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What is the state of racism today? I watched a movie the other night and it really made me think. After watching “the help” I had to pause and really think. Within the past 40 years there were groups of American’s that abused their privileges as American’s. To feel they were above a group of people because of their skin color. It broke my heart.

What is the state of racism today? Do we discriminate against illegal aliens because of their citizenship status? Do we discriminate against certain religions because of a radical group that have waved a flag of hatred towards American’s? Do we exploit groups of people by under paying them for a job they are qualified for? Do we not give charity to the homeless or beggar because they will “probably buy” drugs or alcohol? Do we avoid and demean folks based on their sexual persuasions?

Did not even the constitution of the United States provide the answer for the above questions? ALL MEN HAVE BEEN CREATED EQUAL! As I have been reading through the gospels, Jesus has also made it abundantly clear. Love you neighbor as yourself. I also must credit Andy Stanley for this phrase ” look at your politics through the lense of your Christianity, not the opposite”.

Are you flying the banner of illegal immigration? How would Jesus respond? To make this clear, I am not giving an opinion of the political implications to the questions, nor siding with any one. I think Jesus looks into the heart of the person. The Jesus I read about is unconcerned with political affiliations, immigration status, criminal history, etc…. He is concerned with your heart. If He can correct the heart issue, after having an encounter with Jesus most find themselves compelled to do the right thing.

We are called to love all people! Not just our friends or people we like. What would your life look like if you could put on your “Jesus glasses” and for a moment see people though His lenses. Jesus does not see the day laborer or devout Muslim, he sees a person’s heart. He is painfully aware of their disconnect from Him and desires for them to see Him.

Here is the scary part, as a Christian we are to be the example of Christ. How is it that Christians in general have gotten this so wrong? We have a book ( the Bible ) that is the written word of God. If we turn off your favorite persuasion of news (fox or CNN or cspan….) and intently study the person and character of Jesus maybe we can form our own opinions. For so long we have allowed preachers, news organizations, friend, books to influence and form our opinions. We have the Bible, which is the largest wealth of knowledge that exists…let’s use it!

reality is the fact i have a mortgage and a car payment.  i have a wife and thee and half kids (one on the way and due in october).  i go to a job every morning to earn a living and accommodate our lives…school supplies, clothing, food.  reality is also that we are trapped in a prison of our own design, fed by the desires of our souls.  right now with finances the way they our, you learn to put away desires you would normally satisfy.  right now i would love to be relaxing watching some tv and enjoying an ice cold beer.  not going to spend the money on the beer, and my wife is watching “sisterhood of the traveling pants 2″.  before i go on, i will say i would not change my life for anything.  i love all my girls more than anything, and would not change my life for any amount of money.  but i will say this.

dream is in my heart.  the things i want to do, the places i want to see, the people i want to help.  the prison i am trapped in (debt, stuff, etc.) is of my own creation.  as i read about west africa, darfur, north korea, iran…those people are trapped in a prison they did not create.  as a free american, i have the choice to tear down my prison and live a different way.  i am blessed with creativity and opportunity.  i am surrounded by people of influence.  i am writing a blog that can be seen and accessed all over the world.

as i sit and write again, as i pick the dusty book off the night stand, the more i realize how short and fragile this life is.  we can’t sit around and complain and wait for the end, we need to be doing.  we are not called to commiserate about society and how terrible things are, we are here to create change.  even if that change is in our own family or co workers or circle of friends.  we can sit around looking for some deep “calling in our lives”, but while i seek that…life just passes me by. 

we have to get up and do something, not add another line to the prayer list (be honest, who really has a prayer list, but it sure sounds good in small group!).  start tomorrow…what can you do different?  we can talk about change or we can be change?

which one are you?

“…and i told myself boy away you go, it rained so hard it felt like snow…everything came tumbling down on me…in the back of the woods in the dark of the night…paleness of the old moonlight everything just felt so incomplete…dreaming of revelry…”

as irony would have it, i picked up an old copy of relevant magazine and there were kings of leon on the cover.  it looks like these guys do have some religious persuasion.  his father was a traveling evangelist, that later walked from the ministry, began drinking heavily, and left his wife.  the three brothers in the band had no musical influence, and hit the scene six years ago.

go and read romans 7:19-25.  i think this song could be there take on this scripture, because it is eerily reminiscent.  paul writes that he decides to do good and yet he does something bad.  he writes saying that “parts of him covertly rebel, and just when i least expect it, they take charge” (the message version).  do you feel that way?  i walk into work deciding to change my attitude, as i walk in the door i hear of another stupid thing that has happened…you see where that is going.  as paul walks down the road of his writing in that portion of scripture he is venting his frustration with himself (my theology, you are welcome to disagree) in the first five chapters…and then the glorious chapter 25 comes.!!!  paul says “HE (Jesus Christ) acted to set things right in this life of contradictions…”  He knows our pain and frustration, He also knows we can’t do it.  we can try to live holy and just, yet our very heart and mind will fight the very freedoms we seek through Jesus Christ.  we can live this life of contradictions with our heads held high, knowing that our day of perfection will come!

i don’t know if there are any “kings of leon” fans out there, but these guys are great (a band by the way).  on my way home tonight i was listening to their new album, “only by the night” (thanks lopez!), and i ran into a song called “revelry”.  this will be a two part blog about this song.  read this:

“born to run, run like a stream down a mountain side…with the wind in my back i don’t ever even bat an eye…just know it was you all along who had a hold of my heart…but the demon and me were the best friends from the start…so the time we shared was so precious to me…all the while i was dreaming of revelry…”

i can’t help but be captivated by that verse.  i really don’t know what caleb, jared, and matthew’s religious persuasion is, but this is brilliant.  this is what paul wrote in romans 7:19.  paul said he decided to good, but did not do it.  i decide to good, and i dream of revelry.  the chaos of life and the allure of things and the lust of the eyes are so real and tangible.  yet the small voice in the background seems so distant and faint.  but real living comes in listening and obeying that small voice…not fulfilling the lust of your heart…

in these moments of vulnerability and straying from the truth i know…the quietness of His voice speaks.  assuring me the He is there, even though i do not feel His presence.  in the midst of me wandering away, and attempting to just walk away, He urges me back.  as i begin to lend my ear, a shock wave occurs through my soul.  i am now back to writing again, although not as frequently, i am back.  at 31 years old, on the brink of having my 4th child, $31.02 in the bank He has spoken.  my hope is not in my ability to sell another car, my hope is going to be in His ability to provide.  thank you Daddy!

“trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding.  seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”                         proverbs 3:5-6

do you ever feel as if you have lost your way?  lost your sense of direction…

it has been a while since my last post.  life has seemed to speed past, and i find myself ignoring the eternal and living for the temporary.  there has been much change from finding out i am having a son to changing jobs.  all which are great things.  after six weeks of this i am coming back up…finding my true purpose again.  as i walk this bump in the road i hope you stay around.  because all good things take time, and bumps and bruises make us who we are.  from the great musician dave grohl “who’s getting the best of you’???

it has been a couple of weeks…issues with money…new job…new baby coming…wondering how life’s path brought me to where i am.  i seek peace from the only one who can provide it…i seek contentment in all the good things provided to me.  its funny though, the last three days i have been keenly aware of all the things i don’t have.  i have been the guy who wears the rolex watch, drives the fancy car…but all that “stuff” was a front for the unhappiness in my heart.  now with nothing but a citizen watch and an old honda…i have never been happier!

but something in my heart wants the stuff and the happiness…as i got in my car yesterday afternoon i was painfully aware of the stuff i did not have and my soul began to ache for something more.  my prayer now is for contentment.  i have been provided so much and His love is so good…what more is there???

some would not find my current life experience anything but joyful…yet amidst the fear of the future…the fact that Jesus Christ died to forgive my sins as well as secure my future gives me a peace that everything is going to be okay.  my fear now has changed; not for myself, but the “so called” followers of Christ that fill our church’s, cathedrals and synagogues.  i know that some will find this offensive, however Jesus himself said that it is easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.  AMERICANS ARE RICH!  don’t hate me, hate the one who said it!  riddle me this…do you live on more than $2 a day?  then by the worlds standards of living you are RICH!  i am not here to condemn, however i believe it is time for our culture to realize that we have consumed the blessings of God with no concern for anyone else. 

we have consumed our money, giving out of our abundance and not out of sacrafice, read mark 12:41-44… 

we have consumed the word of God, reading and hearing yet not putting into practice, read james 1:22-25…

we have consumed our time, between work, school, sports and all the other activities (which are not bad things of themselves) and  we have no time to volunteer, serve, or just spend time with people, read luke 10:38-42…

i am as much a failure in these as anyone who would read this.  what i write is the burden of my own convictions, so know that i am not here to judge.  my prayer is that my convictions would be contagious and other people would begin DOING THE WORD not just READING AND HEARING THE WORD!

i hope everyone enjoyed their easter holiday!  i had a weekend filled with family and had a really good time.

i wrote a bit about the resurrection of Jesus Christ yesterday.  and now it is monday and i still can’t get it off my mind.  i believe this fact has been trivialized by the american church to long.  i will explain…  if Jesus Christ died to secure our future in heaven, then what are we so worried about today?  is home ownership important…in fact we are still renting because this is a temporary home.  the cars we drive…in fact it is transportation to get from point “a” to point “b”.  is retirement that important…because when i retire (aka die) i will have eternity to spend with my Father in heaven.  is security that important…because Jesus Christ died to secure our futures.

our purpose in this life is to serve our Master who is Jesus Christ.  we will have all eternity to enjoy the fruits of our labor and hard living we have to face today!  we should abandon living this life to fulfill our need for something that can’t be filled on this earth, and anticipate the day we get to be joined with our Father in heaven!

my question this morning is do you believe that with your heart?

on this easter morning a couple gals went to the tomb and it was empty.  the same guy they place in the tomb on friday was gone.  the guy that was tortured then brutally murdered…was gone!

i know that you believe this story in your brain but what about your heart.  the same Holy Spirit that rose Jesus Christ from the grave lives in you!  if  you believe but have not changed than this is just information.  Jesus Christ died for you!  He literally died so that you can be forgiven.  the same Holy Spirit that raised Him lives in you.  if that Spirit lives in you…then depression, worry, pain, sorrow hunger or thirst, addiction can be conquered.  Jesus did not die so we would not experience all those terrible things, He died so that when this short life is over we can experience eternity in heaven with Him. 

what are you dealing with this morning?  forfeit all of yourselves to the Jesus today and ask for forgiveness and healing.  remember the Holy Spirit lives within you and can conquer ALL THINGS!