The sharpened spoon

Occupy Wall Street, Gambling and the Difference Between "Legal" and "Right"

2011-11-20T21:47:00.001-08:00

I haven't written anything here for awhile. The last “cause” that I took up kind of took the wind out of my sails. That being said, I feel that I should add my voice to the cacophony of noise that is circulating regarding the current climate in our country. There are many people who are rightly angry about many of the abuses of our government. Most notably, at the moment, it is the OWS movement. Before I go any further, I will say a few words about what I think on this subject.

First, I do not believe that everyone should have a free ride for their lifespan. I do not believe in socialism as a system of government, it has already proved itself to be a failure in many, many cases. That being said, I also think that we need to seriously consider what is going on. We have a situation where 1% of the country controls the vast majority of the wealth. I know that most of my conservative friends are knee jerking into a response that goes like this, “they earned it”. I have a long standing policy against using obscenity in print which I am about to suspend, BULLSHIT!

We have a system of government in place at the moment that is incredibly slanted towards those with deep pockets and influence, a system the virtually guarantees their continued reign, with very little threat of it changing. It goes a little something like this. Good, Christian people believe in a little thing called “law and order”. They believe in “submission to authority”. and what I believe has happened, actually I think I can observe it happening, is this: our leaders have tapped into that in the following way. First, find a source of revenue. Second, find out what those who control that source of revenue want to allow you to tap into it. Third, pass legislation to make the thing those who control the revenue want a matter of “legality”. Fourth, over time, overcome the moral outrage of the outspoken, keeping the law in place long enough that its “moral” component transforms itself from “wrong” to “legal” to “God given right”.

If you do not believe me, think back Okies, just a few years. We legalized gambling in our state. What had once been taboo became protected and within a few short years, many people who would not have been caught dead in a casino were vacationing in Vegas and spending their weekends at poker tournaments. Do I think gambling is a sin? Not relevant. But, I think this illustrates my point.

This same system also works in reverse. Find, or create a source of revenue large enough to be worthy of congressional attention. Adopt a cause that benefits said revenue. Petition congress to custom craft legislation to protect said revenue stream. Share said revenue stream with leaders in various ways. Sue everyone else out of business, or make sure they fall into an “illegal” category.

Because the “rule of law” has, in many cases, replaced the moral conscience in our society,the law is now our measuring stick. Whatever we can do within it, is “legit”, whatever is outside it is not, no matter its moral relevance. We are no longer a nation guided by our individual consciences, we have fallen victim to one of the most insidious devices, the “majority rule” , or human consensus. Whatever the majority of us will allow without too much fuss, becomes the standard.

This belief in law and order has even taken us (christians) to the point that rather engage in whatever cause God calls us to and allowing the civil system to mete out whatever consequences they see fit, as the disciples did, we lobby like everyone else to get our beliefs legislated. This is not, I believe, what the Bible speaks of when it talks about respect for authority. Those same passages were written at a time when the writers themselves were engaged in some of the most subversive of civil disobedience. They were conducting illegal religious services, teaching where they were forbidden and even expressly breaking laws that went against their beliefs, allowing themselves to be arrested, jailed, beaten, even executed, in following their conscience. “They loved not their lives, even unto death”.

This leads me to the current situation. We have a nation that is being more and more deeply divided every day between the haves and the have nots. There are many who argue that those who have not are simply lazy and jealous.

Let me stop here and ask a couple of questions. How many people do you know who will fight to the death to defend the idea that hard work and right choices will bring success? Now, how many of those are exhibiting this work ethic in their own lives? Most, right? Now, how many of them are successful enough that if they lost their ability to earn a living right now they would be able to maintain their current lifestyle for more than a year, six months, three months, a month? And yet, they hold onto this idea as if it were gospel.

In a fair and just society, this virtue of hard work and honest dealing would win out in the majority of cases. In our own society it is no longer the case. Things are changing rapidly, ask around. Old ways of doing business are no longer working. Marketing, advertising and sales techniques that used to net solid returns are not valid anymore. Jobs that used to feed families, pay for vacations and fund retirements are going away and new opportunities are taking their place. We are moving into a great transition, I think, unlike anything we have seen since the industrial revolution. The future is bright, but in the mean time, it sucks in a lot of ways.

In 2008, over a nine month span, food prices increased by nearly 40% and have not come back down. We, here in Oklahoma, have almost that many people (40%) on some type of government assistance, but unemployment is not nearly that high? Why the discrepancy? All of these working people are just too lazy to work hard enough? Really? I don't think so.

There will always be those who will not keep work. Whether it is within their power to change or not, who knows, I for one, think we pay enough into government (over 40% with fed state and local taxes even on the poorest Americans) that we ought to be able to give these guys a sandwich and a bunk. Do I like it? No, but look they already have my money, why not spend it on sustaining life at least, instead of whatever it is they do with it that makes them think they deserve more of it next year!

In this climate where more and more of our money is going to support an over bloated government, who can blame people for protesting? Are they protesting the right things? Not for me to decide. That brings me to the original point of this entire article, the OWS crew. In the last few days there have been increasing reports of police violence against these groups. In some cases, that violence is provoked, and in part, it is probably intentionally provoked, but in others it seems to be wholesale and unwarranted.

The entire reason I started writing tonight was this. I posted this on FB

A peace that must be kept with pepper spray and batons against non-violent protestors, is not worth keeping. I don't care what their complaint, I would gladly stand up to protect their right to protest. Who else believes that the militarization of our police forces has now turned the corner from protection to control? What will they want to control next?

A dear friend replied and in part here is what he said:

If a protest is made on private property, and the protesters are trespassing, and refuse to obey a lawful order by a police officer, better a little pepper spray to disperse them than to arrest them for trespassing...

So, here, I ask you, please find that response for me in the first ammendment:

Amendment I: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

My response to this entire conversation goes back to my first premise, that many well meaning people have allowed their conscience, their sense of right and wrong, to be replaced with a belief in “law and order”. In this instance, I believe that allowing our police to brutally enforce ANY law against non combative people is tantamount to not allowing due process. I think that many who oppose OWS are cheering for this police response, but, I believe, this is short sighted. IF these protestors are breaking the law, arrest them. Give them due process and their day in court, not a faceful of pepper spray, a baton to the skull or a spraying with fire hoses, or rubber bullets. Is it messy to tie up our court system with this? Yes, but not nearly as costly as giving up our right to peaceably assemble. IF we allow this to continue, please listen, these incidents will be used to create precedence in case law, that WILL become legislative in its effect. That precedence will continue to be used in the future to further restrict our right to peaceably assembly and protest. Next time, it could be YOUR cause that is considered a threat.

Answer this for me. What good would it do to put a system in place which forced a child to ask the school yard bully for a permit to stand up against him or her? That is what we have allowed to happen. The constitution says that no law should abridge our right. Is forcing you to subject yourself to government to gain permission to protest not an abridgment?

Here is my prayer. I pray that America will wake up. That we will realize that we have a government we cannot afford, that has restricted many of our freedoms to the point of ridiculous while defending the rights of others to overthrow theirs, when it is politically expedient. I pray that we will stop “just doing our jobs” and start “just doing what is right” and be willing to pay the consequences.

Spin Class, Exercise Hell and a Spiritual Revelation!

2011-09-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Spin class. The name sounds so casual for the exercise hell it represents.

Alissa Stinnet, she stands all of 5'2”, tiny little waif of a woman with a quick smile and a sense of humor, but she has a spine of steel when it comes to pushing us, cheering us on, dragging us when necessary, and she teaches spin at the North Side Y where my wife and I and 14 others sit for an hour every Tuesday and Thursday. In fact, if you don't show up 30 minutes early, there will not be a bike for you, and at least one person is frequently disappointed.

Sitting on a stationary bicycle, peddling seems easy enough, except that its much more than that. Spin class, in a way represents so much in life. You are in control of the tension, how much you are willing to suffer to get the body you want, to get more energy, to improve your health. Are you staying on the surface, or are you willing to make yourself deeply uncomfortable to achieve your Goals?

This morning, about half way into the workout, disappointed with our efforts Alissa says this, “ Come on! Add up the tension! It's okay to be uncomfortable!” and a groan almost escapes my lips followed by a sarcastic response, but then it hits me, she's right!

Internally I go into Alice in Wonderland mode and chase this particular rabbit down its hole into a universe of ideas that is one of my favorite places. As I fall, ideas begin to take form, words, thoughts, feelings merge into something more, a conviction. The feeling that I am about to taste some truth for the first time!

A wave of scenes from my life washes over me and in an instant I see myself more clearly. “It is okay to be uncomfortable”, on the surface this is something that I believe, that you don't always need more, don't always have to get everything you want to be happy, that happiness is a product of finding contentment with things as they are, not the finish line of a race to obtain. But, in this instant there is more. I am reminded of specific instances in my life, instances when I have been stirred to action by some perceived injustice, some wrong carried out against another that needs to be righted, and I watch my reactions.

Initially I wait, I think about these things, I feel around inside myself to find out what is stirring me, make sure this is a God deal, and in most cases come up with a yes! Then I watch as the situations progress, see my prayer, my asking for a solution, for resolution. I watch my descent into frustration, anger and finally see the limit I reach, the depths I go to before taking action, before speaking out, the level of frustration and anger that has forced me to react. But then I notice something. The place that I come to in each case is nowhere near as deep as I could go, not as deep as I can be pushed, but my level of discomfort becomes too high, the price to steep to keep it internal.

I ask God about this, and he understands, he sees my frustration and the fruit of it as a misplaced reaction to a genuine injustice, there is no judgment for me from him for my sometimes immature reactions, but he looks down, into the depths and holds out his hand. As I take it, we drop, down, inside of me, deeper than I have consciously been before, down to the seat of my soul, down to the place inside where God has taken root and changed me on a cellular level. Into the heart of God for me, and those I think to protect. Down into that place where the Psalmist says, Deep Calls to Deep!

And as I reach that level, below where my conscious mind can follow, into a realm of pure spirit, I sense that there are solutions, answers here that go beyond my simple reactions. Things that I do not access from the physical realm. This is the place where that battle that is not against flesh and blood takes place, but it is not in the way that I have heard it. Not in the way that I have been taught, there is nothing militant, or angry, or striving here, it is a force too large for those simple, violent ideas, it is the source of all. It has the flow of the oceans, with the strength and volume of a mountain. It roars silently around me, carries me so effortlessly, that although I know I am moving very fast toward something, deeper and deeper, there is no sensation of moving, I am one with this force. And as quickly as I am there, I am here, back, the wheel still spinning, the music still playing, but there is an understanding.

This is it. In those times when I see wrongs that must be righted, God is challenging me to press into him, until I no longer have the need to seek exterior answers. Until the solution is around me and in me and through me, until I give up in total surrender and am willing to suffer, at times in silence, other times suffering with a loud voice of warning, but always willing to not seek a human solution, until I am released to do so, and then only to follow Him, into the solution He wants. To dive deep to the heart of God and bring up solutions that surpass my human understanding, supersede my human need for justice and bring the cause of heaven to bear on the situations of life.

God, why did you tell me to do that?

2011-07-24T15:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to have real two way conversation with God? I know this sounds weird, but that is something I have done my whole life, and I know its him because of the things that happen after these conversations.

Trust me completely when I say I am not bragging and here is why. Many times these conversations go a little something like this....

Me: God, I really want you to use me for anything you need, anything at all.

God: Really? You sure about that, no "caveats" not exclusion clauses?

Me: Nope, I trust you. Give it to me.

God: That's great, cause you know what I really need right now?

Me: An ambassador to Italy? (my wife and I would love to live there for a year or two)

God:Nope, bigger than that.

Me: A Broadway Director with sterling character to change the heart of American Theatre?

God: Nope.

(this goes on with me going down the list of things that in my mind were included in "anything" and to each and every one he answers with "nope, bigger")

Me: I give up, what is it? (closing my eyes with childlike anticipation)

God: I could really use a human pinata!

Let the beating commence!

You always hear it said that God will not give you more than you can handle. If this is true, I am convinced that much like I confuse my own children from time to time, he has me confused with someone else. I have a sneaking suspicion that this not at all true, that in fact God loves overloading us to the point of breaking, just so he can prove how big he is.

Some of you probably read my blog over the last year and know what I have been through. I am not into comparing, and next to losing a child, or lung, or a loved one, it was really nothing, and yet...

So, now I am in this place of transition in my life, which is maybe why I feel like I have been wrapped in webbing and left dangling from a tree branch waiting to die. Or, maybe that is the feeling of turning 40 in less than a week, I don't know...But, here's the thing, I know I am not supposed to ask WHY? But I don't care. After everything that I went through I have to ask, why? Nothing changed in the place I was called to stand up and ask for change. In fact, the people that I see as the root of the problem are still very much doing business as usual. And in my own life, I feel like God has just further convinced me of my feelings about the institutional church as it exists today, and it isn't a happy conviction. So, what do I do?

See, there really isn't anything you can do about God. He has a plan which is so much bigger than any of us that it is a very rare day when we rise above the clouds far enough to catch a small glimpse of our part in it. Even when we do it's as if it were written in Martian.

No matter how much we try to package the idea that we can somehow decipher why God does what he does, or determine if it is God doing it, the TRUTH is we can't. But, I know when I hear his voice, when I get something deep seeded in me that will not let go and it's such a rush to be hearing it, and I am so excited about what comes next. That is what keeps me coming back to this place where I find myself today, dragging myself out of hiding and heading off to Mt Carmel to face God knows what.

One of these times, maybe I won't be so myopic. So near sighted that all I see is how this effects me. Maybe I will get it, but then, maybe not.

In Honor of My Mother, Janett Sue Morton Morris 1948-1998

2011-05-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

This is the eulogy I wrote for my Grandmother, Jessie Lucille Price Morton.

There is a way that a mother looks at you. You probably cannot even recognize it until it is gone, but there is a subtle knowledge that all she really sees is the best of that tiny baby she once cradled in her arms. It is as if you were the innocent child, incapable of wrong that she first held. No one in this life can ever really see you like that.

It is a function of viewing a part of one’s own being in its purest state, as if the separation between you and her that occurred at birth had never happened. She is seeing the best of her, and can only see the best of you. It is this, pure, unfiltered love that leads a mother to make any sacrifice for the well being of her child, even if she must lay down the rest of her to achieve it.

That look, that glance that does not pass from eye to brain, but straight from your heart to hers is a very powerful thing. If you are truly blessed there is one other who might possess that knowledge of the real you, who sees only your potential, your mother’s mother. I was that fortunate.

My mother seemed never to have noticed even the most grievous offenses that we committed against her, but let us wrong each other and there would be no stopping her in her quest for justice. Because although she saw in me the thing that God had placed there, that mirror of his image, she also saw it in the others that had shared her womb.

She passed from this life early, three months to the day shy of her fiftieth birthday, not able to complete her course. Until recently the memory of her full life still lingered on this earth, in the woman that she was carbon copied from, my grandmother. With her passing from this life so passed the human knowledge of the real me in my perfect newborn state.

No one will ever look on me with that knowledge again. As I said you never realize that the look exists until it is gone, and then the emptiness of knowing you will never be seen in those terms again in this life is indescribable. The void that that connection with my history having been broken has opened seems unfathomable.

I now understand just a little of what my wife feels when her babies cry, it is this love, a love that a Father can never feel. It is in that intimacy of the womb, and only there, that this love can be born.

A Father’s love is always a measurement, of pride, of achievement, of ownership. And while a Father can strive for unconditional love his knowledge of us is incomplete. He is incapable of that knowledge. God’s creation of man was to be in his own image, Adam was created with the knowledge of the womb, that gift was given to Eve in their physical separation.

I wonder in seeking the Father’s heart if it is not this innate Mother’s knowing look we really seek. At the risk of sounding politically correct my heart longs for that mother’s gaze from my creator. To be known in my created state, the way only God sees me now.

Money Makes People Stupid Sometimes!

2011-04-14T13:21:00.000-07:00

I was walking through a local grocery store last week when I heard my name being called. My name is common, and it's never me they are yelling at, so I ignored it and went on. When I finally realized they were calling me I turned to find a woman I hardly recognized. She had been the assistant manager of a small retail store near my home, an older lady in her late fifties. The woman standing before me now looked great, she was dressed nicer than I remembered, had her hair professionally done, was wearing full makeup and looked genuinely happy, and it restored my faith a little.

Two years ago this woman, we'll call her Helen, although that is not her name, had hired on as a part time stocker to make a little money. Within a month they were insisting she take a full time assistant managership, and not the being the type to say no, she did. I watched a vibrant, lovely woman with a quick smile age 10 years in just a few weeks under the heavy, stressful schedule.

About the same time a young man named Robert, again, not his real name, also showed up and began working cash register at this little store that I frequented almost daily since my theater was across the street. He was a college student, very polite, well spoken and everyone mentioned he was a hard worker. That would soon change.

Once Helen accepted the job, the manager of the store began dumping more and more responsibility on her to the point of breaking. She was closing almost every night, did most of the payroll, and in short was, in actuality managing the store because she just couldn't say no. But, still with a ready smile and a kind word, all around one of my favorite people. Until she was gone.

A few weeks before that I had noticed an extreme change in Robert, he began dressing a little more ghetto, not really seeming to care. He stopped taking care of his hair. His attitude became sullen and I heard from Helen that everyone suspected his new girlfriend was a bad influence. Then he dropped out of college and made the job his full time gig, always complaining, never enough money, and so on.

On the day that I asked about Helen, the manager, whose name I won't even substitute since I honestly cannot remember, told me that Helen had been let go due to a $3000 shortage in a bank deposit. This shocked me, what I heard next enraged me. It seemed that Robert suddenly had four months back rent money, a better car and new sneakers, that plus everyone had heard him joking about the heist, but it couldn't be proven. Helen had taken the fall, refusing to file a report of suspicion. Robert kept his job a few more months and the last time I saw him, he was shuffling through the same store, bleary eyed in Sponge Bob pajama pants, a scuzzy white wife beater and a pair of Bunny Slippers.

I wondered what had happened to my friend. I wanted to beat some sense into this stupid young punk for what he had done to himself and her. Wanted to throw his Gangsta rapper wannabe drug skinny sorry ass excuse for a man body up against the building and tell him what I thought. But, not Helen. She thought he deserved a chance and had moved on.

She is now assistant manager of a shiny new pharmacy, making three times as much money, twenty pounds lighter, looking ten years younger and with her mysterious health problems having corrected themselves,and she thanks God for Robert everyday, and prays for him. So, I guess it's true. The universe (AKA God, Jehovah, Elohim) really is paying attention.

So, when was the last time you truly let God fight your battles for you. He says he will you know. I'm looking for an opportunity to try it. An opportunity to be wronged and say nothing, to show love, instead of righteous indignation, and I can't wait to tell you how it turns out.

The One Secret to a perfect life!

2011-03-10T14:17:00.000-08:00

God, Me and the Universe, Part two

So, you're curious, aren't you? Is he really claiming that he has a perfect life? Does he have it exactly the way he wants it? The answer to the first is no, the second is, I'm working on it, but seriously, no. So, you're probably wondering why I called you all here. (uncovering my white marker board on which there are rows of circles forming a pyramid) This is you, these are your three closest friends that you are going to convince to sell... Just kidding. But seriously, I have been doing a loooottt of thinking lately about how my life could be what I want it to be, perfect. Jesus commands us to do it in Matt 5:48. Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect. So, it must be doable. But how?

Here is what I came up with, and this is just the little thoughts rubbing around in my head until the friction causes smoke, but here it is: 1: I believe there is a God 2: I believe that God is everywhere at once 3:I believe that God is perfect 4:This leads me to the conclude that my life is also perfect! That's right, that's it, your life too. It's perfect, right now, this moment, exactly where you are, no matter how it looks, or feels or smells, perfect and in my thinking, I have proven it, at least to myself, ready?

If God is perfect and everywhere at once (although He is a non-local, extra-temporal entity) but, for arguments sakes, let's just agree with Paul who said: "In Him we live and move and have our being" and "He is One Father, above all, in all and through all" and say that he is everywhere at once. The only way that this is possible is for God to be equal to, or greater in capacity than the universe, and, for him to invest every molecule with his presence, it must exist...inside him. In other words, everything you touch see feel and experience is inside God. If the universe is part of a perfect God, the universe itself must also be perfect? Right?

How is that possible? Disney magic! No, seriously, though, since God is bigger than and, in fact, created what we experience as time, in the reality that God is, the universe is perfect. We all believe that it will be perfected in what we know as the future, right? So from God's perspective, it already is!

Do you agree? Well, before you write it off, as I did at first, consider this: If God is both perfect and omnipresent, the universe must be perfect. If it is not, then either A: God is not perfect, or B: God is not everywhere.

Okay, now tell me how wrong I am. Please. Because, if my life, as I am living it right now, is perfect then I really need a change of perspective to see it sometimes, and that sounds tiring!

Capitalist Societal Cannibalism.

2011-03-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

While other political systems may crush, discredit or otherwise make their enemies impotent, only a capitalistic democratic republic has the ability to absorb them. What do I mean by that? Our governmental system has a unique ability to make its detractors a part of itself. Allow me to explain.

The unions were originally formed to work to protect the worker from the greed of the company owners and managers, now they are the engines of greed. They are driving for ever more government and more largesse, which is completely antithetical to what they were about in the first place, honest pay for honest work.

The Church too has become an ally instead of a watchdog. The lure of money is so great that few can withstand it. It seems that nearly everyone who possesses it is in turn consumed and possessed by it. Politicians forget where they came from, ministers forget the warning that you can't serve God and money and the government, the system, the greedy monster that has become America just laughs and looks for the next victim. It will lull them to sleep as well.

Success is the ultimate sedative. Once a person reaches a certain level of success in life anything approaching true moral outrage is all but impossible. We tend only to care for ourselves and the well being of those closest to us. The poor and marginalized tend to fade from memory very quickly. The rich man can ill afford the luxury of outrage and the poorest of the poor don't have time for it, which leaves it to the shrinking middle class to carry the load.

What God needs is people who literally have nothing to lose. It isn't that poverty is righteous, just the opposite, it is that wealth can breed a special kind of evil and its name is complacency.

Here's how it works. Group A opposes the actions of the government, or the “free market”, which by the way are finally being revealed as one and the same, so the government first tries to suppress them. Sometimes this works and the opposition amounts to nothing, other times this makes them even stronger and they continue to fight. At some point someone within government becomes their champion (or they send a man to Washington to fight for them) and convinces his peers to give them part of what they want, under the guise of “doing the right thing”. Soon the group that opposed the government becomes dependent on them for their sustenance. They actually become partners with them.

Another example is the civil rights movement, they fought to change the law, now they use government as a weapon to attain their ends. After partnership is established government becomes their friend, or so they think, and we are programmed to defend our friends.

Once this partnership, or team mentality has been achieved it is easy for government to shape the goals and methodology of that group to suit their purpose. They make them irrelevant by placing them in a long line of “issues” and giving each a small amount of their time and attention so that no meaningful reform can possibly be made without upsetting the whole apple cart and that would stop government and we don't want that.

Capitalism is particularly adept at this game. As long as the ATMs (AKA “citizens” or AUTOMATIC TAX MACHINES)don't revolt and keep paying their ever higher taxes, more and more people can be brought into the government, or supported by it. Therefor, all those who oppose it make up a smaller and smaller minority, and their causes being separate splinter this number even more. They are the fringe groups. It is the ultimate playing out of the saying: Politics makes for strange bedfellows. Completely disparate groups find themselves not on the same side of the issues but on the same side in defending the institution that supplies them with what they see as the only means of making any real change, the Federal Government of the United States.

A Democratic Republic is the only political entity that can sustain social canabalism. Cannibalism is the act of eating one's own kind, “Of the people, by the people and for the people” no other system has this same power because government is separate, it is another species and cannot cannibalize the social structures within it. They can be at odds, but their enemies are always separate. It is the only system that can be constantly at odds with itself and is inherently so.

In the beginning the founders realized this and in their wisdom created a loose confederation of individual states that were each, by and large, self determinate. Through the years, especially the last half of the twentieth century, since the civil war the states power has been eroded by an ever increasing consolidation of money, resources and power at the Federal level. This, in turn, is used to coerce the individual states into toeing the political line in order to receive what they perceive, just like other institutions and groups, to be their lifeline. The funding the provides the only way for them to accomplish what they see as vitally important.

Among groups that cannot be brought directly into the fold oppositional thinking is employed to keep them in competition with themselves. We rank the states in order of successes in: education, cost of living, per cap-pita income and the like. This has the effect of placing them in direct competition for the attention and reward from the Federal Government. The same is true for political parties. They posture as if there are major philosophical differences, but in reality that is, at least in part, a ploy to make the people feel that there is still a system of checks and balances in place.

Most of these differences are not substantive. Take for instance, the current debate over healthcare. Many members of congress are rebelling at the thought of state supported abortion. In substance there is very little difference between state sanctioned abortion (it being legal) and state supported abortion (it being paid for with tax dollars) In a very real way there is no method of compartmentalization that can justify the support of any government that allows this practice to continue through the paying of taxes or the adherence to its laws, except as regards the sanctity of other lives, for a person who believes that the practice of abortion is wrong. We are all guilty by association. The apostle Paul said: For him who knows what to do and does not do it, for him it is sin. Logic dictates that the reverse is also true, If you know what you should not do, then doing it is sin as well. If we believe that we should not allow unborn children to be slaughtered by the thousands then we should be doing what we can to prevent it from continuing.

While it is an extreme example, abortion provides one of the clearest pictures of societal cannibalism. It starts as a measure to protect women who feel they need the ability to avail themselves legally of what they perceive as a necessary “medical” procedure. Without capitalism, this reaches its zenith with only a small percentage of women willing to make this decision, with capitalism, the debate is redefined. Someone, somewhere began to see the potential for money to be made. I know, crass but the numbers don't lie. Average number of abortions per year = 854,000, cost per abortion $350-$550 each= a 38 million dollar per year idustry. In comparison, this is more than total annual sales for one of the current most popular tech gadgets, the Ipad.

So, what do we do about it? We can no longer continue to allow things to happen around us that we know are wrong with no response. We must personally take a stand and be willing to to the right thing, even when it costs us. We must think of others more highly than ourselves, realizing that there is a very real connection between us and others and that what effects one negatively effects us all. We must first “be the change we want to see” in the words of Ghandi.

We must continually express God's thoughts on the matter in a loving, kind, embracing way, with the view in mind, not of changing others into what we want them to be, but with the revelation of God in mind. In other words, we are not working to expose the others, but to expose the heart of God, to aid in his goal of reconciling creation to himself. We must refuse to engage in capitalist cannibalism by conducting our own lives and businesses by first “doing no harm”. This means being aware of who we are conducting business with and what the outcome of our work, purchases and investments ultimately are and find ways around supporting the cannibals.

While boycotts and other “negative” actions can have some effect, I think we are better served by promoting partnerships with those that are working toward the same aim, rather than engaging in their battle of oppositional thinking by spending our time and energy opposing what we disagree with. One positive action is so much more powerful than a campaign of negative responses.

Lastly, we should have this attitude that was also in Christ Jesus, who being found in form like God, did not think equality with God a thing to be grasped, but humbled himself, taking on the form of a servant. He submitted himself to his creation, even allowing them to crucify him on a cross to serve the Father's purpose. We must die to ourselves both emotionally and in ownership, holding the things that God lends us lightly, so that as they have served their purpose in our lives, we allow them to flow from us to meet the needs of others. It is hard to cannibalize the capital of a people who own nothing.

God, Me and the Universe, are one and the same?

2011-03-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

Living with the user interface of a physical universe inside an infinite spiritual entity (aka God, Abbah, Creator, Elohim, Jehovah, etc) can be so frustrating at times. Recently my existence in this plane has been one of controversy and , from my perspective, unfair criticism and persecution, but at the same time, God is widening my perspective.

In Acts chapter 17 the apostle Paul gives us a hint as to the nature of the universe in his speaking with the men of Athens. He says that they worship an unknown god, a God that the disciples of Jesus worship as known. And, that while they (the men of Athens) grope around looking for him they fail to recognize that they live inside the fabric of this self-same God. “In Him we live, and move and have our being.”

This concept is the focus of the study of Quantum Mechanics, the essential connection between, and in fact, “sameness” of all things. So I have spent some time pondering, and meditating on this. And I have come to this conclusion: if I accept that God is omnipresent, (in all places at all times) which I do. Then I must accept that everything I can see, hear touch, taste and feel is, in its essence, part of the fabric of God. (don't freak out, I know not to worship trees, or the sun, etc. stay with me) Col. 1:16-17 gives voice to the same idea: For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, (invisible, cool huh?) whether thrones or dominions or authorities-all things have been created through Him and for Him. (here comes the really interesting part) He is before all things, and in Him ALL THINGS, hold together.

Think about it. In order for God to be big enough to have created the universe, and exist in every place, at every time, the universe MUST exist inside of God and everything that exists inside of God, is as much PART of God as everything that exists inside of you, is part of you. Now, look at that last sentence. Everything that exists inside of you is part of you. Wow, that is trippy, especially for those of us who are believers, who have received the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Remembering this last thought, take Jesus' words in John 15 into account. I am the vine, you are the branches. If you are in me, then I am in you. As long as you remain in me, you can ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. Wow. Who needs a genie in a bottle? (I jest of course) Interesting ideas.

The indications, therefore, from both science and scripture are that you and I (as believers) have become one with the creator of the universe. Notice, we have not “become God” (nor can we, scripture is repleat with reassurances of God's unique nature) we are partners with him in revealing his presence in the creation, and to a certain extent (through our creative talents and powers of invention) in finishing the creation with him. How exciting is that? Food for thought.

Next time: Why am I constantly searching for God like a long lost employer who owes me money, when he left me his address and he's always home?

Instead of "Church" as usual

2011-02-20T19:52:00.000-08:00

Since becoming an ex-church member through the modern wonder of email excommunication I have had time to catch up on some reading. One of the books that has caught my attention is a little gem entitled Pagan Christianity. In their book George Barna, Christian culture researcher extraordinaire and Frank Viola, house church guru, have undertaken the task of unmasking some of the modern churches most closely held practices and revealing their true origins. While many of these are based in Biblical texts, the modern versions often vary widely from the original.

They tackle ten of the most essential facets of modern church life
The Church Building
The Order of Worship
The Sermon
Professional Pastors
Sunday Morning Dress Codes
Professional Music Ministers
Tithing and Clergy Salaries
Baptism
The Lord's Supper
Christian Education

While many Christians are already confident that the fellowship they attend is doing things “by the book” some of us are curious trouble makers who like to ask questions such as, “What does scripture have to say about this.”

If you are one of “those” people who stir up trouble wherever you go and are never happy unless you are tearing something down, or blowing things up like me. (dripping with sarcasm, but these are the things I have recently been accused of, without any specific accusations of course) then I highly recommend this book. If you are not, avoid it like the plague, because the copiously researched footnotes may upset your apple cart and start you down the road to questioning the teachings and practices of your own congregation.

Over the next little while I am going to delve into these areas a little more in my personal thinking and, being the firebrand that I am I will be sharing my conclusions here for anyone who cares to read them. This is, of course, my blog, and as such my personal platform to say anything I like. But, I love dialogue and will post any comment that is not obscene, so joint in the conversation, or read the book, write your own blog and leave a link to it here.

Here is why I think this is important. We are moving into an interesting time, whether we like it or not. Our planet is becoming smaller, relationship wise, and we are headed toward a more global community. It is obvious that our government understands the strength of group thinking and influencing large numbers of people through their relationships. One of the largest groups in the US is the evangelical church. When totalitarianism comes, it has a tendency to masquerade as a return to law and order, which the church is, understandably, in favor of, but it quickly moves beyond that into control.

In our current institutional mode of operation, the church will be a much easier target than the organic church that survived three centuries of Roman Empire, before succumbing to major institutionalization. It is time for us to begin to reimagine the church as the underground movement Christ intended her to be. The church where community was so strong a value that outsiders called the believers Christian for their strong likeness to Christ.

So, if my thoughts interest you, or piss you off, subscribe to my blog for more as I share with you what I have been imagining for the better part of two decades and am just now finding the words to describe.

PS, please don't send me emails worried that I have lost my faith. Just the opposite, I firmly believe that what happened to me and my family, while painful, was a necessary part of what God is doing in my life. If anything, I am more in tune with what God is saying to me now, than I perhaps have ever been and am excited to see what will come out of this exploration of what Church could be.

Gasoline on the bonfire of my excommunication.

2011-01-30T07:27:00.000-08:00

Now that the jello has hit the fan, I feel free to share some of the scripture that God has been talking to me about. The Bold type is scripture from the New American Standard Bible

Today I am going to explore a couple of things that I mentioned briefly in my blog post, regarding the situation at The Edge Church. I think it is important for all believers to have a healthy understanding of how God functions in regard to human authority and how we should respond to it. There are a lot of verses in the Bible that mention authority, its establishment and our response to it. A couple real easy ones are

Epehesians 6:1-3

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise),
so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.

This was originally found in Moses' commands to the people of Israel after conversing with God on mount Sinai and is quoted here almost word for word.

Romans 13:1

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;
for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.
Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

Now, these verses seem to indicate to some that there is never a time to question authority and yet, we also are told this story, about the early apostles and their conflict with religious leaders for teaching in the temple from Acts, Chapter 5

When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them,
saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
“The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross.
“He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
“And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Then we are also told to “test the spirits”, pay close attention to the last few verses for what I believe is the ultimate test. This is From 1st John, chapter 4

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
We love, because He first loved us.
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Regarding authority in the Church we are told in Epehesians Chapter 4

(particularly verse 11)

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Therefore it says,      “When He ascended on high,     He led captive a host of captives,     And He gave gifts to men.”
(Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,
from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
But you did not learn Christ in this way,
if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus,
that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,
and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
and do not give the devil an opportunity.

As to its exercise we have this from 1st Corinthians 12

For the body is not one member, but many.
If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?
But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.
If they were all one member, where would the body be?
But now there are many members, but one body.
And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable,
whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked,
so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.
And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.
All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they?
All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?
But earnestly desire the greater gifts.

AS to participation by members of a congregation, other than a pastor we have this in 1st Corinthians 14

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.
But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.
One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but one who prophesies edifies the church.
Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying.
But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophecy or of teaching?
Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp?
For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle?
So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.
There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning.
If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me.
So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church.
Therefore let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
What is the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.
Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?
For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified.
I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all;
however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
In the Law it is written, “By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the Lord.
So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophecy is for a sign, not to unbelievers but to those who believe.
Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?
But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all;
the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.
What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must interpret;
but if there is no interpreter, he must keep silent in the church; and let him speak to himself and to God.
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.
But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent.
For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted;
and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets;
for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

Notice, that Paul does not suggest that anyone needs to “submit” these offerings before they are shared and that it is the prophets who are to pass judgment on their soundness and not the pastors.

The Idea of a “pastor driven church” was born in the seeds of the reformation, when people were coming out of the dark ages and being given a Bible in something other than Latin. Most of them were uneducated and could not read even the Bible's translated into their own languages. Ex-priests, leaving the catholic church began to serve as teachers for these congregations, who could not read and understand scripture for themselves, however this is an interesting passage in1st John chapter 2

These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

(His, refers to Christ in the person of the Holy Spirit)

Or, how about 1st Corinthians chapter 2

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,
and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away;
but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;
but just as it is written,      “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,     And which have not entered the heart of man,     All that God has prepared for those who love Him.”
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,
which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.
For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The Idea of “Unity” also gets mentioned a lot, but, is it good just to agree to agree? One of the darkest scenes in human history grew out of “being in one mind”. This story occurs in Genesis 11, right after the flood, which you would think would still be fresh on everyone's mind:

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
“Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

The members of The Edge Church were asked to believe that it would be difficult for the members of our elder's board to agree unanimously to oust a pastor on a whim. I argued in favor of language in the bylaws to hold them accountable to the pastor and congregation in some small way. You can see where that ended if you read yesterday's post. BTW, for those of you keeping up with the “drama” during that meeting, I was out of line when I interrupted Greg. I was harsh and immediately said so, and asked his forgiveness.

In contrast to the story of Babel, a story that we did not delve into from our pulpit can be found in Acts chapter 1, starting in verse 15

At this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said,
“Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
“For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.”
(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.
And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
“For it is written in the book of Psalms,      ‘Let his homestead be made desolate,     And let no one dwell in it’; and,      ‘Let another man take his office.’
“Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—
beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias.
And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen
to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
And they drew lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.

We, at The Edge, heard two or three weeks of teaching, from this chapter without this story, one of the few physical snap shots of actual first century church "community" in action, even being mentioned. It seems to me that this kind of being, “in one accord” took everyone into account. It was not done in secret, between a few members, no matter how they were appointed. The 120 were in the same room throughout the entire process, a pattern you will find throughout the New Testament, that not everyone was welcome to say whatever the hell came to mind whenever, but they were welcome to witness God at work in the Apostles, even with a situation as sticky as Annanias and Saphira. (If you don't know, look it up, online is fine, but it is best to read the whole thing from the Bible, with the surrounding context) They decided on their criteria, had to have walked with Jesus, etc, put forward the two candidates who best fit and then they cast lots, flipped a coin, drew a straw, to keep human opinion at bay, they so trusted in God's providence that they risked it all.

I know, you think it's crazy or isolated, but...

Proverbs 16:33

    The lot is cast into the lap,     But its every decision is from the LORD.

And this from: Got Questions .org

The Urim "lights" and Thummim "perfections" were gemstones that were carried by the High Priest of Israel on the ephod / priestly garments. They were used by the High Priest to determine God's will in some situations. Some propose that God would cause the Urim and Thummim to light up in varying patterns to reveal His decision. Others propose that the Urim and Thummim were kept in a pouch and were engraved with symbols identifying yes / no and true / false.

It is unclear whether the Urim and Thummim were on, by, or in the High Priest's ephod. No one knows the precise nature of the Urim and Thummim or exactly how they were used. The Bible simply does not give us enough information. References to the Urim and Thummim are rare in the Bible. They are first mentioned in the description of the breastplate of judgment (Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8). When Joshua succeeded Moses as leader over Israel, he was to receive answers from God by means of the Urim through Eleazar the High Priest (Numbers 27:21). The Urim and Thummim are next mentioned in Moses' dying blessing upon Levi (Deuteronomy 33:8). The following Scripture likely also speak of the Urim and Thummim: Joshua 7:14-18; 1 Samuel 14:37-45; and 2 Samuel 21:1.

Weird, huh? Apparently there are times when God calls His people to trust so much in His Divine Providence that they take themselves out of the equation.

I know that some Edgers are thinking that I am suggesting that I wanted them to flip a coin to see if Britton or I should be pastor. Why would I want to take over a failing congregation? My motive in speaking up was simply that God told me to and would not let it go. I wanted to help save the congregation my family had come to consider as family, from the mess we were all in. I know mentioning this kind of “weird” stuff will get me labeled, but what the heck, I mean I already published a public “prophecy”, how much weirder can it get?

Now, about elders: I do not believe that the men who serve The Edge Church were properly ordained, or screened for Biblical qualification to this office. This is not a personal attack, it is a simple statement. Just as you have to be a natural born citizen, 35 years of age to run for President of the United States, which, thank God, may be the only thing standing between “Arnold” and the whitehouse, one of the few things concerning Church “government” ( a term that gives me the willies and conjures up all kinds of stories of abuse by these types of institutions, and no I am not talking about The Edge, when I am I will say so) that was set in place by the Apostles were the necessary credentials for eldership:

Here's a little more on that from a blog I found here:

http://inductivestudy.wordpress.com/2009/01/24/qualifications-of-elders-and-overseers-in-titus/

(Strong's, mentioned here, is Strong's exhaustive concordance of the Bible, which is a list of most words in scripture, with their Greek or Hebrew equivalent and a list of everywhere that that word is used in a particular meaning, it's like a Bible dictionary on Steroids, get one! Or use the online version for free, here: http://www.biblestudytools.com/concordances/strongs-exhaustive-concordance/)

The Strong’s number for “elders” is 4245. The transliteration is “presbteros” and means “an old man, elder.” The translators used the English words “elder, elders, men of old, old men, older, older man, older ones, older women, and women” when translating this word. That, in a nutshell, is our word study.

We see that there was a list of qualifications in Titus,

I am adding these verses to the writing, since the author is referencing another blog post:

Titus 1

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,
namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.
For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,
but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled,
holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

--Now back to the Blog--

but we’ll see what else we can find out about Elders. To do that, we need to do some Cross-Referencing, which means to look in other parts of scripture where Elders are mentioned. We see from the Strong’s that “elders” are mentioned quite a few times – notice that they are mentioned in the New Testament before the birth of the church, as well as in the Old Testament. In looking through those scriptures, we see that the title “Elder” was one used in the Jewish religion, then borrowed and used in the Church. Because we’re studying the church and the positon of elder that would have pertained to Titus (and to us), we’ll look at the references of Elder after the birth of the Church in Acts 2.

In Acts 14: 23, we see Paul and Barnabas visited cities and appointed elders for them in every church. That lines up with Paul’s direction to Titus to appoint elders. In 1 Timothy 5: 17 it says that elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of a double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. We need to add those three things to our list: Elders rule, preach, and teach.

James 5:14 gives us more things to add to our list of elder’s jobs – elders pray over the sick, anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord (and should be available to come when called). You see that we’ve actually got two lists going – one of the Elder’s jobs, and another of his qualifications to be able to do those jobs. Interesting.

1 Peter 5: 1-4 gives us more information that falls under the “Elder’s jobs” list. They are to 1) shepherd the flock of God among them and 2) exercise oversight with a proper attitude. If they do that, they get an unfading crown of glory from the Chief Shepherd, which they will take off in Revelation’s accounts of elders.

What about an Overseer – Inductively

One of the things we wondered about in Titus was the use of the word “overseer.” Is he a different guy, or is “overseer” a different title for “elder”? Overseer is 1985 in the Strong’s and is transliterated: episkopos. It means superintendant or overseer. Let’s start a new list of things we learn about the overseer. 1 Timothy 3: 1-11 has a list of qualifications – above reproach, husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from love of money, manages his household well, not a new convert and have a good reputation with those outside the church. That sounds a lot like the list in Titus!

But we still are wondering if Elders and Overseers are the same guy, or are two guys. Acts 20: 28 will clear it up for us. In Acts 20: 17, Paul calls the elders of Ephesus to him and gives them his last words – he’s sure that he won’t see them again, so he hits them with his final wishes, and in doing so, answers our question. In verse 28, while talking to Elders, he says, “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God.” So Elders and Overseers are the same guy! Now you know how to write your list of qualifications in Titus – all of those qualifications go to an Elder.

Okay, I am back and am adding this to avoid it biting me, because some will see me described here, and I am not above being subjected to scrutiny, and may be wanting in some of this, however, I do not believe this is referring to what I have done, pray, ask the Holy Spirit and make up your own mind, if you are even part of this situation. If not, sit back, laugh and enjoy the show, but please pray for The Edge Church, the Pastor, and Elders and the congregation.

Titus 1 continued

For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,
who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.
One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith,
not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.
To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.

Geesh, Paul, what a gossip monger, ratting this guy out for teaching falsehood.

Okay, well, I have lots more to share and will continue to do so. If anyone takes issue with my use of scripture, or my opinions, correct me, please! Please leave a comment, or email me privately at Markrmorris2@sbcglobal.net I want to do this Church thing right in the future.

May the God of Peace Guard Our Hearts and Minds in Christ Jesus

I was just excommunicated in an email!

2011-01-29T19:10:00.000-08:00

An open letter to the Interim Pastor, Elders and members of the Edge Church and members of Christ's church universal, his Bride.

Jesus Matthew 18: 15-

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.
“But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.
“If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
“Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.
“For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”
Forgiveness
Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.
“When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.
“But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made.
“So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’
“And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.
“But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’
“So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’
“But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
“So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened.
“Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’
“And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
“My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

This is what that looks like.

Mark and Angel Morris
It is with much thought and prayer that we wrote this letter to you. Your actions regarding the church, its staff and leaders have become divisive to the church congregation. Because of this, the pastor and elders are now requiring you, beginning immediately, to no longer take part in our church functions, meetings, assemblies, and or any other associations with the Edge Church.

The Elders, Pastoral team, and staff feel this is a very critical time for the Edge Church and all agree that it is important for us to be resolute in this decision so that the church can continue its quest of recovery from hard times that we have all experienced over the last year.

Edge Church Elder Board

Sent from the email account of Aaron Owen and brought to my attention through a speaker phone conversation this afternoon at about 3:30.

To which I responded, that is fine (angrily, I admit) then you need to carry this out correctly according to the words of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 18. To which they replied, or rather I believe it was Mike Arnett replied, We are not going to argue with you about this, it has been decided and there is going to be no further discussion. I asked them what the cause was, or what had I done. He replied that it was self eveident and needed no clarification.

To which I replied, Fine I will show up there myself and then you can explain why you are escorting me and my family from the premises, you F'ing cowards. (this is the first time I have lost my temper with this group, which took considerable control once you have heard the rest of the story. I am not proud of my conduct in regards to this conversation, and deeply regret that I lost my cool, but am not trying to hide anything. You can decide for yourself if anyone else is.)

What follows is an account from my blog, private journal and memories of the events that led up to this moment and my excommunication from the Edge Church. I believe, except where I willingly admit in this account, that I have conducted myself in an honorable and forthright manner and therefor have nothing to hide.

In July, or August, I don't remember because I didn't write it down, but many of you already are familiar with the date a letter of resignation from Israel Hogue, the founding pastor of The Edge Church was read in Sunday service. I was not there, but did later receive and read a copy.

The details of this situation were highlighted briefly, which is neither here nor there, and I addressed it in a blog post which I will include in its part of this time line.

The next Sunday evening a Church Townhall meeting was called in which the circumstances of this resignation were termed no longer a topic for conversation the elders. Mike Arnett, Andy Rasmussen, Tod Nickels, Aaron Owen and at that time John Savage, and one other whose name I have since forgotten had determined that talking about it would only make things worse and they said as much.

They outlined their plan. Britton Thurlough, one of our associate pastors, would be stepping in as interim. He would also be heading up the pastor search and we would be hearing from candidates over the next few weeks. Mark Ryan, our music minister, had been recently appointed as executive pastor and we were assured he was not going anywhere, but his wife would be stepping down as co-children's minister effective immediately. They then opened the floor for questions and comments, there were a few.

On the way home from that meeting my wife turned to me in the car and said, “I think you should do the job.” I laughed and pretended to blow her off. In my heart, I felt God say the same thing, when I heard that Israel had left.

I spent the next month praying and fasting and generally freaking out as to whether I should even say anything. Through that month, God continued to speak to me about it. I couldn't sleep, because my heart was heavy for The Edge and I wanted to know what to do to help. I immediately went to Britton and offered to help in any way. He offered nothing, but asked us to pray. So, we showed up every time the doors were open and did everything we could to serve.

In September my wife felt called to start a women's ministry since what had been there was connected to the pastor's wife, who was now gone. There was no one else prepared to step in, she asked if she could join up with the women who had done it and submitted her ideas to Britton. Here in her own words is why she did that.

My name is Angel and I volunteered to help plan the women's ministry. If you have attended the events or talked to me then you know why I have done this. For those of you who have not I wanted to let you know . There has been a lot of gossip in our church since our pastors have left, starting with why they left and then going on to everything else going on in the church. I believe transparency is key to defeating gossip that can quickly turn hurtful. So here is my story.

I became a Christian in the 2nd grade by watching a puppet show, and it changed my life. From that moment on I have always followed and trusted Jesus with the faith of a child. I have attended First Baptist Church, a penacostal church and ended up at MetroChurch when I was 15. Where I met my husband, the only man I have dated or kissed. I was blessed to seek God's guidence my entire youth and highschool years, which protected me from trying the things that kids often do. At Metro youth I fell in love with my husband and the light of God I saw in him. He, from the day I met him, knew the Bible and was always helping others, mostly girls at the time but that changed. He had an amazing family who's parents prayed for their children and showed me love that lasts to the end. We married the December after I graduated in 1991, and have been together since. I have found that marriage is work but it's worth it.

After we married we attended Metro Church till it ended, then went to LifeChurch, Bridgeway and NewChurch. We were looking for a place where everyone in our family fit and felt at home. We never found that till the Edge Church. We fell in love with the teaching the Bible, the worship, children's ministry, and the men's ministry. These were all important to us. Then the church changed.

I had attended the Edge for over 2 years and had created no friendships. This didn't really hit me until Kathrynne and Brittany were not there to say hello and talk to me on Sundays. When that happened is when I really felt alone. It occurred to me that Mark, my husband, had built many great friendships and knew a lot of the men in the church. He went to movies with them, they played poker, went on fishing trips, and ate breakfast together. I did nothing. It was because of this that I started to think what about the women. I began to get excited about making a women's ministry that could include everyone, create lasting friendships and help women with their daily life, because none of us should have to do life alone. When I began, I was surprised to hear from many women that I was not alone, in feeling lonely. I have been so ecstatic to see friendships being built and how God has been moving in those relationships.

It was my goal in working with the women's ministry to create an enviroment that was open for anyone who wanted to to serve. I believe that we all have gifts and talents and I want to help you see those used to glorify Jesus. The only things I have asked of the women on the committee is that they be willing to serve and they not overwhelm themselves by taking on to much.

It has come to my attention that people have said that I had other intentions for taking over the women's ministry. This is simply untrue. I was lonely and wanted to make sure that no one else was. I love doing the women's ministry. I love doing fun events, gno's, I even love the planning meetings. I really hope to move us to a place of discipling in the future. Where we are given a chance to find accountabity for the things we want to change in our lives, and we truly learn what the Bible teaches us about following Christ. It is my hope that the women's retreat will be a launch for this next step. Women are the foundation to our families. We all know that if the woman isn't happy then no one is. I hope this helps you all get to know me and why I am here. (This was written prior to this afternoon, before the email)

Through this time she had to handle several difficult things. Some of the women who had been involved before felt they were not being heard, but they worked it out and held a few moderately successful events.

During this time I began to seek council on whether to declare what I was feeling or not. I talked with my father, a nearly forty year veteran pastor. I talked with several close friends, all four of my brothers and a long time pastor friend. My question to them was this, and I had asked Britton as well, Am I crazy to think this is even possible? These men, several of whom are quick to tell me when I am crazy, all of whom have known me intimately, or at least well, for years, to a man encouraged me to say something.

Sometime after the first of September, and I wish I had written more in my journal so that I could tell you the date, I asked Britton if he would meet with me to discuss something. We met at Vintage Coffee on 33rd in Edmond and I told him that I felt God was calling me to put my name in the hat for position of pastor. He revealed to me that he had recently declared his own candidacy only recently, in his words he hadn't been sure, but the elders had forced him to decide. So, again in his words, he might not be the best person to advise me. We talked for a wile, pleasantly and he informed me that since he had decided to be a candidate, Mike Arnett would be the man to talk to.

We met once after this at a meeting where I asked if it would be okay to start a Bible study, reading through the 90 day Bible, a program that breaks the scripture up into readings so that the whole Bible is completed in 90 days. He said to wait on that but it sounded good. I said I had heard that we had some issues in our community of moral concern (details don't matter) he asked what I thought should be done. My response was to take the opportunity for our community to go through the 90 day Bible, bringing them to the ultimate standard, so that opinions would not come into it more than humanly possible, and they would get a complete picture of what God is about, he again said good idea, but please wait.

Mike and I played phone tag until about the first of October at which time I met him at his office for lunch and we went to Panera bread to discuss the matter. I told him everything that I have outlined here to which he replied, you may be the one for the job, but Britton is the front runner at this time. Once everything settles and our commitment to Israel is finished after the first of the year I would have absolutely no qualms about suggesting you as an associate pastor, and he gave me a set of videos and asked me to look into a men's retreat, we also talked about the possibility of starting a study based on the 90 day Bible.

During lunch he also shared what he felt were pertinent details of the “situation” that had occurred and when I suggested talking the whole thing out with everybody, he whole heartedly agreed that that would be a good thing.

I went with the men on a fishing trip, during which I spent an entire day with Mike Arnett discussing many things, little having to do with this, since I had decided not to mention it.

I have been an active part of the Bacon Club and met with the men's council, I think for every meeting, or at least most of them. At one of these meetings I did express a strongly held belief that we didn't need to spend our money on marketing until we had our feet on the ground and had worked out our own junk, before bringing people in. I also told Mike Arnett and Andy, with Britton present at breakfast that I felt there were spiritual elements of the situation that were being ignored, after which they held kneel. ( a prayer meeting attended by very few)

On October 10 I wrote this which I shared with Britton after seeking council from a pastor friend and a man that he considered to be very knowledgeable when it comes to prophecy.

Here is a link to the blog post.

http://markrmorris2.blogspot.com/2011/01/blog-that-got-me-busted-sort-of.html

I started going to the Warehouse for worship on Thursday nights. It was a wonderful time of worship. A few times I showed up early swept and set up chairs while my son Asher was at soccer.

Then I wrote this:

http://markrmorris2.blogspot.com/2010/11/edge-church-scandal-juicy-details.html

Britton had asked me to call him, so I did. That evening he expressed that he felt like I was trying to push an agenda. He told me that I was too forceful and needed to back off. He complained about my blog post, and asked why would I put all that out there to embarrass our church and make his job harder, he said he had been getting calls. I asked him what he thought of it, he said he hadn't read it and asked me to “back off” for a while. I apologized and asked him what I had done to make him say that. He told me that he felt like I was just waiting for him to screw up. I again apologized and we left the conversation with him telling me perhaps he had overreacted. That Sunday he came to me smiling and said he was putting together a team of men to study leadership, I said that was exciting, he said he wanted me to be part of it. During this time I shared this with no one. I did not place any phone calls to him facebook with him, or speak about the bible study, or any other ministry related issues through the Holidays, until after the New Years.

From my personal journal that no one but me ever reads

Today I had lunch with Britton Thurlow, or at least it was supposed to be with Britton. When I arrived, Ben Hill walked in, should have known things would get interesting. Britton showed up a little later, we ordered lunch and sat exchanging random pleasantries for ten minutes or so before we got to the topic. Britton asked me to refresh his memory regarding what I had in mind. I outlined a plan for a Bible study discussion group based on The 90 Day Bible that I have been talking with him about for four months,as outlined in a few of these other posts, he kept putting me off. So, he started into the same old song and dance, wait a few weeks until we get organized. I tell him I will, but if it takes longer I will probably go ahead and start a group with some friends, that I don't care if it's official. Then he drops the bomb, that he doesn't think I'm fit to lead a Bible discussion group, or anything else in his church. WHAT!??? So, I ask him why and get the damnedest response. He tells me that it has to do with the fact that I am too intimidating and I scare people with my confrontational attitude. Funny, he's never even seen me pissed off. So I probe further to discover he's been talking about me behind my back for months. A random "pastor" who doesn't know him, or me, saw my blog, looked him up and told him not to let me lead anything at his church, what the heck??!! Then he claims that( afriend of mine who I have not asked permission to reveal his identity) told him that he was glad I had not stayed at his Church. I feel like I am living in a nightmare. Where do these people get off? What is their problem? Why would they talk about me like this and think its okay. The stranger should have commented on my blog, (my friend) should have the balls to tell me the truth and Britton sat on this information for several months, letting me think everything was okay. Really cool. So, what now?

Just so you know, I am not a “saint” in the holier than thou way of speaking, but I was the son of a Church of Christ minister and I don't use strong obscenity in print, even in my own personal writing, so this is unedited.

The conversation continued and I said some things to Britton about the fact that I felt he was holding back in his preaching. I encouraged him to share everything with us, because what we were getting was not teaching, or inspiring, and while I don't think we should be looking for a ring master, if we were going to only have Sunday service, please give us everything that I can see is in you! Then he awkwardly drove me home and we talked on the way. I apologized for the way I shared the things I shared, he said he knew I would be upset and didn't blame me. We agreed to meet, because, he said, he needed to see my humility before we could work together and that if he became pastor we might never be able to work together in ministry because out personalities were just too different.

I went inside and wrote the blog post you just saw and posted this on my Facebook.

To the anonymous “pastor” who was so offended by one of my blog posts that he felt it necessary to call the interim pastor of the Edge Church, Britton Thurlough, to tell him that I was unfit would he next time please leave a comment, or call me or email me.

After my lunch, my wife sent this:

Dear Elders of the Edge Church,

My name is Angel Morris. Most of you know me as the mother of the eight kids and Mark's wife. Some of you may know me through your wife, as I have been working on creating a strong women's ministry at the Edge church that unites the women of our church. My husband and I have been married for over 19 years. We met in a church youth group and have been in church and served in church for our entire lives. We have attended the Edge Church for over 3 years and love our church and our friends that we have there. We have committed to stay, serve and do whatever is necessary to help our church through this difficult time. My husband does not know I am writing this to you and would not agree with what I am doing, however I feel that my family has been greatly offended without cause or reason by the interim pastor. He has been told that he is unfit to serve in our church. Mark is a strong man of God who knows the Bible, I would dare say, more than the majority if not all of the people in our church. He is continually trying to follow and honor God and His word. I am beside myself with disbelief at what has been done to him. He has done nothing wrong. His only offense is that Britton does not like his personality. His request that got him said treatment, was wanting to start a group that read the Bible in 90 days together.

This in a church where ( this section has been edited because the information shared was sensitive and regards personal moral issues in the lives of people we love) My husband is a man of character. He does not get drunk and never has a day in his life, he has been the man of one wife and if you truly want to see what kind of man he is, spend time with his children. They are a true testament to his character. They are respectful and kind to others as well as strong thinkers encouraged to have their own opinions.

I am tired of watching my friends leave. I am tired of seeing the wisdom and pillars of our church walk away because they are unhappy with the direction that Britton has taken our church. I fell in love with our church because it was scripturally based. The Word was taught. Now it is not. We no longer serve the others. We have been left with a great number of immature Christians. I am constantly be told by those leaving and some who have stayed that he has changed everything and I agree. But now, he has chosen to hurt and offend someone for speaking God's word, to protect people who might be offended by it. Isreal was a man who spoke the word of God without fear and Britton, in my opinion is the complete opposite. He is afraid of the doing anything that would hurt others including sharing the Bible.

I know you are all in a difficult position and making hard choices, and I pray for you often. I am extremely sorry to add to that, but I feel I no longer have a choice to remain silent.

I am willing to serve in anyway needed in our church, I am a graphic designer and am willing to work for free. (you can see my banners in front of Bob Moore and Edmond Hyundai) I will sweep, work, attend and do anything needed of me to help our church succeed and follow the mission that once made it great.
Angel Morris

The next night, this happened:

After a really hard conversation with a friend who informed me he was facing some very tough temptation and needed my prayer and advice, I went to Warehouse to worship. Toward the end, I went to ask Britton to pray with me. He said, I think its awesome that you want me to pray with your for your friend but how can you ask that after you bad mouthed me on Facebook all day, I have been getting calls from the elders. Did you read it yourself? I asked, no he had not. I told him I didn't think that was fair. I told him what I had posted. He told me he never said the man was a stranger to him and revealed that he was Josh Kouri, the pastor of Frontline Church. After which he said. I didn't want it to come to this, but, Disciple and Ben and I have discussed it and you and your family are not welcome here anymore. I told him that that would only work for me if he was willing to handle it under Jesus' terms, as very specifically outlined in Matthew 18 at the beginning of this post. He immediately said if he was wrong he would back off. I then asked him if he could not see that I was infinitely in love with Christ and wounded by the way the Church was being run. He shook his head no. I sais, you do know that I am saved and have been a believer since childhood, to which he replied that he did not believe that. I told him that no matter whether I was at Edge Church or not, they could run it one of two ways, God's way (Biblically) or by man's opinion. Judge for yourself what they have chosen.

We were at Church last Sunday, he scheduled a meeting with me on Tuesday at 9, later on in the week over Facebook, then this happened today.

I have been in conversations in the last week with several men in this congregation who have serious doubts and issues with our pastor and elders. I approached them with every concern I had about the way things were not handled the increasing gossip and hostility toward Mark Ryan, Katherine, Israel and Brittany, who have all been the villain in at least one story version I have heard over the last week. I met Mark the other day, the details are not you business. I told him I was sorry for believing what someone else said, about someone else's version of the story, without ever talking to him. For those of you have sent him hateful messages, and attacked those who have remained his friends, shame on you, no matter what happened.

The elders have spoken and now I have said my piece. There are rumors that I was trying to take over, what army general submits his “takeover” plans to the enemy general. They won't answer me as to why they have made this decision and no accusations have been made against me in my presence. This is not meant to be a defense, but rather my side of the story.

Edge Church. Do not believe the lie that says you are not allowed to question “God's annointed”. The word pastor is mentioned one time in the singular in your New Testament. Every other time it is translated as “elders” and is typically discussed in plurality. Here are the qualifications listed for Elder and some exposition, I make no claim about its correctness, but do not have time or strength to share what I think in depth.

http://www.opc.org/OS/html/V3/4e.html

It is your job to judge the Spirits, whether they be from God. Fathers, you are called to be the prophet and priests of your own family to guard them against the wiles of the enemy, including false teachings.

In that light, ask yourself one question: Would you agree to be an officer of any corporation without A: reading the bylaws, B: Finding out what your obligations and responsibilites were, let alone wait until the corporation was deeply in debt ($1.3 million dollars) with a heavy monthly obligation ($15000) to even ask where they were? Or be able to give an answer as to what your duties are as a Biblical elder?

Mike, Andy, I have loved you guys like brothers and still believe you to be men of integrity who are making some very interesting choices. Britton, this is me coming to you to say that you have sinned against me. You started out great, but I am not the only one who questions if your intentions are still selfless.

I know many of you will be angry with me, for airing our “dirty laundry” that this is “family business” but here is what I have to say. ALL of us know that a former king of Israel killed his best friend and stole his wife, because its recorded in scripture for all posterity. All of us can read about Christians who were committing adultery, incest and engaging in temple prostitution, none of which got them excommunicated. It was written in a public letter to those congregations then copied, sent elsewhere and was eventually recorded in the Bible. I do not feel one ounce of guilt for sharing any of this, and I will swear to its truth in front of anyone.

The Edge Church is not an isolated little community. It is a part of the Body of Christ. What you do there effects the entire Bride of Christ. WE, as the Church, are the culmination of history, creation, the crucifiction, the resurrection and His second coming are all because of us and if we do not care enough to get Church as right as humanly possible, we should stop breathing.

In Explanation of my Previous Post

2011-01-13T21:43:00.000-08:00

The "associate" pastor I mentioned in my previous post, was not Britton Thurlow. Where he was mentioned, he was mentioned by name. Nothing that I wrote in this post was intended to reflect badly on him. He has received several calls from people that told him I was calling him a terrible pastor. Let me be very clear. I have nothing bad to say about Britton Thurlow. Any issue that I have, or ever will have, with him has or will be aired between the two of us. I believe him to be a man who loves the Lord and wants to see his Kingdom. The only "beef" I have with anyone has to do with people who feel so strongly about something I have written that they would bring a negative report to someone else without first bringing this offense to my attention. This, I believe is un Biblical, and furthermore, goes against even common courtesy, in an attempt to avoid conflict.

Furthermore, I have since been informed that the pastor I was referring to was not the pastor that contacted Britton Thurlow. That man was calling in reference to my blog, having never met me, but knowing Britton previously, which I was made aware of tonight.

My posts were not intended to cause friction or division, or lessen the love between believers, but rather to open up a secretive situation and explain to people who asked about my FB post, asking the pastor who did not like my blog to please let me know the next time, as I believe is the Biblical mandate, and is the courtesy I would extend to him, and will, now that I know who he is. I have nothing but love and great expectations for the people of The Edge Church. It has been brought to my attention that several of them, as yet unnamed, have found me to be confrontational, to the point that they are mentioning this to others. I had no intention of causing strife, just the opposite, I believe that open and transparent communication is the key to intimacy in groups of believers and that secrecy and deceit are the tools of the enemy, whatever form they come in. This is not to say that I do not believe in keeping confidence, I do. The scripture teaches that love covers a multitude of sins. This should not extend to the secret discipline, or dismissal of leaders or members in any Church, nor the covering up of sin that effects an entire congregation negatively.

In the words of Christ from Matthew 5:23-“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,

leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

“Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

“Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.

This is me opening myself up for rebuke and correction. Members of the Edge Church, others that have known me I am asking for your forgiveness if I have offended you in any way. If there is any offense that I have committed against you and am unaware of, please send me an email: Markrmorris2@sbcglobal.net, call me at 405-848-9527, or leave a comment on this blog to let me know so that I can make it right. It has never been my intention to do anything that would discourage or hinder anyone in their walk with Christ, or to disrupt the unity of believers.

The Blog That Got Me Busted, Sort Of.

2011-01-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

Wow, this is a little scary, because many of you will now know just exactly how big a freak I am. Please read the entire preface before reading what comes after.

Yesterday I had a conersation that revealed a very interesting phone call that had been made because of me. The contents of the conversation are not a part of this, because I have agreed that some things that were said had validity, and further agreed to a course of action to deal with those issues.

I was mistakenly under the belief that my blog was the source of the phone call that I referenced in this facebook post.

-To the anonymous "pastor", who claimed not to know me, but was so offended by my blog that he found it necessary to look up the interim pastor of the Church I attend, who was also a stranger to him, to tell him I was unfit to serve. Please leave a comment, or call me 848-9527, or email Markrmorris2@sbcglobal.net next time. Matthew 5:23-

It was not apparently the blog, but this prophetic word that I shared with Britton Thurlow, interim pastor of The Edge and another local pastor I have known for over two decades. I had not intended to make it public, but circumstances have force my hand. This is something that came out of over a month of prayer for The Edge, up until all hours of the night, walking through my neighborhood at night, talking and listening to the Holy Spirit.

So, here's a little background. From time to time in my life, during intense times of prayer and Bible reading, I have felt compelled to write out the impressions that God has placed on my heart. Typically I hear it almost audibly and transcribe it as it occurs to me without stopping until I hear nothing more. I don't know how many peopel experience this, but I know I am not the only one. These "prophecies" or words, whatever, are generally about important decisions I am facing, or have proceeded times of volatile change in my life and contain specific, some times time oriented details, and all of them have always played out. Most of them have been for me and my family and I have not shared them. On October 11th, 2010 I wrote one of these that pertained to more than just me.

Since I do not relish the idea of claiming to be a "Prophet" (complete with my own front parking space marked with a sign reading Reserved for Prophet Morris, yes I have actually seen these) I prayed about for several days, then carefully chose someone I could trust to share it with. I then independently confirmed the things in it with another man who has received similar messages from God, he had jotted down some of the same details days previous (I know Weird, huh?) So I decided to share this with Britton Thurlow, the interim pastor of The Edge Church, as previously mentioned. He received it, as he should, with healthy skepticism and asked what I thought needed to be done about it. Having no agenda I told him that I had no agenda, and did not know specifically what to do and we left it at that.

My other pastor friend was helping a local associate pastor walk through a situation wherein he was working to correct a detrimental behavior in the life of his own senior pastor. He had spoken with the man in private, as outlined in scripture, and had received an affirmative and repentive response. This was fine until the action was repeated the next week. The associate pastor in this story determined that he needed to contact his elder board to discuss appropriate steps. This man received a copy of my word from my dear friend., without my knowledge, request or consent (which is fine) and that copy made it to the unrepentant pastor, who took it upon himself to call Britton and tell him I was unfit. Here is that infamous word. Read it for what it's worth. DO NOT try to run your life by it, or spend time sorting it out, it won't work. Either the things will happen, the people will repent and avoid them, or I am a crazy lunatic for even sharing this in such an open forum and completely delusional and wrong in what I feel I heard.

Disclaimer: I do not know who any of the unnamed people or groups are. This is not a judgment from me, only a surprising revelation I feel I heard from God and did not want to share at all, but has been made public through the circumstances outlined above. I thought I should at least explain myself.

For those of you who don't know anything about prophecy, you might want to read 1st Corinthians 14 before proceeding.

This is what I hear God saying regarding the Edge Church and the current situation that we
find ourselves in:

First it is essential that all the sin be taken care of, in every one's life. All willing sin needs to be repented of immediately because a test is coming and only those who are pure in heart will survive it. God is going to shake us to our very foundation, the hard part hasn't even started yet.

There will be six weeks of calm, starting now, this is a breather. After this the waves will hit one after the other, six total waves, each larger than the last. They will come in two week intervals and cannot be expected or prepared for, but they are coming. During this time heroes will arise in your midst to shore up the walls and make the community safe. You will not even lose one sheep that is rightly set in this pasture, not even one, so don't concern yourself with those who leave, in this season, there will be time to go after them later.

Once this twelve weeks is done, the wall will be complete, it will be time for teaching to return to the house. The spirit of Ezra will arise and men will be established as those who understand and rightly divide my word. They are going to build a deeper foundation under these walls than was ever there to begin with. They will reestablish the forms of worship and sacrifice that I have ordained for this house, and I will bring the leaders I want in this house, your job is to discern which ones are of me, and which are for themselves. There will be those coming who hear my voice, but choose to ignore it, do not let them in, even for a moment, they are dangerous.

At the end of this time, the calm will return. Do not assume that you should wait, that is the time to gear up and be ready for an influx of people. There is going to be three major iceberg type scandals that will rock three major mega-churches that have a presence here. They are not your concern, do not warn them, that is being taken care of. There are three and many, many bodies will be thrown into the water. Your job will be as a lifeboat to row out into the water and locate those that want to be rescued and bring them to safe harbor. Those that do not are to be left alone, if they resist at all leave them alone. I am still dealing with those.

Incorporate these new members into your community but do not trust them with the sheep. Some of them are still too steeped in the methods of these other houses to be of use, they will kill your sheep. They need time to come around, to recover from the things they have been taught. Do not listen to their ideas, they are not from me, they are part of what has destroyed these other houses.

In time to come, one or more of the dethroned leaders will wash up on your door step, water logged, looking for a home. Do not take him into your fellowship. Keep him close, but not inside. Offer him aid, but give him no opportunity to speak or share. That is part of my dealing with him. His pride will still be such that he is a wounding force. Nurse him back to health, he will be integral in what comes next.

Edge Church Scandal: The Juicy Details

2010-11-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

This blog entry was not approved by anyone on staff, or the elder's board of The Edge Church. The information, ideas and opinions contained herein are the thoughts and ideas of myself and myself alone.

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. -Jesus, Matt. 5:48

What goes into a man's mouth does not make him unclean, (imperfect) but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean. Matt. 15:11

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. -James 3:2

Recently, the Church that I belong to has lost its pastor. I've written a little about it, but today I am going to say everything that has needed to be said. Not only am I going to uncover all the “dirty little secrets”, but I am going to give my two cents on where we need to go from here. Before you hit the send button on your email, or skip to the bottom of this post and comment, keep reading, this isn't going to be what you think.

In July of this year, after what was described as a “sabbatical” on the part of our pastor, a letter of resignation was read aloud in the Sunday worship service, from that same man. I was not present. Over the course of the next several weeks things begin to take what seemed like a serious turn for the worse. In the wake of the pastor's resignation, which, we were told, was of his own choosing, we lost: one half of our childrens' staff, our worship leader, the pastor's executive assistant and a band of congregation members, leaving for a variety of reasons, some connected, others not.

Throughout this time a group of men that had the dubious honor of being named as elders of our congregation were thrown into the fire. They moved quickly to name an interim leader, establish a chain of communication to get control of the financial accounts, computer systems and the like. While this was going on these men were subjected to hours of meetings, listening to all of the details of both the scandals behind our issues and the issues themselves. They spent countless hours in prayer, trying to decide what needed to be done, trying to discern where God was in all of the wreckage. They made several tough, and in some cases, unpopular decisions.

Many, many people have taken offense at their choices. This has led to bad mouthing, gossip, blind guesses as to what happened and why, and people making the decision to leave, some quietly, others trying to wreak as much havoc as possible on the way out. For those of you who may not understand why this group of men is even in this position, here is a brief explanation.

Israel Hogue, former pastor of the Edge Church, asked each of them to be part of a council which was called (using the Biblically accurate term) the Elder's board, or Elder's council. These men, for the better part of two years, met together infrequently so that they could be informed of decisions and put “in the know” about the direction of the Church, etc. They were not, in any sense, a decision making body, an advisory council or have any power to make or change the policies of our congregation, except in whatever capacity the staff of the Church deemed it appropriate to take and follow their advice.

Another misunderstood, and in some cases much maligned, character in this process is my friend, Britton Thurlow, our interim pastor. Many of you may not know how he came on the scene, or what his part in all this is. When the resignation was announced, Britton had been serving as a volunteer, part-time, associate pastor, whose primary responsibility up until that point, had been the formation and operation of the Warehouse college ministry on Thursday night.

Britton's availability, schedule wise, and his former professional ministry experience, over a decade in various capacities with Churches throughout the area, made him the man with the most knowledge as to how to proceed, and he willingly took up the challenge. (some of this is partly my assessment of the situation based on what I know to be fact)

Britton and Michael Arnett, volunteered to man a public forum to discuss and advise the congregation as to what had happened, and what our response would be. They announced that we would be conducting a pastor search, and that several guest speakers had been lined out to appear over the course of the next several weeks.

Since that time, little has been said about what actually spurred the decisions that led to the collapse of our leadership. Hang on to your hats, folks, cause I am about to tell you everything you need to know about the entire scandal. Here it is.

In the course of living out, what many of us know to be an, at times, difficult existence, as a father and husband, Israel Hogue fell victim to his human nature and committed acts that put him in a position that was deemed beyond repair by those involved. While there were, I am sure, since it has always been the case in my own life, many mitigating circumstances, what caused the disintegration of two marriages and rocked a congregation to its foundation, was sin. Pure and simple.

There, there you have it. Now many of you believe that you have the right to know more, however, I dare you to find me one verse of scripture that backs that up. The sin in this man's life has not only been exposed, albeit not in detail to us, but he is actively working, with outside professional help, to repair his relationship with God, recover from his shortcomings and find a way back into God's purpose for the rest of his life. That's it, the show's over, there is nothing else to see here.

As for the rest of them, my Mother used to tell me that if I was not a part of the problem or an active part of the solution that knowing the details of this type of thing could lead to nothing good and was not something to be sought after. Now, some of you will argue that you need to know in order to more effectively pray for the recovery, repentance, etc of these individuals, I say that is a load of crap! God does not need your account of what happened -he was there, after all- in order to know that you are on his side, and asking him to heal and restore these families. He already knows what happened, and if he thinks it important for you to know, he can reveal it to you. The only other acceptable way to get this information is to go directly to the person that committed the offense, and that is Biblically reserved only to the “offendees”. So stop asking!

Not only does it not matter, who did what with or to whom, it is downright disgusting to be so morbidly excited about it. This is not an episode of Desperate Housewives, with actors paid to portray salacious behavior, this is people's lives! There are children and families, and people who most of think, or used to think, of as friends involved.

I agree that it is a shame when people make bad choices. I agree that it sucks that their families and the rest of us have to pay for it with broken relationships and disillusionment. But what I think is even worse, is that we insist on compounding an already tough situation by griping, complaining, gossiping and speculating. If this is you, and you don't understand my issue, go read Exodus. See how many times the Children of Israel got slammed with plagues, toasted to a crisp by wildfire, swallowed up by faults in the earth, bitten by snakes, the list goes on. God hates it! It is time for us to stop! The mission of our church is Love, Love,Serve, not Love, Love, Slander!

So, here are three things I am committing to, and I challenge you to leave a comment, making the same commitment:

I am committing to pray for the blessing of God on all of these lives (with the understanding that blessing in some lives includes dire consequences for actions) and on the lives of the men who are leading us, the members of our congregation and the lives of the greater community, nation and world that we have contact with.

I am committing not to repeat anything that I do not know as fact, and even to avoid repeating such facts as may tarnish, or negatively affect the reputations of the individuals involved. If there is correction to be done, God will do it. He is in the business of humbling the proud and lifting up the humble, he even reserves the right of revenge to himself and I intend to not get in the way of that.
I am committing to examine my own life and get on my face before God to repent of my own bad decisions. That includes anything that I have thought, or said, or done regarding this situation that I should not have. It also includes safe guarding my own marriage and family by keeping an eye out for attitudes and behaviors in my own life that may lead to destruction in my family.

This is my prayer: That God will not only sort out the wheat from the chaff in the lives of the members of The Edge, but that he will bring us through stronger, healthier and better prepared to meet the needs of our community, to share and build into eachother's lives, and to worship him more deeply and fully. I also pray that God will put a guard on my tongue, that I might not speak, or write anything that would bring less that life into the lives around me.

8 Things I have Learned While Raising 8 Kids

2010-11-08T08:02:00.000-08:00

Many of you may not know, but I am the father of 8 children. Some of you just had a conniption thinking of how much damage this idiot's kids will wreak on society. The rest of you have met my children and know that they are very little like me and are, for the most part, charming and sophisticated and very well adjusted and behaved. I thought I would share, from my heart, some of the valuable lessons I have learned in the adventure of fatherhood.

No. 8 It is Never as Bad as it First Appears

When you have your first infant you will overreact to EVERYTHING, it's okay you are supposed to. Every whimper, fart and coo will have meaning for you and that is the way it is supposed to be...for the first six weeks. After that, God keeps them cute for a reason. As they grow you learn what to listen for, to distinguish between tears of anger, fear, pain and sleepiness. You start to recognize the signs of real trouble and what is just going to be a good laugh. One other point here: no matter how minor, head injuries always bleed....a lot. Find the source and determine how bad any problem is, before calling the fire department.

No. 7 Gross is a Relative Concept

You know you've officially become a parent when you hear a child about to puke and you move to catch it, rather than save yourself. Yeah, I know it's gross, it's also true. With the exception of a few, truly squeamish people, most parents adjust to things like puke, dirty diapers, babies eating dog food and the like. It is all a part of growing up and soon, or so they tell me, you will be missing these things.

No. 6 Your Kid is Probably Not a Real Genius, (and that's okay)

All of us want to believe that little baby Donatello is the first child to ever finger paint...with his tongue. Yes, your baby is smart, unique and wonderful, but don't start to pick out his seat on the short bus if he's not talking in complete sentences by 10 months. Don't be intimidated by people with Uber babies either. It all has a way of working out. Educate yourself as to the normal signs of development by talking to other parents with multiple children, and be wary of putting too much faith in the “experts”. They will have everyone believing their kid is either the next Einstein , or Rainman. Of course all of my 8 children are well above average, but what can you expect from such superior genetic stock?

No. 5 It's Okay to Tell Your Kid What to Do

In fact, if you plan to have your children anywhere near me for any length of time, please, I am begging you, teach them some decorum. Kids will be kids, but that does not include acts of terrorism! While it is a popular urban myth that the best way to handle a public temper tantrum is to walk away and ignore the child, do not ever try this anywhere near me. The sooner children understand that they are sharing the world with other people, and that those other people do not always enjoy screaming brats, the better. While I certainly do not promote beating children, I do, upon occasion, give mine a swift smack on the rump when it's called for. I do not believe that this is the only way, but, for some offenses, it seems to be the most effective. Whatever method you choose to discipline your children, apply it fairly, which means, apply it every time it is called for. This is fair not only to your child, who will quickly grow to respect the boundaries and need less reminding, but it is good for the peace of our planet.

No. 4 Bugs are Protein

When Baby Billy swallows the june bug he was playing with, its okay. As long as it goes down, most solids will eventually come out. As they grow, toddlers will develop even stranger eating habits. Some children between the age of 2 and 4 seem hardly to eat at all, consuming only one large meal a day, with small snacks. If their heads keep getting further from the ground, and you are not using the icepick to put extra holes in their belts, its okay. Experiment to find healthy foods that they enjoy and keep them on hand. For Pete's sake, don't ever try to put a kid on a diet. I'm not talking about choosing healthy foods, I'm talking about worrying about your four year olds figure, she, is supposed to have a bit of a belly.

No. 3 Experts know nothing about what kids like

Buy all the award winning “educational” toys you want. Kids will play with what fuels their imagination. Give them simple toys that they can build dreams with. Dress up clothes and a set of blocks will go much further to turning them into productive citizens than a whole box of over priced crap. Keep it simple. Our kids play with their toys most after a clean out, when we have given the excess away and they can actually see what they have. YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY THEM EVERYTHING THEY ASK FOR. This is not the time to prove that Daddy loves them and is a good provider. All you will get is more ammunition when they throw their toys and stomp off screaming, which does happen from time to time.

No. 2 Life is Not Fair, But Dad Can Be

Most of the time. Here is what I mean by this. When it comes down to an out and out fight for control of anything in our house I always do one of two things: take the item in question away, if a civil agreement cannot be reached. I do this no matter what the toy is, or who it belongs to. They can have it back later. Or, we flip a coin to decide who goes first, gets the first slice, etc. I use scripture to back it up even. Solomon said, “The Lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord”. It has stopped a lot of fights and long drawn out debates in our house. If the item in question belongs to one child specifically, such as a Christmas or Birthday gift recently received, they are allowed to keep it to themselves for a day or two, before sharing requirements kick in.

No. 1 Kids are Washable

My number one favorite thing about the design and construction of children is that everything short of industrial strength dyes will wash off of their cute pink bodies. While this does not make it okay to leave toxic chemicals within easy reach, it should be your mantra regarding harmless messes. If you are a neat freak, buy your kids clothes second hand, so you can afford to burn them on a regular basis. A happy kid is a messy kid and it is true that a little dirt never hurt anybody. As for germophobes, my only advice is, get fish, you don't have to pet them and you can wear rubber gloves to wash the tank. Children are not for you.

So, what would you add? What have you learned as a parent that you wish you had known from the beginning? Share it with us!

What Kind of Change?: Election 2010

2010-11-04T06:21:00.000-07:00

“God gave us the ten commandments and the Constitution and I think it's time we get back to both of them”- Caller to the Eggman Show during election coverage, OKC, Nov. 2nd 2010.

I heard this “brilliant” statement from the lips of a man who had absolutely no idea what either document was about and it pretty much sums up the attitude of many Americans today. Well it's a load of crap! And I am not talking about which side won, I couldn't care less, because there is not a butt hair's worth of difference between them.

Yes, I voted. But mostly because there were state questions that I believed would be astronomically bad for our state, not because I was excited by the great conservative revival, I lived through the last one! Remember? Remember when JC Watts was the most quoted man in America and good ole Newt Gingrich was the great white hope who was going to lead us back to the promised land? Remember?

And where have we come since then? Have we made any headway on abortion, divorce or public education? NO! And we certainly cannot claim any victories for the good guys when it comes to the economy.

As for liberty, we now have metal detectors in every public building in America. We have legal wiretaps without warrant, prohibited items lists at our post offices and “no fly” lists at our airports. Not only is our government bigger and badder than ever before, with less accountability, but the private sector is more and more in league with them.

Every day we hear of more police brutality. Our armed forces are in more conflicts and the suicide rates are nearly identical to what they were in 1990, even with 20 times as many anti-depressants being handed out like gumballs! Why???

I think the answer lies in this man's statement, the belief that the United States is somehow sacred, necessary to God's plan, and deserving of not only our allegiance, but the sacrifice of our very lives to prolong its reign over the nations of the earth. Let's face some truth. While personal choice is at an all time high, personal liberty is at an all time low. We are living in one of the most oppressive authoritarian societies that has ever existed.

When else in history has a man needed the permission of his government to build a fence on his own land? When else has government been so invasive that they restrict the sale of children's fast food meals with toys? (SF CA) I just received a letter informing me of a $1500 per person fine for my defunct company for not filing W9s -not, mind you, refusing to file tax returns- when I do not now, nor have I ever, had employees.

Unless this new congress will spend the next four years doing nothing but repealing bad laws that were put in place by their various predecessors, what good will any “change” do? Are they brave enough to slash unnecessary government jobs when everyone is convinced that new “jobs” are the biggest part of a solution for our economy? Will they really balance the budget, not just find some magical formula that makes it appear that we have a surplus? Or, will they go to Washington and find new special interests to cater to, create more new laws (which by the way, a law does nothing but restrict God given liberty, by its very nature) and find new ways to play the great political shell game of moving the money from one program to the next, without one thought of actual, meaningful cuts in government spending? We all know the answer.

We have all witnessed the fact that the political bus that is the United States Government is careening downhill without a driver, and we all know that unless we put a complete stop to its course it will inevitably crash. It is no longer enough to slow it down. Its weight is too great. It is top heavy with laws and regulations, bloated on the tax dollars of its citizens and drunken with the belief that being the only “super power” entitles it to run over whatever comes into its path without stopping to think of the morality of it.

Okay, take a breath and get back to what you were originally going to say.....The constitution, whatever its virtues may be, was not handed down from the mountain. This misguided individual, who equated the two, obviously has never read the book of Exodus. Here's the difference.

When the children of Israel came out of Egypt it was something that was foretold by God to Abraham over 400 years previous to its eventual happening. Their Exodus was proceeded by several major miracles and ten plagues! God led Moses to a specific mountain and showed up, in physical form, that was witnessed by the entire nation of Israel, as if the mountain were on fire. God wrote the original ten commandments with HIS OWN FINGER -according to scripture- and gave them to Moses.

In contrast, the constitution was written by committee, in ink, on paper. There was more than one revision, in fact the “original” has one of the revisions blotted out underneath it! We hold these truths to be self evident...is not the utterance of a Supreme Being. It is the best ideas of a group of men, some of whom were arguably under the influence of God at the time, but it cannot, should not, must not be compared to Holy Scripture.

No matter how much we “get back to it”, it cannot make us righteous, even the law was powerless to do that. Here is what it takes. It takes a people who are so seeking the face of God that they lose track of what men are doing in other places. They are so seeking the good of those around them, in community with them, that politics becomes nothing but a background noise. We have given them far too much power. Too much time. Too much energy. We have worried about their ideas, feared their decisions and cursed their laws. Many of us have spent more time this year in conversation, trying to persuade people of a political ideology than we have seeking those who are lost to share the good news of Jesus with.

Seek first the Kingdom of God (hint, not the United States) and all His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. (food, clothing and shelter)

Be anxious in nothing, but in everything, with prayer and supplication, make your requests made known to God. And the peace of Christ, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.

What Kind of Story are You the Hero Of?

2010-11-02T12:02:00.000-07:00

All of us, no matter how humble, sees ourselves as the protagonist of our own story. No matter how dark and twisted our path may become, even by our own choice, we will always see that we instigated the good things in our lives and that the bad that occurs “happens” to us, rather than being the duly earned consequences of our own actions.

It was only a few years back, and I know this because it was during one of those rare periods in my life when I was journaling and recorded it, that I realized that life is a pattern of overlapping stories, and while I may be the hero of my own epic, I play a role in many other stories around me as well. It wrote it like this, “ I realized today how self centered it is to assume that new people in my life are being brought here by God to help and shape me, instead of me being brought to them.”

This morning I had one of those rare moments of clarity which typically happen in the still moments in life when my mind is quiet enough for me to hear that anyone else is in the picture. My oldest daughter, Elizabeth had woken me up a few minutes after seven,( a bit early for me, still functioning as I do on theatre people time which doesn't really get started good until the sun goes down, ) to remind me that she was working at the zoo today in her capacity as a junior curator. It's a volunteer position that required three interviews and an essay to get.

As I was driving her to the zoo, listening to her descriptions of the things she gets to do and the people she is getting to know it occurred to me that this particular scene in my life, was a chapter from her book more than my own. To her, these memories will hold a place similar to my own memories of my own first job in a dry cleaner's. It made me proud in a way that is not easy to describe. I realized that I was here, not to teach or advise, but simply to listen and be her friend in that moment.

In his book “ A Million Miles in a Thousand Years;” Donald Miller compares the scenes of our life to a story. He suggests that those who choose their own stories are more fulfilled, and that it is necessary for us to find some adventure, or quest or crusade to champion in order to have a really great life. He sums it up like this, If you were to die tomorrow, how many lives would be completely disrupted if you did not fulfill your mission? It's an interesting question, isn't it? Many of us measure by how many people would mourn our passing in a personal way, but what about ministry, or service, whatever you choose to call it. Are you centrally involved in anything that is life changing for others? If not, why not?

Here is where I have to confess that I have not finished the last few chapters of this book, not because I don't want to, on the contrary, I haven't had much in the way of uninterrupted reading time lately, because I am being called into a bigger story, by a story teller who really knows what makes a great story. In this story I am a man who started out in life to make the kind of changes that Miller is challenging me to, but I got side tracked. The institution (church) that I had wanted so much to be part of disintegrated, I lost my place, and I lost my will to continue down the course I had set.

Now I find myself right back in a similar place. The planets seem to be spinning out of alignment, the earth is shaking under my very feet. People are literally fleeing the destruction and havoc that has been wreaked by the bad choices of a few. Others are standing on the sidelines lobbing verbal grenades at these poor choice makers and anyone who dares to attempt rebuilding anything that was blown apart by these choices. But, this time, instead of giving up, getting discouraged and finding a hole from which to curse the changes, I am running in, shoring up the walls, holding up the hands of the weary and offering my help in any capacity!

I have decided that not only am I interested in creating better stories for myself, but I also want to be one of those memorable side characters that show up for a moment, but impact the story so much for the better that you can't forget them, in as many stories as God will give me a part in.

Jesus said he did not come to seek those that were not lost, or to heal those that were not sick. It is time for us to remember why we were saved in the first place, to bring hope and love into the dark and hurting corners of the world. Here's a little secret: That's where all the best stories start!

In a cupboard under the stairs

In an old wardrobe

In a dingy Egyptian prison

In a dirty Palestinian stable on a cold winter night

So, what are you waiting for?

Got a story you'd like to share, or need someone to be part of? Tell me about it!

Sara Bareilles King of Anything as a treatise on personal evangelism.

2010-09-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

I know I am late to the party again, obviously, the song King of Anything has already sold enough copies to be number one, but, that has never stopped me from saying what I think anyway. I love this song. The lyrics, the tune, the happy feel of it, love it. I also love it for other reasons, that cause me equally to loathe it.

Sharing one's faith is a tricky issue these days, knowing how to bring up the topic, being afraid of what who will think, and, according to the latest Pew poll, for many believers, even have a clear understanding of the issue themselves can be an issue.

The song, whether aimed at well meaning Christians or not, hits the nail on the head. For those who just humm and tap your toes, here are the lyrics, as written by Sara Bareilles:

Keep drinkin' coffee
Stare me down across the table
While I look outside

So many things I'd say if only I were able
But I just keep quiet
And count the cars that pass by

You've got opinions, man
We're all entitled to 'em
But I never asked

So let me thank you for time
And try to not waste any more of mine
Get out of here fast

I hate to break it you babe
But I'm not drowning
There's no one here to save

Who cares if you disagree
You are not me
Who made you king of anything
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died
And made you king of anything

You sound so innocent
All full of good intent
You swear you know best

But you expect me to
Jump up on board with you
Right off into your dellusional sunset

I'm not the one who's lost
With no direction oh
But you won't ever see

You're so busy makin' maps
With my name on them in all caps
You got the talkin' down just not the listening

And who cares if you disagree
You are not me
Who made you king of anything
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died
And made you king of anything

All my life
I've tried
To make everybody happy while I
Just hurt
And hide
Waitin' for someone to tell me it's my turn
To decide

(With another chorus followed by:)

Let me hold your crown, babe

Now many of you may wonder what I mean by bringing this song into a discussion of personal evangelism. The clearest road map as to how it should be done, not necessarily what should be said, can be found in Jesus words to the seventy members of his band of followers that were sent out to spread the gospel. Among instructions about what to pack and where to go, we find these items: Go into a city, stop at the first house you see, if they accept you, stay there and teach. If they do not, go on to another house, any city that does not accept you, shake the dust of its streets from your feet and move on.

Refreshing, isn't it? Just share, if they like it, share more, if they are nor interested, buzz off. Now, I don't think this is exactly a model for personal contact with friends and acquaintances, but I do think we can take a lot from the words of the master.
How many times have you felt you were beating your head against a brick wall, in your attempts to “lead someone to Christ” ? Well, if you insist on brow beating, cajoling and coercing, go see Isaiah chapter one to see what God thinks about constant religious posturing, it ain't good.

Here, is what I believe, if I share with someone about the gospel, I need to wait to be invited in, as in the example of Jesus instructions to the seventy. That conversation can't start with, “So, I noticed you're gay, do you know what the Bible says about that?” or, “Was that your pickup I saw at the titty-bar while I was on my way to Church?”. We need to wait for a genuine invitation into the lives of others. Then we need to focus on Him, not them. If they like what we say, and want to hear more, then the path is laid for further conversation, if not, don't keep asking.

This next part is like shooting a three pointer, on one leg, blindfolded, with a medicine ball, hard if not impossible. Our job in this context goes back to the two great commands, love God, love your neighbor. No matter what. We are never released from this, ever. So, what that means is, we continue to be loving towards that person. We look for opportunities to pray for them (don't ask, don't tell, just pray) that God will intervene in their lives and make himself apparent.

In other words, we continue to be a friend, whether they kick out their boyfriend or not, whether they continue visiting the “gentleman's club” or not. It is not our job to save them, as the song implies, many people do not even recognize their need for salvation, which has to be the first step. That is not your job. That is the Holy Spirit's job. If they ask you what the Bible says about something, kindly and without judgment help them find out. Remember that scripture records Paul as having said that throughout his entire life he had not violated his conscience in his service to God, he genuinely believed that killing Christians was the right thing to do. (had that thought a few time myself, after all they are saved, and they make a lot less noise when they're dead, joking of course, or am I?)

We tend to lose site of the fact that we are just as in need of saving as the next guy. Like the song says, “Who died and made you king of anything?”

Oh, by the way, I hate the song, because I see myself in the person she is singing to, far too often.

Bare Feet are Happy Feet (poverty is not contagious)

2010-09-28T00:40:00.000-07:00

What is it about poverty that scares people? Really? I have been poor my entire life. Most people don't know how poor. You see, unlike most people from the wrong side of the tracks, I have developed a little camouflage. Mine involves the fact that I am well read and articulate. I also have something of a sense of style that sets me apart, that, and I brush my teeth and shave occasionally, but I assure you, I am a card carrying poor person. For some of you, this will cause you to look at me differently. There is something about me that is unique. I don't give a damn about money. Never have. You couldn't buy me with all of the gold that the federal reserve may or may not have. I am not for sale.

That is not to say that I don't do things for a paycheck that I would not do for free, of course there are, but what I mean to say is that I refuse to change who I am so I can have more of the stuff, and I'm okay with it. I would like at some point to be comfortable, to not have every storm or breakdown become a major crisis. Nobody likes to live like that, and I work hard to make that happen.

In our modern society, and sad to say, even more so in the Church, sometimes, the having of things is seen as a sure sign that the universe is smiling on you, that you are doing life the way it was meant to be. How can we say this, or even believe it? I just read a short article in which the author describes a scene in Africa, when he and a group of mission minded believers arrived at an orphanage to the smiling faces of shoeless orphans who had nothing. It was my experience as well , in my one trip outside the borders of this country into the third world, that the people, especially the children, were happier.

Here in the good old USA we have just the opposite problem, too many shoes. A friend of mine was describing the other day a conversation in which he told his stepson that he would not be getting the latest and greatest sneakers this time around, because my friend is being forced to reconsider what his life is worth, and he has decided not to measure it in money.

We are told from the time that we are small that it is important. Children are encouraged to cram their heads full of a very specific set of facts, a very narrow wedge of information, which we mistakenly call “education”, all based on the monetary benefits that are thought will be derived from knowing the right things. Never mind, will it make the world a better place, just pass the test, get the grade, take the right classes. Never mind what you want to learn, where your passion lies, where your curiosity compels you to.

I think this comes from a misunderstanding of the Biblical concept of stewardship. A few weeks back I issued this challenge on my Facebook page: Bragging rights to the first person to quote chapter and verse where Jesus has anything good to say about wealth or the wealthy. It sat for several days, with a couple of likes, but no replies. Then a young man, who was one of my acting students years ago replied with: Luke chapter 16:1-13. Read it. At the end of this parable about a steward who had been squandering his bosses money and got caught, we find this statement by Jesus: “ You cannot serve both God and money” this is the point of the story.

I assume, having not asked, that the positive angle this young man was pointing out was when Jesus told his listeners to follow the steward's example and use worldly wealth to “buy friends for yourselves”. All-in-all, not quite the answer I was looking for, and there may well be an answer that I have not thought of.

I fear that we, like the children of Israel, have formed a calf to worship in the form of the almighty dollar and all that it affords. We have bought into the idea of owning things, planning for retirement, saving for emergencies, and the like. These are not bad things on their faces, but let me ask you this. Have you ever said to your neighbor, which remember, Jesus defines as anyone who needs you, go, be filled, and done nothing when it was within your power to do so? Have you funded your 401k while your neighbor lost their house for want of a single payment? Have you saved for next Summer's vacation while there are those in your community praying for a single sack of groceries?

I know there are a couple of verses that indicate that people should be better managers than to end up in a tight spot, but honestly, have you never made a bad decision and ended up somewhere other than where you intended? And do you honestly believe that God is calling you to set aside for your own future comfort while not aiding those who are fighting for survival? Have you even asked him?

I know that we are all taught to tithe, to give 10% to our local churches, that that is sacred, well, I got news for you. When the prophet Malachi told the people to bring the tithe into the storehouse, he was not referring to a local church with a 5 million dollar budget, that spends more than 50% of that in salaries and benefits for employees. (that is a real statistic from OKC) He was talking about a system, outlined in Deutoronomy that was set up as a tax. That money went to feed the needy, (widows and orphans) to take care of travelers (illegal aliens?) and to provide for the care of the Levites.

Now, before you compare the tribe of Levi to modern pastors, let me 'splain something. It isn't an entirely accurate analogy. The tribe of Levi was given this offering to make up for the fact that they had no physical inheritance in the land of Canaan, look it up. God wanted them to stay out of business. They didn't own property and were limited in their options to make a living. Now, many pastors are limited by their schedules and salaries and I do not begrudge them their salaries, but many of them are some of the wealthiest among us, and I question the validity of that.

Add this to the fact that the bar was lifted in every other regard when it comes to comparing the old and new covenants and you may come to the conclusion, that 10% should only be a starting point.

Here is what we have done. We have assumed that scripture applies to people in need when it says: “if a man will not work, neither let him eat” and “if a man cares not for his own, he is worse than an unbeliever” but we do not recall that Jesus, in describing the criteria for inclusion in the sheep, instead of the goats, on the day of judgment, states that anything done for the least among us was done for him.

I am poor, have been all of my life. Do not pity me. I look around at my eight children and am very aware of my blessings. When I see them worship and hear their kind words for each other, I know that I, like Martha's sister Mary, have chosen the better part. Another friend and I were having this very conversation. He was fretting over whether God was calling him to have another (4th) child, or if it was selfish of him to want this when he hadn't fully funded the other three college funds yet. I asked him to think about the families that had everything and to pick out one that he knows that is content. He could not.

If you find yourself afraid of reaching out to the poor, or even just the down-and-out think about this.

Poverty is not contagious. Success, can be. Infect someone.

Fast Food for Christians

2010-09-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

A few days back my buddy Mannaseh wrote a self revealing piece about health and food. It rang true with me and I have pondered it since. Finding inspiration in the mundane is a particular hobby of mine and this blog post about food (how much more mundane can a topic be?) was no exception.

I was immediately struck by a spiritual parallel that most American Christians will understand. The phenomenon of fast food gospel. Since I just coined the phrase, allow me to explain. What I mean by fast food gospel is the practice of preaching exclusively topical sermons, littered with pop culture references, pulling obscure verses together to try and make a point, and generally preaching to “tickle the ears”, as the New Testament puts it, of the hearers.

More and more we are moving away from teaching the entire Bible. Most people are fortunate to have heard contextually accurate sermons regarding more than half of the New Testament, let alone the old. It just isn't convenient. Why dig through an entire life story of some long dead “hero of faith” when we can hash up a story from the headlines, or better yet, the latest movie.

Now, if you read me often you'll know I just wrote a piece about Machete, so I am not opposed to taking inspiration from almost any source, but, using this technique exclusively creates Churches full of believers that think the Bible is nothing but a series of USA Today type headlines: not a full on tabloid, but not exactly a full fledged newspaper either. They are getting the Reader's Digest version.

While it may seem fun to take verses and twist them around to make them mean what you want, the scripture itself has several warning regarding people who do such things. They're called Wolves in Sheep's clothing, False Teachers and a few other choice terms, such as well decorated tombs and poisonous snakes. And for good reason, it makes for spiritually overweight, lazy believers who can never hope to accomplish the hard things when God asks.

The stories are there for a reason. The context matters. If we find out that David, for instance, was a man after God's own heart who did the whole will of God (according to Acts chapter 13), we might miss something if we don't realize that he also had time for adultery and murder and was a miserable failure as a father.

But we are too busy inventing new doctrines to keep the padded seats, with armrests, full. (remember when it used to be pews, ah the good old days) It's hard to tell people that Job got his stuff back, but only after God let the devil steal it, or that there was a prophet who was commanded to marry a professional harlot (hooker) and then buy her back on the slave auction block when she ran around on him. What about Moses, who was in hiding in the desert from a well deserved murder rap when he stumbled across the burning bush, or how Paul was on his way to kill Christians when God struck him blind? Things like this don't sit well with our modern ideas about holiness, which typically has more to do with having your finances “in order” than anything else.

We have entered an era of fast food sermons and Bible studies. And, I am afraid that there are a lot of Christians with spiritual diabetes who couldn't stomach a full meal of the truth. When we deal with the hard truths of scripture we tend to gloss over these incidents as being the spiritual equivalent of a weight loss product ad: before salvation (photo of debaucherous behavior) after salvation (perfect little angel that looks like a mormon elder). But that wasn't so. It was after three years of ministry with THE SON OF GOD, that Peter lost his cool, chopped off a man's ear and cussed out two, count 'em, two servant girls in one night. Six weeks later this dude is preaching a sermon that was understood by people in at least thirteen different languages!

Paul writes letters to Churches who were allowing their members to engage in temple prostitution, and while he called them to repentance, it apparently never occurred to him to question the sincerity of their faith.

Jesus sums it up like this: There was a vineyard owner with two sons. He said to the first, “Go pick grapes” the boy said. “Yes, father.” But, never got off his butt to go. He told the second the same thing. He said, “No, thanks.” But, later changed his mind and went. Then Jesus asked, “Which one did as the Father desired?”

Samuel said that to obey, was better than sacrifice, and I think we can apply this to any religious observance. What counted with the vineyard owner's son, is what counted with David. They both took what the father asked to heart, and, better late than never, they did it.

So, the latest and greatest devotional may make “quiet time” fun time at your house, but if you are not being challenged to go out and rescue the lost, and give aid to those in need, and then following through on it, burn the damn thing. Crack open a real Bible, read about a few of the people that God was excited about. Have a real spiritual steak and salad. See how they handled the hard stuff, sometimes right, more often than not, wrong, then right. Now go follow their example. (skip the adultery and murder, that part's no fun)

The Gospel Isn't Monkey Business, or, Is It?

2010-09-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

I saw a monkey, day before yesterday. In seven-eleven. He opened a straw to put into his Big Gulp and calmly took a long sip. This would have been odd, all on its own, seeing as how this was Edmond Oklahoma. Then the fun happened. His handler took the cup from the monkey, placed her lips on his straw, and took her own long sip.

I wanted to freak out. I wanted to run out in the parking lot and drag everybody in, ask the woman to make him open straws and do the soda thing again, take pictures, share the experience. Not because it was that unusual, but mostly because, then I would know I was not merely suffering from sleep deprivation. That this was actually happening. Thirty-nine years, that's how long I have been here, conscious of my existence on this planet without ever having once, so far as I remember, shared a seven-eleven with a lower primate.

The woman has obviously been working with them for years. She was very comfortable with the whole thing, beyond just the drinking after the monkey part, she was cool and confident, as if people should be used to seeing furry patrons in the seven eleven. Not at all like the high maintenance women you see with their yippy little fur balls in designer handbag/ travel kennels, cruising through the mall to the clack of stiletto heels. They were wanting attention, but this lady, didn't seem to mind it, but was just out for the evening with her monkey.

Turns out, my brother knows the lady. Assures me that she is eccentric to be sure, but harmless. He cleans her windows and once asked her if she spanked her monkey, which he meant in the form of discipline, then realized it had come out wrong. She didn't notice.

The monkey sat on the counter, took the money from his handler and gave it to the cashier, which she thought was adorable. He took the change with an outstretched hand and tucked it into a coin purse held ou t by his handler, jumped onto her shoulder and they walked out the door.

I envy her. I really do. She is living life. She didn't need me or anybody around her to approve or applaud, she is content and she has nothing to prove. This is the way I want to share the gospel, with nothing to prove.

I was pondering a section of scripture over the past several days. It appears in Luke chapter 10. Jesus sends out 70 of his disciples, without shoes, without money and instructs them to be totally dependent on the kindness of strangers. They were told to enter the first house they came to, pronounce a blessing of peace and if it was received they should stay and eat what was put in front of them.

This seems counterintuitive to our modern way of thinking. These disciples were sent to pray for the sick, cast out demons and spread the gospel. They did not have any promotions, did no market research and essentially had nothing to offer, other than their message. They were penniless hobos.

Why would God ask that of them? Here is what I think. It wasn't about them, and that was the point. In our modern world, we get way hung up on appearances. We rate people based on what they wear, or don't wear; the things that they say, the music that they like, the list goes on for days. What I think Jesus was trying to prove was that the message, and not the messenger was the real issue. In other words, if you hear a hobo, who has nothing to lose and nothing to offer you, share a message and you recognize it as the truth. Not just truth, but the kind that will make you sell your business and chase after it, then you really get it.

Hearing a message, well produced with a little backup lighting and a slide or two, laden with pop culture references and some sweet music in the background can definitely get our attention. But what about a guy just showing up in your living room with no shoes, claiming God sent him? Yeah, no wonder there were instructions for handling the ones that threw them out.

So why is it, with the wealth of examples we have Biblically that we just don't seem to understand that God's messenger is not the issue, its the message. Maybe we have missed the point. Now, God help me remember this the next time I am tempted to write somebody off as having nothing I need, because they just drank after a monkey at the seven-eleven.

The Church, the NFL and the Ultimate Battle for Good and Evil.

2010-09-21T10:39:00.000-07:00

“I hate sports” - Disciple Howry, the Edge Church Sunday Sept. 19^th

While I cannot agree more, it was a brave statement for a man who resides in Oklahoma. It isn't so much that I hate sports, which as anyone who has studied anything about relationship knows, would actually show that I am passionate about them, and therefore some part of me must love them. I, am completely apathetic to sports. Don't care who wins, don't care who loses and never have. I realize this is a sacrilege to many of you. Let me explain.

As a young man I played sports. I played baseball, basketball and soccer in team athletics and was okay, not the best by far, but not a complete loser either, but it just didn't appeal to me. The contemplative type of thinking that I thrive at is completely unwelcome in any team sport. I would be the guy who had to admit that the other team flat outplayed us, or that I had indeed committed the foul. If I was gonna play, I would give my best, but to me it was a game and nothing more.

You see, I have always looked at it like this: team sports are an archaic hold over from our days of tribal warfare. In this sociological ritual, we assign ourselves allegiance to a group of people that we may, or may not, be loosely geographically connected to. They in turn go out and do battle with a neighboring tribe. Now, in the old days, this would all end with the spoils of the defeated tribe leaving with the victors, including the chiefs daughter who would be wed to the opposing leaders off spring to forge an alliance. Today, we just trade trophies and “bragging” rights. I, would rather watch a good movie.

Now, granted the old way, was not very efficient, seeing as how the decimated enemy would hardly make an adequate rival for the next outing, since what players had not been made permanently “ineligible” due to fatal injuries were “drafted” to play for the opposing team. But the stakes of these conflicts would have at least made some of the absurd salaries being handed out today make a little sense. Can you imagine if the winning team got to pick the best players up and carry them off the field from the defeated team, talk about building dynasties.

While I certainly do not begrudge anyone the right to laze around on a weekend afternoon watching guys beat each other senseless, it seems to be an opiate of sorts. We attach so much meaning to the rise and fall of our favorite teams and many fans which, by way is short for fanatic, more on that in a minute, will set aside a huge portion of their income to spend on tickets, pay per view, team paraphernalia and other expenses, such as mass quantities of food and alcohol related to being a follower of a sporting franchise.

The word fan is interesting. Its root, fanatic is defined thus, by Encarta: 1.extremist: a holder of extreme or irrational enthusiasms or beliefs, especially in religion or politics. I think this fairly describes most serious sports enthusiasts that I have met in my lifetime. It seems that we are much more passionate about our vicarious living than our actual life at times. We would think nothing of publicly expressing an opinion of another's allegiance, as advertised by a T-shirt or cap. In fact I saw two guys, one in red and crimson, one in orange and black about to throw down, just inside the gates of a local theme park, based on a snide comment one made in passing.

My wife and I are part of what is known as a “neighbor group” at the Edge Church where we attend. Currently the group we are part of is reading Donald Miller's book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”. In the book Miller outlines what happened to him after his successful memoir, Blue Like Jazz became a sensation of sorts, but was followed by near failures, leading him to believe that he was a failure. Through the course of events he stumbled upon a concept. What makes a good story makes a good life. That may sound a little simplistic on its face, and it is. What he explains is this, when a character in a story wants something badly enough to give up everything to get it, and when that quest also includes a sense of the importance of others as equal to oneself, it leads to a life that is well lived. It creates an individual who will be actively missed when he is gone.

Back to sports. We have all heard it said, by some well meaning evangelist, that we should be just as excited about worship as watching our favorite sport, or in my case a really good movie. I agree with this, but maybe not in the way they were using it to drum up emotion for the meeting at hand. On a deeper level we should be seeking out a connection with the ultimate conflict between good and evil.

Now, before you rush out to buy the latest Christian T-shirt, album, bumper sticker or tickets to the hippest gospel concert or conference, hear me out. As my friend Mannaseh over at Soulmannah.com said, “Corny, done in the name of Christ, is still corny.” I'm talking about the real deal.We are being actively recruited to be a part of the team. We don't just sit back and cheer God on and booh the Devil, we get to suit up and play. But, unfortunately most of us are on the bench. On this team, unlike the Santa Fe Wolves, under the leadership of a team of men including my good friend Andy Rasmussen, we decide when we play.

That's right my friend, while God may occasionally put you aside to rest, it is you who makes the decision whether to engage or not, and there is room on the field for everyone. Many of my friends have expressed disappointment with Churches that don't give them opportunity to serve. Don't make the mistake of confusing what the institution you call church will allow you to do, for what God has called you to. Unfortunately they can frequently act more like a traditional sports team, where the coach chooses his top players and it is a cold day in hell before some guys see even one second of game play, and that is wrong.

It is my opinion that this type of “coaching” is what is killing the Church of America. We have elevated these men to positions God never intended, then given them the authority to keep us from our God ordained destinies. Rather than pitch a fit, find what you want to do, whether it has the name church on it or not, remind yourself that you are the church and get off the bench. While watching a game may be exciting and is certainly one way to relax, any real sports fan will tell you that playing is where its really at. I, for one, am aiming to collect the spiritual equivalent of an NFL all star salary in changed lives, and I am willing to bring anybody with me who wants to go.

I would finish this off with a cheesy sports idiom, but that's not my style. So, from a director friend of mine, Chad Anderson, here is his encouragement to actors going out to face an audience. “Let's get out there and melt some faces!”

Which Way Do I Go From Here?

2010-09-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

Trust God with everything that is within your power. Don't trust your own intellect, knowledge or wisdom above his leading. I everything you do, look for him, when you find him, point him out. He'll show you what to do next. -Paraphrased from Solomon in Proverbs chapter 3

This is my life verse. I have always wanted to be the type of follower who wanted God's wisdom on everything. NO, I am not talking about the loony tune who prays to decide what icecream flavor to eat today, but when it comes to decisions that will impact more than the next hour or two of my life, I at least want to take into consideration what God has said to others in the past, and might be saying specifically to me right now.

I do this better at some times than others. Have you ever gotten so busy that you look up and suddenly realize that you and God haven't had a real conversation in a while? This seems to be more common, in my experience, among believers who have walked with God since childhood. We've always been aware that he was there, but like your mom, or your wife, you have this vague impression that no matter how you react to them they will always be there in the same way.

Recently I have come to the conclusion that I should be much farther down the road in my walk with Christ than I feel right now. There are habits that I have intended to shed, like extra pounds, for years. Not all-consuming, life shattering habits, but things that if you heard me name them would either; make you feel better about yourself; or make you run and hide when I come calling for fear that they are contagious. Having grown up as a minister's father, even scripture becomes old hat to me. As fresh as it can be, it can be a struggle to even crack the binding once a week. It isn't like I'm not dwelling on it, cause I memorized enough of it as a child (entire chapters) that it seeps out of me into conversation.

The last few days I have been struggling with what is next for me, in my life, work wise, vocation wise. Those that know me, know that I pursued a life in theatre for fifteen years. Well, more like twenty-five, but I really only got paid for it for fifteen. In January of 2010 it became evident to me what many others had already realized, that it was no longer financially feasible for me to keep running down the road I was on, the bridge was out. This came as a huge shock. It took several months for me to even admit that it was over. This wasn't a job, it was who we, as a family, had become. IT was our vocation, our hobby and our ministry all in one, but it had also become an idol.

When we pursue anything the way God wants us to pursue him he becomes jealous. He isn't the jealous I would be if my wife decided to chase another man, which is good, because it means I, unlike the aforementioned imaginary man-whore, get to live, with all of my body parts. So, that was my dream, my (I still believe) God-given dream since I was fourteen years old, what now? (I asked this question last night on a long walk, at one in the morning, my response? Crickets! Literally, the sound of crickets!)

I feel that I know what is supposed to be next for me. It is a thing that I have felt called to since childhood and have feared that I would end up doing. But, I am not sure I am ready, nor has an opportunity even been given, it is just an impression that I have. And as I listen to the words of Solomon I wonder if this is God, or just some left over childhood fantasy.

Here is what I do know. My one regret in this situation that I find myself is that the only hesitancy I have in jumping off this cliff into the great unknown, into this calling, is that I have not kept myself ready. I have not been in the gym, (spiritually speaking) keeping up with the workout regimen required to make these kinds of life changes and I am afraid of who I have become, and his showing up at unexpected moments in my life.

Now, before you start imagining me as a pedophile, realize that I am the same guy who never tasted alcohol until he was well over thirty, never had any inappropriate relationships with another woman. (and what my wife and I do is none of your beeswax) I have never stolen anything, tried to pay my taxes, (by which I mean to the best of anyone's ability to figure out what the heck that means) taught my children right from wrong, and have tried to be kind to everyone who doesn't completely piss me off, and asked for forgiveness from those people, so...

But still, there are days when the weight of my thoughts, the things I have said and done, the burden of my own sin, the knowledge of what I would be personally capable of if not for the constraints of the love of God, knock me to my knees and I am overcome with the guilt of my own sin. The enormity of it strikes me and I rest in the knowledge that were it not for the loving, willful sacrifice of the Son of God on my behalf that I would walk into an eternity apart from the forgiveness of God and that I would deserve every second of it.

Knowing that Isaiah told God, on the occasion of his calling, that he was a man of unclean lips, that Peter on the night before Christ's execution cut off a man's ear in a violent rage and then proceeded to cuss out a number of young servant girls, that Moses was in the desert hiding out from a well deserved murder rap when he saw the burning bush, and that the first thing Noah did after leaving the ark was to get drunk and naked: makes me feel that I am in good company, it also lets me know that I had better get my crap together, because I have already told him I was willing, and IF I am truly hearing him, then he will move me in this direction whether I am completely ready, or not.

You may have heard it said before, but it is a Truth: God equips the called more often than he calls the equipped.

If Not Us, Then Who? Machete in a positive light!

2010-09-16T07:47:00.000-07:00

"Machete is messy, violent, shallow, and tasteless -- and that's precisely the point of one of the summer's most cartoonishly enjoyable films."

This, from rotten tomatoes, a website that compiles reviews and gives scores to movies based on the percentage of negative to positive reviews. So far, the gore fest, directed by Spy Kids creator Robert Rodriguez, is getting above average scores. This quote is only half of the story.
As anyone who knows me already understands I can find something to gripe about in even the most benign situations,and something to inspire in some of the most interesting of places, I really tend to see both sides of every coin and if you talk to me long enough, you are likely to be confused, which is where I live most of the time. Life is a paradox. Too much religion tends to turn people into nazis and roses grow best when surrounded with crap. The world is filled with things that are that should not be. As Solomon put it, he gives us beauty for ashes.

So, against what's left of my better judgment, I went to see this film the other day. Not that I put up a heavy protest. It is more my artistic sensibilities that were straining against the idea than my personal moral code. Make of that what you will. Anyway, I was invited by our missions pastor, so I figured, what the heck.

There was more blood shed in the first five minutes than world wars 1 and 2 combined. And it only got more interesting as the film progressed. Rogriguez is known for his over-the-top, take-no-prisoners style and if that's what you're looking for, you would not be disappointed, but that is not why I am writing about this film. As the story unfolds it is a typical revenge driven, male macho, ultimate justice fantasy. Machete wades through “bad guys” like a lawnmower through six inch grass. But, there is more to it than that.

Anyone who has ever read Rodriguez's film making book, “Rebel Without a Crew” about how he made his first feature, knows there is more to this guy than what meets the eye. First of all, he is making the movies he saw as a kid, for a new generation, granted that list does not seem to include Mary Poppins, The Apple Dumpling Gang, or Herby Goes Bananas, but that's what he's doing.
Sometimes it is easy to judge someone elses actions in light of our own prejudice, or upbringing. As the old saying goes, “Didn't your mother ever tell you...?” For instance, I worked with a guy who grew up in the back room of a strip club. He's a christian now and works in outreach to people in that lifestyle, but, because of his background, good or bad, I bet he is not nearly as distracted as I would be, were I to follow him to the places he goes, which neither I, nor my wife, think is God's plan for me.
Back to Rodriguez. In his book there were several moments when he would say that things just worked out for him. Anyone who has ever had any dealings with the Holy Spirit would immediately sense God's call and hand on this guy, while he may, or may not, be paying attention.
Anyway, in this film , the first scene features Machete and a second, unnamed federale about to bust into a Mexican slum to rescue a girl being held hostage by garden variety scum bags, his partner says, “Why this girl, why does it matter? We don't have to do this, you know?” (I know this because it was conveniently subtitled in English) Machete's reply was incredible: “If not us, then who?” Followed of course by loving interactions with his fellow man that lead to copious amounts of blood being spilt and an emergency room bill that I cannot even begin to fathom. I actually thought during the scene, wow am I old.
If not us, then who? Wow, talk about a wake up call. Forget the rest of the movie, although in my opinion there was probably more political commentary in that piece than anyone will ever give it credit for, not saying I agree with all of it, but it makes you think. But forget all of that and let's talk about this phrase.
I grow weary of the oppressive nature of our society. While I know that every generation feels, to some degree, that the changes the yahoos after them make are bad. But, I think we are experiencing more than that. We are in a place right now where it is acceptable to commit, or go along with, all kinds of atrocities, big and small, because, “I just work here” or “I don't make the rules” or “That's company policy”.
We treat people poorly. We don't pay out on insurance they were told (Or should I say sold?) would take care of them, never mind the details. We take from those who can least afford through excessive late fees and surcharges and overdraft protection. We refuse the customer refunds. We threaten, bully and otherwise harass well meaning, law abiding citizens in the name of doing our jobs. Our police seem to have taken to beating people in the streets (which I relaize may be justified at times) We take taxes from each other to take care of problems, then turn around and ask for more, cause it wasn't enough. With no account of where the first money went. Never mind that we have already taken more than anyone can afford.
In case you hadn't noticed I use the word we to describe these crimes, because that is how it works. We want the government to be “of the people, by the people and for the people” when we are holding “their” feet to the fire, but what about us? We have gone along with every bad idea with hardly a whimper. Have you ever read Proverbs or studied Jesus sermons? There is a lot of “woe” coming unto people who oppress the poor and take what isn't theirs.
Back to Machete. I want that attitude! I want to say, when I see injustice or a neighbor in need, “If not us, then who?” In fact, Disciple, I know you are reading this, I asked Disciple (The missions pastor who invited me to see this film) on Sunday to give me the Spanish phrase for this, which he said, but I had to look it up.
This phrase should come out of our mouths on a regular basis. You see, the system we live under only works when every citizen is willing to be accountable, not only for his own actions, but for holding his leader's accountable too. And while I think we should vote, understand that evil companionship corrupts good morals. That means that we send good people to Washington and they send them back to us broken and remolded, unless we hold them accountable.
This is true in our churches too. How many of you have ever wondered how much should be spent on that new building, sound system or what ever, when there are so many needs to be met? A friend of mine, Boe Parrish, is pastor of a unique congregation, if you can even call him that. Mr. Parrish has determined to spend the money that comes in on better things than a fat salary for himself. Daybreak Community church works with a volunteer staff and is striving to make a difference with every penny that comes in. He put it like this, “I just figured out that the traditional model of ministry was too expensive” he went on to break it down to the cost of every soul won. I have never thought of it like that, but it makes you think.

I am not proposing a specific solution, nor am I attacking anyone. I am challenging each of you to look around, the next time you see a problem and look for a solution, no matter how small. Instead of writing letters to complain about what they are doing wrong, try praising leaders for what they do right, or support something instead of opposing something. Try the “whatever things are good, whatever things are pure, noble of good report...” method that Paul suggested., but mostly just be willing to get involved. Be willing, metaphorically speaking, to pick up your machete and wade through some bad guys!

si no nosotros, ¿entonces quién? (feel free to correct this, it was from an online translator)

If not us, then who? LLS

Public Cell Phone Conversations as Prophetic Utterances

2010-09-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

This one is dedicated to my friend Tammy Hott. Tammy, I try to say what I hear God say, I ask the questions that are on my heart. Some times that is encouragement, some times it is a rebuke (mostly aimed at me), some times, it is just a way of reminding the world that I am still here, and sometimes I miss God completely and do the whole clanging gong thing Paul talked about. Anyway, here is what God is talking to me about today, it's a little kinder and gentler.

One of my great pet peaves of the modern world is cell phones. I do not enjoy being interrupted by them, listening to one side of stranger's conversations and getting less than stellar service from workers who cannot be bothered to live their private lives “off the clock”. This is partly because, as my wife said to me the other day, “You were born old, and I will probably never grow up completely.” I admit it, and anyone who's known me for long will agree that I began to show signs of Crotchity behavior in my mid-teens. It is also because this behavior is undeniably rude.

For example, last night we are sitting in Chick Fil-a in Edmond eating our dinner when someone begins a very loud, one-sided conversation in the dining room. I look up to discover that it is, in fact, the manager of same restaurant. He is discussing personnel matters and making snide comments as confidently as if he were ensconced in his own office. “That's disturbing.” I say. “Shut up, he'll hear you.” says she. I do. Not because I care if he hears me, after all, it is his behavior as he tips the phone away from his mouth to ask a customer what soda he is drinking and clumsily takes the cup for a refill, one-handed, that is deplorable, and if he is offended by my opinion of his caddish habits, so be it. But. I like sleeping in the same bed with my wife.

This doesn't trouble me greatly. I simply file it away with all of the other scenes from life that populate my head, and come out as plays and sketches, and finish my dinner and go to bowling, which we do every Monday night. I don't think about it again until this morning. I am sitting in the dentist's office waiting for 5 of my 8 kids to be seen when a scared young mother, seeing how calm I am and how many children I have, strikes up a conversation. She has a two year old with a cavity and is consequently feeling like the worst parent on earth. I reassure her that she is not the first and the fact that she is even aware that this is unusual, let alone is concerned about her role in it, is proof positive that she is not even in the running for Bad Mom of the Year.

The conversation is pleasant enough. We speak of country life, hers not mine (I'm somewhat envious), squirrels and the like. Half an hour later we are joined by a bold, brassy blond with a no nonsense attitude who is griping her apartment super out, on the phone, for a plumbing issue. She looks like she belongs in Jersey, not here. She has two boys with her and when she is done on the phone she joins the conversation. She is interrupted, after a five minute diatribe on the glories of apartment dwelling, during which she apologizes half a dozen times for her language, which she doesn't mean, (I know this because if she meant it she would make some attempt to curb it, we are in a pediatric dentist's waiting room, even the biker chick with at least nine “old school” tatts and leather pants is glaring)anyway, she is interrupted by her phone which has an unbelievably loud ring tone, featuring Pitbull.

This other mother, the one who was seeking reassurance, is a mousy little thing who keeps shooting sideways glances at this intruder. The first mom tries to talk a little more, which is difficult because blondie is loud! She is airing her laundry about her fifteen year old son and how he is going to get kicked out. We find out that he is smoking pot, has had sex with his girl friend on the living room sofa and calls his darling mother a “F'in B” (now she curbs her language) this last is apparently the last straw and he is going to need a place to live or she is going to need: “..a shovel, what do you think for? (pronounced FOAH, like Marissa Tomei in My Cousin Vinney) To bury the body.”

Just as I am about to get up and say something, she wipes a tear from the corner of her eye and God taps me on the shoulder.

Here's the deal. I have been saying for years that the reason that fringe groups get so vocal, and sometimes downright violent, is that we (the church) don't pay attention any other way. They have to carry protest signs and wear giant slogans on T-shirts before we realize that they are hurting and we need to do something. But, it isn't working anymore. We are so busy with “life” that we simply cannot take the time to care. We won't decode their subtle hints and offer a helping hand, so they have started shouting it from the housetops.

Think about it. How many times have you prayed, God I wish you would bring somebody across my path today that I can minister to only to be shoved aside in the grocery store aisle by some woman on a mission, ranting about how her no good boyfriend keeps going back to his wife? I realized that not only are they hurting, but I don't even need a “word of knowledge” to know what the hurt is. They are walking around talking about it. They are shouting about their divorces, their kids, their jobs, their botched plastic surgeries, and all the while I am hoping they will shut the heck up! I have been under the mistaken impression that they were not talking to me, that it was none of my business and I would like to keep it that way.

So, as my last kid comes out and I gather up my laptop, with a sleeping daughter on my arm, the young mother says, “Thank you for the advice, I feel so much better.” I tell her thanks for the conversation, I didn't really want to work anyway. Meanwhile, Blondie is: “Oh, we're going to get married, Tyler is walkin me down the aisle (this, we all know by now is the 15 year old thug) if I let him live that long!”

At the risk of being rude, I tap her foot, which is extended and bouncing, she looks up, “I'll pray for Tyler.” I say. She smiles, whispers thank you and she is back to the phone, “Well, he better like it, I'm marryin' Mark (her Mark not me) with the pastor and everything, we already had our premarriagell counseling.”

“God, please help Tyler not to kill his mother, and help her to find some middle ground with her son before it is too late, but mostly God, please show Mark a way out of that situation, or give him the intestinal fortitude of a marine drill sergeant, because he is going to need it.” (that is a joke and not what I actually prayed for them, just sayin...)