Porch Swing Theology

noreply@blogger.com (he's_a_fighter) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:37:00 +0000

I've taken up songwriting again lately.

I'm rather excited about it.

Does God Want To Change The World?

noreply@blogger.com (he's_a_fighter) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0000

I pose a question.

Even though God could easily change the world if He wanted to, turn it upside down(he did it with 12 men in the time of the early church), is that His plan?

Is it God's plan for the world to be changed? In revelation, it seems that He wants to eliminate it and make a new one.
Now don't get me wrong. I firmly believe that God wants to change individuals. And I also believe He wants us to be a part of that work.
But all of this "changing the world for Christ" stuff sounds more like we're trying to patch up a failing system with religious ideas. I'm not entirely sure anymore that God wants to change the world...because our current system doesn't work. It isn't in need of change or "tweaking." It is in need of being eliminated entirely.

Man is in the business of making systems.

God is(from what I have understood through scripture) in the business of making life where there previously was none.

After all, Christ came to earth...and when He did, it wasn't to get rid of their system. It wasn't to give Rome the boot. It wasn't to overthrow Herod. It wasn't even to defame the hypocritical pharisees. It was to bring us life. He said it Himself... "I have come that they may life and have it to the full." He also said that His kingdom was not of this world.
When Christ ascended to heaven, the Roman empire remained intact, the hypocritical pharisees still remained the primary religious authority in Jerusalem. What changed was not the world, it was rather the people(some of them, anyway) that were in it. These people then spread this contagious life to others. The world still continued largely as it was for a while until the integration of Christianity into the upper echelon of the Roman empire...which, let's just be honest, resulted in the collapse of their civilization...yet it also paved the way for the rapid spread of the gospel throughout the entire world.
Some, I believe, mistake this to mean that God's is interested in changing the whole world. But I say it was simply because God wanted to save many. Individuals, that is. Like you. And me. The only time Christianity turned into anything ugly is when man tried to transform it into another earthly system.

These are just thoughts of mine. Take them carefully. Don't believe something that I said without examining the facts for yourself. I could be wrong about some things.

But it is intriguing. Go check it out.

My Ugly Addiction is Uglier than Yours

noreply@blogger.com (he's_a_fighter) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:28:00 +0000

Well, actually I don't know that for certain.
But I've realized that I have a terrible, terrible propensity to sacrifice what is good for the sake of pleasing others.
Imagine that. Me, trying so hard to please others. This has been the deepest, darkest struggle of mine since I can remember. I still find myself trying so hard to validate myself through pleasing others.
Sometimes I really don't even know why I do it anymore because it doesn't make me happy.
It started as something harmless and juvenile--when I was younger, people made fun of me, excluded me. I was "the good kid" who never got the innuendos or memos. Whatever ounce of approval I could find from someone, I clung to it passionately. I was passive. Even when I was assertive(which was rare), it wasn't even because of my own convictions nearly so much as my fear of being rejected by people who might have been disappointed if I were not assertive.

To this day, I still groan over this weakness. It is far more crippling to me than anything else. It keeps me from being pleasing to God(because I'm too concerned with other, far less important matters). It keeps me from being the leader that my wife desires me to be, the leader that she has expressed her desire for me to be. It keeps me from making solid decisions. It keeps me from saving money. It keeps me from doing my spiritual work to its fullest extent.
I want so badly for you to always be satisfied with me, for you to never have a negative thing to say or a jest to point at me, I literally tear myself apart over it. I daily sterilize myself and guard myself, defend myself from every possible failure, even if it means never doing anything of consequence.

Congratulations. You have just met the real Andy Good.
What do I do? Where do I start?
I don't even know how to even begin battling this problem. I feel bound.

What Every Believer Should Believe

noreply@blogger.com (he's_a_fighter) — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:53:00 +0000

Today on another blog of mine, I got a random, rather hostile message from someone who is apparently an atheist who found my blog.
In effect, he basically said that my life is meaningless and teaching my son about Jesus would make my son's life also meaningless. He equated teaching my son about Jesus to something similar as stomping my son into dust.

I wasn't really offended, though I could understand why some people would be.
But it just got me to thinking about something rather relevant.
Scripture teaches clearly that God has a purpose for everything and everyone. Of course, He has different purposes for different things...that's another matter for another day. But what I mean to say is that the world is God's fiction. And for every character, He has a purpose.
Therefore, it should never leave from a believer's lips that anyone's life is meaningless. That is degrading to the work of God and it is a lie.

Atheism would have men argue that either everything is already meaningless(which is a self-contradiction to their argument), or that everyone has meaning unless they are religious. Then they are just cattle or maladroital mass unless they "come to their senses" and renounce our faith.
The position of atheism is a degrading one, a demeaning stance to our place as human beings.
Therefore, the position of believers should be one that brings special relevance to human beings and with that special relevance, an equally special responsibility.
Not even the life someone completely atheistic is entirely meaningless. God has a plan for everything and everyone. We may not know what it is, but He already has it set in stone. To say that anyone is without meaning or purpose is a slam against the sovereignty of God.

What every believer should believe is that every person has a place. I recognize that not all do believe this, but they all should believe it.
In contrast, the atheist tends to hold to his religion of the elite, that unless you believe their point-of-view, your life is subsequently meaningless, you serve no purpose, you do no good, you are only a wad of walking phlegm. You become eligible for social euthanization, despite the fact that you are still a human being.

I think that even if Christianity were false(which it is not), I would still choose it over atheism. I would rather live my life with optimism and joy instead of that sort of dread and cynicism.

The hope in Christianity is the restoration of man to a place of glory and closeness to Christ.
But the hope of atheism always has to do with eliminating something...especially Christianity.
I suppose if they had their wish, they would have run out of things to live for...which is a tragedy.

What every believer should believe is that even those atheists which believe what I have just stated should be treated as though they were deliberately placed on this earth by the hand of God.

Because they were.

noreply@blogger.com (he's_a_fighter) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:39:00 +0000

You know...politics never helped anyone.

To me, politics almost seems to distract from real problems that we face daily in the world.
It makes the average believer in Christ more concerned with special interest instead of serving his neighbor.

I'm so sick to death of politics. It used to infuriate me so, concern me daily with arguments, rhetorics, fighting.
I think the fact of how disappointing this term's election process has become has largely resulted in my awakening to my distaste for politics.
Politics are nothing but a fleeting sport, a game of wits and immaturity compared to the real issues which need to be addressed.

There's a single mom somewhere...let's say in Albertville, Alabama(where I live) who feels that the world is against her, that there is no possible way she could be of any consequence to anyone in this world, one who daily faces the terror that her fatherless children could grow to be directionless, affection-hungry, unable to stand up in the world.
And every day, each presidential candidate will promise this single mom that they will make her life better, less stressful, that she will be given more opportunities to reach her ideals.

It never occurs to anyone that neither one of these candidates will give this mother what she really wants or needs. Those candidates are so bound up trying to only slightly please every other interest demographic in the country, her story would get lost in the middle of all the bureaucratic bramble. They just stuff her another check in the envelope. She's fortunate to now be only 2 months behind on rent instead of 3 months.
Then the politician(regardless of party or moral disposition) pats his or herself on the back for doing such a good deed, for treating yet another struggling human being as a duck by a pond eating their hand full of bread crumbs.

Many people will hear of such problems and say that the government should step foward, be more sacrificial, more sensitive, more down-to-earth to the average American.

I say that government never has helped and never will help anyone.

Once upon a time, the church were the ones who lifted the needy out of disaster and inspired hope in them for something better.
That, to me, seems all but lost.

For the most part, the church, especially in the dirty-south "bible belt", is nothing more than just concerned constantly with yet more politics, more bureaucracy. If you don't believe me, look at the average hierarchy of leadership in denominational conventions.
Why does that even exist?
The model in the New Testament was a form of leadership that was created purely to serve the needy.
Today, church leadership, at least in general for probably about 90 percent of churches, is nothing more than a way of working more financially efficient so that they may pay off their mega-plex buildings and pointless decor.
The very existence of the church used to be based around loving God and loving others.
Now it is just another commercial enterprise wearing the suit of religion.

This may sound very dismal to some, but this is, in truth, the American church at large. It doesn't matter what the denomination...baptist, pentecostal, emergent, orthodox.

I am not against the church. Rather, I am against what the church has become.

noreply@blogger.com (he's_a_fighter) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 20:46:00 +0000

Everyone talks about faith.

"Faith this, faith that. Without faith it is impossible. Have faith trust faith. That's not real faith. Here is real faith. Let me tell you about faith. You only need a little faith. Through faith we are saved."

The question I pose to everyone is...who in this world actually truly has faith?

If the church at large had faith, marriages wouldn't be falling apart, adulterous affairs would be non-existent, priests wouldn't become pedophiles, mountains would move, people would be healed, disillusionment would be a thing of the past.

You can't tell me that we so-called believers actually have faith. We don't. We are so completely dry, and yet all the same, so convinced of our non-existent faith.

"Oh sure I have faith! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go lock myself in my safety cage...otherwise known as my house."

If it is by faith that we are justified before God, then woe is us, those who claim to believe...at least those of us who reside in the United States.
If we the church truly had faith, even just those of us who actually try, then poverty, hunger and illness wouldn't exist in this nation. But I don't believe most of us even know God.

Do I know God?

I've talked to Him. I've even answered His requests. But the truth of the matter is that my faith is rather disgustingly small, sitting on the back burner of my intentions, my mere failsafe for when all other plans foil.

Yes, if it is by faith that we are justified in the sight of God, I wonder just how many of us are justified.

Are you?

Am I?

Many will try to [justify themselves] by saying "I don't have to be a saint to make it."

You don't?

What makes you so sure? Don't misunderstand me...I know that we are not justified by works. But faith without works is stillborn...as useless as a blown fuse. It is dead. It is becoming clearer to me that the deeds we do are more than just a proof of faith...it is also a necessary trial to our faith. Just like you can't be in the army until you've been through basic.

Do you want to know the craziest part of all of this?

We don't have true, righteous faith unless God first gave it to us. Scripture states that He is the author and finisher of our faith.

What does this mean for us?

It means, ladies and gentlemen that in the face of God, we are powerless. Perhaps the only thing we can do is just be humble.
Maybe that's why Jesus, when asked for more faith by His disciples, immediately shared a parable about the servant being humble to his master. I used to never understand that, but I get it now. The only way we can have faith is if God should give us that faith. And maybe He will do so when we at last accept the fact that we are powerless, admit the fact that beside grace we are nothing more than a spiritual dog-and-pony show.

Faith isn't man reaching out to God...faith is God pulling man from the mire and melding him into a work of art, a saint, a king. And perhaps the beginning of faith is when we understand that we can attain nothing apart from Adonai.

My Anti-Foolishness Petition to Miracle Theater of Pigeon Forge

noreply@blogger.com (he's_a_fighter) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:07:00 +0000

Some of you might have heard about this ridiculous, completely pointless, unspiritual "Christian" petition going around because of what Kathy Griffin said on national television about Jesus.

This was a letter which I just emailed to the people of Miracle Theater in Pigeon Forge, the place where this petition generated.

Sheria and I are both outraged by the complete waste of time and energy shown by Miracle Theater in creating this petition. It proves nothing, and it helps nothing. The poor representation of Christ they seem to be showing the world is that he is a defensive little juvenile who stirs up a bunch of whiners every time someone disagrees with Him.
Which of course is the opposite of the truth.

Here is what Sheria and I wrote to Miracle Theater.

___________________________________________________

We are both firm believers and followers of Christ, and we are both very upset at your "enough is enough petition. Here is why.

Romans 12:14
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

John 15:20
Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

Matthew 10:23a
When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.

Matthew 5:44
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Matthew 5:10-12
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

You need to understand something, we are not up against hollywood, we are up against satan. Atheists aren't the enemy, Kathy Griffin is not the enemy, liberals are not our enemy, not even blasphemers are our enemy. Our enemy is satan, and I assure you that this ridiculous gesture is going to do nothing but aid satan. This is clearly something that was done in an attitude of nothing more than anger. This is a juvenile, spastic attempt to shoot the enemy buy spraying bullets around a bunch of innocents. Stop this foolish, arrogant charade. If you have an ego to be damaged by what Kathy Griffin, a likely non-believer, said on television...or anyone else for that matter... you need to re-evaluate where your faith lies. If you're looking to make some nice, flowery, "Jesus-over-easy" life in his world, then that is all you will receive. Get your head out of the garbage and remember what you're hear for...not for protests or ridiculous grandstanding against politicians or atheists. This about us truly living and showing others how they too can truly live...which is through Christ. Stop acting like children, trying to squirm out of the suffering, attempting to argue criticism. God is not mocked by this. These people who try to mock him don't even know what they're doing, they don't even know their right hand from their left...and we would be the exact same if Christ has not saved us.

Straighten up and fly right, for lack of a better word. These people haven't made a mockery of Christ, you are making mockery of Christ and His teachings by circulating this petition.

Thank you.

________________

So there you have it folks. It was a little rough with some typos because I typed it very late last night, but you get the gist of it. This Miracle Theater petition hooplah that has been created of Kathy Griffin's speech(which she said herself, by the way, was entirely for attention) just goes to show that the church at large in america wants to be of this world and still be of Christ, so they get angry and childish every time the world rejects them while they are completely oblivious to the fact that they are trying to serve two masters. Then they convince good, outstanding people that they are "apathetic" if they don't sign this petition, which is ridiculous and angering to me.

My Dear Son. My Dear Typology

noreply@blogger.com (he's_a_fighter) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 01:27:00 +0000

Today, my son was really upset, crying as we were unable to please him. We were busy cleaning the house because we're soon going to be moving into a two-bedroom. There was much to do, but before I got too involved, I wanted some time on the porch swing outside for silence, to think, to meditate, communicate with God.
I remembered how much my son likes to be outside and how he loves the porch swing, the wind on his face. I offered to take him with me because I was certain that it would calm him down.
As soon as I picked him up in my arms, he stopped crying, glancing around interestedly as though suddenly the world became a much happier place. I walked with him outside and sat on the swing. The fall weather was beautiful, sunny but pleasant with several amiable clouds overhead. It seems in fall everything is busier. People preparing for the holiday season, getting back into the pattern of school, exams, long hours at work. Even nature seems busier with all the changes, all the hornets and bees scampering around as though they were gathering a harvest for winter.
But for me autumn is a time where I begin to feel at rest. And it is also a time of beauty, a time of beholding, of change, of the lessons of seasons which God is flannel graphing in front of us.
I sat on the swing and just listened, taking in the air, the sounds, the distant noise of clamorous golfers at the country club down the road from our apartment.
I began to listen to my spirit. Some readers might immediately stop and roll their eyes. I suppose that is expected since such an action seems rather mystical or weird, but I believe this is an action which is used more often than perhaps many of us think. I believe, for example, that we listen to our spirit when we are moved to compassion toward another. Or when, perhaps, we refuse to take the easy way out in a love relationship with someone. It is something that is higher than even reason, it is a voice of right. It might be said that this voice is all but silenced in someone who is not a believer, but that is another discussion for another time. My point which I wish to make at this time is that I was listening to my spirit. My spirit is basically, for those who may be wondering, quite simply just the voice of God. I began to fill my thoughts with things I have only imagined, about things that are to come for me. It began to be a rather meaningful moment for me when suddenly I looked down and saw that my son was asleep. But not just snoozing, he was sound asleep. A train wreck could not have woke him. He felt safe and at ease in my arms. At that moment, something whispered in my thoughts, "This is where you are."
I felt safe. I felt peace. I began to realize that even though I was not physically resting within the arms of my Father in heaven, my heart and mind were at rest in Him. I felt close to something, to someone.
I began to understand that all my struggles were not meaningless, all my hopes and fears were not trivial. My life has meaning. I may not entirely know what that is, but I have caught glimpses. One glimpse is the image of my son resting against my chest lulled to sleep by the autumn breeze.
I glimpse it again in the way that I watch my wife right now trying to put him to bed as she sways back and forth singing softly in his ear while holding him tightly.
I glimpse it again when I write a song which grabs me by the soul and I didn't even yet write the words. All these things might sound so dramatic to some, but these things are things which I find beautiful. There are many more things of course which I find beautiful, but this is what was given me today.

Explanation...

noreply@blogger.com (he's_a_fighter) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:45:00 +0000

I currently already have a blog at http://www.xanga.com/airforcejim . But then today I realized how incredibly much cooler this blog site was.

My purpose for this site is not really far different from my other one. It is a place where I record my thoughts, ponderings, discoveries, failures, triumphs and most especially my journey as a believer in God's son.

Why the name? Sounds a little simplistic, eh?
Well, I named it this because sometimes God has caused me to realize the most profound things while I just sit on the porch swing and think. Sometimes we have our most profound moments when we are completely still and all that remains is the whisper of God.
Sometimes it is in simplicity that we can identify the fingerprint of God.

I have been married for a year and almost three months and I have a son who is three months today.

I'm not into "church" very much, at least not the way that most people are in America. Church as they do it here is often just a stage where people are coaxed into acknowledging God. I'm looking for real belief though, not the so-called american dream mixed with watered down theology. The truest example I have seen of a true believer has lately been a man out west whom my younger brother has been supporting, a man who deliberately became homeless for the sake of Christ. This nation clings so tightly to their possessions, most do not have the courage to do such a thing. I desire faith like this. I am not content to simply attend church, strum a guitar, listen to a sermon. I want to live life, and live it entirely different than most people consider living.

I want to know Christ and in the fellowship of His suffering. Who knows what I will encounter on that journey?