Heaven is for Real

This last Monday, my mother, grandmother, and myself all went to see the movie Heaven is for Real. I had read the book, and I remembered it rather well. Originally I just thought it would be a good time to spend with my mom, and grandma. I had no idea what kind of reaction I would get from the movie. Here's some backstory for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about:

Basically the movie is based on a true story in which this mother, and father have to rush their youngest child to the emergency room. They find out that he has appendicitis. His body is filling up with fluids that shouldn't be in certain parts of his body, and he is close to death. Each of the Burpos take it differently. The mother phones friends to ask them to pray for her son, and her husband (who is a pastor) takes some time by himself to yell at God, and let out his frustrations. That right there has a lesson in it, but it is not the focus of my writing today. Let's just leave it at the idea that both responses are perfectly natural. After these natural responses, something supernatural happens. The boy is cured, and healed. Not only is he healed, but he starts to talk about his trip to heaven, and how he saw Jesus. He also mentions seeing a lot of family members that he has never met before this trip. In fact, there are many that he met that were alive long before he was. Only one of these people had a really strong effect on me. That was his sister. Colton Burpo, who is the boy that went to heaven without dying, has two sisters. One of them is alive, and well. The other was a child that his mother miscarried. The Burpos had not named her, so she had no name in heaven.

My mother knows the stories better than I do, but she had told me how she had had six miscarriages before I was finally born. I am an only child, but I am also the youngest of seven siblings, but I was the only one who got to have a taste of life on this earth, while my siblings got to be in heaven much sooner than I. I asked my mom if she had named any of my siblings. I got two names.

Sarah, and Jill.

Oddly enough, these names haunted me in a very strange way for the whole week. A lot of emotions became wrapped up in those names. Love. Hope. Mourning. I felt love for my siblings, and especially my two sisters Jill, and Sarah. I also felt hope that I will meet them someday in heaven, and get to spend time with my older siblings. The last one is the strangest to me because I mourned for them. I felt sad that they did not get to spend time here. I also felt a little guilt that I had never bothered to ask my mother the names of my siblings before, and that in a way I had dehumanized them. I truly hope they forgive me for that someday. I have had many conversations with my best friend about these things, and she has been a great comfort to me with it. It is my hope that I will meet them someday.

A Man's Job

"Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our own good, in order that we may share in his holiness." - Hebrews 12:9-10

In explanation of the picture, I feel like it relates, and I love Star Wars. My real issue is with the above verse. I get it that I may not be the intended audience, or something, but I have an issue.

As much as it pains me to say, the writer of Hebrews is wrong. "How is he wrong?" you may ask. He is not wrong about how we should submit to God more than our earthly father. He is not wrong in that God disciplines us for our own good. We should, and He does. I have no contention with that.

My issue is with the first sentence. "Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it." For those of you who know me, this sentence is not true for me. I never had a physical, human father that disciplined me. My mother did, and I love her for it. I love that my mom took on the hard job of raising me on her own. I love my mom more than I can say. I love what my mom did, and I would even say she did a good job of raising me.

But, for all the good she did, she could never take the place of that hole that was in my life. My dad was missing, and it was noticeable. It is a man's job to be a father.

As I look back, I see instances where God was there in some way, even though I did not see it at the time. I thank God that He saw it fit to adopt us as His sons and daughters. I take that to heart. That is one truth that has affected me in one of the most profound ways.

I had an earthly father, who did not want me. Did not want anything to do with me in my life, even to discipline me. Even to lead me, and teach me how to be a man. I learned that much later in life, from people who stepped in to do the teaching. It was not their job to do that. They chose to do that. My relationship with God was also a big part of that process too.

God chose to be our Father. God chose me. God chose you. He wants to teach, lead, and love you. Not because He has to, but because He wants to.

There is a generation of children that is growing up without a father. I am one of that generation. One person affected by the choices of one man, not to be a man.

I could sit here, and bash my father all I want, but that won't change a thing. I admit, I've learned a lot that I would not have learned as easily if he had been there. I learned how God is my Father. Without failings. Without fault. I learned how important a father is in a child's life. I learned how I want to be as a father. I learned that even as a father, I want to point my children in the direction of the One who made them. We should not assume that we should keep doing wrong, because there will be some good out of the wrong. As Paul says:

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"

I know that "abandoning your child" is not a typically listed sin, but I believe it a sin all the same. I feel as if my earthly father has sinned against me. He has committed an act that has affected me negatively. Most sins are of the same nature. Yes, I have forgiven him for it, and whether he ever finds that out or not is yet to be seen.

I do not write this, to complain about my circumstance. I think my circumstances have turned out alright. I think I am on a good path. No, my purpose for writing this is something much bigger than myself. I know I am not the only one out there.

I know some great fathers. I'm sure that you know who you are. If you know that you're a great father, keep it up! I love knowing there are great fathers out there.

I would just ask that we try to lower the rates of children that grow up without a father that at least tries. My father did not really try. I know that I will try if I am given the privilege of being a parent someday. I hope I am given that privilege.

If you've made it this far in this post; thank you for reading. Maybe keep this in your prayers. This is an issue that will not fix itself, and it will not be fixed over night.

Jesus Anointed: Lent Challenge

"Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?"
Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven." Luke 7:41-43

Jesus tells this story in light of a sinful woman anointing him. She brought a jar of perfume, cried on His feet and used her own hair to clean his feet. She was also kissing His feet and pouring perfume on them.

She is anointing Him. Anointing is something that happens to kings to declare their kingship. She just does it out of love.

In this particular account, Jesus is at a Pharisees house when this happens. The Pharisee invited Him over for a meal and this woman shows up and does this stuff. The Pharisee is rather surprised that Jesus doesn't make her go away. In response to his thoughts, Jesus tells the story above and elaborates as such.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - as her great love has show. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little."
Then Jesus said to her, "You r sins are forgiven." Luke 7 44-48

Jesus is looking at their actions and their lives here. Jesus knows that Simon has sin in his life but it is not as much as the woman's. Jesus is not looking at the type of sin, instead He sees how forgiven they feel. Simon is relieved whereas the woman is overjoyed. Jesus is saying that sin all weighs the same but some people feel more forgiven. Look back at the first thing I wrote.

"One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both."

That is a very practical picture of what Jesus did on the cross. I did not have the ability or the equity to pay back my debts, just as whoever is reading this does not or did not. Jesus forgave all of our debt Himself. He stepped in on our behalf and paid what we could not pay. He wiped the slate clean. Have peace with that. In fact, to close, I will show you what Jesus said to this woman. I think she got it already but He points it out again to her. I just loved Jesus' compassion for this woman and in all reality, all of us who love Him.

Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke 7:50

Lent Challenge: Times of Doubt

It is day three of the Lent Challenge and I had to do some meditating to see something that God wanted me to see. Let me elaborate a little bit on my thoughts. We read Matthew 13-18 today and here is what I got from it.

I have been a Christian for about three years now. I had a traumatic experience in my life that lead me right into the arms of Jesus. As soon as I found Jesus (or rather He found me,) I took a hold of the message and began being equipped to do the work for the Good News. I was and am all too willing to take up my cross daily in order to follow Him, the One who gave me true and lasting life.

After having been in the church a while, I have noticed some peaks and some valleys in my walk with Christ. Sometimes I am all too willing to go off and do the things that I know He has planned for me. There are times though, that I am not really willing to do much more than get through the day. I am very sad to say that sometimes I have doubted. Not doubt that made me fall away per say, but doubt enough to make me wonder, "What are You doing? Where are You? Who are You?"

It is during these times that my faith grows stronger because God always shows up in the most miraculous ways. For every moment of weakness I had, He showed strength. For every question of, "Where are You?" He said, "Here I Am my son."

I have to say that my Dad is awesome but not out of habit or obligation. Because He is. He always will be. I take comfort with these thoughts in what I read today actually.

We all know the story so I won't repeat it in length here. Jesus makes the disciples go ahead of Him in a boat while He was dismissing a crowd. The disciples go to the other side of the lake in the boat and their thoughts aren't recorded. Jesus decides to show off His authority yet again by walking on water! Not only that but He compels Peter to do the same and guess what? He does!

Then He falls into the water... Gets soaked and most likely was a little embarrassed. I know I would be. Jesus has a question for him though. "You of little faith," He said, "why did you doubt?"

They both climb back into the boat and the winds calm down. Then the people that were in the boat witnessing all of this start to worship Jesus. They say," Truly you are the Son of God."

Keep in mind that these were all disciples of Jesus in the boat.

Beginning in Matthew 16:13,  Jesus begins to ask the disciples what people say about the Son of Man. They answer and Jesus asks who they say He is.

I imagine a pause here before Peter says, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

I don't know if there was a pause or if Peter was just fast at answering. I could see the possibility of a little bit of doubt showing through here. There are many examples of when the disciples doubted Jesus in one way or another. I am not alone in my doubts. Though I have never lived in the physical presence of Jesus, I have valleys just like the ones who did.

God is good. All the time. Even in my doubts. Even in my storms.

Lent Challenge: Do we need anymore signs?

Jesus is a very powerful man. He has control of illness, life, events and so much more.

I am going through a challenge for Lent where I am going to read the whole New Testament over the time that Lent is going on. This is day two and I found something interesting in my reading. It had me asking a question.

Do we really need any more signs?

In Matthew chapters 8-12, Matthew is establishing Jesus' ministry as one of healing and preaching. There are many things seen in these chapters. Jesus heals many people of sicknesses, raises a girl from the dead, calms a storm, restores men possessed by demons, calls Matthew and so much more. It's insane how much Jesus does in these five chapters. I want to look at one instance in chapter 8 though. This is about the faith of a Centurion solider.

Jesus is entering a town called Capernaum for the first time and as soon as He is there, He is stopped by a centurion. Centurions are quite impressive fellows in my opinion. They're strong, smart, and they have cool armor. If you've never seen one, go look up some pictures of them.

For all that though, this centurion comes to Jesus to ask Him to heal his servant. This guy was most likely had compassion for his servant because he says: "my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly." He went to Jesus so he could end his servants suffering. This is only one thing to notice about this interaction though.

Jesus said to him, "Shall I come and heal him?"
The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

This guy had faith in Jesus' authority. He knew Jesus had power and he knew that Jesus had authority to make things happen. Jesus has not even performed many miracles at this point and none in Capernaum, as He was entering it for the first time. It's never said this guy believes in Jesus, but it can be inferred that he might. It turns out Jesus is just as amazed by this guy's faith.

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Jesus is saying here that this centurion has greater faith than many in Israel, which is comprised of the Jews, who are God's chosen people. When He says, "many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob," He is saying that many gentiles will come and take the places of the Jews that would have been there if not for their faith. In chapter 10, Jesus tells His disciples not to go to any towns of the gentiles when they're sent out. He is telling them this so that the Jews will hear of Him first. Jesus was to preach to God's people and then the apostles spoke to the gentiles (by the way I'm grateful that the gentiles got talked to.)  Even though He never sent his apostles to gentiles during His time on earth, they still got sent there later, which fulfills what He said after talking to the centurion. Remember that the centurion had faith so early on.

In chapter 12, which is at the end of the reading for today, some Pharisees are asking a sign from Jesus. At this point, there have been many signs, many healings and many things that would make me want to follow Jesus. The Pharisees; however, still are not convinced. After many signs, they ask for one more and Jesus seems to get a little upset.

Two different requests and two different responses. One out of faith and one out of doubt. One met with joy and the other met with what appears to be frustration.

I for one, don't want to ask Jesus to keep proving Himself when He's already done it, over and over again. I would much rather have faith in what He can do and is doing.

Personally, I would much rather be like the centurion, rather than like a Pharisee that keeps asking for signs.

I would definitely suggest joining in on this, for it has already done me some good.

The One Where Aaron Tries to Use a Car Reference

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12:2

I am pretty confident that most people who have been in the church for any length of time have heard this verse. If it wasn't heard, then it was most likely read. Romans is a fairly well traveled piece of scripture. I myself have been reading Romans and I have been in many studies where we went through Romans. I have had this verse on my mind a lot lately. I've been pulling it apart when I can in order to do this blog post actually.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world," Paul writes. Granted, he did not take the time to bold or underline the "Do not," but I took the liberty of that for him. I feel like this is a step that a lot of us miss in our walk with Christ. I know I have, at times, started to conform. Merriam -Webster has quite a few definitions for the word, conform. Here are a few:

Conform: To be similar to or the same as something.
To obey or agree with something.
To do what other people do or to behave in a way that is accepted by most people

When used as an intransitive verb: To be similar or identical to
To be obedient or compliant.
To act in accordance with prevailing standards or customs.

Chances are that you as a reader know all of these definitions anyway. I found it interesting that this word was used because as far as I can see, there are a lot of meanings to it. Paul is issuing this as a warning to the church in Rome. He is telling them not to conform to the customs of the people around them.

Makes me wonder how well they did with that.

I think I could make a compelling case to say that most Christians, myself included, do conform to the patterns of this world a bit. I feel like, at times, we can fit right in with society. Our tendency to not love those around us can be just as prevalent as society's tendency to do the same. Selfishness can come up in us as well. I know it comes up with me sometimes. Some days, my dependence on my Maker can be as much as a nonbelievers dependence on theirs. Praying for my enemies? Yeah right, my schedule is too full.

It is during these times in my life that I need to stop and pray or something. I am a work in progress though, much like my brothers and sisters are. God is not done with me yet and works in me to this day. In fact, Paul brings it up in the second half of that sentence.

Did you notice what he said to do instead of conforming to the patterns of this world?

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

I love that idea. My mind is being renewed even as I type this. I just love that because, in all honesty, my mind can get so full of the junk that is in this society. Media is full of it. Magazine covers, book covers, movies and so much more. It is everywhere. Here's the deal though. I have found that at times I have tried to get back what was renewed. Sometimes not even consciously.

For those of you who know me, you've most likely seen my car. For those of you who have not seen my car, the dent is pictured below.

This dent is the result of an accident I had with my car. It's not really as bad as it could have been but it is bad enough that people notice it. This is how people have started to notice that it is indeed me in my car.

I hope to get it fixed someday but I'm not sure when that will happen. Imagine, if I got it fixed. In this case, that would mean putting a new fender on my car. Let's say that I get it fixed and within a week of getting it fixed, I go back to the guy who fixed it, requesting that he puts my old fender back on my car.

First of all, that makes no sense right? Why on earth would I do that? It's insane. No one wants a broken fender on their car.

Second of all, the guy has most likely gotten rid of it in that week, so I am out of luck.

I feel like that is a good illustration of what we do when we want those parts back. Those parts of us that we had before. Stop asking for a broken fender. Start living with a renewed mind and renewed self. The self that Jesus died for. He died to bring His kingdom to earth and we are a part of His kingdom on earth. But even the court jester can't truly be a part of that kingdom when they're asking for the old parts of their mind back. The reason I say that is because of the third part of this verse, which is the most important one.

"Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."

I would say that this is almost self explanatory. Through the renewing of the mind, Christians are able to test if something is God's will. That is because through the renewing, Godly thoughts become prevalent. Through Godly thoughts and thoughts of things above, we can "test and approve God's will."

I know this is a lot to think over but don't let it bog you down. I am saying this as a person that has been there and sometimes continues to be there too. My challenge is to myself as well.

Stop asking for the broken fender.

Make a Difference - Live Like Jesus

One thing that is on my mind a lot and actually is the title of this whole blog, is how to live like Jesus.

You see, throughout my new life, my time as a Christian, that is one thing that has became extremely evident to me. In fact, the word Christian means in a proverbial sense, "all that is noble, good and Christ-like." I would say that the last one is the one I would associate the word with. "Christ-like" to me is a tall order. I bet you can sympathize with me. I am only human. I am not Him. Jesus is God and I am merely His creation. Those are the things that some of us think when we think of being Christ-like. You see though, none of that matters. From the very beginning of the Bible, in Genesis, it is seen that are meant to be like our Creator.

Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. - Genesis 1:26-27

There has been many times that I have read over that verse robotically. I have read over it, without seeing the significance. Today though, I say this. If God wanted to create us in His image, sacred, holy and amazing image, then why would we be anything less than like Christ. We say all the time that Jesus was God among us. The scriptures even say it, like the gospel of John says, "The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him." - John 1:9 This is stated again like this, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." - John 1:14.

Full of grace and truth huh? Grace is what God gave us when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. The act dying for the sins of the world, so that we could be renewed and given new life, in Him. Grace is a gift that someone doesn't deserve. I do not have everything figured out. I fail. Guess what? The same grace is available to me when I fail. The same grace is available to me even though I don't have everything figured out.

Truth is exactly that. Truth. The truth about God, the truth about salvation for everyone. Jesus was full of that. Grace and truth.

There is quite a few things that are sought after in our culture today. Money. Power. Respect. Some people would give anything for those things. Honestly, I think that we use them as a filler for what we really want. I've had moments where I have been full of grace and truth. Those moments came from the Spirit of God working through me. The crazy thing is, those moments that I felt that were some of the best moments of my life. The moments I felt most alive are when I was full of the Spirit and full of grace and truth. I would say that most people who want money, power or respect really want the Spirit and want to be Christ-like.

Personally, my biggest thing was love. A father's love. Something I never ever had. I wanted a dad to love me. Let me say this, my Dad loves me, very much. He's your Father too and He loves you so much that He was willing to die for you. Despite all of the things we've done. He died for us. Kids like to emulate their dad. I want to emulate mine.

Have a great rest of the week.