Put off the Old Man

Lets reflect on this verse, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold the new has come!" (2 Cor. 5:17). This verse is a power verse in times of temptation and when feeling down. It is a verse that finds itself filled with the reality of the human situation in Christ Jesus. One might ask, "How does one become "a new creation?"

Great question! We are all fallen and broken by what is called Original Sin. Original Sin is a state of being that the human race has lived in since the time of Adam of Eve. It is our falling from our original relationship with God and our original relation with each other. Original Sin made us a fallen and divided people, a broken family! We experience this brokenness in our own world, which is full of hate, the sword, despair, and death. But in Christ Jesus, our relationship with God was restored once for all on the Cross! It was here that our sins were forgiven and we were made sons in the Son!

So if we put on Christ, we die with Christ (See Romans 6 about baptism) and if we die with Christ we will raise with Christ. We are called into the new family of God the Church, where we are called to put off the old man and put on the new. Some key questions we need to ask ourselves are, What do I still need to cast off of the old man, so I can become a new creation? and How am I growing in becoming a "new creation" everyday?

An Unusually Missionary Day

I am sitting in the airport in Milwaukee waiting to fly out to Denver for some meetings. This is not a normal day in the missionary life. Usually, I am laboring away on campus, meeting up with students for coffee, to throw a Frisbee, or to talk about our Lord. I find myself excited with this change of pace and the travel. Something in my heart loves to travel; to sit in airport terminals and think, pray, read, and write. There is nothing quite like it. But there seems to be a little bit more attached to this trip.
On the bus this morning on the way to the airport it hit me. I received a message on my voicemail from the person picking me up at the airport and she proceeded to share three other names of people that she was picking up at the same time. I grew extremely excited hearing each of the names mentioned. They were some of my best friends, men that I have known for years and that have influenced my life in many ways. I speak with most of these men on a semi-regular basis, but at the thought of seeing my missionary brothers and good friends my heart was seized with joy!
In the missionary life (probably in life in general), we don’t always get what we want. We don’t always live around the people we wish we did. The word missionary means, “one who is sent.” Sent where? Sometimes it seems that this means to be sent away from our family and friends. At least, this has been somewhat of my experience of being a missionary. But there is no room for sadness, nor is it required. I don’t look at my life as what I have given up, but what I have gained. In the Christian life, we are asked to submit everything to the penetrating life of Christ…EVERYTHING, but we will GAIN EVEN MORE! This is the beauty of the missionary call! Yes, I am far from family and old friends, but when are paths do cross, the joy is inexpressible (as you probably can gather from my joyful but still vague post!)
I will close with this quote on friendship and brotherhood from the great Bishop of Hippo from the 4th Century, St. Augustine:
“What drew me closest to my brothers was the delight of chatting and laughing together; of showing our affection for one another by kindly services; of reading together from books that spoke of pleasant things; …of joking together amicably; of disputing now and then but without resentment, as one is wont to do with himself; of awakening by rare contest the pleasure of being one in mind; of mutually instructing one another; of longing for the absent one, and tasting joy at his return. We loved each other with all our hearts, and these marks of friendship that were shown on our faces, by our voices, in our eyes and a thousand other ways were among us like ardent flames that fused our souls together, and of many made but one.”

Great Website on the Divine Mercy

Opps! I forgot to post the link about Divine Mercy.

Here you go http://thedivinemercy.org/

The Message of Mercy

Around 9 years ago, Pope John Paul the Great declared a wish of the Lord Jesus, which was made known to a little nun in Poland some decades before. He declared the second Sunday of Easter to be Divine Mercy Sunday. It is a Sunday that is dedicated to our Lord’s Divine Mercy poured upon the world for sinners like you and me. If you would like to read more about the Divine Mercy, you can check out this site. But I would like to concentrate on why this is important to our generation and bringing people to our Lord Jesus and His Church.

We live during an age where we have made ourselves little gods and do not think we need a Savoir. We can be our own Savoir! Could that be true? This past couple of months, the FOCUS team at UW-Madison has been taking the message of Divine Mercy to the streets and has experienced this attitude first hand. There are people that laugh when they hear someone proclaiming the love of the Lord Jesus or maybe they just ignore the person handing them a holy card. I even encountered a few people angry at seeing the image of Jesus out on campus. “Jesus does not belong here; he belongs inside your Church.”

No, my friends, Jesus does not just belong inside little pious Churches (or impious ones at that!) but He belongs in the life of all people because we are in need of a Savior…we are in need of God! Why are we in need of God? We need mercy! Think of your own experiences – maybe you will have to think back a bit – but we have experienced brokenness and heart ache. We must realize that we are part of this brokenness and heart ache. Once we discover this, we must not be discouraged or grow afraid but throw ourselves in the ocean of God’s mercy! St. Faustina, the great apostle of mercy, wrote about this mercy in her little diary that every man, woman, and child should own and read. In her life and words, we will find strength and encouragement in our own walk with Christ!

Do not walk, but run! Go now and buy the Diary! Read it every day, just a couple of pages at a time or a few more here and there and be strengthen by the Great Mercy of God! He is calling us back to Himself! We need to respond! There is no tomorrow in the life of God…We must act NOW…TODAY! And pray tonight to God…”Make me a Saint!”

What is the Meaning of All of This?

Have you ever asked the questions, "Why am I here?" "Why do I have to go through 'such and such?" Most likely you have taken a step back in your life and gazed into the distance asking piercing questions about existence...especially your own. The question I have been pondering is why do we do that?!

Deep within us, we feel that we are made for something bigger than us...bigger than what we feel at the present moment and yet experience in the present, but only as a passing glance. We have destiny and must fulfill it! Look around and take deep breathe. What do you see? Now take these external things that you see and take them into your interior and offer them back to God...

You probably find yourself wrestling with a ton of questions about that experience, about what you saw! This means that your mind is working! We are made to know and to be be known. That must be why websites like facebook and myspace (not to mention blogspot!) are so popular. We are constantly trying to reveal ourselves to others or we are running from revealing ourselves to others, because we are afraid what people might think if they find out "who we really are."

But we must not flee! We must stay strong and live in the light. We are childern of God and this brings a certain freedom in revealing ourselves, a kind of confidence that is foreign to others that do not have such a grace. Do not flee from this reality. We must enter into it with full force! It is here that we are immersed in Mystery and it is with this Mystery, this Person, that we must be in relationship with. This is where the adventure lies! We do not know the future! We cling to the events of the past, but it is the present that we live in and must live in!

What is the meaning of all of this? Eternal Life...Happiness...Perfection...Total Satisfaction in your heart! Remember what Augustine said, "Our heart are restless, Lord, until they rest in you!" Do give up! What a great call we have!