Category: Biblical Truths

Live free

20180726_1009302

 

What happens when we start to believe that our potential is far greater than the fear told you to believe?

What if we dove into the chaos with a divine call to take part in its ordering?

What if we charged up the hill of life with open eyes and a heart full of love for those falling down all around?

Who will be the bearers of light into the darkness?

What happens when we realize the chains of selfishness can be cast down into the dust of death at your feet and picked up in its place; a sword of fire, a blazing light of eternal glory with power over all darkness, doom, and every real moment of the gut-wrenching pain searing your heart?

What oceans are there yet to be sailed?!

What mountains have not yet been climbed or forests remaining untraversed but those in your mind?

Those are the vast vistas within your heart that long to be crossed. Faith beckons you into the unknown with the gentle whisper of our only true loving Father and King.

There is One who is worthy of every drop of your passion! One whose might surpasses your comprehension and whose love is deeper than you’ve yet dared to believe. What shattered mirrors of lies are you satisfied by while conflictedly staring into?

He, yes HE, with a capital H, the Son of God was crushed for our transgressions to set us free from the ghastly grasp of the slowly dying “self” and place within our chests a freshly beating heart, flushed with the Glory reserved for the children of an overwhelmingly good, powerful and infinitely beautiful God.

Call him by his name and let the blood of His selfless brokeness cleanse the tears of yours. The God who designed the universe knows your name and calls you personally into the eternity of His unsurpassed love.

Live free in your new name or die forever.

Choose Love

Loneliness is a gift. 
Like pain when we touch a flame, loneliness reveals our true nature and protects us from the danger of isolation. 
When you feel loneliness, have the courage to allow it to propel you into service and love of others. 
The most significant action we take each day are our decisions about our treatment of others. 
Chose kindness, gentleness, patience, service, devotion and above all else, Love. 
Not the love that seeks pleasure and self gratification, not the love that depends on another’s approval, respect or admiration. 

Allow the light of God to reveal the selfless love he provides that teaches you to choose to pursue what is best for your friend, neighbor, co-worker, cashier, teller, server, and even the old man driving too slow in the passing lane. 
Choose to live in a way that lightens the world of those around you and your life will be a blessing and your heart full. 

This is the Kingdom of Heaven. Where the least is made great, the servant lavished as the master, the repentant made righteous and the humble exhalted. 

Seek forgiveness and find peace in His overwhelmingly sufficient grace. 

Broken Glory

Ok, fair warning, I’ve been on meds and stationary for a week with nothing to do but think and reflect. So, with that context in mind, here is my heart today. 😌
The beauty of acknowledging Jesus as God is that as I grow to understand him more, I understand myself and the world around me more. 
The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom. 
CS Lewis, the British novelist, poet, and academic at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities said that he believed in Christianity the same as he believed that the sun had risen over the eastern horizon, not only because he saw it in the sky but that because of it in the sky, he could clearly see everything else. 
We all have an innate longing for goodness and beauty in ourselves and in those around us. We desire cooperation and enjoyment within our families, communities, work places and the world as a whole. That is our true self; our intended existence. That is the “home” we are constantly seeking and never completely finding. 
We also live everyday under the unquestionable awareness of our failings and shortcomings. The subtle reminders are in every television program, commercial, song and sexual encounter. They provide us a glimpse of what we desire, while reminding us of what we don’t have. 
Jesus connects the two. His overwhelming goodness allows the brokenness of my heart to approach the godliness of his touch without pretending to have it all under control. 
I am broken but I am also intimately connected to perfection. 
I love living in Boulder, but it is unmistakably similar to every other city, it is full of people similar to everyone under the sun. 
People are broken and seeking peace. 
Fall on your face, acknowledge Him as King, repent of your sinfulness and allow him to reveal your true self. The identity you seek is found in the light of his glory.

Who are you God? 


Jesus is the breath of life.

The air filling your lungs exists because he has made it that way.

That scent of heaven, draping across your mind.

Jesus is the bread of life.

All that is good, pure and holy is his influence on your existence; the scent of the pine, chirp of the chickadee, breeze on your face and warmth of the fire.

All that soothes your soul is his gentle nudge, his tap on the shoulder and whisper to your soul.

“I am here. I am good.”

In the midst of a world set on leading you towards darkness and  death, God speaks in the beam of a light; that beckoning glow on the horizon of your mind.

An awareness of his presence reminds you what the flowers inherently know, seek the light for in it is life.

The light is where life resides, it is the flow within the tide of the knowledge of good and evil that our conscience either wades against or depends upon.

God is the light, the pull towards the bright end of your existence you are so deeply yearning to discover.

He is the source of your best you, the you within you that will be most content and peaceful.

Let him in.

Betray your self interest and  follow him.

Together We Stand, Divided we…

As our nation becomes more clearly polarized it is important to heed these words; “When you ally yourself with evil, the enemy of your friend becomes the target for your own evil.” Casting aside all personal attacks, those who stand in opposition to Hillary do so based on her political precedent that is starkly contrasted against Judeo-Christian values. Those are not white values, but the values of the Judeo-Christian block of humanity who stands on the law of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as our standard for righteousness. Those moral guideposts led to the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of this nation, they emboldened those who abolished slavery, led the woman’s suffrage movement, fought to end racial discrimination and Jim Crow. We stood against the KKK and arm in arm with the impoverished and under-represented. It was the obedience to and reverence of God which created the society in which unrestrained human creativity led to the automobile, airplane, smallpox vaccine, and the internet. Those of us who held our nose and voted for Trump, do not condone the racist sentiments of the small minority of his supporters, just the same as my dear liberal friends do not stand side by side with the violence in Fergusson, or murder of police officers in Dallas. Regardless of your political leaning, we as decent members of society cannot fall into the pit of lumping our political opponents with the worst ignorant fools on either side. Those whom we can laugh and jest about our different beliefs on fiscal policy or opinions of the best means of providing quality health care to the poor of society must remain our friends. We must remain civil. Debate leads to progress. Division leads to tyranny.

The Road


Don’t let a broken yesterday keep you from a destined tomorrow.
“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, But humility goes before honor.”‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18:12‬ ‭NASB‬‬
Preaching to myself here, but when combining the above statement, verse, and photo it seems to me that the road forward to destiny rolls along a slow, unknown, bumpy, weathered, overwhelmingly beautiful road worn by the steady humility of those who’ve gone before us. 
Love your neighbor. Rejoice in righteousness. Follow the best examples. 
Reject the chorus of doubt and fear. 
Have faith in the One who laid the trail. 

Bottom line 

I grew up in a Christian home, I went to a Christian school as a child and many of my early influences were Christian. None of that really mattered however when I was a teenager and hated who I was. None of that mattered when I was considering killing myself. 

You see, the label “Christian” is really meaningless. Some of the worst people in history claimed to be “Christians.” Who you claim to be is significantly less influential than who you are in your heart. 

The little secret lurking within every human soul is that you are “not good enough.” 

Oh sure, we all have our coping mechanisms, our delusions and excuses. We have our self help dogmas, doting parents, and encouraging friends. Within and behind all of that is your self-awareness that you are unceremoniously and undoubtedly “flawed.” While simultaneously knowing that you ought not to be, aren’t designed to be, and with everything you are, wish that you will someday be “full.” It is for that reason that every society in history has flocked to those amongst them who promised answers to the fullness of life. Wise men, prophets, sages, medicine men, shamans…you get the point. 
Humanity knows inherently that the spiritual world is just as real as the physical one. If you deny that, both you and I know you are lying to yourself. Deep within your psyche you know, when you look into the starry sky, that something ultimately powerful made it that way. 
The question is then; Who? Why? Does it matter? 
I believe that the Bible is God’s love letter to humanity. Within it’s sacred text is truth revealed. The person of Jesus is, was, and will always be the personality and explanation of God to man. His example and His teachings exhibit perfectly a definitive answer to all of man’s questions, longings, and quest for identity. 

His Word; The Word offers the only complete solution for wholeness and direction of our life’s insatiable quest to be full.  As it is only He who can fill your soul with what it was intended to be filled with.

Read it. Read the Gospels, read Acts, read Paul’s letters. He loves you perfectly, but you must admit that you need him. 

Trust in Him


Our nations motto and the phrase imprinted on our currency says :
“In God We Trust”
Trusting God means that we align ourselves to His wisdom and submit our desires to the goodness of His character. Putting aside our selfish ambition and fleshly lusts to live according to His instruction and flourish with peace, hope, love and joy due entirely to His grace. 
It means we believe in the Gospel of Jesus. 
That we as a people are His and are for Him in this world. 
That we fight for the innocent and defend the weak. 
That we love and honor our neighbor and do unto him what we would wish him to do to us. 
That we love all and expect nothing in return. 
That’s why America is great. 
Or it was. 
Somehow that meaning has been lost into the hotdogs, flags, and fireworks. 
Be encouraged. He is still worthy of our trust. It is we who have moved, not Him. 
Trust in His promises and that He is who He demonstrates over and over again. 
He is loving, tender, holy, forgiving, slow to anger, compassionate, sufficient, understanding, good, hater of evil and protector of the innocent and humble.
He shines light into darkness wherever his people are obedient and bold. 
Our nation is heaving, shuttering, crashing against the rocks in the dark night of the storm. 
If ever we were in need of light, it is again upon us. 

Where I go. 

“Why wilderness? Because we like the taste of freedom, because we like the smell of danger.” 
-Edward Abbey

I had a moment this trip when I was deep in the forest, off trail, following this amazing raging river of white water ripping down the side of the mountain and I knew there were moose nearby. I’m far from an adrenaline junkie, but nothing makes me feel more alive than encountering mighty things. It is in those moments when the veil of superiority and control is removed and the simplicity of existence becomes exhilarating. There in the quiet places, beauty overwhelms fear and the supernatural is clear. The light that sustains all life is awake and in me. This is why I hike. That is where I go.

Time for choosing.


In this world of pain and love, people feel safe when the people around them expect that good has more power than evil. When people expect to be helped, encouraged, and inspired by the people around them, we are free to dream. When society loses that, which it is in the progress of doing, people will not feel safe. When people do not feel safe, desperation becomes their primary motivator and guide. Desperation, coupled with despair and helplessness leads people towards two opposite and eternally dueling realities; God’s love and Satan’s lies.So which side are you on? You’re in a holy war everyday and the future of your homeland depends mightily on whether or not it will be led and governed by people who will fight for the love of God or have themselves already succumbed to the lies of Satan. When Satan obtains state power, the world gets concentration camps and holocaust. It always has been that way…

From the earliest days of humanity.

Study the Word, know the world, and pick a side already, please…

You’re in a gunfight, it would be advised you return fire.