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"Just wait until you try this!" Paul.

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 13:35:32 GMT

Philippians 1:15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Philippians 2:1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing,
      taking the very natureof a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

Sometimes, our self righteousness rooted in our pious Christian beliefs lead us to think that we can be like God. We use our knowledge of the Bible to elevate ourselves over those we deem to be ignorant or less read. We boast of our wide understanding of His word, and somehow, that makes us feel good or better about ourselves and who we are. Motives behind our desire to preach are tricky. I know I've thought I knew the motives behind those that I've listened to. Unfortunately, it sometimes does affect how I perceive the message that person is giving. Nonetheless, regardless of who gives the message and why they might be giving it, the message stands on its own. Truth is truth, regardless of who speaks it.

Thankfully, after Paul wrote chapter 1:15-18, he followed up on his thought in chapter 2:1-11. It's here that he proposes what he feels would be the right attitude or the true motives behind our actions. This doesn't just apply to those who are involved in preaching the word (which should be all of us to some degree), but it also applies to our everyday lives and our interactions between one another. Paul says that we should be in relationship with one another as we are in relationship with Christ. Instead of elevating ourselves over people through our self-righteousness, we should strive to be in relationship with people just as we are in relationship with God.

Being self-righteous is futile, as Paul points out, God never intended for us to be able to reach parity with Him. Instead, he became human, he became like us and humbled himself to the point of death. He did so that we may understand who He is more than be who He is. He showed us the path to God the father by becoming human as we are, and by giving his entire life for us. Likewise, we should also give our lives to each other. So being like God through our understanding of who He is isn't about elevating ourselves over others, but it is about putting others' interests over our own. Considering others' needs and putting importance on them as Christ did for us. It means getting to know your neighbors and being there for them and with them through the good and the bad. It means going out of our way to help someone in a crisis. It also means putting away our bitterness at times in order to be able to celebrate with each other in good times.

So in order to understand who God is and in order to be as much as He is, we need to follow the example Jesus laid down for us. It pretty much comes down to this, love one another. Otherwise, we are acting in "vain conceit" or "selfish ambition". Think about it; if we are not acting out of love for our neighbor, then for what reason are we doing what we are doing? Do we read our Bibles to benefit God? Is God impressed by our knowledge of His word? Or is He more concerned with how we follow through with what we know? What good is self-righteousness? It serves no one but oneself; therefore Paul calls it what it is, "vain conceit" and "selfish ambition." So it's not religious piousness and knowledge of his word that brings us closer to who God is, but rather selflessness and putting others before ourselves that lead us to a greater understand of who He is.

Philippians 3:

1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

I really like this part. Here, Paul explains to us that he's been there, done that. He's tried the self-righteous way. He calls it "confidence in the flesh". He explains how when it comes to being religious and following all the rules and being assured in oneself that they are good and blameless, no one else could have argued a stronger case for themselves as he can. The circumcision was done at the exact right time (I'm not sure what the significance of this is) and he was part of the tribe responsible to become priests. He was born into the optimum religious environment. Furthermore he points out how he was a pharisee, people known to be the most aggressive abiders of "the law" which refers to the old testament law. Then he tells us about his passion, or his zeal. He was so convinced of his own convictions that he persecuted the church to the point where he would kill church members. He was so concerned about his "flesh" spirituality that he couldn't even stand people corrupting his presence. And finally, he admits that he was so stringent on following the law, that he was pretty much faultless.

Paul is saying that when it comes to that "flesh" spirituality, he was leading the pack. But he doesn't totally denounce his past, rather, he's qualifying it saying, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ." He acknowledges that there were benefits to his past ways; Paul says, whatever my profits were, whatever I gained, however good my flesh spirituality made me feel, it wasn't nearly as good as what I've got now with Christ. He follows up with, " I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." In comparison, it's a no-brainer; to the guy who lead the flesh spirituality movement, who was at the top of the totem pole, having all of that was nothing in comparison to having even the slightest relationship with Christ.

Pretty much what Paul is saying that if you are not convinced from all his arguments before, he can tell you through first hand experience that living that kind of lifestyle isn't as good as living in relationship with Christ. In fact, he even goes as far as to say that it leads you to losing out. You lose out on all that God has in-store for you when you are too busy chasing your own spirituality. Why give up that which already makes you feel good? Well, Paul answers it through his own experience. "You think you feel good now?" he says, "Just wait until you try this!" Philippians is almost like a sales pitch. I'm interested to find out what the product does.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 16:10:14 GMT

Wah Wah, beedeedee, Wah Wah, Nananabeedee beedee, Wah, Nana Na Na Na, Budee Budee Budee Budee, Whompa Whompa Whompa

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 01:03:20 GMT

I'm on Xanga. hahahahaha. I'm Daught. and I'm too Daught to spell daught correctly. I'm being told it's spelt d eh ef tea... but that would be deheftea. chuckles.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 03:54:38 GMT

I'm so tired. need a new place to live. if you've got connections. shout.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Sat, 24 Feb 2007 02:02:33 GMT

I hate writing papers

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:48:35 GMT

War of the Lords. The land Lords that is.
Frank and I are not seeing eye to eye. He called me last night at 5:30AM and left a nasty little message. I think he wants me out of the house. anyhow. He doesn't realize I've got RiGhts! too bad for him. i'm no leaving.

Perseverance

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 03:53:55 GMT

What a day it's been. God has been teaching me a lot lately on perseverance, not patience, but perseverance. A while back, the guys in the house started to enjoy late night conversations that became early morning conversation in the kitchen. They also enjoyed their hip hop music and reggae music. Nothing against that kind of music, but is it really something people WANT to listen to at that time of night? Anyhow, these three had gotten on my nerves and after a long day at work, i just wanted to sleep. I had exams, i was working long shifts, and i needed to get sleep so i could study. Marlon (finger boy) however, decided to clean his room at 12;25 at night and to play music in his room as he cleaned. So i walked over and asked him to turn down his music. or to at least close the door. and after a long song and dance, he turned his music up. I was so mad at that point that i went back to my room to decide which would be the best alternative: 1, calling the cops (disturbing the peace), or 2, grabbing my golf clubs and waking the guy over the head. I figured number one wouldn't work since there wasn't peace in the house to begin with, and number two looked really really tempting. I realized my thoughts were evil, so I gave Nelson a call.
    Nelson is my buddy from Rosedale, we bartend together and talk about life, love, and God in the afternoons when it's slow. He's from El Salvador and has been at RDale for about 13 years I think. He's a great guy and everyone loves him and gets along with him. He's been a real good example and encouragement to me. Anyhow, in one of our conversations about life, love, and God, he told me that I could give him a call anytime if ever I needed someone to talk to. So i called and he pointed me to galatians ten... i think. The book in the new testament about perseverance... And I read it, then we prayed on the phone. and before the conversation was done, someone had called marlon and he turned off his music. I however kept reading the book and went on to say how God disciplines those he loves. Disciplines, not punishes. So, since then, perseverance has been on the forefront of my mind.
    Today was quite the day. The morning seemed good, and it was. but the day went downhill as soon as I left my house. I went to work early to make it on time for the staff gift exchange. As i left my house, a bus pulled up to the stop, and if I had a bus ticket, i would have been exstatic. However, i still had to walk to the store to buy some. I bought my tickets and walked back to the bus stop and waited for what seemed forever as the bus arrived late. Then the bus took it's sweet time as it drove me to my station. It took a whole extra 20-30 minutes longer than normal. so of course i was late. But i did arrive for the gift exchange. or most of it anyways. Later that night, I stepped on my glasses, I broke a crystal wine glass, and one more thing that i've already blocked out of my mind.
    However, I did get a ride home from one of the cooks. Thank God for his mercy. I get home, and the house has stains all over the floor. So i sweep and i mop cuz no one else would. Then i finally get a chance to go to school to check my mail and study a bit. on my way to school, I was thinking of what i had read the night i talked with Nelson. I was thinking about perseverance. How perseverance allows us to run with the horses (jeremiah). I went through all the verses I knew about perseverance. I went through God is my strength, I went through the running with horses one from jeremiah somewhere, i went through what i had read with Nelson. I thought more about perseverance in life. How i need to persevere in my job, in my school work, and all the etc's of life.
    After all of that, i got to school and i was heading to the bike racks. Since i wasn't wearing glasses, as i was riding my bike slipped over a curb and went crashing in front of me. Thankfully, there was no damage or bodily harm. and I walked my bike as i repeated, "perseverance" over and over and over in my head.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:00:50 GMT

how depressing. I lost all my pictures and video that i had on my camera. Something about not reading a my memory card. So i had to reformat. I hate that. Oh well.

Tom and Jerry Remix

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 03:27:41 GMT

I am up late at school, studying away. I was ging to buy a nice cold red bull to help me out, unfortunately all the stores were closed by the time that i got around to it. However, I'm not the only one strugling here to keep the sleepers out of my eyes and the Zzzzz's from floating to close to my head. One guy is outright sleeping at his computer infront of me... with his eyes still open. My trick to avoid being in that very vegetative state is to listen to crazy music by a german that he categorizes under surf/electronica/other. To me it sounds a lot like Tom and Jerry chase music remixed. You can find this artist at <ww.myspace.com/candiehank> if that so interests you.
Going home now.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 03:43:08 GMT

To be the greatest, you have to be a servant, "the least of these". You have to get off any pedestal that people want to put you up on, you have to humble yourself, get down on your knees and be at the bottom of the pyramid holding everyone else up. It would be bizarre to see a bunch of skrawny women holding up or trying to hold up a large burly man at the top of a pyramid. It would make no sense. It's the large ones who need to hold up the weak.
    So who are the ones at the top? The ones at the top are those who are weak, who are insecure, who can not accomplish anything on their own, who need to have support. Why? Because the top offers them something they need. When those are at the top of a pyramid, they can see the effects of the strong. From the bottom of a pyramid, all you see is struggling, yet at the top, you understand the need of the bottom. The perspective is totally different from the top than it is from the bottom. Only when are you at the top do you know what can be accomplished. At the bottom, everything is intimidating, too much, and overwhelming. Everyone at some point in life is at the top of that pyramid; everyone at some point is the focus of everyones efforts. To be at the bottom, you have to be able to understand what it's like at the top.
    At the top, one also receives confidence, which builds that person. Even though the one at the top does the least amount of work, they are the ones who receive the attention, the ones who realize that people are for them, and not against them. The ones at the top learn to trust, and to feel confident in themselves and those around them. And with this trust and confidence, the ones at the top, eventually, make their way down the pyramid until they maybe one day, are at the bottom.
    Now if you are a bottom person, it can be very easy to feel as if you deserve a break, as if you deserve a chance to be back at the top. It is easy for a bottom person to accept the worship of others and to believe in it and to make their way up the pyramid, to climb on the backs of others, others who you have been supporting. And the relief of having less weight on your shoulders will feel so good, that you'll want to climb higher and higher! Until you are at the top. And once at the top, after being at the bottom, you then put yourself and everyone else in grave danger. For if anyone buckles under your weight, if anyone cannot uphold you, the entire pyramid collapses. Everyone will fall, and you will fall the hardest, and you will fall on people hurting everyone on the way down.
    Why then, do those in the middle invite those at the bottom to move up? Because eventually, you'll feel as if you want to be independent. Those in the middle will struggle with pride and too much self confidence. They'll think that they are able to uphold those at the bottom, even when they cant. Or, the other reason is that they'll feel as if they are too much of a burden for those on the bottom and will feel bad for being a weight on their shoulders. And then there are those who see the bottom as a the worst place to be, hence the place they deserve to be due to their inequities. They may feel as though they don't deserve to be upheld by anyone. Now all of these middle struggles are dangerous and should be resisted as much as possible. For if any of the middle people allow someone who is supporting them to climb up the pyramid, they place themselves at risk, and everyone else too.
    So who does the responsibility fall upon, and who's fault will it be when pyramids collapse? Will it be the ones who invited the stronger to climb on them, or will it be the middle people's fault who accepted the invitation? Well, it'll be both, but the one who did the climbing will receive the most reprimand. The one who did the climbing will own all responsibility for their actions, whereas all the middle people will share their responsibility for they all sinned the same way. Since all the middle people have one type of sin, they will not condemn each other for the same sin they had committed, however, for the one sin they did not commit, the sin of the one who climbed, they will feel the right to be in a place of judgement over that person. And unfortunately, the power of the majority will overpower the one who climbed even though the weaker invited him to in the first place. And by the end of the fiasco, the controversy, and the heartache, there will be nothing left but many hurt and broken individuals too afraid to try to build another pyramid. Too afraid to trust again. People of unbelief. And it wont be until they realize their wrong that they'll be able to rejoin another pyramid.
    Now back to what I started with. Those who are the strongest, the greatest, must be the one who supports the most people. The one who upholds the weak, the poor, the lost. It is the greatest who must serve, not the weak who must serve the great. For when the strong allows the weak to uphold the, disaster soon will follow. So the strong need to take warning of those who try to worship them as to avoid such a catastrophe. For if you allow yourself to be at the top, when in fact you should be at the bottom, you will fall, it is inevitable, and youwill hurt everyone along the way, and you will hurt yourself too.

Everyone in the pyramid has responsibility, but what is considered acceptable or not acceptable, and what happens when it is not acceptable? For a quick example, when a middle person sees one who should be a the bottom climbing their way up, should they attempt to stop them, and what would be the propper way of doing so? If they can't stop them, should they leave the pyramid, try to convince as many people as possible not to allow the climber to climb anymore? Or try to get as many people as possible to go start a new pyramid? These questions are much more difficult to answer using this anology, but nonetheless should be answered. However, there are hundreds if not thousands of books dedicated to solving leadership problems such as those. So in that case, I'll end here.