Paradigm Shift

This post is meant for Christians. I encourage the non-believers to read it, of course, because I want you all to know that there is someone out there who sees things your way, and wants the way the Church treats you to change.

I was speaking at some length with a very good friend of mine - indeed, he is very much like a brother to me - about spiritual walks and the like. Come to find out, he and I are in very similar places spiritually... we're both aware that we aren't 100% right, and we're both working on getting to where we need to be next.

What was interesting, though, is when we got to the subject of the church that we both used to attend. You see, there's this thing that's apparently going on there that I'm not too comfortable with, and I see it happening everywhere I go. While there's definitely been some growth (they now have a respectable building... when I attended, it was nothing more than a converted horse barn), there's a problem of acceptance.

You see, there's this huge problem with churches, anymore. They're just not comfortable. I know what you're thinking by now: "Dude has lost his mind. Churches aren't supposed to be comfortable." See, that's where you're wrong...

As a rule of thumb, Christians aren't perfect. We're just forgiven. I know that sounds arrogant, and I apologize if you took it that way. But it's something that needs to be said, not for those that don't share our faith, but for us. We need a big reality check most of the time, mostly due in part to an absurd catch-22 situation that pretty much ostracizes us from the rest of the rational.

There's this core belief in Christians that pretty much goes unquestioned, and it pretty much states that the only people you should be surrounding yourself with are other Christians.

Well.... that's alright. I guess. The only problem with that is that you're effectively screwing yourself out of what you all claim is your main purpose: to win souls in the name of God so that none shall know the suffering of the sinful. This is what you are here to do, correct? To do the will of God?

Why, then, do you neglect your brothers and sisters so?

The biggest problem facing the Church right now, ladies and gentlemen, is the fact that they are simply turning a blind eye to those that aren't believers, or those who may not share the exact same way of worship as they. I might be nuts, but... doesn't this seem just a tad counter-productive, especially considering the fact that James 5:19-20 tells us the following: "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."

You are not going to get anywhere unless some things start to change. For example: Stop chastising the younger generation from associating with their age peers just because their age peers aren't believers. You are judging these people before even getting to know them or where they're coming from in their walk of life.

There is this saying that I learned while attending those "Anonymous" classes, and it goes something like this: If you constantly do the same thing the exact same way over and over again, and expect a different result each time, that's a sign of insanity.

Hmmm....

One thing that you find way too often is people using their position of a Christian to judge others and consider themselves blameless in front of those people, and sadly, that just isn't the case. It seems as if we need a reality check, Church, because these current tactics of advertising your events throughout the community and hoping that people who aren't currently members come in and see what the hubbub is about is simply not working. Saying "churchy" things to newcomers like "God has a plan for your life!" over and over again isn't working. None of these tactics are working, because they are old, and, as the wonderful Bob Dylan once said... Times, they are a changin'.

The biggest thing that is getting in our way is this false sense of the right to judge others that is being inadvertandtly instilled within us. There are many, many verses in the Bible that advise us against this course of action. For example, 1 Samuel 2:3 says "Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don't speak with such arrogance! The LORD is a God who knows your deeds; and he will judge you for what you have done." Take some time and let that sink in before I go into why that is one of the many that I have selected to warn against such skulduggery.

If you're reading this, then I'm going to presume that you let it sink in. The reason I quote this particular verse is the fact that we are, indeed, speaking down on the non-believers with arrogance. Granted, it's not intentional by any means, but it's there, and they see it. They aren't blind to it, even if you are. We seem to forget that we, ourselves, are not perfect by any stretch.

It is my belief that Satan is poisoning the Church from within. It's really the only effective way to make something like that fall apart, to be perfectly honest. I have seen it happen in person with the church that I was attending in Pennsylvania, before the supposed "elders" had their field day with the pastor. I won't get into it unless prompted, but suffice it to say, it was a perfect example of the cancer that is growing within the Church, and spreading rapidly.

It is something that is plaguing many churches across the world... and the worst part is, people don't even realize it. You wonder why your church isn't growing? The answer can be found in Luke 18:11 "The proud Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: 'I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don't sin, I don't commit adultery." There are too many supposed "Christians" that have this mentality, and it isn't right. Instead, I point you all to the same tax collector, who says his own prayer in Luke 18:13 - "But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, 'O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner."

Here's what I'm getting at: Isaiah 11:3 says "He will delight in obeying the LORD. He will never judge by appearance, false evidence, or hearsay." As Christians, it is our job to keep that in mind at all times. We simply cannot expect people to come to us, because of the sheer simple fact that it just doesn't really happen anymore. Yeah, sure, it happens every so often, but... it's not often enough that we can rely on it. We have become complacent in our battle against Satan, and even allowed him to infiltrate our ranks and start tearing us apart from within.

What I am calling for is a paradigm shift in the way that things are done. There is no reason that we cannot go to those that are suffering. There is absolutely no problem whatsoever with going to those that are without God on their turf. As a matter of fact, I find that it's far more effective than inviting them into a church where they shall be viewed as a "tax collector."

Listen: The Bible tells us that we need to go in and release our brethren from the clutches of whatever spiritual prison is holding them captive. It is our responsibility to make sure that others don't at least have a chance to hear about God's word and His desires for them. This is evidenced in Acts 5. I was originally only going to bring up a few key verses, but I'm feeling a bit of a preach coming on, as my old pastor used to say.

Taking apart the entire book bit by bit, we're gonna get to some great nuggets that's gonna tie this whole thing together. I know I've gottena bit rabbit-holed with this, but bear with me...

Acts 5:1-4 begins to tell us a tale of a man and his wife who sold their property and kept some of the money out of the profits for themselves, while lying to the disciples about the amount. I find this interesting because this is a blatant example of what is going on in the Church right now. There are people out there who are telling themselves - and each other - that they are all about saving souls in the name of God and doing His bidding, but, in reality.... they are lying about it. Whether or not they are aware of their deceit remains to be said, but in all honesty... what does it matter?

In Acts 5:3-4, Peter calls this man out on his lie. Good thing to do. It's what anybody should be doing when they detect BS, Christian or not. At the end of it all, Peter points out that dude wasn't just lying the apostles.... he was lying to God Himself. Again, I ask that any believe out there start doing some serious self-reflecting... we are all guilty of this. Every. Single. One of us.

Now, where things start getting extremely relevant to what I'm talking about here today is right in verse 7, and continues to verse 10, when the man's wife comes to see the apostles several hours later. She agrees with the deceit, and suffers the same fate as her husband, who was struck dead for what he had done.

See, this is intriguing because of the fact that not only was the original sinner punished for his ways, but also his wife, who had followed his errant ways, and even agreed with the decision. They were both struck dead, and I have this feeling that the Church itself is about to be struck dead for much the same reasons... lying to God.

Let's continue on with this little lesson.

Now, in Acts 5:11, we find that great fear gripped the entire church when they found out what had happened. Not surprising. They just got a kick in the pants about what could happen for even following the path of arrogance.

Now, it's right around Acts 5:12-13 that we start getting to the core of the problem. 5:12 states that the apostles were out doing whatever they could to shake things up and bring more people to the side of God. The exact text as it appears in the New Living Translation - with the key words in bold text - is as follows: "Meanwhile, the apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon's Colonnade."

I bolded the words "among the people" because it's extremely relevant to what I am trying to get across tonight: We cannot expect results by sitting safely inside of our church walls and expect the outsiders to come to us. God Himself saw fit to include the fact that it was only the believers who were meeting up regularly at the temple. The way it is worded leads me to believ that while they were doing that, the apostles were busy working the crowds, doing their very best to get more people to believe.

Now, it's right at Acts 5:13 that we get to the most chilling part of why I'm talking about this. "No one else dared to join them, though everyone had high regard for them."

Peter and the apostles were doing things very, very differently back in their days. The Church had its cancer back then, too. Satan will not stop with what he's attempting to do. He doesn't want us to succeed in God's will, but God has provided us with a way to move foward in a direction that is more suitable to His purposes! That way is by shaking things up a bit, and doing things differently, much like Peter and the others did all throughout Acts.

Don't worry, I'm going further into this. We're almost done. I promise. :)

While everyone was sitting uselessly inside the Temple, Acts 5:14-16 go on to encourage us to do something different, as the apostles did, and get out there and make people see what it is that we're doing. They read as follows:

"And more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord -- crowds of both men and women. As a result of the apostles' work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter's shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. Crowds came in from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed."

Where in there, people, does it say that the apostles sat in their chairs, nestled safely away from all harm and evil inside of the walls of the Temple? It doesn't. It left that specifically to those that are doing what you are currently doing now.

Alright. So. We've learned that the apostles did it back then. So what, right? Yeah, I get you on that. But here's the thing: God did the same thing for the apostles when they needed Him most. Acts 5:17-20 is all the further I'm going to go with this little missive, because I feel that's all that needs to be said about it... Again, key parts are bolded.

"The high priest and his friends, who were Sadducees, reacted with violent jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the jail. But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them "Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!"

And there you have it. God Himself is willing to walk into our prisons and set us free... so why is it that we cannot offer the same respect towards those that we claim we are charged with saving? Instead, we judge them without giving it so much as a second thought, forgetting what Christ told us in Matthew 25:36 - "I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me."

Keeping in mind that four verses later, He explains His words with "I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!"

The problem with this is that it works both ways, folks. If you are judging those that your siblings or friends or family or whatever are hanging out with because of the sheer fact that they are not exactly on par with you spiritually or they have no belief system in place - whatever the case may be - then you are doing the same to Christ Himself. Who are you to judge God? Remember what Job 21:22 has to say about this: "But who can teach a lesson to God, the supreme Judge?"

Deuteronomy 32:36 sends us a chilling warning: "Indeed, the LORD will judge His people, and He will change his mind about His servants, when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free." I'll let you take that one in.

Now, before any finger pointing is done, allow me to tell you all I am not judging you... Not in the slightest. I'm simply doing what Peter did in Acts, and that's call you all out on what you're doing, intentional or not. I know that many of your probably haven't even gotten this far, and that's fine and well by me. Just know that, in the words of John 8:15, you all may judge me with all your human limitations, but I am not judging anyone here. I am just as guilty with not being a good Christian as any of you. My flaws are open season, and while I am not proud of the sins that I am plagued by, I will own up to each and every last one of them. I am not asking you all to do anything that I myself have not done, or am willing to do.

I had a great closing to this all typed out and on my computer clipboard, but it appears as if the Cut function ate it instead of doing what it was supposed to do. Ah, well. I do believe that the point has been driven across.

I bring up all of this not to make you all feel ashamed... only to show you where you are erring in your ways of trying to be a soldier for God. What you're doing just isn't working, and it's because of inactivity. I leave you with just one last group of verses, and then I will close it all out. Proverbs 24:30-34 states "I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one lacking sense. I saw that it was overgrown with thorns. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down. Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson: A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest -- and poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber."

The Path Less Travelled

The other day, I was sitting outside of my mother's house, locked out. The weather wasn't bad, which I was eternally grateful for, but from the looks of the clouds, it wouldn't stay that way for long. My mom and her boyfriend were out and about somewhere, and I had no way of getting a hold of them.

My cell phone was inside the house, along with the rest of my belongings. I didn't bring it with me, as there is no such thing as cell phone service here... only dead zones. That being said, I took a walk to pass the time, as sitting around on the front porch was getting rather boring, and quickly.

I walked down the hill to the creek that marks the end of the property. I stared at the water for a while and reflected about everything that's going on in my life, and everything that has already happened, and started looking towards the event horizon that holds the future things that will happen to me. Sometimes getting in to these contemplative moods works out rather well for me. Other times, not so much.

This time, I feel that I was very fortunate.

After becoming bored with the water, I walked a little further in to this thicket that is on the property. I sat on a rock and thought about all of the decisions that I've made in life that led me to that exact point. I can't say that I was impressed with myself.

There was something bothering me... something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It wasn't until I started my way back to the locked and empty house that it hit me. On my way back, I was presented with a choice. That choice was to move forward through a patch of foliage that was more than likely some form of poison ivy or poison oak, or go up a muddy hill and around some rocks to avoid the possible poison. I made my choice in haste, and rather foolishly.

I walked directly through the unknown foliage.

As soon as I was done, it hit me. The thing that was bothering me about my reflections; the missing link, if you will.

You see, what I realized almost immediately is that I did what so many of us human beings are constantly doing throughout our lives: I took the path of least resistance. I'm not quite sure why I did this. The nearest I can figure is that it's in our instinct to do things like this. I took the way that was easiest, and as a result, I would possibly have itchy skin and a visit to the doctors office as a way of once again teaching me about cause and effect. If I were to have taken the path less travelled, i.e. the uphill way that would have involved some relatively hard work and yet no blemished skin and even, quite possibly, a better sense of accomplishment, I wouldn't be in this situation to begin with.

Believe me when I tell you, I started getting giddy over this prospect. It wasn't long before my mind went to other areas with this new information. I made the connection to what the Bible says about taking the path less traveled, and that's why I'm here today, writing this blog.

I know that I said that I wouldn't preach at you all, and believe me when I tell you that I'm not. I'm not in a good position to preach to people.... I'd be way too much of a hypocrite. All I'm saying is that Jesus couldn't have been too far off with his advice to stick to the path less traveled. Sure, it's harder work, but.... it's what is gonna keep you safe.

With this newfound realization, I immediately set to work, thinking about all of the times in life that I took the path that was most commonly travelled, and how they all invariably ended in tragedy for me.

There was the decisions I made when it came to drugs. I had some good times, sure, but I firmly believe that because of those decisions, I can no longer realize my full potential. The decisions that I made when it came to schooling. Sure, I graduated a year ahead of my class, but... what do I have to show for that, exactly? Nothing.

Time and again, we, as human beings, are forced to make decisions. I look back at history and I see what it was that made the great people so great: they took the paths less travelled, and the results were amazing. These are the people like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and so on. Sure, these people made their mistakes in life, but they did something that so many of us - myself included - have problems doing: they moved passed their problems, and made something so much better of themselves.

And so I offer this as a challenge to all of us: at least once per month, let's make a decision in life to take the path less travelled, and see what happens. I look forward to the results.

Killing Time

The other day, I was playing World of Warcraft, and a Guildmate of mine said that he was "killing time as time was killing him." This is a concept that, I believe, anyway, escapes the confines of our conscious minds and is something that we, as humans, take for granted.

There is some terrible news that I have, and it's something that we've all already heard time and again, and yet, for whatever reason, tend not to think about. Just in case you weren't around - or weren't paying attention, for that matter - to hear it, I shall say it once again for your benefit:

You are going to die some day.

I know, I know... Shocking, right? That's just the problem. All too often, the case is that it is shocking to most people. A lot of us actively avoid thinking about the fact that we have a very limited time on this miserable little sphere that we call a planet. Instead, we make all sorts of plans for the future, securing our bank accounts, landing a job that we feel defines us as a person, etc. Hell, most of us don't even make it past our pursuit of the almighty dollar. We tend to ignore death as if it is nothing more than a fairy tale that we tell our children to frighten them into compliance with the rules.

Why, I ask, do we do this? We are all guilty of this. It's not as if we aren't reminded that our time is limited in this life on a daily basis. Not a day goes by that we don't hear of someone that we either know or admire passing away. We even hear news of the deaths of strangers. I really don't feel as if our treatment of the dead is all that respectful, either. We have really gone downhill as a society in this country when it comes to the subject of death. We have gone from revering the dead and respecting our limited amount of life to doing nothing more than allowing the passing of the living to fall through the cracks of bureaucracy.

Do you know what happens to people who die of any cause at all? After the proper authorities are notified and the body is taken off to the morgue, they are assinged a serial number. From there, the medical examiner (a glorified term for a mortician, really) has approximately 48 hours to fill out the appropriate forms for a death certificate. Yes, we need a certificate that states that we are officially dead, these days. After that, the form is mailed off to some other agency whose sole job is to mail it off to the World Health Organization. In this process, the deceased is assinged at least four more serial numbers. They lose their names, identities, and everything else that made them a person. They are no longer someone's son/daughter/husband/wife/neice/nephew etc... They are nothing more than a statistic, at that point.

This, I believe, is entirely inexcusable. We no longer fear death, and therefore categorize it as a way of rationalizing. It's a foreign concept to the lot of us. We go about our day to day lives, doing anything and everything we can to prolong them. There is at least five new diets created every day, each one claiming to be more healthy than the last, and, therefore, expanding your lifespan.

I normally wouldn't have a problem with this, but most of us are only out for ourselves. We want to be the last man standing, so to speak. Rather than using our time on this planet wisely, we splurge it all away, and for what? Honestly, I want you all to think about that for just a few minutes at the very least. What, exactly, is it that you are living for? Is it really all that worth while? Is it really something that people will talk about for generations to come?

I'm not saying that we should all strive to be great leaders and impacts on history and society. What I'm saying is that, thanks to the disregard of death, we have lost all sense of community. There are many factors that led to the loss of community and brotherhood here in America, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened with that, but I'm not going to beat a dead horse on the subject. If you honestly don't know the answer to that, then allow me to point out to you that you have at your disposal one of the greatest tools ever created to gather information, and it's literally at your fingertips right now as you read this.

Listen: I'm not here to scare you all into changing your ways. Realistically speaing, nobody is going to be able to change over night, and I accept that. What I am doing, however, is trying to redirect your thinking to another light. Consider my words here today. Stop killing time, because it's a waste. Instead, utilize your time to do something actually worth all the effort that you put into it. Make it something you can be proud of, and that others can actually respect you for. Do something for your community, or even something small and nice for your parents or significant others. Start small, and then work your way to the bigger things. It all comes in time, which, if you take what I'm saying to heart, you'll find will stop killing you if you can just utilize it properly.

Re-Awakening

Greetings, and salutations to you all!

I know factually that this blog has received absolutely no traffic whatsoever since I posted in it over three years ago. Today is the day that I hope to change all of that. Like the phoenix of legend, this blog has risen once more from its own ashes.

The blog posts will not be frequent, I am sure. They will, however, be written in such a way that they will (hopefully) invoke a great amount of thought within those who read them. The goal of these blogs is to expand horizons and open minds to new ideas. I am not here to preach at any of you, nor am I here to try and stir up controversy. Those days are done.

For those of you who don't know my name already, I am Rob. I am, as of this writing, twenty-four years of age. I like to consider myself a man of devout faith in Christ, although my actions don't always show it. I am not perfect in any way, shape, or form. I am nothing more than a sack of meat and water that is wandering about this planet just as aimlessly and cluelessly as any of you who may currently be reading this.

You see, I used to be an atheist, but I got better. That said, as an atheist, I used to read the Bible to tear it apart and use its own statements against it as a weapon of blasphemy. There were, however, certain things about it that I had liked, such as the fate of Lot's wife. Maybe I should explain.

Everbody knows about the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gamorrah. They are the two cities that Bible thumpers always reference when speaking out against homosexuality and witchcraft, and they always do it without fail. Inside of two of these cities, there was but one righteous man, by the name of Lot.

After a series of events, Lot and his family were guided from the cities by an angel of the Lord. They were told not to look back, or else God would punish them the same as He was the cities. Well, Lot's wife looked back, and because of that, God struck her down and turned her into a pillar of salt.

Before becoming cured of my affliction of atheism, I always smiled at that little story. Cruel, I know, but I just couldn't help it. In my eyes, Lot's wife was a hero of the human race. You see, at the time, it never occured to me that there was a meaning between the lines of the words. Sure, I knew what symbology through writing and allegories were, but I figured that since the Christians believed every word of this story book was absolute truth, they must think that this is what actually happened. There was no symbolism, merely words about the punishments that God gave out.

Anyway, I found her to be a hero due to the fact that what she did was a very human thing to do. While it never occured to me that she was looking back on the cities in a figurative way, I took it literally and always envisioned her turning around to look at the cities being destroyed. That was the human part of her action, and I admired her for it.

I tell you all of this because I, too, am a pillar of salt. We are all pillars of salt. And so, from one pillar of salt to many, I bid you welcome to this blog and what will hopefully be a wonderful journey down many edifying paths. I look forward to writing and sharing these thoughts of mine, and I hope that you all look forward to reading them.

Again, I am not here to preach to people about God and faith and the like. I am here to exorcise my own demons - my thoughts - because they are driving me crazy being trapped inside of my head with nowhere to go and nothing else to do than drive me nuts.

You are now entering the most prized possession that I have: my mind. You are all about to get a rare glimpse inside the Cynic.