To: You.

Last week was my birthday. While I'm not all that made anxious by aging, around this time I'm always confronted with the question: what do I want? What would be a good gift? I'm hardly able to come up with a proper response, so I end up trying to avoid the subject altogether. So what does make something a great gift?

#1: A great gift is something you want. I struggle with determining if it's a better gift to get something you want, or something you need. I figure a new shirt or even a McDonald's gift card beats a nailcutter and toilet paper anyday.

#2: A great gift is something you don't deserve. I've never known anyone to write a thank you card to their boss for giving them their paycheck. However when my supervisor Gilbert hands me an extra taco at lunch it pretty much makes my day.

#3: A great gift has a cheerful giver. As a youth around this time of year I used to badger my cousins about what gift to get me. I distinctly recall the moment in 6th grade when my cousin Jennifer came to me at school with nicely-wrapped box and said "here's your gift you spoiled brat." I don't remember what I got that year.

#4: A great gift has a purpose. That purpose is most traditionally to build relationships. Neighbors give pies, supermarkets give samples, Realtors give notepads, all with the purpose of hoping to build a relationship with the recipient.


There is nothing more epitomizing of these qualities than in Jesus Christ.
Something you want? "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full (John 15:11)."

Something you don't deserve? "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8)."

Something with a cheerful giver? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)."

Something with a purpose? "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)." That righteousness reconciles our relationship with a God we turned our back on in our sin.

You'll be happy to know that this is a gift that's offered to you. Yes, you. Christ offers you true happiness by believing in him, not because of what you've done, but because God loves you, and wants to have a relationship with you. That's what makes salvation truly a great gift -- all you have to do is receive it.

Other truly great gifts on the list this year:

A Tribe Called to Christ & Friends.

Surprise Party.

Birthday Card and the Pretty Lady behind it (all). Heck even the mullet.

Thank you guys. God is good.

Why or why not?

My friend Helen started an e-mail thread earlier this week that sparked a lot of interesting responses from different points of view. In it, she asks: “does society need to have a moral law (a standard of right and wrong that everyone must follow)?”

“I think that having a moral law that everyone must follow is unrealistic,” Annie replies. Although it would be ideal in theory, it would be impossible for everyone to agree on what constitutes as moral or immoral on every existing issue. I don't believe there should be a standard of right and wrong that everyone must follow because we all have different opinions of what’s right and wrong.”

The assumption here is that everyone needs to agree on a moral rule in order to hold them accountable to it. The problem is that this isn’t how society operates. The existence of a moral law simply means there is right and wrong; it doesn't mean everyone will believe it. This can be illustrated with the law of gravity. If you want to know what happens when you refute this law, simply get on top of the Eiffel tower and find out. You will be held accountable whether you agree or not. The US Constitution doesn't legislate rules because people agree with them. It does so understanding that men are given inalienable rights, under a moral law that is not to be violated, even as society changes.

“It's easy to say what's moral and immoral when you're protected and privileged: but there are a lot of gray areas,” says Scott. “I'm talking about women who need to sell their bodies to put food on the dinner table. In a way can't we argue capitalism is not really moral because it leads to so many social problems like human trafficking, sweat shop labor, and polluting the land of other people all for the sake of profit? So yes, before we even discuss having a moral law, we need to discuss and better understand what's really going on in this world.”

There is an inconsistency in this thinking. I agree that life is a very complicated thing and that we need to take time to understand people's situations. But while he suggests that a woman selling her body to provide food may not be wrong, he assumes human trafficking is a social problem. Gray doesn’t deny the existence of black and white. Life, yes, is very complicated, but at times we still have convictions that transcend those complications and still tell us something is wrong. The question is, without a moral law, how can we support those convictions?

If the answer is that there is a moral law that exists, the question is then "who gives this law?" To have moral law, you need a moral lawgiver. Some may say that we are our own lawmakers, but that poses a problem: nobody is wrong. And when nobody is wrong, there can be no justice, because there is no injustice.

I’m not saying everyone has to believe in the Bible. Of course, not everyone will. But if what the Bible says is true, then like Americans will be held accountable to the US Constitution before the eyes of men, whether they personally agree or not, whether they believe or don't believe, because it's just...humans also will be held accountable to God's law before the eyes of God, whether they personally agree or not, whether they believe or don't believe, because it's just. That's a reality we must all confront for ourselves, and is incentive enough to find out of the Bible is really true or not.

Refiner's Fire.

"Purify my heart,
Let me be as gold, and precious silver"

This post is coming much later than usual. I apologize for the wait and thank you for your patience (I sound like a call center). Recently I had been meditating on the song "Refiner's fire" and the peculiarity of its lyrics.

The simile he poses is not a pleasant one. Gold and silver are purified by a process called smelting, where metal is melted down in a furnace so that the dross (impurities) rises to the top where it can be removed. When the author here asks to be as gold, he's crying out to have his heart put through fire, where fire can only be understood as excruciating suffering.

A rather unusual plea. I mean, why would you wish for suffering?

It seems foolish to think someone would ask for hardship. Surely a good life is one that exists without having to deal with sickness, exclusion, exams, unrequited love, miscommunication, disappointment, and heartbreak. These are certainly not the moments we cherish -- far from it, we actually feel the opposite. Yet still, many people confess that out of their most painful and tragic experiences have come the greatest lessons they've learned in life. Even though it hurt to learn those lessons, they're better people for knowing them. We see this pattern in society -- the more impoverished areas of the world produce insightful, patient, and grateful people; whereas we too often find higher society to produce people that are shallow, brash, and unappreciative. There seems to be a very deep correlation between helplessness and faith, that in our lowest moments we recognize our highest need for God. This is best illustrated by an old poem:

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I might humbly learn to obey.

I asked for health, that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.

I asked for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.

I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.

I received nothing that I asked for – but everything that I had hoped for;
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

-- Anonymous Confederate soldier

The key to understanding the author's prayer is knowing that the best way to receive God's blessings is with a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17), like a driver no longer able to deny his unequivocal need for fuel when he's on the side of the road with an empty tank. And in that moment of emptiness, God will come by and pour into you something even better than what you had before: Jesus Christ.

"You don't even know me!"

The phrase made popular by vociferous guests on Jerry Springer has lost weight in recent years, Bertinilli-style. Now while many before me have already mounted the soapbox of critiquing today's social mediums and foreboding personality atrophy, I'm hoping to offer you something new. With the amount of social broadcasting we have today declaring "Me" to the world, can participants of such really resort to this kind of comment today? Think about it:

"You know what? I don't like you."
"Ugh trick, you don't even know me!"
"Uh, actually I do. Let's see, you're from San Diego, Mt. Carmel High class of '05, and you have 2 sisters. You read Twilight and listen to Death Cab for Cutie. You like wasabi, but you don't like sushi and 'yeah, [you're] just weird like that.' You supported Jesse Cheng for ASUCI Executive VP, and you're a fan of Jennifer Chung. Your favorite quotes are that one by Dr. Seuss about 'those who mind don't matter,' and that one from Coach Carter. You also had chicken last night, which you thought was "yummerz XD." Oh, and how did your family reunion go by the way?"

If men are books whose proverbial covers are not be judged, then Facebook now offers us CliffsNotes. By choosing his default picture, he displays what he thinks of his looks. By choosing his interests, he displays what's important to him. By controlling his wall comments, he displays who his friends are and what they say about him. By choosing his status, he displays what he gets excited for and what he complains about.

Originally the idea of being able to say a little bit about yourself, and offer your two cents to anybody looking for change, was a good thing. And it still is (I'm certainly not trying to bite the hand that garners me more readers than my Blogger does), but in moderation. With the ability to simply "be yourself" comes the danger that the uninhibited, idealized you, unfiltered by friends and environment, isn't the "you" that you really want to be.

Steve Carter (Rock Harbor) a few weeks ago was talking about how back in earlier centuries your identity was your community. It's a great way to think of the church. In a community you're taught to help one another achieve a collective goal, while realizing your place and self in the process. Likewise, the church isn't a building, it's a community of believers and even non-believers, who congregate to know God's truth for their lives, and share that with each other. The church doesn't just teach the Bible, it applies the Bible in unique and irreplaceable ways.

The church is not for the righteous. Like any community, the church isn't perfect. It's imperfect, made of imperfect people, who meet together that they might grow out of their imperfections, because "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17)." It's been said that the church is a "hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints."

Indeed, it's a hospital for those sick of who they are, seeking to know who they're meant to be. And the medicine? The Gospel.