“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23, ESV.

I try to keep myself out of my articles as best as I can. I do use a lot of “I” pronouns, but that is simply stress a biblical point. While my faith is personal the principles that define Christianity, which theDispersion feel strong enough to write about, have next to nothing to do with how I feel. As always theDispersion appreciates all emails in which you believe that my personal feelings about a subject have gone against a biblical principle. This series is going to be the most about me that I will probably ever write on theDispersion. However this series is really not about me, but rather about what the Lord has done in me. This series is painful for me to consider and hard for me to write. The deep idols of my heart have been hard to live with, harder to identify, and even harder to write for everyone to see. This series is designed to show you that I am a sinner and that you are not alone in your struggles. It is important for those who write to show their scars. That way those who read can find comfort when they themselves get cut by life. I am not a glass doll, I am not perfect, and God is not done with me yet. The reason why I called this “Cross Shaped Box” is referenced in Luke 9. I have always loved this verse because it means that God understands that we all have crap in our past. The is a heavy burden, a memento of shame. My shames will be exposed in this series. However God takes me with my shame. The verse does not tell us to let our crosses go, or to somehow disassemble our crosses and make them into a bridge so that we can somehow get closer to Jesus. No, God wants us to carry our cross as we walk with him. It is a glad and light burden that I bear, because I know that I carry it with grace and to complete freedom.