I posted a blog a little over a month ago promising to answer some of your questions via vlog. I decided against that to answer the questions in a more traditional manner, as I’ve found, I really have no time to make a vlog at the moment. This is how this is going to work: I am going to answer these questions one post at a time in the order that they were received. So my first question came from @flapper_femme_fatale. She asked:

What denomination do you belong to?  I find that we are similar in political thought, and if i were to ever explore Christianity again, I’d want a similar place.

I’m very happy to answer this question because I don’t really talk about it all that much. I am a Methodist. I am absolutely head over heals for the United Methodist Church. It started with a small group of men (Particular John Wesley and his brother Charles) in the 18th century in England. While John was a pastor in the Anglican church, he came across a problem- many Christians were Christians by name only. In other words, they said they believed in the teachings of Jesus, but lived lives that were contrary to his teachings. John decided that these people needed a method to help them grow in their understanding about Jesus and his purpose and even their own purpose. What started as a movement eventually became a denomination when John Wesley introduced this method to the United States. He never intended on it becoming a denomination, as he was Anglican through and through. Eventually, for the most part, the method (which involved a life devoted to fasting, praying, giving to the poor, humility, and daily communion) has been lost over time, but what we are seeing in the United Methodist Church, is a shift back to its life-changing roots. It takes time, but with proper leading in the church, it will happen again.

John Wesley in bobblehead form. He would not like this idea at all, but I do own one!

Needless to say I am very proud of my denomination. As far as politics goes though, I’m not sure that my denomination has much of anything to do with my political leanings. The United Methodist Church is a very moderate denomination. They don’t lean too far right or too far left, but with almost everything, they take the middle of the road. I like this because it allows others to make up their own minds when it comes to their political leanings. None of the UM pastors are allowed to make political endorsements on behalf of their church. Nothing in this world is more divisive than politics. However, the church is very strong in its social convictions- but the church realizes that social justice can come in many different forms.

That said, if a person is looking to start going to a new church because they are tired of all the politics interlaced within it, I do believe that the United Methodist Church is a good place to look into simply because it’s so moderate and very hands off when it comes to an individual’s political leanings. I mean, my pastor is very progressive in a church that’s, for the most part, conservative, and here I am along with my wife, considering ourselves to be anarchists. It’s a very diverse denomination.

Hey everybody…

I’ll get back to blogging regularly eventually… To my readers, I’m sorry. I’ve been very busy lately. I still plan on working on that vlog and will do so as soon as I can.

But in other news- Sunday was Christ the King Sunday at church. This is the last Sunday of the Christian year, the week before the beginning of Advent which starts the Christian calendar. The scripture reading was from John 18:33-38 (I only remember this because I had to read it to the congregation yesterday in church). In it, Jesus is before Pilate and Pilate asks him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered his question with another question, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate asked yet another question, “I am not a Jew, am I?” and continued “Your own nation and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” And Jesus answered him, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If it was from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my Kingdom is not from here.”

Pilate then asked, “So you are a king?”

Jesus responded, “You say that I am a king.” For this I was born, and for this I came into this world – To testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to my truth listens to my voice.”

Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”

I like how the story stops with this question. It’s a lingering question that all of us, especially in this scientific age, ask frequently. What is truth?

I particularly like it because the truth didn’t matter much to Pilate. He had no idea what Jesus meant when he said these things. He had no idea what it meant for Jesus to be a king. And really, he didn’t care. Pilate knew that the Jews had their own truth and the Romans had their own truth- It meant nothing to Pilate for Jesus to be a king of anything.

What is truth? I need to ask this question more often. When I think of a king, I think of wealth, extravagance, separation from the common people, perhaps snobbery… but when I look at Jesus, I see the exact opposite of all these things- and yet, he’s entitled to it all. Is this what a true king is?

I have a rule about Christmas music. I won’t start listening to it until Thanksgiving day. It drives my wife crazy that I don’t wait until advent-and theologically, she is right- but I have a lot of Christmas spirit! Anyway, yesterday, I was listening to the radio and listened to “The Little Drummer Boy”. I was struck by the humility of the song. Imagine looking into a feeding trough in a barn filled with animals and seeing a baby- that’s supposedly a king. What humble beginnings. It takes a lot to actually bend your knee to such a sight- and yet- this is what Jesus spent his entire life doing- treating the poor and the lowly as royalty, himself, taking the form of a servant. The implications of this truth are vast.

This is the Gospel of our Lord- that God humbled God’s self and came down in the form of a human being- not to be worshiped, not to be praised, but to serve others as he taught us to praise the humble. He humbled himself to the point of death for our sake in order to lift us up. He rose again on the third day and now sits at his rightful place, at the right hand of the Father. He lived a life of humility, died the death of a criminal, and rose again in glory. There was no dignity in his life… not on the outside anyway. To find the dignity, one would need to follow his teachings to see what his kingdom was all about– This is the truth that Pilate knew nothing about.  And this is the truth about the God we worship. We worship a God that lifts up the humble, mends the broken, and makes all things new. Our God is a God of service.

I expect Christ to come again. But unlike many others, I don’t expect Jesus to come mounted on a horse in the clouds, sword in hand, to destroy all the wicked of the earth. He’s shown us that this is not what his Kingdom is. He’s shown us to not anticipate the usual. I think he will come in a very unexpected way. Maybe a bum on the side of the street? Maybe as an average everyday person trying to pay his bills? Maybe he’ll come as a refuge, kicked out of his country… I don’t know, but maybe humility is the true definition of glory.

Everyone wants to change the world, but not many actually do. It’s no lie that Jesus had the biggest impact on the world. All he did was practice what he preached and a movement grew out of it. The movement became corrupt, but there are big things in store for the world. Christ’s impact is not finished yet. He’s given the reigns to the Church… and the Church is in a process of pruning. What will come out of it will be glorious. That is the truth.

I’m slacking again. Life’s been busy since I started my new job. So I’m going to do this again to try to get myself back in the swing of things.

Ask me anything. Anything you want in the world. If I get enough people to ask, I may answer your questions in a vlog!

Looking forward to your questions!

While at work on Thursday, my Dad called me to tell me that my grandma was sick. Her kidneys were giving up on her and she was too weak for another dialysis treatment. When he first told me, I didn’t want to take it too seriously. My grandma’s been known to cheat death many times before. Dad was certain that her days were numbered though. The doctors told my Dad that she had about a week left.

I told my manager to prepare for me to take a few days off this week, if my grandma would pass away. I talked to Dad the next day and he told me that she was a little more alert than the day before, but really only wanted to sleep. They put her on oxygen because she was having trouble breathing. She had no idea what was wrong with her and assumed she had a touch of the flu.

I went to see her on Saturday. I knew it was going to be the last time I’d see grandma because the doctors were now saying that she had three days left. I spent most of the day sitting next to her. She was sleeping the entire day. Every now and again, she would open her eyes for a few seconds, but she’d fall right back to sleep. My uncle assured me that she was aware of what was going on around her though. Hours later, when I had to leave to go back home (I live an hour away), I told my sleeping grandmother that I had to leave and that I love her very much. As I was walking away, she lifted her head and her eyes were wide open. I didn’t see her lift her head, but my aunt did. So I quickly went back over to grandma to tell her goodbye again, but she started to fall asleep. I didn’t want to leave her. Not at all.

When I got home, my wife was waiting for me. I told her what was going on and she gave me a hug. I went the entire day without crying, but when Tesia hugged me, I couldn’t control myself. Not that I should. Tesia told me we could go back and see her on Sunday after church. That made me happy because I’d see her one more time.

Sunday morning at around 9 o’clock, Dad sent me a text asking me to call him. He knows that since I work in a church it would be hard to get a hold of me on Sundays, but it just so happened to be in between services. I gave him a call knowing what I was going to hear. Grandma had passed away around 5 o’clock in the morning. She was 80 years old.

Honestly, this was the best thing for grandma. She’s had terrible arthritis ever since I’ve known her. She’s had multiple massive heart attacks (four, I believe), a quadruple bypass, a series of mini strokes, and she’s been on and off dialysis for the past few years. My grandfather passed away four years ago this November, and I thought for certain that she’d be soon behind him. To my surprise, she stayed with us almost another four years. Over those four years, because of all her health problems, along with her frail body, we had to move her to a nursing home, which she hated. She just wanted to be comfortable in her own home. I understand that. The family understands that, but it just got too difficult after she’d fallen and broken her hip on multiple occasions. My only hope is that we didn’t make her feel abandoned in her last couple years. I’m sure she understands now.

Grandma’s viewing is today. Her funeral is tomorrow. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye, but this goodbye isn’t forever.

In 2008, I registered as a Democrat. I hated how the GOP hijacked Christianity, even though they seemed to care very little about those in poverty. I voted in the primaries for Barack Obama. He had the charisma that I wanted to see in a president. He was exciting, new, and different from all the other presidential candidates in that time. I was overjoyed when he actually got the nomination, though I definitely saw it coming.
As the election got closer, my grandpa continued to warn me about voting for him. My grandpa voted for a Democrat once- he believed Jimmy Carter was a more “Christian” candidate than Gerald Ford. Later, he figured it was one of the worst decisions he’d ever made. Of course I don’t know if that story is true. I remember when he told me, my grandma looked at him and said “You voted for him!?” My grandpa looked at her and just gave a quick nod and looked back at me.

I then began to think more about what it was that I believed. I knew that I didn’t want to vote for the Republican candidate… simply for how they typically use their supposed “Christian” belief for show. Christianity makes people look good in the public eye. I was also upset at how those in the conservative media used Barack Obama’s name to scare voters. “Barack HUSSEIN Obama”… as if he’s a Muslim terrorist. It was ridiculous. To this day, I’ve not heard anyone use president Bush’s name in such a way… George WALKER Bush… The Republican party was filled with fear mongers. Plain and simple.

I listened to Obama talk about hope and change. When he started talking about it, I immediately began to back away from the Democratic party. When politicians start making promises, I know better than to fall into their illusions. Sure enough, four years later, the hope and change that was promised was not delivered. As a typical politician, President Obama began blaming everyone else for his thoroughly partisan moves as president saying that he regrets not being able to change Washington. Of course, he had enough power and support to completely change politics as we know it. He just didn’t want to be the one to start it. That would mean he would have to give up parts of his own agenda. Of course, this all should have been expected. When a politician makes promises, they are normally saying the things that the public wants to hear. They don’t really mean what they say. I’m happy that I saw through it from the beginning.

At that time, I was growing stronger in my Christian faith. I was looking at both John McCain and Barack Obama and trying to figure out how either of them would be a good “Christian” candidate. Honestly, I couldn’t see it. And then I figured, Well, we aren’t a Christian nation. Why should I expect my president to be a Christian too? It was then that I realized that all along, I was focusing on the wrong thing. I should care about what Jesus thinks… and no candidate will ever offer it because it would mean open borders, no military, no taking sides, and a total devotion to helping one another out. This is what the church is for- and the government can never adequately do the work of God. There are too many people to please.

I didn’t vote in the 2008 election

This election, faith doesn’t play much of a role. Mitt Romney is a Mormon and most Christians consider the religion to be a cult. When asked about how his candidacy would effect the Christian vote, Romney said, (paraphrased) “I don’t think people are looking for their specific religion. They just want to see a candidate who believes in God.” That’s what I’ve really expected all along. This of course isn’t the God of the Bible that Mitt Romney speaks of. This is the idolatrous God that America wants to see on money and in the Pledge of Allegiance. This God is more of an idea- A banner for people to wave to make them feel good about themselves. Unfortunately, it is also the God that most Americans follow.

This year, out of my devotion to Jesus Christ, I will not be voting again. I always want to remember Christ as King and over all Ruler of the nations. I anticipate His kingdom that is already here, but still yet to come. I’m going to stick with the promises that he continues to deliver and stay away from the lies that our politicians offer. I wish people would remember that when they vote they aren’t really voting for a politician, but rather, groups of lobbyists. These lobbyists give the illusion that certain asinine topics are what Americans care about. And people buy into it. This is too ingrained in our politics for anything to change (the very reason President Obama was unable to change Washington- Also the very reason Ron Paul is never taken seriously).

Many people disagree with my position, and I am ok with that. They feel it’s disrespectful to refuse to vote after so many people have died defending my right to choose who I want as leader of this country. I feel it’s even more disrespectful to vote against my conscience and convictions after so many have died defending my right to choose to vote or not. And of course there are those that simply tell me that it’s my civic duty to vote. If voting is my only civic duty, this country is in trouble anyway.

I quit my job at the YMCA on Friday night. The last night I worked with my manager was on Thursday and he was sad to see me go. Honestly, I’m also a bit sad that I’m leaving, but greater things are ahead of me.

I got a new job at Cokesbury at United Theological Seminary. Cokesbury, if you are wondering, is a Christian bookstore. I think that ultimately, it will be a better environment for me. 

At the YMCA, I was a part-time janitor. It was basically a job I took to help pay the bills. It was in an urban setting, which was great because it allowed me to interact with a lot of people from different cultures, which is something that I was rarely able to do growing up in a small town. Overall though, the job wasn’t great. I loved the people I worked with. I loved the members. The management, however, was terrible. Particularly, my manager. He’s a good guy and everything, but he was more of a buddy and less of a boss. Things would happen that he’d let slide that he shouldn’t have let slide. The full-time janitor who worked mornings (I worked nights) would rarely do his job, so I’d have to clean up the mess that he was supposed to clean up. He’d spend his days hiding in the basement, working out in the gym, or playing basketball. My manager knew this, but he’d always make excuses for him, as if I didn’t know that he was really screwing around. In reality, most nights, I would get 8 hours of work done in 3-4 hours.

This is pretty much how I feel when I walk into work.

Despite that, I am sad to leave. I hate saying goodbye, so I decided that I will be getting a membership and visit about once a week. There is a YMCA closer to where I live, so I will go to that one to do most of my working out.

This new job at Cokesbury is going to be exciting, though. It pays slightly better, I have more hours, the hours I work are in the middle of the day, and it’s a more logical place for me to be in this stage in my life. I am really not too excited about doing sales again, but it’s going to be much better than cleaning up after everyone else. Working in a bookstore just seems right for me right now. My goal is to teach religion and theology in a higher education setting, and where better to start than at a bookstore in a seminary? This will not only help expand my mind, but will help with networking.

I imagine I will be buying a lot of books with my 30% discount.

So, I guess I’m excited for this new phase in my life. This is going to be a good thing for me, I think

I think we can all learn something from this allegory.

I love Lenard Sweet. In light of what’s been going on in my blog as well as a few friend’s, I thought this was appropriate.

Someone wrote a comment in another person’s blog the other day that said Jesus is the Word of God and the Bible is also the word of God, so Jesus and the Bible are indeed, one and the same. I won’t link the post to save this person the embarrassment, however, being that Jesus is God, and God is the Father, Son, and Spirit (the Trinity), to add The Bible to that would be to make the Holy Trinity a quadine… or something like that. 

Now, this person is telling people that I am calling (him or her) a heretic and an idolater because of (his or her) view that the Bible is inerrant. But that’s not what I did at all. I simply mentioned that to equate Jesus to the Bible is to lift the Bible up as God. That is flat out idolatry, which is a heresy.

What is the word of God?

The word of God is only revealed by the Holy Spirit. Many people call the Bible “the word of God”, but most Christians don’t even consider the Bible itself to be the word of God. Instead, most Christians believe that it contains the word of God. This is an important distinction. The Bible contains many messages. Many stories have many parallels to life. The word of God is something that we apply to our hearts. We live by it. We don’t simply read it.
Also, the word of God is what the pastor or priest preaches. It is not the Bible alone. When we hear a sermon, we are under the impression that the one in the pulpit is inspired by God to say the words that he or she is saying. Again, it’s a revelation of the Holy Spirit. Very mystic

What is the Word of God?

Please note the capitalized “W”. We are introduced to the Word of God in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Word and God cannot be separated. They are the same thing. They are of the same substance. It is important to note here that the word for “Word” is logos in Greek. Logos is where we get our word “Logic”. It means wisdom, but this word was important in Greek culture. The Greeks preached the logos. This is an expectation of wisdom. When the writer of John adopted it, he took this as another way to call Jesus “The Messiah” or “The Christ”. Jesus is the expectation of wisdom from God. He is the very embodiment of wisdom.

What’s the difference?

The word of God and the Word of God are two distinct things. The Word of God (“W” capitalized) is Christ. Christ is God. The word of God (“w” lowercase) is the revelation of the Holy Spirit. It’s God inspired. These two are not of the same substance. The Bible is a created object. God is the infinite creator. To mesh these two together is to create an idol.

We worship God of the Bible; not the Bible.

I wrote this once, but the entire post just disappeared for some reason… hmm…

So, I’ve been debating with some friends about the nature of the Bible over the past few days. Some of you know what my beliefs are, but I am interested in yours. Here are a few questions I have for you:

What is your religion?

What is the Bible?

What is the “word of God”?

What does it mean to be “divinely inspired”?

Why is the Bible important?

Does the Bible include anything that you would consider to be errors, fallacies, contradictions, or anything of the like?

The intent of these questions is not to start an argument. In fact, I really discourage you from arguing, as I will be deleting comments if I have to.

I know you are tempted, but don’t do it!

But if your interested, please answer these questions thoughtfully. Rec this too, because I am really interested in seeing the wide variety of opinions out there!