Much bigger fish to fry

“Dear Republicans, stop complaining Healthcare needed reformed yrs ago & u did nothing. I don’t like it but @ least they finished something.”

This is the tweet that has started a string of responses from family, friends, and associates (even at work) about the recent law signed by our President (in case you have been hiding from reality lately). It’s not that I don’t vote or keep up with politics, I do, but after I’ve done my due diligence I just focus on what we [as Christ followers] have left to do. Ultimately, the government has asked me to do nothing against God’s law, no more than our 1st century brothers taxes were used for the upkeep of a colosseum that was the eventual resting place for many within there very personal and church families. So with that in mind I read Matthew 22, Romans 13 try to apply these in me being submissive to my government and tend to the larger business at hand which is the Gospel. My wife was one of the many people to comment on the tweet, and though we disagree vigorously on this subject she added an insight that I’ve not thought of before. She said:

“To fully understand where Jon is coming from (Not to defend him because we have been round and round about this) is the one thing that maters to him most is The Gospel and people knowing it. All other things typically get filter through the lens of “how does this affect The Gospel” Just some insight into my husband’s brain.”

She is right! So many people die daily without hearing the Gospel and that is our job as believers and followers in Christ. We have a duty to let them know the truth above all else. Unfortunately for us we fall prey to our enemies scheme to divert us from the one thing that we are called to which is to represent Christ in our very lives. Governments do not save people, People do not save people, the earth will not save people (or vice versa). Only Christ saves. As the earliest of all creeds states

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy [Spirit], born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, [and] was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sit on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy [Spirit] ; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.

Amen.”

This is what needs to be spoken not conservative, liberal, republican, democrat, tea party, tree hugger, gun toter, etc…… none of it, just Jesus. Listen, I’m not saying that you need to run to the hills and become a monk, I am asking those of you that claim to be Christ followers to engage culture with the Gospel.

What do you think?

P.S. That fish looks SO GOOD!!!!

Restoration and Salvation

Yesterday, I came across a post on my Twitter feed about Tiger Woods and I was intrigued. The reason I read the post is because they are a blog that focuses on “scandalous movement of radical grace in life and leadership”. I absolutely love this idea and subscribe to it wholeheartedly but I have one problem that I’m starting to observe… there is no Jesus. Let me explain with my comments on the blog.

“Mike, I had the chance to experience both you and Jud at Catalyst a few years back and I was amazed and intrigued by both of your wants for radical grace. I also know that we [as Christ followers] are called to be a people that [prayerfully] forgive and move forward towards restoring others to where they once were, I respectfully have a different take on the Tiger Woods scandal. Tiger is definitely not Saul, but not quite David either and I too am praying for a roaring redemption with him family and return to the game. The key, I think, is his Buddhist faith. Everything he said was consistent with his renewed devotion to that – it is basically “I have to work harder and be more disciplined to renounce the desires of the flesh and make myself a better person”. Admirable, and I personally believe he meant every word, but it was a bit empty because there is no room for forgiveness, atonement, redemption in that worldview. Ultimately, I am praying for Tiger to see the truth that Christ brings to ones life. While I appreciate those who were there to support him [in the front row] and weep for the pain brought on by him to his wife and kids, we as believers need to pray not just for restoration but salvation in [Jesus] Christ.

Tigers restoration without salvation [in Christ] is useless. What do you think?

May God test you!?!?

Recently, I was listening to the podcast from Cornerstone Church Simi Valley and Pastor Francis Chan asked a very intriguing question.

If Jesus stood up on stage and said:

Plan A: This year I will give you everything you want. You will prosper, your family will prosper, you will get whatever you want but by the end of this year you will not be any closer to me.

Plan B: This year will be the hardest year of your life. You may lose your marriage, job, and children. You will struggle in everything you do especially when it pertains to your relationship with God but by the end of the year you would be closer to me [Jesus] that you could ever imagine.

Which you would you choose?

I only ask this because I know that I’d want to choose Plan B but I’d most likely choose Plan A.

Why is that?

Why is it that when someone sneezes we ask God to bless him or her? Aren’t we already blessed? We:

Live in America
Make more money than most of the world
Won’t die or get sick by drinking dirty water
Have access to education
Relatively healthy
Etcetera

I’ve just noticed that we are very blessed and maybe need God to test us instead. Most of us could use God’s testing, including myself, and would not enjoy the testing but the outcome. The problem is that God gives us a choice on whether or not we want to submit to His will for our lives. So I wanted to wish you something that may cause you much harm but in the end will also bring you closer to the joy of the Father and His glory. May we choose Plan B and may He test us and do so deeply.

Really? Really? We can’t do better?

Some things I’ll never understand if I live to be a 100 and this is one of those things…Why do a cartoon that has absolutely nothing to do with religion or Christianity need a Jesus voice? And out of all the people in the world guess who the voice of Jesus will be? You got it! Lil’ Wayne, he will be providing the voice of Jesus in the new cartoon “Freaknik.”

In order to understand this you must understand what “Freaknik” was you should understand its origins. Freaknik was an annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, primarily of students from historically black colleges and universities, begun in 1982. Atlantans’ reception of the festival was mixed. In its heyday, the fest attracted upwards of 250,000 revelers to the city. Many residents attended and enjoyed Freaknik, and others complained about traffic congestion due to street parties. City leaders eventually took measures to curtail Freaknik’s accessibility, and hence its popularity. As a result, Freaknik moved to Memorial Drive in Dekalb County then Daytona Beach, Florida and was shut down soon after there arrival for spinning out of control.

The show, which is a 1-hour musical, will be airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in March and is said to feature many guest rapper’s, including Lil Wayne as the voice of Jesus Christ, who will be performing a music video for “Ghetto Commandments.”

The creative director of Adult Swim, tried to explain the shows concept and the rappers involvement. “Basically it was a Black Spring Break that went down in Atlanta and got shut down back in ‘98 or ‘99. So the show is going to resurrect that, and it’s going to be starring T-Pain and Lil’ Wayne and all these other artists like David Banner and some other dudes. It’s all drawn, and T-Pain plays the ghost of Spring Break, the Spirit of Freaknik. He brings this party back to Atlanta and the artists have done all this music for it, and it’s amazing.”

Confession Part 2: My Calling

Early in my life in Christ people started to identify the call on my life but what they were saying wasn’t new to me. Early in life my mom told me that I would be a “lawyer or a pastor”. To say that she sure knew her child would be an understatement. When I went off to K-State (the greatest school on earth) I wanted to become a lawyer and after coming to Christ my passion and calling pointed directly towards pastor. I say all of this to confess:

I am completely and totally unnerved by the gravity of my calling and its implications.

I take seriously the warnings that the Bible gives to those who teach in the Church and and behalf of one who saves us (cf. James 3:1, 1 Timothy 1: 6 – 7). Please don’t get me wrong, this does not nor will not stop me. Honestly, I am scared for people that I run into that take this calling so lightly. I here people ask why be in school don’t you just preach or you could be a male Oprah! When I hear these assertions I shutter deeply and my heart becomes saddened that this calling has become merely celebrity or some type of character.

I am now in school to begin the process of working out this call in my life but even writing this I’m freaked. In all of my studies I want to do one thing and one thing alone…… preach Christ and Him glorified. If that is done then I’ve done what I was placed on this earth to do.

Question: What is your calling and what are you doing about it?

Our God Reigns!

Every once in a while God reminds me of His power and the praise that He deserves. Last night, while at work, I was asked by a coworker to visit her table who claimed to know me. I said that I would when I had time but I forgot. Later, an assistant server (dub) ask me to do the same thing but at that time I was swamped and the show began. During the intermission a guest came over to my section and said my name. When I looked up it was a young man that I had worked with during my time at the Cheesecake Factory. This young man, like so many in the restaurant industry, wasn’t exactly receptive to the message of Christ. After the show I dropped by his table and we began to talk, reconnect, and I soon realize that this encounter was not by chance. After almost 5 years since I first presented the Gospel to him, he was now receptive. Are you kidding? What are the chances that I would run into someone 5 yrs after presenting the Gospel and they would actively want to ask questions about Christ and His glory? Man, I love the God that I serve and last night as I drove home I rolled down the window of my car and scream His praises. So I would ask you this, are you starting to doubt the power of our God and His sovereign will? If, so please spend time repenting and worshipping Him [in song] where ever you read this (that was what I had to do last night). He is worthy, He alone is worthy, He REIGNS!!!!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMLfcx9zN0c]