Jesus and Me

So, my name is Daniel, and I guess the most interesting part of my life is that I grew up in the little country of Albania. I was born in Greece because my parents were missionaries in the region and when I was 13 months old we moved to Tirana, the capital of Albania. I lived there until I moved to Portland two years ago to start attending George Fox. I'm a political science major here at Fox and have thoroughly enjoyed it! Political science challenges me, makes me think, and I really enjoy the study of it. On top of all that, I really love the Bible and teaching on it. Teaching is one of the ways I feel like I can serve others around me and I work hard at it. I grew up in a nondenominational church and now attend a nondenominational church as well. Both churches are marked by unity, love, and guided by the scriptures.

This blog is all about Jesus. False. Actually it’s about me interacting with Jesus, authors and their ideas about Jesus, and my Life of Christ class. I guess the focus is definitely geared towards Jesus though. Who is Jesus? Gee, where to start. First the facts: he was a man that lived in Galilee about two thousand years ago. He was a teacher and was crucified on a cross by the Romans. After this is gets personal to what I believe, but to me, he wasn’t just a teacher and a rabbi. He was the Christ and is the Christ because he rose again and lives today. He’s our savior, and died on the cross to redeem creation, and reunite us with God.

I think one of the most meaningful stories about Jesus to me is the story where he is asleep on the boat and they get trapped in a storm at sea. The disciples, as some were expert fishermen, knew by the type of storm and severity of the wind and waves that they were doomed. They had grown up on this sea, and were probably still telling stories about the time Uncle Bartholomew went out into a storm like this and didn’t come back! In the world they lived in, this storm meant death. They wake Jesus up and he calms the winds and the seas, then turns to the disciples and asks, “Why were you afraid? Oh you of little faith.” I love that story because it reminds me that Jesus reality functions in a different way than my reality, and if I let him, he makes his reality my reality too.

I love the style of this class. The interaction with Jesus and the authors who are brilliant thinkers is truly how I learn. This type of learning is what I do on my own time so I’m really looking forward to expanding my thinking, building new pathways in my brain, and examining the person of Jesus in a deeper way.

Things that challenge me about Jesus? Well, what doesn’t challenge me about Jesus! In Sheldon’s famous book In His Steps, characters try to make every decision in a fashion that Jesus would for a year. This leads to hard decisions, and good decisions. Honestly, I think it’s Jesus holiness that challenges me the most. His purity and upright nature, call me onward, inward, and upward. Also, I think how he took on the very nature of a servant calls me to greater character transformation, to that of a true, humble servant.