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.)

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.

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.

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.

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….

This is a re-post. I re-post sometimes when I can’t think of anything to say, or just to make sure there is content here for people, when they swing on by my portion of the internets.

So, here is my post today.  Happy Valentines day.  I love you guys.

Do you know how much He loves you?

I mean, seriously do you know?  I hope not.  I mean, I hope you know that you can never know how much he loves you.  The minute we start to say we grasp that love, I think is the minute that we’ve lost touch.

I read something the other day, that knocked my socks off.  I’ve been in constant amazement ever since I’ve read it.  I’ve constantly been awed by the love that God has for me.  I don’t know if anyone else can tell it but me, (I bet my wife can) But I’ve been just a little bit brighter.  (and I’ve been cussing a little less)  I’ve come to the conc.. no.. the realization that I cannot even begin to fathom the love that Jesus has for me.  That’s OK.  I don’t think we will ever be able to, until we get to the party.

God desires us.  God wants us around, sometimes more than we want to be around.  The story of the Prodigal Son should captivate that.  (I contemplated adding a metaphore, where the earth was the younger son, working with the swine /swine flu, but then in better judgement decided against it) God forgives us.  He doesn’t make us wait, and wonder if we’re being forgiven.  He doesn’t hold it over our heads. He doesn’t say, “I hear you, I’ll E-mail you later and let you know my decision.”  All the things you’ve done in your life to screw up,  God’s over it.  He knows it, but it’s forgiven.  Crazy right? The question is, can you forgive yourself?

We’re not chastised.  We’re not forgotten.  We’re not hated.  We are just a bunch of failures on this earth, who are loved.  Loved more than we can ever imagine.  Our sin was taken up for us, that’s just one of the miracles.  He rose again, defeating death so we can have life!!  (’nuff said)

I pray now, that the moment I think I start to understand his love, that I get knocked off of my high horse.  I pray that I’m kept in awe and wonderment.  I pray that what Jesus has done for me already is enough to never question His love, and to never understand it either.

There is nothing a church or person has to do to make that relevent my friends.  If that gospel isn’t relevent, then something is seriously wrong.

Point is, Sarah Palin told people to kill people.

Obama said to bring a gun to a knife fight, which, I fully anticipate doing.

Pete Stark won’t pee on my leg, which, well, kinda is a weird thing to say at all.

And George W. Bush said….. something that didn’t make a lot of sense at all.

Anyway. I’m not really writing to write about the crazy right, or the bleeding heart left.  I’m not writing to get into a political debate about Sarah Palin.

Here’s the facts.

People say stupid things.  I know I do.  Do you?  Probably.

So where does that leave us?  Well.  It leaves us, really where it started.  Right?  Be careful what you say.  Someone is looking up to you, learning from you, mimicking you.  They won’t always take your exact advice, sometimes they misinterpret it to the extreme.  Sometimes they’ll ignore it completely.

I’ve been looking to scripture on this subject, especially in light of the recent shootings, and I think it’s been fairly clear on this subject.

Ephesians 4:29 says, “ Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

So, in my mind, it doesn’t really matter who said it, or what action came of it. (ie: whether a shooter was driven by a mix of the crazies/politicians.)  We should just be more careful what we say.  If we’re running around talking about glorifying God with our Country, then we probably shouldn’t put cross hairs over a ‘foe’ and tell my 367,000 (+) followers to ‘reload’, and I certainly shouldn’t say in front of a million people that we should bring a gun to a knife fight.

However…
..
.
And this is the big one.

Sarah Palin has said some mean things, and while I do not agree with her politics, and probably most of her religious views, I know I agree with her on one thing.  We serve an awesome God.  One that died for you, me, and her.  a God who forgave me, and all of the awful things I’ve ever done.  A God who I know has already forgiven Sarah Palin for any mean things she’s said, and a God who has not only forgiven but DIED for the shooter himself.  An Awesome God.

I’ve realized, it’s not my place to judge her.

I long for the day where we can remember God in moments like this and not look for a finger to point.  I pray for the day that politics don’t hi-jack every incident and blame the other side.  I long for a difference.  I long for a longing for God that is so powerful, worldly politics do not get me all bent out of shape.

There. I said it.

It’s not fair.

Let’s take that idea a step further.  What if, just pretend, a group of Christian’s hi-jacked some air planes and flew them into a couple of buildings?  I imagine we’d be crying that ten fold.  We’d be shouting out, “Hey! That’s not us!”

You see where I’m going with this?

We are no more responsible for a church in Florida burning some Qur’ans than most of the Muslim population is for the 9/11 attacks. 

“Well, it’s different, burning some Qur’an’s isn’t killing thousands of people.” you might say.  And, you’re correct, kind of.

Here’s the problem.  When people are burning a book, in the name of God, Muslims, Buddhists, and Athiests all over the world are watching.  With this one act, they are deciding that they cannot even think about hearing a message from a God like this.  How could they?  Who would want to follow such an awful, mean, radical God? 

When these people decide that they are not going to hear the message of Jesus Christ, guess what?  You are killing them.  Your act of burning something out of hate, fear, or “God’s Name” could very possibly become a deciding factor in these people’s salvation.  Your act, could be the reason these people will spend an eternity wondering what Heaven is like.

Is this extreme?  I don’t think so.  I know the arguement can be made that these people had their mind made up, or that the Holy Spirit can do anything.  I agree with that statement, but I also believe 100% that it is our job to show people what Love is.  It is our job to soften the hearts of non-believers to be accepting of the Holy Spirit moving in them.  I believe that it is our job to show the Love of Jesus Christ in every action we make.  I believe that, in a whole, we are failing miserably.  My guess is, that more than 2000 people are seeing this and deciding that this “Christian God” is not a God they want anything to do with.  These people are commiting spiritual genocide.

So, today, I want to ask you two things:

1. Rethink your image of a Muslim.  Take what you learned about Muslims from Google, after 9/11, and rethink it.  You may find that not everyone of them is out to kill your family, and destroy America.  You may even find that not even the majority of them have this goal.  You may even find, it’s a small number of them, like the Church in Florida, who happen to make headlines, because good deeds and loving deeds go unmentioned by American media.

2. Pray.  Pray for the Dove World Outreach Center.  Pray that someone would stand up and say, “This is not right.”  Pray that the pastor will hear this.  Pray for the pastor.  Pray for every person who has heard about this, and made up their mind on God.  Pray for the people who are overcome with fear.  Pray for the Muslims.  Pray for your ability to Love your neighbor.  Pray.

If you’re not offending people, you’re doing something wrong.

On social media, people use this to preach against homosexuality, stay at home dads, working moms, and to use profanity as a way to preach the ‘edgy gospel’.  I’ve often wondered where this comes from.  Where’s the Biblical Truth in this. Surely, with so many pastors using that phrase, it has to be in there somewhere…

Jesus did offend people.  A lot of people.  Jesus offended people by healing on the sabbath.  Jesus offended people by hanging out with lepers, whores and outcasts.  Jesus offended people by saying to love your enemies.  Jesus offended people by not saying it’s ok to stone the adulter.  Jesus offended people by telling them, instead of focusing on everyone else, focus on the plank in your eye.  Jesus was offensive because he cared more about people than he did for the ‘religious laws’.

So.  There you have it.  Jesus was offensive.  He loved people so much it was offensive.  He loved people so much that he couldn’t stone them, so much that he would heal them on the ‘religious day off’.  He loved them so much that he told them the Way to eternal life. 

How does this translate today?  Does it mean we need to post status updates about the extremist muslim that will surely burn in Hell?  The homosexual or the stay at home dad who is worse than a non believer?  I don’t think so.  I don’t think that’s offensive, I think that’s more of the same.  It’s the same hate that this world is filled with.  It doesn’t surprise anyone, and surely, it can’t offend…

How do we live truely ‘offensive’ lives?  I think the only way is to take up our cross daily, shine the light, and love so much that it makes us uncomfortable.  Go out of our way to help and love the sinner.  Become uncomfortable in living a life in closer parrallel to Jesus.  Become more concerned with loving everyone than we are with the Christian laws we’ve laid down over the years.  Jesus did not call us to judge, and we’ve become all too good at that.  Jesus did not call us to tell people they were going to Hell, he called us to tell people they could go to Heaven.  Jesus did not call us to throw stones, beat up, or crucify people.  He called us to love.  Love our friends, love our God, and love our enemies.

Do you really want to offend people?

Drop the rules, drop the show, drop the judgements, drop the regulations and start loving.

The idea of politics mixed with religion has been a hard one for me to break.  I’ve felt, for most of my adult life I’ve had to pick a side.  I have to have an opinion.  If I don’t vote, I’m part of the problem, if I vote wrong, I’m ignorant or uneducated, and it’s my number 1 duty to protect this country, uphold it’s values, and sacrifice anything I can to make sure that nothing bad happens to it.

I have felt like I need to pick left or right.  Pro-war or anti war.  Pro-choice or pro-life.  Obama or Bush. Oil or alternative energy.  Bigger government or smaller government. Immigrant reform or immigrant deportation.

I cannot pick.  I cannot bring myself to divide my thoughts by such an intolerable inconsistent line.  I think that we, all too often, put our faith in our country and citizenship when I think, more than that, I should be focusing on my citizenship in Heaven. (Phil 3:20)  According to Paul, we should be alien to this planet.  We should be so different that people don’t recognize us.  We should be a light in the darkness.

Instead of conforming to a political party, instead of joining the masses, instead of choosing a party, be the light.

I think it’s time for someone to stand up and say that war is just as big a catastrophe as an abortion.  Time for someone to step forward and say you love the Muslim, Mexican and homosexual, despite what the politics in our country have raised you to think.  Despite what you think they believe about you, and despite what you’ve been told about them.

All too often I’ve found myself captivated by the political climate, and putting every ounce of trust and faith into the next bill to pass (or not pass).  The next deployment to keep me safe.  The next election.  From here on out, I plan to listen to Jesus and be very careful to not put my faith, trust, safety, or heart in a world that I am alien to.  I plan to be so alien that people don’t recognize me, and wonder what’s different about me, so I can answer..

The love of Jesus surrounds me with light, in a world that is only darkness.