Success for the Nonbeliever?

I have been pondering a bit lately.

I was reading about a guy's success in the entertainment industry a short while ago.  I won't name who this man was.  Then I read an article about his beliefs.  He made a joke about foolish people praying to an imaginary friend for healing instead of using medical assistance.  In that moment my mind ran wild.  How is it that this man is incredibly successful and has no worries in the world?  He is as happy as can be in life and yet he lives a life in which he completely rejects God.

I'm not ashamed to admit being annoyed at this scenario.  I'm only a selfish human.  However, I don't think it's right to have malice in my heart and that is why I raised my concern to God.  Thankfully, I already realize that I don't deserve any blessings or success that God may or may not willingly plan for me.  I was, however, puzzled at how much more difficult life is for a person trying to obey God's authority than someone who is living for his or her self.

I used to think "How miserable people must be who don't have Jesus in their lives.  How do they cope with loss?  How do they deal with failure?"  But they don't understand what they're missing.  It's like feeling sorry for individuals who were born with different handicaps.  They aren't less happy due to their handicap.  They don't know the difference.  So what if life is actually a lot simpler for those who aren't burdened with following the direction of a higher authority?

For believers, it would seem that there is a pattern of constant struggle.  Whether that be a struggle with sin or a struggle with a circumstance or even a struggle of miscommunication with God.  There always seems to be some kind of suffering to pray about.  But really no one said following God was going to be easy.  It's a constant battle really.  "So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good" (1 Peter 4:19).  "For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil" (1Peter 4:17).

Suffering is fine because the process produces goodies in our soul.  However, sometimes we do tend to focus on the negative.  If I meet with friends, a question that seems to always come up is "How can I be praying for you?"  And that always forces me to think about what I may be struggling with.  Maybe we can start asking each other "What can we thank and praise God for this week?"  Don't get me wrong, praying for healing and wisdom is necessary.  But maybe by shifting our focus on praising God for what He's already done and what He will do in the future, we will turn our strife into abundant joy.

Going back to my thoughts on those who reject Jesus yet live happy lives...I can freely get over that.  First of all, I am not to covet someone else's good favor.  Secondly, my whole belief system is based on an eternal home after this life.  I can't measure happiness or success on Earth.  But I do have hope in my treasures stored up in Heaven.  Therefore, if someone is happy, let them be happy.  If someone is struggling, try to help them overcome the struggle.  Regardless of a person's faith, I can see him or her as I see myself.  And I am a person whom God knit together for His purpose alone.

References:
-Exodus 20:17  -You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.
-Psalm 139:13  -You knit me together in my mother's womb.
-Romans 15:13  -May the God of hope fill you with joy & peace as you trust Him.
-Mark 12:31  -Love your neighbor as yourself.
-Colossians 1:16  -All things have been created through him and for him.
-Matthew 6:19-20  -Don't store up treasures on earth, but in Heaven.
-Luke 6:31  -As you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
-1 Peter 2:17  -Show proper respect to everyone.
-Proverbs 24:17  -Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.

The Church

Over time things start to get comfortable and normal.  People get set in their ways.  Everything gets familiar and relaxed.  What if that is happening in God’s church today.  I believe it is.  I come to this conclusion because I have been dwelling on the church and the purposes of its creation.  I really do not think the average church-goer understands why he’s in church.   Don’t feel guilty about an obligation or routine; just understand God’s heart and word.  

Church is not a building.  There are not churches scattered about the globe.  There is one church and it is THE Church and it is the body of Christ.  Every building called ‘church’ contains parts of the one church that God created for His purposes.  God didn’t create church so that parents could have free childcare for an hour or so every week.  It was not created so that single people could find their spouse.  It was not even created so that we could go feel better about ourselves each week.  These reasons sound silly when I think of what The Church actually is.  God’s Church is 24 hours a day every day of the week.  We all exist in a unified form that is tied together by our cornerstone, who is Jesus.  As the Church we are to worship, pray, love each other, study His word, evangelize the world, and have baptisms and communion together as one body.  Geographically we are all in it together for one purpose.  Jesus.  That’s it.  There is no other reason to be a part of The Church.

We come together in buildings because that is most convenient and efficient.  It’s once a week because we live seemingly busy lives.  The truth is this: Our agenda has become more important than God’s agenda.  Why aren’t we being taught that the most important aspect of our lives is our identity in Christ’s church?  This is not something to get comfortable about.  This is not something we as The Church should take lightly.  This is a mission and it’s real.  Let us understand God’s purpose for The Church and let Him have His way with us.

I’ve had some time to step back from college work for a short while this week.  I’ve been reading through Psalms and listening to sermons.  And how about the new ‘The Bible’ short series on the History Channel?  Pretty fun.  I love the Old Testament.  I love the stories.  I could read them over and over.  I get really invested in the characters.  [Confession: If God blesses me with children, they will all have such biblical names.]  Ya know it’s interesting; I find this fascination with the men and women in the Bible.  But I think it’s because they are not characters in a story.  They were real people in history.  Joshua is as real as Abraham Lincoln.  

I think, and correct me if I’m way off here, but could it be true that we are still in biblical times?  It is easy to look at the Bible stories and see ancient history that has no connection to today’s world.  However, when I read the Bible I see that ‘time’ is disrespected.  It’s definitely not true that time has no significance, but it seems that time has a different measure or purpose.  You see, the events I read about in scripture are a few thousand years ago.  So then in Genesis chapter 5 verse 5 I read “Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.”  Just like that 930 years is covered in one sentence.  So I ask: how far away from the life of Adam can we really be?

Sodom and Gomorrah.  Those people were super sinners.  I don’t know what you know, but I am pretty sure the US of A has some pretty wicked stuff going on inside it.  Possibly even worse than Sodom and Gomorrah.  They just happened to be around before Jesus and received immediate wrath.  We are currently storing up wrath.  This reminds me of childhood discipline.  I remember a time my brother and I got in trouble for disobeying an important rule.  We were given the options of an immediate paddle or a week of being grounded.  My brother chose the paddle and I chose the grounding.  He had a moment of pain and I had a week of suffering.  I even missed the fall festival for that year.  Look God’s wrath is God’s wrath and I’m not claiming that it is harsher now than thousands of years ago, but I do think there is still that element of fear and urgency that we are clearly missing today.  I don’t believe Revelation was a final story of the Bible.  A forecast of the final story to come perhaps, but the history of the church is still being written and we are the main characters God has chosen.

Outside Hillsong City Campus

One Year Ago.

One year ago today I met these beautiful people...

My flat mates Lilly, Lukas, Dylan.

It grieves me to think too hard about it.  Memories are painful.  For that reason I have numbed my mind to all memories of Australia ever since I got back.  Recently I have started pulling everything back up and out of my heart to debrief.  It's a crazy thing, debriefing.  I think I'm on the verge of the greatest revelation I've ever had in my relationship with God.  It's actually quite thrilling.  Anyways, I'm not willing to get too personal about all of that.  However, for the occasion I would like to reflect on my first memories from one year ago.

...

On Feb.19th 2012 I boarded a plane.  Well, several planes.

I've never been so brave. I remember telling myself, "You're gonna do this. So just get on the plane and do it."  I never shed a tear.  I flew for 19 hours from Dallas across the globe. It was morning when I landed in Sydney. The first thing I saw when I looked out the window were golden arches. McDonald's! I oddly felt comforted by that. I took a cab to the place I would be living. The cab driver was a jerk and threw my luggage out in the street. I was sweating bullets because it was summer time there. I drug my luggage to the door.

No one was home.  I didn't have a key so I left my luggage unattended and walked a block to the housing office.  They made me sit through a meeting before they finally handed me a key.  I ran back to the house, unlocked the door, and opened it.  Standing there...

Dylan: "Yes! A friend!"  I will never forget those words and the sound of Dylan's voice.  Even though for a slight moment I was surprised to see a tan Aussie boy standing in the hallway of my new home, I was incredibly at ease with his friendly welcome.  We were instant friends.  Like family really.  Dylan was like a little brother to me.  He has a childlike personality and is incredibly talented.  Typical Australian surfer.  He has umpteen lifeguard certifications on the professional level.  He's had like 67 stitches, 30 broken bones, and cancer.  He's an artist, magician and computer genius.  He started a long-boarding club at the University while I was there.  He is the most generous person I've ever met.  I miss talking to him.  He's a funny guy.  Anyways, Dylan and I spent the whole first day together roaming the city.

Later that night, I met flat mate number 2...

Lukas was definitely an older soul.  He had taken a gap year between high school and college to travel Europe.  When I met Lukas it was night time and we were in our backyard with the neighbors.  So I really didn't know what he looked like until a few days later when we ran into each other in the kitchen.  I was amazed by how nice he was.  Unlike Dylan, who is really expressive and says everything that's on his mind, Lukas is very calm and cool.  He is very level-headed.  I think I probably have the most in common with him.  When we talked about our day or weekend, it was genuine.  He didn't go to church, but he didn't mind hearing about my experience. Likewise, I didn't go out and party but I enjoyed hearing about his adventures. I remember one time, he and I were so hungry and it was Cheap Tuesday at Domino's.  Our house and Unit 5 down the street usually all went together.  I remember everyone was at our place running around and it was absolute chaos.  I looked at Lukas and said "I say we go ahead."  He jumped up and said "Let's do it." And we had the best quality time waiting on our pizzas together.  One morning I walked into the kitchen and saw a rat run under the refrigerator.  Lukas was the only one home so I drug him out of bed to come check it out.  We never saw him again, but we set up a trap...

And actually the day I left, I found his hole in the wall.

So the first week was the hardest week.  The first morning I woke up and felt like life wasn't real.  It was the strangest feeling ever. I didn't know anyone but Dylan and the neighbors.  I had no way of contacting home.  The stores were a 20 minute walk down the road, so I limped down and bought a phone.  Dylan helped me figure out how to use it.  I begged my mom if I could come home.  She said I would probably regret it if I did.  She put my dad on the phone and I can't remember what he said, but somehow after talking to him I felt like I would be okay.  My neighbor David invited me to have dinner with him that night.

 Now up until dinner with David, every conversation I'd heard involved alcohol.  It was discouraging.  But I started breathing again when David asked if he could say a blessing for our meal.  It turns out that he is Catholic.  His parents are from Malaysia, but he was born and raised in Perth, Australia.  I really only hung out with David a few other times, but I was happy to know he was nearby.  

So a week went by and we still had an open room in our house.  The first day of orientation came up and I was excited to meet new friends on campus.  That didn't quite happen but on the way home it was really funny.  As I was walking down our street, I passed Lukas talking to some other guy.  Then I passed Dylan on his long board.  When I turned into our front gate this girl behind me said "Oh, do you live here?"

I was to Lilly like Dylan was to me.  I was her first friend in Sydney.  I helped her get settled in.  Lilly is seriously the coolest chick I know.  And yes, that is Johnny Depp on her shirt.  She's from New Zealand, but had come from spending a year in France as an Au pair.  Lilly is quite talented as well.  She is an actress, musician, and linguist.  When I hear the song 'I Miss You' by Beyoncé, I think of Lilly.  That song was playing from her room constantly.  It was either that song, One Direction, or Frank Ocean.  Unless, of course, she was playing her Ukelele.  I know she's going to be a famous actress some day.  She's got the best charisma and personality.  Lilly is probably the easiest person in the world to get along with.  One weekend Lilly, Dylan and I went to Bronte Beach and walked the coastline to the famous Bondi Beach.  Dylan took a train home from Bondi station and left Lilly and I to find our way back.  Keep in mind we were both new to the area at this point.  It was a good bonding time for us.  We rode through the nice area of Sydney and into the heart of the city.  I would have been freaked out if I were alone, but Lilly was used to public transport in France and calmly was able to figure it out.

So there are a lot of moments that come to mind immediately when I think of my life back in Australia.  But it's hard for me to think about it without seeing the faces that I saw every single day.  I know my trip definitely had a large spiritual component and friendships through church.  But it's Dylan, Lukas and Lilly that I carry deepest in my heart.  I don't know how, but I was placed with the three best individuals that lived in Sydney, Australia during 2012.  A year later, I'm still so thankful God.

It's a New Year.

I reckon it's been about a month since we said farewell to 2012.  There's just something about a new year that injects hope into my soul.  This year is going to be different.  Maybe some will agree with me that 2012 was a tough year.  Ups and downs.  Confusion and frustration.  Maybe some would say 2012 was a banner year.  Mostly ups.  Either way, this year is going to be different.  Because I'm giving this year to the Lord.  The thing is, God has never messed up.  I mess up every day.  God always knows what He's doing.  I never know what I'm doing.  Those two facts alone are enough to make a decision to put my faith in God alone.
IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS. -Proverbs 3:6

The time is now. < -- Duh.  I just wanted to say that because I think it's a funny phrase.

YOU CROWN THE YEAR WITH YOUR GOODNESS. -Psalm 65:11

I'm grateful for my friends.  You're all legends.

~Shout out to Seef Teclaw on the engagement! I love you brother.