Candles

Well once again, I know that I said I would keep this up more often. I guess thats why I could not let over a month go by without updating my journal.

The past month has just flown by even though this week seems to be draaaaaaaaging on. But on a brighter note, I bought myChristmas present to myself this week. I got a Handspring Visor Neo. Its one of those things you could live without, but it will make passing time in airports and lunch a lot better.

I went to 7:22 this past Tuesday night and man, it was off the charts. They did more of an accoustical jam unlike ripping the roof off of the joint like normal. Before I went in, I asked God to just show me His presence. And as usual, He did. They played my NOW favorite holiday song, Little Drumer Boy, funked up (its the version you are hearing now) but what got to me was the candle lighting. You can see it at  http://www.722.org  Louie said there were 150 candles unlit on stage and if anyone had come to know Christ in the past year, he wanted them to come light a candle. When the mass of people had left, he said all but 5 or 6 were lit. One guy in front of me went up and lit a candle. Pretty awesome huh? Louie then said if anytime during the night, if you pray for God to come into your life for the very first time, he wanted you at any time, to come light a candle. What stood out about this, across the aisle a girl went up and lit a candle. When she came back she was obviously emotional so I know that she was sincere. The music, Louie joking around, the people around me, none of them were important but God used them all to get to her. Kind of like the story of the shepard going out to look for one lost lamb.

Then the band rocked the house so it was all good….

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Well, its been two weeks since my last update. So much for keeping this up on a regular basis. But there hasn’t been much to write about as of late. Same routine, different day.Until last night….

Things in life took a turn for the better. Actually, they went off the chart.
In life, you keep hoping that something will happen. When it doesn’t, you sink further and further into the abiss. Even when a flicker of hope that it will happen fails, you sink even faster. Until finally you give up hoping, you give up praying and you begin to come to the conclusion that it will never happen and begin accepting that fact that maybe it wasn’t meant to be.

Then….it happens. The one thing you have waited for. The one thing that has had you down for weeks now. It happens right out of the blue and you have to ask yourself, “Did that really happen?” The one thing that I have been waiting on, I have been hoping for, happened last night.

When you finally know how the other person in a relationship feels, the relationship takes on a WHOLE NEW meaning…..and now

I know.

Questions

As I thought about what happened last week, I thought one of my friends, who doesn’t know God, might ask me some questions regarding the events of the World Trade Center. So, I sent these questions to a friend of mine who is a pastor to get his views on the questions that a non believer might ask and his responses to them:

Keith – you’re thinking through good questions. Here’s my short responses:

1. If God is so good, how could he let this happen? The real question here is how God deals with evil in general. He either allows a level of freedom among people that makes possible the evil we observe. Or he doesn’t allow such freedom. He has chosen to allow that freedom and I think we generally understand that the alternative of humans who acted as puppets would not
be a preferred alternative. In allowing that evil, we have to ask whether God acts to limit that freedom. I believe he does largely in the form of governments who hold one another in check. I do not in any way believe that America is somehow the chosen ambassador of righteousness. However in this case, I believe God is using the US as an evil restricting force in the world.

2. If the person or persons responsible for killing these thousands of people repents of his sins and accepts Christ, will he too go to heaven? I won’t address this one – you know the answer. I think you’re using this one to set up the next one.

3. Why would you want to be in a place full of people who kill others and then repent? My response would not be too theological – first, I don’t expect heaven to be a place FULL of people who kill others and then repent. There will for sure be some of those, but for the most part, people like those who killed so many last week were well on their way down a path leading to an eternity separate from God. And few will turn back once that far down that path. However, given the fact that God holds open the door for those who will repent – even after horrendous sins, I have to ask myself this question. If I have the choice of being in a place full of people who kill others and then repent or being in a place full of people who kill others and don’t repent, I’m going with
the first.

4. How can someone be forgiving of a crime such as this? How can we as Christians not immediately say things like we should destroy these people? We have to constantly hold in balance the two values of justice and mercy. And we have to deal with the tension of personal ethics and social ethics. On a personal level, I am called to forgiveness, mercy, loving my enemies and praying for them and leaving vengeance to God. On a social level, I am a part of a country that has a biblical (Rom 13) responsibility to God to use force to restrain justice – force applied within the country in the form of justice toward those who break laws and force applied outside the country in the form of military attack toward those who perpetrate evil.

That’s the short version – I’ve left issues unaddressed and questions unanswered I realize but that’s my basic approach. Keep thinking!

A different way of thinking, but still the best answers that I have heard, to probably some of the most difficult questions a Christian might face, considering the events that have transpired, and the mindset of many people in this country right now.

911

There just are no words…

What could I possibly say about yesterday’s events in New York that could mean anything to anyone other than what has already
been said….

What hasn’t been said is what we are going to do about it. Well it had not been said until last night….

Last night was the first night  7:22  starts back after the summer break. I had been planning on going but as usual I started to put things in the way of going (laundry, unpacking, cleaning apt. etc.) but after what happened yesterday, something just told me that I needed to be there. The fact of the way I have been living my life should have told me I needed to be there but thats another blog

for another day.
When I got there, I had a feeling it was going to be different. A lot of their equipment such as their electric drum set was covered and there was a curtain about mid way of the stage to make it about half the normal size. When the  7:22  band came out, it was all acoustic. Which was awesome, just not the norm. Then after a few songs, Louie came out and began talking about how it would not be business as usual because of what had happened that day.
He talked about what had happened and that people might have come wanting to know what to do. They might have come to  7:22  that night wanting to hear him say something inspiring. He basically said he didn’t know what to say or what to tell us to do.

Then he started talking about King Jahosafat in the old testament. When faced with an overwhelming enemy approaching, his people turned to him for what to do. Jahosafat, realizing the situation, turned his eyes toward God. (Something I had not been doing a lot of lately) which is what we should do.
So a lot of thoughts and questions went through my mind about the events of the day and how to respond in a loving Christian way. It was so easy to say, “make the middle east and whoever is responsible glow in the dark, make them reach the temperature of the sun in a millisecond.” Which I did so many times. God spoke to me last night. He told me that so many things are not known yet. What is fact is that the buildings that were destroyed were “MAN” made. The airplanes were “MAN” made. The Pentagon is “MAN” made. Satan can destroy anything man made. But the land the buildings were on, God made that and it’s still there. You have never heard of a terrorist destroying a mountain. Why because God made mountains and they can’t destroy that. Only acts of God can destroy what God made.

But then it got me to thinking, “Well, God made the people who died?”. God let me know almost instantly that I know nothing about those who perished and their fate. Their entire purpose in life could have been to die in those building for God’s purpose. Every one who died yesterday may or may not have been a Christian. No one but God knows their final destination.

So at this point, I am pretty overwhelmed by God speaking to me. So point blank, I just prayed and asked him, “Ok, how do I respond to someone who I know, that might use this against witnessing. He might ask again, “The person responsible for killing these thousands of people, if he asks for forgiveness and accepts Christ, will he go to heaven also?” God once again let me know
almost right away, He is far more forgiving that we will ever be. So the answer to that is yes.

John 3:16 says “…whosoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The word except is not there. There aren’t any exceptions given. Hard reality to imagine being in heaven with people like Timothy McVeigh, Osama Ben Laden, and others who might make peace with God and be in heaven, but are their sins any greater than ours? Is one sin greater than another?

The thoughts I have on sin are that sin may be measured differently in our eyes than in God’s eyes. A lie to us, in no way compares to killing thousands of people for political reasons. But who is to say how God thinks that way or what He has planned. I do not know scripture the way I wish I did, but I have read that it is not for us to know the plans of the father. After all, God took a ruthless ruler in Saul and made him Paul, a great man of God. And look at what has come out of the Columbine tragedy. I have read story after story of kids coming to Christ because of people who took a stand for Christ there.
Yesterday was also a reminder that we are not guaranteed the next breath. Imagine someone saying to a family member, “Ok, I give up. I’ll go to church with you on Sunday morning. Yesterday was Tuesday. Imagine that same person sitting at his desk on the 110 floor of Tower One. That person would never see Sunday morning.

So last night was pretty much an eye opener for me. I have not been living the way I should. I haven’t been acting, talking or being the witness for God that I should have. I haven’t been the example for others that I should have. But I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that He has forgiven me of this and that life will go on. Not because of anything that I say or do, but because He is in
control.