Thursday, September 17, 2009
A Disclaimer
For everyone out there that thinks this blog is going to be "solochristblogo", only Christian blogs, I am sorry to disappoint you. I will from time to time post aspects of my own life, work from my college writing class, and also a touch of old fashioned whimsy thrown in for good measure. These will accompany my posts on the state of my Christian walk. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy.
A Summer Highlight
Well, here we have it folks, another summer heralded in (as it is every year) and now it is just another faded memory. This year marked the beginning of my second year in the Maryland Army National Guard 229th Army Band. Being a member of the 229th Army Band meant the busyness was upon me. Memorial Day, my first with the 229th was a memorable one. You see, we honor the fallen every year at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. As we boarded the bus from the Parkville armory, the excitement began to heighten. For this soldier, Memorial Day is what it is all about, to honor the ones' who gave "the last measure of devotion" as Lincoln so eloquently states in the Gettysburg address, so we can enjoy our freedoms. Whether making the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield, or just passing on as a victim of father time, these veterans gave to us.
I was chosen to honor our dead by sounding taps. Twenty-four notes, a chilling melody, that stir the emotions of almost all who hear. For some, it brings closure. For others, awe or reverence, and still, for some tears. As for me, I choose to reflect and it forces me to do something we all need to do more of and that is remember. What an honor it was to stand amongst the hero's of war in their final resting place. The field felt silent and cold as I sounded the call, so silent you could hear a mother's cry, the faint weeping of a young soldier;s widow as she stays strong for the children. War has a cruel, calculated way of taking these men and women too soon from the prime of their lives.
Sounding the call is not only my duty, but the highest honor I could ever receive as a soldier. My summer highlight came early this year, but it is one that will stick with me for the rest of my life. I can look back on this event and know with assurance that those soldiers received a true soldier's farewell.
I was chosen to honor our dead by sounding taps. Twenty-four notes, a chilling melody, that stir the emotions of almost all who hear. For some, it brings closure. For others, awe or reverence, and still, for some tears. As for me, I choose to reflect and it forces me to do something we all need to do more of and that is remember. What an honor it was to stand amongst the hero's of war in their final resting place. The field felt silent and cold as I sounded the call, so silent you could hear a mother's cry, the faint weeping of a young soldier;s widow as she stays strong for the children. War has a cruel, calculated way of taking these men and women too soon from the prime of their lives.
Sounding the call is not only my duty, but the highest honor I could ever receive as a soldier. My summer highlight came early this year, but it is one that will stick with me for the rest of my life. I can look back on this event and know with assurance that those soldiers received a true soldier's farewell.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Who is Christ to you?
I began thinking about the nature of blogging and how everyone jumps on the bandwagon, me included. I started to wonder, are we really furthering the Kingdom of God this way, or is this just another attempt for us as Men (ladies who read this please know I used that term as in mankind) to spread our own personal agendas. Now, don't get me wrong, I do feel like there are some really thought provoking topics that appear on here, and I really enjoy them for the most part. Even this post sounds like I am pushing my own personal agenda, but I am really concerned with us as Christians putting questionable material out for the public to feast on. I know folks who simply blog to update family members, I know people who just say what is on their mind, people who just get on here and respond, and folks who really pushing the limits. I know I didn't cover every situation, but hey that is what happens sometimes. I am a Christian, sometimes a very much struggling one at that. As most of you are aware, I grew up Catholic and have since moved on to a home fellowship. Now, my wife and I along with our children have bounced around to a few churches before settling in on Imago Dei. I think I may have rabbit trailed a bit from what I origionally came on here to discuss.
I understand we have our own viewpoints and opinions on what Christianity is and how it has affected our lives and that is great because we all need a starting point from which to grow. We truly need to be careful as to what information we put out there, especially under the title of Christian. People who know Christ and also people who do not know HIM. We need to be very careful with the later group. These folks may not be grounded in the Word, and if we give them any false information, or even questionable information then there will be big time problems arising. That makes it so much more crucial to keep ourselves in the Word as much as we can be. I am starting to see Jesus slowly revealing himself to me in the Gospel of Matthew. The writer is painting a picture of the Lord as being from the line of the great king, David. This is such a powerful Gospel and one that has really made me think and rethink who Jesus truly was then and is today....the Messiah. So I pose the title question to you..........Who is Christ to you?
Who is Christ to me? Well, He is someone I am trying to get to know. I actually think I can not even begin to give that an answer. Every day it changes and today is no exception. I would have to say, He is the only one who will be an advocate for me. Jesus not only is my Lord and Savior but He is also the one who knows my heart more than anyone. As I get further along in my faith walk (I think here recently I have wandered off the path), I begin to see that Jesus came to us in many different ways. While still retaining His divinity and Lordship. Jesus WAS a human being, He was also GOD. Too often our Lord is put into this kind of box like a genie in a lamp waiting for us to rub it when we need Him in a pinch. Frankly, I am so fed up with this mindset that we only need call on Jesus if we are in a tight squeeze, or if we have nobody better to rely on. This is a sad state of affairs we have gotten ourselves into, and it needs to stop. I for one want to make Christ the central figure in my life and the life of my family. I want to depend on Him for everything. I want to make Christ my Lord again.
Many of you know that I recently spent some time in New Mexico on a military assignment. I was away from my loved ones, but I learned that the only way I was going to make it out there was by leaning on the Lord for guidance. I was able to spend time reading the Scriptures every night, even if I had to put my flashlight on after lights out. Since I have been home though, my devotion to the Word, and to praying has slowly drifted off like a faint memory. I for one want that hunger back, the drive and passion not only to read God's Word, but to re-establish my relationship with Him. "And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" Acts 2:21.
I have been reading a book recently by Mark Driscoll called "Vintage Jesus". I have really been taken by this book. I won't give any of it away, but I will leave you with a Scripture that he quoted in his book. "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are,yet without sin" Hebrews 4:15. Trust in Jesus. He came to earth as a human to experience real human conditions, as we do every day, so that he could take the burden from us. He died so we could live.
I understand we have our own viewpoints and opinions on what Christianity is and how it has affected our lives and that is great because we all need a starting point from which to grow. We truly need to be careful as to what information we put out there, especially under the title of Christian. People who know Christ and also people who do not know HIM. We need to be very careful with the later group. These folks may not be grounded in the Word, and if we give them any false information, or even questionable information then there will be big time problems arising. That makes it so much more crucial to keep ourselves in the Word as much as we can be. I am starting to see Jesus slowly revealing himself to me in the Gospel of Matthew. The writer is painting a picture of the Lord as being from the line of the great king, David. This is such a powerful Gospel and one that has really made me think and rethink who Jesus truly was then and is today....the Messiah. So I pose the title question to you..........Who is Christ to you?
Who is Christ to me? Well, He is someone I am trying to get to know. I actually think I can not even begin to give that an answer. Every day it changes and today is no exception. I would have to say, He is the only one who will be an advocate for me. Jesus not only is my Lord and Savior but He is also the one who knows my heart more than anyone. As I get further along in my faith walk (I think here recently I have wandered off the path), I begin to see that Jesus came to us in many different ways. While still retaining His divinity and Lordship. Jesus WAS a human being, He was also GOD. Too often our Lord is put into this kind of box like a genie in a lamp waiting for us to rub it when we need Him in a pinch. Frankly, I am so fed up with this mindset that we only need call on Jesus if we are in a tight squeeze, or if we have nobody better to rely on. This is a sad state of affairs we have gotten ourselves into, and it needs to stop. I for one want to make Christ the central figure in my life and the life of my family. I want to depend on Him for everything. I want to make Christ my Lord again.
Many of you know that I recently spent some time in New Mexico on a military assignment. I was away from my loved ones, but I learned that the only way I was going to make it out there was by leaning on the Lord for guidance. I was able to spend time reading the Scriptures every night, even if I had to put my flashlight on after lights out. Since I have been home though, my devotion to the Word, and to praying has slowly drifted off like a faint memory. I for one want that hunger back, the drive and passion not only to read God's Word, but to re-establish my relationship with Him. "And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" Acts 2:21.
I have been reading a book recently by Mark Driscoll called "Vintage Jesus". I have really been taken by this book. I won't give any of it away, but I will leave you with a Scripture that he quoted in his book. "For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are,yet without sin" Hebrews 4:15. Trust in Jesus. He came to earth as a human to experience real human conditions, as we do every day, so that he could take the burden from us. He died so we could live.
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