Who is God?

So...who IS God? Have you ever really stopped to ponder that question? For me, I guess the first answer that pops into my mind would be: Creator of Everything. But that's taking the easy way out! God is so much more than "The Creator." In the book, Chan states:

"We have seen how He is the Creator of both the magnitude of the galaxies and the complexity of caterpillars. But what is He like? What are His characteristics? What are His defining attributes? How are we to fear Him? To speak to Him? Don't check out here. We need to be reminded of this stuff. It is both basic and crucial." p. 30

Chan outlines six characteristics of God and we'll look at the first one today:

God is holy.

This is probably what I heard most about God when I was growing up. However, my understanding of holy was left to my own devices. No one ever explained what holy actually meant. Over time, I began to associate it with my own sense of inadequacy...meaning that it wasn't nessecarily about what God was, but more about what I wasn't. This seems a rather self-centered logic, but Chan's take on the word holy focuses on the flawed human perspective.

"To say that God is holy is to say that He is set apart, distinct from us. And because of His set apart-ness, there is no way we can fathom all of who He is. To the Jews, saying something three times demonstrated its perfection, so to call God 'Holy, Holy, Holy' is to say that He is perfectly set apart, with nothing and no one to compare Him to. That is what it means to be 'holy'." p. 31

So, in other words, it's beyond our human understanding. Whether you associate holiness with a building, or a religious ritual...whatever it is... it's not even close to the true holiness of God. It's beyond our understanding, beyond our flesh and blood. We try so hard, as human beings, to make sense of everything. We arguably label ourselves superior to all other creatures inhabiting this Earth. But, we are not superior to God. We are not meant to understand Him...His holiness is beyond our understanding. There are many that mock my faith , my reverence for God. They call me ignorant. But after reading this and spending time contemplating the subject for this blog, I've come to realize that it's not about my ignorance...it's about their arrogance.

THE PUSH

So...I'm not giving homework today! To be honest, I'm still recovering from my trip to Nicaragua. It's been an emotional 48 hours for me...trying to make sense of everything. I miss the children we met there, but I also miss the people I served with. That trip was such a HUGE blessing to me. I had the awesome chance to serve God and show His love, but I also got to meet and serve along side of some truly amazing people that have profoundly changed my life. I'm attaching a link to a video that was played for the kids right before they left. It was a compilation of pictures from their time at camp...set to a truly amazing song that speaks volumes. Check it out when you get a chance!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zEXybVTBvk