Tozer

"The red bloodcells are like faith: they carry the life-giving oxygen to every part of the body. The white cells are like disbelief: it pounces on the dead and toxic matter and carries it out to the drain."
-A.W. Tozer, The Root of the Righteous

Misunderstood

I was sitting in Starbucks the other day reading and a group of 10 or so high school students walked in the door and sat down at a table near me. They were talking about whatever it is that high schoolers talk about and I couldn't help but sit there and listen. Earlier, I had been thinking about the fact that whether you believed in Jesus or not, he still remains one of the most misunderstood figures in all of historical account. No other name evokes the imagery or response that JESUS does. In America, you can't walk down the street and meet someone who hasn't every heard of Jesus in some form or fashion before.

I was going to give a talk later that night to hundreds of middle school students about Jesus, and I got to thinking that it would be a good idea to ask the high school students sitting near me some questions as I was formulating what I was going to say. I got up out of my chair, went over to where they were sitting, and said: "hey guys, can I ask you some questions? I'm giving a talk to a bunch of kids tonight about Jesus, and I want to know if you were one of them, what questions would you have for me about Jesus?" At first they thought I was selling them something, but when they realized that I just wanted to know their thoughts they started opening up like crazy. I got everything from: "how much does Jesus bench press?" to "was Jesus black?" to "what WOULD Jesus do?". They asked a lot of questions about what he said, will he come back, and was he God. It's funny because all of their questions are answered in the Bible (besides the bench press question). I feel like there are more opinions floating around out there about Jesus than any other person who ever lived, but at the same time there are 4 accounts that go deep into exactly what he did. I know that people contest the authority of the Bible, but I don't think that's the real problem as to why people don't know what Jesus was all about. I think it's because we don't bother to take the time to read about him. I hear people say all the time that they don't mind Jesus, they just don't like Christians. That's unfortunate and sadly true a lot of times, but that is weak excuse to not believe what Jesus said. If it was just you and the Gospels on a desert island, I think you'd think a little differently about what Jesus is actually about.

the reason...

for the season. How many times have you ever heard that phrase about Christmas? It's true that we totally forget (or are completely sick of hearing about) what Christmas is about. It's not that we don't care, believe it, or want to think about it, it's just that a lot of people get sick of Christmas 2 weeks into December. We've also heard about it so many times in our lives, its really hard to sit and be moved while remembering an event that took place over 2000 years ago. When we try and remember it, our thoughts are dominated by little Nativity scenes, Christmas carols, snow, Santa, and Christmas Trees...it all can be distracting. The month leading up to Christmas is called Advent, and I really doubt 98% of people really knows what that means. I didn't, so I did a little research. The word Advent comes from the latin word adventus which comes from the greek word parousia which refers to the Second Coming of Christ. That's confusing. Simply put, Advent is a time that not only is supposed to remind us of the historical event of Jesus' birth, but is also to remind us that he is living and will come back again. That was the original intent of the Christmas season. We don't just remember something that has come and gone in the distant past, get some sentimental feelings and open presents to feel happy...we remember that Jesus didn't leave us alone. He came to this earth, and he's coming back again. That changes the meaning a little bit...

Soccer Game

Maybe they should lower the stadium ticket prices......

Religion

"It is a profound irony that the Son of God visited this planet and one of the chief complaints against him was that he was not religious enough."
-Rebecca Pippert in Out of the Salt Shaker & into the World

I love this quote, and the book is one of my favorites about sharing faith, but it scares me. It scares me that many institutions of faith, the Church, and "Godly" people are a lot of times too religious for God. What does that say?? Anyone who takes the time to really look into the life of Jesus will see that this was the reason people wrote him off. He wasn't good enough for their "religion". He ruffled their feathers just a little too much. Jesus wasn't religious. He had faith and conviction, but could never fit into the mold of the religious establishment of the day. Do we continually put ourselves at odds with what Jesus actually taught? If Jesus came today, would we be more interested in our own ideas of what he should say than what he would really say? A well known pastor of a church in California, Francis Chan, has said: "If Jesus came and started a church near mine, I would probably have more members." I love his honesty, because it speaks to a greater desire in all of us to pursue our own agenda and glory. I bet if we all looked deep into our views of faith, we would realize that we always feel the pressure to be more "religious" than God calls us to be. He calls us to be righteous and holy, but in that is the true calling to be REAL.

Turkeys

While we're in the season, I thought I'd give you some turkey facts...here you go:

-The turkey has no special meaning behind it's consumption on Thanksgiving...it just happened to be the most plentiful meat around at the time.
-Over 49 million turkeys will be bought and eaten this Thanksgiving
-The country with the highest consumption of turkey per person is Israel clocking in at 27 lbs/person/year
-Turkeys have been known to drown when they look up during a rainstorm
-They have an excellent field of vision that stretches 270 degrees around
-They can run up to 20 mph
-Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey
-The heaviest turkey ever found was 86 lbs.
-Their heads change colors when they're excited
-Baby turkeys are called Poults
-They have a long, red, fleshy area that grows from their forehead...it's called a SNOOD

Now you know more than you ever wanted to...

Thanksgiving

In 1789, President George Washington issued the Thanksgiving Proclamation to the people of the United States of America. Here's an excerpt: "Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country..." I don't think you'll hear that mentioned in school. Have we lost the initial meaning of this holiday? I think the answer, like the answer to the question of all holiday meanings, is yes, and I know most people would agree with me. I want to spend time this Thanksgiving really giving thanks to God. I think He deserves it.