Finding God

It’s a busy fall afternoon in downtown Denver. Businessmen, tourists, and some of the city’s homeless peruse the city’s pedestrian mall, enjoying the warm Colorado weather. I sit inside the Tremont and 16 th Starbucks, sipping on a sweetened iced coffee, reflecting on my fairly mellow, yet eye-opening weekend. People-watching is one of my favorite pastimes, and the large, floor-to-ceiling windows that wrap around the perimeter of the popular coffee shop chain allow for prime viewing. I find it interesting that there are so many different types of people, yet all of them are alike in so many ways. Every person shares the trait of being human, which means we all struggle with loneliness, rejection, anger, self-confidence, hopelessness, self-worth, and purpose. And every now and then, some of us stumble upon the invaluable sense of pure joy. As I watch the well-dressed and confident businessmen and women make their way along the streets of Denver’s central business district, I w...

Just like any other Sunday, I awoke to the thought of cycling. The sun was peeking through the cracks in my drapes and beckoning me for a day of sunny skies and great riding. I hopped out of bed, ate a couple bowls of Cinnamon Trackers, and began working on my bike, preparing it for another ride. It was thoroughly covered in dirt and grime from the previous day’s rainy adventure, so I spent the next twenty minutes wiping down the frame, cleaning the rims and brake pads, and airing up the tires. I had washed my cycling kit in the sink the night prior, allowing it to air dry overnight. As it approached 9:30, I could feel God nudging me in that old familiar way. I knew that I wasn’t going to end up riding that morning. It is extremely hard for me to turn down a ride, especially with the ample amount of free time that I have in a weekend. I decided that I would attend the morning service at church and try to hear from Him on what He would have me do with my day. I am still f...

This steepled structure is far from sound. Rifts and canyons and fissures surround the foundational structure of this religion crown. Buildings are but a temporary thing. Beams and trusses and metal scaffolding are only but a whisper in an infinite recounting. Currency spent leads to more walls. They build them to be majestic halls to shelter the righteous and the know-it-alls. They sing sprightly songs that say: He is the Truth, the Life, and the Way. But seldom has the body stirred that way. It’s a sad thing to see: those poverty stricken longing for Calvary – Yet those sinless suit-tied singers see only their own need. Irony is most suitable to describe the things that those walls hold inside. The body left long before it died. Spiritual accolades are readily admired, but dirty hands are quickly required To be washed and hidden and banned from the mire. Those starving, sick, and spiritless are kept outside so as not to...

I’m sure by now you have heard of the events that have been unfolding in Japan. Severe devastation has completely shattered any sense of security for these people; thousands upon thousands of Japanese citizens have been declared dead and still more are categorized as missing. I have to be honest with you. Though the devastation is immense and the affect on these people is so great, I have been having a hard time truly empathizing with these people. It’s not that I don’t care – I can’t imagine having to deal with catastrophe of this magnitude – I simply don’t feel connected in any way. I haven’t watched television since August and I don’t have the internet at my apartment, so I obtain my news from the Wall Street Journal at school or glance at CNN.com while I’m on campus every now and then. I initially heard the news through Facebook that morning. The damage to Japan seemed enormous, and the videos that were being streamed were surreal. Yet despite the conveniences of modern-day tec...

You might think that I have it all together. You may have seen me do a few nice things here and there, – volunteer at church, pay for an elderly woman’s bus pass, give lunch to a homeless man – but the fact that I may have done a few good deeds in my life is not going to save me. If you truly knew me, I don’t think you would consider me to be a ‘good’ person, certainly not anywhere on the spectrum close to “perfect”. I am a broken human being and the mess that I’ve created in my wake is something that I can never repair. I lie, I cheat, I steal. I remember being called a “goody two-shoes”, but I spent nearly an entire school-year’s worth of Sundays looking at pornography in my dorm room rather than going to church. I’ve jumped out of the back window of a house because I was afraid of being caught by the police at an underage drinking party. I’ve spent countless hours of my life lusting after other women and I’ve struggled with greed, envy, bitterness, anger, and self-worth. I hav...

**This blog is saturated with scripture. I chose not to quote directly because I want to encourage you to dig deep into the Word. Read this with a Bible next to you. Read the verses and challenge yourself to think differently. Be honest with yourself; live it out. Love God // Love People. *       *       *       *      *       *       *       *      * “Welcome to church, where we sing songs and don’t mean it, say that we serve and love others but never do it, read the Bible but don’t apply it, pray for the Holy Spirit but ignore it, and stay cooped up and happy in our little church building so we don’t have to share our faith or confront the reality of this world.” The pastor flashes a million-dollar smile in his thousand-dollar suit as members of the congregation beam back their own smile...