I am tired of conservatives, and liberals too actually but mostly the conservatives that are so in love with our governmental process that they don't actually love people any more. A couple of weeks ago I heard on the Neal Borts show (libertarian leaning democrat hating right wing talk show on the radio that many people around where I live actulally like) A caller was talking about how hard it was for him to get insurance because of a preexsisting condition. Borts said (and I am not getting the wording right here) "what problem is that of mine?" Essentially I don't care enough about my fellow man to pitch in a few bucks for your health care, so suck it up and find out how to go it on your own. This is America and we only care for ourselvs. That is what churches and private charities are for.
This is why I am tired of Conservativism. And this is what is wrong with america and why we are in trouble.

DCB*

You may know that I am not a fan of contemporary Christian music (CCM to make it easier from here on out). really there are only two Artists (I use the term loosley when it comes to CCM) that I actually like when it comes to the genre. Jars of Clay, because they consistently put out material that is not only obviously christian but musically creative and innovative. And the David Crowder Band. The DCB has been putting out sonically and lyrically innovative stuff for some time now (innovative for a worship band?). Well yes, this is not your tired Michael W. Smith cheesey songwriting here, they actually write thoughtful and catchy lyrics that just so happen to be about God. If more christian artists would think about the craft then just being high-school cheerleaders for Jesus I think more people would actually listen. Anyway I saw DCB thios past weekend and they rocked, more so than any other band at the festival I saw them at. And the best thing about them, no preaching between songs. It's as if they got up there and said "Here is our stuff, sing along if you'd like if not just listen." And they had fun doing it. They don't take themselves too seriously, which most CCM artists do, they don't do silly posturing a la Toby Mac, they just go out and play. Which happens to be my favorite trait of JOC too. I became a fan after I saw them live.

Granted you have to be in the mood for DCB. Sundays is a good place to start. They still are not my favorite of all time (Paul Weller is with a host of others close behind). But in the realm of CCM (which is very small artistically) There are only two that I think matter. Jars becausethey write stuff that is applicable to real life, and can stand up to most secular contemporaries. And DCB because they do it how it should be done, creatively.

I talked to Tyrone Wells once many years ago, and he said this about the CCM industry. He told me that the label wanted them to say the name of Jesus more. That tells me all I need to know about the industry. They Just want to sell Jesus, to make money. No craft, no creativeity, just write some songs that say Jesus and let the CCM radio industry sell it. It is horrible, let these guys write some good songs, so what if it about being angry or getting dumped. Stuff that almost everyone has gone through btw. If someone hears a song they like and can relate to, then maybe they will be attracted to God through the life of the artist not just the song.

Saying Goodbye

Today I had a final chance to say goodbye to my friend Eric. It was difficult, yet joyous at the same time. I have long felt that those who live an exemplary life would have a party of a passing. Well, considering that Eric had cancer and died way too young (37 to be exact) it wasn't the party that I thought it would be. I cried, felt sorry for myself and his widow and children, and at times laughed and was even a bit jealous. But now it is a party. I know that I didn't always agree with Eric. Things like politics and scripture interpretation (on things that are peripheral), were often just unspoken "agree to disagree" things with us. But this I will always see eye to eye with him. God loves all of us, we need to have a relationship with Him, and Jesus wants to be a part of that relationship. So as far as Eric's memorial service goes, I think for the most part, that was made clear. We sang some songs, and it was hard for me. I remember Eric as one who loved to sing, even if it was out of tune, so that was really hard on me. I have led worship at camps and things with him, so I just saw him with us and it was painful. But then I felt as though God was telling me that for today i could sing with Eric one more time. People rememberd Eric for his love and devotion to the youth of our church and community. I share that love, but now I want to share that passion with him too. Imay not be able to be crazy or wild like E but I want to love those kids and my community like he did. Really i want that for all of us. To love those around us like God loves us. Whatever form that takes, feeding homless, volunteering at an elementary school, working with pregnant teens, visiting a convelescant home,whatever it may be. That is what we need to do.

Abortion and killing sounds the same to me.......

So I am very troubled by the killing of an abortion doctor, at Church no less, in Kansas. I am no fan of abortion, thinking it is ending of a life, but is killing those that perform the act any better. We might as well go so far as to kill the mothers (or former moms) for having the procedure done. Is that really the solution? If the anti-abortion groups really wanted to make a change, why don't they try to get people to fall in love with God and have a good upstanding relationship with Him? Other than berating and verbally bludgeoning the poor people that go to the clinics. Today I heard the leader of Operation Rescue call the now deceased Dr. demonic. Demonic? He was shot at church for cryin' out loud, how can we treat others like that. Give the dead a little respect. Maybe the job he did was highly disagreeable to about half of the nation. But we live in a broken and disturbed world, and we have long ago (Adam) strayed from the life that God wanted us to live. We cannot assume that this Country does everything the way God wants us to. That is the most arrogant thing we can do. We all (even the conservative-right-evangelical-mainstream-fox watching folks) just need to walk humbly with our God, and go from there. Yes that is a bible reference, so I'm going with it.

Have you read the shack?

So I just finished The Shack By William Young. Great book, really I haven't felt this way about a book since I read Blue Like Jazz. I will not tell too much about it other than it talks about conversations with God, in three persons, and how those conversations effect the main charachter Mack. Truly go get it and read it all of you. If you have read it, lets talk. I desire conversaitons about it and all the odd things that it brings up. The thing I liked best about it was the idea of living in relationships that were circular, everything revolving around the relationship. People only caring about people nothing else, but living with God in a relationship, and handling their earthly relationships in the same way, as God would, and intended us to do. Any how read the book then we will chat. Seriouly read the damn book.

Cancerous

I am not very happy. A good friend of mine has what appears to be , no final word yet, several tumors all over his body. I am pissed frankly, on several fronts really. One, his wife and mine are really good friends and my wife has spent the last three days caring for her and their three children. Two, I help my friend out at the church, our church, where he is the youth pastor, so I volunteer my time and for three weeks I have been running the middle school ministry on Wednesdays. Three, I feel like I have to figure so much out that I was not planning on just three days ago. Four, I am pissed that I am so damn selfish sometimes. You see, I have know several people with cancer, from an uncle that I actually never met, to a grandmother that I dearly loved, to family friends that have just died two years ago, if that. And I still can't wrap my head around the disease, and the effect it has on people. I mean there are guys like Lance Armstrong defeating it, and yet there are millions more that don't. It seems so indiscriminate, I mean my friend is 37, young and healthy, strong and smart. Yet God obviously has something better in mind, yet I can't figure it out. Which leads me to what I am most angry about. Life is not a play about me with you all as supporting actors. Why am I so frustrated by this disease. Because it doesn't fit into my plans. I don't want the hassle of helping a friend out in a dark, dark hour. I have better things to do, but I know that this is just a small episode in time. Not my time really. Not my Play. Not my story. I just ask that prayers be said for Eric, and me regardless of what I have in mind, it is really not up to me to decide. Thanks for listening...............

I just finished a book by Rob Bell, and some other guy I don't know the name off hand, that I think was really great. It is called Jesus wants to save Christians, go get it and read it, really now. I will sum up in my own words and then you should go and read it. The idea of Exodus is the theme of the book, the idea of coming out of one way of life into a better one. Well I have thought about these ideas (not is so many eloquent words mind you) of moving to a better way for a long time. In the boook The authors point out that the ancient Israelites were rescued from slavery in an "anti-kingdom" and called to be the body of God here on earth. Well to be brief, we here in america are seeming to be living dangerously close to an "anti-kingdom". Don't get me wrong I am a proud american, but when it becomes about us more than them we are treading a dangerous path. King Solomon went downthat path, the book argues, and it led to exile in Babylon. I can't tell you haow many times I have heard or thought this line "We're Americans Dammit!" and thus justifing what ever action that may or may not be good for us. Like I have said before, we need to get out of the country more. We have this massive wealth here and we spend it on destruction and harm, not only to people but the earth as well, and we think that because we are the last superpower we can do whatever we please. In my opinion, and I think it comes out in the book I started with, we should be doing good things with our money and not just for ourselves. I get so tired of hearing that we need to bomb more or invade more for our security, well God is my security and I don't need to kill anybody to keep Him around. If we are going t call ourselves a Christian Nation (another debate entirely) we need to be acting like Christ to other nations, the humble wounded servant Jesus that I know. This is not just some bleeding heart love fest either, but all Jesus called us to do is love God and our neighbors, not be a political action committe for a particular party, and tell other people about how God loves them. It isn't hard folks, it is not about me. It is about something much higher than me, I am just along for the ride.

Here are my notes from a sermon I gave on Feb. 8. Remember these are my notes the full sermon had serval ideas frm memory. So if it sounds incoherant, it wasn't as bad live.


Since it is coming up on valentines day I thought I would talk about Love. Now don't worry I am not going to talk about the gushy romantic love. Honestly if you don't have a spouse or are dating you probably hate to hear about love and valentines anyway. But I am not going to talk about it. One I am not the best at it, and two, the world does not revolve around it. I am not going to talk about the unconditional love either. You are probably saying to yourself “That pretty much covers it so what is he going to say?” Well I am going to talk about something that I used to struggle with, and I think that someone here probably struggles with it too. But first I want to read from Matthew chapter 22:35. Keep that in mind as we go on. Blue Like Jazz is a really good book. If you get an opportunity to read it it will open your eyes to some different perspectives on our faith. But as I was reading this book years ago, there was a chapter about love that really struck me and reminded me of some things I had gone through.
In the book the author Donald Miller tells of how he was dating this girl for a while. But no matter how hard she tried, he just couldn't believe she loved him. She told him and told him, but nothing worked. He would beat himself over it too. Kicking himself around and comparing himself to other people and things like that. Well I don;t want to tell the whole story, but I see it all the time, people just look around and start saying “what if?” about so many things. And comparing and hating themselves for nothing. But back to Don Miller, he just couldn't accept her love. One day he was cleaning his bathroom and the words “Love your neighbor as yourself.” came into his head. Here is the rub, we don't willingly treat others badly, so why do we do it to ourselves. That leads to the other part of that verse from Leviticus 19:18. We have to love ourselves, but in order to do that we must accept love from others. Accepting love from others is like accepting a gift. People can bring us gifts all they want, but if we never open them we don't ever get the great stuff that is wrapped up. Once we are willing to accept the love of others things work out better. There is no more tension between us and those that love us. This is not just for romantic type loves either.
Have you ever had a friend that just listen to you. “I can't do this” or I stink at that” it is hard to deal with right? Well those people are getting their worth from something other than God. They are letting “stuff” name them. And when our value does not come from God we will always seem inferior. As odd as that sounds, only the creator of the universe, a being so great He can do whatever he wants to, makes us feel the way we are supposed to. Our value only comes from God. (read Blue page 86)
Love our neighbors as ourselves. So if we can't love ourselves how can we fulfill that command? Eric talked about love being a verb a couple of weeks ago, which it is. Tossing a Frisbee is a verb too. Relationships are just like that. You have to have reciprocal action. When I started college I was at a stage where I had just ended, rather badly, a relationship with a girl who was great and ended up getting engaged to my best friend. But I was basically afraid to do that again, I didn't want to injure somebody else like I had her. She was a good friend too, and she was friends with all of my other friends, both guys and girls. I believed that I wasn't a good guy so I didn't deserve friendship. But I wanted it, badly. But I also didn't want to torch these bridges like I had others. So I kept myself kind of away, but not too far. It happened one day when I transferred to PCC and began making friends there, that I realized that if these new friends could accept me for me, and I knew that God loved me just as I was, then I was okay. (talk about Nouwen.) I learned the true value of me, and how to accept that value. (Psalm 139 and Matt 10.) God made me, so I must be good. Thats what he said when he created Adam, and I am in His image. So if I am good, then I can love that.
And speaking of value, here is one way that you can put a value on your life. You are worth dieing for. Think about that. God was willing to die for you. You were worth it. So all of you single people out there if so-and-so isn't willing to die for you, are they right for you? Husbands are you willing to die for your wife? Your kids? Wives, would you give your last drop of blood for your husbands? Those are hard questions, but remember, you are worth dieing for. Jesus did it for you. Don't ever feel that you are inferior, God loves you and wants you to accept that love. Once we can accept that then, it is so much easier to accept it from others. And when we all go around loving each other as we love ourselves, the world is coming into alignment with Gods original plan.

I have been doing the social networking thing for quite some time now, and i have re-connected with several old friends this way. but still the thought of having someone you havent spoken to in a loong time and then they get to see into (superficially) your lifew has got me creepoed just a little. i'm sill on facebook andmyspace though, go figure.

last night

Just to add to last nights rant. I never profess to be perfect, or that I know everything. But this I do know, Americans need to get out of america more. Some of the views I have of the situation in Israel are garnerd from my travels overseas. I have a somewhat better informed view of Apartheid in South Africa because I went there and talked to people that grew up with it. I talked to locals in El Salvador about how America has injured that country as well. So, I haven't been to the middle east, but I have been to countries that have been effected by American policy and I can tell you that our policy of blindly backing the Isralies reguardless has not only hurt our credibility but infuriated so many people that it is no wonder that there is hatred towards America. So people, get out more see the world and talk to locals but sew a canadian flag or your back pack, trust me it will save you lots of trouble.

The new apartheid

The last week or so has seen a renewed focus on Israel and Gaza. I fully respect the right of Israel as a sovereign nation to protect itself from terrorist attacks (though that is debatable, some call it self defence from the Palestinians). But people need to look beyond the the near horizon and look at what has been going on there for several years. But first look at forced resettlement and racial profiling and bias in other countries and see what has become of it. In South Africa in the 1950's the country passed laws that legalized racism and marginalized the majority of people. For years the black south Africans tried to gain equality, but with unequal resources (Gaza has been under a virtual blockade and has had energy rations for years now) and economic opportunities it was extremely difficult to do so. So the ANC resorted to "terrorist acts" that killed innocent people. That woke up the white ruling elites, and for a while they cracked down on the ANC. But the high profile of the actions gained popularity for the movement. The international community got behind the ANC and eventually in 1993 South Africa held its first bi-racial election. Now life is not perfect in SA, but it is now one of the richest and most powerful nations on the continent. Is that what Israel is afraid of? Palestine getting bigger and better than they? One nation cannot oppress another forever. Micah 6:8 says to ".......do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God." That is Old testament stuff, the part of the Bible the Jews read. Now it is not in the books of Moses but I think it applies here. If America had not practiced pre-emptive war in the last 8 years Israel may not be doing this action now. If Israel had not oppressed Palestinians Hamas may not be blowing up Israeli towns right now. If humans treated each other with respect and love like we were intend to places like Darfur in Sudan, Somalia, Congo would not be having the same type of conflict right now. Why aren't American soldiers fighting in Zimbabwe Mugabe is as bad a dictator as Saddam was yet we don't seem to care about the southern Africans.
At a time in history that is seeing one of the most amazing changes in the world (a black president of the US it is still unbelievable to me I never thought I would be alive to see it). We still have nations oppressing nations, leaders screwing their countries, and many many people sitting by watching, wondering if anyone will come to their senses. It has to start with us. Me loving you and you loving the next one. I hope I can live up to the challenge.