one way or the other

God is going to show you that happiness is not what He's all about.

You are living your life fixated on that God-forsaken "h" word...and steamrolling hearts in the process.

With yourself on the throne of your own life, you live, act and breathe with every step toward perpetuating yourself as a god.

You wish to be God for yourself, and you wish to be a god to those around you.

Go ahead. You think there is an unlimited length rope on your life that God will never take up the slack on. "He'll never ever take up the slack on me. He is love. He is mercy. He is lovingkindness. He is forgiveness."

What a shame you are putting the cart before the horse. That book of His you swear some feign of loose (or zealous) allegiance to? Hmmm, let's see:


• God does not hear those who embrace and savor wickedness in their heart.

• The Lord is far from the wicked but hears those who are in good standing with Him.

• Any who is turning His ear away from what God is saying to them personally, their prayers are a stench to God.

• Those who implore God for help He hides his eyes from. They pray many, many times, but God doesn't hear because their hands are full of blood.

• God doesn't listen to those headstrong in wickedness.

• Those who ask God for things based on selfish or wicked motives will not get what they ask. The intention of the desires is to spend the "answered prayer" for sensual purposes and desires.


Let this sink in. Turn off the TV, get rid of all external noise and let this sink to the deepest marrow.

What's gonna come of this?

Are you going to keep playing the mask-game with other people, putting on a show to the world that you are what you are not?

"One word of rebuke to someone wise does more than a hundred lashes to the back of a fool."

Are you going to keep playing this game of imbeciles, doing well so far at fooling the world when in reality you're selfish, headstrong and out of control with your prayers and your desires? You couldn't be farther off His map than you are.

Boy, have you got a hard dose of reality forthcoming.

You think there's nothing that will keep you from continuing to laugh all the way to the physical and emotional bank.

Be blind. It is going to be a smack of shit when those scales are removed and life as you think God wants it perpetually for you gets shredded...by Him.

God is trying to love you out of who you are now.

When that fails He'll do it the hard way.

Wear all the Christian jewelry you want. God doesn't see it.

Babble all the prayers and society-induced Christianese slang out of your mouth you want. God doesn't hear it.

cup

"for I am already being poured out like a drink offering"

Interesting how seldom we speak to each other along these terms when "life" (small "l") brings what can subsequently spawn maturity.

There seems to be much obsession with eggshell-walking when hardship and trials are afoot.

And yet, the most powerful thing I've heard spoken in the midst of life's torrent is:

"when is any Christian going to come up to you and say, 'you know, you are being poured out like a drink offering. Crushed and pressed, just like a grape for wine'?"

This statement stirred me at a very deep root level, and even in the midst of embracing it I am still digesting it.

It pricks me, and stirs something mysterious yet powerful within, which I'm not tasting all of yet.

It's the kind of thing which impacts the paradigm about an entire season of life.

Or would that be life from here forward, period?

I just read last night when two were speaking with Jesus, and the subject arose they wished to be seated next to him in the next Life.

Jesus said "You don't know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?"

When do we talk about drinking our bitter cup, so that we can "know Jesus, and the fellowship of his suffering, as to be continually transformed into his likeness, even unto death"?

What do we think our bitter cup is?

Disappointment that sister Betty Sue didn't make her special broccoli rice casserole at the latest church potluck?

Wonder as to why the church bought a new video projector instead of cushions for the metal fold out chairs in fellowship hall, which are always so cold and uncomfortable?

Disgust that we missed the latest episode of our favorite tv show?

Lament that the store was sold out of the latest gadget we wanted to buy for ourselves or someone else?

Tears from living beyond our means, and subsequently our resolve to keep up with the Joneses in some form or fashion is being eaten away?

Outcry at having to wait fifteen extra minutes before our hairdresser can get to us, because the person before us was late?

The list goes on...and on...and on.

Do we even know what bitter is?

Do we drink it when offered to us, that we might actually start to become like the guy we speak all warm and positively of, Jesus? (gasp)

"That I may know Jesus, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death" (third notch of Phillipians).

This explains a lot.

I've been silently pondering for some time how much this has become a gospel of words and debate and posturing. Posturing, not power...

Dead-raising power ebbs into oblivion, cause we don't want to go through the same sufferings Jesus went through.

I wonder at what point he quit being the Man of Sorrows.

Or, better asked, at what point did the Body stop acknowledging him the Man of Sorrows?

We won't see power unless we take the bitter cup...

And drink.

When we we are the most empty and the least "ourselves", that is the point when power beyond our comprehension can be birthed.

Jesus says "My power is made perfect in your weakness".

So while we waste days and time and lives and energy seeking for the Ward and June Cleaver life, there's a guy who watches, eager to see if we're going to let our guard down.

See if we're going to quit playing the "I've got it together", "I'm blessed" facade game.

See if we're going to dare to actually and literally follow.

See if we would defy all human sense and propriety and talk to Him about what our own bitter cup might be.

See if we'd be willing to drink it.

See if we're willing to abandon ourself.

See if we're willing to cut bait.

See if we will embrace bitter, instead of command it out of our life in Jesus' name.

See if we're willing to die.

It is here when "the kingdom of God is near".

Do we even care?

Dare we let the shackles be removed. They're uncomfortable, yet largely not enough to matter.

And so we continue to be bats of Grombiton. Staring at the ground, wondering what the hell we have wings for, and never looking up to heaven.

antiwisdom

• any of us bent on saving our life will lose it

• through abandoning our life it can be found

• jaw-dropping power through weakness

• life via death

• teachers of God's Law (principles) lead others to become double sons of hell

• recognition comes through humility (not promotion or marketing)

• healing by spit

• be anonymous and you'll be the most recognized

• two swords is sufficient weaponry for a kingdom. A very powerful one at that.

• following a set of rules/principles/codes accomplishes nothing

• God's kingdom can't be found by carefully watching for it

• 20/20 vision doesn't mean one can see. In fact, there's a good chance one can't.

• don't let anyone know about the good being done. This is the great way.

• some insane-sounding dude offers you a trade. He says he wants your crap, your garbage, your pain, your sickness. That scum that's calcified at the bottom of the septic tank of your life for years? He wants that shit, literally. And in return offers a backpack so light it can hardly be felt. You think there've been some lousy stock market trades over the years? None of them is as lousy or crazy as this dude, who actually wants the stock that's tanked, drained and bankrupted us. He wants our shit stock (and it's not because he's selling short).

• success means being broken, crushed and poured out

• staunch rule-abiding is just as strong (or even stronger) a stench to God as loose living

• a camel passes through the eye of a needle easier than a rich man enters into God's kingdom. No, really.

• true wisdom and real life are foolishness to the human race (which we're a part of)

others?

the facade of fortune and blessing

"When the Lord shall restore the fortunes of His people, then Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad." (Psalm 14)

How many of us spend time and energy trying to artificially create and restore our own fortunes and the fortunes of other people?

How often is this veiled behind "encouragement" and other emotionally whored words?

How many among us are prophets?

Has God told us about the fortunes of others among us?

Would you care to elaborate on the vague and arbitrary term "things will get better"?

Sounds so wise, doesn't it? So comforting. So encouraging. So uplifting. So inspiring.

I can read that shit in a fortune cookie insert, or on an astrology website.

Or hear it in a sermon.

today's thought

Too many people, I think, throw pearls before pigs.

So much trampling.

So much pain.

So much bludgeoning.

So unnecessary.

the path

Imagine if everything you've ever learned and been taught, for years and years, your whole life even, turned out to be a big fat lie.

From your farthest back recollection of words, what you've been told (and are still largely being told) is the truth...is not.

Imagine grappling with the idea that you have been hoodwinked by the hoodwink above all other hoodwinks.

And what turns up is that none of what you see or know is actually true.

While this takes place, the things you've regarded most valuable are ripped or stolen from you, and take chunks of flesh as the ripping occurs.

As you begin to discuss this with other people, it's as if you're talking Greek, or Chinese, or whatever colloqialism stands for the deer in the headlights look.

But wait, some people only give you blank stares. This is only partially frustrating and annoying.

The real kicker comes when people start telling you that what you're experiencing is not real.

Well, some tell you it's not real. Others tell you to ignore it.

not what you hear today

You are considered blessed by God (spiritually, not physically or circumstantially) when your spirit is broken and you are poor.

When you are emptied, when you are done, when you are beyond bleeding.

When there is no pulse. When there is no heartbeat.

When you are dead.

This is when you are blessed by God.

the selfish blind

One of the things I thought of earlier today..

PMA "believers" are self-centered and narcissistic.

Any time you hear someone say "let Jesus lift you up out of your circumstances" what they are really saying is:

"Oh, no. The circumstance you have just told me about is not positive. It contradicts my paradigm about life, that everything is to be positive and blessed, which is as God wants it. Surely this negative, unpleasant thing is something Jesus wants to remove or replace with something positive, so let Him do so. Your situation brings discomfort to me, so help me out here by letting this become something else."

Someone else's pain, someone else's hurt, someone else's shithole, someone else's train wreck would dare to ruffle a PMA idiot's perfect little world they are trying to cocoon themselves into.

But it doesn't stop here! They selfishly go around spitting their positive-cocoon mucus on other people to try and spin the same protectionism for them.

So break out the name of Jesus, to take people out of circumstances God is using to break and bring death within them.

It's the "let Jesus lift you" approach, or otherwise it's "rebuke satan out of your circumstances" mode.

The sad thing is the percentage of people who fall for this garbage, or are too "nice" to put their foot down on this bullshit.

If there was ever a definition of barking up the wrong tree, or poking things with a stick, or taking blind stabs in the dark, God's "finest" are at it around the clock, courtesy of one of the most popular gospels in the Body, the PMA Gospel.

And to call this for what it is is like a fish fighting against water.

unceremoniously beautiful

This is one of the most beautiful things I have read.

It's beautiful in its simplicity.

It's beautiful in its non-glamour.

At its essence it is the Way.


And it does not surprise at all the Body is wrought with excusitis about doing what Jesus says his followers will do.

I wonder what most Churchians think the Way is.

"reading the Word"? "praying"? "worshipping the Lord"?

From what I'm seeing, a slew of people think these things are the Way.

The Way seems to largely (exclusively?) be about building ourselves up "in the faith".

Survey says?

Bullshit!

This self-absorbing crock has got to go.

This story shouts reinforcement that churchianity is about gain, increase and attainment, while the Way is release, divestment and giving.

I think the gal who wrote this post about Haiti is overly conciliatory and gracious to excuse-making "Christians". Much more so than Jesus himself.

From what I'm unlearning (and learning anew) about Jesus, I think He scathes the sloughing of this lackadaisacal excusitis out of the mouth.

Not everyone is "led" to Haiti. Yet I see Jesus being more like this:

J: "okay, not to Haiti, fine. What are you doing?"

person: "um, I've been in the Word a lot more recently."

J: "uh huh."

person: "And I've been praying a lot more. You know, talking to Father. He's really been blessing me a lot. I've been telling Him how thankful I am."

J: "mm hmm."

person: "Worship has been so meaningful lately. I've really been experiencing God! It's been so awesome! He is so awesome!"

J: "yeah. What are you doing?"

person: "I'm growing in the Lord."

Do you think at this point Jesus'd just shake His head while saying "depart from Me"?

Think He'd light into them like He does the 'learned' God-people who claim to know God yet hem-haw about tangibly helping anyone?

Think He'd take their day-planner, which would show Him how 'busy' they are, and rip it in pieces?

Or would He just glance down at their day-planner for a few seconds, then look them in the eye for a few more, then walk away and say nothing?

Would He bend down and scribble something in the sand?

Something else?


There's no glamour in the beauty of the Haiti visit. There are no kudos from society (except for feel-good blurbs on the news if the trip was at Thanksgiving or Christmas).

I think about how many people in the city I live in go to church, and then on the heels of that wonder how many unvisited people are in hospitals and reclused in their homes today, tomorrow...

I wonder how many people in this city go to bed hungry each night.


Anyway, this story from Haiti is so beautiful.

Churchianity is so ugly.

And I don't think Jesus is resonantly quiet about it.

the Comfort Gospel

It is somewhat mind boggling (and somewhat not) how obsessed the Body is with comfort and convenience as it pertains to the Way.

It is very common to see churches state things such as "if there's anything we can do to make your visit with us more enjoyable (or comfortable, or pleasant, etc), please let us know".

Whatever they can message to market their church, their members or their environment as cozy and appeasing, they do.

I can't remember the last time I saw a handout or website that didn't shout this from the roof tops.

I don't see Jesus saying anything about comfort or convenience.

On the other hand I see where He went up on a mountain, and the lame and crippled had to somehow get up the mountain to be with Him. Interesting how they were healed up there.

Someone close to me is so obsessed with comfort at the moment that it might end up killing them, literally, within the next six to twelve months.

i really don't understand this whole comfort thing.

today's thought

Susie, you raised a good one.

He is blood with my blood, and spirit with my spirit.

He is plugged into the Vine.

And from the Vine is Life.

Regarding me, he has done what few would do and what none others have done.

He's your son. He's my brother.

And so I'm thinking of you today.


"A friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity"
Proverbs 17:17

bears, part II

So, we talked about bears. What they truly are, versus what they are perceived to be in artificial and skewed environments.

That’s too bad.

But wait! Here comes mankind!

Mankind has put their own spin, their own twist, to help understand and gain knowledge about what bears are.

Unfortunately, not everyone pitched in on mankind’s portrayal of bears.

And so we’re left with this picture. It is what mankind has determined bears are.

Some folks are/were disinterested, or dispassionate, or dis-something talking about bears.

Therefore, what you see here is what you're supposed to get.

Notice the contrast between the previous post’s bear and the one here.

The bear in the previous post was ferocious, beautiful and terrible.

Bears, as mankind has ended up portraying them, are sweet and precious and soft and wonderful and warm and loving and forgiving and embraceable and approachable and cuddly and fuzzy and soft and nonviolent and passive and…

Bears as humans describe them are not fierce, or imposing, or terrible, or passionate, or any of the powerful qualities quite noticeable about real bears.

Bears are never portrayed as bloody or bold.

Or crucified.

They’re portrayed as pristine, and perfect, in an exclusively warm fuzzy kind of way.

So we are now in a quandary.

Bears are what they are, yet most of the ways humans see and perceive and talk about bears is strangely different.

They’re misconstrued by how they’re viewed through artificial environments and media.

And they’re misconstrued by how mankind has decided to portray them.

These are sad portrayals of bears. And yet so few know (or care about?) the difference.

Very few travel to where bears can be seen as they are. To do so is dangerous, unpredictable.

Some would even say unsafe.

Very few people pursue anything up that alley.

It’s much safer, simpler and more stable to stick with the cuddly, warm, safe (and skewed) concept of bears.

And yet there remain other folks.

Some forage into the unknown, outside of buildings, away from what society has handed and told them, regardless of what they’ve heard or previously experienced with bears.

Some zoo goers or bear watchers encounter a series of life events which leads to conflict. They know what they’ve been told about bears, but something just does not resonate.

This generally happens when folks find themselves in the wilderness.

Not by their choice, of course. They’d lived a life of the cuddly variety, and rather enjoyed seeing and viewing bears this way.

Interestingly, those who are in the wild are still able to communicate with those who go to teddy bear shops, watch cuddly bear cartoons, listen to cutesy bear radio, and/or sit around talking about how cuddly and sweet bears are.

The conversations are quite awkward.

It's not that baby bears don't have the docile characteristics, but is that all bears are?

bears

Bears are ferocious, beautiful and terrible all at the same time.

This is a bear.

We rarely see them outside of zoos or on a movie or TV screen, yet seeing them this way is not to see them as they are.

To see them reduced, entrapped or sedated is not getting a real sense or real picture of bears.

When we see them in a watered-down, artificial environment we have a distorted concept of the nature and personality of bears. We humans largely see bears in a skewed and safe environment.

Because of this, we feel we are superior to bears. We have this snubby, prideful sense of dominance over them.

We attribute this to our profound intellect, and mankind's ability to use logic and invention and technology to gain the upper hand over bears.

If we were to encounter bears as they truly are, in a real (not artificialized) environment, and without the trappings of technology and man-made stuff, we would have a much different view of bears.

Our view of bears is warped by the trappings of "civilized" society.

We don't need bears.

They are not part of our daily life. We are immunized from their existence/impact upon us.

They may be ferocious and terrible, but we don't have to be concerned about that.

the same yesterday, today and forever

Last weekend my four year-old and I went to the mall.

We found a spot near the store we were to go in, and she climbed up through the front seat to get out of my driver door.

Things were going as usual, and as I began to close the door behind her for some unknown reason she hesitated from her gait toward the back of the car.

The next second and a half went by in slow motion.

As I saw the hesitation, my gaze was shifting from watching her to watching where the car door would close behind her. In the middle of the change of view, I heard the car door's "chunk" closing sound.

I simultaneously began to hear the cry as my eyes saw the driver door fully closed (no cracks or ajarness whatsoever) and my daughter's finger only partially visible outside the airtight, shut door.

I know it hurt like hell, and opened the door as soon as I could get to it.

I picked her up and then looked at her hand. It just so happened the side I saw first was the side the door had closed on (the non-palm side).

It was not bleeding, but the skin was heavily indented in a weird configuration. The skin was solidly compressed halfway through to the palm side of her hand in a quasi figure-8 shape, as if drawn by a two year-old. Kind of circular, but with other lines and shapes blended in.

I was amazed skin so deeply compressed that far through the finger was not bleeding.

The door had squished and imprinted this side, and though not bleeding it looked ugly, awkward...painful. There was no doubt from the wailing that it hurt immensely.

The palm side of the finger had a thin cut where the outermost phalange (?, section of finger) met the second phalange from the end. It was bleeding very slightly (on the surface, not dripping), the skin broken just enough to bring out the red stuff.

My heart then split in two directions.

Comforting my daughter as much as humanly and compassionately possible being one of them.

As for the other...there is a song I heard some months ago called Cry Out to Jesus. That's a very weak description of the fierceness and depth with which I called out to the Man about what had just happened.

I was humanly aware of the possibility of a broken finger, and I was keeping alert for the ongoing reactions of my daughter to see if that was a possibility to address.

At the same time, I was leaning on the Man as ferociously as I did when the rusty nail impaled my foot a few months ago, which I blogged about here.

I had picked my daughter up, and was holding her in one arm while my other arm both hugged her to me and also was cupped over her hand which she held close to her body.

My heart was laid out bare on her behalf.

For what must have been three solid minutes I must have simply called out for Jesus to help us, just saying it with my heart and lips over and over and over.

Initially we were by the car, and at some point during those few minutes we began to walk toward the mall as she continued to cry and as I continued to cry out to the Man.

As we neared the door to the mall and the crying started to subsist from wailing, I decided to check how the finger looked.

I was surprised, and not surprised.

The back (non-palm) side of her finger, the side which had been closer to the slamming door, where the skin had been compressed half way through toward her palm, was spotless.

No indentation whatsoever.

No redness. No swelling.

No marks of any kind.

No hint at all of the weird configuration the completely closed door had left on half of her left ring finger.

Her finger was as flesh-colored and normal appearing as all her fingers.

The mild cut on the palm side, along her phalange joint, was still cut but the blood was not oozing out. It was staying put, visible at the surface but not going anywhere.

My daughter was still crying, of course. We had stayed by my car until wail had subsided to cry, and even these several minutes later she was still crying and somewhat upset.

I knew that if the finger had been (or remained) broken that the pain would still be cause for a wail these several minutes later. And she would have repeatedly been saying "Daddy, my finger hurts, my finger hurts".

Her comments were about her finger having been caught in the door, not about continued pain.


It's very probable the mild cut on the palm side will heal completely and not scar at all.

I wish, though, that it would scar.

To be a lasting reminder of the Man's touch and compassion in that hour.

God and family

God does not look at family like Americans do.

Read something recently where a guy said part of his Personal Mission Statement (yeah, you can see where this is going real quick) he wishes to be a "Christian Family Man".

Buddy, you don't even know what you're saying.

What you meant to say is your ambition is to be a Family Man as somewhat moral Americans define Family Man.

You have no intention to be a Christian Family Man as Jesus talks about family.

To live as Jesus talks about family would shatter a lot of American churchianity "Christians".

Not many want to digest Jesus regarding family.

why

Some things just won't go away.

There is no shortage of rock-staresque preachers here and there. Some raising $20 million to fund a set of private jets (mission accomplished, by the way). Others soaking up the tv prestige of a "successful" ministry. (Ministry by whose standards?)

But wait, here comes a new Movement in the United States! It appears to be called Emergent, or the Emergent Church. People who have waxed tired and empty of traditional churchianity and all the dung of what is portrayed as the Way.

So what does one of the Emergents' more well-known guys do?

What else? He goes on a nationwide tour!

Going to the biggest cities with the brightest lights.

Charging $10 per head to come hear him talk.

He'll probably be introduced by popular Christians in each city's limelight: a local radio personality, a "big name" local preacher, etc.

When he's introduced the words will be full of praise and adoration and walk-on-water aura...about and for him.

They'll probably be selling t-shirts for $20 each. Long sleeve cotton tees will sell for $30.

The books he's written will be for sale.

• sigh •

The guy's got good things to say. Just why all this other stuff?

Some things just can't stop. I guess.

Even within this Emergent movement there is name-dropping, "in" people, etc.

"Have you read so-n-so's book?" "Did you hear so-n-so is going on tour?"

Is this just an American thing, that every group (even those who don't wish to be like other groups) thinks it must engage in this crap?

Societally-agnostic living.

Societally agnostic Following.

What a concept.

recent ponderings

why do Followers have any interest in material attainment, when the way to Life is to give one's self away?

why all the talk about providing or giving justice to the wronged, instead of becoming one with them in their brokenness?

why all the focus on growth and increase, instead of just going out and feeding some hungry folks less than three miles away?

why all the focus on blood, when family is not defined by blood?

why do Followers think things must always be getting better, or always positive, in life? They must have a different bible than I have. The one I read seems to have a lot of ebbing in life, even for those in God.

People who are like this must have really shallow faith. That must be why I get so steamed when they approach me to ask if my life is "better".

If our existence is gauged by our circumstances alone, then damn the irony of having less than ideal circumstances when we go around telling others we're "fine" all the time.

Sometimes circumstances are so strong that's all we can see. We don't care to hear about anything else. We don't care to be fake.

When life is like this, we crave the freedom to be transparent. And we hunger for others to be transparent as well.

We want to express what is really and rawly in our heart. We don't want restrictions or codes or guidelines put on us at times like this.

Some of us will even steer clear of those who aren't transparent in times like this.

••••••••

I've realized what some of the frustration from the past seven months has stemmed from. More on that later, in its own post.

common Christianity

What Jesus says is the gospel has gone by the wayside.

Jesus tells us very plainly anyone who follows Him has a cross to bear.

The majority of today's Body focuses on the blessings which can be granted, earned or pulled out of God.

Jesus' gospel plainly talks about death and then rebirth.

Today's Body largely wants to focus just on the "victory" after the rebirth.

Jesus says "if you're going to follow Me, you'll deny yourself".

Today's Body likes to savor on "whatever is good...think about these things".

The Body today does not like to talk about the death part of the Way.

And yet, we plainly see there is no rebirth without death first. Think it's coincidence we see example after example after example of this all around us in the rest of the (non-human part of the) world?

And we would exclude ourselves from this very thing?

Just one facet of the Itching Ears way.

Christianity centers around death.

Face it.

What a concept. American churches talking about death. BAAHHH-AAAHHHHH-AHHHHHH (just like the Oriental character "Al" on Happy Days).

Anyone want to talk about death? Didn't think so...

Jesus does.

simplicity

It is amazing, when thirsting and yearning for Living Water, what happens.

So many affirm this is what they want. They crave it, or so their lips say.

There seem to be at least two masks which get in the way, which would distort this Water from entering, quenching and becoming us.

The mask of facade and pretention.

The mask of pride, self-reliance and self-justification.

No one is excluded from being able to remove these masks at any time.

It's not up to God to remove them.

Do we not think ourselves often asked, or dared, to take them off?

If you only knew...

Some who read this do know. Some who read this do not, yet.

jaw dropping

It is absolutely stunning, as the Book is read, how heavily soiled the Way is with American society propaganda.

scraping the chalkboard with the fingernails

heh heh.

A friend of mine posted a blog called "Holiness" the other day. I knew he wasn't going to talk about it in the popular religious sense, and sure enough he didn't.

I replied to him that just seeing the title made me cringe.

So that sparked a thought.

What are words or phrases that make us roll our eyes from (mis)use by the Body?

What are words/phrases we don't understand (and maybe don't care to understand)?

Not all of these words cause the eyes to roll every time, but the initial reaction to hearing them is generally an "oh brother, let's see where this goes":

• holiness
• worship
• authority
• grace
• partake
• blessing
• witness
• Christian
• "at this church we have a passion for..."
• contemporary
• reverence
• felt needs
• take a stand
• integrity
• inspiring
• uplifting
• "effectively communicate the gospel"
• honor
• life-changing
• discover your spiritual gifts
• divinely inspired
• reaching one's potential
• obedience
• victory
• faith-based alternative to ___ (fill blank w/ American society something)
• get involved
• share
• good news
• anointing/anointed
• have an impact
• delight/delighting
• equipping and empowering
• "learn how to apply biblical principles to your life"
• "what we believe"
• "mission statement"
• lead a meaningful life
• authority
• reverence
• honor
• partake


(Grace is a cornerstone of the Way. Largely it's a New Testament word. Jesus didn't use it, but it's mentioned a lot in the rest of the NT. It's a bedrock, yet often gets cheapened by people using it as a cutesy acronmym, and can also be Christianese to non-Followers. Aka, Followers can cheapen it by overexplaining it or beating the word to death.)

Words I've heard but don't understand and don't care to:

• impartation (umm)
• propitiation (uhh)
• sanctification (er)
• eschatology (huh?)
• retribution (yeah...)

I can't help but overhear these and other stuffed-shirt words as I read things and hear people within the Body. I try to do all I can to avoid Christianese words, whether 2-, 4- or 5-syllable.

Some of the words in the two lists above are like hearing someone yell "fire" in a movie theater. Ad nauseum use, ad nauseum misuse.

Ad nauseum I don't know what the hell you're saying.

A good friend of mine suggests whenever I hear someone say one of these words, interrupt them and say "what does that word mean to you", then after that say "okay,what do you think that word means to me?"

I like this idea.

I'm also entertaining the idea of playing "Bullshit Bingo" at church or small group.

You know, take a sheet of paper and draw a Bingo grid of 25 boxes (5 rows across, 5 rows down). Fill in the boxes with Christianese words, then go to church or small group.

Each time a Christianese word is spoken, check that word's box. When you get 5 in a row, stand up, yell "Bullshit!!!" and then walk out.

Anyone who is thinking "that's not nice" or "that's not very Christian", send $9.99 plus $3.95 S&H and I'll send you a Relatability Barometer.

For a few months I've been wanting to read through all the gospels and see how many four-syllable words Jesus ever says.

When I first thought about that, what went through my mind was "Heck, I don't even know if Jesus uses three-syllable words."

Then I thought, forgiveness, well there's one but that's the only one that comes immediately to mind.

One of my good friends has talked recently of how simple God is. Then I look at these lists of 4- and 5-syllable words, these words that exclude non-Followers, these words that cause people who need to hear the message turn a deaf ear.

These words that make those who are angry about life stick out their stiff arm and say "no thanks" before even one word is spoken.

These words that make Christianity an exclusive club with its own lingo that only insiders understand.

And then I think about Jesus, in whom there is nothing exclusive when it comes to people who hurt, people who are snubbed, people who are outcast, people who are angry, people whose music in life has stopped, people who are poor, people who have been betrayed, people who hate, people who want to lash out, people who have lashed out, people who hunger, people who are tired of being sold, people who are underwhelmed about what they have bought into, people who are dejected, people who have been raped (literally or figuratively), people who are scorned because they don't fit how society says they ought.

And then I think "God, forgive us that we've made it this. We've taken components of society and marketing and pasted them on You, without asking.

We hype You and call it witnessing.

We misrepresent You, telling people You're effectively a slot machine, for if they'll just 'believe' You guarantee a jackpot--an earthly life of unbelievable blessing and victory beyond their wildest dreams.

We put words in Your mouth, asserting that societal values are Your values, when they are not.

We saturate 'worship services' with man-made techniques and hollow bullshit.

Church and pastor conferences are conducted which literally do nothing but talk about growth, increase, money and image. And the Body at large, and particularly its "leaders", think nothing of this.

We give lip service to things we should consume, and consume things...well, it's pretty obvious by just looking around.

Do we ponder that we are in fact salt?

Do we ever think what it means to eat your flesh and drink your blood, Jesus? You plainly say unless we eat your flesh and drink your blood we have no part of You.

Lord, how Your heart aches. And through it all You remain true, steadfast, patient and compassionate.

Forgive us, Lord, for breaking Your heart. Drop the scales which have grown over. Shatter our paradigms which need shattering.

Guide us, God. Teach us. Show us. Jesus, help us, amen."

latest

ran across these this morning, in Proverbs 17:

"better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife"

"the refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tries the hearts"

"a bribe is like a bright, preccious stone that dazzles the eyes and affects the one who gives it; they prosper, whichever way they turn"

"whoever repays evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house"

"a friend loves at all times and is born, as is a brother, for adversity"

"the father of an empty-headed fool has no joy in him"

"he who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding has a cool spirit"

"even a fool when he holds his peace is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is esteemed a man of understanding"

yielding to what we hate

Wow. This very notion, yielding to what we hate, came up a couple of months ago.

We have no problem yielding to pleasant things. If we are entering a store and see an elderly person struggling to walk right behind us, it is pretty much a no-brainer for us to yield to them. Hold the door and let them go in.

So easy for us to have compassion for them.

So easy to do a good thing.

What about when we are to yield to something unpleasant, something unglamorous...even something we dislike or hate?

That's tough.

There's nothing positive or blessed about it.

It grates against our inner core to do so.

It doesn't seem to be something that comes up a lot in talk of the Way.

It's pretty common to hear talk about dying to things we don't want to die to.

That's different.

That's dying to things we love: pleasure, status, acclaim, power, control, etc.

Dying to things we love is one thing. Dying to things we hate is another.

Dying to things we hate is a much harder bullet to bite.

Dying to the person who spits venom at us.

Dying when someone in our inner circle snubs or betrays us in some way or many ways.

Dying to what we have snubbed (and sometimes justifiably, in our minds).

Dying to things we have malice toward.



Not eating what I want to eat.

Versus eating what I don't want to eat.

Resisting chocolate cake is different from eating the food we dislike more than any other.



This came to mind, because today I am at a crossroads to die to the thing that I have hated passionately for sixteen months.

It's already been decided. There is no riding off into the sunset on this.

It's beyond the "whatever is good...think on these things" stage. (Aka, rub Jesus' belly [with prayer of course] and there's still a chance it'll turn out positive, favorable or blessed.)

Oh, and I can justify my hate for it. Easily.

Yep, pull out the ol' Bible big enough to choke a mule and be "right" by Followers.

I could plead these emotions to the brunt of Christiandom, and even the brunt of waning American society, and be affirmed.

And don't many of us, Follower or not, largely use that to measure the appropriateness of an approach, attitude or perspective to something?

What ever happened to "I desire obedience more than sacrifice"?

let's stop

overselling the Way.

There's a difference between genuine charisma and imitation, self-sought, self-induced pseudo-charisma.

One is fruitful.

It is of God. It doesn't have to be "sold".

The other hypes on human emotion and attempts to pull a fast one on our inner core, Follower or not. It is pretentious, appears to be the real deal, then it whimpers.

That is, of course, the next round of it is induced before the whimpering can be fully realized.

We are not to be slick.

We are to be salt.

Drowning things in salt ruins them.

Selah

guide me, God

Father, I repent of my anger and cynicism. I have not been able to hear You, for I have been seeing red.

You understand the anger tied to hurt, yet You bid me to be able to hear You.

You need me to hear You. And I need to hear You...so that my steps are good, and what and where they should fall. So that they lead to where You are taking me.

I have never needed faith of this proportion, as is needed in this hour. I must let go.

I do let go.

I love You, Daddy.

Please help me.

the unseen

sorrowed angel
looking down,
crush’ed soul
imprints ground.

alighting now,
your face secure.
sorrow’s mourning
can’t endure.

restless sleep,
nighten’d dreary.
arms enfold the
soulless weary.

gentle creature--
my searing pain,
numb to touch,
blackened rain.

lightning swoop--
my heartless aching.
brandished sword,
the darkness shaking.

tireless warrior,
healing clan.
made of God,
friend of man.

integrity, flexibility

I read a blog recently which had an in-depth post on integrity.

The brunt of the post centered on the predictable and understandable premise that Christians should have integrity, that as part of being God's ambassadors Followers should honor their committments and obligations, etc.

And I don't disagree with that, yet as I read the post and chewed on integrity, there was more than word-bonding and promise-honoring that came to mind. Here's some notes jotted down about it:


I think the Body in general does a pretty lousy job distinguishing between integrity and flexibility.

God is true. He has integrity. Yet at the same time He is flexible. Or, for those who still recall the high school chemistry term, He is malleable.

There's a large portrayal of God as this unmovable, static Creator whose Way is the law or else. A Creator who has one "right" way, one preferred view of...pretty much everything.

You know what I'm talking about. The t-shirts and bumper stickers that say "God says it. I believe it. That settles it!"

Along this line, the Followers who will take a puffed-chest "stand for God" when saying things like "we believe in the unquestionable authority of the inerrant, infallible Word of God!"

Now, Jesus says "I am the Way...no one comes to Father except through Me" and 2 Timothy mentions the "all scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, correcting...", etc.

I'm not making light of these passages. I'm saying the Body seems to interpret this as a blank slate to take a harsh, rigid stance that is unattractive, unrelatable and, quite frankly, doesn't seem to be the way Jesus relates to doubters and questioners.

This rigidity is shrouded and excused behind the phrase(s) of "scriptural integrity" and "Christian integrity". The Follower walks away, beaming over their "stand", while those on the outside remain distant or even more calcified.

(This eerily reminds of a story Jesus tells about a religious man who proudly thanks God he is not like others (evildoers) in Luke 18. Ouch.)

Talk about winning the battle and losing the war...

I question whether the rigidity of this common "take a bold stand for God and His Word" approach is the Way.

This seems to indicate that God is set in His ways, static and inflexible. Period.

And yet we clearly see in the Bible time and time again how God changes His approach, changes the way He deals with things.

There was a time God had decided He was going to deliver punishment X for sin Y to a group of people. David prayed and said "Lord, that's too harsh. Don't go so strong with that punishment on Your people." And God relented and said "You're right", and softened His stance on those whom He was going to smack harder.

Haven't we also seen God change His whole approach to this human race thing? The fall by Adam/Eve messed up an awesome Plan A, and eventually became so bad God wiped earth clean and literally started over after the Flood with Plan B.

He issued the Commandments and Law. Well, that didn't work out so well either, scrap Plan B and let's send them Prophets to teach, instruct and warn folks.

Well, that was hit/miss, so scrap the Prophets, Plan C, and let mankind's relationship with God consummate with Jesus.

This is a simple paraphrase, but doesn't this show God is flexible? That even though He is just that He is influenced by prayer? And He also bends to what goes on when we, mankind, alter the good things He's done and given to mankind?

That even when He does something, and it's good what He does, that when mankind skews what He intended that He's bendable to go with something else?

Seeing God so malleable over time, I really do question the unbendable, stalwart idea of God.

And that is why the teaching of God as a father is so huge. He is a Father.

He has emotions, He has thoughts. He can change His mind. Sometimes yes He is stern, but He is also soft like a teddy bear when His kids call Him "Daddy" and come to Him for protection.

His heart is moved when His children cry out, as our hearts are moved when our children cry out. Even if they've done wrong when they cry out, we are still moved because they are our children. We correct and we teach, but even amidst whatever we're feeling over their mistakes, purposed or not, they are our children.

When kids mess up, we move to correct them, not disown, scald or abuse them.

The parallel of fatherhood that Jesus tells us is so on the mark. And yet, some portray God as a perpetual drill instructor to whom we should acquiesce or else.

My experience walking with God is dynamic and often unpredictable.

It's not exclusively positive, it's not perpetually dainty.

It is a real relationship, filled with love, tension, compassion, doubts, teaching, questions, sternness, laughter, anger, jokes, guidance, tears, etc.

Just like a human relationship with a father, only this one is with the Creator.

I remember growing up how serious and rigid God was taught to be, and how mundane church was.

And likewise remember how liberating it was upon actually getting to know Him.

Sure, He is holy and just, and sin wounds His heart. And there's nothing jovial about that. But that is not all of God.

There are times He is serious, and times He cuts up. I believe the first part of Ecclesiastes 3 provides a more realistic portrayal of life and journey with God than the oft-quoted thirteenth chapter of 1st Corinthians.

God is as described in the Corinthians chapter, yet He's more than that. He loves and He hates. He tears down and He builds. He mourns and He laughs. He plants and He uproots.

And, as this post goes, He has integrity and He is flexible.

•••••

Thinking of God in terms of rigidity makes me think of the rigidity associated with the Bible.

I hear folks who talk about the Bible being filled with contradictions.

They're right. It is.

So why some Followers get stammered when hearing this and blurt "No it's not! How dare you!" is a mystery to me.

Jesus says "turn the other cheek", yet He also says "I give you power to trample on snakes and scorpions".

Jesus says "My Peace I give you, not peace as the world knows or gives, but a different Peace I give to you".

Jesus elsewhere says "Do not suppose I came to bring peace to the earth. I came not to bring peace but a sword."

We read in the New Testament of love being gentle and kind, and the lovey-dovey chapter of 1st Corinthians 13.

And yet Jesus also says "I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!"

Elsewhere Jesus says “I will come to you and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth”.

There was one time when Jesus sent His disciples out and said "don't take anything with you. Don't take a bag, a purse, sandals or anything."

Then later Jesus said "I told you that before, but now I tell you if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag, and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one."

Again, here we have the living Word, Jesus, showing flexibility and saying "you've heard X, but now I tell you Y", and "I told you A before, but now I tell you B".

So people who aren't Followers are making legitimate statements about the variance and contradictions within the Bible, and some Followers are screaming "No there's not! No there's not!"

How foolish are these representatives of the Way among us?

Some Followers get offended and defensive, bristling against and arguing with people about this or that point, then expect to "win" these people to Jesus (after being "offended" and/or by employing some car lot or infomercial-esque "witnessing" techniques)?

Yeah.....

This bullshit reminds me of something Jesus says:

"You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."

And we're so blinded with making sure we say "Don't talk bad about God, don't blaspheme Him or anything about Him" that we aren't thinking "man, this person doesn't follow Jesus, yet they've taken the time to look in the book they don't believe in and the person they're skeptical of to find these points they're pointing out".

Are we largely missing the forest for the trees?

It seems we're more concerned with being "right" than being compassionate.

We're more concerned with "defending the faith" than fishing for men.

Don't we know Jesus faced scorn and ridicule and jeers and lies when He introduced this new, unthinkable, seemingly contradictory paradigm to mankind?

And what did He do? Spend the overwhelming majority of His time defending everything He did or said?

No. He spent the majority of His time hanging out with people who had been shunned and snubbed by the religious, and He healed those who had the guts to believe in the supernatural.

When He was drilled with questions by the supposedly religious, Jesus sometimes responded with even deeper questions.

(This is not a battlecry that Followers should come up with cutesy, unanswerable questions to sling when the faith is questioned. That's missing the point in more ways than one. Perhaps one of the more important being that Jesus never scalds or embattles the unreligious. He embraces them, simply, sincerely and warmly, as friends.)

••••••••

I used to be of the "my word is my bond" camp, and "if I don't do what I'm telling you I'm going to do that means I'm either dead or laid up in a hospital".

Honoring our word does show integrity, and does foster goodwill with others. I just don't go over the top anymore with awe-inspiring words of commitment. My yes can simply be yes, not some Declaration of Integrity that makes people swoon.

And, it seems, just as God is flexible, maybe we should be too.

Not so much in terms of paying our rent or things like that. (There's an admonition in the bible that Followers should not use freedom in Jesus as a cover up for doing uncool things. Along with mention Followers are light and salt.)

Rather there is a bad message going out to people by transposing integrity-based rigidity into other areas of the Way, where rigidity has no place.

This is a huge turnoff. Stuff like this leads to people saying "I can't hear what you're saying for what you're doing".

And it can also malign the Way, which is about freedom, not bondage.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of portraying of the Way as following certain views, prescribed shoulds/shouldn'ts and acceptable principles. (And portraying a [one] proper, correct, "right" way to view God, bible verses, etc.)

We're missing the mark if we make the Way about "proper" Christianity and/or "acceptable" beliefs and principles to follow instead of a dynamic fathering relationship with many, many facets to it.

latest at-large thoughts

faith & belief

They seem to be intermingled and interchanged with each other a lot. I can see the overlap, but also see some very big distinctions between them.

I'm not interested in debating them, or gurgitating their common or scriptural definitions. Just for some reason been thinking of both of them lately.

••••••••••

grace

I know grace is a cornerstone of the Way, but for the last few months either due to overuse or misuse I've not liked the word. (Those have been the times it's been overused, duh.)

Probably started last fall when I heard about some youth going to a convention, where the theme of the convention was "be a grace agent".

My first thought was, wtf? So the 21st century thing to do is take a bedrock truth and make it hip?

Corporate America coined the phrase "change agent" some short years ago, and now the Body takes that and "makes it their own"?

I understand it was geared around a youth event, yet it still seemed to be Christianese and corporately-imitating.

And hearing it overused for months has probably not endeared the word used to describe the thing I cling to every day.

This past weekend was a breath of fresh air. Some friends and I talked about living by Law versus living by grace. The discussion of it didn't cause any wincing.

Well, I did wince, but not from hearing the word used in a watered-down way.

I winced in the sense I realized how common it is for us to desire grace for ourselves and justice for others.

Both of my hands are raised on that one.

And what did I do after that? Rationalized my desire for justice by telling God "okay, well if You want to give me justice, go ahead. I don't care."

And I don't care. I'll volunteer, hell. The idea of justice is very liberating to me right now.

And then I thought about the "causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust" verse. I struggle with that verse. A lot.

And I told the Lord this.

And He appreciates the honesty.

But that isn't going to sway Him.

That's okay. I'll get Him.

I know how to.

It's my "oh yeah, Wise guy?" way to get Him.

I save it for special occasions.

Like after I get a brain freeze when I drink a Slurpee and He laughs.

Or when He laughs about me tripping in a pothole and looking like a fool. (He really got tickled on that one, and had the nerve to tell me what THAT "gotcha" was for.)

Or like the time I thought there was a stinging insect in my car right upon me and I spazzed out for a second to get out of the car. His sides were splitting on that one. (There was no insect in the car.)

I'll get You back, Dad.

Remember that time I helped the guy with some money and almost gave him a heart attack at the same time? That dude didn't know whether to thank me or hold up his fingers in a crucifix toward me! (snicker snicker)

I got You good on that one. That made even You raise YOUR eyebrows! (heh heh) I mean, I know You know my heart and all, but You weren't expecting me to do THAT. (guffaw!)

I've got a few ideas brewing.

Something like a rigor-mortised animal found on the side of the road propped upright in a church parking lot...on one of the busiest streets in the city. You got a preference for a raccoon?

Maybe a possum or a skunk would be better, given the number of churches that are asleep or stink...

I'll getcha. Just You wait.

••••••••••

Saw the glorious church billboards this past weekend. The latest "Bottom 10" addition, a church whose mantra is "Success in Life".

What's the pastor wearing in the billboard pic? A suit?

Nay! Not a suit, I tell you, but a Tuxedo!

Chalk another one up for us, the oh-so-relatable body of Jesus.


Psssst--elitism is not the Way.

C'mon now.

salt, not sugar

Jesus says His followers are the salt of the earth.

He didn't say "sugar of the earth".

There's an awful lot of focus on "nice" Christianity.

And on the whole concept of "witnessing" being a PMA-for-Jesus campaign.

There's a large focus not to offend.

And yet Jesus is a Rock of Offense.

It's true some come by love into the Kingdom.

But not all.

The Body seems to think all come that way.

Followers are salt.

Not sugar.

the scene of an accident

I'm at a crossroads intersection right now. A rather ugly one. Not pretty at all.

The intersection of this crossroads is filled with two mauled vehicles which are in the immediate aftermath of a head-on collision. Snarled and tangled metal. Smoke still rising from the busted hoses and the heat. It's quite unbecoming. The kind of accident scene that makes you wince your teeth and say a quick arrow prayer.

There is a third vehicle near the intersection. It's indeterminable if that vehicle was actually involved in the accident or just happened to be there when things went down.

I'm not sure. That's why I'm here at the scene in the first place. I was involved in this accident, but because of the shock of it I can't make sense of what actually happened.

There's a lot of pain to think clearly. My recall is shot.

All I know is the collision was very violent. I was just going along (or so I thought) when wham! it happened.

I have hurt. I've bled. More internal injuries than anything else. Particularly pain in the heart and head region.

I know I'm not the same as I was before. And I will never be the same as I was before.

And I'm okay with that. (Long story, but could be no truer.)

Regardless, I am at the scene to try and unravel the accident. Looking for the "why/what" here is not a quest for knowledge in the conventional sense.

No, I don't have any interest in proving or pursuing anything I learn from the accident. I just want to know if there were any witnesses to the accident. Knowing what happened will help me digest all this better, and as far as I know that is what I am looking for.

So I can learn from it, and hopefully it not happen again.

As far as my conscious mind can tell, I think there might be some comfort from knowing what went wrong that led to the accident.

I really don't care who forgot to yield or who was over the yellow line or any of that. That doesn't matter to me, I don't think. I just want to know what happened.

One of the vehicles involved is Faith.

I'm familiar with the Faith models and descriptions over the years: things hoped for Model, the evidence of things unseen Model, etc. There are many Models of faith. You can read about 'em, hear about 'em a lot of places.

That third vehicle I mentioned earlier? Belief.

Belief is a "sleeper" vehicle.

Belief doesn't get great press. It gets good press, but not superb press as it probably should.

Belief isn't marketed very well. There is a whole lot more "under the hood" of Belief than it has always been credited with.

Belief seems to be mysterious, in the sense that it's a tremendous thing. Most people have always really liked Belief. Many have desired it. Many have pursued it.

But what makes it mysterious is there don't seem to be as many Belief models on the road as there should be (based on the number of people who would really like to have it. Or who claim to have it. Or who say it's in their driveway).

Well, the point here is not to talk about Belief statistically, so let's get back to the accident. Mind wandering is one of the after effects of this event. Forgive me.

So Faith was one vehicle involved (with Belief nearby, also at the scene, but not involved in the main collision).

The other vehicle, coming from a completely different angle to the intersection? Attitude.

Attitude is an interesting vehicle. Everyone seems to like Attitude. It gets tremendously great press. Superb press. In the U.S., Attitude gets more marketing than Belief for sure. As much or maybe even more press than Faith. That's debatable.

Attitude is widely heralded as "The" vehicle to have. It's marketed more than Faith in a lot of places. More people probably own an Attitude than own Faith or Belief (in the U.S. at least).

The thing is, EVERYONE claims to own an Attitude (positive model) whether one is in their driveway or not. Anyone who does not have a (positive) Attitude is pretty much a social outcast (and that's both within and out the Body).

I mean, not having a (positive model) Attitude is less likely than someone not having a kitchen sink or a light switch in their residence.

No one publicly would EVER admit to not having a (positive) Attitude. Not everyone has one, but horror the thought of admitting so.

Come to think of it, it's hard to find many folks in the U.S. who would never claim to be a two-vehicle person.

Everyone, literally, claims to have an Attitude (which they check the oil on and service regularly, thus making sure it is a Positive model), and the overwhelming majority of folks also claim to have Faith in their driveway too (which they maintenance as well).

(Aside: It's amazing when people talk to each other about their vehicles [Attitude, Faith and/or Belief] the vehicles are always in perfect running condition, never break down, never have high mileage, are always running beautifully, never in for repairs, always just had the oil changed, always have fresh tires, air conditioning is always fine, brakes never squeak, etc. A faulty or imperfect vehicle in any way, shape or form in the U.S. is utterly unacceptable.)

Again, I've drifted from discussing the accident scene. Maybe it helps to discuss the background of these various vehicles, to understand the accident scene and this whole thing...

So, as mentioned, Belief is at the scene, but over to the side. It's common to find a Belief vehicle nearby wherever a Faith model is.

You might even say Faith and Belief come in motorcycle models. They can zip you around faster, make things happen quicker, get you places rapidly. (They're marketed an awful lot like this.)

Heck, maybe Belief is one of those fancy side-cars that attaches to a Faith motorcycle.

Or is it the other way around?

I don't know anymore. I used to have better grasp of what was what...before the accident.

The accident wiped out a lot of things I used to think I knew. Things about vehicles and intersections and travel, that I have no clue on anymore. I got jarred really hard, and I'm having to relearn most things.

I say most because there is one thing that is sure. There is a galvanized solid structure down in my core, which helps me digest new information and re-learning material that others help me with.

I never sensed it as strongly within me before the accident, but it is unmistakably there now. I've heard some people refer to it as Truth.

When helpful folks share things about vehicles and directions and such with me, Truth snaps to attention.

Some things the helpful folks say magnetizes straight to it. Solid lock. Yep.

Other things the helpful folks say is opposed like an anti-magnet. it doesn't resonate with the foundation core at all. No offense, it just doesn't.

And yet other things the helpful folks say hovers in mid-air. The foundational Truth pole is digesting them still. There's no rush, no committee. Just patient pondering. I'm not looking to write a book or create an atlas.

Just wanting to relearn enough of what is to be guided through the maze without (hopefully) another horrific, numbing, damaging, jarring collision.

I say that because I was involved in the accident. I was behind the wheel. And so how I drive, how I maneuver is one of the puzzle pieces that led to the accident. Whether it was not paying attention, or driving where I wasn't supposed to, or ignoring traffic signs, I ended up in a horrifying wreck.

The worst possible wreck that can happen without physically dying.

It happened at the corner of Life and Sin streets.

I've somehow managed to stumble out of the wreckage alive. I was spared. Literally. In my honest opinion I shouldn't have been, but I was. For some reason mercy was granted over justice.

Bruised, bleeding, hurting. In shock, numb.

Yet breathing.

Life is driving. I have no option to not drive anymore. I'm scared, injured. Hesitant.

And I've learned a big lesson. I may have forgotten a lot, but some things leading up to the accident I know not to do. Some risks aren't worth the excitement. Some dangers aren't worth the thrill.

I made it through many times unscathed, by the skin of my teeth. Now that I've gone through this, I have no interest in going back to those places again.

The crazy thing is, a lot of people, that's all they can talk about--the place I've been and don't want to go back to.

What's that old saying, "it's always fun(ny) til someone gets hurt"?

Well I've been hurt, so no thanks. Go on with the thrill ride. I can do without those kind of thrills.

I pray you don't wreck like I did. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

Oh yeah, If you've got any info on the vehicles, or the intersection, or how that all works together, I'm all ears.

marketing confusion

I have recently begun to browse the Web, billboards and church marquees to see what is being messaged by Christians.

The overriding thought that keeps coming back to me is: "is this Christian group/organization addressing the saved or the unsaved?"

It's very difficult to know who they're talking to.

What I'm finding is a blend of:

• prideful "look at us" proclamations, which appear to be aimed at other Christian organizations, cause they sure aren't a message to the unsaved

• humanistic self-help messages and jargon

• a faddish blend of mixing Christian concepts with "hip" cultural language


Look At Us Proclamations:

Along a path I frequently travel is a church. The church is on a major Interstate highway. There's the Interstate and the axis/frontage road parallel to it, and the church is on this road.

There is a main church building, and then off to one side is a second building.

On the side of the second building is a huge banner which reads "Reaching the Generations".

What does this mean to someone who is not a follower of Jesus?

I put myself in the mindset of someone who does not embrace the Way, and this slogan makes no sense.

If I'm an unbeliever (who does not care about reaching people or being reached) it makes me think "what 'generation' are they talking about? Am I in some 'generation' this church (Christianity) is referring to? Since I don't follow their way, is 'generation' just a nice word they use for 'outcast group'?"

When I put myself in the mindset of someone who does not follow Jesus, this vague "generation talk" does not make any sense at all.

And so, if this slogan does not appeal to those who aren't Followers, which it doesn't seem to, then the alternative would be it is being messaged to Followers.

If I'm a Follower of another Christian group in that town (and I know what "reaching" and what "generations" mean) and I take that slogan at face value, what is it saying?

Is it saying "look at what we're doing"? (in a prideful way)

Or is it communicating "we're doing what God says" in a "come join us, cause we're doing it right" way?

Or is it simply saying "we're doing what God wants us all to do, us and you, wherever it is that you attend. We're not trying to lure you from where you are, but just know and recognize we are doing what we are all called to do."

There's another church I pass, along a busy interstate in a metropolitan area, whose sign commonly has a verse on their marquee. Most recently the verse says "The Lord is my righteousness".

Again, I put on a "not a Follower" thinking cap, and ponder this message.

If I'm someone who doesn't care one way or the other about "holy" living, my thought is "so what"?

If I don't have a relationship with God, what do I care about pleasing Him or doing things that are "right" in His sight?

Think about it. Do any of us know Edgar Smith in ABCville, United States? If I don't know him, if we have no relationship, there is no effort in my life to embrace him or do things that appeal to or please him.

What does a non-Follower care about "righteousness"? That's a very subjective word, and on top of that it's Christianese.

Think about it. The evening news shows a lot of crap going on in the world. Does society speak of these things as "unrighteous"? No.

So, this marquee does not appear to really be messaged to those who do not follow Jesus. It references a vague, subjective word that is not used outside of Christian circles.


Humanistic Self-Help Messages and Jargon:

"Attitude is the crayon that colors our world"

I saw this on a church marquee a few weeks ago. Since I'm not of the cutesy, warm-fuzzy-Jesus part of the Body, this one just makes me roll my eyes.

Roll my eyes because I have no idea how that ties into the Way.

Whether I'm a follower of Jesus or not, is this church suggesting that if I will simply embrace a "new attitude" about the hate and dishonesty I struggle with that this somehow will change my life, or (better yet) impact my standing with God?

When my current idea of coloring my world is the thought of banging my secretary, what color crayon is that?

Last time I looked in a crayon box there was not one called "Flesh Colored with Purple Veins". So how does cutesy talk about "attitude" tie into the heart's struggle with lust?

Before you call the Acceptable Christian Verbiage Police, realize not all sin is dainty little stuff you try and talk "nice" about. There is some true ugliness and powerful battles with sin that don't fit inside the warm little Christian Bubble many Followers say is "acceptable" to discuss.

In saying that I was thinking back to the hardened, calcified rebellious heart stage of life. I was younger, in great shape, and spent a lot of time thinking about and being with women.

I had snubbed my nose at God, and was living for pleasure. That's a blunt thought of something that would have gone through my mind then.

It's the kind of thought that goes through some men's minds today. So hellbent on sin that's where your heart is, whether you've walked with God before or not.

I'm serious. What does all this self-help jargon honestly have to do with the genuine struggles within the heart, whether I'm seeking to follow Jesus (if I'm a Follower) or whether I'm simply thinking of it in terms of struggling with life (if I'm not a Follower)?

The truth is this fluffy babble is Polly Anna bullshit that does not relate to the realities of sin we face.

No wonder the Body is largely seen as unrelatable.

I've got a church near where I live whose marquee I think gets a direct feed from Tony Robbins' website. Self-help central, I'm telling you. I'm going to take a notepad and jot down a few of their gems.


Christian Jargon With Hip Cultural Language:

There's a billboard I frequently drive by which in huge captial letters says "IT'S ALL ABOUT HIM".

Then, underneath that, in smaller letters at the bottom, it says "It's all about Him! That's what it's all about...Jesus Christ, the Lord!"

Every time I drive by this billboard I think "I thought it was all about the Hokey Pokey."

(...you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about!...)

Again, when I put on a non-Follower thinking cap, I look at this sign and for some reason nothing but question marks appear.

Not in a curious way of "let me find out more about this mystery they speak of".

It's more along the lines of "what the hell? What is 'it'? Is that the same 'it' song lyrics speak of when they sing 'do it to me, baby'?

And what does 'Lord' mean? I went to a Renaissance Festival one time, and all the workers there called me 'Lord' all day long. Is that some kind of Medieval something? I thought this Jesus lived back before then."

I really don't think the Body ponders much of what it markets. It largely doesn't seem to truly address those not of the Way.

Rather, church advertising seems to be some hybrid of one part "we think we're messaging to the unsaved" (but are we really?), one part "look what we're doing", two parts Christianese and two parts self-help babble.

I'm going to be on the road some this weekend, on some highway I haven't trekked before. It will be interesting to see what other jewels are out there.

If the messaging is for those who aren't Followers, it's time to change what's going up on the marquees.

Relatable, not unrelatable. Real, not superficial or Christianese. Void of "look who we are". Void of scriptures that mean nothing to those not of the Way.

When's the last time a church marquee said "skeptics, haters and hurting welcome".

People are bruised and they have warts. How about reaching out to that?

Lawrence Welk is to blame

Lawrence Welk may well be to blame for the Prosperity Gospel and PMA movements.

I was emailing a friend earlier today, and as I typed this is what came out:

"...and yet there are some who think God doesn't want us to have trouble. Life is to be all Lawrence Welk bubbles and nothing else."

Lawrence Welk bubbles.

Yes, I think so.

Wasn't Lawrence Welk the first to promote this "always happy" image, complete with the bubbles and the galvanized smile you couldn't wipe off his face even if he was sitting on the john?

And wasn't Lawrence Welk the first one to use widespread national media to project this perpetual image of "everything is bliss" into the minds of Americans?

Yeah, Mr. Welk, I think you're it.


And look how the body of Jesus has embraced and made your approach largely our own! I browse church websites, and my gosh if not every stinkin' person on the sites has this Lawrence Welk-ish smile on their face.

I mean, look at your picture on this post, sir. Look at it! Life is just all dainty and gay, isn't it?

That was uncool, Mr. Welk. What more powerful tool to give the devil, to make people think that if they become a follower of Christ that their life from that point forward is to be enjoyment and blessing and happiness and bliss...and nothing else.

This was like putting fish in a barrel for the devil to shoot at, Mr. Welk.

This must be why so few even mention Romans 5 and James 1 anymore.

"let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance. And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity). And character [of this sort] produces [the habit of] joyful and confident hope of eternal salvation. Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us." (Romans 5)

"Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing." (James 1)

This is extremely unpopular in the Body. Brushed over, shushed and not touched by so many.

Today's teaching is Jesus will lift us up out of our circumstances! There is no mire we must stay in. No, no, no--that is not of God!

Today's teaching is not that hope come from trials. That is absurd. Hope comes from God's blessing!!!

God wants to bless us. God loves us and has a WONDERFUL plan for our lives!

Wonderful.

Just like everything on your show. Wasn't that the most widely used adjective on your show, Mr. Welk?

Thanks for kicking this all off.

You didn't do it in a Jesus-based way, but you made it real easy for the Body to take a popular societal image and make it the Body's own.

This has occurred, to the frustration and confusion of the Followers who face hardships, trials and wildernesses in their lives.

How dare you.

Thanks. Thanks, Mr. Welk. Thanks a lot.

latest ponderings

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead four days after Lazarus died. Why then, in America, are the majority of funerals three days after someone dies?

•••••••••••

Church names. I'm somewhat amused and somewhat disgusted as I continue to observe this whole "marketing thing" going on in the American Body.

One of the places I've noticed this lately is in church names. There's become this obsession to name churches and programs with some kind of Christian pizzazz fairy-dust, to show other Believers how hip some church or program is. Ties in to the whole image/identity thing blogged recently.

One of the humorous (sad) things is the churches that try and put the whole gospel in their church name.

Victory Grace in Christ Church on the Rock of Holiness Overcoming by the Blood of the Anointed Lamb of God and Sanctified Spirit of Life.

I saw one not too far off from this parody last week, on a school bus containing the name of a church and its private school. I think the entire alphabet was on the side of that bus...twice.

••••••••••••

heh heh heh. This came up at a recent gathering. Somehow the word "predestination" came up in conversation. One of the folks there said "I've been thinking about predestination a lot lately, and am embracing it more and more".

Then me, with my crass humor, said "Isn't it interesting that folks who bring up the topic of predestination are always saved? They're on the right side of the fence, so of course they're okay with discussing it!"

••••••••••••

I love watching commercial airplanes land. They are fascinating to watch. They're coming in at 225 mph or somewhere in that neighborhood. It seems like they are coming in so slow, but once you see them in comparison to vehicles driving parallel to the plane you see they are not going slow at all. That's an optical illusion I find fascinating.

I like the sound of the plane as it flies overhead approaching the runway.

I like to see if the planes actually make a one-point landing. I like to watch the white smoke whisp into the air after the wheels touch, and if I'm close enough to also hear the "skirch" noise that is made. I like to see the inertia of the plane's body come down once the wheels have touched. I like to hear the power when the engines are reversed to help the plane slow down.

I live about five minutes from a commercial airport. In the last few weeks I've gone twice to just sit and watch landings. I've really enjoyed it. I've got the inkling to start doing that more often.

••••••••••••

I wonder what goes on in God's heart when I tell Him my heart is growing weary. I don't know if I've ever expressed that to Him before. There have been weary periods in life before, but none like this.

Speaking of God's heart, I really don't think we stop to think about God's heart often enough. I know I don't. It is amazing what goes on in my spirit when I do consider what God's heart might be about things that happen. Whew.

••••••••••••

I recently acquainted someone who I'm considering adding to the "breaks the woman mold" list. I've been thinking lately of this list, which is extremely short, given the number of women in the world.

I think the list is up to four now. The new addition is still in pencil, not pen, pending more data (heh heh, snicker snicker).

(My tongue is mostly in cheek here, folks. Those of you who know my situation understand. Don't be "offended" or stumble if you don't know me or my current life chapter real well.)

••••••••••••

I made my buddy Steve laugh so hard recently he was almost crying. We went out to dinner, and I said something that really tickled him good. It really struck a good nerve within me to be able to cause him such mirth.

That moment really refreshed me to know my humor caused him to laugh so hard, given what's been going on.

••••••••••••

Saw a really good movie recently with some script nuggets I am continuing to savor:

“We have a chance to make a miracle that could strip all masks away forever”

“You seek facts when you should be seeking the truth.”

“I have come to ask you whether you believe that just as one lie can destroy a life, so one truth can put it together again.”

“What about it, all those years in prison? Were they for nothing? Or have they given you reserves of strength unlike ordinary men?"

••••••••••••

I have been asking God why He has me living in the 21st century. I think I would have been much better suited to have lived in the Old Testament days or in the 1800's.

In the Old Testament, God smiled on killing His enemies. And in the 1800's, justice didn't have all this sensitivity b.s. associated with it.

For example, one of the things they did to rapists in the 1800's (in West Texas, at least) was take the rapist into the desert and find an ant colony. The lawmen would then stake the rapist to the ground, naked, right smack on top of the ant colony, and leave them for dead.

I love that kind of justice.

And so I read where Jesus says "I have come to bring fire to the earth, and oh how I wish it were already kindled!" And then I read Him saying "I give you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions".

I read these things He says and I wonder "when? how? where do I get in line for this footwear? Show me. I'm ready. I'm already getting burned down here. What's a little more heat?"

more entertainment glitz

Ran across a brochure for a Christian conference for Summer 2006.

Here are some direct quotes from the brochure, which tie into the entertainment and production vein of 21st century Christiandom in America:

"You'll love our select locations and popular guests...and many more top Christian speakers and musicians!"

"As the founder of (___) Ministries and its thriving radio ministry, (So-n-So) has become one of the most prominent Bible teachers in the world."

"Best known for his record-setting book, (___), (so-n-so) has spoken around the world. He has been featured on numerous TV shows and has become a household name."


(in the description of worship leaders at the Conference):

"(So-n-So) is the former lead vocalist for the award-winning group, (___). His incredible voice and presence inspires us in God's name."

"(So-n-So) is the Minister of Music for the 5,400 member Blah Church of Blah."


(in the description of Conference special events):

"XYZ is a stunning musical recreation of the life of Christ told in epic proportion. Featuring an enormous cast of actors, singers, dancers, technicians and live animals, you will be awed by the magnificence of this performance."

"(describing event ABC) This perennial favorite show is a fun-filled, action-packed extravaganza! In addition to special effects and amazing stunts..."


Here's a subtle one, describing the Conference in general:

"These conferences are specially planned for your enjoyment. Some of the most prominent and well-respected artists have been invited for your spiritual fulfillment."

I'm sure this Conference will stir some folks, and that's fantastic. The point here is the overt (and subtle) reference to prominence, eclecticism, and the position of man, not God, causing the spiritual experience.

There's a strong vein of promoting man that I don't see in Jesus' example to the Body.

I keep reading of Jesus' resistance to be made prominent. He slipped through the crowd when they tried to herald Him. He flat out refused an altar be built when some disciples wanted to build a shrine at the place of a supernatural occurrence. Jesus withdrew when they wanted to make him a king of earthly significance.

This exaltation of man is a different tune than what the Bible indicates.

For some reason I keep reading it's God's pleasure and Jesus and the Holy Ghost who draw mankind.

(The picture associated with this post is not from the brochure. It is simply a typical marketing hype picture, where everyone and everything in the image is portrayed as bliss. Can definitely vouch, though, that the pics in the brochure are not far removed from this pic.)