For Narnia

Well here we are, Christmas has passed and a new year approaches us without relent. It has been relaxing being home, away from the tedious routine of college. I love school and its community, but, getting away is refreshing and most necessary. Please forgive me, completing a grueling week of writing finals and being removed from all site of homework does something to ones brain; I seem to have retreated into a comatose state where my brain has slowed in an attempt to revive itself - a good thing, but humorous in that I am slow to entertain my love of profound thought. Therefore, this blog entry may seem purposeless and scattered.

A great friend and I went and saw Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader 3D in theater last night. I would be lying if I said I merely enjoyed it. I, in fact, have been deeply moved by this show. C.S. Lewis' writings invigorate my thought and cause me to contemplate life and the greater purpose of God for this world. This love of thought combined with my artistic/visual/tangible proneness causes movies such as the Narnia trilogy to deeply move me. Before my friend and I saw the movie we conversed at Starbucks over coffee's. We talked about the church (as in God's people), and how we are co-heirs with Christ; sons and daughters; prince's and princesses of the King, you could say. The Church often underestimates its position through Christ's redemption; it's a bold yet humbling position where we are given authority and the right to participate in the ruling of God's kingdom through exemplifying it on earth . All to say, we both had a good laugh as we sat and watched the Narnia movie in theater - its message of being "kings" and "queens", as Lucy and Edmund experience in the world of Narnia, parallel's our position as Christians - how we are made for a greater purpose; how God entrusts us enough to give us an important position in His kingdom. What an adventure. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader exemplifies the battle of temptation. Lucy and Edmund, along with the other Narnian's are warned that they will be tempted by their deepest desires as they journey to complete their task. As the movie unfolded I was at moments deeply moved as they are tempted by things we are so easily tempted by: beauty, wealth, and deceiving authority & power. Aslan's periodic appearances and interventions expressed to me how God is persistent; how He views us as His children and desires to protect us from these deceiving temptations.

All-in-all, seeing the new Narnia was a most timely thing, especially in this season of refreshing outside of my school life. I have been reminded in the past 24 hours of God's greater purpose for me, of His care, His patience, His love, His redemptive nature, and His knack for adventure.

If you have not done so already, go see Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I may just go see it again.

Be blessed,

Nick B.  

A Conversation

I am currently transitioning between dorm life and going home for Christmas, staying at my friends house until I fly home tomorrow. We had a great evening last night just sitting in their living room by the fireplace and chatting about school, God, and worship. We shared what "worship" meant to each of us - it was thoroughly interesting. For myself I apply worship in my life in two distinct ways. First, I see worship as sacrifice; my daily walk is an opportunity to worship God through what I do and say. It's founded on the epic fact that Jesus loved what was unlovable to anyone else, that is, us in our deprived state. And it is for this reason that I choose to worship him in how I live, what I say, and what I do. Secondly, I also know an aspect of worship that is simply relational with God. I look at what God has made; the creativity of this worlds makeup, the diversity of personalities within people, and I can't help but recognize that the God who created all of this diversity must be even more diverse than it is. God must be extremely interesting and posses the most creative mind. And that pulls be back to Jesus - how this amazingly creative God came to us in human form and died for us. Clearly he desires relationship with us. Therefore, to me, another dynamic of worship takes place when I engage with God, just Him and I. It amazes me that the God of all cares enough to talk to me, and cares enough to listen to me. What a beautiful relationship we are able to have with Him.

To my one friend worship meant sacrifice and love. Because God first loved us, we worship him simply because of His grace and mercy over us. It's not by works that we worship our creator - as if to appease Him into loving us. God approached us first and offered purity from our filth. Therefore, His love must remain the driving force of our worship - simply who God is in nature and stature causes us to worship by also loving the unlovable and caring for those that are too often ignored.

I think it's important to have a personal understanding on what "worship" means to you personally. Really hashing through that will take your relationship with God to new heights.

Cheers and Blessings.

Nick. B.  

The Beginning.

My definition of 'decipher' as it pertains to the purpose of this blog is, "to determine the meaning of".

Lately I have found myself perplexed with my thoughts regarding life. As one goes through this phenomenon we call life they are consistently bombarded with never ending opinions on what "life" exactly is. And with every opinion of life's meaning we see the act of existence being played out in numerously unique ways. As a 21 year old Bible College student I would consider myself an individual who is in a state of deciphering life. As it stands, after 2.5 years of college life, I can confidently say I have a rather satisfying grasp on life's meaning....well, most days...okay, let's be honest; one day I feel like I was present with God at life's creation - meaning I think I have it all figured out, and the next day I feel utterly despaired in my unknowing. We all know our grasp on life can sway like a pendulum, back and forth, so it is partially for this reason that I have chosen to begin this blog - My desire is to openly contemplate life and its meaning as my pendulum sways back and forth. Secondly, I need a fresh hobby - My hope is that perhaps this experience will benefit myself and you, the reader, in an almost therapeutic way in that we are both stimulated to further decipher life.

Cheers and Blessings,

Nick. B.