Sunday 7s: Oct 18

1) Just left a congregational meeting at the church. Our pastor is resigning. Everyone is heartbroken. Some are angry. Dave Desforge has taught me so much about the Gospel. He's one of the reasons I love Grace and keep coming back. It will be strange not have him giving the sermon, but I am reminded that Jesus is bigger than one man. Or one church.

2) Jesus + nothing.

3) This experience has made me contemplative. I understand the inability to manage people and the constant risk of burnout. I wonder if or how long my heart can continue to pursue this passion (teaching) with the energy, commitment and love that I need to for my students and co-workers. It's tough to admit that you might be in over your head. I often feel that way.

4) Today's sermon was by my good friend Brian Land. He spoke on Hebrews 12:1-3, which is one of my favorite passages.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

• Jesus runs with us. It's an endurance race and we're not alone.
• I love that not only does he "author" our faith, he also is the "perfecter:
• I made it into the sermon today. Me, Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson & Robert De Niro, King Leonidas and Neo (the Matrix) all make their way into the sermon. Obviously, I was the star...
• Brian used my bike journeys to illustrate the endurance aspect of the race that must be endured. Also, he said that if he were to ride the Great Divide, he has a reference that he can trust-- a wealth of knowledge. Jesus provides that for all our races.
• Talked to two friends who recently moved. They both commented on how much stuff they have and they are trying to lighten the load. Ironically, that's one of the messages in the sermon: we carry heavy burdens that make our race harder. Reese Witherspoon in "Wild" had too much stuff and she couldn't hike the Pacific Coast Trail. Robert De Niro's character in "The Mission"-- he literally carried his burdens and was trapped by them until they were cast into the river. Both my friends are at a point where they are realizing that the stuff the accumulate to make their lives more comfortable only burden them and weigh them down. But getting rid of stuff and lightening the load is difficult. In one friend's words, "It takes radical heart change."

5) Went to Columbia yesterday. We had a party for my older brother, Chhay, who is being deployed to the Middle East for 6 months with the Air National Guard. His brother in law, La, who is the only person I know with a hibachi grill on his porch, cooked up dinner. We played with the kids, ate and celebrated a great brother, dad and husband who will be missed while deployed. 

6) Rode Spencer Branch Trail today. It was the last run down Spencer as we know it. Tomorrow, they are closing it and the new re-route will be the only way down from Spencer Gap. The old trail was technical, with lots of roots, rocks and decent drops off water bars. I'm not a great technical rider, but I love to ride this trail and have no shame in walking when necessary. It will be greatly missed. I hope the new one is as fun and challenging.

7) Another crazy week in College Football. Michigan-Michigan St was nuts! Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech look bad. Ole Miss lost to Memphis. 

• Overrated in this week's Poll: Florida St (9), Houston (21)-- I know they are undefeated, but I still haven't seen a Top 10 performance from the Noles. Houston is beneficiaries of a soft schedule (though they did beat Louisville).
• Under rated: Oklahoma (17)-- they are better than Iowa and Florida in my opinion and that throttling of K-State was impressive. The Texas lost, while not pretty, might be an anomaly. North Carolina (NR)-- shows the lack of respect the ACC gets. And the ACC deserves no respect, even though Clemson is really good and UNC isn't bad.
• Top 7: 1) Utah 2) Baylor 3) Ohio St 4) LSU 5) TCU 6) Clemson 7) Michigan St.

Jesus and Colbert and Grace

Stephen Colbert and the Gospel:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Jesus Is a Liberal Democrat
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> March to Keep Fear Alive

Some Colbertisms:
"Jesus said we only have to love those who deserve it."
I'm glad that grace doesn't work like that. I sure don't deserve it. Somehow, I'm a recipient of it.


"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we've got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are or we've got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy, without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it."
True grace is given to those who need it, but do not necessarily deserve it. Colbert gets it and that's what he's saying in this satire.

Christ came because we could not save ourselves. In Mark 2:17, Jesus says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

It seems as if many are saying that we'll give you help, we'll give you a doctor, when you feel better. That's not the gift of the Gospel. That's not Grace. Grace is summed up in Romans 5:8-- "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Grace is not at all about anything I've done. When I truly believe that, then I'll be able to love in the way that Christ loved: unconditional, sacrificial and with nothing in return.

My Reflections on Easter

Tomorrow is Easter. Bunnies, Peeps, caramel eggs. Oh yeah, Jesus rose from the dead.

I have been thinking: What if Jesus were alive today? I've come to the conclusion that if Jesus were among us, we (the Church) would probably hate him. Perhaps we would crucify him. I mean, how could we follow someone who loves people who are so messed up?

Insert your sin here in the blank: Why would Jesus love a __________________.

Did you insert Atheist? Gay? Muslim? Murderer? Adulterer? Drunk, fornicator, swearer?

One of the many reasons people cannot relate with the church is that church presents itself (and it's followers) as somehow better, more righteous and deserving. People in the church don't drink, smoke, swear or think bad thoughts. That's why they are saved. And that's why the rest of you are going to Hell.

Watch this video with Jars of Clay lead singer Dan Haseltine. He makes a great point. A lot of people cannot relate to the church. The church isn't real. In turn the church doesn't relate to a lot of people.

Luke 7:41-42 says: Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denari, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back,
so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?

Simon Peter answers the one who had the bigger debt forgiven. He was right.

Christ has canceled the debt of all of us. Only when we realize how great the our own debts were can we recognize the Grace that was given to us. My friend Brian says to this effect: if you believe you are 90 percent good, you only need a 10 percent Jesus. I believe that more people would follow Jesus if we would sell them a 100 percent Jesus. Instead, the church sells a 10 percent Savior-- with the other 90 percent taken care of by our good works, righteousness, steadfast prayer and all those other wonderful holy things we do. If you would stop being you and start being us, then you could get this deal too.

In college, I attended a David Wilcox concert. I love the guy, he plays great melodies, writes amazing lyrics and ends up with relevant music. Many of his songs are spiritual with heavy Christian undertones (see Fearless Love, Hold it up to the Light). After the show, my friend asked him if he was a Christian. He responded that he does not like to answer that question. The reason was because the question too often was less about whether he loves the same Savior as they do and more about whether he hates the same people they hate.

Happy Easter. I guess my prayer is that we don't allow religion to crucify Christ. It's already happened before.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-- Roman 5:8

34 in a 25

I went to court today. Was given a reduction on a speeding ticket that I picked up on November 11. Went from 43 to 34. I've been driving since 1994. Here are my violations:

1) I guess it was about 1999, busted for speeding in Burlington on the way to church. Ticket reduced.

2) 2003, pulled over going 73 in a 55 on Business 40 in Winston Salem while on my way to Eden for a preseason wrestling tournament. Got a prayer for judgement.

3) 2006, busted for speeding on Blythe St, near my house. 41 in a 25. I was on my way to church. Went to driving school.

4) This was my most recent speeding ticket. I was on my way from church.

Based on the above, the logical conclusion would be to no longer go to church. Apparently, I missed the part of the gospel where it says Jesus gives speeding tickets every three years if you take your cross and follow.

Jesus and Santa

The Love of Jesus

Just some observations on how awesome the followers of Jesus are and what an amazing job they do of being Christ-like.

1) The War on Christmas - CNN article: Heated debate again over 'War on Christmas' claims

- Maybe I am weak in my faith when I don't find it a big deal that other people celebrate Christmas differently than I do.
- Maybe I am too secular and liberal when I acknowledge that Happy Holidays could include something other than Christmas: Chanukah, Kwanzaa, New Years, and Festivus (yes, there will be an "Airing of Grievances" as part of my holiday celebration).
- Maybe there are things more important to me than the semantics of the holiday/Christmas season.
- Maybe I SHOULD be more offended that my very faith, the birth of my Savior, is being marginalized by the masses.
- Maybe I am just crazy to think that Jesus, who I truly believed walked on water, healed the lame, raised the dead, turned water to wine, gave the blind sight and conquered death, is big enough to take care of himself.

2) Citizen-Times: Asheville councilman atheism debate goes viral: Cecil Bothwell gets wide audience

In case you don't want to click the linky, here's the synopsis: Asheville elects Cecil Bothwell to city council. Cecil Bothwell is an atheist (actually, he calls himself "Post-theist"). NC Constitution has a provision barring atheist from taking office. Some within the community want NC to uphold this clause (despite the fact that the US Supreme Court would not uphold it-- federal laws trump state laws). Thanks to the attention brought, big hoopla follows and Asheville's city council election becomes talked about across the country in various outlets.

There are some within our country who hope for a theocracy. Saudi Arabia and Iran are theocracies and things seem to be working out really well there. Oh, but they're Muslim states.

Yeah, I forgot how glorious Christian theocracies were in the papal states of the Holy Roman Empire. There was no corruption, abuse of power and trying to convince the masses that the sun revolved around the earth. Remember, the Act of Supremacy (1534) made Henry VIII the head of the English Church. That worked out well for his six wives. The Puritans, who ironically fled England for religious freedom, even more ironically established a theocratic state in which there was no religious freedom. Not Puritan? Move on to New Amsterdam or down south to Virginia. Roger Williams fled Puritan Massachusetts and established Rhode Island-- a colony founded on the principle of separation of church and state. That colony became a haven for the persecuted, such as Quakers and Jews.

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For good reason, I'm not Jesus. Sometimes, however, I try to put myself in his shoes-- er, sandals. Remember, I'm not Emmanuel, God with us, the King of Kings-- but if I were, I think I would not be so harsh on those who do not see the way I do. Truly, I might try to hang out with them. Maybe see if they wanna get coffee at the Dripolator or Black Bear.

But I'm not Jesus...

Merry Christmas!

The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
John 4:9

Joyous Secrets

What is the sign of a friend?
Is it that he tells you his secret sorrows?
No, it is that he tells you his secret joys.
- Oswald Chambers

The life of a saint is not only seeking the Lord in sorrows and sufferings, but seeking and sharing with the Lord in our joys and praises.

Sunday Observations - Apr 12

- Congratulations to the Tarheels. Dominated the Spartans. Way to represent the state and the ACC.

- As the game was be ginning, I get a call from my buddy Doug: "Did I just see Christina Storm on TV? She's got a pink jacket on."

Christina was one of my runners and a sophomore at UNC. So I send her a text:
"Are you wearing a pink jacket? I think you were just on TV."
Her reply, "YEAHHHHH! whoooaaaahhhh go heels!"
Can you find her among the sea of baby blue?

- We had a murder on Thursday here in Hendersonville. The victim was a friend of the community who's wife is the bookkeeper at West Henderson. She was there when I was a student there. There are three in custody, one was a student-athlete at the school I work at and another was on my homeroom roster (though he never showed). Here's a link to the article.

- I saw Godspell at the Orange Peel last night. It was put on by the Highland Acting Company, which is part of Highland Christian Church that meets at the Peel on Sunday mornings. It was a great show. Directing was excellent, choreography and singing superb. Neat modern twist on an old show with it's Asheville tie ins and the original Resurrectio scene. The original show ended with the cruxifition, the Highland Actors added a new ending with the resurrection.

http://godspellasheville.com/

It was a very appropriate show for Asheville, because I think Jesus would have loved the diversity of Asheville a lot more than most churches have loved the people of Asheville. Also, it was a reminder that it was religion that killed Christ. Some things just never change.

- Good job Angel. Cabrera, that is. Way to stay in there and not quit. Although Kenny Perry winning at Augusta would have been a nice story.

Crush of the Week:
I watched V for Vendetta this week. Loved it. There's so much going on at both cinematic and thematic levels. It was both eye catching and though provoking, drawing many allusions to George Orwell's 1984. It really was a great movie that also featured my longtime celebrity crush: Natalie Portman.