It was the best of times.  It was the end of times…. wait, that’s not how it goes…

If the rest of the country is anything like Georgia, (heh) then you’ve seen signs all over telling you that Judgement Day is happening this Saturday.  It’s easy to point and laugh, because, well, doesn’t the Bible teach us that no man will know the day?  AsI’ve stated in previous posts, I can’t pretend to know everything the Bible is saying.  I know it says that, but I don’t know the context, the surrounding words, and what God meant when he said somehting about recieving power in the Holy Spirit and me being his witness.  I don’t know. 

Is it scary to think about, “What if he’s right?”  Well… Yeah!  Of course it’s scary. 

Here’s my thoughts. 

God and Jesus are peculiar.  Let’s be real for a minute.  When Jesus was here, in human form, things were weird.  The kings were scared he was going to overthrow them, and I’m fairly certain the disciples thought there was going to be a revolution.  I think most people were expecting a holy king to take the throne, and reign over all of us forever.  In a worldly sense. 

Here’s what people were not expecting. 

A humble servent to come to earth, literally on the run from day one.  A man to seek the marginalized, poor, sick, downtrodden.  A man to defy everything we saw as holy.  A man to ride to town on a donkey, pull a coin from a fish’s mouth, spit in mud to heal the blind, wash people’s feet, draw in the sand, stand up for sinners, and die on a cross. 

So.  Like I said, I don’t know what judgement day is ’supposed’ to look like, but I do know that we’ll all probably be really surprised.  Whether it’s Saturday, in January, or in 2134, I think we will probably be surprised when it happens. 

Until then, I’m going to continue to do what I *try* to do.  I’m going to try and love people, and love God.  I’m going to try to correct my foolish ways, and be a good steward and a great example to my family.  When I fall, I’m going to stand up and keep going.  And I think everyone should do the same.  Period.  Because no matter what you believe about when judgement day will happen, when you think about it, it makes all this other stuff seem silly.  The arguements, the political differences, all of that…. It is just silly.  It’s time for me to (Re:) Focus.  (I’m fairly certain “Re” is trademarked by the relevent church in America, but I’m borrowing it for this post.. hehe.)

Lazy Motivation.  Ever had it?  You know what it is?  Let me explain. 

About two weeks ago, our dishwasher broke.  After about a week of doing dishes by hand, our landlord finally had our new dishwasher delivered.  He was to come out the next day and install it… I sat in the kitchen, looking at a full sink of dishes, and a dishwasher sitting in the middle of our kitchen.  I circled it, sized it up, and decided right then, “I can install this, that way I don’t have to do the dishes.”

Did you hear that?  I am going to install a dishwasher, so I do not have to wash dishes.  I seriously thought that.  Heck. I seriously ALMOST did it. (Missing adapter pipe of some sort.)  I wonder where else I do that in life.  I was fortunate enough to recognize that time, but I’m no fool.  Odds are good I do it other places. 

Do I do it in my marriage somehow? - TV instead of talking, anyone?

Do I do it parenting.  – Don’t do that!” I scream from the couch. 

Do I do it with the Gospel? – Hmm. What are some ways I’ve been lazy in sharing my story with others?  What are some ways I’ve been lazy in living the Gospel to others?  Blogging, Facebook, Twitter?  The Internet?  Now, I know what you’re thinking…. “Dude, don’t go there.  The internet is the best place I can do ministry! I have 500 followers on Twitter and like 800 friends on Facebook.  I can spread His word faster and farther this way! (And, They only see of me what I want them to see.) ”

See, I think the internet is a great tool but, for me anyway, it is very easy to use it as an out.  It’s easy to say, “Man, did you read about  Joe-Bob and his wife.  Man. I’m really praying for them.  I told him in a private message on Facebook… It’s good he know’s we’re praying for them.”

I hope I’m making sense.  I hope I’m not giving the impression that Facebook or Twitter is evil and no good, because I’ve met some great people there.  I’ve had some great conversations, and I’ve even learned a thing or two.  I guess I want to throw a caution out there though. 

Don’t let it BE your ministry.  Don’t let it tell you, “I’ve got it from here, in your real life, take it easy, you’re doing enough for the Kingdom of God right here.”  I know that sounds crazy, but I know several people who have thought that way.  Don’t hide.

If that title’s not begging for readers, I don’t know what is.  But here’s the thing.  I’ve got a lot to say. 

I read Rob Bell’s “Love Wins”.  You can read some of my thoughts on that here.  Honestly, I’m still not 100% sure what I think about it, but it did make me 100% certain of one thing.  I do not know what I stand for. I do not have a formed ‘theology’, and I do not have very strong opinions on a lot of things. 

In the wake of Bin Laden’s death, I’ve been confronted with several what-if scenarios, some logical, some not-so-much, and I have been really challenged to think about how I would react to certain situations or circumstances.  I have been confronted by feelings that have come into my mind that I can’t fully explain. 

Here’s what I’ve learned from the items above about “American Christianity”:

American Christians adore a god with defined dos and don’ts.  We like a list. 

Don’t:

• kill*
• be gay
• listen to Metalica  
• watch Harry Potter
• think that God would give a 3rd chance

*sometimes killing is ok. Please read the Dos seciton to fully understand*

Do:

• Donate to charity
• Support Wars
• Support the Death of Terrorist
• Give 10% to your local church
• Read your Bible
• forgive…. When it’s justifiable.
• protect your family, by any means necessary

Here’s my problem.  We can justify God being happy about Bin Laden, because it was justice being served.  Which… is exactly what extremist muslims across the world were screaming when the towers fell.  It sounds to me like a lot of American Christianity is desiring a War God. A vengeful God, who kills for us, and fights for us, and forgives us, but doesn’t forgive them, who accepts us as we are, but kills them, as they are.  I don’t know how to justify that, or even believe in that God. 

So, I’m no scholar.  I have a lot of learning to do, but here is one thing I can say.  Given every chance to respond in violence. Every chance to turn on God, and sin in his body.  Every chance to use His power for worldly advancement. Every opportunity to wage a war, and lead a violent revolution.  Jesus did not.  Instead, He:

• healed
• fed
• loved
• taught
• touched
• forgave
• invited
• died
• resurrected

The new covenent.  The new way of God.  The new Bread of Life, is Jesus Christ.  A man who, when given a chance, on this Earth, to be OF this Earth would not.  And my challenge, ney. My calling, is to do just that.  So, when you give me a scenario, and when I reply, and when you question why I am the way that I am. 

That is why.

**For fun, this post is written in the artistic styling of Rob Bell. Enjoy**

Love wins.
Every day.  We say it does.  We say Love wins over all things.
It’s our belief.

I’m going to skip the deep dive into the book.  I recommend you read it for yourself.  I’m going to talk about something else, because honestly, I can’t help but think this entire thing is being used as a distraction.

Every day, 22,000 children die of preventable diseases.

22,000.
Twenty-Two Thousand.
Every day.

What is outrageous is, pastors, well known pastors, are arguing over when/where/if someone can get into Heaven. (Or escape Hell.)  Pastor’s are arguing over something that, at best, we can guess at.  This argument has been happening for years, or, as Rob Bell would say, eons.  Not just average people.

Scholars.
Doctors.
Theologians.
Geniuses.
Idiots.
Pastors.
People.

All have a perfectly logical explanation why people are getting into Heaven, or, why people will never go to Heaven.  What’s more outrageous.  Of these 22,000 kids that are dying, some of them may have never heard of, or learned about Jesus.  So, by most people’s beliefs, these children are going to Hell. (Forever)  But, instead of reaching out to them, or coming up with a plan to launch our church members into action, we are arguing the ancient argument.

Instead of helping these kids, we’re making sure everyone understands exactly why they will spend eternity in Hell. (Or Eons, which, is still too damn long for my taste.)

Children.
Living in Hell their entire lives.
Going to Hell when they die.
Because we want to define Hell.
We want to make sure people know that we’re getting in, and that most people probably won’t.
We’re with the DJ.

Instead of having this argument, which, let’s be honest, is comfortable.  instead of sitting behind our keyboards, and hacking away at other pastors, tearing down other people, and using their beliefs to express our ‘rightness’, why don’t we spring into action with something we KNOW.

Something we can all agree on.
The Gospel.
Our commission.
To Go.
Make Disciples.
Take care of orphans.
Care for the widows.

So.  To sum it up.  Do I believe that a person has another chance of accepting Jesus after they leave this Earth?  I don’t know.  I honestly do not know.  I hope so.  That would mean Heaven will have some people I’d really like to see again.  I don’t think it’s my place to know.  What is God’s big picture?  Can any of us really say?  No.  But, I can tell you what I do know.

Jesus Christ is my savior.

Beaten.
Bloodied.
Spit on.
Punctured.
Denied.
Hated.

For me.
And for you.
And for John Piper.
And for Rob Bell.

And honestly, I don’t think it matters if Heaven is achievable after life, if we share the gospel to the world.  Because if we all work together to achieve what Jesus has commanded us to do:

Love our enemy.
Go to all nations and spread the good news.
Love people.
From a pure heart.
With good Conscience.
With Sincere Faith.

Then and only then does Love indeed, win.

By now it should not be a secret to you that my iPhone 4 was stolen yesterday on MARTA.  Probably because of my ridiculous ADD and carelessness.

I felt mad. Sad. Depressed. It affected my mood for the entire day.  I was short with my wife.  I was frustrated by my daughter’s screaming and crying. I was pissy.  All I could think about was finding it, or finding the man (or woman) who took my phone.  All the way to last night, I was in a horrible mood.  To be honest, if I had 1 second to myself yesterday, I would have cried.

Now here’s the thing.  IT’S A PHONE. Seriously.  IT’S A PHONE. Is it not insane that a phone can make me feel that way?  It’s probably a great thing that I lost that phone.  Not because the phone, in itself was bad, but because what the phone represented to me. (Which, I didn’t recognize until it was gone.)

I just finished reading “Radical” by David Platt.  At the end of the book, he challenges you to make some pretty dramatic changes.  One of them is how you spend your money. (Not JUST that, but it’s the core thought of the challenge)

To be honest, I was a little relieved that i was tied in to a 2 year contract, so while I was convicted to change something, it COULDN’T be my iPhone.  I was safe in my conformity.

Well, crap.  Looks like that was all made up in my mind…

So, I guess my timing is bad.  Reading that book, making that excuse and then this happening, has me thinking it’s a ‘sign’.   It has me thinking I need to amp up my faith.  It makes me think I’m not living right.  It makes me think my faith needs Caffeinated.

Unless “Love Wins” tells me it doesn’t really matter….