Sin Talk

This semester I am up for the sin talk again and my perspective has changed since than. Kind of. Sin is us trying to figure out a need. That need is love. We fill that need with things. Some of us going really dark and we know that story because well it's preached over and over again. I think I want to focus on the mediocre. The people who do not think they have that need. I am talking about the kids with straight A's. The kids with a stable home. The kids who play soccer well. The kids who don't know they need a savior. 

I grew up as one of these kids. I always thought I knew Jesus. The more and more I read, the more and more how I see I judged people in the past, the more and more I see I am or was the Pharisee. I was the one wanting to stone Mary Magdalene. I was the one judging the woman with the alabaster box. The one judging the tax collector. The one thinking Jesus was nuts and deserved to die. Why? Because I was religious. I thought I knew love and that's where my mistake was. I never really accepted Jesus' love until recently. To think you know Jesus' love is to open a door to pride. The sin that began this mess. 

Jesus' love extends to EVERYONE. No exception. That statement right there is mind blowing. What is even more mind blowing is that Jesus commanded us to love like He loves. That love I am talking about is the one that is mentioned in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope"". If I love like Jesus' love that means I want the VERY BEST for those who I think have wronged me. Even that statement there has a human element because Jesus keeps no record of who wronged Him. My flesh fights this to it's very core. For example, my dad cheated on my mom and abandoned us when I was eight. According to "human justice", I am in my 100% right to hate my dad. This doesn't fly though with Jesus' love. If I truly understand love than I would want my dad who I haven't seen for 20 plus years now, to prosper. To have a good life. To have retirement, to be in good health. The hardest part is that the woman who I have loved since birth, doesn't even have these things. That is nuts. 

Without love, I am nothing. Without love, I am a useless YoungLife leader. Without love, I am a husk. Godless, filled with hate, trying to fill this primal desire for justice. With love, I can let go. I can move on. I can forgive. I can LIVE. I am the first to admit, I hold grudges and for a long time. God is working on that though. He is showing me the path to non-violence. He is showing me how to forgive, truly forgive. To see what He sees. 

I am the new worker at the vineyard and I am grateful that the love is God is equal to the love He gave (gives?) to Tom Momono, shoot even King David. To God, all of us humans are equal and I am appreciative of that. I want my boys to have the same thing. That when they see through the love of God, that their home lives will be fixed. That they see themselves as wonderful creations of God and not the labels man puts on them. That they see past trying to make a fake identity. That they see they are loved for who they are. That they see there is a God who is more than a guy in a book. That they feel the love of a being who wants the very best for them. 

Anyways this is my late night thought of the week. In summary, Jesus' love is the opposite of sin. It doesn't make sense but it heals all things. 

-Dainish

Path to Love 4-5

Late night thoughts. It hit me today, that if I never have a wife or kids this life was worth it. To be given the opportunity by the King to help turn lives around is worth it. Even if I died alone when I am old and saggy, it was worth it because to show these kids that life is more than their troubles at school, than the blunt or the drink. To show them that there is a love out there, that someone, a being beyond our existence cares for them. That He wants them to succeed. That He wants them to experience love and return it to others. Anything is worth the price to know that God used me to save someone else's life. Even if it's just one of my boys (which I know is a understatement).

Like for instance, one of the boys, Josh, I have been pouring into last year and this year. This kid went from not knowing too much about God to now being a leader for WyldeLife. Out of faith he quit his job because they told him he had to work the nights he had meetings and clubs. Crazy thing is God gave him a job at McDonalds as a manager. Out of the freakin blue. Same for my cousin. This is how I know I serve a living God. God said "He provides for our every need". And I see it. I see it in my boy's lives. I am so proud to be a part of it. 

This is love. To give up what I want. To give up what I want to pursue. To give up my time to rest. To give up and give into these boys lives. They are learning forgiveness. They are learning sacrifice. They are learning how to put others before them. They are learning to love. 

God is love. God is not love. God is not not love because well, He is beyond our definition of love, beyond what we know that He is more than what we think He is more than love. He created love. I promise, once you start recognizing that, recognizing God is more than what you think He is and more and than more than that, you will start seeing His heart. You will start forgiving. You will see the silver linings in everything. You don't get panicked at life. You start seeing people how he sees people.