He is Risen!

 “Write”

I would like to start with a story on why it is that I feel led to write a blog, if I may my dear reader.  It was a testing day, and I was away from my own classroom and in a brother teacher’s strange room.  Teachers in the audience, you know what these kinds of days can be like: hectic, uncertain, chaotic, yet also fun, new, interesting, and sometimes memorable.  The Lord allowed this to be a day of at least one memory for me.  While memorable, any chaos of this day paled in comparison to what it must have been like for many at Douglas High School in Florida the previous day.

I’ve had on my heart for many years, since the early hours of my new birth in Christ and out of the womb of rebelliousness and hedonism, to write.  The Lord has made me an English teacher of all things; perhaps in a way He has been training me for this craft.  On this day though, following reading about the previous day’s devastation, I found myself asking God, “What would you have me do?”

I ask God questions.  I cannot recall ever hearing an audible voice from the world that I would call His.  Sometimes I feel an impression one way or another.  Many times it is a ridiculously well-timed wink (Mark 16:20), a scripture gently brought to memory (John 14:26), or through what I think is God’s favorite way: the encouraging words of a brother or sister in Christ (1st Thessalonians 5:11; Matthew 18:20).  But every now and then, a still, small voice, perhaps not unlike the one described in 1^st Kings 19:11-13, provides a gentle answer.  This day there was just that.

“Write,” I heard in my heart.

And so I shall.

Believing that I have the Lord’s blessing and calling, and being encouraged by verses of scripture like Matthew 13:52, it is with all humility, and gratitude towards the Lord, acknowledging fully that it is in Christ alone I am able to write anything, especially my testimony in its candidness, and that in these words, and all I desire to write for Him, it is to Him, the Savior which “redeemed my life from the pit,” (Ps. 103:2-5) be the glory alone.  I hope the stories and lessons of my journey with God bless you, my dear reader, as they do me.

A Hot Mess

So what do I feel led to write about so far as a Christian blogger?  There are many subjects I’m sure the Lord has not yet revealed to me, but here are three in particular.  The first is the work the Lord has done in my life.  For a long while, I did so many things I shouldn’t: smoking things I shouldn’t, looking at things I shouldn’t, taking prescriptions I shouldn’t, thinking in ways I shouldn’t being in places I shouldn’t, with people I shouldn’t, nearly always doing things I shouldn’t.  For a long while, I was consumed by worldly pleasures, thinking so often about myself, and rarely loving God, others, or myself well.  For a long while, I was a hot mess

But then, the Lord met me in the middle of my mess and rescued me.  He use people he had placed around me in my life to shed light on the truth of messages like Luke 15:7…

“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.“

Something about verses like this rang true in my heart, and I knew I was that one lost sheep.  So finally, after eight dark years, I poured that prescription I had been addicted to for so long down the toilet.  This day I accepted God’s offer of amazing grace in my life, fully, and became born again.  The Lord has spent these past 5 years or so sanctifying me, and leading me to a point where he is now allowing me to write to you, my dear reader, and encourage you in the truth of Jesus Christ, that he is “the way, the truth and the life.  Nobody comes to the father except through (Him).” (John 14:6)

So one of the many things I wish to share with you throughout our time is who I was before Christ, the mighty works and winks he performed in me as the Mighty Fisher of Men reeled me back in, and how he has sharpening me further since my hot mess days.

Go Figure

Another thing the Lord desires I write about, with an amazing wink behind it that I will tell you about later, is His use of figurative language throughout the Bible.  The verse he used to really shed light on this is Matthew 18:21-22:

“Then Peter came up and said to Him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me?  As many as seven times?  Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.'”

Remember guys, I’m a nerdy English teacher who spends much of his time standing up at a dry erase board, with a poem or some piece of literature projected on it, guiding students as to where we can identify figurative language.  So it should come as no surprise that I became very excited as the Lord led me to see in this passage his use of a hyperbole (extreme exaggeration) and alliteration (repetitive use of consonant sounds at the beginning of neighboring words) to really emphasize how important this truth is to him.  One could even say as all scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16-17) that he led Peter to ask then answer his own question (hypophora).

I believe God does this, amongst what are probably many reasons, for the same reason politicians, public speakers, good writers or even Martin Luther King Jr. do: to spice up their writing and make it more memorable.  Since then, as I have read and annotated my Bible, in just Romans, most of Matthew, and various other teeny parts, the Lord has shown me how He has added flavor to his teaching points at least 55 times.  The nerdy English teacher in me is excited to share these truths with you over the time of this blog.  I hope to one day show, “Hey!  Go figure!  The best and most creative writer of all time is God!”

The Big Idea

Lastly, and maybe the biggest thing the Lord desires I share is what I call “The Big Idea:” the idea that the Church, all of the believers in Christ, should unite, do so on the set of principles the Lord has declared to us in His holy scriptures, to unitedly fulfill the great commission, and that in seeing all of this accomplished by the power of Christ’s Spirit alone, He will actually return. (Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10; Matthew 28:19-20; John 15:5; John 17:11-23; 2 Tim 3:16-17, plus so many more)  While I feel that understanding God’s use of figurative language and sharing these truths is excitingly neat, and sharing my testimony is humblingly powerful, the thought of this “Big Idea” in its fullness awakens something mightily fierce in me.  I hope to write about it much on here.

No Foolin’

In conclusion, I hope to encourage you with stories and lessons at least bimonthly my dear reader.  It was simply serendipitous my first post fell on the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.  So while we’re here, let’s “land the plane” (as a favorite pastor of mine often says) and touch on one timely lesson the Lord showed me over the weekend.

I have heard from sermons and movies like The Case for Christ that our entire faith hinges not necessarily on the virgin birth, or Jesus’ teachings, or miracles, or even his death on the cross, but on the resurrection.  500 people witness Jesus after the crucifixion.  Here is the passage of scripture we can find this:

³“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” (1st Corinthians 15:3-9)

Remember my brothers and sisters: you can hang your hat on the resurrection and your faith is not in vain.  No foolin’.  Explore it while trusting God, and he will make straight your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).  Please share posts as you feel led, comment as you feel curious, disregard anything which is not of God or cannot be supported by scripture, and have yourself a blessed week my dear reader!

Amen

Lord, thank you for allowing me to share the words of your scriptures with others on this Easter Sunday.  Thank you for your finished work of the cross and the resurrection.  Please bless those you lead to read the words you lead me to write.  Bless this reader throughout his or her week to share with others the redemptive work of the cross and the message Easter, and to never stop pondering in their heart your love for us.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.