What God endures

I've had a few conversations recently about what Christian persecution looks like in America today. Most people I've talked to are convinced that they live in a country free of persecution. I disagree. I think we live in a country where it is easy to think you are a Christian without living like one. This might sound judgmental, but believe me when I say that I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to saying your a Christian, but not being willing to live like one.

For the most part, it is true that declaring faith in the Lord Jesus will not result in physical abuse, but it will surely result in social and professional abuse. What happens to students in the cafeteria who associate themselves with Jesus and stand up for a kid that is getting picked on? They will join the kid who is getting picked on. What happens to the business leader who refuses to take advantage of another person's weakness in order to make more money? He will be fired, or at least ignored and disrespected by his coworkers. The point is, when we really live out of love, and die to the American ideals of image and success, there are serious consequences. It will impact the way your friends and family see you. It will impact how much money you make. It will impact your reputation. Can you accept this?

I am reminded today that while I focus a lot on what I might endure by being associated with Jesus Christ, God endures far worse for being associated with me and with other Christians. Christians are sinners, so God's reputation is tarnished when people look at my life, or your life, and know that I represent Jesus Christ. God is associated with sexual immorality, violence, anger, and greed. He is associated with people (like me) who shout at people from their cars when they get frustrated. He is associated with people who cheat on their husbands and wives. He is associated with people who say they are disciples of Jesus and struggle with addictions to pornography and alcohol and cocaine. We hurt God's reputation. Despite all this, one of the clear messages of the New Testament is that in Christ, God has forever identified himself with sinful people, and He loves us.

The next time you are thinking about what it will cost you to live out your faith in Jesus Christ, remember what it costs God to love you. He suffered the death of His son and more.

Old Testament vs New Testament?

If you're like me, and you try and read your Bible regularly, you probably spend most of your time reading the New Testament. Why wouldn't you? That's where the life of Jesus is recorded in the four Gospels. That's where the Christian life is spelled out. Well, I believe that the Bible is a story. It is a true story! That means that the beginning is just as important as the end, and if you don't understand the first part of the story, you won't be able to make sense of everything God gives us in the second part.

I've been spending some time this summer trying to get to know some of the early parts of the story. Some of it has been fun. I read Exodus and was again amazed at the power of our God as he sent plagues on Egypt and led His people through the Red Sea (Don't mess with our God). Some of it has been tedious. I read about all the different ways a person was considered to be "unclean," and the seven day process you had to go though to be made clean again. I read chapter after chapter about how they were to make the clothing that the priests would wear inside the temple. I read about who was supposed to carry what part of the temple when the people of Israel moved to a different location. A lot of the Old Testament can be difficult to get through. It is a lot of rules and regulations, and it is very very detailed!

This morning, I realized that I can relate to people in the Old Testament much better than I can to many people in the New Testament. I am reading in Numbers, and a pattern is emerging. God is with His people. LITERALLY. He stays over them as a cloud during the day and as fire during the night. His presence dwells in the tent of meeting. He speaks to Moses all the time. Again and again, however, the people become frustrated with God. He promised to bring them into a great land, and they want to get there. They keep complaining that God should have just let them stay as slaves in Egypt, because they are so tired of wandering in the wilderness.

That is me. I am so worried about where I am going in life. I really want God to go ahead and take me there. I'm reminded that the point of life is to live joyfully in God's presence. He is so gracious and good to us that He gives us Himself, in Christ, but the power of the Holy Spirit. I'm trying to wrap my head around the truth that "The Spirit of God dwells within us (Romans 8:9)." If that is true, than "getting somewhere" in life is not the point. The journey is the point.

God, forgive my anxious heart and show me the wonder of Your presence.

I am a fisherman!

It is official folks: I am a fisherman.

I have probably fished a grand total of about 6 times in my life (average of about once every 4 years). Most of those times were on the lake at Camp High Rocks where I spent most of my summers growing up. Before last weekend, I had never "gone fishin.'" This past weekend, a buddy of mine invited me to go fly-fishing. I've always thought that would be cool, so we loaded up and headed to beautiful downtown Waynesboro, VA, where you can wade right into the Meachem Creek.

A few things about fly-fishing:

The philosophy of fly-fishing has to do with imitation. You try and imitate the look and behavior of flies and other insects on the surface of the water. It is actually a very sophisticated technique. You swing the rod back and forth in an arc (from 10:00 to 2:00) so that the "fly" is flying around right above the water, and then you let it settle onto the water. Presumable, a trout or bass or some other delicious fish looks up and says, "I need to eat that fly," and then you've got him.

Have you ever been really excited about something, and then out try it and feel like a total idiot, because you don't really know what the heck you are doing? That is me and fishing. I swung my rod (Joe Dewey's spare rod), but I apparently made my "fly" look less like an actual fly and more like a miniature F18 fighter jet making high speed bombing runs. I did not catch any fish. I did, however, break the tip off my friend's rod when I was walking through the trees trying to get to the water, so I definitely accomplished something...

OK, so a couple of days later, Maggie and I headed up to Madison to do dinner with a bunch of her family on the farm. They live in a beautiful spot and there is a pond on the property. Uncle Chug brought a couple of fishing rods and I ended up down by the pond with him and my youngest brother-in law Conner. No fly-fishing this time, just casting out a hook with a wriggling worm on the end into the middle of the pond. I actually caught 2 FISH!! One was about 4 inches long, and I also caught a big one that was about 4 1/2 inches long. Pretty crazy...

At this point, I have fished twice in two days and have now caught a couple of "enormous" fish. I am feeling pretty good about myself and am visualizing a picture of me on the cover of Outdoor Sportsman magazine. I slowly sauntered back to Uncle Chug's tackle box to put my hook back, when my dog--She is having the time of her life running around the farm--galloped up and jumped up at the grass hanging from my fishing hook. The hook caught her right underneath the upper lip and lodged securely in her gums. I freaked out, realizing that now I have fished twice and broke a rod and snared the non-human that I love the most.

I spent the next half-hour trying to wrestle the dog to the ground so I could dry and dislodge the hook, but she was so freaked out, that I couldn't get a hold on it. Eventually, Maggie's mom got a hold of the family vet, and we left (missing dessert :( ! ) to take Sadie for minor emergency surgery. She had to be sedated and the hook cut out. That was the worst part. It was devestating watching my puppy dog unconscious on a table, with blood running out of her mouth from where the vet was trying to get the hook out. Luckily, everyone survived, and I even got to eat Apple pie when we got back to the farm.

It's funny how emotions can change so quickly. After catching a couple of fish I was feeling awesome. There is something for a man about catching a fish where he feels like he is in his right place of dominion over nature. When Sadie got hooked, my feelings did a complete 180. I felt angry and scared and guilty.

So what?

So, get out there and Carpe the Diem!! Get outside and have an adventure. I think I am remembering that I love the outdoors. But, don't forget that, if you are a human like me, you are a complete mess, and you probably won't be able to do anything quite right.

How your brain works

Ok, first, I apologize to all of my many faithful readers for not posting a new blog in over 16 months. That is Busch league. My bad. I'm actually going to try and write more, and hopefully blog once a week.

I've been thinking this summer about how my brain works. I don't understand exactly how this happens, but our brains have two sides. The left-side is used for analytical, logical, and linear thinking. The right side is used for random, instinctive, and creative thinking. I would say that I am a right-brain sort of guy, but lately, I have given in to the other side of my brain. I have focused on getting things done, accomplishing tasks, and checking off boxes on my to-do list. NO MORE!

Here and now I make a pledge to exercise the right side of my brain. Part of my plan is to write more. Believe it or not, I was a creative writing major in college. I loved writing poetry and short fiction, but I haven't written anything like that in years. I'm going to try to write some every week, including this blog. If you read, however, don't expect Shakespeare.

I'm also planning on taking a pottery class in the fall, so look out world: here comes the right side of my brain! Have you used yours lately?

WIRED this Sunday!! a poetic celebration

WIRED goes Crazy
Joyful sounds ring out all night
Seriously, come

Mouth Sores... and the Resurrection

Do you ever feel like you are living mouth sore to mouth sore? Man, I do! It seems like I'll bite my lip while I'm eating Mexican food, or something, and I'll keep biting the same spot, since it is swollen and painful. When it finally starts to heal, I get another one in a different location. I know what you are thinking, but I actually have a pretty good attitude about the whole thing. It makes me long for my perfect flawless Resurrection body. It's cool to think about the little stuff that makes us hope in Jesus, and what He is going to do when He comes back!

Test Drive

OK, so I have this great friend named Tripp Purks. He sent me an email on Tuesday about this promo fundraiser that BMW does to raise money and awareness for breast cancer and to promote their cars. You get to drive any BMW model you want and they donate one dollar for each mile you drive. We arrived at 9am on Thursday, signed the "you break it you buy it" form, and settled into a brand-new BMW 328ci. It was amazing. I drive a Nissan XTerra, which is a cool car with a small engine: about 170 horse power. The 328 has 300hp and is much smaller with a tight sporty suspension. Needless to say, when you tell it to go... It Goes!! For the sake of decency I will refrain from telling you how fast I got that thing up to, or how quickly it arrived at that undisclosed speed, but I will tell you that it was incredibly exhilarating. Now here me when I say that I am not going to buy this car, and I don't even really recommend that anyone else go and buy this car. All I am saying is that it was really fun to drive. Tripp was in the passenger seat, messing around with the hi-tech digital display for navigation, music, etc. We cranked the music on the amazing speakers and rocketed around the back-roads outside of Charlottesville, wishing the rain would go away so we could really push it. We did a 14-mile lope and parked back in the dealership parking lot.

Next, Tripp says, "Is there a Z series available?" The next thing I know we are squeezing into the doors of a Z4, the top-line BMW sports coupe. It was amazing. The speed on that thing was scary. In most cars, you can tell what the limits of the care are, but in this thing, our emotional and physical limit was reached while the actual performance limits were not even within sight. Tripp demonstrated driving skills worthy of a participant in the 24-hour Le Mans race in France.

I guess I don't really have a point other than to say that Driving nice cars is really fun. I'm also considering getting a rocket-engine booster for the back of my XTerra, so I can have batman-like acceleration.