The Right Response

Those of you who know me probably know that I love sports. Well, maybe not all sports, but there are certainly a few that I can be obsessive about. Basketball and football are definitely the two sports I obsess over the most. I don’t know about kickball. Kickball’s okay. 

I used to work at an afterschool program at an elementary school. When I worked at the school, the most popular sports were definitely foursquare and kickball, although you can bet I did my best to preach the gospel of basketball and touch football to the kids. Somehow, we managed to have a touch football league with a few of the other district schools. Some of the kids really loved football and literally begged me to be their quarterback. Maybe you don’t believe me, but even some of the girls were excited to play football. We had some great times. I was awesome, of course. I was like Peyton Manning out there.

A lot of the other kids, though, didn’t have much interest in football or basketball. It would be so hard to convince them to try either of those games. They’d rather play their foursquare or kickball. I’d always tell ‘em, “Kid, right now you love kickball ‘cause you’re in third grade. You’re eight years old right now, bud. When you get to middle school, kids ain’t gonna play kickball anymore. You’re gonna have to play a real sport. Don’t even talk to me about what you’ll be playing in high school. You ever see anyone win a college scholarship playing kickball?”

A couple months ago, on December 31^st at the end of last year, I got hurt. A lot of you already know that I broke a couple of ribs playing football. I’ve actually probably talked about this experience a few times to many of you, so I apologize if this is repetitive. I hope you can bear with me.

How many people here have broken a bone before? Hurts, don’t it?

Getting my ribs broken was probably the worst pain I can ever remember experiencing. I’ve had injuries before, like sprained ankles and the like. I’ve torn a tendon in my finger, but I’ve never broken a bone or anything. Nothing hurt me as badly as those ribs.

It happened during a game of tackle football. I made a catch, tried to get some yards. Made a move and got past one guy. Saw another defender coming at me hard and at that point, common sense told me to just go down easy. I didn’t shy away from the contact and I did my favorite move – the stiff arm – but the speed and the angle of our bodies and the way I stuck out my arm at him just made us come down awkwardly, and his knee was driven into my left posterior ribs.

Before I even landed completely on the floor, I remember screaming. At least, I tried to scream. I think it came out more as a pathetic whine. I knew right away that something was totally wrong. It was more than just getting the wind knocked out of me. I couldn’t get up. I think I tried, but all I could manage was just to roll on my back. I was totally prone. My arms were bent so that my hands were pointing straight up – y’know, like roadkill, when you see a dying or dead dog with all for limbs pointing straight to the heavens.

It felt like I had a giant bruise inside my organs, and someone was squeezing it. To compound matters, I couldn’t breathe properly. The trauma to my ribs affected my lungs. I couldn’t inhale deeply. Have you ever had the wind knocked out of you? You know how you gain slight increments of relief as you inhale some deep breaths? I couldn’t do that. I could take shallow breaths, so I wasn’t suffocating or anything, but I couldn’t take even one satisfying deep breath and fill my lungs to capacity with oxygen. Every time I tried to take a deep breath, I ended up just making this pitiful whining noise.

I must have lied on the floor for ten or fifteen minutes. Try taking rapid shallow breaths repeatedly for that amount of time. It’s like hyperventilating or something! It hurts after a while and it just tires you out. That’s how I felt, in addition to the pain of broken bones in my body.

It hurt. It hurt bad. It hurt so bad I cried. That’s all I could do, was lie on the grass and cry.

Always thought I’d be tougher. Always thought I had a better pain tolerance. Guess not.

Eventually, some of the guys helped me get up and they drove me to the hospital. There, I experienced some great Christian love as my brothers stayed with me the entire afternoon that I was in the emergency room. I knew they had plans and better things to do, but they sacrificed their plans just for the sake of providing me some emotional comfort. I’ll never forget that.

Lying on the ground, before I got to the hospital, there wasn’t a whole lot I could do. I tried to talk, but it was tough to string together a long sentence. I remember praying in my mind, though: Oh, God, this hurts. That was probably my first prayer. And then I started praying, God, please get me through this. Help me endure this. Help me to trust in you. Help me to believe You’re in control of my life. Help me to believe you are my Rock. Those are the things that ran through my mind as I gasped for air.

Now, a lot of people get injured or hurt or sick. A lot of people get hurt worse than I did. I’m not saying I was dying or anything; I’m here right now and I seem fine, right?

And let’s face it. There are people who get hurt and don’t pray or believe in God or anything, and they heal up just fine.

Being a Christian doesn’t mean you’re going to heal faster than anyone else. Being a Christian doesn’t mean you’re going to be rich or successful or achieve all your goals.

Being a Christian means you have a right relationship with God.

Everybody in this world faces adversity at some point. Whether it’s a physical injury, an illness, an antagonist, financial woes, or any other circumstance in life, things aren’t always pretty. If you’re struggling with something in your life right now, it’s certainly not my intention to demean or belittle whatever you’re experiencing. But I think it’s fair to say that everyone has and will endure adversity.

The world offers much advice on how to overcome obstacles. There’s plenty of encouragement that you can get that will inspire you in the struggle. Hollywood’s littered with hundreds of feel-good, inspirational stories. How many sports movies follow that uplifting formula? Beaten-down underdogs band together and triumph over seemingly insurmountable obstacles and antagonists?

There’s a reason why that formula, so tried and true (and tired) over the decades, has been so successful. People love stories about underdogs overcoming the odds and finding success. Real life doesn’t always work like that, though. For every success story, you can find a bunch of failures.

But failure isn’t the end of the story. Failure, loss, pain – those are things that we naturally seek to avoid. Yet we know that there are times when they’re unavoidable. In those cases, and even in those times when we find success, victory, and comfort, we know that the story isn’t about what happens to us, but in how we respond to our circumstances.

In the Bible, in the book of Romans (8:28), it says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

That’s all things, good and bad, which are, for Christians, designed to happen for our good. Sometimes we can’t see the good when we’re faced with adversity or obstacles. Sometimes we can see the good in retrospect. But when we’re undergoing a trial, it can be tough.

Even then, though, we can rest assured that even that trial we’re enduring is designed to draw us closer to God. Everything that happens in our lives is designed to point us back to Christ. It’s simply about our response to what we face. You can glorify the Lord in any circumstance. When we face trials, can we still see Christ?

A lot of times, whether or not you’re a Christian, it’s a temptation to focus on our own pain. People are just naturally self-centered. Whenever we feel pain, whether or not we are Christians, the natural inclination is to find some way to end that painful feeling.

When I was in the hospital that day my ribs were broken, when I was in the emergency room, some of the guys stayed there with me to just be a comfort to me. I know they had better things to do that afternoon, but they stayed with me regardless. While I was lying in the hospital bed and feeling some of the effects of a morphine injection, one of the guys mentioned how bad it must have hurt for Jesus when He was crucified.

I had this weird moment of clarity then, as I reflected on what he said. Yeah, I know how it feels to have three fractures on two ribs. That doesn’t feel good. But is that really the worst pain in the world? I don’t think so. There’s a lot of real pain out there in this world. There is real pain out there that I can’t even imagine. There’s people really suffering and it wouldn’t be right to belittle their pain.

But it did make me think: How bad must it have hurt for Jesus when He was crucified? As I lied on the bed in the ER that afternoon, I imagined what it was like to suffocate on a cross. I thought I was hurting, but the intensity of a crucifixion must be on a whole ‘nother level. (A real preacher can give you the gory details of what happens to a human body during a crucifixion. I just know it hurts.)

But you know what, things kinda came full circle in my mind right around then. I knew that the right response to getting injured wasn’t to lash out in anger or to feel self-pity or anything like that. It was about glorifying the Lord. It was about praising Him for my salvation and all He’s provided for me even though I was hurting.

I share this with you because I hope it encourages you if you’re a Christian. This is my testimony of what God has taught me over the past couple months. This is something I’ve learned with real clarity.

I’m telling you, every time my ribs ached, I would think to myself, God is in control of my life. That was my mantra. It sounds kind of ridiculous, but the whole experience actually made me appreciate God’s sovereignty more than anything that’s happened to me lately. It actually helped my spiritual walk to have this constant pain in my side because it reminded me of Jesus Christ. It made me think about my salvation during times when it normally wouldn’t have crossed my mind because I’m so naturally self-centered.

Maybe it was kind of a painful way to teach me, but at least I learned. At ETC we recently started studying the book of Ephesians, and one of the highlights in the first chapter so far is that we exist for the praise of God’s glory. When I read those passages, I’m just reminded how easy it is to live my life and not really give God all the praise He’s due.

But we know that we ought to praise God not only in our victories, but in our sorrows as well. As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul delights in his difficulties because they give him all the more reason to praise God, whose grace to us is sufficient.

If you’re not a Christian, I share my story with you because I want to proclaim my Savior to you. Let me read to you a passage from the Bible, found in the book of 2 Corinthians 5:15-21.

¹¹ Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. ¹² We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. ¹³ If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is the message of the gospel. “Gospel” means “good news.” The author of this particular passage, the Apostle Paul, is addressing Christians here. He’s basically exhorting his fellow Christians to share the gospel with others. The gospel is about reconciliation, reconciliation with God, our Creator. Reconciliation means to reestablish a right relationship with someone.

Holy God is our Creator. We, humanity, were created to have fellowship, a right relationship, with God.

However, because of our sinfulness, we became enemies of God. God doesn’t tolerate sin at all, and we’ve all sinned at some point. There’s no such thing as a sin that God will overlook.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God who lived a sinless life, died and was resurrected so that we might have salvation. When Jesus died, he took the punishment that God metes out to His enemies – the punishment that, rightfully, we should have borne. It is through Jesus’ death and resurrection that we can be reconciled to God. That’s how we can have a right relationship with God and obtain the promise of eternal life in heaven after our earthly lives end. Jesus is the only way we can have a right relationship with God. Living well, loving others, or doing good deeds is not going to reconcile us with God because sinful people can’t redeem ourselves from our own sins.

These are facts that we can learn from reading the Bible. Maybe this is a message you’ve heard before. But when you hear this message, you have to respond to it. You either reject it, or you accept it. But you have to respond.

The Bible doesn’t teach that if we become Christians, we’ll enjoy prosperity and physical blessings. The message of the gospel isn’t about bringing us happiness or healthiness or a greater sense of well-being. Accepting the gospel doesn’t mean you’re gonna automatically just tear up the league like Jeremy Lin.

The Bible teaches us that God saves sinners who don’t deserve to be saved. The blessings we enjoy as believers are spiritual and eternal. Are you interested in reconciliation with God? That’s the question. Are you able to humble yourself and recognize that you are an enemy of God, and in need of reconciliation? And can you admit that God Himself is the source of reconciliation?

Those can be hard questions, but they are necessary ones.

I’m trying to tell y’all. God has never made a mistake. He’s never made one mistake. Everything that happens to us should drive us to the praise of His glory. And whether or not we’ve been reconciled with Him, there is only one right response.

Hoka Hey! (Today Is a Good Day to Die!)

As a perpetually single heterosexual male, I've spent inordinate amounts of time thinking about my friendships with other guys. I've often said that the difference between girls' friendships with each other and guys' friendships with other guys is that girls enjoy face-to-face relationships. They like to look at each other, talk to each other, and sympathize with each other. Guys ain't really about face-to-face friendships. We empathize, sure. But mainly, we do stuff. Sports, videogames, even sitting around and doing nothing - it doesn't really matter. We're side-by-side whether we ride or we die, 'cause we in the struggle together.

But that's not to say that we men all are insensitive brutes. Not all the time, at least. I like to believe I'm capable of experiencing the entire spectrum of emotions beyond simply anger and hunger. Yes... I'd like to believe that even my world-weary heart can still (occasionally) feel something akin to vulnerability and love.

Maybe one day I'll share my favorite love songs. Right now, that seems kind of pointless because I'm not in a loving mood. But no matter how lousy I feel, no matter how crappy my day, no matter how consumed I am with the unbearable lightness of being, a few words of encouragement from a beloved brother can bring comfort into my life. Hell, even a slap on the butt and a "I got your back" will usually suffice. Sometimes, that's all it takes to help me keep on truckin'.

And so, in honor of my brethren, I present to you my top five bromantic songs in alphabetical order.

Acquiesce by Oasis. I think it's amusing that this song was made by two brothers who have repeatedly feuded in public over the years, not just verbally, but to the point where they've exchanged fisticuffs. Oasis broke up a while ago, after the Gallagher brothers had another fight, but I look forward to the day when they reunite and play this song at their first concert together. Acquiesce is a simple song about trusting in one another's friendship. It's a general song about friendship but there's an earnestness in the simplicity of it all that makes it so efficient.

Crash and Burn by Savage Garden. If I were ranking my favorite bromantic songs in numerical order, this would be number one. It's a song about being there for your friend even when things are at their lowest point. It's about acknowledging that life is tough, but wanting to be someone your buddy can rely on. It's a potent reminder that "there has always been heartache and pain / but when it's over you'll breathe again." Yes, I am well aware of the fact that Darren Hayes, the lyricist, is gay.

I Still Remember by Bloc Party. In all honesty, this song very likely crosses the (admittedly thin) line between "Bromantic Song" and "Homoerotic Rock Anthem." Nonetheless, it's a song about the unspeakable closeness between two friends (who both happen to be dudes). Look up this song on The One True Source of All Knowledge (Wikipedia) for Kele Okereke's explanation on the background of this song.

Let Me In by R.E.M. This is probably one of R.E.M.'s lesser-known album tracks, but any R.E.M. fan knows that the band wrote it in response to Kurt Cobain's suicide. I love the sound of this song, with the heavily distorted guitar, the plaintive organ, and Michael Stipe's falsetto. Lyrically, this song deals with Stipe wishing he had known Cobain's state of mind so he could have helped him. But I think the song's intent is universal as well; it's about recognizing how, at times, it can be awkward to show care for another, and how it can be hard to reach out to someone if he doesn't let you into the darkest places of his heart. That third verse is excellent.

Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of by U2. Like "Let Me In," this song was written for another dead rock star. (In this case, it was the lead singer of INXS.) Bono's lyrics are pretty much easy to decipher. A part of the song wrestles with the idea of Bono wishing he could have been there better for his friend, while I think the other key aspect of the song is about simple endurance through despair, and the affect that friendship can have in helping someone persevere. The final minute of the song, when The Edge chips in with his vocals, is probably one of the most encouraging bits of music I've ever heard.

There you have it. Those are my favorite bromantic songs (that I could think of at this particular moment). Hit me up if you know of any other good ones.

Aloof

"I think sometimes I miss out on good things by being too detached. Like if Obama walked through the door, I'd be like, 'All right, so what?' and finish eating my food. I never get too excited about things. I think sometimes if I could change that about myself, maybe I'd be in love, or not as alone. Maybe my life would be fuller or something."

- Kevin Durant

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/7122237/nba-kevin-durant-earns-title-lockout-mvp-thanks-viral-videos

I like Kevin Durant a whole lot. His game is so sweet and I love how, at postgame interviews, he buttons his collared shirt all the way to the top. I've been doing the same thing for a while now and it makes me feel like I'm not alone. It's vindication, of a sorts, to know that an NBA superstar does something ordinary and simple kinda like how I do it.

His demeanor in general just seems pretty chill.  I can relate to KD's sense of detachment. I feel like that a whole lot.

Heaven's Gravity Well

My favorite album of all time is Mezzamorphis by the British band Delirious?. I don't think many people know this. But now you know. And knowing is half the battle. (Usually whenever anyone asks me who my favorite band is, I respond with Radiohead.)

For a while, back when I was younger, I was quite a music elitist. If I had gone to more concerts regularly (and worn skintight jeans and flannel shirts), I  have would probably been classified as a hipster. Yeah. It was like that. I would check Pitchfork every day for the latest news and listen to all the bands that no one's ever heard of and feel proud about it. I was more concerned about my indie rock street cred than the actual music I was listening to.

Nowadays, I just listen to what I like. Or what I love. And I still love Radiohead. OK Computer, The Bends, Kid A - all three of them among the greatest albums of my generation. OK Computer, in particular, has always been an album that resonated with me. I could listen to that over and over without skipping any tracks.

I came across an insightful article the other day, about Radiohead, and why they matter, from a Christian's perspective. Here's the link:
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2011/03/27/see-what-radiohead-sees/
I think it's a great read, especially if you are familiar with Radiohead's work. I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with the writer's observations and reflections.


I also started thinking about "Christian" music and what kind of impact that area of music has had on me. There really aren't too many "Christian" bands or artists that I like. Other than a few worship albums here and there, I don't pay any attention to the world of Christian music. Call me cynical, but I just feel that Christian music is generally just a watered-down imitation of secular pop music trends, with embarrassing lyrics. It's a sonically decrepit landscape.

(I say all that with the full authority of a man who has absolutely no musical talent himself.  But, y'know what they say... Those who can't create always turn to the second best thing: we critique. Actually, I don't know who says that. I just made it up.)

Mezzamorphis, out of every piece of Christian music I've ever encountered, is the album I go back to time and time again. It probably is the "OK Computer" of Christian music.


Similar to OK Computer, Mezzamorphis isn't exactly a concept album, but its songs are tied to one another thematically, which makes the album as a whole stronger because it has a coherent message.


Also, I think Mezzamorphis is one of the best-produced albums in Christian music. It's definitely got its own sound. You can hear how Delirious? broke away from the U2 comparisons that accompanied their previous album. Sonically, Mezzamorphis is lush and rich, brimming with a subtle aural intricacy that tends to be missing from most Christian music. There's a nice, natural-sounding reverb to the drums. Their basslines pretty melodic, too. It's definitely a nice "headphones" album. I feel that even now, something like 11 or 12 years after this album first came out, I'm still discovering new sounds when I listen to it.


Mezzamorphis is about something I think about often, even if not consciously. It's about the daily struggle that any believer faces: the struggle between finding contentment in this worldly kingdom of comfort and finding solace in Christ, because our citizenship is in heaven.

The album opener, "The Mezzanine Floor", begins with some soft/loud, start/stop dynamics before settling into a simple but elegant, vibey groove. It's a song about being in this sort of intermediate stage of life, and knowing you have something better to look forward to in the future. As the album progresses, this longing becomes more and more clear and explicit, though there are still occasional hiccups that remind us that the flesh is weak.


Delirious? made their rep as a worship band. "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever" is probably their most famous song - it's a song more well-known than the people who created it. Mezzamorphis isn't a worship album, but there are still moments of intense worship to be found within it. The song "Follow" brilliantly keeps in line with the theme of heavenly citizenship while offering a pledge of worship to the Lord. The shimmering accompaniment gives it a really ethereal quality.


Other songs on Mezzamorphis, like "See The Star" and "Gravity", highlight the pursuit of Christ in a world where sinful idolatry threaten to derail us from the path God has called us to follow. Any Christian can relate to that... But it helps to have rocking tunes to back up the words. And what we really do to try and stay on that path of righteousness? Well, it helps to pray... Which is what the song "Love Falls Down" is all about. The album sequencing is very effective in portraying a realistic Christian life, with its ups and downs and the ultimate acknowledgement of our need for Jesus Christ to save us, and the knowledge that we can't make it to heaven on our own volition.


I love how the album's two closing songs finish things off with that story. "Blindfold" starts off as a sort of brokenhearted, dreary, desolate song about not doing such a great job of living for Christ. Then the narrator cries out to the Lord to remove the metaphorical blindfold, and eventually the song metamorphoses into a simple, but stirring, worship of God. The final song, "Kiss Your Feet", summarizes the narrator's realization that he knows he is not really trapped between two worlds. Heaven's gravity well, God's calling and election, is far more powerful and irresistible than the world. As a result, the narrator proudly proclaims his life's purpose: to glorify God with everything he has in this life.


(The U.S. edition of Mezzamorphis has two bonus tracks, which are a nice encore.)


The other day, on the radio, I heard an advertisement from Kaiser Permanente. They were saying how listening to music has some mental health benefits or something. I don't know if that's medically proven or anything, but it sure sounds nice.


Sometimes, when I feel downcast, I dig out Mezzamorphis and listen to this classic album. (Yeah, I still listen to CDs. I'm old-school like that. If only I had a vinyl player...) It's a reminder to me that this world is temporary. The God I worship, the God who mercifully extended salvation to sinful me, is eternal. The comfort I find in the things of this world are ultimately powerless. To think about how hard I often cling to my comforts, to think about how I can be consumed with sinfulness or even just things that have no eternal bearing - thoughts like that only shame me. I pray that God removes my manmade blindfold so I can recognize His majesty over me.


And I think of heaven's gravity well, tugging at my soul. I think of the love that was displayed to me when the Lamb laid down His life, only to rise again, so that I might have eternal spiritual life. Salvation. When I think of it long enough, hard enough, I'm moved to tears because I have no other adequate means to express my thanks and worship.

Happy Easter.

Prince Caspian: Brief Excerpt, Brief Scattered Thoughts

"Welcome, child," he said.

"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."

"That is because you are older, little one," answered he.

"Not because you are?"

"I am not. But every year you grow you will find me bigger."

Looking back to my childhood, I remember counter tops in my home being quite tall. I was small back then. Now I am approx. 5'10." Those same counter tops, I look down on. It is how life is, when you grow up, you grow bigger, and usually smarter if you aren't lazy and circumstances are right. Sure, when I was taking classes such as biochemistry I thought I would never figure out the material. But if you put enough time into, whether it be 1 hour or a lifetime's work, you can eventually figure things out. Sure, new discoveries are made every now and then that lay waste to previous facts. But generally, as time marches on in life, the complex becomes more simple, the big becomes smaller.

Here we have Lucy, who was once a little girl in "The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe." She is a few years older. Yet when she sees Aslan once again, Aslan is bigger. She first believes that it is because Aslan may have also aged, just as she has aged. Aslan states otherwise. He is only bigger because she is bigger. He is still the same.

This same idea applies to God. As a Christian becomes more mature in Christ over time, the Christian will find that they do know God more, yet they discover that there is still so much more to learn about God. Imagine that I am still that same kid who would have to look up to the counter top, only to grow up and the counter top appears be as tall as a skyscraper! But alas, perhaps it was never a counter top to begin with. Reading that excerpt from "Prince Caspian" made me think of the end of the book of Job. If you haven't read it, you should. Job, an upstanding man, has nearly everything stripped away from him. He wonders why God has allowed these things to happen to him. BOOM! God encounter, Job is speechless. Check it out. I think I will again, after all, I still have much to learn.

Chronicles of Narnia - Pointing to Jesus Christ

Well, it has been quite some time since I last logged an entry here. Drew has encouraged me in the past to post entries in the blog, but I've never really had an inkling to write, besides the occasional entry in my own personal journal. However, reading the works of a writer such as C.S. Lewis has given me that extra oomph to write.

Now how did I begin to read C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia? I was listening to a sermon by Tim Keller, and he referenced an example from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. His example fit in marvelously with his sermon message. Having only watched the movies, I decided I wanted to read Lord of the Rings and look carefully for Christian illustrations. So with a $25 gift card in hand, I took a stroll through Barnes and Noble. However, instead of finding Lord of the Rings, I came across a volume of The Chronicles of Narnia, with all seven books in one for a sweet deal of $20! I'm not usually a spontaneous buyer, so of course I didn't buy the book right then and there but instead bought it during my 30 minute dinner break from work. I got back to work with a fat grin on my face.

I must say, Chronicles of Narnia has far exceeded my expectations. The only book I've read of the series in the past was "The Horse and His Boy," and I have yet to see the movies (except for part of the old BBC "Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe"). Currently I am on the 6th book of the set, and I would like to share my thoughts on what I've read on this entry and future entries to whoever reads this blog, but of course in particular with brother Drew. If you have not read the series yet and intend on doing so, I advise you not to read from this point forward.

Book 1: The Magician's Nephew

In this book, Aslan (the Christ figure who is a lion) creates the world of Narnia. Obviously, this parallels God's creation of our world. However, this wasn't the main point of interest that caught my attention. What spurred my mind was one antagonistic event during Aslan's glorious work of creating Narnia:

"Suddenly the Witch stepped boldly out towards the Lion...She raised her arm and flung the iron bar straight at its head...It glanced off and fell with a thud in the grass. The Lion came on. Its walk was neither slower nor faster than before; you could not tell whether it even knew it had been hit...The witch shrieked and ran..."

This Witch was strong. Her great physical strength was shown in many events earlier in the book. However, the Lion went about his business like nothing even happened. What happened here? I'll tell you what happened: when a person with great strength attacks and their attack has been completely nullified, the one who was the target of the attack must not only be greater in strength, but must be immensely stronger than the attacker. The witch's response to this revelation is predictable; she fled immediately in fear of the repercussions of her initial attack.

Fast forward to the second book of the series, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Aslan is killed on the Stone Table by the Witch. What had happened was Aslan sacrificed himself for Edmund, the son of Adam who had betrayed Aslan and should have been the one killed.

Now, we have a big difference in Aslan in these 2 different books. In book 1, he is Aslan the invincible. In book 2, he is Aslan the vulnerable.

Now, we have Jesus Christ. The pre-incarnate Christ is fully God. The incarnate Christ is fully God, yet fully man. Because of this "man" aspect Jesus Christ became vulnerable. When I was reading through "The Magician's Nephew" and this particular scene, this verse from Philippians came to mind:

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (2:5-8)

Just as Aslan was there during the beginning of Narnia, the pre-incarnate Jesus was there during the creation of our world. The Triune God (The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit) created the heavens and the earth. To say Jesus had tremendous power would be an understatement. Yet what did Jesus do? The book of Philippians says he "did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped" and that he "emptied Himself," essentially laying aside His invincibility as God and becoming vulnerable when He became fully man. And why did He do it? So that we could become invulnerable to death. The death I am talking about here is not physical death, but something much worst. It is a death without the hope of life afterwards. It is a death with Hell looming. But alas, because of Christ we need not face such doom. Let's not forget that it wasn't simply a god who took our place on the cross, but it was the ALMIGHTY GOD who did so. Just as the iron bar simply glanced off Aslan's head and fell to the ground with no effect, so death has lost its sting on us because of the powerful work of Christ.

Born Again

For a long time, I never really knew exactly what to say whenever I was asked to share my testimony of how I came to be a Christian.

I used to wish that I had a stirring, powerful story of how I became saved. I used to wish I had some sort of dramatic story that would move audiences to tears. I used to wish I had an epic life filled with abominable sorrows and glorious victories that were beyond human description. I used to wish that the story of my life could be a story that would save lives.  You know the spiel. I wish could give you a tragic, emotional tale of how I neglected to trip a thief while he was running from the cops, only to come home later and discover that my uncle had been murdered by a burglar who turned out to be the same thief I could have stopped earlier, and then that’s how I learned the hard lesson that with great power there must also come great responsibility. But I can’t tell you that story. I’m not Peter Parker. I’m not Spider-Man. I can’t stand up here and tell you that I’m the sole survivor of a dying planet and now I can leap tall buildings in a single bound. I’m not Superman. I’m not the apostle Paul. I didn’t fall off my horse on the road to Damascus or anything like that.

The truth is, how I came to the faith is not a dramatic story.

I used to worry about this a lot. Seems like most Christians can point to the specific moment they were saved. I knew a guy who was like, “Yeah, I was listening to a Petra album on cassette back in 1987 and that’s when something just clicked and I accepted Christ.” I knew another dude who had a rough, tumultuous upbringing, whose family was basically destroyed because of the L.A. riots in the early ‘90s, who had some exposure to the gospel but didn’t truly come to a saving faith until he was in college. I mean, that’s TNT right there, you know, We Know Drama.

For me, I can’t even put a date on when I became a Christian, to be honest with you. The best I can give you is an approximate, give or take a year or two.

My background is that I grew up here, in San Francisco, and my parents took me to church throughout my childhood. They also enrolled me in a Christian school, West Portal Lutheran, and I went there from kindergarten to eighth grade. I had plenty of exposure to the Bible and to the gospel as I was growing up, what with going to Sunday school and having regular religion classes at normal school. I learned a lot about the Bible back then. I still remember, even in kindergarten, having to memorize the 23^rd Psalm. (Don’t ask me to recite it now, though, ‘cause I probably can’t.)

Growing up in a Christian environment, I kind of took it for granted that the stuff I was learning was fact. Facts like how God created us, and how we are sinners and need to repent from our sins by believing in and accepting Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. I bet if we had a time machine and traveled back in time and talked to 1991 Dru, he would say he’s a Christian. But I don’t think I really thought to examine what a saving faith truly means until probably somewhere in my middle school years.

By then, I think my mind and awareness had developed to the point where I could understand and accept that I am a sinner and only Jesus Christ can save me and lead me to heaven. Ever since then, my life has been a process of spiritual growth. Maybe there are some ups and downs in there but ultimately I can say that God continually draws me closer to Him.

I went to a public high school, and it was during those years that I started to more fully grasp and appreciate this gift of salvation God gave me. One of my childhood friends brought me out here, to this church, SFBC, to LIFE Fellowship. I still went to my parents’ church on Sundays, but as there weren’t really people my age there, Friday nights at LIFE were something of a revelation to me. I started to see what it looked like to live in faith everyday, and it was refreshing to be around kids my age who also wanted to learn more about God and the Bible, and to be around adults who wanted to see me grow.

When I went off to college, I was involved in a couple of campus ministries that gave me opportunities to grow some more in my walk with God. I made lasting friendships with other believers, learned what it meant to hold each other accountable before God, and how to share my faith with others. I spent time serving with and even leading other college students. All these different activities taught me how to see God is active in my life. Even during the many times when I served with a stubborn or prideful heart, God still found ways to remind me that my story wasn’t about me, but about Him.

After college I moved back home and though I endured a period of time when my spiritual walk wasn’t too great, God still provided me grace. I still had a couple of close friends at SFBC and they brought me back out here to ETC.

I had a non-Christian friend back in high school who would always tell me, “The only reason you’re a Christian is because you grew up with it.” He insisted that to me whenever I would try to share my faith with him or press him to make a decision for Christ. That actually got me thinking, though. I’d wonder, privately, if what he said was true. I wondered if I would be a Christian if my parents didn’t take me to church or enroll me in a Christian school. I wondered if the fact that they did somehow lessened the importance of my status as a believer.

I wrestled with this question deeply and I answered it (or should I say God answered it) to my satisfaction. 2 Peter 1:10-11 says:

 ¹⁰ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, ¹¹ and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Maybe to that friend of mine in high school, my faith would have seemed more legit and I’d have more street cred if I didn’t grow up surrounded by Christian influences. But to me, everything that happened to me is a blessing because the end result is that it all pointed me to Christ. The way I see it, yeah, I really can’t change the fact that I grew up surrounded by various Christian influences and people, and with so many opportunities to repent from my sins and turn to Christ. But you know what? That’s a blessing. To me, that’s a blessing that I don’t deserve.

All that stuff I was saying earlier about how I wished I had some fanciful, amazing, dramatic story about my moment of conversion? It’s only my own selfish pride that wishes I could impress you all with my “glorious” testimony.

The thing is, everyday I know how blessed I am that I’m saved at all. I know God chose me to be an heir of Christ, and nothing I ever did deserved that calling. I know this. I think if you think on this fact for any decent length of time, you can’t help but feel a stirring in your heart. When I sit around and really take the time to ponder about what it means that God has called me to Him, it truly is like I am being born again daily.

My testimony isn’t about the great things I have done for the Lord. It’s about the great things the Lord has done for me and continues to do. I know that I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff and probably said a lot of even stupider stuff. I am so obviously a man in need of a Savior. It’s so tempting to think that I’m a Christian because I decided to be one when the truth is that God graciously chose me. And that’s the main thing I wanted to say, is just to tell you that I have been saved, I am saved now, and that I’m up here because I want to show my commitment to the people of this church.