Giving Up Lent?

So it's that time of the year again when good Catholics and thoughtful Protestants give up something (sort of) dear to them for Lent. It's kind of beautiful, I've always thought. Voluntarily giving up something that we (a little bit, anyway) love in thankfulness and dedication to the one who gave up far more for us.

Here's the thought I had today, though. How does this come off from Jesus' perspective? I'm sure that he appreciates the sentiment and all that. I think he's pretty good about motives and stuff like that. But is he really honored by people self-imposing sacrifices on themselves? Really, didn't he come so that our lives would improve and so we would NOT have to make sacrifices OT style? I know Lent isn't an OT thing, and I'm not even necessarily against it here, but I'm thinking it's a little ironic. If you couldn't pay your electric bill and I hit it for you, would I then be honored if you didn't use any from 8-10 each night to remember how I hooked you up? NO!!! I'd say "Hit the flippin' lights and microwave a burrito -- that's why I payed your bill for you!"

Again, I really do appreciate the sentiment and have always respected those (especially Protestants, who didn't "have to") who participated. I'm just thinking thoughts and asking questions, that's all. I know, I hate it when people think thoughts and ask questions about my life, too. Fair enough.

Do You Know Why I Hate Bloggers?

It's MLK Day, and although I'm not a "tribute" kind of guy, it's interesting to think on what the man did and what it must have been like to live in a world where his lot in life was largely determined by race. Hopefully, by 2008, we can all agree that such a situation is/was egregious and indicative of a complete absence of critical thinking skills. In fighting racism, MLK surely provided advancement not only for people of his race, but for the thought processes and cultural advancement of all of America.

Have "we" really come so far, though? Since moving to Kentucky I've been shocked to realize how alive and well racism remains, but even among those who would appear to be ahead of the curve in recognizing people as individuals, ignorance and hatred and bigotry still seem to rear their ugly heads in only superficially different venues. "Enlightened", "tolerant" people who would never EVER be caught dead making any kind of a racist comment -- and would loudly and proudly condemn anybody who may -- are often scratching their itchy trigger finger in firing off against the cause/people group/following/whatever you want to call it to which I've dedicated my life -- Jesus Christ and his Church.

Christianity, the Church as a whole, and Christ-followers in general seem constantly bombarded for a veritable cornucopia of (always old, rehashed) reasons. It's always crap like these:

"Over the centuries Christianity has done so much harm -- look at the Crusades!"

"There's just obviously something wrong with all of the Catholic Priests and little boys and stuff."

"Christians and pastors are just such hypocrites, I would never want to even be associated with something like that."


I'm obviously not going to defend any of the atrocities that have been committed either in the name of Christianity or by Christians -- they're obviously many and often legitimately indefensible. What I would contend, however, is that writing off Jesus based on the actions of certain segments of those who claim to follow him is no more reasonable than racism.

For one thing, although those who profess to follow Christ certainly HAVE committed atrocities of the highest rank, what other religion, philosophy, or anti-everything hasn't had similar pitfalls? It goes without saying that the Muslim religion is no less blemished than Christianity between the eternal violence in the Middle East and the fact that it took two parties to create the Crusades. We don't hear much about it, but apparently the violence against both Christians and Muslims in India is substantial and perpetrated by (some) followers of the Hindu religion. Apparently Southern Thailand is a scene for Buddhist-on-Muslim atrocities. The oft-idealized Native Americans, with their earthy, naturalistic spiritualism, partook their fair share of murderous violence. And to those who conclude that the only avenue left is atheism, we'll just lump you in bed with Stalin and see how that tastes for you.

Obviously (I hope) I'm not trying to accuse or condemn every religion or belief system or whatever as brutal and evil, nor all of their followers. I'm just saying that, to be fair, there's no one system that stands innocent. Even Scientology, as young as it is, couldn't give Tom Cruise the tools to make a marriage to Nicole Kidman work. Seriously, who among us couldn't make it work with NICOLE KIDMAN!!!

Secondly, I'm saying that poisoning the well is easy. Look, this and that and the other thing is all bad because of a, b, c, yada yada yada. Again, it's the exact same thought process that has given us racism, ethnocentrism, and a host of other scourges of society. I expect better than that from you, no matter who you are.

Without beating to death what I hope is clear at this point, let me conclude with this -- it's your choice to either embrace or reject Jesus Christ, the Church, Christianity, whatever word or phrase you want to use. All I'm saying is this -- do it with thought and reason. Go to the real source and get your facts straight before you condemn. And please, at least try to be consistent in your train of thought. We ALL use bad arguments from time to time, but that's no reason to despise logic.

Impending Draft?

So I saw Impending Doom last night. It was cool! On top of being insanely brutal, they seemed like fun and genuine people. I'm a bigger fan of theirs today than I was yesterday, and that's always better than those times that you go away thinking that your image of a band in your head (or on your cd insert) was way better than the real deal.

Do you know what's even nicer, though? I didn't get hit in the face! Call me pansy or old or whatever, but bloodless shows are a plus for me. The "dancers" DID, however, manage to knock out a window. That's right, they didn't break it, just completely popped the bad boy out of the wall and onto the sidewalk. Good times, good times.

It was so much fun I'd like to do it all over again . . . and so I check their page and sure enough, they'll be back . . . on Valentine's Day? DANG! That's a tall order for married guy. Impending deal with the wife? How many chick flicks will that cost me? I don't know, I mean I'm pretty hardcore and all, but Mandy Moore movies just don't move me, you know what I'm saying? Impending decision, I suppose.

Whatever. Sorry this post is so lame. I'll try to do better next time (but no promises).

Just a couple random thoughts in the meantime:

1) Professional athletes often put their bodies through massive amounts of abuse. Not Celtics back-up center Scot Pollard, though. He's missing time because of a bad back that he hurt getting out of his car at Starbucks. Huh, and I thought that $4 for a white chocolate mocha cost ME a lot, but I guess not compared to him. Anyway, he thought it was better until he apparently aggravated his injury by putting on socks. My goodness. Seriously, what makes a guy (or a front-office, not that I'm going to be at ALL critical of Danny "bring me number 17" Ainge) think that he's going to be able to compete at a world-class level athletically when getting coffee and wearing socks puts him out of the game? My good golly-gosh. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up -- click here and read it right from the globe.

2) There's a preliminary version of what will become a Life Pointe promotional dvd (as well as the full half-hour performance at 4th Street Live as broadcast on the CW) on here. It's pretty flippin' cool, y'all, and if you're in the Louisville area, reading this, and STILL haven't checked out a service, you're missing out. Make it happen, you won't be sorry!

So . . . Do You Like Bacon?

1. The Celtics lost, in overtime, on the road, to the defending Eastern Conference champions last night, and I'm upset about it. That's WAY better than, say, last year, when the losses were completely forgettable and the wins were shocking. So much better that I had to go order tickets for when they come to Indianapolis. Six years I've lived in Louisville, and never in that time did I make seeing a Celtics game a priority -- until now.

2. On Saturday OU plays the grammatically challenged but athletically formidable and #1 (ranked) Missouri ("Mizzou") Tigers for the Big Twelve Championship. And #1 is a three point underdog! It doesn't mean they don't "deserve" to be #1 -- they've lost one game and we've lost two -- it just goes to show that being the "best" team isn't always the most important thing. Anyway, here's to taking them down (again) and winning (another) conference championship. I know, it would probably put Ohio State in the championship game and nobody (outside of Ohio) wants that, but let's make it happen anyway.

3. Isn't Thanksgiving weekend supposed to be a "down" week for church attendance? Because Life Pointe just had our best attended service since Mother's Day and capped off our best attended month ever! The momentum and excitement are back, and if you're in or near Louisville you really owe it to yourself to check a service out. I really, really think you'll be altogether pleased with your decision.

4. Yep, I like bacon, too.

5. The latest from Nodes of Ranvier? Really quite enjoyable, if not necessarily original or groundbreaking. South Dakota's finest, and doing us all proud, thank you very much!

6. Fans of all things hilarious and worthy of repeated viewing click here. Just make sure you're not drinking anything that you don't want splattered all over your keyboard and monitor as you watch. You're welcome.

7. I desperately hope I have something more substantial to write about soon. In the meantime, if you can place the post title, leave it in the comments. That's right, the gauntlet's been thrown down. . . .

Way Late, But Way Fun!

I know this is out of season already, but drop a note into the complaint jar if you must. I thought that Laura and I were hilarious at the Life Pointe Halloween party and wanted you to share in the delight. Wohoo! (click on them and they get really big)



(for reference sake)

Maybe the funniest part, though, is that we won the best costume contest and were awarded . . . are you ready for this? A gift card to Blockbuster! It's not *quite* as funny now that I changed jobs, but you can't buy that kind of hilarity, right?


And just because it's here and I know the world is full of haters and flamers, here's my little diatribe on Christ-followers and Halloween:

"Don't you know the evil origins of Halloween?" the reactionaries ask. "Whether you know it or not, by dressing up (or allowing your children to dress up) and going to a party you're participating in an evil pagan celebration and it's wrong, wrong, wrong!" (The tri-fold "wrong" makes it wrong, then right the second time, but ULTRA-wrong with the third negative.)

Ok, let's just take that train of thought to it's logical conclusion, shall we? If, due to it's origin and original intent, dressing up and getting fun-size Milky Way from the neighbors is participating in evil, what does that mean for Santa and the Easter Bunny? Wouldn't it be consistent, then, to say that "Whether they know it or not, children asking drunk mall Santas for HALO 4 and gangsta rap is participating in the celebration of the miraculous birth of our savior! In fact, every time I see the Christmas ads for Victoria's Secret I just can't help but fall to my knees and praise God for the subtle but real way he's invading our culture! Similarly, Cadbury Cream Eggs bring a tear to my eye, because I know that every child who develops cavities as a result is doing so because of their unwitting but surely monstrously influential celebration of the singular high-point of Christian redemptive history! Oh hallelujah, I'm going to break out into an impromptu chorus of my favorite Gaither song right now!"

Now I ask you -- have you EVER heard the same person who opposes Halloween be in favor of Santa and the Easter Bunny? That's what I thought. Why do people think it's so spiritual to be angry all the time and against everything? My goodness, eat a chocolate Santa, enjoy life, and go love somebody who needs it. . . .


Color change note -- I put the OU Crimson and Cream up when they vaulted themselves into the national title chase, and an invigorating chase it was. They're still having a great season, but that's over now, and the Lions are running down a playoff spot, so Honolulu blue it is!

Why Are Chocolate Chips "Semi-Sweet"?

I don't know, but this entry might be semi-serious. What can I say? Perhaps I should semi-apologize. Perhaps not! Whatever.

But here's something that I think may be semi-profound that I've learned/had come together for me in the relatively recent past -- we're whole people. I know that doesn't sound profound, but let me explain what I mean.

A couple of years ago, I read a book called "The Emotionally Healthy Church." The premise of the book was that people (who are, of course, the church) can never grow spiritually until they become healthy(er) emotionally. At the time, I thought it was flat-0ut backwards and completely wrong. I thought that people had to grow spiritually and then they would be able to grow healthy(er) emotionally. My mini-epiphany is this -- I think we were both wrong. It seems clear to me now that the whole enterprise of separating the spiritual and emotional is artificial and bogus -- they work together. I don't know exactly how this works, of course, but I'm thinking that it must be true. How can someone accept the love of Jesus (not like "just" to "become a Christian", but to REALLY "accept") when they don't feel/believe they are lovable? And trying to decide which comes first is like the chicken or the egg deal -- they need to move forward together.

Let's even throw one more kink in the garden hose, shall we? Sexuality is worked in there, too. It's tougher to understand and buy into for us fellas who tend to naturally compartmentalize things, but the ladies should have no problem here. With allowances made for the exceptions and apologies for the over-generalizations -- "we" want to get our rocks off, watch Sportscenter, pound some Cheetos, and go to bed. The ladies want to make love and then do the "c" word (I can't say it and don't even want to type it out -- the word just bothers me, I'm not sure why). It's not necessarily that our wives don't like sports or are trying to cut back on their MSG intake, it's that "their" emotions and spirit (read: "soul") are either more integrated into their sexuality or they're just more naturally aware of it. . . or something. I don't know exactly, or why the difference, but I think it must be a difference of degree rather essence, or quantitative rather than qualitative, if you will, as evidenced by exceptions to the rule and the fact that we're all, at our essence, human beings. Sex affects our soul -- that's probably why the Bible talks so much about it and treats it differently from other physical activities like swimming or eating or sleeping, huh?

At any rate, my point is this -- emotional, spiritual, sexual -- they all work together. They're all parts of the same deal, and how we deal with one affects the others, too. I can't back it up scientifically or even scripturally to a terribly weighty degree, but I think it's true, and I think understanding this truth can be helpful and open the doors to a great deal of healing and freedom. Further, "the church" needs to do a better job at addressing emotional needs and other things that aren't overtly spiritual, and the spiritual will be helped along greatly. And no wonder why so many churches that DO address issues that aren't overtly spiritual are flocked to by people who have heard the "Christian" message 1,000 times over but just never had it mean anything to them. Let's make sure that we don't drown in pop psychology to the detriment of Jesus -- but "Jesus loves you" doesn't mean much to a person with a shattered conception of what love really is.

Now . . . how do I integrate things like that into a blog that's about sports, metal, comedy, and Buzz Goertzen? Oh, who cares, where are the Cheetos?

Is God in Fargo?

Spirituality is weird and mystical and all that. It's especially difficult for me sometimes because I'm just not a mystical guy. Sometimes I (and, I would guess, people who are like me) feel like I'm un-spiritual or whatever because I don't like to go up into the mountains and eat granola and stare at the sky listening to Yanni for eight days and then come home having had some sort of grand, spiritual experience. It's kind of like Coen brothers movies -- they're great for a lot of people, but they just don't quite do it for me.

Last Sunday at Life Pointe we had a message on serving, and then a church picnic at the park afterwards. During the service, a handful of people were at the park setting things up rather than sitting in the service. Now I ask you -- who was more "spiritual" that day: us good church attenders sitting there laughing at Jamey's jokes as he talked about serving, or the people who weren't there because they were busy preparing the picnic?

I'm not down on going to church -- not at all -- and I definitely believe that there is a mystical element to a connected relationship with God, but I think it's getting "spirituality" backward if church attendance or prayer or whatever is the end-all be-all. They should be the catalyst, not the finish line. At some point, maybe actually doing something in the physical world is as "spiritual" as sitting in a redwood contemplating whatever "spiritual" people contemplate.

Eh, or maybe I just need to re-watch "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" now that I understand the South a little bit.

Just Plumb Tickled

So on Sunday there was a volunteer recruitment meeting of sorts after the service at Life Pointe. Wow! A strong handful of people stepped up, signed up, and are going to begin serving. Who wins? Hmmm, let's see.

1) Life Pointe Church wins! If you've been to a service at Life Pointe, you've seen people greeting you at the door, offering you a snack, and providing information. If you have kids that you checked into the kids ministry or nursery, you saw volunteers their helping with the little guys. When you walked into the main auditorium, you saw hundreds of pounds of sound and light equipment all set up and ready to go, complete with custom graphics on the big screen and maybe even customized video segments. If you stuck around after the service, you noticed a ton of people each hauling a ton of stuff from all of the aforementioned, including an enormous amount of nursery gear that had to come from all the way down the hall. Guess what? Not only does all of that get broken down at 11:30, it all was hauled in and set up as well, starting at about 7:00. The graphics and video didn't appear magically either, and those people who greeted you with a smile? They were there before you were because they got up early, too. In short, you're not supposed to be distracted by the massive task that is involved to put on a dynamic, fun, relevant, welcoming service -- you're only supposed to come and want to come back (at least at first!). But the point remains -- it's a massive task each week, and could never be anything remotely worthwhile without a huge team of volunteers.

2) The volunteers win! Turns out it's actually true. When Jesus said "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever gives up his life for my sake will find it" I don't think he was talking about dying like we so often think. I think he was talking about simply looking outside of oneself to serve him by serving others. That's how we are made to find real meaning and fulfillment. Self-seeking proves to be shallow and vain, but other-seeking proves to be self-fulfilling. It's an ironic twist, but one which I've discovered to be completely true. I've had some small tastes of both prosperity and poverty, acclaim and anonymity. And while the one is surely nicer than the other, there's really no difference. I've been happy and un-happy in either one. When we forget ourselves and serve others -- regardless of our own circumstances -- that's when we discover the truth that Jesus is speaking about. We find ourselves by looking to the needs and interests of others. Brilliant. So thank you, volunteers. Not only are you making it happen for everybody at Life Pointe Church (including -- and to some degree especially -- those who are not yet there), you're going to experience for yourselves a piece of what God has intended for you and made you for.


Hmmmm, no jokes in this one. All right, save your hate mail and click here, if you must.

What I've Seen at the Scene

Have you ever been to a hardcore show? Most of you probably haven't. I went to a hardcore show last night, and I have some thoughts.

The bands were fantastic. I LOVE War of Ages, and I like Seventh Star a lot, too, so it was a great bill for me. They're fun, energetic, and have great sounds -- plus War of Ages has a shredder guitarist who's just flat-out cash money. Love 'em.

The hanging out between bands was a lot of fun this time too, because there were several people there that I knew. That's completely strange for me -- I'm half used to going to shows alone, and maybe with one buddy at the most. With loving the bands AND hanging out with some cool cats (no "Catts" though) I think I may have come as close as I ever have to experiencing what "the scene" is supposed to be like. There's the rub right there, though. Here's what I mean.

My buddy Kyle found the venue a few minutes before I did, and called me to say I'd better hurry up because everybody was looking at him like he was a grandpa. We didn't really talk about it, but here's what he would have been experiencing:

He didn't look like everybody else. His clothes were a little different, his tattoos were few and covered by his sleeve, he had no piercings, and his hair was the same length all the way around.

He didn't know everybody else. In fact, he knew nobody.

He didn't talk like everybody else. He wasn't ready to make instantaneous conversation about the latest Zao line-up change or how Avenged Sevenfold has sold-out or the last August Burns Red album as compared to their earlier works.

He didn't dance like everybody else. If fact, he couldn't even SEE the invisible monsters that everybody else seemed determined to kill (if you've never been to a hardcore show, click here and laugh yourself silly)!

He didn't live the lifestyle of everybody else. He does crazy things like eat burgers and drink milk. Yep, he's a real radical.

Now how do I know what he was going through? Because I've been there a hundred times myself. It's pretty uncomfortable (and I'm NOT typically uncomfortable!) and can make you really feel like an outsider. You feel awkward, ignorant, unwanted, and generally out of place. Not the kind of experience that you really want to pay for again (unless you REALLY like the bands!).

You know what it makes me think of, though? I wonder if it's like that for people when they go to a church for the first time. Everybody else knows how to dress, how to talk, where to go, what to do when the music starts, and a lot of the other people. What if nobody greets them at the door? What if they're made to feel like they really don't belong? What if they were driven to church as a last resort because they were desperate for something, and it was just all they could think of . . . and then they experience something like that. The band may be great, the message might be really legitimately helpful, and the printed materials might be first-rate, but the entire experience is uncomfortable and awkward. They're not coming back. Neither would I.

Two thoughts, then, in conclusion.

1) If you're reading this and considering -- even a little bit -- coming to Life Pointe, please do so. Every single week we make every effort that we can to make everybody -- but especially first-time guests -- feel like they are important, valuable, wanted, and welcome. Because you are. One of my greatest personal passions is making sure that you know you're wanted and made to feel as comfortable as possible.

2) If you're a part of a church -- Life Pointe or otherwise -- consider what it's like to be a visitor with new eyes. What would it be like for somebody coming by themselves for the first time? You're an "insider" and probably don't really remember anymore. I assume you're there because you think something worthwhile's going on, and that people would benefit from it. I've heard WAY too many stories about people visiting churches and being completely ignored, and if nobody else will do something about it, maybe it's time that YOU did. Look outside of yourself and find somebody who doesn't know what's going on -- it takes a LOT of guts to step into a situation like that, and they're there for a reason. Help them to know that it was the right decision and not walk away just that much more jaded about a church culture that has forgotten to open itself up to those who have been on the outside.