Chase the Setting Sun...

A conversation recently got me thinking about my (and our) response as a Christian to potentially offensive actions, words, lifestyles etc. Are we too easily offended by the things people say or do around us? Do we jump to quickly to judge others on their words and actions?


First of all, I think as Christians we should be offended by sin. Sin is offensive. We all have it in our lives and should be repulsed by it. However, when dealing with other Christians and non-Christians I don't think we should show offense to almost anything at first glance.


If you know me, you know I tend to say what is on my mind. I rarely shy away from voicing my opinion in most situations. I can remember many times while at Taylor University that I would voice and opinion or say something that would obviously offend someone else. Sometimes the offense was merited, sometimes it was not. Occasionally I would say something off color or out of place that might be deserving of the reaction I got. Sometimes though, my words were just me working through something in my faith and talking about it.


All people are at different stages of their faith journey. Some are deep into their relationship with Christ, some are just beginning, and some are far from the start of it. I believe as a Christian I should be offended by sin and sinful language, but at the same time be slow to show offense. Rather I should be quick to show love and understanding of someone who is visibly showing sin in their life.


When we immediately get an offended look on our face when someone swears, or does something overtly sinful, or offensive, we immediately turn that person off to a possible relationship that could benefit them and the kingdom.


Just a quick thought. What do you think?

On Tuesday nights at 7pm each week I attend, and occasionally lead, a discussion group for young adults in their 20's at the Claddagh Irish Pub on 96th Street here in Indianapolis. Last night was my turn to lead the discussion. I thought I'd post some thoughts here as to what we talked about.


Last night I brought up the popular A.W. Tozer quote, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us."


While this might be a pretty general topic to discuss, I think it has some important implications.


I think that most times we do not pay attention specifically to what comes into our minds when we think about God. We think about Jesus, we think about scripture, faith as it relates to our life...but not often do we acknowledge our true perception of God Himself.


I feel that if we paid attention to what our honest perception of God is, we might really have a better understanding of where our faith stands.


If we look at our perception of God and realize that we view God as a distant, impersonal, and small figure; we probably also have a distant, impersonal, small faith. If we view God as this larger than life figure that is all powerful and can do all things, yet loves us individually; we probably have a stronger faith and are able to lean on God at all times in our life.


I like this description of Jesus in heaven from John out of Revelation. It may seem like something crazy out of Harry Potter or something but I think it really illustrates how incredible and HUGE God truly is.

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lamp stands, and among the lamp stands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. ~ Revelation 1:12-18

As crazy as this might sound, I think this shows how huge God really is. Just try to picture someone big enough to hold seven stars and with a face that was as bright as the sun. Someone so Holy that you fall on your face as though you were dead in fear. That is a big God.


Do you think your image of God, or perception of God, can have an effect on your faith? What do you think about when you think about God?



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I have noticed something over the last year or so. As I look through places like Facebook and Twitter I see a lot of people putting up posts about things going on in their life, some of them not so good things. Often they will get comments of encouragement from friends and family.


As I look through these comments I have noticed an overall trend of people saying something like "Sending good thoughts your way!" or "Sending positive energy." Now this typically wouldn't bother me and I wouldn't normally notice, but I have noticed that some of these people call themselves "Christians."


It seems wierd to me that a Christian wouldn't just say "I'm praying for you." Isn't that what we do as Christians...pray for each other? To me it just seems like these people are just afraid to just be transparently Christian and just straight up say they are praying for someone.


For some reason the phrase, "Sending positive energy" just sounds cultish to me. We're Christians, we pray.


Now, I'm not saying that telling someone that you are thinking about them is bad. That is a good thing, letting someone know you care. To me, if I am a Christian, I can be thinking about someone and praying for them. There is a difference to me, if only in how we are witnessing to the world (even if just the Social Media world), in saying "I am praying for you," vs. "I am sending positive energy/thoughts your way."


Non-Christians; continue sending "Positive energy/thoughts" to your friends and family in need. I think in some way you are praying at a basic level, whether you intend to or not.


Christians; let's be willing to let the world know that we are Christians and that we believe in the power of prayer. That's nothing to be ashamed of.


"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone" ~ 1 Timothy 2:1


"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well: the Lord will raise him up." ~James 5:15


"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" ~James 5:16b

I'm sure there will be many posts to come covering my adventures in music and ministry.

Last night was Rally #3 for Castleton United Methodist Church's capital campaign. Courtney and I were asked to share our stewardship witness with the attendees of the rally. Here is basically what we said (although in the moment a couple sentences I think got left out of the actual talk).
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We agreed to speak tonight because we’ve heard recently about what our sacrificial giving today can mean for tomorrow, and about how today’s sacrifices are tomorrow’s blessings. We truly feel that we’ve been able to reap the benefits of the giving of those that have come before us so we wanted share what sacrificial giving means to us.


I’m going to start by reading a quick quote from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity that basically sums up how we feel God is calling us to live.

I'm afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words,if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away way too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them ~ C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity

Two years ago, this coming Monday actually, Courtney and I got married right up there. It was the high point in 23 years of us, and our families, being blessed, by God, through this church. Castleton UMC over the years had given us each other, most of our closest friends, and most importantly; showed us the blessing of Jesus Christ crucified for us.


That C.S. Lewis quote I just read kind of sums up how we feel about giving, and how we feel God calling us to give. A passage from Malachi 3, that has been shared already during our worship services recently kind of sums up why living this way is worth it to us.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. ~ Malachi 3:10

Over the last 25 years, God has already poured out so much blessing on us, through this church, that we already don’t have room enough for it. Imagine what would happen if we acknowledged that and stepped up to God’s challenge to somehow, in some small way, repay this church just a little bit, by contributing and giving a little extra to this capital campaign. If we are already blessed beyond what we can hold, I can’t imagine what might be in store for us next. Not only for us, but the Castleton UMC as a whole.


It is because of this that we have decided to be a part of this campaign and contribute in any way possible. Honestly, right now we don’t have much to give in the first place and our current 10% tithe seems pretty huge. At the end of the month I will be switching jobs, which is one of those blessings that God has poured down on us that we have been praying for, for a long time. That blessing however does come with slightly less money than I was making before as I go from a full time and a part time job, to just one full time.


A couple months ago we put down a number that, at the time was sacrificial for us. It wasn’t much, but to us it was a sacrifice. Even though we will have slightly less income we have decided to go ahead and honor that original commitment and find a way to make it work. We will make that work without loading up our credit cards or incurring any more debt than we already have in student loans, my car and our house. Right now, that number is almost certainly out of our means, but we will find ways to cut back and put it within our means.


We do this because Jesus has already loved us and blessed us so much that out of the overflow of that blessing we find joy in giving back to God and His church.