Bike Ride

So last night turned out to be a very adventurous night. Brandon wanted to get my bike fixed up because I left it in the snow last season and the chain was all rusted up. We put a new chain on it and then decided to take it for a test ride. So Justin, Brandon and myself went down to the river and then biked along the river to University and then took the longest uphill climb I have ever done in my life and I haven't been in shape since freshmen year of college. It was really difficult and my lungs were screaming at me to stop, but I kept on pushing. By the time I got back to the house, I was ready to collapse.

This little experience gave me the most restful nights sleep I think that I have had in a long time. Not to make a cheesy parallel, but this bike ride was a lot like my faith the past couple days. The only difference is that once I got back "in shape," I wasn't ready to collapse, I was ready to run a marathon. I was ready to stand up for my beliefs. Against all odds. It makes me think that every once in a while it's okay to be a little "out of shape" with faith, because if you aren't, we can become to be nostalgic. We begin to make it routine and not at all extravagant like it is.

Tonight I was supposed to go on a leisurely bike ride with a friend, but sky is looking dark and rain is beginning to pour. Maybe we should go riding anyways, just like faith, we shouldn't throw down the towel when it gets dark and glim. Okay, I'm done with the cheesy parallels.

Off to another day, oh, and ironically the verse that God threw at my face this morning was Isaiah 40:31: "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will sore on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, walk and not faint." Maybe the next time I get on my bike to go for a ride, God will give me the strength to not grow weary; however, I might still come up winded...

New Look - New Life

As some of my followers may have noticed, I recently made a change to the look and feel of my blog. This is in effort to rejuvenate and spice up something that was old and now will be new. :)

I have spent the last several weeks rather distant from God. I didn't go to church, I didn't read much of the Bible, I tried to find God without that. I tried to notice God in the everyday parts of my life. Little to my surprise, I failed at that. The truth is, I couldn't have found God if I wouldn't of had the mindset (or the heartset) to see Him. I am not saying that we as Christians have to make an effort to find God because God found us. But I am saying that we must have the appropriate mindset to receive God.

The reason I did not find God is that I was not open to Him. I didn't think that I needed Him because I already knew everything about what it means to be a Christian. Truth is, I was wrong. I will always be wrong. The odd thing is that while I was distant from God, I also became distant from my relationship with my girlfriend, Kristi. She is at camp this summer and I talk to her on the phone every once in a while and when I am apart from God, I can't help but be cynical about the relationship that I have with her.

This is the old Adam, the separation from God. The sinfulness that eats away at relationships in the world today. The new life the newness that is found in the power of the Holy Spirit through the sufferings death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is what I want to spend my time on. Yesterday I went to church for the first time in three weeks and actually got something out of it. I got home and immediately felt the longing desire to open my Bible. This desire that I have missed for so long...

I began to think back to the times that I would find myself drawn to scripture and the study of God's grace for me. For all of mankind. This grace is the opportunity for all of mankind to start a new life. God forgets all of our sins the moment we commit them and this gives us the merciful chance to start over. How can I keep from proclaiming this with my every word and deed? My sin lately has been more of what I have failed to do than what I have done.

I am in an amazing relationship with the love of my life and when I say this you may be thinking God, but I am talking about Kristi. It is very ironic that God is also the love of my life and I see Him through her. But lately I have been so ravished by her that I have forgotten how great God is for giving her to me in the first place!

I have been so excited and can't even help but talk about my relationship with Kristi, why can't I be equally and more excited to talk about my relationship with Christ? Isn't God so much more than one human? Then I realized that the relationship that I have with God is reflective of the relationship I have with Kristi.

This is a bit of a tangent, but here is the imagery that I am looking at:



Bear with me, it is a diagram made from paint. I am not much of an artist but let me explain this the best that I can. This diagram was shown to me as a demonstration of a Christ-centered relationship. What happens is God "shines" His love down through Christ and it splits into two fragments much like a prism. Both Kristi and I receive God's love through Christ and Kristi and I are mirrors in this demonstration. God's love reflects off of us onto one another. Then the love of God reflects back onto Himself as we give all glory back to Him.

This is an incredible tangent, but I can make the connection to a new life because I cannot on my own accord accomplish this idea of a Christ-centered relationship. Not in the place that I was in, the old Adam cannot do this. Therefore, I have started a habit of dying to my old self every day through the words of the Lord's Prayer and contemplative silence to begin my day. This is the first day of that and all of my cynical thoughts of the love that Kristi has for me and the horrible self-deprecating doubts of messing things up with the perfect relationship have disappeared. All that I am left with is the love that God has shown to me. I don't deserve it in the least but that doesn't mean that I should question it. I should cherish it with every action.

Book

Well, for the next couple days I will be without internet so what a better time to begin to write the book I have always wanted to write? I am not quite sure what the plot will be but I plan on it being an action/adventure type of book.

Be sure to look for my book on the shelves 10 years from now because I am not a very consistent writer!