Theocentric Musings

Ok, my end of 2013 post. 2013 was memorable. A lot of fun times, a lot of laughs, the normal ups and downs of life. Adventures mixed in with times of boredom. I got to remember how it felt like to be on an overcrowded subway car in the middle of winter, but even that was cool. A heart wouldn't hurt if that heart wasn't alive. Would it? Ended the year with a break, literally and figuratively. God was a part of every single moment and every single day. Wouldn't have it any other way. Wouldn't want it to be. Learning has become a way of life and I love what God provides me through various sources, even when He feeds me through unclean ravens. Learned to open my eyes more. Every year I learn to love and enjoy "me" more and more, I'm thankful for that because I think I'm pretty darn funny and I make myself laugh. I'm good at that. It keeps me sane. Others may not be as amused. Still searching and I know He'll help me find it. Ultimately every...

I think the number 1 thing that affected evangelism for the worse and created all this drama that now happens when people think they are sharing the Gospel is that the church has taken a term from the bible and given it a new meaning. That word is repentance. The twisting and redefining of that word has changed the gospel from a "come as you are" to a "clean yourself up first". It took a comment from Jesus of hope and guidance and twisted it into an order or demand. Your definition of this word completely changes scripture, thoughts, words, and interpretation.

I'm writing this to my friends and people that don't believe in Jesus. I'm a Christian, so it's not hard to figure out my "core" beliefs. Unfortunately many have twisted and changed what the core beliefs of a Christian should be. With there being 43,000 different denominations out there it's pretty confusing for a non-believer to really know whether a Christian hates you or loves you. Unfortunate ly many that have added upon and added upon the core of what it means to be a disciple of Christ are the most vocal or receive the biggest platforms when it comes to media, because of this, those are the ones that seem to become unofficial spokespersons for Christians. It shouldn't be like that, but it happens. Christianity has bullied, and forced itself upon people. Christians have tried to legislate morality. Christians have behaved completely opposite of Christ. I apologize for that to unbelievers, but I want you to remember that beneath everything, Chri...

Here's what happened, my interaction with the lost changed when I stopped looking at what they were doing, and started looking at what Jesus did. That changed everything. For the much, much better.

I think we could learn a lot about how to share the gospel and save the lost by watching how Morpheus with help from Trinity led Neo out of the Matrix. I think we could also learn a lot about how not to share the gospel and save the lost by watching the actions of Agent Smith. Which one are you more like?

Like John, I went from being a son of thunder to an apostle of love. I think many liked me more as a son of thunder. Funny how that works.

So you're certain that you want to know what it felt like? I know you asked but are you completely sure you want to know? Do I really have to relive it just to appease your morbid curiosity? Why am I even considering it? Well, fine. I'll tell you what it felt like... It felt like when you would ride through an empty dark tunnel on your bicycle as a kid. You would hear the sound of the your breath ... , the sound of your pants rustling as you pedaled, the clack of the chain, and the echo of the tires humming in your ears. You would see the light at the end of the tunnel peeking in, and you knew soon enough you'd be covered in the warmth and brightness of the spring time sun. But then somehow you end up in an over crowded subway car in the middle of winter. The cold, the smells, the sounds, the lights, the looks, the judging, the comparing, the people that were up and the people who were down. Everything overwhelming, no place to find quiet or peace. Just a enveloping and ...

I’m going to get serious here for a moment and address something that you may have heard on the news. Unless you live under a rock, even if you have no television, you somehow probably learned about an event surrounding Phil Robertson of the Duck Dynasty clan. He was asked questions, what some consider controversial questions, and he answered them the only way he knows how. With some down south humor and honesty, with a sprinklin’ of bible mixed in. A down south Christian gumbo of an answer, if you will. And I just did. Well, those answers weren’t met well from certain groups and they immediately were offended, possibly like some of you may be as I progress in my writing (shhhh, I shouldn’t give that away so early, you may not continue reading). Well, forget I said that and I’ll move on. If you haven’t heard the interview, I’m going to share it. Well, I’m going to paraphrase it a little because I don’t actually have permission to share the interview, but I think it will make...

Think about this long and hard. Are you like Peter in the garden or like Jesus? Honestly, I prefer to be like Jesus. I'm seeing a whole lotta Peters out there lately. Luke 22:47-51

Christians have to remember when it comes to their theology that many of their doctrines could actually be traditions of man or interpretations influenced by their own emotions, thoughts, or biases. We can also affect our interpretation or doctrines by how we envision God, that's why it's important to have a correct view of God as Father not as destroyer, or you will color that image into all that ... you read, Holy Spirit or not. There have been various revelations as time progressed since the writing of scripture, some true, some not so. To be so close-minded and dogmatic about your beliefs without acknowledging that your beliefs may in fact not be as accurate as you believe them to be does Jesus a disservice. That is why we must be always open to learn, but in that same respect if things are centered around killing, stealing, or destroying, we should really take pause before receiving that as truth. Yes, I know, our walk is by faith, that includes faith in our belief...

My thoughts on "sharing the truth with love": The problem is that the individual decides what love is. History of human kind should show that most humans don't really have a very good or clear concept of love. So when they try to do something that may hurt someone and say its in love, it's not received that way, because their concept of love is flawed or different than the recipient. Incidenta lly Gary Chapman has his book, the 5 love languages, it's a great book because it delves a little deeper into what other people see as a loving gesture. Now it doesn't really apply to this subject, but if even in doing things for a spouse or family member there are different ways of showing love and certain ones will not be received as love, that should give pause in dealing with a person one on one and doing something supposedly with love. I know a few people that are really good at homeless outreach, it's really where their heart is and they are equipp...

I've noticed that many have gotten confused about the meaning of some scriptures and look at Matthew 10:32-33 as speaking of the tablets of stone and not of Jesus. Or they consider the tablets of stone, known as the ministry of death, to be Jesus. Either way I think just possibly they are on the wrong track.

I notice more and more that people involved in an issue over free speech usually don't like it when the other side speaks, or when someone with a different view than theirs speaks. Are they really trumpeting for free speech or for speech for their view and their view alone? In my experience I've found that I seem to not be as free to speak, or have an opinion, if it differs from people that at the same time have been posting pictures or text proclaiming their support for free speech. Aside from that, speaking in generalities, one side or "equality group" goes out of their way to silence anyone with a different opinion about various values with strong arm tactics and threats. And the other side or certain "assemblies" or "gatherings", reinforce their reputation of being hypocritical by trying to silence those that don't agree with them, while saying they themselves are not allowed free speech, when they are already speaking freely. Oy vey ...

I share things for people to "think about", that's it. I don't share things for people to line up high fiving me and agreeing with me on. I have never been about that. I just want people to think about things. Most things that are different than what people currently believe usually shake people up, it offends, it is met with resistance, that is plain and simple human nature, your brains are wired that way. But, it's up to you to control your emotions and take a step back and learn and grow. Some things may seem out there, I've been there done that with those feelings, but when you take a moment to really search for truth, it will find you. Yes, I meant to say it will find you, not you will find it. So if you are interested in seeing things in a different light than you may have before, or are mature enough to handle and respect different view points then hang on for the ride because I'm not going anywhere. But, if you're not, please don't...

If we Christians in America had to face real persecution or lack of freedoms, we wouldn't throw accusations like that around so haphazardly. My personal belief is that most of what we call persecution in our coddled society is disgraceful to the memories of the true martyrs and the experiences of those really facing persecution or lack of freedom. When you can go on Facebook and let people know you're about to go to church, singing worship songs in your car, with your church bumper sticker or Jesus fish, handing out a tract, or saying Jesus loves you to someone you pass, and walking into a building to worship together with no fear of it being burnt down with you inside of it, being yanked out and watching your children being chopped up with a machete, and your spouse being taken to a reeducation camp and being tortured for the rest of their life, you aren't facing persecution. Yes, I think it's a disgrace for our well fed, big gulp drinking, Big Mac eating, Walmart h...

Christianity has gotten so focused on outside appearances that they believe that if someone or something, such as a sports star, political figure, CEO of a corporation, a corporation itself, or television station, acts like they have Christian values that means they are in fact Christian or in fact support Christianity. They then put all their support behind that person or entity and form an emot ional bond. They feel that that person or entity is a part of them and their group and they adopt them into a place in their heart. That's not very wise, because... When that entity, person or thing, does something un-Christian like or opposite of Christian values, they feel betrayed. Unfortunately they haven't truly been betrayed, the person or entity didn't misrepresent themselves the Christian convinced themselves of something that wasn't an actual reality. To add to this unfortunate situation, they feel betrayed enough that they now get genuinely upset with Christians...

Jesus friend of sinners > Jesus hater of sinners

It shouldn't come as a surprise that something like this would happen. When anyone who believes was lost, did you agree with much of what those "Jesus Freaks" said? No. Use your heads and a little remembrance. You may not have then forced your view on the "Jesus Freaks", but you certainly didn't support much of what they said . So why do Christians after being born-again think they can force a morality on the lost, when it didn't work with them? I'm not against speaking the truth, far from it, what I am against is then feeling or speaking of others as victims when the world lashes out. Aside from the fact that he has a great wealth that God has blessed him with, Phil Robertson "The Duck Commander", has everlasting life with his God and his Savior. We, Christians, are not victims, ever, we are victors. We have a future, a wonderful future, an eternal future. Sometimes we seem to forget that. We are overcomers. This doesn't...

Life would be so much easier in dealing with people (read: majority of Christians) if I spoke like an OT prophet. Death, judgment, kill, kill, kill, steal, destroy, fire, brimstone, earthquake taking out the entire left coast of the U.S., Hurricanes killing all your babies, God hates you, He really hates you...... I may in fact give up the good fight and start doing that. Bwaahhhahahahahahaaaa ... Who am I kidding, I never choose easy. I'm gonna keep sharing TRUTH, got that, TRUTH, unashamed, unabashed, and completely shockingly scandalous TRUTH, capitalize all the letters, TRUTH, also known as GRACE and known by His most wonderful name, JESUS. And if you can't see the love in that, maybe it's time for you to take off the religious glasses. If I didn't love ya, I'd regurgitate the same crap that would make me a heck of a lot more popular in Christian circles.

If you're going to boycott A&E then take the time you would have spent watching it and go feed the homeless, volunteer at a woman's shelter, help under privileged children, paint your single parent neighbor's house, heal the sick, feed the poor, spread the Gospel, do something to help someone. If you aren't going to do anything but watch some other channel, spend your time complaining on Faceboo k or Twitter, or signing electronic petitions, then please, no offense, SHUT UP*. Jinkies. * I wrote this part with a dramatic flair, don't get testy about it, I'm like totally kidding. But I'm serious. Serious, I'm just kidding. But seriously, shut up. I'm just pulling your leg. So go shut up. I am kidding. But trying to make a point too. Smile, Jesus loves you. For some of you reading this that don't understand my sense of humor let me clear things up... Ready? This Is A Joke There are things to think about in this post but... It...

For those that don't know me, let me let you in on a little something about me. I am like a total goofball. I love joking around. I don't take life too serious. I have a weird sense of humor. I'm annoying. I don't let a good/bad disagreement get in the way of a bad/good friendship. I don't get mad at people over the internet. I don't really get mad at people in real life. I'm happy go lucky. You can find me either smiling, looking goofy (my normal look), or whistling at work (and if you work with me chances are you've made fun of me for it at least once) I don't expect people to believe everything I believe. I am passionate about my beliefs. I respect that you are passionate about yours. If you disagree with me or I disagree with you, I still love you irregardless. (don't you just love that word? the dictionary sure doesn't) It's hard to offend me to the point where I hold a grudge, usually I'm over things within a cou...

God is in control? Proverbs 19:3 (NLT) - People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord

You can't legislate values into people. If you want a country, or even a world, of Christian values, stop getting into fights with those who don't share your values and introduce them to Jesus. Isn't that the point of Matthew 28:19.

I've found that I don't have to engage in a battle with those in the world, yet I seem to be in a battle with those that claim the Gospel but preach anything but good news. I don't debate many unbelievers. What for? Would a Medical Doctor debate a patient when it comes to treatment of their life threatening cardiac arrest or would a Medical Doctor simply treat the patient? Instead of debating with someone who doesn't believe, I share Christ with them in word and, most importantly, deed. But I am happy to discuss theology with those that are going out there leading people to their version of Christ with a flawed, slanderous, hate-filled, works centered, sacrifice in the temple daily, sin focused, calling good evil and evil good, un-restful, powerless, exclusionary, judgmental, us against them, un-healing sickness keeping message.

I don't understand why many Christians get mad when you proclaim a good God that is so very good all the time. A God that came to heal, not cause, sickness. Came to calm, not cause, storms. Came to set free from, not place into, prisons. And, you even show scriptural proof that He is gooder (I like that word) than the God they think He is, as well as historical proof that those who wrote about Him before He walked the earth had limited revelation of the difference between Him and darkness and were looking through the glass darkly. It's like to them He's only allowed to be a certain level of good and if He gets gooder, He somehow now becomes bad. Unfortunately their version of good includes Him doing what those not blinded know factually to be bad eg. steal, kill, destroy. I just don't get it. My God is gooder than I can even imagine. He's got to be to have died for the world while the world was still sinning. ‪ ‬

I hear more and more about Christians committing suicide, lately it's been a few pastors and it's very upsetting.  This is very sad, and it's not a time you want to be disrespectful or use something as awful as this as a platform but I believe that many Christians that suffer from depression, many are suffering because of their theological beliefs or the doctrines they believe.  I have heard a f ew of the core beliefs of those who have committed suicide and it saddens me. It saddens me for them, their families, their friends, but also for those that are under them. They typically are preaching mixture or against Grace. I have been reading a few books on toxic thoughts and beliefs and I have learned in my own life and times of depression and attacks of suicidal thoughts that the core thoughts and beliefs really were the key. When you believe God is the source of your troubles, to chasten you, to build you up, to humble you, to take you to a new level, whatever other nons...

As a believer you are an overcomer, you are not a victim. When you let a victim mentality infiltrate your mind you are forgetting who you are in Christ. No Christian should go through life with the impression that they are a victim, they are believing a lie. Put the snakes, scorpions, and power of the enemy under your feet.