a fatal mistake turns into a New Hope

Almost four years ago our family left the Hawaiian islands seeking out care for Leah as she wrestled with Post Dramatic Stress Distorter after fell to pieces saying, “I killed someone, accidentally. . . I killed someone! I can't believe those three little words sit together in a cozy little sentence about my life!  I'd like to squeeze "accidentally" somewhere in the middle there. Though it's true, it doesn't fit.  There it is: subject/verb/object. . . and I add the qualifier.  With or without it, how can this be? I can barely believe it. And after all these years, why does it hurt so badly? You know what is really hard? No one is only someone.  Everyone is John... is Nicole... is Leah... I killed Nicoletta... strong, beautifully blossoming Nicoletta, and I did it accidentally -I’ve made a fatal mistake that can’t be undone.” 

Then months seemed to endlessly rolled bye and then Leah meet Pat Edumussen. Pat is a professional therapist that specializes in E.M.D.R. treatment. Leah and Pat meet on a weekly basis until Leah’s release from treatment in December 2010. It was during that time Leah began to write down a recollection of her journey down at fatalmistake94.blogspot.com 

In the following months I watched Leah walk through some major transformations. Then in June of 2010, Leah started encouraging me to revisit our dreams of overseas & cross-cultural ministry.  She would often say, “God is about restoration. It was our choice to return to Washington for my health. I don’t think God wouldn’t change His mind about things He placed in our minds and hearts long ago.” 

Months later I decided to see Pat Edumussen (Leah’s PDSD therapist) about working through some questions, personal hurtles, and seemingly mental / emotional roadblocks (just ask Brett Huf, Aaron Oldenburg, Todd Cloud, Kiha Pimental or Larry Drinen about the funky questions I couldn’t answer). Then in May of 2011 Leah felt God prodding her to encourage me again. This time I sent out a letter seeking wisdom & prayer to six trusted individuals.  Our decision as of Oct / Nov 2011 is to not shrink back; due to, past situations, personal fear, or future un-assurances.  To accept a pastoral position at New Hope Windward and return to Oahu in Jan 2012.

Yep, you heard things right - we’re moving back to Oahu!  Yes, we still have some hurtles before us (physically and emotionally). However, we plan on overcoming them hand in hand as we move forward. What will I be doing at New Hope Windward? I’ll be a team Pastor, overseeing small group development, vision implementation, technology integration, care, weddings, funerals, global mission support, etc....

It’s been amazing to watch God’s hand turn what some would call a ‘fatal mistake’ into a journey of New Hope.  A special thanks to Pat Edmundson (MA LMHC), Aaron Campbell (ND), Grace Community Church, and YOU! 

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to swing bye our house, give me a ring, toss me a text, facebook / tweet me, or visit our f.a.q. page online. 

That’s a wrap! Happy New Years and please let us know what’s going on in your life: via facebook or email.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail." 

When New Years Resolutions (Goals) Drive You Insane

New Year’s resolutions, Goals, Plans, and Hopeful futures.

Individuals say they’re important. They make us happier and help us accomplish more. Some would even go so far as saying, “they’re the cornerstone of a fulfilled and productive life.” Are goals and resolutions intertwined in reality and faith?  YES! 100%

But what about when goals make us unhappy? What happens when we get so wrapped up in chasing goals that we can’t be happy in the present anymore?  What happens when get miss our mark and become implosive?

I tend to set and pursue goals like most people do, but more and more I’m wondering where it all leads. Is life supposed to be a series of goal planning/chasing/accomplishing cycles?

Where does it all lead?
My dad and I recently had a conversation about this topic.  It was interesting to hear his perspective as he’s been fully retired for five years. “Trevor, the concept of goals is a good thing but you have to hold it in balance with life.  Maybe goals are like digital cameras. If you spend an entire vacation behind your camera taking pictures, videos, and then editing things - do you really experience the vacation? Sure, you captured some shots to look at later, but how often will you really look back on them? If you spend every moment chasing goals, you may just miss what’s happening around you - right now.”

This cause me to ask some personal questions, review my overall purpose....

If goals over the past years have been making you feel a bit insane, here are a four simple ideas for planning less and living more:

+) Set goals for the present.

We tend to think of goals as being in the future. What about the present? Why not set goals for the present? Try balancing your future goals with present goals as well. Set goals for living in the moment. Set goals for being present during your activities and meetings. Set goals for forgetting about the future for a while. Try making a goal to fully engage with your activities today. If you’re with other people, really be there. If you’re relaxing, really relax. If you’re doing something, really do it. Be fully in the moment where you are at.

+) Set goals for tank fillers, not tank drainers.
Sometimes goals make us a bit insane simply because we try to control things that cannot be controlled!  We usually can’t control outcomes, but people set goals as if they can. For example, let’s say you set a goal to lose 10 pounds over the next month. Can you really control that specific outcome? What if you do everything you possibly can and still don’t achieve your goal?
 Outcome-specific goals often set us up for failure and ultimately will drain your tank.
Instead of focusing on the outcome, try setting goals for what you can control. If you want to lose 10 pounds, what actions can you take to make that outcome more likely? You can eat less, eat specific foods and exercise more.

Set goals for the specific steps you’ll take, like eating certain things or a certain number of calories, or doing certain exercises for a certain amount of time every day.  These small goals or steps become big victories and tank fillers as you set goals for the actions you have control over, and then let the outcome happen as it will verses being so focused on the exact target.  Just maybe life is experience a bit more in the margins or freedom to make adjustments verses being so dialed in on one target.


+)Live without goals for a while.
Most of us accept that goals are a requirement for a happy, productive life. Somehow this has become part of our societal values. But what if you could live without goals entirely? What if goals were actually holding you back?
Leo from Zen Habits has been living without goals for a while and says it’s liberating and that he’s been accomplishing more now without goals than he did before with them.
Living without goals doesn’t mean you don’t do anything. It simply means that you let your passion guide you and don’t put limits on where you let your days take you.  Life is a grand journey.  *If you try this, please let me know how your life changes as a result.


Take time out for gratitude.

Scientific studies have shown that the simple act of writing down things you’re thankful for can make you happier. 
In a 2003 study, people who wrote down five things they were grateful for that had happened in the last week for 10 weeks felt 25% happier than people in the study who didn’t.
These people were also more optimistic about the future, they felt better about their lives and they even did almost 1.5 hours more exercise a week than the other people in the study who didn’t do the simple act of writing down what they were grateful for.

Goal setting can be useful, but it can also be taken to extremes that become counter-productive.
If you’ve living according to goals but haven’t been much happier, consider what you’re trying to achieve. Could you change your goal-setting strategy and enjoy your life more? Are you chasing goals for their own sake?

There is always a future, but there is only one present, and ooohhh what a gift that truly is!

Embrace the change that you need to take in order to live life to the fullest possible degree!

-Trevor Drinen
email me: webservices@drinenfamily.org

Do I really know YOU

“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” Matthew 7:21-22 NASB

OBSERVATION
Now let me tell you what’s so terrifying about this text. This text has just clearly outlined this reality – I can do things in Jesus’ name and not know Jesus at all.

Now if you have a long background in church, that should be terrifying. I can do things in Jesus’ name and not know Jesus at all. At times I’ve wrestled with doubt because the truth is I did not have a regenerate heart - my heart was calloused and hard - I had to walk in good old obedience to God’s word (despite not wanting to and not understanding completely why I should) and in doing so, a new heart was regenerated (not physically).  My heart became moldable, teachable, and over time was transformed by the guidance of God’s Word.

I was just good person. Good people go to church, good people don’t lie and good people don’t cheat on their wives.... but there was doubt.... that nagging doubt in me.  Then I started to think that’s God’s mercy toward me. Because He’s ringing the alarm in my soul that something is not right. That’s merciful because He doesn’t owe me that. That’s merciful because there are people all around me for whom that alarm doesn’t go off at all. But in His mercy, that alarm has begun to go off in my heart, in my soul. At time I’ve wrestled with doubt because I was not a believer in Christ - Yes, I was in the institution of the Christian church.  I knew how to act and what / when to say things. I believed in Christ like I believe in Bill Gates. I know he exists, but that’s about the extent of it.

Another thing that causes a lot of doubt in my.  Is that I have a hard time believing and staying dialed into the gospel at times.  Here’s what I mean by the gospel, just so I can be very clear. I don’t save me; God saves me. I don’t partner with God in my salvation; - Bottom line truth: God saves me. Because if it were up to me to earn the favor of God, I’m in trouble. Because even if I can externally manage things, it doesn’t change what my heart is, it doesn’t change what my mind is thinking and it doesn’t change the state of my heart. It’s simply me performing for people who are watching. So if I think, “I’ve got to partner with God in my salvation,” then of course I’m going to doubt. I think this mindset is the biggest hijacking of truth that has befallen Christianity, that I somehow partner with God in my salvation.

Okay, where the grace to confess and repent come from?
It was a gift to me by faith, and it actually came before the faith to enable me to use faith to believe in the grace.

I can go to Ephesians 1, Ephesians 2, Romans 8-11, Galatians 1 and I can go all over the Bible to see that this is true.

So what’s another spiritual truth’s that I struggle with – God loves you just as I am.... now.... today.... as I write this.... It’s not me when I get my stuff together, it’s not me when I nail down all I’m supposed to nail down, but the Bible says He delights in me.

Check this out: 
“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” - Romans 8:1

“He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” - Romans 8:11
Who raised Jesus from the dead?  Who was able to give life to Jesus’ dead body? God.
Who wants to give life to our mortal bodies? God.
How does choice to give us life? Through His Spirit who dwells in you.
So what is the purpose of God’s Spirit? “Spirit helps our weakness....” - Romans  8:26 “He (God’s Spirit) who searches the hearts, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. - Romans 8:27
Now look what happens. There is an acknowledgment that I’m weak, that I’m falling short and that I’m not getting what I need to get. What’s God’s response towards those He loves? Is it rage? Is it lightning? Is it cancer? Is it drought? Is it help?

So this idea that there’s no way God could love me, either I’m lying or the Bible is lying, but somebody’s not telling the truth. Again, if I stayed in Romans 8, I would see in verse 34 that the Bible tells me that Jesus is interceding for me, that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father in intercession... “34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was [l]raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” All that means is Jesus is praying for me.

APPLICATION
It’s hard for me to imagine and believe that God delights in me. Maybe He loves me in some kind of weird way - like I play with the word “love.”  Like, “I love him; I just don’t really like him....”  Or, like “I deeply love my wife, my children, and my pets...”  common on.... I there’s a VAST difference in between the amount of love I have for my wife & children compared to any pet!  To think that God delights in me, rejoices in me, is thrilled with me, that’s very difficult for me to believe and imagine.

Now I am the best husband I ever am when I’m fully concentrating on, thinking on, meditating on and sitting under the gospel preaching and teaching.

I’ll tell you why. When I am completely dialed in to the fact that, through no merit of my own, through no act of my own and because of nothing I can do, but simply because God is merciful and gracious, He loves me, then as I engage my wife, there is this overflow motivated by being loved that flows over into my relationship with my wife.

Do you know when I’m a horrible husband? When somebody preaches a sermon on, “Here’s how you be a great husband.” Because there’s a type-A moron fabric woven into my DNA. So I will immediately go, “Let me start to do those things. She’ll respond this way...” So I start to go, “If I do this, she’ll do that, and what will come about is bliss.” Spoiler alert: it doesn’t work!

So I’m the best husband I ever am when I understand that God is patient, that God is merciful and that God is gracious to me. And as I am the recipient of that, that overflows onto my relationship with my wife. I’m the best father I am, not when I read a book on parenting that shows me how to handle my strong-willed children. I’m the best parent I ever am when I am completely attuned with God’s free gift of mercy and grace and wired into the fact that He delights in my strengths while growing me out of my immaturity. I’m just a better man when I’m aware of that.

God, do I really know You? Honestly that question causes doubt, shakes me to the core, and causes me to probe and see if I’m being genuine or masquerading around. Thanks for shaking things up today.  Help me not settle into the camp of institutionalization (Christianity) but press into cultivating a genuine transformational relationship with YOU. - Trevor

Thoughts?

The shepherds reactions to a most ‘TIMELY’ event

The shepherds reactions to a most ‘TIMELY’ event

Today’s reading: Luke 2 NASB
SCRIPTURE 
“The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.” Luke 2:20 NASB

OBSERVATION
Ever return from a movie totally jazzed - wanting to tell some else? I have! I can imagine the mind blowing excitement of discovering everything just as it had been told to them - Wow!!!!!! 

It’s in the midst of this excitement I began to wonder.... did the shepherds already take part of the census Caesar Augustus required? ....And what did things look like on the front end of this scene?  What prefaced the shepherd to follow all the angels spoke of?

Were the shepherds simply enthralled with trees, lights, presents, and eggnog? lol.... Nope.... Time for a cultural mindset shift.... The Christmas season was and is the culmination prior events.... of Advent to a Jewish shepherd.

What’s Advent?  Advent is about the church calendar and the church calendar is something we never stop talking about.

Like what?  For starters: the birth & death of Christ.

So let’s take a look through the shepherds eyes and go, ‘Advent.‘  Advent.... Wow, that takes me back to the Exodus. (I didn’t see that coming) and look at the story of the Hebrew slaves being rescued from Pharaoh.  Okay?... It isn’t just a story about the God who rescues people from the cracking whip—it’s about the God who rescues people from other kinds of slavery as well. See life in Egypt was comprised of making bricks for the Pharaoh every day, all day, without rest or one would hear the sound of a cracking whip and a painful cry. Bricks, bricks, bricks, eat, sleep, more bricks, bricks, bricks. Tomorrow will be just like today: bricks, bricks, bricks.

When the Israelites are rescued, however, God gives them commands, one of the most urgent being to take a Sabbath day a week, a day unlike the others. Yep, it was a day without bricks. Six days you shall work, but on the seventh, don’t.

Why is this so monumental? God gives them balance via a physical, mental, and emotional break. Sun up to sun down - the Israelites worked day after day.... until everything just blurred together.... Life for them before God’s commandment of the Sabbath was an unmeasurable succession of blurred days gone past.  But now.... with God’s command, their time is broken up, measured, arranged, and dare I say ‘planned.’ And so they created the church calendar. A way to organize the year, a way to bring variance to our days, a way to measure work, a way to personally care for oneself and family.

What’s an Advent calendar example?

Let’s go Lent. For the seven weeks leading up to Easter or Resurrection Sunday, the shepherd’s practiced sober awareness of our frailty, sins and smallness. What? Okay, let’s rewinded a bit.  Let’s go ‘Ash Wednesday’ when ashes are traced on our foreheads in the shape of the cross, a tactile reminder of our origins in the dust. From there we come, and to there we will go. (Genesis / Exodus).  ‘Ash Wednesday’ brought the shepherds to a starting point where one faced a timeless truth: “death.” By focusing the ending point they continually were reminded that, “I’m I’m weak, powerless, and small.”  See they spent seven weeks facing their death and despair and doubt. This process engaged their—heart, mind, and emotions—nothing behind.  Why?

For a number of reasons, chief among them the simple truth that Sunday comes after Saturday.  Only when you’ve gotten through, not around “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” are you ready to throw the only kind of Resurrection party worthy of the occasion—that Sunday when we run huffing and puffing from the open tomb, beating our pots and pans in that clanging raucous outburst that begins with those three resounding words: “He is risen.”  But that’s not the end—the Resurrection is just the beginning! After Christ’s birth was His death. So, on the shepherds would go to the season of Pentecost! Pentecost is the celebration of the Spirit, the One who moves in mysterious ways.

Jesus is not with us in body, He’s with us in Spirit. He’s risen, but He’s also here, in ways that transcend language, and so reflect on this for a season, tuning your radar to the divine presence in every moment of every day.  So we like the shepherds are headed somewhere, coming from somewhere else, and doing it along side others, as a community of disciples, as a community group made up of individuals, as a church.

In life I sometimes find myself exhausted, other times I’m overwhelmed with doubt. Sometimes I’m on top of the world and everything is going smoothly, other times I find myself standing in the midst of the wreckage, surrounded by smoldering flames, wondering how it all went so wrong!?....

The issue then, as it is now, isn’t just getting me out of Egypt (figuratively)—it’s getting the Egypt out of me. It’s rescuing me from sameness, dullness, flatlined routine, reminding me that however I’m feeling, whatever I’m experiencing, wherever I’m at in my heart—the Spirit waits to meet me there (aka: a timeless saying, “God want to meet you right where your at.”)

APPLICATION
That takes me to Advent! Advent, then, is a season! The church calendar is about seasons, whole periods of time I enter into with a specific cry, a particular intention, for a reason. Societies calendar revolves around season - unknowingly where it began....

Advent is about anticipating the birth of Christ! It’s about longing, desire, that which is yet to come. That which isn’t here yet. And so in these days before Christmas I wait, expectantly (like a child excited about Christmas day) With an ache. Why? Something being hoped for.

Why does Advent mean so much to me? Cynicism is the unsaid new religion of our time. Saying, “Whatever it is, this religion teaches that it isn’t as good as it seems. It will let me down. It will betray me. That institution? That church? That politician? That authority figure?” Teaching individuals, “They’ll all let me down. Whatever I do, I need to not get my hopes up. Whatever you think it is, whatever it appears to be, it will burn you, just give it time.”

Advent confronts this corrosion of the heart with the insistence that God has not abandoned the world, hope is real and something is coming. Advent charges into the temple of cynicism with a whip of hope, overturning the tables of despair, driving out the priests of that jaded cult, announcing there’s a new day and it’s not like the one that came before it.

Another question: “Were the shepherds more apt to respond to a the angels guidance because of ‘TIMELINESS’ in which everything was occurring? (aka: a master plan)”

PRAYER
God, Your promises, Your plans, Your calendar, Your timing are all perfect.  Honestly, I work on different timeline than You at times - God... lol... Help me hold fast to Your promises and return to the traditions You’ve set out to help me consciously develop a genuine relationship with You as I continue to daily holdfast to the hope which is before me. - Trevor

Your thoughts?

Remembering Past Trails, Perseverance, & His Promise.

Today’s reading: Hebrew 10 NASB
SCRIPTURE 
“You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” Hebrews 10:34-36 NASB

OBSERVATION
Have you ever prayed for something, whether it be a family member’s salvation or a change in a situation, for weeks, months, or even years to seeminglyhear no answer, to see no divine move, and to feel no peace? The fervor you once prayed with begins to dwindle, as your faith begins to sink. Your passion and trust begin to die with each passing day, and the voices of doubt and giving up have gone from a whisper to a shout. It’s in these moments that we must remember our past trails, return to God’s word and daily obedience - moving forward in endurance, and holding fast to His promise (a hope before us). The author of Hebrews has laid out the promises and faithfulness of God, he has displayed his superiority to all that has been taught before, and he has laid a foundation for the listener’s faith. Having revealed the Truth, the author then exhorts the people of God to remember and rejoice that they might continue to patiently endure the trials before them. He encourages them to stand strong in faith and hope, knowing that God’s love is steadfast and his promises are assured. He says, Remember those times you suffered, when you were thrown in jail and everything was taken from you? Do you remember how you gladly accepted those times in joy, knowing that God had a plan and better things awaited you, eternal things. Return to that trust in God, remember His promises, and rejoice in your present trials, as your eyes are fixed on the eternal. Do these things that you might be filled with the patient endurance that you need now, so that you might not stray from the path and plan He has you on.
     
APPLICATION
This is one of those, “easier said then done” God!

I know this. I know the right answers, and know what I’m supposed to do, but in all honesty, I just don’t want to a times. I know I’m supposed to have joy in the midst of the storm, I know I’m supposed to find love in the midst of the loneliness, I know that I’m supposed to be grateful for what He has granted, but finding the strength can seem like mission impossible. So God what’s one key - what’s are some baby steps that I can win at.... in the midst of feeling worn down…..

Return to God’s Word in obedience, return to cultivating a genuine relationship with Him, return to genuine prayer.
Remember Jesus’ love that pursues me, remember His grace that forgave me, remember He has given me the faith to believe, and remember His faithfulness through previous struggles, and remember how He has never let you down (Yes, I’ve felt as if I was left hanging out to dry, but God came through in His time.).
Persevere: Seek, question, rediscover, rewrite, resolve, etc...  perseverance pays off.

As I return to God’s Word in obedience - persevering through times of doubt / difficulty - then I’m truly transformed by God’s ways.  Wow, it’s as if God uses difficult times to fine tune my life.  When then do I complain, grumble, and cry about difficult time?  Bottom line: I don’t like them but today see that trails have a purpose.

As I choose return to His ways (obedience), and as I choose to remember God’s goodness, He will strengthen me with the patient endurance to make it though. So often I want endurance, but we are unwilling to take the time and effort to remember I asked for it.

What would be your life application to this text?

Am I tied up with burdens or freely living?

Am I tied up with burdens or freely living?

“....all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.  They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on mens’ shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men...” - Matthew 23:3-5 NASB

OBSERVATION

As I pause.... closing my eyes I attempted to visualize, a large crowd gathering around Jesus to listen.  His followers move just a bit closer, His words challenge their emotion’s and logic as He appears to be unafraid of individuals with influence and power - questing cultural traditions and the actions of all leadership. 

Hmmmm.... .... as I try to figure out how to follow Jesus, I encountered countless times of wrestling with the Bible.  Why?  

1. Via reading, I came acrossed words, concepts, and theories that were complete foreign.
2. Through listening to various pastors and teachers I’ve become even more confused at times.  Many of them derive points that can’t be found in the context of that passage or chapter - bottom line: Many have become excellent self-help orators.  

I’ve been around the western church for a substantial amount of time and have heard Matthew 23:3-5 avoided. Let’s dig and break the text down,

““....all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.  They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on mens’ shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men...” - Matthew 23:3-5 NASB

What conclusions can I take straight from the text (NO SIDESTEPPING):

    -Individuals that masquerade and will give me “LIP SERVICE”.

        -AKA: Say one do another, pretend, etc...  

    -Masquerading individuals will place burdens on others 

    -Posing Individuals that WILL NOT assist. 

    -Pretentious individual do everything to be noticed / esteemed by others.

      

APPLICATION 

As I re-read Matthew 23:3-5 I wrestling with a personal application.... so, what Biblical truth can I walk away with today? I can’t discount myself from masquerading.... so how do I roll this out? 

-Be mindful of my actions.

-Be transparent with desires.  

-I’m also NOT responsible for others decisions. 

-Be committed to keeping my word.

-Walk alongside others as I’d want them to do for me.   

Your thoughts?

More than a religious action...

More than a religious action....

“¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” (*quoting Jeremiah 31:33) ¹⁷ Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (*quoting Jeremiah 31:34) ¹⁸ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” -Hebrews 10:16-17 NIV

OBSERVATION

The primary purpose of the Letter to the Hebrews is to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. The central thought of the entire Epistle is the doctrine of the Person of Christ and his role as mediator between God and humanity.

No author is internally named. Since the earliest days of the Church, the authorship has been debated. In the 4th century, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo supported Paul's authorship: the Church largely agreed to include Hebrews as the fourteenth letter of Paul, and affirmed this authorship until the Reformation. However, many scholars now believe that the author was one of Paul's pupils or associates, citing stylistic differences between Hebrews and the other Pauline epistles.

The epistle opens with an exaltation of Jesus as "the radiance of God's glory, the express image of his being, and upholding all things by his powerful word."^[ The epistle presents Jesus with the titles "pioneer" or "forerunner," "Son" and "Son of God," "priest" and "high priest." It has been described as an "intricate" New Testament book. The epistle casts Jesus as both exalted Son and high priest, a unique dual Christology.

As I reread Hebrews 10:16-17, the authors grammatical tense and selection of Old Testament quotations captured my attention.

Let’s go vs 16, “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time...”  From this statement I can conclude that the author is about to roll out a “new” covenant that will be established “after that time...” 

First things first. In order to answer the question, “after what time?” I need to read the entire text the author is referencing.  

Let’s go Jeremiah 31:1-33.  In this section of text, I found Jeremiah discussing: A. God’s sovereignty. B. God’s desire for all people to know and be in a genuine growing relationship with Him. C. God’s faithfulness to respond (this is often outside my timeline). D. Obedience to the Old Testament law. E. Discipline. F. A promise to bring the people back from captivity. (When? Unknown.)

Wow, this sounds a bit like a few sections of my life’s story!  Respectable guidance from my dad, a close mentor, an old friend, and what do I do.... not listen / do what I want!  What are the results of not listening?  Discovering things through consequences / discipline.

Let’s jump back into Hebrews 10:16-17,

“I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” (*quoting Jeremiah 31:33) ¹⁷ Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (*quoting Jeremiah 31:34) ¹⁸ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” -Hebrews 10:16-17 NIV

Now that sounds like Good News in the midst of everyday life!  

• God will put HIs laws in my heart, and He will write them on my mind.
• My sin and lawless acts (sin/lawless act = that violates a known moral rule in a religion. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Sin can refer not only to physical actions taken, but also to thoughts and internalized motivations and feelings. Colloquially, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, shameful, harmful, or alienating might be termed "sinful".) God will remember no more!  
• Why? look at verse 18
• And where I have been forgiven (my sin and lawless acts), sacrifice (Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship) is no longer necessary.
• A.K.A.: God is the ultimate / final judge of every individual.  He states, I’m forgiving and sacrifice is no longer necessary.  

Four questions come to mind, A) Why should I desire to be ‘forgiven?’ B) What does it mean to be ‘forgiven’ by God? The concepts of ‘forgiveness’ suggest that I have an offense with God - hmm.... C) How does God issue ‘forgiveness?’ D) How does God’s ‘forgiveness’ play out for those prior / after the establishment of the ‘new’ covenant? A.K.A. How does it play out for me?

Okay, I can go on and on today; however, my time is limited.

APPLICATION

If I’m really about developing a relationship God verses merely being apart of some religious movement / organization. A vital aspect to my relationship with God - as well as to my understanding of God - to wrestle with these and other questions via my interactions with Him via reading the Bible.

- Reading alone is like asking my wife to go see a movie and then never interacting about it -(lol)- if I’m wise I’m not going down that road.  

• Observing, reading, and questioning / interacting (via writing out my thoughts, questions, and interaction with the text via observations / applications) moves this from a practical / logical routine into a relational aspect.

This is really “good news” / something I would share!  

PRAYER 

Jesus, once again, I’m amazing at the simplicity and priceless work You accomplished on the Cross.  Help me keep Your message oh so ‘good.’  Honestly, God it’s easy to become numb and calloused - desiring to view the bible as no more than a historical book due to the weight / guilt that can be derived from it.  Thank you, freedom.  Thank you, for desiring Thank you, for speaking directly to the culture / time when you walked the earth - thank you for extending “forgiveness” to me. I still have questions and it’s freeing to know - it’s all good!  God, help me daily aline my heart, my mind, and my life to You - Jesus.  Help me make time for that which is most important - TIME W/ YOU.  Continue to refine and guidance my heart & mind - thank you for being a God that daily gives me great life lessons. ThankYOU. - Trevor

Your thoughts?