Does He sit back, chill and watch His creation unfold? Maybe He people watches. I'm not sure, but I believe that there's something to be said for even the God of the universe taking a rest and a break from creation because He knows it's good and that He created it perfect, perfect to naturally, kind of "run itself," if you will.

I feel like God rested to show us that we all need rest sometimes and that the world will be just fine on its own without our input for a day. He made the seventh day a blessing and a break from all of the work, creating and business of the other six days of the week. The seventh day is a gift. 

God gave us rest and showed us rest when He didn't have to. He didn't have to take a break or show us how to take breaks. He could've kept working after He created Adam and Eve and put them to work strait away, but instead He blessed them with the command to be fruitful and multiply, while also giving them a day of rest and displaying the importance of rest by showing them that even the Creator of it all is humble enough to let the world spin and take a rest. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Taking rest is a symbol of humility.  

The Sixth Day

"And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds - livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.' And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'"

"So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them."

"And God blessed them, And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.' And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.' And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day."

This is the Biblical account of the sixth day of the world, and what a busy day it must've been. It's the day all gaps of the creation process were filled. It's the day that God finally populated with universe's first and best zoo. The sixth day of creation is why you and I are here and why you and I are surrounded by all we are surrounded by. 

The sixth day of the world was absolutely epic, and somehow, seems like it would've taken the most work. From creating every wild animal, every single bug and every piece of livestock to creating the human species, a lot went into day six; plus, day six would've been like God's Friday, and He work extra hard that day! I don't know about you, but for me, Fridays barely count as work days because the week is basically over. God didn't care though; He grinded it out all week, and then He finished just as strong, if not stronger than He started, with even more creativity and personal touch. 

I also think the sixth day of creation is amazing because of the way God seemed to have the whole world prepared just for what was coming into it: animals and people. He had already provided every piece of food, every piece of shelter and every piece of clothing that we and the rest of creation might need. He didn't create humans before He created provision for us, and He didn't create plants before He created sunlight. He knew what He was doing.

The sixth day of creation had to have been the longest day of creation; I feel like God definitely put in some over-time hours knowing He was going to be creating something in His image and knowing what all that was going to do. I'm glad He did it though. I'm so glad He made us and let us be a part of His story and that now, because He created us all those years ago, we get to live forever with Him in His New Creation. What could be better?

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God made a great place for us to live in; He would be a great zookeeper. 

The Fifth Day

"And God said, 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.' So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day."

This is the Biblical account of the fifth day of the world. This was the day that God filled the oceans, lakes, rivers and skies with all their living creatures. It was the day He filled the ocean's depths with all the mysterious creatures we barely know of and all the mysterious creatures that we don't know anything of. He made the creatures great and small, and He made some to live longer than other. He gave us birds to soar and fly throughout the heavens making traveling through the air appear seemingly effortless, while man still tries his hardest to build machines that can only scratch the surface of the elegance of flying.

It was on the fifth day that God decided to venture into the heights and depths of His creation and fill them with specific life that could only live there. He went to the deepest valleys of the ocean and left His fingerprints on sea creatures we've only just begun to discover, and He went to the highest of heights and filled the skies with birds of all kinds that seem to be able to fly to outer space if they wanted too, as they fly for hundreds upon hundreds of miles. 

God made the fifth day a special day because it was the day He told us that, "There is no place I do not know or have not been on my creation. I have covered it in my handiwork. You can go as deep as you want or as high as you want, but you cannot escape Me. I have created all and filled creation with all, and I know every height and depth of it." God truly knows this world better than we ever could. He has made it to be explored, and He's left a never-ending path of creatures for us to discover along the way. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God has truly left his fingerprints all over the earth, both at its highest and lowest points. 

The Fourth Day

"And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in he expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.' And it was so. And God made the two great lights - the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night - and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day."

This is the Biblical account of the fourth day of the world. This is the day that God made the sun, the moon and the stars and the day that He hung them in the heavens. Like most days in the creation story, this day too has its questions and mysteries, but personally, this day has more questions and mysteries than others. 

It was on day one that God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. It was on day one that He gave the world something to break through the darkness; however, what was the light He gave on day one if didn't put the sun, moon or stars into place until day four? 

This was something that I noticed for the first time today as I was rereading the creation account. I didn't catch it at first, but then when I thought about it, I had to wonder why God would make more lights if the world already had light. Why would He need to create "two great light" if the world already had light enough for plants, vegetation and life to grow? 

I don't know the answer to this, and I'm not a theological expert, but I have a guess: What if the light from day one was simply God Himself? What if He was the one giving light to the world? I may be reading the creation account wrong, but I really do wonder why there's light on day one, enough light to have plants on day three and then two other 'great' lights are created on day four. It's just so cool to me in my head to think about God actually being all the light that's needed for the entire earth. It's like that picture we get in Revelation of the new Heaven when the world doesn't need the sun or the moon anymore because God will be the only light we'll need. I feel like Genesis was just a foreshadowing of what's to come in Eternity.

God made the sun, the moon and the stars because He knew we'd need them, but one day we won't. I'm pumped for that day.  

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God is and has always been the true Light of the world, even before the sun, moon and stars.

The Third Day

"And God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so.  God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good."

"And God said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.' And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day."

This is the Biblical account of the third day of the world. Land was formed, as mountains and hills jutted out of the ground, while valleys and prairies fell at their feet. Water rushed around the world filling river beds, lakes, seas and oceans, separating the salt water from the fresh water. The Creator who needs no land or water to walk on created land and water for us to walk on so we could walk with Him. 

The third day was the first day of life. Plants and vegetation sprouted out of the ground for the first time in preparation for what was to come next. Fruits, vegetables, seeds and plants took over the earth in preparation for the provision it would soon have to provide for all living creatures, and flowers and trees clothed it in matchless beauty. 

 An invisible Creator created the visible, and the Provider of all provided provision. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: The third day was the first day of life, just as the third day was our first day of salvation.