For I know the plans I have for you...

What am I here for? How many times in my life have I uttered those words into the night? Especially in the last three years when it has seemed like life has stood still and I have sat there quoting that stupid Michael W. Smith song… Well I’m here to offer some hope to those who feel the same way.

If you know me well or have talked with me much in the last three years you know that not knowing my future has been the major frustration in my life. So how do we trust God in those times? How do we keep a positive attitude about aimlessly wondering from job to job? How do we decide what were to go in life? Well by no means am I going to answer all those questions I will leave that to professionals who get paid the big bucks. This is more of an encouragement “to keep ya head up” like 2-Pac always said.

The big ones are easy Jeremiah 29:11 God knows the plans he has for us, Romans 8:18,31-39 God has our best in mind and He is for us what do we have to worry about. Those are great reminders for all of us that God has a plan and we will never slip from where he wants us.

I think this is even more important. If we believe that God is sovereign and he has a divine plan for everything. Then the place your in is where God wants you. The place you are in is the best place for you to glorify God. I think that is a comfort for me; God has me in a state of uncertainty for my own good. For me on a day like this when I am more prone to look back it's good to know that this is the way God has brought me for my own good.
Caleb M. Saarela

P.S. Read the lyrics below they are from one of my favorite songs ever...












"In a field of yellow flowers,
underneath the sun,
bluest eyes that spark with lightning,
boy with shoes undone.
He is young, so full of hope,
reveling in tiny dreams,
filling up his arms with flowers,
right for giving any queen.

Running to her beaming bright,
while cradling his prize.
A flickering of yellow light,
within his mother's eyes.
She holds them to her heart,
keeping them where they'll be safe,
clasped within her very marrow,
dandelions in a vase.

She sees love, where anyone else would see weeds.
All hope is found.
Here is everything he needs.

Fathomless Your endless mercy,
weight I could not lift.
Where do I fit in this puzzle,
what good are these gifts?
Not a martyr, or a saint,
scarcely can I struggle through.
All that I have ever wanted,
was to give my best to You.

Lord, search my heart,
create in me something clean.
Dandelions
You see flowers in these weeds.

Gently lifting hands to heaven,
softened by the sweetest hush,
a Father sings over his children,
loving them so very much.
More than words could warrant,
deeper than the darkest blue,
more than sacrifice could merit,
Lord, I give my heart to You.

Lord, search my heart,
create in me something clean.
Dandelions
You see flowers in these weeds."
R. Roper

Why I will buy nothing (updated 12/19/05)

So because of some heat I have taken for my comments supporting "Buy Nothing Day" (BND) and the ideals behind it I have decided to write an explanation of why I do support this holiday. Not just because of the secular ideals behind it (I am not sure if that is the right wording but I mean that even if I was not a Christian I would support this idea) but also why my faith in Jesus has compelled me to support it. After I wrote this post I realized that it is really long but I hope it is enlightening and challenging and worth reading I think it is one of the best things I have ever written and comes from my heart. The grammar and spelling might be bad but I felt the need to get it up and out now and fix parts later.

American (Western) consumption is out of control. We are killing the earth and the people who will live on it in the future. American’s greed has distorted the word “need” and has lead us to be a culture that consumes unmercifully. If you want to learn more about how this is happening look, you can find the information anywhere (find out when South Africa will run out of water, that one will scare the crap out of you (google south Africa water crisis that’s a start)). So the day after thanksgiving is the pinnacle of Western consumption and it is a day to stand up and say I think this is bad and we should do something about it. Because of those reasons alone I support this holiday but that is not where it ends for me and now my faith takes over and pushes me further.

Now I know many people will say “O.K. I see not wanting to hurt the people who live on the earth but the earth itself doesn’t matter.” Yes God will destroy the earth one day and so if it looks a little dented who cares. Well I believe God cares, at least a little. The world was created out of an overflow of joy and to display His glory. So I feel we should honor the earth, clearly not as much as we honor God, God’s Word, or people but to say it is something that is important to us is not wrong.

Now I think those are great reasons to enjoy BND but I think there are even more. My major reason for celebrating this day is: “I see this day as a great way to protest or make a statement about how we as Americans spend our money.” This day above all others makes the most sense to me. It is the day where American consumerism is not only seen as O.K. it is embraced and glorified. I am not saying anytime we buy something it is bad. I buy things, I just see this day as a day to stand up and set myself apart with an extreme statement that hopefully represents how I live my life and spend my money the other 364 days of the year. I would love to see other Christians stand up and do the same, but in no way do I think they are doing anything wrong by going out and shopping that day, I think when pushed this at first that is what I might have implied and that was wrong of me to do, BUT I think I am really on the right track with the stuff that follows and if you think I’m way off I would love to discus it more because I will be making some strong statements. To stand up and say we have a problem and it’s getting worse.

So the rest of this is basically why I feel we who claim to be Christians need to set ourselves apart from American culture when it comes to our spending habits.
Recently at a church in Minnesota a sermon was given saying “It is O.K. for a Christian to own a Lexus.” I disagree with this idea; I think a Christian should not own a Lexus or a million dollar home. Most people’s first response, “You are judging them.” No, I see their actions and am making a comment about what I see and how it affects their relationship with God. I want what is best for them and I feel they are missing a better blessing form God by using their money in a way that does not bring Him glory.

I believe Jesus was very specific how we should spend our money he did not avoid the issue I think Jesus has called us to a higher standard of living (what a play on words someone buy me a hotdog). Jesus talks about money more than anyone in the Bible so we have a great spot to start from and a great high priest who has not been silent on the subject. I think I could spend weeks looking at every different passage but to keep it a little shorter I would like to just briefly look at a couple of these and let you look at more if you feel the need to. I would like to establish the ideas that 1. Love of money puts us at odds with God. 2. How we spend our money reflects what we find most valuable and ultimately trust money, worldly possessions, or God. 3. It is not how much we give but how we give. 4. God desires for us to live simple lives for His glory and our joy.

1. Love of money puts us at odds with God and diminishes how much we value Him. Matthew 6:24 (ESV) ”24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.“ So that is a good place to start you cannot serve money and God. The desire for money will be at war with the desire for God in your heart. Mark 10:23-25 says, “23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Money will make it difficult for some to enter God’s kingdom. Some will find money more desirable then God.

2. How we spend our money reflects what we find most valuable and ultimately trust money, worldly possessions, or God. Matthew 6:19-21 “19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The things we own and do are a reflection of what we desire and what we see as supremely valuable. There are other verses that would support the idea that when we trust anything but God it is sin.

3. It is not how much we give but how we give. Luke 21:1-4 “1 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, 2 and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. 3 And he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." Jesus has no concern with how much the widow gave the amount is not important it is the heart behind it. God still loves the giving heart of the rich but the better blessing is bestowed upon the widow.

4. God desires for us to live simple lives for His glory and our joy. Luke 12:32-34 says, 32"Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Here is what John Piper says about these verses in a message given on December 14, 1997.
“Focus for a moment on the words, "Sell your possessions." Who was he talking to? Verse 22 gives the answer: "Then Jesus said to his disciples." Now these people were by and large not wealthy. They didn't have a lot of possessions. But still he says, "Sell your possessions." He doesn't say how many possessions to sell. To the rich ruler in Luke 18:22 Jesus said, "Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Sell all your possessions. When Zaccheus met Jesus, he said (Luke 19:8), "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." So Zaccheus gave fifty percent of his possessions. In Acts 4:37 it says, "Barnabas sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet." So he sold at least one field.
So the Bible doesn't tell us how many possessions to sell. But why does it say sell possessions at all? Why? Giving alms - using your money to show love for those without the necessities of life and without the gospel (the necessity of eternal life) - is so important that if you don't have any liquid assets to give, you should sell something so you can give. But now think what this means in context. These disciples are not cash-poor rich people whose money is all tied up in bonds or real estate. Most people like that do, in fact, usually have fairly deep savings. But Jesus didn't say, "Take some of your savings and give alms." He said, "Sell something, and give alms." Why? The simplest assumption is that these folks lived close enough to the edge that they did not have cash to give and had to sell something so they could give. And Jesus wanted his people to move toward simplification, not accumulation.
So what's the point? The point is that there is a powerful impulse in the Christian life toward simplicity rather than accumulation. The impulse comes from treasuring God as Shepherd and Father and King more than we treasure all our possessions. And the impulse is a strong impulse for two reasons. One is that Jesus said, "How hard it is for the rich (literally: those who have things) to enter the kingdom of God!" (Luke 18:24). In Luke 8:14 Jesus said that riches "choke" the word of God. But we want to enter the kingdom vastly more than we want things. And we don't want the word of God choked in our lives. So there is a strong impulse to simplify rather than accumulate. The other reason is that we want the preciousness of God to be manifest to the world. And Jesus tells us here that selling things and giving alms is one way to show that God is real and precious as Shepherd, Father and King.
So the second point is that trusting God as Shepherd, Father and King carries a strong impulse toward simplicity rather than accumulation. And this brings worship out from the inner, hidden place of the heart into more visible actions for the glory of God.”

I agree one hundred percent and believe in a simple lifestyle.

Now back to the Lexus and the American church. Do we live our life like that? Does someone who owns a Lexus or a million dollar home live like that? I just don’t think they do. There possessions speak of what they treasure. They may give away loads of money and then say well this is left over so I’ll buy some extravagant things for myself, and while they may not be sinning they are certainly missing out on a blessing God desires to give them.

So those are big things that's easy, what about the small things? Is it ever appropriate to buy a new car or something that we want? When do we cross the line of simple to extravagant? How do we make judgments about what to buy? Well it's a fine line we must walk. We should think hard and pray hard about every decision I guess I would ask this question as a guideline though. How often do we as a culture and individuals error on the side of being too simple? It is pretty rare and I know there is Christian liberties but I would hate to see us fight for the liberties of the rich while the hungry, needy, and lost of the world continue to fight for food, water, shelter, and even more imporatantly while the lost of the world continue to wander in the dark.

I hope I have not bitten off more than I can chew here. First off I’m the chief sinner, I still buy things I don’t need, I am working on it and praying God would refine my heart in this area, so do not think I’m saying I’m with out guilt.

In the end I ask the question about November 25th, 2005. Where do you want to stand, is it in line to get ten percent off on mittens? Or do you want to stand up and say America, American Christians we have lost our way let us value and trust Christ above everything else! Here is where we draw the line. Here is where the revolution starts…
Godspeed,
Caleb M. Saarela

P.S. Usually I have "cool" lyrics here but this is too long if you are really interested go read the song Vultures below.

Buy Nothing Day

Hey November 25th the day after Thanksgiving. What is commonly known as "green Friday." Some people have created a new holiday called "buy nothing day." It is a chance to set our selves apart from the monster that is American consumerism. So join me and don't buy anything. I put a link to a good website with information about the day. Don't be sucked into American consumerism.
Godspeed,
Caleb M. Saarela

"Watching Mrs. Brady prime the brand new Kenmore washer
see the brilliant gleam of the automatic tooth flosser
Beautiful the china, what a lovely cup and saucer
yeah I saw your Rolex, but I think its an impostor
Wave to the pretty ladies
with your brand new hairpiece, baby
Ahh, the smell of cash, its good to be alive
Im going to spend some dough like its 1985
Rip the tags off mattresses
youll buy more anyway
Is the paint on that SUV
some brand new type of gray?

Chorus:
Believe in anything
Vultures circling
Open, swallow, you're so hollow
Yeah.

My teeth are getting yellow from the mocha I just drank
I need to bleach them out, but my breath will still be rank
Did you you see the new computers,
arent they oh so obsolete?
And that shade of black you wear,
its so Tuesday of last week
You need a better life
Have you tried another wife?
I used to be an amateur but now Im going pro
It once was Mile High but you sold it to Invesco
The empire grows
you can see its massive span
beneath the golden arches
somewhere in Japan.

And the vultures circle
theyve paved the way
Theyve bit and clawed their path
to top floors in L.A.
And beneath the brazen windows
you can hear the sound
they say the word on the street
is somethings going down?
When the revolution comes."
R. Roper

A Funny Story

I posted a funny story on the other blog I contribute to, so if your looking for something to do you can read that. It's at www.93dollars26cents.blogspot.com it is also a link on the side, Lunch with Scoitch and Nathleb, over there ->
O.K. Bye
Caleb

The Better Gift again

So Silas a friend of mine had some concerns about the singleness post so here is my response...

Hey Silas valid concerns but let me address a couple things that I hope will clarify. First I would like to address the comment that “singleness is NOT your gift (of which I am fairly sure from the lofty height of 20 years), is it then incumbent upon you to STOP striving for singleness?” My thought is that singleness is your gift until you are married or at least until you are engaged. It’s the idea that both singleness and marriage are gifts and until singleness is taken away, it is your gift. Just like living on this earth, we often say that every breath is a gift that flows from God’s grace, but soon that will be taken away for a better gift, the gift of eternal communion with our creator. The gift of singleness just works in reverse; we have it until it is taken away, but even in that situation singleness will be given back to us all in heaven so we can be “the bride of Christ.” I think this is the reason Paul sees it as better here on earth, those who are married are troubled with the concerns of this world, those who are single are concerned with the things of the Gospel.

The second thing is how we define contentment will greatly effect how we see these gifts. I think the status quo in young Christian culture especially among men is to say I’m content with our singleness but what we really mean is we struggle through until something better comes along I find this is no good, even to say its O.K. for now really doesn’t do our singleness justice. If we ask a married person how is your marriage? And they say “I’m content.” Using the definition which many single people use for “content” this would be totally unacceptable. No married couple would want to say they are struggling through until something better comes along or it’s O.K. for now. That is part of the reason I didn’t use the word “content” when I was talking about singleness a couple weeks ago, especially if so many people would associate it with the feelings expressed above. So I would say, “We should strive to be totally satisfied or content with our singleness just as we would strive to be totally satisfied or content with our marriage” Meaning God has given me the gift of singleness right now so that is what God deems is that best thing for me right now, and we need to be satisfied in God and his will for us.

I think the idea of “striving to be satisfied in singleness and marriage” is a cool idea. Knowing that we should never be totally satisfied in a situation here on earth. It is a process that we will never see completed while we still live. In fact the second we are satisfied with our marriage and state of our singleness is the moment you quit working at it, and that is the moment it starts to fall apart.

You also said “In order to EVER get married, we (men) have to, at some point, quit being content for long enough to go after a woman with determination, and take the risk of... well, I'm sure you know what risks relationships entail. The point is, too much contentment is complacency, which isn't just unwise, it's sinful too. It's a fine line we have to walk.” I agree and disagree, if we use the first definition of content, please quit being content, do it now. But I don't think we should eve quite being content (in the good way) with the situation God has put you in. Hopefully your desire will come from a desire for a person or a desire for a more complete ministry.

Anyway I'm not sure if that helps but if you want to talk more about this let us and anyone else who wants to contribute please do.

Godspeed,
Caleb M. Saarela

I wish I could get my head out of the sand
Cos I think we'd make a good team
And you would keep my fingernails clean
But that's just a stupid dream that I won't realize
Cos I can't even look in your eyes without shaking, and I ain't faking
I'll bring home the turkey if you bring home the bacon
R. Cuomo

The Theory of Cuteness

All right the last couple blogs have been pretty serious so we will tone it down a little and have some fun. Then maybe I will post something totally depressing I guess we will all have to just keep hoping. Ha Ha…

So if you have known me for a while you have probably heard my Theory of Cuteness, I formulated this in high school because I had friends who were girls. That is all it takes and you can be a scientist. But this is the first time it has been written down in publish-ability form. This is meant as a total joke, I am really not sexist or anything like that just hear me out to the end and consider it a funny observation. Although by saying that upfront I have probably set myself up for hate mail. So all hate mail should be sent to mitchellloper@hotmail.com that is my e-mail address for when my name was Mitchell it was like some time last year, I’m not having all my hate mail sent to my roommate.


”My hypothesis is that “All (remember it’s a joke) miniature items (people and animals will be items), that is items that have a larger version, are going to be considered cute in the eyes of all (remember it’s a joke) of the female persuasion. Now this is not a condition for cuteness, items can be cute without being a miniature version of a particular item. An example of this would be a man in his mid thirties can be cute without being a miniature version, a large elephant can be cute, but a baby elephant is always cute no mater what. So an item does not have to be a miniature to be cute but if it is a miniature it is cute.

So now that every female I have ever met is appalled and disgusted let us test my theory. I will start with the easy ones. Babies are miniature versions of humans, babies are cute. Those small Pop cans that are supposed to make us feel better about not drinking so much processed sugar, cute! Miniature M&M’s CUTE!!! You are having a romantic walk through the park and see those little purple flowers (miniature flowers, there are bigger ones right? I’m no flower expert) and you say “oh look so CUTE!!!” You are at the pet store and see a little puppy (miniature dog) and you say “Oh look a tha widdle puppy, oh come here boy I wuv you so much I just wana kiss you and hug you and wuv you foeva, cause you are just so CUTE!!!” At this point I pull out all my hair and go running into oncoming traffic.



So some of those items are cute without being smaller but a pop can who thinks pop cans are cute, ah only crazy people. Let’s look at some other normal everyday items and see if miniature items would be considered cute. Silverware for example, lets say you have a fork, and then you have a miniature fork, oh so cute with its tiny pointed prongs. Lunch Box and tiny Lunch Box look at the cute little metal flipping locking thingy cute little handle. What if I was typing on a miniature keyboard, oh so cute next to his big ugly fingers, type type type, typing all the cuteness. O.K. I think I’ve made my point. Miniature versions of everyday items are cute.



So let’s take this to the next level. What about items that are gross or ugly? Think about an ugly man, he’s got a big old nose, he’s a little unshaved, and is missing a couple teeth, now, *POOF* there is a miniature version of him. Looking at him hobbling around asking for tea and soup, ah he makes your heart melt and you yell out “Little man I can’t stay mad at you your so cute!”

Alright now it’s time to pull out the Big Gun (which is probably not that cute)!!! Let’s say you have a little pile of goose poop (Yes I said goose poop, hey look you can see any respect you had for me leaving, bye respect). NOT CUTE!!! In fact gross poop yuck, but lets say right next to that there is a little pile of goose poop. At first you look in and think that’s not so cute but then you turn your head to the right and start to think about the miniaturized goose that pooped the poop and the cellos kick in and the corners of your mouth start to curl and you start to think it’s not that gross. No this can’t be you fight back this foolishness, that can’t be cute, but then the clincher, the little man from above walks by and slips in the tiny pile of goose poop and starts laughing hysterically and you give in, the poop is CUTE!!! Oh cute little poop... Well I kind of had to cheat but I have had women tell me I was right that a little pile of goose poop would be cute.

Well there it is The Theory of Cuteness in all it’s glory (don’t blink you might miss it). Let me know what you think, sorry to have wasted your time...
I know there are a lot of pictures on this one but I thought it was appropriate because it is a very visually orientated message.

Remember to check out the other blog I have started to write for as well it is callled "Lunch with Scoitch and Nathleb" you will like it and I'm not the only one who writes for it so it might actually be worth checking out. I have a pretty busy week coming up so this will probably be it for about a week and a half, but we will see, I will check on comments in fact I would love to hear them on this stupid idea...

Ever wishing to be miniture so I would be cute,
Caleb M. Saarela

"mood ring oh mood ring
oh tell me will you bring
the key to unlock this mystery
of girls and their emotions
play it back in slow motion
so i may understand the complex
infrastructure known as the female mind"
M. Thiessen

God's Sovereignty Part 2

Well here is the second part (not really half) of my paper. One of the requirements of the paper was to comment on how we felt about the Bethlehme Affirmation of Faith's view on God's Sovereignty so that is why that is in there. Anyway hope you enjoy again I would love to hear any responses.

Part Two
The Bethlehem Baptist Elder Affirmation of Faith is a great summary of the concepts of God’s providence. I agree with the statement entirely for all of the reasons above and below. In fact when asked to reword portions of it into my own words I have a hard time because I don’t want to change anything and I always end up leaving stuff out. I did not always feel this way; I struggled with the ideas of Calvinism or God’s providence for about a year before the Lord opened my eyes to the idea. I won’t go into a ton of detail but for me it came down to what is more important to God, His sovereignty or humans libertarian free? In the end I feel that God values His sovereignty more. I did not save myself it was God’s freely given grace intervening on my behalf.

The final concept I would like to look at is the idea of Hope. It is my opinion that Arminianism does not offer any hope. Arminians would say that God does not control the future He just reacts to it, or that God does not know the future and again with great wisdom reacts to it. So if God has no control over the future or does not even know about the future how will He protect us against any of the evils this world and the devil throw at us. On top of that I think you can take this idea a step further and say if God cannot protect the innocent (I am not implying that I am innocent) can He save the unrighteous? I don’t know. John Piper talks about God’s sovereignty being a rock to stand on not beat ourselves against. I agree with all my heart. I pray that God holds on to me because if left to myself I am already lost.

Godspeed,
Caleb M. Saarela
(Your friendly neighborhood
Punk Rock Theologian)









"Jesus Christ, Light of the World
You never did forget me
and when i bled in darkness,
You held me still held me
when desparate nights i cursed You
You loved me, still loved me
Jesus Christ, You dry the tears
You break my heart of stone
Your words are life
cut marrow through
the darkness, to the bone
a heart of flesh You gave me
only You can save me

Savior, Daylight, I am coming home"
R. Roper

Again all images I'm just using... I'm such a user, abuser and a loser...