Sufferings the glory of the church?

Paul, to the Church in Ephesus:
"I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory."

How does suffering mark the church in America? Do we glory in it when we see it or do we run from it? My suffering is not a mark for the church. My suffering is harm for the church. On most days, I do not have a Biblical mind-set. My passion for God seems less than my passion for me. I am a suffering Christian. And my kind of suffering- it is not good for the church. God, thank you for your mercy- it never ends for me- and make me who I need to be for Your Church.

What i hope to say when i get to Heaven.

I wonder if the gospel in America is more of a "get your ticket to heaven!" gospel presentation. There is a difference between asking for a forgiver-of-sins to forgive you of your sins so you can go to heaven and recognizing that Jesus Christ is not only your Forgiver, but also your (and everyone else's) only hope, your only passion, your refiner, your prize and treasure, the One who will restore the image of God that sin shattered, and the One who will do away with sin, pain, and death forever. When I get to heaven, I don't want to look around and say "I am so glad I made it here." I want to get there and say, "I am so glad HE is here. I want to see Him. I will go to Him now. He is everything I have longed for and I must have Him."
What is He to you? See Jesus turn to you and say, "But what about you? Who do you say that I am?"

Who would you spend the day with?

If you had to choose one person from the New Testament (aside from Christ himself) to spend the day with, who would you choose? Paul, the great apostle, has never been one of my favorites. Hear me out on this- I think I have always been a little intimidated by him. He seems like he might have been a little divisive and abrasive. I feel like I could hang out with my peeps James and John- go fishing with them and tell "Your Momma" jokes with them til it's time to go home. I think I could even hang with Pete because he never spent time killing people, like Paul.
Paul was nuts. This joker didn't joke. I find myself daydreaming about what Paul would say to me if we were to hang out for the day. "Do you really need those gummy bears?" Or "When I was your age, I didn't have 20 pairs of shoes." Or "I walked to school uphill- in the snow- both ways." Or "You are such a slacker." Or "I don't like you." He would probably want to cut the day short- seeing how I would probably waste his time. I think I would irritate him. He wouldn't get my sense of humor either- he would have no patience for my slow-forming dry comments and my lame puns. It would truly be the Odd Couple on steroids.
I imagine my favorite apostle (John) saying things like, "Little child, I love you." "You are my brother, my friend." "You are the coolest person I have ever met- almost."
But as I think about hanging out with Paul- I can't help but think that I would be extremely inspired to press on in the faith. I think he would have that crazy look in his eyes like, "I could kill you right now, but I am not going to because I have better things to do right now. Besides, I am different now. Christ is fo rill and He has taken control of my life."
I think he would walk and talk with a twinkle in his eye that says, "Join me. This faith thing is real, Christ is powerful, and we are almost home." I read 2 Timothy, and I hear a man who knows that the end is near for him. And he wrote such wisdom at death's door! I fear I would have been spouting off foolish things- like "I love lamp." Or "Have you ever seen a fart machine? It's hilarious." He said things like "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days." "All Scripture is God-breathed." "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race. I have kept the faith." He wrote beautiful and deeply meaningful things. I see a strong minded man in his last days- pressing on til his last breath was breathed.
One thing struck me as I read the last part of 2 Timothy. Paul said, "The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen."
I wonder, "Did God honor those words?" It's well known that Paul was beheaded for his faith. Was Paul waiting for an angel to stay the swift attack of the soldier's sword? What did he mean when he said that God would rescue him from any evil attack? If the sword is not an evil attack, then what is?
I think I would love to spend some time with Paul. Though we may have some awkward moments where I feel a little bit out of my league, I think I will press on and take a walk with the great Apostle over the next few days.
I am curious- Who would you spend the day with and why? And does Paul scare anyone else?

Cyclone Nargis

If you have yet to hear about the cyclone that hit Myanmar (formerly called Burma in Southeast Asia), then you are unaware that there is an estimated death toll of over 100,000 people. Our questions now should not begin with "Why" but rather "What" and "How". What do we do? How should we respond? Listen to the words of Paul in Ephesians and let the Spirit lead you to do what is right- to do what is like God.
Eph. 4:28- "He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need."
Eph. 5:1- "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

My main man, Francis Chan!

I have really started to listen to this guy named Francis Chan. He is a very gifted communicator from Semi Valley California and I have grown closer to God through him. I got connected to him through the college movement called Passion. I was on his website today and I noticed that he doesn't like to write his blogs but he prefers to video his blogs. You can check it out by clicking right here.
I noticed one of his video blogs titled "Thoughts from the Bible Belt." Francis videos his blog from a restaurant in Fort Worth. This video kind of makes me sad- especially since I am entrenched in the Bible Belt and I may have a hard time ever leaving "Bible Beltish" ways behind. Check it out.