Eviction Notice

We were served an eviction notice a long time ago. The world, as we know it, is not our home. Its hard to recognize it sometimes, but in other situations it is painstakingly clear... I am a nomad - a vagabond - roaming through existence with an intrinsic sense that there is more to this life. We've known it since birth:

"We were born into a world, into a condition, of disconnection. Things were created to be a certain way, and they're not that way, and we feel it in every fiber of our being. Is this why the first thing newborns do is cry?"

- Sex God by Rob Bell

My body was sheltered in a perfectly serene place where God's way rules. We were in the womb of creation. Always nurtured with everything we needed at our disposal. Since the first time man tasted the fruit of the vine, our eyes have been open to the painful labor and birth from our sanctuary, our safe-haven. The sheltering, protective love of God is gone. Our aborted fate has been redeemed but now we know of (and are susceptible to) disease, death, destruction and pain. The air of this world suddenly is not as fresh. As Dr. Shuch writes:

"I was not so much evicted
From the Garden of Eden
As led out unceremoniously,
By the nose.
For it wasn't seeking knowledge
Which led me to the tree
But rather the aroma of the fruit
Which can only be described as, well, fruity.
That aroma proved to be mankind's undoing.
When I'd tasted of this fruit,
The Almighty, as is written,
With a mighty hand and outstretched arm
Afflicted me with allergy of inhalants.
It was the garden's blossoms,
All the flowers, trees, and shrubs,
Not the wrath of the Creator,"

With that, in an instant, the air is lacking its essence... the very pleasant aroma of the flowers brings me to pain. The weather is never quite right. The Earth and mankind groan in a dissident harmony with postpartum depression.

I'm still longing for the time spent with God in the cool of the day with no stress, no job, no bills to pay... Just a simple call to love God, to love one another and to be the care-taker of creation. It is longing that inspires me to change, to draw attention to the eviction notice... to announce to the world that we are the prodigal sons & daughters of the universe and there is a better life out there. Our Father is waiting to welcome us home with jubilation and open arms

(Inspired by a post on churchinverted.com)

Some Questions to Ponder

I ran across these questions from Craig Groechel's Blog that every church leader needs to examine in their own ministry

1. If you weren't on staff at your church, would you worship there?
2. If you didn't know ANYTHING about Jesus, what would you know about him after a normal weekend at your church?
3. If you had a loved one who didn't know Christ, and they had one week left to live, would you take them to your church or another?

Throwing Stones

I have been really thinking about this subject lately, in fact it was the topic of my rant in the most recent episode of Element: C3, which, if you haven't heard it yet, you should. Its awesome...


Anyway, I've been really struggling with this idea of people who throw stones and run away.

What I mean to say is, these people who are all about dominating you with their belief and wanting nothing to do with what anyone else has to say. I fall victim to their trap all the time, the stone thrower is looking for you to engage him (or her) in conversation so they can continue to play the broken record over and over, trying to convince you that you're wrong.

I really respect Rob Bell's response to criticisms that he's received from various people over his views on Christianity:

"Some people, no matter what you say, have a hardness of heart and aren’t going to change. Please be very, very careful who you engage with. Some people simply have questions, and simply want to discuss. Wonderful. But some people are miserable, and they use religion as a crutch to avoid dealing with their misery and their pain. And what gets masqueraded as Christian faith is not. And we need to be careful spending all sorts of energy engaging with people who don’t have any interest in coming along on the journey with us. I would ask you before you engage - and there’s nothing wrong with engaging - to perhaps ask, “Could I redirect the energy I’m about to spend towards somebody who’s never, ever heard that God loves them?” And let us be the kind of community who engages in the right kinds of discussions, but otherwise we’re too busy loving people with the transforming love of Christ to engage in the mudslinging that goes on. You are too valuable to me, and your time and your energy, you’re too valuable in our community to end up in some sort of theological kung-fu with somebody who ultimately thinks they’re right. There will always be Pharisees. God’s on the lookout for disciples.”

"There will always be Pharisees. God's on the lookout for disciples" I think that's awesome... Am I using religion as a crutch or am I using it as a powerful tool to discover the deeper meaning of life with others and within the teachings of Christ?

Its madness...MARCH MADNESS!!

SO its that time of year again and I've made my picks for the big dance, you can view them here. Tell me what you think, am I out of my mind for picking Texas A&M over OSU? I don't think so... Take THAT Thad...

Also, make sure you check out Element: C3, (iTunes) (Online) an exciting project started by my co-conspirator Jered, and I. As always you can find my mobile phone blog here.

Morally Awake

So there's this new study (link) saying that sleep deprivation may lead to a lack of moral fortitude. Basically a bunch of otherwise healthy soldiers were asked a series of questions ranging from simple situations to challenging moral dilemmas with the options "appropriate" or "inappropriate". Their answers were logged and they were then sleep deprived (kept awake) for 53 hours (a little more than 2 days) straight. The volunteers were then asked the same questions again, this time the morally challenging questions took longer for them to answer and in some cases their answers reflected a wavering from their previous answers.

Interesting...

Reading further I found out that those volunteers who scored high in morality when polled before the deprivation did not waiver on what they found morally appropriate.

What does this say about our sense of morality? People who have strong morals to begin with are more likely to stick to their guns under pressure. Could we expand that to show the importance of parenting? Will people who are raised with a strong moral conviction be more likely to stick to it later in life? Less likely to fall victim to peer pressure? I don't know...

1/4 of the way through nothing

10 days ago I started a spending fast for lent (link). After almost one quarter of the way through, I've run the gambit of emotions...

Day 1: The sound of the Pepsi machine outside my door is borderline unbearable. I work in a place where kids are around all of the time. Why God, why do those little brats have so much money? And why do they insist on buying beverages every 5 minutes? (first emotion, anger) This continues until I leave around 5pm.

Once I got home I see that my last pre-fast ebay purchase has arrived Atmosfear the DVD board game... I am overjoyed and all is right with the world (second emotion joy & hope).

Day 2: First off, I was late to work because of an alarm clock malfunction and that didn't make the Pepsi machine situation any better... this time the torture is compounded by the fact that I did not bring anything for lunch and I have made this stupid pact to not buy fast-food for myself... (anger & remorse) But the thought or driving to the local grocery store to buy cold cuts and bread seems to be too labor intensive (now the depression sets in).

Day 3: Its Friday, the work life gets easier since my wanton desire to purchase a Code Red Mt. Dew (pause for amorous reflection and drooling...cue Wayne's World "Dream Weaver" sequence) was subsided by the ammount of free food available at work today (manna from heaven as far as I'm concerned)

Later we hit up a wine tasting at Vino 100 which is ok since its a group event. I did resist the urge to buy a bottle of wine and Burger King, opting instead to make myself a sandwich at home...but those french fries did smell good (jealousy setting in, and maybe a hint of covetousness).

Next, the group heads out to see the Number 23, I had movie passes so no purchases were made.

Days 4 & 5: Jered, being the great and supportive friend that he is, tempts me several times by telling my how many cool things are going on sale at his store later this month. What a pal... (Sarcasm...is that even an emotion?)

Day 6: Lunch is no problem and neither is my beloved Code Red. I brought a friend down to work and she offered to buy me both! (Sweet!). Slowly I realize that a totally unplanned, but, awesome side-effect of not buying anything new is an increase in charity from other people... nice.

I also rented a video game... I didn't get the same satisfying feeling as I do when I buy a video game...

Day 7: I slipped... I was STARVING (not literally but I was in pain) so I went against my better judgement and bought myself Taco Bell (Guilt)... it wouldn't be right for me not to admit where I messed up... I feel like I've betrayed Jesus (more guilt), I should just stop this stupid fast anyway, besides I can still hold to my annual fast of WNBA and Women's College Basketball (justification, not an emotion but still...).

At our weekly Bible Study (held at Max & Erma's, but hey its bible study so its ok) I decide to get back on the horse and continue my shopping fast. To my surprise I've only browsed ebay twice in the past week and it was only because of Satan's tempting (really it was Jered, but close enough) me into looking up prices for a hookah. (don't ask...)

Day 8: Another Thursday goes by and there are more kids that mock me with every beverage purchase, but this time I am busy with work so their attempts go virtually unnoticed. (Side note: Abby rewards my spending freeze by making AWESOME dinners for me...except for the one batch of mashed potatoes that tasted like plastic...but the rest of it was awesome)

Day 9: Jered will not stop singing I'm So Ronery from Team America: World Police. I am so tempted to click the "buy it" button on iTunes, but I resist...for now (jerk) Another wine tasting... and this time I bought wine, which by now is an essential.... but maybe not 3 bottles....

Today is day 10 : I'm really starting to get a grasp on the extremes of my desire to be an uberconsumer. Now, I'm not saying that I'm cured or that I have come to some great revelation. I am still trying to figure this all out, but I know this much, I have a long way to go...