2 Timothy 4:2

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." 2 Timothy 4:2

Today has been really interesting, at least in the spiritual sense. This morning I responded to a friend's FB post in which he wrote, "Is grappling with one of the most difficult questions of faith I have ever encountered: if God is good and everything he created is good, then how did evil originate? That is how did evil originate ex nihlo?"

Ex nihilio is latin for "out of nothing." This usually refers to the concept of creation in which God created something from nothing. The true creative ability at work, as it were. Anyhow, what spawned out of these conversations has produced some interesting thoughts for me and has forced me to remember my apologetics. Apologetics is defined as the "defense of the faith," or in layman's terms "knowing why you believe."

As these conversations continue to grow and expand, I was reminded of Paul's charge to Timothy (it's at the top) and wondered just how prepared I am at any given time? How prepared are you at any given time to answer the earnest questions of an individual seeking truth? I wish I could say that I had no room for improvement, but that would be a bold faced lie from which I should be tossed from the castle walls. Instead, I will say that today was a good day. Today, I was prepared. Tomorrow, only God's grace can tell, but I thank Him for today.

UOPX Presentation video

This video is a little promo for our mock company LTD Inc. We are an ethics consulting firm.

*Fin + Lewis = Awesome

The other day I was returning from a workout while listening to C.S. Lewis' book: Mere Christianity. The chapter was The Reality of the Law. As I drove home, I was unprepared for the emotional experience that occurs when God drops some revelatory truth on you. In other words, I teared up as I began to realize some things. Now, the chapter's words by themselves did not cause my tears to well up; rather, it was a combination of the concepts presented in the book and the song that followed. You see, my iphone plays the audio files randomly and after selecting a single chapter of Mere Christianity it moved onto the song *Fin by Anberlin. If you are unfamiliar with the song and the lyrics in it, only one word describes it: epic.

Here is a youtube video with the song and lyrics.


The song's message is a series of verses that describe the author's experiences with Christianity. He struggles with God because of the suffering, lying and manipulation perpetrated by Christians. Why does this strike me so strongly? Well, in Mere Christianity, Lewis makes the statement that we look at Christians to find Christ instead of going directly to the source. In other words, we always blame Jesus Christ for the behavior of His followers because we expect them to be like Him. Normally, I do not have a problem with this, but we often take it too far in that we do not acknowledge they are all imperfect people following a perfect being. What is normal is the struggle. What is abnormal is cohesiveness. What I mean by this is that we should expect to see Christians failing consistently the standard that is perfection (Christ), but what separates them from the non-believer is that they are still striving for perfection despite the mistakes and shortcomings. And it is there, in the midst of the pain that we find forgiveness and grace. Christianity and salvation through Jesus is for the weak and broken. Bandages exist for the cut and damaged. Life vests do not save those who are not drowning. Similarly, salvation is for those who need saving.

The author of the lyrics in *Fin is communicating his story of unrealistic expectations of others, but in the end he rediscovers his faith in Jesus. This is evident with his frail and humble words describing his exposure and weaknesses.

"And then take full weight of me
Guard my dreams, figure this out,
It's me on my own. Helpless, hurting, hell.
Will you stay strong as you promised?
Cause I'm stranded and bare.
Meanness is washed up and all that I have
is God. Take this and all"

I get the impression that the reality of christianity has finally hit the lead singer of the Anberlin. It is about a direct relationship with the creator and to judge Him based upon the actions of an imperfect human is about as valuable as having a 3 year old draw the intricate details of the morning sun cresting over the snow capped mountains of Lake Tahoe. The child's picture contains it's own type of beauty in a way, but to compare the depths of colors, details, and magnificence to the being there...well, the source is always better than the drawing of a 3 year old.