love... [II of III]

I'm sure at one point in our life we've heard the following portion of the Declaration of Independence: ...all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

But what does unalienable mean? Unalienable simply means that something is incapable of being transferred, surrendered, or alienated. 

We know the same to be true of the love of God. No matter what your station in life is, it is reassuring that nothing can separate from the love of our father, friend, and savior. Paul is writing to the Romans and breaks out in a 'flow' if you will. There is a sing-song quality about the portion of text that I can hear in my head. If I was a rapper, I'd come up with a sick beat and bust it out like it was 1996 again... ficky, ficky, ficky, yeeeeaaahh! Somebody stop me.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,

or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we are killed

all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yes in all these things we are 

more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death

nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the 

LOVE of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

No matter what we are going through, God is on our side. Whatever trial we are traversing, God is on our side. Though the fire be hot and the waters deep, God is on our side. Why? Because God's love is unalienable.

in the name of love...

While in Israel a few weeks ago, I got several opportunities to speak with Sonny from the rock band, P.O.D. (Yeah, yeah, I'm name dropping, but I never get to meet rock stars so let me have my fun!). While sitting by the Dead Sea he candidly asked me some questions about ministry, life, and the direction for the 21st century church. We waxed philosophically with a few other 20somethings as the sun set and continued talking until the sun rose over the lifeless sea. After hours and hours of endless cups of dark coffee and circular banter with people from various backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures, Sonny asks me, So why do you do what you do? What makes you continue to fight this fight and not grow weary from religious bigots or secular heathens. I blinked  a few times (a fool-proof stall tactic I use when I'm thinking), and mumbled one word: LOVE.

Silence blanketed the group and I didn't know whether they thought it was a cliche answer or something profound. Instead of listening to Israeli crickets chirp, I opened my mouth and filled in the gaps. 1 John 4:8 says that God IS love. If we really believe this statement, then our interactions with prostitutes or professors, hood rats or Hollywood's elite, those who are Christian or those who are carnal will be motivated and predicated by the LOVE of God. God IS love... therefore wherever I walk, whenever I talk, when I teach or when I preach, I want to do everything in the name of LOVE, for God is LOVE. 

No one moved until Sonny let out a long sigh. It was almost as if they were awaiting his sage response as affirmation of my statement... good thing he nodded his head and replied, That's deep, Bianca, that's deep. I let out a long sigh and felt like I had a revelation; like a glimmer of Life coming from the Dead Sea. It was fabulous. It was magical. It was needed. 

I returned home and made the vow that things were going to change in all aspects of my life. So here I am! This is the genesis of a new season in my life and I am happy. I'm going to live in LOVE in the name of LOVE... for God is LOVE.

Walk. Talk. Teach. Preach. In The Name Of Love.

Bianca