06/12/07

I am a large green squash. Its quite fun being a squash. I get to sit in the field all day and drink nourishing milk from my vine’s bosom and soak in the glorious rays from papa sun. And when papa’s heat is too much, I can rest in the shade of my brother’s volumous leaves. Today has been a bit toasty down here in Texas, but its been worth it because I have been eyeing a foxy little eggplant down the row…. man, her curves drive me wild; and her cute little green hat perfectly frames her smooth body…. Oh baby!

OK, as off-the-wall as that was… (and no I have not lost my mind) it has a point. I am not a squash; I’m human. And if I were to make that assertion (and truly believed it) you guys would (hopefully) slap me upside the head and tell me to snap out of it. However, there are may places, where, if I stood on the sidewalk and proclaimed such, people would smile and affirm me. Many people in America today see truth as totally relative. Truth is simply how you see it; what may be true for you may not be true for me. So I can stand and affirm that I am a squash and that’s totally OK because its true for me!

Does anyone see a problem with this?

1+1 != 5 no matter how you add it up. (!= is does not equal) The sky is not green and yellow. Oxygen and helium can not be mixed to get gold!

OK, most of you are agreeing with me up to now. But here is my main point for today, many Christians have subscribed this relativism in the area of discipline. We don’t want to tell anyone they are wrong because it might hurt their feelings. We don’t want to correct people because it might make them uncomfortable. We have taken the ‘judge not lest ye be judged’ from scripture and blown it way out of proportion.

Here’s where my thoughts are coming from: 1 Corinthians 5. Paul is taking to the believers and jumping down their throats because there is sexual immorality among them. He says they should kick that person out of the church! Then he says

“9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. "Expel the wicked man from among you."

Why have we gotten it in our heads that we can not correct people? Why are we so worried about stepping on people’s toes when Christ’s main message was REPENT! By the way, you can not repent if you are doing nothing wrong. The main message of our Lord was telling people that they were doing everything wrong and needed to fix it.

If your friend is driving their car towards a big cliff, are we worried about telling them they are a moron for trying to kill themselves? No! Because we know that it will save their lives. Why then, do we hesitate to tell our friend that having that attitude is rotten or that his language is unacceptable? Are those things not pushing people toward a spiritual death? So what’s more important to us…. offending them or saving their lives?

06/10/07

(I wrote this a week ago but am not just getting to posting)

So last Thursday (May 31st)was our 3 year anniversary. I am so blessed to be married to such an amazing woman! God has honored me with not only the sweetest girl ever, but the most beautiful and attractive woman that has ever walked the face of the earth! Grrrr…. *raises eyebrows* OK, I’ll spare you guys the rest, you get the picture: I’m madly in love with my wife!

And you know what else is so cool about her, she is so understanding and forgiving. I was thinking back to before we were married and all the stuff we went through… there was this one time that I got a little out of hand at a party and made out with that other girl and Bwige was OK with that. Most girls would have clawed my eyes out but she didn’t. She just smiled and said she loved me. And all those times that I was on those pornographic websites staring at other women doing illicit things… she just looked the other way. My wife is so great! And I hate to even mention this… but the fact that she still married me after what I did at the strip joint the night before the wedding… she just loves me… she just loves me.

OK, pick your jaw up off the floor. If you have not figured it out yes, the second paragraph is totally made up – so no spreading rumors. (Just for the record, I have always been totally faithful to Brigette in thought, word, and deed.) However, I said those things for a reason. If Brigette were a good woman, she would not sit idly by and smile as I did those things. She would not be ok with me sleeping with other women, or looking at illicit images, or letting my eyes wander to bad places when we are walking at the mall. She would dump me in a heartbeat until I was able to prove, long term, that I am able to control myself. Its not that she wouldn’t love me, but that in order to have a relationship with her, I must be faithful. Only a fool will go into a relationship with an unfaithful partner (and on a side note… why would any girl have an affair with a married man? If he would cheat and leave his current wife, why in the world wouldn’t he do the same when something younger and prettier comes along? DUH!) (sorry for the rant)

Fidelity is key in a marriage relationship. I am hers and she is mine. I am not just faithful to her most of the time. I am not just faithful to her as long as it is possible for me. I am faithful to her no matter what even if that means me dying for her. I will lay down my life in a second for her. I will honor her in every way possible at every moment possible. That includes both taking a bullet for her, and taking out the trash for her; they are simply different forms of the same love and faithfulness which can not be separated.

So what would be acceptable for me as a husband? Ignoring her request to take out the trash even though I ALWAYS do it and I’m so ridiculously tired of doing it week in and week out? What about speaking harshly to her for not having dinner ready when I get home? Am I allowed to talk bad about her to my friends? Am I allowed to snap at her because I have had a bad day? Can I let my eyes wander onto the bodies of other women? My mind?

In the end, the question is, how much am I allowed to dishonor her? If I am a good husband, the answer is not at all. None of the above things are acceptable. Ever.

Now, I’m not saying that I live up to this high standard, but I strive harder every day. I do and will mess up, but when I do it hurts me that I have sinned against her. I have damaged my bride. That grieves me so I ask her forgiveness and strive to not only rectify the situation, but prevent further infractions. How could I do any differently? She is my princess. My cherished one. My dove. How could I possibly want to do anything that would insult her name or harm her in thought, word, or deed? If I really love her, I can not.

Now, this is written from the perspective of a groom, but if my wife were writing it, very little would change. She loves me. And if she truly loves me, she would never do anything to insult my name or harm me in thought word or deed. If someone insulted me in front of her and she just sat quietly by and didn’t say anything, that would be shameful! Even worse, if there were people who went so far as to use my name as an insult to someone else and she had no problem listening to that… her love for me could be questioned.

My bride loves me and would defend my name. And if it meant her not doing a certain activity because the people there did nothing but shame me, she’d be out of there in a second. If that meant dropping her friends that were trying to turn her against me, she’d do it in a heartbeat. Our love, our relationship, our marriage is more important than that activity or that friend.

As a Christian, you are Christ's bride. All the love and devotion Brigette has for me you are supposed to have for Jesus, your Bridegroom.

In Isaiah 54, God says to the Israelites, “For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.” Jeremiah says in chapter 3, “Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.” I am the bride of Christ. The messiah of the universe is my Groom.

We are the bride of Christ…

I am the bride of Christ… I’ve been thinking about that for a few days now and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. What does this mean for how I live my life? Am I OK with watching movies and TV where the name of God is used as a curse? Am I ok with watching shows that teach me to dishonor my Groom? Should I entertain myself in any way that dishonors my Beloved?

If I truly love Him, how can I? How can I sit and watch a show that promotes the things that God hates? In all reality, if we are honest about it, when we go to the movies that promote foul language, sex, violence, rebellion, the machismo guy, self sufficiency, we are telling God that our entertainment is more important than us honoring his name and following his commands. No, not his suggestions, or his hints, or nudges, but his bold outright commands. Do not fraternize with the culture. Period. No questions asked.

Look at what God says in Deuteronomy when the Israelites were about to move into a new land.

Dt 7:1 When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations— [long list of names], seven nations larger and stronger than you— 2 and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD'S anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. 6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. (verses 7-10 are good too. Also, see Dt 6:13-19 and Ex 34:15-16)

Yes, this is harsh, but God wrote it not me. (And no, I’m not advocating going around and smashing things…) I say this because it shows God’s feelings towards us assimilating into the culture. We are not supposed to do it. We are supposed to be set apart, which by the way is the definition of Holy (not perfect and righteous). We are supposed to be pure for him. We are supposed to be his bride, pure and spotless.

And I’m scared that many who say they are part of the church have intermarried with the culture. We have been infested with things that are detestable in the sight of God.

Look at what 2 Peter 3 says, “ 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief… 11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b]… 14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

Spotless. That means no blemeshes. Pure, like a newly washed white sheet.

And yah, if we start to look like Jesus we are going to stick out in the culture. But why is that a bad thing? Jesus didn’t blend in; he stuck out like a sore thumb. Why? Because the people he hung out with were so different then him – aka, he didn’t live in a nice little Christian bubble. He lived completely holy, and completely perfectly, and was not at all sucked in and made to look like the culture around him. And did lost people run? No, they flocked to him. All this he did living in the culture but not being of it.

Why have we gotten it in our heads that we have to look like the culture to be relevant? Jesus was night and day from the culture and he was constantly mobbed by people who wanted to be around him and hear what he had to say. Why should we strive for anything different?

06/04/07

Please read my post from 05/20/07 and the response from Swing… otherwise this discussion won’t make much sense.

I don’t know exactly how to respond to what you said Swing… because I don’t know exactly how what you propose plays out. I don’t totally understand, so I’m going to have to shoot from the hip on this response. (I look forward to clarification so I can more precisely reply.)

First, I agree with the initial paragraph. We are not called into a little bubble of Christian sub-culture. We are called to be in the world but not of it (that’s from John 17:14-19). Jesus wasn’t trying to create a new sub-culture, he was working towards changing the people that were in the world.

OK, on a side note, as I am typing this, my wife made the comment, ‘wow, you type with all your fingers!’ and so I asked her how exactly she typed, and she said (holding up 4 fingers), its mostly using the two inside fingers on each hand; not really hunt-and-peck, more like tyrannosaurus rex…
And now for something completely different….

I also think I agree that its important to be culturally relevant. We must be able to speak to those around us. Jesus used agricultural examples to an agricultural society (sheep, goats, seeds, plants, harvests). We must be able to speak their language. We must be able to hang out with them and speak truth into their lives.

But here is where it starts to get fuzzy: those theories are nice, but how is that played out? How does that look like in life?

If this is, as Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the gospel at all times -- If necessary, use words," then I disagree with that. First, I don’t see that in scripture. Anywhere. Yes, it says we are to be witnesses, but I don’t see Jesus walking around and just giving everyone the ‘I’ve got it all together so please ask me why I am so happy’ look. He walked around and preached the good news to people. He was all about talking to people. In fact, the miracles that he did were only a conduit to be able to preach to people. He was always reluctant to do a miracle just for a miracle’s sake.

Silent witnessing, in my opinion, is a sorry excuse for people who don’t know enough about scripture or their own faith to share it and effectively give a reason for the hope they believe they have within. It’s a justification of people who are just not following the biblical command to share the good news of Christ with people.

Now, first, I’m as guilty of this as anyone else. There are people that I’m trying to get a chance to talk to but its just really not working out at the moment. I admit that. I should be more forward, but I haven’t yet been. I’m working on it. That said, I’m not throwing away all relation evangelism. I’m not advocating a bible-thumping regiment of door to door gospel bullies. I’m just saying that too many people in America get stuck in relational evangelism and never move the conversation to a place that would bring conviction to someone. Yes, it may make people uncomfortable. So what? I don’t see Jesus lying awake at night because he hurt the Pharisees feelings. No, he called it as it was; they were snakes and he told them so.

Admittedly, he was harshest on the religious people, but he still went out and deliberately had spiritual conversations with people. He confronted the woman at the well about her sin. When the rich young ruler walked away after Jesus told him he had to sell all of his possessions, Jesus didn’t run after him and offer him a no-strings-attached non-confrontational relationship that would hopefully one day grow deep enough where Jesus could speak truth into his life. No! He let him go. Jesus wasn’t worried about offending people; he was worried about speaking the truth. Why have we gotten it in our heads that we can just hope that people will ask us about Him. Since when is the ball in their court? Jesus didn’t say to live our pretty little lives and wait for them to come to us. He commanded us to go to them! He commanded us to speak to them!

As for the not praying in front of other people… I think this kinda falls into the same category. Pausing before my meal to thank God for the feast is not something I’m just going to throw away. If that means that I do it silently, that’s fine, I’m ok with that. But just throwing it away because it might offend someone…. Besides, I doubt there are more than a handful of people in the US that would be truly offended by a prayer before the meal. 95% of Americans believe in God. Most consider themselves Christian. We are a Godless nation that considers ourselves very spiritual. So I’m not too worried. I don’t think the 30 second prayer is going to offend someone. And if it is going to, then I can lovingly explain what I am doing and let God take care of the rest.

Sorry to get off on that tangent….

I don’t know how what you propose plays out Swing. But if it’s lifestyle evangelism (live a good life and hope people ask you about Jesus), I cant sign up for it because I don’t see it in scripture and I fear that its just another excuse that we have made up in order to justify our scriptureless actions and lack of holiness and purity. What say you? How do you see it playing out?

Next, you talked about living a simpler faith with religion stripped off? Again, what does that mean? How does that play out? I’m all for abandoning tradition for the sake of tradition… but it doesn’t sound like that’s what you mean.

(Also, just for an update, Brigette's uncle did die last week. The funeral was last Thursday. Thanks for your prayers.)

Bwige's Uncle

Hey,

I was just told that Bwige's Uncle probably has only about a day to live (his liver has given out). So be praying for him and his family.

To be honest, I don't know how to feel about this. He is one of those guys who didn't take care of himself, received a heart transplant, and still ate whatever he wanted and never exercised. So he's been sick for years now. He knows what he does, but didn't care enough to change it.

So what should I do with that?

On top of that, he has been a nominal Mormon for a while (married into it). But even that he didn't take seriously from what I know (he stopped practicing when his wifed died a long time ago).

So what do I do? I have no doubt his sister has given him all the evangelism he wants. I am sure he has heard it all. With his mind pretty far gone from sickness what could be said, what should be said? What is rude what isnt?

I dont what to feel on this. The practical side of me says that he is getting what he has earned repeatedly over the last many many years of irresponsible living. And its hard to find compassion for someone who has for all practical purposes killed someone else. (aka, he got a new heart and wasted it, therefore someone else died who needed one and would have used the second chance at life wisely). For me, a wasted new heart is one of the most despicable things you can do...

Then the compassionate side of me says that my sins make me the same thing before a holy God; my sins crucified Christ. And we are called to love people no matter what. But we are not supposed to empower them to do so and just put it aside when they do so. The compassionate side of me reminds me that he is a human being and worth love. I mean... I do care for this guy, I dont know him terribly well, but he is a nice, good guy. I have nothing at all against him.

And then I think... he is hours away from an eternity in hell... and my heart breaks for him despite all he has done. I shudder even at the thought of it... And I wonder if I should go and at least try and witness to him. But I'm pretty sure that his mind is far gone enough at this point that there probably isn't anything that can be done. And I would not say anything he hasn't heard 100 times before...

So what do you guys think? What should be done, what should be prayed for? How do I process this?

05/20/07

With regard to my last post.... there are a few things I am pondering. Most of it falls under two main category.

1. First is, from the post, what does it take to be a Christian. Not just to become a Christian, but to be one. What makes someone Christian? praying a magical prayer?

2. Second, purity and holiness. God calls his people to be set apart and different from those in our culture. I think the American church has largely failed at that. 'Christians' eat, drink, dress, talk, and entertain ourselves the same way as those who are 'Not Saved'. So then are we any different than those around us? What does that say about our salvation?

Well, what are your thoughts on the matter? I have a few verses that pertain to each, but I think I need to read through the rest of scripture and see what it says.

What do you guys think?

05/17/07

My Life:

Umm, today I went to class in the morning. In the afternoon I stayed home and finished a photography project even thought I was supposed to be in class (I miss-predicted the time the project would take). Now I’m eating leftovers for dinner.

(OK.. if that’s all blogs are… I have no idea how they got popular, that was really boring)
Now for the interesting stuff –>

My Thoughts:

My thoughts today turn towards American Christianity in contrast with the Christianity of the rest of the world. As I see it, those who call themselves believers in the US are mostly made of pew-warmers who go to church on Sunday to get their ‘religion’ in. (If you disagree with me, well, you can just be wrong, but that’s a whole other post =) ). Anyways, when I see the struggles of Christians in other nations and the struggles I and others like me face, well… it is disheartening.

Today, 500 Pakistani Christians will live with the knowledge that at any moment militants could burst through the door with guns slaughter them and their families… and I consider myself a radical Christian because I carry my Bible around with me.

A few weeks ago, a woman who had volunteered her life to giving medical care to the poor in Turkey. A religious fanatic walked into the clinic and killed her in cold blood… and I consider myself on fire for God because I gave a guy on the street corner a bag of food and last month I gave out sandwiches to some homeless guys.

I struggle every day to live out my faith. I struggle to wake up in the mornings and spend more than 15 minutes in fellowship with my creator. I know that I must seriously study God’s message… but I don’t. Why? I don't know.

So what can I do? Maybe keep in front of me the life other Christians are living. My problems are nothing but ping-pong balls compared to the RPG’s hurling towards my Christian brothers and sisters. Yet I cower in fear at the welt the ping-pong ball will leave – if the slight discoloration could truly be called a welt. Can I even call myself a Christian when I can not even take 30 minutes a day to fellowship with Christ?

Now I know what you are thinking. All one must do to be a Christian is confess with your mouth and believe in your heart and you will be saved. Really? Those are the words of Romans 10:9 says, but what does scripture say in the bigger context?

Well… there is much more to be said on this subject, many pages worth. But my thoughts are not yet solidified and I haven’t yet done all the research so you’ll just have to wait.

Just to wet your appitite here are some of the verses I am pondering…

Ps 63:1, Isaiah 58:2-14,James 2:14-26, 1 John 3:17-18, Matt 18:23-35…