Quick Look at Daniel 3 (The Musings of a CB-er, with help from A.W.)

I want to send a shout out across the CB world to Andrew Webb, who drew up the most amazing notes of last CB's Biblestudy, which I missed, on Daniel 3.

I commence:

CB Daniel 3

~ Neb makes a god and orders everyone to worship it! or be cast into the furnace... (vss 1-7)

~Shad, Mi, and Ab (vss 8-12) say "no way!"

~Test of integrity..

~How do we respond today when we are tempted to worship false "gods"?
-gods of cheating, lying, self, drugs, stealing, etc

~Shad, Mi, and Ab were thrown in the furnace!
--> JESUS was there with them

~As we go through the "firey furnaces" (aka, trials and tribulations) of life, we know that we can withstand anything because Christ is right there with us!

~ God is protecting us and watching over us- look at the contrast between Shad, Mi, and Ab, and the mighty army men [who were killed when they were close to the furnace, because it was so hot]

~Know that as you live for God, people will notice it- you will stand out! Look at Neb's response! [He told his entire kingdom to acknowledge the God of the Israelites and praised God himself]

~ Live for God. Walk in integrity. Know that when you are thrown into the firey furnaces of trials and tribulations that JESUS is right there with you!

AMEN!



We love and appreciate you, too, Andrew! :) What more is there to say? Amen.

Church (The Musings of a CB-er)

Its that longing in the deepest parts of my body, mind and heart. I couldn't put my thumb on it until last night- that feeling of emptiness, that feeling of parched, starved, great vacancy within me that just overwhelmed me- and I just wanted to go to church.

I wanted to go to church. I just wanted to go to church. But it was Monday- and church wasn't coming for another six days. I had gone to church the day before, I had read my Bible, prayed and was still in intimate interaction with God. But yet I still felt empty. I wanted church. That communion with believers. That sharing of experiences and leaning upon eachother for strength.

I was emotionally and spiritually drained. After a long week of juggling school, work and the multiple visits from friends from family these past few days, I had to give up some of the time I usually spend in communion with the living saints. Namely CB. I thought I could do it- I'll just go to CB next week. I'll see them in school, I'll see them around, we'll talk.

I didn't realize how much CB really does for me until I couldn't go. It's Church. It's really Church! Sure we don't have a building, or a pastor, or elders, or an offering- but it's Church! There's no worship band, or standing and sitting, or hymnals or sound booths- but it's Church! We're church. And I missed it. I missed out on Church.

I feel strengthened after CB, it energizes me, it gives me LIFE. Why? Because of the shoulder-against-shoulder ministry and simple worship of God. Because we bring all of who we are into the light and say- this is truly who I am, and all I am- can you use me? Because we're a motley crew of college-agers, and yet we believe of ourselves, that we are NOT too young to do something for the kingdom at hand... Christ is our identity, and service is just the outpouring of that.

I just want to go to church. This week I'm going to be spending my time with the worship music cranked up, my Bible on my lap, and my hands lifted up. But on Saturday I'm going to get up, dust myself off, and go to church.

Thief (The Musings of a CB-er)

I am a thief, I am a murderer
Walking up this lonely hill
What have I done? I don't remember
No one knows just how I feel
and I know that my time is coming soon.
It's been so long. Oh, such a long time
Since I've lived with peace and rest
Now I am here, my destination
guess things work for the best
and I know that my time is coming soon
Who is this man? This man beside me

They call the King of the Jews
They don't believe that He's the Messiah
But, somehow I know it's true.
And they laugh at Him in mockery,
and beat Him till he bleeds
They nail Him to the rugged cross,
and raise Him, they raise Him up next to me
My time has come, I'm slowly fading
I deserve what I receive

Jesus when You are in Your kingdom
Could You please remember me
and He looks at me still holding on
the tears fall from His eyes
He says I tell the truth
Today, you will live with Me in paradise
and I know that my time is coming soon
and I know paradise is coming soon.

I Have Anemia (Josh Tikka)

I have Anemia. Anemia is a disease. It is an iron deficiency in the blood. I didn't know I had anemia until a year and a half ago when I almost passed out during a track work out, I got really tired, fell to the ground, and thought I would never get up. Anemia is most common in runners, girls, and vegetarians. I'm a runner and a vegetarian.
If you don't know what iron does, it is basically responsible for bringing oxygen through your blood to your brain. It's important, and praise God you have enough… and not too much… like that little girl who stole from those bears.
It's not that bad being anemic, just headaching some times, and exhausting often. It's can be really difficult to maintain energy and focus.
Saturday night I was talking to my man K. My man K has hemochromatosis (or a different iron-related blood deficiency that does essentially the same thang). Hemochromatosis is a disease. It is an iron deficiency in the blood. He didn't know he had hemochromatosis until several decades ago (a few decades after he should have known). Hemochromatosis is a hereditary disease. No one in his family has it (that he is aware of). Too much iron can lead to liver, heart, and pancreas failure. It's very serious. His condition is a lot worse than mine. Mine will probably never progress to where his is at.
Red meat has a lot of iron. So does blueberries. Some cereals do as well. When I got tested for anemia, I was told that I was about 2-4 points away from being anemic. They didn't know I was a strict track runner who was taking an iron pill a day. That pill was keeping me from keeling over. It was my iron supply. I jacked up the dosage, piled on the blueberries and got nit-picky with my cereals. It worked out, I didn’t come close to passing out again and I'm doing ok.
My man K, he and his family didn't know about his blood disease for a long time. His was a hefty meat eating family. Steak and Steak for dinner. Red meat all the way. Eat more and pile on the iron. His family didn't know, he didn't know. He got real sick a lot. He still gets sick a lot. It's largely caught up with him. His stomach hurts, his bones hurt, he has deep circles under his eyes and he is fighting a battle without the weapons he needs to win.
I am blessed to have the luxury of being able to ethically eat as a vegetarian. I am blessed to have the luxury to function normally with anemia. I am blessed to have the luxury of being able to eat what I want with little taste difference with some intolerance to lactose.

My man K is not so lucky. Neither are our friends who desire to be vegetarian (more than you'd think), who are suffering from anemia, low potassium, diabetic (hugely prevalent), hemochromatic... We eat too much and starve ourselves; we're glutens with the time and money to appease our vanity. My man K has the iron I need, but I have the luxuries my man K needs... If we could give each other part of each others diseases... If I could lay some of my anemia on him, and take up some of his hemochromatosis, we would balance out and be healthy, our luxuries wouldn't amount to much, because we would have what we needed in bearing each other's burdens...

My friend Baba told me the other day, "We live like kings." I try not to forget that. It's a blessing, but needs to be taken seriously. How do we share in each other's diseases, and how do we see our own diseases' cures' in the hands of each other, and the least likely.
If my man K and I were to exchange part of our disease, we would no longer need temporary fixes, pills, luxuries, and health check-ups etc., because our cure would not be temporary, but permanent. I need our friends who are both on and off the street. I need them. All my friends have my breath, the oxygen for my blood; the iron in my vein is hidden in the blood of my friend. Who will shed their blood for me? Who will give their blood to my man K?
One already has...

grace & peace
-josh

Daniel 2, Or, Overwhelmed (The Musings of a CB-er)

Let me just say on behalf of all CB that Andrew Webb did an amazing job walking us through Daniel 2 at Biblestudy! We were immensly blessed and beholden at his insight and passion as we take each step through this otherwise hard passage and put it to work in our lives. Praise the Lord for Andrew!

Daniel 2 opens us up to a whole 'nother scene, unfolding from the beginning chapter, introducing us to the world and the lives of Daniel and his companions, who set themselves apart in search of the will and the righteousness of God. In this second chapter, the king of Babylon, where the Jews are exiled (King Nebuchadnezzar- pronounced (mouthful): Neb- uh- kuh- nez- er) has a dream.

Now in the land of the Babylonians during this day, they believed communion with their gods came in the form of communicating through spirits, through witchcraft and sorcery, through astrology and mysticism, through prophecy and oracles, and through dreams.

It says in Daniel 2:1-3 "In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep[. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, he said to them, "I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.""

He then commands his wise men to tell him the dreams FIRST, so that he knows that they have the ability to interpret it. This they could not do, saying, "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men."

This made the king so angry that he ordered the execution of all the wise men, including Daniel and his companions, who were away in their own cities. When the men who were to execute Daniel came to him to kill him, he asked them why he was being executed. When they told him about the dream the king had, and how the wise men couldn't interpret it. And then Daniel went to the king, and asked for time, so that he could interpret the dream for him.

When I look on these words, I will admit my imagination goes wild. I have a vivid imagination- I can picture it like a movie screen: A writhing dream awaking the king at night, pulling him into a troubled sweat... he calls for his wise men in the middle of the night, and they come running, their padded foot-falls echoing in the great arches of the palace corridors. The Royal Chambers are dim, with tall, thick candles standing lit over a scribes table and chair, the king pacing before it in his long purple and burgandy robe draped over his night shirt, his bare feet clasping the cold ground in firm, determined steps.

He turns to his wise men, the ones he had put above all others to give him the words and the will of the gods, and his heart is too troubled to rely in their mortality. This dream was too vivid, too real, too painfully close for him to merely trust in their judgement- what if they lied to him? What if they were frauds? What if they twisted the words of the gods to make themselves sound better? These questions pounded against his sweat-slick temple. He devised a quick plan, as he pivoted on his sole, and tilted his head up to their quizzical stares.

But they could not do the thing he asked of them. They were all frauds, the whole lot of them! How dare they parade their lowly, haggard selves before the king, claiming to know the right and the understanding of the gods! He grabbed the base of the man-sized candle and threw it after their heels, as they scattered. They were all to die.

But there was one, one who was not present in this, although he is a wise man. The men who were to execute him came up the steps and pounded on his door. He opened it, and when they siezed him, he asked them "Why?!".

When they told him, he pleaded with them to let him see the king. When they released him, he went before the king and bowed low. "Let your servant have time to interpret your dream, my king," He replied. The king waved his hand, desperate and curious enough to allow his fury to subside. What could this one man do that the others could not?

Daniel stood, shakingly leaning against the wall of his home for support. What was he to do? Surely he could not learn the king's dream AND interpret it in one night!? There was a quiet knock on the door, and he mustered his strength to clambor over to it and let his friends in- Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He told them, his voice trembling, what the king had said, and urged them to bow with him before their LORD, the God of Israel, for mercy concerning the mystery of the king's dream.

Tears of pain and fear overwhelmed their eyes and they kneeled in prayer. As they cried out to God together they felt a washing over them the peace of heart and clarity of mind that could come from no other but their Almighty. That night they slept in trust that, somehow, someway, their God had it under control.

I can picture Daniel opening his eyes and throwing back the covers of his bed, gasping aloud at his delight. In the night the Lord had revealed to him the dream! Could this be true? Was he fooling himself? Nonetheless, he would trust the Lord. Daniel threw his hands up to the heavens and opened his mouth, words of praise, of delight, of thankfulness to the Lord flowing out in heaps. His friends awoke and celebrated with him, their eyes lifted to the Lord- for it is only He who could do such a miracle.

Daniel is eager to see the king, and the king is eager to see Daniel. "No wise man, enchanter, magician, or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals myseteries." Daniel replies, and he goes on to explain the dream and interpret it, according to what the Lord had told him.

When I percieve and think about the things that Daniel had to go through, I am convicted of how little I follow his footsteps. Andrew was explaining that the first things that Daniel does when he is faced by Death is gather around him his friends and petition the Lord. Have you ever been asked the question, "What would you do if you knew you would die tomorrow?" What do we answer?

Daniel threw himself on his knees with his friends and prayed to the Lord. That's ultimate trust. That's ultimate surrender. That's EPIC.

When I am faced by adversity, Daniel is a great role model. We as the body of Christ need to realize that 1) We CAN NEVER do it on our own! and 2) The power of prayer and petitioning of the Lord WORKS!

Andrew said, "This week, probably more than any other week that I know, I had more people asking me for help, for prayer, saying 'Andrew, I have this problem, Andrew, I have this pain...', almost to being overwhelmed. It's in those times, when we speak to eachother about those things, and we come to our knees about those things, that we truely make a difference. We NEED EACHOTHER."

Yes Lord! Once again, my prayer for this week is for Him to make us into Daniels! That we may band together, praying with eachther in the hard times, building eachother up and working against the enemy as a fortress- Lord! Yes, Lord!

The-One-Who-Jumps-And-Claps (The Musings of a CB-er)

The first time I saw Josh Tikka, all I could think at first is TALL. Me, being a mere 5'2", this is understandable- but hardly relevant. The second thought was more important, and it did not come until long after. LONG after.

If you haven't known Josh for very long, it's easy to get caught up in the crazy ideas, random facial expressions, and the lack of respect for personal space. He throws himself off of things, climbs buildings just because he can, and the rabbit-trails he causes people to chase in conversations merely scrape the microscopic surface of the long bucket-list of things that describe him.

But what do you get, once you crack that crazy, jumping-and-clapping shell? Although I haven't known Tikka for very long, I dare to venture into a small break from the usual blog post to shed some light on one of CB's leaders.

There have been a few incidents where I have chanced to see Tikka at his finest; where all fun and games aside, his heart and passion for life and the Lord have come out beyond all else.

The first was an incident I have spoken about before in part- that one Saturday CB night, when he came before me and asked me if I could speak to Brandi, a girl who had attended the Biblestudy with her boyfriend. Josh had witnessed her boyfriend acting abusively towards Brandi, and it had moved him to talk to me; perhaps I could speak words of value and change into her heart, telling her that she had more significance than what her boyfriend was giving her, that she could break free from that, and that God loved her.

Although I was too preoccupied with my own nervousness to notice beyond a glance at Josh's visible passionate and righteous anger, I can think back on it now and be moved.

It says in Proverbs 31:8 to "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are in need." Believe it or not, it's hard for me to speak up. It's not my first instinct to go and confront someone if I see something wrong, and it's easier for me to ignore injustice than to face it head on. Josh not only saw something that need changing, he did everything within his power to change it. It's so easy for us to see things that we don't like, it's harder to actually DO something to CHANGE them.

Two weeks ago, when we dove into Daniel 1, I saw the second opportunity to see Tikka at his finest. Re-reading the attributes of Daniel and his colleagues, I chuckle slightly to myself. A motley band of college-aged brats from all places from the nation grouped together in a foreign land, doing things so different they stand out? Refusing to conform to the normalties of their drinking/partying/drugging/permiscuous generation, but setting themselves apart to seek the work of the Lord- EVEN their WEEKENDS??!! Surely this doesn't sound like our very own CB man-boys, does it?

And yet we see Josh, Andrew, Pat, John... all of them, week after week, when they COULD be doing something else- homework, hanging out with someONE else, doing someTHING else, someWHERE else- and yet they are here in the dirt and the grime, and they LOVE it!? Should we not follow the Daniels of our day and do the same?

You don't know how many times my heart breaks for my generation and the generations behind us- their depravity, hopelessness and lack of meaning... wandering around in search of somewhere to call home and something to belong to, but in all, never finding it because there is no one to lead them to it.

My heart burns because of them! Although I am not even about to say that Josh, Andrew or any of them, or any of us, or any one at all is in any way perfect or close to it- I will say that leaders like this are rare and men who are leaders like this rarer still. And just like in the rest of the book, Daniel and his friends suffer persecution because of their actions, our Josh and the rest will suffer as well. Satan HATES what they are doing! I urge you to keep our Daniels in prayer!

Thirdly, most recently, we (meaning a group of CB-ers and their friends) were walking home from Misseo Dei's Halloween Party, almost to the Blue Line stop where we Moody-ers were going to take the train home to school, a mutual friend of ours named Brian, a forty-something year-old man who was ex-military and walked like it insisted we stop so we could wait for Andrew, who had ran back in search of a lost jacket.

Being on the slightly crazy side, Josh has been the recipient of many of Brian's scoldings. Climbing on state-owned buildings, swinging on the overhead railings of CTA platforms and racing up the down-escalator are just a few of the reasons Tikka and Webb much-merit the echoing scolds of our beloved CB-Dad, Brian. But however ridiculous the reasoning Brian has for why they should behave, and however innocent the goings-on that resulted in the rant, I've never seen them roll their eyes, or laugh Brian off and walk away, or be disrespectful in any way.

Here is no different. While I told Brian "It's okay, he's a big boy- Every day you complain that Andrew takes too long, and we should leave him behind... NOW you want to wait for him?", Josh turned around and caused me to bite my tongue. I don't remember his exact words, but I do remember that it was filled with much more loving-respect for the older man than my own words.

It's so easy to get in the mentality here in college that everyone is your peer. I am filled with sorrow that I have fallen into the immaturity of no longer treating my elders with respect every single time, and am no different than my generation in that way. It says in James "If anyone considers himself faithful and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his faith is worthless." WOW. Lord!

This little post was not to put Josh on a pedastle in any way, or praise him for things he has not done. (No, he isn't paying me to write these words, either.) I just felt like so many times we peer into the worlds of others through tainted windows and then conclude we know them.

It's so easy to see the one standing before us (or jumping and clapping before us) and assume the best or worst. I try so hard to see people for who they really are, find something and then assume the rest... or even worse- see something worth while in someone, and fail to tell them.

So easily, as we are doing ministry with people, we only see them from one side. Human beings are multi-faceted, and although we admit there are many many many MANY faults, there are things in the people around us that move us so greatly that it causes us to change the way we do things, the way we think things, the way we feel things. As I move through the CB-ers in the next few months, I encourage you:

~To keep these people in your prayers; for Satan hates what they are doing and who they are, and are deep in the field of battle against the enemy.

~To learn more about the people around you, remembering that there are more to us than meets the eye- and you might be changed by them! As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. As we rub shoulders in ministry here at CB, let us also sharpen eachother!

~And thirdly to remember that we ARE NOT INSIGNIFICANT! However many our faults, however inadequate we feel at times, the Lord can use us for things great or small- from reminding a little latina to respect her elders, to becoming a Daniel in this modern-Babylonian world!

In all things, Lord, I praise you for giving me such great leaders and lessons as these, and with them, I pray that we LEARN from them and CHANGE from them! AMEN! :)