Christian Reflections

Christ, Discipleship, Church, Devotionals, Life

COUNTERFLOW

November 6th, 2009

Jojo Agot

Many people blame God for everything that goes wrong with their lives. They think God doesn’t care or He is too busy with God-business that He doesn’t have time for us mere mortals. Others make this an excuse not to believe in God. “If there is a God up there, how could He let this happen to me?”

Whenever I hear people gripe like this, there is only one picture that pops in my mind: a one way street. You could only drive towards one direction and you can’t make a U-turn without endangering yourself.

We get ourselves in trouble not because God doesn’t care but because we are driving against the right direction. Every time we choose to sin, we open up our lives to potential trouble. Sure God can forgive us anytime we ask for forgiveness but sometimes the consequences of that sin cannot be undone.

But what if you didn’t do anything wrong? What if it’s not really your fault that something bad happened to you? In that case, I still think that the highway analogy has another side to it. Maybe you got hit by a reckless driver. Not really your fault but somebody else did it to you.

I know this simplistic traffic analogy doesn’t answer all questions but it helps me process stuff in my head. It helps me believe that when something bad happens, it is not the inventor of traffic lights’ fault. Most of the time it’s just between me and another reckless driver on the road.

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SHOPPING FOR A BETTER HOME COUNTRY

November 4th, 2009

Jojo Agot

image-airport-service-b An interesting study just came out of Yahoo news front page today. Some 700 million people worldwide think they would be better off if they move permanently to another country. The top destinations? Rich countries like the United States, closely followed by Britain, France and Canada.

The report says that 38 percent of the entire adult population of sub-Saharan Africa wants to move out in search of a greener pasture. I don’t blame them. At one point in my life I also wanted to go to another country to find a better life.

We all have different reasons why we feel the need to move out. Some do it for financial reasons, others because they just feel the need to start anew.

This reminds me of Abraham. He also moved out of his own country but not because he thought he could be richer in a foreign land. He moved out because of a promise God made to him. Hebrews 11: 10 says he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

There is a better city and a better home for us after all. We are going there one of these days. This is our hope. This is what keeps us going. For our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ… Phil. 3: 20.

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FOOLISHNESS

October 29th, 2009

Jojo Agot

Have you ever heard someone tell you that Christians have such weird beliefs? We all have. Teachings like going the extra mile, loving your enemy, committing adultery by just looking at someone lustfully and denying yourself to follow Jesus simply baffle those outside the Christian faith. Even the Pharisees who were more acquainted with the Old Testament God were scandalized at Jesus’ teachings.

The biggest and most astounding shocker, however, was the crucifixion and death of Christianity’s central figure- Jesus Christ. For the unbelieving world, worshiping a crucified God is too much of a stretch- it is madness to the highest degree. Whereas the Greeks and the Romans deified mythical creatures with superhuman abilities, Christians follow a God who died (and rose again of course, but many people dismiss that part). So no matter how you look at it, the cross doesn’t make sense to those who do not believe.

It was in this context when Paul wrote 1 Cor. 1: 18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Sometimes when it feels like I’m standing on the opposite side of the fence because of my faith, I silently question God why it has to be like that. Now I got my answer from here. People think we’re weird because we understand something the unbelieving world cannot comprehend. They think it’s foolishness because they don’t get it. We know it’s powerful because we’ve experienced it. I guess we just have to learn to live with the weirdness.

There is another way though. Jesus’ original plan is for us to help them see what we’re seeing. Acts 26: 18 spells it out nicely: “to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins…” Now it’s clear that God didn’t mean for this to be an “us-them” kind of thing. Thank God for that.

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GOD IN A BOX

October 27th, 2009

Jojo Agot

I just came across something that sounded funny to me today. It’s in 1 Cor. 1: 22-23. It says that the Jews demanded miraculous signs and the Greeks needed intellectual evidence, but God sent them the gospel of a crucified Savior. This scandalized both of them. Can you see the humor in that verse? People think it’s stupidity, God thinks it is wisdom and power.

Lessons I learned:

1. Don’t put God in a box. Both Jews and Greeks wanted something they feel would lead them closer to God but God gave them something better, something they didn’t know they needed.

2. Don’t reject the gift because you didn’t like the wrappers. Jesus is God’s ultimate gift to save humanity but people rejected Him because they were scandalized with the fact that He was crucified. Many people would have preferred it if He came down to earth riding the clouds, doing aerial somersaults and flashing fire from His eyes. That would have been awesome to look at. But He came in a manger and died on a cross like a criminal. He was not popular among the religious groups. He was not like what most people expected. That’s the reason why they didn’t get the gift He offered.

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