Sometimes I'm overwhelmed with the fact that I AM a sinner. I don't just commit sins. I am a sinner. And so are you. And if you say you are not, then you've just committed a sin, so there. =)
There's a tremendous conflict of language in the Bible regarding sin. The wages of sin is death. One who lives in sin and does not love his brother cannot know God. Christ died for our sins so they would be wiped away. But if you do sin, ask God for forgiveness and it will be granted. But don't sin, because sin is darkness, and God is light. I understand there are "contexts" to all verses of the Bible, and that it must be read and understood as a whole. But still.
I'd like to think I don't "live in sin", but that's probably a lie....which is a sin. The key here is to understand that SIN is SIN. Bad thoughts, worrying about things you shouldn't worry about, unkind words, lies, untruths, holding an earthly person in too high of esteem (idolatry?), seeing opportunities to help someone in need and consciously ignoring it. These are sin just as much as rage, robbery, and assault are sin. Yes, the consequences differ, but they are sin. And SIN is SIN. It separates us from God. And we spend our whole lives - if we're fortunate enough to believe in Him - bridging that separation. Which is almost futile in a sense, because we will continue to sin, regardless of how hard we try not to.
Which is why Christ's sacrifice - for our sin - is so utterly amazing and unbelievable and really hard to understand deep down inside. No act of goodness can save me. Once I'm saved, no measure of good living can "enhance" my saved-ness in any way. Christ did it all. And I believe it and accept it. And I'm so grateful for it. And yet...I still sin. And although it does matter....somehow, through Christ's death, it doesn't. And I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to comprehend it.
Topic #1 - Being a Sinner
a 5 week topical series
I want to prepare you for what's to come. From now until the end of the year, I'm going to be posting blogs on various topics. Some will be decidedly biblical topics, others may not be, most could go either way. My post title will simply be the topic for that day. Plain and simple.
Then, I'll simply write my thoughts on that topic. I may or may not use biblical references, since I'm not really offering this as a Bible study or platform to preach. I'll write honestly about each topic. Some things could possibly be R-rated. My words may be a little rough on some points, more refined on others.
I'm not really looking for any debate. Not looking "stir things up" in any way. But I'll be totally open to all comments you may have, either about the topics or my thoughts on them. You should know this about me...in most areas of thought or debate, I'm pretty open to all sides of the issues. This is true of my faith as well.
There are very very few things to me which are DECIDEDLY firm (Jesus is God's Son, God created everything, Christ died to save us, etc). On the other hand, most biblical or spirtual topics - especially those which cause so many arguments and divisions (tongues, steps of salvation, worship, gifts of the Spirit, etc) - I have always had a very open mind about. In some respects, I really don't even care. I hope you'll see what I mean by that over the next month.
So, that's the deal. From now to December 31st, all my posts will follow this set up. I hope you'll read, ponder, and share freely as you see fit. If you agree or disagree with things I have to say, that's okay either way. I simply hope you'll join me.
where are you, arrested development?
At this moment, on my Windows Media Player, Arrested Development is singing the song, "Washed Away" from their excellent 1992 album, "3 Years, 5 Months, and 2 Days in the Life Of...". Definitely one of my favorite albums to listen to, ever.
Every time I listen to them, I can't help but wonder, what in the world happened to them? They were big time, had several really awesome songs (Mr. Wendal is an incredible song), and then they disappeared. Poof. Gone. No more music.
They weren't the only music artists I listen(ed) to that made sort of a sudden disappearing act. I know sometimes it's because of outside circumstances, sometimes because of talent, and sometimes because they're just not making money. Regardless, here are a few that I can think of....and these are only people that I actually listened - or still listen - to.
Arrested Development
Fu-Schnikins
Vanilla Ice
Snow
C&C Music Factory
Burlap to Cashmere
Reality Check
Waterdeep (any word on them?)
Young MC
Heavy-D
O-Town (j/k)
Well, those are the ones that come immediately to mind. I'm sure you can think of others that were important to you.
PS - Now I'm listening to Heavy D and the Boyz, "Now That We Found Love". Awesome song. Where are you Heavy, still trying your hand at acting?
christian concept of retirement?
There's a concept I've mentally struggled with for a long time. We talked about it in my small group last week. It's the concept of "retirement" and "investment savings" as a Christian.
Here's my struggle. In the New Testament church, no one really owned anything. All possessions and material needs belonged to everyone and people used stuff as it was needed most. The Bible speaks often about trusting God for provision, not worrying about tomorrow, and giving what you have to those who need it more than you.
Yet we live in a current world - Christians included - in which we earn and save mostly for ourselves...we're taught to put away nest eggs for college savings, retirement, and those "just in case" moments (worrying about tomorrow?) when we'll need the money.
I realize that this practice is really a result of a community shift. If ALL Christians were committed to New Testament possession principles, we could live the way they did. Even if one church body were committed to it, that church could probably live the NT way. But people don't do this. We think it's an awesome concept, but we don't really trust others, ourselves, and maybe even God enough to really believe that it could work and we could still live comfortable lives.
So, do I look at retirement savings (IRA, 401K, mutual funds, savings, etc) as provisions from God - maybe that's God's way of providing for us. Or do I look it as a lack of trust for provision, do I consider it hoarding, and a way to plan on being totally lazy for the last 10-15 years of my life?
Should Christ followers ever truly retire? Or do we simply retire from a worldly job in order to focus our full-time efforts on ministry work? And if we do that, wouldn't that retirement nest egg be wonderfully spent on missions, providing for the poor, helping people get back on their feet, helping new church plants.....yes, it's important to have enough to eat and have a roof over your head and a car to drive, but isn't that really a secondary concern to doing the work of Christ?
Help me out, here. I'm totally on the fence. Sometimes I'll lean hard one way, then hard the other way. I want to be more committed to saving and investing and making sure my son has all he needs down the road....but I also want to commit to live more frugally, to trust more in God's provision, to teach my son that we don't need all the best possessions to be happy and at peace. What are your thoughts? How do you see the Bible teaching us in this area?
old school big wheels...
When I was younger, I used to have a Dukes of Hazzard style big wheel, much like this one:
It was such a blast, man. My buddy had a Knight Rider big wheel. We'd race, spin out, go down hills way too fast, spin the wheels in the rocks, all kinds of stuff. I've always had these unusually nostalgic memories about riding a big wheel. I'm not sure why.
Now, finally, my son is able to ride a big wheel. Erin and I actually bought him one when he was 18 months old, thinking he'd be tall enough to pedal it when he turned 2. Well, another year and half later (what were we thinking?), and he's finally up to speed. And, yes, I realize this is not a "classic" big wheel, but there aren't many of those around any more, so this one had to do.
It's awesome to watch and remember how much fun I had doing the very same thing over 20 years ago. I hope he'll also get to enjoy a cool Huffy or BMX bike, an Atari, and a whiffle ball bat and some rocks. Just like dad did.
dissed by my sis...
Kaly - my 16 year old sister - just dissed me. On this blog. A couple of weeks ago, I offered this post. It was a challenge to think, if someone said, "That's just (your name) being (your name)" ... what would that entail about you? I offered some thoughts of what it might mean if someone were to say, "That's just Jason being Jason."
Yesterday, my loving sister commented on this. Here were her thoughts....about me.
"He's just congratulated me on a new album, or tried to convince me that i look like avril lavigne"
"He's just given you all the information you could ever want on a topic"
"He's just thrown a frisbee on grandma's roof"
"He's just decided to give brandon (our 19 yr old brother) an n'sync calendar for christmas, or maybe even a cardboard cutout of michael jackson"
hahaha yeahhh...
Ok, I get it. Very funny. Veerryy funny.
Yes, I do weird things sometimes. I did give my brother an n'sync calendar for Christmas once, when he was about 17. It was funny. Kaly laughed, if I remember.
Yes, I do randomly send them postcards with Missouri landscapes and write messages that say things like, "I saw the trees on this postcard, the way they stood there, round and brown and still and perfectly spaced apart, and they reminded me of you. Love, Jason". Is that so odd?
Yes, I did mail Kaly a cutout picture of a model from a Marie Claire catalog (that did look like her - and Avril Lavigne) and congratulated her on her new modeling career, expressed confusion as to why she didn't tell me about it, and wished her good luck. Humorous, right?
Yes, I used to collect barf bags from airplanes, and mail them to people I knew when they were sick with notes inside that said, "thought you could use this...hope you get better."
You can actually mail a barf bag just like it is....as long as you tape up the open end. You can also mail McDonald's french fry boxes...put a note in the open end, fold over the arched top, tape it up, write address on the box, apply a stamp...and it mails just fine. Done this several times.
So, to my wonderful sister, who could actually pass as Avril's little sister...and who is capable of temper fits that rival any hollywood celebrity...and who likes dating boys with car names (Bentley, Tacoma, and 525i to name a few)...and who used to run out to my car excitedly when I used to come home from college to visit...and who is anxious to pursue a career in dermatology, where she is destined to invent a creme that makes freckles disappear, unless applied unevenly, which would then cause them to turn purple...I say "nice dis".
a case of blogger's block
I don't really know what to write about. When I entered the blogosphere, I sort of made a commitment to myself that I would be honest, free my mind, and try my hardest not to go more than 3-4 days without a new post....the exceptions coming when I'm out of town and have no computer access.
eli loves greg's music
My friend Greg has just released two new Cd's...."Chasing the Western Sky" and "Thirty Three". You can check them out or buy them here. Me, Erin, and Eli went to see him perform this past Friday night at The V Cafe. He played 12 songs with a full band, it was pretty awesome.
This morning I was taking Eli to school. We were listening to the "Thirty Three" album in my car. During the very first song, he recognized it was Greg singing. He asked me, "Dad, why is Greg singing in our car?"
Then when the song ended, he asked, "Can we listen to another Greg song?". Then when the second song ended, he asked again, "Can we listen to another Greg song?". Then we made it to school. Thankfully, one of the songs we listened to was entitled, "Four Bucks." I hope Eli listened to it closely and learned an important lesson about inflation and gross overspending.
Thanks, Greg, for your subliminal influences on my son.
off to work...
This Sunday morning at 8:00am, I'll be driving a 16 ft box truck full of apparel and displays about 11 hours to Merritt Island, Florida. Along with two other co-workers, we'll be working 4 straight 11 - 14 hour days at 4 different Sea Ray manufacturing facilities along the Florida coast. We call it a "Plant Sale." It's typically more like a "flea market."