Complexities of Life and Christmas

I've been thinking.... During the last few days I have been confronted with how selfish I am as well as how selfish most people are. Generally, as human being we tend toward seeking comfort, pleasure and self preservation. My atheist friends would say these tendencies evolved over time through natural selection. As a man of faith, I am convinced that such tendencies are simply there because we are simply selfish.

During Christmas, many adults feel ashamed because they cannot give their children what others give to theirs. Some are depressed because they are alone. Yet, others are dealing with real issues. I am aware of a friend of mine, a former co-worker specifically, who is right now dying - this will probably be his last Christmas. I know of a 7 year little boy who may have his leg amputated. I know of a family of 8 who lost their mother this past fall - a single mother... where multiple fathers are involved, just to add to the complexity. And I'm sure we all know someone who is out of work, looking for job.

Life is complicated and Christmas and other such "holy days" can bring out the pain and the complexity in our lives. The part of this that is most sad to me is how so naturally selfish we are, especially many who claim the name of Christ, who act and feel just like the everyone else regarding some deep internal pain we feel to be valued, to feel useful, to feel important. If you are in Christ, as it is written, you are a new creation. If you belong to Christ, as it is written, then you are heirs according to a promise - heirs of an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. Yet, like a little child, we can't delay gratification because often (and in reality), that delay will take a life time and we simply want it now.

Life is complicated and we are selfish. Even though selfishness is antithetical to the dictates of the faith, we seem to not be able to stop the inner battles. Yet, there is hope. Many selfish people (self included) have learned to deny those tendencies enough to raise children, give to charities, or serve at a soup kitchen. If we deny the deep, internal desire to be selfish, we deceive ourselves but at least we don't have to always give in to the pressure to be self serving all the time. I would add that learning to master much of our internal desires - even those that
are legitimate such as the desire for food or sleep - is a sign of maturity. Just as God told Cain regarding his selfish jealousy that was about to take over, "it desires to have you, but you must rule over it".

In fact, ruling over our desires is necessary for a civil and functional society not to mention the local church. So when you put hundreds of individual selfish people together with an untold number of competing selfish desires, all with different levels of maturity and ability to master their desire, infused with the physical and emotional weaknesses and ailments that are common to man, you get great amounts of complexity. At Christmas I pray that I and others can overcome the tendencies to have our internal selfish desires further complicate and already complex situation.

The Gimmies at Christmas

Christmas is a season where children get all excited about the gifts and toys they will receive. I'm glad my culture has a time when people at least think about giving to others, donating money, helping the less fortunate, etc. It's a bonus (and I guess historically, we can thank the Roman Catholic Church for this) the focus of the season is Jesus Christ - the central figure of my faith. Albeit, most people don't really buy into the faith (see my previous post).

My children are not different than I was as a child... they have a case of the gimmies. For the older one, she wants to be more independent and to be able to escape into her own world, thus she wants a Face Book account, a new phone, and an MP3 player with a the video part. My son, who is only 8, just wants toys - primarily one of those really cool Nerf guns that can shoot like a bazillion little Nerf bullets! (Ok, I think I really want that for myself!)

So, for all who find this blog, we can understand the gimmies, but I want to encourage us to try to teach and practice the art of giving. I really like the Berenstain Bears take on the gimmies. Here's a little Youtube video that help us keep generosity, sharing, and giving in mind! Just click the link below or the picture above.

The Berenstain Bears Get The Gimmies

Why Christianity Is HARD!

Aside from the myriad of theological topics that are very important when it comes to Christianity, the most difficult part of the faith is actually living it when things don't go your way. Most people THINK their issue is theological, but in reality, when people leave churches, it is primarily based on relationships that go sour.

The reason Christianity is so hard is because the core of the faith REQUIRES forgiveness but when you are hurt, angry or scared, it is difficult or may even feel impossible to forgive. Living Christianity in relationship with other people requires two things:

1. Radical forgiveness, coupled with
   
2. Appropriate self-protection

These two ideas seem antithetical but they are the bedrock, Biblical basis for the ONLY WAY Christians can actually love each other. We do this with our families, and it should be done in the church as well.

First Radical Forgiveness.
Jesus Christ and his death on the cross is the model of forgiveness and the Bible actually tells the faithful to love other Christians. Why did he die on the cross? This is the "crux" of the matter, the core of the faith. Ultimately, the only way for a human being to go to heaven is to be forgiven of his or her sins. According to the faith, there is only one way to do this - faith, through the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, we are called to forgive and many scriptures talk about it. I love this video because it epitomizes this kind of forgiveness.

You see, love is supposed to be patient, kind, content, modest, humble, selfless, slow to anger, protects others, is always trusting & hoping in others, and ultimately - regarding our topic - LOVE keeps no record of wrongs. But when feel betrayed, lied to, or otherwise mistreated by a member of the church, it is hard to let it go. Ultimately, if you are ANGRY and leaving a church, ask yourself - is this really about you not being able to forgive some sinful, broken, lying, cheating sinner who happens to be a member, or even worse, a leader, in your church? Guess what, radical forgiveness and true humility means that you also realize that you are also a sinful, broken, lying, cheating sinner! Otherwise, you wouldn't need the blood of Christ in order to be righteous. (See Romans 5:6-11) This is deep theology which Christians can not afford to ignore. There are tons of passages on forgiveness,

Second, Appropriate self-protection
I couldn't think of a good way to describe this accept for self-protection. However, this is not accurate. It's not self-protection, but more about healthy boundaries based on the absolute truth - as best as one can figure it out. For example, a physically abusive father or husband should not be tolerated but FORCED to stop his physical attacks. Bruising and beating children and wife, leaving broken skin or broken bones and black eyes is simply NOT to be accepted. It is not radical forgiveness that tolerates such behavior, it is a major lack of healthy boundaries, mixed with fear, shame, confusion, hopelessness, helplessness, and many other feelings. These feelings are then expressed through a lack of empowerment and a lack of action. In Christ, we have the power - that is, the strength, to leave the house, and take the children.

But another example might be that young girl, Rachael Scott, killed in the 1999 Columbine High incident. No one knows if the exchange between her and the killers actually took place where she is purported to have been shot in the leg and then asked if she still believed in God, to which she responded, "yes" and was then shot in the head. This may be legend or folklore but the principle is clearly communicated. Do not compromise your faith or integrity even if it means you will be hurt, abused, or killed. This same principle is echoed in American culture by movies such as the Silver Surfer who eventually was willing to die to stop the planet destroyer from continuing his heartless annihilation of entire worlds. Of course, soldiers on the battle field live and die by this principle more often than the rest of us. First responders also reflect this ideal.

The scriptures show Jesus living this principle by slipping away a number of times when the crowds were coming to seize or kill him because it was not time for his death. See John 7:30, 44, 8:20, and 10:39. Paul escaped death once by being let down through a window (See 2 Corinthians 11:32-33).


Concluding Remarks
The point here is this: We are called to be radical regarding our love for each other, especially forgiveness. All men will know you are my disciples by the love you have for each other. This love requires constant forgiveness. It is difficult to live this way when we are hurt, feel attacked, feel betrayed, or have experienced some other emotional pain which you perceive is caused by another person. However, I implore anyone who claims the name of Christ - stop fighting over things that ultimately will not matter in eternity. The real enemy is not other church members or church leaders... the real enemies are from Hell, not from earth.

Finally, if anyone I know personally feels hurt, discouraged, or attacked by me, feel free to call. Let's work it out, especially if we are member of the same congregation.

Being Good or Being Bad

How does one actually live a good, wholesome, positive, loving, giving, honest life? As a Christian, the primary motive for doing so is because we SHOULD allow God, his Spirit, his Word, and the spiritually mature in the church – as a Christian we should allow these things to actually change our nature, our heart, our desires. We become, as the scriptures put it, sanctified or set-apart for a godly life and a godly purpose. It has, from a Christian perspective, eternal consequences.

Other faith systems as well as misdirected “Christian” faith systems are motivated by avoiding hell, or avoiding punishment from the Devine being, or strictly by gaining rewards from the All Mighty. However, authentic Biblical Christianity promotes a character change from the inside out because God changes us. As it is written, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Heb 8:10 – referring to Jeremiah 31:33-34). For the record, from an atheistic perspective, the motive for being good (and I won’t get into definitions here – just accept the general understanding of good verses evil) is some type of system of mutual benefit. That is, if most people are good, society and mankind will prosper… until the sun burns out… but that’s for another discussion.

The question then is this: how does God actually change us from the inside out so that we become inherently good and not bad by default – the way we are naturally? (By the way, non-Christians would not accept the idea of humans being naturally bad, and indeed, most people don’t like this idea at all!). Spiritually speaking there are only two ways this kind of change takes place: (1) Super Natural Change; and (2) Natural Change.

Supernatural Change is awesome and striking – it is when God literally takes away a bad or sinful behavior instantaneously. This is especially amazing if you know the before and after person on a personal level. For example, after a person believes and is baptized – according to the scriptures, they immediately stop using profanity, end and never look back on an illicit sexual relationship, or stop being angry or hateful or mean spirited, or instantly become brave and confident - no longer a coward. God has done this in the past and will do it again in the future for His own purpose and pleasure. However, blatant supernatural change is not normative or common. Even the scriptures have more natural events than supernatural, albeit, a great deal of supernatural events occurs in the written word – both Old and New Testament…. But most of the events and situations, especially from perspective of the rank-and-file populace referenced in scripture, are natural events.

Thus, Natural Change is what God calls for. I do believe, and the scriptures states, that God’s Spirit helps us even want to change as well as help us along with the changes, but the effort and practices that bring about the change are natural. (Thus, for the record, the only noticeable difference between the Christian and the atheist when it comes to being an inherently good person verses bad is the motive… but I digress.) To change from bad to good, from normal human to godly saint in behavior takes self disciple, hard work, conscious and proactive decisions, wise counsel, and a lot of effort. Yes, we must work in order to change from being bad to being good. Simply check out any of the following passages and see that effort, training, and old-fashioned hard work is required for the Christian to change from being bad to good: Luke 13:24, Romans 14:19, Hebrews 12:14, 2 Peter 1:5-7, 2 Peter 1:10, Philippians 2:12, Gal 5:23, 1 Timothy 3:2-3, Titus 2:2-5, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Col 2:5, 2 Timothy 1:7, 2 Timothy 4:7, Eph 6:4, 2 Tim 3:16-17. 2 Time 2:15).

Now, because bad is defined as sin in the scriptures, the things we train ourselves and discipline ourselves to change may not fit in with the broader society. If you fully buy into a Biblical world view, then certain sexual practices would be off-limits no matter what society says. Certain types of entertainment and the overt pursuit of wealth for the sake of being wealthy or hording wealth – i.e. greed – would also be considered off limits.

In addition, the training would look funny or strange to the broader society. If you are in training with a coach for any major skill, the practice sessions and drills will look funny to everyone NOT in that kind of training. The Karate Kids “wax on, wax off” comes to mind. Training and discipline is also individualized because people have different abilities. For example, below is a list of things that I learned (some editing on my part) that many Christians have actually done in order to foster training and self control, specifically dealing with pornography and other sexual sin, but the principles can be used to help us change from any bad behavior or habit into a good behavior or habit:

1. Counseling with pastor
2. Burned all pornographic magazines
3. Called spouse from hotel to ensure avoidance of sin
4. Changed jobs
5. Changed stores they shop, for example, where pornography was not available
6. Confessed to spouse, asked for assistance
7. Cut off all Internet access
8. Cut off relationships that promoted sin
9. Cut up video store rental cards
10. Drove a different route to work to avoid areas of temptation
11. Installed Internet Filter software (such as Safe Eyes) and had override password controlled by some other person.
12. Locked up the VCR and gave the key to a family member
13. Moved out of current residence where sinful, harmful activated was embraced (e.g. Moves out when roommates live a life of drinking, profanity, viewing pornography, using/abusing/taking advantage of women & boasting about it, etc…)
14. Moved the computer from a private to a very public place
15. Moved to a different city
16. Reformatted hard drives
17. Refused to go out of town except with spouse
18. Refused to go where temptation has been strong
19. Refused to take cash or credit cards with them – avoids the ability to buy/pay for sinful things
20. Removed cable TV from home
21. Removed TV from home and/or hotel room
22. Slept with clothes on to help break an addition to masturbation
23. Slept with curtains open in bunkroom to avoid privacy
24. Spent all night in prayer, begging God for grace to overcome
25. Started going to church each week.
26. Started working with an accountability partner
27. Stopped counseling with counselors who don't accept the Biblical definitions of good and bad
    
28. Threw pornographic disks in the lake

No training or discipline should be used forever. Once the skill or ability is mastered, the training wheels can come off. I know of a man who had beat the struggle with pornography and sexual sin. One day years after his own victory, he saw a fellow church member going into an x-rated movie. This man, no longer trapped by such temptation, purchased a ticket, went in, found his fellow congregant, sat next to him, and quietly whispered, “what are we doing in here?”. They left together and he was able to help his brother and friend start to dig out of a damaging and destructive practice.

Once a behavior or skill or practice is mastered due to training and discipline, as Christians, we must continue to exercise. Just like in professional sports, training in the basics is always needed and fitness training days in the weight room are absolutely essential, we can’t simply stop "working out". It takes a lifetime of natural effort to become supernaturally holy, godly, and righteous. As Paul told Timothy regarding being deceived by words or ideas that are myths, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly”. (1 Tim 4:7)

Finally, we are all the same – public and private figures alike, the famous and the unknown all do bad things. This fact is consistent with the Biblical record’s witness regarding humanity. A sampling of the political powerful over the years include:

My own Prince Georges County Executive Jack Johnsons recent arrest for breaking the law due to greed; Congressman Charlie Rangel (D, NY) problems due to hypocritical ethics – not paying taxes; Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, amongst many others of Mr. Clintons sexual improprieties; Grover Cleveland fathered an illegitimate son with a widow named Maria Halpin – 1884; William Lorimer Senator (R-IL) expelled from the Senate in 1912 for accepting bribes; Rep Wilbur Mills found with a stripper named Annabella Battistella in 1974; Dan Crane (R-Ill.) had sex with a 17 year old congressional page – 1983; Gerry Studds (D-Mass) had sex with a 17 year old male congressional page... Yes, Mr. Studds admitted that he was gay – 1974; Mel Reynolds (D-Ill.) pressured sex from a 16 year old girl and was convicted for solicitation of child pornography among other things – 1994; etc…. there are hundreds more!

Of course, it’s not just the political but there are many financial giants like Jack Abramoff and Bernie Madoff who lie, cheat, and steal for greed and wealth. There are also millions of unknown people who cheat on their wives, are greedy hurtful people who are in small positions of authority. There are those with no authority at all accept over a child whom they damage because of their own "Badness". These folk harm people, they cause pain and suffering because of their own pride and arrogance mixed with human frailty and weakness, and so they sin and they fall and they cause pain. Greed and selfishness, uncontrolled passion, and unfulfilled desires that run out of control cause a great deal of harm. Being human “aint all it’s cracked up to be”! (Of course, I'm leaving out the spiritually deceived who kill and murder people "for God" that's for another time.)

Yet, all of this can be avoided if a person who claims to be a Christian would simply begin to take it seriously and actually start to change from the inside out by working hard and avoiding sin and becoming godly. I simply pray that I never give in to my own base temptations but I too, make every effort to be found spotless and blameless and at peace with God (2 Peter 3:14).

A Day at Home with Superman

One of my children was not doing well this morning - I think it's a 24 hour stomach flu or something like that. Unfortunately, this required that I stay home from work today. In my time off, I was going through some old email notes and ran across the following quote:

Superman isn’t brave. He is indestructible, indestructible people can’t be brave. It’s normal people who know that they can be crushed, but do it anyway, who are truly brave.

— ANGUS

I really like the quote - it captures something that I believe is an absolute truth. Of course, proverbs and pithy statements of truth need qualifiers, but the essence of what is being communicated in many such quotes is really good information.

The quote got me thinking and as a Christian, I wanted to add to one's ability to act even though they know they could be crushed a few additional ingredients, namely (1) true humility; (2) genuine selflessness; (3) authentic faith in God through Jesus Christ; and (4) a general dispostion toward being realistic and yet optimistic. The order is not important but the ideals are. The quote just made me think and as I live, I pray that I can become more and more a man who reflects these ideals. I have a very long way to go - to be sure, I am very much a coward in many areas of life. Yet, the quote made me think and I invite you (if you are reading this) to feel free to ask me how it's going on my own life journey.

Another Fall Opening

I just received a text message (a sign of the technology of the times) from Michelle's cousin who just dropped his daughter off for her senior year at Davis and Elkins College. Yes... it's that time of year again!

Tomorrow is the first day of classes at the University of Maryland, College Park. There is a lot of changes in personnel: New university president, new asst VP in Student Affairs, new director of the Stamp Union, and I'm sure there are similar changes all over the campus in the academic units.

For me - I just want to make sure all the students can use their dining plans in the computer systems I oversee. I'm grateful for IT staff, especially the one programmer who ensures that all of the dining plan data gets downloaded and setup into our system.....

However, the start up of the semester makes me think of the mindset and capabilities of this new group of freshman. They are legally adults, but as my supervisor just mentioned, she was dealing with a letter from a student, but it was really from the students mother! At the counter or on the phone, there are many of these young people who are clearly not as independent as a parent might hope when they drop them off on campus.

Learning to be independent is apparently not that easy. I remember feeling independent but having no way to actually cover my expenses. Even so, I rarely felt incapable of functioning when I was 19 or 20 years. Although I didn't know it at the time, I really had no idea what I was doing.

But I could and did reason about matters of faith. I considered what truth was and what it was not. Yet, I am not sure the students of today can grasp the idea of truth - for many, truth is not achievable, or at best it is up to the individual - that is, truth is relative.

I know that these not-so-independent young people will learn about certain elements of truth - right and wrong on an exam for example. But I hope they can translate this into the realm of ultimate reality - it is either no God, and all that it would mean for that to be TRUE, or one has to choose wisely the universe explained by one of a number of faith systems. They can not all be TRUE. I simply hope that - and will do my best to help - today's college students will be savvy enough to realize that whatever metaphysical reality they choose, that it actually reflects the real world morally, physically, spiritually, and intellectually.

Inconsistant Irrelevance

AN HONEST VIEW OF LIFE
I am a Christian and yet I really enjoyed an article related to feeling better about life that is clearly not theistic at all! What's amazing about this article is that it starts with a view of the world that basically says, we evolved, there is no meaning in life, and you should not expect anything in life. The approach begins with the rejection of ANY metaphysical reality - that is, there is no God, there is no spiritual realm, there is no supernatural - period.

The article is boldly honest and the first part is relatively internally consistent - this is why I really enjoyed it. You see, most people lie to themselves regarding how they view the world, and non-believers and non-theist are just as prone as believers of all sorts to fall into this trap - regardless of their religion or philosophical persuasion. What's amazing about some systems of religious or philosophical belief is that entire cultures and societies actually foster the lies, deceptions and inconsistent components of such systems. The adherents to these systems do not grasp the full implications of their beliefs and the inconsistencies between the beliefs and the practical side of living their lives. But this is why I really enjoyed the article - which can be found here: http://www.squidoo.com/FeelBetterAboutLife - the first main points, the metaphorical four compass points, are very honest and relatively philosophically consistent.

Within that honesty, the author has defined a pragmatic way of life that removes the need for faith and/or redefine the purpose for any meaning in life. Succinctly put, this way of life says: live strictly for your enjoyment in the hear and now. The author does not imply some form of hedonism, so please do not misinterpret. Many religious folk (especially those that can be politically charged conservatives) tend to easily use the hedonism, living for pleasure argument to debunk a non-theistic world view. This is irrelevant at best and leads to bad logic at its heart. The point is that individuals must adapt to and accept what I think can be abstracted to three powerful parameters that MUST be absolutely true. A person accepts these principles and frames a consistent philosophy of life around these boundaries. The author uses four points, but I really see only three and the key to this is an emotionally healthy acceptance - one i define as not being self-destructive or destructive of other people:

1. Life is an accident
Life has no meaning so stop trying to find one. Life has no purpose, so stop trying to give it one. Life has no guarantees, so get rid of any expectations you have about life. The approach says that attempting to find meaning or purpose in life is a "futile search".

2. Accept #1 without assigning any values
One has to accept all of life's meaninglessness without it being good or bad - it just is. One should not be depressed about it, nor discouraged. In fact, values get in the way and imprison. By not assigning any values to any behavior, one is liberated - so says the philosophy. The ideas is that values, espeically if they spring from meaning or purpose, "becomes completely irrelevant". Life just IS. One needs to fully embrace this.

3. Given #1 and #2, seek enjoyment for yourself
This third point, again, does not imply hedonism as I've already written. However, it does not forbid many behaviors and endeavors that many (including myself) would view as impure and ultimately selfish. In fact, the article explains the liberating nature of points 1 and 2 such that you can live life freely without trying to seek meaning/purpose. Instead, one can live for enjoyment without attempting to adhere to any particular moral standards - especially moral/ethical standards that are determined by a theistic system.

These three parameters, in order to be pragmatically applied, must include the idea of mutual altruism - that is, as I give enjoyment to others, I receive enjoyment as part of the transaction. Thus, my ultimate motive for any ethical behavior is my own enjoyment which is achieved by a synergistic existence with others and with nature itself.

THE MAJOR PROBLEMS
Now, after praising and pointing out the consistency of all of this, there are a two major problems that anyone that accepts this, must also fully accept. These include:

1. No real concern for truth.
Truth is not just facts but facts within a philosophical framework. The approach above only cares about the immediate facts that can be experienced now. In general, this approach requires others in society to take on ideals that incorporate truth on behalf of the individual who is living for the here and now. Those who frame and institute political entities and civil order provide the environment for those who choose to live this way. Without civilization, this approach to life would be difficult at best and people who devise and build our civic institutions either deceive others into accepting some form of metaphysical/spiritual reality/meaning to life, or they accept it themselves. This is clearly what has happened historically - the future is unclear, but I have my own thoughts on such things - but that would be for another time.

2. A limited view of reality
The one who accepts the philosophical non-theistic approach to life as described above simply doesn't care if that view reflects ultimate reality. They have fully accepted as an absolute truth (remembering there is no real concern for truth in the philosophical sense of the word) that life is an accident, that is, we have evolved. Yet, there is no reason to substantiate this foundational stronghold. The approach is to simply live and let live as long as no one gets hurt. But of course, many people do get hurt. - badly hurt. Obviously natural disasters, age, disease, birth defects, and the like cause suffering and in a limited way, this has been taken into account. But what is ignored about reality is the vast amount of suffering that occurs at the had of other people and there is no way to resolve this without doing more damage.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
The real question is this: is life really an accident? (a) If it is, then such an approach is probably the best we can do as evolved beings. Survival and existence would ultimately dictate some form of mutually benefiting synergistic mechanism be developed whether we are consciously aware of it or not. (b) However, if we did not evolve then we were created by a living being that is ontologically way beyond our ability to grasp, a being that exists literally outside of the physical realities and limitations of our existence, and a being that transcends time and space in all of it's intricacies, complexities, and mysteries. As a Christian, I accept the second choice - but not blindly. Ultimately, I think the evidence - both physical and non-physical - point to this choice. Anyone who accepts (a) or (b) should ultimately do so because they think the evidence points that way. Such evidence does not need to meet some scientific proof, AS LONG AS the evidence takes into account all aspects of life, is internally consistent, and considers both the experiential and the non-material.

Let the Light of Unity Shine

I've been thinking about the merger of The Lord's Church (TLC) with the Bowie Church of Christ. Of course many did not come. Most of the research I have read said that mergers don't work. I would consider this church merger a success if better than 50% of the folks that came from TLC are still with the "merged" church a year after it has begun (which was January 2010).

It is really a great thing that two churches can come together. Being humans, it is more common for churches to fight and split - especially in certain denominations and those with certain spiritual heritages. Yet, Unity is MUCH BETTER than Disunity. We know this but it is still difficult. Just as 27 years of marriage can end in divorce or a mother and daughter can stop talking to each other for 50 years - right into the grave, or best friends can become enemies as depicted in the fictional story of Judah Ben-Hur and his child-hood friend Messala. These things happen all the time.

Yet, my prayer is that people - especially those that call on the name of Jesus Christ - can learn to not just get along, but to show the world through love and solid friendships and relationships, that there is efficacy and real impact to the message of the cross of Jesus Christ. As it is written, God said, "Let light shine out of darkness", and this same God " made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). This light must shine in our lives and I hope and pray the unity and example of a successfully merged church can be a small part of the light to the world.

Snow and Reason

Today we begin to dig out for the second time! The DC Metro area has been hit with two snow storms in less than one week - both dumping lots of snow for a combined total of almost 4 feet. The winter of 2010 will definitely be remembered in this region.

The wonder and beauty is only dampened by the back-breaking digging and the complexities of getting to and from work... for those that must work during this time. Schools, churches, businesses, and local governments have all shut down because the roads can be hazardous. My little car (see photo) can't even get out to the main roads.

People have all kinds of silly reactions to the snow. Some people will drive irresponsibly - I helped a young lady who got stuck in the community who had BALD TIRES! What was she thinking? Many people will show their altruistic side - helping their fellow snowbound friends and neighbors. This is a great opportunity for the young and strong to make a few dollars digging out others.

Yet, some people inevitably will get spiritual or philosophical about the snow. Some will blame global warming. Others will say this is evidence that there is no such thing as global warming. Some will analyze the short-term impact on the local economy due to the great cost of snow removal, missed days at work, damaged power lines and caved in roofs. As a Christian, I would rather just accept the snow and deal with all the realities that accompany it. The rich and poor, weak and powerful, healthy and ill are all effected by the storm, As the scripture says, "time and chance happen to them all" (Eccl 9:11).

So, have a positive attitude - for those with faith in God, let your faith keep you focused on doing good, helping others, and encouraging others on their faith journey as you dig out of the snow. If you don't believe in God, let the wonder and the beauty of the snow open your heart and mind to the possibility that there is more to life and to death than we we see and experience!

This is Not What I Meant!

God has a way of getting us to do stuff we don't want to do.

As of January 3rd, 2010. I am no longer a part of the core leadership team of the Lord's Church. God has a way of taking us down paths we do not choose. So now, I am a part of the leadership team of the Bowie Church of Christ. We merged churches. Merging churches is MUCH better than a church split. It is also a little better than disbanding a church. I have been a part of both and they are not fun. For me personally, I went down the merge path kicking and screaming.... only a few people would fully understand this childish, emotional reaction, and I really do appreciate those few people!

What is my exact leadership role? Well, basically, I simply want to do what I would do and have done since I became a Christian many years ago: Love God and Love people. However, the people I want to focus on in ministry are young people - more specifically young adults; people between the ages of say 17 and 25 years old - including those that attend the local college and universities. I work at a University so it is logical since I have the opportunity to interact with these young, idealistic, energetic age group. I consider it a great privilege to be able to serve and love any of these young people - any that God will allow me to.

I know myself - I will work hard for God in whatever task he gives me to do. And yet, this is NOT the exact path I would have chosen. If you have ever had this experience, then you know what I mean. Since we all only have one shot through life, then my encouragement is to live and embrace whatever God gives you to do with all your heart. This is what I plan to do and if anyone cares to help, please let me know. If you are undergoing your own unplanned and unanticipated future, then embrace it, embrace those that God used to bring about the change (Read the story of Joseph, Genesis chapters 37 - 50) because they probably were not trying to cause you or anyone else any stress. (It is true that Joseph's brothers did mean to cause stress, but my basic point is to embrace the change that you did not plan.)

Finally, if you have faith in God, I ask that you pray for this next era in my life. I don't know what God will do with it, but I hope to be open and fully available to God for his purposes.