Social media post reflections

What kind of message does your social media activity send to those who don't know you? This is something I've been pondering a lot lately, especially over the last month or so. I'm human like everyone else, so I have often felt the pull to post things online that I have a strong opinion about. I've come close to posting things in the heat of an emotional moment that I would never say to someone in person. I've liked posts that in hindsight were surely offensive to someone with a different view, and I just have to wonder, how does that make me look to someone who's never met me?

If someone who never met you before looked you up on Facebook and saw your posts, what conclusion would they come to about the kind of person you are, without even meeting you? Would they feel an openness to be able to communicate freely with you, or not? I have to be honest, when I started thinking this way and looking at what people have been posting lately, there's a lot of people that I would never have guessed are the type of people I actually know them to be outside of social media. I realized how other people's posts personally affected me, in that because of how I choose to view something differently than they do, I then fall into whatever group they are targeting with their post and am therefore a recipient of their attack, although it's not intentional, it is a real consequence.

Once I realized this, I started to view my own social media activity through that lens. What message does my social media activity send to those who view it? As someone who believes in Jesus Christ, do my words and actions align with what I claim to believe, or do I attempt to separate the real world and online world and pretend that there is no connection. I assure you, it is not possible to separate the two. Online or offline, how do we treat others, directly or indirectly? Do we treat them the same way that we want to be treated? Or do we hold a different standard for those who think differently than we do?

James 3:9-12 NIV states, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

When I look at how Jesus treated people in the gospels, I see that he saw people where they were at. He saw them as human beings, not just as a part of a group or as a consequence of the decisions they've made up to that point. When I look at how Jesus treated people, it causes me to self reflect and wonder how I am doing. How do I want to be treated by others, and do I extend that same question and compassion to others who think differently than me? Do my words edify and breathe life into those around me, or do I indirectly chastise them for their beliefs by berating the views they hold through my social media posts and online activity? If I claim to believe in Jesus Christ, would I even be given a chance to share the gospel or my own story of how God has redeemed me if someone first took a look at my social media accounts before meeting me? Put yourself in someone else's shoes and look at your posts and wonder, what conclusion would they come to if they didn't already know you?

Each of us has a story that is unique, and we think the way we do as a result of our life circumstances up to that point. We have an opportunity to learn and grow from one another if we can get past our differences and actually listen to one another. To love your neighbor as yourself is a world changing principle, but it takes self-reflection and discipline to execute.

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other," -Galatians 5:13-15 NIV.

Social media is a tool, it can be used for good, and it can be used for bad. Before we post anything online, I think it's important to analyze our heart's motives and question whether it reflects the type of people that we actually want to be. Lastly, I think before we post anything it is wise to ask that if someone else posted something similar but that clashed with our values, how would it makes us feel? To love one's neighbor as yourself is to think this way, and to respond differently because of it. This may seem like a small thing, but if everyone thought and acted this way, it could make a world of difference.

Peace in politically charged times

In many places in the Bible it talks about a peace that is available to us who believe in him. We are living in polarized and divided times in our country right now, so how do we attain that peace and avoid falling into the religion of political fanaticism? It's a very real temptation, and I feel it pulling at me everyday, sometimes it's very hard to resist. We receive messaging from all around us all day long from social media, whatever we're listening to, and whoever we're around, it's everywhere. So how do we get this peace that the Bible talks about? Well in Philippians 4, it gives us a pretty good picture. I would say it comes down to the choices we make about what we put into our minds. It comes down to prayer, how often are we actually praying and going to the Lord and opening our hearts to him? What are we filling our heads with, are we immersing ourselves in scripture and actively thinking about him and what he has done for us? It's a discipline, and it's certainly not easy to do. The peace of God is truly available to us, but the choice is ours as to whether we actually want to grab a hold of it. It comes as a result of our choices to pursue him above all other things this world offers.

Trusting Jesus in the storm

Good morning everyone. As I sit here this morning, drinking my morning tea and collecting my thoughts for the day, I am reminded by a bible verse of God's incredible power and goodness. One challenge I have faced over the years as a Christian is to maintain a positive outlook when times in life are difficult. What this reveals is a question of trust, specifically, who or what, is our trust in? As someone who professes belief in God and Jesus Christ, what are my thoughts towards him when life has felt more like a burden, full of pain and difficulties? Is my belief in him dependent on the circumstances of my earthly life, so that when a storm comes, I say to Him, "how could you do this to me Lord?!" I'll admit, I've never been one to "blame" God when the going gets tough, but I have been one to question why he would allow me to go through something. I find this so interesting because truly, when we just take a look at the life of Christ himself as shown in the gospels, the last thing we should see is a life of carefree living and countless blessings for those who choose to follow him. No, in fact we see just the opposite. In John 16:33, right after Jesus tells his disciples about the upcoming hardship they will all endure (pointing to his upcoming arrest and eventual crucifixion) he tells them, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

I think it takes constant work to maintain the right focus in the Christian life. We live in a world of distractions, of voices that compete for our attention and devotion, and of a literal enemy who wants to destroy us and our faith in God. It has been a popular view for ages to associate the idea of a "good life" with the level of faith in God that we possess, but nothing could be further from the truth. The bible is full of examples of this, the book of Job being one of the most powerful examples that shows us that even the most devout and faithful servants of God have to endure hardships sometimes. I think one of the hardest things for us is that we have such a limited understanding of God and of life, of trying to understand he who is infinite, with our finite bodies and minds. This is where faith comes in. Our faith in God is not blind, no not at all, we should use our intellect to analyze facts and data when we initially come to him, wondering who he is and if he is real. The facts and data can speak for itself, and I believe it strongly points to the God of the bible. There are times where our trust is tested, and although we will probably never fully know the reasons that God allows pain and suffering in this world, when it intersects with our lives, the question for us really is, do we trust him?

I remember just a few years ago when I was going through a really difficult season in life, right after my mother-in-law had passed away, and I felt like I hit rock bottom. I will never forget a time that I just felt so completely broken, and I was praying and I asked God, "Why do I have to go through this Lord?" I'll never forget the answer that I heard him give me in my spirit, he said "Because you can." It was a prayer that I really didn't expect an answer to, but in my raw honesty with God, he met me there and gave me an answer that I didn't understand at the time. I can only say after several years later, I believe the Lord was telling me that I was stronger than I thought I was, and because of that storm I went through, I saw a tremendous amount of growth in my life spiritually. There was probably nothing I have experienced to date in my life that has produced so much growth and maturity than that incredibly difficult period of life. It was something that I needed to go through to get where I am today, and all of that growth had a direct impact in all areas of my life: my family, my job, my friendships, and my faith in Jesus Christ. He used something incredibly painful to reveal many weaknesses in me that needed to be refined. The way I responded to the event though, that was up to me.

So as we go through life, we should not wonder if we will go through hard times, rather we should know with certainty that in time, we most definitely will. When a storm comes, or as Paul referenced in 2 Corinthians 12:7, "a thorn in the flesh," we should instead ask God what is it that we should be learning through this experience. Is this easy to do? Not usually, but I think in time, as we mature spiritually and have our faith reinforced as we continue to see God work in our lives, it does get easier, but the fact is that life is hard, and God never said it was supposed to be easy. The bible paints a very different picture than what any prosperity gospel will ever promise, since sin entered the world back in Genesis, life became very hard. But God is still in control, and he loves us enough to continue shaping us into the creatures he has created us to be. We can know with full confidence that when we experience pain and suffering in this world, it is NOT proof that he doesn't love us, in fact it is the complete opposite. How can we know this? John 3:16 says it best, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Jesus didn't just beam himself down here and coast through life unscathed, he experienced all that we do as a "man of sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3). He did it because he loves us. He did it because he loves you. That is the true message of the gospel.

CrossCounsel Podcast: "Our Soul's Soundtracks"

I recently had another opportunity to be a guest on CrossCounsel International Ministries podcast, this time with a couple other friends of mine who are engaged in the ministry there as well. This time, we had a round table discussion about music and many different aspects of it: how it affects us on a spiritual level, how we can interpret the messages contained in the music, how it affects our brain, and many other things. If you've got 45 minutes to check it out, you should definitely do it. And if you've never heard of CrossCounsel before, you should check out their web page and check some of my past posts that I've shared that talk about the ministry they do there. Here's the link for that episode, now go and check it out!

CrossCounsel Podcast Ep #167 - Our Soul's Soundtracks

If you enjoy watching this podcast, feel free to check out a couple of the other ones I was previously able to share on as well:

CrossCounsel Podcast Ep #125 - An Uncommon Message

CrossCounsel Podcast Ep #149 - No Need for Weed

CrossCounsel Podcast Ep #159 - Weeding Out More Lies

CrossCounsel Podcast Ep #176 - Truth Independent of Reactions

Christmas Reflections 2024

Merry Christmas to all of you out there! I hope and pray that today, and the year ahead, may be filled with love, peace, and hope for the future. Christmas can be an uplifting and energizing time of year for many, and it can also be a time of heartache and even depression for others, depending on what your life circumstances have been up to this point. Regardless of where we are at individually, I believe we can choose to reflect on what the hope of Christmas means for us all and why we can choose to have joy, even if we are not experiencing a life of happiness at the moment.

So what is the hope of Christmas? Isaiah 8-9 paints a beautiful picture of Christmas hope in my opinion, by looking at darkness and light, as it points forward in prophecy to the savior Jesus that will be born several hundred years later. Before we can understand our need for a savior, we need to first understand the darkness that is very present in this world and affects us all. Once we can see how dark the world can truly be, we can finally see the beauty of the light that God has sent into the world, and the deep longing and need for that light that is part of our human nature. Isaiah 9:2 says "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned," again pointing forward to Jesus. It goes on to describe the effects of this light as increasing the nation's joy, removing a burdensome yoke, and bringing peace, before directly pointing to the future birth of Christ in this context by saying "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6 NIV).

I think in a general sense, most people have always been able to look at the world and acknowledge the effects of sin and evil, agreeing that things just aren't quite right, and there is a sense of injustice with much that happens here. Who do we look to blame for the presence of evil in our world though? This is a much deeper question, and one that many will struggle to answer. For those that refuse to take any personal ownership of this problem, they will tend to point the finger at everything and everyone else as the cause of evil and suffering. I believe the bible is clear from cover to cover on this though, evil is present in our world because of the sin that exists in each of one of us. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" In the book of Romans, Paul wrote "For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing," (Romans 7:18-19 NIV). In essence, sin is the source of all evil, and evil is the source of the darkness in this world, and we all at times choose to walk in that darkness and go our own way, away from God. God is perfect, just, holy, and without sin, so since we know that we "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23 NIV), how can we possibly be with God when we have at times willingly participated in those very things that prevent us from being in His presence? Where is hope?

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us," (Romans 5:6-8 NIV). We are positioned at a unique point in human history where we are looking backwards on biblical history. This allows us to view the gift of Jesus Christ differently since we also know the story of Easter, and that he proved that he was who he said he was by overcoming death on a cross, and rising on the third day to defeat the powers of death and evil in this world. Jesus is our living hope, and our way to be with God, for he himself said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus himself makes this possible by paying for our sin, and accounting for the evil and suffering that we have willingly brought into this world, because "...he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed," (Isaiah 53:5 NIV).

Being a Christian involves a challenging paradox, one of believing in the hope we have in Jesus, yet while living in a world where we are all broken and full of sin in our own ways, and seeing the effects of this play out in a world full of evil and suffering. We are still living in a world that sees the effects of the darkness of evil, but if that is all we choose to see, we will have missed out on what Jesus meant when he said “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” (John 8:12 NIV). Jesus was pointing back to Isaiah 9:2, identifying himself as that very light in the land of darkness that is our world. So as we all go through this Christmas season with a different set of life circumstances, some happy and some sad, we can choose joy, because of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. It is remarkable that even though Jesus fully knew of the life of sorrow he would lead while living in our world, and the excruciating death on a cross he would experience, the bible says "For the joy set before him he endured the cross." This joy is available to all of us, it is not the same as happiness, for happiness is often temporary and subject to our unique situations in life. The gift of Christ is available to each one of us not just this Christmas, but every day we have breath in our lungs. Take hold of the gift of Jesus, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus," (Philippians 4:7 NIV). Merry Christmas.

Jesus: A man of suffering, our hope in the storms of life

We live in a world where we see glimpses of beauty and love, but it is contrasted by shades of darkness and evil. We can see the potential of people to do good, while seeing the potential for doing awful things, and the sin that lives in each one of us. So where is God, when tragedy strikes? Where is God our creator and savior, when life is a raging storm and full of despair? Friends, that is exactly what I'm reflecting on as we get closer to Christmas, the day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Christmas is the one thing central to Christianity that no other religion has. It is about God himself coming down into our world and entering into our pain and suffering, so that we might know the depth of his goodness and love for us. The old testament has many prophecies that pointed ahead to Jesus, and he was the only one who could fulfill all of them. One of the most beautiful and telling ones is Isaiah 53, often referred to as "the suffering servant:"

"He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed," Isaiah 53:3-5 NIV.

Perhaps one of the hardest things that we could try and wrap our human minds around is how an eternal God, who is holy and perfect, could enter into a human body and experience pain, suffering, and even death that exists in our world. The Bible testifies to this being true, and it is the reason that Christmas should give us so much hope, no matter what is going on within our lives. God is not so far removed from our lives that he has no idea what we're going through, on the contrary, Isaiah says he was "familiar with pain," to say the least, because he experienced all of the heartache and tragedy that many of us go through. Why did he do this for us? He endured the worst things of this world to bring us peace that surpasses human understanding, and everlasting hope that is able to get us through the worst storms of life. He proved all of this when he was born, eventually crucified, but ultimately rising from the dead, proving his power and authority over death. 

So where is your hope this Christmas? For many, life may be full of heartache, bad news, disasters, and tragedy, but Christmas reminds us of the eternal peace and confidence that we have in Jesus Christ. There is a beautiful picture of this in the gospels when Jesus is sleeping in a boat in the middle of a raging storm when his followers are in full panic mode, fearing for their lives:

"Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm," Matthew 8:24-26 NIV.

When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, it doesn't guarantee that our lives will be free from trials and storms. On the contrary, I believe this example in the gospels was a living parable of what life looks like when we follow him. Sometimes the storms will rage on around us, but Jesus Christ is the rock upon which we place our hope and faith, and we can be assured of his presence with us even in the midst of those storms. We may cry out to him, "God where are you?!" But he reminds us that he is with us always, even if we think he's sleeping on the job, we can be assured that he has never left, and he fully understands what we are going through. We can completely trust in him, even though we don't understand why we have to experience the storms sometimes. This is the hope that Christmas reminds us that we have in our savior, Jesus Christ.

CrossCounsel Chili Cook-Off Testimony

I was given an opportunity to share my personal testimony and experience with CrossCounsel International Ministries at a Chili Cook-Off fundraiser, and I was honored to be part of the experience. Below is the transcript of my testimony that I shared at the event:

Shane Buol - CrossCounsel Chili Cook-Off Testimony

Hi, my name is Shane and I’ve been coming to CrossCounsel since August of 2023. I'd like to share with you a little of my own story, what brought me to CrossCounsel, and what this ministry has done for me.

I had a rough start to life, having young parents who both came from broken homes. I experienced a lot of dysfunction related to drug and alcohol abuse in my home, sexual abuse at the hands of some neighbors, and many other things. Thankfully though, my parents eventually became Christians and made efforts to provide a better life for our family. When I saw the power and love of Jesus changing my parents' lives, that brought me to a place where I was able to accept Jesus as my savior too.  Although my new faith in God had just significantly changed my life for the better, I eventually found that some of those old familiar feelings were still there inside. During my senior year of high school I was listening to some dark heavy metal music by the band Korn, which triggered negative childhood memories. I suddenly realized that the events of my childhood were not normal, and I sank into a dark depression. I tried a lot of things to try and escape the pain that I was carrying inside, including cutting myself, and using lots of drugs, but I couldn’t make it go away. After confiding in a friend that I was thinking about committing suicide, he called my parents and told them he was worried about me. Thankfully, my parents listened and got me into counseling right away. Although that counseling experience didn’t address the core feelings I had buried inside, it was still positive because it provided a way for me to reframe the past and move forward without wanting to end my life.

As an adult, although my faith in God was very real, I still found myself struggling with substance abuse in various forms. The Lord eventually showed me that I had a drinking problem, and after a personal encounter with him, I was able to quit drinking alcohol. Although this experience gave my faith a tremendous boost, I continued to struggle with other substances over the next few years, as I still didn’t know how to cope with negative emotions. As time went by, I began to realize that this was not a sustainable pattern. In 2018, I had been working long hours at my job, and my mother-in-law had just passed away from cancer. The stress of these events brought me to a breaking point, and I struggled to keep my emotions in check on a daily basis. I knew I needed help, so I set out to find a place that could help me sort through my issues. I went through counseling at two different places, and I did have some positive experiences by having a safe place to share and work through painful memories. Neither experience really got to the root of the false beliefs I had internalized though, so I eventually  found myself repeating behaviors that I could not seem to break free from.

Around this time, I had met Steve and learned about CrossCounsel for the first time after hearing him give a presentation on the ministry at the men’s group at Living Water Church. That tapped into something inside of me that said there was something unique about this ministry. Some time went by and I again talked with Steve about CrossCounsel when he had a booth at Living Water Church and was sharing more about what they did. At this point I began listening to their podcast, and I knew there was something different about how they were doing ministry, by bringing Jesus right into the middle of people’s deepest pain and suffering. Within a couple of months, I had a situation happen that made me realize I still had more work to do, but this time I booked an appointment with CrossCounsel and decided to give it a try. Within a couple of months I had several sessions, and I began to understand how the MELT process helps us to connect what’s going on in our present lives, to something that we felt or believed in our past. This was all about getting to the root of the problem, just like I had wanted to do for so long. Things were starting to click, and I could tell that something was happening every time I came to CrossCounsel and took my emotions to the Lord. Although I didn’t experience a profound truth and healing moment during every session, each one helped get me a step closer as the layers of my emotions were peeled back.

In October of 2023, I experienced the most profound moment of healing up to that point in a session. I had several memories surface during that session, and the Lord showed me that although I had felt unsafe in all of them, He was safe, and I could trust Him. The effect this had on me was immediate. Although I had  known in my head that Jesus was safe as long as I had been a Christian, I knew that my heart just believed it for the first time. It felt like a weight had been lifted off of me. In the coming months, I noticed that I didn’t have the regular desire to escape from negative emotions with substances anymore, and I became even more determined to do the work of troubleshooting them with God’s help.

I knew that I still had a lot of baggage to sort through, and this was only a step in the continuing process of sanctification we all go through as Christians. I was not discouraged by the work in front of me, so I continued to do more sessions, and a year ago to the date last month, I had another significant session where I again heard from the Lord as he revealed more truth to me. In this session, I went to several more memories and the Lord showed me how I had felt alone in all of them, but that He was there the whole time. My response was the same as before, I couldn’t believe the beautiful simplicity of the truth I had just received, and I felt a rush of happiness come over me as I again started smiling and laughing, in disbelief at what had just happened.

I’m still waiting to learn what exactly has shifted in me from that last session, but I can tell that something is different. Time will tell, and it will also show me what things I still need to look at, so I can continue to do the work needed to pursue His truth and healing in whatever areas he reveals to me. I am so grateful for the ministry at CrossCounsel, it is truly life changing, as my story testifies to. Although I have had several direct moments of healing that have had an immediate impact on my life now, perhaps the most significant thing I have received from their ministry is the realization that all emotions are a gift from God, and the negative ones reveal the things in us that need to be further refined, so that we might continue to be made more like Christ. This knowledge has given me a freedom that I have never known before, I no longer feel the weight of addiction that I carried for most of my life, and I no longer feel like I need to run away every time I feel something negative. It is an incredible feeling.

Thank you for coming out and supporting this incredible ministry. The donations from people like you, can truly make a difference for someone who is struggling, but just can’t afford to pay for a few sessions themselves. I can relate to this, because I have found myself in that same position and been on the receiving end of those donations on more than one occasion. Please consider donating to this ministry if the Lord puts that on your heart, it really does make a difference. Thanks again for being here.