Something has been off with me lately. Friday night, I was stuffing inserts into our church’s bulletin in the church office. When I was finished with that, I left the office, closing the door behind me and I went into the sanctuary to set up a tent. That might sound weird, but we were having a Christmas program on Sunday and the tent was acting as the stable in the nativity scene. I was having difficulty getting everything set up, so I stopped for the night. It was 5:30 and I needed to be at work in 30 minutes. My job is 20 minutes from the church, so I was trying to hit the road.

I went back to the church office to grab my coat and I realized “My keys are in my coat pocket… the key to the office door is on my key chain… my coat and my keys are both locked in the church office!”

So I had a fun night. I ended up getting a hold of my wife who, thankfully, got out of class early and she let me into the office. I only worked for one hour that night.

These kinds of things don’t happen to me. I always know where I leave things, I never lose anything, and I never leave anything valuable sit out so it can be stolen.

Yesterday, something new happened.

I was Christmas shopping at the mall with Tesia. We had a long list of friends and family we were buying for, and a budgeted amount of money so we wouldn’t overspend. Overspending was inevitable anyway, but last night, we only had a certain amount in cash. My arms were starting to get tired from carrying all the big bags, so my wife was kind enough to swap me one of the bags. We went into a different store, where I called my dad to ask him what I should get his wife. As we were ready to leave this store, Tesia noticed that the bag she handed me was missing. We couldn’t find it anywhere. We checked the stores, the lost and found, the hallway, everywhere… It was nowhere to be found. We lost about $45.00 worth of stuff… a few things for our niece, and a couple things for our dads…

We are pretty certain someone took it. Tesia and I discussed this and came to the conclusion that we are ok with that. Maybe they are tight on money this Christmas… this way, it’s not stolen, it’s a donation. We’re helping. Well… whoever took the bag better have been a Browns fan… and an Ohio State fan…

These things happen, I guess… but they aren’t supposed to happen to me. Am I really so careless that I would set a bag down in a crowded mall to talk on the phone? I don’t know, but I am almost convinced that I am losing my mind.

It could be worse, I suppose. I just hope $45.00 will just appear in our checking account tomorrow… Not that we need it… we don’t… but at least that way, when we go back to buy our parents and niece their gifts, we are no longer in the hole.

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult;
whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.
Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you;
rebuke a wise man and he will love you (Proverb 9:7-8).

My good friend and brother, @TheGreatBout, gave me this verse as a bit of encouragement to help ignore a troll. This was yesterday, but I can already tell that it’s been nothing but helpful.

Sometimes, there are people that are just out to get you. They don’t care what you have to say. They don’t care about your true personality. They don’t care about the good you do in life. They want to see you fail. They want to see you go down. Their hearts have been so filled with wickedness that there is nothing that we, in our own power, can do to stop these people from doing what they do best. You kind of have to sit back and let it run it’s course, even if it doesn’t seem to go away, all the while, showing them the same love and gratitude that Christ does.

My question is, why would these people like to see us fail? My guess is, they are harboring deep emotional resentment for one reason or another. There is a deep need for these people to see those with good intentions below them so they can feel better about themselves. Though, this is not how Christ teaches us to behave. He says, those who exalt themselves will be humbled and to those whom are humbled before God, they would be exalted.

That’s all I need for my defense, I suppose; a God who has my back when I’m being walked over.

Yet, this is what I’m learning- to be humbled before God. I have no need to attack the people who want to see me fail. I want God to lift me up! As for my troll, I’d like God to lift him up to. As I’ve mentioned, he must be dealing with some terrible personal issues to be so quick to the attack. And to be honest, I am no better than this person. I have some emotional issues as well. We all do. The way we handle them does not define us, but unfortunately, others will define us based on how we handle them.

If this means that I must be a punching bag for the trolls of Xanga, I’ll be a punching bag. I’ll allow God to take my blows for me. It’s what God seems to be good at.

To keep my mind off of some things, I figured I’d update everyone with what’s going on in my life. Get excited. I never really do this.

Well, as some of you know, I’m back in school. I finished my first quarter a couple weeks ago and my grades are as follows:

Spanish I- B
Geology- B
Political Science- A

As you can see, I’m better with these more abstract subjects than the technical ones. I got a 3.3 which, honestly, is the best I’ve ever done in school, so I’m pretty happy about that. My goal is to get a 3.5 next quarter. I think I can do it. I’ll be taking Spanish II, Psychology: The Science of Behavior, and Great Books: The Bible. We’ll see what I can do about that 3.5, but I’m not worried. I think I can do this.

Also, as of November 1st, my wife resigned as the youth director at our church. The job went to me after much prayer and consideration. I’m happy I’m finally in a ministry setting, but right now, I’m really lacking motivation. I really hope I get into gear though. I have a lot to say, but sometimes, I’m just afraid that I’m not interesting enough. I guess there’s no better time than now to start working on that.
So far, it’s been going well enough, but I really hope God uses me to bless this church.

My Thanksgiving break was nice. I went and watched the new Twilight movie with the wife. It was better than I expected, which always seems to be the case. On Thursday, Tesia and I went to my aunt’s and uncle’s for Thanksgiving dinner. It was good to spend time with the family. After that, Tesia, myself, my cousin, his girlfriend, and another one of our friends went to go see the new Muppet Movie, which I recommend. After that, Tesia, after much begging and pleading, convinced me to go Black Friday shopping with her. We bought two things: a bathroom mat and a new set of headphones, both of which, we don’t really need. Friday night, we went to my dad’s for another Thanksgiving dinner. I had a good time there.

Afterwards, we dropped my grandma and my brother off at my grandma’s house. As my brother was helping her in, she fell, scrapped herself up pretty bad, and broke her shoulder. She is currently in the hospital, so I ask you please pray for her.

Saturday, Tesia, her parents, her grandmother, and I all went to see ‘Les Miserables’ at the Schuster Center in Dayton. It was terrific. I actually cried- and I mean, my eyes weren’t just watering up- they were coming out. I’ve seen it once before, but it was the high school version. They cut out all of the stuff about God, and really, that is what makes this musical what it is! Seeing the full version was good for my soul.

After that, we went out for Thai food to celebrate my good grades this quarter.

 

Lately, God’s been showing me that it’s alright to be human. I care a lot about the way I appear to others. I want to be taken seriously. Then I look around and realize that God is helping me make a difference in other’s lives just how I am. I’ve got nothing to prove to anyone and I don’t need to be so defensive. Those that may be out to get me are only hurt, themselves. This is why it is so important that when others curse us, we bless them.

 

I hope everything is going well with you, and I pray for the best!

 

-Jimmy

You know, it doesn’t bother me if people disagree with me. I disagree, civilly, with many people. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- I’m comfortable with not having to have all of the answers to life’s questions. Really, it’s none of my concern if people can’t agree. I totally understand that. But what bothers me is when someone misunderstands my intentions. That drives me up the wall.

It sucks because I feel like I need to defend myself. Sometimes, it’s just better to stay quiet, but man, it can be hard. Funny how it only happens on social networking sites and not in the world outside the web. Is there something about the internet that makes people feel like they are an expert at everything?

Oh well… I won’t let the haters bring me down. I’m just going to try, as far as it’s in my power, to do what I know is right. The rest, well, is up to the grace of God.

Best wishes to you all. I mean it. May God bless you and all that you do.

My wife wrote this as a note on facebook. It was awesome and I thought I’d share it with you!

 

 

I’ve been thinking lately about women’s role in ministry. Seminary has opened up my understanding of scripture immensely and I’ve never felt so empowered for the gospel in my life.

Currently, I’m sitting in the office at my church printing advent devotionals. I know we’re a little ways off from Christmas still, but I can’t help sharing my thoughts about women in ministry in the context of Mary, the mother of Christ.

In the protestant church we really downplay Mary’s role (unlike the Roman Catholic Church…who I think exalts her too highly). When the angel of the Lord appeared to her, her response (known as the Magnificat) is this:

And Mary said,

‘My soul magnifies the Lord,

   and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.

   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

   and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

   from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

   and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

   and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

   in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’

 

This is such a powerful statement of the nature of God out of the soul of Mary.

Within her womb, the Savior was knit together. What a holy place! She cared for Christ as he developed inside of her. She ate the right foods, probably puked a few times, had swollen feet, and had crazy cravings. She endured a long journey to Bethlehem and eventually bore the child in pain and suffering.

Mary was a powerful woman, chosen by God to bear the Savior of the World.

Today, I still believe that woman are chosen to bear Christ to the world. Woman who take care of themselves so they can preach the gospel globally…women who fast and pray as a spiritual discipline….women who prophecy as Mary did in the Magnificat…women who tirelessly work to help people understand the gospel and endure pain and suffering when those around them do not know Christ. There are women who are chosen to bear Christ to the world through preaching and teaching.

I pray that all of you women reading this will be filled with the Holy Spirit and that Christ will be born into the deepest part of you being so that you can bear Christ to the world like our sister, Mary.

 

I had a conversation on the phone with my dad tonight on my way home from work. I talk to him about every night.

Now, I consider myself to be a fairly conservative individual, but I try to keep an open mind. I’m sure my dad does too, but he is conservative in a different way.

We began to talk about politics. It’s almost a nightly occurrence. I love talking about politics with my dad because it shows me that he and I are both aware of what is going on in the world around us. But he started talking about the chance that Israel may be going to war with Iran. Really, I think this is inevitable, but who knows when it will actually happen… In any case, Dad said, “So if that would happen, where would you stand?”

I began to explain, “Well Dad, I have a different opinion on war in general, I don’t know if…”

“You’re not answering my question” he interrupted. “We are Israel’s only friend. Who will stick up for them if we don’t? If Israel would go to war with Iran, would you support Israel?”

I told Dad, “I don’t really believe in war, Dad…”

“It’s a yes or no question.”

“Ok, Dad, you know what I think? I think it’s senseless to call myself a follower of Christ, a Christian, if I don’t even try to do what Jesus teaches. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Dad stopped for a second and thought. He came back with the one thing he could come back with… “Yeah…”

I believe in peace through Christ because it’s what Christ taught. I will not get swallowed up in what everyone else tells is right or moral. I look to Christ to see how I should be living and allow Him to live through me.

Peace to you.

Often times, there is too much noise in Christianity. We argue and bicker over proper theology and how the Church ought to be run. There are those of us who are more vocal than others in these aspects, myself included, but often times, it takes away from our purpose as Christians.

But what is our purpose as Christians? I guarantee you, if you ask 10 Christians this question, you’ll get 10 different answers. There is nothing wrong with that- these opinions are just different emphasis on equally important issues. If you ask a person who subscribes to a more “evangelistic” denomination, they will probably say something along the lines of, “To go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.” This is an important part of Christianity, but in my understanding, not our goal. My interpretation is that our goal as Christians is to allow Christ to manifest Himself in us, so that we can allow God’s kingdom to be built on earth. This is not to say that the former is a terrible approach, but rather, that when we are doing the will of God, people want to follow.

The line is fine, but it is there. As a result, the different emphasis often causes disputes among the Christian community. Those among us who are more evangelical get upset at the ones who are more mainline and claim that we don’t disciple enough. Those of us who are more mainline, like me, accuse those who are more evangelical that they don’t allow God to do the work that only God can do. These two sides don’t really see eye to eye all the time, but they are equally valid and equally important. There can be consequences to each, however, if one can not see these as equally important. For example, if we don’t go and make disciples, we are ignoring an important role of the Church, commanded by Christ. The “how” makes all the difference though.

Many people ignore the man standing on the soapbox with a megaphone telling us to repent. We laugh at those with signs, picketing and telling others they are going to hell. We throw away tracts, handed out by people who really want us to know God in the same way they do. These, in my opinion, are terrible ways of evangelizing. The way I evangelize is by letting God do the work for me- after all, I am a vessel- I’m a tool to be used by God.

Everything we do, everything we say, everywhere we go is directed by God. In humility, we simply surrender to his will.

God’s revealed Christ to me. This is why I am a believer. He’s shown me that Christ’s way works.

This isn’t about heaven and hell, folks. This is about the here and now- This is what Christ tells us to live for- allowing Him to create heaven on earth… because we don’t want to see others go through hell on earth.

So lets think about this for a second. What makes hell on earth? Bitterness, resentment, jealousy, gluttony, murder, deceitfulness, disease, disobedience, injustice, hatred, and all these things that separate us from God.
What makes heaven on earth then? Well, we can start by the fruit of the Spirit as read in Galatians. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. And the fruit of the spirit is not limited to this either. Humility is another one for example.

But all of these are birthed by the Holy Spirit. This is not of our own doing- The only part we play in this is our willingness to be used by God.

So though some may read my blog and say things like, “Why can’t more Christians be like you?”, to that I would say,

I don’t want Christians to be like me. I’m terrible, through and through. But what causes you to ask me this question is what you see in me: the work of the living Jesus Christ, our God and Savior. These are the things he does to me through His Holy Spirit. I simply obey——- sometimes. I’m not perfect as nobody is. And it is this that is my only proof that God came to us in the form of man, died, rose from death, ascended into heaven, and gave us His Holy Spirit. It’s not by what I do, but by what He does in me. I can’t love perfectly on my own, but God certainly can- and it is the Christians He chooses to use to show this love. Some, unfortunately, are not open to His guidance, though.

This is why I don’t push God in others faces. First of all, God is at work in everyone’s lives. We call this prevenient grace. It is our responsibility to respond to this grace. Some have chosen not to. I’ve chosen to respond to this. Some have not yet responded to this, but will. But this is all in God’s guidance, not our own.

So I’d love to see people come to know the Christ who has changed the world and continues to do so through us. But this doesn’t come with force, threatening, annoying, or anything like that. Nor does this come from pamphlets passed out, soapbox sermons, door-to-door witnessing, or picketing. This comes from the work Christ does in us, and in return, Christ does the work of the Kingdom through us, to make His world possible.

The Bible is a book of the Christian faith. Contained within it is an entire metanarrative that tells us the story of our salvation and good principles to keep the Church running and accountable. Within the metanarrative are stories, parables, letters, poems, proverbs, songs, and biographies. These are comprised together from all over the middle east and even southern Europe. Over the years, it has since been translated multiple times in a variety of languages, and dispersed throughout the entire world where today, it can be used by churches and revered by Christians.

Throughout the many years that the Bible has been around, the concepts within have been hypothesized, evaluated, theorized, evolved, and understood in multiples of ways. There is not one clear understanding of scripture with all the many traditions we have today. Perhaps that is God’s intent. I don’t know. But to me, it’s a beautiful thing that it is understood in all these different ways. Not everyone needs to agree with me. I don’t need to agree with everyone either. The one thing that I know for sure though, is that God has all of the answers. God is the light where there is dark, and though I may not be able to see, I can know and trust that God will one day get me to the light where I will be able to see the mysteries he has for us clearly.

And this is my problem with the so-called “infallibility of scripture”. There are too many mysteries in the Bible. There are too many mysteries in life in general. I can’t even begin to count the mysteries of God, and yet, to many, it is to be believed that this book that was written in a variety of contexts and particular situations is infallible? I used to go along with that, but I no longer do. Only God is infallible; the actual “Word of God”.

Catholics have a different theology of scripture than most protestants (namely, Evangelical denominations as opposed to Mainline denominations). But there is a saying among Catholics that we protestants worship a paper pope. Normally, this is said in response to  accusations that the pope becomes a sort of deity among Catholics. Honestly, I agree with the Catholics on this one. To many protestants, the holy trinity has become the Father, Son, and Holy Bible rather than Holy Spirit. And that, to me, has been poisonous to the Church.

Someone recently asked me, “By what authority [do you] believe you can strike some things from the Bible as not being His word and know which they are in the first place? Don’t you think this might be a little presumptuous?”

 

 

My answer to that is rather simple- Really, by the same authority that tells someone the exact opposite. I mean, all of our traditions do this to an extent, and the reasons vary. My authority is the tradition of my church. I’m a United Methodist. We don’t believe that the Bible is the Word of God, but rather that it reveals the Word of God. All that means is that while reading the bible, we can’t just take it at face value. The Bible wasn’t put together to be read, but rather, heard by those who’ve been through enough education to know that they can understand it. Now, I’m not saying that no one should read the bible… but that its intent has changed with the development of the printing press. Now, anyone is able to read it- and that’s great, but sometimes, people misinterpret scripture due to the fact that the time, context, and situation of the text are not exactly easy to read. This changes many things.

Personally, I think it’s a little presumptuous to assume that the Bible is the word of God to begin with. I mean, you won’t find that in the Bible. This, in my mind, kills the work of the Holy Spirit. After all, God is a living, breathing God. The Bible is a good guide for living a Godly life, but the Bible in itself is not living. It does not breath. It has no room for change in a changing world. I believe some things are constant, but not all. Finding out what is constant and what is not takes study, reasoning, consulting tradition, and experience.

Please remember that Galileo once said that the earth was not fixed in place, as the scriptures said it was, but instead that it revolves around the sun. He was excommunicated from the Church for believing this. We know now that that concept is silly. Why? Because it’s been proven that the Earth revolves around the sun. We also know now that the Earth is not set up on pillars. We also now know that the Earth is round. A lot has changed- including the ways the authors of the New and Old testament saw the world. It’s a completely different world from back then, so I believe it would be best for us to look at scripture and instead of taking everything at face value, ask, “How is this applicable to today, in 2011, in this community, in this context?” And throughout Church history, this is nothing new. Many of our Church fathers and theologians taught from a standpoint that not everything in scripture is historically literal, or even in some cases, accurate. Martin Luther almost took James out of the canon, for crying out loud! Why? Because he thought it wasn’t needed and he didn’t agree with the letter’s theology.

None of this is to say that scripture has no authority. Believe it or not, I have a very high view of scripture. I just don’t treat scripture as if it is the fourth member of the trinity. As I’ve said before, I do think much of it is applicable today- but the way we read it today is very different from the way it was read in the first, second, and third centuries. So much more interpretation is involved, and the interpretation needs to fit around what we already know as fact.

So what is the Word of God? The Word of God is the complete truth because God only speaks complete truth. It must be found within scripture through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This is from Article IV in “The Confession of Faith, The Book of Discipline” of the United Methodist Church:

“We believe the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, reveals the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation. It is to be received through the Holy Spirit as the true rule and guide for faith and practice. Whatever is not revealed in or established by the Holy Scriptures is not to made an article of faith nor is it to be taught as essential to salvation.”

I think that that’s a good way to sum up what I believe “the Word of God” is. In my opinion, it is not the Bible itself, but the Bible as it is read under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Martin Luther considered preaching to be a form that the Word of God comes in… because it’s teaching from scripture through the inspiration of God. One can say that all scripture is already inspired by God. I would agree- All scripture is inspired by God… but we also must reason with it. This is the work of the Holy Spirit who works within and through the Church. This is why its important to know your church’s traditions.

Some of those reading this may not agree and think I’m being heretical. That’s ok. I take joy in the fact that I don’t need to have all of the answers. I like to paraphrase Tony Campolo at times like this: “If by heretic, you mean I’ve yet to see God in His full glory, than yes, I’m a heretic.” Just know that my view is a traditional view and commonly held within many denominations, particularly those that are mainline.

I’m not one to complain about persecution as a Christian because I believe that most of the persecution many Christians complain about today is imaginary. For example, I don’t believe that it is considered “Christian persecution” that the government decided to keep prayer out of public schools.

But I really wonder what we (Christians) can get away with as opposed to the minority religions in the US.

We already have two national Christian holidays. That’s cool and all. So there is no complaining, but here is a story that happened today that I think is interesting.

I was sitting in my Political Science class today, taking notes on the lecture. My professor is a Muslim woman from India, whom I suspect is politically liberal. She mentioned today that we will not be having class on Monday because she would be participating in the Muslim Holiday, Eid ul Adha. She asked the class, “Do any of you know what that is?” No one answered and she began to explain that it is the day that Muslims celebrate to remember the day when “Ibrahim” was willing to sacrifice his son at God’s command, thus starting the faith Islam.

“That’s neat” I thought. I really enjoy getting to know new things about other religions. I can tell that she takes her faith very seriously. To me, it is interesting to see people from other religions taking their faith as seriously as I take mine. However, I thought about this for a second. This holiday really had nothing to do with our lecture material… not that it’s not ok to get sidetracked from time to time, but I wonder……..

If I were a professor at a secular university, would I be able to explain what the purpose of Advent, Lent, Pentecost, or any other Christian holiday is if it doesn’t relate to the material? Would I be able to express my faith in the same way?

Again, I’m not complaining. Christians have it good here in the US. Though, I really don’t think that I could get away with this in the same way my professor did. I have a feeling someone would cry foul.

Thoughts?

I am considered to be a pacifist. I accept this label because it describes my stance on violence in a simple way. However, I reject this at the same time because Christ never taught passivity. He taught about praying for our enemies, turning the other cheek, loving others, and blessing those who persecute us. This is not passive, though it is non violent. So, I would rather accept the term, “non-violent resister”. I understand that can get a little complicated, so if you’d like to call me a pacifist, I probably won’t correct you unless it is clear to me that you don’t understand my approach to non-violence.

I also consider myself somewhat of an anarchist. This term, again, raises some misconceptions. I believe that government is a legitimate authority in this world, though I believe it is dangerous to mix government and religion. I can’t help but do just that if I were involved in government, so I choose to stay out of the voting system. I believe in building the Kingdom of God to bring about the change that we really wish to see in this world. I try to focus on the Godly things rather than the worldly things…. because the Kingdom of God is eternal. That is what anarchy is to me- Kingdom living. I respect my worldly authorities, though, the one with the true power sits on a throne in His Kingdom.

I am not a fundamentalist. I believe there is more to the bible than what it simply says. I believe in evolution and I believe that it is God’s intended design for us to evolve. I don’t believe that the Bible is God’s word, but rather, that it contains God’s word. There is much interpretation involved in translating scripture and we have to take the contexts of time and area into consideration. I believe the Holy Spirit still reveals God to us- The Bible shows everything we need to know for salvation.

I am a teacher. It’s what I’m good at. God has given me a gift to explain Christianity in an easy-to-understand way. This is how I received my calling to pastor the Church and teach theology in a higher-education setting.

If you would have told me 7 years ago that I would be a Christian anarchist non-violent resister who has a passion to teach on the mysteries of God, I wouldn’t have believed you.

In high school, I wanted to be an actor. I had no calling into the ministry. I was a war-hawk fundamentalist republican. But God has a way of turning things upside down. You don’t think Jesus Christ can change a life? I am nowhere near the person I was when I was in high school.

Am I a better person because of Christ? I think so. I don’t hate. I’m much nicer. I work towards peace. I don’t let the little things bother me as much. I am much more generous. I am more nurturing. Before I allowed God to mold me into what God wants me to be, I would have been a much more negative person. And God isn’t even finished with me yet.

Has God changed you?