Reinventing Valentine's Day

Ah, Valentine's Day. A holiday of crushes, boyfriends, girlfriends, dates, flowers, chocolates, cheesy romantic comedies, and general goosh-ery of every variety. We see the store displays with the chubby Cupid with his bow and arrows with the heart tips. We see those nasty little heart-shaped candies with little phrases like 'BE MINE' or "I LUV U' on them. We embrace telling out sweethearts 'I love you, babe' or 'You are beautiful!' or if, you're a fundimentalist Christian, 'I enjoy your presence and would like to pursue you with a friendship outing.' Gag. Not to mention the singles that decide to pout and sit around wishing they had a boyfriend or a girlfriend or were married, etc.

What, really, is the point of all this? One day of the year to focus on... romance? Love? What is Valentine's Day really about? I'm about to give you the Linus answer; you know, where Linus on 'Charlie Brown' stands up on stage and tells the Christmas story? Well, imagine I'm Linus, and it's Valentine's Day.

The Legend of St. Valentine is just that - a legend. There's little historical record about him, and in fact, there were several St Valentines recognized by the early church. I think, though, the idea of his story is what we should look at; the man, yes, but more so his message. If St. Valentine exists only as a parable, so be it - the story is still one of the deepest love. Love you won't find in a Hallmark card or on a balloon or in a sappy romance song.

In a time when Christians were being persecuted for their love for Jesus Christ and the life they led because of that, St. Valentine was a brave man. When they could dip you in burning oil, feed you to lions, or just corner and slay you in the street because of your devotion to Christ, St. Valentine saw that as a problem. Legend has it that Valentine helped many Christians escape the harsh torture and even murdering of his Christian brothers and sister, which perfectly exemplifies John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

For this, the Roman government had Valentine killed. He died for the sake of the Gospel - showing such TRUE love, and not the sappy romantic crap that ends up on cakes, cards, and Facebook that has been associated with his name these days. What a shame, eh?

Love is a theme that is probably the most profound theme in the Bible. Besides salvation itself, which is basically God proving his love for us, love is an obvious main bullet point in scripture and Jesus' teachings. Love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Love is patient, kind, doesn't envy or boast, is forgiving rejoices in truth, it protects, trusts, hopes, preserves (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). It is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). It is God Himself! (1 John 4:18). Doesn't that sound like something you'd devote a holiday to?

What if this year, we forgot all the generally mooshy and sappy traditions and connotations associated with this holiday, and look at it from a Christian perspective? What if we focused on TRUE love, and not the love of some star-crossed teenagers, a dozen roses, or posting the lyrics of out favorite love songs on the internet? What if we treated Valentine's Day like Christmas or Easter? We complain that those holidays are losing their 'true meaning,' but we still celebrate Jesus at least a little bit on those days; why not Valentine's Day?

Think about it: a day devoted to love! Christian love! A type of love that when you see it in others, you don't get depressed; you are filled with joy! A love that when shared can literally change the world! A love that saved you, and a love that is perfectly exemplified in our God.

The Beatles sang 'All you need is Love.' Switchfoot calls the love of God 'A symphony, a melody, a song...' They also say 'Love is the Movement; Love is the revolution.' Jars of Clay says 'Love is the protest!' Muse says 'Love is the Resistance!' Steve Fee says the love of God 'is better than life.' Now, doesn't that sound a lot better than 'BE MINE' or crappy dollar store candy?

I dare you to look at Valentine's Day differently today! Look at it still as a day of love, but as a day of TRUE love. The Christian Love. The kind of Love God has for us. I promise, your holiday, as well as your life, will be much better when we take that into practice.

So Happy Valentines Day! Love this day!!

----

Also, thought this would be cool. I made a playlist called 'Love Is...' and it has a bunch of great songs, all having some variation of the phrase 'Love is.' Enjoy!

Hope

The final days of Summer are upon us. The days are hotter than ever here in the south, but, as television commercials and signs hanging from the ceilings of our favorite department stores will remind us, it is coming to an end. People of all ages are preparing to return to school. The once young and naive children of parents are growing up and moving out. Relationships are beginning and ending inexplicably. Everything has that 'end of Summer' feeling it it... which is never a happy feeling.

I've realized that a lot of people I know have had these 'blues,' but it seems so inappropriate to call them that; no, it is inappropriate to call them that. Several good friends of mine seem to be, quite simply, loosing heart. I have friends who feel trapped where they are right now - desiring, deeply, to leave the home they know, and go to bigger and better things. I have friends who are just the opposite - after being uprooted from the home they loved, they're in a completely new world, feeling alone, friendless, and like they don't yet belong where they are. I have friends whose minds are racked with thoughts of their beloved, and those who have been hurt by people in the same position. I have friends who feel like they cannot trust their parents. I have friends who feel like they are alone. I have friends who have no idea where they're going on the road we call life, and I have friends who simply have become so disconnected with their own hearts that every day that passes is miserable; they're just working for the end.

It breaks my heart to see, not just my friends but, anyone like this. I'm here, to tell you, if only in text-form, on an unpopular internet blog, that this is not all there is.

"You've been hiding in the bedroom, hoping this isn't how the story has to go. It's not the way it goes. It's your book now. You are Golden." says Switchfoot. Like I said in a few posts back, you are a masterpiece created by the Almighty Himself. With that knowledge... what kind of story do you think God is telling through you? Have you ever thought about that?

"Life, you'll notice, is a story.

Life doesn't come to us like a math problem. It comes to us the way that a story does, scene by scene. You wake up. What will happen next? You don't get to know-you have to enter in, take the journey as it comes. The sun might be shining. There might be a tornado outside. Your friends might call and invite you to go sailing. You might lose your job.

Life unfolds like a drama. Doesn't it? Each day has a beginning and an end. There are all sorts of characters, all sorts of settings. A year goes by like a chapter from a novel. Sometimes it seems like a tragedy. Sometimes like a comedy. Most of it feels like a soap opera. Whatever happens, it's a story through and through.

If life is a story, what is the plot? What is your role to play? It would be good to know that, wouldn't it? What is this all about?

If there is meaning to this life, then why do our days seem so random? What is this drama we've been dropped into the middle of? If there is a God, what sort of story is he telling here? At some point we begin to wonder if Macbeth wasn't right after all: Is life a tale "told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"?

No wonder we keep losing heart.

We find ourselves in the middle of a story that is sometimes wonderful, sometimes awful, often a confusing mixture of both, and we haven't a clue how to make sense of it all. It's like we're holding in our hands some pages torn out of a book. These pages are the days of our lives. Fragments of a story. They seem important, or at least we long to know they are, but what does it all mean? If only we could find the book that contains the rest of the story." - John Eldredge, 'Epic.'

If there's one thing I've learned from reading authors like Eldredge, listening to speakers like Perry Noble and Francis Chan, and spending time with God himself, there is one thing that has become abundantly clear: we are in a story. And stories have endings, don't they? Does that scare you? Does the idea that your story has an ending intimidate you?

It shouldn't. You know why? Because it's a happy ending. It's a fairytale ending.

"And they lived happily ever after," the Creative Arts Pastor at my church, Jerry Davison, begins, "Probably the most beautiful and haunting words in the English language. Don't roll your eyes! "Cheesy. There's no such thing as happy endings - that's not real life." Put that aside for a second, and let this be true for a minute. 'They lived happily ever after.'"

When we join the family of God, when we're adopted as a son or daughter to the Father God, we change not only the entire course of our life, but we change the ending to our stories. "This fallen world doesn't hold [our] interests; doesn't hold [our] souls." Switchfoot says. Thats because this world is not our home anymore. We try and get comfortable in one place, we expect we'll feel better in another place, in a new town, a new school, a new year... we expect that we will be ultimately happy here, that we can find home here, but we know, in our hearts, there are greater things. Don't we?

"I belong somewhere past the setting sun," Jon Foreman sings. "Just a few more weary days and then..." "I'm going home, to the place where I belong." Says Jars of Clay and Daughtry. "The earth spins, and the moon goes around, green comes up from the frozen ground, and everything will be made new again." "Now I've found it... This is Home.... Where the streets have no name, all my tears be washed away.

What do all these songs mean? There is hope. There is hope in your life. There is hope in God. There is hope in your happy ending. There's something to look forward to.

Life is like a vacation. There is a lot of fun to be had. There are a lot of new people to meet. There are things to do, places to go, a whole world to experience. But sooner or later, we get this longing in our heart for home. I feel, right now, it is my job to tell whoever is reading this that if your hope is in people, in things, in this world, you will be let down. But if your hope is in God... you will not be forsaken. You will not be forgotten. "Even if my own Father and Mother forsake me, you will hold me close," Psalm 27:10 says. "Who shall I fear?" the Psalmist also says, "if the Lord is with me?"

There is hope. There will always be hope.

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing." - Zephaniah 3:17

The Shadow Proves the Sunshine...
-Matt

This Road that We Travel

All heavy laden acquainted with sorrow
May Christ in our marrow, carry us home
From alabaster come blessings of laughter
A fragrance of passion and joy from the truth

Grant the unbroken tears ever flowing
From hearts of contrition only for You
May sin never hold true that love never broke through
For God's mercy holds us and we are His own

This road that we travel, may it be the straight and narrow
God give us peace and grace from You, all the day
Shelter with fire, our voices we raise still higher
God give us peace and grace from You, all the day through

Tonight, I don't really have much to say, other than I've been re-captivated by this gem of a song. Jars of Clay is one of my favorite bands, if not my absolute favorite. 'This Road' was the first song of their's I ever heard. I remember my first time listening to it. I was only a kid - maybe 12 - and I found it on a CD we got from some old Dollar Tree that sold unpopular CDs for only a buck. It came on an album called 'The Dove Awards: 2001. I listened to it, and... I remember being moved, even as a child of 12. Really, I hadn't exactly given my life to Christ yet at that point, but the depth and meaning of the lyrics resonated in my for years to come.

I return to this song years later, as a Christian, and it touches my heart like no other. The main idea is that the life we're living - this road that we travel - ends someday... but there is hope in that. Our happy ending begins by the Creator of the Universe welcoming us into his Kingdom with open arms. This song is about the trials that lead up to that awesome day, but until then, the road is rough, and the fight is long. We can only pray that, in the meantime, God will make the road straight and narrow. That he will give us peace. That he will protect us; shelter us. That he will follow us, shepherd us, love us all our days through.

He will. Oh, how he will.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord... Forever." - Psalm 23:6

Enjoy the music.

-Matt

Beauty, Romance, Love, and Significance

Wow, tonight was one of those night where God has just been moving in my heart in some big ways, teaching me some simple things that hold heavy meaning. It was 2:30 AM, and I was out relaxing in our hot tub (which is an AWESOME thing to have - we got it cheap, too!) looking up at the full moon shining onto the puffy white clouds surrounding it, just the extravagant sky God had painted for me to see, and it was just a lovely time. This was right after my quiet time, too, so God was already working heavy on my heart, and just seeing the sheer scope of the beauty one stretch of sky could have made me start thinking more and more about our Father God, and these four words hit me, in this order: Beauty, Romance, Love, and Significance.

Beauty. There is so much beauty in this world, but if we go too fast, and, literally, don't take time to stop and smell the flowers, we can miss it. Take a look at the flowers, trees, plants - even weeds! - and you can see just the raw beauty and creativity of God. The Bible says that God crowned US, human beings, with his 'Glory and Honor. [He] gave [us] charge over everything [He] has made; putting all things under [our] authority.' (Psalm 8:5b-6) In Hebrews, it goes on to say "Now, when it says 'all things,' it means nothing is left out.' (2:8b). All things! Created for US to oversee, to be over, to enjoy and to live in. Every beautiful thing of nature, every waterfall, flower, tree, mountain, planet, galaxy - all made for us, by the One who loves us dearly.

But beauty doesn't stop there. There is beauty in God's most precious creation - us! There is beauty in every child. I spent years in children's ministry, and as I think about what I know children are capable of knowing and doing, it blows my mind and rattles my heart. There's beauty in their innocence, in their smiles, in their endless happiness and energy, there's beauty in their giving, loving hearts, and there's beauty in the futures!

There's beauty in every woman. Graceful, elegant, rapturous beauty; with wisdom grounded in their hearts, and love for all things. Women personify perfectly God's love, mercy, and nurturing characteristics, and He has made them beautiful.

There's beauty in every man, too! Valiant, heroic leaders willing to fight for what they believe in. With strength, wisdom, vigor, men have in them the beauty of leadership, of God's fathering and teaching characteristics, and the beauty of love.

Beauty is all around us, and God desires us to take notice of it, and especially enjoy it! Which leads me to my next point...

Romance. To pursue, enjoy, and grasp the beauty in this world, in a lover, or God himself is really a biblical definition of 'romance.' The fully delve into the beauty God has offered us freely, simply for our enjoyment, is a beautiful thing. The intimacy God, the almighty king of EXISTENCE offers ME a deep, personal relationship with him, free of charge. I'll touch on this more in a moment.

But not only did he freely offer me salvation, but he's given me - us - this wonderful, romantic, awesome place we call 'earth' to live in. You see in the locked eyes of every couple. You see it in the beauty the rain joining the swaying pedals of a flower. You see it in the sacrifice Jesus gave us. That is romance in it's purest, holiest form.

Love. It wasn't even that I loved God or that I was a Christian he did all of that for me; the Bible makes it perfectly clear 'While I was still a sinner, Christ died for ME.' (Romans 5:8). He loved me enough to initiate the relationship with me - with US! - that while I was still his enemy, he loved me more than I can still fathom. That type of love - love that God IS (1 John 4:8) shakes me to my care when I see the beauty and romance in all of creation. I could write volumes on the love of God - it's so massive and mind-boggling. Love is that not only did God create us, not only did he give us an amazing world, not only did he let us live after sinning against him, not only did he die and conquer death itself on out behalf, but he WANTS US to be in a LOVING relationship with him. He DESIRES us. Which brings me to the last point.

Significance. I was reading in 1 Samuel tonight, I read these words that God seemed to speak to me, affirming something he's been trying to get across to me for a while now.

"Even when you are chased by those who seek to kill you, your life is safe in the care of the LORD your God, secure in his treasure pouch." (1 Samuel 25:29)

See that at the end? Treasure pouch. Tell me: what does one put in a treasure pouch? Their treasure. Their valuables. The things they love above all things. If, metaphorically speaking, that's where God holds us, then holy guacamole, we are significant, aren't we? To think that not only are we loved, but we're treasured by God is something that makes me want to cry! When we think of the love God has for us, I think sometimes, because of the overuse of the word 'love' in our culture, we don't really grasp it. But using words like 'treasured' puts all that weight back in, doesn't it?

I have been struggling with the deal of my significance. Christians everywhere go around talking about how they're 'just a sinner saved' or how they're 'the wretch the song Amazing Grace talks about,' but You and I are SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT.

John Eldredge says that (paraphrased) "To God, the idea of being separated from us for eternity was too much to bear. So, when faced with his holy decision, he found it would be LESS PAINFUL to give his son - to kill himself, in the flesh - than to be apart from us." Wow. Have you ever realized just how special and significant you are? God has created the beauty, the ability to become intimate with it and God, and he's given salvation... all for you? Not a collective you, but YOU as an individual. YOU as in [insert name here.] YOU as YOU were created to be. You are no accident. Once you've given your heart to the Lord, you are no longer a wretch, and you are no longer a slave to sin. 'You are GOLDEN,' as songwriter Jon Foreman (Switchfoot) says. How awesome is that!?

So, as I write this extremely long blog post, I hope you find encouragement and truth in these words I've written in the past half hour. I know that these things God has taught me are extraordinary things the Enemy would just love to destroy and snatch away whenever he can get his grubby little hands on it, but I am going to fight for these truths. It's when we're discovering significant things and drawing ever closer to God that Satan tries his hardest to pull us back away. Don't let him have you! Show him who's boss; show him who's team you're fighting for. It's team that will not lose. ;)

Thanks for reading! And hey - if you were encouraged at all by this blog post, let me know in the comments, please. It would be a major encouragement to me, myself, and I get to see what you guys think of the blogging here.

Have a great night!