“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

Hebrews 6:19

Stability is a foreign and frightening concept to most of us. While we desperately crave it, we also secretly distrust it. We spend our lives searching for a place where we feel comfortable and safe, and once we find that fortress of comfort, we think we’ll be happy for the rest of our lives. Yet deep in our hearts, I think we all at times suspect that regardless of what we’ve placed our trust in, we’ll one day find ourselves betrayed. Whether we’re talking about a house or car which you fear may be destroyed, or a blissful relationship which you secretly suspect may come crashing to the ground at any moment, the fact is that it’s often a natural human tendency to secretly plan for the worst, even in situations when we believe that we’re genuinely happy.

If you’ve ever lost your home to a natural disaster, or even been threatened by that possibility, it quickly puts into perspective just how fragile our places of refuge can be. When I was in high school, my family’s home was threatened by a massive wildfire which caused unprecedented destruction across Southern California. I distinctly remember school being closed for a week, and the sun being blotted out in the middle of the day by the enormous clouds of ash which filled the sky. At night, my brother and I sat on the roof of our house and watched ominously as the hillsides all around our community were engulfed with giant gashes of brightly-blazing flame. The entire concept of homeowners insurance exists because people realized long ago that your “castle” won’t be much of a castle after a raging fire, earthquake, or hurricane rips through your neighborhood. Planning for failure is a smart way to live your life, as far as our society is concerned.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the frequency with which Christians who are “on fire for God” do stupid and sinful things (I include myself in this indictment, so don’t get defensive). Although most of us claim to have a saving faith in Jesus Christ, and show many outward signs of the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we all find ourselves time and again falling into old habits and traps that have caught us a thousand times. Even highly popular and respected Christian leaders have at times been exposed to grueling ridicule as their private failures revealed them to be no better than the “sinners” whom they seek to tame.

I’ve met a lot of people lately, myself included, who have numerous and recurring problems which they can’t seem to overcome without encountering five more unexpected setbacks. Obviously everyone has issues, and I don’t intend to make light of anyone’s struggles, but I think sometimes we’re all guilty of tolerating and feeling discouraged by our problems, when instead we should be chasing after them with a sledgehammer. Jesus promised every one of us that we would have problems in this life, but as John 16:33 clearly states, we shouldn’t be focusing on those problems at all, but rather on the Savior who overcame ALL the troubles of this world.

Before we begin, please watch this video. (It’s about 10 minutes long)

If you’ve ever read Psalm 139, then you’re familiar with the phrase “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” In one of my previous posts, I concluded by saying that one day in life you will come upon your ultimate test, whatever that may be. I believe that God has given every single one of us a moment in history for us to shine. Our talents and abilities were given to us by God with the intention that we should use them to glorify Him. When you start working in the area of your giftedness, you may discover that you are ten times better than the people around you who work just as hard to do the same job. This is not a coincidence; it is because God delights in you as his child, and he has empowered you to do more through him than you ever could have on your own.

First, for the benefit of my theatre-loving friends, let’s take a moment to sing the song.

Good, now that that’s out of your system, let’s continue…

One of the greatest misconceptions I think all people of faith have is that they’re not doing a “good enough” job in keeping their faith pure. This is one of the primary attacks against Christianity by non-believers; that the church is essentially peddling guilt as a kind of emotional blackmail to get people to do what we want. As much as I hate to admit it, I think this assessment is not totally unfair. While those within the church who actively seek to promote feelings of guilt are few in number, their evil has far-reaching consequences for those of us who try to bridge the gap between the church and the unbelieving world. We as Christians are often forced to answer for the crimes of those either in the present age or in ages long past who have perpetrated evil, manipulative schemes in the name of God. This, frankly, needs to stop. Just like you can’t categorically condemn and harass all German-born citizens for the crimes of Nazism, so too the majority of Christians are innocent of the kind of self-serving manipulation of faith that has earned us all a bad reputation in the eyes of the “forward-thinking” world.

Evangelism is a frightening word, equally so (maybe even more so) for Christians as it is for non-believers. Among non-believers, the word implies one-sided, salesman-like conversations where strangers or acquaintances try to pressure you into coming to their church while being as friendly and irrationally happy as possible. For Christians, the word implies having to talk to someone who will undoubtedly write you off as either a fanatical lunatic or a hyper-judgmental hypocrite, so you naturally come into the conversation as timidly and apologetically as possible, leading to the near-certainty of rejection. Yet our pastors are constantly “encouraging” us to share our faith as openly and as often as possible, though the encouragement often carries with it the unwanted psychological burden of being forced to sacrifice all of your friendships with non-Christians by turning the natural flow of conversation into pure awkwardness. Because these conversations are such a massive cliché by now, it’s become almost impossible to broach the subject, even with people whom you trust and know will most likely still be your friend even if they’re not interested in your church.

Originally hosted by my brother on his blog (before it went off the interwebs), these two posts were my first public attempt at sharing my personal life experiences.