A Torch On a Mountain

Year in Review

2011-12-31T15:12:00.000-08:00

    Well...It's that time. I realize that I haven't blogged in a while, but I've had a lot going on lately, and to be honest, blogging hasn't been hight up on my list. Anyway, it is now the last day of 2011 (and for some people, it is already the early hours of 2012). I thought I would compile a list of my favourite things from this year. Not like Oprah...I'm not going to be giving away anything. I am just going to talk about my favourite books, movies, tv shows, moments from this past year. Hopefully I will make it exciting, fun and entertaining. Let's begin with movies:

        My 5 Favourite movies that I saw in 2011 (In no real particular order):
                  1) Memento. I realize that this movie is much older than this past year...but I had the pleasure of watching it this year on Netflix...and it was amazing. Christopher Nolan created an incredible story, intricate plot, confusing yet gripping. Had me pinned the entire time, and left me shocked at the end of the movie as I thought back about what I had seen. (Also watched his even earlier movie called Following. That one is also highly recommended)
                  2) Bridesmaids. It's Judd Apatow's version of a chick flick. It is raunchy, crude...but very very funny. Kristen Wiig is amazing (as always), but every member of the cast really did an incredible job. Highly enjoyable.
                   3) It's Kind of a Funny Story. Zach Galifinakis takes on a more serious role in this movie, about a psych ward. It has funny moments, but it is filled with heart. Again, a great cast, and a fantastic plot.
                   4) Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Could very well be the best M:I yet. Filled with humour (thanks in large part to Simon Pegg), and incredible action sequences. Had me from the opening scene. Yes...it stars Tom Cruise, but it's produced by JJ Abrams (and also includes Sawyer from LOST)...how can you go wrong with that?
                     5) Crazy, Stupid, Love. I just want to say that I LOVED this movie. Not as hysterical as I expected it to be...but it was very well done, and did have numerous laugh out loud moments. Bottom line, however, is it deals with serious issues, like marriage, love and divorce...and encourages people to fight for those they love. It is filled with heart, but it's not sappy. Just overall, fantastic!

     My least favourite movie from 2011
                 I don't even have to explain too much from this one...Hangover II. It was a complete duplicate from it's predecessor. Highly disappointing.

   TV Shows that I enjoyed this year:
          Modern Family...still, the best written current comedy on TV in my opinion
          How I Met Your Mother....Finally started getting into this show, and it is very entertaining and funny.
           The Office...I thought without Carrell it would suck, but it has actually been a very surprising season filled with laughs!
            New Girl....Zooey Deschenal is hilarious as always. Kind of cheesy at moments...but good.
            Up All Night...Didn't watch as much of this one as I would have liked, but Will Arnett is hysterical.

   Best music from 2011:
          Switchfoot: Vise Verses. Nearly a perfect album!
          The Civil Wars. A weird sound, but very good.
          Hot Chelle Rae. I have to admit...they are very catchy!
          Michael Buble Christmas. Love or hate Holiday music...Buble has a voice for Christmas.
          Tyler Ward/Boyce Avenue. I just really got into both of these guys this year. AMAZING stuff!
          Relient K is for Karaoke. Best Cover Album ever. Just sayin'.

    Some of the Books I read this year (with a score out of 10)
          Love Wins (Rob Bell)- 9/10. Not nearly as controversial as I expected, and raised some amazing questions.

          Velvet Elvis (Rob Bell)-8/10. Classic Rob Bell...raised many of the Love Wins questions.

           Girl With the Dragon Tatoo/Hornets Nest/Played with Fire (Steig Larsson)-7/10. Had great plot, and interesting characters...but the Swedish names and places got confusing, as did some of the Swedish terms. (still want to see the movies tho).

            Bossypants (Tina Fey)- 9/10. Funny, enlightening. I Love Tina Fey, and this book makes me love her even more!

            Is Everyone Hanging out with Me? (Mindy Kaling)-8.5/10. I give it a half point less than Tina Fey's book only because I read Bossypants first, so it set the bar high. Still a fantastic book though!

            Steve Jobs (Walter Isaacson)- 9.5/10. Everything you want from a biography. It's honest, raw, and isn't afraid to show the good and the bad about Steve Jobs. A fascinating, enlightening read.

            Moonlight Mile (Dennis Lehane)-8.5/10. Not as good as it's prequel Gone Baby Gone, but a nice continuation from that story. Amazing character development, and moral dilemma's.

            Book of Negroes (Lawrence Hill)- 9.5/10. INCREDIBLE read. Seriously...one of the best Historical Fiction novels I have ever read!

             Simply Christian (NT Wright)-8/10. Great thoughts, by a great theologian. I just had to re-read a far parts of it though because some of it went over my head.

             The Know-It All (AJ Jacobs)-8.5/10. Nice, funny, entertaining read.

              God Without Religion (Andrew Farley)- 9/10. Easy read, but very challenging. Great book!

             127 Hours (Aron Ralston)- 8.5/10. Lot's of technical climbing terms, but the survival story is outstanding!

             Cornered (Ron MacLean)- 8/10. For hockey fans, especially Canadian hockey fans...it doesn't get much better than this biography of one of the iconic hockey figures in the country!

            I Am Ozzy (Ozzy Osbourne)- 9/10. I can't stand Ozzy...but his biography was incredible. I couldn't put it down, and I actually am able to tolerate him as a person knowing now all that he has been through!

   Best book of the Year!
           Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is by far the best Biography (actually...best book in general!) I have read this year, if not in many years. For anyone who loves historical stories, especially WWII survival stories, it doesn't get any better than this one. Well written, and the story is INCREDIBLE!

   My favourite moments of the year:
        1) First off, the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup was amazing! Tim Thomas is a beast, and was incredible!
         2) Getting a full time job at House of James has been great! Love the store, and the people I work with. Great environment to be a part of!
        3) Speaking at camp this past summer. Week went great, and was even told I was the best speaker some of the campers have ever had. Was awesome to be able to share the Word with kids, in a fun and engaging way.
      4) JETS ARE BACK!!!!! Seriously...best thing about this year is the return of the Winnipeg Jets. As a Canadian Hockey Fan, and as a Manitoban, I am so stoked that they have returned.

Well...that was my year (briefly). Lots has happened. It's been a tough year, in fact it could be said that it's been the toughest year for me yet....but there have been good moments. I've read some amazing books, watched some fantastic movies and TV shows, heard some great music and was a witness to many incredible world events (good and bad ones). It has been a year I will never forget, and one that has pushed me to the brink. One that has tested me as a man, as a Christian, and as a husband. But here I stand...on the verge of crossing over into 2012. Who knows what this year will hold. Who knows if it will be any easier, or if it will in fact be even tougher.
   Here's to 2012. May it be a year of success! May it be a year of discovering new things, adventures, joys and excitement. If your 2011 was a great one, I hope that this coming year is even better...and if your 2011 was difficult, I pray that this upcoming year will be much easier. God Bless and Happy New Year.

This or That, Either/Or, Us Vs. Them!

2011-11-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

Christianity, it seems at least, has become a religion of Either/Or. We are a religion that has divided itself into "us against them", and the sad thing is, most of the division is between fellow Christians. It's not Us (as Christians) against Them (The non-believers) most of the time...it has become Us (insert denomination/theological belief) against Another opossing denomination/theological belef. To be honest, it sickens me and frustrates me.
   Now, I realize that there has to be some level of Either/Or. It's impossible to both believe in God and be an Atheist It's impossible to be a pacifist and yet believe in War. But a lot of the Either/Or's we have are needless. I hate how Christianity has become a large, diverse group of people at war with itself. I love the idea of diversity. I love the vast aray of denominations, and the fact that people can believe in the same God, and yet have healthy debate and discussion about things that they disagree with about that God (or the Bible). Unfortunately, the things that I love about Christianity is becoming a thing of the past. There is no longer a healthy community discussion. It's evolved into arguments, curses and verbal warfare. Not everything has to be a This/That. Not everything needs to be an Either/Or, and not everything needs to be a Us/Them. Here are some things that ae traditionally an Either/Or, that I personally am on the fencefor:
    Creation/Evolution. Now, when I say "Creation" here I am referring to the traditional 7 day creation, not the mere fact that God ceated the world (because THAT I believe with all my heart). Christians have creed 2 camps. Either you believe in the 7 day Creation that God spoke into existence or you believe in the billion year Evolution that God had no part of. Most Christians it seems would say that it is impossible to be a Christian and believe in Evolution. To that I say, Bullcrap! I will agree that it is impossible to be a Christian and believe in an evolution that God had no part of...but Evolution in and of itself is not evil. I believe that God created the world. I also believe that God gave us brains, and knowledge and SCIENCE. I think we are stupid if we neglect the proof. Do we reject the idea of gravity because it's not mentioned in the Bible? Or the idea of a round Earth because the Bible refers to a flat Earth? No. We learn, and we grow as things become clear. I thnk God is shaking his head at many of us for rejecting some Science because we think that it disproves God. God is big enough to handle adversity. Instead of seeing Science and thinking, "Wow...so THAT'S how God did it" we end up thinking "Blasphemy! This is trying to disprove the need for God!". Just because Science takes away a lot of the mystery doesn't make it any less wonderful or amazing. Science doesn't disprove God. It's OK to believe Science AND the Bible. I give you my permission!
    Pro-Life/Pro-Choice. What's that? I'm taking on the abortion debate? You bet I am! Now, first and foremost I believe that abortion as an act is wrong 99% of the time. I am a firm believer in the choice of life, and a firm believer that life begins at conception. At the same time however, I believe that God gave us free will and the right to choose. I think that, while I disagree with the act, the choice should still be legal. Will this be controversial? Yes. Will people hate me for saying this? Maybe. Here is why I believe it needs to be legal: First of all, whether it is legal or not will not stop people from getting abortions. The problem with it being illegal is that, the abortions that are done will be sketchy and will probably lead to more botched surgeries where both the baby AND the mother die. Also, if the mother ever needs help recovering from the abortion(physically, mentaly or psychologicaly) she will be afraid to come forward. She will have to deal with the effects for the rest of her life without anyone there to help her. At least now, she is a bit more likely to come forward and ask for help. Secondly, I believe that there are some cases when Abortion (while sad, and disappointing) is necessary. I believe that, if the pregnancy will put the mothers life in serious risk, that the mother should be able to choose to abort the pregnancy to save her life. I hate how the Pro-Life people ONLY care about the life of the unborn baby. Do they not remember that Life continues AFTER birth as well? If the mother is going to die while giving birth, or while carrying the baby in her womb, is it not better to abort the baby (which would likely die along with the mother anyway) and save the mothers life?
    Final one (I could keep going on, but this is getting kind of long!) Chan/Bell. Now it seems you are either Pro-Rob Bell or Pro-Francis Chan. It seems that if you enjoyed Love Win, you have to hate Chan, and if you hated Love Wins you have to hate Bell. But why? First off, I would argue that, just because an author writes one controversial book doesn't mean everything else he has preached is wrong and blasphemous (on that note...since when did controversial=blapshemy?). I've heard people say that they returne Bell's books (that they used to enjoy) after Love Wins came out because they disagreed with his ideas in THAT book. It's ok to like both. I prefer Bell to Chan, but that doesn't mean I think that Chan is wrong, it's a preference for me. More specifically though, we have this idea that you can't like both Love Wins AND Erasing Hell. But I do. I like one more than the other, but I still enjoyed both books and can agree with where both are coming from. Can they both be 100% right? No. But is one of them 100% wrong? Most likely not. It's ok to like both. It's ok to read both, struggle with it and ask questions..in fact that is encouraged. Not liking one idea by an author and preacher doesn't mean we need to write off EVERY idea by that pastor of author. It just means we need to ask questions and discern!
   Well...those are my thoughts. There are other Either/Or's I could get into, but I am interested in what you have to say. What are YOUR Either/Or's. What are the things that you are on the fence on that other people assume has to be one or the other? Do you agree with my ideas or am I wrong? Give me your thoughts, comments and questions!

Gender Equality and Divine Design

2011-10-12T10:34:00.000-07:00

    There has been much debate and discussion about the roles of women, in the church and in the family. Many Christians quote the Bible, saying that the man is the head of the household, and so is therefore superior to the woman. Mark Driscoll adamantly claims that the man HAS to be the one to work, and the woman needs to be the one to stay home and look after the kids. He states the the Bible is clear that a man must provide for his family (and therefore, apparently, staying home to look after kids is NOT providing for a family). Now, John Macarthur has a new book out (actually, not sure if it is ne...it may just be a new edition or cover) called Divine Design, where he talks about the roles of the genders in both family and church.
   To be honest, I skimmed through the book, so I may be taking things out of context, but to me, it seemed as if Macarthur missed the point on a lot of passages of Scripture. He seemed to be applying verses about particular churches, or particular women, and meaning that it was a universal truth. Anyway, from what I gathered from what I skimmed in the book, Women cannot be pastor's, and, like Driscoll says, should stay home with the kids. Is this really the case though?
    I think, when we start taking verses out of context and assigning certain roles and positions for genders (such as the man is the head, and provider..and the woman is the support) we miss the main point. We tend to focus on these controversial verses, and women claim that the Bible is sexist when it tells wives to Submit. I understand that the word Submit is hard to accept, and has a lot of misconceptions...and I'm not going to get into what the word means here...perhaps that will be another blog. Today, I want to focus on he ATTITUDE of people in the debate. It seems that, we want to have a seperation. We want to know, "women can or should do this, and men can or should do that". We want it to be black and white. And so long as we have this attitude, the gender equality debate will never end.
    We seem to miss the verses in which the Bible says that all have different gifts. The Bible doesn't specify that "men recieve this gift, and women recieve this one". The Bible just lists gits and tells us to use our gifts to further the Kingdom of God.
    I'm sick of this idea that, churches or companies need to have so much diversity in their staff. I hate the concept that, "every company must haveso many women on staff, so many african-americans, so many native, so many homosexuals...blah blah blah". I'm not trying to say that we need to not hire people of different ethnicity or gender...in fact I am going the opposite direction of that. We need to hire people based on their skills and talents. Why do companies get into trouble when they don't have a certain amount of "diversity"? Yes...if they are NOT hiring someone out of sexism, or racism or prejudice then yes, that is wrong...but hav we ever though that just maybe, the people that are hired are the ones that are most suited to that position? Maybe there was no prejudice behind the hiring process and they just chose who was best?
    Finally, I want to get to the Feminism group. Keep in mind, I LOVE the idea of gender equality. I think it is wrong when one gender is treated differently (for better or worse) of another gender (or race/sexual orientation/age whatever) But I hate how Feminists, or at least many of them, try to take it beyond equality. They want to make men pay and put women AHEAD of men. To many feminists, men can't do anything right. Everything is prejudice, or sexist and needs to be stopped. When men are Chivalrous and hold the door open, it is sexist...when men fail to do so, again...it is sexist. I hate these women that want special privileges, but then don't want men to have the same privileges. For examples, we go to the world of sports:
    Why are women reporters allowed into Mens dressing rooms, but not Men reporters into women dressing rooms? Women fought for the right, but dont' want men to have the same right. It has to go both way...either don't go into the Men's dressing room and wait for the athletes to come out, or allow men to go into the women's room too.
     On that note, women who fight to play on men's sports teams. I'm all for women wanting to play sports, and compete. And I think they should be able to play in whatever league they feel comfortable playing in...but why can't a man play in a girls league? There was a boy who played Field Hockey in his home country...but when he came to Canada (or maybe it was the US), the only Field Hockey teams were girl teams. But the girl teams didnt want him to play with them. So once again...it's a two way street. The key word in Gender Equality is...EQUALITY. It's not about, let's make ourselves better than them! It's about...let's stop this idea of one person being better than another and treat everyone as equals.
    Keep in mind, while this blog is about the genders, it can be applied to all differences,such as race, age, religion...anything that ha prejudices and inequality (whether real or implied). I don't like the idea that, in the home, the men have certain tasks and jobs that are ok, and the women have others. What happened to, "everyone do what they are the best at"? Why can't a man clean, or a woman mow the lawn? Why is Laudry a womans job, and fixing things a man's job? People should be able to do what they are good at, and enjoy doing. It shouldn't be based on stereotypes, or genders, or cultural norms.
     I want to finish with the hypocrisy of the Church. Many Christian and Church leaders don't like the idea of Women Pastor's. They think that the Bible is clear on the issue that men should be the leaders of the church (which is a debatable issue, but for another time). However, these same people don't seem to have a problem with major women author's and speakers such as Joyce Meyer and Beth Moore. Is writing a major book, which is a form of preaching and teaching, and speaking to a massive group of people at a large conference any different than being a pastor? Not really.
   Did I offend anyone? Maybe, and if that is the case, then please try to make sure that what you are reading and understanding is truly what I am trying to say before you call me names and disagree. But please...let me know what you think. Have I gone too far? Not far enough? What are your thoughts on this issue....or is it even still an issue?

My New Quest

2011-09-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, wow...so I realize it has been a very long time since my last post, and lots has happend since then. I now have a full time job at a Christian Bookstore here in Abbotsford (and LOVE it!), and we moved to a new place in Abbotsford. Kitchen is smaller than our last place, but overall we really enjoy our new apartment. Anyway, I just finished reading the book "The Know-It All" by A.J. Jacobs, and it was very interesting, funny and inspiring. For those of you who are unfamiliar wth AJ Jacobs and this book, AJ Jacobs is the author of books "The Year of Livin Biblically" and "The Guinea Pig Diaries". In this book, he reads through the entire 2002 edition of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica, from A-Z. He writes out his thoughts, and things that he learns. It was a very fascinating book, in which he meets Alex Trebek, tries to get on Jeopardy and other game shows, and struggles with trying to have a baby.
Anyway, this book challenged me. I don't own an Encyclopaedia set, but I wanted to do something that was worthwhile. Being a Christian, I thought, what better thing to do than to read the Bible through (in Chronological order) from cover to cover. Now, I know what you are probably thinking..."umm, Keith...you haven't read the whole bible before?" Well, the honest answer is no. Ok...maybe I did throughout by time at Bethany, but that was different. It was sporadic reading for different classes, and lets be honest....it involved a lot of skimming. So I am going to go through the Bible, in the order it was written (at least according to a website telling me the order in which it was written), and I will take notes. I will write out things that stick out to me, things that I may have overlooked in my skimming days. I will write out questions that certain books, verses and chapters raise. I will even write out frustrations that arise...frustrations at God,people, stories, whatever. I will do my best to update a blog about it (I may or may not start a new blog..but I may just use this one), but even if I don't blog, I will try to read every day. I know, it's something that I should have been doing a long time ago. I should already be reading every day, but unfortunately I am not. I am surrounded by Christians stuff every day at work, and I get very cynical towards things. I read a lot of other people telling me what to believe about the Bible, but I have avoided actually coming to my own conclusions in a very long time. So...here I go. Please, pray for me, join me, think of me, encourage me, whatever. I'm not doing this to say "look at me"...I'm not trying to just draw attention to myself, I am doing this because I want to. I want to go deeper into Scripture. I want to draw closer to God. I want to share my thoughts because hopefully it can encourage you. God Bless everyone...and I really will try to blog more often now!

Saved!

2011-06-25T17:36:00.001-07:00

I watched, for the first time, the movie Saved! starring Mandy Moore. I've heard a lot about this movie, mostly from Christians, saying that the movie is offensive, and inappropriate. Which is esentially why I decided to watch it. I know, that may come as a shock to you, but when people tell me that somethin is offensive or heretical, I feel the need to see it for myself. It's for that reason that I began reading books lik Davinci Code, watching the Harry Potter Movies and reading Love Wins (all of the above by the way I loved!). Anyway, this movie, while being a parody of Christianity, actually has a lot of really good things to say to Christians (whether it means to or not is beside the point). I wasn't initially going to blog about the movie, as I don't generally do movie reviews, but when I finished watching the movie I checked out the Focus on the Family review of it, and te review just made me so mad that I felt the need that I needed to write a blog about the movie.
One of the main points of the movie is that Christians can get so caught up in whats right and wrong, that they forget to actually love and accept others. In the movie, one of the main plots is the attempted conversion of the lone non-Christian at the Christian school. Everyone is so eager to convert her, so eager to tell her that she is doomed to Hell without the love of Christ, that they end up shunning her, pushing her away, ridiculing her and embarrasing her. Throughout the movie as previously good Christians falter, the other Christians throw them under the bus, pray over them (forcibly), and literally throw the Bible at them. They get so caught up in making sure everyone is doing what is right, that they forget that Jesus loved everyone, especially the sinners.
Throughout the movie, it is clear that the most truly Christ-like people are those who aren't even 'Christians'. The non-Christian that everyone is trying to convert is the person who accepts, and loves, the other people who 'lose their way', and are ridiculed for sins that they commit. Unfortunately, I wish I could say that this is an area where the movie is clearly wrong, but the truth is, the movie is very accurate in this regard. Many of the most Christ-like individuals aren't even Christian (or at least, we wouldn't classify them as Christian). Sadly, many Christians are so centred on ASKING what Jesus would do that they forget to just live it out.
Hypocrisy and being a 'Pharisee' is another key part of the movie, as one of the main characters goes out of her way to make sure that everyone sees how Christian she is. She sings a worsip song before an assembly starts, she paints a statue of Jesus, she acts in the School plays, oranizes prayr circles, hands out tracts and pins, and is first in line to picket outside of the abortion clinics. She does all the 'right stuff', but for all the wrong reasons. She wants people to see how Christian she is. She wants to get noticed. She wants te attention. Like the Pharisees, she is a white washed tomb. Looks good on he outside, but inside is full of hate, full of sin, and just a gross mess. In the end, the one who needs saving the most is the one who thought she was saved all along. Sometimes, we are like her. We try to make everyone notice how good we are, we try to do all the right things, but we have no substance. We do it all for show.
Doing God's will is another thing that is poked at in the movie. On 2 occasions throughout the film, 2 different characters do things that are wrong because they think Jesus is telling them to do it. As much as the movie is trying to be funny, the truth is, we all have a "vision" or hear the voice of God every now and then tellins us to do something that is bad. What I mean is...we try to tell oureselves that God is blessing out action. We say things like, "Oh, I know it's usually wrong, but God wants me to do this so I can know what its like and so I can further witness to someone who has been through this". We make ourselves think that God is blessing our actions, just so we can do something that is otherwise wrong, or frowned upon. It's the ol', "God is giving me permission to do this" trick.
The movie also takes a stance on homosexuality, premarital sex and pro-life. I won't mention where they fall on these issues, but the movies does talk about grey areas. One character sees the Bible as black and white, while another argues that its all a grey area, and that everyone falls short in some area somewhere along the line. No one is perfect. The quote is, "why would God make us all so different, if he wants us to all be the same".
Overall, this movie, in a humorous satirical way, raises some good points. It should challenge Christians to realize how they are living, how hypocritical their lives are, and focus more on loving, accepting and being truly Christ-like. It's too bad that a lot of Christians will decide that the movie is too offensive to be worthwhile. I'm not saying that everyone should watch this movie, but I do think that sometimes, Christians are too afraid of what is controversial. Too scared of what is offensive. And refuse to learn from or be challenge by, someone who has different beliefs. In my opinion, the movie Saved! is more of an accurate Christian movie than most of the other literal christian movies. What do you guys think? Is the movie Saved! a satirical look at Christians, and something that we can actually learn from, or is FOTF right and the movie is offensive, heretical and has nothing (or very little) redeeming about it?

Hated for the Right Reasons

2011-06-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

I admit I sometimes live in the naive world-belief that Christians would be liked and, actually probably loved, if we would just live the way Jesus commanded us. Who wouldn't want to hang around with people who love and accept everyone right? I'd get so involved in this thought, that I would see people bashing Christians, people saying hateful remarks towards us, and I think..."see! If only we would live like Christ, we would be accepted". But the truth is, we STILL wouldn't be accepted, and loved. We would still be hated, still be despised. As Christians, it seems we can't win in the social game. We will always be the brunt of a joke, we will always be the first to be scoffed at, laughed at, kicked, spit on.
So, I am trying to give up this notion that we need to be liked and accepted. It's hard for me, because I like being liked. I like being accepted, and appreciated. I like being "in". But what I CAN'T ignore, is that...if we are going to be hated, we better be hated for the right reasons. Unfortunately, it seems most (ok, maybe not most...but too many) Christians are ok with being hated for the wrong reasons. It seems that, because the Bible tells us that the world will despise us, many of us TRY to MAKE the world despise us. We give them fuel for the fire...on purpose. We write signs that say, "God hates Fags", we bomb abortion clinics, we are homophobic, we are anti-everything. We protest teachers teaching evolution as a theory. We pull our kids out of school because they can't say the Lord's Prayer anymore. We aren't known for love and acceptance, are a known for hate, judgment, false apocolyptic predictions. They hate us because we do everything in our power to make sure that they do, because "the bible says that they will". We are hypocrites! We arn't even close to living the life that Jesus wants us to. We are so far away from the great commission of "Go and make Disciples", and we always seem to forget about the greatest commandment of "Love God, and Love Others".
Wake up Christians! Wae up so called "Followers of Christ". Are we really celebrating the death of an enemy? Are we really telling homosexuals that they ae abominations and God hates them? Are we really throwing Rob Bell under the bus of damnation because he raises questions? Have we forgotten to look at our tacky bracelets and ask ourselves, "What Would Jesus Do?".
Yes...the Bible says we will be hated...but let's not go out of our way to remind the world of that. People should hate us because we are so loving, so accepting, so kind, so compassionate, so Christ-Like that it is almost annoying. If you look at why Jesus was hated, it was because he wasn't afraid to stick up for the little guy. He stood next to the tax-collector. He walked beside the prostitute. He embraced the leper. The Pharisees hated him because he neglected their "pious religious rules". The Romans hated him because he skewed the class/gender/race lines. The Jews hated him because he loved the Gentiles. The Gentiles hated him because he loved the Jews. THAT is being hated for the right reasons. When Jesus told us that we would be despised, he was envisioning us being despised for doing RIGHT. Jesus wasn't telling us, "Go out, and make the world hate you!", he was saying, "doing the right thing. Doing the unpopular, loving thing, will make people despise you."
I'm sick of the world hating us for being hypocrites. I'm sick of atheists like Bill Maher, or comedians like Steven Colbert, or shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, South Park or American Dad being the only ones who are willing to challenge us, the only ones who apparantly see how off-based and hypocritical we are being. In fact..I want to say, "Thank You!" to these secular shows, these often anti-Christian people who aren't afraid to say exactly what we need to hear. It's just too bad that most Christians aren't willing to listen to atheists, or non-Christians.
That's my opinion anway. What do you guys think? Are we actually being hated for the right reasons? Or, is it possible for us to actually be loved and accepted in this world?

Because I Said So!

2011-05-14T08:42:00.000-07:00

I'm sure we have all been on one side (or both sides) of this conversation before:

"Why can't I (insert desired activity here)?"

"Because, I said so!"

"Oh...ok, that makes sense!?" (or some variation ranging frm acceptance to anger and cursing)

The point is, as we grow up, we are told things that we need to do, things we can't do, things we can eat, things we can't eat, places we can and can't go, drinks we can and can't drink and words we can and can't say. For most of us, we never get a good reason as to why these things are accepted or forbidden. We just accept it as kids, and then one day pass down these same rules and regulations to our children, who will in turn pass it down to theirs and so on and so forth. While the "Because I said So" rule is fine in most family situations, as kids should listen to their parents, the problem comes when "Because I Said So" enters the world of religion. When the rule enters the church, the interpretation of the Bible, and the minds of Chrst Followers.

Ever since we went to Sunday School, we have been taught certain "Biblical Truths". Depending on your denomination (or even religion...as I am sure most religions have things that are taught "just because I said so"), it will change what these rules ar, but for me grwing up here is a short list of "Absolute Truths!":

-alcohol is bad (Jesus drank grape juice after all, right?)

-Swearing is straight from the pit of hell

-Pre-Marital sex is very bad.

-Homosexuality is even worse

-Pre-Marital-homosexual sex is enough to turn you into a demon (ok..I embelleshed that one a bit)

-Saying "The Prayer" is the only way to get to Heaven

-Watching a movie (or listening to music) with violence, and language will decensetize you so you go out and use curse words while killing people

-Jesus will return, takin Christian to heaven and then send an Apocolypse and force the rest f the world to suffer the reign of an evil Anti-Christ, locusts, fire, and the "mark of the beast"

-This "Apocolypse" is upon us, and will happen in our lifetime!

Ok...a few of these ideas go beyond the church and into my home environment, but you get the picture. Now, I am no saying that these things are false, untrue, or bad in and of themselves. Here is what I am saying..."We have to know WHY we believe what we believe!". "Because I said so" can't work as a foundation for Christian beliefs. We have to know why certain things are wrong? Why certain things are right? Why do we believe this is the way and not that?

This all started for me actually a few days ago when I was chatting with a friend. We got onto the topic of pre-marital sex (I don't know how we got there), and both of us asked, "Where in the Bible does it say that pre-marital sex is wrong?". It was a fundamental truth we had been taught since being a fetus, but we didn't know where it came from. Turns out, thanks to Google!, that there is no verse in the bible that condemns pre-marital sex. The closest thing it comes to is forbidding "sexual immorality" (which it does numerous times in the Bible). Now, what does Sexual immorality mean? How is it translated? I'm not sure...it could be interpretted in many ways. But somewhere, many years ago, someone translated Sexual Immorality to include (but not be limited to) pre-marital sex, passed it on to the next generation, and here we are believing this now! Believeing it as TRUTH!.

Once again, I am not encouraging people to have lots of pre-martial sex, that is not the point...the point is, "why do we believe that it is wrong?". Why do we believe that homosexuality is wrong? Is it because there are some verses in the Old Testament that forbid it? If that is the case, why is it ok for men to have long hair, or people to sit in a chair that a...ahem...woman on her "time of the month" sat on? Yes, there are verses in the New Testament about homosexuality too, but many of them are one person's opinion on the subject. I may be mistaken, but I don't believe Jesus ever says anything on the topic. But why do we believe what we do? Why is swearing so wrong? Ok, so the Bible mentions "unwholesome" talk...but once again, what does that mean? I am fairly certain that Jesus swore when we turned the tables in the temple.

So what I am trying to say, is..."Know what you believe, and WHY you believe it!". This goes beyond just the rules and regulations...it goes to the fundamental truths of Christianity too. "Why is Jesus the only way?", "What is the Trinity?", "Did God Create the world?", "Is there a God?", "How do we know Jesus rose from the dead?". If your entire faith system...if all of your rules, regulations, and religious beliefs are based on "Because I said so" answers, then you are in trouble....it is going to collapse. You are going to discover something that makes more sense, and go for that instead. Yes, there needs to be elements of faith, I get that. i'm not saying that we need proof for EVERYTHING, but we do at least need to find out for ourselves why certain things in Christianity are the way they are. Why we believe this, why we do that? Do some research, ask some questions, use Scripture, pray. Don't just accept what you believe as a "Because I said so" truth!.

So what are some of the "Because I Said So" things you were taught growing up, or are still taught today? Have you looked into why things are the way they are?

Morphsuit Christians

2011-04-28T16:51:00.000-07:00

I don't know how you feel about these guys, but I HATE the green morphsuit guys at Canuck games. If you don't know who I am talking about, it's these guys:

I would love to see them do that stuff WITHOUT the green suit covering their face. They hide behind this costume, and then taunt, harass and annoy the heck out of opponents (and other fans). Now, I get that they are proud of their team, and cheering and jeering is all part of sports, I get that...but doing this type of thing EVERY time gets old very fast, and just becomes silly. Anyway, that's not really the point of this blog, just thought I would add my own personal opinion (feel free to LOVE the green guys, that is your right). What I really wanted to talk about though, is spiritually living under a green morphsuit. What I mean is, as Christians we hide behind our bibles, hide behind our computer screens, our blogs, our friends. We hide behind the safety of the penalty glass, and the anonymity (is that a word?) of the green suits. We stand up for our beliefs, so long as people don't really know who we are, or we are able to run into a group of likeminded individuals.

This goes even beyond just staying anonymous...we hide who we truly are. In one group of friends we are one way, in another we are a different person. We act like a devout Christian or fundamentalist nutjob, or religious pharisee or whatever on Sunday, and then on Monday we are the exact opposite. We put on a fake smile, hide behind laughter, join in when others are bullying or judging (even if we don't agree with the judgement). I urge us as Christians. I urge us as HUMANS...take off the morphsuits. Step out from behind the glass, reveal your true self. Why do we insist on being who we aren't? Why do we only stand up for our beliefs when no one knows who we are, or when we can easily run away? Why do we taunt and tease in large groups because we know we are "safe" there. Jesus wants us to be REAL. He wants us to be authentic. He wants us to LOVE. Take off the mask, get out of the suit, uncover your face. If you are too scared to let people know who you truly are, then maybe you need to re-evaluate who you are.

I know I am taking a lot of leaps going from fans at a hockey game to people hiding behind fake selves, but I think its something we have to do. We have to challenge ourselves. We have to remind ourselves that Jesus doesn't want fake Christians. Jesus wants REAL men and women who are willing to put themselves out there, for all to see. He wants people who aren't afraid to be known. Who will stand and dance by the penalty box without their faces covered (figuratively of course). Are you willing to step out? Are you willing to show your face? Are you willing to be who you are, and stand up for your beliefs at all times, even when it makes you unpopular. Even if it makes you the lone Blackhawks fan in an arena of Canuck faithful?

Love the Team, Hate the Fans

2011-04-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard an atheist (or some other person of another faith) say something like, "I don't mind God, I just can't stand his followers!". Well, I used to somewhat understand that sentiment, but now, living in Canuck central (and being a non-Canuck fan), I completely understand what they mean. I used to be indifferent to the Canucks. Growing up in Ontario, and being a Leaf fan (and still am...I know, pass judgement and ridicule), my hatred was more for the Sens and Habs. The Canucks, Flames and Oilers were teams that I didn't hate, didn't love, but wanted to see do decently well. Then I moved here to BC. EVERYONE is a crazy Canuck fan. Every game is meticulously scrutenized. Every hit by the Canucks is a clean hit, every hit against is the dirtiest hit in NHL history. Every loss is seen as the end of the world, and every win is viewed as the Stanley Cup winning game. Yes, I am emebellishing a little here, but I think you get my point. Also, I do want to clairify that, you can substitute any team for the Canucks. I know Leaf fans have a bad reputation so feel free to substitute "Leafs" for Canucks if it makes you more comfortable (or whichever team you want). Anyway, it gets frustrating. When all you hear on the sports radio is people calling in saying that this team is guaranteed to win the cup, and probably sweep their way there, you get really frustrated with it. I've gone from indifferent to the Canucks to wanting them to lose every game they play. I want them to fail, miserably bad. So that takes me back to the phrase, "I don't mind God, but I hate his followers". Christians sometimes (ok...quite often) act like bad fans of a sports team. When someone oposses our beliefs in some way, like wanting to take the Lords Prayer out of schools, teach evolution, promote gay marriage or whatever, we feel that it is a brutally dirty play. It's as if Daniel Sedin got blindsided when the puck was on the other side of the rink. We want blood. We call for suspensions. We call for the law to step in and stop these "anti-Christians" from taking away everything we stand for. We feel that our rights are being stomped on. But as soon as we try to oppose something. When we fight for abortion to be illegal, or for all Presidents and Prime Ministers to be Christians, or for prayer to be brought back into school. When we fight for "don't-ask-don't-tell", Creation to be solely taught as the origin of the world, and we try to ostracize the other faiths, we see it as a clean hit. We see it as "just playing the puck, a solid hockey hit". And it frustrates the hell out of everyone else. I realize that saying "hell" is proabably getting a bunch of you angry at me, but I feel that the words need to be strong. People who used to not really care about Christianity, either way, suddenly oppose it strongly, because of the "fans". It makes you wonder how badly we are screwing this up. Do we want to be known as the "worst fans in history"? Ranked up there ahead of the Red Sox, and Yankee faithful? We have to do something. It's not all about us. We have to keep our focus on God, on Christ, and on His message. We have to focus on LOVE, focus on compassion. I'm not blameless in this either. I mess up often and make Christianity look idiotic from time to time too. But we have to stop this. We have to make sure that, us "fans", us followers of Christ make sure to show true sportsmanship. We too often act like the Bieber fanatics who vandalized that girls Wikipedia page because she beat out Bieber in the Grammy's. Bieber didn't condone their actions at all, and it made HIM look bad and caused the haters to grow stronger. Or we act like the Habs fans who rioted after Maurice Richard was suspended for the rest of the season, casting a bad light on an otherwise classic and historical organization. The worse we the fans act, the worse it looks for God, and Christianity. Do we not understand that people reject God because of the way we act? Why does that not bother us more than it does? Why does it not cause us to change how we live? Why are we ok with the idea that people want to believe in God, but can't because of the way we treat them? Something has to change.

Is LOVE WINS a winner?

2011-04-13T17:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I just finished the book Love Wins by Rob Bell. To be honest, I expected more. Not more in terms of insightful content, but more in terms of controversial, 'heretical' content...because really, it seems EVERYONE was saying that this book was an abomination and a message from Satan. Ok, perhaps they didnt say anything that strongly, but it seems that there were a lot of people who thought Rob Bell has abandoned the faith and is leading people into the depths of hell. So, I expected the content of the book to be something along the lines of "there is no such thing as hell, and everyone regardless of the choices they make will make it to heaven when they die". Alas, that was not what the book was about at all. So...here is my review of the book "Love Wins" The first chapter is Rob Bell asking a lot of questions, and to be honest, it was probably my favourite chapter of the book. I like questions. I like questions and discussion a lot, and this chapter asked a lot of the questions that I have asked (at least in my head) many times over the last little while. He doesn't answer the questions in the chapter (and it could be argued that he doesn't really answer them later on in the book either), but he starts the book off right, getting your brain working and thinking about what you believe. Now, if you take what Rob Bell says about heaven and hell (which many people have), it could be argued that Bell is a universalist. And I guess, in a sense he is, but its a mild version. Bell still believes in hell, however he views hell as more of a place for God to teach lessons, and "refine" us. In the end, once everyone has learned their lessons, and recognize God as the true savior, then they will enter into heaven. So, yes...everyone, according to Bell, will eventually arrive in heaven, but it still requires a choice and it is still only through Jesus. What I loved most about the book (other than the first chapter), was how Bell focuses on HERE and NOW. I have blogged before about how we need to focus more on the now and not as much on the 'later', and Bell takes that same approach in the book. He argues that Jesus' messages about heaven and hell are actually more about heaven and hell on earth, and not as much about the life after death. Bell says that we need to do our best to create an earthly shalom, and work towards the Kingdom of heaven, here on earth. Whether you agree with Bell or not, doesn't take away from the fact that the book has a lot of really good things to say. One of the best things Bell says is (paraphrased), "having a different view on heaven or hell doesn't mean you aren;t a Christian". In other words, just because he believe one way, doesn't mean that he is not a Christian, and also just because some disagree with his opinions don't make them any less of a Christian either. I can honestly say, Bell is DEFINITELY a Christian. He says over and over again that it is only through Jesus that we are saved, and that the life we live here and now, and the choices we make while we are alive really do matter. It seems that, people find what he says heretical because 1) they haven't ACTUALLY read the book...they probably skimmed the book, or took things out of context, or just read other peoples reviews, or 2) because it is so different than what they believe that they can't accept that they may be wrong. Christians don't like to think that they might be wrong or misled...so its easier to just call someone a heretic than actually thinking about what they are saying. I don't know if I agree with everything Bell said (I say I don't know because I need to really think about what was read, and probably re-read the book to make sure I didn't miss anything), and I can't honestly say that all of his Greek translations are correct (I will give him the benefit of the doubt), but regardless, this book truly makes us think about what we believe and that is GREAT. Kudos to Bell for not being afraid to stir the pot. For not shying away from the questions that many people are too scared to ask. I highly recommend for everyone, before you pass judgement on the book, before you judge Bell and call him a universalist or a heretic or whatever, READ THE BOOK. It's ok to not agree with it. I don't think Bell expects everyone to agree with him. He just wants people to think, ask questions and come up with their own conclusions. The bottom line is, no one really knows what heaven and hell are truly like. No one can say with 100% certainty that "heaven will be like this, and hell will be like that". Bell doesn't push his beliefs on the reader, he just says what he believes, and why he believes it. He doesn't make you feel like a loser for not agreeing with him, which is more than can be said for many of the critics of Bell. I enjoyed the book, it got me thinking, and got me asking questions. To me, that is all I can ask of a theological book. My final score of Love Wins is 9/10. What did you think of the book (if you've read it)? or do you plan on reading it if you haven't? oh...and to answer the question of the title..YES, Love Wins is a winner!

Hitting the Wall

2011-04-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

The other day, I was watching the movie Run Fatboy Run and this scene really inspired me to write a blog. The movie is about a man named Dennis, who decides to run the London Marathon to prove his love for his ex-fiance. Early on, he gets badly injured, but instead of giving up, he keeps on going. Battling his inner demons reminding him that he has never finished anything in his life, and real people who bet against him finishing the race, who taunt him and insult him along the way, he keeps putting one foot in front of the other, until at least, he hits the dreaded Wall. In life, we all hit walls. Whether they are physical barriers preventing us from getting that job we want, going on vacation, getting married or whatever...or spiritual barriers that tell us we aren't good enough, pr don't have enough faith. It's inevitable. Life is filled with walls and obstacles. Sometimes, we have people around us who, instead of helping us get past these obstacles, and encouraging us, they instead remind us of our failures. They remind us that we aren't good enough, haven't finished anything, have amounted to jack-squat. It's easy to just stop moving forward, and give up. Hit the wall, and instead of breaking through it, just turn around. How to we overcomes these barriers? How do we break down the walls, jump over the obstacles? Well, as Christians we need to pray and have faith that, whatever God puts in our way is put there for a reason. It's also important to surround ourselves with people that will encourage us. People who have done the marathon before, and know the tricks. Breaking down the walls aren't easy. It can hurt, especially because often we are already in pain and worn out when we reach these walls. It's also important to remember that, once we break down the wall, we don't know what is on the other side. Usually, there are still more miles to run, more obstacles to overcome. Perhaps, we break down the wall, only to find out that we aren't on the path that we wanted in the first place. Or, we thought that once the wall was broken down, we would get what we wanted, only to find out that the wall was the actual destination all along (God works in mysterious ways sometimes). But, what I take from this scene, is...persevere! Never give up. As Justin Bieber reminds us, Never Say Never! (That's right...I Bieber'd this blog). Keep going. When we reach the walls, the obstacles, we need to find a way past them. Don't let our past failures hold us back. Focus on the goal, focus on the race. Stay motivated. It's not easy, and it's not usually fun, but it's worth it. What walls and obstacles are you facing? How are you going to get through, over, under, around it? Bloggers note: While I love the movie Run Fatboy Run, and genuinly think that it is a funny, inspiring movie, I do know that many people are easlily offended with language, sexual content and the like, so I just want to warn you that, if you are planning on watching this movie, be aware that this IS a typical hollywood movie and not the G-rated family friendly Disney, or Christian movie.

The Two Thieves

2011-04-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

When we think of Easter there are a few things that pop into our head. First of all, we think of the Last Supper, which leads to Judas and his betrayel. We also think about the 2 other thieves that were executed to the left and right of Jesus. It is THESE 2 people, that I want to talk about today. Usually, when we think of the thieves, we think of one who is 'good' and one who is 'bad. The bad thief, we usually depict snarling, and hurling insults. Probably, like Mel Gibson in the Passion of the Christ, we take pleasure in thinking that maybe crows came and plucked out his eyeballs. But, what is his true crime? I'm not talking about the crime that led him to the cross, but his crime while on the cross. He simply asks Jesus to take him down from the cross. The NIV says it this way in Luke 23:39, "...Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!". Was he mocking Jesus? Perhaps. In fact, the NIV does say he insulted Jesus...but at the same time, it seems as if he understood that Jesus was truly the Christ! He KNEW that Jesus was the Son of God, and his insult to Jesus was that he didn't accept his fate. He didn't accept responsibility for whatever it was he did, and he thought Jesus, if he truly was the saviour, should save him from his execution. Interestingly, both Matthew and Mark, don't record this conversation between Jesus and the thieves. In fact, both of those books simply say that "those crucified with Jesus also heaped insults at him". So perhaps, the 'good' thief, in our minds anyway, wasn't as holy and righteous as we envision. For some reason, we always see this thief as a good looking man. We tend to forget that this guy DESERVED to be where he was. He probably killed someone, or stole something, or did something like Treason...he wasn't falsly accused like Jesus was. It's weird that, because Jesus sees favor in his eyes, we forget that this guy was a horrible sinner. I think we also forget that this guy never says the sinners prayer. He never officially asks Jesus to come into his life, as we Christians tend to think is the only true way to reach heaven. His conversation with Jesus, as written by Luke is short, and as follows, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". That's all that is recorded in terms of this man talking with Jesus. He rebukes the other thief, and he accepts his fate, but the only words spoken directly to Jesus is "remember me". Now, as I mentioned before, Matthew and Mark record that "those crucified also heaped insults at him". So, either there were more than just the 2 crucified with Jesus, or both of these thieves, insulted Jesus while on the cross. If the latter is true, why is the second one redeemed? Why, if this thief who never told Jesus to 'enter my heart and forgive my sins', with Jesus in paradise? I think it's because he accepted his fate, KNEW he did wrong, and just humbly chose to die alongside the Son of God. He didn't desperately try to reason with Jesus, making a case for why he should be saved...he just asked Jesus to remember him. He didn't justify his actions leading to the cross, he accepted that he was getting what he deserved. THAT is why Jesus saved him. I think, we often act more like the first, 'bad' thief when troubled times come our way. When we go through hard times, when we feel God is being mean and life is throwing us curveballs, we beg God to save us. We, essentially say, "If you are truly GOD, you would take me out of this predicament". Sounds much like the first thief doesn't it? God doesn't need us, or want us, to cry out for him to save us every time the water gets a bit rough. He wants us to TRUST him, and praise him regardless of our situation. We need to act more like the second thief. We need to understand that, yes while God COULD save us, and is very capable of saving us, he doesn't HAVE to save us. The thief accepted his fate, and because of that, because of his humble 'remember me' request...he is partying with Jesus today. Maybe, we have salvation all wrong. Maybe salvation isn't demanding Jesus to come into our life, but instead it's telling Jesus that 'we deserve what is happening to us". Maybe it's humbly accepting our fate, while understanding that God is capable of saving us. Perhaps its just being willing to die alongside Christ. The sinners prayer, as we understand it (which isn't biblical by the way), seems to me to be more like the first thiefs response to trials and tribulations. "Jesus...if you are God, SAVE ME!". True salvation, is not a 'save me from hell, or from this trial' mindset...true salvation is a humble 'God, I know you CAN save me, but you don't have to...just please, go through this with me!'.

Judas' Feast

2011-03-26T09:37:00.001-07:00

Well...it's nearing Easter. Ok...so it's about a month away, but I figure I would get a good start on Easter themed blogs. I've been thinking a lot lately about Judas, and the major role he plays in the Easter story. We seem to look at Judas in a bad light. I guess rightly so, as he DID betray Jesus with a kiss and sell him to the Pharisees for money. But I think we forget that, if it wasn't for Judas, Easter would never have happened (or at least, not in the way it did). Judas, through his greed and betrayel, actually allowed Jesus to fulfill his destiny. So, my question is this...did Judas really have a choice? Did Judas consciously decide to sell Jesus, and send him to the cross, or did God USE Judas to do those things? If Judas didn't do it, would someone else have done it, or would history and Christianity have been forever changed?
I'm not trying to say that we should rever what Judas did, and see him as a hero, but I am wondering if perhaps, painting him as the ultimate villain is a bit unfair. I guess the fact that Judas felt guilty afterwards, and killed himself, should be a clue that he CHOSE to betray Christ, and God just was able to use that deception for the ultimate good...but it was also prophesied. Jesus KNEW what his purpose was on Earth. He KNEW that Judas would betray him when he chose him as a disciple. Does the fact that Jesus knew this make what Judas did more than just a choice, and instead a pre-destined decision? If Judas didn't really have a choice in the matter, and it was HIS destiny and purpose to betray Christ, then I think we have looked at Judas all wrong for the two thousand or so years. I don't have an answer. I just don't know how to look at it. What do you think? Have we misrepresented Judas for all this time? Or is he truly the ultimate villain? Also...as a side note..do you think Judas is in heaven? After all, if it wasn't for him, Jesus never would have been able to make Salvation available for everyone?
Either way though, can you imagine being Judas at the Last Supper? The whole meal, knowing what you are going to do. I doubt he was even able to taste the food, or enjoy the conversation. His stomach was likely in knots, and chances are he was feeling sick. And then, having Jesus call him out in front of everyone! Talk about humiliation. It was bad enough that he knew what he was going to do...but having Jesus send him out to do it. I can't even imagine what that would have been like. Did he have a moment of regret, before it happened? Did he hesitate before taking the pieces of silver? Did he ever think of kissing one of the other disciples instead? Or maybe, the meal was an exciting time for him. Maybe his adrenaline was pumping and his blood was flowing because he knew that he was going to forever change history. He knew that he was going to send a good, innocent man to the cross, and that excited him! Perhaps he truly was evil...and the idea of no one knowing what was going to happen got his heart pumping...and then Jesus figured it out. Jesus caught him...read his mind, saw his heart. And told everyone at the table that Judas would betray him. There must have been a silence, deafening silence. Judas likely went red with embarrassment. Perhaps he tried to lie, saying "no...of course not (cough cough). I would never betray you Jesus!" Chills going up his arm.
I don't know what was going on in Judas' head during the meal. As I said before...I don't even fully know whether Judas had a TRUE choice in the betrayal in the first place. But whether the meal was filled with heart thumping excitement, or stomach turning anxiety, i know that the meal would have been a very different experience for Judas compared to all the other disciples.
What are your thoughts about Judas? Do you have any answers, or questions? Do you thionk Judas had a choice, or was it his destiny that he had to fulfill? Makes you wonder a bit, doesn't it? Either way...without Judas, Easter would be VERY different today!

What If I'm Wrong?

2011-03-19T11:16:00.001-07:00

I think one of the questions everyone needs to constantly ask themselves is, "what if I'm wrong?". We all seem to live in this bubble that "I am right, and everyone else is wrong". I'm not just talking about Christians here, I think, generally, we all fall into that category. But it's a dangerous way to live. To be so arrogant that you can't even, for a small moment, consider that there's a chance that someone else may be right. But then, I got to thinking...what if we discovered that parts of our faith WAS wrong? How would that alter our lifestyle? Our faith? our religion?
Yesterday I went and saw the movie "Paul". It's a movie about an alien trying to get back home, so he hitches a ride with 2 british nerds. What surprised me in the movie, was the religous undertones. YES, the movie was poking fun at Christianity and other religions, but I found that it moreso posed the question of "what would you do if you found out you were wrong?". Another major controversial thing going on right now is Rob Bell's new book, "Love Wins", in which he comes up with (apparantly anyway, as I have yet to read the book) very controversial views on heaven and hell. Many Christians a quick to judge Bell, many bookstores refusing to sell the book. But I think, if Christians were smart, they would ask themselves, "ok...what if I am wrong, and Rob Bell is right?", and read the book to see what he has to say. Perhaps, at the end of the boo, they will stand firm in their beliefs. Or maybe, the book will open their eyes to something new.
Here's the thing. If you believe that the world was created in 6 days (leaving the 7th for rest), 4000-6000 years ago by God, then that is great. But what if you are wrong? If you believe that man evolved by chance 400000000000 years ago, and that there is no God, then that's fine too...but ask yourself "what if I am wrong?". Maybe neither of these options are true. Maybe, it's a combination of both. The point I am trying to make is...don't be so arrogant in your faith that you can't even consider someone else's point of view. Don't believe something just because it is what you always have believed, or because it easy to believe, or fun to believe, or whatever. To be perfectly honest, most aspects of our faith don't truly matter. Let me clarify. There are really only 2 things in the Christian faith that are VITAL to our faith. 1) There is a God and 2) He sent His son Jesus to die, and rise again, for our sins. Everything else, if we are wrong, doesn't matter as much. So what if God created the world using evolution 6 billion years ago...it doesn't matter. Who cares if Adam and Eve are mere mythological characters and aren't real...it doesn't really matter. To go even further...if your whole faith is based on the fact of "good Christians go to heaven and bad heathens end up in hell", then perhaps your faith NEEDS to be shaken up. Christianity is much more than just the afterlife (or lack of afterlife, or whatever). Christianity is about living for God NOW. It's about serving God NOW. It's about loving God, and everyone around us NOW. Heaven is just the bonus, it's not the point. Jesus didn't come to Earth to just tell everyone to forget about this life and prepare for heaven...he came to show us to love one another, to love God.
I'm not saying that I believe there is no heaven, or that I believe that the earth is 7 billion years old. What I am saying is that we just need to always ask ourselves "what if i am wrong? What if this person, this religion, this idea is right?"
Perhaps I didn't explain myself well, I don't know. But what do you think? Should we ask ourselves "what if i'm wrong?", or should we live as if we are right? Your thoughts!

Finding God Without Looking

2011-03-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

"Seek and ye shall find". I believe that statement is true. If you go looking for God, you will find him. However, sometimes I find that, when we deliberately search for God, we 'create' God. What I mean is, we try to find God in everything so we put him in everything, even in places where he isn't. Does that make sense? Maybe not. Anyway, the point is, I often find myself finding God, or God's truth in things that I'm not even trying to find it in. Many times, I find it in things that I think it shouldn't be in. For example, I enjoy watching the Comedy Network. Shows like Big Bang Theory, and Just For Laughs and that kind of stuff. Every now and then, I will be watching a comedian, and something will hit me. I'll go from laughing to thinking about How Great God is, or How badly us Christians are messing up, or things like that. For example, I was watching this one comedian names Hari Kondabolu. He is a hindu-atheist comedian so he doesn't delibrately try to bring glory to God (or in his case...gods). But as I was watching him make fun of this woman who tried to witness to him, I thought "YES! He's right. We SUCK at evangelism!". I started thinking about how Christians just try to bring everyone to Jesus, without first getting to know them or caring for their needs. I then went on youtube to find some other stuff of is, and found 2 great clips (that I posted onto facebook...so check them out). While these clips aren't meant to be spiritual in nature (on of them ends up saying that there is no God, and the other one is about movies), I couldn't help but think that God was speaking to me in some indirect way.
Have you ever heard the saying that, as soon as you stop looking for something, you find it? I think the same can be said about God sometimes. I find that, the times that I'm not looking for God, are the times that God actually speaks to me the strongest. Probably because I'm not expecting it. I'm just trying to be entertained, or get somewhere, or talk with someone, or work or whatever and then BAM! God shows up and speaks. Maybe we need to stop deliberealy looking for God so much, and just go out living. Yes, there are times where we need to search for God, but if we do it so much then we will just trivialize the significance of truly Finding God.
Perhaps none of this makes sense..I am just rambling. Just thought I would give this thought, as I haven't blogged in a while. Give me some feedback? Have you ever found God without even looking?

Are We There Yet?

2011-01-31T07:51:00.001-08:00

All of us, as kids, at one time or another has spoken those favourite 4 words "Are We There Yet?". Sometimes, we are able to resist until a few hours into the trip, other times mere minute pass before we have to utter the phrase, but someone always managed to say it sometime before the destination was reached. Our parents would always try to dsitract us, and keep us from noticing that the trip is taking longer than planned. Even trips to the grocery store would need activity planning. But no matter how much thought went into the trip activities, no matter how many games were brought, the phrase would be said. Sooner or later the game boy games would be finished, the colour books would have lost their appeal, the sibling crossed the invisible line on the seat, every possible I Spy and 20 Questions outcome has been reached, and one child, usually the youngest (right mom?) would utter "Are we there yet?".

Thankfully we grow out of this. It's amazing how, when we get older, we are able to enjoy long trips. We don't need game boys, movies, or car games to entertain us (yet, we still play them just because we can). We enjoy the ride, enjoy the scenery and wait for the final destination, no matter how long it takes. Unfortunately, we haven't really outgrown this cry of impatience in the ride of life.

We all know the phrase, "Be patient, God isn't finished with me yet", and yet we all seem to want to refuse to believe that. We want God to be finished with us. Not in life, but in teaching us lessons and putting us through the growing pains and trials of life. We pray for something, and before we say amen we are thinking "Is it here yet!", "are we there yet?". God is teaching us to be patient, and we have to constantly ask "Are you done yet?" We hate waiting. We want to get to the end already. We don't like the drive, when it comes to God teaching us, evolving us and causing us to grow and mature.

Did you ever realize that, until you asked the "Are we there yet quesiton" the ride went quick...but once that was asked, the ride went painfully slow? The ride would go from enjoyable, to "Horrendous Hell-ride in a Honda" in seconds. Everything became worse. Siblings were more irritating, bumps were bigger, seat was harder, bladder was smaller...it becomes nearly unbearable. Same is true in the character building sense. At first, we almost dont notice that God is working on us. We forget that God is teaching us patience, or putting us through a tough time, and then we ask "God, are you done yet?", "Have I learned my lesson?"...and then time slows to even more of a halt. The trials we are going through are harder, the days are longer, the pains hurt more, and God's chisel cuts away smaller and smaller pieces. Maybe God plans it like that. Or maybe, we bring it upon ourselves.

The bottom line is, we can either sit back, enjoy the ride, watch the scenery go by and reach our final destination before we know it, or we can ask "Are we there yet?", and spend an eternity driving down the winding roads of life, taking wrong turns, and getting caught behind seniors driving 40 in a 100. Either way, God will take us to the destination. We will get where we are going, but the question is, will we be patient enough to enjoy the ride to get there? Sometimes the ride isn't enjoyable. Sometimes we have to drive through some pretty ugly things to get to the end. Sometimes, we blow a tire and God requires us to get out, in the pouring rain and change it. But the destination is always worth it. Just like as a kid, that final destination always made the drive worth it. Whether it was Grandma's house, or Home...we always quickly forgot about the long strenuous ride to get there.

Where God is taking us will be worth it. Maybe each stop along the way isn't as comfortable or beautiful as we would like, but when God is finished with us, it will be worth it. Let's stop being impatient. Let's stop asking God if we have finally arrived. Let's just sit back (figuratively speaking of course, because when God works on us, it requires us to work as well), and enjoy the ride, and think about where God is taking us...wherever that may be!

Talking about the Devil

2011-01-26T14:59:00.001-08:00

It seems that a vast majority of horror movies center around the devil. This is the case with M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, fittingly titled "Devil". The movie begins with a story, about how the devil takes human form, usually following a suicide, and then takes a group of people to hell with him. Most of the movie takes place in an elevator; similar to the concept of the movie Phone Booth, where most of the movie takes place in the phone booth. In the elevator, the passengers soon discover, is the physical embodyment of the devil. One by one, the devil begins to kill off the passengers, and take their souls. It is a chilling movie, and left me somewhat shaken afterwards, but it also raised some interesting questions about the power of the devil, the existence of the devil and believing in the devil and God.
I won't spoil any more of the movie, but I do want to ask a few questions, and give my opinion on the answers (and then give you room to give your perspective). The first question is the ability of the devil to take on human form. Can the devil walk among us, and look like us? As the bible says, the devil walks among us "...like a wolf in sheeps clothing". Is this saying that the Devil can put on a mask, hiding among us? Maybe. I don't know for sure, but I do know that the Devil can definately use people for his purpose (just like God uses people for his). If demon possession is real, which the bible sys it is and I believe it is, then it seems only logical that the devil taking possession of a human body could at least be very plausible.
The movie also implies that the devil has control over life. The devil chooses who is in the elevator, who dies and how they die. Also, the devil has power over physical objects, the ability to control peoples mind, and thoughts. Is this true? Does the devil have actual power and control over everyday life? In my opinion, no (or at least, not unless we give him that power). I think the devil can give us ideas, and tempt us with things. I think he can exploit our weaknesses, but I don't think he has actual physical power over us and what we do, and definately not over physical objects.
There are other questions that can be raised, however most of the questions would require a spoiler of the movie, or at least sort of, so I will not do that, because I don't like movie spoilers. There are some insightful quotes however, one being "everyone believes in [the devil] even a little bit", and another, "don't worry, if the devil is real, then that must mean God is real too". I think these quotes are great. It's true that everyone seems to believe in the devil, at least a little bit. Even athiests who claim there is no God, will give credit to the devil for bad things, even inadvertantly. There's a part in all of us who believes in the great villian, the Lord of Darkness, Satan, the devil. We almost WANT there to be a devil, because we can lay blame on him...we can give him the credit when bad things happen to us, and when we do bad things we can blame him for tempting us.
Christians can sometimes give too much credit to the devil, in my opinion. When people are sick, when finances are low, when people die, when disasters happen...we blame the devil. Everything is the devil's fault. We are afraid of watching certain movies because the devil may decieve us, or worse, possess us. We say we feel the devils presence in certain situations, and hear him. i'm not saying that these things can't be true, but I think we tend to focus so much on the devil, that we forget that God is greater than the devil. God CREATED the devil...and if the devil is real, then God must be real too. Like the Christians who are so focused on heaven that they miss out on earth, those Christians who focus so much on the devil and avoiding the devil tend to miss out on the love, mercy and glory of God.
The bottom line is, we have no need to worry. God is greater, God is stronger...God is higher than any other (sorry...got a little carried away with the Chris Tomlin there). Whatever power the devil has, God's power is infinitely greater. Why are we so afraid of the devil? Yes, the devil is the deciever, but God is the forgiver. God is the lover, protector and saviour. God already defeated the devil. The more we tend to focus on the devil, and think about the devil, the power we give him. It's like the old saying "no such thing as bad publicity". The goal of the devil is to keep our focus from God...and the more we think about the devil (even thinking about avoiding the devil), the more we are achieving that goal. So let's keep our eyes on the prize, keep our eyes on God. There is nothing to be afriad of, for God is in ultimate control.
That's my opinion, bu I realize that this topic can easily be discussed and argued over. Please, let me know what you think, ask questions, answer questions and give your own thoughts. And I recommend the movie Devil...yes, it is somewhat frigthening, but it could lead to great discussion. Blessings everyone, and keep focused on Christ.

The Biography of my life

2011-01-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been reading a lot of biographies. I read a book called "The Son of Hamas" which was a very interesting biography of the son of the man who started the terrorist group Hamas. His life story is fascinating, incredible and intense. The things he has seen. and the things he has done (both good and bad) make for a very exciting story. I also recently read the biography of Russel Peters, the Indo-Canadian comedian. The book was great, he too had an amazing story of overcoming obastacles and making something of his life. Currently I am starting a long 600 plus page autobiography of Nelson Mandela. While to be honest, I don't know a lot about Mandela, I do know that his story is going to be AMAZING. I do know that he overcame a lot, faced many years in prison and eventually brought together a country on the brink of disaster. These biographies have been fascinating, but they have got me thinking...what have I done? What would my biography look like? At the rate my life is going, it won't be much of a biography. In fact, it will probably be a sad look at a life that is unfulfilled. A life that had such potential, and yet fell short. I don't want that to be the story of my life. I want to exceed expecations. I want to make something of myself. I want God to look down on me with excitement and enjoyment at what I am doing, instead of shaking his head at what I COULD be doing.
So I'm going to try to do something about it. Perhaps it will be through this blog, that like 5 people read. Maybe somehow, God will use the words that I write on the internet, to a few people, and make a difference in the lives of many. I've been thinking of writing a book, and in fact I already sort of started it. The book would be one of those "Blue Like Jazz" or Rob Bell type book, in which every chapter is of a different topic, and yet it all connects and flows together. I would probably use my blogs as a base, and just expand on them. Go into more detail, pull up some key bible verses, quotes and stories. I enjoy writing, and I do feel that my "talent" is being wasted with me only blogging every once in a while. God gave me a passion for writing, and challenging people and I want to use it.
Now, will this book that I am writing ever get finished? Will it get published and become the new "Purpse Driven Life" or "The Shack"? To be honest, probably not, but that's not going to stop me from at least trying. Whether I ever write a book, become a famous actor (which also would be nice), or actually use my BA in Pastoral Ministries isn't exactly the point of however. My goal is to try to live a life of fulfillment. Help those who are around me, spread the love of Jesus (in word and deed), and use the gifts and talents that God has given me. Maybe my life will never be exciting enough for a biography, but that can't stop me from living my life with purpose. God put me on this earth for a reason. And he put you on this earth for a reason too. Let's challenge ourselves this year to live our lives with passion. Live out LOVE, and all the rest of the Fruit of the Spirit. Imagine someone writing your biography. Would the words be uplifiting, and challenging. Would your life story cause others to think "I wish I could live a life like that", or would it cause people to scoff, and laugh and joke "I'm glad my life is more meaningful than that". May this year be a year of fulfillment. May you follow the path that God leads you on, and challenge yourself to make a difference, even in just a small way.
Happy New Year everyone. I hope that this year will be a year of happiness and joy, and more importantly, a year in which you will grow closer to God.

My 2010 Book Review!

2010-12-25T07:30:00.000-08:00

So, I thought I would try something different right now. Lot's of people are starting to get resoultions ready, and looking back on their year. I thought I would look back on my year too...but I'm going to focus on the books that I read in the past 12 months during the year of 2010. I will give my review of the book, and a score out of 10 for that particular book.
Chances are, I am going to forget a book or two that I read, and there is also a good chance that one or two of the books I mention here will have actually been read by me at the end of 2009...but oh well. These are in no particular order:

1) Son of Hamas (Mosab Hassan Yousef)- This book was, simply, AMAZING! It's a story about the son of one of the people that started the terrorist organization Hamas. Incredible events, well written, and really gives a fresh new, REAL perspective on the conflict between Israel and Palestine. This guy went from Hamas, to working as a collaborater for Israel to becoming a Christian. He is now in hiding in the U.S. I bought this book on Thursday, and it was finished by Friday night. The deduction is because sometimes the names got confusing (not his fault as it's his true, life story...but made it kind of hard to fully grasp everything sometimes). 9.5/10

2) Gone, Baby, Gone (Dennis Lehane)- A real page-turner. It's the story of 2 detectives, who are reluctant to take on the case of a missing infant, but when they do the stakes get high and more and more questions are raised, with less answers being given. Lehane is the author of Shutter Island and Mystic River (both to be reviewed later). While this one is better than Mystic River, it falls short of Shutter Island. Overall tho, a great read. 9/10

3) The Town (originally published as Prince of Thieves, Chuck Hogan)- As I read this book, I couldn't get Eminem's song "I'm Not Afraid" out of my head...as it is the theme song of the movie trailer (which apparantly isn't in the actual movie). An incredible story of bank robbers in Charlestown, one of which falls in love with one of the people that they robbed. It has romance, action, some humour, a bit of mystery...it was a great read and was definately better than the movie (although the movie was pretty freakin awesome too!). 9/10

4) Jesus Want to Save Christians (Rob Bell)- I am a big Rob Bell fan, and this book does not disappoint. He writes in his classic style of short, often incomplete sentences...and it reads like his NOOMA videos. He raises excellent questions about the church, while going through the story of Israel. 8.5/10

5) The Rainmaker (John Grisham)- A typical Grisham novel...about a lawyer. This one is all about insurance fraud. If I were to tell you that a book about lawyers and Insurance Fraud would be good, you probably wouldn't believe me...but you should. It's not the best Grisham, but it is good enough to read quite quickly. 8.5/10

6) The Broker (John Grisham)- I was really excited to read this one, about a notorious broker who gets pardoned by the president, in a plot to get him assasinated. It sounded like it would be action packed...but in typical Grisham fashion, the real action doesn't start until three-quaters of the way through the book. It had it's moments, but it was far less then I expected. 6/10

7) The Guinea Pig Diaries (A.J. Jacobs)- This was another book I was really excited to read, and once again minor disappointment ensued. I say minor, because each chapter in this book is a different 'experiment' that Jacobs puts himself through, such as being 100% honest all the time, outsourcing his life, and doing only 1 thing at a time. Some chapters were great, others were ok and a few weren't as good as they could have been. After hearing reviews about his other books, especially "The Year of Living Biblically", I was really excited for this one. Too bad it wasn't as good as it had the potential to be. 6.5/10

8) Boneman's Daughters (Ted Dekker)- For being a Christian Novel, this one was really good (Did that sound cynical?). It kind of had a "Kiss the Girls" type feel (the movie with Morgan Freeman..check it out, it's a good one), and was a good page-turning thriller. I like that Dekker doesn't use this novel to preach at us, as other Christian novelists often attempt to do (even he does in some other books...more on that later as well). A decent 8/10

9) Plan B (Pete Wilson)- I read this book when I was going through a phase about what Faith is. This book was exactly what I needed to read. He talks about when life throws us unforseeable curveballs. When our Plan A becomes a Plan B or C. He uses real life stories, and has some great points. A good book to read for anyone going through a Plan B in life, or who knows someone who is. 9/10

10) The Summons (John Grisham)- 2 brothers, a father's will, and a big secret. This one isn't as much of a legal thriller as other Grisham novels, which is a nice change. It still has lawyer-esque elements to it, but it stays out of the coutroom. Surprisingly good story, typically well-written, and nice shocking moments throughout. 8/10

11) Blessed Child (Ted Dekker)- One of Dekker's first, and not one of his best. It's about a child who has a special connection with God. It has the cheesy Christian novel feel to it, almost to the point of frustration. A few action packed moments wasn't enough to save this one. Sorry Dekker fans, this one is a 5/10

12) The Street Lawyer (John Grisham)- Not very action packed, but packed with heart. Grisham takes on the homeless situation, and he does it in a profound, almost tear-jerking way (yes...I think I teared up a little in this one). This book inspires me to want to get out and DO something...which is rare for a novel. 9/10

13) The Pelican Brief (John Grisham)- Let's get my last Grisham novel of the year out of the way. This one was good. Excitement, explosions, intrigue. Not much to say, other then Classic Grisham. 8.5/10

14) Deadline (Randy Alcorn)- I did a whole blog on this book (and not in a good way) a while ago. This one takes Christian Fiction cheesiness to a while other level. This book comes in 3 parts, the main story about a murder (which was good), a characters experience in heaven (unnecessary and complete b.s.), and Alcorn's stance on abortion. To say that I felt preached at would be a huge understatement. 3/10

15) Shutter Island (Dennis Lehane)- Words can't express how much I loved this book. Just hands down, one of the best works of fiction I have ever read. Chilling, exciting, very well written. Just an amazing novel from beginning to end. The only reason I am giving it the score I am is because I somewhat predicted the ending. I fit could have actually surprised me in the end, it would be a full on 10. 9.5/10

16) Adam (Ted Dekker)- This book started well...with a serial killer. Then it turned into a weird "kill me so i can get a near death experience" book (The main character dies about 3 times in this one). And then, if that wasn't enough, it turns into an Exorcist type book...which wasn't what I expected when I read the last few chapters while in bed ready to go to sleep. Definately not Dekker's best. 4/10

17) The Lost Symbol (Dan Brown)- Any book that I use as a discussion starter for my status on Facebook has to be good. Brown delivers another winner. I read this one fast, just like his other ones. Raises great questions about the mind...and the power of prayer. Whether you agree with his stance or not doesn't take away from the exciting story and his amazing writing ability. This one actually did surprise me...so for that, I give it the much awaited and highly anticipated 10/10.

18) O Me of Little Faith (Jason Boyett)- Moving from a Dan Brown novel, to a non-fiction book about doubt. This book was incredible. Had sort of a Donald Miller, Pete Wilson, Rob Bell feel...and was just what I needed to read. It didn't challenge me, as I already agreed with everything in the book...but it did encourage me that I am not alone. A great read for all those who doubt. 10/10

19) Crime and Punishmen (Fyodor Dostoevsky)- My critique with Son of Hamas was that the names were tough at times...that would be an understatement for this one. Not only are the names Russian (such as Raskolnikov)...but Dostoevsky gives each character about 3 or 4 different names throughout the book. The story itself is interesting, and raises ethical questions, but the name issue, and the fact that the book had many slow moving, too-much-detail moments turned this classic into a bore for me. (In fact, this book took me so long to read that Kristi said it was very painful watching me slowly get through it). 3/10

20) Lord of the Flies (William Golding)- I never got the chance to read this one in High School, which disappointed me. I had low expectations for this one, as everyone seemed to hate it that I talked to. But I actually enjoyed it. I mean, it wasn't spectacular...but it was a good read. It took on some very interesting issues, and really brought into question the raw nature of mankind. Plus...who can hate a book with a nerdy kid with "athsmar" named Piggy. 6/10

21) Mystic River (Dennis Lehane)- As I mentioned in the Gone Baby Gone review, this book wasn't as good as his others...which isn't to say that it's not great. It's about 3 boys, one of whom gets kidnapped by perverts. After he returns home, he is different (not Tobey Maguire in "Brothers" different...but different). The story mainly focuses on their adult years...and ties them all into a murder investigation. If you want the best Lehane book, read "Shutter Island", but this one is still great. 8.5/10 (I couldn't give it the same score as a book I said it wasn't as good as).

22) Evil and the Justice of God (N.T. Wright)- No book review would be complete without N.T. Wright to end it off. This was a book I 'read' while at Bethany...but I literally skimmed through it so fast that I didn't remember anything from it. To be honest, I expected a bit more, but at the same time Wright is such an intelligent thinker and writer, that the book was exactly what it should be. Why is there evil in the world? Will it ever end? Great questions, and he does a great job of attempting to give a satisfactory answer to those, and other, questions. 8.5/10

Well...that's my review of the 22 books that I read over the past 12 months. That averages to almost 2 books a month, which I guess is a pretty decent number if I do say so myself. So what do you think? Do you agree with some of my reviews? Was I too harsh on some, too lenient on others? Did I inspire you to read some of these books? What have you read over the past 12 months, and what books should I read in 2011? Let me know. Merry Christmas...and hope you enjoyed this review...and if not, then that's ok too. Blessings everyone, and Happy New year (perhaps a bit early for that...but it's close enough).

Merry Xmas, Happy Holidays

2010-12-17T10:41:00.001-08:00

Happy Holidays everyone! And a Merry Xmas to you all as well! What? now your upset at me because I am being rude and inconsiderate to Christians? You think I have taken Christ out of Christmas? Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad? Is that better?
I'm sick of people who get up in arms over taking Christ out of Christmas. Give it a rest people. Seriously...let it go. Here is why I have no problem with the Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays.
1) X is NOT exing out Christ from Christmas. That would look like, "Merry ____mas". The X is an ancient symbol FOR Christ. It's greek. It's a shorthand and a symbol...nothing more, nothing less. Do some people use it to take Christ out of Christmas? Maybe, but the X itself is not an insult to Christians and Jesus...so stop taking offense to it.
2) Christians AREN'T the only people who have a holiday in December. We act is if we own the month, when in fact, we don't. To be honest, Jesus wasn't even born in December (or at least it is very unlikely that he was)...so why do we act as if everything in December is holy? It's a freaking month people...and the 25th was a day chosen because it coincided with an ancient pagan festival, and the winter solstice. What about Hanukkah and Kwanza? Plus countless other festivals and religions who have celebrations around that day? Why do we think that we are better then everyone, and deserve exclusive rights to this day and the traditional greetings of that day.

Let's put ourselves in other peoples shoes for a second. Let's assume that Christians are the minority, and the common holiday is Hanukkah. We still celebrate Christmas, but everyone comes up to us and says, "Happy Hanukkah"...and when we reply with, "Merry Christmas", or "Happy Holidays", they get upset and angry, and tell us that we aren't celebrating the TRUE meaning of the season. How would that make us feel? We are celebrating what WE think is the true meaning of the season, and no one seems to respect or acknowledge it. Same can be said for those who have their own celebrations and festivals around the Christmas season. And what about those who DON'T celebrate it, like Jehovah's Witnesses, and atheists...how do they like having others beliefs thrown intho their face? The truth is...we can't really know what others believe. We don't know who is Jewish, who is Christian, who is muslim, hindu, atheist, jehovah's witness...we can't tell by looking (we can assume in many instances...but we all know what happens when we assume). Which is why Happpy Holidays works well for everyone. Everyone is celebrating some sort of holiday, whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza or just a holiday from work and school. Is it an attack on the Christian faith to be accepting of ALL faiths, beliefs and religions? In fact, I believe it is MORE Christian to be more aware and accepting of others.
Saying Happy Holidays does not take Christ out of Christmas. Santa Clause, Christmas Trees, Presents, Reindeer...those don't take Christ out of Christmas either...what takes Christ out of Christmas is Christians who claim that they are followers of Christ, and yet they don't serve him. They claim that they love God and Jesus...and yet they neglect the poor, needy and homeless. THAT is what is taking Christ out of Christmas. Who cares what greeting we say to eachother. That's my Christmas rant. What do you think? Agree or disagree?
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Merry Xmas, Happy Hanukkah...and to everyone else who I don't know the proper greeting for your celebration, I hope that your celebration is great!

note: I got the idea for this blog from Stephen Colbert, as well as a friend of mine's (Paul Woodburn) blog. So...credit to them!

O Me Of Little Faith

2010-12-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

Many of you may not know this, but 2 weeks ago I got a job at the Christian Bookstore in Abbotsford. It's been an amazing experience so far, although I am right now hoping that it won't only be a seasonal job but will instead become a full time thing. Anyway, that's not really the point of this blog...just an update. While on my break at House of James, I have been reading a book that was kept in the staff room called "O Me of Little Faith" by an author named Jason Boyett. I can honestly say that I have never read a book like this. It is refreshing, it is honest and it is funny. Like, laugh out loud funny (and I don't mean that in the lame 'lol' texting/facebook way). But the main thing that is getting me about the book...is how I can relate to almost everything in it. Usually when I read a book, there are a few things that I love, many things that I like and one or two things that I hate and despise...so far, this book has been exactly what I needed to hear (now, I'm not done the book yet, so there may be something coming up that I won't like...but we'll have to see about that). Anyway, so far, here are a 3 of the main points that Boyett makes, that I think are excellent (even though they do push against the Christian norm).
1) People give God too much credit. Now before you rebel against me, and burn every copy of Boyett's books, note that those words are my words and not his. Secondly...let me explain. Boyett talks about people who thank God for a parking space, for sound and video equipment working, for finding a job, for weather...you know the type of thing I'm talking about. What he says is that, he's a logical person. If the sound and video equipment works...it's because the people who made the equipment did a good job. Did God have a hand in it? possibly...but does he deserve ALL the credit for that instance? likely not. Now, this isn't to say that we should never say "Thank God", or pray a prayer of blessing before we eat, or recognize the hand of God in everyday occurances...but I think it's safe to say that God doesn't need to be recognized for everything. First of all, because many things are just natural occurances, or coincidences, and secondly...even if he is involved in all the mundane details of our life, he is big enough and mature enough to not need the credit for everything. He's not that much of an egotist that everything has to be credited to him.
2) Arguing doesn't convert people. I knw there have been many times in my life when I get into a heated argument with someone who believes something different than me, and when the argument is over we are both just frustrated and don't believe anything new. Why do we have this incessant need to always be right? Why do we always have to speak up when something is said that we slightly disagree with? And more importantly, even if what we believe IS right and everyone else is wrong, we still have to treat them with love and respect. The moment we argue with others, we draw a line that says "you are over there, and I am over here. I am right, you are wrong. You have to agree with me". Do you ever notice that when the pharisees wanted to make Jesus look bad, they tried to get into an argument with him? Jesus never went for the bait. Instead, he showed love, respect and had very creative responses to their difficult questions and traps. From what I gather from the Bible, Jesus didn't get into arguments (at least not in an attempt to convert someone). Arguing is ok..there is nothing wrong with a heated argument every once in a while...but arguing doesn't make people believe in God.
3) The Sinner's Prayer is not Biblical. This one will probably cause the most controversy, as it is something we all grew up with. But it's true...where in the Bible does Jesus say, "I am the way, the truth and the life...anyone who wants to see the father must pray a certain prayere with certain words, asking me to come into their hearts and forgive them of all sins". The main problem I have with the sinner's prayer, is that it becomes the end. People pray it, and then move on with their lives...knowing that "Well, I'm good now, God will forgive me and I'm going to heaven. I can do what I want". Perhaps not everyone is like that, but it at least opens that door of possibility. I appreciate that the Sinner's Prayer can be a starting point. A beginning of a journey, it's too bad that it is often portrayed as the destination rather then the starting line. Jesus calls people to be like him, to follow his example, to have faith like a child, to love Him and love others, to put others first, to turn the other cheek, to forgive the unforgivable...he never says that to follow him you must walk down the long aisle to the altar and pray one particular prayer

That are the three main points of the book (as I gather them anyway...there are other great points and comments in the book) so far. Perhaps when I finish the book I will do a final blog summarizing everything. I hope that this blog encourages you to read the book (it's fascinating...really), and more importantly, I hope it helps you to realize that you don't have to believe everything that everyone else does. You can push the envelope a little bit, have a few doubts. Doubts are a good thing. Without Doubts, we don't ask questions. Without Questions, we don't have any answers. Without Answers, we won't learn anything. Blessings guys...and an early Merry Christmas to you all!

Come, Emmanuel

2010-11-28T12:14:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas music. Carols, Hymns...it's all good. I love the fun Rudolph and Frosty, and the more solemn Silent Night. But the one Christmas song that I never fully understood, as a kid anyway, was O Come O Come Emmanuel. What's all this talk about "ransom" and "captive"? This song doesn't mention shepherds, wise men, Mary, Joseph, the inn, sheep...how is this a Christmas song? And then, recently, it hit me. O Come O Come Emmanuel is THE Christmas song...while other Christmas carols focus on the angels, the shepherds, the inn, the sheep, the wise men...the shoes...this one focuses on the attitude of the people. It focuses on the REASON for Christmas.
Before Jesus was born, before God came to Earth as a baby, the people of Israel were crying out for God to save them. To ransom them. To free them. While they weren't in slavery in Egypt anymore, or in Exile in Babylon...they were enslaved by the Romans..in their own city. The Romans had taken over...Caesar was king, was god. The Israelites wanted God to come, and shoe the Romans who was boss..."Come and Save us! Ransom us! Free us!". And so God did. He sent Jesus to save them. Rescue them. Redeem them. Ransom them. Unfortunately...he sent him as a baby. Jesus didn't part through the clouds, with sword ablaze, white horse galloping towards the Roman soldiers...he came as a lowly, infant child, born in a stable to an unmarried virgin. Not like he was expected to arrive.
But that's the point of Christmas isn't it? The point of Christmas was that God would lower himself...not only just to human form, but to the weakest, most vulnerable of human form...a baby. Christmas is about God hearing the cries of his people...of the poor, the outcasts, the sinners, the weak...and answering their prayers. But while the people wanted the coming of the Savior to be the end...they wanted it to happen fast..."God, Come down, rescue us, kill our enemies and then go back up to heaven so we can worship and praise you forever (or until we end up in exile again, in which case we will forget you for a while)". But that wasn't God's plan. It was to be a slow process. Instead of going all Chuck Norris on the Romans...he took more of a Ghandi approach. Instead of being born into a royal family (or skipping the birthing process altogether and just arriving as a fierce warrier), he came as a baby to a poor carpenter's family.
Christmas isn't really about the nativity at all. It's not about the shepherds, it's not about Mary and Joseph, it's not about the Angels. It's about God, hearing the cries of his people. Christmas is about God arriving, listening, caring. Christmas is God finally saying "enough is enough", and taking matters into his own hands. That is what Christmas truly is all about. It's about God's people crying, "Come Emmanuel. Rescue Us. Save Us. Ransom Us"...and God coming. Merry Christmas everyone...let's praise God that he heard our cries, felt our tears, and came to our rescue.

God, Apathy, and the Windows 7 Phone

2010-11-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

One of my new favourite commercials is for the new Windows 7 phone (I'd never buy the phone, but the commercial is GREAT). This is the full, minute long extended edition of that commercial...

Ok...now that you are laughing and entertained, I'm gonna put a spiritual twist to this commercial. I find that, while we can laugh at these people in the commercial who miss out on life because they are so focused on their phone, many Christians do the exact same thing with the Bible. I know right...bold. But think about it. So many Christians go around, with verses in their head, stories, themes, ideas, whatever...all fine and good...but they never live them out. They never use those verses, stories, parables, ideas, lessons. While it's not like we are walking around with a Bible in our face, running into people and forgetting about our wives and family, we do seem to have a lot of "ideas" in our head, and not a lot of "action" in our life.
For example...we read the story of the Good Samaritan, or the passage about "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat", and we feel good about ourselves. We take something from the passage, we try to see Jesus in the homeless, in the forgotten, downtrodden, outcasts, poor. But instead of helping them, we walk by, give a smile and move on. Or, we read about love and acceptance, and see how Jesus hung out with sinners, hookers, drunkards, theives...and yet we stay in our small little cliques. We judge those who are different, we ignore those who disagree with us. We fail to comfort those who are mourning. We read the stories, we get the point in our head...but we don't do anything about it.
Like the commerical...we are missing out on life. Phones are supposed to connect people, and yet the people in the commercial are more disconnected then ever. The Bible is supposed to inspire us to action, and yet we don't act. By just reading the Bible, and doing nothing with our knowledge, nothing with the words, themes, ideas, parables, lessons, we are misuing Scripture. It becomes just a book. And I'm sure, God is looking down from heaven...seeing all of his so called "followers", who claim to love him, serve him, and follow him, and yet they do nothing. They are in their own little world (I should say, We are in our own little world, cause I'm including myself in this too), missing out on opportunities to love, opportunities to serve, and opportunities to show people the love of God...and he is yelling down at us, "REALLY?"
Look up from the pages of the bible. Look outside the windows of the church. Instead of walking around with your head focused on Heaven to see if Jesus is descending, look at the ground to see who you can BE Jesus For?
Anyway...that's just my opinion. What's yours?

Fmylife

2010-11-12T11:14:00.000-08:00

A While ago, I bought a book called "Fmylife". Yes...the "F" stands for exactly what you think. The book is a collection of very short anecdotes about crapy things that happened to people. I'm not going to lie, it's a freakin hilarious book. To be honest, while I was reading through it at HMV, I was literally convulsing at moments, trying to contain my laughter and to not cause people to stare at me (because having a 23 year old shaking and crying tears of joy wasn't distracting at all). Now, I'm also not going to lie and say that the book is full of appropriate material that everyone can read, and is fun for the whole family. There is a lot of content that is...sketchy, to say the least. However, I am going to share some of my favourite clean stories, and perhaps edit a few of the sketchier ones. I hope it makes you laugh a little bit...and then I will finish this blog off with some spiritual relevance, I promise. So...here we go:

1) "Today, I was at work at the grocery store, and a woman pulled a cart toward me filled with chips, breads, lunch meats, and sodas. I said 'looks like your going to have a fun party', she replied 'my mother just died. This is for after the funeral'"-fmylife

2) "Today I was walking through a bookstore with my girlfriend when we passed a stand selling Girl Scout cookies. I saw a box of my favourite kind, so I pointed at them and shouted 'Yeah!'. My girlfriend looked shocked. Behind the box of cookies was a nine-year-old scout bending over with her bottom pointed at me"-fmylife

3) "Today at a rehersal, a friend poked me and said, 'my mother is in the orchestra. Guess who she is' I jokingly answered, 'the fat singer?'...it was"-fmylife

4) "Today I was at an interview for a music school. When I got my guitar out of it's case, I realized that my friends thought it would be funny to replace my real guitar with one from Guitar Hero"-fmylife

5) "Today I went to the gym to get into shape. I pulled a muscle while taking off my sweater in the locker room"-fmylife

6) "Today my anatomy teacher was putting together a skeleton model for class. A leg bone was missing, so I jokingly said 'what's the matter, lose a leg?'. Unfortunately there is nothing funy about asking that question to a guy who's had a leg amputated"-fmylife

7) "Today my crush talked to me for the first time. He told me to stop staring"-fmylife

8) "Today I fell asleep in drivers ed, and woke up in the middle of a dream, laughing. Everyone was staring at me. I found out that my teacher had just told a story about his niece who didn't wear a seatbelt and is now brain-dead"-fmylife

9) "Today, while at work, a kid of about 5 was having trouble zipping his jacket". When I reached to help him, he started screaming 'No, bad touch! bad touch' and kicked me in the knee. Everyone looked"-fmylife

10) "Today in the middle of a date, I went to rest my chin on my hand, missed, and stuck the straw from my drink straight up my nose. My nose bled all over the table. He hasn't called me since"-fmylife

11) "Today I got a Save the Date card for the wedding of a couple my husband knows. I emailed the bride back saying 'I got your S.T.D.', and hit send before I realized how that sounded"-fmylife

12) "Today my parents met my boyfriends parents for the first time...bailing us out of jail"-fmylife

13) "Today, my professor, who was born without arms, asked somebody 'Need a hand?'...there are over 300 students in the class, and I was the only one laughing"-fmylife

14) "Today I got 31% on a chinese test at school. I moved here to New Jersey from Beijing 2 months ago"-fmylife

15) "Today, in front of 20 guests, I yelled at my husband for not coming to blow out his birthday candles. It turned out that he was in the other room, quitely changing his disabled friends adult diaper"-fmylife

16) "Today for the first time every, I met someone with the same name as me. I'm 20...he's 97"-fmylife

17) "Today my boss asked me, 'Can I give you some constructive criticism?', I said sure. He said 'your work is [crap], you have no talent and i can't figure out why I hired you"-fmylife

18) "Today I found a bone in my sandwich. It was a veggie burger"-fmylife

19) "Today I walked into the kitchen and accidently broke my mothers vase. I said 'Acciden't happen', to which she replied, 'Yeah. Like your birth'"-fmylife

20) "Today I told my dad that I was going to get some beauty sleep. He said, 'see you in a decade'"-fmylife

21) "Today, at a strategy meeting, my manager displayed a flow chart of his employess. I wasn't included. Turns out I had been fired, and they forgot to tell me"-fmylife

22) "Today, while shaving, I cut myself. With the blade protector"-fmylife

23) "Today I made fun of my friend when she tripped over a curb. I said loudly, 'haha, you can't even walk'. Then I noticed the man in the wheelchair a few feet ahead of us"-fmylife

24) "Today I asked my boss for a raise. He responded by saying, 'Who the hell are you?'"-fmylife

and finally...
25) "Today I met a really attractive guy, who introduced himself as Wyan. He was really cool and sweet, and we got along pretty well. Later someone told me that his name is Ryan and that he has a speech impediment. Througout the conversation I had been referring to him as Wyan"-fmylife.

So, you are likely wondering...what is the point? Why list 25 embarrassing stories? Well, to be perfectly honest, we have all been in similar type situations. Ok...maybe not those exact type situations, but we have all done embarrasing things, humiliated ourselves and put our foot in our mouths. We have all had days that made us feel like our lives our pointless. Worthless. We have all thought that nobody could possibly have a worse life than we do. Well...it's not true. No matter how bad our lives get, or how humiliating a day we have...someone, somewhere has it worse. Life can throw curveballs. Life can be unpredictable, and devastating...but life goes on. The embarrasing situation you had the other day, will be forgotten by everyone eventually. Will you let it go? Will you move on from it? When you focus on your mistakes, on your embarrasments, you can't truly enjoy life. When you are focused so much on not humiliating yourself, you can't truly live. Life is full of embarrasing, humiliating situations. Stop dwelling on them. Life will get better. Life will go on. Enjoy life. Have fun. Your life isn't over because of one mistake, or one humiliating moment. Laugh it off and move on.

Lest We Forget...until tomorrow.

2010-11-11T13:34:00.001-08:00

Today is Remembrance Day (Or Veteran's Day, if I happen to have any American readers). It's a day set aside to remember the men and women who served, and currently serve in the Armed Forces, protecting us, and earning our Freedom. More specifically, we attempt to remember those whose lives have been lost while fighting for our rights and freedoms. The thousands, upon thousands of young men and women who have fallen in the line of duty. Many people attend Remembrance Day Ceremonies, wear poppies, visit veterans, fly flags at half mast. There are numerous ways to show our love and appreciation for those who fought, and are fighting overseas.
Remembrance. It's important to remember. Lest We Forget! For many people, today is the only day they really think about the soldiers, the wars, and the lives lost. To some, Saving Private Ryan is just an entertaining movie, and never really think about the real lives, the real people who died, in horrible, gruesome ways. As Christians, we are called to remember. Unfortunately, like many who only think of veterans during Remembrance Day, many Christians only think of Jesus death and sacrifice during Easter, or communion (even though many people only see it as a meal, and don't take much meaning out of it). Why is it that we only remember one day out of the year? Why do we only praise God one day a week? Why is Christmas the only time we think about Jesus being born? Now, I'm not saying that we should eliminate these special holidays and just treat every day like a holiday...but I am saying that we should be constantly remembering. Every day should be an act of worship. Every meal we eat, we should be thinking about the Last Supper, and Jesus sacrifice. Every time we see a veteran, we should remember the cost of our freedom. Whenever we look at our flag, we should think of all those young men and women who fought for us. Who gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we may live in freedom.
Too often, we think about the veterans during Remebrance Day, think about Christ's birth at Christmas, his resurrection at Easter...and then once the day passes we don't think about it again for a year. Lest We Forget doesn't mean that we only remember once a year...it means that we should NEVER forget. Even for a day. Remember the sacrifice. Remember the love. And with remembering, look ahead. Look to your future, your present...and think about how you will honour God with your life? How will you honour the veterans with your actions? It's more than just wearing a poppy for a day or two, or putting a Jesus fish on your car. Live out your gratitude. Live out your appreciation, your love. If those thousands of soldiers didn't fight for our freedom and pay the price for it...our live would be drastically different. If Jesus decided that we weren't worth it. If he fought back, and refused to go to the cross...think of how meaningless our lives would be? Let's Remember. Shall we never forget!

Let the Idiots be Silenced

2010-11-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

There seems to be a growing epidemic amongst Christians...we seem to have become stupid. Ok, perhaps not stupid, but we seem to have lost our ability to properly discuss our faith and beliefs. Now, I could generalize this and say it is predominatly a certain denomination, or gender, or particular country of origin...but I will not do that, as it seems to target everyone.
Now, in the Bible we are told to always have an answer ready...but it seems that many Christians interpret that as "give an answer for everything...whether you know the answer or not". We read that we are to have an answer ready, and see it as we can't say "I don't know"...as if not knowing the answer is a sin. Let me tell you people...it's OK to not know the answer. It's ok to say "pass", or "That's a good question, I'll have to look it up for you", or simply "I don't Know". What is happening instead, is that Christians are making themselves, and therefore other Christians, look stupid, unintelligent and crazy.
Here are a few very unintelligent Christian responses that I found on Christian chat rooms and forums. Buckle up...it's a sad scary ride.
"Evolution can't have happened because we aren't born monkeys"
"It's funny how non-creationsits will blame a God they don't believe in, but they won't let evolution take the blame for amputees not being able to heal"
"For those who think the bible has 'fiction' it it...what parts"
"Would you rather have a not smart Christian running the country, or a smart Atheist. I'd rather have a not smart Christian."
"Light can't be '11 million light years away'...if it were, I wouldn't be able to see it. I'm 20, not 11 million years old"
"Man is made in the image of God the Father. That s the primary reason why man has a penis" (????...wow)
"By not hating gays you are disobeying God and deserve to go to hell"
"The first 5 books aren't [jewish], Moses was a Christian"
"Does planting trees help bring people to Christ? It's like going to a starving country to feed the hungry. It doesn't do them any good to live another day, if they are doomed to Hell anyway"

Ok..I'm going to stop now because it is just getting sad and ridiculous. I know that most Christians aren't at that level of stupidity and intolerance...but as I drive down the road and see church signs like "Experts built the Titanic and amateurs built the Ark", I can't help but wonder how non-Christians interpret that. So here is the challenge, and the point of this blog. Do your research...THINK before your speak. Don't just give a comment for no reason, or give an answer you haven't fully thought about. Want to know why people are atheists, or have a negative view on Christians? It's because Christians tend to be more vocal about their beliefs (which isn't necessarily a bad thing), and they say things that are offensive, stupid, and even unbiblical. If Christians actually acted intelligent, and researched, thought about and prepared their answers...then maybe we'd get more respect. It's too bad that while there are many, MANY smart, intelligent Christians out there who do a lot to further the kingdom of God, there a many stupid Christians who open their mouths and ruin all the good that other Christians are doing. As the chidlish phrase states, "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all"...this applies to stupid, unintelligent, poorly thought out responses and questions too.

Hallow"evil"?

2010-10-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it is that day of the year again. The day that children, and many adults, dress up as everything from Justin Bieber to fairy godmothers. Police officers to Mount. St. Helens. Princesses, knights, wizards, witches, chicki magnets, the doplar effect. It's all been done. It's the night that kids are actually encouraged to run in the streets and take candy from strangers. For many kids, this is the best night of the year. Late Night, cool costume and lots of candy. What could be better?
While the holiday is celebrated by many, there are many people (especially Christians), who find Halloween sinful and evil. They may give out candy (or possibly scripture passges and tracts), but they likely will just sit at home, with the lights turned out, praying for the lost souls who are selling their souls to the devil walking around dressed up as demons and taking candy. Why is it that there is such an issue with this particular holiday? You don't see people boycotting Christmas, Birthdays, Easter, New Years, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day or Labour Day (Jehvah Witnesses excluded of course...of course even they just go about it in silence). I figured that I would do a quick history lesson here...what is the origins of Halloween? Why is it the holiday that it has become? Why October 31? And more importantly, why do many Christians find it evil and scary? Let's find out shall we...
According to Wikipedia (it's always truthful and accurate right?), Halloween is sort of a spin off from the Celtic holiday of Samhain (meaning "summer's end"), which is a celebration of the end of the "lighter half of the year" and the beginning of the "darker half". It was believed that on this day, the Otherworld was opened up and spirits (both good and bad), could pass through. The wearing of costumes is believed to come from people dressing up as bad spirits in order to avoid harm.
Jack-O-Lanterns were initially created to commemorate the souls in purgatory, as well as warding off evil spirits. Trick or Treating originated from the practice of souling, when poor people would go door to door asking for food in return for prayers.

This is a very quick, overview of the history of Halloween...please, feel free to comment and fix any errors, or add any vital information that I am lacking. Anyway, now to the questions. How should Christians respond? Personally, I see no harm in participating in Halloween. I think it can be a harmless holiday, filled with fun and games. Yes, there are some creepy costumes, and lots of mischief...but overall, it's a fairly harmless holiday. In fact, for many people it is the only day of the year (other than Christmas, with carolling), that they get to meet their neighbours in a non threatening way. Friendships can be built, relationships formed. Now, I don't think we should go around casting spells on people, or performing exorcisms (leave that to the priests), but in reality...the holiday, while rooted in the spiritual, has evolved into just a night of fun and candy. Things change over time. Word meanings change, things that once meant one thing, mean something different now. For example, the word gay once meant happy...today it is a word describing a homosexual. Bitch once was a harmless word meaning "female dog"...now it means...well, you get the idea. Halloween has evolved too. It is no longer just a day to ward of spirits...in fact, most people don't even know the origins anymore. The day has brought together many different celebrations and days (All Saints Day, All-Hallows Eve, Samhain), and created a new holiday.
So should we embrace it? Perhaps. I'm not here to tell people how they should respond to something. The Bible does say that if something causes someone else to stumble, then it should be avoided around that person. If you are intimidated by Halloween, or it makes you uncomfortable, by all means don't celebrate the holiday. But do it in silence. If you love Halloween, don't force others to love it with you. People have choice. Just like religion, yes we are called to make disciples, but a disciple CHOOSES to follow, it is not forced to follow. Make up your own mind about Halloween, love it or hate it, just don't judge others for their view.

Forgiving Mel

2010-10-22T07:58:00.000-07:00

So, I was planning on finally doing my "Fmylife" blog...but then I was surfing around on the Rotten Tomatoes website (a move critic website), and saw an article about Mel Gibson being turned down for the Hangover 2 sequel. Apparantly, the creator/writer or whoever of the movie wanted Mel to have a cameo in the movie, but the rest of the cast and crew turned down the idea, due to his anti-semetic remarks a while ago. Now, I definately condone these people for standing up for their beliefs...but seriously, can we give the guy a break?
Keep in mind, that the first Hangover starred Mike Tyson, who isn't regarded as a great role model. My point is...I think as a human race we tend to dwell on the past way too much. If someone does something to offend us, we will forver see them as the "person who did this", instead of just a person. Mel Gibson says an anti-semetic remark (keep in mind he was drunk at the time...and his comments were likely taken out of context), and immediately he is thrown under the bus, cast aside and banished. It seems that no matter what he does, he will always be remembered as the person who hates jews. He could probably even make a movie about Judaism, and it would still be seen as a mockery. Tiger Woods will forver be remembered not for his golf, but for his "encounters", Rick Rypien for his altercation with the Minnesote Wild fan (although, i do find that one hilarious!)...there are many people who have been marred by past sins. But is it not time for forgiveness? Can we not move past the past, and instead focus on the future? Jesus forgave those who beat him and hung him on a cross (some of whom did in fact happen to be jewish...so Mel, you were partly right). The ancient Christians were able to, over time, forgive Paul (formerly Saul) even after he killed and persecuted countless Christians. Why is it that we have such a hard time letting past sins go? Why do we hold these things over people? Why can't we let them forever break free? God forgives them...why can't we forgive?
I'm not saying we have to forget...forgetting is hard, especially after someone does something to really hurt us. But give them another chance. Move on....if the guilty party is seeking forgiveness, then give it to them. Love them. Accept them. Forgive them.
Please note, I am not saying that the cast and crew of Hangover 2 are bad people, nor am I saying that the movie should have Mel Gibson in it. This will not stop me from wanting to see the movie (I don't expect it to be as good as the first one...but I do think it will be pretty funny), I am merely making a point. Forgiveness is one of the foundational pillars of the Christian faith (and most other religions actually)...why does it seem that we have lost that over the years? Why do churches split over differences or arguments that can easily be solved with a little love, forgiveness and compromise? Why do friendships dissolve, marriages break up, siblings hate one another? Forgiveness is not easy, I definately understand that...I have people I need to forgive, and have many people who I need to be forgiven from...but it is something we have to do...or at least give a good attempt to do, not some half-hearted "meh" attempt. It's time to forgive the Mel Gibson's of our life...forgive, and move on. Don't hold someone in a certain box...free them, let them out, and let them become more than just one event, one altercation, one sin. We all mess up...we all need forgiveness...it's time to give it!

The Truth about The Bible

2010-10-15T10:05:00.001-07:00

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while now, and am finally doing it. I've had the question in my head recently, "Is the Bible True, or does it only contain Truth?". This question all goes back to my first year at Bethany, when I said something along the lines of, "The Bible is true", and someone said "Is it?". It led to a discussion, in which my only response was, "umm...yes?" followed my a wimper. This of course was before the days that I enjoyed debates and discussions, and actually cowered away from them (my how things have changed). So I raise the question, once again "Is the Bible True?".
This will likely sound horrible and very unChristian, but I would have to argue that the Bible is NOT 100% true, and only CONTAINS Truth. It's a big difference, and may seem to shatter faith, although when you really look at the contents of the Bible, you can't say that everything in the Bible is infallable, True, and Holy. First of all, we have to look at the types of books we have in the Bible. We have letters, we have poetry, we have stories, songs, legends, and proverbs. Now, I am not going to argue that the stories in the Bible are false, and didn't happen. I believe that they did happen, and are true. However, we have to take into consideration that, back in biblical days, it was not uncommon, nor was it frowned upon, to exaggerate stories. Also, it must be remembered that theses stories were passed down verbally for many years before written down. We all know what happens with verbal stories. We've played the game Telephone as kids...we know that usually what is left at the end is not what started. I'm not going to say that the stories are so embellished that only very small fragments are true, but I am saying that we have to keep in mind that things have been embellished slightly, or at least very likely have been. For example, the story of Gideon. We know that story as a man who led 300 men against THOUSANDS of me. Now, he likely had more than 300 men, and perhaps the enemy didn't have as many men as the story says...but the bottom line is...he was vastly outnumbered, and defeated the enemy with God's help in a miraculous way. Does it really matter if he was outnumbered 3 to 1 or 10 to 1? Not really.
These exagerations don't mean that we can't trust the Bible...nor does it mean that the Israelites were liars...it's what was done back then. Numbers were symbolic, for example the number 40. Was it exactly 40 years that the Israelites wandered wht desert? Exactly 40 days and nights that it rained? Who knows....but it was a long time. The number 40 , like the numbers 7, 3 and 12, were very symbolic and meant a lot to the Israelite people. That is why certain numbers appear numerous times throughout Scripture...it's not a coincidence.
Now I want to get into likely the part of the Bible that is most often misread, misunderstood and misinterpreted among Christians. The Psalms. Do you ever notice how we take Psalm 23 and make it out to be whole hearted, 100% infallible truth? We analyze it, tear it apart and meditate over it. I'm not denying its power and beauty. I love it, and think it is a wonderful psalm...but we must remember that it is written by a person, in poetry form. We don't study World War II based solely on the poem "In Flanders Fields", even though that is a wonderful poem. It doesn't contain the whole truth...it's one persons opinion, feeling and description. Now, does Psalm 23 contain truth that is consistent with the rest of Scripture? Of course it does. But the Psalm was written by one person, at a particular time of his life, during certain circumstances. He also wrote Psalms about destroyign cities, killing enemies and having no hope. We don't take Ecclesiastes "Everything is Meaningless" super seriously, nor do we take many of the Proverbs as purely accurate...and yet we read the Psalms as if it is the word of the Lord himself. The Psalsm are beautiful, evoke wonderful emotion, and can be very worshipful...but we can't make them more than what they are. They are poems, hymns and songs.
Finally I want to talk about The Letters, or The Epistles. We can't forget that these books are written by one person to a certain group of people, or in some cases to one particular person. Do they contain truth, and great wisdom? Yes, but we can't attempt to claim every insight and every word as a word written to us. For example, there is a verse in one of the letters about women not being alolowed to lead or speak in church. At first this seems sexist, but when you realize that this was written to one particular church, where the women were gossips, liars, loud, obnoxious and spreading falsehoods, it makes more sense. It's not saying that no women ever should lead or speak in church..it's saying These women in This church.
This blog very likely will be misunderstood as me trying to undermine the Bible. I will probably get nasty comments about how we just need to take all of Scripture as the Holy Words of God. I don't want to make the Bible seem unimportant, false, or incomplete. On the contraty, I want to make sure that we fully understand what we can actually get from the Bible. It's because people take Scripture out of context, and put Truth where there shouldn't be, that we have genocides, sexism, racism, slavery, wars, bigotry, hate, and why Christians are judgemental, and seen as "better than thou". Please, leave a comment, let me know what you think, and feel free to disagree. What do you think, "Is the Bible True, or does it just contains Truth?"

Glee, God and Grilled Cheesus.

2010-10-08T07:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted. To be honest, I have wanted to blog for a while now, just didn't know what to blog about. I've had a bunch of ideas bouncing around in my brain for a while; a discussion about the Bible and whether the Bible is Truth or just contains Truth, a sort of funny blog from the popular website and book Fmylife (which I still do plan on doing one day...just give it some time), and a look at the Psalms, and whether Christians sometimes take them too seriously. But then I watched Glee. Yes, that's right. I watch Glee. Usually I watch it just for the music, get a few laughs, and then download the songs the next day to put on my ipod. But Tuesday's episode was different. It stirred emotions. It asked questions, and it begged to be discussed. I realize that my blog demographic doesn't include very many Glee lovers (that I know of), so I will try to discuss the episode in a way that will allow those that have not seen the show to appreciate and get involved in the discussion as well. To start with, here is an episode summary:

Finn, the main character of the show, makes a grilled cheese sandwich, and ends up creating the face of Jesus in the burn marks on the bread. He immediately turns religious, and wants to dedicate the week of Glee to singing spiritual songs. Of course, the school (or more specifically Sue Sylvester the arch-nemesis to the Glee club) takes a firm stance against seperationg of Church and State. Then Kurt's dad (Kurt is a fellow Glee member) has a heart attack, and the Glee club tries to comfort Kurt with prayers and spiritual songs. Kurt then professes that he is an atheist...much to the shock and awe of the Glee club.

That is a very quick synopsis of the episode. Yes, there is much more that happened, but I will save those for the discussion part. So let's start with my opinions and discussions.

Grilled Cheesus!
As silly as turning religious after seeing the face of Christ in a grilled cheese sounds, it happens. People turn religious over the silliest, and seemingly stupidest things. A dream, a near-death experience, a relationship...whatever. There is a tendency to try to "find the face of Christ" in everything. We want God to speak to us in every imaginable way, and even when he isn't, we still imagine that he is. It's a major problem. Yes, there are worse problems in life than trying to find God in the ordinary, and I don't want to say that he is not found in the ordinary and everyday life...but it's dangerous to go around and put God's face, or God's voice to things that don't have God's face or voice in them. When we do that, we tend to idolize those things, or that event. We pray to the Grilled Cheese, read The Purpose Driven Life like it is Bible (or even worse, like it is better than the Bible), and learn all we need to know about faith from Facing The Giants (yes...I went there). I am not saying that God can't be found in strange places...he was the "whisper in the wind", but when we go and look for him in those places, and CREATE him in those places, that is when we get ourselves into trouble.
Seperation of Church and State
This can lead to a heated debate here I'm sure. I personally am all for, to some extent, the seperation of church and state. I find it offensive that Christians beg, plead and cry when we aren't alowed to pray/worship publically, but then get angry when they see someone of another religion worship in public. We don't like seperation of church and state for us, but we want it for everyone else. It has to be either no one, or everyone. Christians can be the most arrogant, and selfish people ever. When we don't have it, we demand it, and when others have it we beg for it to be stripped from them. I remember at Bethany, we had a survery in class (I believe it was Issues and Ethics class) in which we were asked if the Lords Prayer should be reinstated into public schools...and a majority, if not unanimously, of the class said no, because once you open the door to the Lords prayer, then you have to open the door to every other religion. It's true..we can't expect to be the only religion given rights. Seperation of Church and State is a good thing, or at least it can be...in my opinion anyway (feel free to disagree and voice your comments).
"I have a hard time believing in a loving God when his followers don't look to highly on gays, or science, or women".
As hurtful and perhaps humorous this comment is, spoken by the gay atheist Kurt, it has a harsh truth to it. I have blogged about this before, but the church treats gays like crap. And there are many churches and Christians who feel that Science is opposed to the Bible, and that all Scientists are out to disprove the existence of God. And as sad as it is, there are churches who don't look highly on women, and are racist as well. It's horrible. As DC Talk says at the start of the song "What if I stumble", 'the biggest cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians'. We claim to serve a loving God, we claim to be a loving and accepting group, and yet we are the most secluded, and often hardest to penetrate (insert innapropriate Office joke here). We are loving and accepting to those who have the same beliefs, same opinions as us...but once we meet someone who believes something different, we close up, segregate and hate. And then, after we push people away (often they are the most needing people as well), we are suprised to find out that they don't believe in God. They calim it's because there is no proof, but deep down it's because of us. We caused them to stop believing in God. So much for being disciples.

...ok I realize that this is getting kind of long so I will do one more, a follow up to the previous discussion point.
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
The episode ends with Kurt going to church, after an invite from Glee member Mercedes (yes, she is black). Despite Kurt being gay, and an atheist, the church is inviting and accepts him. And when the choir, led by Mercedes, sings "Bridge over Troubled Waters", an elderly woman next to Kurt, grabs hold of his hand, which is very significant to the episode as that is the main memory of Kurt and his comatose Father. The show never shows whether Kurt changes his theological beliefs...but the church definately warmed his heart. THAT is how church should be. Could you imagine what would have happened if, as he was expecting, the church closed its doors to him. Pushed him aside. Ignored him, and looked at him condescendigly? His faith in there being no God would have been all but proven. Church should be a place of comfort, healing and faith building. It should be where the spirit of God is most felt. It's too bad that we have turned it into a place of judgement and hate (I'm looking at you Florida pastor who wanted ot publically burn Korans!".
For those of you who watched the episode, there are many more things that can be discussed...please feel free to comment on those things and discuss them. Let me know what you think, do you disagree, agree? Let the discussion, comments and opinions flow!

3 Guys, a King, and a Fiery Place!

2010-08-31T13:27:00.000-07:00

One of the most beloved stories in the Old Testament, at least in my mind, is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abdnego. It is found in the book of Daniel (right after Ezekiel and before Hosea, if that helps) chapter 3. Now, before we get into that story, let's go through the brief history lesson.
Daniel begins with a siege and exile of Judah. This is the first of 2 exiles the Israelites will face. The Babylonians, led by king Nebuchadnezzar, takes over the nation, but takes back with them some of the smartest, handsomest, strongest and best of the Israeli men. Four of the young men taken to Babylon are Daniel (whose name was changed to Belteshazzar), Hananiah (whose name was changed to Shadrach), Mishael (name changed to Meshach), and Azariah (changed to Abednego).
(Back to the story now!) Not too long after being taken to Babylon, the king Nebuchadnezzar decides to have a gold statue built in his honour. He is a pretty humble guy, so he decides to have it built 90 feet tall, 9 feet wide...and summon everyone to come to the dedication of this idol. Now, Daniel is never mentioned in this story so it is unclear as to where he is during this time. Perhaps he was away on an assingment, or perhaps he actually was there and decided to go along with the crowd. We don't really know. What we do know, is that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Rack, Shack and Benny...as told by Veggie tales) are there, and they don't appreciate what they see. As the story goes, the king tells everyone that at the blow of the trumpet, they are to bow down and worship the idol-those that don't will be cast into a fiery furnace. The trumpet sounds, and everyone but the 3 friends bow down and worship the gigantic image of the king. The King doesn't like this...so he summons them to him. Now, as much as he doesn't appreciate their refusal to bow, he does seem to be a generous king and he offers them another chance. He suggests that maybe they didn't hear the trumpet (of course, seeing thousands of people falling to their faces should have been a clue). He gets everyone set up, and again blows the trumpet, forcing everyone to their faces in adoration and worship. Again, the friends refuse. This time, the King is furious and gets the furnace heated up seven times hotter, and brings Rack, Shack and Benny back to him. Now this is where the story gets really interesting in my opinion. These 3 guys have been looked upon as incredible examples of faith. We tell their story, and talk about how they knew that God would deliver them from the furnace. But we seem to miss the part that, they accept the fact that God may not save them. Verses 17 and 18 recount what they say:

"...If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand. BUT EVEN IF HE DOES NOT, WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE WILL NOT SERVE YOUR GODS OR WORSHIP THE IMAGE OF GOLD YOU HAVE SET UP"

There are a few key words here..."God is able" and "even if he doesn't". This, in my opinion, is the key to what true faith is. We often have this idea that faith is believing without a shadow of doubt that God will rescue us. We believe that God will give us what we want, because we have faith and are asking it. But I don't believe that that is true faith. That is arrogant faith. These 3 men show what true faith is. It is believe that God is able. Believing that God has the power, and has complete control. But then it is also the knowledge that, while God is able, he may not answer the way we want. These guys were willing to enter the fiery furnace. They were willing to DIE!. They didn't know if God would even save them...they knew he COULD, but they accepted that "even if he doesn't".

We can learn a lot from these 3. They aren't mentioned in the Faith Hall Of Fame in Hebrews 11 (wait, let me check again....nope. Not there), but in my mind they are the perfect example of what true faith is. We need to set aside our arrogance. We need to stop telling God how he should respond. We need to lay aside our 100% certainty that God will answer "in this certain way", and instead remember that, while God is more than able to save us...he may not. True faith is accepting that God may not. These 3 guys were willing to die with that knowledge. Now, we know that God did in fact save them, which is an amazing miracle. But the point, in my mind anyway isn't that God saved them. It's that they were willing to stand up, even if God didn't save them.

So next time someone tells you that something is going to happen because they have faith ("I'll get the job because I have faith", "We'll be safe because I have faith...whatever it may be", remember that God is much bigger than this right here right now. He is more than able to provide, protect, and prosper...but he may not! THAT, my friends, is what true faith is. That is what we can learn from this incredible story of 3 friends, willing to stand up when everyone else bowed down.

Walking on Water

2010-08-30T09:40:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who read my blog on a consistent basis, you know my dislike and disdain for those clever, witty church signs. Anyway, there is a new one that I saw recently, which says "Looking for a life guard? Ours walks on Water". I don't know what it is, but this one really bothers me. I don't know why...it's not like it is offensive, or sacriligeous or anything...but there's something about it that just makes me frustrated. Maybe its because it is comparing Jesus to a life-guard. I'm not sure...maybe I just have such a bias against church signs that I can't enjoy them...perhaps I'm just a negative, pessimistic person. But it did get me thinking a little bit...which I guess is the point of it, about the significance of Jesus walking on water.

First of all I have to say that, too often Christians give too much credit to the miracles Jesus does. What I mean is...they focus so much on the miracle itself, that they miss out on the person performing the miracles. The Miracles Jesus did were never meant to becomes these major specatcles, in fact many times he tells people not to tell anyone about the miracle. The one that seems to get the most publicity from Christians (other than the resurrection) is when Jesus walks on water. They seem to equate walking on water, with perfection. Have you ever heard the saying, "Next time you think you are perfect, try walking on water". We seem to make a huge deal out of this one...I don't really know why. But we make a big deal out of it for the wrong reasons I think. We look so much at the miracle itself, that we miss out what Jesus is actually telling his disciples by walking on water. To fully understand that, we have to understand the significance of water in biblical times.

In biblical times, water (or the oceans) were met with fear. It was a place of horror, a place of terror. A place where people left and didn't return. A place of death, and chaos. In fact, in Genesis 1:2, when it says "...And the spirit of God hovered over the waters", it is referring to the fact that God has control over the chaos. No matter how chaotic and crazy things get..God is in control. That is in a sense what Jesus is showing the disciples here. The disciples are out in a boat, trying to cross to the other side...when all of a sudden, Jesus walks out to them. This story is found in Matthew 14:22-36, right after he feeds the 5,000.

It's night time, the wind is picking up...the boat is probably rocking back and forth, waves splashing over the side of the boat, and the disciples are probably already fairly scared. And then they see Jesus, walking towards them. This scares them even more...they even think that Jesus is a ghost. But Jesus is showing them more than just a magic trick here. It's more than an illusion, or a funny prank. He is showing that he has control over fear. Control over chaos. Over terror. Over death. Over hell. The water, in the disciples mind...and in the mind of most bibilical characters, was scary. It represented evil...everything that was wrong with the world. But Jesus is showing that he is in control of it all. So this makes it that much more key, to when Peter asks to climb out of the boat and walk to Jesus. It's not a matter of just jumping into water, and swimming. Chances are, he didn't even know how to swim. Peter is entering the unknown. He enters the very thing that scares him the most...the dark, terrifying, chaotic waters. He does this, because he begins to understand that Jesus has control over it. Jesus is bigger than the fea. Than the evil, than the chaos. Peter puts his full trust in Jesus. I think we can learn a lot from this story. We often are stuck in a boat...surrounding us is our fears, or worries. Things that scare us, terrify us, hold us captive. And then Jesus shows up, and reminds us that he has control over everything. That he holds our worries, our fears and our concerns in the palm of his hand. He walks all over our troubles. And we have a decision to make. Do we let the fear, and chaos hold us captive in the boat...in the safety of the boat...or do we take a chance. Step out of the boat, step out of the safety net, and right into the chaos. Right into the fear?

Take the step. Step out of the boat. Jesus is in control. Jesus is bigger than our problems. Bigger than our worries, and fears, and the unknown. Trust Him. Jump into the water!

Sprititual Buffet

2010-08-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

There's something awesome about a buffet isn't there? The seemingly endless choice. The ability to usually eat as much food as you possibly can, and to make the plate of your dreams. You can take meaetballs, apple pie, a lasagna, pizza and shrimp one time, and the next time up choose some soup, a salad, perhaps a piece of roast beef, and cake. It's great. You get exactly what you want, and only what you want.
Lately there seems to have been a religious version of the buffet. People go from church to church, religion to religion and take bits and pieces. Ideas, gods, beliefs and cultures, and mix it together into their own form of "perfect" religion. They create their ideal plate. They have the best of everything, and only what they want. It's called Syncretism. Now, don't get me wrong. I want to say first and foremost that I think there is something that can be learned from pretty much every religion. But when you start taking pieces of this religion, with ideas from that religion and create a religious smorgasborg (I don't know how to spell that), you are living very dangerously. It's like taking Scripture out of context, you lose the intent, the meaning...and you make it mean what you want it to mean. Have you noticed how big yoga has gotten lately? Does anyone realise the religious conotations that go along with Yoga? It's more than just stretching...it's a spiritual action. It would be like if everyone started having baptism groups and we opened up a store that sold baptism tanks and baptism clothes and stuff, and made it into a "cleansing, healing" thing instead of the religious statement that it is. (Note: I'm not tearing into Yoga and thinking people shouldn't do it...I'm just making a point here).
There seems to be 2 waves of thought. There are those people who see all opossing religions as "evil" and "infidels" Like a church in Florida that has people burning the Koran as a show of remembrance for the victims of 911. And saying that Islam is of the devil. Or the Crusades, holocaust, genocides, KKK. All of these stems from a belief that "we are right, and you are wrong and EVIL!". This is the one extreme, and I think that it is just as bad as the other "buffet" extreme I mentioned earlier. The buffet seems more accepting. It seems more peaceful and loving. But is it really? In a sense it is saying, "I like this part of your religion, but the rest of it is crap...so I'll throw that away and add parts of this religion".
Let's learn from other religions yes. I think we should be in awe of the respect Sikhs have to the environment (here in Abbotsford, the walk EVERYWHERE..literally), the quiet meditation that Buddhists observe (meditation is not evil...we have a false sense of what meditation truly is), the passion that Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses have for spreading the "good news". I disagree with their methods, but I can't deny their passion and I wish I was that passionate. Don't be afraid to learn from other religions. When you travel to another country, you learn from their culture and customs. But don't go too far with learning from other religions. Look what happened to the Israelites when they "synced" with all the other religions around them. It tore them apart, and it led to their conquering, and exile. Other religions are not evil. Most religions have a lot of things right...just be very careful to create your own religious "plate". Religion is filled with things that are easy to follow, and tough to follow. There are things that I like about Christianity, and things that I don't like. I can't just throw away what I don't like and add things that I like from Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims or whatever.
I realize I've rambled, and I know I have really repeated myself a lot, and likely confused you. I apologize for that. This is more raising ideas, raising concerns, and giving you something to think about. If you are confused, I am sorry. Leave your comments. What do you think of Syncretism? With the spiritual buffet? Should we learn from other religions, or should we try to avoid them? Leave your thoughts!

Like A Child

2010-08-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

One of the most common phrases Jesus says in the Bible is "become like a child". It sounds good, sounds easy and sounds exciting. But what does it mean to have faith like a child? What does that look like?
Being a "camp kid" my whole life, I have been around children constantly. I've seen them at their best, and their worst. And there are a few things I learned while being a cabin leader about being "like a child". First of all, children believe what you tell them.
I remember one time at camp, we told the campers that there were "Bush Sharks" that lived in the bush, and they came out at night...so campers weren't to leave the cabin after lights out. Turns out, they believed us...to the point of getting nightmares and stuff, and so I had to give a public apology to the campers, and tell them that Bush Sharks don't exist (but Lake Chickens do). The point is, they didn't think about it. They just believed it because they trusted us, looked up to us, and respected us. It's got to be the same way with us and God. We have to believe what he says to us. Look at Abraham..God told him to move to a far away land...and Abraham did, without hesitation. God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son...the son that he waited a hundred years for...and he was willing to do that. Now, the challenge is knowing, what is from God and what is only in our head. We sometimes get these ideas in our head that we credit to God, when in reality it is all made up, and has nothng to do with God at all. When you do know it's from God, however...you must act. You can't hesitate (unless God tells you to wait...in which case hesitation is exactly what you should do)...you have to just do it. Go for it. God won't lie to you, or decieve you the same way we did with the campers and Bush Sharks. Trust him..know that he is honest, truthful, and has your best interest in mind.
Another thing about children, is that they ask questions. It almost gets to the point of annoying. My nephew is in the "why?" stage right now, and asks why about EVERYTHING! I think it is important for us to emulate that sense of wonder. As we grow up, we just learn to accept things as they are. We stop asking questions. That can't stop happening. If we don't ask questions, we don't learn, we don't grow, we don't evolve. Ask questions about everything. It's ok to ask questions about the Bible, "why did God do that? what does this mean?", ask questions about God, "how has God been around forever? Does God know everything?"...it's normal, acceptable, and HEALTHY to ask questions, and have an element of doubt.
Finally...well, there are many more characteristics of being a child, but I'm only focusing on three of them..children have fun. They laugh. They joke. While this is easily overlooked as immaturity, I think it is important to take it to heart. I remember reading in the MB herald a long time ago a letter to the editor by someone who said, "Laughter isn't biblical because the bible never mentions Jesus laughing". What a load of BullCRAP! The bible may never have mentioned Jesus laughing, but he hung out with children a lot of the time. It is nearly impossible to be with children and not smile and laugh. Life needs to be fun. Life should be enjoyed. It's a terrible travesty that as we grow up, we become so focused on work, and money, and "surviving" that we stop having fun. Jesus tells us to be like children. ENJOY LIFE! Laugh, joke...have fun. Play games, run around...stare in amazing wonder at the world. I soon will have a new nephew or neice, and it's interesting to watch a baby see things for the first time. Everything is new and exciting to them. The same should be for us. I've found that as I've lived here in BC for a while now, the mountains seem less beautiful and exciting. I need to see them as amazing once again. I take them for granted. We all take so much for granted. Let's enjoy everything, be amazed by it all.
Ask Questions, Trust God, and have fun. 3 key ways to become like a child. What other ways can we be like little children?

Blame The Media!

2010-08-18T09:07:00.000-07:00

I'm sure all of you, at one time or another, have heard someone talk about how the media is corrupting the younger generation. Likely, your parents carefully selected what tv shows, movies and music were acceptable to watch and which were forbidden. If your childhood years were anything like mine, The Simpsons were probably top of the list of shows not allowed to watch, and if the movie wasn't disney or rated G (occasionally PG), it was off limits. As for music...if the artist wasn't a follower of Christ, and said the words Jesus, God, Saved, or Forgiven at least once a verse it shouldn't be on the stereo (I don't know how my sisters got away with listening to Backstreet Boys and N'Sync). Ok...so I am exageratting a little bit, but you can likely relate right? The idea was, the media was trash and if anything "suggestive" got into your head, then it would imediately be followed through, with actions and speech. I actually remember a really lame song that my parents had on cassette tape (remember those things?) called "Input, Output". It was these kids singing in robotic voises (before T-Pain!) about how what goes in our mind comes out, through our words and actions and stuff. In fact, as I write this I have the silly, annoying tune echoing through my brain. But is it really true? Should we really be blaming the media for corrupting us, and our children?

To be perfectly honest, I think blaming the media is a horrible cop out. It's like people who blame God for 9/11, or blaming the ref for losing the game for your team. Yes, perhaps they have something to do with it, but it's not fully their fault. I think the biggest problem with them kids today, is that parents no longer communicate to their kids aobut what they are watching/listening to. In my humble opinion, I believe that if parents would sit with their kids, and watch stuff with them, and then engage them with honest, thought provoking questions about the show or movie, then kids could almost watch anything and not have it affect them in a negative way. I'm not saying that a 4 year old should watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre or anything, obviously it's within reason, but I think that if parents would actually communicate to kids, then things would change dramatically.

I love to go to Plugged In's website. Plugged in is the "media/entertainment critics" for Focus on The Family. Now, I don't go to the website to actually take their advice. Quite frankly, I go there AFTER I watch the movie to see how bad the movie was in their eyse. I often find myself laughing at how negative everything is, and how bad they make small, insignificant things seem. But they strike this fear that the media is to blame for corrupting us. It's not the media's fault. We need open discussion, dialogue, and deal with the issues head on instead of just sticking our heads in the sand. For example, instead of saying that the movie Bruce Almighty is sacriligeous, blasphemous and forbidden...watch it and ask questions. With an open mind, it is a brilliant depiction of why God can't possibly answer "YES" to all of our prayers, and how if we ran the world, things would be a disaster.

To be honest, I think family dynamic has much more to do with the corruption than the media. Kids see their parents constantly fight, their father drink 5 beers a day, everyone swearing, threatening, looking at dirty magazines...and then when they see it on TV, or hear lyrics in songs that match what they see at home, then they assume that it is normal and accepted. On the other hand, a family is loving, occasionaly argues, but always makes up. Swears happen, but not constantly, and onyl at appropriate times, and when alcohol is consumed, it is in a safe limit. These kids will watch the same shows, hear the same music, and yet it contradicts what they see at home, and so they ignore it. The like what they see at home. They love the warmth, the love and the safety. On top of that the parents talk to the kids about how, Media portrays violence as acceptable, and how that violence really isn't the answer to problems. Nor is drugs, alcohol, sex..whatever. Open dialogue, in a loving family and the media's impact is much more minimal. Yes, there are bad things in the media. There are shows that are just disgusting, and pointless. However, there are great shows on TV that kids never get to watch because of a "questionable character" or an "unchristian lifestyle". I think of the shows Modern Family and Glee. They aren't perfect, there are issues with both of them, but both shows depict real life, in a real way. Modern Family shows a very loving family, despite the fact that they are kind of dysfunctional. And Glee follows high school glee club members, who have to face adversity on a daily basis. Yes, it has teen pregnancy, homosexuality and an affair...but it never comes out and condones these things. In fact, in one controversial episode, 3 "couples" are about to go all the way, but only one goes through with it. The one who goes through with it, feels dirty and used. No, it's not a perfect depiction of celibacy, but it does at least push kids into thinking that sex is something sacred, and shouldn't be handled lightly.

So parents...talk with your kids about what they are watching. No, don't let them watch EVERYTHING, but do be a bit open minded. Watch with the kids. Talk with them after, and tell them what is different about the media portrayal and real life. Even those of us who aren't parents...we can still have open discussion and talk about what we watch and listen to. We don't have to be scared about everything. Watching a violent movie isn't going to make you go out an murder people. Trust me, I watched 300 on opening day, and while I was full of adrenaline and testosterone after...I didn't try to kick some guy into a deep well, and shout "THIS IS SPARTA!". A lack of dialogue, and a failure to comminicate, in my mind, are much more to blame than the media. But that is only my perspective...what do you guys think? Is the media to blame?

Homosexuals and the Church

2010-08-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

So today, I did a quick glance through the MB Herald and read some letters to the editor about an article that was posted a few issues ago. I haven't read the original article, so I can't give a full honest opinion about everything, but the article was about homosexuality, and it asked the question, apparantly, about whether our perspective is right. Most people wrote in, hateful, spiteful, and angry (I don't want to comment about the inherant nature of MB's to complain...cause that will get me in trouble with a lot of people, so I'll just move on). Anyway, I don't really remember what everyone said, but it did get me thinking about how I feel about the homosexuality issue, and how I think that the church, as a whole (not just the MB church the worldwide church), has made it a much, MUCH bigger issue than it ought to be.
To be perfectly honest, I think the debate about whether it is genetic, or sinful, or that you are born with a gay gene, or it's due to parenting or whatever is pointless. I think it doesn't matter. Too often Christians feel that it is their duty to call certain things a sin, or certain people as sinners. We take it as our mission to judge and condemn certain people. Tiger Woods, who was once a role model is now doomed to eternal damnation. Bill Clinton is likely the spawn of Satan himself. Of course these are exagerations, but I think you get the point. The problem is, it shouldn't be our concern. We aren't supposed to be the judge. That's God's job. So going back to the homosexual issue, Christians have gone on a rampage protesting gay marriage, picketing the PRIDE parades and festivals, and most unfortunately, judging homosexuals out of the church. The very place that they should feel accepted and loved for who they are, they feel like scum. They feel judged and condemned. We quote Scripture and say that the Bible condemns homosexuality...but the Bible also condemnes calling our brothers (and sisters) names, disobeying parents, God HATES divorce, adultery, idolatry. And yet all of these things are not only in the church, they seem to be accepted. No one kicks out someone who tells a lie, or a child who disobeys their parents. Divorce, perhaps they may get the cold shoulder...unless they are a vital part of the church, in which case it is tossed aside and forgotten. Same goes for adultery, greed, lust. We have the worst double standard ever. We are, in a sense, saying that everything is permissible, and forgivable...except homosexuality.
Now, I do think that homosexuality is a sin. It's my opinion, and I could very well be wrong with it, but I think regardless, homosexuals need to be treated with love and respect from the Christian community. We may not agree with their lifestyle choice, or the fact that they want to be married, but they are still children of God. God loves them...He CREATED them. If homosexuality is in fact a sin, it is certainly not worse than any other sin. It's too bad that we have this heirarchy of sins, a list that progresses from "not too bad" to "AWFUL". In God's eyes, it's all the same. Sin is sin. Why do we think we are so much above the law that we can choose what is acceptable and what is not.
We don't have to agree with the lifestyle, we don't have to agree with everything about anyone...but we do have to show love. We have to show acceptance. We need to be willing to cast judgment aside, and just build a relationship. Build a friendship. Look at the life of Jesus. He hung out with tax collectors, prostitutes, drunkards, sinners. There are cases in which we seemed to "preach" to them, but there are many times he was just their friend, being with them and accepting them for who they are. Instead of focusing so much on the lifestyle, let's focus on the person. See them as the loved, respected, and beautiful person that they are. Let God deal with the rest. Let God do the judging.
That's just my thoughts on this issue. I realize it's a very touchy thing, but it's what I think. Feel free to disagree with me, if you so desire.

It's About Hymn!

2010-08-09T08:54:00.000-07:00

"Today's modern worship songs are just all about 'me, me, me' instead of being about 'him, him him'. We need to go back to the hymns". We've probably all heard an argument like that. Followed by the rebuttle, "Hymns are outdated, we need to keep up with the changing culture, and stay relevent". The argument would continue, neither giving up ground or gaining ground. Both would leave frustrated, feeling that the "other generation just doesn't get it". Sound familiar? I wish I could write a blog that would settle the debate once and for all. I wish that I could come up with the pros and cons of both, compare and say "The church needs to do this...". Unfortunately, I can't do that. I'm not writing this blog to settle the debate. I'm not going to preach about the reedeming qualites of one or the other. What I do want to get at is this...when we focus on what we want. When we are only thinking about "I can't believe we are singing another hymn", or "Why are we singing this new song for the hundredth time", we lose focus on what is important. Worship...whether it be hymns, modern worship songs, or even dance, preaching, art, drama...whatever the form of worship may be (I am focusing on the music aspect here, but worship is SOOO much bigger than that), the focus needs to be on Him. On God. Creator. Master. Father. As soon as we begin to focus on our preference, on our desires, on our wants and needs, then we have lost it. We have moved from worship of God into idolatry (as we begin worshiping ourselves, or the music).
To be honest, I enjoy both hymns and the new worship chorus'. I think they are both meaningful, and serve an excellent purpose. I heard a comedian a while ago (I can't say his joke word for word...but you'll get the gist of it), who was talking about hymns. He said, "I used to love hymns...singing them in church. They sounded great. And then I realized that the underlying message in all of them is, 'God is good, and we are [crap]'". As funny (or unfunny, depending on personal taste), as that is...it has an element of truth to it. Yes, there are exceptions, but at the heart of most hymns is the idea that "We are crap...we are worthless without Christ". Which is a great message, I don't want to refute that. But does it really evoke any confidence in the human race? Does it give us self-esteem..make us feel valuable? Not really. Today's worship songs do have elements of that as well, but they focus instead on the love of God, on the amazing splendor of God's creation. And of our desire to be close to God and build that relationship with him. Yes, modern worship songs do tend to seem to be about "self" and "us"...but at it's heart, it is our cry for us to be close to God. Our plea for help. David did this in the Psalms all the time:
"Hasten, Oh God to save me; O Lord, come quickly to help me" -Psalm 70:1
"Keep me safe O God for in you I take refuge"- Psalm 16:1
"Do not withold your mercy from me, O Lord" -Psalm 40:11

Do these not sound selfish? Is this not the type of thing that modern worship songs ask for? Yes David also spends a lot of time writing things that sound similar to the hymns too...but the point is, David (the original song-leader), wrote Psalms and songs from every perspective. He even has many angry, lamenting songs. We never seem to get frustrated at David for these, we just say that "it's what was in his heart...how beautiful". Why can't we do the same for the songs we sing in church...whether they be hymns, or chorus'? Every song that we sing has a story behind it. Unfortunately, we usually only know the stories behind the great hymns, which then evoke more emotion into them. But even the simplest worship song has a great story behind it. Let's not forget that. The point once again, however, is to not focus on what we want. To not just see the lack of hymns, or the lack of worship songs, or the volume of the drums, or the speed, tone or key that the songs are sung in. Let's just gather together and worship. One form is not better than another. One Psalm is not greater than another..perhaps we have our favourites, but all were written with just as much heart, just as much puprose, and just as much worship (yes...even the laments, and curses. David was worshipping God in his frustration, he was legitimately telling God how he felt. Honesty. A huge part of worship). Let's focus on Him, and not on Hymns. Let's worship God, and not worship songs. Let's bask in God's glory, realize that God is great, and we are faulty, and yet also see God's love, and our beauty. Don't lose sight of the purpose. Like a football player focuses on the endzone, a track star keeps his eye on the finish line, and a hockey player keeps his sights on the goal...let's keep our eyes on God, our minds on his majesty and our gaze on his beauty. That is what worship is truly about. Who cares if we sing a song that I don't like, or if the band is out of key. Let's just worship, serve, and praise the one who created us, who loves us, and is AWEsome.

Thou Shalt Not Fear!

2010-08-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

Do you guys remember Y2K? I remember that whole year, hearing about the doomsday prophesy. All the computers were going to reset, information would be lost, planes would crash, the world would explode and that would be it. The world would end at the stroke of midnight, January 1, 2000. I was13, so I was a little bit freaked out. I didn't really expect anything to happen. I wasn't rushing out to buy gallons of water and thousands of cans of food like some people did...but I had this small idea that "just maybe something will happen". Of course, the ball dropped, the clock struck midnight and nothing happened. We celebrated a new year, and laughed at all the fear based propaganda. Now, the new Y2k is 2012. Apparantly, the Mayans predicted that, in 2012, the world was going to end. In fact, I recently watched a Discover Channel special about this, and they included other prophesies as well (including the book of Revelation...which I never realised mentioned the date 2012 anywhere). So now the fear is mounting once again. The "end of the world" movies are being released, "The Day after Tomorrow", "Knowing", and the aptly named "2012". In fact there were so many of them, that me makers of the Scary Movie franchies came out with "Disaster Movie" to poke fun at them (they are soon releasing "Vampires Suck", poking fun at Vampire Movies...which is about time). Anyway, all of this is causing massive panic. Ok, maybe no massive...but theres a lot of subtle fear. And the closer we get to 2012, the more the fear will build. And I'm not just talking about the London 2012 olympics and their creepy mascots. Anyway, the point is, even outside of the doomsday prophesy, North America, and I'm sure the rest of the world as well, thrives on fear. It's why we watch Horror movies, go on roller coaster rides. We love the thrill. Newscasts generally show all the bad news first, because they know it's what people want to see. Since 9/11, every major event has been met with the speculation that it would be attacked by terrorists. The World Cup in South Africa was filled with security, every Super Bowl is expected to be blown up, the G8 summit in Toronto was feared, the Olympics in Vancouver were in danger of an explosion. Everything is about fear.

But the truth is, there is nothing to fear. We made it through Y2K without any incident, we have moved past 9/11, gotten through the holocaust, the Oklahoma city bombing, the Columbine shooting, WW1 and 2, apartheid...we have made it past all of these things, and more. The world goes on. It continues to revolve around the sun, and will continue to revolve around the sun until God decides to end it. Could it end in 2012? Possibly...but I highly doubt it. God tells us not to fear. He will take care of us. Do not worry about tommorrow, let tommorrow worry about itself. Jesus could practically be saying, "Don't fear 2012...It will all be ok". God also says, "No one knows the day or the hour of my return". I strongly believe that God will return before the world ends...as if the world ends before God returns, he has nowhere to return to. If no one knows the day or the hour, then why are we expecting the world to end in 2012? Why do we predict these things? I'm not saying that this is the first prediction...there have been thousands, probably millions of people predicting either the end of the world or Jesus' return. In fact, a few summers ago, I heard a speaker predict that Jesus would return in the next 20 years. In fact he guaranteed it. Who is he to guarantee Jesus' return? Are you an angel buddy? cause not even they know the day or the hour.

So, I realize this blog is kind of all over the place, but I just want to leave with a few thoughts. Don't Fear. God is in control. As the song goes, "He's got the whole world in his hands". We have nothing to worry about it. And secondly, stop guessing when the world is going to end or when Jesus is going to return. It's stupid, insulting and just creates needless fear. We need to just let things go, move on and live life. We spend so much time in fear that we can't enjoy life. We spend so much time longing for heaven, that we miss out on so much while we live on earth. We fear helll so much, that our whole life becomes a form of hell. We are always loooking to the skies for Jesus, that we neglect to help those lying at our feet. Let's just enjoy life, do our best to live without fear (obviously some fear is good...but you get the idea), and just enjoy life. The world will turn, life will go on, and no matter how crappy and tough your life is now, eventually you will get through it. As Celine Dion sings, "the heart will go on". So will life. Don't worry, don't fear. Everything is under control. Trust God.

Buried Talents

2010-08-05T06:21:00.000-07:00

So, Kristi and I have been watching America's Got Talent. It's been pretty interesting, and for the most part we are happy with the way things are turning out so far. Watching the show has got me thinking, however, that while not all of us have crazy, unique talents, we all do have gifts, and more importantly, spiritual gifts. I don't know how many of you have ever taken a spiritual gift test, but it is a real interesting way to figure out where your strengths are, and I think it's really important to have an idea at what sort of spiritual gifts you have. But the most important thing is, once you discover your spiritual gifts...to use them. I'm going to tell a story now that, at first will seem irrelevant and as if it has no purpose here...but give it time and it will all make sense. Trust me.
When I was in High School, my friend Paul and I were driving close to Winnipeg to go to a concert. We were both excited for the concert, as he had seen the band before and assured me that they were great live. We were meeting the rest of the youth group at the concert. To save some time, we were taking a back road, in the middle of nowhere. All of a sudden, the front passenger tire blows. Paul, a great driver, manages to recover and pull the car over to the side of the road. We were frustrated, but had a spare tire so weren't too worried. We jack up the car, and begin taking the bolts off of the tire so we can change it. We get all of them off...but one. One of the bolts was rusted on and wouldn;t budge. Now, I'm a pretty big guy, with quite a bit of muscle...and I couldn't budge it at all...nor could Paul. This raised our frustration quite a bit. Foiled by a freakin' bolt! Paul continued to try to budge the bolt, while I flagged down a car to see if we could borrow a cell phone, as this was still the pre-"everyone in the world has a cell phone" age. Finally, I get a car pulled over and use his cell phone. I decide to call my sister, who would be at the concert, and let her know that we were going to be late so that they wouldn't worry about us. Unfortunately she didn't answer, so I had to leave a message. I handed the phone back to the driver, and watched him drive off. Hours later, frustration mounting, finally some people help us out and we get the bolt off and the tire changed. Unfortunately, we missed the concert.
Now...what the heck could that story have to do with spiritual gifts? Well, the funny thing is (at least to me..Paul didn't find it funny in the least), was that I had a CAA card in my wallet the whole time. With the cell phone, I could have called CAA, got a truck there quickly, and got us on our way in a few short moments...we would have made it in time for the concert. Instead, I hid it in my wallet, forgot about it, and it served no purpose. The point is...we all have a spiritual "CAA card" in our pockets. God has given us many gifts and talents, with the expectation that we will use them, and strengthen them. Spiritual gifts that are never used serve about the same purpose as a CAA card that stays in a wallet during car trouble, or a Stanley Cup parade map in downtown Toronto...it's pointless. (Note, I am a leaf fan...I am just joking and trying to relate to the majority of the readers who despise the Leafs). Jesus tells a parable about this, sort of, in Matthew 25:14-30. It's the parable of the Talents. To paraphrase the story, there is this man who has three employees. He is a rich man, and he is going away for a while. Instead of just leaving his money (talents) and not have it being invested and used, he decides to give it to the three employees of his. To the best employee, he gives 5, to the next best 2 and to the third he gives 1. He tells them to invest the money and use it wisely, and he goes away. The first 2 invest the money, and it doubles. The third one, scared that he will poorly use it, hides it away. When the man returns, he blesses the 2 who doubled their money, and curses the third one. In fact he takes away the one talent, and gives it to the first employee.
I realize that most people use this parable to talk about money, and wisely investing the money that we are given...but I think that it is no coincidence that the word for money used in the parable is "talent". As I said before, we all have talent. We all have gifts. Now, God gives some of us more talent, than others, but the purpose is the same. Use it. Use it well, bless others, and the talent will improve. It's too bad that so many people in the church have talent, have great spiritual gifts but never use them. Perhaps the church doesn't do well enough to encourage people to utilize their gifts. Maybe people just don't know what their gifts are. Perhaps people are just lazy and think that there's no harm in keeping their gift to themselves. But that's far from the truth. As the parable shows, the worker who hides the talent away, gets cursed and actually loses the talent. No, I'm not saying that God will take away our talents and gifts if we don't use them...but I do think that, like a skill that doesn't get used, the quality of the talent will decrease. for example, a singer who doesn't sing for a while will lose a bit of the ability to sing. I mean, it will probably sound ok, but it wouldn't sound as good as if they had sung constantly, practicing and perfecting their skill. We must use our gifts, our talents and our skills. God gave them to us for a reason. To bless others, further the kingdom and as a form of worship. Imagine getting a gift for someone, giving it to them for Christmas or their birthday...and after they open it, the set it aside and never use it. Or worse yet, they take the gift and never even open in. Never knowing what is inside. God has given us gifts...have you opened them yet? Do you know what is inside them?

Remakes, Sequels, and Reality Television

2010-07-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who has been noticing lately that it seems that everything that comes out of the entertainment industry (movies, tv and even music), seems to be either a remake, a sequel...or in the case of TV...reality tv? Now, there are a lot of exceptions (in fact this past weekend the top 3 movies at the box office were all original movies, Inception, Salt and Despicable Me), but it seems that generally, everything is either being remade with a modern twist, or a movie franchise that was thought to be long dead comes up with another sequel or 2 (Toy Story 3, Shrek 4, Predators, Twilight, Harry Potter, Dumb and Dumberer...the list is almost endless). Music even has gone in this direction. Do you notice how a lot of artists now are doing covers or classics, or are adding in parts of other songs to their original song. Think Mariah Carey singing "I want to Know What Love Is", or Flo Rida using the chorus of the catchy song "Blue" by Eiffel 65 in his song "Sugar". Now, to be honest...as much as this kind of bugs me, I also have to admit that a lot of the remakes and sequels (and yes...even the reality tv in some cases) are actually pretty good. I don't want this blog to be about bashing hollywood for not coming up with original ideas (it's inevitable...eventually ideas are going to run out, there are only so many good movie ideas left). This blog isn't even really about the entertainment industry anyway, actually. It's actually about the Church.
I feel that, like Hollywood, TV, and music...the Church has bought into the "remake" idea. How often do you hear people talking about being like the church in Acts, or wishing that we were more like the church in the letters...the Ephesians, Phillipians, Colossians, Galatians. Or how often do we hear people in the church complain that "That's not how we used to do it". It seems that the Church has been simply trying to remake the biblical church instead of attempting to be original and relevent for today's culture. I think we forget that, while the churches in the Bible seemed vibrant and exciting, they had a lot of problems too. There has never been a perfect church, nor will there be (until heaven). Why are we stuck in the rut of trying to remake something..or just sticking with one simple formula that used to work, and we wonder why it doesn't seem to work anymore.
I think in Hollywood terms, the Church has to be more of a sequel than a remake. We need to stop trying to just "redo" things, and actually progress the story along. We have to look at the biblical church, the churches of the past, and see what works and would still work. We also have to see, what needs to get cut out. And we need to progress. The point of a sequel is to progress a story that is unfinished...we are part of this unfinished story. We need to continue it, in a new way. Often sequels take things in different directions. Characters that were good, turn bad, people that we fell in love with in the first, die in the second...the plot twists and turns, and new ideas are formed. The same needs to be done in the church. We have to change some of our ideas, change the plot. Theology, Ideas, knowledge all progress and change. Why do we so often feel that the church has to stay the same? Why does it seem that things are always done the same way, ideas and thoughts never evolve and questions are never asked or answered. The church should be a place of change, a place of spiritual evolution. Now, don't get me wrong...I think that there does need to be some consistincy. There are basic pillars of faith that MUST remain the same (Jesus, the Cross, Salvation)...but all I'm trying to say is...let's look at our churches, look at what we believe, what we teach, how we present our knowledge, how we worship...and see what needs to change. What is obsolete, what needs to evolve? Let's start the sequel...progress the story, possibly change the plot up a little bit and throw in some curveballs. Let's stop with the remakes. Stop with just the same 'ol, same 'ol...and actually move along!
I hope this actually made sense, and you guys understand what I am trying to say here. If its really obscure and makes no sense, let me know, or if you completely disagree with what I am trying to say then tell me too. What do you guys think? Should the church keep making "remakes" or should we move on to the "sequel"?

"...He Too Saved Israel"

2010-07-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

My favourite book in the bible...or at least one of them, is the book of Judges. There's something about it that I love. It's frustrating, it's violent, it raises a lot of questions without providing a lot of answers...but it is very entertaining and, more importantly, it inspires me. Now, I know what you are thinking..."Judges inspires you?". Your probably thinking that Psalms would be a better choice, or any one of the Gospels. It doesn't inspire me in the same way the Sermon on the Mount inspires, or a good Psalm or a clever Proverb inspires...it's a real life sort of inspiration. Maybe it's just because I'm a guy and I enjoy the bloody violence that the book of Judges provides (cause there is a lot of that)...but there's more to it than that for me. What I like about the book of Judges, is the people that God uses. Let me explain.
Initially, I was going to talk about my 2 favourite stories in Judges, one of which you are likely familiar with and the other one you probably have no idea even exists...but then after thinking about it, I couldn't narrow it down. All of it applies to what I am trying to say in this blog (which I realize I am postponing in getting to). I will start with my 2 faves tho. Ehud, and Shamgar. I'll start with the obscure one: Shamgar. The story of Shamgar takes one verse. That's all he gets in the entire bible...and it happens near the beginning of Judges, so you forget about it by the time the book is over. It is found in Judges 3:31, ironically right after the story of Ehud. The story of Shamgar is as follows:
"After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel".
That's it. That's all we know about it. But it's what this implies that I love. Shamgar seems like just a regular guy. Probably a shephard, most likely poor, and according to commentaries, he may have not even been an Israelite. It's possible that he was Hurrian or Canaanite. Regardless, he saved Israel with an oxgoad. A stick. He killed six hundred of Israel's enemies with a simple stick. Pretty impressive. So that's the first story that I love...the second, as I mentioned before, is Ehud. Ehud is a bit of a longer story, so I will paraphrase it here. Basically, there is an evil king named Eglon (who is very fat), and Ehud (who is left handed) goes to the king, pretends to have a message for him, and kills him. That is a very brief paraphrase, but it sums it up fine. The main point of the Ehud story, is the fact that he was left handed. In biblical days, let handed people were seen as lesser people. They were essentially outcasts. It is also important, because when he went to visit the king, they looked for a weapon on him on his left side, when he kept the weapon on his right side. The fact that God used a left handed person is huge...for the plan to work, he HAD to have been left handed.
Now, here's what I'm getting at...finally. God uses the outcasts. God used a poor, foreigner shepherd named Shamgar to kill 600 Philistines. He used a left handed man named Ehud to free Israel from the grasp of an evil king. And the trend continues throughout the book of Judges. Othniel was a younger brother (typically the oldest would have been the most respected), Deborah was a woman (I'm not being sexist here..Women can do great things, but in that culture it was unheard of for a woman to be a "savior"), Gideon was the weakest person in the weakest tribe, and Samson was a Nazarite (albeit a very poor example of one). All through the book of Judges, God raises up people that no one expected. Not even ordinary people...outcasts. People that were looked down upon, cast aside, ignored, probably teased and made fun of. THESE are the people that God used to save Israel.
And when we move outside of the book of Judges, we see the same thing happening. Moses was a poor public speaker, Rachel was the "unwanted wife" of Jacob...and it is through her line that David, and Jesus come from. Speaking of David, David was the youngest, and a shepherd before he became king. Jesus was born to a poor carpenter, and a teenage virgin. The disciples were made up of tax collectors and fishermen. Saul was a persecuter of Christians before he became one of the greatest evangelists in history. God has a history of using unconventional people, in unconventional ways to do incredible things. That is inspiring to me. That is why I like the book of Judges so much. It reminds me that God uses the strange, the bizarre, the overlooked, the outcast, the sinner, the weak, the minority. God uses anyone, and everyone. That, my friends, is inspiration!

Painted Faces, A Conch, and a boy named Piggy

2010-07-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I have finished reading "Lord of the Flies". While I won't say that it is my favourite book, I will say that I enjoyed it. It was good. The whole time I read it, I couldn't help and compare it to LOST. Plane crash. Beast in the woods. Trapped on an island. Character named Jack. The debate between fire and food (like the debate between staying on the beach or going inland to the cave). I can definately see how the writers at LOST got a few ideas from this book. Anyway, I want to talk about some themes from the book. Lessons we can learn, from William Goldings classic novel. I want to note that I never took this book in school, therefore my themes and ideas may either be completely different than you all studied, or it may be a repeat of what you already know. I have no idea, you can all correct me later. So, without further ado...my thoughts on "Lord of the Flies":

1) First an foremost, I believe that the central theme of the book, is the primal need for leadership and rules. When Ralph was voted leader, everyting was good (for a while). Things got done, everyone got along (for the most part), and everything was relatively peaceful. Rules are important. As people, we hate rules, just like the boys on the island. They didn't appreciate Ralph coming up with rule after rule, and eventually they left him for it. But as much as we hate rules, we need them. It's why God gave the Israelites the 10 Commandments; he wasn't being a dictator, he was giving them a guideline, which would help them to live in peace and harmony. As long as rules are being followed things are peaceful, once we try to go on our own, and neglect the rules, chaos ensues.

2) Piggy was the most important person on the island. Unfortunately, they never respected him, teased him, abused him, didn't take his ideas seriously and eventually killed him. I feel we all have people in our lives that we don't respect. We tease, abused, and never really take them seriously, and yet they have real knowledge that we should embrace. Think of what would have been different if the boys actually listened to Piggy (and Ralph), instead of just calling him Fatty, and ignoring him. They probably would have been rescued when the first boat went by. We need to learn to try to find wisdom in everyone. Sometimes we have to look harder, but I feel that everyone has something wise to say every now and then. We can't just brush people off because they are different, or weird.

3) When the boys painted their face, they became different. Jack was always kind of a douchbag, but the rest of the boys were pretty good through most of the book. But then they painted their face, and it became a type of mask that they could hide behind, and be ruthless. We all have masks that we hid behind. We try to be someone different, and that often means that we hurt other people, or compromise our beliefs. In order to fit on, everyone but Ralph, Piggy a few littluns and the twins (although even they eventually painted their faces, when threatend, and joined the tribe). We have to wash off the paint, take off the mask and stop being someone we aren't. Be who you are. Don't let anyone force you to be someone different.

4) Sometimes, it's only when everything is falling apart that help finally arrives. The whole book, all Ralph wanted was a fire, with smoke so that a ship would see it and save them. He wanted rescue. That was all he wanted. To be saved. Oddly enough, that didn't happen until the last possible moment, when everything was falling apart, and it seemed that the end was near. The island was on fire, and the savages were closing in on him, ready to stab him with the stick that was pointy on both ends. It didn't happen when things were good. Before the tribe was formed or Jack started forming a mutiny. It happened when he was at his whits end. When there was nowhere else to turn, that's when helped arrive. In life sometimes, the same thing happens. We do our best to be "rescued" or saved. Our life starts going downhill, things fall apart and everything goes wrong. We cry for help, we try to keep the fire going, and it's no use. God doesn't seem to hear, help doesn't seem to arrive. It's only when everything is broken, the island is burning and we are being chased down by savages that help finally arrives. It doesn't go according to plan. Had it have gone according to Ralph's plan, then the first fire that they built, the one that Jack let go out because he wanted to hunt a pig, would have been enough to save them. Simon would never have been mistaken for the beast and thrown off a cliff, piggy wouldn't have been crushed by a boulder, and the boy with the mole on his face wouldn't have been burned in the first fire (however, he may have survived...there's no proof otherwise). But it didn't go according to Ralph's plan, just like life doesn't go according to our plan. Our plan involves us being rescued as soon as we are stranded on the island. God's plan often involves hardships, trails, tribulations, fights...sometimes even death. But rescue does come eventually. God does hear...it just takes patience and time. Keep the fire going.

5) Finally, the last main thing I got from the book involves the fire and the pig hunt. Jack let the only hope for resuce go out, because he wanted to hunt a pig and get meat. In his mind, meat was the most important thing..and in all honesty, there was nothing wrong with wanting to hunt and eat a pig...but he got his priorities mixed up. he placed a want over a need. He let his selfish attitudes, his selfish desire outweigh the important things. No, keeping a fire going isn't as much fun...but it would have saved them a lot earlier, and saved the lives of 2 people (3 if you count the littlun). How often do we let a fire die, and go chasing after pigs? (figuratively of course). We go after something that we want, and let go of something that we need. We try to do it on our own, instead of giving it over to God. It's not fun, it's not easy...but it is important. We can't let our selfish desires get in the way of what is truly important.

Well...those are my few thoughts on the book. William Golding has created a great story about survival...and about how, without rules and leadership, chaos ensues and we fall into evil and selfish desires. For those of you that have read the book, what sort of themes did you get from it? And no...don't just say "the book sucked" and leave it at that. Whether you loved it, or hated it...if you read it, it must have left some sort of impression on you...what was it?

The Forgiveness Problem

2010-07-03T09:38:00.001-07:00

A Sikh and an Atheist are sitting in a coffee shop. Sounds like the start of some lame, probably racist joke right? But it's not. So, yesterday I was working at Tim Horton's on the UFV campus, and while I was on my break, I'm listening to these two people talk about evolution/science vs. religion. (This shocked me, as in my naivity I only thought that Christians had these discussions with people in an effort to convert someone. These people were having an honest discussion, with no attempt to really sway one another. It was actually really humbling, and I had to evaluate how Christians often get into discussions like that, and then through their arrogance, they turn people completely off.) I have to be honest, I'm not sure if the Atheist was actually and atheist...I'm just guessing, but he definately was at least an agnostic. If there was a God, it doesn't really matter...it's all about how we live. At first I thought the sikh may actually been a Christian, as he talked about how he didn't believe evolution and stuff. How evolution makes life seem pointless and everything. It was a very interesting conversation to listen to. Then the sikh talked about how, he appreciates all religions, but the one he has the biggest problem with (surprise, surprise) is Christianity. I'd heard that numerous times before, no shocker. He said it was because Christians believe in the "only one way to God" idea, which he thought was exclusive (also something I've heard argued numerous times). But then, later on, he said something that did shock me. He came up with an argument that I'd never heard before. Another reason he didn't believe Christianity was, in a sense, forgiveness. Ok, what he actually said was "one question Christians can never answer well is, 'If a murderer prays to God, will he go to heaven'?". Now, the question seemed pretty easy to answer from a Christian perspective...yes, of course he would right? But the point he was getting at was more along the lines of justice. He didn't want a muderer to be able to be forgiven. Why is it fair that someone can be a killer, pray and get into a heaven, while someone else tries really hard to be a good person, never does anything too bad, and ends up in hell?
I have to say, it took a lot for me to resist joining in on the discussion; but 1) I was a stranger, and didn't need to interfere, and 2) I was on coffee break, and the discussion (with my inclusion), would likely have gone LONG past my 15 minutes. Anyway, I went back to work, and couldn't stop thinking about the idea that, other people have an issue with forgiveness. I can't generalize and say, everyone does...as this is the first person I'd ever really heard voice that concern, but the thought is out there. As Christians, forgiveness is the one thing that calms us, soothes us and comforts us. To some extent, the forgiveness is the reason we are Christians in the first place. But other people want justice. They don't want to know that a psychotic killer, a serial rapist, a child molester, a warmonger, can simply pray-get forgiveness and enter heaven. I think it is this notion that is making the karma religions more popular. The whole "you get what you give" idea is something that makes people feel better. Even though the notion is false on many levels (although there is some element of truth to it), it's attractive to people who don't want to believe that a simply prayer can get someone into heaven, after a life of brutality.
In my opinion, the main reason people have a problem with this, at least partly, has to do with the fact that Christians have this false idea about forgiveness. Anytime you see a televangelist, or missionary, or whenever a Christian tries to talk about their faith they always, in some way at least, refer to "the Sinners Prayer". Even if we don't fully believe it ourselves, we always preach the "if you just pray to God and ask him into your heart, you will be forgiven and are a Christian". That's it. That's what we preach. It's THAT simple? really? We fail to mention that there is much more to it than just a prayer. In fact, I believe that you can be a Christian and never actually utter "the sinners prayer". Christians often quote the story about the man on the cross next to Jesus, and how he just asked to be remembered, and he got into heaven. They say that, "even the worst person and be forgiven with a simple prayer"...and yet they miss the point of the story. The man wasn't uttering a last ditch attempt at being saved. First, he just asked to be remembered...didn't even ask to be included in the kingdom (humility), and secondly, he whole heartedly, without a doubt knew that Jesus was the Son of God. He knew who he was, and he believed it. He was in awe, in reverence. I honsetly belive that, if some way he got down off the cross and was released from prison, I think he would have been a better man. His encounter with Jesus would have changed him. That's what it comes down to isn't it? How many of us initially uttered the sinners prayer as a way to avoid hell? We were scared, didn't want to be punished and so we prayed to go to heaven. It wasn't until later, that we started to get to know God, saw his character, felt his presence and really formed a relationship with him. So at what point did we become a christian? Was it the prayer that saved us? Or was it the relationship, the learning about God, speaking with him, serving him, praising him?
Salvation is more than just a prayer to get out of hell. We need to stop preaching this sinners prayer propeganda (to some extent anyway), and actually preach about the life-changing attitude, the character of God, the relationship with Him. So...to answer the question, can a murderer pray a prayer, ask for forgiveness and get into heaven? If his sole purpose is to get out of hell, then no. I honestly doubt the validity of those "fear of hell" prayers. But if he truly sees the error in his ways (repentance is a HUGE part of forgiveness), and he truly sees Jesus as the Son of God, and wants to worship God with his life, then yes. It all comes down to the heart. Let's start sending out that message, and not just the simple "one prayer and your done" message.

Over-Analyze This

2010-07-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm gonna share a little bit about one of my spiritual pet peeves. One thing that really bothers me is Christians who misinterpret Scripture. I mean this in a variety of ways, either they take something out of context, or they over analyze a verse/section/paragraph whatever to the point where it has so many meanings, it loses its original meaning. Or, they try too hard to apply something to a modern setting and make it relevant, that it's true purpose and meaning is lost.
Now, don't get me wrong. Interpreting and applying scripture to a modern context is very important. Unfortunately, not enough people do it properly. I'm not saying that I am a pro at this, in fact I am probably just as bad as anyone else, but its something we need to be careful of.
There are a few things in scripture that allow us to interpet them in numerous ways, the parables are one example. When Jesus spoke these stories, they were meant to be interpreted in various ways. The story of the Prodigal Son can be interpreted from different perspectives, and can mean different things to different people in different cirumstances. What I have a problem with, is people taking a passage like "When 2 or more are gathered, there am I with them", and interpret it to mean "When 2 or more people pray, God will answer our prays the way we want them to!". Another major issue with this, is people who try to use Scripture to justify their actions. For example, wars, genocides, the holocaust, slavery, crusades...all were "justified" by Scripture. People thought, and still think "Well, God wiped out numerous nations...so its ok for us", or "People in the bible had slaves, so it must be acceptable for us too". A more recent and relevant point is homosexuality. I recently had a facebook argument on a friends status with many people that I didnt even know about homosexuality. The status read something like "Homosexuality isn't a sin. Calling a homosexual a sinner is." I responded to that with something along the lines of "I think judging is wrong, but at the same time I do believe that homosexuality is wrong.". My response was longer than that, but that was the gist of it. Anyway, the responses were hateful and brutal. I was called a homophobe, judgemental, and numerous other names. Anyway, after discussion and argument, their main points for justifying homosexuality was 1) There was no word for "homosexuality" in Biblical times, and 2) When the act of homosexuality is mentioned in the bible, it is used in reference to temple prostitution. They were justifying their actions, trying to find a way to interpret something that the Bible is quite clear about, and making it read something that allows them to be right.
Christians...this needs to stop. We need to learn to interpret Scripture properly. It's ok to take some things at face value sometimes. And trying to add relevance to something that doesn't need it is ridiculous, and is poisoning how we read and understand Scripture. When you begin to see Jesus as a metaphor, instead of just the Son of God, you have gone too far. Now, I wish I had a surefire way to make sure that we dont misinterpret Scripture..but I don't. I do have some tips though:
The most important thing is context. Keep scripture in its proper context. Don't take a verse out of its original context and make it mean something else. Look at what the author was trying to say...and if your conclusion goes against that, you have misinterpreted it.
Try to go at interpretation from an unbiased perspective. When you have an agenda, you will (either deliberately or subconsciously) interpret Scripture to go along with the beliefs you already have.
Pray. Have a great relationship with God, talk with him constantly and have him help you understand what Scripture is trying to say.
If it doesn't need to be understood at a deeper level, then don't add deeper meaning to it. Now, this doesn't mean that the Bible doesn't contain things that at first glance seem unimportant or just added detail, but are actually very vital...but there are things that we add meaning to, and deeper levels to that never were intended to be understood in that way.

I honestly believe that if the authors of the books saw how we were interpreting their words, they would be mortified. When Husbands abuse their wives and claim that the Bible says its ok because "Wives are to submit to their husbands", or when modern day prophets predict the day that Jesus will return, based on "clues" in Scripture, we take things FAR too far, and pervert what the Bible is trying to say. The Bible is the word of God. Yes, it was written by man, but it was inspired by and designed by God. It's not just a book of fairy tales, good advice or fables. Yes, there are great stories, myths and advice within its pages...but when you see Scripture as only those things you grossly miss the point.
I realize I have kinda gone on a few rabbit trails here. I hope that my main point is clear, and that I won't be misinterpreted or taken out of context. What do you guys think? Do you think that this is a major issue in Christianity today, or am I just seeing an issue when there isn't really an issue?

The Need To Be Right

2010-06-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

Wow...I'm writing a second blog, in the same say, within less than 2 hours of eachother. This has to be somekind of record. I AM AWESOME! No, just kidding. But seriously, I can't believe I am doing this, but something else has entered my skull...and instead of holding onto it for a couple of days with lack of sleep (yes...thinking about blogs can affect my sleep...sad isn't it?), I figured I'd write it down now.
I always seem to find myself in conversations, both on facebook and in person, with people over spiritual matters. Sometimes I will enter a conversation that I don't agree with, just to put my two cents in and stir the pot a little bit. Sometimes, a topic will be discussed that I feel really strongly about, and feel the need to say my part. Other times, I will just haphazardly walk into one, not knowing how I got there at all. I've always been this way. I love discussions, and getting into arguments about theological truths. But, I've just realized, that one of the reasons why I do it isn't because I feel called by God to enter the argument...it's because I want people to agree with me. I want people to think that I am smart, funny, religious. I want to change people's minds based solely on what I say, and what arguments I have. I have come to realize that, while I enjoy discussion, I enjoy it more when I'm the one on the attack. I recently entered a facebook conversation with a friend and like 50 people I don't know...and all of them had a different opinion than me. I felt defensive, and din't enjoy it at all. I still felt that my position was correct, but couldn't convince anyone to agree with me. And it frustrated the hell out of me (pardon my use of the "h" word). But really, aren't we all like that at some point? Deep down, we have this desire to be liked, to be agreed with. (It's ok...you can disagree if you like). One of my biggest pet peeves, is when I love a movie, and I tell others about it, and they don't like it as much...or even worse, they hate it. It makes me so mad. And why does it? Cause I want to be responsible for them discovering something great. I want them to see that movie and think "Wow, Keith has great taste".
I need to work on being more humble. I have to be ok with people disagreeing with me, arguing AGAINST me. I need to realize that, just because someone has a differing opinion than me, it doesn't make them the enemy..and when they challenge me, it's not a personal attack on my character (Unless they are actually attacking my character). I need to stand my ground, and stand up for what I believe in, but not to make myself great. I need to humble myself. Cast aside everything that would cause me to boast. I need to be ok with being wrong every once in a while. Step down off of my high horse, pack up my soapbox, and just leave things alone. It's not my job to change peoples perspective, opinions, or beliefs. That's God's job. He may use me for this purpose, or he may not. He may even use the other person to change MY beliefs, opinions and perspectives....and that is really tough for me to accept.

Plan B

2010-06-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

Currently, I am reading a book titled Plan B, by an author I had never heard of, Pete Wilson. I encourage all of you to read this book, as it's a book we can all relate to (if not right now, eventually in your life you will be able to relate to it). I will confess, that a lot of the ideas in this blog will be based off of this book, however I will try to have my own insights and anecdotes as well.
One of the biggest lies Christians tell themselves, and unfortunately tell others, is "If you have enough faith, do enough good things, serve God enough, and are 'spiritual' enough, God will bless you and answer all of your prayers". Perhaps I am generalizing that too much, but the basic truth is...we have all believed this, or at the very least heard this at one time or another, right? We've seen the preachers urging their parishoners to "have more faith", to "pray harder", and if they do, then prayers will be answered. Unfortunately, that is very untrue. Bad things happen to good people. One of the hardest truths for Christians is, "our plans and God's plans are not always the same thing". We fall into the trap that, God wants what we want. Now, there are times that this is true...that God truly does want the same things that we want...however, there are many, MANY times that what we want isn't even close to what God wants. The bible is littered with stories of people who have a plan, or an idea of what they want...and God turns it completely on its head. How do we respond when our Plan A turns into a Plan B?
I will tell you a story from my second year at Bethany College. I'm sure I have mentioned this story before, but I will tell it again:
My second year at Bethany was literally one of the hardest, and most depressing years of my life. It was a complete Plan B for me. Nothing went according to plan. In fact, it even began the end of my first year. At the end of my first year, I had my heart broken by a girl that I naively thought was "the one", and I had my dreams of being a R.A. crushed (an R.A. is a student who is in charge of a "unit" or group of people in the dorms). I was already fragile entering my second year of Bethany, but I had things to look forward to. I was going to play indoor soccer, be part of drama teams and have a great time. But it was not to be. I auditioned for 3 different drama type groups...one was the Bethany Players. This is the group that travels around to churches and communities and performs skits. In fact, the Players were the very reason I even attended Bethany in the first place. They performed at my church in Boissevain, and I said to myself "I want to do that". The other 2 drama groups were Productions, one in the first semester and one in the second semester. All three of my auditions went well, and I got call backs all the way to the end in all of them...and then didn't make the cut on any of them. I was crushed. I thought for sure that this was the year I would make players, and it didn't happen. As crushed as I was, I still believed that I would at least have indoor soccer to play, which would ease the pain. I tried out, and did horrible. Like, literally really bad. However, I was on the team the year prior, so I assumed that the coach would want players who had played before, so I thought I was a lock for the team...I thought wrong. So, I tried out for 4 different things, 5 if you count wanting to be an R.A., that I wanted really bad, and not one of them happened. I was pissed off. However, things were going to get even harder on me. I was lead to believe, by both the drama instructor and soccer coach, that if anybody quit the team, or if anything happened, that I would be on the teams. Well, both the Players and soccer team had someone quite, or leave for various reasons. And I didn't get a position on either team. In fact, my R.A. got the spot on the Players, and a person who didnt even try out for the soccer team got the spot on the team (I was the only cut from the team). I was beyond angry, frustrated and just felt betrayed. My unit was filled with people who were either on Players, on the soccer team, in a production, and even a few who were part of 2, or even all of these things. I couldn't get away from it. I wish I could say that I responded well, and trusted God that his Plan B was better than my Plan A...but I didn't. I in fact was so mad that I wrote a VERY hurtful blog, directed at the drama teacher, soccer coach, and people who were on the teams. I made the fals assumption that nobody read my blogs anyway, and so I thought I was more venting to myself...of course, people did read it. I hurt a lot of people (If you happen to be one of the people I hurt, I apologize sincerely). That whole year at Bethany, I was just a negative, depressed person. I acted like I had it all together, but deep down I was an angry person. I did not respond well to my Plan B situation.
Ok, so that was a longer story than I anticipated, however I think you get the picture. We all have had similar Plan B situations. The fact is, I lost sight of the fact that God didnt want what I wanted. I reacted in a way that was hurtful, and horrible...and in fact that blog cost me a spot on the Players my third year as well. If I had only accepted God's plan, realized that I had another purpose for being there, I would have not only enjoyed my second year at Bethany a lot more (instead of being bitter everytime I saw someone who made the teams...which at a small school is like every 35 seconds), but I also would have made the Players the next year.
How we react to Plan B situations is key. Look at Job, he lost everything and yet still was able to trust God, and worship God. Yes, he was upset, and confused...yet he knew that God was bigger than his plans. Also, the story of Joseph. His life was a complete Plan B situation. Nearly killed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsley accused and imprisoned, and forgotten. What if Joseph reacted differently? What if, when his brothers showed up to get food from him, he sent them away or sold them into slavery? The entire nation of Israel would have been wiped out. If Joseph was bitter while in prison, he never would have interpreted the dreams nor would he have finally been named second in command of all of egypt.
It's not easy to react well to Plan B situations. But if we lay down our expections at Christ's feet. If we let our plans be secondary to God's plans, then we have a better chance of reacting better, and being a happier, less bitter person. But when we assume that God will reward our plans, when we think that "my plan is the same as God plan"...we will be left battered, bruised and bitter when our plan goes awry. In fact, we may even feel that God has abandoned us, when in all reality he is more real than ever before.
If we open our hearts, and our minds to what God wants, then we may even realize that the Plan B, even though it is different and harder, is actually much better than our original Plan A ever was. Of course...that's a lot easier said than done.

Things I Hate...

2010-06-12T11:07:00.001-07:00

Hate is a very strong word. These are words we have all heard, likely hundreds of times in our lifetime. We utter something like "Oh, I HATE Him", in which a friend or parent will respond with "Hate is a strong word". I appreciate the phrase, and I do understand that Hate, by all definition is a very strong and powerful word. However, I am going to compile a list of things I "hate". Keep in mind that many of these things are meant to be humourous, a few are meant to be serious and spiritual...and none are meant to offend. If I mention a person, or group of people, I don't mean "hate" in a strong "I wish they were dead and cast into hell sense", but in a more "strongly dislike, or are irritated by" sense. So please, don't think that I am being racist, prejudice or rude. So...without further ado, here is an organized list of things that I hate:

Things I hate...about life
I hate going to the dentist.
I hate how everything costs money
I hate when your clothes don't get fully dry in the dryer, and yet you try to wear them anyway
I hate girls who dress like sluts and then complain that they aren't taken seriously, or are seen as a sexual object
I hate PETA...if you want to be a vegetarian fine, but don't tell me what I can and can't eat
I hate feminists...I'm all for equality, but don't put yourselves on a pedestal. You want to know why chivalry is dead? YOU KILLED IT!
I hate how the gay community (I'm walking on thin ice here) feels the need to flaunt it to everyone, and are offended by anyone who doesn't approve of their lifestyle. If you want to be gay, that's your issue, but don't tell me what I have to believe or think.
I hate people who hate homosexuals, just for being homosexuals. I don't agree with the lifestyle, but I accept them as people.
I hate racists...and black people (TOTALLY kidding...seriously, I am 100% joking)
I hate people who write lists about things that nobody cares about

Things I hate...about Entertainment
I hate how actors like Vin Diesel and Jason Stathom are famous for having no acting talent at all
I hate how Lady Gaga feels the need to be so bizarre. Her music is catchy, but seriously, do you have to dress and act the way that you do ALL the freakin time?
I hate how, songs that I used to hate, become catchy and I end up loving them.
I hate "secret songs" on CD's. Really...a 20 minute moment of silence before an additional song...c'mon people, you are screwin up my Itunes flow!
I hate a great movie with a crappy ending
I hate slow moving, boring movies, when I expected a fast moving, exciting movie
I hate people who claim that Johnny Depp can't act. He is one of, if not THE best actor in Hollywood. You can hate his movies, but you have to accept that he is a fantastic actor.
I hate how commericals always show the husband as being stupid, and the wife as having all the answers.

Things I hate...about sports
I hate people who hate a certain team for no reason other than "they suck". Seriously people, if you are going to hate a team, have a real reason.
I hate the Dallas Stars (for the 1999 Stanley Cup goal), New York Yankees (can you say "buying a championship"?), Ottawa Senators (I'm a leaf fan...there's no room in ontario for both of us!), and L.A. Lakers (same reason as the Yankees...that and Kobe).
I hate Gary Bettman
I hate how certain athletes, such as Lebron James, Sidney Crosby and that pitcher Strasburg, have these huge expectations thrust upon them before they even play a single pro game.
I hate when people cheat and get away with it

Things I hate...about Canada/The U.S.
I hate how, the U.S. has claimed the term "American" for themselves. Seriously people...we are part of America too...as is Mexico. And don't forget about all of South America.
I hate when the U.S. beats us in sports
I hate how, some people from the U.S. put Canadian flags on their luggage when they travel so they are treated better.
I hate how the Canadian military is seen as weak...when in reality, we are just as good if not better than the U.S. (with a much smaller budget). We dominated in D-Day (before the U.S. even got there), and we are the only country to successfully burn down the White House!

Things I hate...about Christian Movies
I hate that everything always works out in the end
I hate that, when the main character prays to God and asks for something, it is granted almost immediately
I hate that the acting sucks
I hate that it's not realistic whatsoever (no body swear, theres little violence, no sex...really people? Is that how the world really is?)

Things I hate about Christians in general
I hate how judgemental Christians are
I hate when Christians give the typical Christian cliche answer to real issues
I hate ridiculous Church Signs with the ridiculous sayings on them. All you need to put is "Name of Church, Name of Pastor, Time of service and Everyone Welcome"...we don't need a clever "Jesus Answers Knee Mail" phrase, thank you very much.
I hate how Christians feel the need to have to support other Christians, despite how bad they may be at a certain job. (For example, George Bush was supported because he was "Christian", however he really wasn't the best option in my opinion)
I hate how Christians get offended about EVERYTHING (probably this blog)
I hate when Christians misquote Scripture, take Scripture out of context and twist Scripture to make it mean what they want it to mean.
I hate how Christians always have to try to persuade everyone to have the same exact beliefs that they share.
I hate Christians who rank Evangelism and Witnessing above building relationships and serving the poor. Jesus said "I was hungry and you gave me food" not "I was hungry and you read me Scripture and converted me"

Well...that's pretty much all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are a lot more that I could add, however the World Cup is on, and it's England playing the U.S. (go England!), and it's distracting my creative juices. I hope you enjoyed the list, and I apologize if it was offensive at times. So now it's your turn...what sort of things do you hate?

Apathetically Tolerating Intolerance

2010-05-19T15:51:00.000-07:00

When I say the word "tolerance", likely a bunch of different definitions enter your brain. To avoid any controversy, I will use the definition that I found on dictionary.com (we really need to invest in an actual dictionary). This website defines tolerance as, "a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from ones own". I think that's a pretty good definition of the word...now, we can move on!
There's a problem in our churches, homes, communities, and Christian circles. The problem is countless people tolerating intolerance. This is especially upsetting within the church walls. The church is a place that should be filled with tolerance, and acceptance. Unfortunately, that's not often the case. Now, I realize that the church can't control the actions of its members. People have free choice, and can say and do what they want. The problem is, we let a handful of intolerant people, say things, do things and act in ways that should not reflect the rest of the congregation, and yet through our own inaction we tolerate it. We allow and tolerate intolerance.
This must stop! Now, I realize I already defined the word tolerance, but I just want to clarify that I'm not meaning that everyone in church must believe the same things, and even accept every belief. I'm certainly not saying that we should let heresies be preached and just sit back and tolerate that...I'm not saying that we must allow people to live in sin. What I am saying, is that we need to accept people, and tolerate people from all walks of life, and listen to what people have to say. People don't immediately change when they walk in the doors of a church. It takes time. It's too bad that churches are often the most judgemental and intolerant places in the world. People walk in the door, and they are judged. If they have a bible in one hand, a cross around their neck, a shirt and tie (for women, a dress that goes past the knees and doesn't show any cleavage), and nice dress shoes, we accept them. They are holy and good. On the other hand, if a person walks in with a Marilyn Manson shirt on, a mohawk in their hair, earrings all over their face, spiked wristbands on their wrists, tattered jeans, flip flops, and smell like marijauna, we immedately judge them as doomed, and hell-bound. We probably don't even say hello to them. We stare at them, make them feel uncomfortable, talk about them behind their backs and then wonder why they don't return the next week for a sermon that they really needed to hear about Jesus' Love and Forgiveness.
Now, not everyone acts in this way. Not everyone is intolerant of change, or intolerant of people who look or act different, or who believe something a bit different, or who read from the KJV instead of the NIV. But the problem is, the people that don't think those judgemental thoughts, don't do something about those that do. Instead of talking to the "satanic sinner" ourselves, we assume someone else will. We stay away, think to ourselves 'how good it is that this person is going to experience the love of Jesus'...but we never let them see it firsthand. We are apathetic, and through that apathy, we allow those who are intolerant to act in ways that make outsiders feel uncomfortable, unloved, and judged. Our inaction keeps people from feeling the warmth and love of Jesus. Our apathy tolerates the intolerance.
So this is my challege to you. Don't tolerate intolerance! Don't allow it. I'm not saying control what others say and do, because that becomes just as intolerant. What I am saying, is...don't be so apathetic. Don't wait for "others" to talk to the outsider. Don't assume "others" will welcome someone else, or that "others" will give someone with a differing opinion or belief a chance to speak their mind. Be the "other". Welcome someone, say hello, ask them about what they believe, where they are from...anything. Be the tolerant person. You don't have to agree with them, but at least give them a chance. If enough people do that, then those who are intolerant won't matter...because they will remember the love and warmth of the few. Stop tolerating intolerance. There's a reason why the media, and why non-Christians view Christians as judgemental, closed, sheltered and intolerant...because we allow those type of "Christians" to leave the lasting impression. It's wrong, and it needs to stop.

Widen the Road!

2010-05-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

"...But small is the gate, and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it"

Matthew 7:14

This past week I began a Rob Bell book "Jesus wants to Save Christians". I am a big Rob Bell fan...it seems that he says what I am thinking...and he pushes the limits sometimes. He's not afraid to stir up some controversy...which I think is really healthy. In chapter 4 of the book (The chapter is called "Genital Free Africans"...I just had to put that in here, sorry..carrying on), he spends a lot of time talking about how the early church was so focused on, "the way things have always been done". It was against the law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile, followers of Christ had to be circumsised, everyone had to be baptised, sabbath had to be followed to the letter, and the list goes on and on. But Rob Bell focuses on some people who went against the grain. Phillip baptises an African Eunuch...as Rob Bell says, "you can't mess with the good if you don't have any". In other words...this person couldn't be circumsised, and yet Phillip still baptised him as a believer in Christ. Peter visits the home of a Centurian, a home filled with Gentiles, something that according to Jewish law was forbidden. There are many instances of people in the bible going against the religious leaders of the day.

Anyway, this book got me thinking that...it wasn't just like that for the early church. Today, there are many Christians who are doing their best to enforce the law, who are trying to keep things the way they have always been. It starts for people who want to become Christians...according to many they have to give up smoking, drinking, swearing...they have to dress a certain way, pray a certain way, get baptised, remove their tatoos, take out any piercing that isn't in their ears (or all of them if they are males). The list goes on doesn't it? I'm sure we all know people who are constantly judging other believers or new believers. Then they begin to enforce the rules of the church...the music must be only at this volume, the drums can't be too loud, the tempo can't be that fast, we must sing 3 hymns and 1 modern chorus, the sermon must be within 25-35 minutes, we can't have a woman pastor, children must be excused from the service, everyone must wear this type of clothing, no smoking within 100 feet of the church parking lot...the list continues. Now, fortunately I attend a church that is very willing to "accept the unacceptable". Our church is right next door to a rehabilitation center for recovering alcoholics...we get a lot of struggling people in our doors. Thank GOD we don't have anybody judging them...but the reality is, most churches have somebody like that...many churches are made up entirely of people like that. And it's awful.

My point is this...as the verse says at the start of this blog post "Narrow is the road that leads to life". I believe that...there is one way to get to eternal life and that is through Jesus. Unfortunately, I believe that many Christians make the road too narrow. They add on all of these requirements that aren't only unbiblical, but they are ridiculous. I think we have to be very careful to not make the Narrow Road too small. Here's my opinion on all of this...if a person loves Jesus, and believe that Jesus was (and is) the Son of God...and that Jesus was resurrected from Death, and they do their best to follow the instructions of Jesus...then they are on that narrow path. I think that when we reach heaven we will be very surprised at 1)who made it to heaven, and 2) who DIDN'T make it. A lot of these "law makers", I believe will be a part of the "depart from me" group, while many of these "law breakers" will be in the "Welcome my good and faithful servant" class. Can someone be a smoker and a Christian? Of course they can. Does it matter if they wear an AC/DC shirt to church on Sunday? Not really. People need to get off of their high horse and rip up their rule book (Their personal rule book...not the Bible, just to clarify). We need more Peter's and Phillip's. More people who aren't afraid to go against the current religious understanding of what is acceptable and unacceptable; hang out with Gentiles, baptise a Eunuch, and touch someone unclean. The bible says the road is narrow...it's not impossible to find.

I Doubt I'm the Only One Who Doubts

2010-05-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been reading the book "The Case For Faith" by Atheist turned Christian Lee Strobel. In the book, he raises 8 common "barriers to faith", and interviews 8 prominent Christian thinkers, teachers and philosophers. I'm not going to talk about all of them, I'm only going to focus on one of them today, but just to settle all of your curiosity (as I'm sure you are just eager to know), the 8 stumbling blocks to faith are:
1) Evil and Suffering exist...so a loving God must not
2) Miracles contradict science, so they aren't true
3) Evolution explains life, which eliminates the need for God
4) I can't worship a God who kills innocent children
5) It's offensive to claim that "There's only one way (Jesus)"
6) A Loving God wouldn't send people to hell
7) The History of the Church is very violent and oppressive
8) I have doubts, so I can't be a Christian.

Each of the chapters were interesting in their own way, but I am going to focus on the last one...the chapter about doubts. Perhaps it's because it was the last chapter I read, but this chapter meant the most to me. Not saying that the others didn't mean anything...they did, but this one really spoke to me. What I loved about this chapter is, it didn't hide the fact that there are doubts. In fact, it claims that, most Christians have doubts, and struggle with doubts on a consistent basis. I definately needed to read that, as I, like most other Christians, deal with doubts.
A great quote, founmd early on in the chapter is by author Os Guiness (I read some of his stuff at Bethany...he's a great thinker). He says, "The shame is not that people have doubts, but that they are ashamed of them." Powerful stuff...and I think it's something that we all need to remember.
I'm not going to go too in depth on this, I just want to encourage all of you out there. I'm sure that you are dealing with some doubt, of some sort. Either you are a Christian and you struggle with doubting if God really loves you, hears your prayers, cares about you...fill the the blank. Or, you are a non-Christian, who perhaps, for whatever reason, have doubts about God. Maybe one of those 8 things listed is keeping you from accepting. PErhaps, as a Christian you are dealing with that stuff too. All I have to say is...it's ok. There are many biblical heroes who dealt with doubt. Abraham doubted, David did (read through the Psalms...most of them are laments, complaints and doubts...only about 40% of them are actual Praise psalms), and even Jesus closest friends, his disciples doubted. That's where faith comes in though. When you have faith, the doubts don't matter. You may not fully understand why things happen...but you can have faith that there is a reason.
Don't be ashamed of your doubts, or afraid of doubting. Question things you don't fully understand. IT'S PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE TO QUESTION THINGS YOU READ IN THE BIBLE OR HEAR AT CHURCH! The issue is, when you question it...don't just write it off as wrong, search for the answer. Some answers may come easy, others may not be answered...but don't let a few doubts hinder your relationship with God. In fact, it often takes times of doubting, to gain faith.
That's my thoughts for you...I realize it's not much..it's just an encouragement for those doubters out there. You're not alone...and it's ok.

It's All About The Now

2010-05-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

There's a Kokanee commercial on now, which I'm sure you've all seen with the slogan "It's All About The Now". At first, this may seem like a selfish slogan, but, in reality, I believe that it is a slogan that is relevant...and one that Christians need to take to heart.
If most Christians were to make a commercial with a similar slogan, I believe that the slogan would go something like "It's all about Heaven!". Christianity is a religion that, unfortunately, has become focused on the future instead of the present. Christians are always living with the mindset of heaven. How many of you have heard slogans like, "I'm just passing through!" or "This isn't really my home...Heaven is my home". Those sayings are metephorically true, however they really miss the point of what being a Christian means. Being a Christian isn't just about a free pass into heaven. It's a lifestyle, a relationship with God. If Christianity was all about heaven, then once we became a Christian we would go straight to heaven, but, as we know...seeing as we are still on earth, that's not how it works.
People who are so focused on the "end", miss great opportunity here on earth. Let's put this into a little analogy here. Imagine that you are on the vacation of your dreams. Let's say you are in the Bahamas, during the warm, beautiful summer. Sitting on a lawn chair looking out over the ocean, with a drink in your hand (make it whatever you want...martini, beer, pepsi, coke, water...your choice! I'll go with a rum and coke for myself), and having the time of your life. But soon after you settle in for the vacation, you start thinking about life when you get home. You think about the work you will need to do, the people you need to see, the bills you have to pay, the items you need to buy...all these things that you need to do AFTER your vacation. If all your time was spent thinking about "after I get home", then you will not enjoy the vacation at all...or at least significantly less than someone who fully takes in the relaxation and beauty of the Bahamas. Now, i don't want to say that this life is a vacation and heaven is doing work and paying bills, but I do think you get the point. If you are so focused on heaven, and what heaven will be like, then you will miss out of incredible opportunities here on earth.
So let's take a lesson from Kokanee, live in the now...not focused on the "to come". Yes...it's ok to think about it, and to get excited for heaven...but don't let it consume you so much that you neglect the here and now. That's my opinion anyway.

The Big Bang Query

2010-04-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

"Our whole universe was in a hot dense state, when nearly fourteen billion years ago, expansion started..."

So begins the theme song to the hilarious show The Big Bang Theory. No, this post is not going to be a review of the show (in 2 words, "It's funny"), but this post is going to talk about Christians response to evolution, the Big Bang, and science in general. How many of us have been involved in the debate, or at least know about the debate from Christians (most of our parents probably), who think that not only should Creation be taught in schools, but evolution should not be taught at all in schools. They claim that the Big Bang, and evolution, are merely weak theories about the beginning of the world, and are insulted that they would teach them as fact. First of all, I can't speak for all schools, but my biology class, the teacher made it very clear that the Big Bang and evolution were theories, and not proven science. What I have the problem with, is Christians who view Creation as fact. Yes, i realize what I just said...hear me out here. Can we actually prove Creation? Can we do some experiment to make it scientific fact? Not that I am aware of. Don't get me wrong, I believe the biblical account of Creation, however I also understand that, while there may be more evidence of Creation, it still can't be 100% proven, just like evolution and the Big Bang. Personally, I'm glad they teach evolution and the Big Bang in schools. Now, I do think that perhaps they should mention other theories of the beginning of the world, such as Creation, but I think it is important, especially for Christian kids, to hear the other side of the debate. As churched kids, all we hear growing up is about "In the beginning God created the world", and that it took 1 week to do it, and he just spoke it into existence. We don't question it, because that would be wrong to question the Bible. Being taught the Big Bang in school allows us to hear both sides, and be able to make our own decisions and come to our own conclusions. It's like someone who grows up in an Amish colony, and that is all they know...and then they experience the other part of the world...and they can make a decision on what they want to do. I have no problem with evolution and the Big Bang being taught in schools. I find it wrong that our Christian parents think that all schools, both public and private, should cater to us...teach us what we already believe. We want the Lord's Prayer taught in school, the Christmas and Easter story, Halloween should be banned...all that kind of stuff. Yet as soon as a Muslim wants the Koran taught, or a Mormon wants the story of Joseph Smith, we get bent out of shape and can't believe that they would try to take over the schools. Just back off, relax, take a chill pill...it's ok!.
That was a bit of a rabbit trail there, sorry about that. Anyway, back on topic here...Many Christians believe that science contradicts the Bible. They fear that scientists are out to get them, and prove the Bible wrong, and show that God doesn't exist. This is just wrong, or at least blown way out of proportion. Yes, there are som Athiest scientists who attempt to disprove the bible and God...but there are also Christian scientists who go out of their way to explain things so that the bible won't be challenged. It's a two way street here. The main issue is, as Christians, we feel that it is our place to defend God, and defend the Bible. We don't need to do that. God is big enough to defend himself...and if we truly trust the Bible is the Word of God, why are we so concerned with Science...does that not show a lack of faith in our Holy Scriptures?
The main reason that Christians are concerned with the Big Bang, evolution and science, is because Christians take every word of the Bible literally, and think that "it can't possibly be an exageration or analogy". Now, I don't want to say that the Bible is a book of legends and tall tales, because I believe that the Bible is true...however I also know that, in the culture of the day, story telling was an important part of the day, and being 100% accurate with all details wasn't as vital. I find it funny that, generally (except for Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins), read Revelation as an analogy, and not literal accounts of what will happen...and yet the first part of Genesis is believed to be completely accurate in all details. Let's ask the question, for all you Bible scholars out there...who wrote Genesis?....anyone? Was it Adam or Eve? Cain? Abel? no....it was Moses. The Moses who was born while Israel was already in slavery in Egypt. How does he know exactly what happened in the beginning? Through story, most likely. Generation to generation, passed down from word of mouth. Likely, the story evolved a little bit over time. The important thing isn't that the Genesis account is a detailed, account of what happened...but that the main thing is true. Does it really matter if the world was created in exactly 7 days? (6 technically, as God 'rested') No, it doesn't matter if it was 7 literal days, or 7 figurative days (as a thousand years is like a day to God...so who's definition of a day is it anyway, God's or man's?), or if it was billions of years. Does it matter if the animals were created instantly, or through some sort of evolution process? Not really. Does it matter if the world just was, or if when God spoke a Big Bang cause the creation? No, it doesnt really matter. What does matter is only the first sentance of the creation accoung, "In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth". As long as God created everything, it doesnt really matter how it happened.
Science and Religion don't have to be so different, and they don't have to attack one another. God is Truth...and all truth comes from God. If we say that Science's "truth" is false...even though it is proven...then what are we saying about God? He created everything in his own way...no one knows exactly how it happened...because no one was there. It's not important how it happened frankly, it is just important that God did it. Is an earth that is thousands of years old vital to the Christian faith? Of course not...it doesnt matter if the old is a thousand years old, or 20 billion years old...God created it, and thats all we have to worry about. There's a lot of science that proves the Bible, actually...unfortunately too many Christians are focused on the hot button issue of The Big Bang, and of proving Darwin wrong, that we miss out on all the places that Science is actually proving God and the Bible. Stop focusing on the negative, and stop feeling that anything that contradicts what you were taught as a child has to be wrong.
All I'm trying to say is, that God is big enough to deal with all the "adversity" science can throw at him. It's not our job to defend him, he doesn't need us to do that.

As a side note, I just want to say that I used to be the kind of person who believed in the literal 7 day creation, and the 500 year old earth, and all of that sort of stuff. I saw evolution as a work of the devil and the Big Bang theory as evil. While I was at Bible school, I took a Genesis/Exodus class...and it pissed me off (at first). It mentioned all of the stuff that I wrote about in the blog. I thought that it was making light of the Bible. It took a long time before I stopped defending the Bible and my version of what happened, and before I could accept that perhaps there is some truth that the Genesis account might not include everything. So for all your doubters and defenders out there...I was where you are. I'm not saying you have to believe this, you can believe what you want, as long as God is at the centre of it. Just don't be so narrow minded that you can't even accept this viewpoint as a possibilty. In the words of Forest Gump...that's all I have to say about that.

Easily Offended

2010-04-24T08:25:00.001-07:00

It seems like, constantly, all I hear about from Christian groups is "I can't believe that they would be able to show/write/draw/laugh about/whatever else that....I am SO offended!". Every time a movie comes out that includes the smallest hint of a "Christian joke", or a song that depicts God in a untraditional way, Christians get up in arms and begs people to sign petitions or to boycott certain movies, shows or artists. I say. take a joke people. seriously, get off of your high horse and stop getting offended at EVERYTHING!
When the movie Bruce Almighty came out, there was an uproar among many Christians who thought that a movie about a man who recieves God's powers for a short amount of time was unbiblical and heretical. Of course, the people who were "offended" never saw the movie, or else they would have realized that the point of the movie was to show that God is all powerful, and even when we don't understand why he can't just say YES all the time, he is in full control and knows what he is doing. The movie Year One also raged controversy, because it made fun of numerous bible stories. In my opinion, it was fun to watch a movie that shed new, satirical light on bible stories that I have gotten so familiar with that I found boring and no longer impressive. The Da Vinci Code...I don't even have to get into that one too much, as it is likely the most popular "offensive" piece of fiction/movie ever made. Jesus Christ Superstar, Saved, Harry Potter, the list goes on...and that's just movies. Television shows are no better in the minds of most Christians...Family Guy, The Simpsons, South Park...all are obviously from the devil because they include jokes about Christians or God. Now, I'm not saying these are Christian shows (the only one that MAY be is the Simpsons...and that's only because it is created by a Groening, so who knows), but are they from the devil? Well...other than South Park, no i don't think so (and even that I am joking). Songs as well have gotten Christians outraged, "What if God was One of Us", "God is a DJ", and anything by KISS or AC/DC are enough to send us, and especially the artists to hell. It's absolutely ridiculous. Pretty much anything other than Facing the Giants, Fireproof, or the shows Touched by and Angel or Promised Land are considered ok...and I'm sure even they occasionally had something that offended some Christian somewhere. And if the song isn't sung by a CCM artist (oh, and Ray Boltz doesn't count anymore, cause he is gay), it is also evil. GET OVER YOURSELVES PEOPLE!
What Christians need to realize, first of all, is, what is the point of the thing that is offending you. For example, The Da Vinci Code was a WORK OF FICTION. It said so at the start of the book, and was never meant to be taken seriously the way that it was. The TV shows, such as Family Guy, are meant to be funny and are offensive on purpose. They offend everyone, or at least attempt to. It's not a "let's ostracize the Christians" sort of thing, it's a "let's push the buttons and cause controversy" sort of thing. Also...Family Guy is created by an Athiest...do you really think he is going to go out of his way to glorify God and please Christians? of course not. If those things offend you, DON'T Watch Them...but don't get on your soapbox and cry bloody murder.
In my opinion, the most offensive things come from Christians. I've blogged about it before, but the Christian propeganda, that you find at Christian bookstores is stupid. Those T-shirts that make fun of "Guitar Hero" with the slogan "Godismy Hero"...seriosuly? And the stuff in church isn't any better either. The song "Blessed Jesus Meek and Mild"...was he really meek and mild? At times, but is that what Jesus wants us to remember...his meekness and mild manner? He got angry, he got frustrated, he pushed the limits. Facebook groups offend me, such as "become a fan of JESUS!". Is this the legacy Jesus wants...a fan page on Facebook? These things are most offensive to me because it is Christians putting Jesus in a lame, meek, mild, silly light. You want to know why non-Christians poke fun at us? It's because of this ridiculous stuff. We bring it upon ourselves. You don't see other religious groups with merchandise. There's no Muslim bookstores, with shirts that say "Mohammad is my homeboy", or "Allah Loves You". They take their religion more seriously...they don't need all that crap.
Perhaps the reason why we are so offended at movies like SAVED (I haven;t seen it, so I'm treading on thin ice here), is because it hits close to home. The creators of that movie was obviouisly basing it off of something, yes they probably blew it out of proportion, but who doesn't know a bible-thumping Christian who is always trying to convert everyone. Look at ourselves. People don't make fun of things or people that they respect. You won't hear a black man make an offensive joke about Martin Luther King Jr, because they respect him. What we need, instead of blowing up and getting offended...we need to look inward and ask "what do we have to do to make people respect us as Christians, and in turn, respect God". That's the million dollar question, and thats the main problem we have...not Family Guy, AC/DC or Harry Potter.

WWJD...the fad, the phenomenon!

2010-04-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

Anyone who is even remotely familiar with Christian beliefs...whether they are full fledged Christians, or athiests who have ever talked to a Christian, is familiar with the acronym WWJD...or What Would Jesus Do? It's the question that Christians always ask one another when they are facing a decision. Frankly...I think this is ridiculous and needs to stop (to an extent). I definately think that we need to attempt to model our life like Jesus did, but it is really important to note that 3/4 of the stuff that we ask WWJD to, don't really matter. And frankl;y, most of what Jesus would do, we aren't capable of or don't have the balls to do. Let's look at this a little deeper.
Most of the Christians who use WWJD, seem to come to the conclusion that it's a simple black and white decision...well it's not. Jesus was often unpredictable. he did a lot of things that many of the "WWJD-Christians" wouldn't dream of doing. Many of the things that they decide Jesus wouldn't do, he would likely in fact have done. For example, may Christians will ask "Would Jesus go to this movie?" Well...probably yes. Jesus would go where he is needed. He put himself in situations that were uncomfortable, and that he could use as teaching moments. That would mean, that he would likely go to a movie that was violent, had sexual content and was vulgar, because it would give him an opportunity to spend time with those in need. he spent time with sinners. He went where it was "forbidden". If Jesus was here today, would you fidn him in the church, the Christian bookstore? Well, yes, he would likely be there, but he would also be at the raunchy movies, the strip clubs, the bars...the place where "sinners" are. That's where he went and who he spent his time with. He was with the prostitutes, the alcoholics...in fact in the bible people called him a "drunkard"...cause he spent his time with those people so much that he was associated with them.
So, you WWJDers...are you prepared to do that? Are you willing to go to those sinful places because that's what Jesus would do? I didn't think so.
I personally think that the whole notion of "WWJD" is off kilter. Make your own decisions...most people know what is right and wrong, and what they should do...just do it. If what you are doing is a sin, then stop...if what you are doing is bringing someone closer to God, or giving you an opportunity to help out someone in need...then do it. Yes, there are some grey areas...lots of them, but make your own decision. You don't need to constantly ask "Would Jesus wear this shirt/shoe combination?", "Would Jesus take this job?", "Would Jesus play golf?"...it's ridiculous, and it trivializes what Jesus came here for. he didn't come to earth to be put into a catchy acronym...he came to earth to redeem us...and TO DIE FOR US! That's what Jesus would do. he would live a life that pushed him to the outside..he would be associated with the hated, the unclean, the dirty and the sinners. He would be so revolutionary that he would ultimately die a horrible painful death. So stop wasting your time looking at the tacky bracelet before every small decision...frankly Jesus doesn't care where you live, what you eat, what you drink, who your friends are...and if he does want you in a certain place, he will arrange it to happen. Live your life, make your own decisions, and if you are going to attempt to completely follow WWJD then here are 3 things that you should do to live a life like Jesus, 1) never sin...ever, 2) spend most of your time with the homeless, outcast, sick, prostitutes, drug dealers, tax collectors, lwayers...the hated people, and 3) ultimately give your life up for people who hate you.
That's all I have to say about that. I realize that is controversial, that it is brass and brutal...but it's my opinion...what's yours?

The Uprising of Marriage and Positive Relationships

2010-04-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

It seems that, when people talk about Marriage and stuff, they always talk about the negative. Stand up comedians always make jokes about how marriage sucks, and Pastors and other Christians always focus on the 50% divorce rate. Pre-marital sex, abuse, dysunctional relationships also get a fair share of attention, which makes people come to the conclusion that marriage, and even relationships, are pointless and useless. But I feel that attitudes are changing. And in my opinion, the attitudes are changing more so from the secular side than the Christian side.
Recently, Kristi and I have enjoyed going to movies. Ok..we have always enjoyed going to movies, but the last few movies we have seen have really driven home the importance of positive relationships, and shows the good parts, as well as the difficult parts of marrige. First off, The Blindside. This was much more than a football movie. It was a movie about a family. Yes, the family had some issues, but it was a good family. There was nothing in the movie that would hint of a negative marriage experience. We left the movie feeling uplifted, and not just because the football was inspiring.
Next came the movie Couples Retreat. This had potential to be a raunchy, depressing movie in which marriage is shown to be a negative experience, but the oposite was actually true. Yes, there was sexual stuff in the movie, but coming from Hollywood, this movie was fantastic. Now, i have never seen the movie "Fireproof" (nor do I intend to...sorry mom and dad), but from what I have heard, Couples Retreat is pretty much a secular version of that...couples trying to work out their problems. Unfortunately, due to some sexual content, many Christians won't want to watch this movie...which is really too bad. Seriously Christians...are we so self-righteous that we refuse to watch anything that has something "bad"...I'm not saying watch anything and everything, but really...you have to realize that Hollywood has different standards than we do, and if we let a positive movie like this get away from us, who knows where they will go. So i encourage you...watch it. Yes, be prepared for a little language and sex stuff...but watch the themes in the movie, and I trust that in the end you will be encouraged and even challenged.
Finally, the last movie we saw in theatres was Date Night. This one is even more filled with sexual content (just a heads up)...but once again, the theme is that Marriage is sacred, and you need to work out your problems, and not just immediately get a divorce when things get tough.
Hollywood isn't the only secular place that is teaching the value of marriage. Theres a new show on ABC called Modern Family. Now, many Christians are likely upset that this show contains a homosexual couple...but once again, they are living off of different standards than we are, and we can't really fault them for that. The important thing is, that this show really deals with the positives of family. It's a tight nit group, they don't always get along, but they love eachtoher and try to work things out.
I really hope that these movies and shows truly are a turn for the better. I really hope that people see marriage as a great life choice, and not a prison cell. Yes, marriage is hard, but you need to work on it. Things don't immediately get better once you get married...you have to work at it, do things you dont enjoy..but the benefits are amazing. I find it very encouraging that there are people who still see marriage as a good thing...I just pray that soon, Christians will view it the same, as unfortunately, many Christians are falling into the "marriage is lame" trap too. Take a clue from hollywood people. Marriage is great, you just have to work at it! There is power in family!

Stand Up For My Beliefs!

2010-03-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

I'll admit, I enjoyed Veggie Tales. Ok, correction, I still enjoy Veggie Tales. One of my all time favourite songs from Veggie Tales, comes from the great Rack, Shack and Benny episode. It's the song "Stand Up" (Skillet does an amazing cover of the song...if you've ever wanted to hear a rock version of a Veggie Tale classic). The chorus simply goes, "Stand up (stand up), for what you believe in, believe in, believe in God (he's the one to back you up)..." Pretty catchy and good lyrics. Unfortunately, in too many lives today, both Christian and not, the song should really go "Stand up for what I believe in". It's too bad that Christians (everyone does it, but Christians seem to be the biggest culprit...but it does apply to all), preach about standing up for what you believe in, but when what you believe in contradicts what THEY believe in, then what you believe in is immediately wrong, and you are a sinner for believing it.
Going back to the "Hot Button" topics again, Christians want everyone to stand on the same soapbox that they are standing on. They scream, "Stand up for your beliefs...as long as your beliefs coincide with mine!". For example, the recent hot button issue of Gay Marriage. Now, i'm not going to say that I advocate gay marriage, I personally do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, but I also value other peoples beliefs...and frankly, from a non-Christian perspective, and coming from people who don't know the Bible too well, gay marriage makes perfect sense. Of course in a secular society marriage should be about 2 people who love eachother, regardless of gender. Christians think that because we have the Bible, that anyone who doesn't completely agree with the Bible is evil...when really, who are we to blame people for coming up with an idea that sounds really good, when they don't know anything about the Bible. How can we expect them to have the same opinions of us when they don't know? The same goes for abortion, and anything else. Let's let everyone stand up for their own beliefs. Yes, there will be conflict...beliefs won't always mesh together well, and some will be in direct opposition, but is that not the way it should be? Being a Christian is hard, and anyone that stands up for their beliefs is doing something very difficult. Before we slam them, and tear them down, can we at least commend them for going against the flow and standing up for something that means a lot to them? I can't stand PETA, but I at least commend them for being so hardcore about what they believe in. They take it too far sometimes (in my perspective), but at least they are not being hypocrites and are standing up for their beliefs. So...for the first time in my life, I will say, WAY TO GO PETA!
Of course, there are limits. There are some beliefs that need to be extinguished right away...after all we can't have the Klu Klux Klan or the Nazis running around again, but for the most part, most beliefs are ok. There definately will be conflict, but that is where, as Christians we need to show our love and patience. When our beleifs are up agaisnt someone elses beliefs, and their beliefs come out victorious...instead of claiming prejudice or persecution, we need to accept it and move on. Stay classy, and continue to show the love of Christ. I think one reason why many non-Christians find Christians stubborn, obnoxious and "righteous:, is because when we lose, or when our beliefs aren't fully met, we get indignant (big word!), and angry and cry bloody murder until our throats are hoarse...instead of backing down and taking it for what it is. God says life will be tough for those who follow him. People read the verse "My yoke is easy and my burden is light", and focus on the words "easy" and "light"...when reallt the keywords are "yoke" and "burden". Even if the yoke is easy, or the burden is light...you still have a yoke and a burden.
So this is my challenge...it's a twofold one. Stand up for beliefs, first and foremost. Don't let anyone tell you what you should believe...but at the same time, don't tell anyone what they should believe. Don't force someone to take on the same opinions and beliefs that you have. That's my soapbox rant...feel free to get on your own and shout back.

Cliche Christians

2010-03-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

Christianity is one of those religions that has very cliche, overused phrases. To be honest, I am sick of them. I am not denying the truth behind them, because most of them are true (at least to an extent), but what I hate is how overused they are, and how often they are used without any thought. Some of these "pat" answers and phrases include, but are not limited to:
"God has a plan for you"
"Everything will work out"
"God loves you"
"Just Trust God!"
and finally, perhaps the most overused and most misunderstood, "Just keep praying!" (or a variation, "Pray about it"). There are hundreds more, feel free to comment and add more that you can think of, but you get the idea. It's frustrating that Christianity has devolved into catchphrases (as I mentioned in an earlier blog about Church Signs). I want to talk about the Prayer phrase in this blog..perhaps I will talk about another phrase another day, but today, it's all about prayer.
When I talk to people about my life, and tell them what's happening, most often at some point in the converstaion they will mention that they are praying for me and that I should keep praying. I think this is great advice, and I am touched that they would pray for me, but I think people miss the point of prayer. Should I pray about things in my life? Absolutely, no doubt about it, but, and here's the kicker, IF ALL I DO IS PRAY ABOUT IT, NOTHING WILL HAPPEN!!!. That's right, I just said that. Think about if for a minute, before you freak out and think that I am speaking out against prayer. I am all for prayer, but what I am speaking out against is ONLY prayer. Here's an example of what I am talking about:
Let's say I lose my job and am unemployed. If I sit at home, and pray to God and ask him to give me a job, but I never actually look for myself, then will I find a job? If I don't go online and search, or look through the classifieds, or hand out resumes, I will never find a job, no matter how hard I pray. When we pray, God expects us to act! Prayer requires some sort of action. God doesn't always answere our prayer is some miraculous way out of the blue (he does sometimes, but most of the time he doesn't work that way). So when someone tells me to pray about it, it bothers me...because I know that I need to pray, but I need advice about what to do WHILe I pray. Too often, people are so focused on praying and waiting for God to act, that they miss out on opportunities. Here is another anecdote, which you may have heard before:
A hige flood is sweeping through a city, and a man begins to pray. "God save me". A car drives by hsi house and offers to give him a ride, "No, God will save me", he says, and the car drives away. The waters rise, and the man moves to the top floor of his house, leaning out a window. A boat drives by and offers to give the man a ride, "No, God will save me", he says...and the boat drives off. The water rises again and the man is on his roof. A helicopter flies overhead, and offers the man a ride, "No God will save me", he says. The helicopter flies off and the man drowns. When he gets to heaven he asks God "Why didn't you save me?"...and God says, "I sent a car, a boat and a helipcoter...why didn't you escape with them?"
As ridiculous as this story is, it's truth hits closer to home than we would like to think. We get so caught up in praying for God to save us, that we fail to act for ourselves. Yes, God will help, but he wants us to work for ourselves as well. Don't overlook the car, boat or helicopter. Take action...yes, keep praying, but don't solely pray and then get angry when nothing happpens.
The book of James talks about Faith and Works...it's the same concept here. Just like we can't truly be Christians if we don't act like it, we can't truly Pray without action.
That's my opinion, you don't have to agree, but I hope that it does make you think. So before you give the cliche answers to someone, think about it first...what is this really saying? and is there anything else that you could say that isn't so common that it loses it's meaning?

Hot Button Christianity

2010-03-04T10:13:00.001-08:00

I'm currently reading a novel called "Deadline" by popular christian author Randy Alcorn. Now, I don't want to turn this blog into a book review, but I do want to talk a little bit about the content of this book. The story follows Jake, a general columnist for a major newspaper, as he tries to figure out the mysterious death of his friends. Sounds like a clever, page-turning thriller doesn't it? Well, it is an interesting story, and it would be even more so, if Alcorn didn't do his best to try and fit in all the "hot button issues" he can. The book takes on 3 distinct parts: 1) What is heaven going to be like (one of the characters goes to heaven, and the story often tells about the wonders he is seeing while there), 2) The murder investigation (the basic plot aspect of the story), and 3) what I like to call The Soapbox. I have no problem with the 2nd aspect...and for the most part the other 2 parts as well..I just don't like that Alcorn feels obligated (at least it seems that way) to included all of it as much as he possibly can. Let's start at the heaven part.
Heaven is one of those mysteries that we will never fully solve until the day we arrive there. I have no real problem with books, or people in general, talking about heaven and making speculations about what it will be like, but I don't like someone writing in a novel about what it WILL be like. Granted, Alcorn never does say that this is an accurate depiction of heaven, but it doesn't go out of its way to say that it is fictitious either. I wonder what heaven will be like, I have images in my head and I can't wait to see how innaccurate they really are, but I take offense to someone telling me "This is what heaven will be like"..because no one knows. This also brings me to those "I died and spent an hour in heaven" books. I don't want to diminish their actual accounts (assuming they are true), but I personally don't think that anyone needs to write a book about exactly what heaven will be like. There is a beautiful mystery to not knowing. It keeps us curious about what it will be like. These books take away the mystery, or at least part of it, and I think that it is wrong. Let's leave heaven as a mysterious place that will only be fully realized what that day comes. Continue to speculate, discuss with people ideas of what it may be like, but we shouldn't come right out and say "this is what it is".
This bring me to the 3rd point. The soapbox. I hate the fact that Christinity has become a Hot Button Issue religion. It seems that every Christian book, movie, or even any time a Christian is portrayed in hollywood or on the news, that they are pushing their opinions. I think values are very important, and when given the chance we need to share our values with one another, but since when did Jesus tell us to make signs about the evils of "pro-choice", or to humiliate the sinful acts of homosexuals. I know that many Christians don't give into these protests and picketing...but many do. And many of the others who don't protest outright, do go out of their way to push their opinions on others.
I remember, while I was at Bethany, one time in particular, that someone tried to push their opinions on me. It was during camp days, and I was sitting with one of my friends on the couches in the common area. Sitting with us was one of the camp directors. For some reason, we started talking about abortion. My friend said something about "I believe that most abortions are wrong, but I think that there are times when an abortion is ok"...all of a sudden, the camp director looked at my friend, and firmly and angrily said "Your wrong!". WHAT? really? You are going to shut that opinion down just like that? I can understand with you not agreeing, but to bluntly say that someone is wrong, especially about such a debatable issue is insane. I hate that among Christian circles you either believe these certain things, or you are WRONG. It seems that as a Christian, we have to believe that all abortions are wrong, sex outside of marriage is evil, homosexuals are doomed to hell, stem cell research is from the devil, and countless other major issues that we deal with on a daily basis. Now, I'm not coming out and saying that I disagree with these things, I'm not saying that I completely agree with them either, but since when did we take away free choice. Who are we to judge what someone believes? Now, I do believe that there are some things that are wrong, in which the world seems ok with, but why do Christians feel that it is their personal vendetta to convince everyone that they are wrong? What happened to the "love everyone" and "build relationships with one another", that we used to believe. We need to stop being so critical of people, and pushing our opinions on everyone. There are times and places to push our opinions, and when people ask what you think of something, by all means share it with all of your might...but when someone makes a small little opinion about something, don't go out of your way to tell them that they are wrong. Instead, tell them your opinion, in a friendly, non-threatening way, and have a healthy discussion. Who knows, you may even expand your opinion about something...change your mind even slightly.
So put down the signs, stop the protests, rip up the petitions...we need to start being the loving, accepting, tolerant (to an extent) religion that we were meant to be. Jesus himself ate with sinners, likely talked with homosexuals, prostitutes...all sorts of "evil" people...he didn't agree with what they did, but he didn't judge them either. he didnt burn their homes, or start a protest march. he loved them for who they were, and what potential they had. He shared his beliefs and opinions, but in a non-threatening way. Oddly enough, the most threatening he ever was, was against the "Christians" (I guess Jews, at the time), when he turned the tables in the temple and called out the Pharisees. Perhaps, instead of casting judgement, and forcing our opinions on those "outside", we need to do an inner, gut check first.

Church Signs and Christian Movies

2010-02-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

People who know me well know that, even though I am a Christian, I can't stand Christian movies. Ok, I can't say all Christian movies, but most of them. Despite what you may think, it's not the poor acting seen in most of them (although that does have a small part to do with it). In all honesty, it is the message of them that I can't stand. I know what you are all thinking...what? The message is the most important part. I politely have to disagree. Now, before I go much farther, I do want to say that this is my own opinion...there are people who think that Christian movies are great, and they are touched by them...if that is the case for you then that's great, I'm just writing about how I feel about things, because this is my blog and I can say what I want.
There is a reason I don't like the message of most Christian movies...it's a fake representation of what Christianity is. 95% of the Christian movies I have seen...perhaps even more, are all about someone hurting, or dealing with something, finding God and then everything is GREAT! But is that really how life is? Does your life become great when you find God? Does everything work out if you pray? No, it doesn't...not always. I don't want to say that these things never happen, because they do...but they don't always happen. That's what I don't like about Christian movies, if a non-Christian were to watch Christian movies, they would get the impression that if they turn to God, pray and ask God for something, they will get it and their life will be amazing.
I think of the movie Facing the Giants (I realize this is a popular, widely loved Christian movie, but once again I am saying that this is MY opinion, you don't have to share it). This movie is the epitomy of "God answeres Prayer". It's about an underdog football team, who makes it to a championship game. In the final 5 minutes of the movie, all of this occurs after someone prays: 1) The wind miraculously changes direction, and a field goal is succesfully kicked
2) A crippled father stands out of his wheel chair to cheer on his son
3) A barren woman finds out she is pregnant
Wow...after one prayer? If I were a non-Christian watching that, I would get the impression that life always works out as long as you pray. I may even come to God, with the expectation that when I pray for something, it will happen. And then I would be hugely disappointed when it doesn't happen.
Just once, i would love to see a Christian movie where nothing works out. Someone comes to God, but life is still hard. Prayers go unanswered. He suffers, cries, and yet still sticks with God. No resolution in the end of the movie...no happy ending, just a story of a man suffering, like Job. Where is that movie? It won't be made, because people want to sell Christianity, and that often makes if seem "easier" and "happier" than it really is. Too bad really.
I have also found, that lately, I have grown to hate Church signs. Not the simple "this is when out service is held...come join us" signs, but the "Catch-Phrase" church signs. Kristi and I often drive through Abbotsford, and read some of the church signs, and they are ridiculous. We shake our heads in disbelief. Things like, "God accepts Knee-Mail" or the most recent, ridiculous and confusing one, "Download your Worries. Upload your Time with God". What does that even mean?
To be frank, if your church needs a catchy tag-line to get people through your doors on a Sunday morning, you are doing something wrong. You wonder why people have a poor idea of what Christianity is. All they see on TV is a mockery (holier than thou people, religious zealots, Fox News right wingers, Religious terrorists)...and then what they see from the Church through silly signs, and Christian Movies isn't much better. People have no idea what Christianity really is anymore...it's really too bad.
So that is why I don't like Christian movies, and why i don't like church signs...or bumper stickers, or t-shirts for that matter. I think if Jesus was walking the earth today, and seeing all of the "marketing" that is happening for Christianity...he may just walk into our Christian book stores and begin turning the tables. Instead of spreading catchy slogans, start living out Christinity. Let's show people what it's about through our actions...not through our signs, movies and slogans. Let's get real people...Christianity is a relationship, not a beer commercial.

A Fair God?

2010-01-27T13:31:00.001-08:00

So, recently, I had a conversation with a friend about whether God is fair or not. It seems like an interesting question...and something that should seem so simple right? of course God is fair. Of course, like most philosophical questions, it's a lot more difficult to answer than it first seems.
Now, I will tell you right away, that I do in fact believe that God is a fair God. Many people may disagree, and that is ok, and I understand why they believe that God is unfair. So...without further ado, let's get to the discussion.
People that believe that God is an unfair God often bring up the argument that "God is unfair because we deserve death, as sinners, and yet God loves us and brings us life". That is absolutely correct. We do deserve death, and we deserve punishment, and yet God doesn't always punish us in the ways we believe he should. Does that not make him unfair? Well...let's first look at the definition of fair. According to dictionary.com (I was too lazy to grab a real dictionary...I apologize), fair means, "free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice". To me, that sounds like a fair description of God, does it not? Does God have a bias? I don't think so. Is he dishonest? absolutely not. and he truly is a God of justice. So...according to that definition, God is fair. However, there are things that God does, that may seem unfair. For example, there is a parable in the bible about workers in a field. A farmer goes out looking for workers, and finds some. He offers to pay them a cartain wage (which they both agree on), and then they go to work. Later, the farmer goes to get more workers, and then later goes to get more. This continues until the farmer gathers some workers who work for the final hour, before the day is over. At the end of the day, all of the workers recieve the same amount of pay. The first workers are livid, they can't believe that they recieve the same amount as the workers who only worked for an hour. What the farmer did was seen as unfair. But was it really? Of course not, the workers and the farmer agreed on a set price, and that is the price that they received. Incredibly fair.
I think there are 2 reasons why people see God as unfair:
First of all, life is unfair and so therefore God seems unfair as well. I understand this reasoning. Bad things happen to good people. and good things happen to bad people...unfair! But it is accurate to associate God with the unfairness of life? Is unfair life and unfair God the same thing? I don't believe so. In life, people have choices to do certain things, and sometimes, their choices cause an unfair life for others. Not everything that happens is a direct result of God's Will. Yes, I just said that...and I'll let you catch your breath, because you are probably shocked. Do I beleive that God has an ultimate plan? Definately...I believe that He is in control, and that everything will work out according to his plan...however I believe that there are things that happen, that aren't part of the plan. Let's look at Adam and Eve. God gave them a choice, and ultimately I believe that God knew what they woudl choose...but his plan WASN'T for them to eat the forbidden fruit. His plan was for them to live in harmony with him in the garden, and unfortunatly that didn't happen. Later on, God destroys the world with a flood, saving only Noah and his family. Was that part of the plan? Of course not, but something had to be done, and so God did something that he didn't want to have to do. I would even go as far to say that Jesus wasn't part of the plan. If everything went according to plan, Jesus never would have had to come to Earth, because we all would have been living in perfection in the garden. God's plans were changed because of the action of man...now in the end we WILL live in harmony with God, but until then, the plans are changing and God's Will is being affected by man's actions (at times at least).
The Second reason people believe that God is unfair, is because they judge God on a human level. God does things that we don't understnad, and that humans would deem unfair. However, we all believe that God is perfect, and therefore everything he does is perfect. Can something be unfair and perfect? I don't belive so. We don't understand everything God does, and so we often just jump to the conclusion that he is unfair (both for the good and the bad). But God is truly the most fair of all; he is just on a level that is so fair and so perfect that we can't comprehend it or understand it.
So, according to me at least...someone who doesn't even come close to fully understanding everything, God is a fair God...but what do you think? I've given my opinion, now give yours.

A Lesson from Mandela!

2010-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:00

I just began reading a book called "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation". This is the story that inspired the recent movie Invictus (a movie I haven't seen yet, but definately want to see). I'm only at the third chapter, but this book has already inspired me. I have to be honesty, I don't know a lot about Nelson Mandela. I know that he was a prisoner for many years, and was president of South Africe...other than that, I'm pretty much in the dark. Already, however, I have become a major Mandela fan. My father-in-law raves about Mandela...he is his hero, and from reading only 2 chapters of this book, I can see why.

I could spend this entire blog raving about how great Mandela is, and I may do that once this book is complete, however instead I am going to use an instance of Mandela's life, and talk about what we can learn from it in our spiritual life.

While Mandela was imprisoned, he faced many challenges. Just like Martin Luther King Jr., he was loved by his black brothers, but hated and despised (or at the very least, misunderstood), by the white opressors. He could have been bitter, and angry, and he could have focused all of his energy on making life miserable for the white prison guards, who did their best to make life miserable for him, but he chose a higher road. Instead of hating his enemy, he got to know them. He read books about the Afrikaner (the white south africans who were opressing him) history, learned their language and got to know them as people, not enemies. If they loved rugby, he would learn about rugby. He learned about their families, and had conversations with them. So what happened? He won them over. They no longer saw him as a threat, but instead as a friend.

So what can we learn from this? Well, as a Christian, we face opression often. Sometimes is opression from the secular world, telling us that we have to be a certain way. Other times, its opressions from fellow Christians, telling us that we have to believe certain things and act a certain way. The important thing to remember, however, is to never see someone as an enemy. Yes, they believe different things than you do, and perhaps they do things that you find offensive, but you can make common ground, and you can win them over by being a friend. For missionaries, the hardest part isn't preaching the gospel; it's building up a relationship with someone to a level that they actually want to hear what you are saying.

I remember a few years ago when the Da Vinci Code was released, there was a huge division that formed. There were those people who read the book, LOVED the book and thought it was the most amazing thing ever. And then there were those people, those Christians, who thought that the book was the root of all evil. That it was the most putird, vile thing ever to be published. A small war broke out...people bashed one another, Christians released books talking about how wrong the Da Vinci Code was. So what did I do? I did what most Christians were scared to do...I read it. I read the book, and guess what? I enjoyed it. I thought it was one of the best pieces of fiction I'd ever read to be honest with you. Did I believe everything in it? Of course not, but at least I could now have a conversation with someone who had read it, and does believe everything in it. Had I have never read it, a conversation would have gone something like this:

Me: "Hi, i see you are reading the Da Vinci Code...That book is very wrong, in what it says about Jesus"

Them: "Oh...really? Have you read it?"

Me: "No. But I've heard it from really reliable sources...hey, where are you going? I was just telling you that..."

But now that I had read it, a conversation could actually happen. I could tell them that yes, i did read it, and actually enjoyed it, but here are few things that I thought were wrong in the book, and we could then have an educated discussion about it. The same thing has happened with the dawn of the Atheist books. Books such as "The God Delusion", and "God is Not Great". I have to admit, I have not read those ones yet, but I do intend to, but the principle is the same. Instead of arguing with someone, or seeing someone as an eney, you need to understand them, learn about them. Speak their language, talk about what they like, and actually learn about it (even if you don't like it at all). This goes beyond Christians befriending non-believers. People you normally would not associate with can become good friends. You may even learn to appreciate something you never would have dreamed of appreciating. So take a lesson from Mandela. Learn about your enemies, and those who are different from you. Relate to them on their level, and you can win them over. If everyone did this, then there would be much less violence, war, and intolerance today. It starts with you!

An Unwholesome Post

2010-01-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know me really well, you should know that I enjoy debating. I love arguing with someone, and having a deep discussion about something, anything really. I've been known to argue about hockey ("Why Bertuzzi was unjustly labelled a goon", "Why Crosby is over-rated", "Why the Leafs will be the next Canadian team to win the cup"), to movies ("Johnny Depp is the best actor ever", "Syriana was the worst movie I have ever seen"), to Ethics ("Why abortion is sometimes ok", "Is homosexuality really as bad as we make it seem?"). But the one thing I love to argue most of, is philosphical ideas. I love to stir the pot, turn up the heat, and get things sizzlin. Sorry, I'm married to a chef, so those analogies just sort of poured out of me.

During my time at Bethany College, some of my favourite moments were times when I would sit on the couches, and just begin debating and arguing with people. Sometimes I would legitimately disagree with someone, other times I would play the devils advocate, and secretly agree with them, but argue on behalf of a position that I don't condone or agree with. I loved it! Sometimes people would get fed up and leave, other times more people would join the discussion. I remember a few occasions when people were legitimately angry with me (those times I'm not proud of). Anyway, all this to say, that this blog of mine is intended to get people thinking. I don't want this to be a blog about what I'm doing with my life, although there will be aspects of that. I want this to be a blog about things I believe, and things that are possibly controversial. I want discussion. I want people to say what they think...whether agree with me, or completely disagree with me, just voice your opinion.

This post isn't really about how I love to argue....I just began with that to warn you that this post may offend some. I apologize in advance.

I've been thinking a lot lately about swearing. Ok, perhaps not a lot, but I have thought about it. I feel kind of ashamed to say this, but I have become a bit more loose with the tongue lately. I say things now, that I wouldn't have imagined I would have said a few years ago. Words that I thought were horrible and disgusting now exit from my lips. Does it have to do with music and movies that I watch and listen to? Perhaps partly, but not completely. Before I went to Bible School, I thought I knew a lot about the Bible. I translated everything as literal. I didn't believe that the bible would exageratte, or write 'legends'. Of course, now I see things differently. I beleive now that there may be things in the Bible that are stretched a little bit...as the culture in the day saw things differently than we do now. It was ok to smudge the numbers a bit, or to exagerate at times. I'm not saying that I don't believe the Bible is true, I'm just saying that a completely literal translation of the Bible could be dangerous. Anyway, that's for another post...I want to talk about the verse "Let no unwholesome talk come from your lips" (Ephesians 4:29).

I was told, growing up, that swearing was wrong. Anything remotely close to a swear was taboo...which is probably why as a kid, I remember being mortified that we would say 'ass' in church...even though we were referring to a donkey. This teaching was mainly because of the verse mentioned above..."Let no unwholesome talk come from your lips". But what exactly does that mean? Well, in my opinion, that doesn't necessarily include swears. What the verse is about is encouragement, and building one another up. In essence, what the verse is saying is "Don't say anything that is going to discourage, or tear someone down. Be uplifitng!". Can swears tear someone down? absolutely, and in those cases swearing is 100% wrong. But at the same time, can Scripture not tear someone down too? Hear me out on this one...I'm referring to Scripture used out of context, or Scripture that is used at an inappropriate time. For example, if someone is praying hard for something, and the opposite happens, and you were to go up to them and say "if you only have faith the size of a mustard seed, that mountain will move" (paraphrased), will that not discourage them, and tear them down? Did they not have faith before when they were praying? (Now I do want to say that there are times when people need to be torn down...if someone is extreemely cocky, or is misusing their power, then they need to be taken down a few notches, but that's not what I'm referring to here).

I beleive that there is a time and a place for swearing. In times of intense frustration, such as the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or other agonizing moments, then I feel a swear is not only justifiable, but encouraged. In my opinion, swearing isn't a sin. Is it appropriate? No, not usually...but a lot of things are rude and inappropriate but aren't sins (such as burping, or chewing with your mouth open). Yes, there is a limit to how much one should swear, but should we judge someone based solely on if they swear or not? I remember, as a kid, I would hear someone who claimed to be a Christian swear, and I would immediately think that they weren't a Christian at all, and would think of them as a heathen. Is that fair? No, of course not. There are a lot of influencial Christians who swear, and not just a little either. I think of Bono. Many may disagree, but Bono, in my opinion, is one of the most influencial and most radical Christians alive today. The things he stands for is amazing...his organizations, and passions are unbelievable...but he swears a lot. GASP! Does that make him any less of a Christian? No.

I honestly believe that Jesus swore. I know, "How dare you say that!"...I can hear the hate mail and the mumbles of blasphemy...but let me explain myself. I'm not saying that he made a habit of saying bad words...but I strongly believe that when Jesus walked into the temple, and saw the debacle going on inside, and he got angry and turned over the tables, that he said some words that were "innapropriate". I highly doubt that avoiding the taboo words were on his mind, when the house of God was being used in such profane ways. I truly, honestly believe he swore. It's not in the Bible, and I don't know for sure, but that is my opinion.

Wow, I'm just realizing that I am all over the map on this one, and not being very concise with this. All I'm trying to say is, perhaps swearing isn't as forbidden or sinful as we may think, provided as we are aware of our surroundings, are doing our best to not cause people to stumble, and focus on encouraging eachother and building one another up. That's my opinion...what's yours?

A Human Guinea Pig

2010-01-18T07:22:00.000-08:00

Recently, I have been reading A.J. Jacobs new book "The Guinea Pig Diaries". A.J. Jacobs is the author of "The Year of Living Biblically" (where he...lived a year following every rule in the bible), and "The Know-It All" (where he read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from A-Z). I haven't read either of those two books, however I would love to. Anyway, this book is about him doing a bunch of smaller experiments, such as outsourcing his entire life to India, posing nude in a magazine, being 100% completely honest with people (that chapter is title "I think you're fat"), and following George Washington's 110 rules. I'm not going to give a review on the book (it's very good...funny and insightful), instead I'm going to talk about some principles in the book, starting with the chapter on radical honesty.
Being completely honest. Sounds good right? Isn't that what we are called to do? Well, to some extent yes, however there are times when it is important to lie. The hilarious movie Liar Liar comes to mind, but there are moments when the truth has to be stretched a little bit. Such as when you are trying to give someone a surprise birthday party, or you see a hideuosly ugly baby. I'm not saying living a completely deceitful life is good, in fact the contrary. A.J. Jacobs, during this experiment, finds it incredibly difficult, and he never does get completely honest with people, however it does make him more aware of what he is saying, and to this day he tries to be much more honest. If someone asks him to go for coffee, instead of making excuses, he will be honest and say that he really doesn't want to go. For the most part, people respect that. I think we can learn a lot from being radically honest. In the book, he talks about how the radically honest movement states that you shouldn't even have a filter...just say what comes to mind. I think that is a bit much as filters keep us from saying things that will hurt someone else. But I do think that, when possible, honesty is the best policy. If you don't want to go somewhere, say it. If you have a problem with the food in a restaurant, admit it, don't just suffer and complain to yourself.
The other chapter I want to talk about a bit is the chapter about following George Washington's 110 rules. This chapter seems very similar to his year of living biblically experiment, except there are way more than 110 rules to follow in the Bible. Thsi chapter made me question the legalistic lifestyle many people have, and percieve Christians of having. Agnostics (such as A.J. Jacobs), Athiests, and people of other religions often see Christians as people who have lots of rules, no freedom and can have no fun. Even fellow Christians sometimes fall into that mindset. It's too bad, because Christianity doesn't rely on a legalistic lifestyle. Yes, there are lots of rules in the bible, but God doesn't expect us to follow every single one every single hour of the day. God knows that we are human...he created us. He knows that we sin, and that we will make mistakes. Does that mean we shouldn't even bother to follow the 'rules'? Of course not, but we shouldn't be so focused on the rules that we forget about the exceptions, or we lose the joy in life. Christianity should be a joyful relationship with Christ, not a harsh, boring life slaving ourselves to follow strict rules. Even Jesus himself breaks the rules. He heals on the Sabbath, he talks to and touches lepers. He forgives sins, he speaks to women. There are many things that Jesus does that the Pharisees (the strict followers of the Law) see as sinful. It's the reason why they wanted him to die (that and the fact that he claimed to be God). Rules are good. They keep people in line. They give people boundries that they need to try to stay between. But rules become bad, when they leave no room for error. In sports, athletes break the rules all the time, but they always get the opportunity to play again after serving their penalty. It is the same thing in Christianity. Yes, we should do our very best to follow God's commands, but know that when we mess up, he is always there to forgive. Also, don't be so focused on the legalism that you can't make exceptions. As Jesus healed on the Sabbath (which was classified as work, and was taboo), you too must choose between following strict rules and doing what is right sometimes.

Running With The Devil, and Preaching With Actions

2010-01-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

I'm going to join the many thousands, and give my condolences to Haiti. It's an absolute terrible thing that happened. I could spend this entire blog telling you to go to Haiti, or send money, but I'm not going to do that. Not because I don't want you to do that, but because I am going to talk about another issue...actually, a few different issues. Let's begin with a man named Pat Robertson.

Pat Robertson is a televangelist, who I'm sure has a great intent, however some of the words he says makes me ashamed to be a follower of Christ. (I attempted to upload a video from Youtube, but I have no idea how to do it, so I'm going to describe it to you to the best of my ability). Right after the earthquake, Pat made this comment:

"The people of Haiti made a deal with the devil. They were under the rule of the British, and the pleaded with the Devil to save them. The Devil said "Ok", true story, and he freed them from opression. Ever since then the Haitians have had one issue after another".

Now, I don't want to say that this 'legend' didn't occur...but the fact is, none of us were there. This is apparantly something that happened during Napoleon's day, so how are we to know what is true. Secondly, even if this story is true and the Haitians made a deal with the devil...that is something that occured generations ago, none of the people that are affected by this earthquake were even close to being around when the deal was made. Thirdly, the Haitians were never a Christian nation. Why this is significant is because it would determine why they would have made a deal with the devil (if they in fact ever did). It's one thing for a Christian person to turn their back against God and begin serving the devil. That is blasphemy and heresy and is definately a major issue. The Haitians on the other hand, never served God, and don't even know the name of Jesus. How could they ask God to save them if they don't even know he exists? They can't. They call out to the one thing that they believe in, and ask him to save them. Is God judging them for this? Is God angry that they sold out to the devil? Honestly, I don't know. The fact is, I'm not predicting why this happened. I do know one thing, regardless of the reason, God is grieving right now. He hates to see people suffer, especially innocent poor people, which is the entire nation of Haiti. God isn't up in heaven happy that he judged these heathen devil worshipers. I believe he is crying, hurting that there is such pain. I don't even want to get into why this earthquake happend, all I'm trying to say is that this is not Judgement because of a generations ago pact with the devil (in my opinion anyway).

The second thing I want to talk about right now is mission work. I'm not an expert on missions, I've only ever done 2 cross culteral missions trips in my life, but I do still have an opinion about this. Before I start, i do want to say that this is likely controversial, and I am attempting not to offend people. This is my opinion, and you are free to have your own opinion about things. Anyway, there are many Christians who have the mindset of "Preach First, Serve Second". They believe that the very first thing that should be done is convert people, and then give them food, water and shelter. I say, that's bull---- (sorry). If you look at the life of Jesus, before he preached to people, he would heal them. There are many stories of lepers, sick people, paraplegics, who come to Jesus, and he heals them. He could preach to them for an hour, tell them that they need to follow him, but he doesn't. He heals them first. There are even times when he never preaches at all. If we are suppossed to be like Jesus, is this not an example of what our missions should be like? I'm not saying that the Haitians shouldn't hear the message of Christ, they definately need to hear it, however if a Christian were to go over to Haiti right now, stand on a street corner, and tell people that "Jesus Loves You, Turn to Jesus, He can save you",. I can guarantee you that harsh words would be said, and not many people would turn to God. On the other hand, if Christians went over to Haiti with no purpose but to just love, give food and shelter, I can guarantee you that Haitians would come to Christ. But even so, even if a Christian went to Haiti, gave food and shelter, and not on Haitian came to know Jesus, they still better fulfilled the mission of Christ than if they went to Haiti, preached to everyone and thousands came to Christ. All I'm saying is, "Serve First, Let God do the rest". Definately, as you serve, you can read scripture or tell them of God, but don't spend the whole time preaching the word that God loves them, well all the evidence that they see points to the fact that God hates them. Think about it. If your house burned down, and everything you owned was inside, including family and friends, and someone came up to you and said "I feel terrible, but God loves you", how would you react? Now, in the same scenario, if someone came up to you, didn't even say anything to you, but hugged you, and began rebuilding your home, how would you respond? In which instance is Christ most evident? Serve. Go out and give food, shelter and show love to the needy, the homeless, the poor and the innocent. Whether they are in Haiti, India, Mexico, or just down the street from you. Sorry if that stepped on people's toes...let me know if your opinion differs, or if you agree.

Outgrowing "Why?"

2010-01-13T06:54:00.000-08:00

As kids, one of the first questions we learn how to ask, and then ask over, and over again is, why. It's a short question, but often it is the hardest to answer. When we are kids, we ask why for everything. "Why can't I stay up later?", "Why do I have to eat my vegetables?", "Why can't I hit my sister?"...over and over again. And then, when we received an answer, like, "you can't stay up late because you need to get a good sleep so that you can have a lot of fun tommorrow"...we would respond once again with "Why?". As annoying as this practice is, it's human nature to know why things happen. Unfortunately, as we get older, we tend to stop asking why. We tend to just go with the flow, not really sure why things are happening, but too embarrassed to ask about it. The other unfortunate thing is, that the things that would make us ask why, are much bigger and more important, and yet we think it is childish, or worse yet, un-Christian to ask why, especially of God. Well, I have news for you...it's ok to ask God why.
God want's to hear from us. We are his children, and he cares for us. Like a parent answers all of the child's "Why?" questions, God too, wants us to ask him. Fortunately for us, he never gets sick of hearing ut...unfortunately for us, he doesn't always answer it. At least, not the way we want.
In my life, I have had a lot of why questions to ask God. Some of them, have been answered, others haven't been yet, and some never will be fully answered. Those are the most frustrating ones, the ones that will never be fully answered...and we know that, and have to continue living our lives, asking the question "Why?" anyway. For me, those unanswered questions are about death. Why did Nate (Kristi's brother), have to die? Why did Paul (Kristi and My good friend) have to die? They were so young, had so much life left to live. GOD WHY!? I'll never know. I won't wake up one day and have the answer. Instead, I get up every day, watch Kristi and her family struggle, knowing that their brother, son, husband, isn't coming back. It's hard to watch, really hard to watch, and there's nothing I can do. It's the same with my friend Paul. I see his picture on our fridge every day, and remember the good times we had together, in the short time that I knew him...and I ask "Why?". And all I hear is silence. Talk about frustrating!
The important thing isn't that we get the answers. The important thing is to ask the question. If you think of all the great hero's in the Bible, they all asked why? Ok, well maybe not all of them, but a lot of them did. Moses asked "Why me?" when he was at the burning bush, Abraham asked "Why don't I have a son?", before Sarah became pregnant. Even Jesus asked, "Why have you forsaken me?" as he hung on the cross. Why is a great question, one that needs to be asked, regardless of whether we will get the answer.
I don't know what's happening in your life right now. I don't know if things are going good, going bad, sort of "meh" (as the kids say), or what. But I do know, that we can always talk to God, and always ask him why? I remember when I was 13, living in Ontario. I found out that my family would be moving to Manitoba. I was angry, frustrated and confused. I spent months, every night crying out to God, asking why. It wasn't until I finally got to Manitoba, met the people, found amazing friends, that I got a glimpse of why, and it was good. The answer to Why isn't always good though. Another story, while I was at Bethany College, I auditioned every year for the Bethany Players (the travelling drama team). And every year, I made it to the final cut, but didn't make the team. In my mind, I was the best actor there (which wasn't true...but I wasn't the most humble of people), so I asked why. To this day, i still don't know the complete answer, but I do know that God wanted me to grow in a different way. It hurt a lot. I still remember the pain of not seeing my name on that list, but it was for a reason.
So I encourage you...ask why. When things are good, or when things are bad, ask God why. He may tell you right away, or he may never tell you, but things happen for a reason, and unless we ask, we will never find out why.

Celebrity Failures

2010-01-11T07:10:00.001-08:00

First of all, I want to apologize to both of my readers for not blogging in a few days. And by a few days I mean 5 months. Sorry. Ok, now on to the blog:
For Christmas, my lovely wife Kristi gave me Theoren Fleury's biography. For those of you non-sports people, Theo Fleury was a hockey player who grew up in Russel Manitoba, played for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers (but spent most of his time with the Flames). He was also a part of the Gold Medal 2002 Salt Lake City hockey team. Anyway, his career was marred with drugs and alcohol, and he eventually had to quit hockey a few years ago (although he attempted to make a comeback this season, but the Flames didn't resign him). The book has been a major eye-opener for me. During his career, people called him a crackhead, an alcoholic, whatever cruel things they could think ok. People only saw his flaws. What most people didn't know, was that when he was 13, he was sexually abused by his hockey coach...and it lasted for a few years. It was only with the release of his biography that he actually admitted this abuse. Now, I'm not saying that this aweful event gives him permission to use drugs and alcohol, but it does put things a bit more into perspective. People like to judge. It's a part of our culture. We especially love to judge celebrities, because we think that they should be perfect. The problem is, they aren't perfect. Unfortunately for them, when they mess up, they have paparazzi and fans all over the place watching their every move. When we mess up, usually we are either by ourselves or with close friends who won't judge us as harshly. I'm not saying that celebrities should be free to live a life of sin, but I think it is wrong of us to judge them...as it is wrong of us to judge anyone.
This past year has been yet another year of celebrities messing up for the public to ridicule and scorn. Chris Brown alledgedly assaulting Rihanna, Kanye West's Teen Choice Award/Taylor Swift debaucle, Tiger Woods affair...the list goes on. While what these people did (or alledgedly did) is wrong, who are we to judge. We get such a high from tearing people down a couple notches, when we deserve to be brought down a few notches too. We all mess up, we all sin, and we all make mistakes. Luckily, most people don't bring all of our flaws out for the world to see. Leave the judging to the one who created us...God. Let him be the one to judge us for our faults, because he's the only one who truly knows our hearts, and who is holy enough to judge. Instead of trashing these celebrities, pray for them. Instead of gossiping about your friend, or enemy, who messed up, forgive them. Encourage them to turn their life around, in a non-judgmental way...because when we judge...we will end up being judged by God as well, perhaps even more harshly.
Oh, and a final note...this past year marked the passing of Michael Jackson. I was not his biggest fan, howver I did enjoy most of his music. Anyway, i just want to say that, even though he lived a life that was bizarre, and was perceived to be a wacko, he was a person just like all of us...and he was also loved by his family and by God. People who make jokes about him, or who say that they are glad he is dead are not showing the love of God. I'm not saying you need to encourage his lifestyle, or condone what he did (if he even did the stuff he was accused of), but think of his family. How would you feel if your son, father, brother, husband was killed and all you heard were people saying that he was a psycho and deserved to die? It would tear you up inside. Please, instead of spreading hateful jokes and saying hurtful comments, at least pray for his family that God would give them peace. Thanks...and that was my turn on the soapbox.

Joshua 1:9, God is with us wherever we go!

2009-09-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

So, during my internship, I got the opportunity to preach a sermon at Level Ground Mennonite Church in Abbotsford. This worked out well, because I needed to preach a sermon for a Homiletics course I was taking DS through Bethany college. I thought I would share the sermon with you all via my blog. Just a quick note, this sermon was spoken on Father's Day...I'll attempt to edit out the specific Father's Day references, but if I miss a few, that is why. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think:

I remember the day my parents told me the news. I was 13, in grade 9 and everything was going very well, until they sat me down, and told me something that would change my life forever; we were moving!. To make matters worse, my parents told me that we were moving to Manitoba. Being from Ontario, I didn’t know a lot about Manitoba; in fact, I was certain that Manitoba was nothing but a barren wasteland. I was angry at my parents, and thought they were being selfish; but as angry as I was at them, I was more angry at God. He had the power to stop this, he had the ability to prevent us from moving and he was doing nothing. He was just sitting up there, all high and mighty, watching as my life was about to fall apart. I had never moved before, which made the idea of having to move to a completely new part of the country even more frightening. I didn’t know what to expect. My entire life, up to that point, I lived in the same house, went to the same school, same church and had the same friends, and now everything was changing. Change is hard isn’t it? Starting a new job, moving to a new place, attending a new school. It’s not easy. It can make us really scared about what is to come, and we often end up questioning if God really knows what he is doing.
I wish I could say that, prior to the move, I learned to accept that God would always be in control. I would love to tell you that I trusted God, and had faith that everything would work out. But as the time grew closer, my outrage and frustration grew. Instead of trusting that God was in control, I was convinced that God didn’t know what he was doing. I thought that I would be alone and my life would begin to unravel piece by piece.
It’s not just us modern people that forget that God never leaves us, and is in control. Even the great biblical heroes who saw God do miraculous and incredible things, had to be reminded at times. In the Old Testament, Gideon had to test God’s presence 3 times before he fully accepted it. The Israelites continuously doubted that God would provide for them and protect them. Moses, the great leader who led the Israelites out of slavery, gave God numerous excuses, before he finally accepted the word of the Lord. Even Joshua, the strong leader, was terrified, and needed to be reassured that God would be with him.
This conversation, between God and Joshua, can be found in Joshua Chapter 1. It reads:
“After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses aide: ‘Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give them--to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates--all the Hittite country--to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand against you; I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU.
Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and Courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go’”
While this passage is meaningful all on it’s own, it’s very important to understand the context. What happened prior to this conversation between Joshua and God.
The Israelites, God’s chosen people, had been freed from slavery, after spending over 400 years in Egypt. Moses was called by God, and led the Israelites out of Egypt, and through the wilderness. While being led through the wilderness, God showed his people his power and protection. He separated the waters of the Red Sea, so that they could cross on dry land. Everyday, He sent manna from heaven for them to eat. So they wouldn’t get lost, he led them by a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. Once, he even gave them water from a rock. God was always present with his people, and provided all they needed. But they still often disobeyed Him and forgot about Him. They even built an idol in Exodus 32, while Moses was receiving the 10 Commandments at Mt. Sinai. It’s easy for us to judge the Israelites for making an idol, but we really aren’t as different as we’d like to believe. When times get difficult, and we can’t feel God’s presence, we turn to other things to sustain us. We trust in the power of money. We turn to Dr. Phil and Oprah for advice on how to live a meaningful life. We focus all of our attention on our jobs so that we will be able to provide for our family. While these things aren’t bad in themselves, they can easily become idols. I can completely relate to what the Israelites did, and I’m sure most of you can too. It’s very easy to trust in God when we can feel him. When he is doing miraculous things all around us, of course we are going to trust that he is there. But it’s those times that he seems to be silent. Those times that he feels distant, those are when it is most important to trust God. He is still there, he does still care for us, we just have to have faith and trust him.
Back to the Israelites now, after wandering through the wilderness for many years, they finally arrived at the land God promised to them. This promise was given to their ancestor Abraham in Genesis 12:7, “The LORD appeared to Abraham and said ‘to your offspring I will give this land”. The promise is again mentioned in Genesis 15:7, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur, to give you this land and take possession of it”. It is for this recurring promise, that the land was called “The Promised Land”. The promise was finally about to be fulfilled, after hundreds of years.
The Israelites were very excited, and they sent in 12 spies to inspect the land, and tell them how great it would be to live in. At least, that was the intent. The reality was, that 10 of the 12 spies gave very bad reviews. Numbers 13 tells the story, and I’ll paraphrase what they reported from verse 27:
“They gave Moses this account: ‘We went into the land in which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. we can’t attack these people; they are stronger than we are, and the land devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them’”
The spies were terrified. They forgot the promise of God, and instead focused on the danger. Instead of remembering what God had done for them, and thinking of what God was capable of, they thought only of what they could do. Without God, they didn’t stand a chance. Of course, they didn’t have to worry about fighting without God, but the spies failed to remember that. We also easily forget about all that God has done for us. When we are up against the impossible, instead of turning to God and having faith that he will lead us through it, we crumble. We focus on the “cities” and “armies” in our way, and we doubt that we’ll make it through. It’s very easy for us to act like these spies, forgetting the promise that God will be with us always.
The rest of Israel listened to the 10 spies, despite the pleas of the other 2, Caleb and Joshua. Because of this disobedience, and lack of faith, God punished those who listened to the spies by forbidding them to enter the Promised Land. In Numbers 14:22, God vows:
“Not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me…not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it”
So, the Israelites were forced to spend 40 more years in the wilderness, one year for each of the forty days they spent exploring the land, while the faithless died off.
It is here, after the excruciatingly long 40 extra years in the wilderness, that God spoke to Joshua. Moses has just died, and Joshua had just been commissioned as the new leader.
When we think of Joshua, we often picture him as the strong, courageous leader, which he was. He did great things, and is one of the most courageous, and exciting leaders in the entire Bible. However, we often forget that he was human and he felt afraid just like all of us. Everyone is afraid at times. I was terrified to move to Manitoba. Students are scared of exams, and worry about the future. Adults are afraid of the economic downturn. Simple things like going to the dentist make many people afraid. Thousands of people are terrified of flying, and nearly everyone has some fears related to death. Joshua was no different, he felt afraid like everyone else.
During this conversation with God, you know that Joshua is dealing with a lot of stress. His mentor, leader and friend, Moses, has just died. He is now in charge of the entire nation of Israel. Joshua is also standing in front of the Promised Land. He, unlike the rest of Israel, has actually been in it. He spent forty days, as a spy, scouting out the land. And while he saw the good in the land the last time he was there, you know that he is also remembering how big and strong the cities and armies are. The words of the other 10 spies must have been echoing through his head:
“We can’t attack these people, they are stronger then we are…Their cities are fortified and very large…The land devours those living in it”.
While on the outside he has to look strong, and courageous, inside, he was probably terrified. And that is why God is speaking to him. God encourages him, reminds him that this land is promised to him. And more importantly, God tells Joshua, “I will never leave you nor forsake you; I will be with you wherever you go”.
No matter what would happen, God would be there.
Do you know what happens next? The Israelites enter the Promised Land, and they take it over. They conquer the cities and defeat the armies. They didn’t win every battle. There were a few times that they disobeyed God were defeated. But God kept his promise and was always there. He never left them, they were never forsaken
Now, I have to ask the question. Is this promise consistent throughout Scripture. Are there other places in the Bible where God makes a similar promise, or is this the only one? In other words, can we take this promise as our own. Does it apply to us today, struggling with broken relationships, financial issues and everyday stresses? or was it intended strictly for Joshua and the Israelites entering the Promised Land.
Well, this promise, given by God to Joshua, is very consistent throughout Scripture. Deuteronomy 31:6, is a striking similarity to Joshua 1:9. In this passage, Moses has just been told that he will not enter the Promised Land, and is naming Joshua as his successor. Moses is encouraging the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land, saying “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you”.
God promises to be with his people, and encourages them in Isaiah, chapter 41 verses 10 and 13, saying “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”, “For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not Fear; I will help you”. This passage is written to the nation of Israel, while they are in exile in Babylon. The land that was promised to them, has been taken away. They are discouraged, scared, and feel very much alone. But God promises them, reminds them, that he is there. Times are tough, everything they had worked for is now gone, but God remains. Just as he was with them as they were entering the Promised Land, he is with them still as they are forced out of it.
The Psalms are also filled with promises of the Lord’s protection and guidance. Verse 4 of Psalm 23 reads, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.” David, the writer of this Psalm, is confident that whatever comes his way, God would be there.
This promise to never leave us isn’t limited to the Old Testament either.
The New Testament mentions it as well, including this verse in Hebrews 13, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’”.
These four passages are only a handful of times God promises to be with us always. All through Scripture, God promises to never leave us, and never forsake us.
I wish I remembered this promise while I was preparing to move. Had I of remembered that God would always be with me, I know that my attitude and my perspective would have been much different. Instead of fear and anger, I would have been filled with excitement and curiosity of what great things God would do.
Now it is important to remember, that just because God is always there does not mean that everything will be easy. Life will throw curveballs that you don’t see coming. Relationships fall apart. Jobs are lost. Disasters ruin homes. And people you love die. We don’t understand it. If God is always there, why do these things happen? We begin to question, we doubt that God could truly care about us. When we think of suffering and hardships in the Bible, most of us would immediately think of Job. The story of Job is a hard one for us to hear. It’s a story of suffering, and pain. In a very short amount of time, Job loses his home, his livelihood and his family. Despite all of the loss, he never doubts God. He always remembers that God is with him, right by his side. He doesn’t understand it, but he doesn’t have to. He just trusts God. Such a powerful example for us to follow.
If you read the rest of the story of Joshua, you’d discover that there are many instances where the Israelites lose battles. Taking over the Promised Land wasn’t all smooth sailing. People turned from God, and got discouraged. But God never broke his promise, he was always with them.
God never promises that everything will be easy. On the contrary. Jesus tells his disciples to expect persecution, and during the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Jesus blesses the poor in spirit, those who mourn, and those who are persecuted. But through all of the struggle. Through the pain, through the heartbreak, disaster, hurt, and frustration, God is there. He will never forsake you. He will never leave you on your own. He will allow us, on our free will, to disobey him, and push him away. He will let us try to live life without him, relying on our own strength. But when our strength runs out, and we can no longer sustain ourselves, he is there, waiting for us to return to him.
Your probably wondering what happened to me after the move. Well, as I look back on it, I know that God truly did care. In fact, the move to Manitoba actually was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I found solid Christian friends, attended an amazing youth group, went to Bible College and met my wife, all because of the move. I can honestly say that God knows what he is doing. If you look back on your life, I can guarantee you will be amazed at the amount of times you see God’s hand directing you. Often, the times that were the most difficult, and we felt more alone than ever before, those are the times that God was the most present. I encourage you to think back on your life. Think through all that has happened, good and bad, and see how many times God shows up. There may be things going on now, that we don’t understand. We may not see God working right away, and often it takes a long time before we realize that God truly was there, walking us through a certain experience. We hear the promise all the time, “God is always with you, and he cares about you”, and often because we hear it so much, we don’t think about it. It becomes just another Christian cliché, that we say to others, but don’t truly believe ourselves. But the truth is, God is always there, and he will always be there.
The promise to Joshua and the Israelites is alive, and applies to us as well. God will never leave us, nor will he forsake us.
So whatver you plan to do with your life, wherever you plan to go, know that God is always with you.
If the financial crisis is hitting you hard, and you can’t see a way out; or if you are financially stable, remember that God will never leave or forsake you.
If your life is easy, and without pain, or if everyday you struggle to get out of bed because the pain and hurt is so much to bear, Be Strong and have Courage.
As a husband, there are days that you don’t see eye to eye with your wife. Arguments about finances and other important issues can take a difficult toll on a person. While there are a lot of great things about marriage, it’s not always easy. But through the tough times, and the great times, God is always there.
For whatever you are going through, whether difficult or easy, the promise given to Joshua is the same promise God is giving to you. Be Strong, Have courage, and know that God will never leave you, and never forsake you. He is with you always.

Thanks for reading my sermon, hope you enjoyed it and got something from it. God Bless

Prioritize This!

2009-09-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

Wow, so I recently remembered that I haven't blogged in a while. Correction, I recently remembered that I have a blog, which means that it has been a long time since my last post. Not blogging since March is completely unacceptable, and I will do my best to do much better than that now. Life has been great, I'm currently working with Kristi's brother Erik doing construction and stuff, and I have applied to work at Best Buy, which is opening up in Abbotsford very shortly, so we'll see what happens with that. Anyway, that brief update stuff isn't what I wanted to blog about. I want to blog about priorities.
I've been thinking a lot about priorities lately, and what my priorities are. Of course, I can't take all of the credit about thinking about this...in fact I don't think I can take any of the credit. Kristi has been telling me that I spend WAY to much time on the computer, and watching tv (which is definately true). Also, our television has broken, which has helped me to realize how much I used to depend on it (and I'm also getting concerned about the lack of the tv for The Office premier on Thursday). Finally, in church on Sunday, the pastor talked about having a pure heart and prioritizing our lives.
My priorities are definately not the best. I focus so much on email, facebook, television, downloading music, buying movies, following my sports team (which, being a Leafs fan means watching them lose...yes, I did just admit that), and going to work. My bible reading is very minor, and my prayer life is suffering. I spend time with Kristi, but I know I definately need to dedicate time for her. Because my priorities are out of whack, the things that should be first in my life (God and Kristi, in that order), are suffering. I need to give up everything for God. I'm not talking about living in poverty, or never having fun or anything, but I need to prioritize my life so that God is number 1, and is involved in everything that I do. O-Town (yes, the band) has a song called "All or Nothing". While the rest of the song really doesn't apply, the chorus starts with the line "Because I want it all, or nothing at all". That is so true with God. He wants us to give everything to him, and if we aren't willing to give it all, then we may as well give him nothing. What are your priorities in life? Finding an amazing job? Getting married? Playing sports? Watching television? Give it up to God. Dedicate your life to serving and honoring him. You will still be able to do the things you love (unless those things involve sinful activity...then you probably shouldn't do them), but your priority will be honoring and serving God. Your life will be fuller, and your purpose will be clear. This is something I really need to do. It won't be easy, it's far to easy to live for our own selfish gain, but it's important. That's my challenge for you, and for myself.

"B" Atitudes and the Mountain Sermon

2009-03-03T13:11:00.000-08:00

Hey All,
That is, if there is still anyone out there reading this. I have to admit, I have been really poor at keeping this up lately. For some reason I haven't had a lot of motivation to do this. Anyway, after a long wait, I am back and writing a new post.
So, as you all should know, I am in Abbotsford BC, working as an intern Youth Pastor at Level Ground Mennonite Church. That's an interesting name for a church eh? I have to admit, at first I found it kind of cheesy, but the more I think about it, and talk about it, it is exactly what a church should be. A place where people can come and feel on the same playing field as anyone else. The church has a huge impact on the Rehab community, which is awesome, and it is super great that those recovering from addictions can come to church, and instead of feeling like sinners and "less than holy", they can feel accepted and forgiven. I have loved attending this church, and hopefully can live out this thought of, "The ground is level at the foot of the cross". I need to be an accepting person, and treat everyone with love, whether they are friends, enemies, easy to get along with, obnoxious, perfect Christians or struggling sinners.
With that in mind, part of my work as intern is to lead Senior Youth Cell nights every second week or so. This week, as in Wednesday March 4, I will be talking about the Beatitudes. Looking over them countless times, it is really crazy what is all in there. As Christians, we are called to live a life that is much tougher and bigger than we could possibly imagine. It would be impossible to live the life we are called to on our own. The Sermon on the Mount is impossible. No one can live that out. And the truth is, I don't think God expects us to. Now, don't get me wrong, we expects us to try, and do our best to live as Christ would live, but he understands that we are human, and he knows that we will make mistakes. The Sermon on the mount is a Sermon about the ideal. "If you were perfect, this is what you would do, but your not perfect, and I understand that, so do your best, but when you fail I will be there to accept, forgive and life you up". What a beautiful thought. When you read the Sermon on the Mount, and the Beatitudes from a persepective of "This is what you must do", it is really daunting and discouraging, but when it is read from an ideal perspective, and from a perspective of "one day, when you reach the Kingdom of God, this is what life will be like" it takes on a completely different feel. Now, I know this may be a stretch for some of you, and I accept challenges and arguments for why the Sermon on the Mount is not an ideal, and I have to admit, I haven't compeltely grasped it myself, so please, comment and tell me what you think, whether you agree, disagree, or aren't sure either.
So, with that out of the way, I guess I just want to say sorry for not updating more often, and I hope I will be able to keep this up. I promise, I will start to add movies and pictures soon. Abbotsford is treating me well, and the church is phenomenal. Kristi and I are doing great, and everything is going well. God Bless you all, whoever is out there.

New Start In BC

2009-01-18T12:53:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long while since I last blogged, so I figured I should probably write another one. If you did not know, I have (correction, WE have) moved to Abbotsford BC in order for me to finish my BA in Pastoral at Bethany College. I am interning at Level Ground Mennonite Church in the Youth program there. It has been a great opportunity so far, and lot's of fun. The youth have been great, the youth pastor has been awesome (and is now a new father so that's super great), and the church has been amazing.
I have thouroughly enjoyed my job at the church so far, although it is not without some difficulties. Of course, when I say difficulties I don't mean "problems", I just mean small little blips along the way. Well, there has been only about one small blip. It happened on Monday, the day before, Robin (my superior Youth Pastor) became a father so I was at the church alone. No one else knew I was there, so they turned on the alarm. I walked into the hall, and off it went. Luckily, the alarm is not conected to a system, so cops didn't show up, but BOY was it loud. It scared the beejibees out of me. Other than that moment everything has been great.
The first few weeks here, Kristi and I were dealing with her being unemployed. We prayed a lot, and tried to be as positive as possible. On Wednesday, Kristi got a call from UFV (University of Fraser Valley), which said she had a job in the Cafeteria there, which is awesome. It's 5 days a week, with the hours of 6-2..which means she will need to get up early, but is able to have an evening and afternoon which is awesome. It also means that she will be able to help out at Youth events which is GREAT.
Anyway, that is a very brief synopsis of what has happened in the past few weeks. Our time here has been great, and I can't wait to see what God is going to do.

An Update

2008-12-07T08:48:00.000-08:00

Well...I have less than a week before the big move. Actually, WE have less than a week until the big move. For those who may not know, Kristi and I are moving to Abbotsford Bc, I will be doing my internship out there (youth pastor, for 6 months), and Kristi will be finding a job. We will be living in her parent's basement suite, which sounds kind of lame, but it will be really good. wireless internet (finally), cable, a hot tub and actual things to do in the community, as oppossed to waldheim in which there is nothing to do. I have one more class, on Monday, and then will spend the rest of the week packing up and getting ready to leave. Please pray for us, pray that we will be able to fit everything in the car(s), as well as for safety on the roads, as mountain driving is not always the best.
So, today Kristi and I got a surprise visit by Jenni (my sister), as well as her boyfriend Peter, and another friend as well. They called us at 1 am, saying that they were on their way to Saskatoon, and they stopped in for a short time. It was nice to see them, as we will not be seeing Jenni for quite some time now.
Well...I have to admit not too much is going on right now. I figured I would do a general post without anything profound and stuff, as per request (thanks Laura). Blessings.

Follow My Blog

2008-11-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

So, I am still getting used to this whole blogging thing, and I'm not exactly sure how to increase audience flow to my blog. I added a "Following" widget, which will track who is an avid follower of my blog. I would encourage you all to follow my blog, so if you could do that, that would be great. Also, tell your friends to check it out, I know it may not be the greatest blog right now, but I am working on it, plus the internet at the school sucks, so once I move out to BC I will be able to update more frequently and with better posts (ie pics and movies). So yeah...please follow my blog, and tell friends and family to follow it to. Thanks

Trans Siberian Orchestra

2008-11-11T10:25:00.000-08:00

So, a few days ago, Kristi and I, along with some friends were able to go see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. It was an INCREDIBLE show. Seriously...the most amazing musicl and Pyrotechnic experience of my life. Anyway, in the middle of the show, a guy that looked homeless came out and sang. Of course, he wasn't actually homeless, he was just an actor, but he sang amazingly (although some drunks thought he sang a bit too long and started taunting him...but other than that it was really sweet). So...the point is, we all judged him before he began singing. In fact, as we were heading in to to the arena, he was standing outside, acting homeless. Everyone avoided him. He was a bum, he wasn't worth the time of day. But then he came on stage and sang, and it was amazing. We all had judged him, and thought he was someone other than who he really was. Sadly, we all do this all the time. We all judge people, based on their religion, their age, their appearance, their gender, where they are from, what they enjoy doing, how they smell, what they are wearing...whatever it may be. This needs to stop. we must accept people, and stop with the judging and the assumptions. God calls us to love, not discriminate. And who knows, just like the homeless guy turned out to be part of the Trans Siberian Orchestra, the person that you are judging may turn out to be someone whom you would least expect...maybe even an angel!

A Boy And His Piano

2008-10-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend, October 30-November 1 is the annual Fall Production at Bethany College. All of the tickets are sold out, and it is going to be an awesome night. I play the part of a crazy Neurologist. Although I only have one scene, I love the play and really enjoy my role in it. The play is about a boy, Gregory, who wants a puppy. He believes he is getting a puppy for his birthday, but when the day comes, his father buys him a $2,875 Steinway Piano. Gregory then gets into numrous fights with his parents, especially his dad, and begins to pretend that his piano is actually a dalmation. He goes so far as to paint spots on the piano, and even gets 'puppies' for Steinway. It is a very funny, very heartwarming play which is going to resonate with many of the people who come to watch the play. I ask you all to pray for this weekend. Pray that lines will be remembered, props will all work out according to plan, lights will work, mics will work, and that God will work through the play. Ask God to open the hearts of those who come to the play, and that, somehow, they will experience God during the play. I wish you were all able to come (all 5 of you that actually read this, lol) and enjoy what is going to be an entertaining night.

Plans

2008-10-27T16:51:00.000-07:00

"If you want to make God laugh, make plans". I don't remember where I heard this quote, and I know it is not necessarily true, but there are definately times that it does ring true. We all make plans, and we often all see plans fall apart due to unforseen situations. I'm going to share with you a story from my past few years at Bethany to illustrate this point.
My reasoning for coming to Bethany College, in the small prairie town of Hepburn, was to be a part of their travelling drama team The Bethany Players! I saw them perform at my church and I was enthralled, and wanted to follow in their footsteps. Unfortunately God had different plans, and I didn't make the team. He did put me onto a different, unofficial drama team, however it wasn't as illustrious as I hoped, and I was very bitter. My next year, I returned to Bethany with the same hopes and dreams. Once again, my plans fell through and God's plan won out (who would have thought). This year I was even more bitter. "GOD HOW COULD YOU!?" My entire year was spent being angry and bitter, frustrated at what could have been, and forgetting about what was actually happening. My third year, guess what happened...same thing. Once again God took my plans, and flipped them around. It was a very frustrating time for me.
Why do I share this story? Because I think, while the circumstances change for all of us, we all experience dissapointment. We all make plans, and we all have plans fail. The real question of life is, "when plans fail, how do you react?" I pray that you don't react the same way I did. I hope you don't get filled wiht bitterness, resentment and hatred for those who achieved what you only dreamed of achieving. I hope you don't write a nasty, hateful and hurtful blog which expresses exactly how you feel without any conscience for those reading it (yes...I did it, and it was a TERRIBLE idea...think before you blog). My hope is that you get up, move on and trust that God has an even bigger plan for you. Perhaps right now you are experiencing dissapointment. Maybe you wanted to make a team, a club, get a certain job, make a certain friend. PErhaps you wanted a special someone to like you, or you want a certain someone to just leave you alone. I have no idea, but trust me when I say this...while your plans may fall through, God will always make sure that his plan is fulfilled. While his plan may seem to be terrible, know that he loves you, and wants what is best for you in the long run. WE may not understand it, and often we don't, but God has a marvelous plan for you life. Don't be bitter and angry, just stand up, brush yourself off, and trust that he will get you to where HE wants YOU to go.

Why I Want a Pretzel

2008-08-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

Well, Once again I begin a new blog entry by apologizing for failing to update my blog for a while, but as you all know, planning a wedding takes up a lot of time. Amazingly the big day is only 2 weeks away. Anyway, I figured I would write a post explaining my choice for using the url "iwantapretzel.blogspot". To be honest, the main reason, and the initial reason that I chose the name was after a Family Guy episode. I know, all of you are now gasping that I would watch such a distasteful show, and I admit there are many things that are bad about it, but it is super funny. Anyway, in one episode Stewie (the crazy 1 year old) chases out of the room yelling, "I want a pretzel too!". But the more I thought about the name, the more I began to imagine a more deep, and spiritual meaning behind it. Another hilarious tv show, Seinfeld, has a great pretzel line; "These pretzels are making me thirsty!". And that is where I want to take this post. being made thirsty. I want to be thirsty for God, thirsty for an intimate relationship with my Saviour. I want to hunger and thirst for Him, and learn more about Him everyday. I never want to be full, never want to be satisfied. My prayer for all of you is to eat all the pretzels you can; spiritual pretzels that is. Get thirsty for God, drink up his blessing, drink up his love. Let him quench you, and you will never thirst again.

The Start of a Journey

2008-07-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

First of all, I need to apologize for not updating this blog for the past little while...of course only about 4 people checked it out so far anyway, so it doesn't seem like there is a massive outcry against me. Anyway. things have been incredibly busy and hectic out here. First of all, I got engaged...which is awesome, and then the hectic thing is...the wedding is in just over a month. That's right, August 24 I will be tying the knot with my beautiful fiancee Kristi. Marriage is a wonderful thing isn't it? Of course, currently I am speaking as an outsider, as I have not personally experienced marriage, but the concept and purpose is amazing. Two people becoming one. Seperate individuals becoming one identity. It's beautiful. God created something amazing. Unfortunately, our world has made a mockery of marriage. Divorce, especially amongst celebrities and other "role models" is rampant, and almost expected. Abuse is common, and unfaithfulness lurks around every corner. I haven't even mentioned the whole same-sex marriage controversy. What has happened to the beautiful thing that God created with Adam and Eve?
God wants to marry us. That perhaps sounds weird, and twisted, but it's true. Just a man becomes one with his wife, God wants us to become one with him. He doesn't want us to live as two seperate identities, only knowing eachother as aquaintances. He wants to be ONE with us. He wants to be the first person you talk to, the last person you talk to, and the top priority in your life. Talk with him, laugh with him, spend time with him. Give him your all, just as, in a marriage (as they are suppossed to be anyway) the husband gives his all to serve, honour and respect his wife. What are you waiting for? Walk down the aisle, God is waiting at the front. It will be the start of a gorgeous journey. Yes, it will have many difficult times; what marriage doesn't, but the whole entity is beautiful. Give him your all. Give him everything you are, and say "I do".

Great Opportunity, Intense Responsibility

2008-07-06T19:39:00.001-07:00

So, this is my first blog. I will admit that I have attempted blogging before, but it's never lasted long, so hopefully this blog will be different. I also need to admit, that past blogs I have written have caused many problems, and hurt many people. My hope and prayer is that this blog will be honest, yet pure, possibly funny, and also spread the Truth of the Word of Christ. It's amazing to think that, now, with technology the way it is, any average joe can just write a paragraph or two, post it onto a website and millions of people around the world can access it. More than ever, one person can truly change the world. A small word, a tiny sentance, and lives can be changed-hopefully for the better.
The Bible commands us to be a city on a hill, a light to the world. This is why I chose the name "A Torch On a Mountain" for my blog. It may seem kind of lame, and I admit I'm still not entirely sure if I like the sound of it, but there is a meaning behind it. A torch gives light, and allows people to see in otherwise dark places. A torch on a mountain can be seen by everyone. As a Christian, I have the tough challenge to live my life so that those around me can get a picture of the Kingdom of God, a small glimps of Jesus. Obviously, I mess up many times, and there are numerous incidents when I failed to act as Jesus would act. Being a light to the world is not easy. I hope that the words I write on this blog will encourage those who read it, challenge those who's hearts need to be challenged, and help give guidance to those who are walking the wrong way. I may not have all the answers, but I hope I can at least get you to ask the important questions, and find the Truth that comes from the Lord Jesus Christ.