The Second Day

"And God said, '"Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters."' And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day."

This is the Biblical account of the second day of the world's creation. This was the day that God made sky. He made the heavens. This is the day that there became a separation between sky and earth, the day that birds had a place to fly and the day that space and open skies became a reality.

The day that God made the Heavens must've been beautiful. It would've been the day that hosted the first sunrise and the first sunset, the day that made cloud watching possible and the day that gave way to the great expanse of sky that wraps around the entire world. He separated clouds from lakes and storms from oceans, all with the command of His voice. 

That was the second day.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: The first sunrise and sunset must've been special; it was the beginning of the sky's worship toward the Heavens. 

The Builder

A good builder once constructed a beautiful house. He laid the foundation, built the walls and finished the roof all by himself. When he was finished, he looked at the house and saw that it was good. ​

Eventually, a storm came and hit that house. It knocked some of the shingles off and did some damage to the walls. The house was no longer what it was before, and the builder was grieved by what he saw. After all, he'd put so much work into it, but now the house was broken. It wasn't strong anymore. So, the builder tore down the house and started over. He rebuilt the house, fixed it and binded it up, making it stronger than before. Though the storm broke the house, the builder knocked it down, but after that, he fixed it. ​He made it better, and the house was stronger.

​“Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.”

-‭‭Hosea‬ ‭6:1‬ ‭

Just like the builder, God is in control. He may break us down, but He will also heal us. He may strike us down, but He is also the one Who will bind us up. ​He may discipline those He loves, but He will no doubt heal them all the more. 

-Cliff​

Cliff's Note: You're the house; He's the builder. ​

The First Day

In the the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

This is the Biblical account of the first day. It was the beginning. It was on this day that the world was formed and creation begin, and its account is both mysterious and beautiful. It's an account that not only tells the story of creation itself, but it also tells the story of the creation that must happen in our lives if we want rebirth.

In the beginning, God created us, but we were without true form, void and full of darkness; however, the Spirit of God was still with us.

Then, one day, God performs a miracle in our lives and says, "Let there be Light," and He introduces us to His Son, Jesus. He calls His Son, the Light, good, and while there is still darkness, He separates that from us and gives us Day, and it's from that Day that we have our first day, our first day of Real Life and Real Creation in Him.

You're a creation, and you were formed by Him. He can and will speak Light into you. Live your first day.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Once there was chaos and darkness, but then He spoke order and Light.

Listen: Lord Have Mercy

Much of the heart behind this blog is honesty. I like to be honest in everything I say, write and encourage. I like to be vulnerable and I like to be able to share hope, fellowship and struggles with others so they know they're not alone. With that, I want to leave you with this song. It's a song of vulnerability, and it's a song that's an honest, humble approach to receiving mercy. I hope it can mean as much to you as it has to me.

When I come to You in prayer, Lord have mercy
And when I wonder if You're there, Lord have mercy
When I cannot find the way, Lord Have Mercy
Should my heart my heart begin to stray, Lord Have Mercy

When I lay me down to sleep, Lord have mercy
And when the road ahead gets steep, Lord have mercy
When I falter, when I fail, Lord Have Mercy
May Your kindness still prevail, Lord Have Mercy  

When I see Your promises, Lord have mercy
Knowing well that I am blessed, Lord have mercy
Oh may I never cease to ask, Lord Have Mercy
Til' I breathe my very last, Lord Have Mercy

How great, how great is Your faithfulness, 
Oh Your faithfulness

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Lord, have mercy. We need it.

The Day We Turned Jesus' Birthday Into Our Own

May 15th is a special day; it's my fiance's birthday. This year, I already have in mind what I'm going to do to celebrate with her. This year for her birthday, I'm going to take her fishing. She doesn't really like fishing all that much, but I think it will still be a good time. We can have some good conversation while we're waiting for the fish to bite, and I can give her some nice compliments and tell her how beautiful she always looks while we're sitting there. It should be a great time. . . for me. 

I like to fish, and in reality, if I were to really take her fishing for her birthday, she'd be pretty upset with me because:

1) she doesn't like to fish all that much
2) going fishing would be more for me than it would be for her
and
3) it's her birthday, not mine

When it comes to birthdays, it should always be more about celebrating the other person and doing what they want to do, rather than celebrating and treating their birthday like it's your own birthday. Birthdays should be times of selfless celebration of someone else. In my fiance and I's case, celebrating her birthday would look more like me taking her shopping, then out to a nice dinner followed by some spontaneous, adventurous activity. I would want to celebrate it in a way that was best for what she wanted, not what I want.

I feel like Christians, myself included, struggle with this same issue when it comes to celebrating Christmas, aka: Jesus' birthday. When it comes to celebrating Christmas, we try to turn it from His birthday into our own birthday just like Jesus turned water into wine. We easily become wrapped up in how we want to celebrate His birthday, more so than how He would want us to celebrate His birthday. It's so easy to take Christmas and turn it into our own party. We become obsessed with what we want, getting all our shopping done and what foods we're going to eat. None of these are bad things, but at the same time, they're things that become more about celebrating us than Him on His day. We become content with going to a service on Christmas Eve and saying a family prayer before the big meal, and then we're good to go. It bothers me just how much I've removed Christ from Christmas, as cliche as that sounds. 

When it comes to Christmas this year, I want to be able to slow down enough to put into practice the answer to the question: How would Jesus want want His birthday celebrated?

I think Jesus would want His birthday celebrated by us serving others, just as He came and served us. He came and "though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, by taking the form a a servent, being born in the likeness of man" (Phil. 2:6-7).

This Christmas, try to remember that you aren't celebrating your birthday; you're celebrating His. Try not to get wrapped up in how perfect you want everything, and instead get wrapped up in delighting to be a servant to those around you. 

Have a Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Don't be that guy that tries to turn someone else's party into your own. 

How Real is Jesus?

Think about the word 'real' for a moment in a way that describes yourself. You're real. You can feel your surrounds and you're alive. The screen you're reading this on is real. The clothes your wearing are real. They all exist. Now, answer this question:​

​Have you ever thought about Who Jesus Christ really is in your mind, and do you believe He's real?

I have, and I do, but often times when I do, I almost think about Him in an imaginary way. ​Think about it, when you picture Jesus, do you picture Someone that used to live a really, really long time ago in a place, time and way that almost seems almost make believe? Do you picture a white man with long hair and a beard smiling all the time and walking around the countryside with lots of sheep? Or do you picture a man who was and is fully God that just happened to make His human appearance some 2,000 years ago, but that is still literally just as real and alive today as He's always been? For me, I usually picture the almost make believe Jesus. Not on purpose, but because that's almost how my mind has been trained to think. 

Ever since I was little, I've always been taught Who Jesus was and what Jesus has done. Not as much Who He is and what He does. ​I've almost always been taught in a past-tense form. Sure, I've been taught God is love and Jesus does save, but what about that Jesus didn't just feed 5,000 but that He currently feeds millions? What about that Jesus didn't just heal the blind, but that He heals the blind?

Personally, I've just had a hard time connecting Jesus with reality in actual life. It's so easy to say it and say I believe, but to actually believe it and actually live, pray and know that He's ​REAL opens up a whole new realm, life and way of thinking. Realness changes things. 

I can say I believe I'll make a million dollars one day, but that may or may not really believe that to be true. If I ​really, honestly believed in the realness of making a million dollars one day, my life would totally change. I would live completely differently because I'd had full faith in that idea. 

Shouldn't that be the case with Jesus too?​

If we really believe in that fact that He's actually real, shouldn't we actually live in a real way that supports that? Not just a way that says, 'I believe?'​

It's some food for thought. I've been eating on it for a while, so I thought I'd share some leftovers. ​Enjoy.

-Cliff​

Cliff's Note: If Jesus is real, we should really treat Him like He is. ​

When God Sat in Mary's Womb

Yesterday, I asked and prayed for some rest, encouragement and creativity, and today I received all three. Basically, it's amazing what hearing from friends and going to church can do for you. Realization: there's something about hearing from your Creator that sparks creativity. 

Today's message at church was one of the most creative messages I've ever heard. It was a Christmas message, but it was unlike any other Christmas message I'd heard before. It was unique. It was a message not just about Jesus being born, but also about the obstacles that God Himself had to overcome to be born.  

Essentially, the pastor talked about what it must've been like for the God of the universe be in Mary's womb.  He talked about the vulnerability, the humbleness, the sacrifice and the complete transformation Jesus went through to go from the super-natural realm to the natural realm. This blew my mind because it was something I'd never thought of before. The pastor had some great points.

For Jesus, being fully God, to come to earth, be mortal, be vulnerable and become fully dependent on humans to take care of Him sounds completely ludicrous. He literally went from speaking galaxies into being into having to cry in order for His mother to know when He was hungry. He went from having all authority over all nature to shivering and having to be wrapped in a blanket. Jesus went from being in a place where He was completely understood and worshiped as God for Who He truly is to a place where He was completely misunderstood and hardly treated or worshiped as God. This blows my mind.

To have my mind blown today was exactly what I needed. It was just the boost of creativity and thought I needed to get my mind centered on what it should be centered on.  After all, what better boost of creativity is there then to know and think about the Creator of the entire world becoming a baby and living as a human? 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: There has been no greater obstacle overcome than the one that God overcame when He went from sitting on His throne to sitting in Mary's womb. 

Where God Wants Me

It's 2:22 am, and I just got home from a 16 hour work day. I have to be back at 6 a.m. (4 hours from now), but that doesn't matter. I couldn't be happier; today was a day I realized I've landed right where God wants me.

Despite the heavy work load, the abnormally long hours for my current season of work and not having a legitimate place to live until two days ago, I'm beyond content. If you had told me two months ago the number of hours I would be working and the uncertainty of a living situation, I probably wouldn't be where I'm at, but that's not the case. I'm exactly where God wants me for the time being. 

Today was one of those, "Aha!" moments for me when I was able to look back on everything that I've been through and been learning over the past couple of years and say, "Oh, yeah. Now I know why I learned that. Now I know why I experienced that." I'm coming to understand why I was plunged into urban ministry in Seattle, why I've made the friends I've made along the way and why I've been out of the state of Oklahoma for quite some time. Sure, there's still lots to be revealed and lots to learn, but the blind fold is slowly coming off my eyes, and I couldn't be more thankful.

God is faithful, and no matter where He has you, in whatever situation that may look like, it's definitely for a reason. God is intentional, and He definitely doesn't waste time. Ever day and every experience as its purpose; don't miss that. He is faithful, and trust me, the patience pays off in the end when His plan is revealed and begins to take shape. There's nothing like it in the world. 

-Clif

-Cliff's Note: God's plan is living, active and noticeable in the life of a believer. It just takes patience to see it through.

5 Things 12-Year-Old Jesus Taught Us

photo via: lampbiblepictures.com

When I was 12 years old, I was your typical sixth grade boy. I played sports, chatted on MSN Messenger and learned what it mean to flirt with girls for the first time. I asked questions a 12-year-old would ask, I said things a 12-year-old would say and I had the wisdom an average 12-year-old would have. There wasn't anything spectacular or peculiar about me; I just did my own thing, while my biggest worries in life were what time practice was, what day the trash needed to be taken out and how to not let my friends see my parents pick me up from the movies.

Life at 12 was easy, for me, but then, there's Jesus. 

Twelve-year-old Jesus is just as interesting as 30-year-old Jesus, in my book. It's the last time we hear of him for something like 18 years. One minute He's ditched His parents in Jerusalem to stay at the Temple for three days straight, and the next minute He's being baptized by John the Baptist, while the Heavens are opened up, and the Holy Spirit is falling on Him like a dove, while God's own voice booms down from Heaven to bless Him. Pretty crazy transition, huh?

Twelve-year-old Jesus was not 30-year-old, turning water into wine Jesus, but at the same time, He was, and we can still learn so much from even His 12-year-old self. Here are a few things He knew at 12 that I'm still learning at 24: 

1) Hang out with people older than you
After Jesus' parents had been looking for him for more than three days after He ditched them at the Passover Feast, where did they find him? Hanging out with old people (teachers to be specific). Jesus hung out with people older than Him, not just kids His own age. If we only hang out with people our age or younger, how will we ever receive the wisdom that only grey hair can bring? If you hang out with 12-year-olds, you'll be as wise as a 12-year-old; If you hang out with 60-year-olds, you may steal some of that 60-year-old wisdom.

2) Ask good questions
Jesus didn't just hang out with people older than Him; He asked them questions. He picked their brains, and it says, "all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers." He was brilliant, mostly because He was God, but also because He asked them good questions. You never know until you ask.

3) Respect your parents
How hard would it be to respect your parents when you're God? Extremely hard. After all, can you imagine knowing literally everything and still having to submit to your parents, even though you may positively know their wrong? I can't. Jesus did it anyway. When His parents said it was time to come home after a three-day stent in Jerusalem, He came home.

4) Go out on your own
At 12-years-old, Jesus was already traveling the country on His own. He pretty much kicked it back in Jerusalem by Himself, while His parents headed home (little did they know). He didn't even need a babysitter. I don't know about you, but I was still scared to stay home alone for an hour when I was 12, much less stay in a different city by myself where I don't know anyone. I'm not encouraging 12-year-olds to run away from home; I'm just saying that at some point, you need to. It's important to travel on your own, meet new people and trust that God will take care of you, even when your parents aren't there.   

5) Grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man
Jesus, at 12, was already concentrating on things I didn't even know existed at 12 (I'm still not sure what the word 'stature' means). He knew what was most important in life, and He pursued those things from an extremely young age. Jesus knew that growing in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man were essential to becoming a Man of God. 

At 12, I was definitely nothing but a 12-year-old; however now that I'm a reborn 24-year-old, 12 years later, I just hope I can be someone like 12-year-old Jesus was. I hope my life and the lives of those in my generation can hold as big of a transition as Jesus' life did from 12 to 30.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Be like (12-year-old) Jesus. 

The Loving Reason Behind Reason and Love

People can be some of life's greatest problems, myself included. People can be frustrating, hard to work with, irritating and, frankly, crazy sometimes; however, it's impossible to get through life without working with people and especially without working with yourself (which can be the most difficult at times). Understanding how to work with people and how to have grace in the times when someone makes you want to scream is vital to any social environment.

Thinking about this, I was asked to look at this quote by C.S. Lewis recently. You'll love this golden nugget:

"Can we repent if God helps us? Yes, but what does that mean, 'helping us?' We mean God putting into us a bit of Himself, so to speak. He (God) puts a little of His love into us, and that is how we love one another. We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand while we do it."

I don't know how familiar you may be with C.S. Lewis, but this quote, like many of his other ones, is packed like a loaded gun. It's got so much power behind it, and it's only a sentence or two long. It's wise, yet simple, profound, yet light and easy to hear.

Think about it; the idea of God actually putting some of His reasoning and His love in our hearts so that we may begin to have the potential to love other people,  reason with them, work with them and begin to understand them, is mind-numbing.  Where would we be without that little gift? 

Without this gift, it would be impossible to love our neighbor as ourselves, impossible to empathize and relate to others and, even more so, impossible to be loved and reasoned with. The only reason we can love and reason is because God loves, reasons and helps us. The only thing in the world that is truly keeping us all from absolutely destroying one another are God's pieces of reasoning and love He has instilled in us.

We love because He loves, we reason because He reasons and we're patient because He's patient. Being reasonable and loving is about thinking through things, looking at them with a fair and eternal perspective and not making decisions based off of emotional, in-the-moment feelings.

In the words of my friend, "To combine love and reason, we must look beyond ourselves." 

I couldn't agree more.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Though a situation may be difficult, find comfort in knowing that God has put His own little nuggets of love and reason within you to share with the world. 

If There Were 100 People in the World . . .

Most jobs don't require you to work until 11 p.m. on Sunday nights; however, most jobs don't get you into free concerts at the same time. 

Tonight is one of those nights; it's a night I'm scheduled to work until 11, and it's also an event night. Tonight's event: a TobyMac concert. 

It's not like I can just sit back, walk into the concert and enjoy it the entire time. I have to sneak in every now and again on breaks and catch bits and pieces. Tonight, I managed to slip in at just the right time. It wasn't the time the headlining artist was on stage; instead, it was the time of intermission in which they had a guest speaker share a quick message. His message was simple and what I needed to hear, and his message was something like this:

There are 7.3 billion people in the world.

If you were to take those 7.3 billion people in the world and shrink them down to a perspective size of 100 people, this is what it would look like:

Only 7 people would have college degrees, 48 people would live on less the $2 a day, 23 people would not have shelter, and 50 people wouldn't have a reliable food source (15 people would be overweight from too much food).

I'm not sure how totally accurate these facts and figures were, and he shared more than I did here, with a little more 'umph' behind them, but it made me realize a few things about myself:

I hate that I'm one of the ones at the front of the line.

I hate that I'm one of the seven with a college degree, one of the 52 people living on more than $2 a day, one of the 77 with shelter and one of the 50 with plenty of food. 

I don't hate it because I have these things; these are definitely all blessings and definitely good things. What I hate is wondering why I got chosen to have them and how they make me numb to the other half of the world. Why not someone else? I'm not that deserving. What difference is there really between myself and one of the refugees trying to get into this country other than that I was born here? I didn't do anything to deserve all that I have, and he/she didn't do anything to deserve all they're having to go through. It makes me sick to my stomach. I want to be grateful for all I have, and I truly am, but I find it hard to grateful sometimes when I think about those who haven't been given much of anything, not even a smile passing by on the street. 

God has taught me a lot, not just tonight, but over this past year. Tonight was just a reminder. I don't want to be comfortable anymore, I don't want to accumulate 'stuff,' and I don't want to build a kingdom here. This world is not my home, and I think I'm finally realizing how homesick I am. I'm realizing how much my heart hurts for the people in the '100' who live completely banking their life on Eternity's Promises, for the people who pray, "give us this day our daily bread," because that's their only hope for any bread at all. 

As for me, it's time to live accordingly. 

Out of the '100,' which one are you?

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: "Still looking for a home in a world where I belong. . . "

What's Your 'Scarlet Letter?'

I wear a maroon hat with the letter 'A' on it. I tell people that it stands for Austin, my name, like Alvin does on Alvin and the Chipmunks, but the more I think about it, maybe that scarlet A is one of my scarlet letters.

In high school, we were required to read the book, "The Scarlet Letter." It's a book many people have read, as it's required by a lot of schools' English classes. If you haven't read it, I'll give you a super short Cliff Notes (ha, see what I did there) version of it: Essentially, a girl is forced to where a scarlet letter 'A' on her chest as a form of punishment so everyone knows she's an adulterer. 

After we read this book in class, as a project, we were told to create a letter for ourselves to wear around our own necks, in order to empathize and relate to the main character. There were lots of letter L's for lying, G's for gossip and S's for stealing. Most of the letters stood for pretty drama-free adjectives, and I, personally, rocked the letter L, myself for 'lust'. It was a really great, humbling class project, but now that I think about it, I feel like I should've worn more than one letter. I feel like I should've been wearing the whole alphabet. 

Do you ever have those days when you're completely floored by just how messed up and in need of grace you are as a person? Today was one of those days for me; I felt like I deserved to wear every letter of the alphabet around my chest just to symbolize how broken I really am. It never fails; Anytime I'm feeling even a little bit self-absorbed, I do something to remind myself that I'm not as 'good' as I think I am. It's humbling.

There's something about being so messed up that you have to be completely dependent on Divine grace to cover your screwups that makes grace overwhelming sometimes. Just knowing how messed up I am (and how messed up the world is), and that there is Someone who has already paid the costs of those mistakes is enough to make me sit down and bury my hands in my face and sob like a new born baby. It's that humbling to me.

I hope it is to you too. 

Anytime you have one of those days when you're really feeling the weight of your sin and it feels like every letter of the alphabet, A-Z, is strapped around your neck weighing you down, remember that you're not the one having to carry those sins. If you believe Jesus Christ is Who He said He is, then you must also believe He has already freed you from those letters around your neck. Remember on the days that you're feeling the weight of your sin, the weight of His grace is greater.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Grace is an ocean- sink in it. 

10 Francis Chan Quotes that Challenge What 'Living for Christ' Looks Like

Via: churchm.ag

Francis Chan is an author, a speaker and a well-known leader throughout the world in the Church. He's a leader who left a mega-church to follow what he felt God had for him elsewhere, and he's someone who speaks Truth in a very real, very convicting way. His honesty, boldness and genuine life of faith have helped change "radical" into what should be "ordinary" for Followers of Christ.

He has written many books and presented many sermons, so it was hard to narrow down quotes, but these are one's that truly speak to every-day life and culture within the church. Here are 10 Francis Chan quotes that can radically challenge the way you live out your faith daily:

1) "We are a culture that relies on technology over community, a society in which spoken and written words are cheap, easy to come by, and excessive. Our culture says anything goes; fear of God is almost unheard of. We are slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to become angry."

2) "We don't get to decide who God is."

3) "When it's hard and you are doubtful, give more."

4) "Christians are like manure: spread them out and they help everything grow better, but keep them in one big pile and they stink horribly."

5) "The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time."

6) "Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."

7) "We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness."

8) "Both worry and stress reek of arrogance."

9) "Are we in love with God or just His stuff?" 

10) "Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to un-believers."

Chan puts into perspective through his writing and speaking how a life of faith should look different from the world, and how God is truly worthy of all our faith, hope and trust. If you get some time, check out any of his books. You won't be disappointed, and you won't finish reading it without being challenged in some form or fashion, regardless of your theology. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: God is not conventional. He didn't ask us to have good bands and good speakers; He asked us to be united as One Body and to love our neighbor. 

Hope: More than Wishful Thinking

It's a funny moment when you realize a word means something different than what you thought it meant, and you use it in public. For example, in my 10th grade biology class, we were learning how to give CPR. My teacher asked the class the question, "What bone do you press on to apply CPR to someone?" Me, being in 10th grade and having "paid attention" throughout the majority of the class, confidently raised my hand to answer the question and said matter-of-factly, "The scrotum."

*crickets*

Then the teacher proceeded to call me out into the hallway for a chat because the scrotum is obviously not the bone you press on to apply CPR. It's something else. I know that now; I didn't then, but I sure thought I did (No, I wasn't smarting off with my answer. I sincerely thought the scrotum was the sternum. Oops). 

Messing up words can get you in trouble. It can get you detention (like in my case), it can just create an awkward situation for you, or it can make you believe a word means one thing your entire life when it actually means something else, creating a misunderstanding of most sentences that word is used in. This is what has happened to me with another word, "hope." 

For the longest time, I just thought hope meant something a long the lines of "wishful thinking," and I guess it does mean that to some extent. . . to "hope" to win the game," or "hope to feel better." Today, however, I found out that it means much more than that, at least from the Christian context anyway.

Today, I found out that hope for a Christian isn't just a wishful thinking; It's an expectant waiting, a knowledge of fact. It's superior to wishful thinking, and it's an expectancy of God to fulfill all of His Word and all of His Promises because "God cannot lie" (Heb. 6:18). Learning this today seemingly flipped my world upside down. So many verses made much more sense, so much confidence filled my heart, and so much more life came to God's promises; They became more than wishful thoughts; they became fact. I don't think I didn't believe these promises before, but changing the definition of hope from wishful thinking to expectant waiting separated what once sounded like God hoping to be for me, to knowing God is for me. It just sounds so much better. 

Now, I know why hope is not timid. Hope is confident because hope is Truth. Hope is more than wishful thinking. It's what saves us. After all, "Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently (Rom. 8:24-25)" 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Biblical hope is more than well-wishing; it's belief in fact and waiting expectantly for it. 

5 Things Jesus Said That Christians Hate Hearing

No saying or commandment of Jesus Christ is 'easy.'

His commandments are difficult. They're difficult to hear and even more difficult to follow, and frankly, at times, are even commands Christians can hate hearing. Jesus wasn't always gentle with His words, He wasn't a people-pleaser, and He most certainly wasn't politically correct. His teachings were countercultural to His day, and are even more so today. He taught to turn the other cheek, to forgive even in the most extreme cases in the most extreme ways and that He is the only Way to eternity. He gave it to us straight, no chaser. 

It's not just non-Christians, who feel like Jesus' teachings are extreme at times. Even to Christians, there are times that call for head scratchings and, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" moments- Moments like these, when we hate what we hear, but are called to live accordingly anyway:  

1) Love your enemies
"You have heard that is was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,' but I say to you, love your enemies . . ." - Matt. 5:43-44
Humans hurt one another, and no one gets through life without enemies. We have national enemies, friends who hurt us and other people we don't always see eye to eye with. It seems ludicrous to love these people, especially when they cause us harm; however, that's what we're supposed to do, love and pray for them. That's a tough one to swallow.

2) Take up your own cross
"If anyone desires to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me," - Matt. 16:24
Following Jesus comes with a cost. Though the gift of salvation has been paid, it still comes with a cost- your life.

3) The 'Golden Rule'
"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." - Matt. 7:12
It's easy to be selfish. It's easy to only do what I want to do for me and forget about others; however, the moment I stop thinking of myself first and begin to think of others, the moment I begin to realize that there's more joy in selflessness that selfishness. It's hard to hear, but makes living so much better. 

4) 'Hate' your family
"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:26
We all love our families, our friends and ourselves. It would seem like the worst thing to do to 'hate' the people we love, especially when Jesus says Himself to love everyone. It seems like a command that counters His other commands of loving thy neighbor. I don't believe we are to actually hate, but instead are called to put into perspective the importance of following Jesus, rather than following the world, even if it comes with following Jesus' commands rather than those closest to us. 

5) Let the dead bury the dead
"Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God." - Luke 9:60
This sounds intense, doesn't it? No time for mourning or sorrow? It doesn't sound like it. Jesus reminds us of the pressing issue that this life is fleeting, and that the time to preach the Gospel is short. As intense as it sounds, I believe He's right: This life is temporary, and we shouldn't waste it. We should be ready to proclaim the life to come, not the life that has past. 

I think C.S. Lewis had it right:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

Jesus was either Who He said He was, or He was crazy. He wasn't just a moral teacher or a God we can listen to sometimes. We have to either take all He said seriously, or nothing at all, even if we hate hearing it.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Sometimes what we need to hear most is what we hate hearing. 

Feeling Uninspired?

​"What should I write about?" - Me

"You could write about . . . *silence*" - Nick

"I haven't read my Bible in three days, and I feel so uninspired." - Me

"I think that's worth noting." - Nick

*Ding*

The less inspired I am, the more uninspired I feel.

It's interesting though, what inspires people. I suppose it's different for everyone.

As me for, I've spent the last three days in beautiful, New Zealand. Honestly, I thought that would be inspiration enough. Spending each day surrounded by some of the world's most spectacular beauty in the form of mountains, lakes, waterfalls and oceans seems like it would do the inspirational trick; however, here I sit uninspired to write something for only the second or third time on this journey of 100 blogs in 100 days.

I always thought nature inspired me, and I guess it does to an extreme extent. I thought sitting by lakes, hiking up mountains chasing waterfalls were all that i needed for real inspiration. These things are lifegiving, but, as of now, seem to have run out of steam on the inspirational train. The truth is, I'm missing out on the inspiration that drives my whole thought process.

I want to piggy back on the post that my friend, Bryce, wrote a couple of days ago about creativity. He wrote about how the Creator ultimately left one of His special marks on us, and that mark is creativity. Yes, just as creation (mountain, valleys and bodies of water) was inspired and created by Him, so were we, and in turn, we are inspired to create by those things, but ultimately we are inspired by Him and His Word. To create and be inspired, we must be in touch with our Creator and be inspired by Him.

For me, that's by spending time reading from His literal Words to us. What's more inspirational than the Word of a Supernatural, Triperson Diety and the Creator of the Universe? Not a lot, i can tell you that.

Dig Deep and find what inspires and sparks your creativity this week.

Create something.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Inspiration won't be found when you're not doing what inspires you.

The Question We're All Wondering About Communion

This morning at church, we took communion. Communion is a special time for Christians to reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus, as we remember the body and the blood of Christ; however, this morning, I have to admit, I found myself distracted by the daunting question that I know we've all wondered:

Where do the leftover communion bread and juice go?

I know you may have clicked on this blog possibly expecting some deep, theological thoughts, but I think this could potentially be just as important as a theological complexity. This is a serious question, folks. Though, probably not as serious as reflecting on the ceremony itself, but still, it's a good question to ask. After all, this is Christ's body and blood we're talking about. We can't just throw that away, can we?

I have three theories that I believe could possible answer this question that we're all dying to know the real answer too. See what you think.

1) The greeters eat it
It's commonly known that the greeters at a church chill in the back and shoot the breeze once the service starts; however, I believe that greeting isn't their only important role. I believe they're the ones who have to properly dispose of all the leftover communion elements by eating it all in the back after everyone has partaken. It may or may not be a rule that all the communion elements must be eaten before the service ends, and it's the greeters job to make sure this rule is followed. If you're a greeter at your local church, please, way in on this theory. I'd be interested to know how long it takes you to eat four leftover loaves of bread.

2) It's given to the kid's ministry
Everyone knows that a kid's ministry isn't a 'kid's ministry' until there are snacks involved. Every once and a while, the kid's ministry is bound to run out of off-brand-Oreos for snacks, so they have to make an exception. In step the leftover communion elements. It's a special Sunday when the kid's get the leftover, stale bread and imitation grape juice.

3) The interns get it
Here's a thought for you: Why do churches always have interns? Answer: To dispose of the leftover communion elements. Here's my thought: The leftover bread and juice get put down a shoot, which lands on a conveyer belt, leading to a Willy-Wonka-like factory with a grape juice river (instead of chocolate) where the church interns sort out the leftover bread remains and re-bag it for future use. It's a great recycling method, plus, it keeps the interns busy in their time off from folding church bulletins.

What do you think? What are your theories on the mystery of leftover communion? Is it simply thrown away, or is there more to it all that we just don't know about?

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Leftover communion- the church's greatest conspiracy

Prayers for Paris

It feels weird to be normal on a day like today, the day after which hundreds of people were injured or killed for no reason. It just feels strange to be living a normal, safe life. 

A huge majority of the world is in pain, sorrow and disbelief after yet another terrorist attack on one of the world's most renowned cities, Paris, France, and I'm just going about my day-to-day life on the other side of the world. It's almost like nothing happened; it's so far off. It just feels strange. I, much like the rest of the world, am simply in shock.

What does someone do when they're halfway around the world and hears about more than a hundred people being murdered and more than a hundred more injured? How can someone in a current state of shock, confusion and displacement help? 

I'm not sure, but I know these things:

1) We can be sad, but we can't be scared

2) We can take a moment to really feel what it felt like on Sept. 11, 2001 and really empathize with our friends in France

3) We can pray for Paris

In moments of terror, shock and pain, we can stand strong, we can surround those that need to be surrounded in support and we can pray for a peace that transcends all understanding. We can take heart in knowing that there is hope in the future, and that hope leads us as we move forward. 

It's easy to dwell on how ugly this world can be, but in the future, I pray that Paris can take heart in how beautiful the world can be when humanity comes together to love on people in need.

-Cliff

-Cliff's Note: Pray for Paris.

Church Doesn't Have to be at 'Church'

Last night, I went to Church.

There wasn't an amazing, world-renowned pastor speaking. There wasn't a great band with a guy in skinny jeans leading everyone in Hillsong United covers. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even at church. We just had church.

I was in a room surrounded by 14 other brothers and sisters, two babies and one dog. Eleven of the folks were from Adelaide. Three of us were from America. One of the folks is moving to Melbourne shortly. One of us Americans just arrived after traveling 10,000 miles today to join us. The ends of the earth were in one room about to go out to the ends of the earth once again.

There was food. Each person brought one of their favorite dishes to share, so we had a meal.

There was prayer, as we praised what God was doing in our lives and went to Him asking for relief in other areas.

There was worship through reading of scripture, reflecting on it and praying for its application in our lives.

It was Church.

It was a group of brothers and sisters who love and care for one another coming together to share a meal and share life together. It was a group of men and women from all different backgrounds coming together in Unity for the love of Christ in the living room of someone's house. Some of us were being sent out from that place to go to new cities and new countries, and one of us was coming to that place for the first time. It didn't matter though; we were all brothers and sisters sharing, encouraging, laughing and genuinely loving one another, and it was beautiful, just like the Bride of Christ is supposed to be. It's a memory I will cherish forever. 

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: Go to Church (not just the building).

Creation Didn't Have to Make Us Feel Anything

(Photo: Greg McCown)

As I'm writing this, it's storming outside.

There are flashes of lightning illuminating the night sky and claps of thunder rattling the windows. 

I've forgotten how terrifying, yet amazing the sudden clashes of thunder and flashes lightning can be. The way the thunder seems to rumble from far off in the distance until it sounds like it's at the front door and the flashes of lightning bursting like camera flashes from the heavens are calming reminders of home. But why?

The sights, smells and sounds of storms don't have to tie into my emotions, but they do. Nature doesn't have to terrify, amaze and comfort me, but it does. 

Have you ever thought about that? Storms could have just been storms and nature could have just been nature, but instead we're tied to it all.

Rain puts us at peace.

Thunder humbles us with a sense of fear.

Lightning puts us in awe.

Storms don't have to make us feel peace, fear and awe, but they do. Why? Because we have a God who gives us peace, who we should fear and who we should be in awe of. I think He likes to remind us He created it all.

-Cliff

Cliff's Note: There is evidence of God in all of creation. We just have to look for Him.