the People

OK, personal update. Did not receive the job with ICAN.org, but I came in second, which is worthless in obtaining a job, but great for self-esteem. Low on money, but high on life. God has allowed this jobless time for something else, which has been to build a few relationships further. Shout out to Dom and Steve. Side note- It’ funny how we get stuck in meeting the standards of society, that we forget how God works differently. God wasn’t looking for a job with me, at least at this point, God was placing his hands in other places. I was so involved in trying to find a job, that I didn’t identify God’s labor else where, until basically last night. Moving on.

Alright, there are a few areas of thought that have been consuming me for the past few weeks, in which I’ll express as best as I can.  Hopefully, you can help me. I also have an idea of a topic I want to address for the next few weeks as well, but I’ll explain that later.

Community. This idea of community has been dragging and jerking me in all different directions. I believe that this issue has been intentionally laid on my heart, which I’m trying to figure out as well. So let’s get heated.

Our “Christian Community” today, I suspect, for the most part, is very far from the Community that Christ intended for us. I have come to believe this is due to two separate areas: 1. We’ve become too intertwined with the world we live in, that we have begun to take on worldly characteristics and most of us are totally unaware of it. 2. The nature of sin has led us down a path of individualism, in which we’ve chosen to push aside various teachings of Jesus and pick and choose what is comfortable for ourselves.

As Jesus quoted to a lawyer, “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all mind, and with all your strength. And your neighbor as yourself”

Love thy God, basically fully, with everything you got. Love God. As Becca pointed out from the previous post, with seeking God and righteousness, our Love becomes active. Which is pointed out in “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Huge implications in that statement, especially how we have grown to love our selves A LOT. A question I began to ask myself is, how much time do we dedicate to our selves? I’m going to go ahead and make up a statistic and say the time we use on ourselves has to be in the 90 percentile. Shopping for instance, how often do we shop for our neighbor vs. our self? Hm…..

 So, when Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” that would completely change everything. And think of what it would do. Would poverty exist? Would there be hunger? And I’m convinced believers would continually multiply, due to the works, produced from a loving body. And so on.

I think the hardest part about this concept, is what does loving our neighbor fully look like. Other than a yearly charity donation, a one-dollar bum giveaway, or coffee once a week with a friend, though those are all important and good – for many it’s not challenging enough. Pet peeve of mine (probably shouldn’t be), is when people say, in some type of certain context “I’m just going to love people”.  What does that mean? How do we actively and love people in “all” situations? It is attractive and easy to say, but a lot of times that’s all it is, attractive and easy to say. 

So let’s try and figure it out.  Let’s dive into the word this next week and see what it tells us. How do we love our neighbor as our self? Perspectives. Stories. Whatever you got to offer, cause I throw in the towel of trying to figure it out alone. Also, I want to point out, though I make certain points, does not mean I am or feel that I am free of what I speak of. Guilty as charged.

Plus, the next few weeks, this idea of community, I want to belly flop into more. Meaning I want to hit it hard. There a couple more areas that I’ve been wrestling with, and need some help. Then, after we hit community and see where that takes us, I really want to see what Jesus and you guys have to say about money. I feel that this is at the root of a lot of evil and would make for an interesting topic. So if you want, I’m going to be reading a short and easy, but from what I’ve been told, an impacting book called, “The Treasure Principle” and you could too. That would be neat and helpful. Exciting.

Jesus

I think I love Jesus. I have become obsessed with this Man/God. Jesus is in my thoughts all day, every day. Jesus is part of my decisions. Jesus is part of my thinking. Jesus is the reason why I can sit in thought and reflection for a half an hour and learn. Jesus is why I challenge my beliefs. Jesus is definitely my comfort and security. Jesus is the main character in plenty of the books I read. Jesus is apart of my conversations. Jesus is what drives me. Jesus gives me purpose. Jesus gives me confidence. Jesus has laid goals before me, scary and exciting. Jesus is within my decision-making. Jesus is present in my convictions. Jesus is my character. I look to Jesus for answers. Jesus gives me joy in a broken world. I have hope because of Jesus. Jesus is the reason I hurt for non-believers. Jesus is my life.  This is not said for personal gratification. I write this because I want everyone to experience this relationship. I was sitting in my bed after reading a book, with Jesus involved, and I couldn’t get him out of my head. My mind started running in tangents, about myself, but always with Jesus involved. I paused for a minute and thought I am in love with Jesus. This is not becasue the Bible or a Pastor may tell me to, this is because I want to. It is different from the past and what I’ve felt before for Jesus. This is more real. This relationship is more apparent, than it ever has been. The statements I make are truth and not an ideal relationship I have created. This feels good. 

The Beginning

Ugh, it’s about time I motivated myself to start blogging again. It has been quite some time since Rwanda and my life is now seizing small and slow steps and producing great change. That is one reason why I have decided that it’s time to get back into the game. I’m at a point where there exist a lot of uncertainties. Recently graduating from Arizona State in Tempe, AZ, I am left with a heap of unanswered questions and an array of roads to elect to travel.

Which shall I travel though? Good question Aaron, cause I have no idea.

Well, aren’t you nervous? Don’t you worry about finding a job? And money, you must be running out, that must be really scary.

Hm, I would be lying to you if I said it wasn’t scary. As it should be. As a believer and follower of Christ, if Christ is really apparent in our lives and were striving to live by New Testament scripture, then life is scary. I don’t remember my Jesus ever saying that living as a Christian was easy, planned out, and full of certainty. Actually it was the exact opposite.

I am uncertain where God is planting me next or what he’ll do with my life, but as he says on the Mount,

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes……But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

                                                                        Matthew 6: 25, 33-34

 

I have read that passage many times in the past few weeks, trying to engrain it into my thinking and truly believe it as truth. The first time I read it though, I paused at “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness”. I think a lot of times in the world of “Christianity” we continually remind each other and ourselves that God will take care of us, with a phrase such as: Hey, do not worry about that, God will provide.

 

Though I believe that is most definitely correct, I also believe as Jesus says, it doesn’t come for free. He specifically gives us criteria to meet before he will provide. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness – wow. When I first read that it kind of scared me. Am I seeking the kingdom and righteousness? What does that look like? If I’m not, I’m in this alone and I don’t want to be in this alone.

 

I believe, and this is where I love feedback, that it’s quite simple to determine but a challenge to execute. After talking to some of my homies, this is where I stand. One question of importance is , “is God apparent in my life?” I’m not asking for the I go to church, tithe, and talk about God with my kids or friends answer.  I want to know if God is apparent in your life.

 

Is he apart of your decisions? Read the bible much? Not only read, but also applying the messages you read into your life? An active Christian? Is the Sunday sermon comforting or challenging? Is God the only God you worship, other then image, money, sex, status, drugs, alcohol, etc? Is God apart of who you are in every realm?

 

Hm, if we are able to answer these, upon other questions with a Yes, then I believe we are seeking the kingdom and righteousness. That’s where my challenge has been in the past few weeks, to maintain and figure out what seeking the kingdom and righteousness means for me.

 

Also, I want to point out something really quick, because this Blog session has become something I certainly did not intend and I want to keep your attention. In that Matthew passage, when God says these things will be given to you. I believe God is talking about a lot more than just money, food, and material possessions. He is talking about relationships, joy, stability, answers, reconciliation, filling voids, etc... God is talking about rescuing us from the emptiness of this world and sealing the cracks of where our brokenness lies. Specific to each individual.

 

Point of the blog, this is what has been in my thoughts for the past couple weeks and if I’m able to put into words, it helps me work through it, receive feedback, be challenged, learn, and (key point) seek the kingdom and righteousness.