I just saw on CNN that their New Year's show is being hosted by Anderson Cooper (okay, I can see that) and Kathy Griffin (okay, I can see th...wait what?). Kathy Griffin? Really? Are they trying to one-up Ryan Seacrest for the "Most Obnoxious New Year's Host" award? Were all of the other 3 million people more qualified to do this job already busy?
Incarnation. It's a word that Christians throw around a lot. I think it's best explained in the gospel of John where it says, "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." It's a fancy way saying that God put on skin and in order to relate to us. It's something we celebrate this time of year when we focus on God arriving on earth with poor shepherds and farm animals as his only pomp and circumstance. All of that is nice, but for some reason we humans tend to need more here and now and concrete examples to understand a concept as mind-shattering as the Incarnation.
I've often heard people who don't believe in God say something to the effect of, "You Christians/Jews/Muslims just use God as a crutch. If I'm honest, this has offended me at times in the past and I'm generally not an easily offended person. It's offended me because it just assumes that I'm a weak minded person, who, instead of using my brain and my strength, I prefer to lean on a figment of my imagination.
I followed a tanker truck into town today that had this to say on the back:
We bailed out another American industry. How much this time? Only a measly $14 billion. So the message is this:
I'm currently reading a book by Harold Kushner called, "The Lord is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm." He breaks down each statement from, what is most likely, the most well-recognized passage in the entire Bible. I would venture to guess that almost everyone, at least in this country, has heard this Psalm. If you've ever attended the funeral of a loved one, you've probably heard this Psalm that begins, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..." and continues with "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."
I think we, in churches, sometimes worship the Bible more than we do God. There I said it. Now here's what I mean.
A few weeks ago, I encouraged my middle school students to email me or call me they had any questions about anything. I did this because middle school students generally have a million questions but either a) don't feel comfortable asking them or b)think the questions are stupid so they refrain. I always strive in my ministry to create a space where students can ask the tough questions that they all have without fear of being judged or condemned for a lack of faith or whatever.
Looking for a good Christmas gift this holiday season? Are you wanting to find the perfect gift without being trampled to death at Wal-Mart? Are you looking for that one-of-a-kind gift that will show your youth pastor just how special you think he is? Look no further than this amazing infomercial.
Oh wait...wrong holiday. Anyway, happy Thanksgiving to all of my 10 readers. Enjoy your turkey, the inevitable triptophan crash from said turkey, watching football, poking a new hole in your belt to accommodate the abdominal swelling, and vows to never eat that much again.
Peter asked, "Lord how long should it take us to forgive someone? Immediately?"
There's a guy that's been coming into our office for the last few months asking for help. He usually needs help with things like gas and food. We've been helping him as much as we can with a few bucks here and there. He has stomach cancer (with a hole in his belly to prove it). He's had it since 2004 and it's been an up and down roller coaster ride of remission and resurgence. He can't walk straight because of the hole in his stomach so he walks with a Quasimodo-like posture. He can't eat solid food because of his cancer. He's gone as many as 8 or 9 days at a time without eating because he just isn't hungry sometimes. He used to weigh around 250 pounds, but now weighs about 140. A year and a half ago he had a stroke which has left him with a stutter. About six months ago he actually died from a heart attack in his grand-daughter's living room, but her husband gave him CPR and brought him back. Let all of that sink in for a minute.
Ok, this has nothing to do with my post, but what happened to fall? I don't know about where you live, but in Indiana, we didn't have one. It seemingly went from being 80 to being 30 (like it is today), with no in-between. It is colder than a well-digger's anus here. At least climate change is just a liberal myth right? Right? Who's with me? No? Ok, moving on.
I found out today that I'm not getting a raise next year. Does it bother me? A little. Do I think I deserve one? Yeah, and the elders of the church told me as much. Our church's financial picture isn't all that grand right now, thus no raise.
This is an interesting video that shows what Starbucks would be like if it acted like a normal church.
I've known for a long time that the lottery is a total joke, but standing in line at the gas station today just reaffirmed my thoughts. A lady in front of me presented a "winning" scratch-off ticket to the cashier. "What did she win?" you may ask. Five dollars. Keep in mind that all of these tickets are at least $3 to buy. So how did this woman spend her winnings (I think you know where this is going)? She bought $8 worth of scratch off tickets. I wanted to shake her and ask her if she knew what she just did.
This is the craziest thing I have ever seen in my life. Absolutely incredible.
Yesterday was just an interesting day. I don't care who you voted for, yesterday's election was historically significant. To watch a black man become our president-elect was something that actually gave me chills, and I'm the whitest dude around. I can only imagine what it means to someone who lived through the civil rights conflict in the 60s to see this happen. It's significant and it shows that maybe, just maybe, this country isn't full of ignorant, racist hill-jacks.
I'm currently reading a book titled "The Nonviolent Alternative." It's a collection of essays from Thomas Merton, written mostly in the 1960s, as a response to the Cold War and generally violent attitudes in the world at the time. Given the current political climate of our world, these essays speak today in the same way they did then. Here are a couple of great nuggets.
Jesus enters the scene shortly before the greatest King (Augustus) kicks the bucket. As I mentioned in an earlier post, by the time Jesus begins his ministry, all of the progress of peace that Augustus achieved was ruined and proved to the world, once again, that the "imperial man" philosophy failed. No human could ever bring about lasting peace and joy. If any King proved this, it was Augustus.
Augustus (which means "worthy of praise and worship") Caesar was seen as the human ruler that would bring about everlasting peace. He was well-liked and, generally, a good man. He once paid the year's taxes for the whole province of Asia with his own money. If the State treasury or a friend was out of money, he would finance it with his own money. In the words of Stauffer "Augustus was a blessing to mankind." To give you some idea as to his popularity and apparent achievements, here a couple of writings about him from shortly after his death:
Socialism - a system of society or group living in which there is no private property (courtesy of Merriam-Webster dictionary)
I've been thinking a lot of about this election. That could be due to the fact that I'm getting older and crankier about the fact that this government is grossly misusing my money, or it could be due to the fact that the election has been going on for 2 freaking years and I've had no choice but to think about it. This election is being billed as "maybe the most important election in the history of our country." That may or may not be the case in some regards, but I'm going to tell you why it's an irrelevant thing to say anyway.
I've regaled you numerous times with my opinions of advertising. This post will not continue the trend of bashing companies for stupid marketing. This post will be examples of advertising, were I working for an ad agency. I'm the type of person who just wants more honesty in advertising.
When did we time-warp back to the 1950s? I don't understand. When did it become acceptable again to deride people based on their nationality? Has it always been this way and I just haven't noticed, or is this a recent thing. I saw a video this morning of people at a McCain rally in Pennsylvania and they were yelling at a group of protestors. The person filming all of this was asking people why they were voting for McCain. They were saying things like, "Obama is a terrorist." When asked why, the people said, "Because he's an Arab." Later, they all start singing "God Bless America." I'm sure God was pleased. The video honestly made me sick.
The bailout worked! Wall Street is more stable, and the American people can continue to prosper! The market is doing really well...what's that? The Dow is down under 10,000 points for the first time since after 9/11? Ooh, tough break. I didn't ever want to retire anyway.
This game is just hilarious. I don't care what political party you align yourself with, this is good stuff. The game pits political candidates in a Tekken sort of format. Their weapons are all different. My two favorites have to be Palin's special weapon (her hockey stick turns into a rifle) and Obama's (he shoots doves at his opponents). The only thing about the game is that it's virtually impossible to win. It could just be that I suck. Enjoy.
Here's what's going through my brain right now:
If you suspend your campaign in order to do your existing job, then do a speech the next morning before heading to your existing job after all the decisions have been made, is it still considered a suspension? Can somebody clarify?
Clay Aiken came out of the closet. Umm...yeah we know.
Guys like this need to be in prison. In case you're wondering, this isn't Christian.
I've always wondered what it would be like to live through the Great Depression. It looks like my dream will come true! Hooray!
Sorry for the blogging lull. Not that any of you are crying yourself to sleep at night because of this, but whatever. I just don't have a great deal to say right now. The election is getting so ridiculous that I can't even find the energy to write about it. Spiritually, I'm pretty dry right now, so I don't have much to say along those lines. Add to that my incredibly busy schedule now that the school year has started. All of this equals nothing to say. Hopefully I'll have something of substance soon.
I got in my car this morning to go to work, turned the key and blaring out of the radio is the song "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" by The Police. Now bear in mind that I'm generally okay with The Police. I'm not ever going to own their entire catalogue or anything, but "Message In a Bottle" and "Every Breath You Take" (by the way, this is the best song about a voyeur ever written) are stellar songs. But seriously, has there ever been a less relevant, more annoying song written than "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da"? After enduring that chorus a couple of times, you have to put up with overly philosophical lyrics like, "Their logic ties you up and rapes you." It's a little too late to be philosophical when you've aurally forced yourself upon us with a completely idiotic title and chorus. My assumption is that this song was thought out and composed after a twelve pack of Guinness and a number of pharmaceuticals were consumed.
So everyone in the Republican party is officially wetting themselves over Sarah Palin. Fine, go ahead. Here's one thing I don't understand though. Fundie Christians make up a vast majority of the GOP. They are okay with electing a woman who could very easily be president sooner than later (look at McCain and tell me he doesn't look like he belongs in a retirement home), and yet a vast majority of those same Christians won't allow a woman to be a leader in the Church. So women can run the country, but can't be a part of setting the direction of the Church? That's consistent.
I have a new picture of my youngest son Abram. He's pale, he's bald, he has a turkey neck, and he's absolutely adorable. I'm convinced that I'm the luckiest guy on the planet to have two beautiful boys, especially when this is half of what they had to work with:
If you have 30 minutes (or more, depending on your skill), play this game. This is about as addicting as a game gets. It's called Totem Destroyer. Prepare to have you time gloriously wasted.
So what makes someone a follower of Jesus? Is it head-knowledge? Is it a commitment in your heart? What does that even mean? I've really been mulling all of this over recently after some conversations with a pastor friend who is working with a student who is a professed atheist. He recently attended a church camp of sorts in Colorado and he "found God" (I'm not 100% sure what that means other than to say that he now believes that there is a benevolent God out there somewhere). He still isn't sure about Jesus. He believes that there was a man named Jesus long ago, but he still isn't sure about the claims Christians make about him. So is it possible for him to follow Jesus even is he doesn't necessarily believe all of the claims of Jesus?
Last night at the house church I belong to, we were discussing the book of Acts. In chapter 2, we come across Peter, on of Jesus' closest followers giving a gigantic sermon to thousands of people. In his sermon, he details who Jesus is, what he did, what he's doing, and the roots of his existence in the Hebrew Scriptures. It's an extremely theological sermon, meaning that it encompasses God's revelation through Jesus in a fairly complete way. The interesting thing is that, just days before, Peter and the rest of Jesus followers had pretty much abandoned him as a fraud.
There's been a lot of hype about the recent "political forum" at Saddleback Church in California. If you don't know what happened, Pastor Rick Warren sat down individually with both of the Presidential candidates and asked them fundie questions about religion and politics. I have a few thoughts about this forum.
Let it be said from the get-go that I like sports. I've grown up playing and watching sports, it's part of who I am. I say all of that because this post might seem like I'm proposing a hatred for sports and other activities.
A Russian Billionaire just bought a house on the French Riviera for $752 million. People in Haiti are starving because they can't afford rice. Good purchase.
I heard the other day that the American Family Association (read: fundie Christians who hate everything) is calling for a boycott of McDonald's because they gave a donation to a gay and lesbian organization. Honestly, I just don't get it. Can the Church in America get any less significant than it seems to be right now? This is what we boil the message of Jesus down to; boycotting a fast-food restaurant.
18 war veterans a day commit suicide. So how is war working out? Good? I think we should stay in Iraq for another 100 years.
Here are some strands going through the ole' duder's head right now:
I'll now mercifully end this series of posts by talking about something that bugs me about Christians. I can't tell you how many times I've heard Christians say something to this affect, "Until Jesus returns, there will be no peace." Beside the fact that that phrase makes me want to release my breakfast to the wind, it is patently ridiculous and unChristian.
Alright, I'm almost done polluting you with my hippie ideals of actually loving people. The next two posts will be the last, and they will be primarily used to tie up some loose ends.
Until last night, the weirdest dream I had ever had was in high school. I was flying on an airplane, but the airplane was shaped like a cat, and the flight attendants were mice. Pretty weird stuff, and one of those dreams where you wake up laughing. Last night was different however.
So how did the early followers of Christ respond to his words following his resurrection and ascension to heaven? One thing is for certain, any reading of the NT will show that the early Church took very seriously the idea that they were Christ's body on earth. Imbued with his Spirit, they sought to live out the words he taught and the way he lived, full of love, peace, and compassion. In today's Church, I find very few Christians who truly understand how literal the writers of the NT were when they referred to the Church as the body of Christ. It seems to me (and I've been in the Church my entire life) that the Church sees this idea as nothing more than a fuzzy notion. However, the implications of the Church being Jesus' body on earth are huge. If we are his body (representatives, hands and feet, etc.), then it is imperative that we seek to live out his teachings and his way of life in order to finish his work of rescuing the world. This isn't just a nice, clean, and fuzzy idea, but a concrete reality that we must take as seriously as the first Christ followers. So what did they have to say along the lines of pacifism?
In my mind, Jesus' words singlehandedly prove that his followers should be pacifists. Regardless of any argument for war made by using the OT, it seems to me that the words of the person by who's name we are called should take precedence. If we are going to be called Christ-ians, then his words should be of utmost importance to us. So let's look at just a few examples of what Jesus has to say.
If anyone ever wonders what makes this country great, watch this video. It may be one of the funniest, and most bizarre, videos I have ever seen.
Inevitably when someone is defending a pro-war stance biblically, they immediately go to the Old Testament stories of Israel attacking everyone in sight. They do this for two reasons: 1)It's easy, because the OT is full of wars and, 2)You can't even begin to make a convincing argument for war and violence based on the NT, so they avoid it.
1968 called and it wants its society back.
Per Michael's request, I'm going to write a series of posts on why I'm a pacifist. I have no idea how many posts this series will entail. I understand how polarizing this issue is, but I feel the need to say what I think, and given the fact that the internet is the last great bastion of free speech, I will exercise my right. If you're offended by what I say, I refuse to apologize. No one in church apologizes to me when they spew out their pro-war rhetoric, so I will not apologize for my opposing stance. If you don't like what I have to say, then just stop reading. So without further ado, here's a completely non-academic view of why Jesus is calling his people out of a violent mindset.
