EVER HEARD OF A REJECTED PRIEST?

"You're always sharing your thoughts for all the world to see," my older brother told me during lunch yesterday.

"What do you expect?" I told him. "I'm a writer. It's what I do."

"Haha! You're so defensive. I'm not questioning your profession naman ah."

I just grin. We're worlds apart, my brother and I. He's a professional musician who thrives in the night life like a vampire. I'm a teacher-slash-writer who sometimes wakes up too early in the morning. Half of the time, we don't understand each other's line of work. I don't get the "nosebleed" musical terms he uses; he doesn't get why I blog all the time. It's hilarious, I know. Oh well. I love him just the same. ^^

***

Before I went to bed last night, I opened my Bible and ended up reading chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the book of Hosea. I wasn't really expecting to find any message that would catch my attention. Well, that was the case until I read Hosea 4:6-9:

Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. The more the priests increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their glory for something disgraceful. They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness. And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

What struck me in this particular passage was the fact that the Lord referred to the Israelites here as "priests." Why priests?

Priests, who were taken from the tribe of Levi, were set apart from the rest of the community because of their very important role as the spiritual leaders--the ones who communicated with God and who passed on His message to the rest of the people. Priests were in charge of a lot of ceremonies and practices done in the Tabernacle and then, later on, in the Temple. They managed the offerings, the cleansing rituals, the times of prayer--basically, they were in charge of WORSHIP.

This is where it gets interesting. In the previous passage I mentioned, the Lord refers to the Israelites as priests primarily because he chose them in the exact same way that the priests from the tribe of Levi were chosen. He set them apart!

What the Lord wanted was for the nation of Israel to be a nation that stood out as God's holy and anointed nation. What God wanted was a nation recognized for its worship to Him. Although society was divided into priests and non-priests, in God's eyes each Israelite was actually a priest because the Israelites had knowledge about who God is and therefore were the best people who could lead the rest of the world into worshiping Him.

Ideally, that's what was supposed to happen. If you look at the situation that was going on during the time of Hosea, you'd find that worship was the farthest thing from any of the Israelites' minds. The Lord looked at Israel in the same way that society looked at prostitutes. He saw them for the filth that they were. Israel was not loyal to Him at all. They engaged in sinful practices. They said one thing, but did another. In their hearts, they practiced idolatry. And it disgusted the Lord.

"They rejected knowledge!" the Lord said. What does this mean? Trace back to the time the Israelites were taken out of Egypt. Since that time, they had been witnesses to Who the Lord was. They knew about His goodness, His strength, His power, His mercy, and His wrath. They knew about His miracles, His deeds, and His love for them. That knowledge of Who God is was there for all of Israel. However, they decided to "reject" that knowledge by embracing the ways that the rest of the sinful nations were doing because they wanted to be like the rest of the world. They didn't care about being set apart and about being priests for God. They were in for the worldly lusts.

It's no wonder that the Lord was angry at Israel. I bet, though, that He was also pained by their lack of love for Him. The second half of Hosea 4:7 states, "...they exchanged their glory for something disgraceful." The way I see it, this "glory" was a special anointing given by God exclusively for the nation of Israel. It pretty much distinguished them from the rest of the people, just like how a wedding gown distinguishes the bride from the rest of the ladies in a wedding. Now, imagine how God must have felt when the nation decided to give up the special gift He gave them just so they could be like "the rest out there." It's as pathetic as seeing a bride tear up her wedding gown because she wants to look just like a bridesmaid. Get the picture? God was undoubtedly hurt by what Israel did.

So, what was the consequence of Israel's actions? Cold rejection. God decided then and there that if they were going to reject Him, then He was going to reject them. What else could he do? They treated Him and everything that He gave them like trash. What else could He do? He had no choice but to make them experience life without Him by their side. He was going to take a break--just long enough so that they could see what happens when they joined the world's bandwagon.

Ghastly huh? "Oh yes!" I hear you say. "Israel definitely got what they deserved. They needed a dose of reality!" Oh, yes. True. Israel did deserve what was coming to them. But think about this for a moment? Aren't we also like Israel in this passage? Those of us who claim to be the Lord's set-apart people and His true worshipers?

I Peter 2:9 says:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Yes, the Lord has definitely commissioned each Christian and each worshiper to be his "priests." Ever since we committed ourselves to Him and made Him Lord of our lives, He gave us the set-apart position so that we don't live like the rest of the world around us.

Let's consider how we've been living our lives lately. Have we actually been His "priests?" Or have we rejected God's presence and teachings just so that we can be like the rest of the world?

Here are some questions to ponder on:
1) What are my roles as a priest of God?
2) What actions have I done that keep me from fulfilling the priestly position that God has given me?
3) What does it truly mean to be set-apart for God?
4) What does it mean to be rejected by God? What can I do to keep myself from experiencing that rejection?


(I thank you Lord God for giving me this insight from Your Word. Lord, I give all the credit to You because it was not by my effort that I came to understand and write all this. May all those who read this be blessed and desire to know and want to please You more with their lives. Amen.)

ARE YOU STRONG ENOUGH?

One of the scenes in the animated movie The Incredibles that stands out in my mind is the scene where Bob Parr tells his wife Helen to run for cover while he takes care of Syndrome's robot on his own. Immediately, his wife starts questioning his intentions. Why does he have to do it alone? What would that prove?

"I...I'm not strong enough," Bob tells her, struggling for the right words to say.

"Strong enough? So this will make you stronger?" Helen retorts.

"Yes. No!" Bob is now getting agitated.

"That's what this is? Some sort of workout?"

Bob grips her by the arms and confesses, "I can't lose you again! I can't. Not again. I'm not strong enough."

Wow. What a dramatic moment. I'm amazed that, through this scene, the Lord gave me such a beauiful insight about who He is in our lives.

I must confess. I'm not exactly the epitome of strength. I doubt that people would get me to advertise Mr. Muscle, even if it is just a cleaning fluid (Tough on stains!). My body frame resembles that of a lamp post with shoulder blades. Opening my students' water jugs and lunchboxes is what I consider a workout. I don't engage in arm wrestling because I'm afraid of losing my arm in the process. I...well, you get the picture. I'm simply saying: "Being physically strong is not my...uhm...strength."

Bob Parr's lucky. He gets to join the ranks of the Thing and the Incredible Hulk...and he doesn't even have to look inhuman to be with them. He has enough upper body strength to lift things about 50 times his size. He can break through brick walls as if they weren't even there. He can juggle cars for fun. And best of all, he can beat up hardened criminals until they beg for mercy (which probably happens after just one punch). So, with all this physical strength by his side, he should be unbeatable, right?

Yet, during the climactic part of the movie, he confessed that he's not strong enough. It suddenly makes you think, What then is true strength?

While going through my copy of The Revolt Workbook last night, I stumbled upon a page with two different sets of Bible verses. The point of the activity on that page was to distinguish the true Biblical teachings from the fake ones. It was easy enough. One set of verses was pretty much self-centered in the sense that they all taught about accomplishing things using one's own strength, i.e. achieving righteousness using one's own effort. The other set of verses focused on the message of relying on God to do the changes in us so that we could pursue righteousness. I easily concluded that the latter contained the true Biblical teachings.

Aren't we all like Bob Parr sometimes? Because we are naturally gifted with certain talents and skills, we usually have the notion that we're strong enough to handle anything. We think that all it takes is our own individual effort. However, when difficulties arise, we realize that we're not as strong as we once thought. This was true for me in more than one occasion, especially when I involved myself in the praise and worship ministry. Because I have a good singing voice, I often rely too much on it to lead "worship." Eventually, I find myself exhausted and inevitably unwilling to subject myself to the "work" of having to lead worship always. The same is true whenever I embarked on any projects or goals I set for myself. My reliance on myself causes me to enter the battlefield with much energy and enthusiasm. However, in the end, I start to quote Bob Parr: "I'm not strong enough."

Then I think about Helen Parr's response to Bob Parr's emotional breakdown: "If we work together, you won't have to be." I'm suddenly reminded about God.

I think about God watching us do our own thing...trying, trying, trying. We want to do what is expected of us. But we just do it in our own strength. We insist on doing it on our own, believing too much on our own strength. God says, "You don't need to do it alone, you know." "No," we respond. "I've got to prove I can do it. I've got prove I can be a good Christian. I...I can't lose you again. I'm not strong enough." Then God holds us in a tight embrace and whispers, "You don't have to go through this moment of weakness if we work together."

Oh wow.

What an incredible God we have.

You see, God's definition of strength is so different from the world's definition. The world defines strength as a "solo" effort; God defines strength as a tag-team effort: yours...as well as His.

THE DRINK

Is drinking wrong?

It's an hour before midnight and I find myself in front of my computer screen pondering on this question. Is drinking alcoholic beverages wrong?

When I was younger, I was accustomed to the sight of watching my dad and my relatives sitting around a table during annual family reunions with their bottles of booze from around 4:00 in the afternoon to about 10:00 in the evening. My mom made it pretty clear to me and my siblings that we weren't supposed to drink. I didn't mind. As far as I was concerned, I was only willing to drink water or drinks mixed with a lot of sugar.

I was pretty much sheltered my whole life from drinking, even if my dad did it. I wasn't tempted at all to sneak a taste from any of his bottles of brandy that were in the kitchen cupboard. In fact, I grew up believing that Christians don't drink.

Well, that concept changed pretty quick when I got involved in the ministry in church. I realized that they did drink. Well, so much for my "Christians don't drink" idea. Well, I thought, these people are committed Christians and they serve in the ministry. If they're drinking, then that means it's just okay to drink then, right? Yes, that must have been it. There's no other explanation for it.

"If you look at the Bible, you'd see that drinking was considered a social custom," I was once told. "It was a practice done during big gatherings, like a party or a wedding. Therefore, there's nothing wrong at all with drinking."

"It's not drinking that's a sin," another would say. "It's drunkenness! That's a sin."

"Oh. I see. I see," I say with a nod of the head.

End of discussion.

Or not.

My concern started to grow when I realized that more and more Christian young people were getting into the drinking bandwagon of society. I look at Facebook and Multiply photos and see friends or acquaintances my age or younger with bottles of beer on their left or right hands, their faces tainted with pride that they are drinking, partying, and having the time of their lives. Okay, okay, I tell myself. There's nothing wrong with drinking. It's perfectly fine. It's Biblical. Then, I ask myself, "But why do I feel so uncomfortable about the whole deal?"

Then I realized something. The issue is not about drinking per se. The issue is about the choice we make among all possible options and despite possible risks.

Yes, drinking may have been practiced in Bible times. Guess what? They didn't have cars in Bible times! So what if a person drank? There was no risk of vehicular accidents due to drinking and driving! A person in Bible times could drink and still be able to steer his camel without falling into a ravine.

Circumstances are so much more different now. Alcohol intake has produced devastating results, primarily on the road. I've read a number of stories written by people who lost their loved ones because of a decision to have just one drink before hitting the road. Take note. They weren't even drunk when they were driving. All they did was drink. Still, look where it got them.

"Well," one may argue. "That doesn't always happen! Look at me. I drink, but I still get home safe and sound." Well, good for you. God is still protecting you.

Again, I'm not saying that drinking is wrong. By all means, if that's your choice, then do it. What I'm merely saying is, for every choice there's a possible risk.

Now let's move on to the issue of drunkenness. Basically, the argument is: It's okay to drink just so long as you don't get drunk. Problem with this is that a lot of Christians who get into the habit of drinking dare themselves to see just how "far" they can go without getting drunk. That's pretty much the same thing as saying, "I wonder how long I can stay inside a burning house without getting burned." Well, that's easy to know. You'll be able to find out how long...after you get burned. That's pretty much the same thing with drunkenness. It's impossible NOT to get drunk if being drunk is part of the objective for why we drink. Right?

Don't get the wrong idea here, guys. I'm not passing judgment. I know that a lot of people who drink are actually good friends of mine. If you read this, please don't get the wrong idea that I'm condemning all drinkers out there. I'm not.

What I want to point out here through this blog entry is that anything that gives man pleasure, no matter how amoral it is, can be used to bring out an immoral lifestyle.

Okay. Just to avoid sounding self-righteous, let me just post this question to end my blog entry.

If you were partying and drinking the way you always do and Jesus suddenly passes by you on the table, would you call out to Him, "Master, please join us?"


What would your answer be?

OH, THE DAYS OF MY YOUTH!

Last Friday, while waiting for the 6:45 screening time of Transformers 2, I decided to take a quick stop to Shepherd's Staff for any good books to read and I stumbled upon Do Hard Things. Written by Alex and Brett Harris (brothers of Joshua Harris, who wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye), the book aims at challenging the youth of this generation to set the bar of society's expectations to a much higher level. To sum it up, the message that these two boys want to spread all over the world is this: "Step out of your comfort zone and do something radical for God!"

Though I'm currently only halfway through the book, much of what I read in the first chapters reminded me of how I used to dream so much bigger when I was much younger.

Alex and Brett, who pretty much consider themselves "ordinary" teens, were blessed by God to go through extraordinary experiences. By the time they reached the age of nineteen, they had already been interns at the Alabama Supreme Court, they had been campaign organizers, they had created the most popular website for teens, and they had published a book. Now, they're telling others, "If we could do it, then you obviously can too."

I was suddenly reminded of how God had filled my mind with so many ideas and so many goals in life when I was still really young.

When I was seven, I wanted to become a paleontologist with the hope of discovering a dinosaur skeleton. So during recess, I'd go to the school yard and dig for bones.

When I was eight, I decided to create a game book, patterning it from the Nintendo game books that my brother was collecting at the time. It was also that time that my mom started giving me unused planners in which I would put in my drawings and stories. My first ever book was written on an Aramco planner dated 1992. It was a book that had quotes, but no quotation marks. At that time, I had no idea what quotation marks were. Over the next few years, I wrote about five more game books.

Between the ages of eight and nine, I created my own Trump cards using pieces of bond paper. They weren't the genuine cards, but they became very popular among my peers. The very first set of Trump Cards I made were about motorboats.

Between the ages of ten and twelve, I was inspired by Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes to start creating my own comic books. My first comic book, The Junk Shop Gang, consisted of short strips featuring talking inanimate objects. It was a pretty thin comic book: a short bond folded in two. A year later, I created Operation Squirt!, which was an "almost" replica of Calvin and Hobbes. I made around four comic books of Operation Squirt! in the next few months, among them Double Trouble and My Sister Has Lost Her Head. It was also during this time that I began to appreciate and read mystery stories. My sister, who wanted to become a detective during that particular phase in her life, had in her possession a collection of Nancy Drew books, Clue books, and Usborne Puzzle Adventure books which I eventually got hooked on. I began to start my own collection of Encyclopedia Brown mysteries later on. Eventually, I found myself writing my own mini-mysteries and asking people to solve them for validity purposes.

Around the age of thirteen, I finished my first mystery novel which I patterned after Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. I was working on a sequel, but my attention was diverted into making The Junk Shop Gang (my first comic book) a novel. Before I turned fifteen, I had finished my second book. Again, I tried to write a sequel for The Junk Shop Gang, but was unable to. Though I had finished my books, I knew that they were far from perfect. As far as I was concerned, my characters were too underdeveloped, my plots had too many holes, and my vocabulary was too simple. Getting myself published as a teenager was a dream that I had wanted; reality told me that it wasn't possible.

At fifteen, I became interested in photography. My mom lent me her old SLR which she had had in high school and I became obsessed with buying film and I was snapping pictures like there was no tomorrow. Later on, when I realized that photography was a pretty expensive hobby, I became more selective about my shots.

At sixteen, I wrote an 8-minute radio drama script, an accomplishment which was no easy feat. It was something I was truly proud of.

Then I got to college. And while I was able to accomplish much and graduated with a high CGPA (I would've graduated Honorable Mention had it not been for my two failures in first year), I felt that I was not able to achieve something as satisfactory as the things that I had done when I was younger.

Hmmm...going down memory lane has suddenly made me realize something. What Alex and Brett have been saying all along in their book is true. The youth of today have untapped potential. They have energy bursting from their fingertips. They have dreams which scream out to be accomplished. Yes, God has indeed designed them to do "hard things."

Unfortunately, much of society's teens and young adults have fallen into the "I'm-fine-where-I-am" trap, giving up their dreams for the easy comforts of life. Because of this, Alex and Brett, at the age of nineteen (I so envy them!), wrote and published Do Hard Things in hope that they could challenge the youth back to their feet, step out of their comfort zones, and do "hard things" for the glory of God.

Easier said than done, right? Yes. That's why they're called "hard things."

HAIKU

It's amazing huh?
To find in all of nature
God's fingerprint marks.