Are you There?

Recently I have tried to contact one of my best friends, and no matter what I did I received no response. I e-mailed, I called, I left funny messages on their machine- Nothin. It's hard to keep a friendship going when everything depends on you (which I have to say that I have done this same thing to some of my friends, so I see both sides of this). And then (I love "and thens") I got an e-mail back. My best friend actually sent a response, and I was shocked! Our friendship is worth everything to me because I know that it is rare to find people who you want to stay in contact with for the rest of your life. When you find a friendship that you want to last, it's hard when you are responsible for keeping it going because then it becomes less of a friendship and more of a job.

I, of course, can see a spiritual parallel to this situation. How long has God been trying to contact you? He doesn't have e-mail, but He does occasionally leave funny messages on our machine's. Having my friend respond to me made my day, and I wonder if God does the same thing when we finally drop what we are doing and spend some time talking with Him. Even if it is for only a moment, that moment means that we are making a conscious decision to include God in our day. Just like in friendships, just a small message can let that person know that they are being included in your life. I rejoice that now, once again, I can continue to spread my sarcasm and whit to my friend Aaron (this is not a part of my multiple personalities, this is an actual person also named Aaron, and yes, I do have friends). And God can continue to spread His comedy by keeping Aaron in my life, funny how that works.

Let's Pretend....

For just a moment let's pretend that the Church (universally) really wants to see people's lives changed. I think that this is just a pretend scenario because all I see is a group of people who's one goal is to have Jesus work in others lives in the same manner as their own. "I am right and you are wrong, theologically speaking. The way we worship and preach is better and more spiritual then the way you worship or preach." I see the Church striving to make theological clones of themselves, "You have to walk with Jesus the way I walk with Jesus or you do not walk with Jesus." I think the thing that frustrates me most is that the Church does not accept people the way they are, but wants them to think and act like they do. GET OVER YOURSELVES!

I want to be apart of a Church where everyone is different and they don't think the same way I do. Can you imagine how great it would be to have: Democrat and Republican, Catholic and Pentecostal, old and young, and everyone in between, sit down and talk about how Jesus has changed their lives. I think that it is the differences between us that makes life interesting because Jesus has touched our lives in completely different ways. Each of us has a different testimony about the working of God in our lives and I want to hear them all.

I know that people's tastes are different when it comes to Christianity. Some want to sing hymns and some want to have a little electric guitar. Some want fire and brimstone and some want It's all good. People are at different levels spiritually, and these tastes are not a bad thing. I am not going to tell someone that they don't worship in the right way just because they worship differently then I do. They are worshipping Jesus and that is the bottom line. Now, if they are only worshipping and living life based on a Christian tradition and not a personal relationship with Jesus, I will tell them that there is a better and deeper level of relationship that they can have.

Some may say that I am arrogant to tell people that they are not living up to their spiritual potential, but that is what Jesus did to the religious leaders of His time. There is always going to be a deeper level of relationship that we can have with God through Jesus. We are never, ever going to be able to "get it all" when it comes to spirituality because we are limited (finite) in our understanding. I think that we should stop pretending that we want to have people's lives changed (if our motives are to change them into us), and start showing them Jesus in every level of their existence.

American Idol

Okay, so everyone and their mother's friend's aunt's dog is talking about American Idol. Do we really have nothing better to do on Tuesdays and Wednesdays then to watch people try and become famous? I know I don't. It's sad to me that I find myself watching this show, which is really nothing more then a marketing tool aimed at getting people to buy CD's. And how much does the show make in voting phone calls? I am assuming that it costs .99 cents per vote, and the show gets 30 million votes per show. Who is making the money on this? I wish that I was not sitting here wasting my time talking about this, but I am because this is what people talk about. Or at least this is what people talk about when there is nothing better to talk about. I am hoping that the show will eventually include a sing off between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, that would entertaining.

The Nature of Man

I want to start with a question. Is man good or bad? Put another way, are we sinful or not? When God created man it was in a state of perfection with no sin. God created us without blemish. When sin entered into the picture and we were torn from perfection, the very nature of Man changed. Before, we were in a relationship with God, that was our very purpose. After, the thing we were created for was twisted and we lost that relationship. Man began an existence away from God and sin became Man's nature. We no longer were the way that God created us. Christians live a life knowing that the current state of Mankind is not the way that God intended it to be. Man is flawed and the very nature that we are born into deceives us.

Do we accept this nature as being a part of God's plan? The Christian mindset holds that if you accept the nature that you are born with, then you accept sin as being a part of who you are. Christians reject this view because the nature of sin is contrary to why we were created, and God does not "make" us sinful. We all are born into a sinful world, but Christians reject their sinful nature because it is contrary to having a relationship with God. Sin is the thing that separates us from God,and Christians, since they view the separation with God as being repaired through Jesus dying on the cross, reject their sinful nature as being the natural order of things. Sin has corrupted the nature of Man and the perfection of Creation has been corrupted as well. Man; lies,cheats,steals,murders,hates,gossips,and commits sexual immorality. These things are not what God intended when He created Man. These things are a result of how sin has changed and separated Man from God. Christians do not hate when they say that people sin. They are simply saying that what people accept as being normal is not a God thing, but a sinful nature thing.

As a Christian I do not hate anybody. I do reject the nature that I am born into and believe that acceptance of sin is a result of sin itself. There is nothing that anyone can do to make me hate them, but I will disagree with them if they say that God made them that way. God's creation was perfect, until greed and power took the place in Man's heart and sin entered into the world. I believe that the Nature of Man is supposed to be knowing God and rejecting sin. John 3:16 is way over used, but the message is that God loves us despite our sin and wants us to have that relationship with Him again. That is the reason that He sent Jesus to correct the gap between God and Man. Christians need to forget about correcting people over their acceptance of sin, and love them like God loves them despite their sin. This should be the Nature of the Christian.

Tears of Black

Have you ever had a time in your life where you had difficulty expressing hurts and fears? If you are a guy that is all the time. This is apart of my pain and my prayer from October 2001.

Endless days of forgotten youth
Life ends in hushed silence
Crushed
Beautifully
Endless nights of broken dreams
Life falls in a deafening quiet
Obliterated
Wonderfully
Reaching for the inevitability of nothing
Grasping for reality
My heart shatters
Broken by the force of past hurts
Undone love
Always
The tears from my heart are black
The silence is unbearable
The screams are real
I fall to my knees
I cannot stop this pain
It courses throughout my being
Jesus
Save me from myself
Again
Always
Break this pain that breaks my heart
Caress my life with your gentleness
My burden
I cannot cry with tears that are rest
My tears are dark
They do not fall without ripping my pain
Jesus
The beauty of your touch blinds me
I need your touch
Your love
Your heart
Let me cry on your peace
Jesus
Forever

River Valley Church (RVC)

River Valley is the church that I am interning at to get my Pastoral Degree from North Central University. I have been at River Valley since August and I have to say that it is one of the best churches that I have ever been to. The heart and vision of the church is seen in all of the staff and I have never seen a church that has the kind of unity that RVC has. I am constantly amazed at how this church runs and I am excited to see where God is taking it. The church is in a constant state of growth and currently runs between 1200-1400 people on the weekends.

All of the Pastors are amazing, especially Pastor Troy Austian (who I am doing my internship with). Pastor Troy is the Spiritual Life Pastor and is in charge of Small Groups and Information Technology. PT (Pastor Troy) has an amazing heart for people and I am blessed that the Lord has placed me here. PT and I get along really well, mainly because we are both quite geeky (Star Trek rules!!). I wish that I could stay at RVC past my internship, but I think that the Lord wants me to have actual experience being a Pastor and not just being an intern. This makes me sad (that I have to leave), but I think that the things that I am learning from being at this church will help me be a better Pastor. If you are ever in Apple Valley, MN come check out RVC and the amazing things that God is doing there. Also check out the links for RVC and PT under my links.

Back from the Brink

I have returned from the very brink of death. Ok, so maybe not death. There was a light and I did see Jesus, but that was only from the TV. I have been sick with a sinus and ear infection (yes, at the same time) and I can say that it was really not that fun. I had to miss a whole week of internship (sorry PT) and I feel very disconnected from everything. I feel about 60% better so hopefully I will continue to improve so that I can return to my normal charming self. I have discovered two things over this last week of sickness. One is that having a painful splitting headache is not at all a joy ride of fun. And two, that Christian movies about the Bible pretty much suck. I know this because I tried watching a few of them when I was on the couch. I preferred the splitting headache.