thesundog.com

in the beginning we were one.  it was our arrogance that caused God to separate us.  It was our ability to build man made things that encouraged a deconstruction of our society.  it was because of our God given abilities and our work ethic that caused us to make a devision between us an God.  the tower of babel was the beginning of our reconstruction as a people.

we live in a society that values, or at least attempts to value the distinctive features in one another.  we talk about appreciating each others differences and tolerating the uniqueness within each other.  we attempt to do this in the church too.  we attempt to provide a platform where all nations can worship God.  the reality is, it's easy to have a place for all nations to worship God, the hard task is to find a place that we all love each other. 

when will we be as we were so many years ago.  the tower of babel shows us that building programs don't bring us closer to God.  in fact, they can separate us further even if our attempt is to grow closer to Him.  in our attempt to serve God, we so often end up serving our own wants and desires of our relationship with God.  this can be dangerous.

will we ever have unity in the church before Christ returns? is it crazy to think that a church filled with all of the nations of the world can exist?  is it even crazier to think that while we have all of the nations of the world under one roof, that when we look at our brothers and sisters, we don't have to accept them for their differences, but we would have to strive just to see how they are different.  that is unity.  that is not equality.

we were once found more unified.  we will again be unified under God.  can we be unified here?  can we develop our communities to be blind to each others differences and fully aware of our identities in Christ?

one day, we will be in a place where we all worship God in our own way, in our own tongue, in our own method.  one day, we will be before the King and offer Him ourselves as an offering.  one day, we will stop trying to find identity in our own uniquenesses, and will find full identity in our Lord.  One day. One day.  but how long oh Lord?

a picture we read about in the book of revelation is a picture of multicultural naivety.  we see the nations of the world gathered but in their distinct diversity, there is no need for individule identity.  they find identity in God.  they find identity in eachother.  it appears that it is in God and those around them that identity is found.  it is not in themselves.

can the church be united.  can we all not only get along, but sacrifice for those who are differenet at the risk of ourselves.  can we fight for unity, and not settle for eqaulity?  that's the big question.  unity over equality.  even the world wants equality, but we, the bride of Christ, need to raise the bar.  equality is not nearly good enough.  unity will make equality look boring.

a united future is our future.  in Christ, we will be united.  can we start to work on this here?  can we fight for eachother as if any believer and i are one flesh?  we are one flesh in Christ.  we are one flesh in the King.  we are one flesh in the Lord.  WE ARE ONE FLESH.  stop fight for equal rights between the left arm and the right.  segmant body parts, fighting for their right to do one thing over the next.  a body will fight itself till death.  if your right arm causes you to sin, cut it off.  if your right arm isn't fighting for your left, could that be sin? 

can we be united? my father had a liver transplant.  his body needs drugs to stay alive.  it will fight to kick out the new liver.  his body is not trying to be tolerant of the new liver.  tollerance doesn't work.  his body needs to be tricked that the new liver is one flesh with his.  do we need to trick believers that when new people come into the kingdom, they are part of the body?  if in Christ they are in His body, than they don't need to be tolerated, they need to be embraced, and not for their uniquness, but for Christ. 

I have always like new things.  I have always enjoyed looking at creative ideas.  I have always found excitement in technology. But I have always thought that this was also my vice, my weakness.  I have grown up believing that this feeling of always wanting something new has been an area of selfishness and discontentment with what has been given to me.  This feeling of always wanting to see the next new thing became like a sin in my life.  

Lately, God has been showing me that this desire is not of my sinful nature.  But that my sinful nature tries to distort the exact design that God has used in my life, in my being.  God has designed me to think innovatively.  He has designed me to think about the creative and innovative things that can be done.  Where I have made mistakes is that I see the next innovative thing, and I try to buy it.  I feel that if I have the thing, that my longing will be complete.  Things always fail, but my innovative desire in me is not about getting the thing, but about the innovation behind it.

I will try to learn more about how God has designed me to innovate.  I will not tell myself anymore that this feeling inside of me is sinful, or that it shows discontentment with what God has blessed me with.  Instead, I will pray through this new found wiring of my brain, and allow God to clarify what it means for me to be made in HIS creative image.

Mr Melanin Man is an actual citizen of the land.  People treat him different because they don't understand him.  He looks different.  He sounds different.  He is different.  And we are scared of him because of our ignorance.

We are all different.  We are all the same.  It is in our differences that we enjoy the spices of life.  But you can't live on spice.  You would be sick in the stomach if all you ate was spice.  We must find what makes us the same.  This is the staple of human existence. 

God created us different.  God created us beautiful.  God did not create us for equality, but for unity.  Jesus prayed that we might be unified, not that we would find wonder in who we are aside from Him and His family.  God wants us to be unified and not just equal.  Equality will always fail, but unity will prevail. 

the life of a sundog is simple.  the life of a sundog complex. 

much like a christian originally meant a little Christ.  a sundog is a light reflection of the sun.  i want to... and desire to be...a reflection of the SON.  i don't assume that i am a bright light.  i don't assume that my life is like a mirror, and my lifestyle reflects a pure light... a light to all men.  but i do assume, that as mirror... as a willing reflection...that the true light (john 1:5,6) will shine.  I am not the light... but the light shines through me.  this is my cause.  this is my journey.  this is my desire.  this is my cross.  this is my pride.

sundog.