Traditional traditions

Sarcasm is one of my many “love languages.” People often don’t like sarcasm, so it has gotten me in trouble at times.  But if you have a gift, why keep it to yourself, right?  There are times when I read the sayings of Jesus and can’t help but think He is being sarcastic.  (This isn’t a popular thought process among strict church folks.)  So reading in Mark this morning I came across a verse where the church elders were frustrated with Jesus because his disciples didn’t wash their hands before they ate.  (This is obviously a shortened version of the story) So Jesus goes on to explain the very touchy church topic of traditions.  And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!” Mark 7:9 (NIV) I dislike traditions, it’s no secret.  And not traditions like, Christmas Eve dinner with my family, or showering only on the third Thursday of the month.  I am talking about church traditions.  If you have been around church any period of time you know what I am talking about.  Some traditions could have a crossed stitched plaque hanging right next to the Ten Commandments.  “Thou shall not eat or drink in the sanctuary.”  Which by the way, have you ever thought of the fact that Jesus chose bread and red wine to eat in the Upper Room?  Bread makes all sorts of crumbs and red wine, well that’s just a janitorial nightmare if it gets spilled.  I am sure that the Pharisees would have rather He selected 7-up and Chex Mix instead.  Now don’t get me wrong, I do not feel that the Lords Supper is a laughing matter, and I find it of utmost importance in the Christian walk.  But it certainly does raise some questions if you think of it like that, right?  The second stitched commandment is again a touchy one, “Thou shall wear a three piece suit, or pants suit, to Sunday morning service.”  Now I understand the idea of looking presentable in church.  I especially understand it in our Walmart world, when wearing your holey Garfield tee shirt and princess pajama bottoms is totally acceptable at three in the afternoon.  But I can’t help but think that we have created a culture in the Church that has an underlying statement that you have to have it “all together” to be there.  Being a person who was on the outside looking in, I know this is what many people think.  So again, I go back to the Bible. These guys had tailors and seamstresses.  So why were Jesus and His disciples so humble looking and the Pharisees and religious leaders adorned with the finest of clothes?  I don’t know, again, I don’t have all answers or think I know everything; it’s just a thought.  There are plenty other traditions in churches, I am sure you can add a lot more to this list, as can I.  But I will leave you with one final one and it is not so much a bad thing, as it is a very traditional thing, and that is “Thou shall have one Pancake breakfast or Salisbury steak dinner a month.”  Now, before you close this page, hear me out.  I love pancakes; I don’t like Salisbury steak (I had a terrible Banquet T.V dinner experience.)  I also understand that these events are held to help raise money for various charities and events, but that’s what gets my goat.  Isn’t Jesus very clear in Matthew 19:21, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in Heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Italics mine)  Not to confuse charity with tradition here, I have this feeling that if we were doing as Jesus instructed us to do; there would be no need for community dinners of any kind.  Now I understand that these dinners create community, and they are very much appreciated by those receiving the donation, so I am not trying to discredit the idea of these dinners.  But if we escaped the monotony of traditions and turned our eyes and ears to what Jesus instructed us to do, I would bet that a majority of differences and arguments would be settled.  It is clear to me in that first listed verse in Mark that traditions are not of God, they are of man.  It is my understanding that most anything of man, eventually leads to trouble.  So I am not saying that traditions are an evil thing, I would just encourage us to check ourselves and make sure our ideas are in line with what the Lord wants for our church.

Loneliness

I am currently reading a book by Charles Stanley titled, “The Source of my Strength.” The first chapter discusses the “baggage” of loneliness. I don’t think it’s ironic that the very first chapter discusses loneliness. It is an important and often overlooked subject when it comes to baggage that we carry around daily. I would venture to bet that most of us reading this right now have either been lonely recently or feel lonely right now. But loneliness isn’t really something “popular” to talk about, especially among males. But the truth of the matter is we all get lonely. I have been lonely numerous of times while I have been surrounded by plenty of people. So what is it that causes this emotion inside of us, besides the lack of people in our lives? That is a much credited argument if you actually don’t have any people in your life, but everybody has somebody. In a day and age where social media rule our lives and popularity is based on how many “friends” you have following your page, we still struggle with the thought of being alone. Some may be married, have kids, and have a large group of friends or coworkers, and still struggle with loneliness. I wish I had “the cure,” but I do not. Even being a man of faith, I still find times when I am lonely. Often I have found that those times when I am lonely is when I am not spending as much time in my relationship with Christ as I ought to be. In my opinion, there is very much a God shaped hole in our lives that isn’t filled until we begin seeking Him out. Many people seek out many “religious” things, and this isn’t a blog about who is “right” and who is “wrong.” But I have tried a lot of things to fill that void, and have only had peace and the feeling of belonging when I lean into my relationship with Jesus. Now I know some will say, “Well whatever works for you,” and I understand that; I used to say that. But now I look back at the past 34 years of my life and can define the times when life was hardest, and it’s only in those times that I leaned into Christ that I found the most comfort. I recently listened to a message given by Louie Giglio and he spoke about the reason why most people don’t agree with or seek out a relationship with Jesus Christ, and it comes down to control. Knowing that Christ will challenge us to give up control of certain things in our life, keeps us from completely committing our entire life to him. So on the outside we appear as though we are “doing the right thing,” while on the inside we are still extremely lonely. I am not claiming to have all the answers here; Lord knows it has taken lots of time and effort on my part. But if you are lonely, first off, check yourself on where you’re at with your relationship with Christ. If you don’t have one, seek out someone who can help you with that. And second, find people. I am one who is prone to shut people out and feel like I can do fine all on my own. So I am speaking from experience and I will be the first to tell you, that doesn’t work! We were designed for relationships. I also know how destructive and hurtful people can be, but this doesn’t mean you stop finding people to share life with. Don’t let the baggage of loneliness haunt you any longer. It is a painful and extremely dangerous place to be sometimes.

Baby Deep V's, Corporate holidays, and Jesus

I always have a lot of ideas that could be written out. Most are theological or “religious” in nature. Some are of comical family moments. Some are just plain ridiculous thoughts that nobody should be forced to read. So to be one of variety I try to write something different everyday to mix it up. (For the one person who reads this blog!) So while sitting in bed tonight, I text my wife at work and asked her for opinions on what I should write about tonight. Her first response was ridiculous but flattering. “How about how sexy you are and how hot you look in deep V’s!!” Now, nobody in their right mind wants to read about “How hot I look in deep V’s” For those of you who don’t know what a deep V is, it is a trend that older gentlemen began a few years back to make themselves more youthful. Deep ‘V’ tee shirts. They say the deeper the V, the older you are trying to be younger. Now I have never liked deep V tee shirts, I am more of a regular collar sort of guy. However, a few months ago, my wife got me a few deep V’s, maybe what I would consider baby deep V’s. So I am not quite sure why she got me baby deep V’s, maybe she is trying to tell me I’m getting older and less “hip?” But Makenna walked into the bedroom yesterday and made a comment of how much she liked the deep V tee shirts I have recently “been rockin.” So apparently I am on to something, or Leslie paid my kids off to comment on this new style? I am leaning more on the fact that she paid the kids off. *As I pause to gather my thoughts, I realize that this blog has now turned into a deep V conversation.* I asked her for more ideas and this was her second text; “Ok…how about the ridiculousness of it not even being Thanksgiving yet and there’s already the push for Christmas and the meanings of the holidays being lost in the propaganda and business of it all.” Now I know what you’re thinking, because I thought the very same thing, did she just use the word “propaganda?” Anyone that knows my wife knows that she isn’t a woman of fancy words. So “propaganda” caught me completely off guard. But she is right; Thanksgiving has completely taken a backseat to the evil corporate machine of Christmas spending. It would be nice if we were that excited about celebrating the birth of Christ almost a whole two months ahead of time, but sadly that’s not the case. When I asked for one more idea, she sent this last text; “How about how amazing our marriage and friendship are, and how with God being the center we have gotten through every bad thing that has ever come our way?” For the third text in a row, she was correct again. (Because I actually do look sexy in deep baby V’s) You know of all of the things I take for granted, my relationship with my wife and with my God have been the two most stable things in my life by far. The ONLY way, and I mean only way that we have made it through a vast majority of struggles that we have faced, either individually or as a couple, have been through our faith in Jesus. Now I know, some may read this and think how ridiculous that sounds, but its truth. We have seen fire and storms quite a few times in our marriage, but it has been our Lord that has walked through the fire and rode out the storms with us. And for all that, I am very thankful!

Words

Words. Letters on a page or noise coming from ones mouth. I feel that we often downplay the power of them. Words can start wars or create peace. Words can tear apart lives or be used to encourage someone. Words can be used to control or can be used to inspire. Words can kill or words can create life. I myself have been destroyed by words, and I have caused destruction with words. I have been inspired by words and I have inspired with words. In my opinion, words control the world. In a given day we are inundated with the power of words. Magazines and daily newspapers contain thousands of them. Social media is nothing but words. The radio, television, and books are built on words alone. I would venture to bet that 99% of our day is controlled by words. So what’s the point you ask? The point is this, how do words construct our daily lives? Are we someone that chooses to use words in a destructive manor? Or do we wake up every morning with the desire to use words that only encourage? In a recent study in Scientific American magazine, they took 200 females and males and studied how many words they speak, in the time they are awake, a day. They found that on average, humans speak close to 17,000 words per day. Now I personally don't think I say that many words a day, but I assure you that my three daughters make up for me. 17,000 words is a lot of words. 17,000 words to either destroy or encourage. Keep in mind that this study was only on how many words we speak, this does not include how many words we write on social media as well. In a speech on February 14, 1923, Rudyard Kipling said, "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." I find this quote fascinating if you really stop to think about it. So this is my challenge, choose a day this week where you say only things of encouragement to people and see how it affects not only you, but those around you. On the flip side, think of someone you may know, (and I think we all know someone) who always seems to be putting people down and doesn't have a kind word to say to anyone. How does it make you and others around you feel? How does that person affect the atmosphere in the place that they belong to? One of my favorite sayings is, "If you want to see the change, be the change." It is my opinion that this world would look a whole lot different if we changed the words we said and how we said them.

Rah Rah Sis Boom Blah

Rah-Rah Sis Boom Blah!

        Don’t let the title fool you. I am neither anti-cheerleading nor anti-errrr…..daughter? Yesterday I had to pick my oldest daughter up from, you guessed it, cheerleading practice. The daughter who is introverted, shy and very (at least I thought) anti-cheer anything!  But being that it is her senior year in high school, I think she is seeing adulthood coming quickly so she wants to slow the process I am assuming. So on the car ride home from practice; I listened in shock as my 17 year old told me all about her first day of practice. I will admit, though I did hear all of the conversation, most of my time was spent thinking to myself that I never imagined in a million years that I would ever have this conversation with her. Again, I know her. Don’t get me wrong, I am VERY proud of her, and will always encourage her to follow her heart and live life to the fullest. It was just weird for me, I suppose, to hear someone talk about something so passionately that you never expected them to have passion about. I guess her adulthood journey is coming quicker for me then it is for her. To see her making her own decisions and living her life the way she wants to live it is a bit of a shock to my parental system. On top of the fact that every day I check the mailbox and she now gets more mail then the rest of the family does. *by the way….Liberty Bible College…how much money do you spend on advertising? She gets like 17 mailers a day from that place.* Well, it was bound to happen. I always say that “time does not wait for anybody”, and now one of my favorite sayings is biting me in the butt. It seems time has passed me by and she will have a career and family of her own someday. Until that time comes though, I will continue to appreciate the time we have with our kids and I will constantly remind them of another one of my favorite says; “There are two types of people, those who are cheerleaders, and those who are leaders of cheer.” I just hope all of our girls will end up being “leaders of cheer.”

Joy!

Recently some friends of ours took us to a concert at a church in Archbold, Ohio for a tour titled “United We Stand.” Although I do love concerts, it didn’t sound appealing to me because I was nursing a sore back and “United We Stand” didn’t sound too appetizing at that point. United we sit, now there is a tour I could have really gotten behind! Dealing with the pain in my back my wife and I decided to join them anyway and make the most of this “date night.” Now, I am sure you are wondering why I would consider this a date night. Well, our usual “date nights” these days consist of getting out of the house without the kids and making a grocery run to our local one stop shopping center. So this concert was a treat none the less! The show was amazing. It consisted of five or so bands performing various kinds of Christian music, spanning all realms of music genre, but mainly rap and loud rock! But the treat for me actually came at the end of the show, not even the show, in the parking lot on the way to our car. A friend of ours had taken their two young daughters, one is probably 7 and one is probably 9 or 10. (If you are reading this and I was way off on ages…I’m sorry. I am not good with ages, I still think my kids aren’t teenagers!) So on the way out, the 7 year old was walking along side me and had commented on how loud the show was, and how she didn’t think people were allowed to be that noisy in church. Now if you know anything about me, I am far from legalistic when it comes to my faith. As a matter of fact, I am the complete opposite of legalistic and it has gotten me in trouble a few times amongst the Christian community. So as you can imagine, this comment from this 7 year old girl really made me smile. But on the other hand, it really bothered me. Not because I thought this girl was legalistic, or that her parents were, because I know her parents. It bothered me because I wondered where this little, innocent girl got such an ancient, and in my opinion, boring idea! Now please understand, I do understand the need for respect and piousness inside the sanctuary of the Lord. However, I do not think that Heaven is going to be some drab and boring get together of believers. After all, Jesus was a man of parties and get-togethers. So I can hardly believe that Heaven will lack loud music, dancing, and joy. But it brings me back to my original thought or question. Where do we get this boring opinion of church? Is it sewn into our DNA? Is it taught to us by our elders? Or maybe it is the way we pick up on how drab and sad many believers are that fill our churches today. When I look around churches I often do not see any joy or hope. This is supposed to be a place to get lifted up and encouraged, but instead you leave feeling like the life has been sucked out of you. Now I know, this is MY opinion and mine only I’m sure. But if this opinion is not correct or true, then explain to me the reason why most people that I encounter during the week that attend Sunday morning services are the same boring and joyless people on Wednesday as they are on Sunday? Again, this opinion is sure to ruffle feathers, but all you have to do is be honest with yourself and look around. And I am not insinuating that we all have to walk around looking like Bozo the Clown with a painted smile on our faces; life gets us down, I get it. But goodness folks, we supposedly have been given the greatest gift through Jesus that mankind could ever dream of and we walk around acting like our baby kitten was just hit by an airplane! No wonder why people don’t want what we have. If I judged my faith off of the way other people of faith acted, I would run from it; and I would run fast! So I beg of people to remember the sacrifice that was made for YOUR life. “Be joyful ALWAYS,” (emphasis mine) the author of Thessalonians tells us. Be: an action word. To be; a way of life. Joyful: the opposite of stoic and boring. Always: never stop!

A Veterans Day thank you!

A Veterans Day thank you.

        I know it is fairly cliché for me to be writing a post and adding some scripture to it, but I found this interesting. And though it isn’t used in the Bible in the same context I am going to use it today, I think it speaks to the unthankfullness and selfishness that our society has towards heroes sometimes. So in my reading this morning I came across this verse in Philippians, and again, the context is wrong but you will see the point. (I hope!)

        “Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.”             Philippians 2:29-30

        Now I do understand that some people of faith will look at this verse used in context of thanking veterans as blasphemy combining the “work of Christ” and thanking veterans for war service. However, the disciples in biblical days were very much fighting for freedom of the Way, as much as we are fighting for freedom today. War has always had some sort of religious undertone to it. I have heard many of atheist or nonbelievers say, “Religion has spilled more blood than any other idea.” There is some truth to this, but sometimes fighting is required to defend the Truth. Paul in this verse is speaking to the church in Philippi concerning sending a man by the name of Epaphroditus. (I am glad my parents didn’t name me that!) This man had apparently endured many of battles for the sake of the gospel, and almost lost his life apparently. Paul also states that he was “risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.” (Emphasis mine) So many times there are those who are very “anti war,” and I will not indulge that argument here, but those same people who are forming picket lines around the state capital, are the same people who have those freedoms because somebody other than yourself fought for them. We seem to forget that a majority of us would not be here if not for soldiers and warriors. I am a man who believes that the pen is mightier than the sword; however, I never go without thanking those who held the sword and held it courageously for MY freedom. Understand, this is not about me tooting my own horn, but anytime I am out in the public and I see a man or woman wearing military gear I always try to stop them and thank them for their service to our country. And I think a few more of us would be doing a great service to those who did serve for our freedom by thanking them and welcoming them “in the Lord with GREAT joy.” George Washington once said. “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.” I shudder to say, but preparation for war is almost a necessity in today’s society with so many people trying to take away these freedoms which so many young men and women have fought for to protect. So if you haven’t served or will never serve in the military, serve those that have with hospitality and kindness. And if you have served or plan on serving in the military, let me be the first to thank you for your service and for the freedoms I enjoy, even if it means I am able to be a man of the pen and write this post to you. God bless and thank you veterans!