Notorious

"After this He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth.

And He said to him, 'Follow Me.'

And leaving everything, he rose and followed Him.

And Levi made Him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them.

And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at His disciples, saying,

'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?'

And Jesus answered them,

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.'"

~~~~~~Luke 5:27-32~~~~~~

What am I known for?
Do I have a bad reputation because I hang out with the social outcasts and crowds that people don't like?

Jesus did.

He partied with the "unspiritual" ones who the "faithful" ones despised.

These tax collectors and sinners were nasty to them.

Jesus' life orbited around these sinners.

What would Jesus do?

Story

So this is somewhat of a reflection on a book I recently read.
It's called "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" and it was written by Donald Miller.
I wouldn't say this book was "theologically sound," but it was inspiring. Inspiring for someone who is already aware of the ultimate fulfillment found in Christ alone.
The book is the story about Miller's experience of writing a movie script of his life. He realizes he is not a very exciting person and from this endeavor flows a desire to get off the couch, turn off the TV, and live life.
Miller believes in God and in heaven. However, I didn't gather he believes in the sinful nature of man. Sure, this is picky, but I kept waiting for him to get to the punch line that every man is desperately wicked and hope is only found in Christ. Instead, Miller comes to the conclusion of containing a positive attitude about people and that they are "good." Miller does take a small portion to talk about God as the Great Writer of our story, but does not run with that concept.
All in all, this book did inspire me to live a memorable life. To do things different.

I would not use it as a guiding source of knowledge, but it was a pleasant, quick read. Miller is a talented and artistic writer, so you might want to pick it up sometime if you have a few spare hours.

Here are some sections of the book I found interesting that caused me to think:

     "I've wondered, though, if one of the reasons we fail to acknowledge the brilliance of life is because we don't want to be characters in a story because characters have to move and breathe and face conflict with courage. And if life isn't remarkable, then we don't have to do any of that; we can be unwilling victims rather than grateful participants.

     But I've noticed something. I've never walked out of a meaningless movie thinking all movies are meaningless. I only thought the movie I walked out on was meaningless. I wonder, then, if when people say life is meaningless, what they really mean is their lives are meaningless. I wonder if they've chosen to believe their whole existence is unremarkable, and are projecting their dreary life on the rest of us" (page 59, 60).

     "A lot of people think a writer has to live in order to write, has to meet people and have a rich series of experiences or his work will become dull. But that is drivel. It's an excuse a writer uses to take the day off, or the week or the month off for that matter...

     People who live good stories are too busy to write about them. Nobody ever strapped a typewriter to the back of an elephant and wrote a novel while hunting wild game...

     I only say this because part of the reason my life had become uninspiring is I'd sat down to earn a living. Literally, I sat in a chair and typed words. And that's fine, because I like the work, and it pays the rent...I didn't want to live in words anymore; I wanted to live in sweat and pain...

     My desire to live a better story didn't motivate me to do anything...

     Here's the truth about telling stories with your life. It's going to sound like a great idea, and you are going to get excited about it, and then when it comes time to do the work, you're not going to want to do it. It's like that with writing books, and it's like that with life. People love to have lived a great story, but few people like the work it takes to make it happen. But joy costs pain...

     A general rule in creating stories is that characters don't want to change. They must be forced to change. Nobody wakes up and starts chasing a bad guy or dismantling a bomb unless something forces them to do so. ..

     The rule exists in story because it's a true thing about people. humans are designed to seek comfort and order, and so if the have comfort and order, they tend to plant themselves, even if their comfort isn't all that comfortable. And even if they secretly want for something better" (page 97-100).

Sara

Last fall, a fellow student walked onto the stage of the Psalm Center.
Her name was Sara.
She had what looked like a knee that couldn't bend, short pixie haircut pulled back in a headband, and a beautiful smile that reached to the farthest seat.
Sara was a senior communications student and she was standing in front of us to share her story.

In the summer of 2009, cancer was discovered in her knee.
Many surgeries were performed along with chemotherapy.
She ended up with a titanium knee and hip in October 2009.
Then she went through multiple lung surgeries that winter.

She spoke on how it was so hard.
She wanted to give up and go Home to Jesus.
But it wasn't time yet.
Tears poured down my face as she shared.
She displayed love and obedience to Christ even through this fatiguing battle.

She returned in the fall of 2010 to finish her senior year at Corban University.
I never personally met her, but her positive attitude and contagious smile was encouraging to me when I'd see her around campus.

In January, the student body was notified that the cancer had made a resurgence.
It would not let up this time.
Corban decided to award her an honorary communication degree because of all her hard work and the work of other students who helped to fulfill her remaining community service credits.
A special ceremony was arranged in her living room with the school's president, vice president, and her family.


For a few weeks I hadn't heard an update on how she was doing.
This week,
          finals week,
                     the week before she would graduate,
                                             I got an e-mail from the school.

On Monday night, our prayers were answered.
Sara was completely healed.
This fellow saint was delivered into Jesus' arms to worship Him for the rest of eternity.
She is now dancing and praising Him in the absence of pain.

I don't pity her.
I envy her.
She's in heaven, free of the bonds of this fallen world!

Sometimes I think the church focuses on the earth too much.
Guys!
Let's get excited about heaven!

Sara can do anything now...
Save one thing.

She can't share her story with those still on earth.
She can't share the greatness of the One who carried her through the suffering.
While she was still here, she was faithful to do so

But it's our turn now.
I'm sure she doesn't regret any time she shared the Gospel with someone.
She can't witness now, but we can.
There's no telling what Sara's posthumous testimony can accomplish for the Gospel.

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For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face...

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three;

but the greatest of  these is love...

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect,

that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing....

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial,

for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life,

which God has promised to those who love Him.

~~~~~~~~1 Corinthians 13:12-13, James 1:2-4, 12~~~~~~~~

One Year Ago Today...

Probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
Yet one of the most joyous one as well.

• Saying "goodbye" "See Y'all Later" to some of my most beloved friends and favorite people in the world.
• Squealing "EEEEEEEEK" and waving my hands back and forth with Stina because of Wiebe.
• Oh ya, I forgot a sliver of that heart...

I'll never forget the times I spent as a student at Jackson Hole Bible College.
The good, the bad, and sometimes even the ugly.
I learned so much more than how to study Greek, Hebrew, Church History, and Romans.
I learned how to live.
How to work hard and play harder (Mr. Pellerin).
How to love, laugh, cry, and grow.

Some of my dearest memories include, but are not limited to...

• Late night euchre
• Settler weekends with Tim, Shannon, Tom, and Izze
• Teaching P.E. to a dozen wonderful young ladies
• Hiking and skiing the pass
• Shuttling the sick and maimed to the E.R.
• Playing music at church
• Long road trips (18 hour bus ride! Ya!)
• Creating the perfect woman...
• Blowing up water bottles in the guy's dorm - that I definitely didn't enter ;)
• REPRESENT! JESUS!
• Work days and country music
• "What about Mars?!" complete with customized tees
• I'M WEARING GREEN, YOU'RE WEARING GREEN, WE'RE ALL WEARING GREEN...I LOVE GREEN!!!!!!
• Dancing the night away with Dance Master Caleb
• "I'll tell you when you're older..."
• Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, Phlegmatic 
• "Shiprolouse!"

Mr. BAM Bot also lovingly gave a speech at graduation that pretty much sums up the school year.

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"O LORD, You have searched me and known me!

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

You discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay You hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high;

I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from Your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from You presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there!

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

even there You hand shall lead me, and You right hand shall hold me...

For You formed my inward parts;

You knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are You works;

my soul knows it very well.

My frame was not hidden from you, When I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes say my unformed substance;

in Your book were written,

every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with You...

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

~~~~~~~~~Psalm 139:1-10, 13-18, 23-24~~~~~~~~~