Stuff I Think Is Interesting

To Race... Or Not To Race?

2011-10-21T01:38:00.001-05:00

Those of you that know me, know that I consider myself a runner. I know I don't run like I used too, so I use the label loosely. Four years ago prior to my move to the Kansas City area I generally ran four to six days per week averaging between six and ten miles per day. As far as running goes I was probably in the best physical condition so far in my life. However once i moved down here I found myself running less and less do to a busy schedule and a lack of motivation. Then in 2008 a good friend of mine Josh said we should run the KC half marathon, I believe he had completed one a couple of years earlier and thought it would be a fun time and a great way to get into shape. We ran together three times per week for the six weeks leading up to the race and neither of us felt like we had trained enough and proceeded to set a conservative goal for the event (just to finish the entire race). However with all the hype of the race itself we quickly knew we could finish and then focused on trying to run a sub two hour time. Which we did! I ran a 1:53 and figured for someone who is not in great shape I did well.

So fast forward a few years and I found myself running the very same half marathon, but with even less training. Running about once or if I was lucky twice per week averaging about three to four miles per day I was less prepared than the first go around. Some how I had injured my left foot about three weeks before the race and at times thought that was it, no race for me. The pain would come and go, and finally I decided I would just go for it, what did I have to loose? So once again I set a goal to just complete the race not worrying about my time, but when the race began I decided to be aggressive and shoot for a good time. I ended up finishing wit a time of 1:55 approximately two minutes slower than the first time around.

It was fun and I was able to run with my father-in-law (He pretty much destroyed me running a 1:49) who was running his first half marathon.

Breaking The Silence

2011-09-21T11:46:00.001-05:00

Well it has been quite a while since I have posted. Work has kept me very busy, working lots of overtime, along with all the baby preparations, etc... I haven't had the time to blog. I haven't been able to get much reading in either, which is unfortunate because I love to read. I am however going to try to remedy the situation. Peace to all!

Book Review: Christian Anarchism

2011-07-14T15:11:00.004-05:00

I love to read and when someone I respect recommends a good book I will usually try to read it. For those of you who know me, you know that I am a huge Greg Boyd fan. I have read most of his books and I listen to his sermons every week and he has had a huge impact on my life. That being said he recently tweeted this message:

"If I could get every Christian to read ONE book (other than Bible) it would be “Christian Anarchism" by Alex Christoyannopoulos. I DARE. u!"

So I was very interested to get my hands on this book, which I purchased* and am nearly finished reading. This has been a very challenging book to read, not because it is to scholarly (even though it is a Ph.D. dissertation), not because the author is from Europe and they spell some words differently than we do here in the United States, it’s been challenging because it has pushed me to reconsider some of my perspectives and understandings on the Christians role in politics.

I would agree with Greg Boyd that this is a great book, however I also don’t think this is for everyone. I would recommend reading Boyd’s own books The Myth of a Christian Nation and The Myth of a Christian Religion before reading Christian Anarchism since they would be particularly helpful to the American reader in setting the foundations for what Christian Anarchism puts forth. If after reading those two books you feel you agree with Boyd’s conclusions then definitely read this book, you cannot read this book and remain the same. Even if you do not agree with all of the authors conclusions, your eyes will be opened to view things differently. But if you feel you cannot agree with Boyd’s conclusions this book will likely confuse and/or upset you more.

I will likely post more on this book later, but for now I would highly recommend it if, as Boyd implies in his tweet you are daring enough to read a book that will be as challenging as this one is!

*I purchased the paperback abridged version which is identical to the full version with the main text but the author has removed all but the important footnotes. After I had already purchased the book I did find the full unabridged version in PDF format for free here if you register.

2011-07-04T09:29:00.000-05:00

Below is an article written by Greg Boyd for Relevant magazine, you can find the original post here.

I am thankful to live in a country that acknowledges people have rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” and that empowers citizens to influence how they are governed. I know how rare such freedom has been throughout history, and how costly it has been to acquire and protect. I’m also proud of many other ideals America stands for, such as the principle that all people are created equal (though, we’re obviously still in the process of living up to this one). So, I see no problem with an American Christian being patriotic.

At the same time, followers of Jesus need to be very careful. History shows us how easy it is for Christians to forget that the Kingdom Jesus came to establish is “not of this world” (John 18:36, TNIV). And it’s to His Kingdom we are to pledge our sole allegiance.

Throughout history we find Christians buying the age-old pagan lie that God uniquely favors their country, and their national enemies are God’s enemies. Believing that lie, patriotic Christians have tragically followed the orders of earthly rulers and marched into battle “for God and country,” rather than following the example of Jesus—who gave His life for the people who persecuted Him.

Ironically, in some cases the “enemies” Christians have slaughtered have been other patriotic Christians who happened to be born in other countries, or other parts of the same country. Few things have done more to discredit Christianity than the patriotic zeal with which Christians have participated in violence.

“Whoever claims to live in him,” John teaches us, “must live as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6). When we compromise our commitment to living and loving like Jesus, we’ve crossed the line between healthy and idolatrous patriotism. Jesus and Paul repeatedly command us to love, bless, pray for and do good to our enemies, and to never retaliate or resort to violence. It’s healthy to patriotically appreciate the positive aspects of our country and our form of government. But we’re putting that patriotism in front of God the moment our allegiance to our country motivates us to kill our enemies rather than to die for them. And anything in our lives that comes before God is idolatry.

The danger of idolatrous patriotism is not just about how we compromise our love for enemies. If we become too invested in our nation, we can forget our real citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 1:27) and our job is to live as ambassadors of Christ ( 2 Corinthians 5:20). Rather than manifesting the distinctive values of the Kingdom of God, we can begin to assume the ideals of our culture are Kingdom values.

I appreciate that America recognizes my rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” but there is nothing distinctly Kingdom about these rights. They’re nowhere to be found in the Bible. To the contrary, as a follower of Jesus I’m called to surrender my rights to life, liberty and happiness, and instead submit to the will of God. These rights are noble on a political level, but they can get in the way of my call to seek first the Kingdom. I’m grateful America extends these rights to people, for most countries throughout history have not. But my sole allegiance is to the heavenly Kingdom that calls me to surrender my rights. If I get too concerned with an earthly country that frees me to pursue my rights, my healthy patriotism becomes idolatrous. I’ve put my country’s ideals before God.

Along similar lines, history consistently shows when we forget we’re “foreigners” and “exiles” in this world, we can begin to associate our preferred form of government or politics too closely with the Kingdom of God. Here, too, it’s crucial we follow the example of Jesus.

Despite the fact that He lived in an age when plenty of political and nationalistic issues were being hotly debated, Jesus never displayed the slightest interest in such matters. He didn’t come to bring us a “new and improved” version of the Kingdom of the world. He came to inaugurate a Kingdom that is “not of this world.” It’s a Kingdom that is no more Israeli than it is Palestinian; no more American than it is Iraqi; and no more socialist than it is democratic. Instead, it’s a Kingdom that encompasses people from every nation and political persuasion, for it puts on display the “one new humanity” Jesus died to create (Ephesians 2:15). In this Kingdom, Paul declares, there is no longer any Jew or Greek (Galatians 3:27-29). In our Kingdom, all national, tribal, ethnic, gender, social and economic distinctions are insignificant.

So over the Fourth of July weekend—and all year—be appreciative of your country. Be patriotic. But make sure your patriotism pales in comparison to your sacrifice, commitment and allegiance to the Kingdom of God.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T17:16:00.000-05:00

Here is a blog post from Greg Boyd on Memorial Day. I like what he has to say, check it out for yourself. You can read the post here.

Jonah Part 1

2011-05-26T12:01:00.001-05:00

I recently spent a couple of days reading and re-reading the book of Jonah. For those that know me well they could tell you I have a fascination with this book. There is so much to it and yet it is pretty short and can be read easily in one sitting. But the shortness of this book does not take away from the seriousness of its content.

If you have grown up in the church you probably heard about Jonah and the “whale.” In fact I am pretty sure this is one of the handful of biblical stories taught to children along with Noah and the ark, Daniel and the lion’s den, David and Goliath, the three men in the fiery furnace, along with various stories about Moses just to name a few. And of course we tell kids these stories because they have components that keep their attention. And while we simplify these stories so they can understand them, at some point we do have to go back and see what else is going on within those stories.

I have found it interesting how little adults who grew up in the church know or understand about these stories. Many tend to dismiss them; leaving them as the children’s stories they heard growing up. This I think is NOT good. We have much to learn from the “children’s” stories found in the bible, and the book of Jonah is a good example.

The main point to take away from the story of Jonah is not that he ran from God and was swallowed by a giant fish and eventually three days later was vomited up onto dry ground after praying out to God. This is of course the kid’s version, the moral of the story is “obey God or prepare for punishment, and if you do disobey repent and God will forgive you.” This is true, but there is much more to the story.

I want to spend a few posts working through the book of Jonah, more to come…

Food For Thought

2011-05-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

I wanted to post a link to an awesome and thought provoking blog post by Greg Boyd, you can read the post here.

M.I.A.

2011-05-06T13:53:00.000-05:00

I was listening to music this morning and “M.I.A.” by Avenged Sevenfold came on. I really like this song for a couple of reasons: 1. It speaks of the awfulness of war, 2. It speaks of the effects of war on those fighting. I think this song has a lot to say all on it's own, so check it out for yourself below...

"M.I.A." Music & Lyrics by Avenged Sevenfold

Staring at the carnage
Praying that the sun would never rise
Living another day in disguise
These feelings can’t be right
Lend me your courage to stand up and fight on tonight
Stand up and fight

Now fighting rages on and on
To challenge me, you must be strong
I walk your land but don’t belong
Two million soldiers can’t be wrong

It’s no fun but I’ve been here before
I’m far from home and I’m fighting your war
Not the way I pictured this
I wanted better things

Some are scared, others killing for fun
I shot a mother right in front of her son
Take this from my consciousness
And please erase my dreams

Fight for honor, fight for your life
Pray to God that our side is right
Know we won, I still may lose
Until I make it home to you

I see our mothers filled with tears
Grew up so fast, where did those years go?
Memories won’t let you cry
Unless I don’t return tonight

So many soldiers on the other side
I take their lives so they can’t take mine
Scared to make it out alive now
Murders all I know

Nobody tells me all the reasons we’re here
I have my weapon, so there’s nothing to fear
Another day, another life
But nothing real to show for

Fight for honor, fight for your life
Pray to God that our side is right
Know we won, I still may lose
Until I make it home to you

I see our mothers filled with tears
Grew up so fast, where did those years go?
Memories won’t let you cry
Unless I don’t return tonight

Staring at the carnage
Praying that the sun would never rise
Living another day in disguise
These feelings can’t be right
Lend me your courage to stand up and fight on tonight
Stand up and fight

Watching the death toll rise
Wondering how I’m alive
Stranger’s blood on my hands, shot all I can

There were no silent nights
Watching your brothers all die
To destroy all their plans with no thought of me
No thought of me, no thought of me

Walk the city lonely
Memories that haunt are passing by
A murderer walks your streets tonight
Forgive me of my crimes
Don’t forget that I was so young
Fought so scared in the name of God and country

Love Wins

2011-04-12T14:31:00.000-05:00

Here is a good review of Rob Bell's book Love Wins: HERE.

Love Wins

2011-03-28T13:08:00.003-05:00

I recently finished reading Love Wins: A book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived written by Rob Bell. The publisher released a preview video a few weeks prior to the books release which created quite a stir. There were many people who judged the book and it’s author based only on the preview video, which I am assumed the publishers created to create a little bit of a stir in order to promote the book... they succeeded! I was however incredibly disappointed by many of the responses from some Christian leaders. Without having read the book they judged and labeled Rob Bell and the book, some even labeling it heresy. Really...? I decided to wait to discuss the book until I had a chance to read it for myself, and having done so I can honestly say that I didn’t find any heresy contained in it. I would say that I agree with most of what Bell puts forth. I am going to say only a few things about the book for now.

First off I agree with Rob’s statement that all the material covered in his book is nothing new.

“And then. last of all, please understand that nothing in this book hasn't been taught, suggested. or celebrated by many before me. I haven't come up with a radical new teaching that’s any kind or departure from what's been said an untold number of times. That's the beauty or the historic, orthodox Christian faith. It’s a deep. wide. diverse stream that's been flowing for thousands or years. carrying a staggering variety of voices, perspectives. and experiences.” (p.5)**

I also think that Rob doesn’t seem to say that he personally subscribes to some of the perspectives he presents in his book. I say this because it seems that some of his critics have pulled much out of context within the book and have then labeled him accordingly. Rob goes into quite a bit of detail by using countless passages of scripture covering the topics of this book. He even covers scriptures that seem to conflict with each other, and he presents differing views on their interpretations. This is not Rob hand picking scripture to support his own personal beliefs, this is Rob taking into account all that the Bible has to say on these topics and presenting varying view points so that the reader can think for him or her self.

In chapter four Rob tackles what I think most of his critics are getting wound up about. He covers some of the universalistic material, and to be honest I don’t think he subscribes to universalism, I think he leaves it up to God to do what God is going to do. Just take what he says at the close of the chapter:

“If we want isolation, despair. and the right to be our own god. God graciously grants us that option. If we insist on using our God-given power and strength to make the world in our own image, God allows us that freedom: we have the kind of license to that. If we want nothing to do with light. hope. love, grace, and peace, God respects that desire on our part, and we are given a life free from any of those realities. The more we want nothing to do with all God is, the more distance and space are created. If we want nothing to do with love, we are given a reality free from love.” (p. 59)

In closing I thought I would leave you with some of what Rob closes the book with:

“Whatever you’ve been told about the end— the end of your life.
the end of time. the end of the world—Jesus passionately urges us to live like the end is here. now. today. Love is what God is. Love is why Jesus came, and love is why he continues to come. Year after year to person after person. Love is why I've written this book, and love is what I want to leave you with. May you experience this vast, expansive, Infinite, indestructible love that has been yours all along. May you discover that this love is as wide as the sky and as small as the cracks in your heart no one else knows about. And may you know, deep in your bones, that loves wins.” (p. 97)

**I must clarify that I read the ebook format for this book so the page numbers may not correspond with the physical book.

An End... A New Beginning

2011-03-16T01:05:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday my pastor and friend Donnie Miller revealed to my church that after about seven years he would be resigning his position. I won't go into much detail about why or the circumstances that led him to this (you can find Donnie's comments here), however I wanted to take the opportunity to say a few things about my experiences at Trinity Family Church (TFC).

TFC was instrumental in several important ways, I was introduced to my wife there (well actually I was introduced to her via Donnie and his wife Erin), I went through what I will call a purging process of ridding myself of unhealthy concepts of ministry, church, and spiritual life in general during my time at TFC. I built many meaningful friendships through this church and I cannot even fathom what my life would be like had I not had my experiences at TFC.

A large part of my growth at TFC has been because of Donnie's pastoring. He has been a great mentor to me over the last several years, even though I think he would shy away from the role he has played in my personal growth (he would probably refer to it as his role in "corrupting" me... Joke). But the truth is I am honored to have served in ministry with him and others at TFC.

I know that this will bring change to the lives of all who call TFC their church home, but I believe as Donnie has claimed that it is not the end... but just the beginning. TFC's legacy will live on in the lives of those it has touched and as for the unknown, well God will continue to use Donnie, TFC, and myself in his glorious work within this world! So with great sorrow we begin to say goodbye to TFC as we know it, but we also anticipate what God is doing and will continue doing to expand his Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you LORD for the work you've done in my life and in the lives of so many through TFC and may you bless and comfort those mourning TFC. And may God bless TFC Midtown as it continues in God's Kingdom work in the Kansas City metro and to the world at large!

Groove Shark

2011-01-30T23:57:00.000-06:00

My brother introduced me to an amazing website called Groove Shark that streams music. It's better than Pandora (in my opinion) and has a pretty easy interface. I would highly recommend it to all, and did I forget to mention it is free!

Favorite New Gadget!

2011-01-06T01:29:00.001-06:00

During this past holiday season I was blessed with many great gifts from friends and family. My wife however wins the best gift award... well the second best gift I have ever received, first being my first drum kit way back when I was eleven years old that my parents hesitantly gave me. Anyway, my wife got me a NOOK by Barnes & Noble. A NOOK for those of you who have never heard of it is an eReader, which is basically a small device that stores digital books for your reading enjoyment.

Now for those of you who know me, you are probably aware that I am an avid reader. I read a lot and I blame my father for this addiction. However you view it I think that reading is generally a good hobby, but I often read a few books at a time and transporting them while traveling anywhere other than my home can be a real pain. This is where the nifty NOOK comes in, it can store well over a thousand books and can even be expanded with an additional memory card to hold thousands more. Basically I can take a whole library of books with me wherever I go in a device that is about the size of one physical book.

I have logged hours of reading time on my NOOK in the last couple of weeks and amazingly enough I have only charged the battery once! Now I realize that there are other eReaders out there... Amazon's Kindle, Sony's readers, etc... and just like any competitively marketed device each one has it's faithful users. I chose the NOOK for a number of reasons that I will not go into here and my wife, who happens to be very good at remembering anything I say that I might possibly want surprised me with this great gift. And has now referred to herself as a NOOK widow, because of the amount of time I spend using the device. Sorry Valerie, I blame you, it's your fault because you got it for me.

Jesus Lord and Savior or something else?

2010-12-27T00:38:00.002-06:00

I am a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. That is what it actually means to be a Christian, literally to be Christ like. However it seems to me that not all of us that claim to be Christian are taking to the likeness of Christ.

“³ And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. ⁴ If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. ⁵ But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. ⁶ Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:3-6 NLT)

I think that it is time for those of us that call ourselves Christian to either pattern our lives after Jesus or to call ourselves something other than Christ like. He is either Lord of everything or he’s not really Lord at all? We are either committed to him or to something else? What will you choose?

Tis the Season

2010-12-23T00:26:00.004-06:00

The Christmas season is upon us and soon 2010 will be completed. Wow… where has this year gone? I remember when I was much younger thinking about how slowly time passes by, each day could seem like an eternity. But just as I was warned by those older and far wiser people in my life: “enjoy it now, because the older you get the faster time fly’s by!” Of course at the time I simply shrugged this off, but as with many things in life I should have cherished those younger innocent years much more than I did.

2010 brought many wonderful new experiences into my life, most significantly being married to my beautiful and loving wife! Although the transition from bachelor to married life has had its rough spots I am so grateful for Valerie and what she means to me. (I am awfully guilty of not complimenting and appreciating my wife as often as I should, this is going to be one of the top items of my new year’s resolutions for 2011.)

Sadly 2010 has also brought sadness to some areas of our life. First with the death of Valerie’s grandmother and then with the death of my grandfather, leaving both of our families grieving losses. We have also had to endure several of our close friends moving away from us for job or educational related reasons. This has left Valerie and me missing the good ole’ days with these friends, and has forced us to get more hobbies to eat up some extra time formally spent with these friends. Of course with the relocating of friends we have tried to make a conscious effort to build some new friendships. And God has indeed blessed us with several new friendships.

With all the good and bad I can’t help but be reminded of why this season has so much powerful meaning, the source of this season is found in recollecting the events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. I know that we all spend a lot of time and energy stressing out this time of year with gifts to buy and what not, but I find such peace in reminding myself of this baby born approximately 2000 years ago who changed the course of history! I am so very thankful for all I have been given in life, and I hope that I can reflect even a small bit of the incredible love of Jesus to the world around me as we wrap up another year and as we begin a brand new one.

Grace and Peace to you all, may the love of Christ become evidenced in your lives! Merry Christmas and Happy birthday Jesus!

Welcome!

2010-12-13T02:56:00.003-06:00

A couple of days ago I was asked by a friend why I do not have a blog. He then pointed out the fact that I am usually the kind of guy who stays current with most technologies, and wondered why I hadn’t used a blog to communicate my thoughts and experiences.

The truth is I have intended to create and utilize a blog for quite some time, however I have put it off because of my busy schedule. After all I rarely even post updates to my Facebook page. Having said this I have decided to develop some kind of blogging discipline, well maybe attempt is a better way to describe this new endeavor. Needless to say I will put forth some effort to stick to it, and I hope to provide myself with an outlet for my thoughts and a place for friends and family to read and understand my beliefs and experiences.

Well then… here’s to my new blog!

(For those of you who recognized...yes I did in fact name my blog after a Dream Theater Album.)