The Rebelution Tour 2008

The Rebelution: a teenage rebellion against low expectations. Do Hard Things, as seen in the blog, the book, and the conference.

Wow.

Our family went to the Dallas stop of the Rebelution tour 2008 today. It was amazing. The teachings were solid, informative, and funny, the worship was amazing, and the whole atmosphere was just beautiful. 

I'm very grateful for the work the Harris family is doing, especially that of Alex and Brett. I've been greatly encouraged and challenged by the God-given message they present so well.

Four men of God: Alex; Joel the worship leader/big brother; Mr. Greg Harris, dad; Brett.

Explaining the book

Cool instantaneous audience response technology

worship and altar call

Polls and Problems

This was the front page story in my local Dallas Morning News. According to this information, many Christians,  not to mention mainstream Americans, no longer accept basic tenets of Christianity as absolute truth. Surprising? Well, no. I find it interesting nonetheless....

"As other surveys have indicated, the Pew study indicates that America has drifted slightly more secular over the decades, but overwhelming majorities continue to say they believe in God OR an "impersonal force" (92 percent), heaven (74 percent), hell (59 percent), and angels and demons active in the world (68 percent)."

Here's the interesting part:

"About seven in 10 of those surveyed said they believed that many religions can lead to eternal life and that there is more than one true interpretation of the teachings of their own religion." 

SEVENTY PERCENT of CHRISTIANS think that there is not one way to eternal life. Wow. Wouldn't have guessed that. Sorry, I forgot that everyone can be right these days, except those who belief in Truth...

If this question were addressed to everybody, then I'd expect a higher percentage of universalism. But I absolutely don't understand how a majority of all the Christian groups represented (Evangelical, Southern Baptist, mainline denoms, United Methodist, historically black churches, Catholic) can believe multiple religions can lead to eternal life. 

42% of the 36,000 interviewed said they believe that "Scripture is the literal word of God." So, let's turn to Scripture for insight, shall we?

Jesus said in John 14: "Trust in God; trust also in me...I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well."

That's pretty clear to me. I don't see much room for wavering or waffling. Jesus was pretty good about making distinctions and drawing lines in the sand. Just ask the Pharisees...

I don't know how we, as the American Church, have strayed so far from this foundation of Christianity. But if I may speak bluntly to my brothers and sisters in the Church, I think we must examine how we approach teaching Truth. 

1. Preach the basic foundations of Christianity. PREACH THE GOSPEL! Why would anyone want to come to church for a watered down self-help course when they can get that on Oprah every day, with a lot more entertainment and from the comfort of their own couch? Please, preach the gospel! It's worked pretty well the past 2000 years.

2. Once one knows the Gospel, there is not any doubt as to the fact that Yahweh is the only God, and He manifests Himself in three persons. The only way to the Father is through Jesus the Son, as we are drawn by the Holy Spirit. I repeat: Jesus is the only way to the Father. However, there is NOT only one way to Jesus.

The way I read Scripture, Jesus came to abolish religion (man trying to please God/work his way to heaven). He did not abolish the Law, but He fulfilled it, ultimately by dying on the cross and being raised again to life. Through this, we can have a relationship with the Living God. God as the Holy Spirit lives inside of us when we have accepted Jesus as Savior and King. The point of Jesus coming to earth is to tell us that we no longer have to jump through hoops and follow rules to know God. 

So this means that I can come to know Jesus in many ways. I can know Jesus even if I'm not in church every Sunday and Wednesday and Tuesday prayer meeting. I can know Jesus even if I don't sing hymns or the latest 7-11 (7 words sung 11x) chorus. I can know Jesus even if I don't know the catechisms, but I do listen to rock music. In fact, I can find Jesus by being influenced by music, friendships, literature, other people, nature and creation, science, world events, the arts, and just about anything and everything else. 

God is not limited in His power! God can do, and will do, things in ways we would not expect!

I'm not asking the Church to compromise doctrine. I'm not asking the Church to water down its message to be seeker friendly. I am asking the Church to reach out to a lost and dying world by every means possible. Don't limit yourself to influencing non-Christians by handing them a track or dragging them to Sunday School. 

I believe with all my being that Jesus is the only way to Life and Salvation. I also believe with all my being that Jesus should be found outside of the walls of the Church and the pages of the Bible. Therefore, you and I, Christian, must live the Gospel. We must radiate Truth and Love in our relationships. We must be Jesus to a world that sees no need for Him. 

Battle Cries

I often wonder about the things that excite my heart and stir my passion.

The call, "For NARNIA!!!" sends chills down my spine and makes me long for a sword in my hand and clinking mail to shield my heart.

I long to ride behind Thomas of Hunter, waging war against the Horde, defending the Forests for Elyon.

Even lesser things -things with no resemblance to my true Home- make me swell with patriotic pride and a longing to fight and defend. Remember the Alamo! Give me liberty or give me death! Truth, justice, and the American way! No taxation with representation! The South will rise again! To infinity and beyond!

Okay, I kid. In fact, I completely lied on the last few...

My point is stories inspire me and impact me on a deep level...which is a good thing. Yet my loyalty and longing to fight for Narnia doesn't carry over to the war in which I'm currently engaged...which is a bad thing.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. I Corinthians 10:3-6

The struggle to wake up early, read my Bible, make my little brother a sandwich, then go study invisible lines and imaginary numbers and unknown letters while being nice to the jerk sitting next to me isn't nearly as appealing as the clash of swords and the thunder of hooves driving the enemy from the field to defend my home, family, and freedom.

Obedience. Attitude. Prayer. Thoughts. Words. Perseverance. Perseverance in the little things.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross! Philippians 2:5-8

The Christian life certainly has the big battles, the glorious charges, the moments on the mountaintop when the enemy is clearly defined and victory is in sight. But a lot of life is in the standing, in the waiting, in picking up the cross again each day. These "little" fights are often harder, in some ways, than the big campaigns. These build endurance amidst suffering, and perseverance and character and hope.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then. Ephesians 6: 12-3

Stand. My youth pastor reminded me of this today. "If you're not intentional about your spiritual walk, you'll suffer - but you won't stay the same." I fight to be able to stand- fighting may not seem like I'm moving forward or gaining ground. But if I cease to stand, I fall.

So may the stories remind us that we are called to fight each day, even when it doesn't seem like we're fighting anything. And may the battle cries dim in comparison to the encouraging call and command of our Warrior King.

Learning to Walk In Freedom

I learned how to walk this week.

I now have a greater respect for the huge developmental stage toddlers must conquer.

It was seven weeks to the day from the time I completely rotated my ankle, snapping two leg bones and two ligaments, to the time I was able to walk, albeit haltingly and jerkily, without any support from crutches. How opposite were these two experiences in after-school athletics! But in these seven weeks, I've had much time to think. Paul's admonition about the body of Christ in I Corinthians has a lot more meaning now. And my understanding and appreciation of God as Creator and Healer has increased greatly.

When I first discovered that I could put weight on my leg and move it without supporting myself with crutches, I was ecstatic. Seriously, I don't remember being that happy in a long time. I was not most excited that I could use my leg again, but that my hands were free. My hands were no longer required to support my weight on sticks to balance and to propel my movement. I could use my hands again!

For the better part of two days, my movement didn't really resemble walking as one would normally think of it. It was a lot more like briefly putting pressure on my bad leg, swinging my good leg out in front, and jerking the rest of my body to catch up with my good leg. Added to this was the boot protecting my bad leg, which was a good deal longer than my foot and quite a bit heavier than what I was used to with the cast. Loving and accurate words used to describe this condition included "jerky," "klutz," and "freak." However, I couldn't care less what I looked like. I could walk and use my hands!

During this process, I thought of the concept GK Chesterton explains in his book Orthodoxy.

The heart must be fixed on the right thing: the moment we have a fixed heart we have a free hand.

Meaning, if we have a fixed heart, if God has control of my life, if I know I belong to Him and I have no life outside of Him, then I have a free hand. I can do whatever I will (remembering, however, that though all things are permissible, not all are beneficial). I am no longer bound to the Law. My hand is free; it does not need to worry about the expectations or judgments or approval of any except Him on Whom my heart is fixed.

In order to have a free hand, I must change my walk. To have a free hand, I must lose the crutches that kept me tied to a specific pattern of thought and motion. To have a free hand, I must recklessly abandon the path of this world and change my walk to follow and be with Jesus Christ.

At first, walking, any movement, is a chore. Will power, as much as muscle, jerks my body forward. Yet as I continue walking with Christ, I gain strength. I regain muscle and use of ligaments and achieve greater mobility. I learn to walk better, with more efficiency, so that to walk is not such a burden. Walking becomes a smoother process. It becomes an even greater joy.

Side note: To me, having a 'smoother walk' does not mean less struggle or fewer problems. It means that I am more able to follow Jesus and seek Him. The strength I have gained through walking with Him thus far gives me confidence for what is to come. I don't know what the situation will be, or how things will turn out, but I have complete trust in the character of my God as I walk with Him through the struggle.

May I fix my heart that my hand may be free and my walk may be closer to that of Jesus.

Life in my Bubble

I was sitting here mad and frustrated until God used this tiny prick called conviction to pop my bubble. (I know the bubble thing is kind of cliche around here, but I think it captures the heart of what I'm getting at pretty well.)

Round these here parts, football is pretty durn big. It's a Texas thing. Annual rivalries are pretty fierce. This year was going to be my first year to participate in an annual game and I've been looking forward to this for about forever...no exaggeration. Then I broke my leg. So for The Game, I was sidelined on crutches. I yelled, cheered, stood and followed the play the whole game, and got mad and frustrated when we lost a close game. I wasn't mad so much that we lost because we didn't execute when we should have; there are consequences for not practicing. But what really ticked me off is that the other team had promised that they would play dirty even as we said we wouldn't. In the days leading up to the game, they alternately trashed us and blamed us for being too intense - ruining the fun of the game. We didn't play perfect, but we did not intentionally rip shirts and grab throats in the name of flag football.

So I'm sitting here going, "God, I'm really not mad about the score; I'm mad about the injustice of them not playing right and bragging about it." I sat still for a minute, then the conviction muscled its way through my self-absorption and anger.

INJUSTICE? REALLY?

Yeah, they could have played a cleaner game and been better sports about the whole thing. Yeah, they messed up. But if I'm getting mad about the injustice of a single football game, my priorities and convictions are way out of whack.

Injustice? Slavery is injustice. Robbing the widowed and orphaned is injustice. The sex trade is injustice. Little kids forced to make firecrackers at the risk of getting blown up just so they can eat scraps is injustice. Abortion is injustice. Sharia law is injustice. Starvation of third world countries is injustice. Football? Not so much.

Sometimes I feel I'm drowning in my own shallowness.

God, transform my mind. Give me eyes to see and a heart to feel the things you do. Give me passion for the things that really matter.

Earth Day? Really?

So, it's Earth Day today. Google told me so...

I much prefer The Patriot Post's take on today:

In all seriousness though, extreme environmentalism is endangering lives in the interest of saving trees from global warming. Articles here at National Review and here at The American Spectator give really disturbing facts.

Every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria. DDT is the most effective force against malaria, but millions have died since it's elimination; however, the birds are doing great, since DDT didn't hurt them in the first place.

Biofuels are depriving third-world countries of food, as more and more crops go to support the environment while starving the people.

Percentages of fatal car wrecks have increased with the restricting standards for fuel emissions.

I believe in good stewardship. God created the earth and gave man the responsibility and authority to oversee it. However, most importantly, God entrusted us with the Great Comission and the charge to share the gospel and show people the way to redemption and healing and salvation. The souls of people created in the image of God are more important to me than the well-being of trees and eagles.

Here's another thing: I believe the best way I can help the earth/environment is to spread the gospel to all nations. "First the gospel must be preached to all nations, and then the end will come." "Creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed."

Newsflash: This earth wasn't meant to last forever. The curse of sin has taken it's toll on everything. It is in Christ Jesus that all things will be made new. The best thing I can do to 'save the planet' is to lead people to Jesus Christ, speed the Day, and look forward to the creation of the New Heaven and New Earth.

Home - random thoughts

My grandmother went home to be with Jesus last night. It was time, and I'm glad she's Home; at the same time, I'm still sad and I grieve. But we do not grieve as those without hope.

An oft used phrase around here as of late has been, "We look to heaven. Our hope is in heaven." (Clarification: this concept of heaven is not about it being a cool place, but rather, it is the very presence of God.)

Along with Ted Dekker, Bodie and Brock Thoene are my favorite authors. This week I was reading their book Seventh Day, the seventh in a twelve book series about the life of Jesus. These books are unlike any other work. They understand the historical Jewish perspective and weave amazing stories into a wealth of Scripture insight.

In Seventh Day was the coolest scene I've read in a long time. Abel, son of the widow at Nain, and Deborah, daughter of Jairus of Capernaum, were raised from the dead by Yeshua (Jesus) at different occasions. But here they meet and talk about the things they both experienced.

Abel: "There were many who I knew must be from of old. Though I can't name them, they seemed as though I knew them from my Torah studies...But the first one I met was my father. ...[my father was in] a garden...such color!"

Deborah: "Yes, I was in the same place. The garden. Flowers! Such fragrance! No thorns! Waterfalls so high I couldn't see the top. Rainbows. Hues so deep the air hummed with the music of color. I never knew color is music. Seven colors matched seven musical notes. But all with different shades and voices. Reds and blues and greens, a thousand pitches of every color. I can't explain it. I try, but I can't...it's so...."

They laughed and huddled with heads close together. They seemed to me like old friends meeting unexpectedly on a lonely and distant shore. They rejoiced as they remembered the familiar sights and sounds of their much loved home. In this case heaven was home. This present world was the strange and distant shore to which they had returned.

Wow...

I've been looking at I Corinthians 15 lately. Amazing chapter, all about the Resurrection. I'm sure I'll bring this up again soon...

Oh yeah, Happy Patriot's Day! It's the anniversary of the day 'twas fired the shot heard 'round the world. My favorite source for political news/commentary is http://patriotpost.us/, and they've got some cool stuff on this.