Christian Karma

First of all I wanna start off with a bang and thank everyone that's reading. There are a lot more people reading than I thought there were. Now, its not all about the numbers (I'm not a baptist mega church), but it does help encourage me. Well anyhow, in this post I kinda wanted to drop my two cents in on a strong undercurrent that's been sweeping through American Christian for a couple of decades. Also I need to make the statement that not all of this is my own thoughts. A good deal might come from the series on Ecclesiastes that Matt Chandler did a while back. If you haven't listened to that give it a look see. You won't regret it. That is unless you enjoy being a nominal Christ follower.

Finally I actually get to what I wanna talk about. The undercurrent that I referred to earlier is what could be called Christian karma. Basically it is the thought that if you do good things good things will happen to you. This does not fit in well with Scripture. In fact, it actually disagrees with some parts of Scripture. Take Job for instance. What did Job's friends suggest that he should do when his whole life was falling apart? They said he should repent of any sins that he might have forgotten about. This really isn't the thought that if you do good good things will happen to you. It's actually the flip side. If you fail to do good, bad things will happen to you.

Another part of Scripture that this mindset disagrees with (as you might have guessed) is Ecclesiastes. In Ecclesiastes chapter 7, Solomon (the wisest man in the history of the universe mind you) writes how he has seen the wicked flourish and the righteous die an early death. God does not treat us according to our actions.

You see this is the most encouraging part of all of this. I'll say it again. God does not treat us according to our actions. He always (always, always, always) acts with our best interest in mind. If our perfectly righteous friend should die at the early age of 30, it was for God's glory and for his best that his life was required of him. If we truly believe this our lives will change completely. Well, I guess I can't speak for everyone. Maybe there are some perfect people out there.

So I am lead to ask the question. Why do you choose to do the right thing? Is it for some possible reward? Or is it because its the right thing and that's how we can bring Christ the greatest glory? If we chase what's in God's hand instead of His actual face we will be disappointed every time.

Once again, thanks for reading. Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

This Summers Employment

For those of you who don't know, this summer I am working at my local YMCA doing a day camp with kids ages 5-16. I just wanted to drop a line and tell you guys how great its going. So... It's going great. I mean, the kids aren't perfect. Sometimes they seem like little demons, but we're all fallen.

I guess the real reason that I can be super positive about all of this is the YMCA itself. The YMCA is very purpose driven. Even more so then most churches I know. This makes working at the Y quite encouraging. For you who don't know the purpose statement of the Y is "To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy mind, spirit, and body for all." The best part about that statement is that they stick to it. Not only do they stick to it, but they allow it to be the purpose behind why they do things, whether its disciplining kids during camp or sponsoring someone's membership.

Now the Y is not a church. I would even say it would be a stretch to say its a parachurch organization. The sad (for actual churches) yet encouraging (for the Y) fact is that it seems to me that the Y is more on mission than most churches I run across. They may not be saving people into the Kingdom (as much as a human person can), but they are positively affecting people for the mission, which is all that can really be asked.

As I close, I can only hope that I feel the same way at the end of the summer as I do now.

Read Me!

I would like to write a book. I feel like it would be a rewarding adventure. I mean, it may not be like a huge 500 page book in the end. Maybe it would be more like a memoir. At any rate, I think it would be entertaining. I know, you might be asking yourself, "Self, why would he write a book if he can't even keep up with a simple blog?" To this I can provide no answer. I can only optimistically hope that somehow writing a book would be different than my blogging experience so far. So I ask you, what should I write a book about? What would you like to read about? I don't really have much direction as of right now, but I'm open to input. And now... discuss.

Summer Holiday?

Hey! I'm back. It's good to be back. I don't know why I left in the first place. Anyhow, it's summer that's a good thing. Well, it should be. Summer is such a good thing. It's freedom from school, possible jobs, beautiful weather, summer concerts and all around good times. At least that's what it is to me.

If that was all it was to me I would be quite happy, but I've noticed that I've turned summer into something else. I've tried to make summer an excuse to be lazy. I don't just mean lazy like not having a job and stuff. I have a job, but I've let other things slide out of control. I've become lazy in the things that really matter, eternal things. Yes money is good. I need to have a job, but His Kingdom is so much greater. These things will pass away, but the Kingdom will not.

What's the cause of all of this? There's many different reason that I perceive. First of all, I've bought into lies. I've bought the lie that the things that I see are more important than the things that I can't. I've subconsciously bought the lie that I can pick it all back up without any consequences. I've ultimately been lulled into subconsciously thinking that it doesn't matter. Basically, I'm saying with my actions that it doesn't matter that I'm losing a multitude of chances to effect others for the cause of Christ.

Now listen to what I did not just say. I did not say that I'm letting people die and go to hell. God is sovereign and He will bring people into His Kingdom with or without me. Thank goodness for that, but I still have no excuse. No matter how well I can convince myself otherwise.

Part of me would like to go on with reasons why I'm failing like this, but I've already hit the ultimate point. I feel like if I continue typing I will only take away from the things that actually matter. So this is your encouragement. Don't get lulled into buying a bunch of lives. The mission is lived moment by moment. There are no excuses for doing otherwise. If this sounds disheartening go to the Word and remind yourself that this is "life and life to it's fullest" that we are talking about here.