I was talking with a friend today about a conversation he had with an atheist. To be honest, I don’t know many atheists (at least self-proclaimed atheists) and can only recall one memorable conversation I’ve had with one. I actually have a lot of respect for them, simply because they make no bones about the fact that they don’t believe in God. I’d rather people be honest, than claim to be ‘Christian’ and live in complete opposition to Christ’s example.

Faith is a tough thing to explain period, but especially to someone who doesn’t believe God exists. But as I was writing my friend about the conversation he had, I felt God asking me, “what do I mean to YOU?” An atheist can ask some pretty loaded questions — questions that aren’t easily answered or easily proved to their satisfaction, but what they can’t argue with is what God has done for me and how He’s worked in me and through me. So in the spirit of Easter and celebrating Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection, I wanted to take some time and respond to the question of what Jesus means to me…

1. Jesus means grace – as a young kid I was taught a catechism in school that I’ve never forgotten. It said “grace is God’s kindness to me when I deserve punishment”.  Although that definition’s true, I’ve grown to hate it because it’s so cliché. Grace means so much more to me than that. Jesus is God’s gift of grace to all of us who accept it. I don’t have to do anything to earn it – I couldn’t even if I tried. When I really stop and open my eyes, God’s grace is all around.

2. Jesus means forgiveness - I fail God on a daily basis. I commit the same sins repeatedly. Sometimes I go days without acknowledging his existence. But I don’t have a God that holds grudges or will disown me because of my faults. Because of Jesus, I have forgiveness.

3. Jesus means freedom – I’ve been reading in the Old Testament for several months now and have a new appreciation for Jesus because of it. Without Jesus, we would still be under the law. So many, while professing to know God, are still living under their own variations of the law to some degree, but because of Jesus I’m completely free!

4. Jesus means life – without Jesus there would be no point to anything we do – there would be no purpose or eternal consequences to life. But because of the life I have with him, I can have a relationship with him which changes everything. Because of him my life has purpose and meaning. God has a plan for my life – as the old Psalty song goes that’s currently streaming from Landon’s room!

5. Jesus means love – the word “love” is used so loosely anymore. I’m thankful the Greeks had different levels of the word love. As a kid, I was taught the song “Jesus Loves Me” but as I grew older I finally understood what kind of love that really meant. Jesus agape’s me, not just storge’s me. It’s unconditional love… there’s nothing I can do to separate myself from it.

6. Jesus means everything – without him I’d be nothing. That may sound cliché, but Jesus is the foundation everything else in my life is built on.

What does Jesus mean to you? How will you be celebrating Easter?

“You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.” ~ Paul in II Timothy 4:3-5

In the past, I’ve written about my background and my upbringing in Fundamentalism and the legalism that went along with it. Over the last few years, God has shown me what it truly means to live for Him, in complete and total freedom. As odd as it may sound, this new found freedom in Christ has been a difficult one to simply accept. It’s been a constant battle of the heart and mind, of distinguishing the difference between conscience and true conviction. It’s a battle I face constantly.

Once God opened my eyes, He allowed me to see just how large His kingdom really is. The body of Christ is so much larger, looks and sounds so different than the narrow minded view I once had. I’ve had the privilege of getting to know so many pastors and ministry leaders who are seeking to change how we, as the ‘church’ relate to the world around us.

I believe this change is desperately needed. I also believe God inspired Paul to write these words to Timothy as a warning to us all—knowing that we would become focused on the package of the message, rather than the message itself.

Is there anything wrong with presenting the Gospel in a cool, hip or trendy way? Absolutely not.

Can we become distracted and go overboard with our presentation? Absolutely.

I think making God’s message ‘relate-able’ is both necessary and dangerous because we run the risk of watering the Message down so much that we’ve created a wishy-washy mess, so to speak, and void the Message of its power. I believe God can use anything and everything to bring the lost to Himself. He turned the water into wine, He can turn our half-hearted effort of sharing the Gospel into an explosion of His grace. I just found this passage in Timothy to be a poignant reminder of the responsibility we have in sharing His truth and “keeping the Message alive”.

Right now, my little 10-month old son is enthralled with the wrapping paper on the presents underneath the Christmas tree. He could care less what’s inside the box. What about you? Do you find yourself focusing more on the package than on the gift itself? I know I do.

I’ve made a lot of difficult changes since October 17th (my 30th birthday). For the first time in my life, I feel that the changes I’ve made will stick, because I’ve made them for the right reason… to glorify God and Him alone. In the past, as I posted in my Up, But Not Over post, I’ve typically made decisions on the basis of what was best for me or my family. Or what was easiest or most convenient. That’s not how God rolls, it’s not what He expects. It’s not how He works and it’s definitely not characteristic of someone who is truly seeking Him and following Him.

Life is tough. The Christian life is even tougher. Over the past month I’ve been convicted about my sheer laziness and apathy, both physically and spiritually. Because of this I’ve felt God’s prodding to begin pushing myself out of my comfort zone and stretch myself beyond my typical daily routine. It’s not been easy, but I’m not going back to mediocrity. The complacency and laziness I lived in for so long has no part in the life of a follower of God. It’s my prayer that God will spare me from ever going back to that way of life. This morning at the end of my run, a song that’s been on my heart and mind a lot lately started playing and I knew it wasn’t coincidence, so I thought I’d share it with you.

“Never Going Back to OK” by The Afters

It’s not the end but it feels like it is
I’m waking up like I’m back from the dead
I’m stepping out and it feels so free
But as long as I’m moving it’s alright

I feel alive and it hurts for a change
I’m looking back its hard to believe
That I was cool with the days that I wasted
Complacent and tasteless and bored But that was yesterday

Chorus
We’re never going back to ok
We’re never going back to easy
We’re never going back to the way it was
We’re never going back to ok

This discontent, like a slap in the face
A mediocre I’ve had enough of this place
This party’s over and I’m moving away
From the frills of your Beverly Hills That was yesterday

Chorus
We’re never going back to ok
We’re never going back to easy
We’re never going back to the way it was
We’re never going back to ok

We’re here to stay
This is our time
My only life
Our chance to live

That said, I want this blog to be more than just about me or what’s going on in my life. My world is not that interesting, I’m a fool to think otherwise! If you’re reading this and it’s struck a chord with you, please let me know. As my pastor often says, “we’re all broken people living in a broken world”. No one has it all together. Everyone has something they struggle with — and maybe for you it seems so overwhelming that there doesn’t seem to be a way out. I want you to know, there is always a way out! No matter where we are or what we’ve done, God never gives up on us and He has not given up on you!

Wow, so that was a quick trip… most of our vacations seem to be that way anymore, but the long weekend ones always are it seems. We had a great time in PA visiting with Carrie’s family for Memorial Day. Chunk did awesome on the plane ride, both going and coming… slept most of the time both ways and was happy the rest of the time. I was kinda surprised actually… didn’t know how well he’d do being cramped up and with the pressure and everything, but he did awesome! We took a few pictures on the way up of his first plane ride…

Landon and me on the plane

Landon sleeping on the plane

It’s funny, people treat you a whole lot differently once you have kids… especially a newborn. The flight up and back was literally the best flights we’ve ever been on. Even in Philly where the workers there are typically rude and harsh, everyone was kind and courteous and patient while we went through security and all that jazz. I wasn’t expecting that at all, so that was a pleasant surprise.

While we were there, Grammy watched Landon Sunday night so me & Carrie could catch a movie (Star Trek)… something we haven’t done since the weekend before Landon was born. The movie was pretty good, but it was just nice to get away for a few hours and relax. Not going to lie, some days I kinda miss the freedom we once had to do stuff like that, but wouldn’t trade my new life for anything else in the world!

Landon’s growing up so fast and is developing his own little personality. My favorite time of the day is bathtime. He loves being naked, LOL. I’ll get him ready for his bath and he gets this enormous smile on his face and starts laughing and cooing and bouncing up and down in my arms. It’s the coolest thing ever. He absolutely loves his bathtime… and so do I.

So I’m trying to get back into the swing of things today… thankfully it’s Wednesday already and the week is half-way over, kinda nice. My yard looks like an overgrown dandelion farm at the moment, need to get on that. The deck project starts this week too finally… with graduations and vacations, we’ve had to put it off until now. Will keep the blog up to date with pictures of our progress.