who is Jordan anyway?

I never really have introduced myself here…

I rather liked hiding behind faceless anonymity…

but if you’d like to get to know me, you can now…

{click here}

is God good?

photo credit: Moriah

Do you believe that God is good?

Do you really believe that God is really good?

Do you live like you believe that God is good?

 

What does it mean that God is good?

Does it mean that all that He allows is good?
Or only what He gives directly?
And how does a mere mortal distinguish between the two?

Does it mean that His children will never know sorrow or suffering?
Or that they will only know sorrow and suffering if they need it as punishment?

No?
Then what?

If God is good…then what is good?
Is not God?

Perhaps in order to know good, one must know God.

God is not found by looking at His world.
But once He is found He is clearly seen in His world.
Even then, one must be careful to always return to the Source.
All good – every good and perfect gift – comes from above.
From God Himself.

So then, what does it mean to live like you believe that God is good?

It means searching to find Him everywhere.
The incessant hunger to know Him.
The constant running after Him.
And then, to allow the finding and knowing and loving to flow out.

One who has been justified by faith
and made righteous through the one man, Messiah Yeshua,
walks and lives in righteousness.
And God does not withhold one good thing from those who walk righteously.

Can you truly believe, then, that God will not keep any good thing from you?

And if God is good, then He will not hide Himself from you?

what is truth?

“what is truth?”
a sincere question?
or an insolent retort?

from Pontius Pilate
to the freshman at Kansas State University
the words are often repeated

for the sincere questioner
the truth about Truth
may be revealed

dictionary.com (full definition):
TRUTH, n.
1. the true or actual state of a matter:
2. conformity with fact or reality; verity:
3. a verified or indisputable fact, proposition, principle, or the like: mathematical truths.

but perhaps for the sincere questioner
(the one who really wants to know Truth)
this question is the wrong place to begin

ἀλήθεια {aletheia}
literally “not-lie”
truth; fact; knowledge

to ask, “what is truth?”
is to request knowledge
to seek out the facts

not a bad desire
but in order to know Truth
perhaps there is a better question to pose

the one who really wants to know should ask, “Who is Truth?”
for Truth is more than facts and knowledge
he is the foundation, established from the beginning

אֱמֶת {emeth}
truth; firmness; faithfulness

if only Pilate would have known what to ask
he would have found the answer right in front of him
for before him stood Yeshua, the Truth

moments after asking, “what is truth?”
Pilate sent the embodiment of Truth to His death
and the very foundations of the earth were shaken

but Truth was not only established from the beginning
Truth is established forever
and not even death itself could hold Him

Yeshua, the living Truth
rose from the dead
Truth cannot be destroyed

this is the truth that I want the freshman at Kansas State University to know
as well as all other sincere questioners that I may encounter:
Truth stands firm when every other foundation has been shaken

three little words

I love you

Those three little words will be said many times
before this fourteenth day of February is through
and in many different ways

I can’t help but wonder
how many of these declarations of love
will prove meaningless…

From the child on the playground whose culture tells her that
any relationship between the sexes must be romantic
to the grown up who hasn’t outgrown that same belief

But how many will let today pass without declaring their love?
How many fear those three little words?
And will let their fear win?

Why,
when we love someone,
are we afraid to say so?

Is it because we give in to the culture
when it defines love
as a romantic emotion?

Is it because we think
that our love
will be unrequited?

Is it simply because
we doubt
ourselves?

Love is too big and important a thing
for a mere mortal…
When we love, we feel the weight of it

And when we love, we fear the weight of it!
This heavy yoke…
it seeks to control us

We have seen it before —
one who has fallen in love
and is lost to all but the one he loves

But what is so wrong with that?
That is, so long as it is not the transient emotional sort of love that leads…
If the object of true love is good, why not let love lead us into a life driven by love?

For love is of God
and everyone that loves is born of God
and knows God

and I was terrified

I was in the dark
praying for a sign
something to let me know He hadn’t forgotten

in the night
keeping watch, but not for Him
forgetting everything He promised

Then it came

glory and radiance
surrounding me
unmistakably telling me He had never forgotten

and I was terrified
hid my eyes
forgetting that this was the promise I was waiting for

Then He spoke

He said do not fear
I have good news
and not for you to keep for yourself, I want you to share it

I have a gift for you
here is the sign you prayed for
it may seem mundane at first, but this is the promise you’ve been waiting for

Then I heard

the glory became
even more overwhelming
but this time I opened my eyes, took it all in

as the visible glory faded
I remembered
got up, left the place of fear, and carried the gift to anyone who would receive it

{inspired by this true story}