Into the Sky

For Sky,

Every once in a while in the life of every genuine believer in Christ, you tend to ask the question: "LORD, what are we fighting for?"

And the question is bigger than just a sentence.

Lord, what are we fighting for? Why does it seem that the Devil is winning somehow in our society today? How come kids whose love for Christ seemed so strong at first somehow vanishes over time?

WHY ARE WE, THE CHURCH, DOING NOTHING AS MILLIONS AROUND SUFFER???

And every once in a while God answers in a whisper, in a still, small voice.

His name was Bryan, friends call him "Sky." He attended a youth camp eager for fun, life and just living it out to the fullest, never knowing that God was already there waiting for Him--in fact God planned everything out for Him all Bryan's life. But Bryan's story wasn't just about himself.

It was also the story of how a young man desperately yearning to change the world found the true meaning of Christ's death and resurrection. It was also MY story, too.

At first glance, Sky was a true-blue gangsta, street-wise, living a very colorful life. At that camp, however, in God's careful scrutiny, I saw the real man from the inside. Bryan was, in God's eyes, "a man of steel with a heart of gold." Right then and there in those short five days of that camp I watched how God's love and justice forge this man. I was completely overwhelmed.

Then the first word God ever spoke to me for a very long time.

"See, my son. It is possible."

Whatever I wanted this nation to be, a people who would be holy, merciful and just before the LORD, it is most certainly possible. In five days he made a miracle out of Bryan. But I never knew He would make a miracle out of me, too.

Bryan had potential. Somehow inside his soul I can see eagles' wings. His nickname, Sky, was most definitely appropriate for him. God built this man to fly, farther and higher than what I could ever possibly achieve. I wish there was some way I could communicate this to him, that God most certainly had great things in store for him: but there's a catch.

I wish I could tell Sky that God chose him and set him apart because God knew he would understand the meaning of the word "Loyalty." The word "Faith" in the Bible was translated from the Latin word "Fides" which means "Loyalty." Having come from a fraternity, even heading one at that, God knew Bryan understood what God demanded out of him: Loyalty, to the death, no turning back now.

"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His." -2 Chronicles 16:9

Unfortunately, the man in the Bible whom God told this to, King Asa, failed to be loyal to the LORD his God. I know Bryan is not like this king, so God tells him before hand.

Before a great victory there must be a great war. The greater the war, the greater the victory.
But the war Sky would have to face for the days ahead would be a war unlike anything he has ever encountered in his entire life. It would be a war done not by weapons like knives or guns. This would be a war inside the hearts of men. God wants souls saved and lives changed. This was a war that involved courage and conviction, love and truth.

"We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient." -2Corinthians 10:3-6

It would also be my war as well as I would have to fight along side him.

But the greatest of these would be this: I have never seen a man who has genuinely loved other people as Bryan did. Being given so little love in his lifetime, I find it so amazing that he has given so much away for others. I was one of them that was blessed by his heart. A close friend of mine even commended him saying, "Tol, iba yan si Bryan. May matinding calling yan sa LORD."

And in this God showed me more than just a battlefield of souls being won or lost.

I saw something far more.

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." -Matthew 6:19-21

Hence the second whisper of Jesus to my heart:

"The only treasure you have in heaven are relationships. Friends, family, loved ones--these are the treasures that Jesus Christ died for and thus prove their true worth. And He lives again to take good care of them."

Bryan is a treasure to me as I was to him. Not only him, but the rest of the people in that camp whom I've been friends with. Jesus Christ did not die for programs; not for presentations; not for politics; not even for power.

Jesus Christ DIED and LIVES AGAIN for PEOPLE.

He loved us with an everlasting love. And that was why He was demanding loyalty from all of us, me, Bryan, and the rest of the Church.

The world needs God and we will be the ones who would share Him and His love to them.

I stretched out the wings of my soul in the pages you have thus read before you, hoping that you too would spread your wings with me.

To fly into the sky, towards the ends of the earth shouting what great love has been given to us and to make our dreams alive once again, that happiness and peace was possible in this planet despite the existence of pain, that forgiveness need not to be faked out anymore.

Yes, as Christ Jesus flew away 2,000 years ago we too would fly with Him into the sky. And we wish as many as possible could join us.

"We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words." -1Thessalonians 4:15-18

Looking forward to flying with you, bro. Godspeed!


-Into the sky, Andrew Caleb T. Gorospe, 28th of April, 2009 1:48am