I grew up loving tacos and hot dogs in the summertime, regular Filipino feasts of roast pork, egg rolls and pancit (Filipino lo mein).  As a college student, my palate matured to include a taste for filet mignon, pulled pork, sushi and chicken Pad Thai.  A couple of years ago, after watching Food, Inc. and reading books like Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, Dominion by  Matthew Scully and, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safron Foer (and also having impassioned discussions with some of my vegan and vegetarian friends)  I made a decision to become a vegetarian.  I lived as a strict vegetarian for the next 5 months.  I never stopped enjoying the taste or smell of meat; I simply had to because of all of the information and education I’d been exposed to regarding health risks, animal cruelty, and the environmental damage.

And then St. Thomas happened.  I traveled to St. Thomas with Jeanne and Miriam and enjoyed an incredible week of sunshine and resort life.  On our last night in town, we visited the Havana Grille in a hotel down the street from where we were staying.  On the menu, they had Argentinian-style flank steak with chimichurri sauce.  I have a weakness for chimichurri + steak.  Somehow, I slipped into the mentality of “I’m on vacation.”  Also, I rationalized it somehow thinking that because I was not on actual American soil, surely this cow had to have at least been grass-fed and raised humanely.   So I ordered the flank steak.  And it was GOOD.

Then 4 Rivers happened.  4 Rivers is now generally to be recognized as the best barbecue joint in central Florida.  They were just gaining popularity at that point.  I decided to try some of their Texas-style brisket, coupled with some amazing baked beans and macaroni and cheese.

I had unofficially sworn to myself that if I ever ate meat again, I would eat only once a week and never more than once a day, if that.   And if I did, I would only eat local or organic meat.

I stuck to that.  At first.

My friend Jimmy raises cows for meat and I acquired a 1/8 of one of his grass-fed cows in the form which was locally raised and slaughtered and packaged in the form of ground beef, and a variety of roasts and steaks which lasted me 9 months.  All from the one cow.

During this time, I never purchased beef from the grocery store, but I still would eat a hamburger or a steak from a restaurant now and then.  Slowly but surely however, I eased my way back into a meat-filled diet.

For the past 3-4 months, I have had this growing, gnawing attack of conscience.  I knew something was not right about the way I was eating and I felt ashamed that even though I had all of this education about all of the animal abuse and environmental concerns and moral obligation, I still was able to compartmentalize that information and not follow through in action what I knew in my head to be true.

Somehow, over the course of the last holiday season, I realized that I was ready to reduce my meat intake again.  I had made a personal goal to lose about 25 pounds since late December so a natural part of that goal means forgoing meat and dairy as often as possible.  I’ve been eating more vegan cuisine lately, but I still allow for the possibility of eating meat on rare occasions.  For instance, I went to my grandma’s house last week and she served up siniagang, a traditional Filipino dish of broth, meat and vegetables.  I don’t want to eat meat more than 1-2 times a month, but I’ve realized I can’t beat myself up if I eat meat once in a blue moon.

The point is, I am making a concerted effort toward a plant based diet, cutting out meat and reducing dairy intake.

An important documentary that helped seal the deal for me is Forks Over Knives.  Jeanne had been telling me to watch this for months and I finally watched it on Netflix over the weekend with John.

I was a bit stunned, to be honest.  The premise of the film is that there is a clear, unmistakable correlation between meat/dairy intake and a host of chronic health problems that include heart disease, many forms of cancer, diabetes, osteoperosis, obesity and more.

And get this: many of these conditions are treatable if not completely reversible if the patient adopts a whole foods, plant-based diet.

I have known so many people that struggle with many of these health problems.  And yet here is a glaringly simple way to overcome it:  through what we eat.

One statistic that blew me away was how in Norway (a country which adopts a Western diet that includes a lot of meat) had moderately high rates of death due to heart disease.  In 1939, the Nazis invaded and confiscated all of the Norwegians’ cattle and livestock to feed their own German armies.  Stripped of all access to meat and dairy products (including cheese and milk), Norwegians were forced to eat a plant-based diet.   After the Nazi invasion in 1939, their rates of heart disease dropped sharply.  Once the Nazis left in 1945 however and Norwegians got their cattle back, the heart disease rates rose and continued to rise following the war.

I think Forks Over Knives is an incredibly important film that anyone could watch.  I could probably go into this film more in detail, but the best advice I can give is this:  watch it for yourselves.

But be careful because it might change your life…

The weather has been incredible lately (the joys of living in Florida!) and biking has been a fantastic way to take advantage of the beautiful sunshine.  I’ve never been much of a cyclist and haven’t ventured beyond leisure cycling so this has been a new experience for me.  In the past, John has regularly biked the whole 26.2 miles and back of the trail.  Although I’m back into a regular running routine (3-4 times a week for the past month now), I still feel like a cycling baby. Although John’s kind of a pro, we’re starting out in shorter distances.  The first time, we went about 12 miles; the second time 15.  The last time we started out in Oakland and went to Clermont and  I just about died on those monstrous Clermont hills.

This past weekend, we decided to take a more leisurely route into Winter Garden, since we were inviting our friends along.  On Saturday, John, Oscar and Jodie and I biked the easy stretch from Oakland (starting at the Killarney Station) into downtown Winter Garden.  This part of the trail is shaded by Spanish moss oak trees and runs past houses, a nature preserve and several fields.

Jodie took some photos along the way which I’ll include…

We stopped at the library so John could drop off some CDs, then headed over to the Winter Garden Farmers’ market.  We found an interesting way to lock up our bikes:

I’m a huge fan of local markets.  I love the Winter Park Farmers’ Market.  I’m starting to love the Winter Garden one as well since I come here more often nowadays.  Last time we visited the Winter Garden market, John and I were intrigued by pasta by Pappardelle’s.  They sell gourmet pastas with interesting blends such as lime chipotle linguine, sweet potato orzo, and even chocolate linguine (to be served as a dessert).  We finally settled on porcini mushroom linguine and a mixed blend seasoned with sundried tomato, basil pesto and cracked pepper.

John and I have been on a Thai food kick lately (having dined Thai Singha, Nara Deva Thai AND Thai Blossom in less than two weeks) so we decided to return to Thai Blossom.  Oscar and Jodie split Chicken Pad Thai, while John and I split vegetable spring rolls and vegetarian Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles). We stopped in at Here Be Dragons Bookshoppe where I purchased a live Miles Davis album for 98 cents.

Then we swung by Sweet Traditions French bakery.  I had never been in here before.  It was ridiculous.  I thought it would be a tiny display case with a few pastries in it.  The display case was as long as a hallway and was chock full of all kinds of cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, croissants and more.

I got a black coffee and a Napoleon (my fave French pastry) and John got a coconut cream pie and a cappuccino.  After enjoying our coffee and desserts it was time to head back to Oakland.  I realized that I would like to purchase a basket for my bike.  For long distance, I’ve been using John’s mom’s mountain bike; however, for leisure trips like this, it would be nice to take my single speed cruiser to the market and be able to take home a basket full of fresh fruits and vegetables from the market.  We are definitely going to try and visit this market more regularly from now on.

We ended up cooking both pasta blends at home later that weekend and each turned out beautifully.  The first we cooked with onion, mushrooms, basil, fresh tomatoes and garlic. The second, we pan-fried pine nuts and garlic and tossed it in with some more fresh basil, zucchini squash and onion.  Both lovely and now I have plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week!

BTW, I watched both Food Matters and Forks and Knives.  Won’t have time for a full review now but I would like to post thoughts about both documentaries soon.

Stay tuned!

With last night’s midseason finale episode, Season Two has finally begun to prove how The Walking Dead is more than a show about zombie survival or even about human conflict–it’s ultimately a battle of ideas.  These ideas are centered around the question, “What is the moral code in an apocalyptic world?”  (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD… just do me and yourself a favor if you haven’t watched the Walking Dead and don’t read this blog!)

Team Rick
On one side, you have Rick who still adheres to old world codes of decency and respect.  His main goal is to ensure the survival of every member of the camp, that “no man gets left behind.”  This has fueled his response to the major crisis of Season Two, which is that young Sophia has gone missing in the woods of Georgia.  Feeling responsible–and probably enormously guilty since Sophia disappeared under his watch–Rick leads a search party to find her.  In this process, Karl gets shot after tagging along with his dad on a search party outing.  

They receive aid from Farmer Hershel, who provides medical attention to young Karl, and lets the band of survivors stay on his land while Karl recuperates. Rick has begun to see Hershel’s farm as a true safe haven, a place insulated from walkers (they apparently have a magical swamp river that ensnares walkers because of the sticky silt, much like a rat trap or a fly trap).  He begins to envision a permanent life at the farm and is willing to do play it safe and follow Hershel’s rules just to stay at the farm.  

Team Shane
On the other side you have Shane, who has quickly adapted to the dog-eat-dog (or zombie-eat-dog?) mentality, namely when he coldly shot his sidekick Otis, sacrificing him to save himself (and arguable young Karl too) to get much-needed medical supplies back to the camp.  He lies about the incident, shaving his head to cover up the evidence that Otis fought back and ripped out a patch of his hair. Although first helpful to Rick’s search party, Shane quickly begins view the search for Sophia as pointless, and is resigned to the fact that Sophia is probably either dead or a walker.  He questions Rick’s authority at every turn, blaming Rick for Karl getting shot, insisting the group should cut their losses, give up the search for Sophia, and instead focus on surviving with the people they do have.

Shane has become an increasingly infuriating person to me.  Even the way actor Jon Bernthal plays him rocking back forth and constantly shifting his weight or darting his intense eyes around, Shane seems to becoming a wild animal, dangerous, unpredictable and unshackled by rules of morality.  In last night’s episode, we see Shane become violently unhinged as he leads a full on massacre to a barn full of walkers which had been protected by Hershel on his land of peace and tranquility.  This scene was shot so beautifully, I actually felt empathy for these zombies that were coming out of the barn only to be slaughtered.  I think this is the first time in the history of zombie lore, where rather than feeling triumphant or delighted or relieved when a zombie is killed, I actually felt sad, partially for Hershel who had kept his wife and son locked in the barn, naively hoping for a cure someday to heal them, and mostly remembering the humanity in the zombies in their previous lives.  I was mad at Shane for violating Hershel’s rules and disrespecting him, leading an attack that seemed completely unnecessary since the barn was incredibly secure.  

Then out of the shadows of the barn steps the last walker, young Sophia with her tennis shoes and faded rainbow tshirt and a gaping wound on her neck, clearly a zombie now.  You see the entire camp–Andrea, T-Dog, Glen, Daryl, Lori, Karl and even Shane completely rocked, distraught and incredulous.  The firing squad, completely in shock, freezes and no one shoots.  I remember saying out loud to John as we were watching, “Oh my gosh, who’s gonna be the one to shoot her?”  And Rick, who had been wrangling a walker, so insistent to stay at the farm and follow Herschel’s rules at the expense of the group, he walks up to Sophia and slowly, heartbreakingly pulls the trigger.   

Battle of Ideas
I thought this episode was brilliant, because as infuriating as Shane has become to me, this incident proved this frustrating reality: that Shane was right the whole time.  Rick has been submitting to Hershel’s rules, first Hershel’s “no guns” policy in exchange for refuge on their land.  After Glen discovers walkers in the barn, Rick even seems prepared to follow Hershel’s second rule of “no shooting walkers,” the old “zombies are people too!” argument.  We even see Rick keeping a walker alive, wrangling it and helping Hershel prod them into the barn.  We begin to even believe what Rick believes, that this farm is safe and secure and a place to make a life for him and his (or Shane’s?) baby, never mind that a there is barn full of walkers “a stone’s throw away from where we sleep,” as Shane put it.  

John made a good point, taken from Glen’s dialogue.  Glen tells Maggie, “I forgot they were dangerous,” referring to the walkers.  Being so insulated from the harm outside, and so intent on staying at the farm, Rick began to forget how dangerous the walkers were, as he was willing to surrender the guns and even consider not destroying the walkers in the barn.  His series of actions led to Sophia going missing and then Karl getting shot.  As frustrating it is to see, morally bankrupt Shane truly is capable of making decisions that will ensure the survival of the group.

But what about the moral survival?  I want to know it’s still possible in this show for people to be decent and good and hopeful–like my new favorites Glen, Daryl and Karl–and still survive.  Shane might be best equipped and adapted to survive in this world, but there’s not much else redeemable about him.  And if he is indeed the father of Lori’s baby, what kind of father figure would he be?

I thought it was incredibly significant and important and a character-defining moment when Rick was the one to shoot Sophia.  First, for me it evoked the opening scene of Season One.  The first time we see Rick in his state trooper uniform as he calmly walks down the road, pulls out a gun and shoots a little girl walker, still in her pajamas.  Season Two provided a hauntingly somber symmetry, as he shoots little Sophia.  I’m intrigued to see where they will take Rick’s character now.  

Up until this episode, I haven’t been the biggest fan of Season Two.  

Season One of The Walking Dead was a tension-ridden, action-packed survival horror roller coaster ride, much in the vein of 28 Days Later.  However, Season Two’s relative lack of action/tension has been part of my frustration with this season (It seems like zombies rarely made an appearance in the majority of Season Two episodes).  Lately, the show has been feeling more like a Grey’s Anatomy for zombie survivors.  Romantic entanglements, “who’s the father?”, and power struggles between the two alpha males often felt more like soap opera material rather than a zombie horror story.  I was resigned to the fact that budget cuts by AMC really were cutting down on the action and production value to save money and that the story would suffer.

However, with this midseason finale, The Walking Dead has proven that this show is much more than a zombie story, and even much more about good character development.  This television show truly is now set up to be completely epic, where the deepest philosophical and moral questions get played out onscreen.

Thus, my faith in the show has finally been restored and I can’t wait until February. 

Well done.  

Every Thanksgiving, I am commissioned by my mother to cook the green bean casserole.  I’m not sure if this is due to the fact that amongst my family members, my culinary skills are ranked the lowest (keep in mind that my father is on a career fast track to becoming chef’s assistant at Disney).  I liken it to being a benchwarmer for the New York Yankees.  At least I’m still on the team.

Regardless, green bean casserole is the Thanksgiving dish that is generally regarded as requiring the least amount of skill.  In years past, it takes me all of 5 minutes to open 2 cans of Green Giant cut green beans, open one more can of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, mix that together with some milk, French onions and salt and pepper and throw that baby in the oven.

Classic Thanksgiving dish, although I’m sure the Pilgrims and American Indians from the original gathering would disagree.

This year, I decided to kick it up a notch and make it from scratch.

I am using this recipe by Ellie Krieger of the Food Network.  Ellie’s niche is that she creates healthier versions of classic dishes.  It has less sodium than normal green bean casserole out of a can, and uses lots of fresh herbs and ingredients.  It smells pretty good so I’m pretty optimistic. I’ve had green bean casserole from scratch before and as terrible as it sounds, it made me long for the canned version.  Nostalgia wins sometimes, I guess.

I prepped it and it’s ready to be thrown in the oven first thing tomorrow morning.  So tomorrow, all I have to worry about is the mashed potatoes.

I love Thanksgiving.

Now, time to catch up on the West Wing!

I was not impressed with Dawn of the Dead. A couple of distractions are at the root of this, namely the fact that all the zombies were sporting chalky blue makeup. Also, the cheesy-lame-a-cious movie score the entire time. I enjoyed his black and white 1968 Night of the Living Dead much more. There was more suspense and tension and build-up in the 1968 one.

Interview with the Vampire: Seriously, Kirsten Dunst’s finest acting role. And she was like 7 years old. Well, I have yet to see this year’s Melancholia so I’ll hold off on that accolade for now. Tom Cruise is crazy. But we already knew that.

“J. Edgar” was an interesting look into the guy who invented the FBI. Apparently he was into cross-dressing as well as scooping up Communist radicals, collecting dirt on sitting Presidents and being jealous of the Jack Bauers of the day who actually went around capturing gangsters. Oh, and he’s a super nerd and is really into organizing libraries. The makeup they used to make Leo look old was actually pretty good.

I don’t know why I’m making a big deal about the make-up in my assessment… It’s not normally a make or break point for me but I guess it is in this case.

Now, onto books.

Also finished I am Legend by Richard Matheson. The end was kind of a let down, but mostly because I thought I still had 75 more pages to go, and it turns out the second half of the book was devoted to additional short stories by Matheson that were not advertised on the cover. I felt like I was cheated. Completely different from the film version.

I’m also working my way through King’s Cross by Tim Keller for a second time and thumbing through Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” How and why I eat food has been bothering me again so I’m re-evaluating.

I put Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close off to the side for a bit but I might pick that up this week…

Since we were expected to vote, I’ve included my own random reviews of the evening.

The 10 finalists and films (also viewable here) shown Monday night were:

• Incident by a Bank (Sweden): A reimagining of an actual failed bank robbery.  One of the coolest things was that this one was filmed all in one shot, using 90 extras.
• Dik (Australia): Funny premise and well-acted.  And it’s always good for my soul to hear Australian audiences.  This material to me fit more of a situational comedy though.
• Mak (Switzerland): Incredibly sad social commentary on abandoned babies.  This was beautifully shot and acted.  I found the lead actress to be quite compelling without using much dialogue.  However, after it was all done I just felt slightly depressed.
• I Love Luci (Scotland):  Very well acted and executed.  Quirky humour with some unconventional camera work.  I definitely felt drawn into this story, with all its weird charm.  This was  in my top three.
• The Legend of Beaver Dam (Canada): Kiddies in a slasher horror-turned musical flick.  I started out liking it, but lost interest halfway through, but couldn’t quite pin down why.   John thought it was a bit “cocky.”  He is so astute.
• Sexting (USA): While watching this, this felt very much like a play.  I found out afterward that the writer is used to doing straight theater.  A clever one-shot monologue by Julia Stiles (unexpected surprise)  but I think I figured out the twist ahead of time which ruined it slightly for me.
• The Forest (Hungary): This was well shot, but there was simply no climax after an eerie mood.  The synopsis literally says it all.
• A Doctor’s Job (Peru): I voted for this one, mostly because I felt real empathy for the main character.  It had drama, action, comedy and captured the flavor of the city Lima well.
• David and Goliath (USA):  It was really a toss-up between this one and the Doctor’s Job for me.  John voted for this one.  I could have easily voted for this one as well.  Based on a true story, a Czech man evaded capture and murder by Nazis, by hiding in a doghouse, protected by a German Shepherd and his farmer owner.  Also a pleasant surprise to see Billy Burke (he plays the psychotic dad who tries to kill Jack Bauer’s daughter in season 2 of 24.  Also he plays Bella’s dad in the Twilight series).
• Martyr Friday (Egypt):  Compelling montage of scenes from the February revolution in Egypt from earlier this year.  I didn’t vote for this one, mostly because it seemed more like an expose or a documentary, rather than a short film.

I wish there were more opportunities to see short films like this.  People make them all the time and we never get to see them.

More of this, please, Enzian.

As part of the event, we were recording the worship recording for our bi-weekly television slot on TV 45.  Our Communications Director Whitney Sewell captured some great photos of the evening on camera.  I also took a couple behind the scenes ones on instagram.

Stoked because my ukulele is going to get his first television debut.  I’m excited for my little faithful wooden buddy.

I have to be honest and admit when I first learned our church was going to be on television each week, I was skeptical and even  a bit disconcerted.  I am (still) cautious of putting ourselves in a position where media/lights/AV production overtakes the worship experience; however, I am slowly recognizing and accepting what a powerful tool TV can be for reaching people for Christ.  We’re already hearing stories come in of people giving their lives to Christ or being deeply encouraged or changed, and we’ve only been airing for a couple of weeks.

I’ve definitely been convicted and humbled a lot over the past couple of weeks in my own attitude.  I’m an idealist and a perfectionist and so when things around me could be better or more genuine or more Christ-centered I tend to get all righteously indignant, which quickly corrupts and devolves into chronic (and might I add, sinful) frustration and pride.  And then I tend to have blindspots toward my own character flaws in the process.

Working for a church continues to be an incredible character furnace for me.  Refinement.

I’m thankful to be serving at a church that is in forward motion in terms of the gospel going out and taking root in people’s lives.  And it continues to be a privilege to be part of a team that is genuine and passionate in the work of the kingdom.

Anyway, if you have Brighthouse Network, we’re supposedly on the air Saturday nights at 10:30 and Sunday morning at 9 a.m. on channel 19. However, seriously people… if you’re gonna watch church on TV on Sunday morning, this is me telling you… get up, get out of your house and be the church.  Fo’ reals.

What is the mission of the church?  Through this sermon series, Chandler seeks to answer this question by  an even bigger question:  What is the mission of God?

This question caught me off guard because in church ministry, the vision and mission of the church often gets discussed and clarified; however, the mission of God just becomes lost in a haze of assumption that we often forget or become disconnected from our reasons.  In his sermon, Chandler boils this all down to one idea:  The mission of God is, quite simply, God.

God’s renown, His glory, His nature and name being known is ultimately the end goal.  The mission of God is not limited only to salvation or redemption, although those things are certainly the means by which God’s glory comes about in the ultimate way.  But in the end, God is all about God.

And the mission of the church should also be God.  The church is a covenant community that seeks to make much of God.  And how do we accomplish this?

Through making disciples.  Matthew 28:19-20.

At Real Life, we phrase it a little differently, calling it “changed lives.”  Ultimately, however the goal should be the same:  the glory of God through the making of disciples. 

I learned that at the Village Church specifically, they seek to accomplish this mission strategically through four ways:

• gospel-centered worship: a lifestyle of Christ-centered worship both personally/organically and corporately/institutionally
• gospel-centered community: iron sharpening iron in all concentric circles of life:  family, friends, neighbors, church community
• gospel-centered service: imitating Christ’s humility by putting others before ourselves both personally and corporately
• gospel-centered multiplication: increasing spiritual growth in our lives and those around us, deep and wide.

Although this list might appear repetitive, the point was made that it is entirely possible to have worship, community, service and multiplication without the gospel at the center.  However, with Christ at the center of all things, this is the powerful means that God uses to redeem and restore broken humanity, all for our good and His glory.

I think a couple of things have struck me through this whole learning process over the past few weeks:

1) God’s glory and our joy are interwoven.  No matter the circumstance, when God is glorified–at the fabric and DNA of who we are as people created in the image of God, designed to worship and love and be in relationship with all-loving Creator God–joy is always possible.  Joy is always possible not because of me and my own twisted values and personal desires and wants and needs being fulfilled.  The commands, promises, and purpose set forth by God are for His glory through our joy as restored people.  God’s design set forth through Scripture is not meant to be this shackling, limiting list of rules to follow; rather, it’s an invitation to true freedom to live as we were meant to. Joy is possible because my joy and true well-being is invariably linked to God’s glory.

2) I’m starting to truly discover there is incredible freedom in realizing that I’m not the point.  My life, my ministry, my relationships are not all about me.  It’s easy to pay lip service to this idea, especially among Christian circles.  We are very quick to say this sort of thing and agree with it.  And I think people do actually think they think that or would like to think that way. But I’m realizing that few people actually live this way.  The truth that “I’m not the point” is something I am constantly learning and re-learning and having to repent through.  But I’m starting to realize what immense freedom there is in serving and loving without necessarily having to be a slave to my own desires.  This has started to give me strength and hope and encouragement when I start to get frustrated or cynical, which happens far too frequently these days.  This truth is also kicking the tar out of me when I started to grow arrogant or prideful or self-absorbed.

On a personal level, these ideas have helped me to break down the mission of God = the mission of the church = my own personal life mission.

And it also got me thinking a lot about churches and their mission statements.  What is your church’s vision or mission statement?  How is this played out in the day-to-day?

One of the clearest themes that emerges from Scripture is this idea of identity shaping response. In the Old Testament, we see even from the beginning of creation, God brings forth man and woman from the dust, and from their identity as those “created in the image of God,” (Genesis 1:27). Out of this identity, comes a response: ““Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28). The Creator God fashions humankind and breathes His identity into his creation. Our response? To be relational, fruitful, creative, and productive.

Or in Exodus, we see God delivering the Israelites–an oppressed, marginalized people–out of slavery. He gives them a new identity as a covenant community, sealing it with the giving of the Law (including the 10 Commandments). In this, their identity–the covenant community of God–requires a response that sets them apart from the polytheistic cultures around them, perfectly summarized in the 10 Commandments: to forsake other gods and to live pure and righteous lives. Identity = Response.

This is also most clearly reflected in the letters of Paul and Peter. The writers constantly reminds the 1st century churches of their identity, everything from “you have been raised with Christ” (Colossians 3:1) to “you are a royal priesthood” (1Peter 2:9). And because of this identity, a response is expected.

In Philippians, Paul writes:

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (Philippians 2:1-2).

The words which I bolded above stuck out at me. These are all gifts that we have from God because of Christ. It occurred to me that because we are rebellious and sinful in nature, we tend to look for those things (encouragement/unity, comfort and common sharing) outside of God.

There are lots of barriers to genuine worship today. It seems to me that particularly within the church, the greatest barriers to genuine worship today are not necessarily immoral or sinful behavior (drinking, drugs, etc.), but rather good things. Good things (that as Mitch says), become God things.

The top barriers tend to be: relationships, money/comfort and respect. Our relationships with our spouses, children, our friends, or maybe even the desire of a future relationship yet to be–drives everything we do. We’re so concerned with feeding the relationship; we’re addicted to the feelings of approval, of being well-liked, of being enjoyed and enjoying someone else that we forget the perfect love and encouragement we have in Christ. Or we’re addicted to the latest technological gadget (yeah, Apple lovers I’m talking to you, even amid Steve Jobs’ exit), the latest movie or reality TV show, the latest caffeinated buzz. We’re addicted to comfort and convenience and efficiency and speed. We’re not so much addicted to money–I don’t know anybody that hoards bags of money or gold anywhere–but we’re addicted to the thrill of what these things buy. Our whole lives are geared toward making more money so we can have bigger TVs, sharper images, faster computers, higher performance vehicles. As for respect, we may not be stepping on other people to climb up a corporate ladder, but this constant forward barreling through high school so we can go to college so we can get a job so we can have a career so we can have a good retirement is this constant onward and upward to prove ourselves, to show that we have done something meaningful and important that deserves recognition.

In short, this is where we find our identity.

Paul turns that all around and reminds us–we already have that which we seek in Christ. Christ gives us the ultimate relationship, the ultimate comfort, the ultimate chance to participate in the glorious work that He is doing in the ministry of reconciliation.

All we need to do?

“be like-minded, having the same joy, being one in purpose.” And to do “nothing out of selfish ambition of vain conceit.”

So out of our great identity of being united with Christ, of having comfort from His love, of having fellowship with the Spirit, we are called to be unified and humble. We cannot have one without the other. Both are necessary to live out the response required of us.

1) Unity: Despite what lots of people will say in terms of churches not being unified, sometimes I think we’re too unified. What I mean by that is that we have all of the unity, but none of the humility. In the churches, I’ve seen–even this week–Christians judge other Christians because of what they wear or what they listen to, or what they are or what they are not. We say “if you behave this way, you are one of us”; but if not, “you are not good enough.” This makes me so sad that while Christians have found unity and identity in an institutionalized church, we often still lack the humility to recognize that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

2) Humility: Ultimately, humility is a recognition that life is not all about me. If I am truly humble, I am not easily offended or frustrated. I don’t continually seek after my comfort or renown or recognition or love or approval. I recognize that I exist to glorify and enjoy God and to make much of Him. My joy is tied to that being made a reality, not on my circumstances.

Through Paul, each of these three encounter God in very different ways:

1) Lydia, the “seller of purple dyes” and a “God-worshiper” is already spiritually seeking God and finds Him when Paul proclaims the gospel to her.  She immediately receives the Word and is baptized, along with her entire household. Her conversion is largely knowledge-based and intellectual.

2) The slave girl–exploited, demon-possessed, low on the social ladder–believes in the gospel because of an undeniable act of the power of the Holy Spirit.  She is delivered and is radically changed.

3) The jailer–torturer of Paul and other followers of Christ, ready to willing die for Rome and duty by falling on his sword–comes to Christ because he witnesses Christlike example in others.  He hears the prisoners singing, though they are in chains; He sees them have the chance to escape prison and not take it.  His personal sense of duty and calling is overshadowed by what he witnesses as a much higher duty and calling in Christ.

The gospel takes root in all kinds of people, regardless of wealth, social status, gender, race, spiritual condition.  I love how clearly this is expressed in this story. Christ can grab hold of you intellectually, through a powerful spiritual experience, by simply through people showing His love and grace in action.

So this lets opening chapter of Philippians take on an entirely new meaning.  Paul writes:

“I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

When he says “you” he means the Philippian believers.  He doesn’t mean just generic “you”; he means Lydia, the slave girl, the jailer and the hosts of others that came to faith during Paul’s first journey.  I love it because it helped put stories and names to faces.  And now the text of Philippians carries so much more weight, knowing the people at this church.

Mitch challenged us to think about whether or not we are Lydia, or the slave girl or the jailer in our own personal journeys.  I think I am a mix of all three, but I grew up in the church and was affected by the culture and examples around me so part of me is the jailer.  I had to rediscover my faith intellectually while I was at college but I was always open, just questioning and seeking.  In that way I’m Lydia.

This makes me think about the call that God places on our lives to grow in Him. And how difficult that can be.  I like how Paul follows up with this prayer, because I like to think he had these specific individuals in mind when he wrote it:

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”

Paul references love (shown by Paul and the others in the prison toward the jailer), knowledge, and discernment.  

Love is putting into practice to put others above yourself. To see the glory of God in each person, an image-bearer of Him and to treat them accordingly.  To love your neighbor as yourself.  Just as Paul demonstrated love and kindness to the jailer, we are called to love.

God wants our minds.  He wants us to be ever-increasing in the knowledge of Him.  This involves discipline, wise-decision making, commitment, humility.  We recognize that there is no end to the depths of God and like Lydia, we are always pushing for more, hungry for more and it is our joy to continually discover God.

And finally, discernment.  This I believe is a Spirit-led function.  We rely on the Spirit daily through prayer and the Word to guide us day to day in our relationships, in decision-making, in all things.  Just as the power of God shook this little slave girl to her core, freeing and redeeming her, that same power is at work within us.

This really got me thinking this week because it puts Paul’s prayer into context and makes me realize how much I need to grow in all three of these areas.  I go through seasons where I am very intellectually thirsty and reading all the Tim Keller, C.S. Lewis and commentaries I can handle;  or I’m focusing just on loving people; or I truly am drenched in prayer and seeking the Lord continually.  But truth is, 100% of the time, I’m lacking in either one, two or all three of them.

The thing is, I know the call goes so much deeper than “oh, I should read the Bible more” or “oh, I should try harder.”  This is really causing me to re-evaluate how knowledge, the Spirit and love should be playing out in my life each and every day.

Still trying to figure it all out.  Thoughts?