Crazy Weeks

I've had a couple of crazy weeks. My house was broken into, lots of stuff was taken, my family dog died. I've mostly dealt with that stuff, but now finals are approaching and they are probably stressing me out more than any finals ever have before. These are the final finals. This. Is. It.

Then I graduate.

So chances are for the next couple weeks this blog will be pretty quiet. I apologize.

Trinity Acceptance!

As many of you have probably already seen on Facebook or Twitter, the news is in.

I've been accepted to Trinity College, Bristol. This was my first choice by far, so I will definitely (God willing) be going there. I'm on my way England.

Trinity is, of course, a strong school academically, and the University of Bristol is one of the top institutions in the UK. Furthermore, the facilities are fantastic and the sense of hospitality when I visited was tangible.

Most importantly, there was a real sense of God's presence. Trinity is a place where I will grow spiritually.

I ask prayers as I finish up at UCLA and prepare for this new journey.

Cheers!

New Wine

By André Karwath aka Aka
(Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5]
via Wikimedia Commons

Colossians 1:18 says that Jesus Christ is "the firstborn from among the dead." That bit always confused me as a child. After all, Elijah raised the widow's son, and Christ Himself raised Lazarus. What could it possibly mean for Jesus to be the firstborn from the dead?

But at some point it occurred to me. The boy and Lazarus would eventually see death. They were given an extended lease on life, but for them death still reigned.

The Resurrection of Jesus was something different, and this is why you will always see me capitalize it. The boy and Lazarus were raised from being dead, Jesus was raised from Death itself. Jesus, in being fully man, was fully subject to the rule of death, but He went through that death and was raised again, nevermore to die.

This is important because it's a promise. Christ is the firstfruits, the sign that all who die in Him shall at the last day be raised. And we see in Him that the Resurrection that awaits us in a thing spectacular indeed. Just as the grape must die and be crushed in the winepress so that it might become the beautiful thing that is wine, so we must die that we might become a new thing.

This means that war is conducted like a funeral

Human life is of infinite worth.

That's the message of the cross. That's the message of the Resurrection. God, in the person of the Son, became one of us. The divine nature was joined to the human, that life died, and rose again. Death was conquered. Life affirmed to be more than death.

The infinite value of human life is violated every time a life is taken, every time a person is abused.

That's why the terrorist attacks on 9/11 were such a horror. Thousands of people dead. Not thousands of Americans, thousands of people.

And now Osama bin Laden is dead. And it's a sad thing. It's probably a good thing, the world is probably better for it, but it's sad. Though it be good that he is dead, rejoice not. Gloat not. "Do not rejoice when your enemies fall,
and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble” (Proverbs 24:17). Or, as the Tao says, "This means that war is conducted like a funeral. When many people are being killed, They should be mourned in heartfelt sorrow" (Tao 31).

Or you know, Jesus, "Love your enemies."

As Rod over at Political Jesus said, "that Jesus, just such a party pooper."