Voices

This is the deal. This is what we should be about. All of us. Ironically, this is what the church SHOULD have been about and now the very people they vilified (Hollywood, entertainment industry) are doing what the modern day church should have been doing all along. And you tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor!?!?

Grand Theft Jesus: Part 2

There was another thought that Robert S. McElvaine unpacked that got me thinking. In his chapter "All About Eve" he explains the story of Adam and Eve as a metaphor for the transition that humans went through as a hunter-gatherer community into an agricultural community. I never have heard this explaination before but it was facinating to say the least and made me take a look at the first few chapters of Genesis a little differently.
Here is where I have to disagree though. The story of the Fall is not a diatribe against the female/feminine. Whether you want to take this story literally or metephorically, I believe that the main emphasis is on the separation that occured between God and the human race. A careful reading of the text in no way vilifies Eve over Adam. And shame on those who have demonized women over a misunderstanding of this text. The entire human race is separated from a Holy God because sin infected that relationship, as well as the relationships between humans.
Now throughout the book McElvaine seemed to have a real problem with this concept of sin infecting the human race. How an when is this "sin nature" passed on? I don't think that there is some "sin" gene or something phisiologically that we can point to. But I can tell you as a parent, that in the simple act of raising children, I have been able to observe this sin nature first hand. I promise you that I have never taught my kids to cheat, lie, steal, be mean to each other, be selfish, etc. Really, my kids are great kids! But in parenting I always have to use discipline, guidance, advice and boundaries in order to bring out good behavior in them. Strangely enough, that does not come natural for them. I really wish it did at times! And to let my kids off the hook a little, I know this to be true of me too. Left to my own devices, it comes naturally to want to do things that are wrong. It takes courage, integrity, prayer, discipline and character, with Jesus Christ as my focal point, to strive to live how Jesus calls us to live. And when we come into a new life in Christ it is never meant to be with an attitude towards others as if we now have bragging rights to heaven as we look forward to everyone elses demise. On the contrary, we should be so consumed with the love that God has for us that our lives become a shining light to others in a way that they too are attracted to the light. If we understand the heart of God towards the human race we must be compelled to love deeply all people everywhere sharing our lives with them so that they experience God's extreme love through us.

Grand Theft Jesus: It is Time for Us to Reclaim Our Faith from the Jesus Thieves!

Ever since I was a Junior in High School I think I can say that I have had a really hard time over several decades with what is associated with Christianity when it comes to what you see on TV. I thought that Jim and Tammy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggert and Jerry Falwell were such a strange brand of Christianity that really made wanting to be a Christian actually difficult to do. But it appears that not much has changed as we still have over-the-top spokesmen for the Christian faith who make the rest of us look, well, bad! Many, many times over the years I personally wrestle with whether or not the American church has completely missed the mark of true Christ-like faith. With many of the experiences I have had over the years I wonder why it is that we have created a Christian ghetto by pulling out of the culture in the 20th century and creating our own little (very bizarre) sub-culture; why we think if we just get the right people in politics all will be better (Bush proved that theory wrong even though I think Gore and Kerry would not have been better. They were their own worst enemy.); and why there has become an air of arrogance as certain evangelicals manipulate fear for their own self-interests (end times theories, the homosexual agenda, the Operation Rescue side of the anti-abortion groups, etc.).
Then along comes Robert S. McElvaine with his book "Grand Theft Jesus: The Highjacking of Religion in America." Although I do not agree with everything that McElvaine says in his book, he did push me to see how far the modern day church has gotten from the real teachings of Jesus in their pursuit of a form of Christianity that is more influenced by our own materialistic, consumer culture and Constantinian influence for power. I am truly afraid that the modern day church has gone so far off of the mark that we have more in common with WalMart than that of Jesus Christ. In fact, I even wonder at times that if Jesus did return today, how the church really would respond to him or maybe how Jesus would really respond to the current church.
One of the highlights of this book is when McElvaine brings out the example of the Amish response to the senseless mass murder of their own people. They immediately forgave, like within 48 hours of the actual murders. This is one of the most amazing modern-day examples of real hard-core faith putting into practice the teachings of Jesus.
I had to disagree though on McElvaine's belief that all religions are essentially the same. I know that pluralism is becoming more and more popular and if you look at all religions on a surface level it is easy to assume that all roads lead to the same God. This is what stops me from going down the road of pluralism: the cross. This is the crux of Christianity that Jesus had to die for our sins to conquer death and provide a way for his righteousness to cover us and bring us into a right relationships with God, AND transform us to be more like Christ. Now, if there were many other ways for people to get to God then what logical sense would it make for Him to have his Son crucified for us. If there was just one other way to God then this path that Jesus took would seem to come from a barbaric, evil and sadistic God. Why would He have his Son crushed on our behalf if there was another way? But if Jesus is the only way then we see a beautiful picture of a God who loves us so much that He sent his one and only Son so that we may have life through him.
McElvaine rightly asks the question of what is this new life in Christ supposed to look like? This is a good question that I believe the church needs to spend more of it time unpacking. I have grown up in churches that have placed such a high priority on evangelism that we have forgotten what it really means to be a follower of Jesus. In fact, I have always argued that if we discipled people into being Christ-followers in their day-to-day lives, evangelism would happen naturally without us having to create programs to "share our faith". Our own lives would reflect the teachings of Jesus in such a way that our actions would speak louder than our words! Discipleship is truly a lost art in many American churches. It is time we stop defining ourselves by what we are NOT and begin to simply follow the teachings of Jesus and living them out in our day to day lives. And I don't mean living them out at church (although that may be a good start) but in our families, in the workplace, in our neighborhoods, and around the world.

Man asks people to pray for rain during Obama's DNC speech

I find it very ironic, almost humorous that this Conservative, evangelical group has the audacity to make a commercial like this against their opposition in light of the present day results. Obama had amazing weather for his equally amazing final day at the DNC. The RNC is crippled because of a category 3 hurricane. Now if I follow Dobson's logic that God will speak through the weather, well then these evangelicals need to do some serious soul searching because God don't seem to be on their side if, and only if, I am to follow their very own misguided, and illogical logic. I hope to hear out the Republicans this week and watch the debates coming up so I can make a prayerful and well-thought out vote come this November. But once again, if I am supposed to follow the logic of the apparent leader of the American evangelicals, well they put out their fleece and God showed up and answered, but not the way they expected. Speaking of whom, thank God that this was not a hurricane with the destructive force of Katrina.

I am Done with The Bengals

Well, about just over three years ago when I moved down to Cincinnati I was excited just to be back in Ohio. Originally I was from North East Ohio which would make me a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan for life. As the saying goes, you can take a person out of Cleveland but you can't take Cleveland out of the person. As I acclimated myself to my new surroundings I thought that since the Bengals were an Ohio team I could make some room in my heart for them along with the Browns and the Buckeyes.

Now last year didn't look so good, as I had to endure watching Chad Johnson act like an idiot. I tried to tolerate it because I know people directly connected to the Bengals organization and they told me Chad is not a Dennis Rodman type but a fun, lovable type that just hams it up for fun. So, okay Chad be goofy even though it only brings attention to yourself and it disrupts team unity and focus. Then just as I was about to ease into another year of Ohio football, Chad has to go and make a complete fool of himself comparing himself to Micheal Phelps as a better swimmer?!?!? Chad, you need to concentrate on your sport because if I remember, you did not have a good year last year. I would put money on Phelps as having a much better career at FOOTBALL in comparison to you!

And then if that wasn't enough, the Bengals organization decides to hire back Chris Henry? This guy is bad news and does not deserve to play in the NFL for anybody. How do you possibly run a team with personalities and criminals like this??? Would any of the great coaches ever tolerate players like this? The Bengals organization has a major disconnect with what makes for a great player besides just physical talent. It takes cooperation, team work, character, etc. Just go to John Wooden's website http://coachwooden.com/ and look at the pyramid of success. He understood what it took to make championship teams!

Then if that weren't enough Carson Palmer talks smack about The Ohio State Buckeyes?!?! This was almost as bad as Le Bron James showing up to an Indians play-off game wearing a Yankees hat. Love Le Bron, but when you are taking a paycheck from Ohio, keep you loyalty close to home! Don't be broadcasting your loyalties to the opposition on national television or talking trash about the most popular college team in the state!!!!! With all this said I think the Ohio State Buckeyes could even destroy the Bengals on their own turf right now. So keep it up Carson, shot your mouth off about the college team up North. Maybe if you played like them Cincinnati would get a team that they could actually cheer for!

I hear by denounce any loyalty I had for the Cincinnati Bengals. I give my loyalty completely and entirely to the Browns, and as any Browns fan knows, I will also cheer for the Bengals when, and only when, they play against Pittsburgh!

The Culture War over the Black Man

Jesse Jackson has revealed a little bit of who he really is when he thinks the mics and the cameras are off. Unfortunately, it is something which should disqualify him from having the title of reverend. But what is interesting about this comment and whom he is referring to is that it reveals what I believe to be the culture war over the black man. On one side, you have Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who seem to want the government to give out as many hand-outs as possible with little to no responsibility thus creating a culture of government dependence and irresponsibility within the culture that is directed at African-American males. On the other hand you have the voices of Bill Cosby and Barak Obama calling out for black men to take responsibility for their choices and to become husbands, fathers and community members that stand for character and integrity. It is amazing to see the backlash of those who are appalled that guys like Bill Cosby and Barak Obama would dare to say things like integrity and character about black men. In fact, a rational discussion goes right out the window and Cosby is castigated as an angry old man and Barak is threatened with castration. This is simply unbelievable. I don't get why people like Jackson are even a voice for the African-American community. How is it that he is even taken seriously? I just don't get it when you have such amazing people like Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell, Condolezza Rice, and many, many others. But there seems to be two competing philosophies that are fighting for the attention of the African-American community in America. The Jacksonian philosophy is the one that has been around the longest but it is the Cosbian / Obamian philosophy that is emerging and challenging the status quo. In fact, Cosby and Obama are not just the spokesmen for this new philosophy, but they are also living examples of what they are preaching: black men who did not settle for the status quo of irresponsibility and government dependency but rose above all of that and emerged as men who have worked hard, demonstrating not only an amazing work ethic, but also, integrity and morality to become who they are. Apparently Jesse hasn't been preaching much of anything at all these days or else his tongue would have snapped off for saying something against his fellow man that so viciously goes against the law of love from the Bible. Shame on you Jesse. This type of vile and disgusting language is in line with another self-proclaimed pastor: Fred Phelps. It is time we take you about as seriously as we do with Fred and his language of hate. I would much rather be inspired by the challenges that Cosby and Barak level at the men in the African-American community because I also know that it is a message that realistically all men need to hear from their leaders over and over again. Work hard, love your family, love your community and love your God!

All About Bella

If you have not seen this movie yet, I can not recommend it enough. It is simply an amazing movie. Excellent cinematography, acting, character development, directing, plot, and story-telling. It is just a phenomenal movie in its entirety. It is a beautiful film dealing with issues of pain, suffering, grief, and the need for relationships, redemption, forgiveness and love. Very few movies reach this kind of depth and quality. It simply delivers on every level. The main characters are developed in such a way that you enter into this film completely engaged in their story. They come across as the real deal, not some polished, picture-perfect Hollywood types. The authenticity of how this movie was shot in New York City made you connect with the urban cultural surrounding enveloping these characters. I really don't want to say anything about the story itself because it is one of those movies you just need to see for yourself without knowing anything about it. But trust me on this one, don't rent it! Buy it because you will want to keep this movie and watch it again and again. I am very excited to watch how this new director's career develops over the years. If this is one of his first feature films then I can't wait to see what other stories he has to tell! Keep your eyes open for Alejandro Gomez Monteverde!