religion sucketh

Come all you weary, with your heavy loads,
Lay down your burdens find rest for your souls.
Cause my yoke is easy and my burden is kind,
I’ll take yours upon me and you can take mine.

Come all you weary, move through the earth,
You’ve been spurned at fine restaurants and kicked out of church.
I’ve got a couple of loaves, so sit down at my feet,
Lend me your ears and we’ll break bread and eat.

Come all you weary
Come gather ’round near me
Find rest for your souls

Come all you weary, crippled you lay,
I’ll help you along, you can lay down your canes.
We’ve got a long way to go but we’ll travel as friends,
The lights growing bright further up, further in.

Come all you weary
Come gather ’round near me
Find rest for your souls

Rest for your souls

Come all you weary
Come gather ’round near me
Come all you weary
Come gather ’round near me
Find rest for your souls
Rest for your souls
Rest for your souls
Rest for your souls

Come All You Weary
Thrice
The Alchemy Index, Vol. 3 & 4: Air & Earth

We must rediscover our faith as a way of life, not simply a system of beliefs.

- Brian McLaren

For many, the system of beliefs has become, in itself, a way of life. Many of us become so consumed with the rituals and practices of the Christian faith we forget the reasons behind those practices. An example from my own life: lately, instead of reading my Bible to learn more about Jesus and how to become more like Him and to grow closer to Him, it becomes a chore to complete to be a good Christian. So yeah, I read my Bible, but I don’t really read my Bible. Or how about when I ask God to give me opportunities to love and serve people who are hurting, and then I completely ignore all the suffering I see on a daily basis. Sure, I’m doing and saying the right things to make others think I’m a Christian, but in reality I’m putting Jesus on the backburner. Kind of a shitty way to treat the creator of the universe, huh?

Kind of like the pharisees. They did all the right things and said all the right things, but when God revealed Himself to them in the form of Jesus what happened?

I wonder how many times Christ has revealed Himself to me and I ignored or even shunned Him?

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’

Matthew 25:41-45

Do we really have free will?

I heard an interesting take on that question a few days ago.

I can choose what to eat for breakfast. I can choose what to wear to work. I can choose to go to college.

But I can’t wake up tomorrow morning and CHOOSE to be the President of the United States of America.

So do I have free will, or limited will?

Only kidding; there is a thread on my Facebook page where I was discussing James 2:1-9 and a friend wrote “James 2: Revenge of the Apostle” in reference to “Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen”.

On a serious note though, I was reading James 2 last night, and I’ve probably read James a couple hundred times over the course of my life, so I wasn’t expecting any new revelations. I’m sure many of you can quote James 2:10 or James 2:14-17, as those seem to be very popular. And I’ve heard many pastors speak on James 2:1-4…… but I’ve heard many sermons that end before reaching verse 9. So here is the complete passage (ESV):

“1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, You sit here in a good place, while you say to the poor man, You stand over there, or, Sit down at my feet, 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? 5 Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you are doing well. 9 But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For he who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Seems to me James 2:9 says that if you show partiality, you are sinning.

Just for fun, let’s see what other translations say (so no one can claim it’s limited to the ESV).

“But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.” KJV

“But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.” NIV & TNIV

“But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law.” NLT

“But if you show servile regard (prejudice, favoritism) for people, you commit sin and are rebuked and convicted by the Law as violators and offenders.” AMP

“But if you play up to these so-called important people, you go against the Rule and stand convicted by it.” The Message

Looks like all the major Bible translations call favoritism sin.

Just got me thinking about some of the stuff I’ve witnessed first hand.

Life can be funny sometimes.

Or maybe I’ve just got a twisted sense of humor.

Over the last couple years I’ve come to believe that many of the things I’ve been taught to avoid and in some cases even demonize, are not in and of themselves evil. Music, alcohol, etc.

A friend of mine explained it to me this way: “America is a nation of gluttons. We do everything to excess.” And he’s right.

Sadly though, people like to pick and choose what they demonize. I know people who are quick to condemn me for having a drink, yet most doctors would consider them to be obese and last time I checked, the Bible is just as harsh towards gluttony as it is drunkenness.

And just for the record, I’ve never been drunk. Never even been buzzed. And I don’t ever plan to be either.

Anyways, ever since moving back to Louisiana, I’ve really begun to ask the question, “What is church?”.

Do I have to go to a building with “church” in the name in order to “go to church”?
Do I have to go to that building at a certain time, on a certain day?
Does there have to be a very specific order that determines what is done in “church”?
Is an online community real community?

I’m still wrestling with these questions daily, so by no means am I saying that I have all the answers. Nor am I against the traditional Protestant concept of church. I believe that church, when done right, is an awesome agent for change, discipleship and spiritual growth.

The big question I’ve been wrestling with is, have we put God into a box by putting His church in a box?

Last time I checked, the Biblical definition of a church is the regular assembly of believers for the purpose of edification and instruction. In other words, to refresh and to teach. If that is church, then I go to church every Sunday night at McAlister’s where there is a Bible study. And if online communities count, I go to LifeChurch.tv every week.

All of that brings me to this: earlier this week a friend told me that they have really begun to “question my lifestyle”, because I don’t go to (their definition of) church, I enjoy the occasional adult beverage and have been known to smoke a cigar every now and then.

Yet the funny part (funny to me) is that twice in the past two months I’ve had very deep, thought-provoking, long conversations with an unchurched friend of mine about Jesus, the Bible, church and sin, and during both conversations we enjoyed a couple cigars and some bourbon.

Thoughts?