Looking for God through another man's eyes

By Brice Livingston

There are more than a handful of ways that we approach God and our belief in Christ. Here's a brief outline of some of the most common ways we arrange our beliefs:1

Natural Theology

Knowledge about God which is derived primarily from nature. Natural theology usually places a heavy emphasis on reason and philosophy.

Biblical Theology
Knowledge about God which is derived primarily from the Bible. The structure will often be arranged around major events of people of Scripture (e.g., Theology of Early Israel, Theology of the Prophets, Theology in Psalms, Theology of Paul, etc.).

Historical Theology
Knowledge about God which is derived from studying the development of ideas over time. The structure will often be arranged around the major periods of history which brought changes to theology (e.g., Theology of the Early Church, Theology of the Imperial Church, Theology of the Middle Ages, Theology of the Enlightenment and Reformation, etc.).

Systematic Theology
Knowledge about God which attempts to incorporate and combine all of the theological sources above. The structures are often arranged around major topics or categories of ideas which theologians have agreed upon over the centuries (e.g., Bibliology, Christology, Pneumatology, Ecclesiology, Soteriology, etc.).

Dogmatic Theology
Knowledge about God which includes everything above, but with an emphasis on those teachings and ideas which have the authoritative stamp of approval from the church.

Practical Theology
Theology which is built upon any of the previous types of theology, but which emphasizes the practical ways of living out these ideas in our own lives today.

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Most Christians agree that we should base our beliefs in the Bible and that scripture is authoritative on all matters of Christianity -- or at least we should agree.

What is Reformed Theology?
"Simply put, it is the theology of the Protestant Reformers and the heart of historical evangelicalism. As C.H. Spurgeon once said, Reformed theology is nothing other than biblical Christianity."2 Reformed Theology is closely associated with Calvinism which is based on the teachings of John Calvin, the second giant of the Protestant reformation next to Martin Luther. In this way, Reformed theology is a type of Historical Theology. But of course, John Calvin, as well as Martin Luther, based his beliefs on the Bible, so we can also say that Reformed Theology is Biblical theology. Great!

My Case against Reformed Theology

Point Number 1.

The Bible is God's word, inspired by the Holy Spirit and is authoritative. John Calvin's teachings as well as Luther's as well as St. Augustine's as well as mine, might be inspired by the Holy Spirit, but are not authoritative in the way that the Bible is. The Bible is a truism. Whereas my interpretation of the Bible (as well as Luther's, Calvin's and Augustine's) is an opinion.

To put it a different way, a thermometer might read sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature in the room is sixty-eight degrees. That is a truism. However, when you ask three people what that means, you might get three different answers. One might say it's cold, another comfortable, another warm, and then a Canadian might wander in on his moose and scold us for using Fahrenheit.

The point is this: Reformed theology is based on the opinions of extremely anointed, brilliant and dedicated men of God, but based on opinions nonetheless.

Point Number 2.
Every interpretation of the Bible is an opinion. But obviously some opinions are better than others and just because we all have opinions, doesn't mean we can escape the fact that some of us are right and some of us are wrong. So how do we make sure that we're right or at least not totally wrong? The key is in how we read the Bible. Let's go back to the thermometer.

To determine what sixty-eight degrees means, it's important to ask questions. What is the temperature outside? Is the thermometer also a thermostat? What time of day is it? Whose house are we in and how did the Canadian get here?

When we're studying historical documents the questions change. Who was the author? Who was the original reader? What was the reason it was written? What was going on in history? What was the culture like? What language was it written in? In order to extract the proper meaning from the Bible, it's important to study it within its historical context. And this is why Biblical theology is superior to any kind of Historical Theology.

Every year, we're making archaeological discoveries that help us better understand the historical context of the Bible and in turn help us to better interpret the meaning of scripture. Scholars have at their disposal such an abundance of archaeological discoveries pertaining to nations and laws and every aspect of ancient life that neither Luther nor Calvin had during their life-times. 

For a long time, scholars thought the Hittite nation was small and insignificant. Recent findings from the early 2000's indicate that they were in fact a very large and powerful nation. This is pertinent because in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Joshua twenty-four, we find that the covenants between God and humanity follow a similar format to those of the suzerain/vassal treaties between the Hittites and their adversaries.3

If we once thought the Hittites were insignificant, as perhaps John Calvin may have thought in the early 16th century, but we now know they were powerful, it could be said that we now have a more accurate understanding on which to base our interpretation of scriptures in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Joshua twenty-four than Martin Luther and John Calvin.

To reiterate, truism trumps opinion, historical context is a vital tool in the process of extracting proper meaning from scripture, and Reformed Theology is based on the 16th century opinions of an ill-equipped scholar.

Okay, so I've done a lot of generalizing. Not all reformed believers (many of whom are far smarter and better informed than I; and many of whom also hold such a reverence for God Almighty that I've been inspired to truly test my own beliefs) hold Calvinism as sacrosanct. Those who do, are still among the most God-focused Christians I've ever met. The Fathers of the Protestant Reformation are at least indirectly responsible for the Bible we all read in our own languages and I'm indebted to them in a way that I might never understand. Canadians are lovely people with manners that would put most Americans to shame.

I love our Church and I love our Christians, it's never my intention to "bash" another and it's certainly not my intent to scare non-believers away. I hope I was in no way disrespectful and if my ignorance was so flagrant that you feel the need to contact me, my email address is at the end of this post. The following "tips" for studying the Bible might help a displeased reader to better understand where I'm coming from and so I ask that he or she first read them before they contact me with any kind of grievance. When it comes down to it, I'm still learning. And in an effort to seek the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth I welcome differing opinions and hope that I hold my beliefs loosely enough so that they can be changed by the Truth found in the Bible.

Some other helpful tips for studying the Bible: 

We've already mentioned reading the different books of the Bible within their historical context.

A second principle might be to first understand the big-picture or the whole story and then go back and look at the details. Once we understand main themes in the Bible it's a lot easier to tackle the more difficult passages. "Go wide, before you go deep."

A third principle is a lot like the first, in that we understand the Bible was written for us, but not to us. In order to extract the meaning or the "timeless truth" from a particular passage or book, we have to approach it through the eyes of the original reader. Part of that comes from studying the historical context, but an equally important part of it has to do with setting down our own pre-conceived notions, biases and understandings, whether they're based in today's modern culture, an experience, what our parents taught us, or even what our church believes. In order to look through a proper lens, we have to first take off our glasses. If we don't first take off our "glasses", we end up projecting our beliefs, doctrines, political views, morals etc. onto scripture. And so, in essence, we're approaching the Bible with an idea and looking for support for that idea. And this is dangerous.

As an example, I recently read a short series of essays called, "God is an anarchist". The author freely admits that he was unhappy with the Church's teachings on God-ordained institutions and that he views "statism" as evil. What he decided to do, instead of taking the Bible for what it is and studying it properly, he approached the Bible with one idea in mind, (God is an anarchist) and guess what he found? Evidence to support his theory. The Bible doesn’t exist to support the beliefs we already have; to be used as ammunition in a weapon of our own design. The Bible exists to confront us with the Truth that transforms us into the image of Christ.

Our fourth principle to studying the Bible correctly is getting help from The Holy Spirit. This is probably the most important but least followed principle. I have personally met giants of faith who have studied the Bible for years, who have written commentaries, who have gone on archaeological digs, who speak multiple dead languages, and have lectured as experts on both the Old and New Testaments, but still choose to approach the Bible with a simple prayer, "Lord, what do You want to teach me?"

It's great to study the Bible and form doctrine and theology that's logical and coherent; it can be beautiful and helpful. But the danger to studying scripture with our natural minds alone, and without the aid of the Holy Spirit, is that we might miss the point. Natural leaves no room for Supernatural. What I mean by this is that God, the Author of the Bible, is supernatural and if we painstakingly form a set of ideas that fits neatly inside our natural minds, then we've effectively created a natural box inside of which the Holy Spirit will never fit or inhabit. If we study the Author's book in a way that puts barriers between us and Him, we might never actually meet the Author. And another name for a barrier between us and God, is sin.

So, to once again reiterate our four principles for studying the Bible properly:
1. Read it within its historical context
2. Go wide before you go deep
3. Let the Truth form your ideas
4. Ask the Holy Spirit for help

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As always, I've chosen to write about things that I don't fully understand. So, in the spirit of C.S. Lewis, if this isn't helpful, throw it out. My basic plea is that as Christians, we Honor God, we honor one another, we humbly seek the Truth, and we apply it in our own lives, families, churches, and jobs. I've provided a few links below to the sources I've used; feel free to check them out. If you want to tell me about your day or point out my ignorance, you can use my email address, bricelivingston@gmail.com. I'd honestly love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading, I'll be posting about some of my upcoming plans soon.

1 https://redeeminggod.com/types-of-theology/

2 http://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/what_is_reformed_theology/

3 http://chafer.nextmeta.com/files/v10n1_5lopez_covenants2israelite_covenants.pdf

Justice is merciful

God's gift of Christ to mankind was an act of mercy, as was His gift of the Law to the Israelites.

1. Mercy from ignorance.  God doesn't exist simply because He revealed Himself to humanity, He exists because He does. The same goes for right and wrong. Holiness and its antithesis existed far before God gave the law to Moses. Once He did, the Israelites no longer had to live as hopeless, oblivious pagans destined for death, but were then gifted with guidelines to follow so that each man and woman could put himself in right standing with God. In this way, the law gives mercy from ignorance.

2. Mercy from wickedness.  If someone destroys my property I can, as an individual, show mercy by not pressing charges. This is showing mercy on an individual level. But if someone commits a crime, it is the governing body's duty to punish him for his crime. In doing so, the governing body shows mercy to the rest of the nation. This is mercy from wickedness. The law of Moses gives mercy to Israel from their own wickedness.

3. Mercy from death.  The law of Moses, in essence, paves a pathway to holiness. Because holiness and life are conflated with one another; as are sin and death; the law of Moses also provides a pathway to life. Since the just consequence of sin is death, it is just for God to let Israel pass judgement on themselves by way of lawlessness. Without the law there is no knowledge of right and wrong, and without knowledge of right and wrong, there is violence and chaos and death. Which again, without Christ, is what we deserve. But instead God is merciful and provides Israel with the law of Moses. This is mercy from death.

Further thoughts:

The opposite of justice is not mercy. The opposite of justice is injustice. Law provides a framework for mercy to be shown. On one side of the coin there is law, justice and mercy and on the other side there is lawlessness, injustice and cruelty.

Jesus has redeemed humanity but we still live in a fallen world. This means that though the Holy Spirit has invaded those of us who confess that Jesus is our personal Lord and Savior, reconciling us to God through personal relationship with Him, the Kingdom of Heaven has not yet overthrown our world. Jesus came as a man for the redemption of man, but He will come again as a King for the redemption of Kingdoms. We are made perfect through Christ; His holiness has been imparted to us. But our governments have not been made perfect through Christ the King. I believe this is why it's the individual's job to show compassion, but it's the government's responsibility to uphold the law. Or, more accurately, the government shows compassion to the righteous by punishing the wicked. The law is good for those who obey it. And the law should be really bad for those who disobey it. A merciful, compassionate, government is a government that punishes wickedness always. Leniency for criminals is not merciful. The government's job is to ensure the well-being of the larger body of citizens; not the individual. By punishing the law-breaker with a punishment that fits the crime the government is honoring, encouraging and rewarding the citizens who have not broken the law. This is good and right.

Thank you

I'm both pleased and despondent to announce that after three rewarding years of full-time volunteer service with Youth With A Mission in Honolulu, my commitment will soon come to a close. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity I've been given to serve and learn alongside such a tremendous community of Christians.

During my time with YWAM, I've been a student in their Discipleship Training School here in Honolulu, and I've held several different positions on staff; each as rewarding as the last. My current position as DTS Administrator has been one of the most excellent jobs I've ever had the privilege to hold and has provided me with numerous opportunities to learn and grow both in community and as an individual. Again, I'm extremely grateful.

The official end-date of my commitment is to be determined. However, I hope to leave my station within the good graces of my leadership and co-volunteers no later than the last week in August. As I make my transition out of YWAM, the success of our campus is at the forefront of my priorities. It is imperative to me that the Discipleship program specifically, and the leadership thereof, are poised to not only continue as they were, but rather poised to launch into proverbial orbit in terms of effectiveness and vitality. I love YWAM Honolulu and the people within; it would be at best, a mild disservice to them and our Creator if I were to leave without first ensuring their well-being.

So, what's next?

My subsequent "mission-field" is three-fold. During my three years in YWAM, it's become evident to me that I care deeply about three things: Family, the Church, and the United States of America. I believe fully that solving the first two, will inevitably make a profound impact on the third and although my role in these three spheres of society is still unknown to me, I'm going to start by spending time with Mom and Dad.

One of the difficulties that has come with living in Honolulu has been my inability to spend time with my family. So, in addition to spending time with my parents, I will also be attending a family reunion over Labor day weekend at Beaver Camp in the Adirondacks. I'm very excited to see Grandma and Grandpa and all of my cousins as well as my two nieces and my nephew. On a related note, my girlfriend, Allison Miller from Sarasota, will be graduating in August from University of South Florida in Tampa with her nursing degree and is currently looking for a job in Western New York. We hope to have her join us for our reunion depending on when she is able to take the NCLEX. We're also very excited to finally live on the same continent.

Those are the solid plans. Now onto the "hopefuls" and "not-so-sures". 

I've applied at Faith International University in hopes of achieving my BA through one of their online programs. (They offer a significant discount to YWAMers and in some cases, even offer credits toward your major.) After graduating, I hope to continue my education. Some possible pathways include seminary, law school, political science, journalism or inductive Bible study. Right now, pursuing anything beyond a bachelor's degree is many months and many dollars into the future. (But at least I've narrowed it down.)

Any practical thinker might be wondering if I ever plan to get a job. I do! As of right now, I have a few ideas but nothing concrete and I might just end up doing whatever's available at the time. 

The ultimate reality, other than the Kingdom of Heaven itself, is that it is still March. And while I can make all sorts of plans based on where I believe God is leading me and based on the ideas and cares that I believe God has placed in my heart; I have to constantly remind myself to seek Him daily; to focus on the task at hand; to remember that while God is constant, circumstances are not. I have reason to believe that God is "smiling" on all of these plans, but if He wants to change things up, I won't choose to worship my ways over Him. There's always room for Him to change my mind. In addition to staying flexible, it's important that I remember we currently have twenty students leaving for Asia in just a few weeks and another school starting in April. For all I know, one of these students could be the next Billy Graham and even if they're not, they still deserve my full commitment and attention.

At some point I'd like to return to YWAM Honolulu. I believe that the training that takes place here is of the highest value for any young person. Not everyone becomes a missionary to Asia, but everyone comes away with AT LEAST an inkling of who God has created them to be and what He has created them to do. They come away with the tools any young Christian needs to sustain their relationship with God. They come away empowered with the Holy Spirit and humbled by His majesty. They come away with the ability to make an impact in their families, churches and communities. As one of those students myself, I owe all that I am to God's magnificent grace, my exceptional parents, and to the unparalleled people with whom I have lived for the past three years. Without YWAM Honolulu I would not be the man I am today. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

If you would like to get in touch, my email is bricelivingston@gmail.com. Thank you for the wonderful support from friends and family at Alden Mennonite Church and Clarence Center/Akron Mennonite. As a full-time volunteer, I rely fully on support from churches, family and friends to help pay my staff-fees. If you would like to help me out over the next few months, you can make a tax-deductible donation through PayPal. Our account is ywamoahu@gmail.com. I look forward to seeing you all again! Blessings.

Not a volleyball

“The fear of the Lord,” is probably mostly about reverence for the one, true God who created us in His image and saved us from certain death. But, what if the fear of the Lord is also about trembling in silent terror at the most fearsome and terrible Power that’s ever existed? Of course we understand that God is compassionate and loving, and He’s a good Father and He’s merciful. But again, He’s holy and awesome and probably terrifying.

Solomon said that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Paul said that “Jesus became to us wisdom from God” and that “God has hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ.” I think the key word that I’ve always missed in the verse from the book of Proverbs is the word “beginning”. The fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of wisdom; not wisdom in its entirety, just the beginning. Jesus is the way the truth and the life; there’s nothing good or wise outside of Him, but in order to know Christ and understand why the Gospel is good news, it might serve us well to first examine a pre-Jesus revelation of God Almighty.

The first thing I want to point out is that God killed people. The flood, Soddom and Gommorah, plagues in Egypt, Korah’s followers, Uzzah... the list goes on. But before you set yourself on fire, I’ll admit that death is ultimately a result of sin and that outside of a relationship with God there is no life. So, to say God killed people might not be totally accurate but the point is that if He so chooses, God has every right to take my life.

The second, is that I think God probably created hell. I won’t go into how this isn’t really a bad thing, but I’m pretty sure that He created everything in existence. And whether hell is an eternal lake of fire, eternal separation from God, or an infinite “snuffing out” of your existence...the nature of hell isn’t the point. The point is that outside of Christ, it’s what we all deserve.

Third. God cursed land, animals, people and entire nations. He’s also blessed land, animals, people and entire nations, but the bottom line is that 100 percent of what I have; whether it’s my health or my non-existent wealth; it all belongs to God.

Fourth. God was revealed as Holy, Holy, Holy before He was revealed as Love. Moses wore a veil in God’s presence and the Jews wouldn’t even say God’s name out loud. Basically... It’s a struggle to get on my knees when I pray, and that probably shouldn’t be the case.

So, just to recap...even though I’m a child of God, loved and redeemed, and part of the most magnificent family to ever exist, God has the right to take my life, I deserve hell, all my possessions are in God’s hands, and just because Jesus is my friend doesn’t mean He doesn’t deserve my respect, awe, and endless praise.

Okay. Story time.

The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it belongs to Him. For the sake of the story, let’s say you’ve kind of “stolen” yourself from God and after a while you realize that it was probably a big mistake to steal from God and you get this bright idea that maybe you should sort of...return yourself. The problem is that you’re dirty and broken and maybe not worth as much as you once were. So you’re scared that God will be angry or something. No worries. You’re just being ignorant or arrogant. The truth is that Jesus said, come as you are. Your damage isn’t anything God hasn’t seen before. He makes all things new and your worth isn’t determined by what you’ve done, it’s determined by Who you belong to. I guarantee He’ll be thrilled to have you back regardless of whether or not you’re in one piece. And it just so happens that He’s really cool so when you return yourself, He makes you whole again.

Okay, let’s go through this scenario again. The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. You’ve stolen yourself away from God. You completely trash yourself and then because you know deep down that it’s the right thing to do, you decide to return yourself; because you belong to God. You skulk into God’s house all tattered and filthy with your head down. God hears you come in and turns on the light. He takes one look at you and He’s FURIOUS. Not only did you steal something, you went out and ruined it. He immediately calls the police, and despite all your tears and pleas for forgiveness, you go straight to jail for grand larceny and destruction of property.

So, was it wrong to steal? Was it the right thing to do to return what was stolen? Did God have every right to be angry? Do bad decisions warrant consequences? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. That’s justice. Grace isn’t about how bad I am. It’s about how good God is. As much as I might think it’s all about me, this whole relationship is actually about God getting back what’s rightfully His. The earth is the Lord’s; AND everything in it.

The point is that God deserves to be worshipped and loved not because He has saved us, but because he is God. Regardless of whether or not He’s loving and forgiving and desires an intimate relationship with us, He’s the King of Kings. That alone is worth your life as a sacrifice.

I’m not saying that God is a ruthless tyrant. Of course He’s compassionate and kind and cares so much about each one of us that we can’t even fathom that much affection and intimacy. But my point again, is that we’re extremely fortunate that our God is exactly who He is; both King of Kings AND loving Father.

God has every right to take my life and send me to hell, but He chose to take His own life instead. Everything I have still belongs to God, but what God desires more than sacrifice is righteousness which has been imparted to me through Christ. I’m no longer God’s enemy. Instead, I’m his adopted son, an heir to His kingdom who sits next to His throne along with Jesus, and I’ve been given the mind of Christ, to know and do God’s will forever and always.

This is good news. This is the Gospel emboldened with truth. This is great news made even greater because of an understanding of who God is.

I’m not completely sold on this idea that “the fear of the Lord” is having a realization of extreme terror and trembling. Like I said before, it’s probably mostly about reverence. So if you find the idea of a terrifying God appalling, that’s probably OK. He’s love. All His wrath has already been poured out on His own Son. But it probably wouldn’t hurt to stop throwing His name around like a volleyball and try bowing our heads once in awhile when we pray.

As a closing thought, Solomon also said, “...knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” So, I guess my desire is to know God in and out and I think as I get to know Him better, I’ll probably have a better understanding of what it means to have, “the fear of the Lord.”

Thanks for reading! I hope you’re all doing well. I’m still a full-time volunteer at YWAM Honolulu, working mostly with administration for our Discipleship Training School. We have four teams in Asia right now and three teams scheduled to leave in the beginning of April. If you think about it, you can keep me in your prayers; my staff commitment ends in September and although I’m not sure that means I’ll be parting ways with YWAM, I have a few options to weigh out. Blessings to you!

Allah and the Flower Child

Amidst a world of suffering and personal tragedies, Christians refuse to consider the possibility that their “Good, Good, Father” might not be all that good. When you look at the world that God supposedly created, all you see are school-shootings and hurricanes and corrupt politicians. Cancer is always knocking at someone’s door and maybe you’ve even lost a loved one. So how exactly is God good?

I think the simplest answer, aside from the fact that NBC gets better ratings when they report violence, is that He’s not. The simplest answer on the surface, is that God doesn’t exist and that Christianity is just a band-aid that someone manufactured for hopeless people.

I’ve found however, that the simplest answer might not always be the right one. And so, if you suspect like I do that there is a god and that this god is probably the One the Bible describes, you might also, as I do, care to seek Him out in hope of discovering exactly who He is.

When we search our motives, I believe that the much more personal question we are really asking is not one of God’s apparent goodness, but whether or not God can be trusted. How can a Christian like Horatio Spafford lose everything dear to him and respond with words like, “it is well with my soul”? Let’s start by outlining two views that shape how Christians put their trust in God.

Part I “Mutant Spawn”

On one hand, we have a holy, all-knowing, all-powerful, infinite God who by default is the cause of all things. Nothing happens that He doesn’t either allow to happen or put into motion Himself. We believe that God’s in control and that He’s also benevolent and loving and so all these bad things that keep happening must be the most infinitesimal part of His massive, cosmic plan that will turn out to be good in the end. And so we trust God because He’s God.

On the other hand, we have a loving, compassionate, humble God who desires intimacy with His creation. But because He’s a gentleman, He let’s us choose whether we want to be with Him or not; whether we want life or death. Out of love, He sacrifices perfection and His right to control His own creation for a relationship with us by offering us free will. In this way, we understand that the cause of our suffering is ultimately anything that separates us from God; whether it’s our choices, sinful lifestyles or Satan. And so we trust God because He’s good.

“Well Brice, Fluffy is still in the ground and all you’ve managed to do is describe a mutant form of Islam and the disillusioned spawn of new age hippies and dualism. How is this supposed to help?” Your words, not mine.

Before we move on I would like to draw your attention to two things. The first is that I’m not a theologian or a pastor or the Pope, and I hope my incomplete, and possibly inaccurate descriptions of how we as Christians sometimes view God will not deter you from grasping the point I hope to make in just a bit. The second is this: It is by faith that we believe that God exists and it is by faith that we believe that God is good. What we believe doesn’t change who God is. Instead, what we believe changes who we become. And what we must choose to believe that is of the utmost importance, is that Jesus came to earth and died in our place and then came back to life so that we may have life in Him. The cross is the foundation of our faith and any contractor will tell you that a house without a proper foundation, isn’t worth living in. Back to the mutant spawn.

What I’ve described above is not Islam nor new age-dualism. Muslims don’t believe that Allah loves them and dualism within the context of Christianity tries to put Satan on the same level as God. I don’t think I’ve ever met a hippie but I’m sure they’re kind and lovely. What I’ve described are two Christian views that focus on different characteristics of the same God but elicit the same outward response of trust in a Higher Being. While these views are helpful to a point, they paint an incomplete picture of God’s character; a dire insufficiency I hope to remedy a little bit later.

Many Christians will argue over which view is better but I don’t want to and since I’m the author, we won’t. However, I will say this. While knowing what we believe is important and knowing why we believe it is just as important, I’ve come to understand that what we hold in our hands is very dull indeed when compared to the truth we hold in our hearts, and if we find ourselves with our fists clenched so tightly around an idea that it’s impossible to hold someone’s hand, we might be missing the point altogether. Whether we trust in a God with a good plan or we trust in a good God, we must love as Jesus did.

Thus far, we’ve approached our question from a subpar perspective which is to say “our own.” Much like an astronomer that seeks to understand the universe but believes the sun to revolve around the earth, are we who seek to understand God but believe His existence to serve our own.

If we look at the cosmos as a near infinite symphony, each one of us might be just a single note on an everlasting sheet of music. And in the blink of an eye, as our lives connect with what we know as the present in time, we live out our solo loudly and proudly as the star of our own concert but only the Composer/Conductor can witness the true splendor in His masterpiece as a whole.

Life on this earth is a God-given privilege, not a right. Take God out of the picture and there is no picture. He’s big. We’re little. He’s right. We’re wrong. He’s not a part of our symphony, we’re a part of His.

So now, rather than looking at God through our earthquakes and illnesses, let’s try to rise above our fading circumstances and see things from God’s eternal perspective. Instead of looking at our world and then searching for flaws in the Creator, it might do us well to look at our Creator and search for flaws in ourselves--or literally anywhere other than in the only truly good and perfectly loving Person to ever exist who has insurmountable power and infinite wisdom.

To know God in His fullness is the first step to understanding how He is good and ultimately trustworthy. And while I’m sure He’s a composer of sorts, He’s definitely a writer and He’s written a pretty good book to get us started.

Part II “The Whole Truth”

The Bible is first and foremost a story about God and His personality. As we read, we find out who He is and what He’s like. First we find out that God is a Creator of good things and that He’s personal. Then we find out that He doesn’t tolerate disobedience and that He has emotions like anger and jealousy. But we also find out that He doesn’t give up on people and that He exists in three parts. He’s loving and kind and gentle, He’s patient and humble and He has big plans for our lives.

Discovering the character of God is a lot like math. Not in the meticulous, boring sense but in the sense that it builds on itself. When we find out that God is loving, it adds to the fact that He’s holy. It doesn’t negate it.

God has always been exactly who He is today. God is infinite, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. He is holy, just, and jealous. He is kind and compassionate. He is Love and He never changes. While God is unchanging, there is a significant change that occurs in how He chose to interact with humanity and that started and ended with our Savior, Jesus Christ when He became the eternal object of God’s eternal wrath instead of us. This is a gross oversimplification of the single greatest act of love known to mankind so I encourage you to read it for yourself but basically this is what we call The Good News of Jesus Christ.

At this point it might seem like we’ve gotten off track a little bit, but the point of part II is this. How we see the world and interact with one another should start with a full and accurate knowledge of God’s character based on the whole Bible, and while a book can’t possibly encapsulate God in His entirety, the Bible contains exactly enough to let us in on what we need to know.

So far, In order to get an accurate understanding of who God is, we’ve looked at two different theological views and then I’ve implored us to grasp a greater view based on not just sections of the Bible, but the whole of it, and now we’ll move into what is hailed by most Christians as the most important facet of faith, albeit perhaps also the most neglected. This last part is all about relationship.

Part III “So Help me God”

The Bible, like any other good book, is more interesting when we know the Author personally and to read God’s word is good, but to read His word with Him is a whole different story. Many of us have said a prayer and attend church or were baptized when we were younger, but still struggle to grasp what it truly means to have a relationship with God.

Time is currency. Where and with whom we invest our time is where we see returns. We must invest our time in the Person that offers the best return, not because He will return or because our return is in heaven, but because we must become like Him and be the light to our world outside our Sunday mornings. We must approach our lives with Jesus, not the other way around. As we spend time with God we begin to look like Him and think like Him. We understand who He is and who He calls us to be and so we begin to approach others around us in the same way that He would. We either look like Jesus, or the world.

Too often, we leave Dad at home when we go to the playground and when we get picked on, or someone doesn’t take turns on the slide, we run home crying to Daddy. Church on Sunday is our home and our lives at work or school or with our families is the playground. We leave God in Sunday. We leave God in our morning devotions. We leave God at youth group. We live our entire weeks on our own strength and go to church to get “filled.” God doesn’t live inside four walls, He lives inside us.

(Church on Sunday is an opportunity to serve and encourage one another. If you go to “get filled” or expecting to be served, you’ll be looking for a new church every other year. Jesus didn’t look for another earth, when we didn’t offer Him coffee and put Him on our prayer list.)

As Christians, we are supposed to be in this world but not of it. Living in our circumstances and then looking to God to fix them is being of this world. Instead, we are of God which means our reality is His kingdom. We live according to His righteousness and His love, lead by the Spirit of Holiness, and then in Christ, we come to understand that we are the solution to our world’s problems. Or rather, Christ in us is the solution. We don’t really amount to much on our own.

Our relationship with God is of paramount importance. In many countries, people are being killed because they act like Jesus. In our country our laws make it increasingly difficult to have a thought or opinion that doesn’t offend someone. When your boss says you have to give a marriage license to two men, you may have to ask yourself whether Jesus died so that you could have life in Him or so that you could have a job. We make sacrifices because God made the ultimate sacrifice. It’s what we do. We must be like Jesus in every area of our life. Especially outside of church. Theology is good, the Bible is where everything starts, but our relationship with Christ sustains us and changes the world around us because this is where we truly begin to know God.

If at this point you feel like I lured you in with a titillating question and then proceeded to dodge the answer to that question while dragging you down an obscure path to end with a rant that has nothing to do with your beloved Fluffy, then you’re pretty much right. But if you’re still wondering who to blame for this bad world then let me be the first to admit that though I’m supposed to be part of the answer, I’m at the heart of the problem. God is good, but He’s hidden behind all my opinions. I’m supposed to look like Jesus, but I’ve left Him in church. I’m a Christian who says the right words but does the wrong things. I’m supposed to show you Light during your dark times and encourage you when you’re in despair but I haven’t been there. I’m sorry.

Our answer to this globe-sized deuce we seem to experience every day, is a Christian who reads his Bible and prays. And a Christian who doesn’t do that is of use to no one but Satan. I believe that with Jesus, I can change this world. So, help me God.

Two Years in the Rear-View Mirror

In February of 2014 I decided to make a two-year commitment to Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Honolulu, Hawaii.

I had just finished six months of missionary training through YWAM Honolulu’s Discipleship Training School (DTS), the latter half of which I had spent in Nepal with eight of my classmates. It had been a trying adventure in a new place far from the comforts of home but also a necessary experience from which I am still finding new value. Nepal was like a heaping pile of vegetables. Eating your vegetables at dinner is not just a good idea because Mom won’t let you have ice cream if you don’t, and also not just so you will be healthier later in life. But eating your vegetables is a good idea because one day you might have a child. And when your tiny tyrant throws a tantrum at the table, you can understand that though eating vegetables might seem like the end of the world for precious little Billy, it most assuredly is not the end of the world and you can rest easy knowing your son or daughter, who you love dearly, will grow up healthy and wise because you didn’t give in to their tears. I am ever so grateful to my outreach leaders, Greg and Corrie Burgers, for humbly serving and encouraging our team with unconditional love and for extending to me such utterly, undeserved grace and for ultimately being superb examples of Christ in a way that continues to impact my life. Thank you from the depths of my heart.

In September of 2014 I dove head-first into my commitment as an outreach leader-in-training and then co-lead my first trip to Asia in January of 2015. We took a team of seven students to Bali, Indonesia for four weeks and then traveled to Papua New Guinea for our remaining six weeks. This outreach was a test of love and faith. We believed and prayed relentlessly for our students’ growth and the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of the locals . On the penultimate day of our outreach we witnessed incredible breakthroughs in our students and the following day an entire village received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. God is love and God is faithful..

Before I had left for Indonesia I had expressed to our base director that I was willing to volunteer in our accounting office and so after our students’ graduation in June I was granted extended leave for the summer to visit good friends back on the mainland and then returned to Honolulu in September as an assistant to our accountants. I quickly discovered that our accountants Dave Stone and Jhun Camacho work hard. All day. Not just in the office.
Dave has a family and runs a non-profit organization that provides people with computer and language skills so they can get jobs. He’s often up all night taking care of our base’s finances and processing support for missionaries across the globe. Somehow he still finds time to play basketball with his son and during tax season I doubt he sleeps.
Jhun served as a missionary in India for nearly two decades before God called him and his wife to YWAM Honolulu where he demonstrates faithfulness in everything he has been given and possesses an unparalleled work ethic. Jhun is a father of three sons, an auto-mechanic, and when he’s in the office he listens to the Bible online.

Above all, these men gain their strength through their Savior. They don’t do anything in their own power alone. They constantly rely on God for wisdom and provision and the ability to do what has been set before them. They don’t just do tasks for the sake of doing them. Everything they do is in servitude to, and for the glory of God, the Creator of all things and the One who gives us life abundantly. The woman in Cambodia that one of my students led to Christ this past spring may have never had the opportunity to hear the Gospel without these two men who pour out everything as a sacrifice for our King. I’m grateful for my dad and men like these that have shown me the value of hard-work and how to lean on God always.

After a quarter in our accounting office, I once again found myself poised to lead another group of students through their ten weeks in Asia. In April we set out for Cambodia where we spent seven weeks with local YWAMers sharing the Gospel and aiding the community in any way that we could. Our team of eleven students were remarkable testaments of the love of Jesus. Through their words as well as their actions, they chose to exhibit Christ to each other, to our contacts, and to their leaders. Through this love for one another, our work was made effective. From Cambodia, we flew to Tokyo, Japan for our final three weeks of outreach. There we worked with a sub-set of Campus Crusade focused on high school students through which our team was given the opportunity to speak with over two-hundred first year students in their classrooms about hope in Jesus Christ. Also, we rode the subway many, many times.

And that brings us to now. Our January students of 2016 have graduated and gone, though many are returning in September either as staff members or secondary school students. During the summer we take a break between schools to maintain our property and reach out to our community. Right now I’m fulfilling the last few weeks of my commitment by working in the kitchen and doing general tasks around base. Tuesday nights I help with an ESL class that we run in Chinatown as a way to connect with our ever-growing Asian population and Thursdays we host a worship night which is always a highlight during my week. Ben, our tech guru is home in Alaska for three weeks so I try to do things with our soundboard while he’s gone. To my knowledge, I have yet to set anything on fire.

So what’s next? Before I became a volunteer with YWAM, I believe that God said to go to YWAM Honolulu so that He could prepare me for the rest of my life and as far as I know, He hasn’t told me to leave. In the fall I’ll be filling the role of DTS Administrator for a yet to be determined amount of time. Right now, Spencer and Madison Lemer co-direct our DTS and have been doing the jobs of three people since they stepped into leadership. They are two of the most remarkable people I’ve ever had the privelige to work with and I’m thrilled with the opportunity to continue serving under them. Madison is also pregnant with their first child, due in October,

I’m excited to be here in Honolulu. I’m grateful for the people that God has used to teach me, and I appreciate their passion to follow God with everything they have. The next portion of this entry is something I wrote while I was in Cambodia as part of a larger collection of other stuff I’ve been writing and hope to write in the future.

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"It wasn’t until my DTS that I discovered my love for America. What I found during my missions school in Honolulu was not something that caused me to fall in love with my nation. What I found were kind, good-humored people from other countries all around the world that sometimes poked fun at the country in which I was raised. At some point during my youth I had decided patriotism was a little bit uncool and therefore decided that I would have nothing to do with it. Nothing overtly American appealed to me; I didn’t even like the colors red, white and blue. But when I first heard a Canadian take a crack at the USA, my first reaction was not to laugh good-naturedly as I’ve learned to do now. Instead my reaction was one of indignation. I wanted to educate my Canadian comrade in how thoroughly ridiculous his home was with its moose and mounted police and how he must be equally ridiculous for living there and how he should feel inferior for using Monopoly money to buy maple syrup and fake bacon.
It turns out that I was very proud. I possessed the kind of pride that is in direct opposition to God and everything that He would have me be. In addition to this cancer, I also had what I now like to think of as a "healthy sense of pride" in my country. I’m not really sure if there is such a thing as a "healthy sense of pride" and it’s probably worth noting that I think God has redeemed my patriotism by transforming it into a passion for my nation and a desire to see America worship God once again instead of itself, but what I actually want to point out is this: I didn’t know I loved something until it was poked; what I thought didn’t exist within me was merely hiding. A few years later something would happen of the same sort.

I was nearing the end of my first two-year commitment with YWAM and weighing my options. I was interested in finishing school and moving back home to New York but God had been gently working in my heart and so I found myself considering another commitment to YWAM Honolulu. It was during this time that I met Marvin. I don’t know where Marvin is from, whether or not he is married, if he has children nor his last name. But I am thankful for Marvin and this is why.

I was sitting with ten of my students in a well-lit classroom on the third floor of what was called The Yellow House in sweltering Battambang, Cambodia when Marvin told us he used to be a staff member at YWAM Honolulu but then wanted to actually do something with his life so he decided to leave. He then alluded to the possibility that we could also do something with our lives, but most certainly not at YWAM Honolulu. We all sort of laughed and several of my students glanced at me to see my reaction. I chuckled and mustered a smile. But my smile probably looked more like a grimace because I’m not good at faking smiles and the reason I was faking this one was because I was both shocked and angry, but mostly angry. Clearly Marvin had had a bad experience with YWAM Honolulu and it’s probable that his misgivings could be justified, but any Christian should know that Jesus didn’t pay for our new lives in Him so that we could have bad experiences and especially not so we would hold on to them for nearly fifteen years. When we become Christians we give up the right to have bad experiences and we certainly give up the right to be wounded and then harbor unforgiveness in our heart; which is exactly what I had to remind myself of later that afternoon. How dare he say those things, and how dare he say them in front of my students? I was angry at Marvin but I decided to forgive him. He had poked my pride which was probably a good thing and maybe he was just bad at sarcasm. It was then that I realized I loved YWAM Honolulu. In addition to illuminating my pride, I had discovered a passion for my YWAM base and hearing someone drag its name through the mud made me a little bit furious. Today, I’m thankful for Marvin. I’m thankful for Marvin because from that moment forward I no longer looked at YWAM Honolulu as a stepping stone in the staircase of my own life but instead I understood that my life should be laid down in obedience at the foot of a cross bathed in my King’s blood where others might step on me to meet their royal Father. Through God’s gentle prodding and Marvin’s salty remarks I came to realize that the place I had been lead to was a place I loved. And by God’s grace, it’s where I was allowed to stay. The very next day I told our DTS Director that I would be with him as long as he needed me."
Thanks for reading! If you've made it this far, you should know that it is not my intention to offend our frozen friends in the North. Canada is a beautiful place with splendid people that possess kindness and courtesy far greater than their neighbors to the South. As for Marvin, I love him. He is serving God in a great way and has no doubt made vast sacrifices and impacted many people for the benefit of our King and this world. I'm sure he could teach me a great deal on what it means to live a life worthy of Christ's call.

September through December of 2015

"When things go wrong you ask yourself, 'How can there be a good God?' I think the conclusion that I come to is that both faith and doubt are equally logical choices in the face of a tragedy.' ...Faith is to say, 'Yes, the future will have pain but there is a meaning and a purpose deeper than that pain.' For me, that isn't a choice to believe rather than doubt." -Jon Foreman in Switchfoot's inspiring documentary, "Fading West"

Also, it's been a phenomenal few months here at YWAM Honolulu. We've trained several dozen students who will soon be preaching the gospel in Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, The Philippines, Greece and Indonesia. I spent most of my days volunteering within the accounting office, where we process support for missionaries serving in Asia as well as Europe. I look forward to three weeks at home over Christmas and then a hasty return to Honolulu where I'll be one of five staff members preparing for a school of over 22 students starting in mid-January. Three of us will then take teams to different parts of Asia for ten weeks starting in April.

This past quarter I've learned that like a good father, God helps his child stand up. Over and over again.

Peace and blessings to you,

Brice Livingston