It must be done.

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13, NLT

I forgive you. A phrase I, and othera, sometimes find very hard to say, including others who, like me, call themselves Christians. Which is slightly strange, I think... Aren't Christians supposed to be just that - 'Christ ones'? We, Chrsitains, seem to hold ourselves and other Christians to a higher standard then our unsaved family or friends. We expect the pastor to always be available when we need him, we expect our Christian friends to be always loving and never judgemental.

I know many self-professing Christians who refuse to enter a church because the have been 'hurt in(or by) the church'. Yet, when Jesus was here on earth He told us that 'offenses will come'..

The truth is that we will be hurt by people, regardless of whether they are pastors, family members, people who love us or fellow members of the family of God. It's a completely natural part of living here on earth. If we can understand that, it will help us move on and deal with the hurt and, eventually, lead to forgiveness.

I wouldn't call myself an expert on forgiveness, but I'm fairly experienced in hurt. Hurt I've been through has caused my to question my faith. The betrayal of trust has hurt me badly, but had I not forgiven and walked on, I probably be very unlike the person I am today.

We hear the phrase forgive and forget thrown around very carelessly these days, which I would like to argue again. Forgive, yes, but don't forget. Don't ignore. Ignoring is the opposite of forgiving. The key is forgiveness is remembering. Even when we were still locked in our own sin (which hurt God), He loved us and forgave us. His expectation of us is that we will go and do the same. We have no right to harbour unforgiveness to others. We need to accept that hurt will come, and then act swiftly to show forgiveness. God doesn't say 'if' we can forgive, He says we 'must' forgive. It is then that we can heal and move forward.

Such an interesting topic, such little time to write about it... More to come, I promise.

Truth in a Chem Question.

The world truth can sometimes, especially with people of this day and age, cause folks to bristle, tense up, or plug their ears. Hearing the word truth might make you wonder what is going to say next. Is there one truth, or, like in french class, is there many exceptions to a general rule? Are people who claim there is only one truth nothing but an intolerable and judgemental know-it-all?

I don't think it's a stretch to say that it can be difficult for someone to state that there is is one truth. In fact, I know that I myself have problems stating things in absolutes, and commonly throw in words like 'sometimes' or 'maybe', just so people don't interpret me as cocky. And it can definitely be hard for someone to say that there is an 'absolute truth that can be found and known' without being labeled as intolerant. Especially when it comes to religion. It's not generally accepted to say that Jesus us the only way to life everlasting.

But, just cause it's not accepted doesn't mean I'm going to stop from doing it.

I believe that Jesus is truth.

Some may call me judgemental, or intolerant. Some of my close friends may even question way I have the right no say that. And I definitely know some people would look down on me for trying to shove it down peoples throats.

But herein lies my argument with those arguments: I don't think you have to be judgemental or rude or intolerant or force anything on anyone to believe in the absolute truth. The big part of the problem is that there are many Christians, myself sometimes included, who give Christians a bad rap. Call themselves Christians and then don't act Christ-like at all.

Judgemental Christians give me a headache, for sure. But just because some Christians have shoved truth down others throats doesn't mean that Christianity is wrong. The truth in a faith should not be measured by the goodness of it's followers, for ALL humans are at some times hypocritical and at all times imperfect, but instead a faith should be measure by the Person behind the faith.

I believe there is truth. Absolute truth that can be found and claimed. Truth that can be the foundation for life and peace. I believe that Jesus was real, that He was who He claimed to be, that He died for our sins and that through believing in Him, and not through any religion, we can have eternal life. It is that truth that guides my life.

Now, I know this could cause some people to raise their eyebrows. Some of my friends would not be pleased I just claimed to know the truth about getting to Heaven. Not only that, but I didn't include any other religions, practiced by good people. What about not shoving your truth down people throats, some may ask. What about personal freedom to believe what you want? Isn't it rude to share your truth as if it were absolute, the only real truth?

Now, see here, I do believe quite strongly in not shoving beliefs down anyones throat. I don't think rudeness is okay in any situation, and condescending tones are not welcome either. I do not believe that ANYTHING is going to be furthered through rude and judgemental behaviour. As for personal beliefs, I do think people should believe what they want, and be allowed to find truth for themselves.

I am not trying to force anyone to accept my truth, only sharing how I have found truth and how it has changed my life, how it has become my life.

On a bit of a side note... What type of person would I be if I felt so passionately about something so important but I didn't share it? If I believe I have found something that is amazing and worth living for, then I definitely will want to share it.

I have found that having Jesus in my life brought me a deep joy and a sense of hope. And I want to share what I've found. And, really, I think that's natural.

Like, what if, I was sitting in chem class, and we were working through a list of exothermic reaction calculations. Time and time again, each student tries to answer the particularly hard questions, but cannot seem to come up with the correct number. There are just too many areas to go wrong... Writing out the equation, balancing it, entering into the calculator... Eventually, people just stick with getting close to the same answer... Then suddenly, I find out why I've been struggling so much, and I am able to get the correct answers.

What if I kept the truth to solving the questions a secret? I could tell myself that they are enjoying the process of finding the answer... I would hate to take away their source of enjoyment, I might reason. They're fine with the fact that they're only almost getting the answer, so why take that away from them? And I'm just sitting there, content with knowing I'm going to get 100% on my homework... What kind of person would I be if I didn't at least try to share? I should long for people to realize what I have, to experience the truth.

Granted, some of them might now. They might be perfectly happy trying again and again, erasing their mistakes and starting over. That would be their choice, and I'd respect that.

What I mean to say is...

Simply sharing what I believe and what has transformed my life, and opening up a discussion, is not being intolerant, no matter what some people may try to tell me.

I like that about my faith. The peace and hope I have in my life because of Jesus is simply too amazing to keep to myself. The freedom from guilt and shame, the joy even in struggles and the hope that comes from knowing this world is not the end is so beautiful and life-altering that I don't want to keep from sharing it.

Does that make me intolerant? I don't think so. In fact, I would hope that other people who believe so strongly in their faith would also want to share. I have friends who are agnostic, Jewish, and many who share similar beliefs to those I have. A just because I believe that Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the way to salvation and everlasting life doesn't mean I don't find value and worth in people who don't believe that.

It's just that I have decided to believe Jesus when He says that it is through Him alone that we are saved. It is not my choice to be exclusive. But it is my choice to believe what God says. And I personally do not believe in the idea of a personal truth. It just doesn't seem logical that there can be many truths, simply because of our definition of truth.

Truth is truth.

Is is not relative. There is no truth for you, and truth for me. Truth is absolute.

In our world, yellow mixed with blue makes green. That's the truth, no way around it. If you believe that yellow and blue make red, you would be mistaken, no matter how firmly you believe that. You don't have to like that yellow and blue make green, but they do. You don't even have to believe it, but your not believing doesn't make it not true.

Like it or not, it does work that way

Either Jesus is real, and He died on the cross and rose again as the only way to get to Heaven, for everyone in the world, or He did not. And that is what I believe.

To be honest, I don't see how personal truth has any place here. In fact, I will even go so far as to say there is no such thing. In my opinion, personal truth is an oxymoron. I do not believe there are many ways to Heaven. Some people may think there are, but simply thinking that does not make it truth. And you don't have to believe that. Truth does not hinge on anything, it is pure... Truth. You don't have to believe that Jesus offers the only path to live after we die, but simply because some may choose not to believe doesn't mean it's not true, just as my believing doesn't make it true. The choice to not believe in something has no power in and of itself: disbelief in something can't make it true.

You might believe, deep in your heart, that Jesus' death on the cross is not the only means of salvation beyond this earth. But the fact of the matter is, Jesus Himself claims to be the only way, and I believe Him. Either He is or He isn't. Either He can save everyone, or He can save no one. I firmly believe there is no room to believe that He is for me, but not for you.

So, I will try to be bold yet kind as I share, understanding and open yet rooted and unshakable as to what I believe the truth is. For me to keep the truth I have to myself would be selfish. While not shoving it down anyones throat, I want to open a dialogue about what I believe. And I hope to find some good conversations.

Photography

Focus can drastically change a picture.

The power a photographer has to place one part of a photograph in focus and leave another part dramatically blurred is impressive. The entire look of an image, and the accompanying emotion that is therefore aroused, can shift simply based on what the photographer chooses to focus on when looking through the viewfinder of the camera.

There are almost endless ways a photographer could choose to capture a scene, with the one main limitation being that the real-life scene does not change. Having a background (or foreground) fade into a blur is a deliberate choice by the photographer, depending on the look they are going for.

You may have guessed by now that this post is not actually about photography. I don’t pretend to be an expert on photography, although I do know some basics, such as the ‘rule of thirds’, setting your aperture and utilizing natural lighting. But, that’s aside the point. One thing I do have a fair amount of experience in is Life, and Life as a walk of faith.

Just like how choosing the focus point for a picture sets the mood for a photograph, what and who I choose to focus on in my life will always affect the mood for my emotional well being.

Imagine that. The Word of God seems to be true once again. "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." Proverbs 29:25

As an example, the past year has been a time of great struggle as well as vast amounts of healing. However, in the few months or so, things seemed to go downhill for me, and I found myself at the bottom of a dark pit...

My focus was off.

It started with a simple mistake that all of us make now and then. I, unfortunately, tend to do it a lot, but thankfully, God has placed people in my life to hold me accountable... Instead of focusing on what was going well, and how blessed my life is, I did the opposite. I started to really highlight all the bad in my life, and those bad sports became the focus of my attention. Sadly, by choosing to see in crystal clear the things that got me down, I only made matters worse.

In essence, it was a real life example the Pygmalion effect (which I learned about when reading a book a few years back). A self-fulfilling prophesy, in other words. The more I chose to focus on my life struggles, the more struggles were all I could see. The fact that I was obsessing about these struggles made me feel like I was in a hopeless situation, where bad would just follow bad. The thoughts tainted my mind, and it started to change the way I thought about myself.

What a sad, miserable way to life.

And, while I have by no means arrived, my growth curve during the few weeks has been steep. I can look back with a tiny bit of hindsight and see that choosing to focus on only what was going badly in my life actually made the experience drastically less happy, and a lot harder.

How ironic. How misguided. How backwards.

A ginormous lesson that God has been trying to teach me over the course of the past year (and past week) relates to my focus. What an amazing difference it has made already in my life to choose to set my sights only on what is going to uplift me as I navigate through life.

Indeed, it "is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Psalm 118:8
How much more amazing in my life, simply when I choose to see those amazing things clearly, not allowing them to be muddled by me focusing on what areas of that are still a bit off. I think of my loved ones, and generally try to think of the for their best intentions and not remembered for their worst moments. Why wouldn't I do the same for my life?

But don't take my word for it. In the Bible, Paul exhorts the believers in Philippi by saying, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." Philippians 4:8

What a wonderful mantra I would do well to continue to remember. Taking the high road will not always be easy for me. I fail to keep my focus where it should be more times than I'd like to recount here.

But, even in just a few days of really trying to stay positive, between what I have experienced and what others have told me, I can attest to the fact that striving to have our focus in the right place is most certainly worth it.

Matthew 11:28

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

I just want to cry tonight. In fact, that is what I have been doing.

It's been a long few months with many ups and downs... I've had my share of health issues, relational complications, scary situations... Today, I have hit the wall. After some more health stuff as risen... I just feel like I want to scream.

I don't want to deal with this. I'm scared, and it's hard not to worry and trust that God is in control. I just want to curl up in bed and not do anything... Either that, or totally disregard everything my doctors or loved ones have told me and do something that the 'silly me' would do (such as go for a run to Sidney just to get some ice cream).

I don't like this. I don't feel like 'me' right now. I feel like I have no choice.

But enough of that. I was planning on writing a post on how frustrated I am, how tired of the chaos I am, but, then I stumbled across something...

I'm sure everyone has heard of fmylife.com... I enjoyed them for awhile, but I always found myself trying to 'one-up' the post-ers. I'd think to myself 'Oh, so you think your life sucks because of that, well try this ____'. That was not a good breeding ground for positive thoughts. Next, through some random link clicking, I found MyLifeIsAverage. I thought this site was the best... Highlights of 'normal days' from 'normal people'. They made me (and my sister) laugh. A lot. But, tonight, I think I found something even better...

After reading some posts on MLIA, I came across a link to another site... MyLifeIsG THIS is the site for me. As soon as I started reading it, my whole frame of mind changed. I had been planning a blog post to rant and say how much my life sucks, but, this site reminded me that I am so so blessed.

Sure, sometimes life gets me down (and I'm sure I'll be regretting posting this by tomorrow, when I'm exhausted after no sleep and complaining to anyone and everyone who reads text messages or signs onto chat), but I have some freaking amazing things in my life that are there whether life is rough or not.

Tonight was my first night providing art for the Place, and my piece received many compliments. I am finally coming to relize a few things about (my) art... A big one being that I have a talent for art. I know, I should've realized this awhile ago, but... I haven't. But I'm finally beginning to accept that I am a good artists... Thanks to everyone who has told me that over the years. It's finally started to sink in.

I'm blessed with a good mind. Seriously. I don't mean to brag, but, I do think I am a fairly smart person. And geeze, I live in an amazing part of the world, and I've received a great education that has helped form this brain! Even the things I hate (homework, tests, etc) I should be thankful for...

Finally (but this list is definitely not ALL of my blessings), I have a freaking sweet Family. And not just immediate family, but my friends, church community, school teachers...

My Life is Good.

you don't need the strength of Atlas, to hold up your world

I'm usually okay with the cliche, overused phrases that everyone says to each other. These things come up in many situations, but I most commonly hear them when someone is trying to comfort another. I know that it is hard to express what we are feeling, and so sometimes, it is just easier to say something cliche. It's the thought or meaning that counts, right?

But there has been one phrase lately that has really troubled me, and I'm to a point now where I think I just may correct anyone I hear say it.
I have frequently heard the words, "God won't give you more than you can handle." Though it is nice to think that way, I don't believe that the Bible says that. And I know from my experience, though the phrase sounds comforting at first, it can lead to many negative thoughts.

The quote is a poor paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 10:13, which is more accurately paraphrased as, "God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to escape." (Which, unless I'm mistaken, I think is exactly what the verse says.. Too bad we like to but things into our own words.)

The cliche version of the verse changes the meaning of 'temptation' to burden, and, for me at least, that has both positive and negative sides to it... On the positive side, which we generally see in the short term, it means that we can get through anything, because God is with us. On the negative side, which I generally start to see once things start to get harder, and the 'poop' hits the fan... It sounds like God gives us our struggles, kinda hands them to us in rations. 'Here you go, you can handle this, and you can handle this...'

I guess I had heard that misquote one too many times when I was talking young boy who had just lost his older sister. Through the tears, the young boy was talking about what he was struggling with, sounding much more mature than any 12 year old should--"People tell me that God won't give me more than I can handle, but I don't know…" his voice trailing, "having my dad in jail, [my step-dad] die 3 years ago, and now Liz gone... It feels like more than I can bear on my own."

That squeezed my heart. The one little phrase 'God will not give you more than you can handle' can really do I number on people. I know it has for me, and now I see this young boy struggling with the same thing I did. I always would think, 'Why is God even giving me struggles in the first place? If He's all-powerful and all-knowing, can't he find another way to teach me to be strong? Why'd He have to choose this way?!

Jesus jumped all over the preachers of his day for burdening people with loads they could not carry themselves. I find this to be one of the worst misquotes/misinterpretations of Scripture because God doesn't give us our "share of calamities." He doesn't say, 'Okay, you need to learn how to be stronger, so I'm going to take away your big sister.' Much of what we are "given" is either put upon us by others or self-acquired. As I've said before, this is a broken world. This is not what God wanted for us. God doesn't give us struggles, He feels the pain along with us.

There was no way to make this boys situation better. There was no way for me to come up with a happy ending for this post, saying "Instead of saying 'this', say 'THIS'." Sometimes there are no words to share with someone to make them feel better. Sometimes you have to resort to those catch-phrased, overused words. But, what you are saying has meaning behind it, and that's what matters. If you're sorry for someones pain, say it. Or if you believe they'll make it through a tough time, than you can say that too. And, in my opinion, if there are no words, a hug is a great way of letting someone know you're there.

3-in-1

I've been making an efort to read my bible/pray/take some quite time every morning... In my quiet time this morning I read John 7. This chapter begins with Jesus' brother's telling Him that He should go to Judea so that His disciples could see the miracles that He was doing because "no one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret" (vs. 4). Verse 5 tells us that at this time Jesus' brother's didn't believe in Him.

I can sense a bit of sarcasm in Jesus' brothers voice as they spoke to Him: "Come on Jesus, you want to be popular, right? You want everyone to follow you, right? You should go to the biggest event in town and show your stuff off. This is your opportunity Jesus. Show the crowds what you got!" They figured this was the best time for Jesus to show Himself off. Of course, Jesus knows their hearts and tells them it was not the right time.

I love Jesus' response in verse 6. Jesus says: "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. " (emphasis added by me) Ouch! Jesus' brothers didn't get it (or more specifically, they didn't get Jesus). As I was reflecting on this, it made me think: How often am I like Jesus' brothers? How often do I think I know what God's timing is? How often do I rush into things because the time seems right? How often does Jesus need to rebuke me and say: "The right time has not yet come"? How often do I get mad at God for not acting at the right time?

I want to be sensitive to God's leading and I want to follow His timing. I am learning that in order to do this I need to be in constant communion with God, I need to be aware of His constant presence with me and I need to be listening for His still small voice. How do you stay sensitive to God's leading so that you can follow His timing?

* * *

Over the last year I have learned a LOT about changes that I have needed to make in my life. I have learned about how to be a better communicator, how to be a better listener, how to handle conflict in healthier ways, how to differentiate myself and a whole host of other good things. Lots of these things are a constant learning process, which can always be improved upon...

Learning about these things has been good BUT real change isn't going to happen unless I actually put these things into practice, right? A big part of putting these things into practice is first dealing with my thought life (specifically faulty thoughts and beliefs). Jud Wilhite in his book "Eyes Wide Open" says: "Change won't last until we take control of our thought life and replace destructive thoughts with biblical ones" (pg. 125). I have found this to be absolutely true in my life, in many shapes and forms.

Before I can I truly bring about real change in my life I have to first deal with the faulty beliefs/thoughts that have led to my unhealthy patterns/ways of doing things. The Bible has a lot to say about this. Romans 12:2 says: "Do not conform any longer 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." Transformation starts in the mind, with a different way of thinking. To bring about this transformation of the mind we must actively take control of our thoughts today. We can't be passive or lazy about them. This involves hard work, a conscious effort to change how we think (I like doing things consciously, making decesions and thinking about what we are doing.)

A big part in overcoming faulty and destructive thoughts is being able to recognize them. The way we do this is by taking our thoughts and comparing them to the truth (God's word). Jesus told us that the truth will set us free... We have to remember what God says about us. When I hear a voice in my head saying that I am not worthy and God doesn't care about me, I counter that by speaking God's Word to myself. I have to remind myself of passages that override the faulty thoughts that play in my mind. Passages like Romans 8:1-2 which says "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." and Romans 8:38-39 which says: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." In doing this I let God’s word establish what is true and what is not true for me.

* * *

Speaking of truth...

I just finished reading Angry Conversations with God, a book I would highly recommend to anyone... This book has got me thinking. How do I think of God? What are my misconceptions about the 'person' God is?

I think my 'god' is a cliche speaking, patting on the head, "you're so pitiful I'll pretend to love you so that the world seems better" kind of god. Which is not true at all, but the unfortunate reality of how my mind imagines God to be...

The first step in changing that idea, though, is realizing that it's just that. An idea. Not reality.
What's your god like?