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‘Spirituality’ Category

  1. A new perspective (pt. 3). . .

    June 30, 2009 by Nate

    (continued from this post)

    Somewhere along the way, Christians decided that an effective evangelism technique would be to talk about the end of the world.

    I apologize for the tone, but really?

    As if we had any idea what the end of the world is going to look like anyway.

    Have you ever thought that perhaps Revelation was revealing to us something different? That perhaps we were supposed to read beyond the metaphor and allow our eyes to be opened to something deeper than our own world?

    What if Revelation were something different from what we initially perceived it to be?
    I won’t go into exegetical detail (I’m no theologian, so you don’t want me writing that kind of stuff), but I want to give you an idea of what happened as I read this book with new eyes.

    The book of Revelation is one of those books that is often run away from because of its daunting nature and weird metaphoric and apocalyptic language. So naturally, it’s not a book you want to be going to if you don’t know anything about the Bible.

    But here’s what I noticed about much of the imagery in Revelation: the stories seemed oddly familiar. They were different somehow.

    Check out Chapter 12. Look familiar? Do you see it? It’s the Christmas story.

    Different though.

    It’s being told, not from our perspective (which you’d find in the writings of Matthew and Luke), but from heaven’s perspective.

    The Advent of the Christ was so much more than the birth of a child.

    It was a war of universal proportions.

    That’s just one example, but it got me asking the question, “What if that’s what Revelation is really about?”

    What if Revelation isn’t revealing to us the end of the world and how it will play out? What if it’s revealing to us the history of our world from heaven’s perspective and playing out the most important events throughout that history through the eyes of the Author?

    I’ve discovered a deeper richness to the book since allowing my mind to grasp a thought that didn’t come from something I had been taught.

    It’s more alive to me now; it’s more exciting, more real.

    And suddenly the Bible means something to me.

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  2. A new perspective (pt. 2). . .

    June 25, 2009 by Nate

    (continued from this post)

    There are times in our lives that we have to learn to embrace a truth for ourselves. Not because it’s what our parents taught us or because it’s what we learned in school or church. Because it’s what we know to be true from our own experiences and our own journey.

    I discovered that my “beliefs” were being challenged by everything that came by. Ironically enough, they were being challenged internally. . . by the very people who claimed to hold to these truths.

    At first, it was in practice. I found myself wrestling with this concept of love. Love was great in theory. It was easy to say, “I’m doing this to you in love.” But did Christians really think about what was in the best interest of the person whom they said they loved?

    Love appeared to be a concept Christians hid behind in order to justify how they treated nonbelievers. But the “love” that Christians claimed to have for people, and the love that I saw Christ exude in Scripture were two different things entirely.
    I read a blog post about what church shouldn’t look like, and this paragraph stood out to me.

    Some of the church environments I experienced maintained that the church was a haven of peace and hope in a horrible, broken world. We were the sheep. They were the wolves. We had to protect our sheep by keeping the wolves out. We were “in the world but not of it,” remember? While there are many churches who consciously or sub-consciously adhere to the idea of being a place to hide from the evils of the world, I remind you the type of company Jesus kept when he walked this earth. He could have adopted the Pharisee’s method of separating himself entirely from everything “unclean.” Instead, he was known as a “friend of sinners.” Can our church say that?

    Coupled with a rather distorted view of love was a dogmatic approach to debatable Scripture passages. There was a tightening grip on issues that could be debated. It was as if the stability of the Christian faith was founded on all the minutiae embedded within.

    If, for example, someone held a differing view on what the book of Revelation means, Christians would scramble to ensure that their viewpoint was the one most commonly reported.

    I remember all the Fundamentalists jumping for joy when the Left Behind series of novels came out (and yes, I was part of that number).

    But could it be that all of this eschatalogical banter is, at best, tangential to the Christian faith, and at worst, a rabbit trail that actually detracts from what God intended when he planted these thoughts into John’s mind?

    (post continued here)

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  3. A new perspective (pt. 1). . .

    June 11, 2009 by Nate

    I’ve been mulling over the book of Revelation lately. There are all sorts of differing views on the topic, so I’ll avoid going into detail. I do, however, want to take you on a journey of sorts through my own battle with the Bible.

    The journey began during a class I was taking that explored the Bible as a piece of classic literature, not simply as a “handbook for life.” (Let’s face it, reading an instruction manual wasn’t exactly the most exhilarating experience ever.)

    I discovered something fairly quickly as I studied Scripture—the Bible cannot be taken as one giant piece of literature. Each portion must be viewed as its own piece. For starters, the Bible was not written by one man. It was penned by hundreds of people over thousands of years.

    There are portions of the Bible that were written with the purpose of literal interpretation. For example, “After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.” It’s straightforward and comes from a book that discusses a historically accurate account of the formation of the Church. So we can justifiably infer that there was a real uproar, that Paul actually encouraged the disciples, and that he left for Macedonia.

    However, not all of Scripture is to be interpreted in such a way. For instance, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame,” probably should not be taken to mean that we will not be embarrassed if we believe in a building’s foundation.

    So it’s with this premise that I began my journey. And what I discovered shook the world I’d known for almost my whole life.

    (post continued here)

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  4. To boldly go. . .

    May 28, 2009 by Nate

    Exploration. Discovery. Mystery.

    Do you ever feel like life is an adventure? I often do. I constantly feel a sense of excitement as I round the next corner of my day, or draw the next line on the map of my week.

    It’s exhilarating to some degree. There’s always the question, “What’s going to happen next?” Am I going to find something new around the bend, or will I reach another point in the rhythm I’m in for now?

    That adventure is what drives me to discover myself to a degree. I know I am the creation of an infinite God, so the depth of my being is potentially limitless. The paths on which I may travel have almost no boundaries.

    The “glorious unknown” spreads out before me, waiting to be unearthed, discovered, and explored.

    And therein lies the beauty of what God is doing. I am the product of boundless love—unadulterated, passionate, and powerful—love that has an infinite number of facets yet to be sought out.

    I long to explore that love, to discover, if I can, the “universe” of God’s incomparable love.

    Most of this vast expanse has yet to be understood. Much like the starship Enterprise on her missions of exploration, we can search until we’re decommissioned. But in the end, we’ll leave almost the entirety of this “universe” unexplored.

    Yet from our perspective, we will have learned so much.

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  5. I saw God. . .

    April 20, 2009 by Nate

    I took a little vacation from Liquid Kids yesterday. It was a huge blessing for many reasons. First, I got out of bed a full four hours later than I usually do on a Sunday morning. Second, I didn’t have to drive 35 minutes to get to church. And third, I didn’t have to work.

    A completely stress-free Sunday (to an extent).

    As I walked into our Morristown campus, a little nostalgia hit me as I navigated the crowded Liquid Kids area and made my way up the stairs to the main service.

    I joined the service as a congregant, and for the first time in several months, I had no cares as I bowed before my Creator in worship.

    That encounter with God, as powerful and intense as it was, paled in comparison to what I experienced after the service ended.


    * * *

    Before Liquid launched our New Brunswick campus, I was teaching elementary school lessons for Liquid Kids in Morristown. It wasn’t easy leaving the kids in Morristown when we launched our second campus, and saying goodbye to many of the kids with whom I’d developed relationships was one of the more difficult things I’ve had to do.

    As Liquid New Brunswick got off the ground, I slowly began to forget the closeness I had with some of the people I said goodbye to in Morristown.

    It’s not necessarily a bad thing; it’s just the nature of change.


    * * *

    As I passed the church welcome center on my way out, I ran into a girl named Tania.

    I was struck by the amount of excitement on her face when she saw me walking by. It was like she couldn’t wait to wrap her tiny, grade-school arms around me.

    I’ve blogged about this before, but it was especially evident in that moment.

    Tania asked me where I’ve been, why I left, and when I was going to come back to teach her. I explained everything to her as simply as I could so that she could wrap her young mind around it.

    When her mom came to take her home, Tania shouted a final “See you next week!” I wanted to melt. How could I say, “I won’t be here” to her?

    I think God was showing me something about himself in that small interaction.

    In many ways, God is like a child. We may abandon him, walk away for weeks, months, or even years. We may forget about him, and go about our own business. But when we draw close to him, he can’t wait to run to us and wrap his arms around us.

    And like a child, he truly believes he’ll see us again soon.

    I saw God in Tania on Sunday. It was quite an encounter.

    Pay attention to the children in your life. You just might learn something about your Creator if you do.

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  6. Resurrecting the weary. . .

    April 19, 2009 by Nate

    Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
    The LORD is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
    He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.

    He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.

    Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;

    but those who hope in the LORD
    will renew their strength.
    They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.


    On any given Sunday in Morristown and New Brunswick, there are dozens of tired, weary people pouring out their lives and hearts in service to the Kingdom of God. And as difficult as it is seeing my brothers and sisters weakened under the pressures of a busy Sunday, I know that the almighty Eternal One is immersing them in his strength.

    Sometimes it appears that promises like the one in Isaiah are unfulfilled in our lives. We’re tired, worn out, burned out, weakened. And yet that miraculous strength has yet to show up to rejuvenate us, to refresh us.

    But that strength doesn’t exist to help us out of a jam or to lift us out of weariness.

    It exists to bring glory to our God. To remind us that, even in the moments where God feels distant, uncaring, or nonexistent, he is still in control.

    To remind us that resurrection takes place all the time. To remind us that God is still in the business of giving life to the dead.

    That strength is promised to those who trust that kind of resurrection power. So as I sit at a desk in my church’s offices, thinking about all the weary faces I encounter every Sunday, I am reminded of the power that calls the dead out of the grave.

    To my brothers and sisters on staff at Liquid, when the strength-sapping Sundays come around, remember the power that can send you into the skies on eagles’ wings. Remember the power that conquers death.

    And remember it belongs to you.

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  7. Sustenance. . .

    April 12, 2009 by Nate

    He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

    We often think of Jesus in terms of his time here on earth. But there’s so much more to him than what he revealed while he was walking among us.

    From what Paul was saying in his letter to the church in Colossae, Christ is the agent through which the universe was created.

    And on top of that, he is the agent through which the universe is sustained.

    Imagine that, the very voice that spoke the earth into motion is the same voice that cried, “Father, forgive them!”

    And the hands that hold the molecules together are the same hands that were pierced and bled so that ours wouldn’t have to.

    Without Christ, we are nothing physically. We cannot live. We cannot exist.

    And without Christ, we are nothing spiritually. We cannot be free. We cannot be loved.

    This Jesus is more than the carpenter from Galilee who taught the world how to love.

    This Jesus is our sustenance. He is our breath. He is our life.

    He is our very existence.

    ”Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power,
    for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
    ~Revelation 4.11

    Category Scripture Musings, Spirituality | Tags: | No Comments

  8. Grace. . .

    April 9, 2009 by Nate

    Death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. Death ruled even over those who did not sin as Adam did. He broke God’s command. But he also became a pattern of the One who was going to come.

    God’s gift is different from Adam’s sin. Many people died because of the sin of that one man. But it was even more sure that God’s grace would also come through one man. That man is Jesus Christ. God’s gift of grace was more than enough for the whole world.

    I’ve found it painstakingly difficult to articulate the concept of grace. There’s an absurd kind of beauty that rests within. Absurd, because it cannot be reconciled with prevailing wisdom regarding how the world works. Beautiful, because it is the life-giving fountain that in itself is the very fabric of all we were designed for.

    Christ is grace. When the Father sought to rescue humanity, he saw no other avenue than the undeserved gift of God in Man. Emmanuel—God with us.

    But why? Why pay that kind of price? Why send your Heart into a world that would reject it?

    Because of love.

    Grace—this gift of life given to those least deserving of it—is the natural outflow of unbridled, passionate love.

    Especially when the object of that love is broken, hurting, and wallowing in self-destruction.

    Love for that kind of object means rescue, sacrifice, restoration.

    It means grace.

    It means Jesus.

    This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
    ~1 John 4.10 (The Message)

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  9. Restoration. . .

    April 7, 2009 by Nate

    All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

    The world is broken. It’s pretty clear that something isn’t right. But God doesn’t intend to leave things in shambles. His heart’s cry is for all of creation to be restored to him. That’s how much he loves us.

    He provided a way for us to be restored to him. Pastor Tim often says this: “The cross is a symbol that God uses to tell us, ‘this is how much I love you. I would rather die than live without you.’”

    It’s the greatest kind of love.

    In John 13, Christ said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

    In his second letter to the church in Corinth, Paul wrote that God has made us agents of restoration. His appeal of “Come back to me!” is made through us.

    As Christ gave of himself to restore us to God, so we must give of ourselves to restore our brothers and sisters to him.

    I will restore them because of my compassion.
    It will be as though I had never rejected them,
    for I am the Lord their God, who will hear their cries.

    Category Scripture Musings, Spirituality | Tags: | No Comments

  10. Strength. . .

    April 6, 2009 by Nate


    Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
    “Hosanna!”
    “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
    “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
    “Hosanna in the highest!”


    The word Hosanna is a call to rescue. It can be translated as “Save!” or “Save us now!”

    Even though the people who were shouting “Hosanna!” would end up murdering Christ just a week later, they had some special insight into something about his nature.

    He is strong enough to save.

    But beyond possessing the strength to save us, he also, by his very nature, strengthens us.

    There is immense power in the name of Jesus. It’s glorious. Powerful. Magnificent.

    And it is the very definition of glory, power, and magnificence.

    Jesus is strength. When you have none left, go to him.

    Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
    The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
    He will not grow tired or weary,
    and his understanding no one can fathom.

    He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.

    Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;

    but those who hope in the LORD
    will renew their strength.
    They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

    Category Scripture Musings, Spirituality | Tags: | No Comments

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