How do we view Christ?

First of all…I am sorry for the lack of posts in the last several months.

I had the incredible privilege this past fall semester to take a New Testament class through TEDS (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) at Northway Community Church in Wexford,PA. The class felt like an information dump at times, but the insight I gained was invaluable. We studied everything from the spread of Greek culture to the search for the author of Hebrews. My professor presented God’s Word as a precious bundle of wisdom, love, and power. Not once did I doubt her passion for scripture.

On the last day of class she took us through the book of Revelation which to many is a checklist for signs that world is going to blow up. Dr. Harris proceeded to read Revelation 1:1-20 which concerns the 7 churches. The seven churches are described as lamp stands and in the middle of the lamp stands is “someone ‘like a son of man’,dressed in  a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”

What absolutely blows me out of the water is the vivid picture of Christ in this passage. Amongst the seven churches is Christ and he is described as pure, majestic, and mighty. I don’t want to make this a huge post, but I want to encourage you all to re-examine your view of Christ. My view of Christ has changed so much when I read this passage and I feel closer than ever with my Savior. Ask yourself…

Who is Christ? Do we have a scriptural view of Him or have we defined him solely by our own means? Is Christ whoever we want Him to be or are we seeing Him as God?

Christ hasn’t abandoned the Church! He will never leave His bride!

Grace and peace,

Luke

Does it really matter if I show up?

One of the most important concepts of community is presence. In order to effectively create community there must be a high level of importance placed on presence. People are affected by other people just being in the room. When someone doesn’t show up, someone else notices.

If we show up to church on Saturday nights, but decide not to attend small groups, someone is affected. If we are invited out to coffee with friends and someone doesn’t show up, someone is affected. There will be times when the only thing on our minds is to go home and pass out. In Creating Community by Andy Stanley and Bill Willits, Stanley says,

The last thing we want to do at the end of a day is to have one more conversation, be forced to make one more decision, or fulfill one more request. So we shun unplanned interactions by hiding. Our goal is to avoid people- and what they potentially want from us-at all cost! And cost us it does, because the avoidance approach comes with a price tag (22).

This specific quote talks about avoiding interactions with other people. The problem is that avoiding people and not showing up make for the same consequence. Community exists because people commit to investing in each other.  So, the answer to the question, ‘Does it really matter if I show up?’ is YES!

The purpose of this post is to be an encouragement. Your presence matters! Your input in others’ lives matters! Saying hi to someone when they walk in the door matters!

So,when you think about not showing up, know that you are affecting someone else. Think about how your taking part in community can bring others closer to Jesus Christ.

Should we try and sneak Jesus in to our conversations?

One of the most incredible conversations I ever had was with a good friend of mine. His name is Christian and he has one of the most loving, contagious, selfless hearts I have ever seen. During the last couple weeks of senior year of undergrad school we attempted to set aside times to just talk. Those times that we just “talked” were simply invaluable. Most of the time the conversation starter was some reference to our lack of relationship status. Within a few minutes of realizing that our conversation was going nowhere, the topic changed.

We both continued to eat and laugh at “the bird” that still couldn’t figure out that the a thick window separated him from the cafeteria. After this went on for several minutes I noticed that Christian looked a little choked up. With tears in his eyes he looked at me and said, “He’s coming back!” I replied with a energetic, “He sure is man!” The feeling of not caring about anything else except what he had just said came over me. Sometimes there are instances where the world could be burning and you wouldn’t care. This was one of those moments. I had just heard a statement that made my heart leap out of my chest. Jesus IS coming back, amen!

I know that you are still trying to connect the title of this blog to the story you just read. Well, here comes the connection. The emotional, spiritual, and encouraging outcome of this conversation was not the first. Every time that I met, had a conversation with him, or just passed him in the hall way, I felt loved. There were times where our conversations wouldn’t last more than fifteen minutes. But, I still felt like I mattered.

When you hang out with someone, what do they walk away saying? Wow, he or she is such an awesome person or do they say, “There something deep about him or her.” I am convinced that people walk away from every interaction with someone and they are either encouraged, indifferent, or discouraged. Meaning, what do people think when they interact with you?

This question has totally changed my life. Every time I have a conversation with someone or interact with them, I hope they walk away wanting to know Jesus more. My life is forever changed because Christ has changed it, not because I’m awesome. I think this question is an incredible self-check question. Many times we hope that people will walk away thinking that we’re awesome, this is normal. But, if Christ is our identity, shouldn’t we want to display our identity?

Display Christ in your life and change people because you are changed. Don’t just sneak a Jesus into a conversation, let people know the great change that has come over you. Make them walk away wanting to know Christ more!

Blog change

Yes, I know that switching blogs is weird and  lame. But, I was having a hard time with blogger. The site would randomly decide to not save my blogs and I got tired of retyping them.

In a nut shell, I will be blogging from this site only. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you all!

-Luke