Better late than never!

So, I slacked off on my blogging for a few days. Never fear, I'm still with the program. I've not much time right now, but here's some things that I've thought about. The majority of mainline Christian churches are over. Haggai 1:4 says, "Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie in waste?" Many churches are in shambles; given over to sin and the values of this world. We're perfectly alright with laying back and enjoying what we have (which we should) without putting any work into the purpose for wich we were created (which is where the problem lies). In verse 5 it warns us to "consider our ways", and again in verse 7. If anything is said twice like this, it is meant to be extremely important. So we really need to make sure that we are being mindful of what we are allowing ourselves to become. Are we siding with those that knew Jesus best, or a bunch of man made "revelations" to make the church look more attractive, be more popular, and become more rich? Ask yourselves. There will be more to follow on this... oh yes.

Jump in the Fire!

Day 6- I'm thinking of that old Metallica tune, "Jump in the Fire!", or rather "Jump in the Fi-yaa!" Yeah... It's tough having time on your hands. Alright, here's why I'm thinking of that. I was reading Habakuk 2:12-13 today, and I read the following: "Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." How many cities can we name that are known for their sin? Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Daytona Beach, Green Bay (ok, that's a Minnesota joke), not leaving my own Minneapolis out of the line-up. That's just a start. We didn't even get to foreign cities like Amsterdam, Bangkok, etc., etc. The glory of the Lord is a visable event. It went before the Isrealites. How can his glory cover the earth, if it doesn't go before us? How can it go before us, if we don't go labour in the fire? 1 Corinthians 9:14 says: "Even so the Lord has commended that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel." If we're out preaching the gospel it should be our living. We should not have to rely on filling our time up with a regular "job", unless that regular job is the mission field we are called to. Time is too precious to sit goofing off and living each day as though you have 50,000 more. We don't know. We must jump in the fi-yaa!!!

Are You Satisfied with me?

Last night I got together with a bunch of other Bluerites. It was a great time. During a song, Dan Lukas told us to ask God if he was satisfied with each of us. It was really difficult. I didn't want to hear the answer. When I did ask, I filled my head with thoughts of what I wanted Him to say. I'm used to disappointing people. But you know, you can never really please anybody. Are we supposed to go through life trying to fulfill everybody's expectations of us? It would be impossible. How can we? We should only worry about living up to God's expectations. That will create charachter qualities in us that others will admire and respect. I was writing this morning, emptying my head of all the clutter and I felt a big resonding "YES!" through my body. That was the relief I was waiting for. God is satisfied with us. We are His creation. Because of sin we are incomplete and imperfect. But He sees us as we will someday be, once we decide to drop all and follow Him.

Diligence and Servanthood

Day four of my journey- I learned a couple cool things, so far today: Proverbs 12:24- "The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor. By being diligent about dwelling in the presence of the Spirit, we will walk in peace, and rule wherever we go. The man who does not enter and walk in God's presence will never find God's calling. They will work for work's sake. They are content with earning a check for a day's labor. The diligent man's charge is to be in charge of spreading peace, good will, and the fruits of the Spirit. This is the value of faith over the law. The work of our hands is something we do to facilitate the work of the Spirit. It is a front for our true labor.

That also lead me to think about leadership by servanthood. Back when I was in Carpetbomb, we used to help Big Fat Jam carry their gear and vice versa, when we played together. That's why we were such good friends. I carried that over to FTFE, (that's how we became such good friends with some bands). That was a long time ago. We've gotten away from that. We need to think about the best way to serve each other, our friends, other bands, and our fans. Unbelievers are used to doing things for themselves. When you serve them without them asking for help, it catches them off guard and opens them up to you on a personal level. One in which they'll respect who you are and what you say.

The Slow Fast

Well...

Over the next 40 days, Bluer has been called to fast in one of various ways. I've had time to consider the options and have been on my journey for almost 36 hours so far. I have been asked, because I keep a blog, to write about this experience until Thanksgiving. Who knows what you'll hear out of my mouth between then and now? I hope it is useful for you. Yesterday I really wanted a gyro... and some onion rings. Thankfully, I kept my composure.

I have been learning much, even in this short time about seeing God's presence incease in my everyday life. I have always been of the mind that love is the only way to treat each other. But, the first commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. Then to love others as yourself. If you surround yourself with "believers" who refuse to submit to God's word and make up rules only to make themselves feel good, we endanger our own standing with God. 1 Corinthians 5:5-6 says, "Your glorying is not good. Know ye that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" In verse 11 Paul continues: "But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with an one do not eat". It is better not to surround ourselves with Christians that live like this. Their beliefs will rub off on you. They can never give you what you need. Unbelievers are expected to act in all manner of ways, as they do not hold the same beliefs. That is why it is easier to spend time with them. Once we surround ourselves with those that will feed our lives positively, we will be less likely to adopt heretical beliefs and selfish habits.

Once we get ourselves straight, we must get into the rhythm of God. This is done through prayer and fasting as a part of our lifestyle. Psalm 130:5-6 says, "I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word I do hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning..." In II Samuel 6 David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. He waits for two years, watching the Lord bless someone else, and he couldn't wait for the Spirit of God to be on him in Jerusalem. He was acting crazy in his anticipation. Yet, we treat it as no big deal that God's presence is with us daily. We give it little special thought. We must wait on him expectantly, eagerly. To really feel and see things happen in our lives, we need to live in the Spirit.

This is time consuming. Today we love the easy way. Whatever brings instant comfort is instantly welcomed. God would rather take the more difficult road. In Romans 5:2-5, "Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverence; and perseverence character; and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Once I can bend the will of my body to the will of the spirit, I will have persevered, which will allow me to become more the man I want to be, and result in hope for the purpose of my life. According to the above, he will not disappoint if I do my part. By giving in to doubt, negativity, comfort, and hopelessness, it makes one unwilling to push onward.

Don't give up on hope. There's so little of it in this world, that we must hold on with all we have. Dispair is but one event away from consuming us. Hope is what keeps us from desolation. It contains all our dreams, positive thoughts, ambitions, our future, and our life. Without hope, we die. I hope this encourages you to be still, fast, pray, and eagerly expect God to give you faith to persevere. Sorry for the length. I'll try to keep this updated during this period.

A bum experience in the park?

Most days that it's not raining or freezing, I like to go to a park downtown. There are fountains, waterfalls, and a reflection pool. Now that it's cooler, there aren't quite as many people around. I like to go and reflect and write. I went to do that twice this week, and was interrupted both times by deaf panhandlers. The first time was no biggie. I had a little change on me, and felt as if I should give, so I did. The second time I went, however, this next deaf panhandler was very drunk. I could not understand what he was trying to tell me. I thought he wanted to sleep on the bench in front of me, and I nodded okay. Next he layed down on the ground and proceeded to slide under the bench at my feet. I found this a bit unnerving, but tried to keep going with my time. But, I couldn't. I kept peering down at him, because I didn't feel safe. I felt like he might grab my foot or something, I was trying to see if somebody was looking for him. I tried to show that it wasn't bothering me, though. After about 3 minutes, he started to slide out from under the bench... on my side of the bench. He started trying to signal something to me again. I'm not sure that he even knew sign language. I was feeling pretty uncomfortable about it all. When it was clear I had no idea what he wanted, after a couple of minutes he walked away slowly, but kept looking back at me. I saw him gesturing to someone else in the park, that he may have known, and kept looking at me. I prompty left. I know, big, tough, rocker. Well, I don't know if I did the right thing or not. Should I have tried to communicate with him, tried to listen to him, and be a friend, rather than shaking my head, shrugging my shoulders, and hitting the road? I guess I still don't know...

Sleeping Awake

The song "Sleeping Awake" from P.O.D off the The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack popped into my head today. Ever heard that tune? I love it. I thought about it today. We go through life in a state of slumber. There's always so much going on around us that we aren't aware of. If we could really see the spiritual world, past the conscious, we would be alarmed at what we saw. Some people are so much more in tune with that part of their life than I am, that it amazes me what they what they know or have seen. Others, however, are sleeping, but not awake. They go through life content to pledge their lives to their jobs, and the pursuit of climbing the corporate ladder and the pay scale. Or, they fill up all of their down time with activities. This may shock you, but sometimes a break from family is important! Family time can be used to keep you busy, so that you don't ever get alone, and seek the deep in silence. I'm not advocating shutting yourself off from your family, but just getting alone once and a while. It's important stuff! TV viewership is up dramatically. How about some overtime? As if eight hours a day wasn't enough, now you can let work take up more of your valuable time, and to what end? What, of any lasting good, have you really accomplished? What can you take away from these things and say, "you know, that was really worth my time. The world is a better place forever, because I watched a lot of tv (worked overtime, kept my nose in a book, etc., etc.)" None of these things are bad in their proper doses, but we can't get into a spiritual rhythm in our lives if we're cluttering it up with an imbalance of activity. It's up to each of us to play our part to use our gifts to help join the physical and the spiritual; to make those worlds one; to become "sleeping awake"!

Sleeping Awake (P.O.D.)

Reveal to meThe mysteries
Can you tell me what it means?
Explain these motions and metaphors
Unlock these secrets in me
Describe the visions
The meaning is missing
Won't anybody listen?

Define the riddles of my mind
Nothing is really as it seems

Dreaming of Zion awake
Sleeping awake
Dreaming of Zion awake
Can't stop sleeping awake

Do you see what I see?
Can you hear what I hear?
Do you feel like I feel?
Do you see what I see?
Can you hear what I hear?
Do you feel like I feel?
Can't stop sleeping awake

Can you see it?
The writing
Can you tell me what it means?
Translate the symbols; enigma
Expressions keep pushing me
The message slips and the meaning is missing
Won't anybody listen?

Prophecy; interpretate the signs
Nothing is really as it seems

Dreaming of Zion awake
Sleeping awake
Dreaming of Zion awake
Can't stop sleeping awake

Do you see what I see?
Can you hear what I hear?
Do you feel like I feel?
Do you see what I see?
Can you hear what I hear?
Do you feel like I feel?
Can't stop sleeping awake

Creativity is back!

I've been working on some new material. I've not had a lot of inspiration for many months, but with all going on in our world the last couple of months, I've had much inspiration. It is encouraging. Whether music, lyrics, or both; things are seeming to flow out of me in a way that have not for a long time. I am beholding the world around me in amazement and anticipation. I hope that it continues.

A Good Soldier

"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." -II Timothy 2:4 (KJV)

It's kind of a fact of the new mellinium. We live in a war torn world. There are international wars, civil wars, wars of ideals, etc., etc. We are used to constantly hearing about soldiers from any miriad of countries that are doing wonderful things or horriffic things. (Unfortunately the wonderful things are hard to come by, unless you know where to look.) At any rate, they are trying to please thier superior officers with almost everything they do. They are plucked out of normal life and gathered together to put up a front against a common enemy. What does that have to do with us civillians? Well, all of us are called to war. Now, not necessarily in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anything like that. But rather, one that is going on all around us, that we can not always see. We can ignore it altogether if we busy ourselves with all the things that this earth has to offer us. I know what I was made to do. Therefore, at my job, I do my work well. However, I don't seek out extra assignments to take up valuable time. If I want to watch a certain tv show and I have an opportunity to invest in others, I'll tape it and watch it later. I'm trying to take more time to isolate myself for meditative prayer rather than watch tv or listen to music. I still feel far away from the front lines. I feel more centered, and in touch with all that is going on around me, but I still feel like a Private in boot camp. The battle still feels "out there" somewhere. I see the shift toward an areligious, morally relative, society, and see how badly Christians have dropped the ball over the last how many years by trying to enforce rules on people, instead of praying and living out thier ideals. How we've turned people off by shutting out those that are different, instead of loving them and watching them grow. We have become outdated dinosaurs, rather than the people that others look to for help and answers. But all this has to happen for the war to come to it's ultimate conclusion. What kind of soldier are you? Do you feel like me? Are you caught up in the silly, stupid things of this world that don't matter, or are you trying to fix that, or have you already cast off the image of what the world wants you to be for what you were created to be? This war is real, and we need you.