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Showing posts from January, 2014

Breakout

I am continually impressed by the effect of time passing to alter my perceptions. The guitar is something of a hobby I’ve been involved with for over a decade now. It started, to be honest, because I wanted to be a rock star (obviously). I liked it well enough, that was just the seed, I guess. In 1998 I purchased my first real life fender telecaster.  Prior to the Tele I played a squire Stratocaster. It’s a fender sub-brand so the Tele was my first REAL guitar, right? Right. The thing is so sturdy it almost feels as if God carved it out of granite. It is said that Gavin Rossdale of Bush once attempted to smash a Tele on stage but only managed to bend the truss rod. I tried to sell it. Twice . God apparently thinks I shouldn’t cause…  here I am 16 years later playing it. A song reminded me of something years ago “The Heart of Worship”. The premise of the song is built on the idea that we can be worshipping things that are not God when we a...

Be Like Christ but wait… there’s more!

I talk with people about spiritual things often. Atheists, agnostics, deists, pantheists… you get the idea. Full disclosure: I love it and kind of have a knack for knowing what angle is going to get under people’s skin. Sometimes I can go overboard and for that, sorry, but that’s a risk I just have to take. Something I’ve noticed a lot has been rolling around my head to finally get connected   with some words yesterday. A person took issue with my approach of delivering truth. I just told people what Jesus said and it wasn’t coated with enough sugar or I should’ve left things out, etc etc. So out comes the ultimate fallback against a Christian: well that’s not what Jesus would do. There’s just one major problem with this. The bible. Jesus was constantly offending people. I mean, the very things that people pat him on the back for now (hanging out with riffraffs and what not) was in itself offensive to the religious elite. A rich young ruler once came to him as...

Good News: A Happy Ending

The end of time is easily understood. Jesus comes back, trounces his enemies, glorifies those who fall upon Him, restores creation to its former glory, and everyone lives happily ever after (unless you're an unrepentant enemy of God). This is what people long for. A king who returns, redeems, and restores. A prince w ho rides in on a white horse to save the day. A glorious ending to a tale filled with turmoil and a punishment fitting for the enemies of the crown. Its the details prior to this event which keeps us guessing. We didn't invent this story and here's how I know that: we are the bad guys. ALL of us. The only difference between the redeemed and the damned is one clings to Christ while the other clings to their pride. Both start in the same position longing for the happy ending.  Everybody wants that. Why do you think stories exist? COUNTLESS tales of woe where tears become joy, the weak get saved, the prideful get punishment, and the king ret...