Yes, I got hammered in Mexico. Not only that, but I got hammered right in the middle of the day. Maybe I should explain.

You see, a bunch of us went to Juarez during Christmas break. Actually, it was a group from here at SDSU and a group from Oklahoma State. There I was, sitting in the corner, when I really got hammered. In Juarez. In Mexico. I mean, I literally got hammered.

We had gone down to help build a house with a group called Casas por Cristos (Houses for Christ). I was sitting in the corner working on some chicken wire that we put around the house before we stuccoed and all of a sudden, got hammered.

What actually happened was really just an accident. Chris Hill was on the roof working and accidentally dropped his hammer, which immediately descended onto my head.

So you see, I did get hammered in Mexico. But not in a way you might have thought earlier. I got hammered in a good way – doing something in the name of Jesus with a great group of people.

As I thought about our crew there, it occurred to me that this is what following Jesus is all about. One of his radical demonstrations of the breaking-in of the Kingdom of God was the act of table fellowship.

Gathering around the table was an act of acceptance and Jesus ate with a lot of people who usually weren’t accepted around the table of religious folk. It was also a table of all different kinds of people – a lot like our group in Juarez. There were the college students, but from different denominations and backgrounds. There was a 60+ motorcycle salesman and ex-Marine nicknamed “Chuck Norris.” There was a young Asian man named Mike who recently became a Christian and whose parents are Buddhist. There was Zok, a non-believing, Croation geology professor, and two old campus ministers, one whose bald head was hammered by my friend, Chris. And there we all were, coming together in the name of Jesus to share a meal with a Hispanic family in their newly-built, little house. Jesus said that when you do it for those in need and without hope or power it’s the same as doing it for Him.

So I was glad to be hammered in Mexico. There, I got a taste of what happens when the kingdom of Jesus, and not the kingdom of man or religion, has its way.

#1.884628:3204096272.jpg:rickcole02.jpg:Rick Cole, Religion Columnist:

“Your own personal Jesus.” Remember that song? Maybe you’ve heard it back in the day by Depeche Mode, or more recently by Johnny Cash, a version (which was pretty good).

Anyway, did it ever make you think that in some way we all come up with our own personal Jesus? Humor me and try this for a minute while your reading this article.

Let’s say Jesus himself is living physically in our place and time. You see him coming into the Student Union. What’s he look like? What’s he wearing? What’s in his iPod? (assuming he has one). You could probably think of things. What is scary is how much he might look like us. That for me would mean that Jesus would be a short, bald guy listening to classic rock (pretty scary, right?). It’s probably different for you. But in some way, the way we see Jesus reflects the dominant values that we hold.

In fact, a guy named Durkheim said as much. As far as I can understand him, he said that a society takes its values that it deems most important, creates symbols that represent them and, in turn, begins to worship them or project them onto God (the sociologists are going to get me for over- simplifying things, so forgive me). As an example, Durkheim said that “western Christianity is no more that a religionizing of capitalist culture.” Ouch! But you know, I think in many ways he is right. And I’m a Christian guitly of those very things. I know that I have created my own personal Jesus.

What are we to do. In his book “Blue Like Jazz,” author Donald Miller tells of a group of Christians at Reed College in Portland, Ore., setting up a confession booth and confessing those terrible things that have been done when people create their own personal Jesuses. So for my part at least , as a Christ-follower, I apologize for projecting my own ideas, ideals and preferences onto Jesus.

For those of you who are not Christ-followers, please accept this apology for things done in his name which don’t reflect who he is at all. The corrective for what Durkheim calls the “totemizing”of Jesus is to let the New Testament be our corrective.

Here is the one who confronts corrupt leaders and cares for the poor. The one who taught love for God and love for our neighbor, for our enemies and strangers, for the outcast and the alien. The one who said blessed are the peace-makers. The one who died for the sins of the world and rose again. Let’s follow and learn his ways and live by his example, and not our own personal Jesuses.

Brookings Christian Church on campus. Minister with Christian Campus Ministry at SDSU. 692-9203

email: rcdc82@hotmail.com

#1.884628:3204096272.jpg:rickcole02.jpg:Rick Cole, Religion Columnist:

This past December we saw the last installment of one of the grandest stories produced in the annals of human literature. The story, “The Lord of the Rings” is the story of Frodo, Sam, a ring, a King and the struggle of good against evil.

A great part about story and films, amidst the action and special effects, is the story of each character and the part they play in the quest. As the story progresses we see how each one either added to the quest or took away from the quest. Some characters added to it with bravery, goodness and sacrifice. Some of them took away from the quest with greed, deceit, cowardice and evil.

We find ourselves in a story too. It is God’s story, a story of a creator who created a world tht was good and then humankind who as the story goes,”were very good” But something happened to the story line. It was hijacked and became another story, something far from the original story.

And all of us have in someway since that time , to some degree have been passive participants and even coconspirators in the misdirecting of the story. But now God has entered the story to redirect, save and redeem it. He steps into the story to, as one author puts it, “asorb an unfathonable amont of pain, so we won’t suffer it ourselves, so our story won’t have a tragic end.”

There is a passage in the Bible, Matthew 25:31-46, that takes place at the end of this story. In this passage, Jesus separates people into two groups based on what they added or took away from the lives of those they encountered. He talks about those who fed him, clothed him, visited him in prison. Those he is addressing will say, “When did we ever see you this way?” And Jesus will reply that what we did to “the least of these you did to Me.”

To others he says, “You didn’t help me at all, you didn’t feed, clothe or visit me in prison.” And they will say, “When did we see you to help you?” And He will say, “If you didn’t do it for the least of these, you didn’t do for me.”

We are accountable on how we added to the story. How did I contribute to it? How do you contribute to it? What did I add or what didn’t I add to the story of others? What did I do to help connect God’s story with their story? Have we brought justice , grace and mercy or did we bring selfishness, hate and greed to it? How did my life enrich the life of others?

For what I believe to be true, the question is how does my life help people encounter the love of Jesus for them. Have I helped anyone experience God’s greater story of grace and glory? Or am I too busy writing my own storyline?

My friend George Mihai is a Romanian student currently workin in a mission to street people in Amsterdam. He sent me an e-mail telling about some of his experiences around Christmas. Amsterdam has one of the moste extensive red light districts in the world. He tells of caroling with others and suddenly they turned to sing carols in the RLD. As they were doing that , he noticed that one of the girls had gone over to a window where one of the girls working there was posing. He thought she was crazy but he saw her do a very simple thing.

She simply looked the girl in the eye, smiled and wave. The girl in the window gave a shy smile and wave back. A very simple thing. But for once the girl was looked as a person not an object. Someone had stopped to add some dignity to her life, some grace and glory.

I hope today is day that I too can add grace and glory to someone’s life.

Rick Cole is the campus minister for Christian Campus Ministry. You may contact him at rcdc82@hotmail.com.

How do you picture God? Do you picture him kind and generous? Do you picture him as a parent who has always loved you deeply, even when you had left him and were far from home?

One of the greatest stories that Jesus ever told involved a father and a son. The son decides to take a long, hard look at his life, and comes to the conclusion that he doesn’t need what ol’dad has to offer anymore and decides to have a go at being on his own, do his own things for awhile. So he basically tell dad that he can’t wait till he dies to get his inheritance so could he have it now.

Surprisingly, the dad agrees, gives him the money and sees him off.

As the story goes, the son, having thrown off the constrains of his father’s authority, begins to live a pretty wild life and winds up blowing the whole wad on “wild living.” You can fill in what that would be for you if you were in the same situation. He finally runs out of cash and his friends run out on him to look for some other party. He is now at the point that he is going to have to work or starve to death.

When you are desperate, you’ll look to do whatever you can, so he gets a job at the local pig farm. The bad thing is that he comes to realize that the pigs have got a better deal than he does. So he begins to think about home and how good he had it there.

He doesn’t seem particularly sorry that he ran out on his father who had been dead to him all this time. He doesn’t seem to be thinking about the irresponsibilty of his decision or that maybe he broke dad’s heart. In fact, when you look at it , it doesn’t seem that he considers his father any more that a meal ticket. He comes to the decision to go home because he knows that he can get three square meals a day there. And I suppose when you’re starving that’s reason enough.

He sets out for home, and on the way rehearses a speech that he has written which he hopes will soften the old man’s heart towards him.

You’ve probably been there. Most of us know what things to say to get to those who know us whether we mean them or not.

The son rehearses that fact that he’s made a big mistake, he was wrong, and for an extra bit of clout says that he’s not even worthy to be called a son anymore. So he practices so as to say it just right. But just about the time he thinks he has it down, his father spots him from the top of the hill and starts running towards him like a maniac. Before the son has a chance to say anything at all, dad throws his arms around him, and knocks him off his feet with tears and begins to laugh for joy at his son’s return.

In the culture that this story was written, this was an almost unforgivable display by the father, a reaction that would disgrace him in front of his family and friends. But you know that’s the kind of God, Jesus is pointing to.

For of course, that is really what story was about, God’s love for those who run away from him, stop believing in him and consider him dead.

Outrageous love. It’s love that can’t be earned. It is love that isn’t deserved. It’s the kind of love that we would say is too good to be true. And though you may have known God for a long time, maybe you’ve never quite experienced the depth of this outrageous love.

We simply are not accustomed to the brand of love God offers. We often assume, if we believe in him, that a holy God would be more irritated, disappointed, or even furious with our imperfections and yes, sins.

Like the son in the story, God offers to embrace us with a love that is without regard to what we deserve.

That’s what Christianity refers to as grace. It is its unique feature. I don’t know about you but I find this outrageous love perplexing and unerving because it doesn’t opperate according to our idea of what is fair.

To that I just shake my head and say thank you. What’s your response?

This past semester our Bible study has been centered around “Hard Questions.”

Interestingly enough, the night we were dealing with the topic of premarital sex was the night before the Collegian’s article on Love and Sex came out. I thought it was very interesting and we used some of the issues brought up in the article to discuss in our studies.

The last installment of the Collegian’s series was especially poignant, I thought. The question of what love is and the hope of finding true love, a love that is more than biological, more than just a drive, love that does stand the test of time touches us all very deeply.

Is there a love beyond reason or are we just mammals who do it like they do on the Discovery Channel?

You would think that if love is just biology then it would never rise above a sense of self-preservation and gratification. But then why do I see and hear of instances of love shown in self-sacrifice?

If love is there just to meet my needs, why do I see it meeting the needs of others even those who are enemies?

Just recently, I finished a book by a Romanian pastor by the name of Richard Wurmbrand. He tells of his experience in the communist prisons in Romania during the 1950s and early 1960s.

He tells of the torture and pain and sickness and hatred that grew in the men who were locked up there for years but he also tell of the giving and self-sacrifice that was apparent in that place, beyond all reason. He himself contracted tuberculosis and it took several years for any medicine to be allowed inside. When he received it, he gave away to others who needed it more.

This is love beyond biology.

One of his fellow prisoners was a doctor who had been severely beaten by another prisoner. When that man was sick, the doctor tenderly met his needs.

This is love beyond drives.

Back in February I sat in a hospital room while a husband sat and held the hand of his dying wife.

Both of them were 97 years old and very feeble. But there was love in that room, love born out of 72 years of commitment to each other.

Jesus tells us that there is a love above all.

He said it this way: “I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you. And here is how to measure it – the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.”(John 15:12,13)

Jesus tells us there is a love that is more than biology, more than erotic arousal.

It is a love that goes beyond those we love and who love us back.

We don’t see it much because we tend to be selfish.

But it is there.

Not only does he tell us but he showed us too on the cross. Romans 5:10 says we were restored to friendship with God by the death of His own son, while we were still his enemies.

Maybe that’s why God is restrictive in this wonderful gift of sex.

Maybe it’s only in the context of two people sacrificing some of their freedoms and rights for each other in a covenant relationship that sex plays the role that it is supposed to play.

Maybe God knows we are like the little boy who had never seen a circus.

One day he heard that one was coming to town so he begged his dad to let him go. His dad finally said yes and gave him the money to go, even though the family was very poor. Off he ran to town.

On the way, he saw the circus parade passing by. He was thrilled to see the clowns and acrobats and animals.

As the last clown passed by the boy reached into his pocket and gave the clown his money and headed home. The boy thought that he had seen the circus when he had only seen the parade.

Maybe God knows how easy it is to settle for second best when it comes to love and sex and not see all that He has to offer.

Is there a higher love?

I know there is. I see it in Jesus who loves me and gave himself up for me.

And I see Him in my wife and friends who love me even when I’m unlovable and not very sexy.