A brief theological reflection on Batman

What comes to mind when I tell you to think of Batman? This is actually a pretty important question, because we can't talk about Batman until we've got some agreement on who Batman actually is.

The 1966-1968 Batman TV series, starring Adam West as Batman, is not a good version of Batman. I know there's folks out there who like it, but I just hope that they understand that it's not really the best version of Batman out there. Really, folks, let's be honest - the Batusi is not going to be a recognized action of a man who dresses up as a giant bat in order to more effectively avenge the murders of his parents (which he witnessed at age 7).

But on the other hand, the 1992-1995 Batman: The Animated Series is a very good version of Batman, largely because it is much more in line with the central idea of "Bruce Wayne saw his parents murdered in front of him and now fights a one-man war on crime as the dark-clad spirit of vengeance."

Of course, those aren't the only two televised adaptations of Batman to ever exist. Batman was also portrayed on SuperFriends and all of its spinoffs, as well as spinoffs of the 1992 animated series. And then there are theatrical adaptations of Batman to be considered, as well. The Adam West series had its own movie, Tim Burton directed Batman in 1989 with Michael Keaton, and then Burton and Keaton reunited for Batman Returns in 1992. After Burton and Keaton left, director Joel Schumacher took the reigns for 1995's Batman Forever starring Val Kilmer, and 1997's Batman & Robin with George Clooney. None of those are very good, but I'll allow that some are worse than others.

Then we come to the most recent film adaptations of Batman: Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, both directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale as Batman. Both of these have been excellent, and I'm personally looking forward to the third film in the series, The Dark Knight Rises, due summer 2012.

Now, I realize that I'm not the supreme arbiter of taste when it comes to interpretations of Batman - my opinion is just that - my opinion. If someone else thinks Adam West was the best Batman ever, who am I to say he or she is wrong?

Well, for starters, I'm the guy who's read a whole lot of Batman comics.

I won't claim that I've read every Batman story ever, but I've read enough that I have a pretty solid idea of who Batman is, what defines him as a character, what kinds of stories work best for that character, and also what kinds of stories don't work as well for the character.

And sometimes when people get to talking about Batman, it's very important to make sure that everybody comes to the table with a common understanding of what makes a "good" Batman, because it's only after everybody agrees on what's good that you can actually determine what's bad.

Tim Burton's depiction of Batman is no good for a lot of reasons, but there are two huge ones that stick out as flagrant errors in Batmannery. First - the Joker did not kill Batman's parents. That's a pretty cheap storytelling move, trying to tie unrelated elements of the story together in order to create more emotional tension. Second - Batman doesn't kill people, not even the Joker. But hey, Tim Burton has said before that he never read Batman comics, and really, that explains a lot of things.

I'm not saying that you can't enjoy Batman without reading the comics... But that does make it really hard to get a fully accurate picture of the true nature of the Batman.

Movies and TV shows are operating within time-sensitive frameworks where there's not really enough room to put in ALL of the wealth of information and characterization that can be borne out of more than 70 years of work on Batman. In pursuits of a deeper understanding of Batman, however, it becomes necessary at some point to at least read a few of the comics. (I would suggest starting with anything written by Frank Miller.)

Sometimes people have ideas of what they think Batman is like - based on their exposure to various TV shows and movies over the years - that either line up perfectly or don't fit at all with what the real Batman is like. These misconceptions of Batman have a lot to do with how people react to Batman, and it's important to know if somebody's idea of Batman is right or not in order to know what they actually think of Batman.

And now replace "Batman" in that last paragraph with "God" and you'll see what I see in a lot of Christians today.

A lot of Christians today are operating under a set of mistaken assumptions about who God is. The corruptions of the idea of God come from all sorts of places, not excluding movies and TV. And even worse, once we get to the root of the misconceptions about God, we find that they come from someone who hasn't ever actually read the Bible to see what God Himself says about God.

Batman as portrayed by Adam West in the 1966 TV series isn't such a terrible Batman that it's something else entirely. It's just a somewhat goofy Batman with painted on eyebrows and a charming smile, surrounded by caricatures of his villains, all reduced to brightly colored practical jokes instead of genuinely threatening psychotics with seriously altered understandings of reality.

Batman as portrayed by Michael Keaton in the Tim Burton films still isn't so horrible at being Batman that we have to call him Superman, but it's still not a 100% accurate Batman, either. This version of Batman goes too far and crosses lines that the real Batman doesn't, violating one of the central codes of the actual character's definition, leading to a corrupted vision of who Batman is.

Again - that's how some people are with God. Some people - Christian and non-Christian alike - operate with understandings of God that deviate the Biblical picture of God to create something that, although not entirely worthless, definitely isn't completely correct.

God is not the eternal sunshine and rainbows machine, wanting to shower you with nothing but happiness and Lisa Frank stickers; nor is He the universal drill sergeant, barking orders and keeping His troops in line through harsh routines. Both of these ideas of God come from corruptions of aspects of God - both ideas are based on the Truth of God, but still fall so very short.

I'm hoping that the Batman analogy helps you see why it's important that we all have a fully functional understanding of who God really is. While I'll grant that it doesn't matter too much (while still mattering a good bit) what you think about Batman, it definitely matters, more than anything else does, what you think about God.

As I've become more known in social circles as "the preacher," I've found myself having more and more discussions about God and faith in Him. One of the inescapable commonalities among people who hold objections to Christianity is a theologically incorrect picture of God. If God Himself is misunderstood, how can anything else make sense? When I'm talking to non-Christians who object to the idea of a God who tells His followers to bring hateful acts of violence down on - for instance - homosexuals, I try to show them that they're operating with a mistaken understanding of who God is. Once they understand that what God actually asks of us is to love all people as much as we love ourselves, then we are one step closer to sharing in an experience of the Truth of God.

But at the same time, I often have conversations with Christians who are themselves coming from dangerously awry understandings of the true nature of God. When I meet a Christian who is struggling in his faith because God hasn't blessed him with material wealth, it's there that we've got to make sure to look for and find the Truth of God, the Truth that transcends worldly desires and focuses on living by the Spirit. It is only when we come to understand the Truth of God that the Truth can set us free - truly free.

It's no mere coincidence that Jesus refers to Himself as the Truth - there's a very powerful idea contained in that. One person's understanding of God might seem to work for them, but if it's not actually based on the correct understanding, then things fall apart pretty quickly when the questions are asked.

I'd like to encourage you to read the book of Job. I know it's long, and I know not everybody's got just tons of free time, but trust me - if you take the time to read the Bible, God will bless you deeply for it, and you'll be blown away how much you can get out of just reading for a few minutes each day. But specifically and especially in reading Job, I want you to look at the version of God presented in the closing chapters and compare it to your own concept of God. Does Job's God look like your God?

There's only so much any preacher can do. Eventually everything comes down to whether or not the listener is willing to seriously question his or her own beliefs and make adjustments based on the reality of Truth when compared to the illusion of personal preference.

When faced with the choice between a difficult belief that challenges you to take the hard step of living a better life or an easy belief that allows you to stay the same and placate your conscience, it's not hard to see why most people through the history of the world have taken the easy way out. It's easy. Duh.

But following God isn't supposed to be easy. Good Batman isn't easy. But finding - and adhering to - the genuine Truth is what makes all the difference.

When The Dark Knight came out in theaters, the girl I was dating at the time was extremely reluctant to see the movie, citing a huge hatred for Batman. This simply wasn't gonna sit with me, so I had to find out where this hatred was coming from. As I dug and poked and prodded, I found out that she'd never actually experienced any good Batman. Once she saw The Dark Knight, however, she admitted that she enjoyed it - and why wouldn't she? It's awesome! It gets Batman right! I firmly believe that it's next to impossible for anyone to see Batman done well and not enjoy it at least a little bit.

But Batman done wrong? Yeah, that's terrible.

Same thing goes for God. When people are operating with a poor understanding of who God actually is and what He actually does, it's easy to see why they'd reject the idea.

Once the Truth is understood, however, and people have a correct understanding of the Nature and Will and Love of God, then I don't see how anybody can pass it up.

Make sure you know the Truth of who God is. Don't be content with your understanding of God as it stands now - dedicate yourself to a constant search for knowledge of God on the most intimate of levels. Know Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you will find yourself sharing what you know with everyone around you. Just like Batman, once people see God in the right way, it becomes a lot harder to reject the idea.

Something about Pink Floyd in a religious context

As you may recall from the previous post, Led Zeppelin is my favorite band to a truly hyperbolic degree.

However standing in as close of a second place as is possible is the Pink Floyd.

GET IT?

Pink Floyd does good things. Very good things.

But they're not Led Zeppelin.

I said last week that Led Zeppelin's 1973 Houses of the Holy is my all time favorite album. Pink Floyd's 1973 Dark Side of the Moon is my second favorite. I don't know how it was for wine, but 1973 was a pretty awesome year for rock and roll.

In fact, I think Pink Floyd hit a streak of audio perfection for a stretch of four albums - Meddle in 1971, DSotM in '73, Wish You Were Here in '75, and Animals in '77.

But Led Zeppelin had a streak for 8 albums running. So... Led Zeppelin still wins.

And it's not like I hate the rest of the Pink Floyd catalog compared to those four albums. That's not at all the case. I really dig The Wall, but it is a bit bloated, and it's very emotionally draining if you really absorb the content while you listen, so I don't listen to it very often. The Syd Barret years are fun, and some of the earlier instrumental freak-outs like "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Saucerful of Secrets" are particularly awesome.

But at the same time, I don't ever just sit around listening to the studio album from Ummagumma. You wanna know why?

Because it's terrible.

I love Pink Floyd. Don't get me wrong. But nobody likes Ummagumma. Even Pink Floyd members themselves will tell you that Ummagumma is horrible. Ummagumma studio is not as bad as "Revolution 9" from the Beatles' white album, but it is almost six times as long, so it's like your best friend asking if you'd rather be stabbed in the ears with a really sharp pencil once or a kinda dull pencil six times. Either way, you're getting stabbed in the ears with a pencil by someone you once trusted to not stab you in the ears with a pencil.

Led Zeppelin? They don't have a bad album. Sure, In Through the Out Door is not my favorite Zep album, but it is still a Led Zeppelin album. I still love it. I'll even admit I can see why other people aren't too nuts about it. I still love it. It's Led Zeppelin.

Sometimes I am not in the mood to hear Perpetual Groove. Sometimes I am not in the mood to hear Eric Clapton. There are never times when I am not in the mood to hear Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin.

Now, there is some Pink Floyd I have to be in the mood for, like The Wall or most of the stuff from the Syd Barrett years. And, of course, Ummagumma is just never gonna happen voluntarily.

But I will never complain if you turn on Dark Side of the Moon. It doesn't matter what time of day it is, what time of year it is, what's happening in my life, if I've had a good day, a bad day... Dark Side of the Moon is always a good choice.

It's just that Houses of the Holy is always a better choice.

I love Pink Floyd. I just get a bit more excited about Led Zeppelin.

A lot of you have been asking me for updates on the job situation with the church in Oregon. As of writing this, I don't really have an update to give. I know that they interviewed another guy. He taught the Wednesday night class last week and preached this past Sunday morning. As far as I have been told, it's down to me and that guy. I really don't know anything else about if I've got the job or not, or even when I will know.

I do know that I want the job. I know I want to be in Oregon. When I was up there, I saw God using me in a lot of just incredible ways. I felt like my entire life up to that point had been laid out specifically to get me to that point. I saw the invisible Hand of God guiding my life from birth onward, directing an infinitely complex orchestra in an infinitely complex song, and going to Oregon felt like the first notes of the "Hallelujah" chorus. It was good.

But hey, you know what?

I like being at home, too.

In fact, I love it.

Since the end of the summer of 2009, I've been looking for a church job. I started off looking exclusively for youth ministry work, then broadened my search to include pulpit jobs. In every church I've had any serious contact with, God has shown me some pretty amazing windows of opportunity where I felt that I would be able to be of particularly good use. In some places, those windows were bigger than others, but every church I heard anything other than an immediate "No" from looked like a possibility on my end just because I saw where God could use me if He wanted to. And that's just what I saw. I know for sure that God saw other places I could have been used in any of those places.

But (obviously) I wasn't the best fit for those places and/or they weren't the best fit for me.

The thing that started to get to me, though, was that I could see these immediate openings into sharing Christ with people everywhere I looked... except at home.

I was talking to a church in Olive Branch, Mississippi, for a little while. I know a lot of awesome folks in Olive Branch who could use a deeply personal Christian influence in their lives, not the kind of Christian influence that leaves fake money with Bible verses on it as the only tip for a waitress named Emily. I could have done some good there.

I was talking to a church in Cathey's Valley, California, for a little while. I didn't know anybody out there that wasn't at least a three-hour round-trip away, but that entire trip was God showing me places and people where I could do some good.

I was talking to a church in De Queen, Arkansas, for a little while. They were my first church interview after my internship Heritage Place in Birmingham was over. I was nervous, I didn't really know what I was doing, and I certainly wasn't in the same place with God that I am now. But even with all of that, I saw where God could put me to good use.

But no matter where I went, no matter where I got back from, no matter what I learned, I couldn't see how to do anything at home.

I don't know if it was because I just wasn't looking in the right places or what. I did what I could where I could, but it was like a band with one good song every few years instead of a career made of several worthwhile albums. That one good song might be awesome, but everything in between is really boring.

But here lately, something happened. I got back in touch with some dudes I knew from high school days and God started really using me. It's slow, but it's steady. It's definitely there. It's definitely strong. It's definitely God.

So now I've got another reason to want to stay home.

I love my parents. I love my sister. I love our cats. I like our dog. I love Tennessee. I love living less than an hour from Nashville. I love being close enough to Perpetual Groove's regular touring circuit that I managed to see them 6 times last year - one of those being Amberland, which honestly, literally, truly, sincerely changed my life.

But I'm more excited about Oregon.

There's no shortage of things I can do here at home. I've started to see more of the possibilities God wants me to see. I've started to see more people I can reach out to. I've started to see more conversations I can have with people who I'm in a unique position to have those conversations with about the things that are worth having conversations about. Those possibilities are everywhere here at home. I'm finally seeing it.

I'm still just more excited about Oregon.

To be honest, part of the reason is that it's gonna be easier for me to be a better man in Oregon. Up there, I've got a clean slate. Down here, I'm doing my best to be my best, but I'm still reminded by a lot of reminders of my past failures. In Oregon, I didn't spend all my time around cigarettes. Here at home, most of my friends smoke, and sometimes I slip up. Sometimes I slip up for a few days in a row.

When Jesus had finished these parables, He moved on from there. Coming to His hometown, He began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t His mother’s name Mary, and aren’t His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all His sisters with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”

And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

- Matthew 13:53-58

I'm not saying I'm a prophet, and I'm definitely not trying to equate myself with Jesus, but I do think that the truth of what Jesus says still rings true today. Why would anybody listen to me talk about God? Isn't this the guy who dressed up as Twinkie the Kid in high school? Isn't this the guy who never showed up on time for anything once he had a driver's license? Isn't this the guy who did old Chris Farley gags on the bus?

Please, please, please - don't get me wrong, I love being home. It's just that I know I can do some better work somewhere else. That's what I'm more excited about.

I'm excited about being in a place where people see my Christian example without the burdensome trouble of knowing me 10 years ago.

I love Pink Floyd. I will never be upset with someone for suggesting Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd is awesome in ways that nobody else - including Led Zeppelin - ever comes close to. Pink Floyd is the only Pink Floyd.

I'm just more excited about listening to Led Zeppelin.

If I do get the job, I know I'm gonna miss home. I know it's going to be different being 2300 miles away from my parents and sister. I know it's going to be hard.

But I also know that it'll be worth it.

And if I don't get the job, I know I'll be somewhat disappointed, but I certainly won't be complaining.

I also know that it'll be totally worth it.

I'd appreciate your continued prayers for God's Will being done through me.

I will let you know what happens as soon as I know anything myself.

I love you all, and I love all of you.

The Gospel According to Led Zeppelin

In case you're just tuning in, here's the story so far: my favorite musical entity in the history of time is Led Zeppelin. It is kind of a thing with me.

Led Zeppelin. Just... oh, so good. So very good. My goodness, the goodness of Led Zeppelin. From the first album to the last, including the live shows, the bootlegs, the outtakes, the studio sessions, the rough cuts... everything. If it was Led Zeppelin, I love it. I'll admit that it's kind of an existential quandary whether I love everything Led Zeppelin did because it was Led Zeppelin doing it or if Led Zeppelin just did everything that I love, but either way - I love Led Zeppelin. Quite a bit.

My favorite song is "Over the Hills and Far Away," which is found on Zep's fifth album, Houses of the Holy, which, as it turns out, is my favorite album. Not just my favorite Led song and my favorite Led album, but my favorite song and favorite album.

A buddy of mine once asked me who I'd pick if I could put together the ultimate super-group consisting of my favorite vocalist, guitarist, bassist and drummer. My answer was Led Zeppelin. He said, "No, no, I don't think you're quite getting what I'm asking. I mean, like, if you could take a drummer from one band... and then a guitarist from another band... and, you know, make a whole band like that... who would you pick?"

Yeah, I got it the first time. My answer is still the same. Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page is my favorite guitarist, Robert Plant is my favorite vocalist, John Bonham is my favorite drummer, John Paul Jones is my favorite bassist/organist/horn accompanist/everything-else-he-did-ist. Led Zeppelin is my favorite band.

If you hang out with me in a place where I have any control over the music, ever, there will come a time where Led Zeppelin comes up. It's just how it is. I'm GONNA play some Zeppelin. I don't care who I'm around, where I am, what's going on... If there's music to be heard and I'm at all in a position to choose what is played... Yeah. Zeppelin's gonna happen at some point.

I have been accused before of musical snobbery, and it's not like I can really rebut that accusation with too much truth... Yeah. I'm a music snob. I know what I like, and I'm pretty vehement about it. Is it possible that there is (or will be in the future) a band that I would enjoy more than Led Zeppelin? Well... Yeah... It's possible... But then, it's also possible that the entirety of the British monarchical family is killed in a freak photography accident and I'm crowned the next king of England, resulting in all sorts of zany mishaps with my clumsy attempts at a knighting, applying my own inimitable style to delicate matters of international diplomacy, and dealing with the pressures of being recognized at the Burger King nearest to Buckingham Palace.

Doesn't mean it's very likely.

I could go further, but I figure the point is pretty well made, and I'm definitely aware that most of my posts are long enough as it is. We don't need another 8 pages of me telling you how much I love Led Zeppelin. But what I do need for you to understand - in case you haven't picked up on it yet - is that I am a fan of Led Zeppelin. This point is integral to the case I am presenting in this post.

So now let's talk about God.

As much as I do love Led Zeppelin, God still wins. I know, I know... the previous fanboy rant may have called that into question for some of you, but I don't have a weekly blog dedicated to Zep. God is still my primary focus.

But part of what I've been thinking about a lot lately is the idea of apologetics. I know that's kind of a loaded term for a lot of people, and a confusing one for others. It's always hard to think about "apologetics" and not get to "apology." The two words are related, both rooted in the Greek word απολογία (apologia), which means "speaking in defense." We've come to think of an "apology" meaning simply an admission of guilt and an expression of regret, but the original usage of the word actually meant a formal defense of an idea, and that's all apologetics actually is.

I am specifically interested in the idea of Christian apologetics - a defense of Christianity. Not that I feel that Christianity needs protected, lest it fall apart under the scrutiny of the skeptical world, but a defense based on correcting misconceptions and misunderstandings of the Christian faith (that is - Christianity as I see it, which I would like to think is at least in the ballpark of the way God is showing it to us through Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible).

It is in this same sense that Paul "defends" the gospel in Acts 26:2 and Philippians 1:7, and also in which Peter tells us to "be prepared to give an answer" in I Peter 3:15.

So what, then, are we to do?

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

- Matthew 22:34-40

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

- Matthew 28:19-20

Here's how I see the total sum of the responsibilities of Christianity: Love God, Love others. In Loving God and Loving others, we are tasked with the responsibility of introducing others to God. I briefly touched on this last week, noting that it's important for us to be able to find connections to God in the world outside of "the church" in order to build bridges of communication between ourselves and "the World." But what I want to specifically stress now is that it is every bit as important that we all, each of us, understand (to the fullest extent which we are able) the intellectual reasoning of our Faith.

What I'm saying here is that it's not enough to just say "God said it, I believe it, that settles it." That is an outrageously dangerous theological position to tie oneself to. I'm not saying that it's wrong to have a strong faith in the Word of God - that's very commendable. But to have a singularly directed and blind faith in the Word of God... Yeah, that's pretty dangerous.

It isn't enough that we know the Truth of the Bible and believe wholeheartedly that it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. We've also got to know why it is that which it is.

Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.

- I Corinthians 14:20

Within the context of that chapter, Paul is specifically addressing the issue of speaking in tongues. In the Corinthian church, there had apparently been a problem of some members expressing the gift of speaking in tongues through the Holy Spirit to just babble on with nobody to interpret what was being said. While thanks were being given to God for the miraculous gifts displayed, the gifts were pointless because nobody was learning anything.

Paul's exhortation then is a reminder that we are to come together in our worship and fellowship not to praise God for blessing us with things that we haven't bothered to examine and understand, but to encourage, enlighten, and educate one another to the deeper truths of Christianity.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.

- Hebrews 5:11-6:3

Notice that the writer says that those in his audience should be teachers by this point, and yet they constantly need reminded of the elementary principles of Christianity. This, to me, pretty plainly says that it is not enough for us to accept the gospel as infallibly true and never open our eyes or ears to anything else ever again.

Let me switch back over to Led Zeppelin for a minute.

As I'm sure you'll recall, Led Zeppelin is my favorite band.

Led Zeppelin is not, however, the only band I've ever heard.

Recently, I've been listening to a whole lot of the original line-up of the Allman Brothers Band. Led Zeppelin is still my favorite. I've been digging around and finding all sorts of live material from the early years of Yes that I'd not heard before. Led Zeppelin is still my favorite. Last week, I wrote about Eric Clapton, and the week before that, I wrote about Perpetual Groove. Led Zeppelin is still my favorite.

I've heard Lady GaGa. Led Zeppelin is definitely still my favorite.

I've got enough music on my computer that if I were to put it all into one big playlist, start at the beginning and let it play all the way through, I could go for some three months non-stop and not hear a song twice. Most radio stations have a library of something like 7,500-10,000 songs. I've got somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000+ songs.

Led Zeppelin isn't my favorite band because they're the only thing I've ever heard, but instead, it's because I've actually heard a ridiculous amount of music that I can therefore say in the face of countless potential challengers, Led Zeppelin still tops my list.

I am not (necessarily) saying here that we can only be good Christians if we go out and research the tenets of other faiths. But I will say that it's very hard to show someone why Christianity makes more sense than other faiths if we don't even know why Christianity makes sense on its own.

Too often I have seen an approach to Christianity that doesn't allow for any questions. It is as though the beliefs of Christianity are so fragile that they can't stand up to even the slightest examination and scrutiny. Don't we believe that this is the Way, the Truth, and the Light? Isn't this supposed to be following after God's own Son, the Word made flesh? Aren't we actually operating under the assumption that our faith is correct anyway?

So what is there to be afraid of?

It doesn't do us a lot of good in spreading the gospel if our only response to an atheist's assertion that there is no God is to run away screaming, or to brand the atheist a heretic, or to quote Bible verses to someone who doesn't believe in the Bible in the first place. We've got to know what we're talking about.

Can you offer any evidence for the existence of God beyond your own beliefs?

Beyond that, can you help others understand why Christianity is the path you've chosen to follow, excluding all of the other thousands of options in the world today?

Or are you still living out a faith that was handed to you? Is your faith your own, or is it your parents'? Or your preacher's? Or your professor's? Or your spouse's?

Do you know why you believe what you believe?

Do you believe that what you believe is able to stand up to the tests of reason and logic? Or do you believe that "faith" is sequestered off in its own little corner of the brain, permanently exiled from rational thought?

What are you going to do when somebody tells you that God cannot possibly exist because evil exists in the world? How are you going to answer that? ("God moves in mysterious ways" is a cheap cop-out, by the way.)

I am really having to fight the temptation to lay out all "the answers" here. It somewhat defeats the purpose of asking if you have any answers of your own if I give you all of mine.

I can (easily) tell you for hours how much I love Led Zeppelin. But if you've never actually heard them, it doesn't make a difference in the world. And if I'm going to be the guy saying Led Zeppelin is so much better than everything else, shouldn't I at least have something to back that up? Shouldn't I at least be able to play a song or two for anybody who asks?

I'll admit here that not everybody likes Led Zeppelin. I can at least acknowledge that fact, even if I don't really get it. I can sit you down and play their entire catalog, from the 1968 Scandinavian tour as the New Yardbirds to the 1982 "leftovers" album, Coda, and you might not enjoy a lick of it. I don't at all see how that could be true, but it is definitely a possibility.

But that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop listening to them, or stop trying to expose every person on the planet to their awesome.

Similarly, I've got to admit that not everybody is going to become a Christian. I could present a defense for the faith on par with Paul in the Areopagus or C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity to every single person on this planet and there would still be plenty of folks who don't see it. There would still be folks who don't believe. That is to be expected. That is Biblically guaranteed.

But it doesn't mean I'm going to stop believing, or stop trying to share my faith with the world over.

There are people in the world - like Brian Flemming, writer/director/narrator of "The God Who Wasn't There" - who will try to tell you that Jesus of Nazareth wasn't even a real person, much less the Son of God.

What are you going to say to that?

Have an answer. Not only does the potential faith of the people you encounter in your life depend on it, but it's very probable that your faith depends on it as well.

CLAPTON IS GOD

Don't get me wrong: I love the mess out of some Eric Clapton, but I'm not quite up to deifying the man. The title of this post just refers to a graffito first seen on a wall at the Underground station in Islington, a borough of London, in late 1967:

As you can clearly see, God enlisted some help from man's best friend in making known His feelings towards the slogan, if not Clapton himself, although I seriously doubt God doesn't love Clapton. #1 - He's God, and God is Love. #2 - We're talking about the Eric Clapton here, and God is bound to have excellent musical taste. After all, He's the one who gave us the ability to create music as well as appreciate it.

Now, I'll readily admit that I don't know a lot about Clapton's own personal religious beliefs. This article paints a pretty positive picture, largely with Clapton's own words, and the Clapton-penned "Presence of the Lord" from Blind Faith definitely speaks volumes to the idea of God's role in Clapton's life, even though Clapton himself has stated that the song was inspired by the emotions of owning his first house. I certainly hope Clapton is in good standing with God, as I sincerely doubt I'll ever really get a chance to hang out with him in this world.

But to get to the whole reason I even brought any of this up in the first place...

I was driving around the other day, listening to Derek and the Dominos' Live at the Fillmore, which is a particularly excellent snapshot of Clapton's skills as not only a guitarist but also a very powerful lyricist. In particular, the song "Got to Get Better In a Little While" - the first track on that album - was the one baking my noodle at the moment when a thought struck me.

Don't you know what's wrong with me?

I'm seeing things I don't want to see.

Sniffing things that ain't no good for me.

I'm going down fast, won't you say a prayer for me?

It's got to get better in a little while...

That "sniffing things" line is a reference to Clapton's heroin habit. Yes, he did plenty of cocaine (the traditionally sniffed drug), too, but heroin was the drug that altered the course of his life, especially around the period of Derek and the Dominos. But notice that the line comes in the middle of a confession on Clapton's part that things aren't good, and that the only remedy available for him is the prayer of others.

The last verse in the song fits right nicely with that idea, as well:

Still one thing that you can do;

Fall down on your knees and pray.

I know the Lord's gonna answer you.

Don't do it tomorrow, do it today.

It's got to get better in a little while...

Again, Clapton makes the case very plainly evident that - at least in the belief system he presents in the lyrics of this song - the only thing that can actually improve one's life is a surrender to God, especially via the avenue of prayer. The middle verse of the song actually contains lines that even prescribes specific morality in order to help things get better in a little while: "Please don't hurt nobody, don't knock them down/Give them a helping hand to get off the ground."

So, to recap, the three verses of the song, in order, say the following: 1) I've ruined my own life and prayer is the only thing that can save me. 2) We should all help others. 3) If you want God to save you, sincerely ask Him to do so, and He will.

Nothing earth-shattering, but still, very true sentiments, right?

Now, here's the thought that struck me: what if God wants to talk to me through Eric Clapton?

Before y'all get to thinkin' I've completely lost my grip, don't worry, I'm not saying that I believe that Eric Clapton is/was an inspired prophet of God, speaking the holy and inspired Word of God anew and fresh, like Elijah with a customized black Fender Stratocaster. I'm just saying that maybe there's some truth to be found in some surprising places.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

- Philippians 4:8

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

- James 1:17

To get His points across about God to the people listening to Him, Jesus used salt, birds, flowers, planks, sawdust, trees, pigs, jewelry, fish, money, fish with money, old women, young women, rich men, poor men, dead people, living people, children, marriages, parties, wine, water, bread, hair, and anything else around Him to illustrate a point.

Paul pulls his illustrations from other places: the pagan philosophy around him. In front of the Areopagus in Athens in Acts 17, Paul quotes the Cretan philosopher Epimenides and the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus. Epimenides comes up again in Titus 1:12, and in I Corinthians 15:33, there's a line from the Greek poet Menander.

Even further out there, we have the letter of Jude, in which the author quotes the non-canonical Assumption of Moses (verse 9) and I Enoch (verses 14-15). As far as I know, it's not clear whether anyone in the era of the first century church thought that these books were "Scripture" in the same way as the Torah, or if they were more on par with "popular" theological writings, like C.S. Lewis is for us today. But in either case - we don't recognize it as canonical, and yet, there it is, right smack in the middle of a quite canonical book of the entirely canonical Bible.

So it seems evident to me that there is plenty of precedent for finding truths about God in the world around us. There are GOOD THINGS going on in this world, and - according to James and Paul - if it's good, it's from God, and therefore is worth thinking about, reflecting on, and appreciating.

The value is not only in the aesthetic appreciation of some non-divine creation, but also in the spiritual application. Even if Clapton didn't believe in God at all, he still wrote a song that contains some perfectly valid truth and understanding about how God works in relation to His world and the people in it.

This idea - looking for God (and finding Him) in the world outside of church and the Bible - ties into what I was talking about two weeks back in "Seeing What I Want to See." Again, if you're looking for God, you will find Him. But I am hoping to specifically encourage you to not just look for God through a deeper knowledge of the Bible and/or personal application of spiritual disciplines, although those are still going to be your primary sources of developing Christian maturity; what I'm specifically trying to say is that if you're focused on knowing God, trying to see His work in your life, searching for His presence in everything you do... Well... You're gonna see Him, and you just might be surprised by where He shows up from time to time.

And it's not just for your own personal benefit that you should be doing this. As Christians, we are called two do two things: Love God and Love others. Part of Loving God and others is to introduce others to God. Evangelism is a hugely important part of living the Christian life in the right way. Remember what I Peter 3:15 says:

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

It's part of your responsibility as a Christian to have answers for what you believe so that you can better fulfill your obligations to the mission of the "royal priesthood" (I Peter 2:9) - bringing the Word of God into the hearts and minds of those around you, proclaiming His Kingdom on this earth.

While we were still in high school, my buddy Jeremy once noted the parallels between the story of Mr. Anderson - better known as "Neo" - in The Matrix and the story of Christ. Now, the two don't exactly line up word for word or anything, but there's enough similarity to solidly hold on to. It's not grasping at straws to make the connections. But what's important is that it is the connections that Jeremy made between The Matrix and the Bible that allowed us to have a conversation that I believe paved the way a bit further towards Jeremy's eventual decision to follow Christ and begin his current walk with God.

So I guess The Matrix can't be all bad, even if the sequels are unfathomably horrid.

Optimists are described as people who look around themselves and see the best in everything. Pessimists are described as people who look around themselves and see the worst in everything. I don't know what the word for it would be, but I want to be the kind of person who looks around myself and sees God working in everything.

(I would like to make a very important distinction here: I don't want to promote the idea of seeing God in everything in the sense of saying that God is in the trees or in the beauty of His Created Nature or in Eric Clapton - beyond the sense of God's Spirit living in those who accept Him into their lives - as I don't want to be promoting a sort of pantheism that sees God inside everything and therefore begins to worship everything as an extension of God. What I'm specifically advocating here is that we look for, and therefore find, the things within the Creation that specifically point to the Truth of the Creator, enabling us to more fully worship Him by further appreciating the work He has done.)

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

- Romans 8:5, emphasis added

It makes sense to me to think that one of the things that the Spirit desires would probably be an appreciation for the Truth, no matter where it is found. It follows then that seeking the Truth, even in surprising places, would be a pretty sound bet for a Spirit thing. In being led by God, if our faith is strong enough to trust that God will not allow us to be led astray so long as we are wholly focused on Him, I think it's a fairly sure thing that we're going to see God express Himself in some pretty unexpected ways.

Elijah expected God to be in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. I would say he was probably surprised to hear God in the gentle whisper. Moses probably didn't expect to hear God talk to him through a burning bush. Paul most likely didn't expect Jesus to knock him down blind on the road to Damascus. Peter almost certainly didn't expect Jesus to tell him that unclean animals (and Gentiles) were OK. I completely didn't expect God to talk to me through Eric Clapton, and yet here we are.

God is the ultimate source of all goodness and truth. Love is from God. Joy is from God. Peace is from God. Anything that helps you, me, them, or anybody else get closer to Love, Joy, Peace or God... is from God. Even if there's bad stuff in the way - and as a good Christian thoroughly grounded in a clear understanding of Christian character and Godly virtue, you'll be able to spot the bad stuff among the good, right? - there's still plenty of Truth to be found in all sorts of surprising places. To deny the validity of Truth just because it's not in the Bible would be to cut ourselves off from the rest of the world, immediately frustrating any attempts we could possibly make to communicate the entire Truth of God to those we are specifically called to bring into His presence.

Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.

Dear Lord, give me strength to carry on.

My home may be out on the highway,

Lord, I've done so much wrong

But please, give me strength to carry on.

- Eric Clapton, "Give Me Strength"

And I, for one, say "Amen."

Jesus Loves Perpetual Groove

The picture below is from December 30th, 2010, at a Courtyard Marriott in Atlanta, Georgia. I met four of the seven not-me people in it the night it was taken. The other three I met back in May, at Amberland.

The whole reason - in fact the only reason - that I know any of these people is because we all like Perpetual Groove. PGroove played a two-night New Year's Eve run at the Variety Playhouse, in the Little Five Points area of Atlanta, and that was how I rang in 2011 - listening to my favorite touring band doing what they do best. (What they do best, by the way, is "be awesome.")

Originally, my sister was going to come with me to both shows, but things happened. No big. Then, I was planning on meeting two very good friends for the NYE show, but work came up. No big. At one point, when Mom realized that I was going to be driving down to Atlanta (6 hours) and going to two concerts by myself, she said, "Oh, that's sad!"

I quickly replied, "No... It's fine. Don't worry. I'll be alright."

And those people in that picture are just a part of the reason why.

Do I wish my sister had been there? Definitely. Do I wish my friends had been able to come up? You bet. But even in being "by myself," I was never alone.

I'm fairly new to Perpetual Groove. They've been around since 1999-ish, but the first time I ever heard them - heard of them, really - was September of 2008. In the year and some change since then, I've seen something that really just completely blows my mind. The crowd that follows PGroove is something completely unbelievable, and it's almost impossible to explain, but I'll give it a shot anyway...

Imagine a group of people who love you unconditionally.

They accept you, completely, for who you are.

There is no judgment.

There is no exclusion.

There is no jealousy.

There is no elitism.

There's just love. Love, love, love. My goodness, the love. There is some real love with these people. Sacrificial, open, warm, compassionate love.

And it's based on what? Liking the same band?

Wow.

Jon - the not-me big guy on the left of the picture there - refused to let me pay for my own tab at the bar we stopped in before the show on the 31st. I met Jon on the 30th. Rick - the tall guy behind me on the right - refused to let me chip in for the cab fare on our way back to the hotel. I met Rick back at Amberland, and I've seen him three times since, counting New Year's.

And yeah, it's just a few bucks... But what about all the free food and drinks that both guys have thrown at me already in the short time that I've known them? What about the completely free, no-strings-attached ride Rick gave me from Nashville to Chattanooga back in July? What about the sincere, heartfelt, open support and encouragement for the prospect of my job with the church in Oregon?

That last one, by the way, is not at all limited to Jon and Rick or anybody else in the picture, but extends out to everybody else I've encountered in the PGroove circuit. There's even a few folks who've started referring to me as "preacher man," which suits me just fine.

Now, I am not going to go so far as to say that every single person I've met in the PGroove family is a regular Sunday morning attendee at the local congregation of their choice. For a lot of them, I know that's actually not the case, like... on purpose. There are, believe it or not, people in the world of jam band followings who don't necessarily believe in the Biblical definition of God, much less Jesus as Christ.

And yeah, I'd love to talk to them about that. I'd love to show them what I see. I'd love to give them a kernel of the Truth that I've found to be so amazingly powerful in my life and see if they don't find it to be just as amazing for them. I firmly believe they would. I firmly believe that an active, sincere, deep relationship with God, through Christ, would change their lives for the better.

But at the same time... I believe that their lives are already pretty good, because whether they follow Christ or not, they've managed to figure out one gigantic thing that the rest of the world is a little behind on: Love everybody.

Something else that happened to me while I was in Atlanta... I got to talking to Debbie. I love Debbie, and Debbie loves me. We met in the first wee hours of 2011 and talked about Jesus.

Debbie is a sweet, wonderful, kind, compassionate, caring, amazing woman. But she ain't too cool with Jesus. Why? More importantly, how?

According to Debbie, Jesus is just another reason for people to divide themselves, and that's not OK.

And you know what? She's actually right. Well, about the divisions part. Not about Jesus Himself (sorry, Debbie - but you know I love you).

In Debbie's view of Christianity, she sees nothing but the infighting, the self-righteousness, the arrogant judgmental attitudes, the hatred of sin and sinner...

It's bad, you know.

So I'd like to start the year off with a challenge to all the Christians reading this: Let's do it right.

If a group of people who only know each other because they - again - like the same band can get together in a community of completely open, heartfelt, genuine, sincere, unconditional love... Why can't the children of God do the same thing?

Why can't we show the world what Love really means?

Aren't we the ones who are supposed to be instantly recognized by our Love for each other?

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

- John 13:34-35

(I think that's a yes.)

Folks, I am not saying that there aren't churches in the world today that get it right, because there certainly are. I am fortunate enough to attend a very loving congregation in Nashville - West End Church of Christ, feel free to come with us sometime - and the Madras congregation is so openly loving that it's easier to think that they are literally a blood family than "just a church family." There are folks out there who do it right.

But man, there are a lot of folks out there who do it wrong, too. There are a lot of folks out there whose actions do not at all point towards the reality of the singular, unifying, transcendent and immanent, all-encompassing Love of God for all of His creation.

And then there's Perpetual Groove.

There's some crazy people in the PGroove family. But they're loved anyway. And they're loving anyway. And they're lovable anyway.

I'm not gonna lie... I want to have a lot more conversations with a lot more of the PGroove crowd about Jesus. I want to talk to folks about Christianity. I'm a preacher. It's what I do. There's no point in hiding it. Yes, I want to help people come to see Christianity as a better way of life.

But at the same time... Man, I sure do want to help a whole lot of Christianity come to see "loving everyone you come in contact with" as a better way of life, too.

As Christians, should we be trying to make "the World" happy? By no means!

But if "the World" is calling us out - and Debbie is not at all the only person saying this - for not loving others, for being a force for division instead of unity, for quite frankly bringing shame to the name of Christ by warping His message of Loving God and Loving others... Then yeah, I think we've got a little bit of work to do.

If it's been with love, things that you've done

Then you did all you could do...

If it's been with love, things that you've done

It can save you...

- Perpetual Groove (who else?), "Andromeda"

Seeing What I Want to See

I don't know about you, but 2010 was awesome for me.

Was every day of the year blue skies and rainbows? Oh, merciful goodness, no. By no means! There was heartache all over. There was impatient anger and indignant fury. There were lies and betrayals. There were lots of disappointments on some seriously fundamental levels. BAD STUFF HAPPENED this past year, make no mistake.

But 2010 is going to go down in my own personal history books as the year I finally let God take full control of my life, and that fact alone has made it by far my best non-1983 year to date.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

- Matthew 7:7-8

I will give thanks to You, LORD, with all my heart;

I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and rejoice in You;

I will sing the praises of Your name, O Most High.

Those who know Your name trust in You,

for You, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek You.

- Psalm 9:1-2, 10

I will extol the LORD at all times;

His praise will always be on my lips.

I will glory in the LORD;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the LORD with me;

let us exalt His name together.

I sought the LORD, and He answered me;

He delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;

He saved him out of all his troubles.

- Psalm 34:1-6

You, God, are my God,

earnestly I seek You;

I thirst for You,

my whole being longs for You,

in a dry and parched land

where there is no water.

I have seen You in the sanctuary

and beheld Your power and Your glory.

Because Your Love is better than life,

my lips will glorify You.

I will praise You as long as I live,

and in Your name I will lift up my hands.

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;

with singing lips my mouth will praise You.

- Psalm 63:1-5

But if you seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

- Deuteronomy 4:29

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

- Hebrews 11:6

I hope you picked up a theme in all of that. In case you didn't, let me sum it up:

IF YOU LOOK FOR GOD, YOU WILL FIND HIM.

Before I go any further, let me make something perfectly clear: I do not understand atheism.

Yeah, I know what atheism is. I get that.

And yeah, I can see how it came about. That's not a problem.

But what I specifically don't understand is this idea that it's up to God to show us He exists instead of being up to us to find Him - especially when God specifically says, "If you look for Me, you will find Me," as I've already pointed out.

Bertrand Russell - 20th century British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, prolific writer, and renowned atheist - was once asked what he would say to God if, after his death, he found himself standing at the Judgment. How would he explain his staunch atheism?

"I will say: ‘I’m terribly sorry, but you didn’t give us enough evidence.’"

Now... I don't know what would have qualified as "enough evidence" in Russell's mind. Paul makes an appeal in the beginning chapters of Romans that earth itself is enough to point to God, and a similar theme is brought up in the first six verses of Psalm 19.

And I don't have any problem admitting that I'm not entirely up to snuff on the textual criticism of the Bible. I do not personally possess the knowledge sufficient to defend the early dates or the traditionally ascribed authorship of the New Testament. If there are doubts about the historical legitimacy and authenticity of the text, there will be doubts about the veracity of the text. This is an entirely understandable objection.

But let me, in my objection to the atheistic requirement that God provide the evidence for His existence, provide some evidence on His behalf.

I looked for God.

I found Him.

(This happens to be exactly what God said would happen.)

Now, it makes all the sense in the world to me to think that this would be enough to turn even the most stubborn of atheists, but of course, that's not the case, so let me go a little further.

You know those little sausage balls that show up every once in a while at the good church get-togethers and Christmas parties and wedding receptions and all that? The unbelievably delicious little perfect mixture of sausage, cheese, and crispy breading? You wanna know how to make those? Get ready, because here it comes:

3 cups Bisquick

1 lb. sausage

1 lb. cheese

Mix all ingredients. Scoop out mixture into little sausage ball-sized sausage balls.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until sausage balls are a crispy golden brown, like sausage balls ought to be.

You have now made sausage balls. Congratulations, everybody loves you.

Now... if you try that recipe and green bean casserole comes out of your oven, one of two things will be true. Option number one is that I lied to you. Option number two is that you didn't follow the recipe. Which of those two do you believe to be more likely? Would I have any reason to lie to you about how to make sausage balls? Come on. Think about this. I am a fat dude, and there is always the possibility of you sharing with me, so I will do everything within my power to ensure the existence of sausage balls.

It seems to me that the atheist position of asking God to prove Himself (when God has said that if we look for Him we will find Him) is a lot like someone saying that the recipe for sausage balls can't possibly be true because the sausage balls don't make themselves. If you're not willing to follow the recipe, you can't ever know if the recipe is actually right.

The big objection to me tying the theory of the recipe for sausage balls to God is, of course, going to be that we all know sausage balls exist because we've all seen them, smelled them, eaten them, thrown violent temper tantrums when we ran out of them... (Well, maybe not ALL of us have done that.)

But God - whom even the Bible says no man has ever seen (John 1:18, I John 4:12) - cannot be proven in the same way as sausage balls, right?

Well...

God says, "If you look for Me, you will find Me." I looked for God and I found Him. Turns out God was right! Isn't that neat?

Now I know that argument would probably never hold up against a committed atheist, especially an atheist who already knows that there's not even a possibility of a God. The atheist rebuttal to my "finding" God would inevitably boil down to the idea of my living under a delusion, separate from reason, in defiance of evidence to the contrary... After all, if I'm seeing God at work in my life, then I'm only seeing what I want to see, so it can't be true.

This is another one that blows my mind.

Dad and I wanted to see True Grit. So we went to the theater and saw True Grit. We both really enjoyed it.

Did we see what we wanted to see? Yep. Sure did.

So does that mean that we didn't actually see True Grit?

I could go on, but I think you get the picture, so now I can move on to the point I really wanted to make.

I've been framing this whole thing since the wall-o'-scripture in a Christian-versus-atheist light because it allows me to use really broad strokes and get the BIG idea across. But now, I've got to do some detail work and talk Christian to Christian.

If you're a Christian, I know you already believe in God. I know you already believe in Jesus. I know you already trust the Bible to be accurate.

But what I don't know is if you're actually taking it seriously.

Let me stress the "I don't know" part of that last sentence. I'm not saying you're not taking it seriously. I'm just saying that I don't know. You're the only one who can.

Well... You and God.

Ask yourself... Do you actually believe Jesus when He says, in Matthew 6, that if you seek God first, everything else will fall into place?

Do you actually believe Him when He says, in Matthew 7, that if you seek Him, you will find Him?

Do you actually believe what the writer of Hebrews says, in the 11th chapter of the letter, that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him?

Now... If you actually believe these things, do you actually live it out?

Is God really your first priority? Does God win out over your job? Your hobbies? Your family? Your own life?

You're the only person who can answer those questions, and God's the only other one who'll know if you're telling the truth.

If God IS your first priority, I don't doubt at all that you're seeing a lot of the same things I've been blessed enough to see over the past year. I don't doubt that you're seeing the fruits of the Spirit borne in your life. I don't doubt that you're overcoming evil with good. I don't doubt that you're finding yourself stronger and stronger in the face of temptation. I don't doubt that you're finding more and more each day that God is the only thing in your life that really fulfills you. I definitely don't doubt that you're overflowing with joy and can't keep from telling people just how amazing God is.

But if He's NOT... Let me encourage you - as someone who very, very, very recently did not have God anywhere near the center of his life - to seriously consider making 2011 the year that changes your life. Look for God. You will find Him. And when you do... words fail me for expressing the way the Glory of God will manifest itself in your life in a very real, very powerful, very holy way. I wish I could tell you in a way that you could truly understand. I wish I could just GIVE it to you, because it would change everything for you.

I just really wish you could see what I see, because I'm seeing exactly what I wanted to see, and it's better than I could have ever imagined.

As 2010 comes to a close, my prayer for myself is that I will not just hold firm to the faith that has completely redefined my very existence, but that I will continue to go deeper in that faith, deeper into the very heart of God, led by His Spirit, following His Son, and encouraging everyone I come in contact with to do the same. My prayer for you is similar: I pray that each day brings you closer and closer to His Will for your life than you were the day before.

I love you so much.

Happy New Year.

What I Want for Christmas

Please listen to this song.

"And how did little Tim behave?'' asked Mrs Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart's content.

"As good as gold,'' said Bob, "and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful, sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.''

Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty.

- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

I'll go ahead and admit that I can't read that without tears springing to my eyes. I can't talk about it without getting too choked up to speak. I seriously can't even hear that line in bold spoken by Kermit the Frog without openly crying. (By the way - The Muppet Christmas Carol happens to be my favorite film adaptation of the book, hands down.)

Listen to this song, too, please.

By far, my favorite ornament on my parents' Christmas tree is the one of the Baby in the manger with Santa Claus, hat in hand, kneeling by His side in humble worship. I kinda have a soft spot for Santa Claus in the first place (which I'm sure is an earth-shattering surprise for all of you - a big jolly fat guy like me with a penchant for cookies is a fan of Santa?), but once you get the two personifications of Christmas reunited in that kind of thing, cheesy as it may be to some, I just can't help but get all sniffly.

I suppose I should let you know that I seriously cry at the drop of a hat anytime between the day after Thanksgiving and Boxing Day. "Good King Wenceslas," "O, Holy Night," well-timed renditions of the "Hallelujah" chorus from Handel's Messiah... The tears, they flow.

It's Christmas. Listen to some music.

Last year, it seemed like everybody was upset about Christmas becoming too Christian, what with its roots in the pagan solstice celebrations. This year, however, I'm seeing the exact opposite - I'm seeing people pitching absolute fits about how Christmas isn't Christian enough. Things like "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" and "Keep Christ in Christmas" keep popping up, as bumper stickers (on cars that cut people off in traffic and park illegally in handicapped zones), as shirts and sweaters (on people whose mouths do not in any way match their wardrobe), and as bullet points in political commentary (from people who make their living by villainizing anyone who disagrees with them).

And you know what? I'm really 110% behind the idea of keeping Christmas Christian.

I'd just like to see more folks living up to the standard that they're holding the rest of the world to.

I don't mind people getting up in arms to remind people that Christmas has traditional ties to the birth of Jesus and that we should all live more Christ-like lives because of it - I just want to see those same people do the Christ-like living part, too.

If Christians got half as mad about their own unrighteousness as they do the world's unrighteousness, we'd all be a whole lot better off.

Especially at Christmas.

Just for the sake of argument, let's say that December 25th actually is the correct date for the birth of Christ, just to make the "Reason for the Season" arguments correct.

Now, if Christmas really is a big birthday party for Jesus, which present do you think He would prefer:

1. A crowd of people loudly telling everybody else that they're messing up His party, especially when everybody else already chose not to attend in the first place?
2. A group of people coming together to focus on Him, no matter what everybody else is doing, no matter what day of the year it is?

I'm not saying we can't remind folks that the reason we, as Christians, choose to celebrate Christmas is as a remembrance of the birth of Christ. That's fine.

I just would prefer to see us do it with our lives instead of rhyming slogans on hastily designed bumper stickers.

I want to be like Tiny Tim. If people see me and they remember the birth of the One who made the deaf hear, then I'm happy.

But more than that, I want people to see me and remember the death of the One who made me righteous.

I want people to see my life and remember the resurrection of the One who transformed me from wretched, broken, dying sinner to sanctified, restored, living child of God.

And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!

Do me a favor.

Pray that God's will be done in Madras, Oregon.

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

- James 5:16

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

- Luke 18:10-14

I don't care if you haven't been to church in years, I don't care if you're on the way out the door to church right now. If you care for me and if you believe even in the slightest that there's a God in Heaven, I want you to pray for me that His will be done in Madras, Oregon.

I love you all and I'll let you know what happens when I know what happens.

Is "Not Bad" Good Enough?

When I was five years old, my family lived in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. During that year, we made plenty of trips out to the beach - more than I can remember. One thing I can say I remember about our beach trips, however, was the sandcastle bucket.

It wasn't anything fancy - just a cheap little plastic pail with a handle and a shovel, and on the bottom of the bucket were little indentions that were meant to mimic the battlements of a castle tower.

There were two primary uses for the bucket when we went to the beach. I seem to remember that Lyn, who would have been two at the time, preferred to simply use the shovel (or her hands) to fill the bucket with sand. The purpose seemed to be to just have a bucket of sand. I'm not really sure. But whatever the purpose, the bucket's function was limited to one thing - keeping the sand in one place, not letting it get outside of a certain pre-defined set of bucket-shaped boundaries.

The other use, however, was to mash the bucket down on a big pile of sand, so that when you picked the bucket up, there now sat one of the many towers that would be added onto the glorious sand equivalent of Windsor Castle, with a construction vulnerable only to the erosive powers of the pounding surf or the boredom-borne destructive whims of a five-year-old boy and his two-year-old sister.

Can the bucket be used to just keep sand in one place? Sure.

But it's actually meant to be used to mold the sand into a desired shape. That's really the whole purpose of its specific design.

And in fact, the same thing is true for Christianity.

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

- Matthew 5:17-20

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

- Matthew 23:23-24

Matthew 23 is one of the most powerful chapters in all of the Gospels, because it is nothing but Jesus telling the most super-religious people of His day that they were completely missing the point. A life of holiness isn't just about avoiding sin - and this is what the Pharisees were so very about, adding their own layers to the Law in order to keep themselves miles away from the possibility of sin - but at its core, a life spent in pursuit of God's righteousness is actually about being good.

Just like the bucket could be used to simply keep the sand in one place, Christianity could be seen as a way to set up parameters that define our lives by what we are not allowed to do, where we are not allowed to go, and words we are not allowed to say. But - just like the bucket - that's not what it's actually designed to do.

"Not bad" isn't good enough. Living a life free from sin isn't good enough. We've got to go the extra step and be proactively good, pursuing righteousness above all else.

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

- Luke 6:27-38

As Christians, we know that it is wrong to murder, steal, rape, lie or cheat. But doesn't the world know that, too? No civilization in the history of ever has said that it's just OK to wantonly kill anyone without reason. Murder is bad on a universal scale. So just avoiding murder isn't enough to make us different from the world, is it?

What about loving our enemies? Is that what makes us different from the world?

By and large, the world is satisfied with a definition of morality that says "Just leave me alone and don't get in my way." That's not good enough for a Christian. We are called to something higher - Love.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

- Matthew 22:24-40

Notice that nowhere in either of those two greatest commandments did Jesus mention not sinning. Why is that? Is it because avoiding sin isn't important?

Oh, heavens no.

Maybe it's just because if we're focused on actually living a life filled with righteousness, holiness, Love for God and Love for others, we're not really going to have a lot of room in our lives for sin.

Will we still occasionally mess up? Sure.

But isn't that the whole reason our sins were forgiven in the first place?

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right.

- James 2:8

What else do we need? A life focused on avoiding sin is a life fearfully focused on rules. A life focused on Loving God and our neighbors is a life joyfully focused on God and His wonderful creation.

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

- James 1:19-27

Keeping ourselves free from the pollution of the world is awesome. It's a big deal. It's very important.

But it isn't the end of the story.

Love for others - especially those who cannot provide for themselves - is the work of God in this world.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

- James 2:14-26

It doesn't matter what you believe if you don't do anything about it. You can believe all you like that Jesus is the King of the Universe and that your sins are forgiven through His death and resurrection - but the demons of hell believe that, so who cares? The difference is entirely based on what you do with that belief.

You can believe that a traffic light is red all day long and it won't make any difference unless you actually stop.

If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

- James 4:17

There are plenty of verses in the Bible that I like to think of when I'm dealing with particularly difficult people because I know that God will deal with them far, far, far better than I ever could. This, however, is not one of those verses. This one, quite simply, scares me. This might be one of the most damning verses in the entire Bible.

It's not enough to just be "not bad" - we actually have to make it far enough up the ladder to be wholly in "good" territory. And if we're not being good... THAT'S BAD!

Spending our lives only avoiding sin is sin itself. If we are not focused on attaining righteousness, we are falling short of the name of Christian.

A (potential) Leap of Faith

So tomorrow morning I fly out to Oregon to meet the congregation at the Madras church of Christ.

I'm gonna be up there for 12 days - from the 2nd to the 14th - preaching on the two Sundays in between, as well as teaching the Wednesday night Bible class.

It's a small church (for now!), with an average of about 20 people showing up most Sundays from what I understand. That also seems to be a generous estimate. I'm not sure.

There's a lot of complicated history with the church that I'm not entirely sure I can follow just yet, and they haven't had a preacher for about three years, so maybe their standards have fallen low enough by this point that they're willing to give me a shot. That is in fact the entire purpose of this trip, as I'm sure you've guessed - I'm going up to see if I'm a good fit for this congregation and if they're a good fit for me.

I also just got off the phone with Sallie Mae.

I do not like that woman.

My loans are coming down on me in a way that I just can't do anything about. I have been looking - looking hard - for a job, but things just haven't been happening. And I haven't just been looking for church jobs, I've been looking for a regular job-job, too. Dollar General, Lowe's, Wal-Mart, Burger King, seven different gas stations, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, Costco, Publix, McDonald's, floor refinishing, delivery jobs... no, no, no, no, no... all no. I have no money, I have no job, and I have a whole lot of debt that is very insistent on ignoring the fact that I have no money and have no job.

It's enough to get a guy kinda discouraged.

OK, fine... Really discouraged.

I'm at a crossroads of the principles of my faith and the principles of the world. On the right, I have God telling me that He has a plan for me, and that things will work out, one way or another, sooner or later. God tells me (and, coincidentally, you) over and over that it's not up to me how things work out (James 4:13-14, Jeremiah 29:11-13, Philippians 4:4-7, Proverbs 3:5, I Peter 5:6-7, Psalm 48:14), and beyond that, Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms that we're not supposed to worry about money or stress out about tomorrow, but instead to focus completely on God, trusting that He'll take care of us (Matthew 6:19-34).

And on the other hand there's a few voices in the world telling me to do nothing but completely freak the ever-loving electric cuss-words out about not being able to repay my loans. If I don't pay off my loans, then the rest of my life is completely sunk.

Money, it's a crime

Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie

Money, so they say,

Is the root of all evil today

But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're

giving none away...

- Pink Floyd

A lot of what I'm thinking about right now goes back to what I wrote in "The Safe Bet" a few weeks back. I made the point in that post that if we are going to claim to live as though God is real, then perhaps we ought to live our lives as though we actually believed it. God says He's going to take care of us, He tells us not to worry about money, He tells us to just trust Him, take care of each day as it comes, and live our lives as completely focused on serving Him as we can.

And the thing is... I know all of that...

But man, I don't mind telling you at all that I am still scared senseless.

The pressure from the loans is bad enough, believe me... But it's not like Oregon is just up the street from Tennessee. It's not like I've actually got a lot of experience at being a preacher. It's not like I don't have doubts eating away at me every second of the day, especially as that flight gets closer and closer with every hour.

But you wanna know something really crazy?

I had already made up my mind before we even left for church this past Sunday morning to go forward during the invitation and ask for the congregation's prayers about this whole Oregon trip deal. But when we got to church and the sermon was entirely drawn from Hebrews 11, the "faith chapter" of the Bible... Well... That was kind of exactly what I needed to hear.

Isn't the whole point of faith in the first place that we actually live it out?

Isn't the whole point of faith in Jesus that we face up to the challenges that are going to come our way?

Isn't the whole point of faith in God that we accept that things may not make a lot of sense by the world's standard, but knowing throughout it all God has a plan for us?

I have to admit that I don't know what that plan is. I don't know if it's Oregon. I really don't even know if it's a church job at all, at this point. Like I said - the doubts, they are a-plenty.

But through countless hours of prayer - and not just my own, but also those of the army of people whom God has led into my life who are all supporting me at every turn - and dedicating myself to studying the Bible as best as I know how, this is what I feel like God's asking me to do.

And it's big.

But hey... I serve a Lord who died for me.

I guess the least I can do is fly to Oregon.

I would really appreciate your prayers. Not only for me, but for the Madras church. One way or another, the next 12 days are going to change my life, and hopefully the lives of a few other people. In all things, however, I hope that my words and actions can lead others - and myself - closer and closer to the eternal presence of God.