Zac's Site

Respect your country like a soldier.
Love others like a hippie.

Believe the Bible like a fundamentalist.
Believe in the Holy Spirit like a charismatic.

 Those thoughts came to me on the bus a few days ago. So often we fall into the trap of thinking "if I do/feel like this, that means I can't do/feel that." A person who thinks peace and love is the answer, yet is willing to sacrifice his life in a war? That's not normal! 

A person who reads the Bible, believes it, believes certain things are inherently wrong, yet spends time with the people who live those lifestyles? That's just not right! (Jesus, you spent time with sinners, WHAT? That's just not socially acceptable!)

Prejudices (closed minds) keep us from living in fullness. I've had discussions with friends, especially regarding spiritual/biblical matters, who have told me I'm weird. I believe the Bible is infallable, perfect, and should be read and learned, but I also believe in "the weird stuff." With so many people, it seems like it's one or the other.

You can love others, OR you can fight for your country. Someone who loves people wouldn't kill people.

You can accept people as they are, OR believe in the Bible (don't get me started on people who claim to be Christians and can't love people! That is, to me, the highest form of being IMBALANCED!)

I should probably stop writing before I start preaching.

Be balanced people.

(Originally Posted on December 6th, 2010) 1 Corinthians 13 1-8a, 13 --  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 John 3:16,18 -- This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters... Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (I also recommend reading all of 1 John. It's a great, and short, book of the Bible that talks a lot about love and what it looks like in our lives.) I went to this retreat on Saturday, and it really got me thinking about something I'd much rather ignore.  It's popped up every once in a while, but I was usually pretty successful in ignoring it.It's a lack of love in my life. Some might say "Zac, you're the love-iest guy I know!"  (Ok, maybe no one will actually say those exact words, but I'm assuming that at least one person who reads this disagrees with the statement that there's a lack of love in my life big enough to write about.) I was just reminded of a C.S. Lewis quote on love, in his book "The Four Loves." In it he talks about how that, in God, we become more loving as He gives us more love.  Perhaps some of us started with hearts as hard as rocks; God's love in our lives starts softening those rocks.  But if you were a very loving person before you met Christ, then you'll have even more love afterwards!  It doesn't mean that the person who loves more is better or has advanced more than the other person, it simply means that they started with different amounts of love in their lives. I know that in the same way, I can't expect to have the same amount of love as others, simply because I'm not wired that way (not yet anyways.)  But this lack of love in me is something even more basic. I've seen this lack of love show up over and over again in my life, in the way that I always seem to lose my friends, or slowly drop out of contact with them.  It's extremely hard for me to have a really close friend, and even harder to maintain the relationship as soon as we stop seeing each other all the time.  It's also shown up at funerals, where I honestly felt nothing.  I remember asking God "God, break my heart. Do something! I hate not feeling anything." I didn't feel for the family or anything.  God did show up and soften my heart towards the family, I think I ended up crying at that funeral. My point is, I'm broken. I hate to admit it, but it's true.  And it really bugs me, especially this one, because what it says in 1 Corinthians 13 is feeling oh-so true for me right now. Without love, I'm only a clanging cymbal. Without love, no matter how many talents I have, I'm nothing. Without love, everything I do gains me nothing. Everything I do here in Villa Madero, if it's not with love, is just a waste! It's nothing without love! This devo doesn't exactly have a happy ending, not yet anyways. I'm fully confident that, with God, my life will change.  I know that He didn't bring me here to be useless!  No, He brought me here for a purpose, He has a plan for me!  And I'm believing what He's said in His Word, I'm believing what He's promised me.   Ezekiel 36:26 -- I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 2 Cor. 5:17 -- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!   My prayer petition is this: ask God to give me love. It's simple, short, but something I think we all need, and it's something I definitely need. And my encouragement (I really hope I didn't leave you guys feeling all depressed!): Examine yourselves.  Sometimes we really just need to take a step back and look at our lives, and see where God is and where He wants us to change.  

I was on the bus and wrote this in my phone. It's completely unedited, the words came, and I wrote them. I may post a more edited version of this one day, who knows? A Bus Poem To God You took me from the gutter My heart gave a flutter When your hand grabbed mine I knew I'd be fine Thank you God, for meeting me here Thank you God, for taking my fear. I know that you love me, that's enough Especially when the going gets tough. Why do you love me When I do the things I do? All I can say is I'm glad I'm not you. Will you stay here, to wipe these tears? Will you hold me, to quiet these fears?

Psalm.117.1-2 (The Message)

Praise God, everybody.  Applaud God, all people! His love has taken over our lives; God's faithful ways are eternal. Hallelujah!

Whoah, Heaven is going to be so awesome. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away" Rev. 21:1a.   We will literally live on a new planet, and we won't need water to survive anymore. "...and there was no longer any sea." Rev. 21:1b Oh, and God's gonna be partying it up with us, 24/7, or however we measure time in Heaven, because "...I heard a loud from the throne saying 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.' " Rev. 21:3.  That sounds pretty cool to me, 'cuz I would definitely like being able to be with my Lord everyday, for the rest of eternity.  Oh, and "He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Rev. 21:4... NO MORE death or mourning or crying or pain.  Sign me up!! Revelations 21:10-12, 18-21, 23-27. "...and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates.... The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass....The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." The new Holy City sounds like it's going to be pretty awesome, I can't wait until I'm seeing it firsthand. We won't need a sun anymore, because God's glory will light everything for us.  There also won't be any night for that same reason. Only those "whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life" will be allowed entry, no one else. Is your name in the Lamb's book of life?  If you haven't accepted Jesus into your heart, and asked Him to be your Saviour, your name isn't in the book of life.  My prayer is for everyone who reads this to accept Jesus into his or her heart. If you'd like to talk about it, or anything else, I'm always ready and willing to talk about anything. I hope you've enjoyed this, or at least learned something from this rather long blog. Zac Originally Posted November 27th, 2006