Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Heaven on Earth

So what is Christianity about? Is it about living a decent life then going to heaven? I really don’t think so. Christianity is about bringing heaven to earth. I realize this is kind of one of those cliché statement, but its true. If you read through the gospels, Jesus’ greatest grievance was with people who weren’t generous, who didn’t show love to people in need, people who didn’t bring heaven to earth. Christianity isn’t about finding an escape plan out of this world; it is about making it better. The Bible clearly instructs to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and help the poor. It doesn’t instruct us to give people a bunch of rules and regulations to live by. Improving our surroundings. I believe that God looks directly at how we live our lives. This kind of leads us into the grace topic. I believe that grace is viewing ourselves the way God views us. If we focus on what we have done wrong, we have missed the point. Living in grace is accepting that God has a better life for us, and making the choice to bring heaven to earth. There are plenty of times when your dead self is going to raise its ugly head, and there will be many times when you fall back into old rituals. Grace is making the conscious choice to refuse hell the right of passage into this earth.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Jesus on earth...

Well, this will probably be my last entry before Christmas. These past few weeks have been interesting. I have gone through many stresses and trials with work and finances. Yet, for some reason, I have woken up every morning with Jesus on my mind. It seems like the first thought through my head when my alarm goes off is prayer and thankfulness. I really truly am grateful to have a Savior who loves me so. I feel like no matter what happens, and how life progresses, I have this deep love for God. This may sound like a sappy love song, but its true. People can doubt this whole thing all they want, and in all honesty, I think God welcomes it. The truth of the matter is, EVERYONE has a magnet in him or her that is attracted to Jesus. There isn’t a single person on this earth that wasn’t created to worship Him. Anyway, I am grateful.

My friend was telling me how he was going to serve at a shelter or soup kitchen on Christmas day. I really respected that; I will be with my friends and loved ones. It sparked the thought in me however. We worship God through loving others. Whether it be a homeless person looking for food, spending time with our friends and family, ect. We are exalting Jesus by living like him, and showing our compassion and love for others. I think that is a profound thing. I mean it really makes me value my relationships and loved ones in a different way. Anyway, food for thought I guess.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Understanding

I am becoming more and more convinced that the more I read the Bible, the less I understand. In all honesty, I am kind of comforted by that. I believe that people who think they can read the Bible without being swayed by their own agenda are kidding themselves. Think about this, there was no such thing as printing presses until the 1400s. Before that, there was maybe one bible per town. The Bible was read in communities. Someone would read aloud and afterwards, everyone would discuss what he or she just went through. In a lot of ways, I believe the Bible was meant to be read in groups, not by yourself. Almost every usage of the word “you” in the Bible is plural. Paul would write to communities and groups of people. I am not going to make this into a long rant, but I believe that the Bible was meant to be interpreted through prayer and community. There is a lot more to this, I am reading about it in the book “Velvet Elvis”. I just don’t feel like writing a novel…haha.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Back in the Saddle?


So I haven’t updated my blog in almost a year. I just haven’t had anything to say I guess. Well, I am finally feeling ready to be vocal about life. So I will try and update this more often. My pastor recommended that I start journaling and writing down my thoughts. I probably won’t add too many friends to this thing for that reason. But I don’t really care who reads this. I think it is important to be transparent and open. I would also like to point out that my thoughts on this are just that…thoughts. Don’t believe everything you read, pray about it and apply it to yourself.

So I guess my first entry is going to be fairly general. I have recently gone through some revelation on my understanding of God and this life that we are going through. You know what my huge revelation was? God is Love. Profound, huh? If you are a Christian like myself, you have probably heard that a million times before. I have recently decided that I don’t care how many times it is said, because I do not see it in action in modern day Christianity. It seems like we focus on everything that is wrong. Whether it be cussing, drinking, yada yada. In the grand scheme of things, who cares? I wouldn’t call myself a fundamentalist by any means, but sometimes I think we really need to strip away the garbage. I believe that one of the enemy’s biggest means of destruction is confusion. I DO think that we, as Christians, need to fine-tune ourselves and really look introspectively, but lets get the basics right first. Jesus came here and loved people. The compassion that he showed people changed their hearts. Take Zaccheus (this example is inspired by Blue like Jazz for those of you who care) for example. Everyone in his town hated him. He was a tax collector who was rich of the poor and struggling people. I am pretty confident that he heard an ear full from his peers about how his life was wrong. However one day he decided to get in a tree and watch this Man he had heard so much about (I believe Jesus is magnetic, and all of us have a longing for him). Jesus looked at him in the eye, and said “I am eating at your table”. Jesus went over to his house and loved on him. Through His compassion, Zacheus was changed sold everything he had, spending the rest of his life pursuing Jesus. I think in a lot of ways, they church today looks more like the Pharisees of the gospels. The fact of the matter is, we don’t have everything figured out, and our calling is to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel”, I intrepid that as spreading Jesus’ love and acceptance.

Thursday, March 03, 2005

damn liberals...

We are having a good debate over at the Strikethurman boards. Fun stuff! I am the biggest conservative ever, yet I am trying to spark debate by displaying both sides. Some people seem so afraid of confrontation!

Anyway, the job is going great. God has really blessed me. It is a great environment and I work hard.

We officially start recording this week. I am so excited. We are also gathering the content to launch a new strikethurman.com Where I assume we will be announcing my joining the band...haha. Its funny I have played 4 shows now and we still haven't made a public announcment. I don't really care in all honesty.

I am going to start praying and reading over my lunch breaks. It is going to be the perfect time for me to be by myself and really dig in. There is a cafe with a patio in our office building. No one ever goes on the patio, so it will be the perfect spot. YAY.

Emo moment:

I really want to find the girl I will marry. I know God has the right person and everything, but I am getting anxious...hah I honestly just want to love and care for someone.


Ok done.

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

So I have the internet now. Therefore I will be posting more! But right now I am off to music practice for church.

God is too good to me,

josh.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Bury me...

I conformed into Mark and Seans propoghanda and got myself a blog. It is probably the coolest thing ever.

Well it seems like everything in life is changing right now. I am in a new band called StrikeThurman ( http://www.strikethurman.com ) It is so amazing to play with such talanted and God fearing guys. I am stoked about my future in this.

I am moving in with my buddy Nathan next week. I am excited about this because I am going to have a lot more room, and eventually we are going to have his entire house to ourselves. His parents are possibly moving to Canada to pursue Nathan's little brother's hockey career.

I am in between jobs right now, I got laid off from the last job due to an aquisition. I am not really that concerned by this. I have some great leads I am working on, and I know that God has great things in store for me.

Spiritually, I am going through things both good and bad. The good things are that I am learning to take circumstances in stride and roll with the punches. However, I have felt really dry lately. I am so thirsty for Jesus, I am so ready to take the next step and really dig in, yet I get too comfortable and just sit back where I am. Like I said in the beginning of this blog, Change is in the air, God has a new season for me.


ps - I am so listening to Tupac right now...