Rob Bell - the Emo Pastor

Rob Bell.  If you are a Christian, you probably know who this guy is.  You've either read Velvet Elvis or a friend has said "Holy crap you just HAVE to read Sex God.  It's SO amazing!"  I fell into that category 2 years ago or so with Velvet Elvis.  I read it, and at the time, I thought it was amazing.  Several people I talked to warned me about some of the stuff he said, but I just wrote it off as them being "too Presbyterian" (cough...Dustin Jernigan...cough).  Then, over the summer, I read Sex God.  I thought it was terrible.  People thought I was crazy for thinking it was terrible, but I did.  And it was more than just me being cynical.  Something didn't feel right about it, and the more I thought about it, Velvet Elvis felt about the same.  So I did some thinking and some research and this is what I came up with.

Rob Bell is, at best, standing on very shaky theological ground.  I am no theological giant myself, but a lot of the stuff Bell says is just BS, and it contradicts scripture.  That's the easiest way to put it.  I don't have any exact quotes because I don't have a copy of either of his books with me, but if you've read them, you know what I'm talking about.

Here's an example:

-In Velvet Elvis, Bell talks about the story where Jesus walks on the water and Peter walks out to him.  Bell says that Peter did not lose faith in Jesus, rather Peter lost faith in Peter, which is why he sank in the water.  Peter lost faith in his own ability to walk on the water.  

The story, as told in Matthew 14:22-37, is that the disciples are out on a boat and Jesus walks out to them.  At first they think it's a ghost, but Peter calls out and says that if it is Jesus to have him walk out to him.  Jesus tells him to come on, and Peter walks out, initially believing in Jesus and his ability to let Peter walk on the water.  Then, Peter sees the wind and the waves and gets scared and sinks, and Jesus grabs him and takes him back to the boat.  Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and he sank.  This is in sync with John 15:5, which says "I am the vine, you are the branches."  This verse ends with the phrase "Apart from me you can do nothing."

According to Jesus, apart from me you can do nothing.  Yet, according to Bell, Peter had the ability in and of himself to walk on the water.  Something has to give right there.

-Bell, and the Emerging Church in general, aren't too crazy about the thought of Hell, either.  Hell, or the eternal separation of man from God, is a real thing.  In Sex God, Bell talks about Hell but he only defines it as a situation that we create on earth when we are mean to people.  Again, the Bible talks about Hell, a real place where man is separated from God for eternity, several times.  I don't know if Bell personally believes in Hell or not, but it's a pretty significant thing and it's like a heresy by omission or something.  I don't know if that's a real term or not, but it's omitting part of the truth, and that is not a good thing.

There's some other stuff too, but I don't feel like looking it up.  I don't think people should avoid Rob Bell and his books/videos/sermons, because I do think he says some good stuff occasionally, but people who read him need to do some research on what he's saying and not just accept it for truth.  He does a fantastic job of packaging stuff into a hip package that is aesthetically pleasing, and because we think he's so cool and his books are printed so uniquely, we don't look into it much.

But as with anything, scripture is the ultimate standard, and Jesus Christ is the ultimate truth.  As far as I can tell, while Bell does say some good things, he has a lot of very significant points that simply do not line up with scripture.  

My most hated cities...

So, as I was walking around in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Saturday, and thought to myself "man, I really hate this city."  Then I got to thinking about my most hated cities, which is tough because I generally like most of the places I go.  So, here is my list.  It's not necessarily in order, except that Branson holds, and always will hold, the top spot.

4. Tuscaloosa, AL. - Outside of the strip, a total dump of a city.

3. Jackson, MS. - Contrary to popular belief of Jacksonians, this is not the center of the universe, and if it were, it would be a crappy universe.  Pretty good food though - Keifer's is fantastic.

2. Starkville, MS. - I'm kind of obliged to put this here.  I really just don't care for Starkville one bit.  Except for the food.  It's fantastic.

1. Branson, MO. - The absolute worst place in the world.  I know a handful of good people that I like from there, but overall, this place is terrible.  And the food sucks.

Playing guitar

I think that playing guitar is the single most frustrating thing I do.  I pick it up, and I have things, thoughts, and feelings that I want to express, but I can't seem to make the right things come out.  Maybe it's not necessarily the guitar that's the problem - I'm not great by any stretch but I'm decent.  I know my way around chords and can do some really basic riffs and stuff, but it's just that - it's just chords.  I can play chords and things that sound like music, but I can't make songs.  And I get frustrated with just playing those chords and playing other people's music.  It's frustrating.  Have I said the word frustrating enough?  I'm sitting here with my guitar by my side on the couch, with these thoughts.  Thoughts of love, fear, frustration, and an intense desire to run away.  And I just don't know what to do with them.  I know what I want to do with them, but I I just don't have the slightest idea.  

Oh well.

A Sports Post - Ole Miss Tradition?

So, on the free message board on the Ole Miss Spirit (omspirit.com), there was a thread about basketball and I contributed.  Someone asked about the pre-game routine, and said that back in the day when Col. Reb came down from the rafters and they had the strands of crepe paper coming down was the coolest thing ever or something like that.  I said I thought Col. Reb was bush league, and somebody responded with this:

"Call the streamers and Col. Reb 'bush' if you want, but two things for sure.

1. You obviously have little if any pride in tradition as far as your Col. Reb remark"

To which I responded with this:

what do you mean by tradition?

hopefully it's my generation that is laying the groundwork for the actual "tradition" of which you speak.  hopefully it's my generation that is going to stand up and say enough is enough, we're tired of tradition being based on mascots and tailgating.  we want wins.

y'all complain and whine and cry about col. reb and "tradition but what tradition are we talking about?  my dad is almost 60 and he has a hard time remembering the "glory years" and i know nothing of any success in any major sport minus a tie for the SEC west in 2003.

so, you're right.  i couldn't care less about "tradition" especially when it's one so mired in mediocrity.  actually, to say it's been mired in mediocrity is being generous.

i want more than the grove and pretty girls.  those things are good, but when we're repeatedly getting beat down week in and week out (and then it turns into year in and year out).  i want to see ole miss win CHAMPIONSHIPS, and anything short of that is tradition i don't care about.

so, you're right.  i have no pride in ole miss "tradition" because there is no ole miss "tradition" to speak of.  i do love ole miss and do want to see ole miss have that tradition, but i want it to be something tangible.  i want it to be trophies.  i want it to be nets cut down.  i want it to be banners put up in vaught hemingway and tad smith.  not some pathetic mascot.  so if that's what you mean by tradition, then no.  i couldn't care less about it.

That was the meat of my post.  I think it speaks for itself.

One Safe Place

One Safe Place - Mark Cohn

How many roads you’ve traveled
How many dreams you’ve chased
Across sand and sky and gravel
Looking for one safe place

Will you make a smoother landing
When you break your fall from grace
Into the arms of understanding
Looking for one safe place

Life is trial by fire
And love’s the sweetest taste
And I pray it lifts us higher
To one safe place

How many roads we’ve traveled
How many dreams we’ve chased
Across sand and sky and gravel
Looking for one safe place

----------------------------

So this song kind of sums up what I've been going through lately.  Last week was really hard on me for some reason...I really had no desire to do anything at all, not academically, not socially, not spiritually.  I really just wanted to either lay in my bed and just pass the time or get in my car and drive until I ran out of money to keep buying gas.  That's always been a dream of mine...but just cutting out on everyone and everything I love without notice is just something I can't do, no matter how depressed I am or how badly I want to run.  Just can't do it.  Anyway, it was just this intense feeling of loneliness that even tended to get to me even when I wasn't actually alone.  And as always, it was a snowball effect - first it was loneliness, then it was a feeling of worthlessness.  It was just a feeling of being lost in the fold - everybody is so busy, so why would they make time for me?  Besides, I can't ask them to do something that would inconvenience them, after all...that's selfish!  These are the lies I believed last week.  These are lies I have struggled with my entire life, at least since junior high (which, I have come to realize, is a miserable period of life for anyone involved, hands down.  It's just a super lame time of life...it's like a rite of passage.)  

Saturday night was definitely the low point - after the game, I just went home, ordered food, and got in bed.  I spent the night angry with myself, angry at my friends, and angry at God for feeling like He didn't know what was going on, or worse, that He didn't care.  I just laid there and watched several editions of Sportscenter and episodes of House (yay for laptops with DVD players.  Something I've definitely taken for granted but am DEFINITELY thankful for) and then went to bed with every intention of going to church Sunday morning, but I woke up early Sunday morning feeling sick so I didn't go.  I laid awake, praying and begging God to pull me out of whatever it was...to bring my focus back to Him and away from whatever it was I was trying to gain life from.  

I heard this song somewhere in the midst of all that.  It was in an episode of house...One Safe Place.  It hit me - that's what I'm looking for.  I mean, honestly, I love the college life.  Or, I loved the college life.  It's past that time for me, but because of a boneheaded decision I made I'm still here.  Oxford is not the place for me.  I love doing Young Life here...I love my team, I love our kids...I love basketball season and football season has been fun so far, but I have to get out of here.  It will definitely be a tear-stained goodbye, but I'm looking for that One Safe Place.  It may not be a comfortable place, and it may not be a "safe" place by most standards...but I'm ready to find it.  I'm ready to find that place that God wants to send me, which may be a part of my struggle.  I want to be there so bad, but for whatever reason He has decided it's not time for me to be wherever that is.  

Anyway, that song made me think.  Then, Monday rolls around, and I can't wipe this stupid smile off my face.  I'm in this great mood, and I'd definitely have to say I was abiding in Christ and letting His life and His joy flow through me.  It was an amazing day.  Then, today, even though it wasn't a "good" day by any stretch, it was more of the same.  

And I came to realize, that for me, right now, that One Safe Place is exactly where I am, as long as I'm resting in the arms of Christ.  As long as I am seeking to allow Him to live through my life, I am in that place.  So that's my struggle...to stay here, in His arms, living life today and letting tomorrow take care of itself.  

And for those times when I (or the maybe one or two people that might accidentally read this) feel lonely, remember this:

Psalm 139:7-12

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

Even there Your hand will lead me,

And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,

And the light around me will be night,"

Even the darkness is not dark to You,

And the night is as bright as the day

Darkness and light are alike to You.

Nowhere is away from His hand.  Not even in the depths of that loneliness.

-Chanchan

Christ For President

Let's have Christ our President

Let us have him for our king

Cast your vote for the Carpenter

That they call the Nazarene

The only way 

We could ever beat

These crooked politician men

Is to cast the moneychangers

Out of the temple

Put the Carpenter in

Oh it's Jesus Christ our President

God above our king

With a job and a pension for young and old

We will make hallelujah ring

Every year we waste enough

To feed the ones who starve

We build our civilization up

And we shoot it down with wars

But with the Carpenter

On the seat

Way up in the capitol town

The USA

Be on the way

Prosperity Bound

A Music Post

So, this morning as I was making all of my message board rounds, I stumbled across something that really made me worry about the future of America as a whole.  No, it had nothing to do with sports (those are typically the message boards I read, after all).  It had nothing to do with an impending category 4 hurricane that's about to hit the Gulf Coast again.  It even had nothing to do with this upcoming presidential election.  

What I saw was...

Everlast covering Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."

WHAT?

There are some songs you can cover and get away with, no problem.  There are other songs that only the greats should try to cover.  There are some songs that are just untouchable.  And there are some artists, as a whole, who are untouchable.  Folsom Prison is one of those songs, and Johnny Cash is one of those artists.

It's kind of a disturbing thing in music these days though.  I mean, covers have always been popular.  "Hallelujah" has been covered so many times that people have a tough time remembering who originally wrote it - Leonard Cohen.  The occasional cover of an 80s song by some pop-punk band is fun from time to time.  But people are starting to cover classics - and butchering them.  "Sweet Child of Mine" and "Behind Blue Eyes" are two in particular.  The one that hurts me most, personally, is Uncle Kracker's cover of Dobie Gray's "Drift Away."  And I think the reason it bothers me is that kids now look at these songs and say "Oh, that's a Limp Bizkit/Uncle Kracker/Sheryl Crow song" instead of whoever originally wrote it.

The other thing is...it's just lazy.  When Johnny Cash covered Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt," he basically rewrote the music to the song.  In the aforementioned covers, they just play the song the way it was written, record it, and make money.  There's nothing to it - somebody else wrote it, somebody else recorded it, somebody else made it famous, so all you have to do is get on a tab website, learn how to play it, and record it EXACTLY THE SAME and you make a million.  Super easy.  

It's ridiculous, and it needs to stop!  If you're going to do a cover, at least do something to make it your own.  If not, then just don't bother.

1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. t always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

So.  This is a passage that we read A LOT, at least I have.  But honestly I've never given it much thought until recently, when I was talking with a friend.  And you know how it can be with friends, especially really good friends...they have to tell you some hard stuff sometimes.  Well this particular friend was telling me that while there are a lot of things I am good at, they all pale in comparison to love.  And I am not always the best at showing people love. 

See, I have this problem.  I believe that I am the most important person in the world.  I think this is a struggle with a lot of people, honestly, but I know I do.  I mean...it manifests itself in so many ways.  For example, I tend to get pretty agitated at Wal-Mart when the person in front of me takes too long to find their wallet or has too many items or whatever the reason happens to be.  Why?  Because I think I'm entitled to being able to get in and get out in like 30 seconds and that everyone should be accommodating to me.  I get cut off on the road and I get super pissed because I can't believe that the person driving the car doesn't drive as well as me or whatever.  Even in my joking, and my friends all know this, I can be really, really mean and just generally un-loving.  

The concept of love is something I've always been really into.  You know, caring for the poor, spreading the Gospel, ministry, all of that good stuff.  But applying that to my daily life is something that I have never been so hot at.  Proverbs 15:1 says that "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."  In my every day life, I have an opportunity to show love with a "gentle answer" or to show un-love with a "harsh word" and too many times I choose the latter because it may get an extra laugh or others might think I'm a little cooler than I actually am, even if it is at the expense of others.  

There are a couple of reasons this might happen - the first being my aforementioned attitude of superiority.  The second, I would have to say, is insecurity.  I feel that if I can prove myself better than people, if I can make myself look good or something, then I can prove to myself that I am better than someone.  

So what's the root of the problem?  I don't know for sure, but I think it has a lot to do with whether or not I believe a few basic truths about who God says I am.  Scripture says a lot about this.  Jeremiah 1:5 says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you."  Psalm 139:17-18 says "How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly.  I can't even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me.  And when I waken in the morning you are still thinking of me."  Then, a little bit later, it says "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts.  Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life."  He knows me completely.  He knows the thoughts I think, He knows what I do in my room when no one is looking, He knows what I do in public when everyone is around, He knows the words I am going to say before I say them, He knows what I feel about every situation, He knows my favorite TV shows...He knows everything.  And yet He still chooses to love me.  Ultimately, according to Romans 5:11, Paul refers to us as "friends of God."

So basically, I struggle with believing that I am actually a friend of God.  I have a hard time believing what He says about me - that in Christ, I am pure, righteous, and holy.  

I've been presenting this to God since I have been home.  And the amazing thing is that He has blessed me.  One particular instance came last Wednesday, which I guess would be August 13, when I drove up to Oxford to poke around and look for a place to live.  Heading north on I-55 I was driving in the left lane and another vehicle started pulling over into my lane right on top of me, and instead of freaking out and yelling and probably having a few choice words, I thanked God that I was safe and understood in my mind that sometimes people just don't pay attention.  That's a minor thing, and I think I still have a long way to go, but this is a process done in baby steps.  

Ultimately, my prayer is that I would see other people through God's eyes.  This, as well as loving other people, is something I can't do on my own.  But that's the beautiful thing about baby steps - as we trust God with small things, our faith grows.  My faith has definitely grown since I have been home because He has made good on His promises, and that is something that is very exciting for me.  I want to continue to grow in faith and love.

Slight Change to Operation 220

I shaved the stache off temporarily because of a few things I am going to where I need to look "nice" or something. So it's temporarily on hold, at least the stache part.

Operation 220

So, back in April I weighed myself and I weighed 270 pounds. That's a lot. So I started eating (a little...not much though) better and playing basketball a lot and then recently I weighed myself again and I was down to 239. Since I have been home, however, my eating habits have gotten horrible again and I have basically become a sloth...again...so I have come up with Operation 220. I have shaved off my beard with the exception of a terribly hideous mustache, and I will not shave the stache off until I reach 220 pounds. That's 19 more from where I was about a week ago. I have no idea where I am right now but I'd guess around 245 or so. So, there it is. Operation 220.