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.

Freedom or Lack Thereof

I got back not too long ago with hanging out with some good friends tonight. It was a great time. Such great weather. Such great friends. Anyhow, there was a discussion tonight that kinda made me think. This conversation was about one of those hot button topics among Christians (smoking, drinking, cussing, etc...). Any ways, it was just interesting to me the different ways people handle themselves. You have your run of the mill button pushers, the indifferent, the uninformed, and the closed minded. Seldom do you find people with answers and with an actual fact based (and hopefully scripture based) argument that will speak their mind. Honestly, I'm hoping to work my way into becoming this type of person. The thing that I have found though is that when God finally does reveal something to me that doesn't license me to blurt it all over. I think with this type of subject people have to draw their own conclusions.

The most harm that can be done in all of this is when one hurts the body of Christ and or damages his or her relationship with a friend. Ideas and people should never intersect. If a person keeps stepping in the way of an idea that you are speaking out against. Make your point and shut up. Do not harm your brother or sister under the guise of trying to help them understand your point.

I must let it be known that this blog really has nothing to do with the conversation that I am referencing. That is just what got me thinking. So for my friends that were present, it's okay. I'm not talking about you. I'm not really talking about anyone. Besides I think most of you understand my position in the aforementioned topic. If not we can talk. Also another important thing to be made known, I don't have it all figured out. Like I said earlier, if I do actually get the chance to come to some type of position in all of this it is only through the help of the Father.

I will wrap this all up with a favorite story of mine about a favorite preacher of mine. There is a story told about Charles Spurgeon meeting one of the renowned evangelist of America for the first time. Apparently, as Charles was walking up to meet this man he was enjoying a fine cigar as was one of his favorite pastimes. So after Charles greeted this man, the evangelist asked him how he could partake of cigars as a man of God. Charles simply reacted by poking the evangelist in the stomach and asking how he could eat like that as a man of God. The American evangelist was quite overweight. That is all for now. Peace!

Brutally Honest

I'm not gonna talk about how long its been since I last wrote. I've been busy. Well, I guess I just did. Crap! Anyhow, I been thinking recently. I've been thinking a lot about the time that I've spent here at Liberty so far. It has been a fun time. I've met some awesome people, had some awesome times, and done some awesome new things. First, I would like to address these people. Thank you for the awesome times we have had together. I love you and I can't wait till we hang out next. This blog really doesn't have anything to do with you guys.

You see, I've been thinking about my cultural progression here at Liberty and honestly I've become a bit dissatisfied. I feel as though the more time I spend at Liberty I should be meeting more people and having more fun times. I can't help but think though that I feel that in reality the more time I spend here the more people I find out I don't want to hang out with. Honestly, there are a lot of people on Liberty's campus that aren't worth the time; however, this is not the majority. The difficult fact is that I feel like the majority of people that I meet are not people that I feel excited about getting to know, but people that I don't really care for.

Don't here me saying that Liberty students are horrible people. Because, the horrible person is me. Outside of Christ I am definitely full of sin. I learn this fact even better each day. There is no good thought inside of me. And because of this my pride gets in the way of my enjoyment of hanging out with other members of God's creation. I think of myself as being on a different level than these people. Why because God maybe has revealed more to me than them? How much of an idiot must I be? I would bet that God really hasn't revealed more to them than me. Maybe I need to come to understand them better because they understand more than I. So that's what this is. This is a cry for help. Not necessarily to those around me, but ultimately to my Father. Break me.

Robots In Disguise

Just in case you haven't seen this you should watch it. Because I'm excited and you should be excited also. I mean, who doesn't love Transformers? If you do not remotely like Transformers in any way, then I would submit that you my friend are not human. Anyhow, here's the trailer.