Christians Suck... Well at least sometimes...

This goes out to all of the atheist or non-believing people that I've ever met or may meet in life some day...

I want to give some perspective about Christians that you may not have heard before. Hopefully this will shatter a lot of stereotypes and help bring some brotherly love in the world...

Christians are not perfect!!! :D I know right, huge revelation...

But guess what, for some Christians, that is a huge revelation. I will admit that there are a lot of Christians (and I've been guilty of this myself) that have said & done things that were no where near Christ-like; which in turn drove more people away from us than draw them closer to us. Now mind you I'm not going to give us Christians an excuse for these actions. Because, frankly, some of them were plain stupid and unloving; and because of them (at that moment in time) we sucked.

Yet one thing that Christians forget is that we're not any different from you in the fact that we love, care, hurt and hate. We have raging emotions and feelings that can be hurt as well. We sometimes get it in our heads that since we're "saved," we're far better than everyone else. And that mentality is WAY wrong. We're not better, higher, worth more or any of that more than a non-believing person.

Now I will say this... We Christians may come across as having a very arrogant attitude towards aspects of life. But, speaking from experience, it's not arrogance... It's confidence. You see the Creator of the Universe has given us a promise that we've placed our faith in. And our faith hangs on that promise. And the life, death & resurrected life of one Jesus of Nazareth locks-in, solidifies and guarantees our faith in that promise. So we have a confidence that this same Creator has guaranteed our place in the future (both alive and dead).

Back on target... Jesus Himself showed us who we (Christians) are supposed to be going to & helping. Even if a person doesn't become a believer by what we say or what we do; we're to still server and love.

So now I will close with this... It may not help and it may be too late, but I am going to say (type) it regardless. On behalf of all Christians in the world; we're sorry for sucking at some point in the past. Some of us are trying our best and we do fail. I hope you'll forgive us. PEACE!!!

Romans 12:9-11 "Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically."(NLT)

Non-mid life crisis...

Thanks to modern medicine, mid-life crisis is coming later in life than ever before. Plan now to take full advantage of your crisis, today... :D I know that sounds silly. But I can't help but think about it. Today is the eve of my 39th birthday. Since the last year of my 30's is on the verge of entering into history, I got to thinking about mid-life crisis.

I can understand why (guys especially) go through mid-life crisis. I mean, by the time we're 40 we're supposed to be well established in our careers, on the verge of getting one of the house's bed rooms back from a child going off to college and looking at those sleek touring motorcycles to throw the wife on the back of. Yet, why would you call those situations a crisis? I mean I would take those attributes and classify them as a well lived & planned life. And if all those years were living for God; then it they were even better.

I on the other hand am different. Being pre-39, I've recently rebooted my career, still got a few years before I kick one of the kids out of the house and couldn't even afford to look at a motorcycle, let along buy a moped. Now I have every right to be in a mid-life crisis. Yet as I sit here typing I have no feelings of animosity for not achieving all those "expected" things in life. Plus, who said I was entering mid-life anyways??? Where is that guy who came up with that? I plan on passing from this world (unless Christ comes back first) on my 120th birthday. So you do the math... 120-39=81... Well that will leave a fraction... Let's say... 120-40=80. I still have Eighty years left on this earth. I have tons of time left.

PLUS! My mid-life crisis wont start till I'm at least 60!!! YEAH! Actually I don't plan on having a crisis. You see, I'm doing my best to live for God. And when I reach my 60's I may actually be better at it. And I know that once I have that down, I'll be much happier, healthier and blessed than I can imagine now. So come on 39th birthday!!! I still have 21 years before I start freaking out. Now all I need to do is focus on these daughters of mine and make sure to have them out of the house before then (joking, well, kind'a not) so I'll have room for the motorcycle, hot tub and cinema-sound theater. :D

"What was will be again, what happened will happen again. There's nothing new on this earth. Year after year it's the same old thing. Does someone call out, "Hey, this is new"? Don't get excited—it's the same old story. Nobody remembers what happened yesterday. And the things that will happen tomorrow? Nobody'll remember them either. Don't count on being remembered." Ecclesiastes 1:9 (the Msg)

I read this verse last night to my daughters and it really hit me (again). There is really nothing new under the sun. I know it a phrase that many of us have heard (even non-believers). Yet have you thought about it before???

Think of anything... Chili dogs, skyscrapers, guns, Venetian blinds, warp drive, ballet, anything... All of it has been thought before. Now I bet you may wonder that if it is the case, why haven't we seen some of the same things over and over again. Well because as knowledge becomes known to us; we're able to take these ideas and actually make them into reality. People of the past may not have had the means to product an aircraft or the knowledge to build plastic. However as time is roll on, knowledge is opening more and more (see Daniel 12:4). 

You see the more time passes, "new" things will emerge; however if you search hard enough into antiquity, you'll discover that it's already thought of. There isn't anything new under the sun.

To the point...

I have you notice now a days that people can't seem to get to the point??? I mean, say what you want to say. Don't play any silly games, if you don't like something, admit it. I think we've become too emotionally sensitive. I mean, I'm not a hard-donkey. Give me the right Publix commercials and I'm down for the count with tears.

Emotions can be very powerful, but if their toyed with both within ourselves and in others, they can lead to great hurts. Example, the Word says that the most powerful member of the body is our tongue. It is so powerful it can cause wars. Yet if we control our tongues & be honest, things can be a lot better. I like how some people seem to be allowed to talk, yet others are not. I don't understand that either.

AH HA! I'm rambling. Not for good reading I know, I'm sorry. I guess you can call this stream of thought. Let me see if I can put a bow on this... If you mean something say it; don't worry about my emotions, I'll build a bridge. If you have something to say, say exactly what you mean. Don't make me go through a guessing game to get your point. Let you 'No' mean no & let your 'Yes' mean yes.

PEACE!

Obedience...

You know this is a loaded word. I mean, for kids it's a cuss word, for adults is a grudge word. For Christians it is supposed to be a way of life. I try, I really do. 

Yesterday ended a period of time of obedience for me. Until yesterday I had been separated from my wife and daughters for over a year. Now this was not a "we're having problems with our marriage" separation or I'm "an abusive father" separation; it was one of obedience.

Over two years ago, the King called for us to come to the Knoxville area. We didn't know what this entailed, but we wanted to stay in line with His direction. We made plans, and of course those plans didn't work out. So we 'flowed' with what He did in our lives. And part of that was living in two separate states.

I know a lot of my non-believing friends think we're crazy for doing something like this, but hey, you don't believe; you'll never understand. I know a lot of my believing friends thing we were crazy. Well, I don't know what to tell you people.

I believe 100% that this will come out as a HUGE positive in our lives (my wife, my children and myself).

As far as obedience... Imagine this... You're driving on a road and it is curvy. You see one of those pretty white signs with black lettering that tell you that the law says the speed on that road is 45 miles per hour. Well at that moment you have a choice: do you follow that law (in obedience) or do you ignore it and go on??? You see the King gives us a similar choice. And we are free to decide what choice we're going to make. You see... Moses put it the best way...

Deuteronomy 30 [The Message (MSG) translation]

¹⁵ Look at what I’ve done for you today: I’ve placed in front of you
    Life and Good
    Death and Evil.

^19-20 I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to Him, firmly embracing Him. Oh yes, He is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

 (Please note, the 'omitted' verses still play a major factor in this point I'm making. They were 'omitted' not to re-enforce or 'prove' a point, but for shear convenience. They in no way nullify the point being made here either by Moses or myself. Please read for yourself in any translation. Thank you.) 

Have a great day friends. I know I will because I now see SOME of the fruits of my obedience. :D

Hello everyone,

I have nothing profound and thought provoking for you today... Just a praise. Praise to the Creator King of whom I jester for in His court...

I'm extremely thankful today for His love, mercy and grace on my life & the lives of my family. A chapter is at the precipice of conclusion and the climb of a new one is over the edge. I'm excited beyond belief.

I feel like my journey will now actually begin, even though I have been walking on it for the past year.

Thank you Father King for everything and thank you for the transitioning to be complete.

A few weeks ago I made this post on Facebook:
     "You know I haven't posted much lately. Especially stuff that is controversial and thought provoking. However something this morning hit me... In the Bible; one of the many times that Jesus was teaching to the people He said that all of the commandments in the Bible can be summed up in two... #1 Love God with all you heart, mind and soul and #2 Love you're neighbor as you love yourself. Now mind you I know a lot of people don't believe in God (and that is fine for them, though I think their missing out on something great), however why can't everyone get the second commandment right? I mean we're all 100% proficient at loving ourselves (especially in the U.S.A.), can't we just learn from that self-love? If we were to get this right, I think it would eliminate what I would estimate to be about 85% of all of the problems that we face in the world. I know, I know some of you will say to me, "well practice what you preach." And that would be true; and trust me, God's been on me for that A LOT lately, so I'm learning. So in my final thought in this post; love someone today. Or better yet, treat them like you want them to treat you. I think you'll be shocked by the reaction. :D PEACE!!!"

I had a 'friend' of mine, who I know is an atheist, post the response, "We are human...thats why #2 isn't going to work..."

I responded to his post with, "AH! But is that an excuse to not try...???" And I did not receive a response to that question.

I mean... Just because I started off my post with a reference to the Bible & God, the rest of the post is not going to work? Reason why I ask that is because later, that same 'friend' posted a meme that basically said that we all need to respect each other. So... For the (almost) exact same thought to be provoking, I can not use God before it? I mean I understand that people don't believe in God. I accept that completely (but as I stated in the post, their missing out on something great).

Personally... (Hey it's my blog, I can be personal) I think it is hypocritical to not accept a thought because of how it was presented, then re-state the same thought and then accept it. Our nation is in a sad state; and our race (and I mean HUMAN race, regardless of color) is in a dire need of help. And if it (our race) wont accept it from God, then blast it accept if from each other. Forget about the package, accept the contents.