Revolution of the Soul

Sometimes I feel the winds of change coming, something transformative, something calling us into a deeper reality, into a deeper commitment towards Christ. I think I see this in the coming generation, of course many will say the younger generation always believes in the ideal, that at some point they loose it and get back to real life. I am tired with the concept of real life, that so many times we always seem to be preparing for something better, never really moving forward, and never really taking steps now to challenge ourselves. We always see our true self in the future, but if we never began to change now, in this time, in this place we find ourselves, then what hope do we ever have to change in the future.

A revolution of the soul is now called for in our time, in this time and in this place we find our self. Putting off challenging self now may seem like a good and safe idea, but if we do not take any risk now, how will we ever take them in the future? A revolution of the soul, of mine and yours means obedience, it means service, and it means a lot of self-sacrifice. We will get uncomfortable at times, nervous, anxious, sacred, fearful even; but for those who have their hope in Christ we know that Christ is with us, and in our weakness he exudes full power, strength, and authority.

Paul says to live is Christ, to die is gain (Philippians 1:21); however, in our age it seems like to live is gain and to die is Christ. It seems we have a few things mixed up, a few things we are confused about as Christians. Yes, I say this to myself as well. I find myself worried and anxious about the future, where I will live, what I will do, how I will ever pay bills? But as these questions permeate my mind, I am always brought back to Christ. I see the word made flesh, the one who taught with boldness and compassion, the one who died for my sins, rose on the third day, and forever defeated that rift between myself and God that I would never pass on my own.

A revolution of the soul is called for, a rejecting of cultural ideas that run contrary to Christ and accepting that following God is not a choice, but the only choice for us as Christians. If no revolution in the individual soul occurs, then a revolution, an awakening, a spiritual great awakening on the global scale will never be possible. However, while we see a declining interest in America, many other countries are feeling the spirit move in various ways. We could be a part of such spiritual outbreaks, but we do not have to go to another country. The problem is not where one lives physically but where they live spiritually, and in America, I think we live for the self, for the individual. We miss the concepts of the community, of the church as a true and binding family, a worshiping and preaching of God that exudes from the spirit of God and not from our programming of God and spirituality.

Somehow we are missing something; something behind the veil of self that we are not quite ready to get rid of, something maybe we are quite not ready to see because we are not quite ready to give up self yet. It seems we are waiting for something, something to happen, some voice or vision of God to come and call us too much more. The fact is that it already came in the person of Jesus Christ. The call has already been placed and the longer we wait, the more we miss out on being apart of the Kingdom of God now, the longer we stay stagnant in our current place of complacency, leaving spiritual growth to those we admire, instead of in our own hearts and minds.

A revolution of the soul is not an option, it is the only option. Transformation into the image of Christ is a requirement and a privilege; yet it is only there for those who lay the old self behind, with all its sin and with all its insecurities. It is there for those who take on the new self, with Christ as its hope and victor, and leaves love and self-sacrifice in its wake. We stand in a land of politics; where power plays are made by deals and excuses are given as real answers. Christ did not play these games, God does not make deals, and the Holy Spirit is saddened when we ignore its power and place in our lives. Hope is available, but it is not fully found in this world. Spiritual maturity is available, but it is not found in a great speaker or preacher or worship that makes us feel something. Strength is available, but is not found in the need to dominate others through power and control. No, our hope is found in Christ, spiritual maturity should be found in self as we grow, and true strength is found in our weaknesses, when we finally decide to turn over self to God.

Praise be to God,
Who Was, and Is, and Is to Come,
Praise Be to Christ,
The Word of God made Flesh,
And to the Holy Spirit,
Who is Alive and Real.

To the Glory of God
And the Perseverance of the Saints

~ Daniel

Pic:
http://eldib.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/revolution.jpg

Facade: Behind the Mask

I remember way back when I was in middle school in my seventh grade year I was having my quiet time with God and became aware that I was (or came across) as three different people. I was the boy at home, the friend at school, and the youth at church; each of these having to be slightly different, partly me and partly not me sometimes. I decided then that I was just going to be me, that anything else was putting on fronts or being hypocritical.

Sometimes as a minister I feel I have to put on a front... this does not mean I am not myself, but sometimes it feels like I cannot be completely myself for fear of judging or fear that if I am feeling down, people will merely tell me to trust God... that things will work out in the end - so I should not worry. But cliché sayings do not help anyone, nor does trying to get anyone to ignore how they feel, because how someone feels is true to them, something they just cannot un-feel. Emotions can be distracted or substituted, such as inviting someone feeling down to go out to eat or trying to interject a joke in hope it will evoke laughter, maybe even give someone some joy. This does not deny the initial emotion but accepts it and hopes to evoke change from the negative into the positive.

 

I feel like the last few weeks I have been a facade, a person wearing a mask. I love hanging-out with my friends but for some reason I have been down the last few weeks. A lot of it has been questions about God and myself... and I find myself going from being really down to being ok and then back again. It just seems like this cloud lately that I cannot shake off for some reason, where usually I might be down a day or so and then I am fine. The last few days I have really began to miss my home and my family; there is something refreshing about being with my family, something that I do not get elsewhere.

~ Daniel