Causing others to stumble

So I was just reading about the idea of sin on myfourwalls and looking through the comments and one of them got me to thinking.

The comment was essentially along the lines of drinking is not a sin, but when you add Paul's insight of do not cause others to stumble, the commenter deduced that you shouldn't drink alcohol in front of those that do think it is a sin. This is where I see the problem. It just seems to me that if we continue to support bad theology we can never expect change in others. I just think that it is perpetuating legalistic tendencies.

Any thoughts??

Jesus's asking people not to tell

I just started reading back through Matthew and I keep coming across Jesus healing people and then in the same breathe telling that person to not tell anyone. He does this on several occasions. After healing the blind, cast out the demons, lots of examples. But for what reason? I don't understand why. Not that I would expect him to say "Go and tell everyone it was me!". But why the tell no one?

PostSecret.com

This is one of the coolest websites around. It gives people an outlet to express themselves in ways they could never tell a person. Essentially they scan post cards that people send them. They have all different types. Some are happy while others talk about suicide. When you have time drop by their site it is definetly worth your time.

www.postsecret.com

What I am having trouble with.

Right now I am having trouble with the idea of how far do we take the teachings of Christ.  He told Nicodemus to sell all of his possessions and give them to the poor, which I can understand.  I mean why should one man go hungry when another has an abundance.  But He also said to blind the eye that caused you to lust.

I mean where do we stop and say surely he doesn't want every man who is a follower to be blind (because we all would be without a doubt).  If that is the case then why would we think that He truly means sell everything you have and give it to the poor. 

I guess we need to go back and look at what the true meaning for blind your eye and put it in the setting of that time period.

Crap who knows.

Soon to be a real live manager

Tomorrow (Friday the 15th)  the district manager is coming to Temple.  My hopes is that I will be made Manager of the Technology department.  To conclude this meaningful post, I will leave you with a Louie Anderson quote from "Coming to America"

Hey, I started out mopping the floor just like you guys. But now... now I'm washing lettuce. Soon I'll be on fries; then the grill. And pretty soon, I'll make assistant manager, and that's when the big bucks start rolling in.

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Why do or don't you believe

I had a conversation with my wife the other day about my difficulty with faith.  Apparently it comes way easier for her than for myself.  I ended up asking her "At the end of the day why do you believe?"  She had some very specific times in which she felt God in her presence.  So then she poses the question to me.  My reply was simple,  "because I can't see this world with out the story Christ."  Two totally different reasons.  I guess that is was faith comes easier for her than for me.

Leave your answer in comments below.

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Customer Service Thought

So here is a quick thought to think about.  The other day we had a bad day at Circuit City where a lot of people were having customer service issues.  I have only been there for 7 days so I haven't seen much.  One of the other guys there made the comment "Wait till Sunday after church when all the Christians come in and return stuff.  That is the worst day of the week." 

Does that make sense to any one.  I mean we aren't supposed to be the ones none for throwing fits and making a big commotion about little issues that don't really equate to anything..  We are supposed to be patient.  I am now beginning to understand more, why people don't like Christians.

Holy Crap

You have to check this out. The new Mac OSX Leopard is the bomb.  You have to check this out.  They have incorporated so much cool stuff it is unreal.  Just take the time to look at.  This is the reason that I am Mac user.  I can't see why any one would ever buy a PC when this is an option that is available.

And so the search is over

I am the newest manager-in-training at "the Circuit", that's Circuit City for all you people that aren't in the know.  I know that after reading the post before this and comparing it to the previous statement must make you wonder a bit.  Hey! at some point and time you have to realize that you need a paycheck. 

So I have been thinking a lot about saving money and I keep coming around to the thought of ....

"Why should I put money in the bank for savings when there is so much need in the world?"

I mean to what extent do take the "do not store up earthly treasures"?  If you start down this path it takes you down the path of how far do you take "love your neighbor as yourself", "feed the hunger". 

This is one of those posts that has no real reason.  It doesn't help mankind.  It just as rhetorical questions that I don't think there are answers to.

So I guess I shall attempt an answer to these questions.  There is no one answer.  I mean, no one can tell anyone the answer to these questions, because the answer lies in the journey to find the answer.

The Search for the Job Continues

I have filled out over 25 applications with no job in sight.  People keep asking "What kind of job are you looking for?" For that answer I must refer to the great Lloyd Dobler.

"I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don't want to do that."

So, I want a career that impacts mankind.  Is that too much to ask?  I mean, am I wanting too much out of something that you do from 8-5?  I guess I am looking for that "dare to be great" situation.

Why is it so difficult for me to figure out what I want to do with my life?  I mean for most people that I talk to it isn't this difficult.

The Conversation

I am one to question things.  I am the type of person that asks "why?"

I sometimes forget that others don't think this way.  I know I can blame it on the "Y Generation", but I know that is not true because my wife doesn't think this way.  Not that she accepts things as they are, but she isn't always questioning the way I do. And there are people like McLaren who are doing this as well and he was born in 1956 (I didn't just know that I looked it up on wikipedia).  So I know that I am not alone in think that questions are as important as the answer.  I recently read in Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell that followers of well known rabbis wouldn't answer the questions give to them, but would reply with a question of their own.  It was a sign that they understood the topic well enough to have a question of their own.

I wonder sometimes if I get caught up in questioning and don't ever have time to just sit and listen.  

Here is my mantra, "The point of the conversation is not to come to a conclusion, but to further the conversation."  Man that is just confusing to type.  But allow me to expand.  I know Christ and I know the message that he brought (at least I think I do), but do I really know the message.  Meaning, I will never understand all the pieces of the puzzle but that doesn't stop me from working on it.  We can't expect to put limits on God when he created the limits that we apply to him. 

This post has turned into rambling but I hope that somewhere you realize that "life is not about where you go, but about the people you meet along the way" Eddie James, skit guys.  This man changed my idea of ministry.

What I have learned being unemployed

Since I have had some time on my hands to watch day time television I tend to watch Dharma and Greg.  Great show.  Allow me to share with you a truly great truth that Dharma has taught me.  Let me setup the scene. Dharma mom just got put into the hospital for some reason (I tuned in late). Dharma somehow stumbles into the chapel and sits down and begins talking to God.  Then George, her spirit guide, shows up and says some meaningful things, just as he is about to leave he asked "Oh by the way, Dharma who were you talking to when before I showed up?"  Dharma replied, "I was trying to talk to the God." Here is the truth that we need to think about. George replies with, "You were talking to the Creator of Everything and you were doing the talking".

Bam!! Think about it.  I am still amazed at the way that God reveals truth.

This World of Hate

I just got done watching Crash and I am stunned.  I can't tell you the last time I saw a film that made me this mad, sad, worried and redeemed all within 2 hours.  Let me explain my emotions.

Mad--  This one is pretty easy.  Seeing the cop treat black women the way that he did made me want to get out of my seat and find a way to do something about it. The way that people can hate someone just because of the color of their skin, is frightening.   That we are more worried about self preservation and climbing the corporate ladder ( what my dad would call "the golden hand cuffs") than doing what is right, what we are called to do.

Sad-- Sad that we live in world with so much hate that, we only make worse by hating.  It makes my soul hurt when I think of raising a child in a place that they have to worry about gun shots coming through the windows at all time of the night.  That we still have avenues for human trafficking.  Not only do we have the ability, but that we still have the desire to buy people.

Worried--  That if we, as a global community, don't see the problem of racism and hate then we can never begin to change. I was pointed to a clip today of woman whose church is actually glad for 9/11, AIDS, and soldiers coming home in coffins.  It opened a new light as to why the world is afraid of the word "church".  I know that this movie and this clip are taking to things to the extreme, but we have to realize that we are part of the problems.  I know that when Don Cheadle walked into his mother's house and picked up the spoon I thought, "bet that is for heroin".  Please make a point to examine what part and role you play in this.

Redeemed--  When Michael Peña told the story of the invisible cloak to his baby girl it made we want to cry.  When she ran out to save her father I did cry.  The love the he showed for her is how we can turn this world around.  This is the type of love that Christ teaches.  When Ludacris does the right thing in the end is how we can turn this world around. Whether or not you agree with a person's opinions or beliefs you have no right to treat him as less than you.  If anything you should learn his beliefs, understand his beliefs and then examine his beliefs for yourself.  Help us set this world back to the way that it was designed.  Help us bring the loving nature and compassionate touch of Christ.

If you haven't seen this movie, buy it!

The search continues

So I still haven't heard from any of the people that I submitted resumes to. I know that it hasn't been that long but soon we are going to need a pay check. Now I know that there a lot of ways to make money but still a steady job would be nice.

With my newly found free time I am reading a lot. I am currently reading Generous Orthodoxy and there is some big stuff in there. The main idea of the book is to step back and look at different ways to see who God is. It goes thru many different Christian sects and points out the good parts of what they see and challenges the reader to not adopt them but to experience them.

A concept that the new church ( whatever you want to call it, ie emerging, organic, etc) will have to spend time examining is discipleship. Let me share with you McLaren's view:

"...it will empower 'lay' people, realizing that baptism itself is a kind of ordination to ministry and that the purpose of discipleship is to train and deploy everyday apostles. And like the earliest Methodists, it will see discipleship as a process of reaching ahead with one hand to find the hand of a mentor a few steps up the hill, while reaching back with the other to help the next brother or sister in line who is also on the upward path of discipleship.

May God save us from forgetting to reach back."

The only way that this can ever be achieved is in a church where daily community is occurring. I don't mean that we have a church service every night, but that the church body live in a way that allows them to be in contact and fellowship with each other. I know that with all that I am recently decided I wish I could of talked with a man that has made a similar decision. Not that the advice from my friend was bad or lacking in any way, there is just wisdom in experience.

Starting a new Journey

Well, today I officially quit my job. A good job that most people would love to have. Not only was it a good job, but it was the family business. So my whole family is involved in this decision.

As I look at this and reflect, this decision wasn't difficult. Don't get me wrong, I am worried about how I am going to pay rent but the actual choice to leave came easy. I guess it was because I knew the whole time I was there that this isn't where I wanted to be for the rest of my life. Like I was hanging out in holding pattern. I wasn't doing things that I enjoy or were passionate about. I mean I know it would be fun to launch this new CherryBomb muffler line and watch it grow, but something just hit home when they asked me to sign a $500,000 print advertising contract. I know it is the right thing to do for the business but still I just kept thinking, "man that could be a lot of rice."

I WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD.

I want to make a global impact. Is that too much to dream of? I know, the best way to do that is to make that impact in your own neighborhood today and let that go global. I truly believe that. I can't tell you how many times I have run Gandhi's quote "be the change in the world that you want to see" through my head in the last two weeks.

I have to say thank you to my wife most of all. A man can only dream of a woman that will truly support him in everything that he does. I know that by me giving up what I did, she gave it up as well.

Where does this leave me? Well tomorrow I will wake up and start looking for a job. Not my dream job, but just a job, and I will wait for that dream job to present itself. I know it is there, I just don't see it yet. I must begin to follow my dreams at some point so I guess today it is.