A letter to my boys...

Hugh Halter has became one of my favorite authors. He gets the Gospel in a way that it seems so obvious and yet so many people miss it. About a year ago he wrote a book called Flesh and it severely reshaped the way I look at things concerning Jesus. I picked up another book by him that is several years old called Sacrilege and while not new, the truths seem timeless. At the end of the first chapter, it suggested that the reader write out a letter to their children or friends about their (the reader) heart for them, a short history of their faith journey and knowing the real Jesus. I've thought a bit about that over the past couple of days and thought I would give that a shot. I figured I would write to it my boys but this is easily interchangeable. My heart for everyone is the same--even my family. Anyway, here goes nothing. 

Dear Lucas, Joseph and Abel,

As I am writing this, you guys are 9, 6, and 2. You guys are incredibly inspiring to me and bring nothing but joy. Most of the time you all are wide open and constant entertainment. Your mother says that our goal is not to raise good little boys but instead to raise Godly men. I pray daily that I am accomplishing that and I know she does too! I know that when it comes to your connection to God, I am called to be your example. Our relationship will have some impact on your relationship with God. I am your father and He is our Heavenly Father and somewhere along the way, you'll view the latter in a certain way because of the former. I'm going to start by telling you a little bit about how I got to where I am in my walk with Jesus. 

Your mom and I met in the 6th grade and somewhere in the next couple of years, we just fell in love. We committed to do life together and we have been fulfilling that commitment every day since. I wasn't much into believing in a god at the time. I didn't grow up with much of a relationship with my father and I believe that directly affected how I seen, or didn't see, any father, much-less a Heavenly one. While your mother and I were looking for someone to perform our marriage--we came across a little church with a pretty unique feel. I was 18 years old and had very little church experience. I didn't have to go to church in order for this pastor who do our wedding but something didn't feel right about that so we decided we would give it a shot. 

Your mom was raised in church and whatever experiences she had just left her with an empty feeling. Confusion, maybe. She wasn't actively pursuing God and didn't feel that He was pursuing her. Only one of those are true though. We visited for a couple of months and during a Sunday night service, we went up front to the altar together and she gave her life back to God and I gave mine for the first time. It was an emotional roller coaster from there. I don't want to say that we fell into a legalistic trap or that whatever happened there was anyone's fault. We were young and honestly, I didn't understand a whole lot of what was going on--just that God had invited me in and I accepted. I didn't do much studying, praying or anything of the sort. What the preacher said was good enough and I just tried my best to do what was right based off of that. I love the preacher there. Have since I was 18 and will forever. His family is amazing and from what I can tell, we are on a similar path these days. Funny how that all works out. 

Fast forwarding a bit, we found out we were having a baby boy and before we knew it, Lucas was being dedicated. Not long after that, it was time for a change. God led us away from our starting point and took us a few miles down the road to start a new journey. While there, we welcomed our two other boys, Joe and Abel, to the mix. It was during this period that your mom and I really fell into love with Jesus. She was leading a bible study and really firing on every religious cylinder she had and I was volunteering to do just about everything but stand in front of the crowd on Sunday mornings. 

It was a good ride for a while. Somewhere during this time I started studying on my own. I started praying more and for more. I prayed that God would take me deeper. I prayed that God would make me uncomfortable because it seemed to me that an awful lot of people around me at this time were comfortable and that didn't match up to what I was reading. Churches today are so self-consumed. Even if they don't mean to, they're preaching a message that tells the members that it is about them and my Jesus preached the exact opposite. I began noticing the difference in the life that those around me lived and the life that Jesus lived. Sunday mornings looked like a fashion show where we showed off our newest outfits and all these nice things we bought ourselves since the last time we read about Jesus telling us that life was about others. Don't drink! Check. Don't smoke! Check. Don't cuss! Check. Amazing how following Jesus gets reduced to mere rules that we have made up along the way. This is no fault of the church, of course. The message is given--how we respond is up to us. There are people who respond well and not so well...and that is any church in any place. Period.

Another skip ahead in the future, I could feel God preparing my heart once again for change and I was excited! When God revealed the landing spot for the next leg of our journey I was ecstatic. I was born with a heart for helping people. It is during this period of our life, the period I am writing from now, that God really dug in and cultivated my heart for His purpose. I took a lot of flak for this change. It was kind of surreal. We constantly talk about praying that God guides us and people say they're praying with you and for you and then when God works, no one is really satisfied. Crazy. You'll learn this one day. I'm going to give you a couple more thoughts now that I've caught you up to where I am. 

First off, know this--I love you guys with everything that I have and I take my job of raising you 3 to know the right path very seriously! I have no greater honor than walking with you guys down this path. This is the path that I am on right now. 

Give grace and mercy. Let that always be your first response. I have been accused of preaching cheap grace but I assure you guys this much, the grace I preach is NOT cheap, it's FREE. Some people cannot stand that but I believe that is exactly what Jesus called us to do. Jesus' automatic first response was never an eye roll, a look of disgust, an act of condemnation or a speech about why He was against whatever it was that was brought to His attention. God is love. That is the automatic first response. 

Don't be scared to surround yourself with more non-believers than believers. The problem with the church today is that we are consumed with getting as many Christians together as we can. Why? They're already going in the right direction. Find people that need that grace and mercy and find A LOT of them! Give it to them. Jesus was known as a friend to sinners. Most church people today probably only know sinners through facebook. They wouldn't be caught dead around the dirty parts of town. Jesus did everything He could to stay in those parts! 

Love like it is going out of style. This goes hand in hand with grace and mercy. God has called us to a life of love. The church has it backwards. We only love when they are doing as we approve. God loved us long before we did the right thing. Romans 5:8 shows us that love comes before anything else. While we were still doing wrong, Jesus LOVED us and gave His life for us. Don't have a list of rules people must follow before you love them. Give it away. With Christ at the center of your life, you'll never run out. 

Be who God made you to be. For years I tried to fit the mold. I tried to model what everyone else around me was doing. Like I said earlier, no drinking, smoking, cussing, vote republican and they'll tell you that you have this thing figured out. But I'm telling you to pray more than anything and trust that Jesus through the Holy Spirit will guide you in all things and when He does--STAND FIRM and do not back down. 

Be about others. Everyone is about themselves and if you follow in my footsteps at all, please be about others. Jesus could have made this life about anything but the life he modeled was a life that was always more concerned with the needs of those around Him than His own needs. I don't do it perfect but I try to model this for you guys. Whether it be late nights with drug dealers and prostitutes or mid-afternoons hanging with senior citizens...be about others. 

Guys, there is so much more but I pray that when you read this, you'll find this to be a good starting point. As I said, your mother and I love you more than I love the air in my lungs. All the yelling, jumping, stained floors and broken furniture is worth the smiles and the joy you bring to our lives. 

With all my love,
Dad

1 Corinthians 11:1

Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.

Love One Another...(Did I Stutter?)

Slow news week, right? Unless you live under a rock, I'm assuming you've heard that gay marriage is now legal in North Carolina. Yes, that's right, certain human beings now get to live like the rest of us human beings. Amazing concept, yeah? If you are on any type of social media, and I'm guessing you are since you're reading this, you know that Christians are as judgmental (lovingly?!) as ever. Not in their eyes of course. They're loving...from a distance...just like Jesus...oh, wait, Jesus loved up close and personal. That's so like that friend of sinners. It has absolutely amazed me how we handle people that sin differently than us. Honestly, it's sickening.

Since Friday evening, social media, news media, and I'm sure, bible studies all over this state have been hammering, not just a lifestyle that differs from their choice, but the people living that life style. I've seen everything from "those faggots want everything their way," to "go pray to your gay porn god." Again, it's sickening. It's gotten me thinking over the past few days, why have we (the church) cashed in all of our chips on this particular sin? Why do we ignore certain sins and go hard on homosexuality? This is a stretch, I know, but what if the church was consistent in it's approach to sin? Let's look at a few (ONLY A FEW)...

Gossip.

Wait a second here. I've been looking all over facebook and I have seen nearly no outrage towards gossip. Yes, maybe an obscure post here or there, but there is nothing near the level of anti-homosexual comments that I've seen recently. Odd.

Gluttony.

Holy cow...how many sermons and status updates do we get centered around this topic? Plenty, right? Huh? None? Dang...wonder why that is. Maybe it is because a majority of pastors partake is this particular sin. Can't preach on things we actually struggle with, can we? Might offend some of the people sitting in front of us. 

Hatred.

The bible says that if we hate with our heart, we are murdering.

Adultery.

Look upon a man or woman with lust? Yep, you guessed it...sexual sin. Guilty yet?

Oh man...my favorite...DIVORCE.

It's getting hot in here now, right? How many of you know a homosexual? Some, I'm sure, but I bet not a majority. Now, how many of us know someone who has been/getting divorced? How many of of those friends do we run up to shouting Malachi 2:16 at? Probably not very many. Jesus had very little to say about the actual act of homosexuality, but more broader in terms of sexual immorality. Guess what, guys and girls, that doesn't just apply to homosexuals, that applies to every single human being breathing right now. We are worried about homosexuals ruining the sanctity of marriage all the while we are sleeping around like we are trying to break some type of record. We are cheating on our spouses. We are trying to keep up with all the free porn we can handle. Guess what my heterosexual friends, that is sexually immoral behavior. And guess what else, in the eyes of God, that is as bad as the homosexual monster that you're so scared of. This "God Hates Fags" mentality that we have attributed to Westboro Baptist Church actually runs much deeper and broader than them. It has infected our churches, too.

At the end of the day, we are all sinners. It's just easier to pick out homosexuality because it only applies to roughly 1 out of every 16. It's easy to beat up on minorities. Honestly, I'm just over this holier than thou act that the church puts on. If it's not our sins, they're horrible. If they are our sins, we accept God's Grace like it is going out of style. 

Had this question asked to me the other day. "Is it judgmental to call people to repentance?" Almost laughable because it isn't that simple. That's not what is being done. We are treating human beings as less than human beings because we believe their transgressions are worse than ours. It's like me boycotting all-you-can-eat buffets and making them illegal because I can't handle them. How would you like that? What if I was standing outside of Golden Corral with a "God Hates Fat Slobs" sign? Pretty ridiculous thought. Why, when meeting a homosexual--we lose our minds and have a sudden grievance in our heart and feel that urge to call them to repentance? We meet a divorcee' and what? Not the same feeling, right? Why is that? God hates both, right? Could it be that the topic of divorce hits too close to home? Hypocrites. That's why we are losing a cultural battle and we are going to lose generations of people who could advance the Kingdom. We can't be consistent because it might affect our friendships, congregations, and maybe our families.

Here is what I AM consistent on, however. 

God loves you, as you are, not as you should be because we will never be as we should be. (Brennan Manning)

The better biblical answer? Hate the sin, love the sinner! Right? No. I'm suggesting something different. I am not sold on the idea that it is humanly possible to separate the sin from the sinner. I know you think you have it down pat but I am sure that if you did a really good soul searching, you would find that separating the two is harder than you think. I'm thinking I might have a better way. 

Love The Sinner.

Yes. Leave the sin alone. I have found it easier to love the sinner when I am focused only on loving them and not trying to fix their issues. Besides, as an active sinner, I have enough on my plate for me to worry about. I find it difficult enough to keep myself on the narrow road without trying to fix other people. I believe that if I love them (like Jesus) and they see Jesus in me and Jesus works through me, they will want what I have and I will be there to tell them how to get it. 

I'm sure there will be naysayers. I have grown quite fond of them over the last year. I know my thinking goes against the majority of church thinking but if I might say so, I believe the church has gotten it wrong in a lot of areas. How to handle sinners is just one of the many. I'm sure I will get to the rest eventually. ;-)

By the way, I just smirked thinking of the conversations some of you will be having while reading this. "How arrogant. He thinks he knows more than my church, pastor, sunday school teacher." "This dude is going to hell." "Wait, what does HERETIC mean again?" lol. 

Bring it on.

Ragamuffin Heretic

Ragamuffin -- "Brennan Manning wrote The Ragamuffin Gospel "for the bedraggled, beat-up, and burnt-out," the marginalized folks to whom Jesus ministered: the children, the ill, the tax collectors, the women. In other words, the ragamuffins. Manning understands better than most that behind our facades of order and self-assurance are inadequacies that can find healing only in Jesus. While the powerful and religious elite challenged him, Jesus embraced and healed and fed the needs of the ragamuffins. Jesus delivered love, healing, and, most of all, grace." (taken from Amazon.)

Heretic -- a person holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted. (Oxford Dictionary)

My lovely wife has been on me for some time to get back to blogging but for one reason or another, I've withheld. If you know me, you know I rarely hold back. Also if you know me, you know I am usually holding an opinion that is at odds with what is generally accepted, thus the definition of heretic. I'm different. I believe I have withheld from blogging because if I were to truly put to screen what flows through my brain, perhaps your brain would explode. I could be wrong. I suppose I could feel and say what others feel but are scared to say, but I doubt that is the case. Again, I'm different. There are times when I see certain people agreeing with my line of thought and it makes me stop and take a step back to reevaluate my thought process to make sure I am where I should be because if I am agreeing with THAT person, surely I can't be thinking straight. Today, while filtering through some of my thoughts and reading, I come across Acts 4:12 -- "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Listen, God made me who I am and if that makes your brains explode, I'm (not really) sorry. There is no name under heaven that I have to please. I, like Paul, am working through my salvation and I am doing so with the only one that matter, JESUS. I don't know when I'll post another blog, but when I do, I hope for it to be thought provoking, perhaps challenging, but if nothing else, it will be real, raw, and me. Anything less and I would be someone else--but I want to be and think and feel and say and write like the person God created me to be. Hope you'll stick around for the ride.