Love the Girl

I was just thinking about some things lately. I was thinking about my woderful woman, who, by the way, is quite smashing and makes me want to be romantic. I'm usually not an uber-excitable guy. I tend to keep quiet half the time. I usually like to make sure what I say is worth saying. But Kelly makes me like a kid that does not worry about what should be said and is excited to even say hey. She is wonderful, and I hope that I am being just as wonderful to her. I want to be everything she dreams a man to be. I know a lot of guys that don't care about that. I just wish every woman could have a guy that would give up anything and everything for her.

I have heard guys who have girlfriends oogle and drool over woman that are on tv or jogging on the sidewalk. I have to say to you guys, eventually it comes out and the girl sees you for who you really are. These are the same guys that get married and wonder why they are living a wrecked marriage. So what if I watch some skinny 19 year old run down the beach on MTV. I'm not bangin her. I'm just watching. Guys, that doesn't help.

Here is what a girl hears. "I know I'm supposed to be with you and love you. But this girl looks better than you. You have become second best to me, and I just don't want to share this with you. I want to please myself instead of letting you please me" (Girls, you can expand a little in the comments if you want to). Yes, she hears that. And although the gals can have their share of faults, that doesn't license us to intentionally fail.

Genesis paints the picture a little better. When Adam first looks at Eve,

HE

IS

IMPRESSED.

It doesn't go into how hot she looks. It only shows that he sees his mate, and says, "she is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh." The word bone here is also understood as substance or self. The word flesh is a connotation of blood relation of sorts. And although his naming her in such a way may be done in some sort of way, he is actually naming her his equal. She is not lesser than him so that he can treat her less than him, nor is she better than him, and, as I think Paul is hinting at, to be over him in authority (I say that because Paul was a well educated Jew and would have been taught such the position on this was a mix of social commentary saying where we are and where we should be).

So how are you treating your woman?

Are you worried about her feeling loved and being brought up to equality with you?

Or are you worried about yourself getting what will make you feel satisfied, in control, powerful, manipulative, etc.?

I think we need to be aiming ourselves at loving others more than ourselves, even our women, especially our women. Stop being caught up in the ways of the empire that say you should be caught up in filling yourself with the breads of ill-gotten gains. Worry about giving your earnings and your rights and your agendas to God and others. Don't give in to the rebellion that says fight for you rights to party and be your own man. Give in to service and love.

Promote peace, promote grace, promote God's love to others, even the ladies (can I hear it for the girl power in the hizzouse.)

Protect the Sabbath

I started thinking about some things in recent days. I hit a snag in my thoughts about how to treat people on sunday while in church. Some find it hard to recognize people on stage when trying to worship God. I can't make up my mind on the standing ovations. Sure, I am there to worship God, that is primary, but am I not part of a community of worship? And if so, am I not to show gratitude when someone blesses. I really thought about it today. We went to see Jim Caviesel, the guy who played Jesus in the Passion movie. I started thinking about how some people were looking at the situation. I decided to not stand and applaud him, but what was I doing in my approaching this worship service. I was very excited in seeing him as a hero of our faith (yes, he's a christian). I even was excited about sitting closer to the front (I was only four rows from the front). Was I not giving him the same praise? Take note that I usually sit in the back seating of the sanctuary. I found myself after the service quite a contradiction. Maybe I have in this turned away from being gracious and loving, even if a little stupid. I am starting to wonder if I would rather be humbly and lovingly stupid, rather than being the prick who thinks that he has to defend the Sabbath based on his knowledge on Scripture.

Don't get me wrong, there are aspects of worship that should be protected. But I don't think that this is it anymore. I mean, why focus on this when half our praise and worship songs are not even directed towards God. That honestly seems more important (if you have noticed, this usually effects which songs I lift my hands and close my eyes and which songs I simply sing with normal attitude). I think it is out of place and very innapropriate. Sometimes inconsistent, just like the people who say they are adamant against certain things in a service, but later you see them doing those very things (coffee drinking for example).

My point is that I'm done with my agenda. I'm gonna try to focus on God's agenda. Don't lose sight of God being holy, because he is holy, but remember that you are in a community of God, and God looks at these very people with grace and even, dare I say, praise. Just read some of the bible and you will see that God in some way praises certain people. Some sense of honor, thanks, or lifting up is given to them.

And let's also think of how much of this "applause" we give to the people of the bible. Are they more important than us? Are you not giving them that same status, if not more, as God? According to the no applause logic, we might be doing just that.

I can't help but think of the Pharisees who wanted so bad to lift up their nation and be holy and blessed by God, but in seeking blessing, they cursed others. We should not do this. Let's love on others instead of being people who seek to just exclusive. Set yourself apart, but don't push people away. Be different, but stop being distant. I think I might be guilty of this, so I think I'm going to be more gracious. Like I hinted at earlier, you practically applaud Abraham, David, Peter, and Paul, so do the same to the man who is next to you or near you. That is scriptural.

What Are We?

I watched Lions For Lambs last night. Not the award winning type, but it is intriguing as a point maker. It made me think about the country I live in and how "Rome is burning" as Robert Redford's character in the movie put it. It seems as if we might have been easily decieved by the media's quest for sensational and America's quest for the status quo. We do not care about what is important, instead we want things that chill us or light us up. We are arrogant, stupid, and apathetic.

This is our country. You turn on the news during the day, and it is not about how we have failing cities, a surprising amount of poor or unemployed folks, or even about how the war is really going. It is about mortgage, pop stars, and scandals. The real important stuff is usually scrolling on the bottom of the screen on CNN or Fox News. Every once in awhile we hit a good story. But the next day, its back to the status quo. We do not dialogue about the issues, we usually want to ignore them, and even when we do try to dialogue, we usually rant and rave. We are more concerned with things looking alright than answering, or at least living in, the problem. Immigration is a great example. This is a complex issue, but we usually only see one side of the coin. Why? Because inconveniences us. "They took our jobs!!!" as South Park would say it. So what do we plan to do. We want to build a wall. But what we don't realize is that that is not answering the problem. It only sends it away so that we cannot see it. To really understand this, go study the economy and lifestyle of the country of Mexico.

TV is not going to answer our problems. Do you really think that watching TV is inspiring? I beg to differ. When we think we've been inspired, we are not. We are only made to think, or dare I say wish, that we were good, bad ass, manly, kind, or loving. And instead of actually being what makes us feel good and exploring the potential, we let the movie be something while we waste away to nothing. This is exactly what the world would want, or better yet, what the American Empire would want. If you think I've gone too far in calling America an Empire, there is a reason why I have done so.

The funny thing about empires is this: they conquer, establish their military presence, and then put in the person the deem fitting into the power system they have place over the area. This vaguely familiar to Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet we still look at the other forms of governemnt as the evil. I'm not going to call America evil, but them doing this empirical act does seem at the very least rash, if not arrogant. We fight these wars for control, since aggressive violence is merely a way of establishing your control over something or someone. And as far as establishing military presence, why do you think some of the countries don't like us. And to further their dislike, we would spend an entire blog session on how many countries we've established our own government and our favorite rulers in.

I have a proposition. A form of the separation of Church and state that might be new for some people. The separation would be the means to an end. Let's cut the umbilical chord as Christian. Jesus prayed for the Kingdom of Heaven to come down to earth, so let's be citizens of Heaven. Sure, you are in this country, and I'm not saying riot or revolution, that is not what Jesus taught. But our separation is to make us a discernable entity. Once we become something different, we will be able to hear God's voice telling us to feed the poor, and end the need for food stamps. Adopt the orphan, and end the need for abortion. Practice hospitality, and end homelessness. Practice grace and peace, and end violence and selfishness. What I am saying is that when we look at our loyalty as not to the American Flag, but to the Flag of God, we will serve this nation and point out its faults. We will be able to be heaven here in America and hopefully attract the country to do the same.

So stop being apathetic, and just pay attention for a change.

More Thoughts on the Back Porch

I was just reading N. T. Wright's The Challenge of Jesus, and I hit an interesting spot on the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus promoted. Yes, the infamous Kingdom of Heaven, which has been greatly misinterpreted in the history of the Church.

The scenario in Jesus setting is that they are once again under foreign rule, and more than that, pagan rule, which was not viewed as a return from exile despite the return to their country. It is very intriguing that Wright notes that in the first century Jewish world there were three options as they waited for the messiah.

1. Separate yourself and wait for God to do something (Essenes)

2. Compromise with the authorities and hope that God will validate somehow (Herod)

3. Take up arms and fight the holy war that God will win through you(Pharisees and Zealots)

It is even more intriguing that Wright goes on to say that Jesus was none of these. This does not make any sense in even todays world. All three of these settings seem to make sense. Jesus actually combated these views through parables such as the seeds sown on on different ground and the prodigal son. If you want to see more about that read the chapter "The Challenge of the Kingdom". I'm not going to spell it out here because it would take too long. What Jesus is saying is yes to the end of the exile, but no to the way it was supposed to come according to the Jews of the day.

I find this kind of proposition seems crazy today when thinking of how we think today. These guys were following there own agenda, there own plan on how God was going to win it all. Jesus, however stepped up and said, "Dude, you got it all wrong. I'm coming back, but I'm the one doing a good work in you, so give up your plan, and trust me." Wright mentioned the term repent and believe. It might not be specifically used by Jesus to mean, stop your evil and find religion, but it might actually be meant for religious people to turn from their own understanding and lean on God's (sounds vaguely fimilar from the Old Testament).

Maybe you are rebelling against those who wrong you or those who you dislike for some reason. Maybe you are going to step aside and actually support what is bad in hopes that God will vindicate your so called "peacefullness." Maybe you just want to be separated from all contact and let God work it out.

In my own mind, I agree with Wright, because the pieces fit. And the three patterns go against the incarnation. If you take on #1 you have no chance of being incarnation, period. If you take on #2, you deny that the incarnation seeks to change the world through redemptive, ressurection living. If you go with #3, you deny that God wants to save all the world and includes all people(s) in His great and mighty plan.

These are just my thoughts after reading this chapter. I do hope we learn this perspective of repent and believe. I do hope we learn that we might be following our own wills instead of God's.