Five to the face.

Sorry this blog is going to be a slap in the face, so stop here if you don't want to be slapped...

So our church, Northstar Church in Blacksburg, Virginia, has a new pastor. Jeff Noble came from Arkansas and has been stepping up in a big way since he has gotten here. But all the gushing and brown nosing aside... when he got here, we promptly made our motto at Northstar Church "don't go to church, BE the church." I love it. I think its great. And I hear that a lot. People come and tell me "I love that new slogan!" all the time. And I love that it will catch non-church goers off guard.

But, yes this is a big butt...after mulling it over I hate this slogan. (please continue to read, I promise I'm not bagging on Jeff) I hate it because its convicting in my life. Yes, I am employed by a church, so it should be easier for me to BE the church, and yet I still focus almost all of my energy on Sunday and not talking to my neighbors, the gas station guy or the female/male that works at the post office. I hear the slogan, see the slogan and say the slogan and do nothing about it.

I mean I can honestly say, that I am trying a little at least! I don't want to ever think that being at church Sunday morning is a check mark and I have fulfilled my "quota" for my Christianity.

And for everyone that keeps saying "ooo I love this phrase," do you? Do you like it because it is kind of a shock to see a church saying don't go to church? Or do you like it because it challenges you to be Christ like?

Thank you Jeff Noble for kicking my spiritual life in the gut and getting out of the same old same old.

My Date with Muse and I guess U2 too.

I have been eyeing this concert for quite some time. I am a huge Muse fan, and I guess it would be cool to say I went to a U2 show when I am 50 or something. But bottom line was I wanted to go. After back and forth and back and forth, I decided to live without it, because it was 2 and a half hours away and I didn't want to cancel worship practice for that selfish reason! So monday came and I had an email from one of the guys in the worship team telling me he could not make practice, three hours later 3 more said they couldn't. I was disappointed because I love practice, but then I remembered that this concert was this night. So things worked out amazingly well. And here is my time line of events leading up to the MUSE/u2 concert.

5ish meet up with my ticket bearer Mark Brewer at harris teeter grocery.

5:30ish Tag along with them go a cookout where even they don't know everyone. Oh well, I eat a hotdog and burger and get a little ancy that we will miss Muse.


6:35 really starting to get nervous that we will miss em. Check iPhone to see how long the walk is from the house to the stadium... 2 miles. Eee.

6:48 we leave, walking and sweating. Quickly realizing how much I hate food and how much I need to use my gym membership.

7:10 still walking, glance down at phone to see what time it is. But I can see the stadium and I don't hear anything, that is a good sign.

7:23 get in, immediatly walk past first security and get to the 100 dollar seats, Muse immediatly begin to play, like they were just waiting for me, Mark and Rachel follow me to our stolen seats. Stay there for just 1 song.



7:35 watch the rest of muse standing where are seats are. Flat out best band of musicians in the world. I'm totally serious. Better then the album. Awesome.

8:07 muse ends I shed a tear.



8:20 Looking for ways to sneak down to the stage. Not because I am a die hard U2 fan, but because I love doing that. Don't ask me why. I put a plan together in my head that involves crawling under the temporary aluminum stairs when it gets dark so that the security don't see. but I my luck was much better then that because.....


8:36 I find a blue wrist band, so I just walk down to floor seats. Absolutely hilarious. I feel like i am awesome right now.
(compare previous picture to this one, i moved 100 yards closer. proud.)


9pm Bono and the rest of u2 appear on stage, Bono appears to be doing some sort of air wheelbarrow move. Ladies beside me keep yelling the F-word followed by, one was followed by..."I would so lick his toes" they are both in their late 40's

9:03 weed is lit up to the right of me.

9:15 now lit up to the left

9: 20 convinced that if I was to undergo a routine drug test I would probably fail.

9:25 Beautiful Day comes on and people freak out like they just saw Jesus in the clouds. Me, excited? Yes, but I already peed my pants for Muse.

9:45 Because U2 has already played my favorite song, and I know "where the streets have no name" will be late in the concert if not an encore. I begin to direct my attention to the drunk/crazy fans. the next 2 videos will depict them...


I leave early because I want to sleep in my own bed, and be functional at work in the morning. Yes, I left U2 early, probably 40 minutes early and would do it again, Because Hysteria and Knights of Cydonia were the high point in my night. I heart you Muse.

Thank you LaRae for making it possible for me to go! I love you

Welcome Back.

Wow its been a while since I was free and able to just write some stuff. But here I am. I first wanted to point out a video that was brought to my attention last night at the College Bible study. To be honest its pretty gay, but reminded me of my college spring breaks and I think I would have made this video with my best friends a couple years ago.


This is a short one, just wanted to ease myself back into the blogging world.

MJ.

Well the king of pop is dead. And he left behind a legacy of shuffling backwards, a history of crying/fainting fans and questions about his private life.
I must say that being a music lover it is unbelievable what Mr. Jackson accomplished in music. He was worldwide before the internet. How? It seems now that that would be just impossible. He basically invented the music video, really they are all just ridiculous.
All that being said, the way that America and a lot of the world celebrated him in death really made me nauseous. Not because they celebrated him to much, 750,000 people paid their respects, over 100 news outlets, 3200 cops and traffic jams galore, all for Michael. They said it was the biggest event since the '84 olympics.
What made me feel a little sick is that the way these fans celebrated Michael is sometimes more then I celebrate the creator of the Universe.
Follow me on this... If we want to reach lost people, and those same lost people love something/someone (in this case Michael Jackson) more then WE love Christ, they are just going to laugh at us. They know what true love and worship is - its spending time with that thing and knowing everything you can about it. They would question your belief structure by thinking if they really love this Jesus they would know the things he talks about, they would spend time with Him because they want to, they would brag about him to people every chance that they got. After all, Jesus created Michael so how much better is HE then him?
Salvation is not earned by works, obviously, thats what makes it the gospel (good news). But if we are acting like Christians we will be doing good works, I should be the best I can be 24/7, because I will show Christ to every single person I come in contact with.
We as Christians should really stick out, sometimes like a sore thumb. The gospel is supposed to be offensive. It says we are all sinners, that we aren't perfect and we are not good enough to save ourselves. Its also offensive cause there is no real gray area. You need Christ in your life or you go to hell. It doesn't matter how good of a Buddhist or Baptist you are, if you don't have Christ you have no shot. So I should stick out, but the catch 22 is I shouldn't walk around condemning people, I should show them love, love that they have never seen because Christ is the one that first loved. He loved us even before we loved Him. How often that simple phrase is looked over, and how impossibly hard would it be for us as humans to love someone that hated you, stabbed you in the back repeatedly, denied even knowing you at the risk of being laughed at, and made promises over and over but never kept them. I would not even be acquaintances with that person. Yet Jesus wants us and loves us.

It boils down to this, if you love something you are gonna show it, like the people did for Michael Jackson. So how are you treating Christ these days?


And just because.... This is for you

The Holy Head Nod.

This is going to be a short one, but over the past couple of weeks I have caught myself during a service nodding in an agreeing manor with someone speaking from the stage. Now, there is definitely nothing wrong with this, but in my case I wasn't paying attention. So my nodding was some habit I picked up growing up in church to appear like I am paying attention. Pretty dumb of me. Hopefully I don't look this dumb...

joy

One of the hardest things I think to do as a Christian is be joyful always. I mean it should be easy, right? Even when bad things happen we KNOW God has our back, its all a part of His overall plan. Its hard to keep out of the human cycle of joy, which I call situational joy. You are joyful according to the situation. In 1 Thes. 5:16 Paul says that it is the will of God for us to have joy all the time! No this doesn't mean you have to walk around like a beauty pageant contestant with a smile pasted on your face, or put vaseline on your teeth so you don't stop smiling big, like some cheerleaders I know do (i didnt make that up), joy is knowing that there is something better, and its really just around the corner. You may find yourself in a slump or a low place, but as a Christian there is always hope, no matter what!
Take a step back, breathe a little bit and look at the situation through Christ's eyes. Quit using situational joy and just have true joy. Its Gods will for our lives!

a tough question.

How many of the people around you will be with you in heaven? Its a hard question. And don't get me wrong, please don't go around judging if people are gonna be in heaven or not, but sadly I think it will be only a percentage of your attendance at your local church.

To switch gears just a little bit, think about Funerals you have been to. I have been to a bunch, but probably only 5 or 6 where I was actually close to the person and not just an acquaintance. And there have been times where it was some of the best worship I have ever encountered. Tears are rolling off cheeks, but there is a smile underneath the salty glare because people are so excited for the person that passed away. They are sad that they won't see that person at the grocery store, or at the weekly bridge game, but so excited and joyful that that person is in the presence of Christ. And know that they heard those words "well done.." from Christ.

Then there is the exact opposite. You knew the person and never really saw any fruit from that person, so you are really left with no hope. Nothing to hold onto. Even the pastor is searching for things to say. Those are the roughest times for a Christian I think. Knowing that there is no hope and its eternity. It makes my stomach sick just thinking about it.

So going back to the main question, how many people around you will be with you in heaven? Looking at Jesus and what he says makes it even harder. In Luke 14:27 Jesus says that you have to hate your family to be a disciple of Him. Wow, harsh. He is saying that your relationships have to be put behind Christ. Every relationship, you must love Him more then all of your friends, spouse, and even your parents! Its a hard thing. Then in verse 33 He makes it even a little tougher, by saying if you can not give everything away then you can not be his disciple. ah.

These are difficult things, it is a daily battle to put my best friends above Christ, let alone my wife. And giving away everything is something that in theory I would be willing to do, but I have never been presented with that so who knows. But if Jesus says these are the things that are requirements to be His disciple, then again ask yourself this question... how many of the people I am around you will be with you in heaven?