Just somethin to believe in

Today I saw a bumper sticker that said,

"Kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us."

and I thought, "wow, what a great example of a truth that misses the point"

I guess we all just really want something to believe in and be passionate about. It's sad when that something is just some thing.

Begone, Rationalizations

A thought just popped into my head.

To not make sense is quite literally to be ungodly ... to be the opposite of Godlike.

How did you possibly get to that conclusion? and why did it work?

Life is so complicated sometimes. As an analytical person, I'm amazed at the certainty with which non-analytical people make life decisions, or even come to conclusions. On one hand, it can seem shortsighted to make big decisions without sifting through the various facts or potential consequences. On the other hand, I sometimes admire the seemingly whimsical nature of how they make decisions. Sometime I get into an analysis paralysis of sorts.

Everybody is different, and would it be fair if people who's brains simply weren't analytical made poorer decisions in life? We all have different giftings, different ways of thinking, different strengths and weaknesses. I guess the key is to use these to the best of your ability.

After all, weren't we made to worship?

"Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise"

4% ... you're welcome

I'm in a class this semester that assembles a group of other engineering majors to work on a real project from a real company. My group's project is based on looking into alternative options for a current process that's in place by this company for fixing something. Yes I'm being vague on purpose. After a few months of doing research, calling different companies, testing different options, writing reports, etc. what do we have to show for it? Well, the most conclusive thing we have is an option that improves performance by something like 4%.

4%

Sure the problem is more complicated than I'm making it, but it's also a lot more specific than I'm making it.

I don't know if I can spend my life trying to make some super specific operation 4% better without thinking of it as a means to an end. I don't know if I can spend a huge chunk of my waking hours working as a means to an end. That sounds awful. I want to believe in what I'm doing... is that really too much, or too idealistic a thing to ask?

The class next semester will continue our project, so maybe something we started will end up as a viable option. And maybe what we've done will result in saving the company money over time. That's all well and good. But looking back, it feels like a giant waste of time to present to this company all that we've done and basically just be saying, "well, here's 4%, you're welcome company".

oh yea, and turns out our extra 4% solution probably won't be used because it takes too long... great

Do your thoughts ever just stop in the m... or change instantly?

"Curious lives grow up to be so serious"

Do we get boring as we grow up? Children do what they want when they want. Their curiosity and sense of adventure drive them. They can't sit through 2 hour long movies that you have to pay attention to to understand. As we grow up do we just gain the ability to focus? Or do we feel the need to be respectful with our attention?

I occasionally change the subject on a dime... it seems to bother people. That one I'm still figuring out.

Adults have attentions spans something like 20 minutes long. The efficiency driven world we live in doesn't really allow for a 20 minute long attention span. Think about your work hours. The way industries work ARE good for the whole efficiency approach, but I wonder if the efficiency approach is good for people.

"Letting it go", or storing it in the back of our mind?

Why do we fear confrontation and being straightforward? Is it fear of offending someone? fear of being proven wrong? Fear of exposing our feelings? Maybe

Sometimes letting go of an issue is the best route, but when things actually matter, why do we shy away from confrontation?

We often let our fears overcome the downsides of confrontation. Why is it so horrible to be direct with people? To let them know how you feel and why you feel it. Why can't we just man up!?

When we hide our feelings we often decrease communication and general understanding, increase bitterness, and don't solve anything. As an introvert, I understand this well.

Some people don't take hard truths well, but that shouldn't stop us from being honest in a caring/loving way. Understanding is so great and without it so many stupid and unnecessary things happen.

"Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding"
~Einstein

Without being open with each other and trying to understand where other people are coming from, we greatly hinder the growth of our relationships. We can even ruin relationships this way.

Ever heard of Jesus? He certainly didn't hold back. Why should we?

Too much thinking!!

As much soul searching as I accomplish while being a super reflective introvert, I often wonder if the self-focus eventually becomes a spiritual hinderance.

What's in a refuge ... salvation

God is our refuge. I never thought too hard about that until recently. Where do we go when the world has turned on us? We take refuge in the Lord.

Sometimes we feel bad for praying only when trials come our way. We should be praying daily, absolutely. But if God is our refuge, he is who we go to when we feel exiled in this life.

This refuge is a salvation. God offered salvation before Jesus. It wasn't the same kind of salvation, but it shows us God's unchanging character.

When all feels hopeless, seek refuge.
When everything begins to feel like abandon, seek refuge.
When you're lost in a forest of confusion, seek refuge.
When you see a world socially mimicking entropy, seek refuge!!

 ~~ Exerpts from Psalm 71 ~~
"you are my rock and my fortress"
"you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord"
"you are my strong refuge"

It's not really an original idea - saving the world - unless you ignore reality

Why is it that video games can be so appealing and captivating? The idea of being immersed into a world of struggle for good and evil, the chance to save the world from the evil whatever trying to destroy it, the chance to have courage in the face of potential doom … Those are often my reasons at least.

What I don’t get is this: those reasons are only different from reality if you choose to ignore the realities of the world we live in.

This world, this life, everyone is constantly either in a state of tension, struggle, battle, or in a state of being manipulated and controlled. Satan is described in John (14:30) and the prince of this world. If you choose to be passive, to indulge in the enemy’s “logic”, or be ignore the important things in life, you might not be in a struggle. However, you’re just another puppet of evil. Just on of those random nameless bad guys in the video game that simply do what they’re told.

There’s so much about God that isn’t understood by so many people in this world. What’s that tell you… there’s so much good missing in the world! We have a chance, in THIS life, to be that RPG hero who does good and saves live. And it makes a world of difference! Why would anybody ever choose to help a cluster of pixels over a person? Why sop there? Why is watching a movie, reading a book, watching TV occasionally more appealing than the real world of real issues that we live in?

Ignorance is bliss, but the truth shall set you free

Have you ever not taken a stance on something? Was it because you don’t want to upset somebody or because you didn’t have enough information? God clearly doesn’t like it when people are lukewarm (Rev 3:15-16), but God also doesn’t like it when people say something that isn’t true (too many verses to quote). So what can you do?

I suppose there are several factors that should be considered.

Is it important? This may be the most important factor. I doubt God would condemn someone for not taking a stand on whether or not pop-tarts are better than toaster strudels. On the other hand, people constantly don’t take a firm stand on God. There are regular churchgoers who don’t know what the bible has to say and therefore can’t and don’t stand up for God when his statutes are challenged. Many people are more willing to take a stand on politics than the creator of the universe… now that’s just a priorities issue.

Are you informed? If you don’t know which side to take should you take it? Honestly, I’m not completely sure. I often don’t take a stance if I don’t feel adequately informed. This reduces the frequency with which I am wrong, but it also leaves a lot of missed opportunities to help bring others (and myself) closer to the truth. That’s why I ask questions more often than make statements. This matter is worth looking into.

Continuing on the “are you informed?” question, maybe the solution is tobecome informed. This of course should be measured against the first question, “is it important”. Is it important to be able to hold your own in a debate over the best guitar between a les paul and a strat? That’s never terribly important. Is it important to have a well thought out and researched belief on whether or not Jesus is who he claims to be? It’s impossible for that to not be important to any single person. Because the outcomes of what you believe about Jesus have enormous impact on all aspects of your life.

I suppose it all boils down to a process… is it important? If yes, educate yourself. If no, then you can educate yourself if you wish, but it’s not necessary.

Whatever you believe about God, life, and everything, don’t settle for a half baked opinion. Find out the truth, ask around, read some books. If it’s impossible to ever fully understand God as a human, and what you believe about God is of critical importance, then we have no excuse to be uninformed. Ignorance is bliss, but the truth shall set you free.

Age is a factor in wisdom, but i doubt it's proportional... or an equation

Something that really frustrates me is that everyone treats everyone else based on their age (among many other things). We can’t help it. You see a 13 year old boy and figure he’s starting to find his little social niche, going through puberty, and starting to realize that his dad is sooo lame. That may be overly specific, but we still treat people differently based on their age. What bothers me is when people assume that someone’s intelligence and wisdom is proportional to their age.

I’ve noticed quite a few people about a generation above me who don’t seem to challenge their beliefs. They seem satisfied with what they know, and will often argue to defend it, but they rarely seem willing to be wrong. Well that seems odd… in the long run, those unwilling to be wrong will end up wrong more often because they refuse to learn. That’s why I always chuckle in my head when I hear something about “the woman is always right”. Older people will naturally be wiser than younger people, but we never gain all the wisdom in the world, so why stop learning?

There’s so much to life that’s easy to miss in our society! It’s so easy to get caught up in your work, family, politics, school, whatever. But if you choose to stop seeking wisdom, you end up being a 25 year old kid in a 50 year old body with a lot of junk rattling around your brain.

It’s okay to admit that you’re wrong, and I would even say that it shows maturity and humility. Plus, then you learn! Also, challenging your beliefs and others’ leads more quickly to understanding than most (if not all) other methods.

I’ve decided to put a serious amount of effort into making sure that I’m never content with whatever “wisdom” I contain at any point of my life. Knowledge and understand are such valuable things, we can’t afford to ignore them while we’re busy teaching the next generation to fall into the same patterns.

“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ~John 8:32

Balance? Duality? I prefer greys

A beautiful balance must exist between hope and action. Between prayer and intention.

If I pray for patience, and expect to magically become patient, I’m not sure I’m praying with the right intentions. With that attitude, I’m wishing for a quick fix. I doubt God would be so willing to give a man patience who won’t intentionally practice patience in the face of frustrations. I also feel like God is upset when somebody won’t go to Him in prayer because he wishes to do it all himself.

Maybe it isn’t a balance. Maybe there’s a right way to go about prayer, and many wrong ways.

Maybe the solution is simply to hope with confidence, in faith, to pray with intention, doing all you can to see your hope realized, while always trusting that God is faithful.

Throwing Jesus at the wall, maybe something will stick

A common idea amongst people today is that you’re a good person if most of what you do is good, or if your good deeds outweigh your bad. Any christian, spiritual toddler and above, should be confident in saying, “that’s not exactly how it works”.

I wonder if this applies to evangelism as well. Is it good to do street evangelism if you know that some of the people will be farther from God because you reinforced their view of christians as self-righteous or judgmental?

Most, if not all, people in America already have some opinion on christianity. If I introduce someone who doesn’t know anything about Jesus to the gospel message, wonderful. They may not believe it right away but they’re closer to understanding it. If I try and share the gospel message with somebody in America, given that they probably already know what they think about christianity, I risk them boxing me into “one of those preachy christians”. I’m not mad about someone judging me for my beliefs, that happens. I wonder, though, if it’s a poor decision to try and witness to someone who I don’t know too well. If they’re curious and asking about Jesus, wonderful. If I’m roaming the streets with a bible, tie, and a smile, searching for my next target, I could very well reinforce someone’s negative views of christianity.

Ideally, we’d all witness to our friends and street evangelism would be unnecessary. We could talk about God knowing what our friends believe or don’t believe. And they would know who we are, and more importantly, what we’re like. Living like Christ can add a lot of power in conversations with people.

The world is not ideal though, so street evangelism seems appealing when you count a conversion as +1 and anything else as +0.

I can’t say I definitively know how evangelism should or shouldn’t be done, I just wonder if there’s a better way to do it. Maybe street evangelism is a good thing, regardless of how many people got closer or further from true understanding of God. Maybe..

But what if we went out and simply loved and served people? What if we lived out loud instead of force feeding people something they may or may not enjoy the taste of? There are churches and organizations that do this, and I think it’s wonderful. NYCUP (New York City Urban Project) is a project run by Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, and the people running it understand what it means to love your neighbor. They feed, love, serve, etc all the homeless people in the area, and as a result they get to share the gospel message. This has lead to countless lives changed for the better. Many people have chosen to follow God with their life. I believe this is evangelism as it should be.

What if the church aimed at loving and serving people instead of choosing which funeral to protest? What if the church stopped throwing Jesus at the wall to see what sticks?

"The devil is in the details". true? sometimes. this case? probably

People can be very particular about musical worship. People complain about things like distortion on guitars being distracting, worship being too showy, hymns being boring, and how contemporary music tries too hard to resemble the world. Are they right? Are they wrong? Is that even the point?

Doing what’s good or right isn’t always easy, in fact, it’s often difficult. If someone said “well, I would be nice to him except he’s being so stubborn!”, you wouldn’t think, “fair point”. Instead, you might think something like, “we’re called to love one another, enemies included!”

It honors God when we follow the example set by his son Jesus, just as it honors God when we worship him. You might even describe living your life according to His word worshipping God with your life.

That comparison being made, is it fair to say that we couldn’t enjoy a worship service because of (insert nitpick)? Are we being completely truthful if we say “it was too distracting and I couldn’t worship”? Or are we just unwilling to worship in the midst of discomfort?