Runnin' my mouth

I got to bring in 2011 by snowboarding with some of the coolest people I know! I saw northern california at its finest, and truly had the Lord work on my heart. What an incredible, loving, PATIENT, and merciful God we serve! All glory to Him!

I love this Jay Rock song called Who am I? The chorus has this old sorta 1970’s singer thats voice is sped up repeating the words, “Who am I?” in a melody. Then Jay Rock comes in and starts rapping about his past, the things he has been through, and how they have influenced him. BRILLIANT!! I think this song is so sick because essentially what this guy is doing is thinking, processing, and revealing his life’s journey in a creative passionate form. This song also got me to thinking about the seemingly obvious question, who then am I?

That question seems sorta outdated, sorta cliche, sorta deep, sorta mtv-ish, sorta teenage girl singing in the mirror, sorta junior high boy flexing in the mirror, and basically sorta weird. I feel like this question comes from a bad episode of the hills where one of the girls decides that after ANOTHER break up, she needs to get away and find out who she is. It’s kinda like the ending to another drama. How many times have you heard those songs that tell us to run away and find yourself? How many times do you find yourself repeating and singing those lyrics to yourself? To me, it seems like we hear this question, and are presented with this question so much it becomes irrelevant and sorta stupid.

I believe that although I have sorta sung in the mirror, although I have watched a few bad episodes of the hills, (and felt compassion for everyone of those break-ups :D) and although I have listened to countless songs telling me to find myself, I still want to answer the timeless question, “Who am I?”

To answer this question I think a lot. I enjoy times by myself just thinking. No music, no people, just quiet time to think. One of the things I realized is that I am not that impressive. By myself, I am a selfish, weak willed, pride seeking, weird talking, coveting, and ignorant mess. (Even if your reading this blog, don’t think awww Mike is being so humble and honest. That’s not the point I’m serious about that unfortunate list of character traits.) So I come to a self revelation of the reality that if I simply base my existence on who I am by myself…I kinda suck.

If your thinking that this is the cliche point where I bring Jesus, or God in…you’re right! But why would this be cliche? Why would I make light of this? Did you see my list of character traits above? That’s only half of it! That’s how bad I need redemption! By myself, who I am is a sinner, an obvious mess, and wandering life form!

With God Who am I has two answers. I am a child of the most High, and a redeemed undeserved sinner. I can’t make light of either of these answers. I can’t let cliche ‘Christianese’ get in the way or declaring the significance of these two answers!

One, I am a child of the most high means that the God of all the universe cares to know my name. In the book Dug Down Deep, author Joshua Harris claims, “The more you learn of who God truly is, the more incredible his invitation to know him becomes. When you know him as the Infinite, Almighty, Holy, eternal God of heaven, the announcement that he loves you takes on a whole new meaning. It’s not expected. It’s not commonplace. It is cause for astonishment.” I am astonished that the Lord of all the earth would care about me! God doesn’t need me! I need Him it’s clear! Acts 17:24-25 says,”The God who made the world, and all things in it, since He is the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.” With this knowledge, who I am is a treasure to the Lord God of heaven and earth! He care about me enough to know me and lead me! This is nothing I can boast about, because God doesn’t need me. It’s something I can take joy about! It’s amazing, think about it. Who are you that GOD would care about you??(especially to the degree He does)Think about it!! We are children of the Light.

Two, I am a redeemed undeserved sinner. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, that whosoever believes in Him, might not perish, but have eternal life.” You see this on every In and Out Cup, you may have said this a million times in church, but think about it! Take joy! It’s insanity! We don’t deserve this, but God loved us so much, He sent his son to die on the cross for OUR sins! We are redeemed! We all deserved hell for our sins, but Jesus died for our sins, and now we can have hope, and a relationship with HIM!

So who am I? By myself, a royally screwed up mess. With Christ, I am a child of the most high, and an undeserved redeemed sinner! I hope this makes you think. I hope this brings you joy. I hope more than anything, you think about the question, “Who am I?”

I don’t think I have the words to explain how thankful I am for friends like this! Thank You Lord!

Hello, my name is Mike and I am an addict to self. My addiction has plagued me since my birth, and still follows me today. Research has proven that because of my sinful nature, I was predisposed to the addiction of self. I used to do everything I could to get a high off of my pride. I would do things to make people love and appraise me, I would take care of my needs first, and I would disregard the needs of others if their needs conflicted with my own. This was a daily high. Often times I would overdose to the point of finding myself completely alone. I knew I needed help, so I sought out a rehabilitation clinic, South Valley Christian Church. It took a year of rehab before I started to recover. The Church perscribed a daily dose of Jesus. Since 2007 I have been in recovery of my addiction to self, and am pleased to say I am improving with my symptoms of self addiction. I am completely dependant on Jesus, and tell you this story not to boast in recovery, but to boast in Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate cure. Thank you Jesus