In Europe

Hi friends,
I'm touring through Europe right now, so my posting will be slightly behind on this blog. I'm sorry for "slacking off", but if you were in Hamburg, would you be sitting in front of a computer...I don't think so. Peace out, and look for travel stories later. There will be tales of circling airplanes and how one unfortunate London airport came to be known as "Catlick"

Matticus

Quote To Ponder II

"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties."
- Sir Francis Bacon

Humility is an interesting thing. Most of us don't really want to start anything at the beginning, we want to pick up a guitar and play like Jimi Hendrix or B.B King. Sadly the way a lot of people (myself included) approach faith is not very different. I'm no John Calvin, and it's doubtful that I'll ever be a Dietrich Bonhoffer, or Martin Luther. Although all three of those men are definite heroes of mine, and their lives have given me inspiration to keep scraping by with what I have.
Maybe if we started with being okay about having flaws and blemishes we would see God's work in our lives more readily. Perfection is brought through Christ, and people who are willing to punch their weight in life.

The Truth In Everything

I used to go to the coast every Sunday with my best buddy Andy...I'm not sure he knew it at the time, but while we were crawling over rocks, taking pictures and drinking coffee, I was really getting to know Jesus better. For whatever reason, I seemed to understand certain bits of truth more than I do know. That truth being that God is very present in the ordinary settings, circumstances, and events of our lives. Sometimes I think I was getting more truth out of watching the huge waves of the Pacific surge and crash against the rocks of Pt. Cabrillo than sitting in a pew a few months later (don't get me wrong...I really dig church, but just stick with me for a bit here).
Ultimately I think that it was a good thing for me to start attending church; I think it's good for Christians to contribute to the church, what would happen if we all just did what we wanted to ever Sunday and never met with each other? We'd never meet, never have fellowship, never edify the body in a corporate way. Some people might say that would be a good thing, as if letting things be "organic" would somehow work out for the better of all of us. Knowing myself, I think I have a good insight into general human nature and I know what I would do were it not for the organized gathering of God's people...I would eventually be deceived by myself. My Christianity would first separate itself from the normal expression of faith, because I would be left to my own devices with no external checks. But Matticus, what about the Holy Spirit? Good question, I think that in order to both humble us, and teach us that he is bigger than we can fathom, God primarily uses other people to teach us about himself. How does that work out with the bible then? Simple...the bible was written by other people. Reading Paul's epistles is just as good as speaking with him face to face in a sense. Not as personal, but with the bible you can keep asking Paul to repeat himself by rereading his letters. If you were to attempt such a thing face to face, I'm almost positive that he would either write it down for you, or tell you to shut up. So, that being said if you cut yourself off from the fellowship of the Body of Christ, you're essentially telling the Head of all things to take a hike. After awhile, God just might go hiking, and leave you in the rut.
All that to say, I think that Christians who have become disciplined in the aspect of sharing in the community of faith need, also, to learn how to see God outside of that community. We need to shoot out the other side in a sense. We as Christians need to realign our views on what is sacred and what isn't. We've become myopic in that sense, reserving God's presence to certain circumstances and times, moods and sounds. We're all cool with hearing him in the hymns and songs we sing on Sunday morning (even though most modern worship songs are more self centered than they should be), but we're all (in one way or another) opposed to hearing him speak through a pop or folk singer that doesn't really look very holy. Perhaps, because they remind us that we're really no better than they are. We are all sinners of course, just because we ask for help doesn't make us special or better than those who don't. Or heaven forbid we all collectively just shut up for a second, and actually listen. Here's a suggestion, if worship "just isn't doing it for you" do something different! Look at things critically for a second, ask yourself, "What the hell am I really saying right now?", or "Am I really living like this?". Just to cover all my bases here, if you don't mean what you say pray that God would help you mean what you ought to be saying to him (because he is always, and ever worthy of praise). And for the love of God, if you aren't living it....change that. Start giving to the poor, I can guarantee that 10 times out of 10 that you pass up a homeless person you're supposed to give to him. Unless you don't have anything to give at the moment...meaning that you owe money somewhere...because if you owe it you don't own it, or you're naked...if you're naked, please run home and put on some clothes before you get arrested. I'm sure you'd make quite the scene at the local lockup.
"Got arrested for walkin around nekkid eh?"
"Yup, sure did. You see; I'm a Christian, and because the Bible tells me to give what I have to those who don't I walk around naked, so I wont have anything to give...because I'm not very generous."
God is ever present, at church, home, in a bar, renting movies, at plays and concerts, theatres, heavy metal mosh pits, in the gutter lying next to homeless meth addict we've all shunned. You can find that guy everywhere, which also means that we can help other people see him in everything by affirming the truth that lies behind the veil of our narrow observations.

"Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you." Jesus of Nazareth