PARADOX College Ministry

Yes, your eyes have not deceived you. You have twenty-twenty vision and you are completely sane. There is no need to pinch yourself, you are not dreaming. This is true, THE MEXICO MISSION TRIP IS CANCELED. I regret to inform you all that we are not going to be going on the trip down to Mexico as planned. The current safety situation is one of concern. There has been kidnappings, murders, and much more crime with the increase targeting of Americans. I know what you are thinking, "we are strong, we are scary, we are college students, able to do anything!", but even with those facts I can not guarantee your safety and that is not good. Anyway, I hope that none of you are too disappointed and I apologize for getting your hopes up.

However, if any of you have any ideas about doing something else that weekend, I am definitely open to your suggestions.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

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...being obedient

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Mark 3:1-6 "Again He entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. And they watched Jesus, to see whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man with the withered hand, 'Come here'. And He said to them, 'Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?' But they were silent. And He looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against Him, how to destroy Him."

Every time thus far, when Jesus has entered the Synagogue, He has found someone who was sick, either physically or spiritually. In chapter 1 it was the man with the unclean spirit and here in chapter 3 it is the man with the withered hand. One could say that the Synagogue was the place where the sick hung out, waiting to be healed.

You could also say that about the church today, or Paradox today. It is a place where the wick come to be healed, either physically or spiritually or mentally or emotionally. In the church we are all in need in some way, we are all sick with the illness of sin. Therefore, the church could be viewed as an Emergency Room. And in that Emergency Room are people who want to be healed. People who are waiting for the Great Physician to come and heal their wounds, guilts, shames, and sorrows. However, there are some people in the church today who are NOT WILLING TO ADMIT to their sickness. Rather they hide it away from the view of everyone, including God Himself.

But we can't do that. We can not be people who aren't willing to ADMIT TO OUR SINS. We need to be real with ourselves, real with others, and real with our Lord. But we don't want to do that sometimes. In fact, sometimes we are content with hiding those sins away. However, the danger in doing that is that your sin will ALWAYS surface. It will always be revealed in one way or another. James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."

In the E.R. you are surrounded by a team of people who are taking care of your every need. Doctors, administration, nurses, specialists are all there to assist the patient in whatever is needed. In PARADOX we are to assist each other and be there for each other when there is a need. We are commanded to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another. We need to be a team INTENT on meeting the needs of those around us because that is what Jesus did. He was intent on meeting the people's needs who were in the synagogue. And that included that man.

Therefore, Jesus commanded that man to "Stretch out his hand." He asked the man with the withered, battered, paralyzed hand to move it. It was a request that the man simply could not follow. There was no natural way that the man could have moved his hand. And that being so the man could have said, "No way Jesus. Are you kidding me? You are asking me to do something that is incredibly impossible to do. I could never do that. You are going to embarrass me in front of other people." But the man didn't do that. He simply stretched out his hand and Jesus healed it.

WHAT IS JESUS SAYING TO YOU TO STRETCH FORTH? WHAT IS HE ASKING YOU TO GET OUT OF YOUR LIFE? Something that you could not physically do on your own. Something that is so entangled in your life. Something that is so hard to break away from. Whatever He is asking you to do, DON'T FIGHT IT. Just stretch out your "hand". The reason is that in GOD'S COMMANDMENTS ARE GOD'S ENABLEMENTS.

When you decide to obey God in something that He is calling for you to do that is outside your capabilities, He will give you the power through His Spirit to do it. When you are OBEDIENT to Him, He will empower you. You will find power to turn and to flee from that sin. And when we "stretch forth our hands" God is faithful to come through and gives us the power to follow what He desires.

So, I ask you:

WHAT SICKNESS ARE YOU HIDING FROM OTHERS, INCLUDING GOD?

WHAT IS GOD CALLING YOU TO STRETCH FORTH?

WHAT IS GOD TELLING YOU TO REPENT OF?

God is faithful to give you the power to turn and the grace to forgive. God Bless!

...white and nerdy

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This is for all my hommies out there! I ran across this video and thought it was awesome. Give it up for the Cal Poly Mustang alumni! Wierd Al rocks!

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the revolutionary messiah...part 2

Mark 2:23 - 3:6

We are continuing in our discussion in the Gospel of Mark and looking at the example of Jesus Christ. Last week we saw His revolutionary view of fasting and the intent God had in regards to fasting. The Pharisees had missed the intent and made it into a religious burden rather than a time of worship. Instead of it being a joyous affair, it was a sad and sorrowful act, which is not the intention of God.

This week we see Jesus again bring about a revolution when He confronts the Pharisees on the law of the Sabbath. We see that Jesus and His disciples were seen gleaning grain from a field and eating it. The Pharisees interpreted that as "working" on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a day, commanded by God (Exodus 20), to be a Holy day devoted to rest from all forms of labor. However, this command became twisted in the minds of man (like many other things) and was added onto by the religious officials attempting to interpret what God meant by a day of rest. Therefore, they added laws and regulations and rules that accompanied the command. And I believe that in this incident, Jesus is saying to the Pharisees, "YOU ARE MISSING THE POINT." The Pharisees were completely twisted in their interpretation of the Sabbath Day. Their devotion of upholding the Law and "being perfect" in the eyes of God was taking precedence in their lives, rather than seeking God.

In the same way, the church of today "misses the point." We too get wrapped up in the following of rules and rituals rather than living in the freedom and the new life that we are granted through Jesus Christ. We miss the point that we are only saved through the grace that God gives us, not by our own works. For the Pharisees, righteousness came through their works, but the reality is that righteousness comes by faith in Jesus Christ and nothing else. We need to get out of this "religious" thinking and living and start living in the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ.

So the Pharisees accuse Jesus of violating the Law of the Sabbath twice. Once with the disciples gleaning grain, and next when Jesus heals a man with a withered hand in the synagogue. Both times were completely legal, according to Law. He did these actions for two reasons:

1. Human needs take priority over ceremonial man-made regulations.

2. To show the Pharisee's narrow interpretation of the Law blurred God's intention for the Sabbath.

In both instances we see that Jesus put the needs of others above the laws given by man. As Christians, that should be central in our lives. First, love God, then love others. But so often it is so hard to do so. Sometimes we get so caught up in their theological perspective or other legalism that we forsake them and turn away from helping them. And in doing so, we turn our backs on our Savior and our calling. We can not be more concerned with the following of the man-made Law than being concerned with those who are in need. DON'T MISS THE POINT!

God's intention for the Sabbath is pretty simple, RELAX AND REST. God understands that we humans need time to rest and recuperate from our labor. Labor is tough and rest is needed. The Sabbath was meant to be a blessing, not a burden. But the man-made regulations that were tacked on were burdensome to the Jews. But that is not the intention. We should all take a Sabbath one of these days. It is a time of meditating on the Word of God, resting in His love, and being rejuvenated to continue our work.

In seeing this example I pray that we can move beyond the realm of religion and into the realm of redemption, relationship, and love. Too many times we get hung up on man-made legalism and don't look at the real need. I pray that we can do that in our everyday life. Don't live your life as the Pharisees do, pointing out the faults of others and working your way to glory. Because these were the people who angered Jesus the most (Matt.23).

We need to get out of the religious mindset and start living in freedom and the redemption that we have through Jesus Christ. SO I ASK:

- Are you living out of an attitude of WORSHIP AND GRATITUDE and LOVE FOR GOD, or out of an attitude of SELFISHNESS AND PRIDE AND AUTHORITY?

- Do you put yourself over those who you KNOW NEED YOUR HELP?

- Are you too CONCERNED with the MAN-MADE RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS that you have and NOT CONCERNED about those around you?

DON'T MISS THE POINT OF CHRISTIANITY! God Bless!

upcoming events...

HERE ARE SOME UPCOMING EVENTS THAT WE WANT YOU AT!!!

All of these events are going to be awesome. Please get in touch with David to find out more details, or leave a comment and he will get back to you! Hope you all can make it, God Bless!

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the revolutionary messiah...part 1

Mark 2:18-22 "Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to Him, 'Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?' And Jesus said to them, 'Can a wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is take away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins - and the wine is destroyed and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.'"

So I ask you, WHAT DO YOU THINK "BEING A CHRISTIAN" MEANS? Or, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A "GOOD" CHRISTIAN? The reason that I ask those questions is because many Christians today have this screwed sense of what it means to be a Christian. For them, being a Christian, is all about the things that they do for God. They go to church, they read their Bible everyday, they dress a certain way, they carry themselves a certain way, they make sure that they are doing everything perfectly and more. And the sad part about that thinking is that they believe that in doing those works GOD IS PLEASED AND IMPRESSED. The more good works that "I" do, the more that "I" give to God, the more He will be pleased and impressed, and as a result the more "I" will be loved and blessed. And I believe that this mentality permeates the church of today. The mentality of impressing the Lord along with impressing others. And how far off base that is! GOD IS NOT IMPRESSED BY OUR RELIGIOUS DISPLAY. You see, when you start having that mentality, you turn your relationship with Jesus into a religion. Rather than focusing on the One to which our works are directed, we focus on the works themselves.

This is what the Pharisees were doing at this time. They had taken that religious display of fasting and turned it into a measure of piety. To them, the more you fasted, the more you adhered to the religious traditions and customs, the more holy you were. Therefore, they took what was to be for one day a year (the Day of Atonement - Leviticus 16) and turned it into something they did twice a week. But it was never meant to be for the Lord. It was always for themselves, for their holiness.

Now when Jesus was asked by the Pharisees and John (the Baptist) disciples, He answered them using the illustration of a wedding. In ancient times weddings were a big deal. They were a time of CELEBRATION with family and friends. For seven days they feasted. And it was only in this time that they were able to be EXEMPT from all religious duties. So Jesus is saying that He is the Bridegroom, therefore, denoting that this is a time of joy and a time of exemption from religious duties. YET, one day there will be fasting. But this fasting would not be like that of the Pharisees, but one of joy and one done OUT OF WORSHIP AND GRATITUDE TO GOD. The focus would not be on piety or holiness in the sight of others, but it would be on God and Him only.

Martin Luther said this, "It was not Christ's intention to reject or despise fasting...it was His intention to restore proper fasting." How this is done is found in Matthew 6:16-18. When our fasting is CENTERED ON GOD, then we are able to understand the secondary purposes. Such as:

1. Fasting reveals things to us.

2. Fasting reminds us that we are sustained by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

3. Fasting allows us to keep a balance to our life.

4. Fasting allows us to increase our effectiveness in ministry.

5. Fasting helps us gain deliverance over difficult things in life.

6. Fasting helps us hear God clearer.

7. There are many more.

BUT THESE DO NOT COME INTO PLAY UNTIL AFTER WE ARE FOCUSED ON GOD AND CENTERED ON HIM IN OUR FASTING. And it isn't just our fasting that we should be focused on God about. But in EVERYTHING we do, we should be doing it unto the Lord with a heart of worship and gratitude.

Then Jesus takes it one step further and declares that there is no compromising of the old teachings and His new teachings. He did not come to polish the Law and shine it up. He did not come to add to the old Mosaic system. he did not come to add a refinement or a development. He came to bring something NEW! He came to fulfill the Law, thereby, REVOLUTIONIZING RELIGION. Just as the fulfillment of an acorn is an oak tree, the fulfillment of the Law is Jesus Christ. The days of sacrifices and offerings were gone, you are made righteous by the blood of Jesus. We are saved by grace through FAITH, so that no man should boast.

Being a Christian is not about our works. It is about our LOVE for Him. If we have that love and praise and gratitude for what He has done upon the cross for us, our works will flow. Our good works will be a natural part of our life. Don't be as the Pharisees, whose prime objective is to impress others and impress God, GET OUT OF THE RELIGIOSITY MINDSET AND INTO THE RELATIONSHIP MINDSET. God is never impressed with our works done with the wrong heart. Therefore, keep falling in love with Jesus and serve, read the Bible, go to church, go to a Bible Study, pray, FAST, and help others out of a heart of worship and gratitude and God will be impressed. God Bless!

...questions

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So, I had an idea regarding my posting here on the Blog. My idea, since I am bored with what I am writing, is for you guys out there SEND IN SOME QUESTIONS that you may have for me to write on. The questions can be SPIRITUAL QUESTION, WORLDVIEW QUESTIONS, or TOPICS THAT YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT. Please, if you have any thing that you would like me to write about, please leave a comment below. That would be great! God bless!

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savior of the sinners...

Mark 12:13-17 "He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to Him, and He was teaching them. And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me." And he rose and followed Him. And as He reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and His disciples, for there were many who followed Him. And the scribes and the Pharisees when they saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, "Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?" And when Jesus heard it, He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I CAME NOT TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT SINNERS.'"

As we continue on in our discussion of Mark we come across a passage that seems to jeopardize the ministry of the Messiah. However, upon further investigation only reveals Jesus' heart for those who are hurting, hated, and in need of healing.

To many Christians, associating with those who are non-Christians is a non-negotiable. There is no way that they would ever be caught sitting at a table with people who were considered to be sinners. They had the fear, as did the Pharisees, that they would be identified with those people. They would be thrown into their category of "sinful" and not be seen for the "good Christian" that they are. Or they had the fear of breaking any law in the Bible that goes against dining and hanging out with those who are sinful. This was the Pharisee's problem. They felt that they were "above" those who were at the banquet, that they were "holier" than them and could not associate with them.

THIS THINKING SHOULD BE DESTROYED. Who do we strive to be like? JESUS. Whose life does our life imitate? JESUS. Who do we look to as an example to live our lives? JESUS. If this be the case, we should carefully examine Jesus' actions at this party. Jesus dined with the sinful people in Capernaum. He did not isolate Himself from everyone, He didn't condemn them either, but socialized with them, hung out with them. NOW, keep in mind, Jesus NEVER assimilated them. He never took part in their sinning, He was in the world, and not of the world. He was a "friend of the sinners." WHY? Because He loved them. He loved them for WHO THEY WERE, NOT WHAT THEY DID. He looked into their hearts and loved them.

How many times in your life do you walk by those who, you know, need a Savior because they are "too sinful" or "too far gone"? MAY THIS WEEK BE DIFFERENT. Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see others in His light and the love that He has for others around you. And don't be afraid to hang out with non-believers. Share with them the love of Christ. You all have an amazing opportunity to get involved with clubs, jobs, classes where people NEED Jesus. Now it is your turn to bring Him to them. God Bless!