Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


3.28.2004  

Because they can...

WARNING: The contents of this post not intended for readers lacking Y chromosomes.



Hmmm. Imagine my surprise when, walking out of Blind Brandon's dorm room after finishing up my most recent post (not even one minute old, mind you), Ray tells me that he (Ray) and Valleyhoos just wrestled. After they got out of the shower. Naked. *Sigh*...the adventures of repressed Christians at Boyce continue. Repressed Southern Baptists at Boyce, mind you, are even more deeply...ummm...prone to display their depravity :)

posted by Bolo | 7:57 AM
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Conversations

I had a couple of interesting conversations last night...first with Brian, than with Garcia. God continues to humble me and use me...why, I don't think I'll ever fully understand.



I realized once more in my conversation with Brian that I'm still very much prone to failure - yet God uses me, changes me, and works through those failures. I also realized how precious a blessing humility is. I'm so blind to my arrogance, yet God continues to humble me in gentle and patient ways...I can only pray that He'll continue to do that. Bob Kauflin, when he was at our PTS meeting a couple weeks ago, reminded us that God gives grace to the humble. In other words, God works a certain way in our lives only when we're humble. *Sigh*...that's a hard truth to swallow. It's also an encouraging one, because I'm so very much prone to walk in pride, not humility. Knowing God's gracious ways toward the humble encourages me to be just that, because there's no way I want to miss out on God's blessing.



Speaking to Garcia...*sigh*...sometimes it's like talking to a girl, in that I often wonder if he'll ever get it. Hehe...I'll probably get in trouble for that one...oh well...I just got off an eight hour overnight shift...I'll justify my silliness to my current state of sleep deprivation :) Still, I love him. I was able to take him straight to God's word and walk him through Scripture. That in and of itself is always amazing to me, because when I do that with someone I'm reminded of my own standing before God in Christ. Yes, it's a sweet blessing.



Will those lessons and memories from just a few hours ago stick with me this week? I hope so. I'm headed to Franklin, Kentucky in less than twelve hours with Royce. I'll be staying with him and his family for a couple of days...I pray the time will be a blessing to everyone.

posted by Bolo | 7:47 AM
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3.26.2004  

I can only imagine...

A week ago, we, the Boyce Junkies, were on our way to Country Lake Christian Retreat for our annual Spring Retreat. This time, however, was different, as we had a co-ed camp. The retreat was great, and Scott and I both agreed that it went very well.



What a difference a week makes. Today the campus is in a much different mood. Spring Reading Days are upon us, and with that comes a sense of desertion. Those still around are knocking on doors, peeking into dorm rooms, and making recollections of recent converstions in an attempt to tally up who's here and who's not. Me being me, am still here, and will be here pretty much the whole week. I'll probably go with Royce to Franklin, Kentucky, for a day or so to stay with him and his family. *Sigh*...as I type, yet another fellow Boyce student is leaving the fourth floor of Carver, on his way toward sunnier skies...friends and family...three to five and glassy at Kewalo's...lunch at Kua'aina...dinner at mom's...dawn patrol with Andrew and Brian...oh wait...that's not them :)



This weekend is Preview Weekend at Boyce, with prospective students making their way onto campus to check out the school. Last night we played Capture The Flag, which always draws a decent crop of prospective students. Blind Brandon pulled off what is already known as one of the greatest captures in Boyce CTF history during the second game: a sprint that turned into a sliding capture as he went down the hill, right through the heart of the orange defense. I had a perfect view of it...oh my goodness...talk about sweet! People will be talking about this one for a while...I'll make sure of it :)



Alrighty...I gotta head down to the Patio Room to play some Mafia...

posted by Bolo | 7:37 PM
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3.25.2004  

Today

Whoa, I look up, and it's already Thursday.



This week's been flying by. Actually, the semester's been flying by; we're already more than halfway through, and next week we'll have "Spring Reading Days"...it's the Southern Baptist equivalent of Spring Break ;) I've spent the past few days going a little nutso...I had a New Testament II mid-term on Monday, plus that Romans background paper I still had to finish up (which, discerning reader, you may identify as having been due the previous Monday). Tuesday...what happened Tuesday? Oh. I woke up when Big Daddy Dan Sheerin nearly killed me with his book bag...that was a close call...I'd crashed for the night in Scott's and Biggz's, and Dan came in somewhere around 9:30 with his breakfast, ready to watch some of The Godfather, and realized my body was under the blanket he was about to toss his hefty book bag onto. Come to think of it...I'm not sure what'd be worse...death by bag, or death by Dan's big butt. Yeesh...not pleasant. Wednesday...yesterday...oh, scholarship apps and taxes. The 1040A kicked my butt for a little bit, and then I had to fill out some forms on CSS' website. *Groan*...it's been a heck of a week.



But today. Oh my goodness, Today! There's no need for bundling up, as Spring really, truly, unashamedly is here :) The birds are singing, the flowers blooming, and the sun is...well...it's kind of shining! *Sigh*...*grin*...it's the kind of day that makes you want to sit down and laugh for no reason. Maybe I'll go do just that.

posted by Bolo | 9:28 AM
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3.22.2004  

Good stuff

"When I try to appear to do good, that's the point at which I cease to do good."



That's what Leeman told me last week. He'd taught a Sunday School class on Pharisaism, and the summation of his teaching could be captured in that one statement. We spoke for a while on the weight of that truth, because as we examined our lives, we realized how deeply guilty we are of the very Pharisaism we preach so loudly against. We do things to appear good before others. For our reputations. So that others will think we're spiritual. In hopes that our peers will notice. And all the while, we decry the very things we do. The only thing is, no one else knows, no one else can tell, so it's easy to get away with. *Sigh*...it's a hard habit to break, ya know?



This weekend, I examined my soul a bit. Hehe...that's like saying I thought about surfing a bit. Understatement...major understatement :) Feeling down and more than a little frustrated with the state of my soul, I pulled Scott on the side at one point (we were at Boyce's Spring Retreat...more on that later) and asked him to bless me through encouragement, admonishment, and prayer. I told him I was feeling the weight of my sinful flesh. In retrospect, I'm thinking perhaps this is one of those times that God's remaining silent in order to draw me closer to Him. *Sigh*...it's a hard thing to deal with. I look inside my heart, and all I see is failure. My own failure, mind you; God never fails. Everything I do is tainted with sin, no matter how pure I may desire for my motives to be. Everything I offer up to the Lord is unacceptable on its own; how I easily forget that I must go through the righteousness of Christ!



About a week and a half ago, I wrote a decently lengthly entry...I want to say it was on a Friday afternoon. Well, when I published that entry, it somehow got lost in an Hypertext Transfer Protocol (a.k.a. HTTP) error. Bleh. Yeah, that one bites a big one. I never rewrote it, partially because I didn't have the time at the time, and partially because it was on a topic I'd been...well...pained to write on. Now, however, I've decided to write on it.



When I think about the people in my life, I'm brought to grieving very quickly. I'm ashamed of how I deal with my own circumstances when I think of their situations: illness, confusion, seemingly needless suffering, and death. I can't begin to comprehend what many of my friends and family are going through, and still more, I can't even begin to think of how to minister to them. I hate it. I feel helpless, weak, tiny, insignificant, and so far removed from their lives. *Sigh*...you know what? In a very sobering way, I am.



I can't bring someone back from the dead. I can't make someone see the beauty of God's purpose in violent crimes...that happen directly to them. I can't stop the growth of cancerous tissues. I can't force God's saving grace upon someone...that's His alone to give. I can't even put myself in the crowd to watch my nephew's first baseball game. I wish I could, but I can't. My limitations drive me to anger...they drive me to sadness...they drive me to tears...ultimately, though, they drive me to the place I need to be.



The Cross.



If I'm not there, where am I? It's where I truly see how weak I am, unable to do any good on my own. But the Cross is where I have to go...if I don't go there, what will I do? I'll gnaw on myself until I'm crazy. God reminds me that where I cannot raise the dead or grant eternal life to someone, He can. He reminds me that in my own life, in my own failures, He's still at work in spite of all I do. At the Cross of Christ, I am shown God's righteousness, His right to allow suffering and His right to show mercy. At the Cross, I am shown the right I have to plead for His mercy on behalf of my own wretched soul, and on behalf of others.



The Cross. *Sigh*...if I'm not there, where am I? It's the only place where confusions are cleared, and pains made sweet.

posted by Bolo | 3:05 PM
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3.18.2004  

Haunting

Romans 12:9. I told Leeman today that it's been one of the verses that keeps coming to my mind. Let love be without hypocrisy. *Sigh*...I struggle mightily to not only love, but to love genuinely...without hypocrisy. I look at my life, I look at my interaction with others, and I realize how deeply I fail to love as the Lord commands...without hypocrisy. I'm so very arrogant, so very proud of who I am and who God is making me to be, that I must say that I do not love...without hypocrisy.



That verse haunts me. A good haunting, mind you, but a haunting nevertheless. It's almost like I can hear the Lord whisper it to me...let your love be without hypocrisy, John. And oh, how I need it! I am so very prone to be fake, to have impure and selfish motives, that I cannot possibly trust myself to follow this command to its fullest measure. No; I must keep vigil in making sure that I love not only as Christ loves, but through Christ. Yes, that is the only way that I can truly love without hypocrisy! For it is only through the cross of Christ that I can even begin to love purely.

posted by Bolo | 9:45 AM
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3.17.2004  

One and only

I've thought a lot about my dad recently. Those thoughts have been...well...painful. He's 73...74 before long, and I keep thinking to myself, "how long does he have?" It's not that I fear death, as that in and of itself isn't something that is worth fearing. For me, death here on earth is but a release from my sinful flesh (to list only one benefit). No...with my dad, it's the state of his soul that makes me fear his death. It's the state of his soul that makes me wonder if he'll ever truly live. Unless God changes his heart, I wake up each day thinking I may never see my father again. Never.



I think about my brother a lot, too. He knows better than his lifestyle indicates. When will he learn? I mean, really learn? I don't know...and it's a hard thing to continually wonder. But I must. If I don't, if I give up on them, I'm in a sense giving up on God...I'm giving up on the Cross. I can't give up on that, because that's not only the only hope I have for their lives, it's the only hope I have for my life. If I give up on the cross, I give up on the very reason and means for and by which I rise out of bed every morning. The Cross is how I can take hope beyond my frail flesh, lift my head, and rejoice in knowing that Christ has won, and I do not have to admit defeat. The Cross is how I can look at those two men whom I love dearly, and take hope beyond their frail flesh that one day they'll lift their heads and rejoice in knowing that Christ has won for them, and they no longer have to admit defeat.



Keep hoping with me...the Cross is our only hope.

posted by Bolo | 4:51 PM
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3.16.2004  

Make A

Everyone else was moving to get up; I couldn't move. I didn't really want to, either. Dorm Meeting was over, and I could only sit there and think of how tiny my apprehension of Christ truly is. As everyone filed out of Boyce Chapel, I read through Isaiah 53 and Hebrews 9 and 10. Ruszkiewicz asked me what I was reading through. (He's good like that...always going to scripture whenever possible.) As I pondered what scripture was telling me of Christ, all I could think of was how much I didn't deserve to be pondering Christ in that way. *Sigh*...God is so good to me, and I'm so unwilling to accept His goodness. Yeah...God is good.



The past week has been both good and...well...not so good...but still good. Yesterday afternoon, I was in the computer lab, working on my background paper on the book of Romans. 8 - 20 pages, double spaced, to include background information on the book and a short summary of each chapter. I'd procrastinated (duh), and so I was constantly checking the clock, seeing if I had enough time to finish it before 6:30 pm, when I had to hand it in.



Then I realized something. I was studying the book of Romans...Romans!...and I wasn't treating it with the respect God's word deserves. Chiefly on my mind was getting the assignment done, and wondering if I could pull off yet another last-minute assignment that I'd still get an A on. *Sigh*...such was the way I was treating God's word.



I stopped typing and put my books away. I walked outside, angry at myself, frustrated at my horrible motives. Why am I here? A good grade on a paper, in a class? To make the Dean's List? For my degree? Nope.



I'm going to finish the background study on Romans, and I'm going to do it well. I pray God's Spirit teaches me as I do it; after all, I'll be doing it to His glory :)



posted by Bolo | 12:04 AM
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3.10.2004  

Wrong with a capital R

Is nothing sacred?!?!?!?!



Click here...*sigh*...it's just so wrong! (I'm not ranting...I said I wouldn't...I'm just pointing out the obvious.)

posted by Bolo | 9:21 AM
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3.09.2004  

Rewind

It's supposed to snow this week. Stupid weather. That's my rant for the week. I'm done...I promise :)



Sometimes, somewhere around the early morning hours, my mind begins to wander, and I'll find myself walking amongst memories that are more vivid than reality.



I see myself paddling out with The Crew...Brian and Andrew and Brit and Steak Sauce and Mikami and Kawamura and Sarah and Bubble Boy and Joyce and Josh "I'm from Kaimuki" (yeah...whatevah!) Chang. Sometimes, I'd be paddling out with no one...solo mission. I can see the surf as I'd paddle out, enough to make me excited, enough to make me paddle faster and let out a little yell. Oooohhhh...three to four and glassy...the sunset swell...the entire break all to myself, or sharing the break with Uchida and Cabreros...*sigh*...



I remember walking/jogging in the airport with Andrew, Jeff about a hundred yards behind us, quickly falling even further behind...only this time, we're not going to see anyone else off at the gate...it's Uchida himself who's leaving...I remember how we did the same thing exactly one week before, running to see Cabreros off at his gate, Jeff about a hundred yards behind us. Yeah...they left...those stinkers...now they're back, and I'm the one that's gone.



I can see the house on Judd street...the crazy all night gaming sessions Goose and I would pull...the games of Shanghai we'd play with Spike...the times Andy took my Reefs and I went ballistic, the hundreds of times I'd wake up and see Andy sleeping on the living room floor, lying facedown, his hands protecting his future kids...David eating the banana, with the peel and all...Big Haole Gabe saying, "hey, it's the white guy!" when I walked in the door...oh, and who can forget the B & J's binges? Two for five! *Sigh*...good times :)



I remember the night before I left. January 11, 2003. I was running late. Again. (I think that's one reason Andrew and I get along so well...we know exactly what time we're really going to show up for something without talking about it...or sometimes if we do talk about it, we still know what time we're really going to show up.) Random people came over to Mary and Kawika's, but eventually Matthew, Dean, and Boss were sitting outside with me, trying to find the right things to say, as if we could magically slow time down if we just found the right words. I remember how the clouds were streaking across the sky sort of strangely that night, and how I felt so far removed from leaving, as if I still had another week to go.



Maybe, in another year or so, those same memories will be just as vivid. Maybe, in another ten years or so, I'll have memories from here that will be just as vivid.

posted by Bolo | 2:09 PM
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3.08.2004  

It happens

I've heard, in recent weeks, a word that has caught my attention. Its etymological origins are unclear, yet I like it so much, it warrants an entry all its own. The word? Kudebhinayah. It looks and sounds somewhat African, but I'm not sure. The meaning is somewhat similar to *bleep* happens, but with this word, I can at least say it on campus and not get a look like I just said I'm transferring to BYU.



Oh well. Kudebhinayah!

posted by Bolo | 5:02 PM
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A Tale of Two Minutes

The Random Thoughts of the Day.



Sometime around 5:00 am EST, I went to bed. At 7:10 am EST, my alarm went off. I think I may have heard it somewhere around 7:12 am EST. Aaaahhh, the glorious sensations of just two hours of sleep!



The school cafeteria had, for just $2.95, eggplant stuffed with sausage. Oh my goodness...that stuff was GOOD. It was half of the fat eggplant, too, not da skinny kine we used to grow in Mr. Saiki's class. Yup...buggah was ONO! The sausage was excellent, and they added some other things (like raisins for a sweet burst every now and then) that sent my tongue to heaven. Not to mention the eggplant...oh my...I LOVE eggplant...*sigh*...



I'm still trying to pick up a second job. I've applied at Home Depot, but I have applications to turn in to some other places on my hit list. So yeah...pray for that for me...I really want to honor God, as I've felt conviction from Him lately concerning this. I've realized that if I'm not being fervently obedient about things He convicts me in, I'm being disobedient. And that, my friends, is never a good thing.



I spoke to Matt yesterday while he was on his way to work at Ward Starbucks. He told me he was at Jack in the Crack grabbing some grub, and I didn't think much of it. Then he said, "you know, I'm never going to be able to turn out of here." Right then, I knew exactly where he was: the Jack's on the 'Ewa and Makai corner of Kapi'olani and Ward. The traffic over there is always heinous, almost no matter what time of day. I told him this, and he was like, "see John, you have to come back. You know your home too well to be away from it!" In a way, he's right. I do know my home...I love it...I miss it...I think about it often. But you know what? It's about what I wrote in the previous paragraph...I have to be fervently obedient, and part of that is staying here and doing what God would have me do for as long as He would have me do it. I also believe that a large part of that fervor is joy; that's how God created us to live! Oh, one more thing about what Matt said. He was right about me knowing my home too well...my true home, that is. God has placed within those whom He has chosen a desire for our true home, our everlasting home. While I'm still here in the world, I'll always long for my true home, and my heart will ever grow in that desire as God weans me off the things of this world.



Still, I'd love to be back in Hawai'i. Oh, to feel the sun on my skin, to smell the flowers and hear the waves! I'd give my left...ummm...pinky finger...yeah, pinky finger, to be back home right now. After all, I don't need that to set a volleyball. Actually, no, I take that back. I need that to type. I'd give a toe instead :)

posted by Bolo | 3:29 PM
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3.06.2004  

Who's the Boss?

Reason #74 why Boyce College Rocks: The Pastor-Theologian Society, better known as PTS. This past Thursday, we had our third meeting of the semester. The topic? Discipleship. We looked at several different types and models for discipleship, covering the massive small groups of 60 or more all the way to one on one accountability. I must admit I was pretty tired, and I felt like I was going to fall asleep through most of it. Still, what Leeman said toward the end has stuck in my head in a great way.



He asked if he might submit to us that discipleship, no matter what the type or model, requires two things in order to truly be discipleship, and neither one of those things exists without the other.



Authority and Submission.



It's not a formula, it's not some mystical spritual secret, but it did ring true in my heart, and I believe that's because it rings true in Scripture. Think about it. When we submit to those in authority over us, whether they be pastors, elders within the church, or even our parents (no matter how old we are), there's something right about that submission. It's because God designed us that way. In such submission, we are living out the idea that we trust those to whom God has given authority to govern and guide us. In submission, we are acknowledging not only that God knows best when He places certain individuals in authority over us, but also that those individuals are recognizing the great responsibility they bear in their God-given authority.



I think of the great mentors I have, both past and present, all of whom I still look to for guidance, and probably will until the end of my life. Jon...Gary...Jonathan...all have blessed me greatly, and still do. After thinking about what Jonathan said Thursday night, I can look back and see that when I submitted myself to their authority, I was then able to reap the heaping dividends of their wisdom. What an amazing grace!



One more thing. It's amazing to think that even in this, we can follow Christ's example. He Himself submits to the will of the Father. Think about that; within the trinity, we have this idea of authority and submission on display. Amazing! "Not My will, but Your will be done." Yes...amazing.

posted by Bolo | 11:16 AM
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3.05.2004  

Translations from the Elvish

It's Friday. My eyeballs burn just a tad, my legs have a hint of an ache from playing Ultimate yesterday, and my brain is just awake enough for me to be dangerous...in other words, I may start spouting out Elvish phrases in the middle of a conversation. Oops :)



Signs of Spring are finally here. Flowers are beginning to bloom, the temperature is civil, and hopes of a tan have returned to my saddened soul. *Cough* :) Hmmm...random thought: I don't understand why Singles Awareness Day would be in the middle of February when it's cold and miserable, as opposed to say, March or April, when the weather is far more agreeable to such things. I guess there are some intricacies of human behavior I'll never truly understand.



I've got a little bit of paperwork to do today. Scott Davis, from the Admissions Office, had wanted me to apply to be a Student Ambassador for Boyce. The Ambassadors help prospective students get to know Boyce a little better, and help make the college search as smooth as possible. My guess is they want me to help fill the ethnic/cultural/denominational diversity quota ;) It's kind of funny, really, 'cause if you look at pictures on the school's website, you'll see a much higher ratio of "culturally diverse" students than really is the case. In any event, I really wouldn't mind doing it, simply because I do promote the school whenever I get a chance. I love it, I believe in it, and I tell people that. Even if we're not as culturally diverse as the pictures indicate ;)

posted by Bolo | 12:23 PM
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3.04.2004  

Out of the Loop

So. That passage in Galatians. After reading it, and reading it again, and again, and again, and still scratching my head, I read it out loud to Erin. She didn't have a clue. Neither did Dan, for that matter. My thoughts on the matter? I'm thinking the last sentence, "now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one" is saying that God is mediating between Himself, in some fashion. How so? Well, mediation is required when there is a reconciliation of some sort that is needed by two (or more) parties...say, X and Y. Yet here, it seems to be saying that God was mediating between Himself...He's both X and Y. (This sounds way too much like algebra for my liking...it's easy to explain this way, though.)

What's the significance of that? Not a whole lot...at least, not on its own. It does, however, bring to mind the passage in Genesis 15 where God makes His Spirit pass between the split animal carcasses, essentially saying to Abraham (and us), "so be it (death) to Me if I should fail in keeping this covenant." Yet, when we look at the cross, and realize it was His intent all along to bring about reconciliation through that sacrifice, He was essentially saying, "so be it to Me if I should fail in keeping this covenant, yet this covenant will not be fulfilled unless this happens to me."

In Genesis 15, God tells us that the covenant with Abraham is one that is entirely on His end; Abraham has no part of the covenant to fulfill. Abraham simply enjoys! Galatians 3:20 shows us again that God removes us from the loop of reconciliation; we have no part in the actual reconciliation. We simply enjoy!

One last note. Some of you may be going, "but what about obedience? What about listening to God? What about the instruction that God gave to Moses, or even the commandments that Jesus gave us? How is it that we "simply enjoy"? I would say this: obeying and listening to the instruction and commandments are part of what we do when we enjoy God. Yet, we would have no right nor be able to enjoy God if He did not reconcile us to Himself through Christ...through Himself. Because of that, because it is still God who is at work in us through Christ, we are able to enjoy Him.

Yep...there for the reading are my thoughts on the matter. Chip and Cleve and Jared seemed to think I wasn't too far off my rocker :) I think I need to consult a couple of commentaries to firm it up, but it seems to make sense.

posted by Bolo | 9:37 AM
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3.03.2004  

Humor

Scott and I came to a consensus: no matter how much you try to ignore them, no matter how much you try not to think about them, or claim to not think about them, girls are there, and you think about them. Bleh. It's like salt water in your ear after you surf. No matter how much you shake your head, tilt it to the side and shake it, close your eyes and scream and plead for mercy, your noggin is still plagued. Relentlessly. Right, Boss? :)



And who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?



On a far better note, Spring is finally in the air. At last, at long last, Spring is here! Well, kind of. I'm not sure exactly when it officially starts, but we've experienced a little bit of a warming up recently, and I can't say I'm not the happier for it. *Sigh*...I can almost imagine what the sun feels like when it's hot enough to make you sweat when you sit outside of Ward Starbucks and you see the tan line on your shorts after sitting for just five minutes or so. Yes, I miss home ;)



One more thing before I head to chapel. I was reading through Galatians yesterday, and I hit one of those places that made me want to yell at Paul. Galatians 3:15 - 20 reads as follows in the ESV:



"To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one."



What made me go nuts was that last portion. What's he saying? Several thoughts come to mind; perhaps I'll post them later. Gotta run :)





posted by Bolo | 9:53 AM
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3.01.2004  

Boasting

1 Corinthians 1:26 - 31 reads, "For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.""



Ouch. I don't have a whole lot to write on that one, other than this statement, which is true at nearly all times: my boasting is most definitely not in the Lord, even when it may appear to be.



I've thought about that verse a lot today, along with Galatians 5:14. "But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Do I boast? Absolutely. In the cross? Yeah. Only in the cross? *Sigh*...nope. It's almost as if Paul is telling me to let my desires, my joys, my hopes, my motives, my everything, to be in the cross. That's obvious, isn't it? But then he nails me down by asking me, "do you boast? If you do, do you boast only in the cross of Christ?" When he speaks of boasting, he calls into question my pride. Is my pride in myself, or is it solely in Christ? Because if it's not, then my desires, my joys, my hopes, my motives, my everything is not pointed toward Christ. No...it's pointed toward me. And isn't that what happened in the Garden of Eden? Isn't that what Christ came to put to death? *Sigh*...

posted by Bolo | 5:50 PM
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