No not like most of the world, not like the kids in Africa that are wondering where there next meal is going to come from, or the people in china that are sick and going to die because they cant get medical attention. But perhaps in a less practical and a much more spiritual, and internal way.

We have created an environment that is so outwardly focused that most people are spiritually dead. They are so internally messed up they spend most of there time running from one distraction to the next.

We have a lot of things we can distract our selves with but as soon as we try to spend one minute with our selves we run like hell cause we can’t handle it, We wonder why there seems to be no purpose in our lives. And don’t forget about relationships… Why is there no depth? And have you ever tried to have a meaningful relationship with a person that cant spend a moment alone with them selves or always need to be finding that next distraction. “Good Luck.”

So here is where I tell you why we need God. I don’t want to preach but I need to share this with you all, and if you think God is crap then maybe this will just inspire you to take a look at things differently, or get you asking some questions. But please don’t blow this off. An open mind… is all I ask.

And as I said earlier, I try to approach everything with a “I could be wrong” mind set. I could be wrong, that could be a possibility. But I need to warn you now, I am pretty sure I am right.

Here goes…
This is where God comes in. He gives us the ability to deal with that crap. He gives us a sense of purpose, ito help people that are suffering and hurting out there somewhere in the world or next door. He teaches us to forgive people a helpful tool for any meaningful relationship.

I am not trying to preach and some of you maybe saying hey… woooh… hold on… I now people that seem like they are living a pretty good life and have meaningful relationships with people. And they don’t believe in God… Sure there are people out there that can do it. I think… I don’t really know any personally, and the few who pull it off really well only do so because they have learned either not to go to deep, or they are really good fakers.

Ouch, that’s not a nice thing to say, that is true, but I am not really afraid of being brutally honest with the people around me or myself.

Ok so how does God “fix us?” That is a process that at the moment I am experiencing first hand. The main ingredient is Grace, He gives us grace for our selves. So that, as we go through all our crap and fumble our way out the other side we don’t beat our selves up to the point that we just turn and walk away.

Second the only place that I have experienced a real support group is in a real Christ following community. Notice the lack of the word “Christian.” I am talking about people that really follow God, that are walking out what they preach. He gives the people around us the patience, to allow us to deal with our crap. And if they know God then they will have had some experience dealing with there own stuff.

God also has this way of showing us what real love is. I know it sounds like I am preaching, I guess I am oops. The funny thing is that you will have no idea about what I am talking about when I say Love until you actually experience Gods Love. I am only talking from my personal experience.

This is the last thing I want to leave you with, God has a way of transcending our experiences. Our experiences lie to us, they tell us what we want to hear. If I going on a trip and think it will suck cause we need to sit next to crazy Susan for the next five ours, then we will set out to prove ourselves right. We like being right. And if we think that something will be awesome we will go out of our way to make it rock. This is the power of the mind. And God has a way of getting through that to help us experience what he wants us to experience, I mean He is God and He kind of made the planet, so I think he can handle you and me.

Once we experience that real love and then start to mirror it, starting with our selves, things begin to change.

This is the a practical explanation of love and the way it works

Zigong asked: ”Is there any single word that could guide one’s entire life?” Te master said: ”should it not be reciprocity? What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.”

Analects of Confucious

If you ask any person that is looking for some sort of spirituality or any person that practices some manor of spirituality, they will tell you love is the strongest force there is.

Why is it that everyone no matter who they are knows and respects Mother Teresa? Love my friends, is the answer. Love is the thing that changes us, that gives us the ability to have meaning and a life worth living.

Well now that I have blabbed about love and God, I hope that it sparks some conversation. or a search for something. I have said before if you are honest with yourself you will come to the right conclusion. You may not like them but they will be the right ones. I don’t know what those are for you… but honesty is key…

Email this post

God has a very different relevancy to you and me here in the wonderful bubble and safety of western civilization. Oh sure bad things happen to us, we suffer from lack of fast food or we can’t afford to buy that new out fit for our hot date at the movies, or God forbid we run out of gas money. I mean dang what if we had to take the bus…?

Well ok maybe some of us face some more severe problems and crisis’s, but the reality is this, we have created a society that takes care of us, need food worst case scenario you go the food bank, need clothes go to the salvation army, a large number of our homeless are that way by choice. ( a large number are there because of drug habits and mental illness)

But for most of us, and I am talking about the people like my self that work a decent job, make enough money to get the odd new thing, drive our car around town, hit up a coffee shop and then head home to pound out some thoughts on our laptop, while listening to music and eating cookies that we picked up for lunch the next day.

This is our life, pretty nice if you ask a lot of the world, beyond the wildest dreams an even larger group of people in 3rd world countries. Cookies… coffee… laptop… music… car… wow. Where is God in that, what do I need him for. As far as I can tell I am doing pretty well for myself.

Ok sure I can be thankful. I have my health I have the blessing of living in the nicest, safest country in the world. And I have the ability to learn, do and make something of myself.

So sure he is relevant in that aspect but if I get sick I have free health care, if I hurt myself E.I. and when I retire a pension plan. I don’t need God.

What do I ask him for when I go to bed? “God can you protect my jeep as it sits in my drive way with no roof…” “and God can you make sure you stick around so that when the S#!T hits the fan I can B!@ch and moan about things and ask you to help me out of a pinch…”
“Amen”

Email this post

I love Christianese… “NOT.”(thank you Borat) I truly can’t stand it, you may have never heard this term before so I will quickly elaborate. Christianese is when Christians use “simple terms” in the context of Christianity, and if you are not a Christian you probably have no clue what they are talking about.

For example, the term saved, every Christian knows what this term means, but use it with a non Christian and they look at you, like, ” I need to be saved from what?” Or the term revelation, Christians use this term all the time, it is usually in the context of God having spoken something to them, I think we use it to make our selves sound as if we have really had something profound imparted in us.

Funny thing is, most of the time it is just common sense. I don’t mean to be overly cynical. Christianese is just language and phrases that really don’t make any sense to any one out side of the “Christian world”

The other day (any time in the last 8 months, this particular time being pre married) I was talking with a friend about my current relationship. We were discussing the idea of “knowing.” I knew it was where I wanted to be, but I was willing to give it up, if God asked me to.

Then the phrase, “holding on to it loosely” was used. When we value something we tend to hold on to it really tightly. The tighter we hold on to something the more God wants to take it from us. Not take it away, but he wants to be in charge.

So the other option is to “hold on to it loosely.” God has a plan for our lives and sometimes he asks us to give up things that are really important to us. He does this so that we can learn something he wants to teach us.

So if we hold on to something tightly, that would mean we don’t want to let it go, or wont let it go. We are usually looking for some sort of control over the situation. This often causes us to walk out side of Gods will for our lives. We end up missing out on something or getting our selves into situations that we don’t want to be in. So to “hold on to things loosely” means that we are willing to give them up if asked, it means that we are not seeking to control but are more willing to experience the situation for as long as God wants us to.

Here is my issue with this phrase. The idea of holding onto something I really truly value loosely seems rather careless, if you are holding something that is absolutely precious to you, are you going to be holding it loosely in your hands or are you going to make sure you don’t drop that thing? I look at my relationship with my wonderful lady, and if it is up to me I am going to hold on to that thing very tightly I am going to protect it with everything I’ve got.

I think there is a better option, one that seems to have disappeared with the emergence of this “holding on to things loosely” phrase. I know that if I hold on to things the chances are at some point I am going to drop the ball, (who dropped the ball? Oooh… I dropped the ball) so here is the other option just put it into Gods hands right of the bat. Don’t mess around; just give it up as soon as you get it. Now that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy it because believe me, I am fully enjoying being with my girl. But all the pressure is off, it’s not up to me to protect it, it’s not up to me to try and make it into something, I can let go of control. IT’S NOT UP TO ME.

I have given it to God and now, its up to him, and because it’s in his hands I have to listen to him, if I want to enjoy everything that He has to offer. I have to follow his instruction if I want to see or touch it. And if I don’t, he will just take it away.

So what I am saying here is this, quit holding on to things, let them go, drop them, don’t put your hands on them. Pass it off as soon as possible, especially if you really care about it. Give it to someone that can take care of it and won’t drop it, no matter what happens. And that person is God.

Email this post

Prudence is the same as common sense, thinking things out before you do them, and determining the consequences to our actions.

Temperance is knowing your limit, “the whole point is that he is abstaining, for a good reason, from something which he does not condemn and which he likes to see other people enjoying.” (CS Lewis)

Justice is more then just laws and what goes on in court, it includes fairness, honesty, give and take, and everything that we would expect from a “good person.”

And lastly, fortitude, the guts to walk it out.

Temperance seems to be the most used and abused of these virtues, in the Christian circle. Temperance is usually used in the realm of pleasures, it is knowing your limits, Many religious people have a hard time with this, they tend to do the same couple things wrong.

They tell people what is right and wrong for them, (this is a good thing) and they believe that if something is not right for them, then it is wrong for everyone. (this is bad)

C.S Lewis writes, “…The moment he starts saying the things are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he is taken the wrong turn.” “ A man who makes his money or his motor-bicycle the centre of his life, or a woman who devotes all her thoughts to clothes or bridge or her dog, is being just as ‘intemperate’ as someone who gets drunk every night.” “Ohhh burn…”

So I guess we are not all as good as we thought we were, we need to find the healthy limits in our lives, and allow each person to do the same for them selves. It is super important to enjoy life. And a huge part of that is finding things that we find pleasure in.

For instance I have a tobacco pipe named Watson, I am sure that some people may be surprised and a little perturbed by the fact that I smoke. But I really enjoy it, I enjoy sitting down to a game of cards and blowing smoke circles with my friends. Today I went for long walk in the rain down by the lake and christened my new hand made wood pipe. The very thought of it still puts a smile on my face.

But there is limits If I were out smoking everyday well, firstly that would be really bad for my health, and second it just would be a little over the top, so for me a couple times a week is my limit, and most weeks I don’t reach that limit. Where others are once a day is there limit, and that’s ok. This is a personal thing if I started telling my friends they are wrong for doing something that they enjoy, and there really is no moral obligation attached to it then I think I am over stepping my boundaries.

We need to ask God what our limits are to be, we can ask him about a verity of things, smoking, gambling, buying clothes, and the list goes on. He will give you a boundary.

You may not like it but he knows us better then we do, and he gives them to us for a reason. The best option is to take them, question them find out why they are there, and make sure that we work with in those lines.

Its like coloring, there are many lines and if we stay in them the picture will turn out beautiful, but if we give it to our friends 2 year old well there is beauty there too but I think you get the idea.

Email this post

Honestly I do this though, so the question is, why? What makes me do this? Fear, insecurities, self-preservation, I protect my self from things that don’t even exist and in the process of doing this I miss out on so many opportunities. I fear the things that I want most.

I have a fear of success, what if I reach my goals, what if I get what I think I want only to find that it is inadequate, or that what I thought was the be all, end all, is not all I thought it was. What if I put my self out there, get what it is that I have wanted for so long and then something happens and I screw it up. So I go through life not quite reaching my full potential in fact I actually hinder my self so that I can’t actually get there just so that I can’t and won’t screw up something good.

I enjoy a life of “lack of expectations” because people don’t expect a lot out of you, if you look like you are trying to getting somewhere, but aren’t quite there. People go oh I will help him reach his potential then I can ask for his help. People will give everything they have to help you get there, then when they don’t see any success, they go “well he just has growing to do” and they either give up or give you “space” so that you can grow. The fact is this that selling my self short is very much the easy way out.

The second reason that we sell our selves short is much like the first. We become we think we are happy, but it is more a strange sort of comfortable in our mediocrity. We find comfort in what we know. If we grow up in chaos we tend to find chaotic situations to be apart of, rather then striving for peace and tranquility.

It comes back to fear, so often we get stuck on the fear of “failure” because we all want to succeed, right? Well not really, if we fail we know what will happen, but if we succeed that is unknown territory, what then, what are the steps that I take? I have never been there before, what doors will it actually open? All these questions linger in our minds, and we are more afraid of trying to figure out all the unknowns then failing and being exactly where we presently are. And well we know what that’s like, we know how to handle that situation.

So next time you are rocking it in the free world ask yourself am I really more afraid to fail then I am to succeed?

Email this post

What should we do? The bible tells us to love our enemies because what does it prove, if we just love those that love us? We should also turn the other cheek.

What does that really look like? So often, I think we misinterpret the meaning of love we take the love part to mean that we need to work towards being “buddy buddy,” which in most cases is nearly impossible.

There are a couple people in my life that I can’t stand,(don’t worry none of you are one of those people) they drive me up the crazy tree where I hiss and scratch at them from the safety of the top limb.

What we need to realize is that we are not called to be “buddy buddy”, just to love everyone. Was Jesus best friends with the Pharisees? What does it mean to Love? It means responding, not reacting. It means not insulting the guy that was kicking the back of your chair all class, behind his back. It means that you care, that you bring your issues and that person to God and you leave them there. And you practice that little thing called self-restraint.

The reality is this, you probably have nothing in common with that loud mouth kid in the back of the class, so trying to relate to him in a, “I want to be your friend” kind of way is a waist of his and your time.

But not feeding the insecurities that make him that loud mouth waist of air, is loving him.

I don’t know if that answers the question, but I don’t think there is such a thing as swine in the world of people, and that thinking is what makes “those people” what they are and we are called to break that perception.

A question to ask is this, (oh I do love clichés) how does God see that person? And again you don’t need to be their friend but you can respect and love them. Even from the top branch of the crazy tree.

Email this post

That instinct is fear, a great tool but if not given to God a wonderful hindrance a times. That feeling you get when you stand on the edge of something, we walk to the edge look down and with out a doubt say or think, wow that’s a lot higher then it looked from down there.

I am really scared of moving into something unknown, I put on a hard exterior and I walk out everything as confidently as I can, or an least as confident looking as possible, don’t want people to see my fear. The old saying, “walk like you own the place and people will think you do.” It’s ok to be afraid but it’s what we do with that fear that matters.

Some of us get stuck we don’t move, we cant go forward and cant go back. Some people put on façades just to deal with the fear, and still others fight. I would say that my tendency is to fight. The only healthy way to deal with fear is to surrender it to God, we need to allow him to walk us through the things that are making us afraid. We need to trust that he sees the big picture and has everything well in hand.

There is a kids song that says “he has the hold world in his hands,” we need to keep those words in the front of our minds. Its ok to be afraid, I think that God allowed us to feel this way so that he could be the dad that we all want him to be.

I know as a kid I would go to my parent’s room if I had a bad dream. As we Get older God fills that role in our lives, because I don’t think our folks would enjoy us barging into there room in the middle of the night, because we don’t know what to do with the rest of our lives. But God doesn’t mind.

We need to give those fears of being hurt, to God, we need to allow him to free us from the stuff that holds us back, from relationship, from moving into what God has for us. We hold onto memories of being lied to, betrayed, used and abused, and then when something that could resemble our past arises we run for cover. We shut doors, build walls and we stick our heads in the ground like an ostrich. (that has to be the least poetic word in the English language, it really killed the flow of that sentence…)

we do this because it makes us feel safe. But it is a false sense of security, if no one gets in then we don’t get hurt, we can’t live like that. We have to allow God to free us from fear. I know that these things are all easier said then done. I am not going to presume to have all the answers. This is still a journey I am on, and it kicks my ass on a regular basis.

But pressing forward, trusting in God, giving him our fear, putting ourselves out there and giving God room to prove him self, is key. Only when we give our fears to God are we able to be who he has called us to be.

Email this post

I promptly started defending my self he then tried to push me in to the lake so I knocked his hands away, and made a fist to drop this guy. That’s when I saw it, the vest that he was wearing had a badge on it. The badge of a well-connected and dangerous group of criminals. Frustrated I doped my fist and watched as he turned and punched my buddy in the head. He had seen the badge and blocked the punches as best he could with out ever raising a hand against the aggressor. We then proceeded to leave as fast as we could.

The thoughts that comes to mind after a bit of reflection on the whole situation are these, first, organized crime is so eighties, GET OVER IT. Second is how do we walk out with the authority that we have as sons and daughters of Christ, I mean this guy belongs to a bunch of punks that think they own the world, and just because he had that vest on me and my friend who could have tuned this guy (like an expensive guitar) with out thinking twice didn’t lift a hand.

We walk around this world with the almighty backing us. Should we get vests too? That might not fly to often I find myself hiding my beliefs or worried what people will think if they found out that I am a Christ follower. Should we not walk out everything we do with the boldness that this guy had. With the confidence to walk up to two guys bigger then him and just start swinging.

I know that we are called to walk in love, so why don’t we walk up to the people around us and love them, let the people around us know that we care, that we love them because that is what Christ has asked us to do.

That looks different in every situation, but I think that we can walk away from every situation leaving people feeling loved.

Email this post

So I don’t know how many of you read my little email to Shaw… “But really people,” how is it that we let society get to such a state of immorality, a place so low that the creator of abortion gets the Governor Generals award. (Yes, we now hand out awards for killing babies) “North America disgusts me.”

Our “culture” is destroying us. I truly believe this, now you may be thinking that I am going over the top on this one but the reality is this, I believe that God blesses us when we walk in his will, that though he has the ability to redeem all for his glory he can’t do this unless we start asking. Why do we continue to force God to have to redeem everything? And a lot of the time he destroys what is there and starts again. (the flood)

There is a certain blessing that we get when we stay in the lines that God has given us. And we are so far out side of those lines as a collective whole that God is no longer able to bless us. (The recession) We need to allow God to redeem us, but as long as we continue to walk in complete apathy and let things slide, we hinder what God wants for us. God has given us free choice and his hands are tied as long as we continue down this road.

We wonder why all of North American culture (that includes Europe) has gone down the tube. Why our economy is dropping like an anvil from the roof of a 20-story building. And Christians are asking “why are we being affected we are living our lives right?” (it amazes me that we even ask)

Why? Because we are pathetic apathetic people. I am including my self in this. I have sat back and watched as our society tares it self-apart. I have not stood up for what I believe is right. I have said well that doesn’t really affect me you can do what you want, as long as you don’t step on my toes and just shaken my head from a far.
It is time to stop shaking our heads in societies general direction, and start becoming active. God has given us abilities, some of us writers others public speaking, he has given us everything we need. Lets start using our talents to change things, lets stop being a bunch of cowards and stand up for what we believe in.

God backs us; we really don’t have anything to be afraid of. I know that when we start acting on what God has called us to, God will bless us. We often think that if we speak up we will be rejected; society has become so sick, why would you even care if you are deemed as an out cast someone that doesn’t buy into North American Culture. What is the worst that is going to happen, you get made fun of, they aren’t allowed to kill Christians anymore. We as Christ followers need to stop adding to what society would call fakeness. We need to start living some authentic lives and start standing for something; frankly standing for anything would be an improvement.

I am so tired of people saying that they don’t know enough or haven’t got it figured out yet, so they pussy out and let things slide. If you don’t know enough, God gave you the ability to learn, (read a book) and this whole need to get it figured out crap, “news flash” you probably won’t ever have it figured out, so its now or never.

I would like to be more encouraging, and this ranting business is not really what I am into but honestly, Christians are a rather pathetic bunch in general, Now there are the exceptions and Thank God they are out there, and Thank you for doing something. For giving the rest of us a least a chance to save face. I believe that if we start standing up, that our world will turn around. That God will be given the chance to save us.

“Wow”, I am done ranting. I get a little riled up some times when I look at Christians and I see the mentalities that we have embraced. The mentality that in the end is making us just like everyone else. I want to see us succeed I want to be a part of a group of people that are making a difference. I want to make a difference.

I heard a quote a while ago that went something like this. “There is nothing in this world more dangerous then a person with nothing to lose.” The truth is this; we don’t have anything to lose. So lets start living like it. We think well I do have things to lose, “No you don’t.” There is nothing that you have that God couldn’t take away in a second or give back to you in an even shorter second. Nothing we have is ours if we are truly living the life God has called us to. So lets anti up and start making a difference.

“What is a man, if he is not trying to make the world he lives in a better place.”
Kingdom of Heaven

Email this post

But what I realized was that the song seemed very backwards to me. The words were something along the lines of, “Thank you God from coming and joining us here, we are so glad that you have finally come.” I don’t think those are the exact words but they are close enough.

Your first instinct may be, “those aren’t backwards, they sounds like every other song we sing in church.” They are though and the reason why is what hit me. I looked over at my buddy and proceeded to sing what I thought the words should be. “Thanks Dan for finally taking the time to see me here,” “Thanks Dan for finally listening to what I have been trying to tell you for months,” “thanks Dan for finally coming to me,” so on and so forth. You get the idea, I think that we forget that God is always there.

Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified of them, for the lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

God is always there, we just need to pay more attention to Him. We often get caught up in our selves, what is in our hearts our minds and our thoughts, (we are so self centered) we forget to look around us and see that god is standing right next to us and often carrying us down the road we are traveling. God loves us, the bible says that he stands at the door and nocks we just need to open that door and give him the time of day.

I think that this is how we often view life and God, but aren’t always willing to admit it. I know that this is how I often walk out life. “Picture this,”

we are walking down some beach with God when, he suddenly feels the need to run off to the bathroom to relieve himself, The devil who just happens to be following us down the beach waiting for his chance to strike sees his opportunity as Jesus disappears into the men’s room. He strikes us with all his force. We turn to look for God but he isn’t there, “oh no!” Then when it seems like all is lost Jesus comes bounding back down the beach in his mighty and majestic way, and sends the devil packing.

Ok we all know that Jesus is God and he wouldn’t actually have to go relieve himself, (maybe he does, we do, and we were made in his image. I wonder what God eats.) but we to often make statements that are along the lines of I feel alone, I can’t see God I can’t hear his voice, and we run around in a panic trying to find Christ, I think he must just laugh, its like looking for our sunglasses when they are on top of our head. He is standing right there in front of us but we can’t see him.

About a month ago I had a bit of revelation, I had been going through life and feeling that someone or something had cut the lines of communication between me and God, I was hearing a lot of silence.

A wise friend of mine asked if there was something that I may be allowing to come between God and I. I thought about it for a moment and there was nothing that was coming to mind. We got to talking about my day, and a conversation that I had with a person that fits nicely into the father figure roll in my life. I had told him, that we have misunderstandings and that a lot of the time it has to do with the way I view him, and the simple fact that I see him through a lens that is covered in 24 years of Daddy issues.

It occurred to me that perhaps I was looking at God through 24 years of Daddy issues and it was clouding my vision. Once I went to God and apologized for putting those things on God rather then giving them to Him, and I asked Him to remove those things. I was able to see him standing right there, right were he had been all along.

I had so much junk in my eyes that I couldn’t see him, and believed that maybe he had metaphorically speaking gone to the bathroom and left me standing there alone.

We just need to focus on him to keep him the center of all we do. We need to believe that it is not him that has wondered off to look for something better to do. But that it is us that is blinding ourselves to his continual companionship.

The second part of my little epiphany is this, that when we talk to God and finally look at him, we usually sing a tune that goes something like this. God I could really use your help in getting out of this situation.

Now society teaches us that if something sucks get out or as far away as you can from it. Don’t linger duck your head and run. Well that is not really what I think God has in mind for us.

Another wise man has a saying, I don’t know if it’s his but he is the one that I heard say it. The saying is this “God is not about fixing us, as much as he is about coming along side us, and joining us where we are at.” We need to stop asking God to get us out of situations and start asking him what it is that he has for us in those situations.

Psalms 23: 5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

THAT’S RIGHT IN YOUR FACE!

God doesn’t want to take us out of the dark places he wants us to sit down and feast in the face of hardship. I think that the feast is, growth, growing as a person, growing closer to God, growing in our relationships, growing in our personal maturity.

We need to stick things out we need to look at God believe that he is right there with us, never leaving or forsaking us. And that there is something in every situation that God has something for us. A table of awesomeness. But the only way to access this table is keeping God the center or our lives, to focus on him, after all he is the one that prepares the table, not us.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

So next time things seem hard remember this, that God didn’t run off, he is setting up a feast just for you.

Email this post