I'm sitting in a Starbuck's (as I do every Thursday) preparing/finalizing my sermon for this Sunday at Frontline (http://www.frontline.to/), and I'm having one of those "I can't believe this" moments. Now, I know that what I'm about to explain as an unbelieveable moment for me will seem rather unspectacular to most but here it is. It's unbelievable to me that I am currently connected to the entirety of the earth's online content with no wires and it costs me nothing! Wireless access to the world!!!! That's pretty empowering to a guy who grew up in a no computer, rotary phone, microwaveless, $.28/minute long distance world! Now I can type my blog on my mini-notebook with a wireless connection to the internet while the Starbucks employee is warming my incredibly tasty chocolate-covered glazed donut in the microwave. The world has become my very own oyster.
Strange as this transition may sound, the Israelites who understood what happened when Christ died on the cross, with the veil that covered the Holy of Holies being torn from top to bottom, must have felt the same way. Communication with their God, meaning communication with all Wisdom, was frighteningly limited for milennia. No one but the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies where God sat on His throne, and the priest was only allowed behind the veil once a year! One man had limited access to God. All the Israelites knew from generation to generation was a non-direct contact, a limited communication world between them and their God.
Then...everything changed! All of the sudden the line of communication was open and everyone could have direct contact with the Heavenly father through Jesus Christ! No more going to the Temple! No more purchasing animals for sacrifice. No more costly, indirect communication. Now every believer had direct, free access to the God of the Universe. Unbelievable!
So, yes I sit in this Starbucks having access to all worldly knowledge from my wireless computer at no cost, but (and this is truly unbelievable) as a Christ-follower, and thus a child of God, I sit in this Starbucks having free and uninterrupted access to my Heavenly Father! I need no laptop, no access code other than the name of Jesus! I have a twenty-four hour a day, 365 day a year open line to God! All this because Christ Himself, by His death on the cross, tore the veil and gave us the gift of eternal communion with our Father.
Live life today reflecting on the age of (spiritual) communication in which we live - unbelievable!
Carpe Deum! (Sieze God!)
Todd Phillips
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Salt Cathedrals and Holy Temples
I've climbed inside the ancient man-made tunnels of the pyramids in Egypt. I've touched what could be one of the ancient trumpets that the priest blew before the Ark of the Covenant. I have even experienced the profound exhileration of standing atop the highest peak on the African continent - Kilimanjaro. Yet, what I just experienced twenty five miles outside of Bogota, Colombia rivals anything I've seen to date (except for the pyramids) - The Salt Cathedral in the small town of Zipaquira. The Salt Cathedral is an underground church built within the tunnels of old salt mines five hundred feet below the surface and is without a doubt a contender for the eighth wonder of the world!
The cathedral is a Roman Catholic temple which houses smaller chapels representing the "Fourteen Stations of the Cross." Each station represents, according to the Catholic Church, the fourteen important moments in the life of Christ from the point he is found guilty until he is buried in the tomb.
These fourteen chapels - each one an incredible feat of engineering in its own right - are dwarfed to the point of virtual non-existence by the massive cathedral which lies at the end of the salt tunnels. I am reminded of my inability to describe adequately my first moment at the base of the pyramids, the birth of my first child, or the moment when a text in the Bible truly comes to life! There are also no words to adequately describe the experience of allowing my eyes to focus on a truly wonderous feat of man's desire to honor God. This cathedral is easily as impressive to the eye as the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., St. Peter's Basilica, or even the great and cavernous essence of the cathedral at the Vatican. There are no ornate paintings and there are very few statues. Yet, at the front of the main cathedral is a fifteen foot rock-hewn communion table, a rock-hewn pulpit, and then, overtaking the entire front wall, is a fifty foot high cross carved into the rock. It was magnificant! In the background Gregorian Chants or reverberating off the walls in a surreal echo. Amazing!
I sat on one of the pews and began to speak aloud to God, ""Woe to me. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." (spoken from Isaiah 6:5) I was entranced by the partnership of God's raw creation of the very mountain in which I sat and the people who carved this cathedral by the very creative genius of God within them.
What struck me even more was that God's creative genuis given to the people who created the cathedral is available to each one of us who call Jesus Lord! God desires to do these, and greater things, through us. We are the Temple of God! God no longer resides in structures of stone, even as magnificent as the stone structure in which I sat. No...he resides in his people! We are to build even greater temples by living lives in full submission to God. The eighth wonder of the world is not a Salt cathedral but in fact is a life lived for God!
What will future generations read of your temple? Will they sit in awe at God's creative genius expressed in your life or will they turn the pages of history possessing the chonicles of your life having found nothing to feast their eyes on, nothing to be challenged by, nothing from which to learn, nothing that points them from your life to God?
"One person fully devoted to God can do infinitely more than a thousand people who have simply been awakened by God's spirit." (author unknown) Will you build a temple that forces people to stand in awe of God?
Carpe Deum! (Sieze God!)
The cathedral is a Roman Catholic temple which houses smaller chapels representing the "Fourteen Stations of the Cross." Each station represents, according to the Catholic Church, the fourteen important moments in the life of Christ from the point he is found guilty until he is buried in the tomb.
These fourteen chapels - each one an incredible feat of engineering in its own right - are dwarfed to the point of virtual non-existence by the massive cathedral which lies at the end of the salt tunnels. I am reminded of my inability to describe adequately my first moment at the base of the pyramids, the birth of my first child, or the moment when a text in the Bible truly comes to life! There are also no words to adequately describe the experience of allowing my eyes to focus on a truly wonderous feat of man's desire to honor God. This cathedral is easily as impressive to the eye as the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., St. Peter's Basilica, or even the great and cavernous essence of the cathedral at the Vatican. There are no ornate paintings and there are very few statues. Yet, at the front of the main cathedral is a fifteen foot rock-hewn communion table, a rock-hewn pulpit, and then, overtaking the entire front wall, is a fifty foot high cross carved into the rock. It was magnificant! In the background Gregorian Chants or reverberating off the walls in a surreal echo. Amazing!
I sat on one of the pews and began to speak aloud to God, ""Woe to me. I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." (spoken from Isaiah 6:5) I was entranced by the partnership of God's raw creation of the very mountain in which I sat and the people who carved this cathedral by the very creative genius of God within them.
What struck me even more was that God's creative genuis given to the people who created the cathedral is available to each one of us who call Jesus Lord! God desires to do these, and greater things, through us. We are the Temple of God! God no longer resides in structures of stone, even as magnificent as the stone structure in which I sat. No...he resides in his people! We are to build even greater temples by living lives in full submission to God. The eighth wonder of the world is not a Salt cathedral but in fact is a life lived for God!
What will future generations read of your temple? Will they sit in awe at God's creative genius expressed in your life or will they turn the pages of history possessing the chonicles of your life having found nothing to feast their eyes on, nothing to be challenged by, nothing from which to learn, nothing that points them from your life to God?
"One person fully devoted to God can do infinitely more than a thousand people who have simply been awakened by God's spirit." (author unknown) Will you build a temple that forces people to stand in awe of God?
Carpe Deum! (Sieze God!)
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The Merits of Travel to Far Away Places
I'm in Bogota, Colombia with my good friend Jeff Boyd. It's 10:30 PM on Wednesday, February 15th and I've just had one of the most enjoyable days I can remember. Yes...that's right...in Bogota! This is one of the more friendly and charming places I've been and, to date, I've been to twenty two countries. So, why does Colombia get a bad wrap? Is it the drug wars? Maybe it's the kidknappings. Just maybe, it's none of the above.
I've become aware as I've traveled that people in the US don't have a very accurate picture of the world. We see only what the television networks want to show us and then we file away these skewed perspectives as fact and become phobic of any travel to destinations that have ever had a war, drug problems or a coup. Now, all of these things certainly merit our concern and even merit a change of plans if we have booked a trip to a region that is presently dealing with such crises. But, within a month of even the most frightening circumstances, life usually returns to a less dangerous norm.
So, Colombia is oneof those places that has had some major disturbances in the past but is now (and has been for some time) an exceptional tourist destination. I can now personally attest to the regions friendly people, wonderful cappucinos, varied topography and truly unique places of interest. By the end of my week in Colombia, there will have been no more kidknappings or murders than will be reported in the United States.
God created a majestic and wonderous world for each of his children to enjoy. When you have opportunities to travel - either on vacation or mission trip or for business - we should jump in with both feet. Find God in the adventures of your life. Life it to the fullest for God. Carpe Deum! (Sieze God!)
I've become aware as I've traveled that people in the US don't have a very accurate picture of the world. We see only what the television networks want to show us and then we file away these skewed perspectives as fact and become phobic of any travel to destinations that have ever had a war, drug problems or a coup. Now, all of these things certainly merit our concern and even merit a change of plans if we have booked a trip to a region that is presently dealing with such crises. But, within a month of even the most frightening circumstances, life usually returns to a less dangerous norm.
So, Colombia is oneof those places that has had some major disturbances in the past but is now (and has been for some time) an exceptional tourist destination. I can now personally attest to the regions friendly people, wonderful cappucinos, varied topography and truly unique places of interest. By the end of my week in Colombia, there will have been no more kidknappings or murders than will be reported in the United States.
God created a majestic and wonderous world for each of his children to enjoy. When you have opportunities to travel - either on vacation or mission trip or for business - we should jump in with both feet. Find God in the adventures of your life. Life it to the fullest for God. Carpe Deum! (Sieze God!)
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