super fly blog

WORDPRESS

2008-06-13T17:58:00.001-07:00

That's it folks, I'm switching to wordpress. Adios to this blog. I'll give it a couple weeks before I delete this blog. You can find me at Russell Purvis's Weblog. Been nice, but time for something better.

Memorial Day thoughts

2008-05-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

I was just sitting here today, and I started thinking of Memorial day. Now some of you have already read my post on where I primarily hold my citizenship, not just as a spiritual reality, but as a physical reality as well (as if there can really be a distinction made). I do want to touch on war and soldiers a little. It is a very touchy subject when you look across the entire board of Christianity.

I do want to say that I am not a big fan of war. War in the end does bring death. Some will retort with, "But we have to defend ourselves" or "The Bible doesn't condemn war." To the first, I am more understanding, but for the later, I think it's a bit more complicated. I do see how a country will have to defend itself, although defining defense is very important. If someone flies planes into thousands of people in a couple buildings and threatens to do more harm to you, it might be time to consider certain measures. As for the later, I think looking at God's words through Jesus and the prophets will prove that killing was not liked. And if it could be avoided, it should. Jesus endlessly scolded the zealots for taking a military agenda against those who were in leadership over them (the Romans). He said, in a nutshell, that the Kingdom was more than the land you own, the family ties you have, or the religious identity that was tied to the first two. He even says that the peace-makers will be blessed. I do think that he loved them though, and that he said it as a Lord who wanted the best for his ambassadors. He also loved the Romans they were against. He even praised a Roman military officer. All that is to say, even if Jesus was against unnecessary violence, he love the fighters. And when you love both sides of a fight, your views of violence change exponentially.

As far as soldiers are concerned, I love those guys as I love everyone else. It is not right, nor is it logical, to show hate and to scorn the soldier because he has shot someone, for in hating and spitting on a soldier, you in turn promote the core of violence, which is hate itself. Maybe Jesus was a bit insightful on this issue when he said to love your enemies. When a soldier comes home, don't ask how he can kill innocent people; instead, ask him what you can do for him. Be light to him. Show him that you love him despite his current situation. And for the soldiers, love on the people who mock you. It is surprising what happens when the person who hates you for shooting a gun is hugged by the very one he hates. He may strike back, but at least this war thing is in a different perspective.

To everyone, go ahead and honor the dead soldiers. I will not say if they are right or wrong, but I will say that you are to love.

You are to show hope.

So why not be hope...

TO THE FULLEST.

In the same way that Christ showed grace and peace to His enemies (you, me, and the rest of humanity), show grace and peace to others, even your enemies, especially when your "violence" is unnecessary, and you can achieve good through other means.

Respect The Guy

2008-05-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

Here it is. The long awaited bashing of women. I am kidding, but I do want to complete this thing on relationships. I hit on the problem with guys and there lack of respecting women with a completely selfish view that does not look at them as a separate entity, but as an extension of themselves that is used to please themselves, which is not love, but lust. But the girls, from this guys perspective, need to get a crash course into a guys mind.

Guys minds are usually quite simple, with exceptions here and there. We are one track minds. When we watch TV, or eat dinner, or even drive, careful how much attention you demand from us. Some guys can manage this with extreme concetration, and others, like me, need their minds on that one thing in order to do it well (my driving record all the way up to my freshmen year in college proves this). When it comes to attention to you, it's best to make the setting as simple as possible.

We have a hard time thinking outside of the box sometimes, unless we are thoughtful about thinking outside the box. So it's no small wonder that we might look at the TV and say, "Dang, that girl is hot" over and over again. Not that it is right, it is in fact wrong in that it is detrimental to the woman, but it does put us in perspective. We have triggered attractions that just draw us to appreciate, or drool, over pretty women. But instead of building a wall between you two, why not try challenging us. That just shows that you want us to love you, which definitely shows a large amount of respect.

In some ways this is a little more complicated. He is very demanding of respect. Now, it may be that respect is the lusted after object does not resist him, or it may be that the other individual makes him feel loved and respects him with words of encouragement and affirmation. You could kind of look at it this way, men in the end not only want respect, but freedom from fear, just like you, but it is somewhat different. They want to be accepted by their lovers, and that is what respect is for us. I know we should be moving away from this fear, but it is there. We want the woman that we desire to desire us. And if that doesn't happen, or if the man isn't taught the right way to express that desire, he turns to plan B, which is to quit chasing someone who is an individual in proper, good, tough, and Godly relationship and to start chasing the TV and porn models who do not say no, which really is chasing the self and its desires and saying that you don't care about the community of romance that God desires for us.

Now I hit on something here that the ladies should be noticing. They want that respect, or better yet, that affirmation. Maybe the guy you are with has not been hearing you affirm your attraction or respect to him. If you are and he is still acting the part of the jerk, then it is time to reevaluate that relationship and consider breaking his heart for his own good. But if he is a good man, then affirm him. Make sure you do your part. Like I implied to the guys, the failures of the men do not justify your wrong doings.

I do not have a great verse for the women. The books of the Bible are not from a time of gender equality, although it moves that way, and there are some surprising examples of women in leadership, so I'll just say what I think happened in the event of Adam and Eve relating to each other. I think that they were focused on each other. Eve must have accepted the invitation to be one with Adam after he tried to declare her as a very intimate part of him, yet something different. I imagine she might have affirmed him with a resounding, "oh yeah, baby."

Being a guy with a girlfriend, I love it when I am called hot, and I love it when I am listened to. I love talking about what Kelly needs or wants to do. And when I here the no to anything I say, when I find myself in disagreement, I find that in retrospect those times where just as beautiful as the times when we were on the same page and saying yes to each other. If you find a good man, he'll feel similar things, if not the same things.

Here are some pointers. We actually get discouraged just like you when we hear about how hot some guys is. I understand it is different for women than men, but like I said, we are not thinking outside the box. We hear that and we think that in order for us to be desired, we must get the squared shoulders and the six-pack and be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. So if we are going to help each other, we need to look at each others needs instead of our wants or unthoughtful comments.

Realize that guys have tall yet fragile egos. I'm not talking about prideful egos that think they are God's gift to the earth. I am talking about us being on a high rope. And we are easily knocked down.

So let's work together. Don't be like a certain women who will look at guys and when they are scolded, say that they are free and they have every right. That is not Godly freedom. If you are playing the feminist card and saying that you have every right to talk about men as chauvanists, just remember that feminism was about erasing chauvanism, not about the women becoming chauvanist too. You have responsibility to guys just like the guys have responsibility to you. So try to see this as romantic community, between two people who love each other and struggle together. Whether you call it affirmation, respect, or even submission, lift up your husband, fiances, or boyfriends. You might have to forego some fun comments, but trust me, it is worth it, and you'll see the men begin to be able to see you for the individual you are.

Love is not a feeling.

Read 1 Corinthians 13, the passage describing love. Notice what love is. It's not a feeling, but action, and sacrificial action at that. And love will continue when Christ returns. All the things like prophesy, speaking in tongues, feeling sexy, lusting, and what have you will end.

BUT LOVE WILL REMAIN.

Just like the guys should sacrifice blessing themselves here and there, so should you.

So give and accept love.

Love the Girl

2008-04-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-27T07:57:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-04-15T06:22:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Thoughts on the back porch

2008-03-30T11:31:00.001-07:00

I think it's a nice day outside, despite the clouds. I looked at the radar and saw that it was not going to rain. the temperature is a fair 63. I decided it is time to sit on the porch and think on things like life and the related. This is just me thinking about things on a somewhat nice Sunday, if I exluded the overcast sky.

So I'm sitting out here thinking about the dog barking, or better yet, yipping. Reminds me of my parents having this strange inclination to adopt dogs from certain rescue organizations. It's kind of funny sometimes when I think shallowly about it, but then it hits me, I wish I could live like that more often. Rescuing the oppressed. Its like being in the image of a God that who rescued an enslaved mass from Egypt. Does that sound familiar? I think it's somewhere in the Torah. Let's say around the book of Exodus somewhere. If you aren't tracking on that, I suggest a little sunday reading. Anyways, my parents have found this peculiar trait of God's to rescue, and I think it is, as the kids say, smashing.

I am sitting here thinking of the church service today. The pastor preached some great truth today. it was about being "born again", or "born from above". Something about it seemed to scream out redemption and liberation in the mind, which was the main idea. I can't help but notice that some "Christians" don't want to be renewed. It is either that they don't care to find new focus on God or focus on God's true love, Creation and all that is in it. I notice that some talk about God, but they never truly invoke the Spirit. It's like they don't see God coming, and they don't care. Or they never truly love people, or act by truly wishing grace and peace to people like Paul did in his letters and his actions. It's just crazy that this religion becomes pop philosophy, pop psychology, or pop whatever. Whatever happened to making it real life. Let's face it, our religion tends to turn into theory and nothing else. I seriously doubt that that is what God had in mind.

I am sitting on the porch thinking about myself. No, I'm not going on an ego trip. I am just evaluating things. Sometimes it gets boring up here. I don't get to serve, and don't get to do. All I seem to do is read write and talk. Don't get me wrong, I love my studies and I am mentally intrigued at all times, but I do like to not be idle here and there. Sure I'm involved in a food ministry, but is that all? Maybe I just need some deeper relationships that I can contact everyday, or maybe it's just that everybody is gone right now. I do admit that the solitude can help me hear things I've never heard before. I notice that the TV is on too much, or that the lights are still on. I notice that the weather is nice or that the trash needs to be emptied. I like this awareness, it's nice. I see things. I notice how much I waste, how much I eat. Maybe I eat too much, maybe too little. It's surprising what you can survive off of. Think about how big the normal stomach is and then think about how much you eat. It's shocking when you think about it. We eat way too much sometimes. Maybe we should be a little more trusting of God instead of acting like we won't see another meal for two days.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on the back porch. Who knows, maybe this will be a continuing habit, and I'll see good things happen to me because of this. Anyways, drop your notes or whatever you leave and grace and peace to you all.

Now vs. Then

2008-03-15T17:41:00.001-07:00

I am at a very peculiar point in my stance on a worship issue at this point in my life. I am speaking on a very touchy issue. Some of you know of the debate between contemporary and traditional worship. I have been a victim to this aspect of Christianity ever since I was in middle school. I must say that it has not been until the last 2 years that both have left quite a bitter taste in my mouth. I can not see how Jesus meant this in getting the bigger picture. Is the good news of salvation singing songs that make me feel good or finding heaven in the here or the hereafter? Or is it somehow both?

I'll start with the guys who I like to call the Nows. These guys are cool. They love to move forward and exlore the grounds that the previous generations have not tried. Not that they are new grounds, but that it has been abandoned due to various factors. I'll consider myself partially a Now at the moment, because I see such great potential. They get it when it comes to creativity.

I love that.

Creativity...

Imagination...

Cleverness...

but should I include a little selfishness as well?

I use strong words on myself as a progressive type. I love some of the new songs towards God (the keyword here is some; a lot of popular Christian based music is quite a joke). Let's face it though, we progressive get really selfish and disoriented sometimes. We have a tendency to demand feel good services. We also tend to abandon the point of religion, find reunion to God. You are probably asking, "Is not feeling 'God' true spirituality, or religion?" It depends. The Pharisees were great religious guys, even had some great aspects of there lives that we should follow, but their biggest hang up was there focus that they feel God instead of praising Him and experiencing Him. There is a huge difference between feeling something and experiencing something. Guys who are going to have a heart attack probably can feel healthy, but the truth is they are experiencing the path towards death. They have no experience of responsibility to do what they need to do, which is a very naive understanding of God.

So creative is good,

but selfish is bad.

We'll get to the responsibilities later.

What about those old honkies I like to call the Thens. Represent some old school, will ya'. Thens are to Nows like Tupac and Biggy are to B.E.P. and Kanye. I love these guys, and at times I definitely have to call myself a traditionalist, or a Then. There are two kinds of these people. One is quite ancient and follows a solid liturgy, like Lutherans or Catholics. The others are American traditional. You know, the backwoods, country gospel piano, and maybe an organ if you're lucky kind of people. And it is good. They experience God just as much as the Now people. And to be honest, they are sometimes smarter if they have been around for awhile. If they do what they are called to do, they can do it VERY EFFICIENTLY!

Solid,

grounded,

experienced,

wise.

And of course selfish like everyone else.

If your this kind of man, you're yelling just as loudly as the first group, but here me out. I am talking about change. I am not saying that every young pup that thinks he gets it should bully you into changing, but you should try to give something new a try. You are not getting rid of God, your just changing your perception of Him. You have some much potential to be leaders in sharing this community of God. Teach us what sharing the experience of God is like.

Have your traditions,

and share the experience.

And everyone can dialogue about this. If a young person comes wanting to try something, give him your best offering of opportunity. But if someone cannot experience God in these new songs, then be understanding. Do not be the first to yell that they can leave if they don't like. If paths are split, then split in goodwill, which is part of the idea of peace. If you created a service that is one or another, the only thing you should come with is openness towards God, with little concern of music, and that applies to both parties. If you blend, then you'll need the openness to God even more, because there will be bigger disaggreements. If you created two separate services, then come with the same mentality, and find ways to connect the two. The worst thing to do is to create two services and then let it be a wall between two groups, that's not the unity of the church. It is actually called division, and it is a sin, an opposition to God's desire for His people.

One statistic that surprised me is the church that grew the most in recent years. While the majority of churches are on the decline, this denomination was on the rise. You might want to sit down for this one. You ready? The denomination that grew the most was the Eastern Orthodox. Now as you come back into conscious and realize the implications this has for worship, move further with me. I have heard of someone who said the reason she went there was that she experienced a service that expected God's presence instead of just talking about God (the more surprising thingis that she used to be Methodist; sorry Hank.) But this has implications for the rest of us. We need to come ready to experience a loving yet powerful God. A God who cares deeper than any other about your life, but in doing so can wreck your current life to the extreme.

Better yet, think of the book of Acts. There are amazing stories in here, but the majority and most intriguing of them are people who lived the idea of the sabbath. The idea of the sabbath is that there is a separate existence that is set apart to show people how it can be, and that it does not have to be the way it is. Funny, sounds like the original intent of the Holiness movement (and that movement is in desperate need of a paint job).

As far as the two styles of worship are concerned...

NEITHER ARE INCARNATIONAL!!!

The only ones who come close are those uber-traditionals, like Catholics, or better yet, Eastern Orthodox.

God comes to people who need Him, not to music. A good aspect of God's personality is that He comes to those who are in desperate need, hence, he comes to those who call to Him, and hurt itself causes the Spirit to cry and moan to God. This means that true sabbath living is meeting need. Morgan Freeman in Bruce Almighty puts it close to perfect by saying that if you want to see a miracle, then be the miracle. I like to say, if you want to reflect God as Jesus did, then be Jesus. Which means be more focused on relationship with God, people, and nature instead of being emotionally deranged by demanding that you feel good about yourself. Just because you are saved does not mean you have no responsibility. God secures your right, so that you can be focused on the acts down here. In other words, quit focusing so much on afterlife theology. God wants us to live here, He'll come back and pick us up like He said, so be trusting in that and live out your faith here.

Love

be kind

lift others up

speak wholesome language

focus on God and not music

live incarnationally

LIVE OUT THE SABBATH MENTALITY

I'm going to end with my take on salvation. I am going to start with personal salvation. We are not saved by works, I'll admit that up front. Salvation is God's gift. We don't earn that. But Jesus and even Paul were adamant about responsibility. It is a two sided coin. You are saved by God by Christ's death. If you have accepted His forgiveness, then you are bound for the redeemed and united Heaven and Earth. But if you believe the God is a redeeming God, then you must reflect your master. Live with redemption in mind. In other words,

feed the hungry,

give to the needy,

shelter the homeless,

parent the orphan,

weep for the sad,

rejoice with the glad,

and never forget to LOVE EACH OTHER.

So drop the music card and get with the program. Jesus wanted us to get it, but in the end, do we really get it?

Creation and the strong

2008-03-12T07:18:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting class yesterday. I decided to take a Basic Christian Doctrine class. Very interesting things happen in there. We have quite a mix of Christian traditions. Catholic to protestant, Calvinist to Arminian. You name, we have something at least similar to it. We went over the concept of creation yesterday and I have to say, very mind blowing things were said. We brought up the picketting of evolution taught in the classrooms. I personally ignore that. I am a religious student, not a science student, and I don't believe that my account of my people's history is a science book. Some great things came up, like the fact that creation is not so much an account of what was as it is a picture of how it should be, and as Christians, we have the gall to say that is how it will be when Christ returns.

As far as evolution is concerned, I do think some miss the point. I will admit that teaching evolution as scientific law is bogus because it has not reached that status yet. However, I am taking an archaeology class and have learned that the oldest artifact known in my field of study is measured by carbon-14 dating in the millions. That says something right there. And you might be one of those who think that carbon dating is very unreliable, and you're partially right. Carbon dating can get very ambiguous as the age of the material gets older, but it always falls within the range that it lists. But since evolution is theory, it is the easier thing to protest because it can be protested from the scientific standpoint. Even scientists disagree. But it is only theory. Darwin fathered it and it grew, but only as far as theory. Besides, don't we pay scientists to make theories anyways?

We are missing the more sinister theory that Darwin proposed, and it is accepted by the scientific community at large. That theory is natural selection, better known as survival of the fittest. Now, you ask how this is sinister. Is it not proven fact? Yes, that is true. Things according to the world as we know it survive based on wit and strength. I'll get what is mine, you get what's yours, and good luck to you all. If you starve, freeze, burn, or go without, it's your own damn fault. And that is how we think in this world. It is not that we know that this is how it is, but we have accepted it as fate. This is where we COMPLETELY MISS THE POINT of the creation account. Everyone will say that Adam and Eve existed as how things should be before the fall, but what about now. Do we not pray for God's Kingdom to come. If we prayed our Lord's prayer by saying "Let us into your Kingdom" we could push people out of the way in order to get there, because everyone else is in your way. But we pray for His Kingdom to come, which means we have to be heaven here. So tell me, how does Survival of the Fittest become our story's title? Why not be heaven? Why not show that although this is how it mostly is, it is not how it has to be? Life can be beautiful, sweet, and filled with love for our brothers and sisters. I like how a line from a song performed by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra put it, "Every man is our brother, and every child is ours."

All this is to say that we should at the very least put as much effort, if not more, into challenging the acceptance of survival of the fittest as we do in protesting the teaching of the theory of evolution, which to me is not a concern. I tend to accept the point of creation alone and not so much the details of how it happened. The story teaches about our future and or responsibility. Do not change that fact.

As far as my stance on evolution vs. creation, I am a creationist religiously and might be an evolutionist scientifically. Interpret that however you like.

The Trinity: Examples For Existence

2008-02-28T06:18:00.001-08:00

The subject I am about to present is very difficult. Everyone has at one time or another sat in his or her chairs and thought long and hard about this proposition. No one can really claim to fully grasp the theology of what we call the trinity. It just seems like this mathematical problem that the founding fathers of the Church left us without really explaining its origins, much less its significance. It is very complex and even causes confusion when explored. I do not claim to have all the answers. I am merely trying to describe the relevance of something very big by using my very small mind. I can only say that this is the best way of describe the interactive, incarnate, and guiding God. In doing so, we will begin to see that the trinity is immensely important for understanding the existence of God, the church, and how they interact with the world.

The popular question is the first question that must be addressed. People are nowadays obsessed with the logic of God being three and one. As mentioned before, it seems like a logical mistake committed by naïve ancients. Normal math would tell a man to question this method, and with good reason. It is a blatant contradiction. How could this ancient faith of God following have come up with what seems to be two opposites and placed them side by side? The best answer to this would have to come from the answer to another question. The question is what is the Christian view of the trinity? And the answer would have to lie in the example that the trinity gives to the Christian life. The first question of this paragraph probably comes from not understanding the nature of this doctrine. The answer will need some explanation, which I will give you.

The trinity is looked at as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one and yet three; they are distinct, yet the same. This is as far into the complexity as I will travel. It is a hard thing to wrestle with all by itself. Of course, to look at this doctrine for its own sake is lunacy and is probably far from the intent of the people who were given this doctrine. Why would God give us a doctrine that has nothing to with us? Revelation happens as God interacts with us, so our thoughts of God must come from our interaction. This means that any thought of God that has nothing to do with us and God, must be considered speculative and probably irrelevant. As a matter of fact, the trinity does the best job describing this very definition of revelation.

Three interactions take place with God and us. The first person we experience is God the Father. He is very much our father in heaven. By father I mean father over the house or family system. A father is in charge of your care, and looks after your needs. He supplies the source of food, clothes, bed, and other elemental things. He is loving as well, but I want to focus on Him as a father as head of a Household as I think that we all seem to know in our minds that he is a loving father. In the Old Testament, God is head of Israel. It is almost as if Israel is the house of God first and foremost. We find His leadership expressed in the Torah, and His will in the prophets and the histories. God is the leader of this household. The ministry that we have jumped into is a ministry to Him. We sing to God. We live a life that smells like sweet incense to God, which means to follow his will, which will be reflected on when we get to the Holy Spirit.

The next person is God the Son. Here is where we find our identity. Jesus is the originator of our faith. Without Him, His presence and resurrection, our faith is pointless and has no backbone. When Christ came, we had God in human flesh. It’s one thing to follow God, but to have God in human form gives us a sense of working with Him while still following Him. Jesus practically owns the ministry, we are merely participants, puppets, or, better yet, clay. We can find example, inspiration, and hope in Christ. We serve God, and with God the Son we belong. We are adopted into the family unit of God when we attach ourselves to God the Son. If this ministry was our own, then we would have no true purpose, but with it being of Jesus, we find the ultimate purpose, a true, dynamic life, and that is worth more than any movement this world can offer.

The third person is the Holy Spirit. I mentioned God’s will earlier and this is where we can hear it. The Holy Spirit is probably the most fascinating part of this doctrine because it is the person sensed more than the other two. The Spirit is basically the guide. I know it is said that the Bible is the only guide we’ll ever need, but I tend to think that the Spirit is much more creative than that. In the Spirit, grace becomes complicated in that Spirit tends to use creativity and uses multiple sources to reach a human. Christians can get very proud of their traditions and forget God’s tendency to have an agenda of saving the world. Sometimes salvation is not done with a Bible in hand. Sometimes it is through commentary, peoples, songs, sermons, or, dare I say, in a nature setting. If God is the author of all things, we, at the very least, have to admit God’s potential to use sources that are not in the Bible. The Holy Spirit also guides the Christian’s life, which is also more creative than using the Bible alone. We should already know that our Scriptures are recordings from different people from different times and cultures. It makes sense that the Bible would not say anything about certain issues of today. That is the point of the Spirit, to guide and to help. Sometimes He will guide us toward a goal and then He may even set us against each other in order to try our hearts and bring us closer together in unity. I could say where the Spirit will guide us, but the Spirit might call me to humility by going the opposite direction. The only thing I will say is that He will guide us to love God and humanity. If it were not for the Spirit, our purpose would never be heard, known, or realized. Thank God for sending His Spirit.

We cannot stop here, however. In light of the separate persons, we must look at the unity of God. There is such a unity in God that the persons never oppose. They actually always submit to each other by loving each other. In the New Testament, Jesus prayed that we could experience such unity. Some may call it a dream, but it is the dream of our savior. He wanted us to experience the same unity that He experienced with the Father and the Spirit, the distinctive unity. The Church is also one with different parts. If we could even come close to the Trinitarian philosophy of love, we would be without any complaint inside the church and would begin our part in redeeming the world. Even the contemporary/traditional music debate would have to end on account of things that are more important being recognized as the crucial parts of the Christian life, such as love, kindness, words of hope, acts of service, etc. Such a thing would make the bride of Christ beautiful again in a time of abandoned orphans, neglected widows, starving beggars, and broken emotionals. But many of our acts seem reminiscent of the evils that the prophets charged the children of God with. We must have unity in loving submission so that we do not go through another exile and see a mass gleaning like the one in the Bible.
So we see that the trinity is very crucial not as a fact alone, but as an expression. It is not just the existence of God, but also the interaction with God. It is still a awe inspiring thought that God is my father, whom I follow through His Spirit with Jesus. I cannot go any further with this. More explanation would make me accentuate one side of the coin over the other, and that is not my goal. My hope is that you will see that the Father you love sent His Son to be with us, teach us, and die for us, and guides us through his Spirit.

May you live for God, by serving Christ through the guidance of His Spirit, which brings us closer together. Amen.

Environmentalism, Responsibility, and Big Macs.

2008-01-22T15:48:00.000-08:00

I have had many conversations in my day, but I have to disagree with many people who are the richest in the world. I'm not just saying Bill Gates rich, but I mean that if you have ridden in a plane, own a car, and make over $20,000. There is an epidemic in this country that seems to demand that we get what we want. Even people that act like they are getting the bare neccessities are being spoiled when looking at other parts of the world. I have heard of tin mines ruining villages. I have heard of Tobacco companies paying out farmers that grew food for their third world country to grow tobacco, which, in case you did not know, cannot be eaten. I have heard that their is some sort of coincidence that the rises in CO2 emissions can be paralleled to cancers and respiratory problems. Yet we still fight responsibility. In this entry, I cannot help but befriend uber-environmentalists. It can seem like these guys are living in a dreamworld of bare minimum, but can you blame them. We who are, from what I have researched, major contributors to the problem, deny the problem so we do not have to fix it, forcing the ones with heavier consciences to pick up the slack. We also make our children think that the move toward this kind of responsibility is a sham. Let's stop this for a second and think. Just because you are conservative does not mean you have to be against these things.

I know that someone is going to put some anti-global-warming facts as a comment, so let me head that off at the pass. First, you might think that there is a half and half separation among informed scientists about this. From my studies, this is far from true. An overwhelming number of scientists are speaking in favor of the environmental issues. Second, you might retaliate with the view that the polar ice caps are back on the rise, so there is nothing to worry about. This may be true, but from what I have seen, this is in more recent years and the overall, long-term observations prove that the our planet is still hurting. And even if this were true, it does not answer to the cancer and respiratory problems and the effects that consumerism has on the poor and voiceless. Third, you might come at me by saying that Al Gore's house around 20 times worse than the average american house in energy consumption. This is true, but it does not relieve you of responsibility. Just because a porn addict tells me that porn is wrong, that does not mean that I go on to look at porn on account of his failures. Good action is good action, no matter what.

Think about the struggles in the coffee industry to make better decisions while producing coffee. Coffee was poorly grown and caused tainted rivers, and the farmers growing coffee beens were poorly paid. Much has been done about this, but it proves the point that at the very least, stepping away from consumerism has been proven to make life better from everyone. It is right, it is good, and it is responsible.

If you think about it, we need the earth as much as it needs us. We plant, we cultivate, and we co-create the tree. If you notice that in Deuteronomy 20:19, the Isrealites are commanded that even when they are besieging a city, that fruit trees are to be left up. It also seems to credit to God a care that is evident about God through his works in our history. He wanted things to grow, so he told the earth to grow it, and it did just that. As a matter of fact, he uses us to express his love of this world, his masterpeice. Our dominion is only so far as cultivation, protection, and care allows, meaning that exploitation is out of the question. Just read the two creation accounts.

Also, the fact that the beginning is tied into the idea of caring for the world since we are blessed with the responsibility means that it is all the more important. No where in my reading is there a mandate that relieves us of caring for the earth and all that is in the earth. We still maintain it as worsip to our God by obeying His will.

Even our dietary habits are crucial. It takes many resources to make beef. The health problems that people have from eating too much meat are noticed and emphasized by health professionals everywhere. Still, many over-weight people will not cut down on their Big Macs. I'm not just pointing to the obviously overweight, but also not so obvious. Cholestoral is a big problem as well. Many skinny people are going to have heart attacks before most of the seemingly fat people. Granted, eating meats is a part of the way of life, so I'm not saying be vegetarian, although some may feel compelled to do so, in which case I commend you greatly. I am saying that this is tied into the consumption nature of most of the civilized world.

Some of you may say that you have studied the issue and are well informed on things, but that is not enough. Knowledge is good to have, but knowledge and revelation and information alone is useless. If you have information, but do not act accordingly, you are pretty much taking up everyones much need air. I know that sounds cruel, but it is very true. Just like in theology, you can know it all, but if you go against God's care for the hurting and the hopeless, then you are a pointless theologian.

All this is to say act responisbly, and do not deny what is obvious and backed up my much observation. Do your homework and be challenged by the knowledge you have. I have even been challenged by this, because our house probably produces more than the national average of trash and probably the same is true about our consupmtion of resources. This is not a dumb pursuit by a bunch of tree hugging, hippy liberal Americans anymore. This is a legitimate cause that ethical and responsible people are starting to look into. Environmentalists are not evil, they are actually in many ways responsible. So look into it and see for yourself the reason why the we might not want to be so quick to oppose environmetalism.

The Golden Compass: Take Two

2007-12-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

In light of one of my recent post on Philip Pullman, I think I should clarify where I am coming from.

1. I think that we should use caution when becoming defensive, for in doing so we defend the God he promotes. He will see that Christians are mad that He is saying that he will kill God. If we look closely, God is viewed as a tyrant and unneeded, which is honestly not the God we Christians believe in.

2. As far as making kids stumble, I think that we should take the scripture reference as speaking to bringing hard times to those who have no power to keep the hard times away and things that follow that nature. If you have the power to keep someone from seeing God and do so, then your neck is in danger. And if we look deeper, we might see that someone should be drowning on account of painting a horrible of God which Philip Pullman has seen, which might be the seed of many things he is saying today.

3. I have done my research and never denied that he hates Lewis or wants to destroy Christianity. He can even sound militant at times. But I also think that Christians can be just as evil as non-Christians, but non-Christians can be just as good as Christians. Looking at my earlier posts, I think that prophecy can come from unchristian people, because prophecy's main point is to call evil out where evil exists. By asking questions, I was trying to create a mindset to question things down to their true core. People say words, but why do people say words? People say they want to kill, but why do they want to kill? I am merely trying to build understanding as to the possible nature of Pullman's dislikes.

4. Lastly, for this post, I think we should be more interested in witnessing God than defending (as if God needs defending). Sometimes simple grace can turn the tides of the craziest moments of faith.

I hope that this clarifies that I was not agreeing with Pullman or trying to paint a pretty picture. I was trying to open new routes to saving and understanding that even though he thinks he is killing YHWH, he might be doing more to push his will than kill it. Just an avenue leading out of the box. Hope I am clarified here.

Humbled Thoughts (My apology)

2007-12-18T16:49:00.001-08:00

For years, I have thought that I might understand something about life, only to learn that there is always something that I do not understand. Philip Yancey opened up some thoughts in my mind as I finished What's So Amazing About Grace. At times I have thought that I am right, and I have later learned that I was not the only one that was right, as a matter of fact, I was wrong. It is so humorous looking back on my past mistakes, and sobering to learn of ones today. You may be wondering what has made me reflect in such a manner. Well, let's begin this sumerized journey.

I have to say that I have been on a pendulum when comes to liberal and conservative. It doesn't really matter what issue. It could be religion, politics, economics, ecology, etc, I just cannot seem to make up my mind. In some things I have been a mix. I end up looking conservative, but I attack conservatives at the same time. The same goes for the liberal side. I must say that I have been surprised though at the people I disagree with. I have so many opinions the I wish to be true, yet so does everyone else. Someone once told me that everyone's opinions are like buttholes. Everyone has one, and they all stink. It was funny, I admit. The guy was obviously in a joking mood as well. But in the reality that this faith I am in tries to make, we all have equal opportunity to be right. I have come to know that I am very wrong sometimes, whether it be in theology, politics, or lifestyle preferences. I know that I am prone to mistakes. But my issue was that I thought everyone else's opinions stank, and that mine were the sweet rose bushes everyone needed. In recent times, the ones I have been up against have been the older ones of our faith. I have thought that their preferences to traditional style and music have held back the church, and although I still think we should pay attention to the progressive movements, I know that I have missed the point in making this a primary goal. I have thought that their theological understandings are what have caused the pain in the world. I have thought that they hate the young and unsaved. My disagreements had become a grievance in my own eyes.

I must first say that those who were like me in saying that we should fight tooth and nail for progressive worship services as the primary ministry of the church, YOU ARE WRONG!!! I have to say that you are becoming exactly what you have been against the whole time. Yes, I agree that there are those who are stuck in there ways. They are militant in their understanding that how they experience God is how everyone should experience God. But how many of us younger folks are acting the same way by being militant in the same understanding. Maybe we seek to let everyone experience God in their way and show some patience with them. And to move things closer to God's will, should we experience God more in being fed in a worship service, or in the fields of ministry. The way I see it, ministry fills a true need, and most needs are usually not met in a worship service. We may feel better about ourselves, and we might even talk about the need to fill a need, but most needs that are of an urgent matter are met in the soup kitchens and in the streets 6 days a week while a church service usually fills a small portion that would not make one day a week. So open your own hearts in order to lead the people of God in opening theirs.

And that is one way I have been wrong. Progressive worship isn't the realization of God's Kingdom, and neither is traditional worship. God's Kingdom is something more. When we understand that, we begin to unite and learn from each other. How many of you pastors plan service projects for people who are in TRUE need. Or do you plan for more fund raisers and outings (this goes for youth pastors as well). I understand your need to bring in the numbers, but believe me, long term numbers from being served far outweigh the short term numbers from being amuzed and entertained. So open your hearts to matters the truly make a difference and learn that the traditional worshippers have just as much to say as the contemporary worshippers.

As far as theology, I have my own journey that I am traveling. I say certain things that many disagree with and I admit, I might be wrong, that's why I say do not listen to me blindly, as many of you do, thank God. But I have been trying to teach myself to not listen to myself blindly, a lesson we must all learn. Just because I am on a journey to the place God wants me to be does not mean I never get lost. I can mishear God sometimes. We all can. We have this funny tendency to attach experience to everything. The tragedy is that we make our understanding of it all absolute. Maybe we are wrong to do so. Let's say for expample the judgement of God in the end times (which I am changing my views on everyday). I tend to stick to the understanding of scripture that we will be flabbergasted at who enters heaven. People usually take that to mean that the people who say they love God might be kept from God's kingdom, but I tend to wonder and throw out the idea that maybe it could include people who live in light of the law of the heart and yet do not exist in our faith. But maybe I am wrong. It is my understanding of the story Jesus told of the sheep and the goats being separated on the day of Judgement. Read and decide it for yourself, and I am sure we will be in different ballparks in the end. I must say that people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson would strongly disagree with me. But I look at Pat Robertson's credentials as a humanitarian and realize that he has done more with his resources for the needy than I have. As far as Jerry Falwell is concerned, well read about his later views that even though he disagrees with homosexual lifestyle, he wants to give them rights as well.

Funny things happen when you open up for being taught. Many people have many things to say, and sometimes, maybe they are right. Just focus on what is truth and everything else tends not to matter anymore. So to all the liberals, conservatives, evangelicals, fundamentals, traditionalists, and conservatives that I have outright bashed and covertly teased, I am sorry. We have much to teach each other. I hope we all are willing to learn.

The Golden Compass

2007-11-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

Alright guys, I'm about to rant about something so hold onto your hats. I'm about to talk about the movie the Golden Compass. As you know, I tend to be in the middle, so if you are on one side or the other, get ready to disagree somewhere.

There has been much said about the author Philip Pullman and his Dark Materials series. Quite honestly, I am disgusted at the conservative Christian side for trying to violently defend there theology by attacking something that is pure imagination and completely missing the point of the book. I went on a few websites: one was Plugged In's website (plugged in is unfairly biased) and the other was a news website.

Plugged In painted a picture by focusing on Pullman's agnosticism and atheism. I do not deny this. Of course, if someone does not know if God exists, it would make sense that he would think that God does not exist, but we'll save that for another entry. I want these people to understand literary facts. The fact is that this whole story is FICTION!!! In the world of fiction the rules of reality do not apply. A witch is not a witch that we think of; a troll is not a troll. Laws of what is right and wrong change. What does not change is the ideas of good and evil. Things that are truly good and evil are separate from what the law might say is right and wrong, although the law can express what is good at the core. Good is deeper than the law. Just read Romans and you will come to the same conclusion. Why do you think that God desires mercy over sacrifices. Instead of just following the rules of worship and religion and theology, seek those who need mercy and give it to them.

The news painted a different picture. In a counter-interview, Pullman expressed his true opinion which would make most say, "Oh, I guess that makes sense." I am not going to go into detail on the interview. I think that those who are disagreeing with me at this point should read to at least understand where he is coming from. Why not ask questions too? Why is he an agnostic and an atheist? Why did he right this story? What is the TRUE point of the book? Why did the Catholics put out negative reports about Pullman and his book? Why are we so quick to accept what is said by other Christians when they could be wrong in their assumption? Have you asked these questions yet? Maybe you should. Instead of focusing on just right and wrong, let's focus on what right and wrong were meant to do in this world.

As far as Pullman's religious beliefs, I think they are wrong. His attacks on institutionalized religion are, however, very solid in history. Maybe we should accept the criticism of a non-believer. You might be surprised where revelation can come from. I also have to ask if his agnosticism is a direct result of experiencing Christianity. Maybe instead him experiencing Christianity, he needs to experience God and His true kingdom. Christianity can fail, and miserably so. Maybe what he needs is a community to minister to him and his needs. Make sure he is loved, clothed, fed, and befriended. Maybe the reason is that in experiencing Christianity, he has not experienced such grace.

In a nutshell, I say think, ask, understand, be fair, and be merciful. Do not be so quick to assume, or at least go see the movie before you publicly state your assumptions. Christians think, and understand that sometimes the most prophetic statements sometimes come from those who strongly disagree and run from Christianity.

Redo Spiritual

2007-10-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

So I've been thinking tonight as I study my hebrew, and I remembered some things I've heard from many pastors in study or pastors already in the field (and I guess, practically speaking, still in study as well) complain about not feeling spiritual anymore. I have even felt this at times and wondered why. But for the past three years I have been trying to figure what consitutes being holy.

In the past I kept wanting to think that just talking to God would be great, and I did that. And for awhile I felt good about myself, but that changed after awhile. Slowly I began to feel a drain on my life again. Something just seemed like it was dissappointing when God looked at it. I think I later started to see what that was.

Nights of prayer became wrestless. Days became a drag as I thought that I was still inadequate. Maybe it was just me? Maybe I was just depressed. Maybe I was being childish and basing my religion on my emotions? Or maybe my feeling dissappointed in what was really going on?

I looked harder in scripture and found some things in there. It was amazing, and what was even more amazing is that I only looked in the Old Testament. Actually, it was just the Torah (The first five books of the English Bible). Some of you guys already are thinking, yuck. You think it's Law and genealogies. But I assure you, there are deeper things. In it you find people being called to a higher act of kindness and love. They are being called to free each other. They are being called to be kind to nature and be kind to animals. There are being called to look at each other as equal humans (even among male and female), and to respect the foreigner, despite the desire to look on him with disgust. Have you ever wonder why half of the ten commandments (I say half, but it's arguable that it is actually 6 laws) are made in reference to men? What kind of God does that? And why?

These are loaded with the ideas that God loves humanity. Most other gods of that time and even later were at times violent and mostly apathetic when it came to humans. We were viewed as mistakes or flukes.

But in the midst of that...
God...
Loved...
US!!!

Amazing, is it not?

So here in your hand is a God unlike common unloving culture. It loves all and wants to be followed. Now, common sense tells you that if you follow a leader of any kind, you do what he commands. That is, by common definition, following. As christians we will call it belief, faith, following, even loving, but they all say that I am under this leader/master.

See where I'm going yet? Just read on if you don't.

If you think you can follow a God of love and not love as he loved, what makes you think you are following? That my friends is a serious question. It is here that we cannot say that we can run around in fields of tall grass holding God's hand and saying everything is dandy. That answer at this point is outright ignorance and not even wanting to know truth. Run away from that idea.

Since we cannot except the first answer, how about this? God wants us to follow him. It's a simple phrase that can seem complex, but is only complex in rare occasions when thinking, "How?"

I answer how with what do you know.

What do you know about the starving in your community and the world?
What do you know about the homeless in town?
What do you know aboutabused Children or battered women?
What do you know about civil rights issues for your area?
What do you know about the crime rate in your town?
What do you know about the pregnancy rate among teens?
What do you know about...?

And WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

This does not just apply to the individual, but to the people all together. You wonder why your personal life is spiritually dry? or your Church's spiritual atmosphere is dead? Maybe you need to answer the death of those outside the walls to experience life again. It is amazing that God will try to go to the place of need with or without us; and when he does, we just seem to know.

My suggestion is reunite the spiritual things with the physical. I am starting to wonder if that has hurt the church more than help it. Instead of taking that dualistic, Greek philosophy, I think we should learn from our Jewish brethren. The word in the bible for soul is nephesh. If you want to know what another english word is, it is the world self. Emotion is also used. It seems crazy that such a word is originally in or religion supposed to make salvation apply to our entire lives. Redemption is not just Christ risen and we are spiritually okay. It started back with Israel in Sinai learning to love God and each other. Redemption of the world is found in this and is faithful to ressurection faith.

So if you have been looking around and trying to talk to God, maybe it is time to just SHUT UP! Listen for awhile. Can you hear His voice calling you to serve? Can you hear him magnify the thousands of hurting voices around you. If so, maybe it's time for you to quit trying to feel good about this faith, and actually be challenged by it and follow it. Faith without works is dead, so what good is your faith if it does not serve anyone.

Are you the guy he counsel spiritually but doesn't help with the environment?
Stop.

Are you the guy who prays but doesn't want to be bothered when watching football or basketball?
Stop.

Are you the guy who enjoys being called spiritual, but does not bother with social problems?
Stop.

You need to take that seflishness and that lie and stab it on your back porch and bleed it to death. That way you can actually do God's will and actually feel spiritual for a change.

God wants to save the world.

God wants to save humanity.

He wants to save Christians.

And he wants you to do your small part.

Bad Language and Creation

2007-08-24T17:05:00.001-07:00

I was thinking a little bit wondering about some things that are tied into the English language. We have a lot of words. It is probably the hardest language known to man, at least I think so. But the thing demanded the most of my thought was the phenomena of bad language. It's a funny concept if you start to think about it. Things like shit, damn, etc. It just seems funny that certain words for some certain reason has become a word that is abhord in this world.

Linguistically speaking I have to keep agreeing with the concept of no bad words. If you take the language itself and look at the words, there is no reason to call one word worse than the other, especially when they refer to the same thing. All words are merely sounds of something we think or see. We say shit. Shit refers to a feces. Hence a pile of shit. Other times it is a description of an event or feeling like stubbing your toe or losing your job. Hence you hear people yell the word shit. Still at other times it is tied into identity. You can think of the phrase "you piece of shit" and you know exactly what that entails.

Let's look at those uses. The object of actual shit is the same as the word poop or terd, but you do not see anyone taking offense at these words. They hear and know what is being said. Or let's look at the expression. You know something has happened when you hear the expression. Something bad has happened. Or the identity usage of the word. It says that someone is pissed off at someone or something.

I have thought about this for awhile. I let the idea that there is no bad language whatsoever run through my head. It was interesting for awhile. If I saw poop, I can say shit because that is describing what I see. If I hate my circumstance, then shit can describe how I feel. If I do not love someone, then I can scream the obscenity at them and feel good about myself. But I thought some more, adding more variables the equation of language. What is language? Is it just a series of sounds to express things? To just be able to communicate? Or is there something more? What if something is behind the words? What if what I passionately believe and chase after is in my words?

That really made my head spin. I applied to the word shit when thinking of feces and I did not feel anything. But I applied it to the other two things and felt a world of difference in my mind. To understand, we have to look at the two ideas.

Yelling shit says that I hate this. That is okay as far as that goes. Frustration happens, and just holding back would be asking you not to express how you feel. However, to look at the continual degrading of a situation like you have reached the end and no one is taking care of you is a discredit to God. Jacob felt the same way, yet God told him that however bad the situation is, nothing amounts to the love and care I will give you. And you will come through it all. Maybe before degrading the situation again, why not think of the God who carries you through. This, however, would apply to even saying you do not appreciate the moment you are in. This gift of opportunity. That you hate the trial that God has given you to make you better at what he wants you to be. At that point it becomes a complete transformation ungratefullness to hope that a brighter day will come. This takes a higher connection and realization of God.

Let's look at the last one. The idea of yelling obscenities toward someone is on a simple level just a great stress relief. But let's look closely. Is it good to tell someone, I wish that you were not? Your worth to me is like a piece of shit? Is that really good? I think the better question to ask would be how good is your connection to God's people? Do you love those that come from our commone ancestor? Are you loving who God is loving? If so, then why not think on the next words you say to them. Say something that will lift them toward salvation, whoever it is.

The key to all this is the connection to God and His creation. To degrade his creation is a discredit to Him. It is not a matter of bad language or what people consider distasteful. It has now become a fact that to devalue God in your heart and mind is to move away from his plan. Words are words, but how you use those words can have effects on the lifting up of this earth. That means that even so called good language that can be used to call people names or degrade the gifts of God or His creation is bad language when used in such a manner. Think on this. This is crucial. This mean a transformation of your goals and thoughts. Here is one of the key variables to learning love. So love God. Love His gifts. Love His creation. Love His people. Then you will see what God's will is, His righteous and holy will.

Bush and Ethanol (Not What It Seems)

2007-08-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I must say that I may take some heat for this post, but it is going to be packed with some truth. It's about the whole ethanol push. Bush has pushed for this whole-heartedly, along with several politicians and companies like GM. I must say that it looked very nice in the beginning, but I am starting to wonder if it is such a good idea. I will go ahead and say that I am not supporting oil here. We need to use less of it because we are killing the earth that God gave us. With that said, ethanol is a very bad idea.

All the arguments for ethanol are very convincing, very clean and pulls from a very available source. Yes, corn is one of the largest crops grown world wide. So we have cheap clean oil. This is supposed to be the temporary savior of the environment, but I think we need to see how effective it is to making a good earth.

Let's look at the making of ethanol. Although it is quite clean compared to ethanol, it takes a large amount of fossil fuel to make it. So all we are doing is wiping off the bloody wound instead of stopping the bleeding. Maybe if something clean, like ethanol, were used to make ethanol, then it would be fine. Maybe we can wait a little while until that is the fact and we can make clean in a clean fashion. But that is not the case. If you go crazy with ethanol right now, you are going to do absolutely nothing better, if you don't make things worse than they are now.

The other thing is that corn is a food product. Think of how much fuel America consumes in a day. Now take that and match with how much ethanol needs to be made from corn. Thing about how much a cob of corn would cost. Think of that price hike within one year. Think of the taxes that would be put on it because of its new found value. Now I am going to point out the kicker. Think of that tax on the poor of society or of foreign nations. Think of those starving nations who will not be able to eat because corn was the stablizing crop of their land. Now we have the death rate moving from 1 person dieing every second to 10 or even 20 dieing every second.

So, is it worth it? I know that this information is not posted much, and for good reason. Who do you this will sell the ethanol. The same kind of companies who will sell you oil. They already do it in some places. Why give up that money. I don't know if Bush really knows what is happening, but I hope for his sake that he changes his mind. The same goes for the congressmen, republican, democrat, or whatever party. We need to search for something that will be clean yet unharmful to people. The longer we ingore the hungry, the further this will go. The death toll will be undeniable in the end if ethanol is marketed on the mass scale. Let's be careful when we save the earth not to destroy the ones who live in it.

Reflections on the Holy Spirit

2007-07-24T17:27:00.000-07:00

I was reading through John for that reference on the Holy Spirit being sent to followers of Christ. It was in John 14:15-16. It's an amazing verse. Most Christians today have no idea how amazing it is. I glanced at a couple things and noticed something, this is not the first time that the Spirit or the Angel of God is mentioned. In John there is this wonderful picture of God revealing himself as this mysterious guide that you have to follow. This has major implications for a Jew, but hold on to that thought. It also begins to talk about the followers of God following obeying the commands of God, if you have them. In verses 23-24 goes into a talk of obeying God all over again. He was kind of responding to Judas asking why he would not reveal himself to the world. Essentially that is probably getting into the idea that Christ would make himself known through liberating the Jews from the rule of others. That was not what Christ wanted. But that is another entry.

I am seeing something very familiar in this passage. Something old and very definitive to the Jewish nation. Look in Exodus and you'll start to see something familiar. You have to start reading into the Law of Moses. I know it's initially a boring section, but amazing things open up if you study this law and deeper understanding of Christ comes to your mind. Look in Exodus 23:20-23. Do you see it yet. Simply amazing. Christ was using the past Jewish experience to create a new exodus for His following. The Jews needed guidance to journey to the promised land. They did not know where they were going and they were constantly in need of reminders as to what God had done in freeing them. They would forget the Lord's works. They would even want to turn back to Egypt. So God says, "Hey, did you forget what I did? Have you forgotten what slavery was like for you? I tell you what, my Spirit/Angel is going to lead you home. It'll be awhile before you get there, but hang in there. I love you and you love me, and if that is the case, nothing can stop you." Compare that to what Jesus said to his disciples. It sheds a whole new meaning to what Christ was trying to do. Remeber that Christ was speaking a plural you to these disciples. He was telling them that the Spirit was a guide to all of them. Moses wrote the same way in the Law. I am giving you (all) a guide. God has always been in the business of guiding those who want to take part in the journey. The Spirit is all about a community moving on a journey to reach the promised place of rest.

So what could this possibly mean. Well, we all know that it was only through the journey that the nation could reach it's goal. They would finally reach their place of rest and that is the end of that chapter of the Jewish story. The same can be applied to us. We are all on this journey. And I am wanting to emphasize the fact that I say ALL(People following God). ALL are on this journey. ALL have forgotten and will forget the Lord at times. ALL will always struggle with obstacles on this path. ALL WILL NEED THE GUIDANCE OF GOD'S SPIRIT. None of us are so in love that we could skip a desire to sin. It's part of our history. It's part of our hearts and minds. But the Spirit guides the failing man. The successful man needs no guide. So just as the Jewish nation had a guide the promised land, so do we.

Staying in Love with God (Community vs. individualism)

2007-07-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at Matthew 23:1-12, and if you look at this passage you begin to see one of God’s dream for the Jewish nation. Many times the Pharisees get a bad reputation as being completely evil and vile. Jesus said that that is not the case. He gives them the honor of being the ones to decide the meaning of scripture to the people. You will hear people say do not be a Pharisee or a religious leader, but we have to be careful with this. The point Christ wanted to get across was what the Pharisees did not do. They understood what was written and what was taught in the Law. They understood the Way of Life. They told everyone else to live in that Way. They just did not live it. They were very lenient on themselves and strict with everyone else. It is a sad sight, a dangerous existence that only brings hell. All of us are to do everything with love for God and not just love ourselves.
Famous author and pastor Rob Bell once wrote on being a super-godly yet fake leader. “I can’t begin to describe what it was like because it was happening so fast. One minute you have these ideas about how it could be and the next minute you are leading this exploding church/event/monster. All of a sudden there are all of these people who know who you are and want something from you and think you’re a big deal, and you are the same person you’ve always been. I think of people who never before cared if I existed who suddenly wanted to be my friend. And that’s why I tell you all of this. Because there’s a dark side. I was moments away from leaving the whole thing. People were asking me to write articles and books on how to grow a progressive young church, and I wasn’t even sure I was a Christian anymore. I was exhausted…burned out…done.”
One thing that can be so easy to fall into is that we need to love ourselves. Some of you are saying, “No, not me.’ But if you are taking conveniently look good over responsibly living what God teaches; if your wanting your very own works and leadership instead of humbly being someone who is broken and can be healed like every one else;
Now, let’s look at the Pharisees. They were people who knew the Law of God, or the Way of God, very well. They could tell you every single command that God had given his people. They had been to every temple or synagogue event. They had been faithful in the sacrifices. They claimed to be like spotless lambs with God’s ultimate favor. Jesus noticed that they were sitting in the seat of Moses, which was a position of great authority in the religious community. Here they could be presented with new and confusing issues and would decide how they should be handled. The Pharisees were basically interpreting the Law for the people. Jesus said to follow that. Do what your leaders say when they give you something that is from God. What Jesus said not to do was what they were doing, which was living a life for their own comfort and pleasure.
A life lived answerable to me is a dangerous one. It is here we find separation from God, which is known as Hell. Pharisees were imposing this severity of the Law on all the people who were lesser in knowledge of the scripture. The one person that they forgot was the Pharisee. This is probable the most serious power crime of the time and culture. Imagine a judge going out and murdering a man right after he had sentenced a man to prison for the same crime. It makes no sense. Imagine a police officer stealing some money from a bank. There is something wrong with that picture as well. The point is that imposing a way of life on someone and not following that same way of life is the very heart of what living a life not in love with God. All the kindness and justice and worship found in the Way of God taught by the Pharisees were meant for the Pharisees as well as the common man in Israel. The Nation of Israel as a whole had made the marriage covenant with God, no exceptions.
Another thing was killing the Pharisees, or any religious leader for that matter, was the desire to be noticed. These men wanted everyone to know that they were the holiest men in Israel, when even they messed up just like the common people did. It was not that they were sitting in the seat of Moses, it was that put off the face of perfection and did not live it out. Jesus said that they “tie heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” They simply did not live what they preached. They also loved the terms Rabbi, Father, and Master. These terms were common for someone who was superior to you in religious training. The people who were not religiously educated would use these intimate terms for these leaders. They loved being loved for their knowledge, leadership, and perfection.
One last thing that the Pharisees had was a draw to impress. Remember what Jesus said when he talks about the phylacteries, the tassels on their prayer shawls, and the seats of honor in the Synagogues. Phylacteries were boxes wrapped around the head or the arm of a Jewish man during their daily prayers. It was a tradition put into place by the Jews to honor and remember God. It was not a bad tradition until the religious leaders began to demand that people look how big their phylacteries are, and oddly enough, they seemed to keep getting bigger. The tassels come from the Old Testament command to have tassels on the end of their prayer shawls so that they would remember God, and these same guys’ tassels kept getting longer. So we can see that the tassels became something to remember the men wearing them instead of remembering the God who ordained them. They also relished the receiving of seats of honor in the synagogues. Seats of honor were probably special seating places in the synagogues for speakers or special guests. In these places they would be either closer to the place set aside for the reading of the scripture or they would be sitting in chairs while everyone would be on mats on the floor. Their need to be seen as holy led them to impress everyone with their clothes positions. The power over people and the fear from the people drove them to be some of the most hypocritical leaders of their time. They just wanted to impress, and not live out the Way of God.
Rob Bell discovered what the Pharisees never saw at all. He saw the detrimental effects of being the super leader, the holy man who is never wrong.
Another chapter of the same book describes his healing process. “I meet so many people who have super whatever rattling around in their head. They have this person they are convinced they are supposed to be, and their super whatever is killing them. They have this image they picked up over the years of how they are supposed to look and act and work and play and talk, and it’s like a voice that never stops shouting in their ear. And the only way to not be killed by it is to shoot first. Yes, that is what I meant to write. You have to kill you super whatever. And you have to do it right now.”
Rob Bell is seeing something profound but old. He has discovered the most important concept of life, and that is to love God. Jesus wanted the nation of Israel to see this truth. He wanted the people to have a draw to practice the Way of God. This draw to practice is more than knowing the law or being educated enough to tell people how to live life. The draw to practice the Way is to live out what God has willed in his covenant with you as a community. Loving God is living out what you say you believe in.
Jesus also said the best way to live included being drawn to be humble. The Pharisees wanted so bad to have their power and that attention and the fear. They were not willing to live past themselves. They were not willing to let that lifestyle of living for God overtake their desire to be above everyone else. But that is what you are called to do, to live past yourself, to kill your super whatever. Christianity is not just about getting it right with the rules and traditions; its about something more.
The last thing he wanted people to see was the draw to live out their faith. The leaders were. But they were not doing it with their lifestyle. They wanted the severity of law to be lived out by the people because it defined their position and power, but when it came to their own hearts desires, they did not even lift a finger. To live with the draw to live out your faith means to live the same message you preach. It means to smoke what you are selling. Your faith and your belief are not just defined by what you say, but also what you do.
When people start to fulfill this desire of God, they will see what eternal life is, what true humility is, and what it means to truly be a person who guides others to life. Maybe you are being called away from being just a judge who tells people what to do, and are being called to learn to also obey. Maybe you are being called away from being noticed through your knowledge or special events and positions that you are over, and being taught to also be humble through not leading and not contributing the most noticeable things. Maybe you are being called away from just living to impress others with what you seem to be, and being called to be someone in love with God. Rob Bell says something else in the same book that describes what a community healed from being a community of a bunch of individualists. He says, “I say the system has to be changed. It has to be destroyed and replaced not with another system but with an entirely new way of life. I see it happening and it gives me great hope. I see leaders getting help and refusing to stuff it anymore. I see communities embracing their brokenness and the brokenness of their leaders, and healing is taking place. I see honesty. I see people who want to be fully alive. I see people who want the life Jesus promises and who are willing to let go of ego and prestige and titles to get. I can’t begin to tell you how much better my life is today than it was several years ago. I continue to dig things up and process new insights and learn about my insides. The journey continues.”
I wonder if any of you want to know if Christianity can be saved from this, and the answer is yes. God wants it. Sometimes we just do not get what it means and we are constantly in need of new insight to our insides. Other times we just do not want to give up the things we have to get what God has planned for us. We are constantly in need of saving, even as Christians. Over and over we may fail, but by the grace of God, it is the one who lives in love with God who will be saved, not the one living infatuated with the self. If you want to see the staff positions; if you want to lead in the worship team or the choir; if you want to be the one who directs all the events and plays; if you want to be someone who keeps coming up to the pulpit and sharing, or even share testimonies in the congregation, think about it before hand. Have you thought that you might be doing it for you? Have you thought about not doing that job, but doing something behind the scenes? Have you thought about giving it up period? Maybe God is asking you to reconsider your part in this community. Remember that God wants your heart to match His heart. Live in the community mindset and not the individualistic mindset. Live in love with God and His creation instead of just you. Go, live out what you believe, and do not just be one who only seems Godly anymore. Be wrong every once in awhile instead of fighting to just be right and make everyone else wrong. That’s not trust or love. Let go of yourself. Then and only then will you see God’s kingdom here on earth and start your eternal life.

Journey Through Genesis

2007-06-12T19:54:00.000-07:00

So I have been reading through Genesis the past week, and I must say that it is an amazing book. I know what you're thinking. It's not as boring as you think. It is at least an amazing story book. I know that there is much debate over the historicity of the book, but regardless of that, it still holds very strong truths (a side note, considering that this cultures existed very close to the beginning of time than us, they do seem to have the upper hand on anything we could "make up". Even if they derived their stories from the origins of earlier cultures, they still have the upper hand in facts because the early stories would have to hold some form of truth about the beginning considering their proximity to the time that things began.)

It all started when God created man. That is when the story truly starts its crescendo upward. The climax at the fall defines men now. It at the very least reflects what is known about humanity. But the story does not stop there. We see that men start to divide by good and evil, and evil seems to start winning the battle. God out of misery decides to destroy all but a segment of creation. Out of this humanity regrows itself and God reestablishes the knowledge of His existence. We go on to Abraham (Abram). This man led a life of adventure because of God. The Covenant that was made changed the world forever. A nation was created that would exist and bring hope. Things get weird though because Abraham was a scared man. He was not a mass of people, but was just one man. His sleeping with his wifes servant proved this. Through this we get Ishmael (did you know that for a very long time the descendents of Ishmael and Isaac got along and even intermarried. Kind of funny that Muslims claim lineage to Ishmael and then try to pit themselves against Jews. The Jews do the same act of lunacy but claiming Isaac.)

Isaac's story led to Jacob, who was later called Israel. This one fact confuses me, Israel wrestled with God. I read in a commentary for the NIV Study Bible (Zondervan) that he finally recognized the God gave blessings, but the problem is that he prays to God and recognizes God's mercies. I cannot help but wonder if there is something else at work. Maybe a picture of what all Israel would do with God. What did asking for the man's blessing mean? It's just seems like there is something deeper is going on here. This is a good thing to study.

So do you see how the story is. It's almost to good. I love hearing the richness of what Judaism offers when reading scripture. We have to turn to them often. Jesus existed in this kind of setting and we do His words no justice if we do not understand what He wanted to say to those people at that time. Now I'm not saying that you have to do exactly Jewish things or think strictly in Jewish terms when living life, but to know what God wants us to hear is important and there are truths embedded deep in their theology. Just reading with literary analysis alone may prove faulty at times, historical analysis is needed. If you have questions, look it up. Life is filled with questions. You will not find all the answers, that is so that we will trust God, but it is necessary to chase God.

Bringing Hope

2007-04-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

Isn't this an odd post. I guess I am on another rant. This one may throw some people into a whole realm of disagreement with me, but I don't care. I'm going to talk about being in outreach. I am going to use two groups, ONE and (RED). ONE is an organization that is for ending world poverty and disease. There products that you can buy that are not consider a donation or tax-deduction. They mainly want you to sign their petition. (RED) is more business oriented, but with a good idea backing it. I love this idea. Taking business and making it something that serves community. What is an occupation but fulfilling a need? So where are Christians in this? I don't think I hear about things like this enough. We should be aware of these problems for one thing. AIDS is a problem, and we should see it as our call to heal and and bring hope. It is not a time to condemn. Poverty is an issue. People are poor, and money is what a man needs to eat and exist here on earth. If we truly believe in purpose, than why do we not treat people as if they have a purpose. This includes trying to save their lives along with teaching them how to better live it.

I know, these may not be Christian organizations. And I will defend myself by using conservative Republican Christian American as a foundation for my defense. I first will say that the Republican party is not the Messiah. It may even be a catalyst for the Anti-Christ, but those two things are true of the Democratic Party as well as other parties not mentioned. But when one is right and will serve for the betterment of the world, we vote for them. We want to see a country experience the goodwill God would like to have for humanity. So with that, we use other groups to fulfill our purpose, which is to fulfill the needs of the hurting and helpless.

I think of Jesus as he healed paralytics, demon-possessed men, helped his disciples pay taxes, eat with tax collectors and sinners, and, more important that ANY of these, died so that we could say, "I am forgiven." What an expression of love. Let's use this opportunity to reach people for Christ. It is a means to greatest end, and the means matches the end. So give to these groups or others as you are led by Christ, and not as led by your what you think is financially sound. Give like the widow. Give sacrificially, and know that in the end, Christ is more proud of your small contribution, than of the massive amounts of money the barely dent the wallots of the rich.

Lady in the Water: Theology and Hollywood

2006-12-30T17:33:00.000-08:00

I was watching the movie Lady In The Water tonight and was very intrigued by the ideas the underlined the plot. I'll use the characters Cleveland and Story to start. These are two people who are very different when looking at their background. Cleveland is a son of men and is very bashful. He has a stuttering problem and runs a local hotel. He does not believe in mystical things. He is kind of a real life guy as the world would say. Story is a narf. She is a character from myth, which ends up not being a myth at all. Spiritual implications run rampant in these two. Cleveland usually has a stuttering problem. The funny thing is that when Cleveland is around Story, he stops stuttering. Story is part of an effort for the better of mankind. We see this in the scene when she finds his diary and discovers his sadness and his lack of seeing his purposes. Cleveland however is...well...he is just part of mankind. He doesn't have much hope I see here the importance of Story in the life of Cleveland. When i think about this, I think of the Lord's prayer. Jesus said, "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is heaven." I think of this passage and think, this could be a little insight into what it means. Your kingdom come may be what this girl story may have been reflecting in my mind. I see that God followers are able to bring the kingdom to earth. God's will is without a doubt done in heaven. so why not have it done here on earth. It is a pretty simple concept. Bring God glory. It also means bring the message of God's plan and purpose onto earth. Story continually tells him he has a purpose, and eventually Cleveland gets the point to search for his purposes. He keeps getting it wrong as well as the others who discover Story and her purposes.

One funny thing is that Story herself is even unsure. We see later in the movie that she greatly questions her purpose becuase she discovers that she is like a queen among her kind, a Madam Narf. She greatly questions that she could be a Madam Narf. She say that the other Narfs used to laugh at her. She says that she does not want to be a Madam Narf and that she is scared. Here is the kicker, CLEVELAND ENCOURAGES HER. WOW!!! How could that be. Cleveland was the one who is filled with hurt. Even at the point he is encouraging her, he is still searching for his own purpose. isn't it crazy. It's almost as if growth is meant to be done together. Growth done together is not a currently accepted concept. We keep thinking that we need the guidance of the people who got it; the "entirely sanctified" people. But the problem is is that here on earth, there is not perfection. There is good, but not perfection. Rob Bell said that perfection would mean that change is not needed. The only one not needing change is God. We however are good since Christ died for the entire earth. What is needed is growth, change, evolution. The good things of nature change. There are animals that are good creatures, it should be said that they are great creatures. But they have always throught the centuries changed to match their habitat, or to just exploit their better attributes. What I am trying to say is that creation changes, and we change; WE GROW. And we grow together since every one of us is changing. Cleveland and Story are growing in their own ways and they grow together. They carry each others burdens.

Cleveland also ends up being the Healer. What a great concept. This is a man that is ever so wounded by his past. He is so unsure. He doesn't think he has a purpose. But in the end he serves the greatest purpose of all. Without him the cause would be lost. He even serves his purpose while still not knowing what it was. He probably still had questions and hurt and walls of disbelief. But he is given the task. Despite his still trying to find faith, he is being used as what common Christians think only Christians could be used. When he heals her, he is confronting his own weakness and then is able to heal her. It's a lead with a limp mentality.

A major theme of this movie is purpose. So many characters here have a purpose. Some don't see purpose. They don't even believe in the "Fairy Tale" or "Bed Time Story". Some however believe right away. It's not that no one wants to believe these things, they do, it's just that they are behind walls of experience. But they all experience this thing together and all believe in the end.

Herb is an interesting character. He is the writer. The man with an amazing message that will change the course of history. What does this sound like. What makes sound completely like the Bible is that Story tells him the kid who heres these words will grow up and change the world himself. He gets killed becuase of the good he produces. But the legacy of good lives on.

All is connected. This is one thing that Story said. The scene where Cleveland discovers his purpose, the man who's opinion is highly respected is saying he wants to believe. I highly recommend this movie to any Christian, or anyone wanting a little insight into what spirituality is similar too. Throw away those ideas you get when you here about the kid who will read the Cookbook and change the world. You know, the ones that say, "oh no, the anti-christ". I have a hard time seeing how bringing the Kingdom of God would be the mark of one who will be the one who stands in opposition of Holiness. Let this thing be spiritual. Everything is spiritual. You just have to look at it and apply it. Don't be someone who so readily separates spiritual from the real world, because that cannot be done. Take these ideas into your body of believers and your own lives.

Community Action

2006-11-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

So I am worried about two sides of an argument. I was recently indirectly insulted and said to be on one extreme. I personally know where I stand in Values and am not afraid to point out right and wrong. There seem to be two sides two this situation. There are some people who are just either not caring about God's dream or are scared to express what is right and wrong. There are also those who want to battle the people and not the sin. I consider myself a man who desires to see hearts changed but to be in love with the people that, considering what is in the Bible, God's showed extravagant love to.

To the people who need to show courage, there is a way to love someone and confront them. Tell them that they are wrong, but tell them why. Tell them God has dreams for them, if they would just follow him. It is agreeable to my mind that loving them enough by itself will not save people. Loving them with intetionality is. I know that relationships are wonderful, but show the kind of love that seeks to edify and not just make happy. Remember that you are a servant of Christ and not of Man. You are a servant TO man because Christ was one as well, but you are a servant OF God. It is okay if you are heartbroken of the loss. It show that your heart yearns for the lost, but it is not okay to send these people to hell. If a situation comes up that is of a private manner and can the person can be restored gracefully, as is Biblical, then do. If it is out in the open and the way to handle it is out in the open, then you do what must be done to bring the brother back to his original passion for Christ's will.

To the people who show lack of discipline in their enthusiasm, I encourage you to take step to Christ's love instead of leading on with a sword. I know Christ challenged the Pharisees, but He said turn and repent. He did not kick them out. Let us not forget how Christ treated the adulteress. The Pharisees were reasoning that they should stone becuase she opposed the values that Jesus stood for. Instead of condoning this type of punishment, he asked the ones with no sin in their lives to throw first. None did, and Christ lifted her up and told her to go and sin no more. That my friends is an extravagant love. Some say this is cheapening Grace. I say not at all. It is loving into the Kingdom. This is what is meant by that term. This is not a spineless tactic. Spineless is leaving a fight worth fighting when all stands against you. Love is actually finding something worth fighting for. If failure becomes the epitome of spineless, then we all are hell-bound. If the Church body was meant to perfect in morality, then we are not the Body, nor do we deserve to be. Love is the pre-requisite to a passionate style of fighting. I challenge you to reflect on the things in scripture that may oppose your view, and to be open to it if not acceptive of it. If you have not found any to oppose your views, you simply are not looking hard enough. Look for examples on campus that oppose your view, if you can't find them, you probably are not involved enough in the ministry, but you are putting blame on someone else when you are being exclusive and not seeking opportunity. Remember that Judas was a disciple. The man that betrayed Jesus. That alone says that our religion is filled with hope for somebodies possible salvation. If it is unorthodox to do things like that, then Christ was unorthodox, as am I.

The majority of us know the reason for this post. I'll leave in your minds to think about. The only thing I cannot agree with about the post I am in response to is to call us ineffective. With over thirty people coming to Christ in this semester alone, I challenge the viewpoint. This method has actually proved more effective than hell-fire and brimstone tactics. I know that some people read Eldredge and McManus and see multiple fighting references. I challenge that on two different levels. The first and foremost is that neither are God, and their works are not Gospel. They would whole-heartedly agree. The second is that they might have some questions about either side of the extreme if not against it.

One thing we must never forget is that we must never alienate ourselves from sinners. Think of the Samaritan Woman. All that Jesus did was state the facts of her actions and let conviction do it's work. Morality is set in us. We do have to address immorality, but with fierce love. It is people we are focused on. As far as back sliders are concerned, we should be people oriented again, and give open doors of grace for them to walk through to re-enter the Body. This does have implications of change, but we should work with them and bring them to change. Remember that the Church is not supposed to just accept people who look like themselves and act like themselves, but we accept and then push people to move like Christ.

2006-11-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful thing

dang fireants

2006-09-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

Wow

2006-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

So I have not posted since late July. I know that it is a shame, but I have just been terribly busy. I am taking some time on the last four blogs I was going to write, so I hope you are not dissapointed. I'll probably rewrite some of the ones I did. I just wanted to take the time to reiterate a point I make to women these days.
One thing I hate is when a woman either begs for to be called pretty or does not consider herself pretty. I have definitely heard this stated many times, and it definitely breaks my heart, especially when it is someone I could see myself dating. It just hurts to have someone whom God gifted with so much beauty reject any compliment of beauty. They sometimes find it hard to believe that someone finds them attractive. I know they may have bad experiences, and I try to understand that. But some of us guys are quite critical about the women we find worth this kind of romantic attention and we try to fight for their love. When we say that we think you would be a great woman to date, we mean it. I cannot forget though that some guy are idiots. I have been one in the past. I have chased girls that were not worth my time and have denied girls that were far beyond me, and deserved much better than me.
All that I am wanting to say is that there are guys out there that find you beautiful, not for your body, but for you. They are willing to take the baggage of good and bad. They see your imperfections and say that they did not want someone that was perfect, but someone that was perfectly made for them. Some of us may not be ready to date ladies, but we are not all blind to what you truly are. We are the ones who have finally figured out that you are not trophies to be won and placed on shelves of lonliness, but to be partners in our battles and to live intimately as we fight for each other.

The Uncontrollable Fire: "The Consumation"

2006-06-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

The Uncontrollable Fire: "A Spreading Flame"

2006-06-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

You know how some people will be the first to stand up in a chapel or a church service, and they'll say things and do things that they would not do in a regular everyday setting? Rob Bell once posed the a question which asked is this what God wanted. He was raised in a church, but he later started to ask the question if this is what God had in mind. Does it make sense when the worshipers of Sunday mornings do not love and serve this God outside of the building they comfortably call the church? I do not think that God had in mind that we would be safely sitting in a church praying aloud, and go out Monday hoping that no one knew that we prayed.
In 1 Corinthians 14:1-4, Paul says to pursue love but to desire spiritual gifts. Pursue here is very strong because it says that we are continually chasing without fully grasping. Desire here only says that we cannot even begin to win or earn our gifts, because gifts are to be given. It is here the we see Christ's heart for His Church. Spiritual gifts are great things but we must be willing to lift up those around us in love that we recognize as followers of Christ as well as the lost ones, whom God still loves. Paul here is saying to this group of believers that although it is great to recieve something that makes you someone who has something different and something special to display, it is far greater to be someone who will sacrifice so that a brother or a sister will see how they may be a better Christian. It is greater to seek out the lost sheep and return them to wholeness. These Corinthians were not bad people, they just had a few quirks just like every church today has. Speaking in tongues was obviously one the key ingredients for these people in feeling their own spirituality. Paul however wanted to show them what Jesus really taught. Paul pointed to something far greater than speaking in tongues; he pointed to love and compassion. Paul desired for his friends to see the will of God. Paul says in this passage that when we speak in tongues, we lift ourselves up, but when we prophecy we are mainly seeking the repentence and potential of men and women. The point here is that the Church was never meant to primarily be a service every sunday morning where we come in and sit down, stand up, sit down, and leave. Christiianity was never about having an ecstatic and wild worship, nor was it about having an orderly orthodox service. According to Jesus, true religion is not any of these things. True religion and pure spirituality is about helping the helpless and loving them; it is about blessing everyone, even our enemies, because once we were enemies to the one who blessed us with grace and salvation. Love is the foundation of everything and everyone in the Church. Paul understood what it was the Jesus said in Matthew 22:34-40.
I was driving with my good friend one day when we started talking about holy living. Our conversation went on and eventually he said he didn't give a shit as a christian. He said that that was the difference between me and him. I wanted to respond. I wanted to think of something witty to make him think, but I just couldn't. It may have been a little shock because he and I were raised almost the same by our parents. It was only recently when I read more of the Bible that I started to see what this young man was missing.
Jesus said in Matthew 22:34-40 that the greatest commandment of all time was to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is making God more than an idea and making Him very personable. The second command he mentioned was very close to the first command. It said love your neighbor as you should love yourself. Now there's something interesting. Love your neighbors. At first thought that could be anyone. In the account of Luke, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan. I'm not going to take time to tell it because we've all heard it in our sunday schools. The point Jesus was making was that altlhough the two men were different and were supposed to be enemies, they connected on a level that was far deeper than any relationship this world offers. Jesus wanted so bad for the Pharisees and Sadducees to see who they should treat as their neighbors, and in doing so He forced the Pharisee to say the very people he was against were the very people God wanted him to be for.
Our neighbors are walking by us everyday. Should we not bless them? Is that not what Jesus would have us do? Is it possible that our enemies are our enemies because we choose to think of them in such a way? Are we simply choosing to love them? The truth is yes, we do it everyday with our friends. We choose to love when we choose our friends, and we choose not to love when we choose our enemies.
Jesus also was responding to the idea that the Law is something heavy and light. In those days, the teachers of the Law wanted to divide the Law into sections that were completely neccessary and the things which were not so necessary. They wanted the good, the bad, and the not so bad. But if we look at the Ten Commandments, they ask us to do something simple. Most of the Law is something simple. It's goal was to keep us separate in the babaric and animal sense. Jesus however is asking us to a higher cause. He is calling us to live a life that is above anything the law could ask us to do. Jesus is asking us to love. It is the foundation of the law. The reason God gave us the law was to point to the life of love. The Law itself turns out to be only the beginning of holiness. If we live by the Law alone, then we are settling for the smallest things that God would have us do. But grace has called us to something more. If we live in service to others and with love for God and His will, then we have soared to new heights where death cannot touch us. We need to start living by the love of God. We can start seeing new things happen if we live by this new thing that God wanted us to have from the beginning. God never wanted us to live by just the basics and by ourselves inside this thing that many want to say is the church. He wanted us to be beyond that. What he really wanted was for us to move and to be a movement. He wanted us to be contagious like a wild fire. When we burn like this, there is nothing that controls our love for God and others. We will then move like the wind and the flame and spread to the ends of the earth.
In John 13:34-35. Jesus says that his followers will be known by their love for each other. What does that mean? It means that we must love for the sake of something bigger than us. If this is bigger than us, and we want to be a part of this movement, then we need to participate in love and grace. Let's not think we are the only ones in this struggle, yet let us live as if God has given us the responsibility to carry out HIS agenda into the world. We must also never forget that God is master and that we are not. There just isn't any way we can rule along side of Him and be servants at the same time. We need to begin living in love and abandon hate for those who hate God. When we finally realize that this movement is about more than we like to believe and is actually about God's will and love for the world, then it will become easier to understand. It's so easy to forget that we are the servants and that blessings aren't guaranteed. Sometimes the only blessings we will see is salvation itself. But that is more than enough because the grace in salvation is overflowing.
So may you go out and bless your neighbor. May you realize that this life you are trying to live is worth everything. May you live a life that is of the great fire and true freedom that God wants you to have.

The Uncontrollable Fire: "A Spark"

2006-06-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

The next four post are a sermon series I'm typing out. It's a work in progress an I am not done with all the critical work, so bear with me this time.
Theme Verse: Acts 9:1-20

I want to start by telling a story of my dad and my uncle. One day my dad and my brother were outside their house playing with a box of matches at the tree line of the woods outside their house. This happened when they were alot younger and not as smart as they are now. My uncle is the one credited with being brilliant enough to throw the lit matches onto the dry leaves at the edge of the woods and my dad was just along for the ride. My uncle proceed by throwing the matches and then stomping out the burning leaves with his foot. This plan was great for about 5-6 matches. After so many throws, I think that chance left the scene and probability took hold of its rightful position. The leaves were burning like before, but were not going out this time. In a terrible panic, the two brothers ran to the house. They hoped to escape notice, but were confronted with harsh reality when the entire local fire department showed up at their doorsteps. When door opened, two kids became frightened by a man known only as the fire marshall who lectured them about the dangers that fires have on them.
My dad and his brother almost did a terrible thing. I guarantee that they have not tried it again to this day and are very cautious around matches. The funny thing is that such a small innocent spark of energy can cause have such a drastic affect on everything around it. There have been stories on the news about forest fires and how they cost us billions of dollars every year. In 1993, Southern California experienced one of their worst forest fires in history. They area had gone an indecent amount of time without rain, making the forest ripe for the bunring. The fire was devastating. About 6500 firemen battled the blazes along with firechoppers which scooped water from the Pacific Ocean. The efforts however were futile and the fire took over 1000 homes and left close to a billion dollars in damage.
All it took was one spark. Such a small amount of energy compared to a gigantic forest fire. Such a concept seems barely at the grasp of the mind. A spark is such a small amount of energy. If you have seen a spark you know how quick and small its energy is and how short of a window of opportunity it has to make a difference. Acts 9:1-3 paints a picture of one of the infamous sparks of our religion. When Saul was running around capturing Christians for the silencing, he was stopped in his tracks to Damascus. Now, in those days, visions were becoming quite rare. No vision had occured in such a long time, but Saul saw a vision nonetheless. In this passage Saul eventually answers the call Christ had for him making on of the greatest sparks in our history.
This passage also mentions another character that is crucial to this story, God. God is trying to get our lives energized like a spark is energized from a flint peice. God has faith that we can do this and calls us to Him. We must start to see the potential inside us and have faith in ourselves as well as in God, for God believes that we are capable of being priests. In Acts 9:3-6, God has called Saul to stop doing what he is doing and follow Him. It does not seem to make sense that the man who was such a sworn enemy to the Church was even considered. But then again. Jesus chose fishermen and tax collectors. Why not someone who was working in the synagogues and Temple. God believed that Saul was capable of something great. That we be the only reason He choose 12 vagabonds to follow Him. He believed that they could be like Him. The same love and faith existed in Saul's case as well.
Acts 9:7-18 shows what it is to be a spark. One thing about the spark is that the spark cannot stay and still keep its energy. It must go and find something to pass its energy on to. Without something to pass on that energy to, the spark loses its energy. Barnabas carried on such a concept. He was just a spark. but he found someone to pass on his energy to. Now the way he would be passing on his energy was very risky in his eyes. Saul was not a man of a great reputation for men like Barnabas. He still went and helped unleash one of the greatest wild fires of history that still burns today.
Sparks are also wild and unpredictable. We must remember that when one drops his own life and begins to follow Christ, that that is one of the wildest and most unpredictable moments in a anyones life. Would it not make sense that such a start of a lifestyle is partly what makes up the lifestyle itself. The old life is very mundain. It is worth not even a penny in your pocket, because the things of this world will all fade away. Nothing of this life lasts. The funny thing is that we are born in a nature which partly desires this world, and most of the time it whens over everything that calls us to be holy and to be God chasers. Is it not wild and so unpredictable that we, fallen man would first be chosen to be in God's Kingdom and then be the ones to accept it. If that is wild, then so is the lifestyle we are to live, and by wild, I mean passionate about God and about loving others and showing grace and spreading the Gospel in whatever way God deems as possible for you. There should be no bubbles among. I know about bubbles. My younger life was a bubble. but we run a risk as Christians. We risk financial trauma, verbal abuse, discrimination, and even death in some situations. That however is the life God wants of us, for it is only out of love that some have suffered. If we claim to love, then let us live in love.
If we look at scriptures, then we see that we follows God's commands and not the Law. Now hang with me for a second; I am about to make a point. When we follow God, we will reflect the Law. If God gave the Jewish nation the Law, then it only makes sense that following God would be very similar to following the Law. But those who follow the Law have only death, for no one can please the Law. This was true in the Old Testament as well. The people who walked and talked with God were the ones known as righteous. Those who merely followed the Law were only Law abiding citizens. In that note I can say that we do not follow the Law, for we are not disciples of the Law, we are disciples of God, the maker of the Law. We have the virtue found in the law which is of God in our hearts.
All this is the way to starting a flame, but we must be sparks for the Kingdom. We are not like forestfires in a destructive sense, but we are sparks which awaken souls that have never burned or have been ashes for a long time. All it takes is to be a spark. All we have to do is be a small, responsive energy the can kindle the flame, which will be the next reality behind the Church.

Being like Jesus

2006-05-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

I was thinking for a bit tonight as the crowds massed to the house and caused quite a rucus. I started thinking back to the Gospel accounts and how they portrayed Jesus. Such love for the sinners amazes me. I think about how I was taught never to hang with the wrong crowd and how Jesus ate with the tax collectors and other hated people of His day. I am not saying do not make Christian friends, that should be a must. As far as Christian friends are concerned, it is always good to invest in wholesome friends for the wholesome influence. But we also have the people we say we were friends with and quite honestly imply that we love although we do not use the word love all the time. Of course our love for people expands beyond what we consider a healthy boundary for love and moves to a broad view of love and grace. Do not be the kind of guy who keeps expecting the Christian principals from a non-Christian, that just doesn't make sense. Instead, expect from people what they have been taught and teach them the truth when they do not know better. I say all that to say the simple words be a reflection of Jesus to someone. In matthew we are told to be perfect as the Father is perfect. This means that we are to continually strive to this end. Be someone's hope if they do not have hope.

Church Splits

2006-05-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing I don't understand in the Wesleyan church is the continual wants for dividing a church. I live in NC this summer, so I definitely see how splitting churches here is not smart. If you were to ride through NC looking at Wesleyan Churches, you may be suprised that there is two or maybe even three in the same area. If you look back a little in my blog, you may see the entry Unity, Not Strife. I look at some places and see the opportunity for great ministries to see day, but our clouds block out any rays of light. We should deeply consider merging churches. Would it not be more feasible for financial and volunteering purposes. Let's consider 1 church which gets $500 and has 20 people attending. Of those people only 5 volunteer, not including the pastor. They want to start a new outreach mininstry but need at least 10 people considering their community size and $1000 dollars. A Church of the same denomination is located not far away and is recieving $700 dollars and has 30 members. They want to do something that would cost $200 and requires 10 volunteers, and they have 18 that volunteers. It only seems to make sense that we merge these two churches and fulfill the ministry that God has laid on us. Think on the book of Acts. The Church only had one Church every city that they had a Church, if they were blessed with having a church at all. With combined efforts, the Christians of the community were able to evangelize effectively.
Let's think about that some more. Combine and double your chances of starting ministry opportunities effectively. Sounds to me like we have some work to. I do understand that some churches are in the same town for viable reasons. We should be searching our hearts as to why there is a church in the same city which shares our denominational beliefs. Think twice before saying no to a proposition such as this.

The Gates of Hell and the End times

2006-05-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that has bothered me, it has been the Christians who spend amazing amounts of time on eschatology and have made a definition of their faith. To start off, we must remember that God is the object of our faith. He is the pursuit. Another thing is how many people look at the idea of bringing down the gates of Hell and still take the lives of others and turn it into a hell.
Eschatology is not a bad thing to study, as a matter of fact, it is quite interesting. However, I do not see how it is a defining factor of our faith. There are different parts of Christianity that say different things about Christianity, most of which are defendable in scriptures. The thing that cooks my goose a little too much is the parts of Christianity that will make some form of a something-millenial view and state that there wishes are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I do not think that this is any way to think at all. Wesleyans maitain a little openness about how it all will end. What we do state in an absolute manner is that God will win and will judge the quick and the dead. This is something I truely believe in.
I also am somewhat ticked at those holy rollers who speak adamently and sometimes loudly about how they will bring down the Gates of Hell. What I do not understand is how they intend to bring down these gates without bringing down these gates in other people's lives. It seems to be a mix of a theology that believes both that we do not need to minister to those outside of the body and that we must worry about the spiritual realm and disregard the physical realm. The first idea is completely contradictory to the Great Comission found in Matthew 28. And if we are followers of Christ, it is only logical that we follow in our copying His attitude and actions. The other mindset is close to separating the spiritual from the physical. This makes absolutely now sense if we are to be judged. It would also make the Great Sacrifice pointless because the physical action could not carry over to the spiritual realm.
If the things I say are true, then we must bring down the Gates of Hell now through thought and deed. I am confident that I am right. The whole Christian mindset supports this. If not, someone try and correct me.

Dances: for now, for life, forever

2006-04-30T21:39:00.000-07:00

As I sat in the lobby thinking about things, I thought about comparing dancing to romantic relationships. While I developed this so called theory, I thought of dances are just for now. Sometimes, we just aren't meant to dance forever. We enjoy the dance, it was wonderfully enjoyable. But there are some dances that were almost fated to be done. I also thought of dance that last for a lifetime. When I thought about these dances, there seems to spring a romantic hope. I know that death bids us to part, but as long as I live, I could dance with someone til the legs under grow old and the bones turn brittle. Even then, I would long to dance and would bear the pain to dance a little longer. The dance after all is not about the feeling or the rush I receive but the mutual communication. The connection of a duet is crucial for the dance to work successfully. This is a dance that I must say has made may hope and has haunted me at the same time. It gives me hope because I can know that I am probably not meant to be alone. After all, God created a lifelong partner for Adam. Man is to be celibate for life? I think not. What a great witness to others and blessing to you and her if you choose to dance with her for life and lead her lovingly.
The dance that I finally came to think of is the finally dance to last forever. God and His church will dance for eternity. He awaits his bride, and when we are united, our dance will be the pride throughout heaven and earth.
These are the things that still fill my mind these days. I cannot quit thinking of these things. I try to make sense of these things the God himself is placing in my mind. I just hope that I will find them out while in midstep of the dance.

On Recent Conversations

2006-02-25T21:16:00.000-08:00

I was reading the paper today and saw an article on Brokeback Mountain. I must say that I am not one who is going to see this movie. I know the plot, I know the idea it promotes, so I know enough to judge whether it is worth seeing. This, however, led to an interesting conversation between three men. The three men were me and a couple of my good friends. The discussion could have been narrowed down to two subjects. The first was about taking your beliefs to the theater and the second was about how people view homosexuality.
I will talk first of taking your beliefs to the theater with you. Let me say that I sometimes fail at this and that I should do better, but let me also say that this term can be applied in different ways. You can take your beliefs to the box office. That means that you should study movies you see. If you need to, then see the movie and critique it. It is our job to do so. So many Christians I have talked to keep talking about the relationship in the mentioned movie as a good love story and a story of regret. But are we not checking our brains at the door if we push that issue too heavily. Let us not forget that this is a sin and that we should desire people to get away from these relations because we love these people.
The next issue is probably going to get me lynched by both sides (You must read this entire article to understand where I am going with this, if not, you will probably misinterpret me). I do believe that homosexuality is a sin, that much is agreed upon. But what I am in disagreement in is the kind of the sin. Sin does condemn us, yes, but we must consider the idea of creation(natural law) and God's commands(The Law of Moses, etc.). Heterosexual sin is a sin due to timing. God created heterosexual relations to take place, so doing this action in and of itself is no problem. However, the timing in God's commands is. So the sin is not against creation and biology, which I think can be considered quite an offence, but is against God's commands. Homosexuality is rebelling against the actual relationship God intended between two parts of a species, and to be against that is quite insane. Proof in this can be found in the fact that biologically homosexuality does not work. But you must believe in God in order to be convicted by this. The thing I am arguing against is that people are saying that they are no different and my response is always yes and no.
Now here is the part that will probably dumbfound people. We are not used to Christians looking at this sin and trying to save this sinner. Some would even say that you need to quit completely before stepping foot into the church. This is VERY unbiblical considering Jesus ministry. Jesus touched the lepper. Now the man was still leprous, we cannot deny that that was a bad thing. Jesus actually command these men and women to go to the temples and observe the law and participate in ceremonial cleansing. The fact that they are sinning should drive us to reach out with more passion. Why are we barring them from the pew on Sunday morning? That is denying your own mission. Jesus reacted to those who were corrupted by offering them redemption. Let us reach out to the sinner. Let us call things as they are and be honest, but let us not deny our mission and what should be driving us to offer the gift of the greatest kind.

The Church's Dilemma

2006-02-15T17:04:00.000-08:00

The Churches problem is not in its pursuit, but in its loss of its original vision, particularly churches associated with the evangelical/holiness movement. We have come to an era I like to call the post-holiness era. We have pursued holiness through our forefathers, but we have forgotten that pursuit within ourselves. I have seen too many times the effort of churches toward respectability and no conflict. From this we have a fairly liberal interpretation of what the church should be doing. The difficulty in this is that most define the conservative church as recluse in its theology and ministry. This causes most to see churches as unloving throughout history. The movement we look for in this situation is the renewal of a past. It is completely appropriate for this day and age because many are looking for something to follow.

The church has a few specific faults within this problem: the misconception of a country club, the misconception of a secret society, and the misconception of blood family (allow me to explain this one before any assumptions arise). The Churches first mistake was coming to a country club to waste their time. The mistake seems to be that we want to come, sit, sing, listen, bow our heads, and leave. The horror this creates is apathy toward the worship itself. It is good that the people come, sit and listen. These three factors are a great start, but the final things are what disturb me most. The come and merely bow their heads. They do not have a focus on anything but the floor. Now, this is just an illustration of something bigger. The worship service is just a service for them to attend and not necessarily to participate in the service for Christ. The second action is just listening. This is excluding our acting. This is condemnable by reason itself. If you hear something that could save you but do not act on it, or better yet experience the grace the raises you from death, but do not act as living, can you really say that you are alive or even have understood what was spoken.

The second fault is the misconception of being a secret society. This fault is experienced when we deny the Gospel to anyone. We forget our past and build confidence in our own selves. We begin displaying hostility towards the outsiders and take our guns of criticism off of safety. This is probably the most childish of all the faults. Everyone remembers the old days of the Little Rascals. Spanky and Alfalfa were key members of the He-man Woman Haters Club. Alfalfa however was always sidetrack by the local beauties. Many guys can relate to this. Women have that strange effect of making men stare and drool while saying super intelligent phrases like “Ungh” or “She’s Hot”. But in this show, Spanky always seemed to bring things back to order by splitting Alfalfa from the women. This humor gives me several good chuckles as I watch that show, but when I start to think, I become saddened by the first parallel that comes to my mind. The church plays this game by excluding the world. When someone goes off on an evangelistic agenda, we start to aim our criticisms at him and the new attendees. This cannot stand any longer. In Matthew 28, there is a command to minister to the world. We must be careful not to rebel against the commands of our Lord, considering this is who we worship in the church and serve in our communities.

The last fault requires some explanation. When I say blood family, I mean the unalterable state of the family. This is the state in which no one is allowed into the family. Now, no believer is gone to outright state this, for they know in their minds that this is not of God. The problem is found in their hearts, or better said, their vision and mission. Our desire is inward, which is quite natural, but should we not be acting out the change within. After all, natural occurrences show that most things that are affected within are changed on the outside. To be completely natural would be allowing the grace of God to change our outlook. Considering this fact, it becomes obvious that we were not part of His family when we started, but have now been accepted. This paints the picture of the church as the means of adoption. We are part of an adopted family. Here there is obligation to shelter the helpless. Here we are accepted. We should reflect this in the way we treat others.

One thing that could be killing some churches is the low level of catechism in the church membership classes. Not that you should teach them details of theology, but should know what they are getting themselves into. This is the core problem to the other problems.

There are ways to prevent these misconceptions. One is to learn from the Bible what the Church is. Reading the letters of Paul and Acts can clarify these things. Another way is to learn from a pastor how the church functions and the idea of the church. There are things a pastor can teach using the history of the church and also could reasonably explain by using Scripture and tradition as a basis. If these could be a prerequisite, then the experience of a church which encourages these things would be optimal.

One proposition could be to push past the post holiness movement. This movement has maimed the holiness movement of the past. With this in mind, we should push for the Renewal Movement, a return to holiness and evangelism. This could be the revival of the church. If there are just a few pastors to tap into this spring, we could see the next great Wesley or Asbury. We need someone who will be honest and open, yet kind and compassionate. The mission of our body should be not to create death but to actually live as we have been given life. It may be difficult to climb the cliff we have fallen down, but it has to be done, however long it takes. We should be imploring our sheep to take on this mind, the mind of Christ. It is only logical, considering the nature of grace, that we do it naturally and not rebel.

I could give many examples on these issues and more issues of the church, but that would take at least twenty pages.

What the Church should bring.

2006-01-13T18:42:00.000-08:00

I know I speak for everyone when I say THE CHURCH HAS RECENTLY FAILED IN IT'S MISSION!!! I hate this fact. I speak for everyone because I am as much at fault as they are. It is so hard on a Christian campus to find someone willing to listen to what they have heard over and over again. Even more troubling is that every other Religion major has suffered this same fate. What a crisis. This is not what our God had in mind. We seem to be trying to dive deeper in the services and staying in our fellowship halls. Our only contacts are inside the body of Christ. What do not seem to realize is that this sort of self centered ideology that the Church has taken will cause it to implode. Such an event would mutilate and disgrace us Christians. I say be caught building relationships with those people your parents told you to stay away from. Such grace on your part will plant a hopeful seed which may grow before your very eyes or be watered for later blossom.
To those who have suffered enough from the Churches shortcomings, I am deeply sorry and it ails me to see you go through rejection. Is not the freedom Christ gave the freedom to love Him? Is it not by our power, but by the God's that we are able to accept Him? Is not the works we do to earn our salvation useless? I figure that you agree. If you do, then keep running. I love to hear when a lost sheep is being carried back to the pasture. The rejoicing of the angels reverberates through heaven and hell and declares that you have been freed, freed for the living of a holy life. Never forget that. For if you become a Christian in America, you will be tempted to follow the same selfish path that the Church of today has taken.

To Those Who Say, "We Don't Give a Shit as Christians."

2005-12-15T19:54:00.000-08:00

I have heard someone say before that it seems more reasonable to have a certain kind of Christianity of apathy. They have worded it to match modern vocabulary by saying, "We just don't give a shit." I must say that this is depressing. They think they have accomplished the goal of Christianity. They must not see the signs painted. To say you do not care about your own Christianity is the same as accepting a beautiful pocket watch that has run in the family for decades and then letting it sit on the dresser collecting dust and eventually losing it. I cannot say that this is what the Lord had in mind when he sent out the decree to go out baptizing and making disciples. Let us look at the other meanings of the Greek word for disciple, learner or pupil. Too many have relied on reason for our interpretation of the scripture. We have also relied too much on experience. Most pupils, also called learners, are to sit and listen at first, and then start making decisions based on the information we have just heard. Of course, most educated people should be able to at least reason that you cannot reason before you learn, for to reason without a pillar of learning is like trying to move a rowboat without oars. But back to my train of thought, we must be the pupils of the Lord. If we do not care, then we are not disciples. Can you say that you are a follower, yet say that what has been revealed to the Church and is being taught to the lay is to the likes of "good advice". I beg to differ. It is a covenant. The best definition for sinning is to move against the covenant made between God and his exalted creatures (Christians). And why move against a covenant made with someone who came to save us. Such an immanent God should at least compel us, if not force us to serve Him with great abandon for ourselves. Quite honestly, I think such apathy is thinking inward toward the self and not outward for God, and it is slavery to our sinful nature and is not choosing to partake in the freedom to love gifted to us.

What a Minister May Hate To Have To Do During His Ministry

2005-12-05T08:14:00.000-08:00

I have found one type of death hard for me to deal with, and that is the death of the non-Christian. So many things start to run through my head. Some questions come from others, like why did God allow this. The other questions come from me, like what is your plan God. To these question, I still have trouble giving answers. It is terrible to witness a thing in this world that you know will cause the next world's heartbreak. It seems at these times my faith is even tried. Such questions haunt my past and wait to ambush my future. It is something I prepare myself for, but whenever that time comes, I am ever so unready. But even now, I still study the Bible and seek His face. I still believe the creeds. I will always have questions, but I never dare stray. I just hope this shows me my mission.

Yo hoho, it's a pirates life for me

2005-12-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

My pirate name is:

Bloody Roger Flint

Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it's the open sea. For others (the masochists), it's the food. For you, it's definitely the fighting. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Narnia

2005-12-04T17:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it is a time that I am excited. Someone has finally developed enough sense to make a movie on The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, one book in the series of masterpieces written by C. S. Lewis. I have started reading the story before I see the movie, and it has amazed me even at this age. It is not that it has a deep reading level, but it has a deep truth hidden in almost every scene. Every chapter so far has seemed to tell something of the downfall of Edmund, which seems to be a tragedy too early portrayed in the story. Yet we see later that Aslan works to save Him by grace (I have read the book before, I am reading it only to refresh my memory for the movie so I may critique it better). C. S. Lewis must have believed that even children can find the truth of the Gospels in these books. Another truth found is forgiveness. The three other siblings, Peter, Susan, and Lucy, become angry with Edmund when they find that he has lied and has done some spiteful things toward lucy, particularly Peter. Yet later they are reunited and the three embrace Edmund. Such a truth can help us today in our pursuit of Holiness.

Hard times.

2005-09-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

Folks, it's been awhile. I've been super busy. Sorry, I know you've missed me. Or have you? I am back regardless. I hope that everyone has been striving for the Lord since I've been gone. Much has happened. Katrina is the big talk now. Many christians are yelling end times when they truely do not know, for the Lord comes like a theif in the night. Some of these people may not even be doing anything about it. Until you do anything, I think you should think twice about making a claim. Some say it is just judgement. Even so, who are we to state with confidence this. If we are right, then we are only half right. The other half would be that God judges in order to lift, for God seeks intimacy. If he did judge these poor people, then he wants the church to embrace them like hurt children. Even if you do make such statements of God's wrath, see to it that you mention with discretion. Say the right things at the right times. What good is truth if it is not used to edify others?
I have seen it posted that this event is like 9-11-01. I find this very true. Much suffering, yet many uniting to see that people find hope. This is such a Christian truth. We are here to bring hope to the hurting world. It seems pointless since the world loves us less and less everyday. Yet we love people, for God wants them and desires them. Instead of SPEAKING of God's wrath, ACT from the Love God has poured into you and keeps pouring into you.

What the Crap

2005-08-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

Don't comment unless it pertains to my blog. If you're a telemarketer, then please, take your business elsewhere. I am not here to buy things but to give my insight on the truth.

3rd post

2005-08-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

I just want to dedicate this post to God's faithfulness. I have been dirt to God, as we all have. He still has been faithful. Some may know of my situation with an RA position, and, if you know of it, you know that I have recently been sulking about it. However, recent things have come into play that will get me even more involved than an RA could. I can't believe I have been complaining. Even if things had not come into play, who am I to complain about something here on earth? Such things are a waste if they do not last for eternity. Why have I not been seeking to expand my charity? (by charity I mean the oldschool definition, love) My goodness, what great things the Lord shows to you. I have been a fool to worry, some of my family has been too. Why was I not seeking the justice for those who needed besides myself? Is it not the greatest gift to give your life away for those who are in dire need of such actions? Such things make me dissapointed at myself. I am a sinner. I admit it before everyone. I cannot hide it, so I must show everyone what kind of sinner I am. We should all do that. Open up your dark corners, for when we stand before God, the dark corners will be lighted to reveal the shame. Let us handle the shame now so that we can grow. I just praise you Jesus, for this great revealing. You open my eyes more and more.

What about Great Ideas?

2005-08-17T15:59:00.000-07:00

I was talking with someone today who said that great ideas come to you in immediacy and in the same way spread like wild fire. It made me questiong if it really does happen that way. I mean the immediacy of the idea itself makes sense. However, a thing of mystery may be the wildfire idea. I said that most of them take time, because I thing that immediacy means instability. Such a weird topic for me because I've never thought of it enough to discuss it. Quite confusing, for such great ideas have spread quickly and may still be in acceptance. The same is most likely true for those which take time. The same with bad ideas. Maybe all ideas take time. One things is definitely true, we never truely can claim the great ideas, depending of course on your definition of great ideas, for we may not share the same definition, we have, we can only give it to God. For God reveals the truth to us and hence our DISCOVERY of things. Everything goes back to God. The debate on good ideas and bad ideas may end up in debate at times, but praise God that the good ones will win in the end.

The idea of what is natural

2005-08-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

I was reading Deitrich Bonhoeffer the other and his reasoning on what is natural and what is not hit me with massive force. He states, stating what seems quite insane, that acting natural is acting according to the Law. Some may say that I am stupid to believe this, but the reasoning behind this is full of truth. Consider and apple. It is subject to the Law of Gravity. God made it subject to such a law. Would it be considered natural for an apple to all of a sudden go against this law. Of course not. The same with us. When we were created, we were in a our natural state of being. We had the image of God full and complete in us. The Law Came naturally. However, Satan, being a former heavenly being, knew of this and set out to destroy us. When he succeeded our nature was tainted and a new and unnatural state of being was state of being was placed in us. That is like the apple being forced upward when it naturally wants to go down. It is then quite sensible to think that we should naturally act right. Maybe this can give us hope for us humans. We no longer have to think in terms of fighting to be good. It can be thought of as fighting against that which is an outside force keeping us from being closer toGod. Quite intriguing, don't you think?

2005-08-03T10:11:00.000-07:00

Ode to the Jeffrey

2005-08-02T17:41:00.000-07:00

feet of action

feelin down

2005-07-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Today, I don't know why, I just feel as if I am just waisting my time in what I'm doing. I think I should be here, but the events seems to point to otherwise. Sometimes I wonder if I have a different calling, whether it be to another school, or maybe to another profession. I don't know what to make of the year thus far. It has just been one dissapointment after another. I wish I could remember and dwell on some great thing that has happened, but I can't. I just can't seem to get away from the idea that I'm not in the right place right now. Its so hard to fight the doubt sometimes. I hate it when doubt overtakes me. I just wish God would send something to reassure me of my path or at least show me where I need to be going.

Loving despite our nature

2005-07-29T19:08:00.000-07:00

It just hit me, for the hundredth time in a lifetime, God loves me. Its just amazing. I sin, I am sinful, I am dirty, but God just wanted me. He created me for Him, so he just flat desires me. God sent his son. His son, think, apart of Him came down to dwell with us. He died, just for us. Bam, salvation as we know it was born. I accepted it and all my sins are gone. God looks at me now, chases me, and I allow Him to catch me, to hold me, and to teach me things I have never in my life begun to imagine. He has done that for my family too. My fellow christians were sinners. Most still commit attrocious sins. I am still able to love them. Is this not amazing? How can I? Honestly, I cannot. My fleshly love is very limited. Yet, the Spirit is willing to love. Since I have recieved the spirit, I can find unending love and give it to all. I cannot deny part of my body. I also cannot deny those people which God desires for himself. It is hard to describe the anatomy of this love. Not even marriage seems to be sufficient. Yes, marriage seems to be inadequate as a description of the love of God and how he bestows it upon us. It is simply amazing. Its all apart of open and public confessing of sins to God and those who love God. In that we find that our sins die and our love grows. Its so hard to imagine that in giving up our freedoms and seeking the security of another's freedoms, we actually become free, but it is so simply understood when you experience it.

Tomorrow

2005-07-22T15:52:00.000-07:00

I started thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow, the day that never seems to get here. What if tomorrow someday arrived. Try to imagine that, without hurting yourself. What would we do, what would we say? Would we just pretend it was today and say that we would do it tomorrow? Would we act like there was so much time and so much to do, I will do that later? It is sad to think in such a way. Today we seem to think that by grasping a hold of tomorrow we will control all time. But what about today? Today is the time of extreme importance. We have no guarantee that will go to college, then get a doctorate, get married of two children, and the retire in Sunny Valley. Our time is now. How can we even worry? Can we not trust got with our checking account? Can we not live out our day as if there was no tomorrow, for there is no tomorrow to lose? This point brings up another point, living for each other. I can see now, that complete individual independence is impossible and impractical. It is also unbiblical. There is the notion of complete surrender to God which can turn into surrender to others. Are we doormats? Are we dirt? I can answer that it is questionably so depending on the circumstance. It depends in that we must be willing. This does not necessarily mean wanting to be the doormat, which is cause for psychological help of some degree, but willingness. Willigness is the denial of what a true human would want considering the circumstance. That want must be put on the back burner. We come into the church wanting to control, we enter into relationships wanting love. That is purely human. Human love, however, is prone to hate when it approaches resistance. This means that if we are denied our dreams for the church or do not recieve the love we want, then our hearts turn dark. This moment is a good time for the allowance of Godly love, which is all loving and all sacrificing for the will of God first, and the Body of Christ and other individual believers second. This is quite a concept of seizing the day. To truely remember that we must be servants when called upon is truely contradictory to what America believes. Maybe it is time to question and possibly contradict the American culture and the World in order that our Body(the Universal Church) may strong and uncompromising in the Truth.

Where are our priorities

2005-07-18T19:53:00.000-07:00

I just got to thinking about the minimum situation. It dawned on me that it has been unjust for the person working close to minimum wage and trying to keep up with the standard of living. Those of us who can make an average wage or are well taken care of. I may sound very liberal when I say this, but raise the minimum wage for now while we find a way to lower the cost for the current standard of living. I hear concern about our economy and businesses, but how do we find comfort in sacrificing individuals for the good of the machine. Why do we not try to take care of those who need care. Giving them a way out. It is not good to worry about our economy when our neighbors cannot find a decent way to live. This is probably from our want to obtain money. But what about obtaining the more important things in life, such as friendship, respect, love, etc. The american dream has today been interpreted into making it big in life, getting a huge swiss bank account, and resulting a lack of moral respect is irrelevant to today. This is a long way from the revolution which fought against this idea in the first place. Even our own government has been greedy, they get off with 27,000 dollars for their services when some struggle to make that in a year. Wasn't the government meant to aid the people and not screw them. We are supposed to be able to trust the government to protect our rights and pursuit of happiness, which is found in life and liberty and not the pursuit of the big green slip of paper. We need to let go of that value. This does not mean giving up money completly, I believe money can serve the people if spent wisely, but Americans, as our government has shown, money has become the standard of living, or worse, it has defined life as we know it, which is bad. Now we have a society starved for money. It's natural for us to be so selfish. It is possible to see selfishness in every sin we commit. If not, then can we really call the act sinful. Sin has to be more than just the act, but it must include the passion behind the act. If I lied to protect myself, than I have defied the core of all Holy living. If I lie to protect people from harm, then I have completed the second law. We all should know that God desires mercy, not sacrifice when it comes to other people. Let us think on these things as we continue on this race to love God more than ourselves and to love others like we all love ourselves.

2005-06-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, this is a little scary!!

Fear drives too many to madness and irrational thought

2005-06-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

I must face the fears that haunt me. I fear that my actions will be futile. I never truely know the end though. I only assume the end. I must fight that. This is something we all must move from. We assume too much. We assume too much about life, the future, and people. I do not know why. It's always what we fear too. One example is skit night at SWU. We fear losing skit night. We hold onto it like a fat kid with some cake. I fear losing skit night. But let's remember that such fear led to injustice to masses (such as the Holocaust). I don't think we would go that far, but murder is more than a bullet wound to the chest, leaving one ripped open for the world to do even more damage. Words peirce deeper than bullets. I hope the rest of us can see that we may not know what we are doing to such people, or what those people think. We are too narrow minded. I know I am guilty, what about you the reader.

Late Night thoughts

2005-06-09T21:47:00.000-07:00

I've been reclining, sort of retreating from a day of boredom. Now I start to wonder what I have done throughout the day, and even throughout my life. I think that it's safe to say that I have succeeded in some aspects of my life. In many others I have failed. I want to focus on what I have done right, but the accidents and disabilities of mine are too much to bear. My nature is to fail, but not to desire failure. This is unexplainable, but it does develope trust inside me. Trust of a greater God. Trust the even though I have bit the dust, I am pulled back to my feet, dusted off, and encouraged to keep running. It's my desire to run the race, to live it out. I want to be so loud in my actions, that its unmistakable. Who has seen me live? If I live for that, I would keep seeing failure. I must keep my focus on living for Christ. I cannot let what other people see affect what God sees in me. It's still hard to live like that in light of my failure. I pray that my failures teach me, and my successes encourage me. I pray. I run. I Live. I live out loud, with no restraints anymore. I must not keep to myself.

2005-06-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

well, it's nice to know that their are other weirdos out there besides me

2005-06-09T17:43:00.001-07:00

ok, I was gonna eat her hair but I missed

2005-06-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

ACTS TOO. All beauties and a bald guy

2005-06-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

Raq, Jillian, and ... well ... Emily (you are a weird woman)

2005-06-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

Here's the beautiful SWU group Second Witness.

2005-06-09T17:39:00.000-07:00

Matt Leroy. He's the best speaker I've heard thus far.

2005-06-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

more drama

2005-06-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

SWU drama (we would know after living in dorm life)

2005-06-09T17:36:00.001-07:00

WHO IS THAT BEAUTIFUL MAN!?!?!?!

2005-06-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

Christy Peed in the car. Dang, who's got paper towels?

2005-06-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

They decided to take a break and gather for the pic. Yay for snack shop

2005-06-09T17:32:00.000-07:00

What is this? everyone workin in the snack shop at table rock. (ok, I wasn't workin, I was just chillin and apparently advertising Dr. Pepper.)

2005-06-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Here's the IWU crew. They seemed like a nice crew.

2005-06-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, these kids are counting to 100. Still not giving me much confidence in the public school system.

2005-06-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

Good ole Charlie.

2005-06-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

More insanity from SWU chicks and their campers.

2005-06-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

Wow, baby got da good book.

Is Love explainable

2005-06-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

You know, I could sit her all day and explain to you the infatuation of men and women. I could sit and think about lust and describe it to you. One thing I can't grasp is the idea of romantic love. Now we must remember that there is a clear line between the two, but the two can exist together The idea that a man can just helplessly fall for a woman is insane to me. It seems to defy all sense of modern reason to believe in emotions and such a commitment to one person. You cannot measure but scales and measuring sticks. Can I even help but fall for someone? I think not. Love has to be something that grabs a hold of me and turns my head in different directions. I can try to fight it and may win, but I'm still scarred by love. Such a thing rinders men helpless. Without the object of a man's love, he is helpless. He feels weakened by the kryptonite of his heart. Oh to feel permantly drawn to a lady's side and to never be able to leave, nore want to leave, that is one of the blessings of God left to us men to treasure and to use in wisdom.

Close to being legal.

2005-06-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

Yay, I'm just about 21. You know what that means. THE PARTY ANIMAL IS COMIN OUT JUNE 5TH. yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaaw.

Women are the gold in a man's life

2005-06-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well, many moons have past since my last blog. I finally found something I could ponder deeply. I really question a few men and how they treat women. I've heard that one man confronted a lady and said, "You're too pretty to be that bitchy." If you wanna piss me off, that's one way to do it. The same guy treats his girlfriend like dirt. He thinks he is God's gift to all women, and to all people in the world as well. Why do some act like this. Such an ego has no place in the ministry. I deeply question such a man's place in Christianity as well, since he has portrayed blatant selfish motives for having faith and having romance.
Another thing is to even touch a women. Now matter how much they have pissed you off, it is not right to hit anyone, much more so with a women. If we have such problems, why do even try to exist in a society and call ourselves a loving community. This is not love, it is selfish control. We men were not called to control our women, but to love, serve, and protect.
This is obviously a problem in the Wesleyan church and other denominations too. We hire too quickly. We have forgotten to observe, and truely observe at that. It is too shameful to hire such men that have a tainted reputation. We must challenge each other. What happened to us? We sit and accept people as they want to be. This is not Christian. We are called to repent, to turn away, from our evil ways. Let us confront each other. Show no pride in appeasing the evil demands of this world which are prevalent in the church. Show pride in Christ and his teaching in the Gospels. Looking at how Christ took up for the well being of both genders proves that we should serve everyone and forget ourselves at the times it is neccessary to do so. To the men who have hit their women, who have jacked them up against the wall out of frustration, our have started yelling at them demanding that they answer the questions or do what you have demanded, you are immature in the truest since. You have succumbed to the desires of you flesh and not the spirit of God. Turn, for the Lord will return, and like the pharisees in Jesus' time, you will miss eveything and not even realize it.

All you yankees and Southern brothers, don't grab a rope.

2005-05-02T11:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this is a bit weird that I'm as much a yankee as I am a southern boy. Hope nobody's lynching tonight

Your Linguistic Profile:

75% General American English

10% Dixie

10% Yankee

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Failure

2005-04-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

I just become really annoyed sometimes, at myself. Why did the God of the Universe, all-powerful, all-knowing, allow me to have a sin complex. It is something that almost eats at the skin on my bones. I try to strip it off, but it is useless for it seems to jump back onto me. Out of all the things in my life to have to worry about, SIN. I can't stand it anymore. I get up every morning ready to do mighty works for God. I go to bed at night at the brink of tears, wondering where this failure really started. Is it in my head, addiction, or just plain human nature on my part. I only pray that one day, God completely strips me of this burdensome package I carry. I have in the past entertained thoughts of entire sanctification as a Wesleyan minister in training, but every time I thought it was close, I only find that it seems so far away. Every time I have come within eyesight of a perfect day, I find some way to fail, and that's when I cannot seem to make it through my day. What an annoying little pest. Like a termite or a cockroach, hidden inside the walls of our lives. When you see one little bit of the many, you know the number of them is much larger and hidden deep within. Lord, helps us all with this horrible sickness.

Believing and Obeying

2005-04-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I wonder when we drew a line between believing and obeying as Christians. Yes, they are two distinct actions. However, God's passion is for is to always allow the two to work as one. We have come to an era when you can either believe or obey in order to be saved. That is the most extreme fallacy in our culture today. The Bible is very repetitive on the issue of believing and obey. The two are always to be together. On one hand, to believe and not obey is to lie to God. We perform a lip service, to claim to be what we are not. This two-faced bologna is straight from hell itself. On the other hand, to obey and not believe is almost lying to ourselves if not doing just that. It is the true meaning of hypocrisy in the bible. Hypocrit was used for the Pharisees. The Greek word originally used to label the Grecian actors in the past. This is a danger for ourselves and frustrates God. It is a danger for us, for we are only fooling ourselves into believing we are heaven bound. Jesus became frustrated with the pharisees on this issue. They tried to obey the Law, but without truely trusting God. Doing this only brings human interpretation and self-imposed righteousness. This can only deny us grace, for it is not we who supply grace to ourselves, but God to us. America is obviously resting on human interpretations. The Kingdom of Heaven is once again under attack, and who would have thought that once again, it was from the inside, with ideas that have been haunting us for almost two-thousand years.

Unity, not strife

2005-04-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

I often wonder where the modern church is heading these days. I can only speak for the congregations I have seen. I can also speak for my college, since it is a privately run, christian oriented organization. As I walk the campus sometimes, I wonder if we live up to what we are meant to live up to. We seek too often to find individuality, but is individuality the reason for existence. The truth cannot be denied, no one has survived a complete and joyful man being separated from the rest of the world. We are better served by staying together. If you look at the struggles of people who attempted to exist alone and be revolutionary in their efforts, they appear as fools when compared to the united who actually revolutionized events in history. Christians can bring about a revolution in the thoughts of men. Our love is crucial, especially of each other. We will be judged by our love. Disunity is the tool of Satan and his kingdom. When believers are separated, Satan and his demons are pleased. As we bicker and argue about who is right or who is wrong, we lose focus on Christ and the salvation of man. What are we then? Certainly not the loving believers that the Lord has called us to be, and in that, WE CONDEMN OURSELVES AND THE REST OF THE CHURCH. Let us then love. Let us settle the differences. Let us truely seek who is right through studying scripture. If there is anything that we still disagree on, then let us wait on the Spirit to instruct us in the matter. There will always be the King who unites us. Let us be united in scriptures, and not be separated by our biased interpretations. Read to be changed; don't change what you read.

Precious Life

2005-04-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

Is life so special? Should we seek to live and not have to fear the death which waits for us around an unknown corner? It seems as if we wait for the day we die and plan around it. Life is made up of so much more. Death is merely an ending of a life meant to be fulfilled. I have recently had a friend loose a brother who was my age, twenty years old. Life can be so short. Life is unpredictable. When I die, I want to say two things. One is that I lived so that no one could even slightly doubt my love and faith, the second and most important is that I lived so that God could not even question that I loved Him and had faith in him. Oh how I wish I could go back and change things that I have done. My life has been filled with regrets. I want to live, to give, to love, and dance like I could never do it again.
So many now are questioning the way we handle life. One thing must drive us in the decisions about life, and that is to realize that life has purpose. We should see God's will being fulfilled through every life.
My prayers go out to the Schrum family who lost a son on this lamentable day. This young, according to what I have heard, was close to my age. I mourn this loss within the church. May you all grow stronger in the Lord through this. Keep the faith.

Easter

2005-03-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

What a day of rejoicing. I have such fulfillment from hearing of the Lord's resurrection. That is the reason I live the way I do, and type what I am typing. It is lunacy to say that the has covered me and I love Him, and then turn around and say my life is my own, I can do as I please because I am saved. What love is in that? It is deceit. Praise God for saving me. Praise God for raising me from the . Praise Him for nourishing me and developing me into the Christian I am today. The Lord has been with me despite my running away from Him. I too have sought to be my own man, and live my own lifestyle. I realize now that my own way is the way to . Since He has saved me, I am forever indebted to Him. I cannot live without Him now that I have found Him. I have tasted the Living Bread and cannot depart from Him. It is wonderful serving Him. I am not a perfect doer of the word and follower of His commands, but He has made me whole, and I seek to lift up His name for all to see His mighty power. To God be the Glory. Let us focus on Him this glorious day, the next day, and every day that follows as long as we live. Amen.

On Homosexuality

2005-03-24T13:01:00.000-08:00

Are men meant to be given in to each other? Are men to try to seduce each other? Are women supposed to act as if they are attracted to each other? If you asked me one semester ago, I would probably say no to the first two and then yes to the latter question. However, as I look at our community of believers from an outside perspective, I am now questioning the idea. We admit that it is fun when we treat each other in this way jokingly. One person has pointed out to me the lunacy in this thought by saying something to the likes of this following sentence: "We look at the fallen of Sodom and the fallen of Gomorha and say, 'it is a shame that people thought this way', then we turn around to our brothers and say, 'come here so that can hump you'." It is not that we truly seek a ual relation with people of the same , which is obviously wrong, but we seek to jokingly portray an symbolic action. Has our idleness led us to a deeper sin, especially as christians? Should we, in light of the command that Paul gave to live blameless lives free from any hint of immorality, do such things? If you say yes, then approach the thrown with fear, for you are in danger of denying the Spirits guidance in instructing believers. This only points again to the prevalent American Christian's thought, our intentions justify our actions. Let us not look at this as a light matter. If you listen to this argument and view it logically in light of God's Word, you will be attracted to it.
We should remember that in a certain sense we cannot determine what is right and wrong by our own power. The spirit guides us. We then choose between what is naturally wrong and what has been shown to us as good and worthy. Remember that a wise man will seek purity in all he does, but the foolish man will seek to bring down the kingdom with his words and actions.
Such things should be questioned in our lives. I must say that what is appropriate must be observed. I place myself as guilty of the same notion that I can do it if I mean no harm. I have admitted that in a past entry. The fact that I have joined the called means that I have given my rights over to the Lord. Many things that I even thought as decent is not decent anymore. I cannot succeed in righteousness. I have sought to do fight the good fight, and now I realize that I haven't the power. So I surrender; I put up the white flag; I forfeit; I no longer seek to live out the good life, but to allow Him who is holier than I to dwell in me and be me so that I can as a result be good and live the good life. That is the idea of living as reflections in a mirror.
So let us surrender our right to enjoy sins and take part in the pleasurable. It is not like us. We have been covered in grace, so why do we still live like we have not been covered. If he has saved us, then the only sane thing to do is to love him for doing so. In our love, let us seek to serve him in all we do. What is appropriate my brothers. What is pleasing to God. We seek what is pleasing to God and others before pleasing ourselves.

The Bogus Beliefs of Religion Majors

2005-03-12T20:48:00.000-08:00

What has become of my community that I currently exist in? Why is it that I have more faith in the future of some of the students who are seeking things other than ministry, and that I have been dissapointed in the beliefs and actions of the some in seeking to be in the ministry? I do see that we are imperfect. But are we not held responsible for the actions and words we say? Our actions affect people. Some of us religion majors have neglected that fact. We see ourselves on a pedistal that brings us closer to the sun, yet we do not stop to think that this closeness can burn us. If I say to a brother, F*** You, what is it to me? It is probably nothing. I probably meant nothing by it if I said it to a friend. What if I flipped someone off that I knew, meaning to say hey and bring a laugh at my course joking? Am I justified by what I meant to say? I answer this by giving a history lesson on the criminal mastermind, Adolph Hitler.
Hitler believed in the Aryan race of blonde hair and blue eyes. Everyone knows that because he too drastic measure to kill the Jews. Hitler believed in something else that not many people hear of, and that is reincarnation. If you combine the two beliefs and the Holocaust, you have a man who had good intentions to the uttermost. Our intentions have become powerless in this argument for freedom. We follow the Spirits guiding, and nothing else. Every good decision we make can be credited to the Spirit, since it shows us and we choose to follow. Also, if we degrade people in the way I meant, then we degrade Jesus. God will say this to all when we approach His judgement, "What ever you have done the lowest in the world, you also did to me." These words should draw us to act in ways not only lifting in Jesus eyes and to act as if we were lifting Jesus. For in all lies Christ image. God loves them and, as any lover feels about their beloved, we are in danger if we degrade the life of any man.
I am also guilty of things similar to this. To all those that this blog applies to, you are not alone. I have even ignored and spited some in the past. I am guilty just as you are. However, I am striving everyday to remember that in every man I meet, I should meet them with love. This is my prayer for ministers here, that we will wake up, for our revival will not be in the sweeping growth of the church, but the surge of action by those who were dead in their faith and have decided to act as if they believe in him, that is revival.

Open your mind to learning

2005-03-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

I was sitting in class today and couldn't help but notice the amount of a certain man beside me endlessly complaining that he wanted to go over the homework and see if he made a good grade. This in and of itself may be ok, but the professor was trying to show us a way to search online in a more scholarly manner. This was brought up due to a question asked by a student. As I think upon our college years, I have to ask the following question: is our experience a learning experience, or do we only seek to qualify for things in life. Two things arise from this question. One is the idea that we are existing only to qualify for the next level. We exist in a world where our success is measured by our gains, our riches, our fames, and our power. However, our lives are meant for so much more. Yes, we do need to strive for bigger and better things in this life, but we should focus on living for the glory of God. God's plan is superior in thought and reason. It is perfect. Our finite minds alone cannot even beginning to fathom its perfection. Let's not seek to destroy it through our own selfishness, but live it through love and sacrifice. In the end, we will see that our sacrifice has given us more than we could have dreamed. This baffles even the most intellectual minds, but to the heart that has been surrendered to the spirits guidance, all of this is common sense.
The second issue that arises from this is the idea that we go to school to get the highest score. The merit system that has been put into place is somewhat at fault. It shows what we know, and not what and how we have learned. The word how is key in that statement. These schools have been turned into grading centers. A place to make a man a number on a list. However, this is a learning center. It is a place to grow in knowledge. If our time here was meant for achieving the highest score there could be factors that could taint the system for the unprivileged individuals, they key factor being prior knowledge to certain subjects that others do not have. Instead, we should seek to learn. If we truly seek to learn, we will excel. If we seek to do things as unto God, we will prevail in many ways. It is selfish to forever to only seek the highest grade. For in seeking the grade alone, we lose the base of the education. We end up memorizing letters and numbers and never see the entire picture. This time is too short and our minds too finite to throw away on criteria alone. We should seek to understand concepts.
To the students out there with the highest grades, I rejoice for you. However, I implore you to consider the nature of you learning. Is it merely the books, or is it the understanding of books?

Reflections on the practice of lent

2005-02-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

Many Christians in the world participate in a practice known as Lent. Lent is a period or season proceeding Easter. During this time, one tries to discipline himself as a believer. He theoretically deprives himself of things in order to make more freedom to focus on the Lord. This is not an evil practice. It can develop in people a passion for following Christ and His commands. However, I will not follow it for reasons I will explain in this next paragraph. Before commenting on this blog, read it in its entirety first. This statement needs explanation to understand.

Lent is a practice which one might ultimately, by his power, try to discipline himself. A focus on this thought is a not a Christian thought. I am not saying that we should not develop Christian discipline. It is something that should be developed and maintained by the power of God. Through lent, their is a fear that one can develop self imposed righteousness. When that happens, one becomes dependent on his power to serve God, even though it is the Spirit which guides us to do right. Without the existence of God, we would not be able to know what is right and wrong, as a matter of fact, we would have no right and wrong. We must make God the basis of our reasons to do good works. We are not saved by doing good works. We do good works because we are saved. Works are important in the structure of The Way, but not the foundation. We are, in light of the shed blood of Jesus, the Christ, freed from these traditions - free from the responsibility of taking part in traditions and at the same time free to do them. Paul mentions in Colossians 2:6-23 freedom from human regulations and traditions due to the new covenant in the Great Sacrifice. In verse 8, he asks the believers to be careful not to fall for simple ideas of worldly based Christianity which avoids focus on the Christ. In the old covenant, the Jews had to perform certain rituals in order to maintain favor with God. Once the rituals were complete, God was pleased and the people praised God, or that was how it was supposed to be. Like every other follower of God, the Israelites eventually saw their own actions as the basis of salvation. This was not pleasing to God. God soon supplied us with a way to avoid yielding to this fallacy. He gave us an all covering sacrifice that would last for all time. So rejoice in the Lord because we can now not follow the Law, but follow Christ. This does not say we are able to disobey the Law, we still abide by its principles, but it is in light of God. So then, we obey what the Law says, but we do not follow it. We follow Christ. He is the King of Kings. He is our salvation and our door to life. He took the code of traditions away by giving His life on the cross, this is stated in 2:14. Our traditions have become secondary. We no longer are bound to religious leaders judgments on us based on the avoiding of traditions. We died to the worldly way of attaining righteousness. Paul said in verse 22 that these are all destined to perish because they are of human minds. They look wise, justifiable, and Godly, but they are self imposed. They lack any value in the kingdom because we cannot obtain righteousness by our own efforts. Live not by human commands for doing works only, but follow Gods will for holy living as mentioned in the Colossians 3:1-17. Since Christ has freed us, put your focus on the things that transcend this world. Allow love to guide you in kindess, compassion, true humility, gentleness, patience, and forgiveness. Seek peace with all believers. Sing your praises to God and worship Him. Minister to each other and be fed the Word of God. Be thankful in all the things you do (Paul, Col. 3:12-17).

For those already practicing Lent, do not quit. Instead, let the Lord guide you in Lent. Make your oath between you and God, and avoid bragging to men what you are doing. Do not let left hand know what your right hand is doing. Keep in this way and God will be pleased. Seek to honor Him. He is worthy. Praise to God for this.

2005-02-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

The disciple must be entirely innocent of anger, because anger is an ofence against both God and his neighbor. Every idle word which we thinkso little of betrays our lack of respect for our neighbor, and shows that we place ourselves on a pinnacle above him and value our own lives higher than his. The angry word is a blow struck at our brother, a stab at his heart: it seeks to hit, to hurt and to destroy. A deliberate insult is even worse, for we are then openly disgracing our brother in the eyes of the world, and causing other to despise him.
(Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 127-128)
I truely believe that this goes toward any gesture or saying that even hints at hate. Some say that it is all in what you truely mean, but I say that what is truely existent in the hearts of men are fully evident in what we say and do. The statement that our intentions related to our words and gestures is not biblical. It is biblical to say that our words and gestures and actions are window to what the heart is feeling. The statements mention above show the desire to create our own version of christianity, disregarding the cost of carrying our cross that was commanded of us. You followers of The Way, use caution in your steps, for beside our narrow path is a steep embankment that threatens to swallow us whole. Use loving kindness in your lives. Do not seek what your heart feels is ok, for even our own hearts are treacherous. Instead, seek what God's will is in your life. Love for all, and all for love.

Love Your Neighbor and Your Enemy

2005-02-14T18:48:00.000-08:00

Looking back on my life, I have taken note of the attitudes I had when I was younger. I see that I loved only what suited me. I was not unconditional in my love of people. I see now that the call to love all was unrestricted. We Christians have barred ourselve in prison cells of hate. Only limited love is able to leak to the ones around us. God seeks to liberate us from the oppression of hate. Love was the original plan for our kind. If we look at Christians as the chosen, we see that the church as a whole was chosen to love. We were chosen to be the representatives and the ambassadors. Any way could have been chosen to be the way to Christ, but the church has been honored by such a calling. We must value this calling above all callings and we must base all notions in our minds on this calling.
Our enemies deserve love from us just as much as our neighbors do. Our neighbors are no different than our enemies. Our creation in the Lord has made us in a certain sense, equal. Our sinful nature also makes us equal. Both natures existent inside us make it seem impossible to live with ourselves while trying to serve God. Everyone who has the potentional to experience God can know this frustration inside them. The battle the goes unresolved in this lifetime. In light of this, we must love our brothers, for we are not of this world, meaning we have been sanctified, but we are still in this world, meaning we know the struggles and torments this world has to offer. Let us not seek to separate ourselves from the world so we may hate those in the world. Let us seek to love those in the world and reach out to them in order to save them. Act in love to those around you. Act in love to those above and below you. Act in love regardless of you and your heart's desires of destruction.

Tsunami and Franklin Graham

2005-01-04T18:47:00.000-08:00

The Tsunami tolls kept rising and rising this week. My heart breaks for the people of the area. It seems as if many people want to say that this is the one warning that states the end times are near. But who are we to say that this is THE sign. The end has been hinted at for thousands of years. The end times are closer today that yesterday, so why are we infatuated with the issue. People, all we need to know is to be ready and to make others ready.
Franklin Graham has to be the greatest representative to the faith I have ever heard. I am actually glad that it was not Jerry Falwell. Franklin Graham seems more knowledgeable and reasonable when discussing current issues against the scriptures. Oh, and by the way, if any of you know me, you know I am pretty conservative, but Hannity off of Hannity and Colmes is a horrible debater. He has no reason, he degrades those who disagree him. Why did the Conservatives get all the stupid debators and the smart debaters.
And let's not forget kids, I'm a christian. Read my earlier posts. :)

Wow, I've started blogging

2004-12-25T16:30:00.000-08:00

OK, this is weird, I'm getting all technological on all y'all people. Do not fear, technology will not corrupt me, for it is not what enters a man, but what proceeds out of his heart. That'll preach. You know what else will preach, is Merry Christmas, not happy holidays. Christmas was made for recognition of Jesus' birth. Happy holidays can be any holiday. So all the progressive radicals that are pushing the for the separation of church and state can be quite.
I'm not done yet with the separation of church and state. Let's think on this. Education is a privilege, and a right that is protected by government, if we are able. This is a land of equal opportunity. However, education should not be controlled by the government. We don't need no thought control (God bless Pink Floyd). If the education system was truely a reflection of the american way, we would do away with governmental control of schools, and would not bar christianity from schooling. For it is separation of church and state, not separation of church and education. Those who state that we should not force ourselves on people and that we should be tolerant should think again. For we are called to evangelize, and we are called to love. Tolerance only says that you are what you are, and I do not care, but Love says I see where you are and I want to reach you where you are to lift you higher. Between Love and Tolerance, I CHOOSE LOVE!