Well, with a heavy heart and a sorrow that fills the seas, I regret to inform you that Paradox will be shutting it's doors for the Winter Break.  Due to the winter season and the holidays and a wedding there will be a hiatus from the weekly meetings.  I hope you all enjoy the winter break with your family.  May your stockings be stocked, your bellies satisfied, and your rest caught up on during this break, and we will see you all when we resume!  WE ARE RESUMING ON JANUARY 20, 2008! God Bless you all!

Exodus 34:29-33 "When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the sin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and moses talked with them. Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face."

Last night was an amazing night! The Holy Spirit was definitely present and moving in our midst. I hope that you all experienced the same thing that I did. Therefore with regards to last night, I decided to post this Scripture.

Many of you have heard of the term "AFTERGLOW", but not many knows where it comes from. An "AFTERGLOW" is the time in worship when you come before the Lord and you worship, talk, thank Him. It is a time when you come face to face with God honestly opening yourself up to Him and exposing that which is in you. This time is typically done after the message with the intent to respond to the Word of God and come into His presence. And the root of this word comes from this Scripture above (Ex. 34).

When Moses went up on Mount Sinai his second time to rewrite the law He came face to face with God. And as a result of that interaction his face started to glow. It shone to all that was around him and they were a little afraid of it. Could you imagine looking at someone and seeing them shining? That would be insane. That would be something irrational and totally confusing. Well, the reality is that each and everyone of us shines forth to the world. Jesus said that we are the Lights of the World and we shine forth. And it is a result of being face to face with God. When we are face to face with Him we shine even more because we are refreshed and strengthened.

So I encourage you all, let this be something that you strive for. Strive to shine forth Jesus to all who you come in contact with. Friends, family, co-workers, dormmates, everyone. Don't be afraid either. I have news for you, if you are living FULLY for Jesus, they already see the light shine forth in your life. MAY YOU ALWAYS LIVE IN THE AFTERGLOW!

 Finals, finals, finals!  Definitely one of those times when you would rather do anything but sit still for hours on end and read from a textbook that you would like to burn with a blowtorch.  I understand, so I thought that it would be fun to provide an alternative to studying through the medium of video.  And due to the increasing popularity of soccer amongst the Paradox community, I felt that it is appropriate to post a video of this magnitude.  Enjoy!

Mark 1:40-45 "And a Leper came to Him, imploring Him, and kneeling said to Him, 'If You will, You can make me clean.' Moved with pity, He stretched out His hand and touched Him and said to him, 'I will; be clean.' And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. And Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, 'See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for proof to them.' But he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to Him from every quarter."

An amazing tale of the miraculous compassion, touch, and word of Jesus Christ in the cleansing of the Leper. It is a tale that not only puts us in awe of our Lord, but it teaches us something about who Jesus is and what His character was like. All of what Jesus did was for a purpose, and the purpose primarily was to bring the truth to lives around Him and to our lives today. And the truth that is being exemplified here in these Scriptures is one of compassion, identification, and cleansing.

Leprosy is a disease the is an abomination not only in that day, but in today's society as well. It is still afflicting people today. Over 300,000 people in the world are struck with this disease. It is a brutal disease that attacks the peripheral nervous system that leaves you numb. And that insensitivity to the world leads to a deterioration of the skin, wounds, burns, boils, anything that can happen does because of the lack of reaction by the body. It is safe to say that these who are afflicted by leprosy are living is a "painless hell". Apart from the physical ailments, the psychological ones are even more devastating. In Leviticus 13, it outlines the proper actions taken by those who have leprosy. They were to wear rags as clothes, let their hair hang loose, cover their mouths, live apart from the community, and whenever they were around people, yell, "UNCLEAN, UNCLEAN!"

Interestingly enough, leprosy in the Bible is a picture of sin in our lives. Like leprosy, sin spreads throughout the body, it has insidious beginnings, it is slow to progress, it has a destructive power, and ultimately brings ruin to our lives. Sin has a way of numbing us. Ephesians 4:17-19 "Now, this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated form the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity." Unlike leprosy, we have the tendency to not see our sins, and therefore not confront them. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones said, "it is a spiritual necessity to have a sense of sin." We need to not be calloused to our sin, but aware of our sinful state, because when that happens, then we are willing to come to Jesus for cleansing. The Leper knew the state that he was in, it was obvious, he was full of disease and numbness, and therefore he came to Jesus for cleansing. We too need to know our sin so that we can come to Jesus for cleansing.

When we do that, Jesus is more than willing to cleanse and to restore. 2 Peter 3:9 "the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." Jesus does not desire for anyone to perish, but to be cleansed. If we don't come before Him with our sin and ask for healing, we will perish and God does not want that! We shouldn't be scared of going to Him because He will respond in three ways.
- In His compassion
- In His touch
- In His word

In each one of these He identifies with us and knows what we are going through. His compassion is one of deep, heartfelt, non-manufactured love that reaches deep. His touch is one that says, "I am here, I am with you, I understand, I will support you, and I LOVE YOU!". And His Word is one of cleansing. Jesus is more than willing to cleanse us COMPLETELY, from the inside out are we changed and transformed when we come before Him, as the Leper did and ask for Him to cleanse us.

I hope this message was an encouragement to you all. My heart was not to bring down condemnation on you and tell you how sinful you are, but my heart was to show you amidst the sin in your life, there is a Savior who can cleanse you. We need to be a generation that realizes that. Realizes the Jesus brings healing to our lives when we confess and repent of our ways. So I encourage you, let the Lord search your heart and see if there is any wicked way in you and lead you in the path of everlasting. Keep the faith, be encouraged, and God bless!

Here is a video that will make you think a bit.  Her name is St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) and she is an interesting artist, very progressive in her feel and songwriting. But admist the eccentric nature of St. Vincent, I feel that this song has a profound truth to it, and it is encapsulated in the title.  "Jesus Saves, I Spend" seems to be a common theme for Christians.  We take what we have been given and spend it on ourselves.  The grace, the beauty, the world, everything that the Lord has blessed us with, we take for granted and spend, rather than save and cherish.  And what's more is that we are not trying to save those around us either (I am speaking to myself, just as much to you.). But I think that it is time that we save, just as Jesus had and has for each and every one of us.  Check out the video, let me know what you think!

With regards to the discussion yesterday, I felt it necessary to share with you Jesus' instruction of prayer.  This comes after the disciples ask Jesus how they are to pray:

Mark 1:35 "And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed."

It is safe to say that after last week I am going to need some plastic surgery to reconstruct my face because it has been officially and most completely "rocked off".  They were two of the sweetest shows that I have been to.  Both artists were awesome in their ability to melt hearts and provide a sweet sound to our ears.  I great appreciation for those who joined in on the fun at the concerts, it was a fun time had by all.  Below are some pictures from the Phil Wickham concert. Enjoy!