Near and Far Faith

A church AV team seems to have honed in on exactly what I was saying yesterday. They posted these on youtube. Check out all 4 of these videos! Christian vs. Christ Follower

It's become increasingly harder to lump myself in with the crowd that calls themselves "Christian". As of late too many "Christians" give themselves that title for the power of it. They demean the public, thinking that we cannot see their true motives through the facade. Missing the entire concept and life of it, "Christians" have learned its language and used it to bring attention to themselves, disguising selfishness with Christian-eze terminology. The problem is not what they say be the heart behind it. A preacher once said that "if your heart is in the wrong place you'll ask the wrong questions". The wrong questions seem to be flying wildly.

My point is this: Jesus came as God's messenger and He flipped upside down what everyone thought was the way because their heart was in the wrong place. He came to bring relationship in it's purest sense between the truly lost and the ultimately purposeful. And this is sin - anything that would come between Christ's attempt to win back that which is true - a relationship with Himself. Too many "Christians" have judged just to make themselves comfortable, not due to sin in the life of the believer. To many Christians have pointed out a lack of their own preferences for sin. Too many Christians are being nothing like Christ. And I truly believe that Christ would say and is saying that "Christians" aren't being Christlike at all.

My goal is to find people that are lost and show them that they don't have to be. I can't do that by condemning their sin when as unbelievers they have no one to account for that sin to yet. And I cannot for the life of me see how condemning the unsinful, but perhaps different life of a fellow believer who is also focused on these things can do any good for that very cause. Our first, primary, and ultimate concern should be winning the lost. Once we've mastered that, MASTERED it, then let's focus on our selves. I believe that through the process of going after what is lost and decrepit I will grow exponentially more than looking at that which is already won and trying to figure out why it is not perfect. It isn't perfect and it never will be. I'm a follower of The Way, as the first desciples were. It is the only way back into that lost relationship, and yes, whatever it takes to bring people to a place where it can be restored, I will do.

Just so you know that I take my own advise and "Wet" wasn't one of those good ideas that never happened, here's what I did today: ate Chocolate Chip Eggos for B-fast, ate some popsicles, ate lunch, got in my PJs around noon, canceled dinner with the Wales (not because of the PJs but due to the sickness that is running rampid amidst the Hibbs compound), watched Glory Road so Bluckbuster Online could have it back after about a month, laid on a heating pad, and I'm about to enjoy Tacitos (bless you Walmart) for dinner. It's the first time in a long time that I've relaxed and disengaged. Try it some time. You'll feel like you're not doing anything, but really not doing anything does more than doing all the things we think need doing.

Rainy days have to be some of my favorite times. I mean last night must have royally stunk since it was trick-or-treat night here in Freemansburg, but justice was served. I just can't buy into the whole "trick-or-treat a week from Halloween" thing. It's like making up a separate holiday. What is the point anyway? Really? Everyone's doing it and thus making Halloween non-existent. Befuddled. At least there's a local Student Pastor willing to keep the tradition alive.

Back to rainy days. In my book, there's nothing better than being lazy on a rainy day. I truly believe that on the 7th day when God rested He made it rain to set the mood. In today's busy life, it's sad that we need a reason like the weather to relax. Relax. Stay in your PJs til noon. Eat lunch on the couch. Watch movies. Warm blankets and pillows. These are why God made rainy days. They are good. And if you're sitting there thinking "what movies could I watch?", allow me to suggest a few. It's still early in the day - start the Lord of The Rings Trilogy. You'll finish it with time to spare before bed. Or go rent an old classic that you've never seen - Casablanca, Rebel Without a Cause. Eighties movies are a personal favorite - Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Goonies, Rambo. Allow me one final suggestion: a cult classic unknown to many - Better off Dead. It stars a teenage John Cusack and "Eric" from "Head of the Class" and you'll laugh. Yeah you will. And if you're sitting there thinking "Oh would he just tell us his favorite of all-time!", here it is: when I saw it in the theatre I laughed so hard that I carried on into other scenes not-as-funny (others did not laugh so hard) - Bruce Almighty. A truly Godly moving picture show.

So if you're reading this today and it's raining, relax. If not, wait with baited breath for the next wet day and sleep in. Rediscover relaxing. And for God's sake, someone please trick-or-treat on Halloween.

I believe that we as a nation have severely underestimated the power of Sesame Street. I'm sitting in my living room as Rory watches the kids sketch comedy act, or as she calls it, "Elmo". I must agree that the furry red one is by far the most worth-while character - sure his voice is high and squeaky and he insists on talking in third person, but next to the big blue "monster" who trys to eat everything but really just crushes it to the floor - I mean really they must have a cookie monster clean up crew for the set, what a slob - and why is he still speaking in broken English? Is it an accent? If not, he must be trying to relate to the thousands of little ones around the world that are also still learning to speak. But if one shows no progress after 20 years is he really helping or simply prolonging the inability to speak in our children?

Anyway, today's letter of the day (ok we DVR it - Tivo is just a brand name, by the way, like Formica. It's a Digital Video Recorder and Formica is Laminate - so it's not really today's letter) is "O". And as usual we place Prairie dawn next to Cookie monster. At least there's one puppet that can understand the mentally deficient monster. As Prairie Dawn tries to educate the beast on words beginning with said letter, the manipulative "monster" turns the conversation ultimately to food (can you say eating disorder?). Prairie - yes we are on a first name basis - ends the sketch with a plethora of sad "o" words like "Oh know!”. Not really a quick one, Dawn. This does happen daily. You'd think she'd at least have an inkling by now of the coming events. And so Rory follows suit and falls purposely off the coffee table and says "oooohhhh!" (it's fine - she falls all the time - it's a ballance thing). The power of the Street reverbarates as I also recollect some friends visiting the other day mentioning the power of it in how it had taught their 2 and a half year old his shapes, something they as parents had not yet attempted.

What else could we teach on The Street? Potty training? Manners? Conflict mediation? I realize that they are attempting a few of these, but perhaps PBS should allow us to suggest topics. It would be a worldwide sensation. Like I hear MacDonald's is begininng to serve breakfast all day soon. Of course it will work. It's Mickey D's. They could sell tobacco burgers with the proper marketing.

So let us utilize the power of the street. How and why are they so darn good at teaching? What can we learn from them? Pop culture can help us teach the gospel and I’m learning that from The Street. What they do works. God made Elmo, Cookie Monster, Telly (the socially inept), and best of all, Oscar. Oscar would be a great pastor - straight to the point and keeps you humble. Let us harness what they have done and stop trying to be original or Old School. Next study topic: what I learned from the confrontation styles of the Muppets.

So you know when you're unloading the groceries from the car and you're already a bit peaved due to the lack of space in your trunk because of the existance of the Jeep Cheroke-size stroller (oh how it looked so good in Kids-r-us)... anyway. You're in your garage unloading 2 weeks worth of groceries and, all at the same time strapped to one arm, of course, and your wife yells down from the opposite continent in the kitchen "is the kid down there?" and you yell back after a quick glance "no" with an underlying "i have half of Wlamart hanging on my left arm!", and you give a quick glance into the basement before hauling the equivelant of Lourdes salary (star cashier at said Walmart) up tot the kitchen only to then return to the basement garage to see your one-and-a-half year old strolling unabashedly towards the street because she mischieviously snuck behind you while you were decifering in the back seat of your Plymouth Neon (no longer in production - in ministerial language we say "limited edition" - even though it only means that Plymouth tanked and Dodge took over) what was grocery and what was "keep the kid quiet" accessory and for the first time regret every mischievious thing you ever did as a pre-teen, teen, and young adult because you just had the epiphany that you past that "what can I get away with" mindset on to your eldest offspring? You know that feeling? Do you know that feeling? No? Good. Me neither.