It is amazing to realize that Christ is calling you somewhere else. Even when you don’t know where you are going, or where you will end up, taking that first step of obedience in a new journey is a feeling unlike any other. Calling it a feeling, though, is quite the understatement…
There is excitement, energy, anticipation, and passion. However, there can also be fear, confusion, and impatience. There will people who support you and go along with you, and there will be people who are offended, and advize you to stay put. The fact of the matter is that a step of true obedience to Christ, whether large or small, is always full of this craziness… and I am starting to realize how much I love that.
So in case you didn’t pick up on it, God is calling me (and Kim and Noah) somewhere new, not in a physical sense, but in a lifestyle sense. As of now, that’s as specific as I can be, as I am still not sure exactly what it means myself. What I do know is that the acknowledgment of the calling of God to live out a life of obedience, even in uncomfortable and treacherous times, is remarkably satisfying and and yet furthers one’s appetite at the same time. What do I mean by that? It is satisfying in the sense of all that stuff I just said (the excitement and adventure), but still leaves me longing more because it only deepens the appetite for God and his direction. It makes me want more, while sustaining me for this season. I suppose to sum it all up, and get to the main point of this post, I would say… truly living a life of obedience to Christ is the perfect way to live each day. (That may be an obvious statement for a Christian to make, but this is the first time I truly know what it means and can attest to it from my own experience.)
I think I figured out one of the worst feelings ever…
There are these times when I feel like doing something. It may be writing, playing guitar, or something bigger, like opening a music venue. But then when it comes time to do it, I feel lazy and complacent. The worst part is that I hate feeling that way, but for some reason cannot find the motivation to do anything. It’s like I sit there and waste time until I don’t have enough time to get anything done and it is too late. I don’t feel like this a lot, but when I do, it sucks.
For example, right now I really feel inspired to do several things. I feel like writing music, I feel like making some phone calls to look for a building for the venue idea, and I feel like reading. For some reason though, I would rather sit here and write this than do anything truly productive. What in the world? This is so frustrating…
I just got challenged by this guy Chris who I just met. He is backpacking from Gettysburg to Minnesota. We had lunch today and I realized that I have a totally warped view of what it means to depend on God. I never really noticed Luke 12:33-34 before, but its crazy. What is the proper Christ-like response to money and wealth? Do we save because that is stewradly and wise, or do we sell our stuff and give our money away, keeping only enough to live on? People often argue that we are to save because it is wise to prepare for unseen future activities? But doesn’t that go against the command of Christ to not worry about the future?
I don’t know how I feel about it, but Proverbs 30:8 also seems to go along these lines. Asking for just enough for today is a challenging concept. It also shows that we are not to ask for enough for tomorrow, but this very day. We are not paying for things today based on the money we set aside earlier, but getting whatever we need from God in that moment, for that moment.
I really need to figure out what this means, because it has huge implications for my life, as well as the lives of my wife and child. Granted, I do not plan on moving to the streets and getting rid of everything I possess tomorrow, but what will my response be? It is scary to consider what a true life after Christ entails.
I know that my brief meeting with Chris, whom I will probably never see again, has made me realize that there is something to giving up all wealth. He has sold nearly all his things and for years he has been living on “the resources of the Kingdom of God”, as he put it. He has never gone hungry or not paid a bill. He works to pay for the essentials and gives the rest away, and is living a godly life better than most who claim to be Christians.
So what do I do now…?
I could be wrong, but I feel as though a big trend in recent years in Christianity is to align oneself with the teachings of authors or pastors to the point of identifying specifically with them. At least its that way amongst many of the Christians I know. I have heard this from so many people. “I am a Calvinist,” or “Well Mark Driscoll said this, and believe what he preaches,” or “Francis Chan is the best author. He is the reason my faith is what it is.” All three of those are quotes I have heard in recent months. Now they may not necessarily be wrong (I agree with most of Mark Driscoll’s preaching and think Francis Chan is a great author) however, these kinds of things have dominated most theological conversations I have had with people. I hear so much alignment with certain authors or theologians, and so many times it is taken to the point of bashing other authors and people who read their books.
Really? It reminds me of what Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians 1, when people where identifying with Paul and Apollos. I do not think there is anything wrong with reading theologians work… I think it is very helpful and useful. However, when it gets to the point where we begin to form divisions, and align with certain men rather than the one true God about whom all these men are writing, we have a problem (for clarification, I am not speaking on matters essential to salvation, only open handed issues.) Maybe its time to realize that our pursuit should not be only of knowledge about God, but of getting to know God. Maybe we need to stop debating over why I follow this man’s teaching and hate that man, and start realizing we are all serving the same Heavenly Father.
Oh yeah… my favorite of these quotes about aligning with authors… “I am moving to Grand Rapids as soon as I graduate so that I can go to Rob Bell’s Church. He is going to change Christianity for the better.”
I figured out what I want to do with my life…
I want to open up a live music venue in beaver county. Why you ask? Various reasons. I love music… a lot. I also have a desire to minister to teens who may otherwise go unreached. This is one thing that can combine those two loves/desires. I know little about owning or starting a business, but I have time to learn and meet people who already know. I do not normally get too excited about the idea of working, but this is something that I believe I could every day and love it.
Granted, this is a big dream, but lets be honest… I don’t care. God is bigger than any dream, if he wants it to work, it will, and if not, than I’ll do something else. But for now I am going to pursue this. It will take time and I’ll obviously do other things in the mean time, but this is something I’m willing to wait for.
Oh yeah, and I am aware that Beaver County may not be an ideal location, but I think it is pretty good. I mean you have very few music venues here, as they are all in Pittsburgh (which I realize is close, but sometimes annoying to drive to). Also, you have Geneva College, CCBC, Robert Morris, and Penn State Beaver all in the area; there is a good deal of college students to attract. But more importantly, the area needs Christ. This seems like a good way to open doors and meet people, and minister to them, and isn’t that what we are supposed to be doing?
So if you have any advice, warnings, suggestions, criticism… anything at all, I would appreciate it, as I have never done or thought to do anything like this before, and have no idea where to begin.
I don’t know what it is, because normally I hate Death Metal… but Job for a Cowboy just rocks my freakin’ face off. I could listen to them all day and not get sick of it. I suppose there is a chance that it is the Devil secretly drawing me in through this sacrilegious genre of music, but something tells me that is not it at all. It is just great music.
Even the vocals are incredible. Believe it or not they use quite a variety of vocal styles, which is refreshing. And the music is jaw dropping. Most metal guitarists are incredibly talented, but something about Al Glassman’s and Bobby Thompson’s playing is just enticing.
I am no music critic, and I like a lot ridiculous music, but I still think Job for a Cowboy deserves a listen. It took me a while to give them a chance, but it was worth it. They opened up my view of the whole genre, and now I’m pretty much addicted to this band. Some songs are definitely better than others, but you will have that with most bands. The fact that they mix it up as much as they do is still pretty remarkable considering many metal albums sound like one long song rather than separate tracks.
So many people are simply indifferent to the Gospel message. Too many people think it is a nice story, or just another religion to be thrown into the mix. Too many people are okay with picking out the parts they like and leaving the rest untouched.
This is just ridiculous! The message in the Word of God should leave people anything but indifferent. WHen Jesus or the Apostles preached, there may have been a few indifferent people, but the majority was either overwhealmed with the love and greatness of the message, or angered by it. What are we doing wrong, as the church, that is allowing for so much indifference towards the most incredible message ever?
Perhaps it is that we don’t even understand this message that we claim to live by…
I feel as though “worship music” should not be a genre. Just because a song is about God or even to God, that does not mean it is worshipful. Who is to say that Hillsong is a “worship band” but someone like Future of Forestry is not. They both love God and sing about it and I assume both mean it. Just because we sing one band’s songs in church but not the other’s hardly makes a difference on whether the listener uses the music to worship God. You may find that singing a particular song helps you worship, while I may say the same song gets on my nerves. So long as we both truly worship God in spirit and truth, it shouldn’t make a difference whether or not we use the same songs. We need to worship, not just sing “worship songs.”
I’m not usually one to put quotes up here, but this one caught my eye…
“I know in our day, rebel means sinner, but everyone is sinning so its no longer rebellious to sin. Jesus was a rebel who was counter-cultural. You’re just a conformist if you’re drunk and naked driving around on a loud motorcycle, smoking cigarettes, and breaking commandments! Everyone’s done that. That’s so tired! If you really want to be a rebel read your bible, because no one’s doing that. That’s rebellion, that’s the only rebellion left.” -Mark Driscoll
While I do not know of anyone who is driving a motorcycle while drunk and naked, i think the point he is making is pretty cool.
