Dreaming and Doing

We expend so much energy dreaming about doing great things and so little energy doing the small things that God calls great.

Wildfires in Southern California

Some may be wondering about the wildfires in Southern California and if Santa Clarita and TMC have been affected.  The strong Santa Ana winds are driving numerous fires out of control as they often do in SoCal.  As I write this on Sunday at 10:30pm PST, the closest fires to TMC and our extension-campus dorm are in Canyon Country, which is about five miles to the north.  There were at least 5-10 families in our church that evacuated tonight, some with fires on the hills directly behind their houses.  I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of more evacuations if the winds don’t let up in the next day.

The college hasn’t evacuated, and I haven’t heard anything about classes being canceled tomorrow.  We do have a plan in place in case evacuation is necessary.  I don’t foresee that happening, but you never know with the strength and unpredictability of the Santa Ana winds.  Right now we’re mainly affected by the smoky air.  Earlier this afternoon the sky was a bright rust color (see pictures below) and the smoky smell has gotten pretty heavy as it’s settled into the Santa Clarita Valley throughout the evening.

I may not get the directions or distances exactly right, but these are the fires I’ve heard about today (I’m sure there are several more that I’m not remembering or haven’t heard about):

• Malibu (hour south)
• Ontario (hour east)
• Orange County (hour southeast)
• Irvine (hour southeast)
• Castaic (15 minutes north)
• Agua Dulce (30 minutes northeast)
• Canyon Country (10 minutes north)

Below are a few pictures and a video I took this afternoon from our block.  Oak Manor and Cornerstone are the two TMC-owned apartment complexes that I oversee.  They function as one joint male dormitory nicknamed the OMC.  My family lives in Oak Manor (the tan building at left right next to the black PathFinder in the first picture below).

 

There are several things you can pray for as the fires continue:

• Pray for strengthened faith and lengthened perspective among believers who will lose some of their earthly possessions.
• Pray that unaffected believers would have the eyes to see that this is a foretaste of what will happen to our material possessions, and that we would make future choices accordingly.
• Pray that unbelievers who lose precious possessions will see that life is more than possessions.
• Pray that we would look for needs and jump at opportunities to serve our fellow believers and the surrounding community.
• Pray that we would not take the losses lightly and justify our lack of compassion with casual, unfeeling, throwaway platitudes about providence (I believe deeply in divine providence but I also believe deeply that such belief doesn’t warrant cold-heartedness towards those who have been broken by providence).
• Pray that all would be reminded of the just fires of hell and the need for repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.

Raw Christianity: One Year Later

Raw Christianity was born one year ago today.  There’s a lot I’d like to say about the title and purpose of the blog and the range and power of the phrase “Raw Christianity.”  But words have been failing lately.  So I’ll say it with some words from a year ago.  Everything below is still an aim and not an accomplishment.  I trust the same is true for you.  Which is why I hope that we will continue to press on together.  May the Lord give promised grace.

What I’ve always wanted to be is someone who doesn’t seek to be a polished disciple or a smooth Christian but who is authentic and on-edge and full of faith and biblical risk-taking.  I don’t want my life to be full of monotone prayers and programmed evangelism and dull worship and bland confessions and dutiful quiet times and shallow relationships and American comforts and spineless choices.  I want to be aggressively Christian.  I want to have a Bible-soaked mind and an unwavering endurance and a tireless passion and a trembling fear of God.  I want prophetic boldness and relentless love and an unstoppable drive to obey the commands of Christ.  I want an unmistakable compassion for God-rejectors, a piercing sense of the reality of heaven and hell, and an unceasing desire to see the glory of God fill the earth like the waters fill the sea.

Jesus didn’t do status quo obedience or spiritual mediocrity or political correctness.  He wasn’t even religiously correct.  What He did was the will of His Father, with a rugged and unfailing commitment to turn neither to the right nor to the left.  From His affections to His actions, from His practice to His preaching, from His life to His death, He was for real.  And I want, so badly, to be like Him.

I don’t want polished Christianity.  I don’t want social Christianity.  I don’t want cosmetic Christianity.  I want Raw Christianity.  I have been realizing that since a few months after I became a believer, I shared about it in that memorable RD meeting a few years ago, and I feel no differently tonight.

This blog is not a therapeutic exercise for me.  I don’t write to get things off my chest or to rant or to criticize.  I’ve always thought those were very empty and destructive reasons for blogging.  Rather, I hope to encourage a genuine pursuit of Christ that’s defined by what He did and said, not by cultural trends or religious traditions.  I don’t know how well I’ll do that, but that’s my aim.

So welcome to Raw Christianity.  I pray that what’s written here will always represent the teaching and the passion of our Savior.

Three Months Later: Our Little Man

Judah came home on July 13, three months ago this weekend.  Here are some pictures taken by my brother Mike at my intramural flag football game on Saturday, October 13.  Judah is happy, healthy, and precious.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.