Llamalima asked me a couple questions. This is his first one to me.

“What is the greatest challenge to young Christians today?”

It seems to me that there are many challenges for young Christians today. I have to say first and foremost that I think we (the Church) are our own worst enemy. It seems to me that our churches are either too bigoted or too indulgent. It’s no wonder young people are leaving the Church in record numbers. It’s hard to find a nice middle ground… a firm ground… I think that would look like a Church that’s accepting, yet, holds on to the principles and standards set by Christ and the apostles. It is too easy to lean one way or the other, but these kids want the truth about what the Church actually is. That truth is, we are a bunch of screw-ups, but we try to better ourselves in order to give back to God because of what he gave us- everything.

Why?

Because the truth about the Church is hard. It’s difficult to be the Church. When a church is too bigoted, a youth won’t find acceptance… but when a church is too liberal, a youth misses out on the challenges the church has to offer. And I think that’s what kids want today… their faith, their practices, their entire lives to be challenged.

What kind of challenges are these youth looking for? Well, let’s start with the Sermon on the Mount. That’s prime scripture that builds a changed life.

They want to be meek. They want to be merciful. They want to be peacemakers. They want to let their light shine. But I think, the church can sometimes discourage students from putting Christ’s teachings into practice.

I like what Tony Campolo had to say about this issue:

“The problem isn’t we are making church too hard for them. The problem is, we are making it too easy!”

Young people may be leaving the Church quickly, but they are growing more spiritual. Take for instance the Twilight Saga, or Harry Potter, even. I don’t have a problem with these books, but we are starting to see people who’ve gotten so into these works of fiction, that it starts taking over their lives in some way. There are more people now who are into vampirism, therianthropy, witchcraft, etc. It’s a growing movement, but it seems like these people are looking towards role playing to fill the spiritual void that is meant for God to fill. Charisma offers an edge to spirituality. Perhaps that’s why Pentecostalism is the fastest growing denomination in the world. 

So how can we fix this issue? People now seem to like spirituality, charisma, a moderate and healthy view of scripture and the Church, and honesty. Well, Church… what do we have to offer? How can we challenge the younger generations to seek Christ?

I’ve written on this subject many times, but Winsa asked me about it, so I’m answering.

She asked, “What is a Christian anarchist to you?”

I believe anarchy is highly misunderstood and misinterpreted. I was listening to a radio program on my way to work this morning when a man phoned in, saying that he felt his rights to free speech were violated during a protest a couple years ago. He didn’t go into detail about what exactly he was protesting, but it had to do with one of President Bush’s policies. The protest got out of hand and one of the demonstrators threw a water bottle at a police officer. As a result, they pinpointed the man (the one who phoned in, not the one who threw the water bottle), claimed him as the leader of a violent anarchist group and arrested him. He had nothing to do with the water bottle being thrown. He was only there to protest something that he believed to be an injustice.

The host of the radio show asked the caller if he was indeed an anarchist.

The caller confirmed that, yes, he is an anarchist. He began to explain how anarchists are highly misrepresented.

The host, inexcusably, yet politely, interrupted him and said that anarchists, by nature, are unpredictable and that is how he found himself in handcuffs.

The caller tried to explain that this isn’t the case– that this was profiling and that anarchists have a false image tied to them.

The host interrupted again, saying that he believed the callers intentions were good, but he was with the wrong crowd. The caller seemed to have been frustrated by this and hung up… or he lost his signal. It was hard to tell. The host said, “The caller hanging up kind of proves my point that anarchists can be very unpredictable.”

I chuckled, but being an anarchist, that situation bothered me. I know exactly what the caller was trying to say, but like many other anarchists, he was written off and mistaken for a hoodlum or a punk. Not to mention, the host did not try to address what the caller was talking about in the first place… he was only interested in proving his own point.

Anarchy is not chaos, contrary to popular belief. Anarchy is a system, but it is a system without government. It is a belief ruled not by force, violence, or fear, but with self-control. Anarchy is governed by will-power and altruism. Whether or not people act with the best intentions is a completely different story.

In Christian anarchy, however, we do have a leader. We believe that Jesus Christ, our King of kings, our Messiah, our Redeemer, our God is the one who subjects us to His final and true judgment. We wouldn’t have it any other way.  

There are many different theories on Christian anarchy, but the interpretation I go with is a little less radical… to me, anyway. I believe that God has placed those who are in governing positions over me. They are there to keep order, and I must obey them. I believe that in this world, it is necessary. However, I believe that Christians play a special role in this world. We are to be lights shining in the darkness- there to show the way to grace, mercy, justice, and salvation. We are to show a better way to live- a way in which we don’t need a government over us. When your intentions are to do no harm, to do good, and to stay in love with God, you won’t need any other earthly authority besides that which holds you accountable already- the Church. This is Christian anarchy to me. We obey the government. We are subject to the government. But the government is worldly and only offers worldly solutions that may go against the way the Kingdom of God works.

This doesn’t mean that it can’t be used by God, though. God seems to have a way of turning terrible things into something that will eventually bring forth His will.

So in short, although I am subject to the government, I reject being a part of it. I deny its power over my life and I give all the glory to God.

Don’t be afraid of words like “anarchist”. One thing I’ve learned is that most people have good intentions. Most of us want to promote good things and find a way to bring forth world peace. All of us, however, have our own opinions on how to accomplish that. I happen to believe that it comes through Christ. And His Church is supposed to be a testimony to His Kingdom.

I love doing this. I want to blog, but I’m not sure what to write about, so ask me anything! Anything at all! Don’t be shy…

I’ll have my answers up sometime this week.

I have a song for you. It’s from one of my favorite bands, Jimmy Eat World. My wife discovered it the other night. She woke me up just to tell me about it. It’s a beautiful song, and so surprising coming from a secular band.

Ignore the video if you want. I don’t think it does the song justice. Just listen to the words.

I’m trying to figure out why many atheists spell “God” with a lowercase “g”. It doesn’t bother me or anything… I think God is bigger than a name… well, Jesus… but God had to limit himself to become man, so I’m not counting that. Anyway, our words can’t really define him… but since He doesn’t really have an actual name, we call him by many titles that we believe are best to describe Him. I Am, Father, Almighty One, God, Lord, whatever, none of these even come close to defining God… it’s the best our imaginations can come up with…

But the best we can do is give him a name showing His deity. We mainly just call him “God”. We capitalize the first letter because, since it is the best we can come up with for a name, it is a proper noun.

I wonder if they are only trying to get a rise out of Christians… because surely, they would capitalize “Zeus”, “Allah”, or “Vishnu”…

And even if they are trying to get a rise out of Christians, I don’t understand why it bothers so many of us. I really don’t believe God cares. They already denounce Him, I’m sure He could care less if some people can’t figure out how to use proper English grammar.

Anyway, atheists, do you spell “God” with a lowercase “g” in referring to the Christian God? If so, why?

Christians, are you bothered by atheists refusing to capitalize the “g” in God?

Anyone in between, what are your thoughts on the matter?

The other day, a friend of mine posted this question as his Facebook status:

“Do you think Jesus shaved regularly?”

I think that is an interesting question… of course, it has nothing to do with our faith, but wondering about what Jesus may have looked like can help bring us back to the reality that God became man. Our God has a human body… He has flesh and bones... and probably a sweet beard.

The replies to that status were pretty interesting too. One person suggested, “No, he was a Nazarene and they did not shave their beard.“

Another person agreed with the previous comment, while another wondered why the poster of the status would even wonder that. Someone also added, “Did someone say Jesus saves? Cause that seems like the most pressing thing for the world to hear.”
She had good intentions, but my initial reaction to that question was, “Why would we mention that Jesus saves? That’s not an answer to his question at all!”

Some people have no imagination…

So, let’s go back… Did Jesus have a beard? I’m pretty sure we can know for certain.

Someone mentioned that Jesus was a Nazarene. While this is true, it doesn’t mean he would have to have a beard. She confused the words “Nazarene” and “Nazarite”. It’s actually a common mistake, but Jesus wasn’t a Nazarite because he drank wine. Along with not being able to shave any hair on one’s head, another part of the Nazarite vow is that the person can not drink any fermented drink. So that doesn’t tell us that Jesus had a beard, but this verse does:
Leviticus 19:27 “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard.”

Jews didn’t shave in that time. Assuming that scripture is correct and Jesus followed the law perfectly, living a sinless life, then we can assume that Jesus had a rockin’ awesome beard… unless he was like me and genetics was against him… I wish I could grow a sweet Jesus beard. 

What are some things that you wonder about Jesus?

It’s always nice to see Xangans list what they are thankful for. I’m not doing that though. I’ve realized that lately, I’ve had so much to be thankful for, I won’t even know where to begin. God has really been blessing me lately.

This isn’t always the case though. I tend to have pretty bad luck and things normally end up going against me. I’m pretty well used to it now, but it used to be that I would break down and wonder what God has given me to be thankful for. It’s a “duh” question, but it’s perfectly legitimate to feel neglected sometimes. Of course, when we feel neglected, it doesn’t mean we are. God’s hand is always there.

Things can always be worse… When we are out of our comfort zones, we tend to forget that.

Jesus tells us that God cares for us more than the lilies in the field and the sparrows. That’s something to be thankful for in and of itself. So I’m saying this, even if you weren’t getting together with your family, even if you didn’t have a giant turkey (maybe two), even if all you had in your cupboard was a single can of beans to eat for your “Thanksgiving” dinner, would you still be thankful for what you have?

It’s easy to write this stuff. It’s harder to put it into practice. Would I be thankful for what I have? I hope so… I doubt it though… and that’s a complete lack of faith on my part.

What are your thoughts?

When you see others, do you see God?

Good question. Hard challenge. Still… this is how Jesus wants us to view each other. How can we improve this in ourselves? Or perhaps a better question is, what preparations can we make so God will allow us to see Him in every individual we come across?

In case you’ve missed them:
Part I
Part II
Part III

After Tesia had rejected me before I even got a chance to ask her to date me, I decided that I wasn’t going to let it ruin me or my friendship with her. I decided that I would just continue being there for her, and with hope and prayer, maybe she may change her mind about me. That happened on May 6th of 2003.

Since we were still good friends, best friends, we were hanging out that Saturday. We figured we’d spend the weekend with each other and our friends, Lynn and Hannah. The plan was, we would go to a punk show Saturday night, we would stay over at Lynn’s house, and then we would all get up and go to church together the next morning. And that’s what happened. Sunday morning, however, I woke up to a beautiful surprise.

This was May 11th, 2003.
I was sleeping on the couch at Lynn’s house. The girls were in Lynn’s room. I heard them getting up and getting ready for church, but I decided I was going to keep laying there and try to sleep until they told me it was time to get up for church. Then I heard it. Tesia whispered to Lynn, “Jimmy looks so cute when he’s asleep!”

I tried my hardest not to grin. It was the most hopeful thing I had heard in a long time. Shortly after that, they “woke me up”. We went to church.

At this time, Tesia was attending a new church. She sang in the praise band. I went there with her every week because I wanted to hear her sing. She’s got such a beautiful voice.

After church, we piled in the car and started to drive back home. Tesia was in the back seat with me. As usual, she and I were flirting back and forth. I wasn’t expecting anything to come out of it, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt anything.

We were playing with some drumsticks we found in the back of Lynn’s car. Tesia was attacking me with hers, while I would use mine to block her attacks. But she was wondering why I wouldn’t try to hit her with my drumstick.

“Come on! Hit me!” she’d say.
“I won’t do that!” I’d reply.
“Why not? Hit me!”
“I can’t hurt you, Tesia.”

I saw in her face that this meant something to her. That became our thing. She would always attack me and expect me to attack back… but I wouldn’t. It was just a way we flirted, I guess.

That night, I decided to skip youth group. Tesia worked at McDonalds on Sunday nights and youth group just wasn’t any fun without her. It was an unusually cold night for May. It was raining slightly, and there was also a very heavy wind. I would normally spend some time outside around this time, but the weather wasn’t worth it. Instead, I decided to watch the movie “Mr. Deeds” with my family. We never really spent time together like this, so I knew it was a special night. About halfway through the movie though, there was a knock at the door.

I opened it. Tesia was standing on my front porch in the wind and the rain, wearing her McDonalds uniform. I was surprised to see her. Lynn was parked in front of the house, behind my brother’s and my dad’s cars.

“What are you doing right now?” she asked.
“Watching ‘Mr. Deeds’ with my family. What’s up?” I said.
“Umm… Can you come outside really quick?”
“Sure.”

I walked outside without my jacket. It was cold and the rain was spitting at me, even though we were on my front porch. I shut the door behind me.

“What’s up?”
“Jimmy, I’ve been thinking… I can’t believe I didn’t realize it before… I feel so stupid. I really like you, Jimmy. I really really like you. I think we might be able to make a relationship work. I just feel so stupid for never seeing it until now. I’m so stupid. So, I want to date you.”

I was speechless. I probably had an ecstatic grin on my face… but I couldn’t talk. I was just so happy. The environment was perfect for her explaining what she was feeling. The wind, the rain, the realization. It was just like a scene from out of a movie. It was perfect… Except for my thunderstruck response.

“Well… … … What do you think?”
“Umm… ok!” I replied.
“That’s it? Just ok?”
“Err… uhh… I mean, of course! I’d really like that.”
“Great! Do you want to come over to my house?”
“Sure. Let me ask my dad.”

May 11th, 2003 is the night my life changed. I knew I’d made a huge leap… but I didn’t know how much it would effect me.

So there we were… a 16 year old boy and a 15 year old girl in a new relationship, walking hand in hand to our friend’s car… because she was the only way we got rides around town!

Continue to Part V.

Some of you know that I never graduated college. I had a bad financial situation while attending a private school. My grandpa was my cosigner for my private loans. He also cosigned for my cousin. Between the two of us, we took out too much money than what he would be able to pay back if something were to happen and we couldn’t pay for some reason. Because of this, I ended up not being able to finish my last year of college because he could no longer cosign for me. It’s hard to find a cosigner.

That couldn’t have come at a worse time because I was dealing with a lot. It was just another thing to worry and get bitter about. Oh, how little my faith was. It turned out, it was actually the best for me at that time because of all that I was dealing with.

That year, my grandpa passed away. There was no chance for me to get him to cosign for me again… obviously… On top of that, the school I was attending ended up closing, so whenever I would be able to go back, I would have to transfer and lose a great deal of the credits I’ve earned.

I owed the school 10 grand. Since then, interest has built up another grand. I now owe my former school over $11,000.00… not to mention my student loans I am now paying.

With the jobs my wife and I have, and with her being in school still, there was no way we could pay that 11,000.00 we owed so that I would be able to go back… not for a long time anyway… maybe even decades.

This has been one of the biggest burdens on my life. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of this position, but I knew that if I could, it would be awhile… and that would affect all the plans I have for my life. The only thing my wife and I could do was pray.

The other day, I was sitting in my room blogging and my wife RAN up the stair and flung the door open saying, “Jimmy, JIMMY, JIMMY!”.

I thought something was wrong. I sat up. “What!?”

“My grandma’s giving us $10,000.00 as a gift for our first wedding anniversary so you can go back to school!”

This is probably the most exciting news I’ve ever heard. Apparently, her grandma has been wrestling with that idea for awhile and just decided to go with it, claiming, “What do I need that money for anyway?” (Her grandma is very blessed). She is the most generous woman I know.

Now, I don’t have everything figured out yet… I’m not sure how my standing is with my government loans. But now I’m one step further in figuring it all out. God is in control. I know that. He’s proven that to me. Faith and patience endure through it all. All I know is that Jesus said God cares for us more than the lilies and the sparrows. He will give us what He thinks we need. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!