100 Things to Do Before I Die

Chalk it up to a melancholy mood, or stage of life issues, but lately I've been in an mode of analyzing my life and thinking about my journey - the journey of my life. You know, where I've been, where I've come from, what I've done, and of course, where I'm going next.

One of my favorite movies of all time is Blade Runner. I love several lines from that movie, and one is, "All he wanted to know is what we all want to know...who am I?...where am I going?...and how long have I got?...

Exactly right.

So, I'm asking myself: what will I leave behind?

What will I want to have done when I'm laying on my deathbed?

What will I regret?

Like the haunting scene from Shindler's List, when Schindler is at the railroad tracks saying goodbye: who else could I have saved if I had not been so selfish?

Ever think about those kinds of things?

I'm sure you do.

I hope you do.

So, I'm in the process of compiling a list of 100 Things I Want To Do Before I Die. Who knows, maybe the list will grow to a 1,000...'cause when you stop and really think about it, a hundred things ain't really so many...not for a whole life lived, ya know?

As you can tell, I love movies. (That's because God speaks to me through movies A LOT. Really, he does.)

I leave this entry remembering another great line from Shawshank Redemption:

"Either get busy living, or get busy dieing."

I choose living...but I want my living to mean something.

Erasing the Line - Part 3

This is the concluding Part 3, of a Three-Part post:

The problem is, we think of grace and faith as concepts, and we don't think of the very real and practical ways to exercise them. In other words, we don't think of faith as a SKILL to be developed. We just think it is mental assent, or just an idea to agree with, or we think it is merely trust. While these aspects are true, it is not a full picture of a biblical concept of what faith is.

No, faith is much more than belief or trust, it is the exercise and working out (like an athlete does) of wisdom and revelation. Wisdom which comes from the study and application of God's written word - in the Greek: Logos...and revelation which comes from a deep and intimate relationship with God's Spirit, which in the Greek is Rhema - God's spoken word. We so rarely utilize them however, that like seldom used muscles, they are atrophied and severely weak. The English bible translations that we use every day do us a severe disservice by translating both Rhema and Logos as "God's Word." There is a big difference. As I said above, one refers to God's written word, the other is God's spoken word!

One comes through the study and application of scripture, the other comes by way of being able to hear and see and understand His Spirit speaking to us.

Both are necessary, one cannot have just one. Both must be regularly used and exercised to be able to be effective as a follower of Christ. Do you realize that the "sword of the Spirit" that is spoken of in Ephesians chapter six (the armor of God passage), that the Sword of the Spirit is NOT the scriptures or written word (Logos), but is the Greek Rhema - or God's SPOKEN Word? Interesting, is it not?

In other words, in addition to knowing the scriptures, we are to be able to see and hear reality as it really is...to be able to hear God speaking to us, to be able to see what He is doing in our midst, and to be aware of what the enemy is up to as well. Proper awareness requires both Logos and Rhema. Awareness (knowing reality) is a significant New Testament theme. 2 Corinthians 2:11 says, "in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes." Ephesians 6:11: "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

So, God is telling you and I, to open our eyes, and see things as they truly are...

...to study the scriptures (His written Word) and apply it...

...and to also pray and deepen your walk with Him so that we can hear His voice, recognize when it is Him that is speaking to us, so that He can direct our specific path, and so that we can more clearly see what He is doing and where He wants us to go (His spoken Word).

In just the few short weeks I have focused more intently on exercising these areas of my spiritual senses (about eleven weeks now) my "vision" is becoming sharper. My "hearing" is growing stronger and more clear. Just as an athlete grows stronger and improves through training and practice, this "practice" of seeing and understanding things better because the line that blurs reality is being erased, is resulting in amazing new truths and realities being made more clear in my own life. I am living out of a new reality.

I do not have room here to list the hundreds of things I have seen, heard, witnessed and understood since focusing on this. I know, I know...I sound as if I am going off the deep end, right? Well all I ask, is for you to try it. As I alluded to above, it is not just about "sight" or "vision." It is about being able to "hear" reality as well. In fact, those words - "sight" and "hearing" are simply metaphors for "understanding true reality." Is it not interesting to read so many passages in scripture that tell of Christ restoring sight to the blind, or to read the passages of John's Revelation where the message to each church ends with, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches"?

Christ is challenging me to improve my sight and hearing - to be able to know reality. It is a gift that we so often fail to receive. Our responsibility is to work to improve our skills and our devotion in order to take advantage of them. They are there if we will use them...that is what I am learning in my own life. He is calling me to dig deeply into His written word and to apply it to my life. He is also calling me to a deeper intimacy and relationship with Him, through prayer, in order that I might hear His voice directing my every choice and action. I perceive that God is calling me to personally improve both my Logos and Rhema, so that they come together to help me improve my understanding of my surroundings. It is indeed already helping me to be more aware of the schemes and works of Satan, and to know what He (God) is also doing in the midst of my "ordinary" every-day life. I think God is calling me to this, so that I will more effectively join in His efforts to bear fruit for His kingdom. I believe He is calling all of us to this, of course, not just me.

There is a line, a curtain, that we erect or place in our minds that should not be there, just as the Hebrews placed a curtain to separate the Holy of Holies from the other part of the temple. God ripped that curtain or veil down upon Christ's death and resurrection. Through the Holy Spirit, He is still trying to get us to remove the veils from over our eyes (or scales from our eyes - such as in Paul's encounter with Christ on the Damascus road) in order to see things as they really are.

Why does He want us to see more clearly? Why do you suppose he wants us to know reality...true reality? Forgive me, I know that the term "true reality" is redundant, for there should be no need to say true reality...reality on its own, is true by its very nature. But that proves my point...you understand somehow that to say them together makes sense...that we have this idea of "reality," but that there is a truer reality that we must dig deeper to get a hold of.

But why is God so determined for me, for us, to get to this true reality and live out of it? I think it is because the more detail we know and understand, because the more in-focus we become, then the better and more accurately we can pray...

...and the more accurately and detailed we pray, then the more effective our prayers are in loosening the power of the spiritual forces of heaven upon situations, circumstances and lives!

It is an amazing spiritual reality, that God gives us humans a vital and important role to play in life - in the cosmic battle of the kingdom of heaven against the kingdom of darkness...in the struggle of good versus evil. We can make a tremendous difference though our prayers! Also, as St. Teresa of Avila once said (and this is no small matter either), we are the hands and feet of Christ through which he operates most often in this world.

So, if we don't see things as they really and truly are, how then can He move and operate and accomplish His will as effectively as He could if we would cooperate with Him, and be His people and do His will? The scriptures clearly teach that God calls man to cooperate with Him, and when man does, amazing things happen.

So, erasing the line between the spiritual and material results in far more effective prayer and action, the same kind of difference that one saw between American smart bombs that were placed literally through windows of target buildings, and Saddam's Scud missiles that were simply launched and then he would turn on CNN to see if they even hit the city they were pointed toward! If you believe in prayer, and you believe that prayer is real, powerful, and can change things; and if you believe that the more detailed and specific your prayer - the more powerful and effective they are...then you must believe that if the Holy Spirit wants us to see things that we never noticed before and to see reality as it truly is, then this will result in more effective prayer and more powerful spiritual movement for God's Kingdom.

As someone once said, "Hmmm...there is much more going on here than it first seems." I don't know what God is saying to you, but He is telling me that it is time to open my blind eyes, stop the stumbling and bumbling, and see what it is He wants me to see.

Could it be, that He is calling you to do the same?

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Erasing the Line - Part 2

The following is Part 2 of a Three-Part Post:

The fact is, the spiritual and material worlds (realities) are intimately connected and woven together in one world of reality that God operates within, in every single second of every day. However, we humans have somehow pulled them apart into two separate realities or "worlds." Science has convinced us to only believe what we can "know" through our five physical (material) senses - sight, hearing, tasting, touching, and smelling - and to reject everything else as superstition, myth or fairy-tale.

Those who hold this scientific-materialistic view, literally laugh (and do so with genuine conviction) at even the slightest hint or suggestion that spiritual realities exist. They do so with extreme assurance, convinced in their own minds that they could not possibly be mistaken. Their conviction is real. Make no mistake, they are absolutely convinced of their view of reality. They are absolutely sure that there is no spiritual world. As a result, they can be extremely condescending and intimidating. They see themselves as superior, as the educated ones, the enlightened...the non-ignorant and non-superstitious. They quickly make anyone feel that to even mention spiritual realities is to brand oneself as a hillbilly who is simply uneducated or even dangerous. (Ask any student at LSU, USM, Ole Miss or most any University, who dares to stand up in the middle of biology class and challenge Darwinian evolution, as to what reaction they will receive, and you will begin to get the idea. It is such an atmosphere of condescension and intimidation that even the strongest Christian students just sit in obedient silence and never speak up. What happens to those less strong in their faith, or those who do not know any better to begin with? I would even venture that such scenarios are not just limited to the large and major universities, but can also be found far too often in our local elementary, middle schools, and high-schools as well). But I ask, who are truly the uneducated and unenlightened here? Who are the ones who are limiting their ability to understand by refusing to allow for, or admit even the possibility of spiritual realities?

Our schools and Universities have become factories of separating the spiritual from the physical/material. It started with taking prayer out of schools, continued by removing creationism from biology classes, and is now even trying to remove the words "one nation under God" from the pledge of allegiance. Our educational system is bent on the absolute and total removal of the spiritual world realities from the material.

American society and culture at large is doing the same thing. Mainstream media squirms uncomfortably when anyone mentions God or Jesus...even when an athlete being interviewed after some victory will say something like, "First of all I give all the credit to Jesus Christ." There are intense efforts to have the words "In God we trust" removed from our currency. The ten commandments are being removed from courthouses. Huge retailers prevent their people from saying Merry Christmas. All of this is the manifestation of the rise in secular-progressivism, and done under the misguided mantra of "the separation of church and state." But what is behind all of this? More important, who is behind it? The answer to the "who" question is not a movement nor a flesh and blood person. I submit that what is behind the material realities that we see in our lives every day is a spiritual reality that is dark and evil. There is much more going on than what first meets the eye. These are not disconnected, isolated events. They are connected...much more so than we can imagine.

I asked earlier, why do we allow this separation of the material from the spiritual in such a radical degree? (I am not advocating a theocracy, or total church-state integration.) But more importantly, why should we allow this separation to infiltrate, subvert, and affect our own faith and practice...and how we interpret and see ordinary events in our everyday lives...to the degree we are presently allowing it to do?

It is within this context that God is challenging me to erase this pseudo-vision of reality that I as a Christian (and we as Christians) have let influence us, sometimes in very subtle ways, and trade it for a vision that sees more clearly...to trade temporal vision for a clearer spiritual or eternal vision. In addition to our five material senses, He gives us spiritual senses through which He communicates to us, and by which we can pick up, receive, and understand spiritual realities, if we would but use them! I am speaking of such things, among others, as grace and faith.

(Please read Part 3, the conclusion, in the next post.)

Erasing the Line - Part 1

[I write the following because several people have asked me to explain more about what they noticed me working on recently, and expressed an interest in doing something similar themselves. I hope this helps.]

As I entered this new year of 2008, I did so after having carefully and prayerfully considered the past year of 2007 - my strengths, my weaknesses, my successes and failures, etc. I have done this every year for over twenty years, a process that usually begins at Thanksgiving and concludes on New Year's eve. During this more than month-long process, I ask God to guide me carefully through honest and often painful analysis and self-discovery in every part of my life. I do this in order to allow God to do a "mid-course correction" in my life-long journey and destination toward living the full life that He promises to all of us who know and follow Him.

As I mentioned above, this month-long process culminates in a personal prayer and dedication event on New Year's night. So, the moment the New Year arrives, I am in prayer, praising and thanking God for the ending year, asking forgiveness for my failures and weaknesses, and asking Him to seal those goals and priorities He has revealed to me for the coming new year. So, by the time New Year's eve arrives, I have typed the results of all this process into distinct goals and comments, covering all aspects of my life and identity - some quite detailed and utterly private. I will share that most of these goals and priorities have to do with my relationship with God, blessings I have received that I need to recognize and thank Him for, areas I need to grow in, my identity in Christ, issues in my every-day practical life in this world, things I struggle with and weaknesses, and detailed intercessory requests for the people He has laid on my heart to pray for and care for.

I use these notes throughout the year, to evaluate how I am doing and to remind myself of what God has challenged me to be and do. I should also say that these things morph to some degree, as life changes and He reveals more to me throughout the year. Some things change slightly, some things are added or enhanced, and sometimes things are completely dropped. Life is dynamic, and is always shifting. The point is, that He reveals a theme for my year, and He has me entering the new year with a clear vision and purpose - a path - for me to set out on. I want to share with you one aspect of what He has challenged me in, for the coming year 2008. I do so because I believe He may be challenging others in this same area! It is my hope and prayer, that in my sharing the following, that you will indeed recognize this particular call in your life, and that my comments will help you clarify and address this challenge more effectively. I warn that this is a long article, so I will break it up into three separate postings. Thanks for your patience as I work through these thoughts.

This year, as part of my identity in Christ that He is growing and nurturing in me, it is clear that I am to erase the line between the spiritual and material worlds, and to see the world all around me with clearer vision...to no longer see the world as we have been taught to see it, even in the church, as two separate worlds, but as one world in two parts, closely integrated and intimately linked. I would like to explain what I mean by this in quite some detail, because I think it is very important for all of us...not just me.

I have always "seen" the spiritual in things...quite honestly, perhaps even more than most. (I don't say this to promote myself, but to simply make the point that even those of us who have always "known" that the spiritual is all around us fail to fully implement this in our every-day lives!) But, I strongly feel the Spirit of God challenging me to erase this line and tear down the high wall we've erected between the two. It is not a call to deny the physical world, nor is it a call to elevate the spiritual world out of proportion to the physical. Rather it is a call to see the spiritual in the physical, and to better understand how the two are closely linked. It is a truth I already knew (as I'm sure you did as well), but I (and perhaps you too) have failed to fully appreciate and integrate into our lives...really.

You see, we often draw an extremely bold and distinct line between the material and the spiritual. This line is false...well, I should say the degree we make them so radically separate is false. This line should NOT be there to the degree we make it.

The secular world either denies and dismisses the spiritual world out-of-hand (as in science); or, it dabbles curiously into it like sticking a toe into a pool of water to test its temperature (as in para-normal TV shows that explore the possibility of a ghost haunting some family's home). Meanwhile, even the Church has unintentionally separated the two by making Sundays the day of the spiritual, and Monday through Saturday the realm of the material - or the real. This has been called "the two-story existence," whereby Christians live their lives Monday through Saturday downstairs in the informal world of material, every-day living. This is the first floor of their existence - where things are real -such as house and car payments, shopping for groceries, going out with friends, dealing with sickness, death, heartache, and pain, washing clothes and running the kids to soccer practice. Then, on Sundays, we ascend the stairs to the second floor, to "do the spiritual thing" - wherein we listen to an expert (a preacher) tell us about spiritual things, we pray and sing to God, and then after this "service" is over with, then we go back down the stairs to "the real world" - where real life happens. We fail to connect the spiritual world in every day, seemingly mundane chores and events - such as shopping for food at the local grocery store. This is, I am learning, a serious mistake.

WE fail to see the spiritual world behind the "real world."

What is really going on when we see a husband and wife arguing and saying nasty things to one another? What is really going on when we read in the paper about a rash of burglaries in homes all over downtown? What is really going on behind the rise of radical Islamic fundamentalism?...a terrorist attack in Bali...a suicide bomber in Iraq?

What is really going on when I can't seem to make progress in some area of my spiritual walk?..my devotional life...or to find the time to pray like I really need to? What is really going on when I choose to purchase food I know is not the best for me, and I fail to walk, jog, or get the exercise I know I need to? What is really going on in our local community that blacks and whites so often disagree on how to solve our problems, or to even agree to what the problems are? What is really going on that life is so darn hard? That we seem to be...well, opposed?

While I have known for a long time that the spiritual world is true and present, I must admit that I do not tie the two so intimately together as I should. God is revealing to me that this is NOT true living, or living true, as God wants us to live. I have a notion that He is revealing the same thing to many of you.

[By the way, the distinction (or distortion) of two widely separated worlds, was introduced through the teachings and writings of the Greek philosopher Plato...and when we allow this line of distortion, we live more Platonic than Christian. We have no idea (again our sight is dim) of how much ancient classical Greek philosophy we live by today -in 2008 - as well as Augustinian (Augustine's) theology - both of which have influenced us tremendously, but is NOT scriptural. Such things as two-world living, that I speak of here, as well as determinism, which I will leave for another time. Neither are scriptural.]

I am strongly being challenged by God this new year (actually it began in mid-October of 2007 while on a trip to Ukraine) to shatter this line of demarcation between the material and the spiritual. To erase completely "the line that blurs reality" - which the Holy Spirit has named it in my mind.

The Holy Spirit is revealing to me through scripture reading and exegesis, through direct communication, through other people - especially Christian brothers and sisters (but interestingly, not always through Christians-sometimes I hear a non-believer expressing some hint of a deeper reality, and that is fascinating!), through studies, through reading and studying the beliefs of the Christian church in the early centuries of the Church (before the rise of enlightenment thinking and science), through a study into understanding the influences of secular and pagan philosophy and misguided theology and movements even from within the ranks of Christianity [such as gnosticism and determinism], through books, movies and various other conduits of His revelation, that such a separation...such a line...falsifies reality and makes me blind to what is really going on all around me. In the past, in so delineating the material world from the spiritual world, I have failed to see how a common "event" in my life, such as receiving a much needed payment for work just in the nick of time; or perhaps feeling an inner urge to do something for someone (or perhaps someone does something nice for me); or, we see on the news the assassination of Indian ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is very much connected to the spiritual world...to dynamic spiritual goings-on, to the ebb and flow of spiritual realities and struggles...on the level of individuals and families; on the level of societies, cultures, sub-cultures, communities and cities; on the level of regions, people-groups, and countries; to the wider world at-large, and even ultimately to the universal cosmic spiritual war that is going on between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of darkness, between God and Satan on all of these levels.

I know in my heart I am not alone in my dim vision and blindness. Do you sense that maybe you too have drawn this line - that a wall exists between your material world and the spiritual world? Do you see the spiritual behind the material in your own life? I mean, not just "here and there," but in practically everything do you see it? Is God revealing and challenging you in a similar way? I would suspect that perhaps He is indeed saying the same thing to you!

My Sanctuary

One of my favorite movie scenes takes place in the epic "Last of the Mohican's" when the lead character is explaining why he left his friend's bodies unburied, a family known as the Camerons. He glances up to implore the lady to look up at amazing canopy of a billion stars in the nighttime sky, and he tells her a wonderful story about how the stars got there. Then, he tells her simply, "That's the Cameron's monument."

I had a similar experience while riding out to Clear Springs National Forest last Sunday. No, I openly confess (without any twinge of guilt I might add) that my butt was not parked in a Church sanctuary somewhere - that is, not in a pew in a building or other man-made structure. But that's not to say I didn't worship the God I believe in, along with millions of other Christians around the world, nor does it mean that I was not "in sanctuary"!

While driving out, the sun, though hidden behind a huge bank of billowy clouds, was shining down in over two dozen brilliant rays that penetrated small openings here and there, which stretched from West to East. I've never quite seen anything like it, and it remained in place for the entire drive out. God spoke powerfully to me in that thirty minute drive, and I worshipped Him through a magnificent display of His creation. No, I didn't hear a human sermonizing. I saw no uplifted arms nor heard no special singer. But neither did those in the pews see or hear what I did. I'm certainly not knocking worshipping indoors, but I am saying that God speaks clearly and powerfully (sometimes much more so) without any human assistance - with all due respect to any humans who might be offended by such a truth.

I thank God that He speaks to us in many, many various ways, and that we can worship Him in just as many ways. Selah.

A Better Weekend

I really don't take sports that seriously anymore, but last weekend my teams lost big games. My Notre Dame Fighting Irish got blasted by Michigan, and my LSU Tigers lost a close game to Auburn. This weekend was much better, the Tigers routed Tulane, which beat MS State at Starkville last weekend. My Irish managed to come from way behind to beat Michigan State in East Lansing. To top it all off, both Alabama and Ole Miss LOST. Now that's a better weekend! [Sorry Rebel and Crimson Tide fans...just a friendly dig!]

What Freedom Really Is

Recently, I heard Oprah Winfrey's "partner" commenting on what he thought freedom really was. I don't remember where I saw him commenting or even what his name is, but I'd like to repeat what he said and expound upon his idea a bit. He said that freedom is not singing, "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee I sing." Rather, he said, "Freedom is a way of thinking." I agree with that completely.

Freedom is a way of thinking. Freedom is a way of living. Freedom is a mindset. Freedom is getting out of our little box, and the box other people try to keep us in, and thinking of other possibilities, solutions and answers.

Freedom, according to Suze Orman, is living in such a way as to deny the life of lies we've become comfortable living in. That way is "safe" but a dead end. I agree with her also. It's not easy to live the truth. To do so means you have to face all the real reasons of why you are the way you are, or live the way you live, instead of living the lie of fooling yourself and others. Facing the truth means you have to get into why it is you overeat, why you never exercise, why you're unhappy with your marriage, why you spend your money on shoes and material things rather than save or invest...and the list goes on and on. This leads to an honest appraisal of self and a potential "house-cleaning" of our character. In other words, freedom begins with truth, casting off the life of lies, and being who we are in Christ - not who others think we should be. If we like who we are and accept who we are, strengths and weaknesses alike, then we can move forward and be successful in life.

There is no freedom on par with enjoying who we are in Christ once we've been brutally honest with ourselves and allowed Him into our deepest ego areas, and allowed Him to live in us and transform us. A vital part of that which is often overlooked and not accomplished in the salvation process is refusing to live how others want us to, and instead living how we are supposed to live in Christ. It is also not focusing on legalistic, externals, but being faithful in your heart. It is living in the truth, and casting off the life of lies. We often lie first to ourselves, and to our own hearts...at least, that has been my experience. But we also must address the influence of others when it (as it often does) interferes with our identity in Christ. His truth will set us free, but so often we have to throw off the chains of what others expect and demand we be, in order to accept that freedom and new life. Accountability to others is a vital part, but it must be the type of accountability that is concerned with upholding biblical principles as we understand them, not upholding the laws and traditions (the local culture) of men - even if it is cloaked in the wrappings of what others call "christian."

Choosing to live in freedom begins with reality...God's reality. The reason so many "good" people live in bondage is because they are unwilling to face the fear of exploring the reality of the dirt, laziness, desire for control, cruelty, pride, weakness, selfishness, crud, and impurity in their own hearts.

As Red says in the movie Shawshank Redemption, "Get busy living, or get busy dieing."

The choice is ours. We can sit around and do lots of activities and "play" church. Or, we can allow God to skewer our souls with the hot coals of the Holy Spirit's fire in order to purify and make us honest with ourselves. God seeks only those hearts that are humble and contrite.

So, where are you right now in your life? Are you masquerading? Are there areas in your life you are hiding from others...even hiding from yourself - pushing it down 'cause you can't face the truth of who you've become? Are you free?

Life Outside the Box

I have to say a few things here...so indulge me while I get up on my soapbox and defend this blog.

As I prepare to begin launching another round of blog posts, I'd like to ONCE AGAIN make it clear what a blog is. Or better, maybe I should make it clear what a blog is NOT:

A blog is not a place to be blindly loyal to the core social value of small southern towns to "never, ever hurt any one's feelings." Thus, with these definitions in mind, I am guilty of being disloyal and "mean." I apologize in advance for trampling on anyones "feelings," but I do hold firmly to the notion that honesty is sorely needed.

A blog is not a place to be blindly loyal to the traditional church value that you must think like everyone else thinks, vote like everyone else votes, and act like everyone else acts. Thus, I am apostate and a disappointment.

A blog is not a place to keep the mask on and be a fake. Thus I don't conform.

A blog is not a place to continue to live a life that is a lie. Thus, I am dangerous and even subversive (as was Christ).

Allow me to educate and teach as to what a blog IS:

A blog is...

...a place where one expresses opinions and speaks the truth as they know it to be, regardless of whether it may ruffle a few feathers or not - and regardless of whose feathers are ruffled. Thus I live in freedom.

...a place to NOT BE IN THE BOX with everyone else, but to speak FREELY. I'll say more about what FREEDOM really and truly is in an upcoming post. I'll just say this for now: I put on a uniform for four years in a combat arms M.O.S. (military occupation specialty) and walked the fence of freedom for fellow American citizens, a couple of whom are now complaining how dare I say some of the things I write on in this blog. Well, it is my view that I certainly have earned the first amendment right to speak my opinion, especially while responding to other people's publicly expressed sentiments or exhortations. As an American soldier, I joined a long line of Americans who help protect and defend our constitutional and inalienable rights. I joined with others in working my butt off, sacrificing, and placing my life at risk so that all of us could remain free in our lives and not have to suffer the loss of the very freedoms (including the right to free speech) that a couple of complainers now want to deny me. I have even been accused by one, of being "disloyal" because I left a church to follow God's call on my life! Wow. In defense of myself, I would simply ask, in light of my military service to this country, as a veteran, and in light of our constitutional rights, who is being disloyal to whom?

If expressing what I feel to be biblical principals - even more important - defending biblical truth in the face of what I honestly and sincerely feel to be pseudo-Christian sentiments and exhortations even though those sentiments and exhortations may look good or "feel" right, and if in doing so may bruise an ego or two well, tough. But what debate and exchange of ideas of any merit doesn't sting a bit? It always hurts a little to be criticised or told you are a bit off in an area. There is not growth without growing pains. Do we expect there to never be pain in the marketplace of exchanging ideas and thoughts. Do we not recognize that growth means some pain. As iron sharpens iron, sparks fly! If one lives his life bending himself into a pretzel in order to never hurt anyone's feelings, then how will he ever be an effective follower of Christ?!? He becomes merely a follower of man's social mores and codes, always twisting in the winds of trying to guess at, and trying to avoid offending the sensitivities of fickle and selfish human beings. One thing is for sure, he would NOT be live according to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Any reading of the Gospels or the New Testament as a whole will quickly reveal that the Gospel is actually offensive to many...especially those humans with their own agendas. Even a study of the history of the Church will reveal the same truth - the Gospel hurts peoples' feelings quite often. Just ask any of the translators of scripture, such as John Wycliffe or John Huss, the later of whom was burned at the stake for his efforts to put the Bible in the language of the common people of his time. Ask Martin Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and the other reformers. Ask John Wesley, or Jonathan Edwards if they ever hurt anyone's feelings!

As a Christian, you certainly musn't go out of your way to intentionally hurt people, but this is a prime example of where today's impotent church far too often preaches a gospel that lacks in power because it preaches man's goals, values and social mores instead of God's sometimes stinging, biting truth. There is a needed balance - to speak the truth in love - to be both a prophet and a priest - to kick your butt when you need it and also to give you encouragement when you need it. Truly, this blog is not made up of post after post of only criticism, or biting harshly on some mistaken idea or ideal - actually that is rare. No, the truth is that there are plenty of encouragements and light-hearted posts to be found here. But, dare I ever criticize any of the problematic ways we do church today, then out come the whiners.

I'm amazed at the warped idea, that if in expressing my opinion I should "hurt someone's feelings," that I shouldn't express the opinion. What a naive and childish approach to adult and Christian dialogue! How can I know when or if my opinion will hurt someone's feelings, and when did this become an arbiter of truth? Also, you can't have it both ways. You can't exhort other people in public to think, act, or be a certain way, without expecting feedback on those exhortations. Hello?...that's basic freedom. Is it tyranny you want? Don't want any freedom of speech? Then move to North Korea, China or Cuba. I lived in Russia right after the fall of communism. I know the value of watching first hand a people discover the right to criticize their "leaders," or others who tell them how to live. So, If you can't stand the fire, then stay out of the kitchen...or go to the local baby department and get a big supply of noonies.

Another core reality of today is the lack of proper distance or compartmentalization between people's work & ideas - and their identity. People take things personally to a degree they shouldn't. Some take criticism of their way of doing things or their thoughts, as a personal attack upon their identity, character or interpret it as disloyalty! Actually, it is worse than this...if one merely disengages (leaves) and moves to another calling and stops attending, it is translated even as betrayal! Wow. It is an unfortunate reality in small communities in small towns that simply should not be. I think this is much too high a standard to force upon well-intentioned brothers and sisters in Christ - to have the idea that once in a faith community-then you must always stay in that particular faith community, and is far too attached to personal identities. Frankly, I think it says more about them, that they should be demanding such loyalty to this degree to begin with. Such hurt feelings also, in my opinion, quite possibly reveal low self-esteem. Where is the concept of the church of God as a universal reality? Where is the idea that Churches are called to plant other Churches, even in the same communities? Where is the conspet that being loyal to God supersedes loyalty to human beings?

In my following of God's plan for me, I left an old reality for a new one. You wouldn't believe the fierce criticism and judgment (99% of which was behind my back) that I've experienced because of this. I'm not whining about it, I read about the same things when I read the Gospels and the life of Paul in the New Testament. It's what being a disciple of Christ is about - leaving the false matrix of the world behind. I'm sorry, but to me, to keep quiet is to be and live a lie. I don't want to be you. I want to be me. I refuse to allow you to conform me to what you want me to be. At the same time, I am certainly open to have my mind, my way of doing things, and my ideas changed by dialogue with others. Convince me with scripture and your witness. I will not be convinced to conform simply on the basis of local social mores, man-made traditions, and the expectations of others that are not biblical, not matter how shrill the complaining gets.

So, here's how it works: If I observe that the church - especially the system or way we do Church - is going astray or is off-target, and I disagree with those things; or, if I disagree with a teaching or tradition, then I promise to speak my mind and give my honest opinion on the matter. I hold that not only do I have a right to express my opinion, but a responsibility as well. I certainly have no problem with honest debate on an issue, and disagreement with my own opinions...I welcome such dialogue...and I am willing to change my view or stance on an issue (those who know me best will easily attest to this.) What I will not tolerate, is disagreement merely because I disagree!

Who are these "censors" who never want opposition, disagreement, or who seek the avoidance at all cost, of anyone's feelings being hurt? Do they honestly want us to merely conform to their ways and be like them without debate or disagreement? That is not the lesson of Acts 15. It would seem to me that the arena of debate and discussion, sometimes even sharp debate, is a good thing - it leads to sharper ideas and practices, through synthesis. The practice of shutting up and doing as you're told is not a high enough standard for me. It would seem to me that we should want each other to do our best to conform to what we feel and know Christ wants us to conform to. Imago Dei. That is what the scriptures say we should do. Perhaps some expect and demand that we conform to something lower.

Another thing. A lame idea is a lame idea. If you are the bearer of a lame idea and someone calls you on it, it may hurt your feelings, but adults grow and learn in the arena of conversation and idea sharing. That's called accountability. But today's church (little c) doesn't like accountability at all. Sit down (in the pew), shut up and go with the party line (believe what our denomination believes), give us your money (tithe or you aren't a true Christian), and listen to our expert (the CEO Pastor). How far away from true Christianity are we supposed to drift???!!! I'm not the only one who sees the ever-widening gap between what we practice and what we read in the scriptures. That is why hundreds of thousands the world over are abandoning the church as we know it in an attempt to reconnect with God. I'm just amazed that more "good" people just refuse to see it.

Another thing, I don't go out of my way to "target" anyONE (a person) on some focused agenda where I stay on them forever and a day. If you think I do then you are too self-important, and need to take a deep breath and relax. There may be times when I get on someones case - usually a public government official on the federal or national level, or perhaps a set of people who hold to a particular "group-think" which is inane - such as closed-minded traditionalists. If you look closely, it is most always ideas, practices or beliefs that I attack or defend - not the person. there are exceptions, and sometimes I do make comments on the apparent flaws of character that are based upon what they are saying, doing or believing. I think Mullah Omar's character is evil. (He is a radical Islamic terrorist.) Am I judging him? Yep. Sure am. In my opinion, there's nothing unbiblical about reaching that conclusion.

To keep quiet to me is to be fake and a phony. I don't ask that you agree with me. I don't ask to keep silent in response to me. But what I will NOT stand by without comment or response to, is for those who publicly tell others how to live, but they themselves will not stand for critique of their own ways and thoughts.

I appreciate the many who read this blog and respond. Your ideas have helped me to re-form and shape some of my own thoughts, or have reinforced ideas and thoughts I already had. In many cases, you have educated me and brought to my attention things I never would have learned or thought of on my own. You make me better, as a human and especially as a Christian. I can only hope that I help some of you in the same way, by the thoughts I share, the questions I raise, and the solutions I offer. I humbly and sincerely thank you for the great dialogue. For the couple of people who complain about my right to voice painful truths, blogs such as this one exist for that very purpose...to express one's opinions and views on matters that are often controversial and difficult.

Not all of us wish to live our lives within the box.

Okay...I'll get down off my soapbox now...

Will Work For Food

To all you pansies who work indoors during this, the hottest year on record in the history of the United States, here is a shot of just one example of what I've been doing this summer.

Crikie it's hot!...

I'm Still Standin'

It's been awhile since I posted last, so methought I outta post something to let people know I'm still alive and kicking. Call it an extended "sabbatical"...writer's block...burnout...post dramatic traditional church disorder...or whatever...I just had to get away to the wilderness for awhile and process decades of Christianeze dis-ease. My soul needed an enema (as do many churches - little "c" ). Anyhoo...I'm back...or rather, I'm still standin'...(I never left, only not posting)...shakin my little fist in the face of a self-serving church gone absolutely mad...(WHO ARE WE SERVING!!!???) and shaking my fist at the Opposer. Only by God's grace and in His might and strength do we stand. I've also been busy launching a new business and leading the teachings in June...now that July is here I'm off the hook. Hope this finds all of you well and "living a life worthy of the calling you have received from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Peace.

The Cranberries

In being a musician and drummer for a long time now, music is a primary passion of mine.

I've followed many, many bands over the years, and have enjoyed the music of many various artists in a wide array of genres.


However, almost never is a "rock n roll artist" been a recipient of my admiration or deep respect. While I love music, I certainly don't worship it. Some of the most gifted musicians are woefully deficient in their character, morals, or thinking departments.

Yet, there are rays of sunshine...

One of my favorite groups for many years has been The Cranberries...and especially their extremely talented and unusual vocalist.

Most artists and musicians tend to be social liberals. I've admired Dolores O'Riordan's powerful and gifted vocals and her band's music since their beginnings in Ireland. I also admire O'Riordan (now O'Riordan-Burton) for her stance against abortion, and she is "vocal" about it. That takes a special moxy in a world where most of her peers are quite the opposite. She catches "grief" about her views from others in the industry, but she fires right back and exposes their shallow, selfish thinking.

Way to go Dolores. Thanks for being truly special.

A Missions Trip To India

Less than a month ago I was blogging about being a global person...because I was feeling the call of the East wind on my soul, beckoning me to feed that part of my heart...my passion for overseas travels and missional activity to other foreign cultures (see my blog: Global People, 3.11.06).

So, what do you suppose happens this week?

Only that I get an email from my mentor, my former overseas missions supervisor...my Paul...and I suppose I'm one of his Timothys...the man whom I named my first son after...asking me to consider going with him to India...

So I'm throwing down the fishing net and going...

...with God's will and his blessing.

October 23 to November 9. Three weeks.

Back to being a global person, on a global mission. (I've lived four years overseas, and two in Russia).

My view of being a missionary...

Is that you and I are missionaries to our local culture.

You see, there are three geographical "layers" or "concentric rings" of missionary activity:

1. Local
2. Regional
3. Global

This view of mine is based upon Acts 1:8, "And you willl receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem [locally], and in all Judea and Samaria [regionally], and to the ends of the earth [globally]" [words in the brackets are mine].
Please pray with me as I prepare for this trip, and that God will be honored through these efforts. In the meantime, please be a missionary where you are...and thank you for remembering me in your prayers.

Spark! Was a Blast!

I just got back from our latest Adventure! Church at Clear Springs National Forest- the most well attended yet.

I love our "centered-set" church!

What a lovely, incredible way to be and do church!

As William Wallace cried out in Braveheart: "Freedom!!!!"

I love it!

Freedom in Christ is: Ignoring man-made boundaries.

Freedom in Christ is: Centering on Christ and being in Him.

Thanks to everyone of you who participated this weekend...I enjoyed the fun, the laughter, the prayer, the serious campfire discussions...but thanks most to my Lord and God...who pushed the spark of flame higher and brighter in my life this weekend. You are my God, and your flame burns within me.

Amen.

Shooting Rampage Leaves Carnage & Lessons

I am presently the project manager on a refurbishing project my construction firm is doing at Claiborne County Hospital in Port Gibson, Mississippi.

Yesterday, March 17th, I started work at 7:00am, going to a series of material suppliers in Natchez to get supplies before traveling up to Port Gibson with Kevin, one of the guys on my crew. At around 7:40am, I was picking up material from Natchez Electric. At about the same time in Port Gibson, a man was beginning a murderous shooting rampage that would leave one dead, another wounded, three children without a father, a wife without a husband, and the gunman in jail.

We hadn't left Natchez yet when I began receiving calls saying, "You shouldn't go to Port Gibson today - there are shootings going on." As it turns out, a former County employee fired eight years ago over sexual harassment charges went on a rampage and killed the County Attorney who defended the County in his lawsuit to be reinstated, and shot a woman who supported the victim's claim that she was indeed sexually harassed by the gunman.

My own situation doing the work in the hospital is dicey - having replaced a man fired for doing such a poor job. Sad isn't it when you have to worry that because you are replacing someone fired off a job that your life could be in danger. I was told twice to reconsider going to work. I don't scare that easily. However, I did swing by my house and grab my Beretta and two fully loaded clips of ammo...

By the time we got to the hospital a helicopter was landing to medivac out the female victim. A TV cameraman scrambled across the road amidst the rising dust-up, frantically trying to get a shot of the chopper landing. TV crews were there all day, getting interviews and information. Nurses and staff at the hospital were clearly shaken. The County closed all of its offices and sent everyone home.

What makes a man go off like that? Was he really innocent of the charges that led to his firing?

Even assuming for a second he was fired incorrectly (ample evidence supports his being fired), what about his choice to handle things the way he did? The headline stories in today's paper talk about how he just "wouldn't let it go." Stewing like that for eight years - eight years - letting bitterness ruin his life, and now that of his family and certainly the family of the attorney he killed...

...what have we come to?

The shooter's friends say he was active in his local church.

What?!!

I repeat...the shooter's friends say he was active in his local church.

Why does that not surprise me anymore?

What have we come to, that "church" isn't transformative?

We have churches on every practically every street corner. I know Port Gibson is known for its churches. Well, make that its church buildings.

The main thoroughfare through Port Gibson has literally been renamed "Church Street."

Its most famous church has a steeple with a hand and finger pointing toward God.

Like that pointing finger reminds us, maybe we need to get back to looking toward God for the way we "do" and practice church? Is that a remote possibility?

Are we making a difference in the lives of those sitting in our pews?

Are we really?

The BTK killer Dennis Rader was active in his church...

I could go on and on about how church doesn't seem to make much difference.

Is there a "hello?" in all this somewhere?

I saw a sign today, posted by a Natchez church which read, "The best way to get even is to forget."

I think that is sadly typical of our thinking, and falls far short.

I think this way of thinking helps lead to what happened in Port Gibson.

Why? Because people don't and can't forget.

That is totally useless advice.

It is useless because it's impractical. It is useless because it does not involve God in the solution. This shooter in Port Gibson just could not forget. Who can forget wrongs? We are not called by God to forget our wrongs, we are called to something much more effective than that. Did his church help him? I hope his church did not offer up the same advice to him as the sign I read...to "just forget it." That message is especially sad in light of what the Bible actually tells us to do in such situations.

If you were to ask the people today in Port Gibson, where the blood is freshly washed off of the street, I think they would all agree that we need God in our process.

A better message on that church sign would read...

"The best way to get even is to forgive."

Now that would be transformative.

Global People

I was talking to a buddy the other day while driving to "the city too beautiful to burn." I found myself saying that there are five sorts of people...

What kinds of people?

Well, the category of the kind of people I'm trying to describe fit into a matrix of a kind of cross between their geographical realities and their worldview and outlook. I know I'm not making any sense (the point of this blog post), so just try to figure out what I mean by reading the different sorts...

Five Sorts of People:

Sort 1 - "Community Folk" - are those who were born in a community, were raised there, and while they may have moved several times, it was always moves within the general vicinity of that community. They've never really seen much outside their own very local context.

Sort 2 - "State" People - are those who have lived in different communities around their home state, or maybe if you're located close to a border, the state next door. They have been slightly more exposed to other cultures than the aforementioned community folk. But in reality, they've just experienced more of the same sub-cultures of group #1.

Sort 3 - "Regional" People - these folks have stepped out and have lived in several locations around one of the major regions of the U.S., but never out of that region - for example moving around within the Deep South. I have a friend who fits this category well, he stepped up from Sort 2 when he moved to North Carolina. He has definitely been changed and stretched by his experiences with other people's and other culture's values, worldviews, and ways of living. Still, there are further places that would likely cause even more drastic cultural stretching.

Sort 4 - "National" People - these are people who have lived in various places around the country. They for sure have been stretched, unless with each move they've managed to carefully locate and insulate themselves within little tribes (or "ghettos") of people just like them. That is possible to do, but not very likely.

Sort 5 - "Global" People - People who have lived (long term - not short term missionary trips) all over the world and who have been really stretched by other cultures with different languages, values, religions and ways of doing things.

I'm sure one could make categories within each...and that might be helpful. But I think you get my point.

Why do I mention all of this? Who knows. Maybe it's because it helps me explain to myself why I feel so out of place and such an oddball sometimes.

Please don't misunderstand. I'm not saying one is better than another...although I believe the opportunity to get booted rudely out of one's "box" is much more likely as you go up the list. It's an opportunity thing. One can move around and have the opportunity to expand and grow, but waste it by taking the opportunity in a bad direction. On the other hand, a Sort 1 person could catch a sniff of the opportunity to grow in mind and character out of their little box, and do so by the means available to him or her.

Boxes can be very blinding though. So, more than likely it is a good thing to be higher on the list, although again, it is certainly possible to be out-of-the-box and be a Sort 1 - if you have an open mind, read a lot, comprehend and reflect upon what you read, and you have a heart for other people.

It's weird being a Global person in a small community.

I often find myself speaking a different language. I understand "them" - I came from where they are.

But many times "they" don't understand me.

It's no "big" deal. I suppose I just have to work harder at communication.

Probably didn't understand a bit of this did you?...