To Blog/Journal or Not To Blog/Journal...That Is The Question

Well with a title like that you expect that I should break into quoting Shakespeare....but I will not. Consistent writing is obviously not one of my strong suits. So where to begin really...lots and lots of things have happen since the last time I posted to this page. My previous post was in regards to a mission trip that I took to East Asia. The trip was a total success and I made some friends that I still keep in contact with. My trip to the other side of the world was life changing. My perspective on several things changed; 1) the importance of always being on mission 2) that even under the most severe of oppressions life and the gospel always seem to flourish. So that would bring us end of July of last year. Around September I started a new journey by turning down a path that I had known about but only walked sparingly. I began dating Katie Vance around September and my feet haven't touch the floor since. I'm truly convinced now that God is and always about what is best for us. In March I (with Richard and Julie's permission) would propose to Katie and October 1st of this year we were made and declared to be husband and wife. We are just over a month into our lives as a married couple and I can confidently say the wait was well worth it. I had someone ask me why I waited til I was 29 to get married and I said, "well, God knew that I needed to wait that long" Katie is a shining example of God's grace to me. She loves me at my best and most especially at my worst...

Matthew 28:18-20

Dear Friends and Family,

As you may already know, I moved to Raleigh, NC in the Fall of 2006 to attend Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in pursuit of my master’s degree. Every summer I have done the normal thing of either working for extra money or taking easy which I have grown more aware of as just plain selfish. The past year and a half has been a unique time of spiritual growth and maturity, and a great deal of repentance that has been vital to my pursuit of ministry. Southeastern has been teaching us the importance of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 where Jesus tells his followers to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit”.

I have been attending Bayleaf Baptist Church for several years now and have become involved in the College and Singles ministry there. An exciting opportunity has presented itself in the past month that I hope you can be apart of. I will be going to East Asia for 12 days during the latter part of July in order to teach English and build relationships with college students. During their summer break these students compete for spots in a week long program to polish their English speaking skills.

I am asking first and foremost that you be in prayer for the students that we will be teaching and for the team that is going. We have been given an amazing opportunity to build relationships with these students and immerse ourselves in a different culture. There is also an opportunity for you to get involved financially if you feel that the Lord is guiding you to do so. The estimated cost of the trip is $2,600. This includes airfare, housing, meals, and other expenses during the trip. If the Lord leads you to give financially to this trip, you can make your gift tax deductible by addressing the check to Bayleaf Baptist Church and addressing the memo line to Jared Lucas or if you prefer; you can send your check to me at the address below

I appreciate the prayer for me, the team, and the students that we will be coming into contact with over the summer. If you have any questions about the trip or my life here in Raleigh feel free to call or send me an email. I will be happy to answer any questions that you have, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Jared Lucas

1004 Thornrose Way

Wake Forest, NC 27587

919-457-8819

Caedmonfan82@gmail.com

www.bayleafbaptistchurch.com

Out of the Depths He Emerges...

having gone a solid 9 months without any submission I forgot how therapeutic writing can be. I set mind and fingers to keyboard in the hopes get some things off my mind.

A concept that has always been on my mind is "Community" within the body of Christ. What does it look like; how do we do it? Trouble is I haven't come up with a real good answer yet I have some ideas; such as we have a mentality of coming to serve instead of being served, giving instead of receiving, loving others rather waiting to be loved. Paul tells us in Philippians 2 that we are and we should have to same mind that was in Christ, "Who though he was in the form of God didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but rather he emptied himself,taking on the form of a servant."

earlier...Paul tells us..."Do nothing from rivalry or vain conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves."

so from this I would take "community" to be those count others more significant than themselves..

And how is one to conduct oneself in relationship that at times seems to be merely "one-sided." My first thoughts go immediately to the 13th Chapter of 1st Corinthians in verse 4 "that Love is patient and kind, love is not envious or boastful, it is not arrogant nor is it rude, it does not insist on it's own way...my thoughts compel to think the Philippians passage as well that we are to consider other more significant than ourselves...we are to look not only our own interests of the interests of others as well.

In View: Passion Week

The inspiration for this submission comes from a phone conversation I had over the weekend....

This week for Christians is at times referred to "Passion Week" the week and events of that week leading up to the arrest, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The gist of the conversation ended up focusing one's particular attitude of the heart. The great work by Mel Gibson "The Passion of Christ" is by far one of Hollywood's best and most realistic portrayals, but still falls short I believe that our Lord endured and suffered serving as our substitute.

The comment was made that, "How can someone say that this movie(The Passion) could and can be someone's favorite movie??" My response was simply its one of my favorites, the response was "how can you say that?", for the reasons I stated above I said, "because it captures as best as Hollywood can the savagery and brutality that Christ suffered for me."

The comment was followed by, "Well I can't watch something like because it breaks my heart to watch the portrayal of Christ get beat like that." My response to this was why does it break your heart?"

Living Out An Authentic Christian Life

What can I say.....inspiration to write has been strong this week. I guess I can attribute it to the contemplative mood I've been in this week.

Now for some insight....

One thing in particular that I've been attempting to think out all the time, but especially this week is how do you live out an authentic Christian life, and furthermore what does that look like? Are there anythings that one desiring authenticity can do in addition to spending time in the word, in prayer, being in community with the body. These are things that are enumerated in Scripture.

Where my thoughts have been as well, is what constitutes a pure motive in doing to the things that God has commanded us to do through being obedient to Him. Is it enough that it is in part a conscious thought or something more required.

Another issue that I have been faced with regarding an authentic life as a Christian is this: I am perplexed by the the Christians who I know who hide behind their masks, for fear that the rest of the body will think or love them less. I've battled with this many times, and I've found the greatest joy and relief in confessing and admitting my struggles to my fellow brothers in the faith. True freedom I'm convinced is found in Christ as savior first and foremost as well as refusing to hide your sin(s) and admitting your struggle with the Body. Realizing the great power of your Savior and knowing that no mater how hard you strive to hide your sin it has been exposed to God.

I would encourage those who might read this to consider that which Derek Webb say in his album "The House Show"

"Your sins have been exposed as if they were on the 5:00 news they have been exposed to Jesus, He knows you better than your even willing to admit to yourself, But he's forgiven you, Take joy in the fact not that your sins are not real, but that are real, and that your Savior is real."