Hit the Road

Jess and I picked up our bikes last night. Hopefully this will begin a fitness regimen I can stick to. We bought some decent bikes from Wal-Mart... I know, not the best bikes in the world, but they work. I got a GMC Denali 700c road bike and Jess got a Schwinn Skyliner comfort bike. With all the bike trails in Madison, we had to do this. We simply wouldn't be Sconi's without them.

We love Wisconsin. Even though they charge a lot for license plates and don't have the best paved roads, we are finally close to a place where we call this home.

A Question

Who do you say Jesus is?

The Gospel Message: Love or Reconciliation?

I recently saw the preview for a new book/documentary called "Lord, Save Us From Your Followers."  It follows the same line of literature/cinematography as Blue Like Jazz, Super-Size Me, Sicko, and the like.  It seems light-hearted, and I can follow the don't-take-yourself-more-seriously-than-you-ought tones Dan Merchant uses.  However, I am stuck in a conundrum about the subtitle:  Why is the Gospel of Love dividing America?

If we simply reduce the Gospel to Love, I feel as though we are putting flowers in Jesus' hair and turning Him into a hippie.  I think there's more to the Gospel.  Saying it's a Gospel of Love is merely oversimplifying it.  I think it's a Gospel of Reconciliation.  Jesus tells us they will know we are His disciples by our love, and that love's ultimate form looks like a man dying for his friends.  Does it stop there?

Repentance is a key phrase used in the New Testament by just about everyone.  With repentance is also the idea of reconciliation.  We admit our wrongdoings and become reunited with God the Father.  After that, we become people who love God and those around us with the intent that they might be reconciled to the Father the same as us.  I'm not justifying bigotry, hatred, racism, etc.  I'm just saying that we love for a purpose.  We don't love for the sake of loving.  We love for the sake of reconciliation.

Post #50 on the Kingdom

It is my understanding (from great thinkers like N.T. Wright and Mark Fairchild) that the Kingdom of God is something that is already/not yet.  To explain, the Kingdom is here now among the Church being built but not yet fully realized in its maximum.

However, I feel as though I've always been taught to be waiting for the Kingdom.  I see it in many Christians, also.  They're waiting for something that is already here and in which they should be taking part.  I think that might be what Jesus meant (see: KINDA) when he said we wouldn't know the day or the hour when he would return.  We're supposed to be working so hard at ushering in the Kingdom that it takes us by surprise when Jesus comes back to finish the work we've been doing for him all along.

What are we waiting for?  We've got a Kingdom to build!

Flip-Flops can change the world!

I know... It's a sketchy title, but true in many ways.  Flip-flops can, in fact, change the world!

I'm sure half of my readers (totaling one person) might be thinking, "Flip-flops are terrible for your feet.  They cause bad strain on parts of your foot and can lead to back problems."  And that is the exact reason why they can change the world.

Many of us forget that we are all the same.  We are human.  In the Christian world that means broken, fallen, messed up, etc.  The pain brought on by flip-flops could remind us of that very thing.  Too many times we get caught up in the game of "I'm better than this person or that person."  It's simply not true.  We are all essentially the same.  We're sinful.  We live in a world of pain because of our sin.

Anyway, on to my proposal...  If flip-flops can lead to pain, they can be a reminder.  They can remind us of our past, our sin, and make us appreciate the joy we have in Christ.  This is a very important part of loving God.  God says to the Israelites in Ezekiel 16:22, "Besides all your abominations and harlotries you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare and squirming in your blood."  It's a pretty vivid description.  Israel had forgotten from where it had come.  They didn't remember how God had raised them up to be His people from among the many (and terribly wicked) people to proclaim His plan of rescuing the world from itself.  So wear a pair of flip-flops, hurt a little bit, and remember.  Remember where you've come from, where you're headed, and why you're here now.

Thomas

Cheese, Cows, Corn, Community:

Seven days:  the length of time Jess and I have lived in Wisconsin.

Things have been going pretty smoothly here in Madison.  We've unpacked our boxes in our small apartment, begun figuring our budget, and getting settled into the life of Madison.  I started today at First Presbyterian Church in Waunakee.  It's going to be pretty awesome.  I'm looking forward to the next month with Robby, the current Director of Youth Ministry.  Hopefully, we'll be able to have a smooth transition between the two of us.

The church is a great place.  Jess and I will definitely feel right at home here.  We are, however, struggling with having peers.  There isn't a huge group of young adults at the church.  God is definitely teaching us to rely on each other more through this.  Soon, though, we'll probably be attending at least once a week somewhere with a Saturday service that will help us connect with some young adults.

The Honeymoon

Jess and I are back from the honeymoon.  We had a lot of fun!  We rented a tandem bike at Peninsula State Park, got massages, ate a lot of good food, and toured a winery.  It was such a relaxing week.

At the end of the week, we stopped by Madison to look at apartments.  We found one on the northeast side of town near a little burb called Westport.  We signed the lease on Friday and will probably move in about two weeks!  Life is definitely coming at us fast, but we're super excited.