Read this article today.

If you don’t want to read it, it’s about a pastor who came a restaurant with a large group so an 18% gratuity was tacked on to his bill. Upon receiving his bill, he scratched out the automatic gratuity and wrote “I give God 10%. Why do you get 18?”

It’s people like this that make people hate Christians.

Not only is this a misunderstanding of tithing, it’s a misunderstanding of how we relate to God and one another. God doesn’t demand we pay a certain amount to make God happy. God wants us to give out of the joy and generosity of our hearts. Not only that, but I recall Jesus saying, “For what you’ve done to the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you’ve done unto me.” So, essentially, if we give a waiter a crappy tip, we are in fact giving God a crappy tip.

I’ve heard that many waiters and waitresses hate working on Sunday morning and afternoon because the Christians come in after church and they are rude, unkind, and leave poor tips. That’s not good. I really hope to see the Holy Spirit move in the Body once again. We shouldn’t be known for that, but instead be known for our kindness, generosity, good works, devotion to God, and our love. I really pray for that time to come, and I pray for that spirit in myself.

If you are a Christian, please tip well. It really is important.

“Being saved is trusting in what Christ did for us, but being Christians is dependent on the way we respond to what he did for us.” -Tony Campolo

… I want people to know Jesus. Am I splitting hairs? I don’t think so. Following Jesus has nothing to do with conversion. Jesus doesn’t want us to convert. Jesus wants us to be real.

This post is inspired by @flapper_femme_fatale

There are plenty of things a Christian ought to do. We have three primary focuses.

1. To worship
2. To help create Heaven on Earth
3. To make disiples

So what of Jesus’ command to go and make disciples?

You can’t make a disciple without a person first becoming a believer. It can’t happen. Discipleship is following Jesus. We can aid people in their discipleship, but we can’t make a person a believe. Christians were never commanded to make believers. Becoming a believer is a response to God’s call on our lives. God calls every single one of us; the Christian, the Jew, the Muslim, the Atheist, etc… No matter where you are in life, God calls you to respond. As a Christian, I believe that God calls everyone to know Jesus Christ. We simply respond. We can’t force God’s work.

That’s our only job as Christians; to respond to God’s calling.

So what does responding to God’s call look like?

Well, look at Jesus. Do your actions reflect Jesus’? If not, that’s a problem, because that’s what a Christian response would look like. This is where many who try to convert others get it terribly wrong. I see it all the time. I hear it all the time. Christians telling others they will go to hell… Christians talking behind a non-believer’s back… Christians trying to gain the upper hand while putting others down. Look at Jesus’ character. How would Jesus respond? Our actions should reflect that. All of this is counterintuitive to a “Converter-Christian’s” supposed goal.

Not what Jesus looks like

Jesus is the perfect example of the fruit of the Spirit; love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. When engaged in inter-religious dialogue, if our words, thoughts, or actions are in direct dissension with any of these characteristics, we are acting in response to ourselves, not in response to God. And if we are not acting in response to God, there is no sense in inter-religious dialogue anyway because we will end up making more of a mess. And people wonder why so many people despise Christians! It’s because we’ve tried to do too much on our own accord, and it is done for all the wrong reasons!

See, trying to convert others is a lot like trying to balance on top of a ball that is on top of a balance beam. Perhaps really skilled people can master this technique, but for the other 99.99% of us, it is better to try another approach to get from point A to point B. There is an easier, less painful way, and all it takes is simply walking from one side to another sans the balance beam and ball.

Many Christians have trouble talking with those who don’t believe. The truth is, it’s actually very simple to get along with those who don’t think like you. Because of this, I complied a list of do’s and dont’s.

Do
Listen to God first
Tell others about Jesus
Treat others as if they are better than you
Act in humility
Embrace the fruit of the Spirit
Get to know others, bond with them
Admit when you aren’t acting as Christ would act
Try to live as a Christian should
Love

Don’t
Try to Convert
Have an agenda
Threaten others with hell
Talk behind others backs
Talk down to others
Drag on and on about the scripture that the others may not believe in
Enter a conversation simply for the sake of argument

There are others to add to both lists, but these are the lists that I try to remember.
It is God’s desire for everyone to know Jesus. Likewise, it is my desire for everyone to know Jesus. We just need to be sure that the ends justify the means. I don’t want to scare people into believing in Jesus. I don’t want to guilt them into it. I don’t want to rub my beliefs in their faces. I just want to live how Jesus lived, and that is how I plan on witnessing what I believe to those who don’t.

@PinkGlitter02 asked:

“Do you get offended when no one comments on your posts?”

I honestly don’t know what to think when people don’t comment on my posts. Especially when I get a lot of views, but no comments. There are a number of things that run through my mind when that happens.

1) Is my post too long or too boring?

2) Is my post too dense or too complicated?

3) Am I no making sense?

4) Am I being too offensive?

5) Am I not being offensive enough?

6) Oh well. I don’t always comment when I drop by other people’s blogs.

So I don’t really know what to think. I try not to let it get to me. To me, it’s not about the comments I receive, but instead, about whether or not it’s good enough for people to read. That, I will never know unless I’m told. I guess I do get a bit frustrated when I spend a lot of time on a specific post, only to see that no one comments.

I sit at my computer and I’m all like:

Like most people though, I do enjoy when people comment on my blog. I understand that sometimes, some people just don’t know what to say. Some, just don’t want to be confrontational. I guess I’d rather have someone not comment at all if they are just going to be an argumentative jerk in their comments. Disagreement is one thing, but to continue arguing when no one’s mind will be changed is just completely disrespectful and rude. I’ve learned that the hard way many times. It’s like the old adage goes, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

I guess those are my thoughts on comments on my blog. I do always try to make it a point to respond to everyone’s comment though. It’s important to me and it gives me something to look forward too.

@xXrEMmUsXx asked:

“Are you afraid of death? Why or why not?”

It depends on the day. I would never really say that I’m afraid of death. It’s definitely human nature to try to increase our lifespan, but death is something that everything goes through eventually, so I don’t really see a reason to fear it. I’m more afraid of what I don’t know. Will death hurt? Will my last breath feel like I’m suffocating? Can it be enjoyable? Will I be sad or happy? Will I be aware of my death? What if heaven is nothing like how I imagine it? What if I’m wrong? Does it matter? These are the questions that I think we all have, and I think for most people, this is what’s so bothersome about death. My grandma died a few months ago, and so I’ve really been thinking about this lately. There are some eerie things involved in the dying process. In my grandma’s case, her last few days, she spent the entire time sleeping. Though, she would open her eyes to acknowledge my presence every once in awhile, I don’t really know how aware she was. The nurses and my family assured me that she knew I was there and that she heared our conversations, but I don’t know. I feel like that was only told to me to make me feel comfortable. Hospice pumps you full of morphine so you can die comfortably… the downside to that is your last moments may often be unconscious and/or unintelligible. I don’t know if that’s how I want to die. I think about Jesus dying on the cross. His death was absolute pain, but it was the most meaningful death in the history of the world. We can learn a lot about death through Jesus’… How to boldly embrace it… How to die in dignity, even if your death is among the most undignified… Crying out to God… Friends and family at your side… Jesus’ death was horrible and excruciating, but he really knew how to die!

One thing that I’ve always wanted is to have my dying last words. I don’t want them to be full of wisdom. I don’t want to utter a secret. I just want to leave a bit of treasure for my friends and my family. One of the things that scares me about death is if it comes unexpectedly and I don’t get that chance.

All over scripture, we are told not to be afraid… However, fear is a God-given emotion just like any other emotion. I don’t think it’s healthy to live your life avoiding fear. The only way to conquer it, is to embrace it. It’s okay to fear death and still have hope for what God has in store for us. It’s a mystery. The only way to come to it is by crossing that line of death. Sure it’s scary. The unknown is always scary, but I think that even Jesus’ dying on the cross teaches us how we can boldly approach death, even in our fear. His resurrection gives us hope for what we have to look forward to.

@xXrEMmUsXx asked:

“What was the most profound spiritual moment of your life, excluding salvation?”

Believe it or not, this is a very difficult question for me to answer. I don’t really treasure profound moments. I don’t know why, but it probably has to do with momentary living. I don’t really look back and think how nice it used to be. I don’t look forward to the future and get excited about what could be… I kind of just… be… I’m not sure how true that is, but that’s the way I see myself most of the time anyway… That isn’t to say that I don’t have moments in my life where I look back at the things I’ve learned over the years. I meditate on these times a lot. But to ask me what my most profound spiritual moment in my life is, I am just not sure, though I try to think of it often.

I consider two times in my life to be extremely spiritually profound:

1) My marriage to Tesia. We created a spiritual union that day, and that was the day we became one flesh. It changed the course of my life forever.

2) I had a “wilderness experience” a number of years ago and it went on for a number of years. I was completely lost. I hated God, but all I could do is rely on God. I was very honest with God at that time and I kept asking God why I was so lost… why I can’t get it right… and I would say, “God, I hate you right now.” But the entire time, God was telling me, “It’s going to be ok. Trust me.” I didn’t want to trust God, but I did. Eventually, God led me out of the wilderness and back into comfort. I came out of that a better man… but I’ve never been closer to God than in that time.

Concerning the “excluding salvation” part of the question… I consider both of these moments to be very salvific. I don’t go by the understanding that “salvation” is a one-time thing. I wake up every morning and make the decision to follow Jesus, believe in God’s grace, and to trust in his sacrifice. Honestly, I’ve never had that moment many Christians have where they decide to become a Christian. I’ve considered myself a Christian ever since my baptism on January 25th, 1987. I was a baby. Many don’t agree with infant baptism, but that’s a conversation for another time.

So I guess I can say that I try to make everyday a profound spiritual moment. No day is better than any other… but there are definitely days that feel better than others

@xXrEMmUsXx asked this question:

What do you think about Authority in ‘church’?

This is a tricky one for me because I have a natural distrust for authority, yet, I still hold an ingrained respect for those in authority. So if my answer isn’t clear, I hope you understand why. I guess I will say that the United Methodist Church is set up as a hierarchical system. We have the pastors that discern for and lead the individual churches. Above them, we the district superintendents who oversee the pastors in the districts, and above them are the Bishops that oversee the various conferences. It get’s even more complicated from there and I just don’t know enough about my own denomination to know how everything is split up, but there are basically 5 jurisdictions in the US. And even that is over my head. Our entire system is based on democracy. Everyone in some sort of position in the church is either voted for or appointed by those who’ve been voted for. And that’s really how our church runs- through elections and appointments. These processes can get ugly, but that’s the nature of democracy, I guess. It’s important to note, though, that those who end up in place are who we believe God wants to lead our church, so this is all done prayerfully, as the Holy Spirit guides the decisions of the church. Since we believe that God puts certain people in hierarchical and positions of authority, we have to trust the decisions a Bishop, District Superintendent, or pastors (or any other board or cabinet) make. But since it’s all democracy led by the Holy Spirit, there are also checks and balances in place for those who abuse their authority, or for those who just don’t work out in these positions of authority.

Checks and Balances

This is all boring, so I really hope you are staying with me!

So, to make all that short, I believe God uses authority in the church, but it’s also important to say that these hierarchical positions are not about power and authority. They are about servanthood. To be a pastor, an DS, or a Bishop for the United Methodist Church is not a “higher calling” as some would put it, but a lower calling. To be a pastor is to be a servant; to become the lowest of lows, as Jesus became the lowest of lows. It’s this humbling attitude that makes a pastor successful in the UMC.