"Righteous. Very Righteous."

I'm a big fan of action movies, especially ones that involve cops, feds, military or really anyone fighting against any kind of bad guys. Call it leftovers from loving cops and robbers or playing with soldiers and Indians in my childhood childhood, but whatever the reason, I love action movies. A movie that recently came to my mind was U.S. Marshals, the sequel to The Fugitive. The movie is about a man, Mark Sheridan played by Wesley Snipes, who is framed for murder and subsequently spends the whole movie trying to clear his name. (SPOILERS ahead, if you haven't seen this movie and have any intention of doing so, maybe don't read this blog) Eventually the man trying to bring him in, Chief Deputy Marshal Sam Gerard played by Tommy Lee Jones, starts to believe his innocence. At the end of the movie, ultimately a mole within the U.S. Marshals is discovered and Gerard helps clear Sheridan's name. In one of the final scenes, on the steps of a courtroom building, the District Attorney says that, "the United States Attorney's Office has decided to drop all charges." A reporter asks Sheridan, "How does it feel to be in from the cold?" After having spent all this time running away, he responds, "Righteous. Very righteous."

I used to think it an odd response... How exactly does one feel righteous? But maybe it's not so odd after all. One way to define righteousness is "free from guilt." Ultimately, that is exactly how Sheridan should have felt. Regardless of whether he committed the crime or not, until his name was cleared, he was treated as if he was guilty. But once the true criminal was brought to light, he was deemed innocent; he was finally free again, out from under the guilt of the law.

I've been reading through Romans lately and Paul talks about this concept of righteousness too. Romans 3:21-26 says: "But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it -- the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

Paul is using some cool words here: Righteousness... Redemption... If he had Powerpoint, one more R word for proper alliteration, and a takeaway "homework assignment" for the week, he could probably be a modern-day pastor. But take a second and think about what Paul is saying. In the same breath that he acknowledges that ALL have sinned, he says that we can have the righteousness of God. Wait, WHAT?! How can a sinner have the righteousness of God? He's saying that God's own righteousness is imputed on us as if it were our own. A sinful man, I can now claim the same moral uprightness characteristic of God Himself... And it's not because of what I've done, neither myself nor the Bible would suggest that, it is because of faith alone in Christ alone. But how?

Redemption. Jesus Christ redeemed me from the power of sin. I was bought back for a price. The price being that He took my sin and became a propitiation on my behalf. That means to satisfy the wrath of God. God had a bit of a sticky situation when it came to resolving this whole sin issue... We screwed up and we broke the relationship with God by sinning, but He loves us more than we can ever imagine and He desired so much to restore that relationship. But He is not only a loving God, but a just God, and His perfect character demanded a penalty for sin. He couldn't just write off the sins and give mankind a cosmic free lunch, for that would not be just. Instead, for a time He passed over the sins (not pardoning them) until He sent Jesus to pay that penalty. And in one fell swoop, God is both just and the justifier.

That is the beauty of the Gospel. It's both complex and simple. We can be redeemed by faith in Jesus and declared righteous before God. We didn't earn it and we didn't deserve it, even though we are all steeped in guilt. Even while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8), Jesus reached out and gave us a way home. And how does it feel to be in from the cold? Righteous... Very righteous!

-Scott

Living Large!

God is not going to move us, change us, or mold us if we live complacently and aren't intently listening to His voice and looking for ways to make a difference.  I am so guilty of being an over-analyzer and thinking way too much into things.  I can give you a million and one reasons of why I SHOULDN'T do something before I'll ever take action.  And I just want to say right now that I'm quitting that life.  I have recently been so AWARE of what God is doing around me and through me, and who he has made me to be.  

I can be stubborn at times.  If I want something, I am really good at fighting hard to get it.  Have you ever prayed for something, and been so sure that God wants you to have something or do something just because it's really what you want??  

 There's this one door in my life that I have been trying so hard to walk through.  I exhausted myself trying to open that one door that I was SO SURE was going to lead me to what I thought I needed.  Depressed, upset, and frustrated that God wasn't helping me out and giving me answers, (it is only now that I can see the irony in this and write it like that!)  I tried a different door.

The door opened easily... smoothly... and led me down a path of so many exciting opportunities, I can't even begin to describe.  When you're on the journey that God wants for you... your path will flourish.  

Don't get frustrated when you can't hear His voice.

Sometimes, God isn't obvious in telling you what to do... but He will show you through process of elimination.

His way is the best way, and I would not and could not EVER live any other way than for His glory.

Living by the Holy Spirit is such an exciting and unexpected adventure. 

I'm learning how to live on the edge... listening, waiting, ready for God's will and ready to take action. 

I'm reading Forgotten God  by Francis Chan right now and the chapter I read this morning was about listening to the Holy Spirit's prompting in your life.  I don't have the book on me at this second to quote him but he wrote something along the lines of ... what if God called you to give everything you have to the poor?  Stop thinking about all of the reasons why he WOULDN'T EVER call you to do that for one second, and really think about that.  What would that look like for you?  Could you do that?  Could I do that?  What would our world look like if we were that selfless and that caring?  Now that is living.

Take these people for instance.  Seriously.  WHAT?!  If this isn't living large, I don't know what is.  They are selling EVERYTHING they own so they can travel the country in an RV.  Their only agenda?  To help people!  How cool is that?  Blogger Stephanie writes,

"As it stands right now, we have the American Dream – a comfortable house in a suburban neighborhood, two cars, two kids, two masters degrees, good jobs, close friends.  Yet, every night for the past two years, Tim and I stay up late and talk about how the world is hurting – how people are poor, sick, lonely, uncertain, hungry, helpless, and hopeless."

Wow.  Talk about acting on the spirit's leading!  

Now I'm not saying that this type of thing is God's will for every Christian's life and you're good for nothing if you don't sell your house and give all your money to the poor.  What I am saying, is that sometimes we do live too "safe" and don't live enough outside of our comfort zones.  Jesus was radical.  And many American churches and Christians aren't. 

Bottom line?  There is nothing better in this world than living for Him and being who He made you to be.  Living by His leading is the only way to live.

Why We Decided to Vaccinate

With the vaccine debate raging right now among bloggers all over the world... I decided it was time I put my opinion on there on why we decided to vaccinate our babies.

The biggest reason we chose to vaccinate was because by law, if your dog, cat, or domesticated ferret is not vaccinated, is not up-to-date on its vaccinations, or is not properly confined after biting someone, as the owner you are subject to a fine not to exceed $200 for each offense.  Additionally fines may apply locally as well.

And who wants to be penalized by the government?  Not me.  Especially hard-earned money that could be going towards buying more fro-yo at Yogurtini.