this is NOT a political commentary... :)

OK, so there are two big things going on in our culture. We are a 100% individualistic culture, meaning that we do everything ourselves. Asking someone for help is considered a 'weakness' by our standards.

(1) We live in a culture of pluralism; specifically religious pluralism. This says that truth is relative, everyone is right in their own eyes, and there can therefore be NO final truth.

(2) We live in a culture of intellectual autonomy. This is the attitude that people are not mature if they let others tell them what to think, or even influence their thoughts. This says to others, "nobody tells me what to do or think because I am an individual".

Both of these things combined leads to our current way of thinking where we accept absolutely everything that someone does, says, or believes. And to disagree with someone on anything is considered arrogant and judgmental. So we have Christians that are very shy, or even afraid to claim to know THE truth or THE way to God. Because of our culture, we are afraid to claim THE truth, or THE Gospel of Jesus. Our biggest fear is the threat of offending someone by our message. Thus we have a lot of uneducated Christians that cannot distinguish between different religious claims, and that honestly may not even want to distinguish between them.

The Gospel of Jesus is very dangerous because it is the opposite of individualism. The main message is that you CAN’T do it yourself; that’s why Jesus was sent. So yes, it is dangerous because it directly attacks our pride and the culture that we live in. It claims to know THE truth and THE way to God, and sometimes might even call us to action. It might call us to do things that make us completely uncomfortable because it is unknown (relying completely on faith, not EARNING something ourselves).

Btw, Jesus’ message was EXTREMELY offensive to certain people of his time because it attacked their pride and their self-righteousness. Is that still true? are there Pharisees in 2009? am I one?

Merry Christmas. pieces!

remember: you can't spell "conviction" without "fun"...(sortof)

Oh yeah, by the way, after writing that last post I have come to realize that I actually do the very thing that I was talking about. It has happened several times in the past couple of weeks.

(1) The guy at the rental car store asked me what I was doing for Thanksgiving. I'm not proud to admit that all I remember thinking at the time was, "why does this guy care?" and "when is he going to stop talking to me". I was not interested in real conversation because I knew that I would get nothing out of it. I couldn't wait to get home to my "real friends" on Facebook. Ha!

(2) The guy at the video store asking what we did for Thanksgiving...same story really. I just wanted to rent "The Holiday" and get out of the store before I had to have real face-to-face interaction with someone... It turned out to be a very long movie about love and stuff; not Jack Black's best...

(3) The guy at Guitar Center who wanted to talk to me after I had demoed a guitar. (It was a really cheap G&L Legacy, but turned out to be a fake...) He wanted to talk about guitars and I just remember trying my hardest to get away from the conversation...he had funny glasses too.

So anywho; the bottom line: Any time I try and comment on someone else's actions, always put it into the context of my own life...always. I am trying to just love whomever God puts in front of me...absolutely anyone...

We live in a world where people are freaked out if you take an interest in them for no reason. It is absurd for someone to take an interest in another just because they want to get to know them for no reason. I think that's why the gospel is so hard to grasp, because I don't do anything to become a child of God...nothing. We prefer to interaction via some sort of impersonal device (text message, Facebook, blogging, email)...absolutely ANYTHING but actually talking to a person face-to-face. That's just crazy talk really. We're a very funny people group.

Pieces. GO STUFF!

my first mad one...

Ok, here is the deal, because i'm kinda frustrated...this one will be short. But stay with me on this because it is important...for me and you.

EVERYTHING has value. It either has (1) Instrumental value, or (2) Intrinsic value.

(1) Instrumental value means that something has worth because of what it can do for you...it is valuable because it is a means of getting what you want. Examples: a car drives you places, a jacket keeps you warm, a TV entertains you...notice these are all THINGS...

(2) Intrinsic value means that the thing itself has worth just because of what it is, not that it does something for you, but that the thing itself is valued. Examples: people

So here's the deal: As people we can never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever value people ONLY because of what they can do for you (Instrumental value). When you do that to someone, they are no longer a person, THEY ARE A THING to you. People have value because of that, they are people not things. When you are only interested in someone because of what they can do for you, you give them only instrumental value, and mirror them to a thing (a car, a jacket, a TV).

So as you may be able to tell, I'm a little run down. I just feel like some people that I have met recently have no interest in me because I can't get them anything...I'm just a normal guy with no connections. Have you ever felt that someone forgets your name 2 seconds after hearing it?...me too. So I'm just tired really. People tend to not listen anymore, UNTIL they find out you can get them something. I NEVER WANT TO DO THAT TO OTHERS. I pray that I will never do that to others.

Jesus loves me because of...........................................................

..................................................................nothing. He just does.

p.s. I'm not mad, just frustrated at my situation lately.

Atheists, Deists, and Christians. OH MY!

I really don't understand Atheists, or moreover, what they claim. I just don't grasp how someone can really honestly refuse the existence of God. For me, it seems almost impossible to simply say that there is no God. All you have to do is look around the universe to see God. The idea that things just happen by chance...THAT is absurd.

Then there's Deists, those who believe that God created the universe, but does not intervene with it; he just watches. I can honestly say that I can sometimes understand where they are coming from...

Today in church in youth group we talked about doubts. Everyone has them...even people who love Jesus. Just look in the Bible and you will find story after story of those who had doubts and yet God works around them and through them. It is normal and healthy to have doubts about God:...now for anyone that would freak out at that statement...just check the scriptures. "How long oh Lord will you forsake me?" (Psalm 13)...does not sound like a type of guy who had it all together.

Anywho, like I said, I can understand where deists are coming from because sometimes it DOES feel like God has gone silent...because he does sometimes..."In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, BUT with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you" (Isaiah 54)...great stuff.

So really, what does one do with their doubts?

Let them control their lives? =Deists.

Ignore them and refuse a higher purpose? = Atheists.

Give them to God? = Christians...new life...life to the fullest...

Oh yeah, Jesus saves...not religion. :)

Thoughts on MLK

I recently returned from a trip to Memphis with a church group. We ate at the #1 ranked rib joint in the world as rated by the Travel Channel and had lots of other funzies. One of the biggest things that stuck with me though was our trip to the Civil Rights Museum. At this museum you get to see the exact spot where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, and you can go and look out of the window where the shooter was. It is a very real and intense experience.

I learned a lot about Dr. King on that trip. He wasn’t perfect, but was a great example. A few things really stuck with me:

Dr. King received threats on his life and family for years but he never quit, he wholeheartedly persevered…completed devoted. He believed so strongly in his cause that he looked passed the criticisms and threats on his life. Dr. King said that he would never make it to the age of 40….he said that, and he believed it.

The night before he was killed he spoke these words:

“I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you.

But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people,

will get to the Promised Land! And so I'm happy, tonight.

I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!”

These were his last public words spoken. It’s almost like he knew what was coming the next day.

He said that he would never make it to age 40…he died at 39.

The biggest point for me was that Dr. King stood by his cause through criticism, threats, and even to death. He NEVER backed down from his beliefs. Everything he said and everything he did, affirmed each other. I wonder if people will say the same things about me one day.

Would I really stand behind what I say?....through criticisms…threats…death…

…just a thought.

Christian Rules 101

The other day, we were at dinner with some folks, and the food came out to our table. We all awkwardly looked at each other for a moment because we all know Unwritten Christian Rule #121: When you go out to dinner you have to pray for the meal…always. So then in the next moment everyone silently considered to themselves Unwritten Christian Rule #72: When deciding who will pray for the meal, the job always goes to the preacher/pastor. Well, I was the closest thing that we had to a pastor at the time; a slightly below average seminary student. So I was volunteered to pray for the meal (a term that I have coined as being “voluntold”). I have no problem praying in public, and I have no problem that I am usually the one to pray; despite being not very good at it. Up to this point at the meal everything is normal…I grab Kinzey’s hand to pray (not really sure why…that’s just what you do when you pray).

I then bowed my head and looked down at the food. I prayed some sort of lackluster apathetic prayer that I don’t really remember. The reason I don’t remember is because I was not actually thinking about what I was saying at the time…all I could think about was the fact that I was sitting there “thanking” God for the food in front of me, all the while thinking about how unthankful I really was for the food.

I can sincerely say that I have NEVER in my life stopped and looked at a meal in front of me, and really thought to myself, “I am so thankful for this meal. I am so grateful that God has given me another meal. Praise God that He has provided for me yet again, and again, and again.” That has NEVER happened to me before a meal…because honestly I am NOT thankful, I am not full of thanks, I am not grateful for things around me…I EXPECT them. I view it as my “right” as a person. I think that I am entitled to everything that I get. I think that I have earned it…I am so spoiled…we are so spoiled.

Paul says to the Colossians that “just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” So Paul says to me that to continue in Christ means that I (1) build myself up in Christ (2) strengthen my faith and (3) be thankful. So part of continuing in Christ means to be thankful…that I have to decide to be thankful for everything. It doesn’t just happen, it is a decision to be grateful for things. I have to purposefully and actively look for blessings from God in my life, and choose to thank God for them. This is a challenging idea for me because I live in culture where we expect everything and are thankful for nothing. We think everything we have is our right and our entitlement….I mean, how often do we think to ourselves “I deserve _______”???

It is powerfully sobering to stop and honestly think of all the things that I am not really thankful for…that I view as my entitlements…

…I deserve nothing…

A night with Boony...

So the other night Boone (one of my oldest and closest friends ever) calls me up and asks if I can come over and help him finish remodeling his bathroom. So I drive out to Arlington, arrive 50 minutes late and we start messing with some plumbing; both of us doing a fine job of pretending like we know what we were doing. After about an hour, having had accomplished what the average capable man would have done in about 15 minutes, we went downstairs and ate dinner.

Afterwards we went outside so Boone could have a cigarette (I know…I know…he’ll die young)…anyways we just sat outside and talked, and laughed, and told old exaggerated stories the way that we remember them happening. It was great…we worked for about an hour total, and then talked for about two and a half….and then I went home. That night was rest for me. I never have to fake it with Boone…ever. I felt rested when I went home that night.

I really can’t say how important it is for me to have those real kinds of friendships in my life. And I mean those real, deep, intimate friends…not my “good buddies”….because everyone has plenty of good buddies.

Gosh, our definition of “friend” nowadays is just stupid. We can have 500 Facebook friends, hundreds of people following us on Twitter, text message 50-500 times per day, and yet still NEVER really communicate with others or be truly known by them. We love keeping people an arms distance away. Close enough to be popular and impressive looking, and still far enough away to be safe. That is the WORST kind of lonely, when you are surrounded by people, and feel completely alone.

‘Safe’ friendships are always boring by the way. I’ve had my share of ‘safe’ relationships. It’s like you’re always having to put on a show for other people, always looking good in front of them, never letting your guard down and letting them in to your life; to see the good and the bad IN us. We can be our own puppets sometimes…just putting on the show for everyone to see…it’s exhausting.

I hope I don’t sound angry or negative right now. It’s just what I’ve noticed. Fight for those relationships….they don’t happen naturally or easily.

Testing, Testing, 1 2 3

This has been a test of the emergency broadcasting station.....whatever that means.