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Hello to you who just stumbled across my blog, are you enjoying life? I always say “in a perfect world…this would happen.” Like in a perfect world Allen Iverson’s career would be resurrected and he and Dikembe Mutombo would dominate the NBA again. Or in a perfect world I could hog-tie my professors when they tell me I have to write a capstone paper for their class. There are many situations in my life that call for my version of the perfect world-you feel me? Then things would be all good, right? Anyway, let me give you a quick update on the happenings in my imperfect, but manageable world:

Jesus is pursuing me: to someone who doesn’t have a relationship with God this’ll make me sound like a crazy man-but whenever I put down the 20 credits I am taking this semester, the desires for running fame, the friendships with the 26 guys in my hall (11 are freshman!), my future, fears, anxieties, and all that jazz, and I open up to Jesus, he’s been giving me that warm, fuzzy feeling lately. Like when you’re in love with a girl and you find out she’s in love with you, for the first time. That’s what’s been happening in my conversations with Jesus-I’ll explain more later.

Other updates: I miss my family in VT, I am working hard to finish school (I have to take 44 credits in 2 semesters), and I have something to share with you, reader, you today.

My prayer for this blog is that God would direct my words and teach me, so that when you read this you’ll be changed for God’s glory!

Quick question for you to think about for 30 seconds: how do you know someone is passionate about something?

Scripture says that “out of the heart the mouth speaks.” I am a runner and I’ve found that you instantly have a connection with someone else who “is a runner” (there is a difference between someone who runs and someone who “is a runner”). It is exciting to find someone new who is a runner-the conversation quickly becomes what I would call passionate because the glory stories come out and one’s own secret to success surfaces like cream to freshly squeezed milk. Steve Caum from my church in VT is someone who’s always ready for this connection, and I make sure to talk to him after church so we can “feed each other’s insanity.”

 

I’ve always wondered what it would be like to reach the top, be a pro-athlete, be a Steve Prefontaine, hold a world record. Would I have what it takes to be adored by fans, beat every obstacle including my own mind?

A lot of kids have the dream of entering the NFL. It is the pinnacle of this world. College football is just incredible-thousands of athletes push their bodies beyond limits, break bones, play through injuries, and reach with all their might for the first down, and we love it. We want to be them. The bible tells us why. We were created by God to be passionate. He gives us these desires.

I looked through the “Libronix Digital Library System” for every passage of scripture that referenced the word “lukewarm” because it is what the bible defines as the opposite of how we were created. There were many references and I couldn’t really understand the lesson they were teaching. And then I found three parts of God’s Word that brought them all together.

Read on.

A)     Matthew 22:1-14

There is so much to take away from this passage theologically: I am just going to focus on one piece: Matthew 22:4-5. It talks about a king who chose guests for a great feast he had prepared-“the oxen and fattened calf [had] been butchered, and everything [was] ready.” My mom gets so mad when my brothers and I are in an intense video game battle and dinner is getting cold, but we cannot pry ourselves from our own business. She gets furious and sometimes even says, “alright, we’ll eat without you.” It’s a little picture of how God is depicted in this parable. Verse 5 says: “But they paid no attention and went off-one to his field, another to his business.” The end result is tragic: eternal separation from the king.

B)     Joshua 18:3

In Joshua 1:11 God sets aside this beautiful land “flowing with mild and honey” for his chosen people. They had to take it by faith in God. Many obliged and rode out, but others gave into apathy. In Joshua 18:3, Joshua, the leader of his people, cries out to the seven tribes of apathy: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given?” The Hebrew word behind “wait” means “to be slack” (The New Bible Commentary). The tribes had failed to take the land from God by faith (The New Bible Commentary).

C)     Revelation 3:15-17

This is a letter to the church in Laodicea. Again, much can be said about the implications and imagery, but you can research that on your own. Jesus cries out: “I wish you were either hot or cold!” (my paraphrasing). The church settled for the opposite of passion: “lukewarm.” They were half-hearted towards the life of Christianity. They were comfortable, tepid, lacked heart, spirit, and interest in God (Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament). Could they be equated with the people the king called for in Matthew 22? Yes. In fact, later in Revelation 3:20 Jesus says: “Here I am! Hear my voice, listen to my knock and respond with faith. Open the door, take action, and we will sit together in this wonderful feast!” (my paraphrasing).

Christians, are you passionate for the feast Jesus has prepared, or are you passionate only for your own business in the world? Passion for things we do (like jobs, relationships, etc.) are perfect, but does Jesus come first? Do you listen for his knock every day? I want to come in second in every race I compete in. I want Jesus to come in first every time.

Are you not a Christian? Then what are your passions? What if they are fully achieved? What then? Please, read this article posted on CNN on September 8th, 2011. It’s about those in the pinnacle of life: The NFL. http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/09/08/nfl.life.after.the.game/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

I will conclude with what I began with: Jesus is pursuing me. My one suggestion for you Christians is slow down. It is a discipline that is essential for passion. Dine with Jesus every day, just you and him, and his love will be your passion. It will become all you want to talk about.

I give a shout out to my home church PCBC, I hear things are looking up there!

From Joe Carter.