Indecision and Irritation

It’s back!!  (No it’s not)  Why, sure it is.  See, a new post.  (But I wouldn’t say “back”)  Well, why not?  (That indicates some sort of consistency to come…be real)  It could be back.  (It could, but it won’t be)  We’ll see about that.  (Yeah, we’ll see)

Alright, inner monologue over.  Bottom line is I have no idea what to expect going forward.  I’ve almost posted again dozens of times over the last three years (holy cow, has it really been that long??)  I even sat down and re-designed and re-named the site months ago (we’ll get to that in a bit).  Myriads of topics have very nearly flowed from my fingertips to the keys, but alas, nearly is the key word there.  So why now? 

The simple answer?  A request from a friend.  A request from someone who said that they actually miss my mindless ramblings (my words, not theirs).  And to be honest, I miss it as well.  Sometimes you just need that little push I guess.  The more complex answer?  Well, there isn’t one.  That actually summed it up pretty well.  So, to my friend, thank you.  We’ll see what happens.

Now, onto the business at hand.  What’s new, what isn’t and what’s up with this new site? 

THE NEW

I said it above and I’ll say it again – I CAN NOT believe it has been nearly three years since my last post.  And thinking about that time has been a bit mind blowing.  At the time of my last post I was living in Ontario, OH with my wife and daughter.  I was working for a tooling company based out of Cleveland but was actively searching for new employment as it appeared my company was on the fast track to closure.  And, I had just purchased a $100 Mongoose hybrid bike from Wal Mart. 

Fast forward nearly three years.   Sure enough, my branch closed on September 24^th, 2009 (the company as a whole made it only until about April of the next year).  Fortunately for me (and I count my blessings for this every day), my early job searching paid off.  I helped load the last piece of office furniture onto the moving truck on Thursday, and I started my new job on Monday.  In Columbus.  That’s right, moved to the big city.   Three years, two jobs, two cities.

My wife and I (and a couple of brothers-in-law gracious enough to help at the last minute) loaded up in late October and headed to Southeast Columbus.  We’ve since moved up to the North side and are fully enjoying everything the city has to offer.  Oh, and that daughter I mentioned?  Well she has a sister now.  Yup, I am seriously outnumbered.  Three women in the house, all beautiful, and even the youngest fully enthralled with clothes, shoes and make-up.  I. am. So. Screwed.  Three years, two jobs, two cites, three houses and another child. 

 Now about that bike.  I had practically lived on a bike until about Jr High.  Always riding around the neighborhood, jumping my Schwinn 10-speed off of dirt mounds that it had no business attempting, and even racing a little BMX.  But I probably didn’t get back on a bike again until that Mongoose.  And I quickly remembered how much I loved to ride.  I also quickly realized that this bike was inadequate for the amount of riding I would be doing.  I mentioned above enjoying what the city had to offer, and that included bike trails.  Miles upon miles of bike trails.  And consequently, bike shops.  Real bike shops. 

I agonized over what kind of bike to get.  Mountain?  Definitely the coolest looking, but would I like being hunched over and would the fat tires be slow?  Road?  Fast, but I couldn’t wrap my head around those skinny tires being able to support my big bonedness.  Or hybrid?  Comfortable position, slightly wider tires than a road bike but still fast.  So, I forked over more cash than I ever figured I’d spend for a bike (little did I know…) and the Giant Cypress DX was mine.  I put a lot of miles on that bike in just a few months, but then I decided to by myself a little birthday present – A used 2006 Giant Warp full suspension mountain bike.  Hooked.  I quickly realized the inadequacy of that bike for me and before I knew it, I had sold the Warp and Cypress and shelled out nearly three times what I paid for that Cypress on a Hardtail 29er, the Giant XTC that I still ride (though heavily upgraded since then).   Add to that the cruiser that I just bought to pull the kiddos and I think it could be said that I have a small problem.  Three years, two jobs, two cities, three houses, another daughter and five bikes (and counting).

The last of the newness (especially relevant here)?  Social Networking explosion.  At the time of my last post I was still using MySpace (Daddy, what’s MySpace?) and had maybe 100 contacts.  I had just discovered Facebook, and Twitter was barely on the radar.  Fast forward to today and I don’t even remember my MySpace password (though I’m pretty sure I still have an account) and I have a shade over 400 “friends” on Facebook, all with the ability to link, share, like, tweet and re-tweet ad infinitum.  Why is that at all relevant?  Exposure.  The potential audience now is mind bending.  Not that I ever expect to write anything nearly that interesting, but still.  It’s a little crazy.

THE NOT NEW

I promise this will be shorter.  MUCH shorter.  The bottom line is that some things never change.  I still love my family more than anything, and you’ll likely hear a lot about them in the future.  I still love to read, though I don’t get to do it as much I like.  I still get irritated by religion and a good majority of Christians and finding a Church has not gotten any easier.  Politics and politicians still (to borrow a line from the ever wise Peter Griffin) grind my gears to no end.  And mix Religion and Politics together…well…

THE BLOG

…You get the new Blog.  As I said in the beginning, I actually did the majority of the re-design and re-naming months ago.  Cleaner, simpler, clearer.  I knew I wanted to write again but didn’t necessarily know what about.  I didn’t want to abandon the old path of topics, but I wanted it to be more than that.  I wanted more flexibility.  The new name is a bit of a ridiculous play on an old Sammy Kershaw song and is subject to change at any time, though for now I kind of like it. 

Now, assuming I decide to sit down with any amount of consistency at all, and assuming that you, dear reader, are at all inclined to follow along with this ridiculousness, what can you expect?  Honestly, I have no friggin clue!  If I were you I wouldn’t expect anything at all.  Basically just whatever strikes me hard enough to get me to sit down in front of this blasted keyboard and pound away.  Likely a lot of rants about Politics and Religion (duh), and with election season upon us, there should be no shortage of subject matter.  Probably some stories about the fam, hopefully some book reviews, and likely many trail reviews and anecdotes from the singletrack. 

As for features, most are the same.  There are links to different sites that I like or find relevant to the blog in some way.  I still have the C.S. Lewis quotes and running links to news from the Middle East and I added a running list of Mountain Biking headlines.  If you should desire to interact, you can subscribe to the feed, comment on posts (anonymously if you so desire), and link to a post on any number of social media outlets.  I encourage and appreciate interaction, though I don’t expect it.  Truth be told, this may very well be the last entry for another three years so it might not even matter.  Hopefully not but...we’ll see. (Yeah, we’ll see)

Book Review - UnChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons

For anyone that has ever read any of my other posts, it should be pretty clear that one of my biggest issues is with modern day Christianity and how we practice it and present it beyond the four walls of our churches (and in some cases how we present it within those walls.) So, when I saw the book UnChristian at my local bookseller, I was instantly intrigued. And the fact that it was written by the president of the Barna Group and included three years worth of research made it all the more interesting.

The book itself is based, as I said, on three years worth of polls, surveys and interviews that were commissioned by Gabe Lyons, head of the Fermi Project and a co-author of the book. It looks at a half dozen or so common perceptions about Christianity (we're too judgmental, too political, too hateful etc.) and offers evidence for support as well as what our response should be. And while the concept for the book was excellent, it fell very short of what I expected in it's delivery.

First, let me say that statistics aren't really my thing. The only detail I really remember from my high school statistics class many moons ago was my teacher telling us that a statistic can say whatever you want it to say, and there is a lot of truth to that. For example, in a sermon I heard on Father's Day the pastor used a stat that said something like 85% of people in prison came from fatherless homes. And while that is certainly very striking, I was left wondering what percentage of all fatherless children end up in jail. Let's say you have 100 fatherless children, and three of them end up in prison with one person from a two parent home. 75% of the people in the prison are fatherless, however they make up only 3% of the total fatherless population. With all apologies for the quasi-statistics lesson, I hope you see my point.

That all being said, Kinnaman actually does a pretty good job of explaining how they qualified their questions and subjects so as to end up with the most accurate data possible. Of course, no matter the qualifications I always have a hard time believing that a couple thousand people could truly represent the entire population, but that's a whole other blog.

I guess my biggest issues with the book (outside my general mistrust of statistics) are form and function related. For what the book was billed as, I actually thought that there wasn't nearly enough data referenced. Each chapter included one or two charts showing the polling numbers for a particular topic, but they usually felt kind out out of place to me, as though they were just sort of forced in. And in other cases when the author was trying to make a point of his own, he would reference polls or data, but only briefly and with no numbers to back it up. I guess it just seemed to me that for all the massive research that was done, the book relied very little on the numbers and much too heavily on the authors own opinions on what we could do to change each perception.

Which brings me to my next issue. While Kinnaman may be a gifted leader and superb pollster, I think it may have been beneficial to leave the penning of the book to someone more accomplished. Not that I have any room to judge mind you, but I'm not writing a book, at least not yet and certainly not one of this potential importance. The points were a little disorganized and in some instances, such as the chapter on Christians being viewed as too political, I wasn't even sure what the point was. He also had a bad habit of making brief references, especially Biblical, while not providing any support or point of reference at all.

Thirdly, I had some issue with the essays at the end of each chapter. In addition to the research and the author's viewpoints, the book also relied on a group of twenty or so prominent figures in the religious community who wrote brief viewpoints at the end of each chapter in support of that particular topic. And again, while I applaud the concept I have to wonder who, if anyone, was editing the content of these essays. Don't get me wrong, there were a few that were excellent and on-target. But most seemed hurried, off-the-mark and worst of all, very self serving. Too many of them seemed to be nothing more than glorified advertisements for their own book, program or agenda. It was difficult to read at times.

There were a few other minor details that I might have liked to see changed, but nothing a major as what I mentioned. I might have liked to see the focus of the book expanded to include more than just 16-29 year-old's, but I fully understand why they chose that group. However, it might also be nice to have a follow-up to see if there really is a major perception switch being ushered in by a new generation, or is it simply youthful arrogance, independence and new-found freedom. What I mean is that, although I'm only 33, I know my perceptions and attitudes have changed since I was 16 or 20. Is the data collected unique to this current generation, or is it just typical of that age group? Whatever the case, it doesn't change the fact that regardless of the age group, the generation or the decade, there is an air about Christianity that we need to understand and change.

So bottom line, would I recommend this book? Surprisingly I think I would, at least to the right person. As I said previously, the concept of the book is excellent and for all my issues with it, there is plenty that will make you think, and think hard. And even in the case of the essays which I didn't care for, they gave me reason to hash out my own thoughts and beliefs in relation to what they were saying. This issue is one that all Christians should be concerned about but this particular book is not for everyone. It's fact-based and laborious at times with far too few anecdotes from the interviews that were conducted. But for someone with a true passion for this subject, that understands the type of book this is, it's at least worth a look. For a similar type insight but a far more enjoyable read, you should consider 'The Unlikely Disciple' by Kevin Roose. I'd tell you about it, but it's the subject of my next review so you'll just have to wait.

Book Review - A Tale of Two Sons by John MacArthur

Dickens. Shakespeare. Keillor. What do these men have in common besides being literary icons of their day? They all called the Parable of the Prodigal Son one of the greatest short stories ever told. And now John MacArthur takes us deep inside and shows us the stories within the story in his book 'A Tale of Two Sons.'

I have mentioned this book in previous posts and I actually bought it shortly after it's release in April of 2008. But I only finished it fairly recently. I picked it up in spurts many times over the months but always seemed to get sidetracked by a newer novel or just life in general. But when I finally committed myself to just sitting down and finally finishing it, I was very glad I did.

MacArthur does a wonderful job with this book (as he often does). I admit I was a little skeptical how a story so short could be analyzed for over 200 pages, but he manages to do it effortlessly. The first section of the book sets the historical context of the story. Oftentimes we lose sight of just how powerful some of Jesus' words were when spoken in the context of the day and culture in which He ministered. We overlook references that may have had a huge impact on his audience at the time, but mean little to us in our current culture. MacArthur also does a wonderful job of giving us an in-depth insight into Jesus' target audience, the Pharisees.

As the book continues, it is broken down into sections for each of the main characters in the story, the Father, the Prodigal and the Older Brother. Every chapter gives a masterful insight into each character and the role they play in the story. They too are filled with historical and contextual references that bring a whole new life to the story. One such detail that I picked up on was the fatted calf. In that day, only the wealthy would typically have a fatted calf and then usually only for a very special occasion. Because the animal had to be raised and treated very specifically make for a proper feast, and since a cow is only a “calf” for a short while, you wouldn't just have a fatted calf around all of the time. Likely, it was being raised for a very specific and special occasion, perhaps a wedding or something of the like. All of that makes it even more significant that the father would kill the calf for his returning son instead of continuing to save it for whatever big event was coming.

Additionally, I liked the details regarding the significance of events such as the way the younger son asked for his money, the extremely low and degrading nature of the job he was forced to take and the giving of the cloak and ring by the father. All of these make the story so much more dynamic when understood from Jesus' original audience's point of view. Probably the most resounding chapter for me though was that of the older brother. While we typically like to see ourselves reflected in the character of the Prodigal, I think we'd be surprised how much we are like the older brother sometimes. And that's a very dangerous character to be. He's always seemed to be the most overlooked part of the story to me, and yet Jesus specifically saves him for last. After all, he represents Jesus' primary audience at the time, the Pharisees.

Overall, this book was excellent. It's well researched, well put together ,and will make you look at this parable in a whole new light if not your own spiritual life. MacArthur even adds a chapter at the end about why Jesus taught in Parables which I found fascinating as well. In fact, it's something I'm going to touch on in another post I'm working on once I finish a couple more reviews. But until then, I would highly recommend this book. The Parable might be the greatest five minutes of storytelling ever, and it's even better once you view it from a two thousand year old perspective.

Book Review - Shoofly Pie by Tim Downs

Watch your back Gil Grissom, there's a new bug man in town.

Similar to the famous CSI character, Tim Downs has crafted a humorous, intelligent, eclectic and highly likable character in this first installment of what has already become a four book series. Dr. Nicholas Polchak is an entomologist with North Carolina State University who has chosen to hone his craft and concentrate his research in the emerging field of forensic entomology. Unfortunately for Nick, his penchant for taking it upon himself to assist the local authorities with their cases is not always appreciated. After his most recent run-in with the Wake County Sheriff's Department, Dr. Polchak is "encouraged" by his faculty superiors to spend the summer at NC State's Extension Research Facility in Holcum County North Carolina, which is just as backwoods as it sounds.

Hailing originally from Pittsburgh, PA, the small town environment is not exactly Nick's proverbial cup of tea. But he's content to ride out the summer minding his p's and q's while continuing his research with his assistant, Dr. Eustatious Tedesco (Teddy). That is until Mrs. Katherine Guilford shows up and offers Nick quite a sum of money to look into the apparent suicide of one of her life long friends. He soon agrees and what follows is a fast paced ride into the world of forensic entomology and small town ties.

Primarily a crime thriller, this book certainly delivers in most ways. As a former cartoonist, Downs seems to have done his due diligence in researching for this character. The forensic and entomological elements of the book flow very naturally without feeling forced. Most every character is well developed to where you get a real sense of who they are without having to endure agonizing periods of back story or self-reflection from them (the lone exception being the deputy, who I still don't get.) The pacing of the book is swift and always kept me wanting to read "just one more chapter." While Downs never delivers a shocking "I never thought he would turn out to be the killer" kind of moment, there are still plenty of little revelations along the way to keep the reader hooked.

That being said, I'd be remiss not to point out a couple of problems I had with the book, the first being the genre. Downs writes what would be classified as religious fiction and admittedly, it's a tough genre to nail. The only real connection I could find to this classification were a couple of seemingly out of place scenes that included a minister. You get the sense at one point that the author is trying to make a point that ultimately there is much more to death than just investigating the carcass that remains. That for all of Dr. Polchak's explanation and knowledge of the various stages of decomposition, the real concern should be with what happens to the soul. But that theme is never expanded on and so you're left as a reader to either dig deeply for it and gloss awkwardly over it.

Secondly, there is a whole prelude that is supposed to set up Mrs. Guilford's relationship to the other small town characters as well as establish her extreme insect phobia, which of course is supposed to be ironic in the face of Dr. Polchak being an entomologist. But the phobia is never well developed and that part of the plot falls kind of flat when it comes in to play during the climax towards the end of the book (which felt a little rushed and out of place).

Overall though, I really did enjoy this book. Tim Downs has created what may be one of my favorite characters in Dr. Polchack and his character alone makes this a worthy read. Is it a keep you on the edge of your seat thriller? Not really. Will it keep you guessing right up until the end? Probably not. Are there some plot elements that may disturb the over-analytical types? Likely yes. But if you enjoy the CSI type crime dramas and are looking for a nice summer book that's well written, fast paced and has some memorable characters, then this is well worth the read.

Book Review - BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker

Well here it is, my first book review, and as I said in my introductory post, I would like to put a little different spin on it. So the first order of business is to not tell you what the book is about. Quite honestly, I don't really care for the reviews that do that. I want to know what someone thought about a book, not read about their own version of the plot. The author got paid quite well to write the book himself, he doesn't need my help. That being said, if you would like to take a quick look at the synopsis of the book (and I recommend you do) as well as check out what other critics and readers had to say, click here before reading on.

As for what I thought of the book, let me first say that I am a huge Ted Dekker fan. I've referenced and mentioned his works multiple times in my other posts and I always eagerly anticipate his next books. I own and have read all 27 of his books so far, some more than once. I could probably get a bit carried away writing about his other books and his life and career as a whole, but his Wikipedia entry sums it all up pretty well if you want to check it out. Now, enough with all of that, on to the book.

BoneMan's Daughters is Dekker's first major novel not published by Thomas Nelson, that bastion of Christian publishing; his first "mainstream" release if you will. But that's not to say that it is a mainstream novel. This book is every bit Ted Dekker. Is it violent? Yes, it is. Is it dark? Of course it is. Are there a couple instances of very mildly offensive language? Definitely. But that's the whole point, and it's something I'll explain in greater detail in my next post.

What I've noticed in reading other reviews is that most people just don't get this book. Either they're uber-religious and condemn it outright for it's violence and crudeness, or they're mainstream readers used to reading Koontz and King and they blast it for it's unoriginal theme. Then there's the more moderate views. The Christian who gets that there is a theme to it and understands the use of violence, but ultimately still misses the true point, or the mainstream reader who just thinks it's a genuinely good thriller.

Let me be very clear here, this is a love story. A very intense love story. A very violent love story. It's a love story about a man willing to do anything up to and including sacrificing his own life if necessary in order to save his child from an unimaginable evil. Sound familiar? Exactly my point. And the best part is that the love in the story is as intense and beautiful as it is because of the violent nature of the evil that is portrayed. I love that Dekker continually plays on that in his books rather than shying away from it as so many others do. After all, quite possibly the greatest example of selfless love ever shown was Christ's death on the cross for us, and you certainly can't say that wasn't violent.

As for the literary elements of the book, I personally thought it was one of his best written since his earlier works. Maybe it had something to do with this quote from his blog about the book:

"Not since writing When Heaven Weeps following the death of my brother many years ago have I written such a personal story as BoneMan’s Daughters. I’ve dedicated it to Rachelle, but this love story is for you. For every daughter, every son, every father, every mother."

It's funny he says that, because as I got into the book I even thought to myself that he had not written a book with this sort of intensity since he penned the Martyr's Song series, which included When Heaven Weeps (a very gut wrenching read by the way). In general, I found all of the characters to be reasonably well developed and believable. The dialogue was for the most part smooth, and the book moved at a pretty steady clip.

For those hoping for one of Ted's shocking twist endings, you may be a little disappointed. There's a minor "a-ha" moment towards the end, but nothing like his previous books Skin and Adam. But that's OK. This book didn't need that and personally, I rather enjoyed the ending.
There are a handful of scenes that are not for the faint of heart, but generally if you enjoy a good thriller then I think this is well worth the read. Sure the whole serial killer preying on young girls theme has been done and done again, but Dekker does a nice job of adding his own personal style to it. It certainly stands alone as a quality mainstream thriller. But if you're willing to look just a Little deeper and see the love story that resides within the evil confines, well, you're in for a real treat. You'll be thinking about this book long after the cover is closed.

Coming soon - Book Reviews

Just wanted to alert you to some new content coming soon to the site. Yeah I know, everyone's a critic. But don't worry, I hope to put a less annoying spin on it than most. Basically, if you read this at all then you know I love to read. In fact, I'm currently reading three books. And I figured that as long as I'm taking the time to read them I might as well throw in my two cents on them. Maybe it'll encourage you to read one, maybe it won't. Whatever. But if nothing else it'll help keep me focused on both reading and writing more. Hopefully I'll have the first couple up this weekend. I just finished some pretty good books and I'm looking forward to posting them. Till then...

Moving, Old Furniture, and St. Francis

OK, I know it's been a few weeks, and for those few souls who indulge me by reading this, I apologize. But I have a good excuse, really. I moved. Yeah, that's what I thought, no more explanation needed.

I hate moving. Even for as relatively few times as I've done it in my life, I just don't like it. Don't get me wrong, this particular move was very necessary and long overdue, and I could not be happier with the new place. It's the first one that my wife and I have picked out together and it just feels more like home than the old house did. But I hate the physical process of moving. The sorting, trashing, packing, lifting, moving, unpacking, rearranging physical part of moving. But we're all done now, and except for a little decorating, we're quite settled in.

So, now I can finally get back to the task at hand; writing more. I've been keeping notes these last few weeks on some topics that have danced in my brain a little, and I hope to materialize them shortly, but I first want to share something that sprang from the weekend that we moved.

If you've ever moved, especially as an adult, you know that it's rather amazing how much stuff can gather in the darkest reaches of basements, closets, sheds and garages over time. I really had no idea just how much junk I had. And isn't it funny that no matter how much time has elapsed since you last laid eyes on something or even remembered it's existence, once you find it again you just can't imagine how you ever lived without it? Fortunately, I knew that our storage space would be a bit more limited at the new place, so I was forced to get rid of quite a bit. But I did come across a lot of old memories in the process.

Something of particular interest was a folder from about twelve or so years ago, right before I moved out of my parent’s house. It was a collection of papers that I used to have hanging on the wall of a basement office we had there. Some were quotes, some were bible verses, and most were pretty cheesy as I look back on it now. But one that I came across stuck with me and ended up tying in nicely with not only my last post, but also with something that happened later that weekend.

The paper was a quote commonly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, a thirteenth century friar and the founder of what we commonly refer to as the Franciscans. While the wording of the quote varies slightly depending on the source and it's never been directly found in any of Francis' writings, the idea is commonly thought to be his. In chapter XVII of his rule of 1221, Francis said, "Let all the brothers, however, preach by their deeds." This statement has been commonly reinvented to read something like what I had on my wall, "Go out and preach the Gospel, and if you must, use words." I have always loved that quote, but as time has gone on and I've given more thought to it, I've come to think it rather incomplete.

Before I tell you why though, let me share something else that happened that weekend. Prior to moving, my wife and I had decided to use our tax return this year to stimulate the economy a bit and get some new furniture and house wares. Basically, after a couple years of making do with all of my leftover junk we just wanted a clean start. But we also knew that what we wanted to replace, while old and a bit rundown to us, may be far and away better than what someone else may have. So, we contacted the men's group at our church and they gladly hauled away a mattress set, couch, stove and refrigerator, all to be cleaned up and donated to people who needed them.

Honestly, I had assumed it would be days or even a couple weeks before they could ready everything to be given away. But the very next day at church, one of the men from the group made it a point to track me down and let me know what had happened to our old items. At first, I admit I was a bit uncomfortable. You see, I didn't donate them so I could pat myself on the back about it. I never intended to find out where they went; I just trusted that God would place them with whoever needed them the most. In fact, I only share it with you here because it helps to illustrate my point. As it turns out, they almost immediately took the appliances to a woman they knew who needed them. But, as they were taking them in and setting them up for her, they discovered that she needed much more than just the appliances and ended up unloading the couch and bed as well.

Now, at this point it would have been easy enough to simply accept the woman's thanks, maybe even tell her what church they were from and pray that God might move through their actions and bring this woman to a relationship with God. But that's not what they did. They made a point to tell this woman exactly why they did this and tell her of God's saving grace. As it turns out, the woman made a decision that day to accept that precious gift of salvation. I have to admit, that really did move me.

And it brought me back to the paper I had found earlier that weekend with the quote from St. Francis on it. As I said, it seems a bit incomplete to me. Is it enough to simply show God's love by our actions? Maybe, but if we don't share the Gospel then what makes our actions any different from anyone else's? You can turn on the news and see coverage of any number of humanitarian efforts. There are countless agencies around the world doing amazing things for the less than privileged. They show tremendous love and mercy. And then look at Hollywood. George Clooney, U2, Brangelina and countless others are lending their time, money and fame to raise awareness of many injustices the world over. They too show great love and compassion. But to what end and in who's name do they do it?

So many "Christians" today are so quick to speak, but they never back up their words with actions. It's easy to tell people what they should or should not do, but what kind of clout does it carry if not backed up with actions? And I think that's part of the basis for the St. Francis quote. But it doesn't mean we should keep our mouths shut completely. In fact, as true believers, is it even possible to not speak of Him? Shouldn't we be so overcome by the undeserved gift of salvation that we can't possibly keep quiet about it? Granted, not everyone should get up on a Sunday morning and preach a sermon. It takes a special gift to be a teacher in that regard. But when it comes to backing up our actions, we most certainly should be willing to speak. Otherwise we're just another good Samaritan, taking the glory onto ourselves by not directing where it ultimately deserves to go.

Now, go out today and preach the Gospel, with your actions and your words.

From Six Billion to Six

About two years ago I finally gave in to the lure of online social networking, otherwise known as MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Now, I'm not exactly all that old, but I had always thought of these sites as catering to a younger generation; high school and college age mostly. I had no thoughts of becoming part of the phenomenon; that is until I wanted to download music to a song by a favorite band of mine. I went to their site like I had done so many times before only to find that the content I was looking for had been moved to their new MySpace site. Not wanting to give up my endeavor, I set up a quick account expecting only to use it for this express purpose. But as I navigated around a little bit, I found that many of my friends and family were signed up as well. I was amazed at the diversity of membership and I ended up finding people whom I hadn't seen or spoken to in years. A year or so after creating this account, I added an account at another of these sites, Facebook. And that brings me to want I want to share with you.

If you've ever been on Facebook (and if you're reading this on Facebook right now, yes I do realize that's a stupid question), you know that invitations to join groups are pretty common. And few groups on Facebook may be more popular than the group "Six Degrees of Separation." It's based on the theory that everyone in the world is no more than six "steps" away from any other person. I've yet to join the group myself, but it did remind me of an episode of Primetime I saw a couple of years ago.

I don't normally watch the primetime news programs, but this one was about the six degrees theory, and I've always been a bit fascinated by that so I decided to watch. The premise of the show was that they would take two complete strangers in New York City and see if they could connect in six steps or less. The one I remember paired an opera singer and a boxer; two polar opposites from opposite sides of the tracks who couldn't possibly run in the same circles, being asked to find each other in one of the largest cities on earth by no other means than mutual acquaintances. Fascinating, I thought. But there was no way she would do it.

To start the show, they took the opera singer and gave her nothing but the boxer's name, profession and photo. From there they followed her as she tried to find someone she knew who would know someone that would know someone that would know someone else, etc, until they found someone who knew this boxer personally. And she had only six steps to do it in. If I'm not mistaken, she did it in four. Unbelievable.

As I lay in bed later that night, I couldn't get the show out of my head. I kept thinking about all the people I know, and all the people they know and so on and so on until my brain began to hurt. But then another thought occurred to me. God calls us to take His word to all the nations, and if you're anything like me, that task seems awfully daunting. I've only occasionally been out of Mansfield, Ohio much less into all the nations. And how many people are there in the world now, six billion plus? Incredible. How can we possibly expect reach all of those people? But think about it for a minute. If each of us is only, on average, six steps away from everyone else in the world, then theoretically, if we tell only the people we know about Jesus and they in turn tell the people they know and so on, the whole world could know of the One true and living God in only six steps. Doesn't seem quite so daunting anymore does it? From six billion to six.

Lest you think I'm completely crazy, let me give you a quick mathmatical example. Going back to Facebook, I think I currently have a bit over 200 "friends." Some people have far fewer and some have many, many more than that. Regardless of the number, it usually doesn't begin to exemplify the true number of people we really know. I'm sure I could easily double or triple that number and more by just thinking of every person I ever encountered at every school, job, church or organization I've ever been a part of. But let's take the number 200 for arguments sake.

Step one is the 200 people I know. Assuming they each know 200 more unique individuals, step two gives you 40,000. If we continue to carry that out, making the assumption that every person will know 200 unique other people then step three gives you 8 million, step four takes you to 1.6 billion, step five makes 320 billion, and by the time you reach step six, you're at 64 trillion people, which, if I'm not mistaken, is roughly one thousand times the earth's current population.

I guess my point in all of this is that we really can make a difference. And we can't shy away from telling the people we come in contact with about Jesus. Who knows what effect it will have? Who knows how far the impact of each person you tell about God will reach. Look at all of the pastors, authors, musicians, filmmakers, etc. who are doing great things for God. They are having a far reaching impact, but along the way, someone had to be the one to tell them about God.

I think back to when I was in a band during and right after High School. One thing we always said was that if all of our time together as a band ended up being for the purpose of reaching just one single person, then it would have all been worth it. I don't know if we ever really did reach anyone, but I remember playing for the youth night at a local Church. I only vaguely remember the song, and I have no idea now who this person was, but a girl came up afterwards with tears still in her eyes and told us how much one song had impacted her. Like I said, I have no idea who she was, but I've thought a lot about that moment over the years. I wonder what became of the conviction she experienced that night. I wonder how many other people she may have in turn touched. The point is we just don't know. The person you tell about Jesus may laugh at you. They may want nothing to do with you. But they might also respond. And they might tell another person, or 100 people, or 1,000 people. You just don't know.

There's a song that comes to mind by the band Casting Crowns. One of the lines is "Jesus paid much too high a price for us to pick and choose who should come." Is that what we're doing? Deciding for ourselves who we will tell? Deciding who we think will respond and who won't? Waiting for just that right opportunity to tell someone when we think they will be most responsive? Or are we telling everyone, at every opportunity we get? Realizing that we could be just six small steps away from reaching them all.

What Kind of Sorrow?

Larry Lee Palmer. March 25, 1950 - June 16, 2004

I miss my dad. He was taken way too early at the age of fifty four. I often wish I would have spent more time with him at the end. I wish he could have still been here to meet my wife; he would have loved my wife. I wish he could have been here to see his granddaughter; he would have really loved her, and she would have loved him. But we don't always get what we wish for, do we?

So, why do I tell you this? Is it so I can write a nice little piece about being content and thankful for what we have? No, I tell you this about my dad because something I heard in church a couple of weeks ago made me think about him. Or rather, about the week that he passed away.

To be perfectly honest, I don't remember exactly what the sermon was about. I kind of zoned out after I heard these verses from II Corinthians. They're from chapter 7, verses 8-10:

"Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it-I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while-yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."

The passage continues on through verse 16 if you want to get the full context, but this is the gist of what I wanted to share. I suppose what struck me the most about this was the concept of there being a distinction in our sorrow. Godly sorrow and worldly sorrow. And as I started to think on that, my mind was taken to the weekend of my dad's calling hours and funeral.

My dad passed away sometime shortly after eight o'clock in the evening on Wednesday June 16, 2004. He had been battling an inoperable brain tumor for about a year, so his passing was not sudden. We had time to prepare (as much as you can prepare for a loved one's passing that is). I remember that night so vividly. I had been playing at church and was leaving to go see my dad right after the service. I made it about halfway there when I got the call that he had passed away. Shortly after my arrival, the house was nearly filled. My step-mom, my sisters, my dad's brother and sister, a multitude of family friends, all were there to offer support and pay their respects. There were many tears shed, but also more than a few smiles.

Fast forward a couple of days to the calling hours. I've been to a few of these in my day, but always to offer sympathies, never to receive them. It was kind of surreal, just standing up in the front by my dad's casket while throngs of people passed by offering their condolences, a handshake or hug, and maybe some brief memory they had of my dad. And when I say throngs, I'm not exaggerating. Countless people filed through that night. Whether it was his playing for the church softball team, his four mission trips to Ukraine, the years spent as a youth leader and Sunday School teacher, his time as a CASA volunteer, or the countless hours spent on various church finance committees and mission boards, it was clear that he had come in contact with and had touched many, many lives. But back to those smiles I mentioned a minute ago.

My dad was a born-again Christian. He had been since he was in his thirties and I was in my early teens. I tell you this because it is at the heart of what makes this weekend stick out for me after all these years. You see, I had expected his calling hours to be a difficult time to get through. I wasn't sure how I would be able to manage talking to all of those people while keeping some sort of composure. But as person after person filed by, it became more and more clear that this was more of a celebration of his life than a mourning of his passing. And for all of the lip service we often give to people being in a "better place", it was clear that everyone passing by knew that my dad truly was in a far better place and that it was only a matter of time until we were all reunited. Sure, there were still tears. But the overall feeling was one of joy. Joy that he had finally been eased of his pain and taken home. Joy for all of the lives he had touched. And joy that we would one day, very soon, all see each other again. Godly sorrow.

Now, let me take you forward a couple more days. As cruel fate would have it, I received a call from my mom on Sunday, the day before my dad's funeral. My cousin Brandon (second cousin actually) had been in a car accident and had been killed. Honestly, I didn't spend a lot of time with that side of the family and probably hadn't seen Brandon since he was waist high on me. But, I made arrangements to take an extra day off work and attend his calling hours on Tuesday.

Almost as soon as I arrived I could feel a difference. The whole room seemed darker; the people more solemn. I don't know how to describe it really. There was such a sense of despair in the room, like a dark cloud just hovering overhead. The family was almost inconsolable, and people just didn't know what to say. I'm sure some of it had to do with the suddenness of his departure. Whereas my dad passed slowly over the course of a year, Brandon's life was gone in an instant. Not to mention, Brandon was only 18. He still had so much of a future in front of him. Most importantly though, Brandon (at least to my knowledge) did not have a relationship with God, and I believe that was the overriding difference. There wasn't that solid assurance that he was truly in a better place. Sure, some people said it, but you didn't get the sense that they really believed it. Lip service. Worldly sorrow.

As I left the funeral home that day, it struck me right away that I had no idea how people without a relationship with Christ can possibly handle death. Those two experiences were so polar opposite of each other. We have to remember that God never a promised us a life without trials, pain, hardship or sorrow. Whether it's losing a father to a brain tumor, or losing a cousin to a sudden car accident, sorrow will most definitely be a part of our lives. The question is what kind of sorrow will it be? Godly sorrow or worldly sorrow? Will it be sorrow that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, or sorrow that brings death? There is a difference and we are all free to choose.

As for my "wish list" from before. I still wish I would have spent more time with my dad, but I know that in a short while I'll have an eternity to spend with him. I still wish he could have met my wife. But I know that he is smiling down on us, even as I write this, and couldn't be happier for me. And I still really wish he could have known my daughter, and she him. But who knows, maybe he got to hold her and play with her even before we did. Godly sorrow.

New(er) Features

I'm currently working on a couple of new posts, but they are stuck in my Blackberry right now. I wanted to try out my new bluetooth keyboard so I downloaded a trial version of Microsoft Office Mobile and started typing away. I was working on one post today when I realized the program was having trouble keeping up with my typing. I decided to just save the file to the memory card and transfer it to my laptop to finish. Well apparently, since it's only a trial version, the file seems to be encrypted to where I can't do anything with it. So, all that is to say that I promise I'm working on new content, but it will have to wait until I either re-type it or pony up the $29.95 to register the program.

In the meantime, I figured I would alert you all to some of the new features here at 6:22. Some have already been in place for a little while while a couple others are new.

1) Subscription. You can now subscribe to, or "follow" this blog by clicking on the link on the right of the page and following the instructions. Some of you have already done this and I encourage others to do it as well. This way, you'll always be alerted when there is a new post. Also, you can see who else subscribes and check out their blogs as well. You do not need to have a blog of your own to subscribe.

2) E-mail a post. This one is new. If you look at the bottom of each post now, you'll see a small envelope icon. You can use this to e-mail a link to that post to any of your friends who might find it interesting.

3) Bible Gateway Search. Bible Gateway is one of my favorite free online Bible resources. They offer a multitude of versions and plenty of cross reference and topical options. I know that many times, when reading other blogs, I've had a thought cross my mind and have wanted to look up some passage or another. Now you can do that with the search box located on the right hand side of the page.

4) C.S. Lewis Quote of the day. Not much to say about this really. I like C.S. Lewis and his approach to Christianity. I'm noticing that there is not a lot of variety in the number of quotes, so we'll see how long I keep it up. For now though, enjoy thinking on the wisdom of Lewis.

That's really about it for now. There're a few other things I'm contemplating but we'll see. Any suggestions are appreciated. And look for a new post shortly. I think I'm just going to bite the bullet for now and re-type one.

Mr. Nanny? Seriously?

One of the blogs that I follow recently posted a link to Christianity Today's list of the ten most redeeming films of 2008. I admit, I think that most "Christian" films still lack serious quality so I almost didn't click the link. But my curiosity got the best of me and, if for no other reason than a good laugh, I decided to check it out. What I found there was not what I expected at all and it reinforced something that I've been thinking about lately, but I'm still not sure how to feel.

I figured that when I got to the site I would find films such as Prince Caspian, Fireproof, and a host of other low budget, low quality films I had never heard of. Surprise! That's not what I found at all. Fireproof was on the list, but at number six. Prince Caspian? Not on the list at all. Here is a sampling of the films that did make the list:

Wall*E - No.1
Gran Torino - No.3
Horton Hears a Who - No.4
Rachel Getting Married - No.5
The Dark Knight - No.7
Slumdog Millionaire - No.9

Do you see why I was a bit taken aback? One of the comments for The Dark Knight even said this: "Under the surface—perhaps unknown even to the filmmakers—is that this film shows Batman as a Christ-figure who self-sacrificially takes the sins of others onto himself, knowing it is the only way to save others and bring hope. Batman becomes an outcast so that the people of Gotham would have hope." Kind of a stretch if you ask me.

And this is where I run into my dilemma. I just don't know what to think. I've seen some of these films and they are excellent. My point in this is not to disparage these works or try to make a case for whether Christians should or should not watch them. That's a discussion that we just don't have time for. But do these films belong in a magazine like Christianity Today? Granted, Jesus used parables all the time as one of His primary forms of teaching. And although there are plenty of family unfriendly scenes and imagery in some of these movies, let's not forget that the Bible is strewn with scenes so violent that we would shudder to see them portrayed on the big screen. Even some of the "Christian" fiction that I read is frowned on in some of the more conservative circles for being too radical and too graphic. But have we gone too far? Are we over analyzing and trying to find Christ in the mainstream in some desperate attempt to make Christ culturally relevant? I don't know, but it leads me to something else that's been bothering me.

If you've read any of my posts at all it's hard to miss the fact that I love to read. And while I can usually find what I want sooner and cheaper at places like Amazon, I try to frequent my local Christian book store as much as I can. I may soon have to put an end to that though. The last few times I've been in there have caused me nothing but frustration, as my wife can attest to (I feel bad for her sometimes for having to listen to my rantings.) I went in on three separate occasions recently to find a certain CD by a popular Christian artist. Not once did I find it in stock, and I finally had to order it. Not that that in itself bothered me. What bothered me was what I did find in stock there. You want the new Jonas Brothers CD? No problem. High School Musical soundtrack? In Stock. How about Daughtry's newest release? On the shelf. And when I glanced over to the movie section, I saw selections such as The Princess Bride, Air Bud, and Mr. Nanny (yeah, the one with Hulk Hogan.)

Again, I'm not in any way trying to disparage any of these titles. After all, who in their right mind doesn't think that The Princess Bride is one the greatest movies ever? I won't comment on my feelings about the Jonas Brothers or High School Musical, but in reality, all of these are pretty wholesome family entertainment. They are all "good" movies and "good" music. But we weren't called to just be "good" people or to lead "good" lives. We were called to be Christlike. Go back to that Christianity Today poll and to what they said about The Dark Knight. This is an excellent, albeit dark, movie. There certainly is a redemptive quality to it and I totally understand how the reviewer arrived at the Batman as a sort of Christ figure analogy. But when Jesus spoke in parables, they were very direct correlations to the point he was trying to make. They were stories specifically built around the message. It wasn't the message trying to be squeezed into the story (as is the case with the Batman analogy), and therein lies the very important and very dangerous distinction.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I think this whole seeker sensitive/culturally relevant philosophy may be getting a little out of hand. I have to wonder if, in our quest to make Christ relevant, we've crossed the line from simply being "in" the world to now being "of" the world. How far should we go in trying to be culturally relevant? I can't find the latest book by my favorite author, but I can get a PG or PG-13 edition of a small group bible study based around mainstream movies (yes, I've seen this.) Don't want the kids to play Guitar Hero? No problem, just go buy Guitar Praise. Need to fill some seats at Church? Throw in a couple of Top 40 tunes and tie them in to your message. Where do we draw the line?

I guess in the end I'm just frustrated. I'm frustrated that we're so desperate to sell magazines to the masses that we have to search for the redemptive message in movies like Horton Hears a Who, Gran Torino, and The Dark Knight. I'm frustrated that we have to fill our shelves with mainstream pop music and every imaginable trinket that can be emblazoned with a cross, a fish, or a catchy Jesus slogan. I'm frustrated that even though we have a timeless God, with a timeless message, we still feel the need to make God more relevant. I'm frustrated that in the process of doing that, we actually water down the message and we're not even realizing it. And I'm frustrated that I just don't know what to think of it all. I mean seriously, Mr. Nanny?

Most of All...

As I tried to decide how I wanted to start the New Year here, all that kept coming to mind was resolutions. But I didn’t really want to write about that. Not that I have anything against resolutions per se. Personally, I don’t make them but I know that they work for a lot of people, so whatever. It’s more of the fact that it’s just so overdone. I mean, who isn’t writing about New Year’s resolutions right now? Whether it’s something about how to keep your resolution, or it’s why you don’t need to or shouldn’t make them because they don’t really work anyway, the topic just seems to be everywhere.

But in the end, the turn of a new year does hold some significance and it’s hard to ignore that. If nothing else, for me, it’s at least a time review and evaluate. And in doing that, I was reminded of something that I posted a couple years ago on another site. I didn’t write a whole lot about it at the time, and I had always intended to re-post it at some point. The more I thought on it, the more I realized that it was exactly what I wanted to start the New Year with.

You see, years ago I bought a CD by a group called “Benjamin.” They were fronted by Benjamin Gaither (of The Gaither Family fame) and to my knowledge it’s the only CD they put out. There were some decent songs on there but what has always stuck in my mind is a spoken word intro to one of the songs. It’s by Brennan Manning, author of the books “Abba’s Child” and “Ragamuffin Gospel”, among others. It’s just a short prayer, but it packs a serious punch, especially at this time when so many people are making resolutions for how they want to live in the coming year.


“Abba, Dear Father. If I had my life to live over again I’d climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets. But most of all I would love Your Son Jesus and those around me, and I would let them know before life’s evening. If I had my life to live over again, I’d take a few more chances next time. I’d have more real problems and fewer imaginary ones. I’d ride more merry-go-rounds. I’d pick more daisies. I’d go barefoot earlier in the spring. I’d stay out later in the fall. But most of all I’d love Your Son Jesus and those around me, and I would let them know before life’s evening.”


I’ve always loved that and have aspired to live my life in that fashion. To be enamored with and experience God’s creation to the fullest. To slow down a bit and take the time to just enjoy life. And to be the kind of person that will take leaps of faith and will focus only on what’s truly important rather then cluttering my daily worries with things that don’t really matter. Granted, I can’t say that I’ve been overly successful in those endeavors, but I’m finding it easier as I get older, especially now that I have my daughter. What an absolute blessing she is. I find myself so intrigued by just watching her experience even the smallest things life has to offer. It reminds me that God’s creation is magnificent and it hasn’t gotten any less so just because I’ve aged. We need to look at it through a child’s eyes once in a while and remember just how awesome He really is.

But there’s more to the prayer than that. And being a Christian, I hate to admit that I used to gloss over the most important part of all, to love Jesus and those around me, and to let them know before life’s evening. After all, that’s what our time here is really all about. Sure, God gave us much to enjoy and to behold, but at the end of the day it all comes down to three things and they are clearly outlined in the Gospels. Matthew 22:37-39 says:

37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

There’s the “love God and those around me part.” As for the rest, we find that in Matthew 28:18-20:

18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

So, like I said earlier, I don’t really make resolutions. I choose instead to review and evaluate. To take stock of where I’ve been and look at where I’m headed. Sure, there are things I’d like to do this year. I’d like to spend as much time with my wife and daughter as I possibly can, just enjoying their presence and watching in wonder as my daughter begins to discover this world one piece at a time. (On a related note, I wouldn’t mind dropping a couple of pounds so that I can spend time with my family) I’d like to write more. I only posted fourteen times last year, and I’m pretty sure I can do better than that. Maybe I’ll even start on the book I’ve been thinking about, who knows? I’d like to read more. My pile is growing again and I’d like to get it a little more under control. But most of all I want to love Jesus and those around me, and I want to let them know before life’s evening.

Get out of the way

I’ve been realizing over the last few days that I’m getting neglectful again about posting new content. For any of you that read this regularly, I apologize, but it has been quite a couple of weeks.

First, we had our daughter’s first birthday party. And being that her mom had been planning it for about the last twelve months, it was quite an undertaking. What an amazing time though. It all came off beautifully. I’m truly blessed to have a wife and daughter like I do. I can’t thank God enough for them.

Then, when I thought I’d finally have some time to write, my new church called and asked me to play for their Christmas Eve service. I haven’t played in nearly two years, and my wife has never seen me play, so needless to say I was pretty excited. But, as I said, it’s been two years so I’ve been putting in a lot of practice time trying to knock off the dust and re-form my calluses.

Regardless, I realize that I need to keep posting at least something. I know myself too well, and I know that the longer I go without doing it, the easier it will be for me to continue to put it off. So, in that spirit, I wanted to leave you with a little something I heard recently.

I have a wish list on Amazon that I mostly use just to keep track of the books and music that I want to buy, but don’t have the funds for yet. I finally bought a CD that had been on said list for quite some time. It’s “The Alter and the Door” by Casting Crowns. The first track contains a spoken word section that was not only thought provoking, but happened to associate very closely with what I’ve been writing about lately. Here is the text of that section:


“People aren’t confused by the Gospel, they’re confused by us. Jesus is the only way to God, but we are not the only way to Jesus. This world doesn’t need my tie, my hoodie, my denomination or my translation of the Bible. They just need Jesus. We can be passionate about what we believe, but we can’t strap ourselves to the Gospel, ‘cause we’re slowing it down. Jesus is going to save the world. But maybe the best thing we can do is just get out of the way.”


There’s a lot I want and could say about this, but I want to know what you think. Are we slowing down the Gospel? Are we so concerned with making the Gospel “culturally relevant” that we miss that fact that it’s timeless? Do we need to just get out of the way sometimes?

Peering Into the Church

So, in my post prior to Thanksgiving I mentioned that I had more thoughts on the subject of how our modern American church has been trending toward "Seeker Sensitivity." How it has been trying to devise a message that is founded, to a point, in the scriptures, but one that ultimately will ruffle few enough feathers as to attract people into its buildings. And I questioned whether that's really how Christ would have us deliver His message.

In this post, I had intended to expand on that thinking by giving you some exerpts from an article written by one of my favorite authors. Ted Dekker grew up as a child of missionaries in the jungles of Indonesia. He saw first hand the devotion, passion, commitment and courage of those trying to take God's world to a people who ultimately would be sentenced to an eternity apart from God without it. He recently wrote an article titled "Peering Into the American Church" in which he chronicles what he observed in the church upon his return to America as a young adult. My intention was to provide some passages of that article interspersed with some of my own thoughts. But as I re-read the article this morning trying to figure out what I would use and I what I wouldn't, I realized that he just says it so much better than I can. So, basically I'm going to just shut up now and let you read his article in it's entirety.


PEERING INTO THE AMERICAN CHURCH

People often ask me what I've seen while floating around outside the bubbles. Many things, some mundane, some interesting, - but nothing as wildly intriguing as the swirling eddies in the bubble called the Church.

My first view of the American Church was from what I'd always though of as the Stone Age, far, far away. My parents and their colleagues planted over seventy churches in one decade, and I witnessed an entire people group transformed from the inside out. I watched men and women from America risk their lives, and I saw them take arrows and die rather than abandon hope. I learned that missionaries - although fully human and as desperate for the mercy of God as their audiences - are extraordinary people. It takes a woman truly abandoned to the love of Christ, like my mother, to forsake a warm house in Glasgow, Montana, for a dingy hut in the jungles. Except for the grace of God, I think she would have gone mad a dozen times for the suffering she endured. I peered into this bubble and I saw a thing of beauty, tinged red with the blood of martyrs and gold with their crowns. I walked through the jungle, crying, desperate to be held in the arms of such a loving, passionate God.

Then I came to America and peered into virtually the same church, but now on this side of the ocean. Once again I saw love and passion, now with another element. Music! My, my such sweet music! Choirs and orchestras and singers worshipping in a way I could hardly fathom. And this Church had buildings overflowing with brightly dressed worshippers.

But as I peered into the American Church Bubble, I began to sense an absence - the absence of passion for remembering Christ's death. Didn't he urge his followers to take up the cross? Christianity is infused with a fundamental dependence on death in order to find life, yet we speak to little of it. Jesus Christ is most readily identified by a symbol of execution, the cross, and Christians are symbolically drowned in baptism, another kind of death, yet rarely is either mentioned. Perhaps knowing that man's tendency would be to shy away from the details of his death, Christ insisted that his followers do something so seemingly uncouth as drink a symbol of his blood in remembrance of his crucifixion.

I had to ask myself, why do those in this bubble fear death so much? Maybe its because they are so enthralled by all the music and the beautiful buildings and the brightly colored clothing. Maybe they are so thrilled to have escaped the fires of hell, that they can't stop dancing long enough to remember how they escaped.

But this explanation seemed to pat, so I peered longer and harder. It was there, in the corners of the church buildings and under the rugs that I began to see something else.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CHURCH

Could it be that the people packing the parking lots on Sundays are going because of the music and the beautiful buildings and the brightly colored clothing, rather than to meet God? Do they even see the difference?

There is a vast difference. Are the people coming for God's benefit, or are they coming for their own benefit? Both, probably, but which takes preference? What consumes the mind of the congregation, the glory of God or the needs of the people?Surprisingly, most Americans struggle with understanding the distinction, and this ignorance is at the root of a problem we face in the church. If a churches' preoccupation is really with God, talk of His love and the price Christ paid would rule the day. His teachings would take center state. What He hears would be more important than what the visitors hear. The chief end of man is to glorify God, not man.

Why then do we favor teaching that gives us tools to live happier lives over teaching that brings our minds back to God? Why are we so consumed with our own needs over the desires of our Creator? A message on how to live a splendid life by following the five principals of John Doe will win a far heartier round of applause than picking through Christ's Sermon on the Mount any Sunday. Do most prefer the wit of an orator over the parables of Jesus?

There can be only one answer: We humans are preoccupied with ourselves. Maybe in our minds it's really not about God, at all. It's all about the Church. About us. The American is often saved into the church solely for his or her own benefit, and they attend church services for the same benefits. Worship is a way to say thank you, but in the end, it's all about what works for man.

COMPROMISING MESSAGE FOR THE SAKE OF MISSION

And I saw something else: Some churches were changing the message of Christ for the sake of their mission. To attract more people with brightly colored clothing into their big, beautiful buildings, leaders began whitewashing Christ's message by omitting portions from regular teachings. Where Jesus said that the road to his kingdom is narrow, the church called it wide. Success was defined by the number of people who attended the services, and what better way to flood the gates than widen the road? Strategy was developed, and the mission was to attract as many as possible. After all, isn't the great commission of Christ to take his Good News to the whole world?

Yes, but how can someone take part of Christ's message, and ignore the rest? It's all about God, God, God, but the American church began to focus on what attracted people, people, people. And apparently only part of Christ's teaching is immediately attractive to people.

We live in an age consumed with the feel-good doctrines of tolerance. The liberating teaching of Christ is no longer in vogue. Many of his teachings are called egotistical. They say that his assertion that he is the only way borders on hate speech. Even in the church seeker sensitivity has muted the fundamental teachings of Christ, simply because they don't play well to a politically correct crowd.

IN THE END

So these are my observations, as I sit here, peering in while I wait for this life to end and the next to begin. For now I'm still on the bubble, observing and writing, wondering if anyone cares. They are only words, after all, and they are only mine.

TED DEKKER

So, what do you think? I still have a few more thoughts, but those will come next time. For now, I want to know what you think. Leave you comments and let's have some discussion.

Thanksgiving

Ok, so what blogger in the world isn't doing a Thanksgiving post, right? I wasn't going to, but I really do have a lot to be thankful for, and in these times there's a lot to be said for that. I didn't really give this any thought, I just figured I'd make a quick list. So, in no particular order, here is what I'm thankful for this year.

1) Today. I'm thankful for today, just like I was thankful for yesterday and I'll be thankful for tomorrow if it comes. We're not promised a single day, so every day that I get to open my eyes and try again is a gift worth being thankful for.

2) My wife. I never thought I could be this happy. She is a true embodiment of a Godly wife. I don't know what I'd do without her.

3) My daughter. The other light of my life. She is truly a miracle, and I have no idea what I did to deserve her.

4) My job. It may not be making me rich, but it's a pretty good job. Sure I'd like to be a bit more comfortable, but there is a warm roof over my head and food on my table. Others aren't so lucky.

5) My house. It's small, unfinished and drafty. But I can think of a lot of people around the world that would gladly take it.

6) My church. It's truly a church with a heart for God's people, and I'm privilidged to call it my home, and the attenders my family.

7) Trials and hardships. It never seems like it at the time, but trials really do only make us stronger. I've been through a lot the last four or five years, but I would not be who I am or where I am today without any of it.

8) My country. Sure, we have our problems (lot's of them right now). A lot of things are broke. But at the end of the day, when you really think about it, we still have it pretty good.

9) Technology. It can be a distraction a lot of the time, with the t.v, cell phones, internet, etc. But I look at all of the people I'm able to reconnect and stay in contact with through e-mail, MySpace, Facebook and the like, and I really am thankful.

10) My God. There's really no adequate words here. I'm thankful for a God that loves me enough to give me the chace to spend eternity with him even though I don't deserve it.

11) I'm thankful that this world is not my home. I need to remember that I am just a vivitor here. That my time here is short. My real home awaits me and is more amazing than anything on this earth could even hope to aspire to.

I'm sure I could think of more more, but there's a nice little top ten list, plus one to grow on. So, what are you thankful for?

Too Sensitive?

I've written before that God has a wonderful way of tying things together in my life. There's been something on my mind lately to write about and it seems that for the last couple of weeks I just keep seeing, reading or hearing something that reinforces it. I love how God works. I have a feeling this will be a theme for a couple or three posts, so bear with me. I want to focus this first one though on something I just read.

A few months ago, I bought a book by John MacArthur titled "A Tale of Two Sons." It an entire book on the parable of the prodigal son. I started to read it but only got a few pages in. I got side tracked by two or three novels and just never picked it back up until a few days ago. After only twenty or so pages, I realized how awesome God's timing is.

Throughout the beginning of the book MacArthur lays out the background and setting for the parable. He offers a real insight into the culture of that time and into how Jesus' public ministry had progresed. One subject he continues to tackle is the role of the Pharisees. At every turn they were trying to discredit Jesus, oftentimes calling Him a "friend of sinners." This provided quite a quandry for most of the throngs that followed Christ. Here is a man claiming to be the Messiah that had been promised to them. A man who had a clear message and performed miraculous works. But they were taught from childhood to see the Pharisees as their spiritual leaders, and the Pharisees were continually finding fault with Jesus. Besides, Christ's teaching was becoming much more personal and challenging in the time leading up to the parable of the prodigal son. The Pharisees hatred of Jesus began to spread and more and more people began to turn away. This is where I love what MacArthur says. Rather than try and condense, I'm just going to reprint it all here. He says it so much better than I could.

"John 6 shows how and why the vast majority of people finally turned away from Christ-and many even turned completely against Him. The multitudes followed Him as long as He was feeding them and doing other miraculous works, but they did not like His strong teaching. As a matter of fact, Luke 14:26-35, the passage imediately preceeding the exchange in Luke 15, includes some of Jesus' most strongly worded teaching. It's all about denying self, hating father and mother, and counting the cost of discipleship. Ironically, just when the self-satisfied, respectable, materialistic multitudes began to drift away because of that kind of teaching, that's when Luke says that the tax collectors and siners drew near. (That, by the way, is a damning commentary on today's popular strategies for reaching the rebellious, disenfranchised, and outcasts of society by softening the gospel and stressing only it's positive elements.)"

I remember about twelve years ago leaving my church home with a group of thirty or so other people in order to plant a new church. During the planning process we decided that this new church was going to be "seeker-sensitve." Basically, the idea was to offer a casual, non-threatening environment where people who normally wouldn't go to church could come and feel comfortable. The dress was casual, and the music contemporary. The sermons were designed to be life-applicable while remaining biblically based. Nothing too deep, just something that people could take away and actually apply to their life. The in-depth study was relegated to Wednesday nights. It was wildly successful by societies standards. The church is now classified as one of the nation's relatively few "mega-churches", with weekly attendance well over 2,000 people.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I find myself at a different church now. Actually, I'm right back where I first started. That's not to be taken as any indictment on the church I helped plant though. I have many friends there, and I try to stay informed on what they are doing for God. But I have to say that as I've steped back into a slightly more traditional setting, I've started to wonder if our modern "seeker sensitive" philosophy is doing more harm than good. Not in all areas mind you. The casual atmosphere, to me, is fine. After all, Jesus said to come as you are. The music is fine too. I think there is a very very fine line between worship and entertainment sometimes, but so long as we are ever vigilant and aware of that line I think there can be a lot of power in contemporary worship.

But lately I've been wondering about our message. And when I say "our", I'm referring to the modern church in general. Why is it that we feel the need to be so sensitive? Are we saying that the message of Christ is too much to handle? Are we saying that the way Jesus delivered his message was not the best way? We have one ultimate source of truth in the Bible, and we have one living example of that truth in Jesus. Didn't Jesus say that it is not the healthy who need doctors, but the sick? And that he didn't come to call the righteous, but the sinners? (Mt. 9 12-13) If then, Jesus came for the sinners, and we are also trying to reach sinners, then why are we changing the message instead of letting the message change us? Isn't it almost in a way invalidating the methods and message of Jesus? MacArthur pointed out that it was as Jesus' message became more challenging that the tax collectors and siners drew near. Why then, as a modern church society, are we seeking to soften the message and be more "sensitive" to those who are seeking?

Like I said, this is something that has been on my mind a lot the last couple of weeks and I have more illustrations and more comments. But for now, what do you think? Are we too sensitive?

My daughter, my example

So, my wife is out with the girls tonight. The "Twilight" movie is out now and they decided to brave the throngs of screaming, vampire infatuated teenage girls to go see it. More power to them I say.

What this means for me is an evening alone with my eleven month old daughter. I love my daughter. Anyone that knows me intimately knows that for a long while I wasn't sure I even wanted kids. Sure, I liked kids well enough. I had some neices and nephews that I enjoyed spending time with, but I was always more than content to be able to hand them back to their parents and go about my own way. Of course, the comment I would always hear was, "It's different when they're your own." I'd always scoffed at that, but I'll tell you what, truer words have never been spoken. My daughter is the light of my life and I can't imagine my world without her.

Which brings me to what crossed my mind tonight. As I said, Sophie (that's her name) and I were having an evening to ourselves. Much as I miss her mother, I relish the time I get to spend with Sophie. I find myself just staring at her a lot. I'm truly facinated and amazed by almost everything she does. Parents, you know what I'm talking about. And tonight it made me think about our relationship with God. I can't help but wonder a little if part of the reason God created the parent child dynamic was to help us better understand His relationship with us.

I look at Sophie and I think now more than ever I understand what it means to have child like faith. Sure, the concept is easy enough to grasp on the surface, but it's never been as concrete. I sit here watching her play and I realize she has no worries or concerns at all. She has no idea or concern for what is going on in the world around her. All she knows is that her parents will meet her needs. That we'll care for her when she's sick, feed her when she's hungry, clothe her when she's cold and protect her when she's in danger. It's an immense responsibility when I think about it but she takes it purely for granted and with rock solid faith. There's never a hint of doubt. And that's exactly how God wants us to be in our relationship with Him. In the book of Matthew, chapter 6, verses 25-34 God lets us know that He knows what our needs are and will be faithful to provide for them. That we should not worry or doubt that at all. Believe me, I realize in these economic times, with so many layoffs and plant closings and bank failures that it seems crazy to have that kind of confidence. That's why I'm so grateful for Sophie and that tangible example of the faith we are commanded to have.

On the flip side, I also have come to a greater understanding of the Father's love for us. To be honest, there are times that I really don't want Sophie to grow up. I want her to stay in that innocent state with that unconditional love for me and her mother. I know that as she grows up, she'll stumble. She'll make mistakes and she'll get hurt. To what degree, only God knows. But those things will likely happen, and it will break my heart when they do. But I look into those eyes, into that smiling angel face, and I know that I will always be there for her. And even if she were to hurt me or somehow disappoint me, I could never stop loving her or hesitate to take her back with open arms. I can't believe I have a God that loves me like that. It causes me to feel guilt for the way I've lived my life at times, but it also gives me great joy to know that He has always been there ready to take me back.

So, as I sit here and wait for my wife to get home I thank God once again. I thank Him for my daughter. I thank Him for that living example of the faith He requires of me and of the unconditional love He has for me. And I'll thank my wife for giving me this precious gift as well. Assuming, that is, that she wasn't trampled in a sea of teenage girls.

Commentary

In his book "Velvet Elvis", Rob Bell wrote, "God has spoken. The rest is just commentary." There's a lot of truth to that. Think about it. When it comes to Chritianity, we have only one source of ultimate truth. And that source was written over a period of centuries and was completed nearly two thousand years ago. Every other book, sermon, and blog since then is simply a commentary on that one source. The writers of the Bible aren't exactly available for an interview, so it's up to us to bring forth meaning from those pages.

Why do I mention this? Because I want to try and encourage discussion. As I've said before, I really have no motive for writing any of what I do other than to simply put my thoughts into a concrete form for myself. If anyone else wants to read along, that's great. On the other hand though, I would love to see some interaction. I'm certainly not the only one out there with an opinion. I'd love to know if someone thinks I'm totally off base or if I'm on the right track. To be honest, I really thought my post on the election would draw some feedback. After all, what's more "controversial" than religion and politics? But that's ok. We'll get there.

If you're reading this on MySpace or Facebook (and likely you are), and you've thought about commenting but don't want your name tied to it, that's ok. Just go to my actual site at www.scottpalmer622.blogspot.com and you can comment there annonomously if you prefer.
Gos has spoken, let's have some commentary.

Thoughts on the Election

Now that we're all basically past our post election hangovers, I figured I'd weigh in on a few thoughts and observations I had in the weeks leading up to what some have deemed one of the most historically significant elections of all time. Not that my opinions mean anything to anyone mind you, but so many things bothered me that I'm sure my wife will appreciate someone else having to listen to my ranting besides just her. So without further ado (or any ado really) here is what I thought of the election:

- I'm wondering how long we're going to call Obama the first black president of the US instead of simply the 44th president of the US? Don’t misunderstand me; I do understand the historical significance. But how long should we dwell on it? And more importantly, how much of a factor should it have even been in the first place? I'll tell you right now, if you voted for Obama because he was black or if you voted against him because he was black, then you made an ignorant and uninformed decision. And our country is no better off for it. If you truly think that Obama has the right agenda to take our country forward, then fine, that's what democracy is all about. But if, deep down, you simply voted for him because he was black and it was historical, then shame on you. And frankly, you may have done more to further racism in this country than you did to expel it.

- In a related thought, I basically just can’t believe how uninformed we seem to be as a voting public in general. Maybe it’s just who the news organizations chose to interview, but I saw so many utterly ignorant and uninformed voters on TV that it nearly made me think that we should reconsider this whole democracy thing. Ok, not really, but people really do amaze me. I saw countless interviews where it was clear that the person was voting for Obama simply because he was black or because he was not named George W. Bush. Most had no idea what Obama’s platforms were and some didn’t even know who his running mate was. Amazing.

- On the flip side, I don’t like how much emphasis “Christians” seem to put on the social platforms. I saw interviews with so many people that probably had no idea what McCain’s tax plan or foreign policies were, but by golly he opposes abortion so he must be the right man for the job. Since when did being a moral person mean that you were qualified to be in office? I couldn’t believe how many people I knew voted for Mike Huckabee in the primaries simply because he was a former minister. Let’s try something. Raise your hand if you think that Iran will agree to shut down their nuclear program if we make abortion illegal. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? I didn’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, I am a Christ follower and I hold the Bible to be my ultimate truth and authority. I’m as opposed to many of these issues as anyone. But I feel that God has given me, as a follower of Him, the task of spreading that message, not the government. I want the government to keep me safe. I want them to focus on health care, on education, on energy concerns, on taxation issues. If that means voting for someone that may hold to a slightly different moral standard than myself, then so be it. I’ll continue the Great Commission regardless.

- I think we put way too much stock in one single person. The President may be at the top of the totem pole, so to speak, but it’s a three headed pole, each head designed by our forefathers to offer checks and balances to the other two. Obama won’t be doing it alone any more than McCain would have been or any more than Bush has been. Aside from the other branches of government, the President is continually surrounded by secretaries, cabinet members and advisors. Although he is the commander-in-chief and does have some ultimate authority, the President rarely has to make a policy decision on his own. And as such, we need to stop elevating our leaders to the nearly messianic levels that we oftentimes do. It’s just one person people.

- My last thought here is also the most important. It’s Romans 13:1-3.

1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.

Whether it’s our American President, the leader of one of our allies such as Britain, Spain, or Canada, or it’s the harshest of dictators from Iran, Cuba, China, or North Korea, ALL authority on earth is established by God. And as such, we are called (actually commanded) as Christ followers to submit to those authorities. In the end, now that the election is over, I really don’t care who you voted for or why. I don’t care what you may or may not think about Obama being president. The simple fact is that he has a mess to deal with. The economy is crumbling; health care and social security are on shaky ground, and in just less than a day after being elected, the US received a new threat from Iran. I don’t envy this man at all. Personally, I went back and forth a few times on whom I was going to vote for this year. I really did. In the end, I voted for John McCain. I have my reasons and I’d like to think it was an educated decision. But as of this moment, Barack Obama has my full support and my prayers are with him. God has a plan for this world and Obama has a part to play in it. I have no idea what it is, but I can’t wait to find out.