The Beginning of the End of Hope

 

  Hope is a tunnel, a means to an end. It is the dark that makes the distant light shine all the brighter. Those of us who are living on this earth as believers are looking to the end of hope. The day when all our dreams are realized and the figment becomes a reality. When the tunnel is ended and we stand in the sun.

  Christ came to earth and found His people deep in the dark of hope. And with His life, death, and resurrection, Christ brought the beginning of the end of hope. Before Christ came, the people of Israel were looking for a Messiah. They wanted a King who would save them from the oppression they suffered under the hands of the Roman government. Christ did free His people from oppression, but not the in way they expected.

  The people of Israel were looking for a physical kingdom and a temporal king. Christ offered them something more. Not only did he offer something more to the people if Israel, but also to the people of the whole world. Mankind is sinful, and the wages of sin is death. The only way for man to be saved is if someone was to live a perfect life and then die in their place, taking upon themselves the punishment man deserves. Christ did that. He left heaven and came to this earth as a man. He lived a perfect life and then took the sins of humanity upon Himself and died in their place. Then he rose again, conquering death. Those who repent of their sins and look to Christ's death as their only mean of salvation we be freed from the punishment they deserve. They will be given eternal life.

  Mankind looks for a Savior. Christ is that Savior. He is the realization of the hope of humanity. The salvation Christ has to offers goes beyond this life. It goes on into eternity. And those who are believers will live in heaven without hope, because nothing will be left to hope for. 

Yes I am Judging You, No I am Not Apologizing

  There is, perhaps, no verse in the Bible more abused than Matthew 7:1, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged." When Jesus spoke those words in the Sermon on the Mount, He was saying that we are not to set our personal preferences and convictions up as the barometer for good and evil. As finite men, we will be judged by the infinite and absolute authority of God. We are not to pass on to our fellow man pronouncements of justice based on what we do and do not like.
  Somewhere along the line, the meaning of this verse became misconstrued. In our postmodern American society, we have the idea that we can create our own standard of morality and no one else has the right to impose upon it. And what better way to keep people from telling us we are wrong than spitting a Bible verse at them.
  So many times, people who are not in anyway being judgmental, are written off as such because they are telling the truth. The truth is often offensive. It is more than offensive though, it is loving. If someone sees a person running towards the edge of a cliff, they will probably try and stop the person. It not because they do not like the person's shoes, or because they think running makes them look stupid. They are going to tell the person not to run towards the edge of the cliff because they will probably fall off and die. They are not imposing some arbitrary standard they have, they are trying to make the person see the of the reality of the situation: what they are doing will kill them.
  If someone is doing something wrong, it is going to hurt them. If I tell them what they are doing is wrong, I am not trying to spoil their fun, I am trying to keep them from hurting themselves. There is a certain amount of judgment that does into telling someone that what they are doing is wrong. That judgment does come from knowing right and wrong. But that judgement also comes from being loving. And if being loving means being perceived as judgmental, then I am not going to apologize for judging someone any more than I would apologize for loving them.

What I did this Week: Spring Break

  This past week was spring break. At least it was for my little brothers who are still in school.

  To celebrate we had a Mario Cart marathon on Sunday night.

 

   Monday night, I tried my hand at  deep-dish pizza and it turned out pretty good.

 

  Tuesday night, my little brothers all got haircuts.

 

  Wednesday, we did a super nerdy thing for spring break and went to Half-Price Books and Barnes and Nobles.

 

  Thursday, my Dad and I took pictures of chemical plants on our photo safari and they actually turned out being pretty cool.

 

  Friday, we drove up to Big Sandy to drop one of my brothers off for basic training at ALERT. On the way up there, we stopped a really cool timber museum in Lufkin, TX.

 

 

  After dropping my brother off, the rest of my family and I set off for Denton to see our cousins for a short while. Today, us older cousins took the younger cousins to the park for a picnic.

 

   Close to the park was this really cool empty lot full of chairs bearing the title "Chairy Orchard." And as so many things end up being in my life, it was a great photo op.

 

 

  And finally, us older cousins went out for yogurt before my family went back home at the end of our spring break.

 

And so went my week!





 

Photo Safari

  This evening, my Dad and I went on a little photo safari. We explored a local county park, took pictures of the sun as it sank below the earth's edge, and took pictures of chemical plants. And here are some of the results.

Daylight Savings

  I have never had a good experience with daylight savings time. One year I may learn to go to bed early and then I will better be able to recover from my lost hour of sleep. This year was not that year. When its all said and done though, I am always glad that the sun goes down an hour later and I can enjoy the day that much more. Now that I am through with my spiel, here are some pictures of the great outdoors in the lovely daylight.

What I did this Week: busy, busy

  Sunday morning, I woke up dreading the day because I knew I would be busy all day. And though Sunday was good, it was busy. And so was the rest of the week.

  Sunday afternoon we spent the day outdoors after church was over.

 

   There was also a wedding after church which I shot.

 

  Monday, my little brothers caught a frog.

 

  And I made apple nachos.

 

  On Thursday, I third-wheeled it like a champ.

 



  On Friday, I made banana pudding pie.

 

  And my very dear friend Rachel visited from Chicago.

 

  Then today, I weeded the garden and got to see all the little plants that have sprouted.

 

And so went my week!

aimless.

  Sometimes it feels good to type aimlessly. With no concrete purpose, no idea to get across. Not even to have to chronicle a piece of the past for the sake of the future. A little wandering is not wholly fruitless.
  For those days when there is something important to say, there are days when nothing really needs to be said. Creativity and energy only need to be expelled.