Divorce and Remarriage - Part 1

Few topics impact me on such a personal basis as this one. I am a divorced man; a single father raising my 10 year old son (who is the second greatest thing to ever happen to me). I won't speak much about my divorce here because I believe it would be disrespectful to my ex-wife and to my son (both of whom read this blog from what I understand).

However so that you know that I am not a Christian blogger living in sin; I will say that my divorce was Biblical and that I was under the authority of elders in my old church when we split. They mourned the loss, but understood and approved of what was happening in my marriage. When I moved to Pennsylvania and joined my current church, the elders here were informed of the situation and echoed the approving sentiments of my previous church.

At no time have I relished the thought of my marriage ending, but there are situations where there is little choice as to how to proceed. God always hates divorce, and he hated mine, but his hatred of it does not mean it is ALWAYS sinful.

And that's all I'll say publicly about that.

The Biblical View of Divorce and Remarriage -- Part 1

Good day all!!

There are certainly very few circumstances where God is permissive of divorce. In fact, one of the doctrines that Jesus taught about and rebuked the pharisees over was their doctrine of divorce. It was prevalent problem in the world in those days, both in Israel and in the greater secular world, just as it is a problem today in the church and in the greater secular world.

In those days, it was believed that a man could divorce his wife for any reason he saw fit. The Greeks in Paul's day divorced and remarried seemingly at the drop of a hat. It was much the same in Israel and was largely due to the Pharisees typically narrow legalistic view of righteousness. Essentially, if there was a loophole, the Pharisees would find it and exploit it to make sin seem ok. Mostly this was because they reduced their faith down to a religion of do's and dont's. They believed that if they just did enough religious things they would be seen as righteous in the eyes of God.

The result of this was an apostate and sinful mess. They were fastidious about eating all the right things, saying all the right prayers, wearing all the right clothes, going through all the ceremonies, etc., but their lives were filled with self-righteousness, idolatry, and yes. . . divorce.

Obviously, we're going to focus on that last point for this mini-series. Jesus spoke rather clearly about divorce in Luke 16:18. Since we are big believers in Hermeneutics around here, let's take a look at that verse.

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from [her] husband commits adultery." - (Luk 16:18 NKJV)

This verse comes in the middle of a long session of teaching which begins probably at chapter 15 and ends at chapter 17 verse 10. Luke 16:14 tells us that Jesus' teaching in verse 18 is a response to the Pharisee's "deriding" of Jesus. The greek there is ἐκμυκτηρίζω ("Ek-to-more-ee-zo"), which Thayers Lexicon tells us has a meaning of scoffing and sneering (Vines concurs). It's the same word used in Luke 23:35 where the people scoffed at Jesus as he hung on the cross. That Luke 23 verse kind of gives you a picture of the attitude Jesus was responding too here in Chapter 16 doesn't it?

What caused the Pharisee's to scoff? Immediately before verse 14 is "The Parable of the Unjust Steward". In this parable Jesus told us of a shrewd steward (a chief of the servants in those days) conniving and manipulating those around him to buy friendships. Upon hearing the news that he's losing his job, and finding himself suddenly destitute and unable to work, he calls some people's debts owed to his master. He reduces the debt, making those in debt pleased and now obligated to help take care of the steward. When the master finds out, he is actually impressed with the wicked steward and commends him for his shrewd dealings (indicating that he is also pretty wicked).

Jesus uses this story to teach three points:

1. Verse 8 - "the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light." In other words, worldly people know the ways of the world better than some Godly people know the ways of God. Sad huh?
   
   
2. verse 9 - Jesus then plays off of that shrewdness by saying that the steward was wise enough to make friends for himself, albeit unrighteously. In much the same way we ought to seek to prepare for ourselves. MacArthur takes the viewpoint that the steward used his master's money to buy friends for himself and we should use our Master's money that will "accrue friends for eternity". Older commentators Jameson, Fause,t and Brown agree and say: "then, like the steward, when turned out of one home shall ye secure another; but better than he, a heavenly for an earthly, an everlasting for a temporary habitation. Money is not here made the key to heaven, more than "the deeds done in the body" in general, according to which, as a test of character--but not by the merit of which--men are to be judged" (I rely on commentaries here because I am not focusing on this point, merely trying to give a background for verse 18).
   
   
3. vv. 10-13 - Faithfulness transfers. If you are faithful in a small matter, you'll be faithful in a large matter, and vice-versa. The steward was faithful in his realm to deal in the way he was used to dealing and his master was pleased with him. Same goes for us; if we try to serve two master's, we won't succeed, but if we are faithful in the little things we are given by our master, we'll be faithful in the big things too.
   

Then we have verse 14. It's pretty clear: The pharisees didn't like what Jesus just said. They were probably pricked by the fact that they were constantly missing the forest for the trees. Jesus picks up on this in verse 15 saying that those things men applaud are an abomination to God. It's another rebuke (among so many in the Gospels) by Jesus of self-righteousness, and the particular self-righteousness of the pharisees. This kind of self righteousness that causes you to pray loudly in the public square but throw out your 14th wife at home because she spilled your dinner all the while making it sound oh so holy. Jesus is clear. That kind of thing is an abomination.

Luke 16:16 is a tough verse to exegete. It's debated constantly by people on different sides of various issues. For example, whole books have been written by men on what "pressing into it" means. I'm not in the mood for that kind of discussion, so I'll just give you my opinion here and move on. Jesus is saying that until John the "Law and the Prophets" were, and now the Kingdom of God is being preached. Which I believe means that prior to John mankind was told about the coming Messiah and now we preach about the Messiah who has come. Since He has come, people are "pressing into the kingdom" or wanting to be saved. It draws the contrast to the pharisees here. The pharisees fancied themselves to be the most righteous. Yet here was God in front of them and they were scoffing at him while those who didn't have the advantages of the pharisees were following Jesus. It's a scathing rebuke.

However, lest we think that Jesus is rebuking the pharisees by rejecting the Old Testament, we have Luke16:17 to set us straight. Jesus makes it clear that the law won't just go away. Personally, I think verse 17 is the lynchpin to understanding this whole passage. For one thing, it makes it clear that Jesus is dealing with the pharisees and their problem of picking out the behavioral aspects of the law (i.e. dietary concerns, etc.); even to the point of creating their own rules (i.e. hand washing rituals, etc.) while simultaneously looking for ways of ignoring the ethical laws and aspects of the law dealing with the heart (i.e. adultery, etc.). He reminds them, even warns them here, that those important heart issues don't go away just because they were careful to say the right prayers.

Ok, I've done a lot of background in order to deal with our text, which is verse 18. In defense of my own longwindedness, I did it because I think it is necessary to point out that verse 18 is NOT the point of Luke 16:1-18. Jesus certainly intends to say exactly what the verse says, and the verse is clear. However, is the subject matter of the verse the point that Jesus is raising? The answer is no, and we know this because it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Actually, to be more accurate it sticks out like an example and an illustration of what Jesus is saying to the the pharisees in verses 14-18. To paraphrase Jesus in our own vernacular:

"You pharisees are the same people who act holy and self righteous in public, but God knows what you are really like. You might make a big show out your own righteousness before people and they applaud you, but that kind of emphasis is an offense before God! Before John, there was only the hope of a coming kingdom, but now it's being preached and look at all the people who are pressing to be a part of it! But it would be easier to get rid of the whole earth than to get rid of God's law. Take divorce for instance; this lifestyle of yours filled with divorce and remarriage is nothing but adultery."

So much for the kinder and gentler Jesus modern Christianity wants us to believe. He comes down hard on those pharisees here.

However, I have heard some who have built a doctrine of divorce and remarriage on this verse. Tell me, do you think that it was Jesus' intention in saying this, or Luke's intention in writing this, to build a doctrine of divorce and remarriage on it?

I say no. I say that the point of Luke 16:14-18 is not divorce and remarriage, but rather self righteousness, and divorce was a very relevant example that illustrated the point.

Now, certainly if we can begin to build a doctrine of divorce and re-marriage in the Bible, and we can use this verse as a part of that. I would say that if we are to believe that we are righteous before God and think that our family life has nothing to do with that, we are much like the pharisees here.

If this were all the Bible were to say about this topic, then we would have little to go on in regards to marriage and divorce, however it would be clear. Nonetheless, it is far from all Scripture has to say about the subject. There are numerous verse in the Gospels alone.

Tomorrow we'll examine some of those other verses.

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My Testimony

Good day all!

When I was a child, my family was Episcopalian. My father grew up in an old school Italian neighborhood of Pittsburgh and was Roman Catholic, while my Mom grew up Methodist in the suburbs. They met when Mom was in college and Dad was on the rebound from the divorce of his previous marriage. Dad said he fell in love almost instantly, Mom said it took her time. I'm more like my Mom.

When they got married they decided to join the Episcopal church. Dad felt it was a nice compromise between his Roman Catholic traditions (he had been excommunicated for the divorce) and Mom's protestant roots.

The Episcopal church has, like the Catholics, infant baptism and confirmation. For those of you who are not familiar with confirmation, it is a time where the person takes on the vows that were made for them at their infant baptism for themselves. There's a ceremony, the bishop comes to your church, and it's kind of a "right of passage" from being a child into being a young adult.

Many families allow their children to go through confirmation as just another "churchey" moment in a long line of "churchey" moments that make up a religion that amounts to nothing more than a Sunday morning tradition.

Not my Mom. No way.

Mom was absolutely firm that I was not going to go through confirmation until I understood exactly what I was confirming and exactly what I was saying that I believed. I'll be honest, at the time, I had no idea. So, as long as I had no idea, Mom was just not going to let me go through with it.

Christ-less churches, and that's what my childhood church was, are weird. In churches like that, you don't have people gathering together because they've been redeemed from a horrible pit by a God who had every right to condemn them to death. You don't have a church full of people who, despite some flaws, have a focus on glorifying God. Instead people gather for whatever reason they gather (tradition, religiosity, appearance, status, socializing, etc.) and go through the liturgical motions. Some make some friendships, some find activities they enjoy (like joining the choir or men's club), and despite all odds, some even repent and trust Christ.

However, most people just show up, go through the motions, and go home as lost, with hearts as dark, as when they showed up. It's truly sad. Therefore my Mom was really a light in a dark place when she made a point of making sure I knew exactly what I was saying at confirmation.

While the other kids my age went through Confirmation Sunday after Confirmation Sunday going through the motions of repeating the same words and affirming things I'm certain they had no clue about, I watched. Frankly, at that young age I was more upset that I stood out among my peers than anything.

Over time, Mom kept working on me. She would point out my own sins. She explained the Gospel to me a piece at a time. She would always remind me that no matter what things I did that I couldn't be good enough to go to heaven. She was patient and consistent. She was a picture of faithfulness.

Eventually, it made a difference. A few years after my peers had been confirmed, things my Mom was saying just made sense. I can't really explain it, and I'm not sure that I could have explained it to someone else at the time, but I just knew that I wasn't good enough to go to heaven. I knew that Jesus was God and that He REALLY existed. I knew I needed Him.

Why did I need Him? I was thief. I liked to go to stores with my parents and see how much I could steal. I got caught once. Mom wasn't happy.

Why did I need Jesus? I was a liar. I would play little games with my friends and lie about who said what about whom and so forth.

Why did I need Him? I was disobiediant to Mom and Dad and to my teachers. I talked back, I mocked. I would sometimes obey outwardly, but in my heart I was full of rage.

I needed Christ. I was wicked and there was no way that God was going to be impressed by reading a certain number of Scripture verses or by helping a lot of my neighbors (or whatever good deed you want to think about).

I was confirmed the next time around, but unlike a number of the people that I knew who had already done it, I was glad to be saved.

The problem was that I was still in a bad church. Yet, God had grace on me and made sure I was secure in His family by putting good people in my path that would help me to grow and develop as a believer. Of course my Mom was still there to help me when she could and when I'd let her. Eventually I met other believers in school and began to study the Word for myself. It was at that time that I read through my favorite book; Romans. My analytical, systematic, mind found much to like in Paul's step by step explanation of the faith. It quickly became my favorite book and Romans 5:6-9, my favorite verses.

Eventually it came time to go to college. I was accepted at Shimer College in Chicago. I had never spent more than a few days away from home, but pressed out on my own toward the mid-west. What I didn't expect to find was a completely pagan college.

I had never really been surrounded by people who not only didn't at least pretend to believe in God, but also out right didn't like him. However, that's what I was faced with. Now, most are inclined to think that this would kill a new Christian. By God's grace, the exact opposite happened to me. In fact, college did nothing but strengthen my faith. I felt that I needed to defend my faith in college because every class I went to attacked it. I was terrible at defending my faith in the beginning, but not wanting to lose a battle caused me to open my Bible and study it. Four years later, I emerged a stronger, thinking, Christian. Someone who had been tested and hardened by those who were determined to undermine the things I believed.

God also continued to shape me through the churches I attended. After moving to Wisconsin I got involved with a non-denominational church there. They were great folks who were zealous for God and loved Him. I felt at home among them and they both challenged me to live for Him and accepted me among them.

Eventually God put John MacArthur, Ray Comfort, and Todd Friel in my path. I began to lean toward to the Calvinist way of thinking. As life would have it, I had to move back to Pittsburgh about the same time and found myself in a church led by Master's Seminary graduates while going through some dark times in my life. God's people cared for my son and I there too. I still attend and serve that church. The pastor is a faithful mentor. The people are faithful friends. God has been good to me and continues to be good to me even though I don't deserve it.

If I had to sum up what God did in my life, I would say that the one thing I'm always struck by is His faithfulness to me, and to us as believers. I was a man who didn't deserve a thing from God, and yet moment after moment, day after day, God has remained faithful. Not just faithful to save me and sustain my salvation, but faithful to sanctify me, to teach me, to love me.

I am indeed blessed beyond imagination, beyond what I deserve. Far beyond anything I could do for Him. I am grateful beyond what I can describe.

I needed God. You need Him too. Repent and trust in Him today!

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Random Crazy Stuff - I

Busy day today, so a bunch of quick hits. Enjoy the weekend.


Good day all!

This might be the only series I ever do on this blog; a series of random stuff that I noticed throughout the week that caught my eye. Stuff that's not important enough to stand alone, or is silly, or just something a little interesting.

At any rate, enjoy:

• Rick Santorum doesn't even have the support of his entire family. Stunningly good article from a guy who has a lot to lose.

• Absolutely LOVE this song:

I can already tell those guys are going to be one of my favorite bands. Found them on Pandora too. Love Pandora.

• By the way, I was in an Indie Rock band at one point in my life. We were called No Longer Micah and you can find some of our stuff in the new "Recommend Listening" box on the right. I'll have to remember to tell you about it here someday. I know that at least one of those guys reads this blog (Hi-Ya Peter!), so maybe we'll do an interview or something. I also still play music in the worship band at my church. A ministry I greatly enjoy.

• This. . . oh my goodness. . . THIS. . . there are just no words. Terrible is not strong enough:

*shudder* Don't say I didn't warn you.

• To cleanse your brain from that monstrosity, I give you a nugget of awesomeness from Cripplegate. You WILL be convicted. If you aren't reading Cripplegate everyday, you are missing out.

• Ron Paul is surging in New Hampshire. I've said it once, I'll say it again. This is a two-horse race. Romney vs. Paul. The establishment vs. freedom. The banks vs. the people.

• My prediction for the NFL playoffs this weekend is Cincy, The Steelers, The Giants, and New Orleans. I'll offer some thoughts on this year's version of "The greatest playoffs in the world" on Monday.
  
  

• My prediction for the NFL playoffs this weekend is Cincy, The Steelers, The Giants, and New Orleans. I'll offer some thoughts on this year's version of "The greatest playoffs in the world" on Monday.

Have a Good weekend!

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Being Crazy for Christ -- 2 Cor 5:13-15

In the interest of giving credit where credit is due; my supportive, beautiful, and sweet girlfriend was helping me to toy with the blog last night and suggested that I use this verse since "it seems to be what you're driving at". I love her insights, she thinks nothing like me (which is very often to her credit). That conversation got me in the mood to write about what I discovered while researching the verse.

Good day all!

The title of this blog has been a catalyst to raised eyebrows for sometime. Although I have only committed to blogging since the beginning of this year, I have toyed with the idea for sometime. I remember a dear brother in the Lord telling me that calling myself a Crazy Christian might seem abrasive to my brothers and sisters in Christ and may be a point of degradation to those in the secular world.

I happened to disagree with him, but I did begin to understand that perhaps the title might need some explaining. So I added the tagline "A blog that's unafraid to be called crazy by a world gone mad." I felt pretty confident that this explained my position: I think the world is mad. Sinful people, as sinful people have ALWAYS done, act like madmen (Romans 1). Yet, this sin is so pervasive (Rom 5:12) that those who are in bondage to it (Gal 4:3) look at those who aren't as being crazy.

However, what we find in the world today is a church that looks too much like the world. We're busy trying to make the world like us, make the world realize we aren't so bad, shun the things of God in exchange for the things of the world, and above all, NEVER, under any circumstances, EVER do we call the World into repentance. Churches, by and large, either spend their time petting the wool of the sheep they are shepherding or spend their time finding goats to pretend to be sheep. (Matt 25:32-33)

Along come guys like me, who see this for the madness it is, and we're called crazy. The world and the church say the exact same thing. Interesting isn't it?

So, are we crazy? The Apostle Paul, in his letter to Corinth, dealt with the same question:

For if we are beside ourselves, [it is] for God; or if we are of sound mind, [it is] for you. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. - 2Cor 5:13-15 NKJV

Note that this comes in the middle of the chapter. Let's break down the chapter for context.

Verses 1 -5 more or less begin the larger point Paul is making in this chapter. Paul is playing off the points he makes in Chapter 4 by saying that we have in our "earthen vessels" the treasure of the light of God and that we carry it around with us. He finishes chapter four expanding on the idea that we ought not lose heart because of persecution or other issues because those things are temporal, while the light of God is eternal. In verses 1-5, Paul continues this thought with a different analogy.

Then in verse 6 we have one of Paul's famous "Therefore"s. In other words he is saying "I've given you the facts, now here is what you ought to do. Verses 6 - 10 gives us two bullet points (if you will) of what we ought to do since we have the light of God in us.

• Be of good courage (2 Cor 5:6)

• Be in the habit of pleasing God (2 Cor 5:9)

It it the expansion and explanation of the second bullet point (2 cor 5:9) that Paul writes our verse. Paul knows that there are some the Corinthian church has dealt with that only look at the appearance (2 Cor 5:12). Given what Paul has said about outward appearance to the Corinthians, we already know that Paul doesn't care much for that point of view. (2 Cor 4:16 cf. Matt 23:26 & Luke 11:39) . But, what he is saying is that those who are in the habit of pleasing God may also point to that habit as a defense for why they do what their accusers say are foolish, perhaps even crazy, things (1 Cor 1:18).

If they're crazy, they're being crazy for the Lord. If they seem sane, they seem that way for the sake of the Corinthians (2 Cor 5:13). In much the same way; if we are crazy, it's for Him. If we are sane, it's for the benefit of those around us (1 Cor 9:19-23).

Why? Paul answers that it is because they are compelled to do so by Christ's love. Being reminded that as Adam died and as a result all have sin. Yet in the same way, Christ died so that all may have life (This dichotomy is a theme of Paul's and appears in many of his writings). But most importantly, the life that all may have isn't to be self serving, but rather to be life on our Lord's behalf as He died and rose again on OUR behalf (2 Cor 5:14-15). See how that works?

C.S. Lewis once talked about this in his address to Oxford called "Is Theology Poetry?" Lewis said that when one looks at all the religions of the world, one can only have two camps: Paganism (which Lewis called Hinduism) and Christianity. Every other religion, he said, was some heretical version of those two religions. Lewis dismissed "Hinduism" as silly and clearly man-made, and the Bible obviously agrees (Hab 2:19-20). Christianity he implied, could also be easily dismissed save for one glaring historical fact. . . Jesus.

Lewis said that Jesus was either the person He claimed to be or He was a complete lunatic. Often people refer to this (and too often mock it) as the apologetic of "Lord, Lunatic, or Liar". Yet for Lewis, there were only two choices, Lunatic or Lord; for any man who would willingly put himself through a crucifixion to keep up a lie would indeed be crazy.

I've often wondered if that is how the world looks at it. That this guy Jesus must simply be out of His mind. That the story is almost too incredible to be believed. That Jesus was simply an insane man who happened to say sensible things every now and then. I know, not all are like that. Some just dismiss Him as a perfectly sane moral teacher who said things that Rome and the Jews found unacceptable which is why they killed Him. We can call this the 'tragic victim dismissal'. Still others simply try to deny His existence altogether, and they continue to demonstrate their lack of learning and intellectual honesty in the process.

Now Lewis rectifies this by simply stating "And He was not a lunatic." Lewis was a genius like that. He would simply state the obvious and leave it to us to come up with the reasons why it was obvious. Good writers always encourage their readers to do their own thinking. In this case, we can examine Jesus' life and see that He certainly had His wits about Him. But, that's not the point here.

The point is that what we do is crazy. We devote our lives to a man who walked the earth over 2,000 years ago, and guide our lives by a book written by 40+ men of various backgrounds and in various times and places. To those who profess to be wise (and who doesn't in some way?), and to those who think that they can give only a cursory acknowledgement of the things that rule our lives, it must sound like total nonsense. We must look like complete lunatics. Too often, I think, the church is tired of its image and wants to just appear normal. If Paul said that this lunacy was a result of the love of God controlling us, what then (I ask slyly) is the controlling factor for wanting to shun this supposed madness?

Nonetheless, just as Lewis stated simply about Jesus that "He was not a lunatic", and we know it is obvious as to why; we know with confidence that we Christians are far from crazy. No no, instead the love of Christ compels us to not live merely for ourselves, including our own image, but for others. And ultimately, for Him.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." Where [is] the wise? Where [is] the scribe? Where [is] the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." - 1 Cor 1:18-25 NKJV

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New Philosophy of Blogging

Good Day all!

In case you haven't noticed, this is now three. . . count 'em THREE. . . days that I have blogged in a row. So I thought today, being less than 72 hours into the New Year, I would outline why I'm blogging again and what my philosophy of blogging (the what and when) will be.

I think I want to blog because I have something to say. Those who know me know that I'm an opinionated person. I know that for some people, being called opinionated is a pejorative. Not for me. I've never had the ability to look at something that really matters, KNOW it is wrong, and not speak my mind. I'm not talking about minor issues. I happen to be a fan of Pittsburgh sports teams. You'll never convince me that there is a better football franchise than the Pittsburgh Steelers. If you happen to love the Lions, I might kid around with you, but I don't much care and it's not going to change my evaluation of you as an acquaintance, nor my measure of you as a friend.

But tell me you're an atheist, pro-abortion, etc., and we're going to have a discussion.

So, basically, I think the first reason I want to blog is because I have things to say about matters of life that. . . well. . . matter. I hope to diminish my own voice and help you to hear from God from His word, the Bible, which is why I went exegetical on you yesterday. But, I've studied long enough to know that the medium's voice is present in all places. The key is to not allow that medium to corrupt the message. May it never be with me.

I also want to blog not because I have things to say, but because I have things to say on matters that aren't spoken of enough from a Biblical prospective, nor spoken of at all. This is the primary reason why I named this Blog "That Crazy Christian". I have often felt that I didn't have a home in the world. While I know this is not uncommon, I think that is ought not to be for one who knows Christ. The world won't have me, I love Jesus. Most churches won't have me, I take Jesus seriously. In the end, I usually feel like people look at me as a weird, or, you know, "crazy". One because I have (to them) nutty beliefs in a fairy tale, and to another because those beliefs actually influence me and who I am. I know I'm not alone in this.

I think a big reason for wanting to blog is because God ought to be glorified everywhere and by everyone. Including the blogosphere. So far, only a few of my friends and acquaintances read this blog. That's fine (I'm grateful for the support guys). If God were to bless me beyond that, I'll praise Him for that too. Yet, while I tip my cap to those who do good work in blogs (see my recommended reading to the right), I want to see to it that what God has blessed me with the ability and vision to see is expressed.

Which brings me to my last point on why I want to blog. I am determined to be completely spent for Christ on the day of my death. That on that day, I'll have nothing left to give, no more to contribute, nothing but the desire to see my Savior. So, in the meantime I will take the opportunities that God puts before me and pour myself into them. Somewhere, Mom is reading this and says that I see too many opportunities too often. She's probably right, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying. Like I said yesterday, I am committing to deemphasizing recreation and entertainment, instead redeeming the time God has given me.

So, that is "why".

"What" will I blog, and how often? Well, I have far less to say on that subject. Last time I crashed and burned because I didn't really have a focus. I wanted to be uber-serious about everything at first and would pour over posts that were never exactly right. Then I said, well let's just post anything and everything which lead me to basically posting things that ended up looking dumb or simply reposting things I found funny on Chris Rosenberg's blog. It felt pointless and a waste of my time.

I want to aim for one post a day for Monday - Saturday, and optionally on Sundays. For now, I'm limiting myself to that because I don't want to run through a bunch of ideas all at once. Once I get into the habit, we'll see how it goes.

I want the main focus on this blog to be Christ, as I said above. But that isn't to say that this ought to be a blog full of expository preaching. In fact, most blogs like that don't really appeal to me. So, while I will talk very often about Christ and all things that are associated with Him, it is not out of the possibility that I would talk politics, sports, or just about the great life God has given me.

We'll see.

Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to the adventure, and to meeting new people. Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, and above all. . . KEEP GLORIFYING THE KING OF KINGS!

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