Preparing for the Trip

Hello misters and misses, today will be a kind of just an update post rather than a reflective post.  Been busy these days, even though I'm not working for now as of July 2nd.  Currently, I'm finishing packing up, and downloading sermons to load up on my iPod (thanks Jess!) to bring with me.

Things to do before I go:
- Finish packing
- Find a pump for balloons (we're making balloon animals...  George said he saw one at Borders)
- Write cards
- Write update email to all the peepo about the trip
- Take my first dose of Malarone...  tomorrow night at 7pm (malaria prevention)

If you want to know what kinda trip this and you don't know, email me!

Meowth!  That's right!

All things hold together in Him

Sometime this past year, I was trying to understand this idea of all things being made through Christ, and all things holding together in Christ.  Colossians 1:16-17 "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

I was thinking, well, I know what it means for someone to make something.  I also know what it means for someone to use something to make something else (i.e. a carpenter using a tool to make a chair).  But, how is it that everything is made by Christ, and held together by him?

I remember that it was when I was driving down to LA and just reaching its outskirts that I listened to William Lane Craig's lecture about this.  My car doesn't have a CD player, nor an audio jack, nor an audio cassette player...  just a radio...  so I upload sermons onto my phone, and play them on speaker phone haha.  But anyway, listening to the talk, I realized two points.

First, it is true.  Dr. Craig presented many many verses that say that everything was made by Christ and are held together in Him.  I may not really understand it, but Scripture undeniably says that it is true, and Scripture is true.  Therefore, it's true.  As my friend Jim said, the biggest thing is THAT it is true, and then comes the why/how.

Second, I realized that the thing that comes closest to this is dreaming.  When I dream, I create and hold together a world simply by the power of my thoughts.  My imagination can create anything I want, and if I was to stop the dream, that world would disintegrate immediately.  I thought, maybe it's like this.  The universe is created and held together by Christ in the same way that our dreams are created and held together by us.

Almost like...  the universe is God's dream.  It came into being through His sheer will and authority and power.  And it remains because He wants it to.

(I vaguely remembering hearing things along this line of thought before, but I can't quite find the quotation.  It was an epiphany to me, but it's not original.  Also, note that I am not saying the universe is God's dream, just that it's LIKE it is, and that dreaming is the closest thing in our world that comes close to how God created/holds our world.)

To echo Jessica's prayer:  Praise God!  God, You are the Creator of everything.  Nothing exists outside of you.   There is no life outside of you.  Thank you for the Gospel.  Thank you for your Son Jesus that through Him we might have life and life eternal.