Patches of Righteousness

When I was in high school, I had a pair of jeans that I really loved. They were well worn, and really comfortable. After a while, I got a hole in one of the knees. I loved how comfortable these jeans were, and I didn’t have money to buy new jeans, so I just put a patch over the hole. Over time, I got more rips and more patches. When the jeans finally ripped between two patches, I relented and threw them out. And yes, at the end the jeans looked as ridiculous as you are imagining with several different patches that didn’t match each other or the original pair of jeans.

I have realized that many of us take a similar approach with righteousness. We know that we have some problem areas in our lives, and we ask God to help us “patch” those areas. After all, we are pretty good people, and we are very comfortable with our lives. We just have a few areas that need some work.

However, Jesus didn’t come to patch up our old life; he came to give us a whole new life. "No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old” (Luke 5:36). “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The problem with our old way of life is not confined to a few areas; it is a systemic problem. That is why Jesus offers us a whole new life, a brand new garment. Let us embrace the new life that Jesus offers to us and leave our old lives in the trash where they belong.

Motivating by Fear

"Fear is the mother of violence. If we weren’t afraid, then people that are different might annoy us, but they certainly would not enrage us." I found this statement from a sociologist in a clip for a new documentary entitled Anatomy of Hate, a Dialogue for Hope. It really made me think. Fear is one of the most powerful motivators, and it is very easy to breed. Even within the church, fear is frequently used. Consider the evangelist’s warning against the unpardonable sin.

So if fear is effective at getting people into the church, what is the problem? The problem is that fear is not the way God operates. "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness” (Jeremiah 31:3). Let’s face it; if God wanted to use fear to motivate us, he could easily do so. Fire coming down from heaven, the earth opening up beneath your feet, deadly animals appearing from nowhere and surrounding you, each of these would be quite effective. But you cannot have a lasting relationship (which is what God ultimately wants) based on fear. That’s why God uses love. Love is a more powerful motivator, but it is much more of a challenge. It takes time, patience, and provides no guarantee that the person will respond in the way we desire.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). How many times do we see God telling his people to “fear not”? That is still his plan for us today. It is so easy to spread fear. I see it all the time among political leaders and Christian leaders. But we cannot love people and fear them at the same time. “Perfect love casts out fear.”

Are you willing to invest the time and energy required to live like Jesus, and “love people into a life-long relationship with God”?

Mac

After many years of drooling, I now have a Mac. The warranty on my PC expired in May, which meant a new computer was somewhat of an option. But everytime I tried to convince Susan by telling her she could use my PC, she kept asking why it was not good enough for me but was good enough for her (she never bought any of my excuses). But she knew it was inevitable. After Apple updated the Macbooks in October, I knew it was a good time to buy because they likely wouldn't make any big changes anytime soon. And there are some real improvements in the new Macbook that I like. I thought it would be good to make it a late Christmas present and wait until after the holidays after all the traveling was done to make sure we still had enough money. But Best Buy offered $100 off during the week of Thanksgiving, which is better than any other deals I could get. So I decided to go for it. I was able to swing by the Apple store in Huntsville while we were up there, and it proved very useful during that trip. My semester just ended, so now I will have time to migrate all my documents and files over to the Macbook. The next project is to convert my old PC laptop into a DVR. Hopefully it will work. I am very excited to have my new Mac, and love that I don't have to wait 5 minutes for my computer to come out of "standby". With the Mac, it is instantly on and connected to the internet. It's awesome! Thank you, Susan, for a wonderful Christmas gift!

Pictures from the wedding

I know many of you have been wanting to see pictures from my wedding. My family has a .Mac account where we can all post pictures. So there are literally hundreds there for you to look at. There are three folders. 2 are labeled Chad & Susan's wedding. The other has Cheery Blossoms and my wedding (they were all on the same camera when it was uploaded). Click on the folder and go to the last couple pages. Enjoy!

http://gallery.mac.com/hessfamily08#gallery

Busy

Wow, I've been quite delinquent in my blogging. Even Erika has posted more recently than I have. School has occupied quite a bit of time recently. I had an intensive class at the end of August where I did a 3 credit class in a week. There was a book to read and write a paper on before the class began, 5 days of class with about 6 or 7 chapters to read every night, and then a 15 page research paper due 2 days after class ended. It was definitely intense! Oh, and my online class finished up (with it's own 8-10 page paper) in the middle of the intensive. And right before all this happened, my computer finally died (it had been giving me off and on problems for several months) so I had to send it in. If you know how attached I am to my computer you could understand what a panic this can cause. I began the fall semester last week. I'm only doing two classes this semester because I knew three (a full load) would be too much right now. But it is going well now and I am enjoying a more normal pace now.

Wedding plans are also beginning to come along, now that I have finished that craziness with school and have had time to actually do stuff. We've found a place we really like and almost set a date. And while eloping is looking rather appealing we haven't run off yet. But we still might. We'll see. Anyway, I gotta get to bed because I have school in the morning. I'll try not to wait another two months to post again.