How am I supposed to take the Christian themes seriously when this supposedly Christian family uses wealth, power, and deceit to help a guilty criminal evade proper punishment?
~ Brideshead Revisited, Part III: “The Bleak Light of Day”
We (Christians) all like to talk about things like unity, community, the body of Christ, family in Christ, the global Church, and on and on. In fact, we talk about it so much that you’d think we’d tell you how to do any of that.
Because here’s the truth- we’re not so good at being unified these days. We spend a lot of time trying to prove that we’re not like “those” Christians or criticizing our brothers and sisters in Christ that seem less committed and not as perfect as us in our own eyes. I’d go so far as to say that unity isn’t a priority at all in the modern church. Spiritual denominations and physical borders separate us from each other. Those that have begun to see this as an actual problem stand on street corners and shout at us to get our act together, but even they aren’t really doing anything to help the problem or find the solution. We ask each other to change, saying “if you would just have our worldview and our customs, we could totally get along with you!”
Listen up brothers and sisters- Unity has a price. If we want to truly become one community, we have to have a funeral before we have a wedding.
Think about it this way: When two people get married, they don’t just squish together two individuals. Rather, two people give up their individual selves and become one body together. The same has to happen for us to become one body as a Church. While there are some truths that we should never compromise on and some people who aren’t truly following God that we should rebuke, we are called to sacrifice our comforts and preferences to join with the global body of believers. For example, you may love modern music, but worshipping with a different group of people may require you to learn some old hymns or even music in a different language.
As you all know, I recently spent time in El Salvador working with a Christian organization in Cuidad Delgado (part of San Salvador). While this organization was doing many wonderful things in the community, no organization is perfect and I saw some harmful ideas about what it means to be a Christian practiced in their ministry. Instead of accepting their culture and conforming to their worship practices, many of the missionaries expected the community to become more american. They saw the american christian worldview and customs as the only correct way to know and worship God. Yet God is not the God of America. America does not matter much to God. People matter to God, not national boundary lines. The way we worship isn’t the “right way,” it’s simply our way. When we go into other cultures to do ministry, we need to meet them where they are, not as a lesser people but as a unique and therefore different people.
Unity requires sacrifice. It requires us to give up our comfort zone.
So let’s put this into practice: When you meet other christians with different experiences remember to listen to them, accept them, and learn from them. Stop expecting to people to agree with you all the time, but rather listen to their perspectives to grow your own worldview. Stop asking people to change to join your church or social group, instead see diversity as an asset rather than a risk. Stop worrying about doing things the way they’ve always been done, because those new ideas and new perspectives and new ways of life could be better than your old traditions.
Stay tuned for how to start doing this on an individual level next post.
I know it’s hard to believe right now, but there will come day when you will walk into your bathroom, casually glance at yourself in the mirror, and realize with a start that there aren’t purple circles under your eyes.
You’ll start thinking, and realize that you didn’t cry yourself to sleep last night. Come to think of it, you haven’t cried yourself to sleep in a while.
You’ll look down, and your hands won’t be shaking.
You’ll stare at your reflection and won’t hate what you see.
Then you’ll walk out of your house, and start conversing with a neighbor, before remembering that even talking to a close friend used to be a struggle.
Maybe you’ll even go out to eat with some friends, and (plot twist!) actually enjoy your food, forgetting the calorie count that used to strangle the life out of you.
You’ll sit in church, singing your favorite hymn, remembering only vaguely the times you sat in that very same place doubting the existence of a God you now know as a father and friend.
Because that’s the funny thing about healing- you never realize that it’s happening. Then one day, you look back to see that God was answering your prayer before you even asked him to. When you were still crying out in pain, God was moving and your heart was changing.
I promise you brothers and sisters, your laughter will block the sadness you once felt suffocating you. Your confidence will overcome the insecurities that used to burden you. Your praises will prevail over your doubts. Your God will show up, and the forces of darkness will flee before his power. Love will grow in your heart, slowly but surely, to blossom and overflow within you.
Beloved, where you are now is not the end of the story. Hold onto your faith, and continue in your prayers. The Lord has worked all things together for your good. It will happen slowly, but little by little the light will come back into your life… And the light always wins over the darkness in the end.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
I’m not a great sleeper…. I’m sure many of you can relate. Between academics, extracurriculars, and relationships, sleep is hard to come by… even for those who sleep like rocks. Sometimes, It’s just really hard to turn your brain off, and lying in bed for hours awake and worrying, processing, or just thinking can become a nightly routine.
I have tried sleeping pills, hot showers, long walks, and everything else in the book, but none of them seemed to solve the long-term problem.
Here is the #1 thing that made a significant difference: I had to actually prepare myself to go to sleep. About 30 minutes before I want to crawl into bed, I found that I need to go through a routine of preparing my body, mind, and soul to rest.
Here’s the thing: I had been either doing homework or talking to my roommates before quickly (and stressfully) throwing on pjs so that I could be in bed at a certain time with my heart pounding from all the adrenaline. That made the time before I was supposed to rest very un-restful.
Instead, I trained myself to go through a routine before I lie down to sleep every night. My body is able to recognize this nightly order as the “resting routine”—a time of preparation that switches my mentality from “go do” to “be still.”
When we think about this simple ritual that prepares our bodies for a physical night’s rest, it raises another question: what do our souls need for a true spiritual rest?
I have recently realized that just as I don’t prepare myself for physical sleep on a weekday night, I also don’t prepare my heart for Sunday church services, weekly school chapels, or daily devotions. I jump right in, expecting to get an emotional high. But the truth is, I don’t really learn anything of value or worship my Lord fully when I don’t prepare myself to come before Him.
Priests in the OT had to prepare themselves extensively before coming before the Lord—they had to be completely ritually and spiritually clean with the proper garments on their body and the correct sacrifice in hand. Why do I have the right to do anything less?
When I come before the Lord, I have realized that there are a couple things I need to do:
1. Set myself apart: I need to find a place and time that allows me to focus and be able to truly express what I need to say to God. That may be in my room, in a church, or in a bathroom stall. Just somewhere relatively solitary and still.
2.Confess:I need to spend a moment bringing my sins, anxieties, praises, and thanksgivings before God before I start reading His word or asking Him questions. I need to unload my heart so that He can fill it up in the right way.
3. Ask for understanding: This is especially important before reading God’s word. We should always stop and pray for understanding from the Holy Spirit. God himself dwells within us—don’t you think we should ask Him to come into our hearts and help us interpret and apply scripture?
So when we come before the Lord, we need to have a heart that is ready to receive what he offers. Just as I need to train my body when it is time to sleep, so I need to be trained when it is time for worship.
This post is part of the #waitwhy series. You can find the rest here.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:1)
Do we get how incredibly profound that statement is? The creator of the universe, the perfect and holy being, the king of the world, looked down on his people and heard their cries of suffering - a suffering we ourselves cause through sin and rebellion. He chose to have compassion on our stone-cold hearts. God himself literally came to dwell among us.
And the reason he did so starts way back when with a very different man. Once upon a time, Adam had a choice to make, and he choose badly. He choose pride, disobedience, and selfishness over a perfect and holy relationship with the Lord his God. It was all downhill from there. Sin entered the world, and God’s people rebelled against him. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, made idols and disobeyed the law they had been given. They turned their backs on the promises of God. The judges that led the people made idols for them to worship rather than turning them to God. The kings anointed to rule over the people sinned and their kingdoms fell into ruins.
We needed someone who wouldn’t ever make those choices: a leader who would obey the voice of the Lord, a judge who would always be just, and a king with a reign that will never end.
In short, we needed heaven to meet earth. We needed a person that would be both God and man. That person was Jesus Christ, called Immanuel or “God with us.”
Jesus is both fully God and fully man. He is God and he chose to become incarnate on earth as a human. Both of these aspect of Jesus are important to understand why he decided to come to earth as a man.
Fully God
Without being fully God, Jesus would not have had the authority to forgive sins. Let’s take a look at this passage found in the gospel of Luke:
18And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20Andwhen he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies?Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” 25And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God.
When Jesus said to the man “your sins are forgiven,” what did the other people in the room immediately think? “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Only God can save. By forgiving a man for his sins, Jesus showed himself to be God- the one and only forgiver of sins.
Fully Man
But Jesus was also fully human. Look at this passage in Hebrews:
14Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroythe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 16For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
God meets us where we are. Because we are “flesh and blood,” the “Word” (i.e. Jesus) had to “become flesh and dwell among us.” Jesus becoming human has a three-fold purpose in these verses.
1.He had to die - (verses 14-15) God is eternal; it is against his nature to die, therefore Jesus had to become flesh to die and he needed to die in order to take away our sins (next post we’ll talk about why, stay tuned!).
2.He became the link between God and humans - (verse 17) In the Old Testament, the high priest was the person designated by God to connect his holy self and his people, but even this high priest couldn’t fulfill their role perfectly because they were still sinners, just like the people. Jesus took on the role of the “merciful and faithful high priest” when he died and rose again. He was perfect, so he could have true community with God, but he was also human, so he could have true community with us. He is our link to God. The high priest that acts as mediator between heaven and earth!
3.He wanted to be able to encourage us - (verse 18) Because Jesus became flesh, he experience the same things that we do everyday. He was tempted, he felt pain, he was hungry, and he suffered. He understands what it is like to live in a broken world and be weak. Now that he does, he can comfort us in our distress and encourage us in our temptations.
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us).” (Matthew 1:23)
Autor: Karina Trojok. Bazylika św. Ludwika Króla i Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny – neoromański kościół klasztorny w Katowicach Panewnikach z początku XX wieku. #polska #poland #slask #silesia #uppersilesia #katowice #panewniki #bazylikapanewniki #church #franciszkanie #christians #view #architektura #architecture #monastery #franciscans #picoftheday #pictureoftheday #bestoftheday #instagood #photooftheday #dziennikzachodni
Imagine time travelling and seeing a Christian farmer from medieval Europe and he asks if all the infighting has finally stopped and you’re like “nah we fight about it on a bright rectangular device with names like punished-luther, based-catholic and begome-ordodox-returns”
Bulgarian Orthodox faithful light candles attached to jars of honey during a Holy Mass for the “sanctification of honey” at the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin church in the town of Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, on February 10, 2022. Borislav Troshev.
11th May is Sant Ponç (Saint Pontius). Since the Middle Ages, on this day, many towns and cities in Catalonia celebrate markets dedicated to medicinal herbs. May is the maximum point of blooming for most medicinal herbs, and Saint Pontius is the patron saint of herbalists and bee-keepers.
These markets were already celebrated before around these dates, but it was in the 16th century that the date was fixed on Saint Pontius’ Day. In Barcelona (Catalonia), there’s a legend that explains the relation. According to the tradition, Saint Pontius lived in the 3rd century AD, when he was persecuted by the Romans for being Christian. He escaped and arrived to Barcelona, where he saw that there were many poor and ill people. For this reason, he immediately started preparing potions with the medicinal herbs that he knew so well. This way, he quickly became very respected and admired by the Barcelonian people, who started celebrating an annual festivity of medicinal herbs in his honour.
Nowadays, in most of these markets you can also find honey, candied fruit, jam, artisanal cheese, and other products related to health besides the medicinal herbs.
[The photos above are from the fair in Barcelona and Mataró, respectively.]
The side of Godlessness, people who purposely caused defrauding of an election? Then fly out to have a vacation on our tax dollars after they think they got away doing the “dirty”?
Or Gods side, where His people are being systematically shut down and shut up illegally. Businesses are closing, churches are being shut down, Christians are being deleted and shut up on the internet, conservatives are being attacked in the streets by racist bigots. Not Fake but Real Issues.
Shame on the American people who voted for racism, shame on Americans who voted to snip babies spinal cords on their way out of the birth canal, shame on Americans who voted to cut God out of every avenue in government and home lives, shame. YOU are the problem.
Modern Christians are so weak. Earlier this afternoon I mentioned to my mom that I was wanting a skull tattoo and she said “oh that’s disgusting and satanic. Christians don’t associate with skulls.”
Ok besides the fact that half of Christians wear metal depictions of a man being executed, Christians historically have always been strange and macabre. It’s sort of what comes out of a religion that claims to eat the flesh and drink the blood of a God who was dead for three days.
Look at this church. Normal, right?
No. This is a church literally decorated entirely with human bones. Here’s the chandelier:
It’s called the Sedlec Ossuary, located in Kutna Hora, Czechia and is adorned with the bones of an estimated 40,000-70,000 people. (They weren’t killed for this purpose, but were dug up from their Graves.)
Imagine taking the Eucharist here, eating Christ’s body and drinking Christ’s blood, while staring eye-to-empty-eye-socket at a real human skull. Horrifying.
That cross on the wall has 17 skulls. Seventeen human heads. That’s metal as fuck.
