What are you numbing out?

I heard a good sermon today, not because the speaker was a great communicator, or because it was a great production. But because the content was powerful, it’s something a lot of churches sugar coat. It was all about addictions and coping. How we love when God talks to us in our joyful times, we love to feel connected to God in that way. But when we crash, and we’re dealing with something messy in our lives, our we plain just want to avoid dealing with certain painful issues. We numb out.

There are a hundred ways to get a buzz in life. Alcohol, drugs, pornography, shopping, sex, etc… and there are other ways to cope with pain, isolation, distraction, etc… But isn’t God just as capable of connecting to us in our pain as he is in our joy? So when we decide to numb out life, we really are deciding to avoid those conversation with God. Avoid feeling the hurt of other people, to deal with whats really making us angry. It’s our attempt at making our relationship with God one sided. To only have the good stuff.

* So what are you doing to numb out?

*And What is it your trying to numb out?

Consumerism

I got some notes from the Q conference from a blog of someone who actually got to go *Duncan ( I’m jealous). Chris Seay talked about consumerism. Which is one of the big issues I care about. I honestly think consumerism maybe the biggest problem of why the local church doesn’t function like it should. Americans are so deep in financial debt, that they rationalize not tithing, let alone giving. We are so caught up in material consumerism, we have to have the newest, best thing, even if what we have now is good. we trade tv’s, and cell phones, and cars like we’re 8 years old trading baseball cards, to get that one card that will complete our collection. Yes even spiritual consumerism, we go to church 2 or 3 times a week, so we feel better. We buy “Christian” products from “Christian” stores, you can now listen to as many church sermons as you want via podcasting. Even now our hard drives are becoming gigantic, so we can keep everything we down load. In case we might need it in the future.

It leaves us in a very sad state.

Chris Seay states these facts:

*we celebrate the birth of Christ by a binge of consumerism – $795.86 each. $154bn total spend.

*$18bn spend on makeup each year.

*$15bn on perfume.

* Pet food $17bn.

* For $5bn would solve illiteracy.

*For $10bn we can eliminate water shortage.

*$19bn to eliminate malnutrition.

It’s sad to say that’s there is enough money in the world to solve every problem, it’s just a matter of what it’s spent on instead.

If We Could Save Ourselves…

This was actually a T shirt I designed, but it reflects the single fact that for me pushes me to believe there has to be a God. I wasn’t one of those people that needed scientific proof, I didn’t read a lot of philosophy, I didn’t need to see a miracle, or even be the miracle. I didn’t need for my life to fall apart before I accepted Christ.

All I had to do was take a look inside, and ask myself one question. Can I save myself? The answer is hopelessly, no. If I can’t save myself, it makes me lose faith in your ability to save yourself. It would also seem that if we could, someone would of figured out how to do it by now. He would be the best selling author of “The idiots guides to saving your soul”. And again if man thought for a second that there might be a way, we would have every scientific mind in the world working on it. It would be the most pressing issue of our lives.

My confession of Christ was based on a universal logic, that man is not God. We are not the creators, but the creation. Because if we were, there are too many holes in the story. Why would the smartest, most creative, powerful beings to every live so many disease inhabit earth. Why not just cure cancer for ever, or HIV, or why continue to have birth defects, and mental illness. If we are smart enough to save the human soul, then surly these are simple questions on the back of a cracker Jacks box.

If we could save ourselves, it would imply man is naturally good from birth, and that somewhere alone the way we become broken. Instead of the idea that we are broken at birth. No one teaches their kids how to lie, steal, be greedy, or selfish. It’s wired into our DNA, it comes natural. Think about the things we do have to teach kids. We have to teach them things like mercy, forgiveness, generosity, love. Something that is broken has a natural longing to be put back together. It always senses that there is something more. But if we are born with the ability to save ourselves, there’s no need for hope or fear because nothing could possibly happen that we can’t fix. A whole pot has no sense of something more, it’s already whole.

We if could save ourselves we wouldn’t have this deep ache in our guts that there must be more.

The Superhero & The Princess

I’m not sure If I ever posted these. This was at Disney World. The kids wanted to get their faces painted. Jack got the “Super Hero” and Abby got the “Princess”. Later Jack stopped and leaned against a wall and said “Dad, take my picture”, so he posed all serious. Abby was just glowing, because she looked like a princess. Isn’t it great that Jack’s running like “Flash” in the back of Abby’s Picture.

Frustration with the Church

Frustration with Church and Christians doesn’t mean anti-church, or that I’m doubting what I believe about Jesus. And it’s not just one church.

I’ve been in church since 3rd or 4th grade ( it’s hard to remember at this point), spent my entire elementary, junior high, and high school life at church twice a week, I went on every retreat, summer camp, you name it. I spent 4 years on the Praise & Worship team, my Senior year on youth council, President of Christians In Action my Senior year in high school, and then went to Bible College ( which yes I didn’t finish, and yes people made it clear they were very disappointed in me). Everyone who’s had a positive effect on my life goes to church, I meet my three best friends at church or Christian events, one of whom is now a Pastor. I met my wife at church, I got saved, and baptized at church. I think it’s safe to say I love the church. Not just one church, but thee CHURCH. For anyone to even consider going into ministry there has to be a passion.

The CHURCH does some beautiful things, that only can be experienced in that setting. Helping people deal with addictions, bad relationships, helping people find purpose in life, giving social support to people when they’re going through something rough. Giving people a chance at least once a week to slow down, to remember what God has done for them. It’s beautiful. And as long as people are involved in the process churches are going to be messy and broken. I get all that.

What I’m saying is I think people swallow whatever is put in their mouths, they don’t even question it, especially if it comes from a Pastor. I think Christians need to take responsibility for their faith and think for themselves. It’s not the Pastors Job to spoon feed the whole congregation. But as soon as you start thinking for yourself and asking questions that people on staff are uncomfortable of answering, your ostracized. Then you become the circle peg trying to be crammed into a square hole. The truth is in American Churches you only fit in if your the same race, make about the same money, and belief the same things as everyone else at that church. Not saying that’s always a bad thing, you attract who you are, and if your a community church, you attract people who live in communities where the same rules apply. But when a Churches culture shifts into something it wasn’t before, your going to have people leave, because now they feel out of place, or maybe they feel the church has changed it’s beliefs, or whatever it is, the usually line is God has “called” them somewhere else, after “x” amount of years of service, that way no one gets their feelings hurt.

But when did admitting your frustrated become such a condemnable sin? Historically the church has always had problems with people who ask questions,I guess it threatens their ego’s or their authority. I didn’t say “Jesus didn’t raise from the dead” or “Your not a real Christians unless you speak in tongues”. What I did say was “I think all Pastors should rethink the way they do church”.

If that offends you that a “Joe Smoe” nobody said that, I think it says more about your relationship with God then it does about mine.

My List of Hard, Painful, Ugly Questions

inspired by my brother, who was inspired by Alex McManus. I have come up with a list of tough questions I have in my head. Not all of them have answer, not all of them are fair, so not every ones going to like this, even me.

* Why is it when a Christian has a moral failure they feel ostracized from the church?

*Why are so many Pastors living better then they should?

*What happened to give Pastors “Rock Star” status?

*Can a church do more harm then good?

*Why do Christians insist are copying culture, instead of leading the way and making culture follow the church?

*Why is the “World” more creative then the Church?

*Why is Coca-Cola more aggressive with marketing their product than the Church?

*Will Americans ever get over the race issue?

*Do Americans hate Republicans enough to vote the first Black President or the first Women President into office?

*Am I less of a Christian if I vote Democrat?

*What long term effect will video podcasting have on church attendance?

*Do podcasting and video services help create consumer Christians?

*Do Muslims hate us because we’re Christians or because we’re American?

*Will World War 3 be between Christians and Muslims? and will it happen in my life time?

*How can I raise my kids, so they don’t think Muslims are the enemy?

*Why do I find it so much harder to be a good husband than a good father?

*Is the percentage of men who never cheat on their wives under 10%, 5% or does anyone make it?

*Christians worship Jesus, Jews worship Yahweh, Muslims worship Allah, could they all point to the same God?

*What would happen to your faith if you get to heaven and see people from other religions there?

*Why is it acceptable for church staff to be roaming the hallways during service?

*Why are Churches so scared to let their members know how they handle their money?

*If a Christian doesn’t believe in taking medicine and gets cancer and dies, who’s fault is it?

*Will the Church start doing more ministry then Alcoholics Anonymous?

*Why are Women so under valued in our culture?

*What is the Church going to do about global issues like poverty, violence, education if they don’t even care take of these issues in their own congregations?

*Why do so many men have some form of sexual sin?

*What will happen to the Church when gay marriage is legalized?

*What will happen to the Church if society backlashes against Christians, they way Americans have against middle eastern people?

*If people are born into Christian homes, go to church their whole lives, go to Christian school, go to Christian College, only have Christian friends and then go into ministry. Are they qualified to minister to non-Christians or just Christians?

So what about you? What do your questions look like?

The Gutting of Faith

The Gutting of Faith :To Destroy the interior of, To remove the vital or essential parts

A lot of us are guilty of compressing God down into something simpler, easier, cleaner. We have God down to a formula or algorithm, he fits in our little box. We start to believe things like this “When this happens…, God responds by doing this… “. Then God throws the curve ball, whatever it is for you. The death of a friend, someone you love gets cancer, your spouse divorces you, you find out your child has a mental illness, etc…

At that moment there is a gutting of faith that happens with your relationship with God. Much the same way a fish is gutted. It’s the moment where everything changes. Life has thrown you a curve ball, and everything you’ve been taught about God, all the judgments, beliefs, all the sermons you’ve heard, all the notes you’ve taken, are gutted, and placed before you. Then you have to decide, what is it that I believe? Do I really think God is who I think he is, or is there more. Am I going to bail while the water is shallow, or am I committed to God, sink or swim.

If you haven’t been there yet, it hurts. I know friends, and family members who never got over it. They just can’t understand why God would let something happen in their lives that would shake everything they believed in. I guess the point is Jesus never said it was easy to follow him, and maybe if you don’t ever experience this gutting of faith, your missing out on a part of what it really means to live for God. Maybe it’s those that press through it, and wrestle with God and themselves that come out on the other end of life making the greatest impact.






The Church & Earth Day

So Earth Day is coming up on April 22. I’m curious to see if any churches preach an “Earth Day” sermon. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard any “Environmentally” friendly sermons before. Which is kind of a shame, because Christians should be the loudest environmentalist out there. Plus the Church has such a great platform to talk into peoples life’s and mobilize action. You Know what I think would be cool, if you’ve ever been to Whole Foods, as you come out on the left there is a “mini recycling center”. A slot for glass, cardboard, and I think either aluminum, or plastic. Anyways, I think it would be awesome for a Church to have one of these in the parking lot, or what if you took it a step further, and opened a community recycling center, maybe right by a large community, so it is super easy for people to drop it off. It’s not only a great cause, I think it sends a great message to the community.

*sidenote watch this

I’m not anti Church

I think ministry is the hardest job in the world. You are forced to wear so many hats, and be all things, to all people. I admire Pastors, I owe a lot to the Pastors who have invested in me. I can tell stories of my youth pastor spending countless with me, and other kids instead of his wife and family. He really gave ministry everything he is.

I think different about God then others, I can’t explain it. And my view of God isn’t right or wrong, it’s just my view. I think God is intensely creative, so he allows for that in every church. A church takes on a certain personality of it’s Pastors. And sometimes people leave not because their are “holier” then every once who goes there, but just because the style changes, and it no longer…helps ( for lack of a better word).

I don’t use my blog to attack, I don’t drop names, I don’t send people links, it’s my space to say what I can’t say in my life. I’m sorry, if it hurts people.The truth is with out church in my life in high school, man, I would of drowned in life. I am always grateful for that, I defend what goes on at all Churches, I always have, and always will. Even if it’s not for me, it’s for someone. But my time was up, I had to pull back, and examine. I had to go other places to see how other churches did it. I had to just break from Christian culture, i wasn’t in ministry, yet I was being burned out.

reChurched

I’m working on a side project right now I’m going to call reChurched. The whole idea started from a frustration of church politics, and unspoken social rules. Basically I was tired of feeling out of place at my own church, that I have gone to for more then ten years. But it changed, well really it was a slow morph, into something by the time I left, I don’t know if it really was church anymore. At least not for me.

rechurched is my idea that maybe church doesn’t have to be an hour and a half long to be important. Maybe we don’t need 30 minutes of Worships, and a hour sermon. May be we don’t need a building fund, or even a building at all. Maybe church should be what happens outside the walls. Maybe we should get back to a little more ministry in church, even if it looks weird.

You have to ask yourself why do you go to church? If your answers look like, “because it makes me feel good”, or “I have a lot of friends there, and it’s the only time I see them”. Maybe your not part of a church at all.