Live

Why live?

It has been over the course of the past few weeks that I have felt an increasing anointing over my own life. This anointing has begun to spill over into my day to day existence, into my church ministry and into my education. The past few days I have come across some incredible teachings and have really started to identify a new direction in my own faith life. This of course is all driven by being an expectant father and having gone through over a years worth of ups and downs. Every day is a blessing from God, and as I write this I realize that I want every word to count and every sentence to collectively give glory to God.

I'm praying that this numbing feeling in my left wrist lifts and that I'm brought into a place of healing. I have been meaning to write for a few days, writing once a month is clearly not enough and I end up with a cluster of ideas attempting to rob one another of space on here. So we'll just have to see the way that this blog goes.

Is this still “Young Theology” I mean lets be honest, over the past few entries I have had more life updates than times of wrestling with faith. Although I would mention that this may just be because its within my story that I'm living currently that all the wrestling is taking place and that it comes out in describing my life currently.

I have been tackling the teachings of many different individuals the past few days, from Ravi Zacharias to John Piper to N.T Wright to Matt Chandler and a few others. It's really been an incredibly enlightened few days. Oh and this doesn't include the teachings of current professors I'm learning under and having attended (so far) three different faith traditions (Islam, Hindu and Baha'i') Of course I've also learned through my own personal wrestling over the scriptures, through studying the generation that I'm working with in youth group and of course in seeing an ultra sound of my beautiful son and working through earlier this week the possibility that he may come earlier than expected. I've been both overjoyed and overwhelmed. It's good to be alive.

What all can I cover here? What all should I cover here? What really matters right here and right now? What needs to be talked about if this were my last conversation? I'm attempting to address life in this manner, and not in order to be grim but because the gospel requires us to live with a sense of urgency and honesty and regard for those around us who are lost and those who have been found but still get caught up in the shadows of the fall. We have a requirement to speak the truth, to live it out in love and to act with a swift hand of justice. I mentioned earlier that my own faith life has been tested and has started to grow out of differing theologies. I attempt to safeguard myself from anyone individuals “brand of teachings” attempting to sound the alarm on solid teachings from teachings that do not fit the Jesus I have come to know in the scriptures. And isn't that what it's all about? I mean it's it all about what we think about Jesus?

Isn't it about who he is? About his very identity?
I mean we can sit here all night and converse and debate about the depths of atonement, about heaven and where it will be and how it will look like, we can debate eschatology, whether the gifts are for today, tomorrow or are from a different time period all together. We can debate about resurrection, about how church should look, what worship truly means, we can debate and be divided and be apart on just about every issue and I would even say that at some point this is even healthy but except for one point:

We're best not to fight over the identity of Jesus. At least if you call yourself a Christian. It's in this argument that we can assume a new identity ourselves.

And so I get back to the question of why live?

I'll start by saying that in seeing the beautiful face of my son looking back at me through the looking glass of an ultra sound examination... I saw a glimpse of Gods handiwork and could not find the words to explain him. I wonder if ever I will be able to properly explain how I'm feeling right here and right now for my son. Then I realize just how much more of a hurdle it is to attempt to even explain the resurrection, to explain the expression of the cross, to explain the blood of Christ, to explain the God of the universe and the creation that he loves oh so much.
I wonder how and if I'll ever be able to even utter a word of preaching to anyone anywhere... I wonder this because I'm not positive if I or anyone could ever capture properly what Christ did for us.
Furthermore...
And so I would suggest right here... that perhaps the answer to why we should live is this:

Easy. Live because we do not have the right to and yet with the cross we've been given grace.
Live because we can not afford nor should we ever decide to turn away from Jesus, the one who died and was raised from the dead for us.
Live because without the cross we would just have judgment.
Live because life matters, and life matters because God has made it to matter. God has made it with purpose, God has allowed us to breathe, function, move and love one another.

And Live because we must, because we have no other choice when we realize what the cross cost God.