Shiny

Luke 8:18 "Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him."

I think that this verse is talking about salvation. That those that receive salvation in Christ, will shine before others. Those that do not shine should not kid themselves into believing that they are receiving salvation. I'm tempted to call this a tough standard, but because of the manner in which this is explained, it seems to be referring to state of existence not a requirement that must be fulfilled. It is not saying that if you don't witness to enough people, you are not saved; but rather, if you have received salvation you will be a witness to others. The phrase before it in verse 16, "No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed … he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.", offers a simple assumption: If you have something good inside of you you will want to share it and be public about it.

I'll admit that this verse makes me feel pretty stupid. I don't shine as much as I should. Sure, I shine in my church and I shine in children's ministry. Yet, I wonder if my church is a "jar" or a "bed" that I am hiding under. It's not enough for me - I want to shine everywhere. I want people to see Jesus in me.

It's easy to think that I'm doing people a favor by giving them me instead of Christ; that I'm protecting them from being offended by Jesus. But, you know what, I'm offensive, so this behavior doesn't make sense! I'll put it this way - if you had to pick, would you rather be offended by me or by God!? Would you rather be cut off in traffic by the President of the United States traveling in his official limousine or some guy driving his rusted-out truck with several offensive bumper stickers and smoke coming out of his tail pipe? (If you are not good at understanding analogies I will give you a hint: Jesus is not the rusty truck guy.)

The point is I need to try to shine all the time. If what is coming out of me is not good, then that's because what's inside is not coming from God. I need to be honest because the verse says that if I don’t have Christ on the inside, what I think I have will be taken from me. However, the good news is that if I am showing Christ to others, He will show more of Himself to me. If I have Him, I’ll share Him and I will be given more!

Touching God

Luke 7:37 "When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, 38and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them."

I like that how it describes the woman's life: "who had lived a sinful life". It is such a simple phrase. It is condemning and yet it shows hope because it is in the past tense. This woman had chosen her whole life to be sinful. This was not the a woman caught in a moment of adultery. This woman had managed to display consistently that she was not a godly person. She was completely written off by the church. The Pharisee, who's house Jesus was at, actually accused Jesus of not being a true prophet because He did not recognize, and reject, this woman for her sin. She was considered untouchable. However, she recognized that Jesus had a connection with God. So, she desperately threw herself at his feet. I don't think this woman even hoped to have her sins forgiven. I don't think that she was seeking to be delivered from eternal damnation. I think that she saw this as her only opportunity to touch God; to be in contact with God and to express love to God. In her heart, she was hurting because she saw herself as a lost cause and separated from God. She was probably forbidden from even entering places of worship by the religious members of her community. I believe she just wanted to spend some time with God. She did not see redemption or forgiveness, but I think she saw in Jesus the opportunity to touch God. She did not blame God for her condition. She loved God even though she was told that her sins would keep her away from Him forever.

It was her understanding that Jesus was her only hope that satisfied God's two main requirements for salvation: the acknowledgement of Christ as the only connection to God we have and the confession that we are hopeless to escape our sin without his help.

Luke 7: 47 "Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."

48Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

Thrive With Thrive

Thrive Africa is a really cool organization. They are based in Intabazwe and Qwa Qwa townships in some of the poorest areas of South Africa. The organization does a lot of really neat things, but what I respect most is their overall optimism. Every effort of the organization is centered around creating a vision in the minds of the people of being able to accomplish great things. This is a challenging and noble undertaking in an area devastated by AIDS. These people are forgotten by most of the world. I find it commendable that Thrive Africa is working to overcome a mindset of hopelessness and replace it with a mindset of empowerment. The organization is also not composed of missionaries from outside the country, but rather individuals from the local community who have been discipled to carry out this mission.

In my view, it is a privilege for me to be allowed to associate with people of such great courage and it is my hope that I can enrich their lives in some small way. However, I expect that they will teach me more about life in my short trip there, than I could ever teach them about anything! One of the great aspects of missions is how it brings people from very different walks of life to a point where their differences seem insignificant compared to what they share as human beings.

Why "Bonus Life"?

A little on the meaning behind the blog name: I was inspired by John 10:10 "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)." That quote came from The Amplified Bible (copyright The Lockman Foundation). Everybody gets life, but those that are in Christ get more life. Everybody lives once, but those who follow Christ live a new life - an extra life. This "bonus life" is what this blog is suppose to be about.

I also like that the title reminds me of the old school video games where you would get a "bonus life" for picking up a 1-up in the game. I could have gone with "1-up life blog" but that doesn't have a the same ring to it.

Video games and The Bible: so much potential, so little results. I would say that Spiritual Warfare is the best Christian game I've seen. It's pretty much Zelda with bible verses, but at least it was fun! That's not a huge recommendation considering this is the competition.

Started with salvation and ended with video games - welcome to The Bonus Life Blog!

The Blog Has Begun!

I've started a blog. That statement is the whole article so you can stop reading now if you are rushed for time. I was looking for a way to store my thoughts online. I wanted ... I'm only four sentences into this blog and I feel the overwhelming compulsion to say something fascinating or funny just to keep you reading. I've journeyed into some scary territory here. You're reading my thoughts, which means, in a way, your reading my mind! Scary!

Anyway, what I was trying to get to is - I'm starting this blog primarily to post my thoughts and perspectives concerning the Word of God (I'm referring to the Bible "canonized" at the Assembly of Westminster in 1647 - just to avoid confusion if you are a fan of the Koran). I'm sure other things will slip in and, eventually, I'll be reviewing the latest installment of Pirates of the Caribbean or talking about the Nintendo Wii. I may even gossip or rant bout the TV show "Lost", but I hope that, just as in my real life (I guess the web is my "fake" life), the center of this site will be the pursuit of God and his Word. Jesus is still the most facinating element in my existence.