Forward This On

I think we've all gotten chain mail things in our e-mail boxes. Most of the time people send them to be annoying I think. "Send this to 20 people in the next 20 minutes and you'll meet your true love tomorrow." Or, "If you don't forward this on to 5 people you will have bad luck all of tomorrow, and an ax murderer will kill you too." Those irritate for sure... but then there's the other side. The one that transcends annoying by reaching a spot in your heart of compassion, and maybe even pride. I'll try to copy one such e-mail I got today verbatim.

I'm not breaking this one. If I get it a 1000 times, I'll forward it a 1000 times!

Let us pray...

Prayer chain for our Military....don't break it!

Please send this on after a short prayer for our soldiers. Don't break it!

Prayer:

'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.'
Prayer Request: When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world. There is nothing attached. Just send this to people in your address book. Do not let it stop with you. Of all the gifts you could give a Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman and others deployed in harm's way, prayer is the very best one.


GOD BLESS YOU FOR PASSING IT ON!
AMEN

How do you feel now? Patriotic? Angry at our enemies for the boy who no longer has a father? Do you feel inspired to fight? To be a good American? Do you wish to give your life for your country?

It is very important to honor everyone, including those in war. Whether you believe in war or not, that's a tough time right there, and they deserve good thoughts/words/prayers to get them through a hard time. In that same breath, can't we honor them by bringing them home, by stopping war?

Not once in that whole e-mail does it mention peace. Shouldn't peace be the real hope?

When I see an e-mail like this I see a representation of the American Way attempting to wash its hands of the travesty of war, by placing the outcome of its decisions on the shoulders of God. As if to say, whatever we do, we will pray for blessing in it. In a round about way, it's allowing blame to fall on God if things don't turn out right. I know people who have turned away from God because their son died in war. "What kind of God would allow this to happen?" they might ask. "What kind of people would follow a way counter to God's way, which allows horrible things like this to happen?" I might ask. Both sides have devastating losses in war. Who is really winning? Would you kill a baby to save X number of people? If not, why would you support a war that does?


Maybe you think I'm cold-hearted and un-American. I don't want pursue being un-American, but I do want to pursue being pro-God. If there is conflict between the two, I will side with God. And as far as being cold-hearted... my heart breaks when I get e-mails like this. The truth is, I don't want this to happen anymore. I can no longer believe that war will end war, I can only believe that truth and love will end war. I'm certainly not so naive as to believe fighting war with truth and love won't have casualties, or even many or more casualties, but I do believe it is working in the right direction. There is no doubt in sacrifice for progress, but why should there be sacrifice to stay in the same old rut?

Let's move forward as a people. Let's give up some of our prayer time for some time in reading the Bible. Otherwise, how will we know what to pray for?

Forward this blog link on to 20 people in the next 5 minutes or I could care less.

The Official Drink of Jesus

I went to a convention this past weekend in Atlanta, GA and have been wanting to write a blog about it.

The convention was for a health drink I promote called MonaVie. Let me just say at the very beginning of this, MonaVie is great! I completely back it and would agree it's pretty much the healthiest food you can put in your body. Good stuff. None of my problems stem from the validity of this product.

So I go to this MonaVie conference put on by it's top earner in the MonaVie network marketing company, Brig Hart. I expected to learn a lot more about the science of the drink and its components, maybe hear some testimonies, and of course get some info on how people have promoted it themselves. What I did not expect was Christian Prosperity Fest '08. I knew that Brig Hart was a Christian, but I've been to Christian conferences that talked less about God.

Now I'm certainly not against preaching the Gospel or anything like that, but when someone comes for a business conference and is preached to 85% of the time, paying a decent chunk of change to go, I'd be a little peeved. And I'd probably hold Christianity responsible. As my aunt and I were on our way there, I was asking if certain people would be there. She responded "no" a lot because of the religious aspect of the message. I didn't expect so much though.

Much of it was motivation from Christian speakers, authors, and pastors. A lot of the points I agreed with, but generally I disagreed with the direction each talk pointed the listener toward. Brig would have the crowd of nearly 5,000 cheering "Black Diamond, Black Diamond, Black Diamond," claiming that they will achieve the high and lucrative rank of Black Diamond. This was shown as an opportunity for freedom. No longer do you have to be a slave under a boss, no longer do you need to work 80 hours a week to provide for you family, no longer do you even need to "work." MonaVie has all the answers. Lots of money will little effort.

The "Christian" Prosperity message is one that makes my stomach turn. When someone tells me that God wants me to have lots of money, I know that they don't know that. I may be "blessed" with lots of money, but that blessing could be a huge curse. What good is it for a man to gain the world but lose his soul? Jesus taught living with less... even less than what most would deem adequate, but it was adequate.

When I have preachers on stage and family members in my ear telling me that I can do much good with wealth, I know there is a truth to that, but there is also a deception, a temptation. Jesus even tempts his disciples in this manner. He exposes to them what they will really do with wealth, or more than they need. If you keep reading in Luke 22, you see that Jesus tells his disciples to get all the things they just said they don't need, including swords. A few verses later you see his disciples relying on one of these items instead of on the Word of the Lord. As Peter pulls out his sword and cuts a man's ear off, Jesus rebukes him and shows him the error of believing in possessions, as well as how easy it is to lose focus.

I truly do find myself in the same situation. There is a voice in my head or sometimes standing right in front of me, saying that it's ok to have all this stuff. God wants me to be blessed and to be a blessing to others, money helps God do that. Words like this will lead me away. Money isn't evil, but a man's heart is easily swayed when money is present. I can bless others with my life. I can inspire the multitudes to give small amounts, rather than having a few wealthy give large amounts. Simplicity, relying on God, keeping my priorities straight; these are all blessings greater than money. And work should be a blessing too. Not working for the rest of my life is not something that appeals to me. Not toiling in a job is something that appeals to me. If you love your work, why wouldn't you want to work for life. Whether it's in a job, your community, your church, your family, someone else's family, or whatever, you have a purpose and you must work at that purpose.

I think it's wrong to correlate business and Christianity in such a way, even though I think Jesus should be in your workplace. If anything Jesus would probably call you to less "work" and more life. He wouldn't be as concerned with productivity, as he would enjoying what you're doing and staying focused on the cause. And I don't know if Jesus would be selling Joel Osteen books like crazy at his business convention.

After this past weekend I decided that MonaVie isn't about the money. It's about trying to help people with health. It's a stepping stone to a better lifestyle and diet. MonaVie is not the answer, but it can help a lot. I'm not opposed to making a little money with MonaVie, but I need to stay strict on giving away anything I don't need before I become bound by it. This is hard, and I'm not there; however, I have made great strides and I'm going to continue chugging along.

I was going to mention network marketing in our economic hardship and question whether it's really a good thing. Does having people quit their jobs to sell juice really help our consumer-based economy? Shouldn't we be moving towards jobs that provide products, rather than gaining quick wealth through another (in some manner) service industry. There's a product there, but these people are all selling something they don't manufacture. Also, if our economy dips pretty bad, MonaVie will be one of the first things people drop to save money. I in no way would put my heart and soul into the security of MonaVie. But like I said, it's an incredible product and I'd recommend everyone give it a shot.

If you want more info on MonaVie let me know.

Ex-Nun Left Convent For Compassion

I've been really wanting to read some books by Karen Armstrong. Some of her book summaries seemed to address some important ideas about religion that others ignore.

I found a posted video of her speaking at TED.

This talk is very neat and incredibly hard to disagree with. Perhaps the sheep will finally be united into one flock.


Watch this video and leave some comments. Controversial stuff... probably.

Pick Me Up

I found a link to this story in a blog I frequent.

I think it's very relatable, simple, and effective.

Even when we make good cheer, we are not always of good cheer. But there is hope that something true, convicting, and inspiring will lift our spirits in fullness.

Let's not be afraid or hesitant to speak these things to one another, simply because someone is already happy/encouraged/confident. The truth is that they may not be, and your sincere word of truth could make their day.

We Are Still Called To Be Fruitful And Multiply

I can already tell you that this post probably isn't what you think. I'm not going to call birth control evil. I'm not going to tell you that your purpose as a man, or especially a woman, is primarily to continue the species. I'm joking ladies, and I do see an importance in continuing humankind. And believe it or not, this isn't going to be an analogy of how you should be multiplying your finances with the blessing of God. This is something much more Biblically inspired than that.

I was reading Luke. I have been going through the book of Luke with some of the high school kids in my Campus Life group. A few weeks ago we were at the end of chapter 9, and this week we started chapter 10. I was coming home from a trip to Atlanta today, and I figured it was as good a time as any to prepare for the Campus Life meeting this evening. I began to read, "After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him two by two into every town..." I kind of stopped an pondered. I still had 23 1/2 verses to go, and I was already pondering after the first half of verse one.

I thought to a play that a woman who used to go to my church, Missy, wrote and directed for the children. The name of the play was "Two by Tow." I remember it well because I video taped it and made a DVD of it. The play was a story of Noah and the ark. Two by two. I know that Jesus is very aware of the Old Testament; in fact he probably has it memorized, if he's a good learned Rabbi. Throughout Jesus' teachings he constantly refers to OT scripture, whether directly or just by mimicking a thought or phrase to show connection. Maybe Jesus was connecting the sending of these 72 followers with Noah and the ark. I turned to Genesis 6 to refresh my mind on any nuances of the Noah story... maybe something I could pick out.

17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."

22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Genesis 7

1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation. 2 Take with you seven ^[a] of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, 3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.

- Genesis 6:17- 7:3

I was honestly shocked to find something I didn't remember at all. God calls Noah to bring in seven of every kind of clean animal and two of ever kind of unclean animal. 7 clean, 2 unclean. 7 2. 72! Some may think this is just a weird fluke, but Jews love playing with numbers. I think this is a very justified thing here. Jesus is somehow trying to put what God did with the flood
together with what God is doing now through Jesus' message. What could this message be?

I'm not going to claim to have this in its entirety, since I have been slightly dwelling on it for only about 10 hours now. But here are my thoughts.

Why did God have at least two of a kind come on the ark of every species? In Genesis 6 and 7 you see that the reason for bringing the animals was to keep these animals alive. They are coming to Noah to be kept alive for the duration of the flood. Did these animals choose Noah? No, God chose these animals. Because God chose the animals they went to Noah and were saved with a purpose. The purpose of their salvation was to multiply and restore.

Jesus finds himself with a similar adequate lack, that Noah had. Noah did not have an excess of animals on the ark, but he had enough. In verse 2 of Luke 10, Jesus expresses this, reiterating an idea from the previous chapter. Here, there are many people who are "willing" to follow Jesus and live as he teaches. But throughout these six verses Jesus continually rebukes people who seem willing to follow him. It's because they're saying one thing with their mouth, yet believing something else in their heart. There is a hesitation and they are not fully committed. That is a problem to Jesus. So although it seems like many are called, few are chosen.

But this is ok, because as you can see we have enough rabbits in the world. Species survived. How did they survive? How did they more than survive, but prosper? They multiplied. Jesus is reinventing the flood. God vowed he would never destroy the Earth with a flood again, but what was the initial purpose? This was an "attempt" at renewal. God essentially restarted and gives the same command he gave in the beginning of creation "be fruitful and increase in number." This is God working to make things right again. Despite God eliminating the unrighteous, it did not eliminate unrighteousness. Very shortly after the flood we see Noah behaving badly... I feel like that should be a commercial you see on late night TV, "Noahs Behaving Badly! *Uncensored*" It's funny cause Noah does end up naked and his sons see him, so he really was uncensored.

Unrighteousness is still around, this whole flood thing appears to be a "failed" attempt, notice that's in quotes. God vows that he will never destroy the whole earth or curse the ground again because of man's wickedness. It's kind of like God does it to show that's now how to do it. Sounds barbaric at the cost of so many lives, but very likely necessary for the time.

God still desires for man to follow Him, but also decides that cursing "the ground" because of the evil of man is not the way to go. If God is not giving up on this rescue mission of man's heart, how will he accomplish it? This is where we fast forward 4,000 years or so. Jesus has his 72. Jesus has his pairs, set with the duty to be fruitful and increase. This is a restoring of the Earth, just like God was working toward with Noah and his family. They failed, and in doing so, established something very important. It takes more than killing wicked people to bring about righteousness.

The new Way will not be that of purging people from the planet and physically rebirthing the population in hopes of better success; rather it is a movement to purge the evil out of them and restore humankind through a spiritual awakening (rebirth) one by one. These 72 sent out aren't "makin' babies," they're bringing about spiritual renewal and thus restoration. Man and the world were created good, the restoration is the process of bringing everything back to that good.

Jesus was the good restoration, so we could know what it looked like. Jesus is the white. When white balancing a camera, you need absolute white. The camera looks at the absolute white, and decides it is white. By knowing that white is really white, all colors come out truly represented. If you place the camera in front of a light blue, the camera can decide that is white. When that happens, all the other colors will be seriously flawed. Man has a tendency to white balance to an odd color, believing it is white. It screws up his whole perspective of everything, where the world doesn't make sense; when grass isn't green and the sky isn't blue. Jesus is that white that sets us straight. Through him we can see the world in it's truth and color.

By knowing that truth, we can then go out and make that truth known. We can act according to life in the truth, where actions fit nicely with faith in the Kingdom of God. By living this correct life we inspire truth among others. We preach it whether we're speaking or not. As the truth is lived out, people acknowledge it. We are chosen by God, just as the animals and humans were for Noah. We are chosen in Christ to be saved and then bring salvation through increase in those experiencing this Life.

At times this may seem like a simple truth. Many may take it more as a naive idea. But I would say it's a powerful truth that is simple once your white balance is set. Once you know how God's kingdom functions, you can forget how the world's kingdom functions and stop relying on it. The Truth is finally here, so many wanted it, how can we not take advantage of it. Become like a child and forget what you knew, forget what is "realistic" in the eyes of the world, forget how things "work" in the ways of the world; focus on the Way of Jesus.

21At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

22"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

23Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

- Luke 10:21-24