I have come to believe that God is a God of time.

I think that for a long time I kept wanting things, physical objects, to be sacred. But God doesn’t appear to be about that so much as He seems to be more concerned with time and rhythm, at least as far as I can tell. Lots of people tell me that God is outside of time, as if it’s an annoyance to Him and that He doesn’t need it, but that doesn’t quite seem to be the be all end all statement for me. There’s got to be something deeper. More mysterious. Maybe God envelopes time or maybe He is in it but in a different dimension than I am able to comprehend.

This all started with me with the concept of Sabbath, and if I’m going to study or look deeply into a subject then I need to go to the first mention recorded of the topic. In this instance, we go to creation.

God takes 7 days(?) to create. Fascinating that He doesn’t create the objects with which we measure days until the 4th day, but that’s another topic for another day. What really fascinates me is this: what is the first thing in all of creation that God makes holy? Time. God makes the 7th day, a space in time, holy. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel suggests that God didn’t cease creating after 6 days but that He actually created rest on the 7th day. Still, God makes moments in time holy. There is an intrinsic rhythm to all of creation that He sets apart. We see many more cases of God making events in time holy as opposed to making individual objects holy.

A day of rest is obviously essential to living a full life. God, in His being, has set apart time for us to become whole. I’m really hesitant to write about such a subject as the Sabbath because of my limited knowledge. I am reading and learning, but I have so far to go, but this time concept has taken a different direction for me which has shed some light on how I should live my life.

Have you ever gone back to an old house you used to live in to remember the times spent in that place? And did you find it slightly fulfilling, but not completely? The time you spent living in that house was special, maybe even sacred, but the actual walls, floors, and ceilings were not. Or maybe you went back to the place you proposed to your wife. The actual event, the time, was what was important. The place is significant, but mostly for the fact that it helps you remember time.

Or maybe you are like me in this way: I keep things to remember time. When I was in the Highlands in Scotland I grabbed a few stones to take home with me. When I was at the Coliseum in Rome I picked a small rock out of a wall to remember my time there. But that’s just it: the time is what was important. God taught me things in both of those places and I wanted to remember it in its most full. God was having the Israelites do this all of the time. They would build piles of stones to remember events or they would build monuments for the same reason. Even all of the festivals that the Israelites celebrate are to remember a unique event in time. The Festival of Booths, for instance, is to remember the time spent wandering in the desert after their exile from Egypt. The booths the make for the festival aren’t the point, it’s remembering the time that’s important.

And take the Eucharist. Are the elements we take sacred in and of themselves? Or is it the event that we remember the thing that is holy?

When I look back to my most sacred, holy moments in life, they have involved people and God communicating something to me in deep, profound way. I first began to lead worship when I was in high school. It was amazing and awful. I was really nervous, a poor to quite poor musician, and scared. God shaped me in incredible ways in those humble days. Before I would go out to lead my friend Tony and I would go to this back stairwell in the building and beg God to lead me so that I could be a lead worshipper for our youth group. I will be the first to tell you that it was in no way flashy, but it was very honest and authentic, and I do believe that God met with us in those specific moments. Those moments in time were holy. It was as if we were bringing Heaven to Earth in some small way in those meetings.

I used to meet with this group of guys to talk about God, again back in high school. We were not an impressive group of guys to say the least, but we knew that if we asked God to unveil Himself in those moments that He’d do it because it is in His nature to give revelation. We would sit for hours and sing and pray and take the Eucharist together. We were just a bunch of 16 and 17 year olds stumbling our way through discovering what it really meant to follow Jesus. Those moments were holy. Set apart. It wasn’t the room we were in or the things we had, but rather it was the time spent together that was significant. God is a God of time. God takes moments to shift us and mold us into the most healthy beings we can become.

I love to travel. In my travels I ask God every day to guide my steps and guard my heart. I ask Him all the time and sometimes I wonder if He hears me and goes Yes, Yes. I know. Let’s talk about something else like futbol. No one ever talks to me about futbol. I don’t really think He says that, but I sort of do. My point is that I want every step I take to be a step towards a significant event in His kingdom, be it a conversation or some random interaction. I want my time to be used for me becoming less and Him becoming great.

My relationships are significant; my possessions not. How I spend my time matters; how much stuff I acquire does not. God, a God of time, wants me to utilize every second I have to know Him and to give Him glory. He wants my conversations to further His kingdom. He wants my life to speak of His greatness. Every day is significant. Every hour is full of purpose. Sometimes I wonder if He’s just waiting for me to constantly ask What’s going to happen today that is going to change me forever? How can I use this moment to know you and to shine your light to the world? How can I be hope here and now?

This is the God I serve. I serve a God who is obsessed with people. I serve a God of time who wants you and wants me to take the low place to make Him great. It’s when I come to the realization that it’s His time, not mine. I’m just borrowing it…that’s when I start taking my moments seriously and living in the fullness of Him.

And maybe today, after you read this, you’ll go into each conversation and each interaction with the knowledge that God is a God of time and that the time you spend may be one of the most sacred times of your entire life here on earth. Maybe you’ll end up in some place you never expected, like a bench in the middle of a field or maybe on a metro or in a café in Paris, and in that place you’ll find yourself in the middle of a holy moment, and maybe that moment that will be a part of shaping the rest of eternity.

deep breath. in. out. again. in. out.

there is a rhythm to breathing. it’s as if there is something built deep within us, inside our subconscious, to be rhythmic. you don’t have to think about it. you don’t have to try. you simply are. in. out. in. out.

it has been taught to me, and i have seen it, that there are rhythms to life built naturally within us. a certain teacher talks often of a 6 and 1 rhythm in God, and therefore in us as well. 6 on, 1 off. interestingly enough, i’ve even been taught that zoologists have discovered and seen a 6 and 1 rhythm in animals as well.

i’m reading a book right now called the sabbath by rabbi abraham joshua heschel. in it he talks about the rhythmic life of a Jew, how every friday night at dusk they, as a family, sit down for a dinner together and begin the process of observing the sabbath. without fail. every friday. from friday sundown to saturday sundown they do no work, but only what fills them up. puts them back together.

this rhythm is essential. studying these ideas has pushed me to see what other rhythms i have in my life, what rhythms do i lack, and how i begin the road to becoming the most whole person possible. what are the things i do regularly that are not life-giving? what things do i do that give life? make me whole? what are things i see throughout history that have given people life? these are the things i want.

there are seasons in my life when the phrase everything feels out of control runs too often through my head. anxiety surrounds me. i feel like i’m going from one stress-filled situation to the next, just trying to survive until i can lay down to sleep that night. i absolutely hate that feeling. i can’t stand it.

as i continue to try to find what makes me whole, i thought i’d share a few rhythms i have that i’ve found to be life-giving, and therefore i believe to be of God.

-run _ there is a rhythm to running. being healthy is part of being whole. i started getting into running in early high school and then got addicted in college. i have found running to be, for me, so refreshing. i can clear my head and just put one foot in front of the other at whatever pace i feel like for that day.

-fast _ my friend tony and i are trying to fast once a week for a month to see if it gives life. i don’t quite understand what it is about depriving your body of food, but there is an awareness i have when i fast. i feel as though i see things more clearly and that my communication with God is more direct and honest. fasting is something i’ve ignored for a long time because i’ve used the exuse that i don’t understand it, and therefore shouldn’t practice it. poor choice. as i practice this rhythm i feel God giving me insight into why he designed it into the plan.

-bow _ i have this rug in my office. well, actually it’s a blanket i bought on the street in mexico, but i folded it into a rug of sorts. every morning (i should say almost every morning…some mornings i have failed to do so) when i go into my office i turn on my lamp, set down my pack, and bow. i pray for numerous things every morning, but there is something powerful in bowing to God. i read through numerous places in scripture of times when God showed up in some form or another to see how people reacted. if i believe that i can go into the presence of God then i want to respond appropriately. i found that time and time again people fall on their faces and on their knees. there is an awe and a silence that is consistently there. i want that rhythm in my life. when i enter the age to come i want to have knees that are prepared to be in His physical presence.

-photography _ this may seem a little more abstract (puns!) to you, but shooting photographs on a regular, rhythmic basis gives me a new perspective. i figure that if i feel more full of life when i do it then it must be something that God enjoys as well. i bet He is an incredibly good photographer. He should totally make a website. i’d put it in my bookmarks. i would.

-read _ my friend and i, for awhile, read 5 chapters a day of scripture for an entire year. after we finished reading front to back we started doing these ‘emersions’, as we call it, where we read a shorter book every day for anywhere from 23 days in a row to an entire month. one month we’d do philippians. then another month we’d do one timothy. then we’d do john in sections. i have fallen away from this rhythm in some ways and i’m trying to regain it again.

-walk _ i love walking everywhere i can. it gives me time to think and it saves money on gas and such. i try to walk as often as i can. but i need new shoes. buy me new shoes.

-stealing from small children _ don’t judge me.

i know that these things (sans the stealing) seem small, but they are huge to me. they are changing my life. every day feels more rhythmic, more in tune with how God designed me to be.

whatever it is in your week that gives you life, do it more and more. find the things that make you more whole and more you. find the things that you think God would enjoy doing as well and make them a rhythmic pattern in your life. God wants you to be whole and full of life. and so do i.

the following are my notes and added thoughts from the first morning session at [isn't she beautiful?] at mars hill bible church. the notes are decently accurate to the best of my ability, and i do advise that you read the scripture that goes with the notes, for it will make more sense that way. but it should again be noted that there was a beautiful non-single female sitting about 3 rows behind me who smelled of roses and wonder. it was distracting. if you are not single then you have no reason to smell of roses. the man that you are with cares not of your smell. the fact that you actually give him your attention is plenty for him. for my sake, for our sake, please cease and desist smelling as previously mentioned.

—–we are a eucharist—–

(or more appropriately, This lovely, frustrating, intoxicating, painful, hard, compelling mystery called church and why she’s worth dying for)

eucharizomi - give thanks (eucharist) > body broken, blood poured

//what does it mean for the church to be a eucharist?
>two corinthians 4v7-12
>> v10 - we are a living eucharist
>> v11 - we are a continual eucharist

>one corinthians 11v23-24
>> “do this” - give your life away as Jesus gave His
>> be a eucharist for the world

>genesis 12
>> we are blessed to be a blessing
>>”the church is only organization who’s soul benefit is for its non-members.” _archbishop william temple
>>we have to ask ourselves if our church was taken away from our city/town/area, who would protest?

//the eucharist is about weakness
>one corinthians 9v19-23
>>paul becomes weak to win the weak
>>paul does not become strong to win the strong (notice parallels and lack of parallels in passage)
>>the power of the eucharist is in its weakness

//the eucharist is about the path of descent
>death of ego
>humanity over perfection — we are people, not perfect
>”all we have to give you is ourselves.”

//the eucharist is about the new humanity
>ephesians 2v11-16
>>bringing people together who wouldn’t normally be together (generations, genders, ethnicities, etc.)
>>it’s about rejecting the cult of cool
>>wholeness is the new cool. rhythm is the new cool. peace is the new cool. mercy is the new cool. grace is the new cool. justice is the new cool.
>two corinthians 11v28-29
>>in the new humanity you start caring for things you never cared about before

//the eucharist is not a product
>acts 8v9-23
>>we, as a local gathering, can’t try to be other gatherings. we can’t try to copy someone else in another place just because it worked for them. we need to be us. who we are. who we are meant to be.
>>how are we a eucharist for these people in our area, in this place, at this time?
>>what is true for us? true for where we are? true for who we live around?

//the eucharist is ultimately a mystery
>hebrews 12v18-24
>>being a part of a church is being a part of something ancient, deep, and mysterious
>>there is a magnetic draw to the tribe
>>there is a continual cycle of the management and the mystical

>>the problem comes in play when the church tries to play by the same rules as everyone else

//the church is a eucharist because you and i are the eucharist
>>“the best sermon preached is ‘me too’. _anne lamott
>>it is your own journey, whatever it looks like
>>and as a eucharist, we have to rest. to be put back together. to be poured into.
>>always being on is not healthy. there is a season for off. for waiting. for listening.

the following are some of my notes from the 1st night session at the [isn't she beautiful?] conference at mars hill bible church. the notes are not all inclusive nor concise, and it should be noted that i drank entirely too much coffee and had to pee for most of the seminar, but refused to go in fear of missing out on brilliance. bladder=in pain. sacrifices must be made.

creativity: there’s a box?

i watched the da vinci code tonight. (i’ve always loved most of the films that paul bettany has been in, even those of the slightly girly persuasion. i’m ok with that. i’ve got lots of issues in life. enjoying certain not-so-manly genres of talkies=minor issue. i have bigger battles to fight.) i put off watching the da vinci code for a while because, well, i enjoyed the book quite a bit and i didn’t want to ruin it. i read this particular book while i was staying in paris with a few friends. the hour that i finished reading the book i got on a metro and went to the louvre. tom hanks was nowhere to be found. he was probably off on an island somewhere growing a massive beard and doing some spear fishing.

anyway, i loved the book, although it appeared i was in a christian minorty. apparently some people missed the fact that it was in the FICTION section and decided to boycott the book and film. christians, i’d like you to meet the fiction section. fiction section, likewise, these are christians. you two should be friends. i had heard that the film was a bit sub-par, but i was hoping for the best. and i’ll admit, i think the film was decent, but i also think there could have been more character development and also the dialogue was a little thin at times. i give it 2.5 out of 5 longbrakes.

after the movie was over my father looked over at me and asked why do you believe that the bible is true? right away my head started racing for the standard answers that i’ve been taught all my life through various mediums: sunday school, christian education, sermons, apologetics classes at university and the like. all the answers felt trite and not genuine to what i believe. i didn’t want to give my father some stock answer just to satisfy his question, and my father wasn’t trying to ask me this to corner me in any way. that’s not his style.

i’ve thought about this question before quite a bit. i’ve run into some/a lot of people who believe that the men, who decided in a meeting what books would be in and what would be out of the bible, were guided by the Holy Spirit in much the same way that the 40+ authors were inspired to write the bible. it’s a fascinating thought for sure, but some people hold to this as doctrine, which i don’t quite understand.

the bible is an interesting compilation to me. it’s sort of like a mixtape in some ways. numerous authors. numerous themes. i love you. i hate you. come back. go away. there are narratives and riddles and passion and anger and romance and battles and poetry. all components of a solid road trip mixtape. for a long time i thought of the bible as a bullet point/alliteration/7 steps to a better life sort of thing. it’s not really like that at all. a lot of the time, for me at least, it’s terribly confusing. let’s take jonah. 1, 2, 3, go:

a man hears God. man gets instructions from God. man says no. man feels that he can physically run away from God, and therefore has tremendous hustle. man goes on boat. big storm. man gets thrown overboard. big fish eats man. man lives inside big fish for three days. odd. man prays. fish gets sick from all of the bad sushi it’s had that day. fish vomits man onto the shore. convenient for man. fish takes pepto bismol. all better. man obeys God. goes to city. tells city to repent. king tells every person and every animal in city to fast and wear sackcloth. city obeys. city gets itchy. God doesn’t destroy city. hooray! kind of. jonah gets angry at God. obviously. jonah goes on to a hill. stays angry. jonah wants to die. makes shelter on hill. big plant grows. gives shade to jonah. jonah happy. worm comes. eats plant. jonah wants to die. book ends with God asking a question.

i read that book the other day and thought, “honestly God, this story seems a tad bit ridiculous. i’m ok with that, but i just thought i’d let you know.”

i’ve read the bible a few times straight through as well as reading different sections throughout my life, and honestly, that isn’t very much. i’m just beginning to find the surface in order to know how to scratch it. it’s the most amazing book ever compiled. people try to give all sorts of scientific facts for its validity. people try to explain it away as if it’s this simple thing that can be defined in sentence or in a track. i haven’t found it to be so simple…

“people,” i told my father. “people are why i believe the bible to be true.”

“excellent,” he said with a big smile.

i’ve observed the teachings of jesus, the themes of the torah, the poetry of the psalms, the wisdom of the proverbs, the rants of the prophets, and the letters of paul and the words of other authors authentically lived out in the lives of people around me. my friends. my family. my local gathering. the Church. it’s everywhere. these words have transcended history. i’ve read scholars, brilliant men and women who have given detailed accounts to the validity of scripture, but oddly it almost always, for me, comes back to people. i’ve seen these words continually change my life and change the lives of everyone around me. that is how i know it to be true. yes, it is incredibly confusing and frustrating and brilliant all at the same time, but it is true.

i think people will always be saving points for me. maybe God has wired me that way. maybe it’s just me. odd how fallen beings can be instruments of hope.