Bias of the Church of Christ

So as I usually do here on the great campus of Johnson Bible College I find myself in one of those interesting little conversations where I don't agree with the masses. You see, I love these moments where I can go the opposite way of the peers around me. There is something that just gets me excited about being different and being separated from the mass. I don't know, perhaps it is the simple remnants of the teenage angst that plagued me so much in high school to the point where I would just start hitting doors and walls in my house to get out this hatred and fire I had within myself.

Now I am not implying that I hate my peers, but rather their single-minded fundamentalist Church of Christ views drive me crazy sometimes. For example I have a friend who made a remark against a book I truly enjoyed. The book was "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren. Now in defense of my friend McLaren is like the face of the Emergent Church and has some pretty crazy ideas out about evolution that paints Darwin as a revelationist rather than a challenger of the Christian faith. But the thing that got me is that in the book McLaren seeks to tell why he is many types of Christian and in the end states that he is unfinished. He combines many aspects of different denomination to form what he paints as his spiritual life. Now my friend says that the problem with that is that it is like syncratism. Take what you like and combine it. 

This mindset falls in line with exactly what I intend to fight against and that is that the Church of Christ is the Way Church in the New Testament. What constitutes a Christian? Is it the time of service? The type of worship? A responsive reading? An experience of communion? Prayer? Quiet time? What if I were to say that to simply be a Christian and to be a part of this body of believers all you have to do is simply believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and they accept Him as their Lord and Savior? Isn't all that is really needed. Isn't that what John said was needed when he quoted Christ in 14:6? 

Who gives a crap about the freaking doctrines and practices of the Church. Yes, I seek to find truth in the Bible. Yes, I want to understand the Bible's originally meaning. Yes, I think doctrine can be beautiful and important and can enrich a person's faith. But to be quite honest, who cares how someone gets to Christ as long as they find the Jesus that died for their sins and has called them to repentance. I can worry about the doctrines and the practices later. The number one priority is to show the people Christ. Not the doctrine. Christ. Not the sacraments. Christ. First we show Christ. And for those that accept Christ and a pursuit of living like him, they instantly become a Christian. Because a Christian should not have allegiance to the Church and their doctrines before they simply have their allegiance to being a follower of Christ. 

So what if McLaren takes parts of other denominations into his life? Are they all not our Brothers and Sisters in Christ? So what if McLaren tries to show the good sides of denominations the Church of Christ frowns upon? You see, I honestly believe that when we start believing that the Church of Christ has it all right, do what they do and you're a Christian, we are turning our faith into a system of belief; a formula. We stop searching. Unlike McLaren who admits to being unfinished, we seem to believe we have it all figured out. Well that rules out us having a relational faith with God. Because relationships are complex and they change, and we are called to be in a deep, affectionate, intimate relationship with our living, breathing, Abba Father. So maybe he is a little weird. Maybe he does combine theological thoughts and has some major doctrinal flaws (in my opinion). I think that all of us could use a little of the unfinishedness in our lives that McLaren seems to have, so that we may never stop searching and our beliefs may go beyond the institutional Church and into the great idea we call the Body of Christ.

Update on Omniscience of Jesus

So just a fun little side note, today our professor read some of our responses then came out and told us that he was the one that in fact wrote the memo. He said mine was actually his favorite argument against his because of the way that I took the examples he used and turned them around, even if he didn't agree with me. So on the second day of class I unknowingly, bluntly, stated that my professor was wrong. 

oops

It's going to be a fun year.

The Omniscience of Jesus

So today in Composition our professor began by reading a memo by some theological guy I can't remember the name of and asked us for our impression of what he said and if we had a response. We wrote down what we would say and he will read some next class session and I'm thinking mine will be included because as always I had a lot to say. 

The writer of the memo, O'Reilley, or something like that, claimed that Jesus couldn't have been all knowing stating simple things that Jesus did, but stressing the fact that Jesus walked over to the fig tree before he cursed it for not having any fruit. He says that this implies that Jesus walked over expecting to have his hunger satisfied. The author goes on to say that this in fact does not challenge the aspect of Christ that was 100% divine as well as 100% human.

Bull. If someone is claiming that Christ was not all knowing here on earth than we lose the idea that Christ is the image of God here on earth. You see, I fully believe that God is transcendent, meaning that the human mind cannot possibly grasp all that is the Holy God. However, there is a way to look at the "eminent" God, that is to say the here and now. The thing that bridges the transcendent God and the eminent God is the God incarnate. That of course refers to Jesus Christ. Scripture says that the Word was God in the beginning and the Word became flesh, once again referring to Christ. So if Christ is everything that God is, then why is he not omniscient? The author of this memo at one point said that he believes that God the Father simply chose to not reveal everything to Jesus the Son. I would have to argue the other way though. I would say that rather than God not revealing everything to Jesus, I would have to say that it was Jesus who did not reveal everything he knew to us. 

Some of the points used by this author could point to Christ not being omniscient, like the usage of the story of Christ not knowing when the second coming was, the identity of the bleeding woman who touched him, and the idea that he didn't know that the fig tree was bare. Well let's look at these with the idea that Christ didn't reveal them for specific reasons. If Christ had revealed that he knew the exact moment in time why would we always be ready for his return. Most of us would simply forget the now and live life the world's way and not the Lord's way, that is up until the point when Christ said he would come. As for the bleeding woman this is one that I thought of the answer for right away. When Jesus called for the person who touched him I honestly believe he knew exactly who it was. What this served as was a call to faith. He called the bleeding woman out on her faith to reveal herself and who she was. She stepped out onto that step of faith admitting to what she did and the belief she had in Christ. As for the fig tree doesn't Christ constantly move toward us? We are the fig tree in that Christ will always come to us, whether we bear fruit or not. It is our duty however, to become trees that bear fruit for Christ, or rather people who live out the life we are supposed to in Christ so that others may enjoy Christ through us and may get to know his glory. If there is anyone out there that reads this blog I would definitely love to hear your thoughts on this and what you tend to believe.

"Some say that it may be that God the Father in Heaven chose not to reveal everything to Christ. I would argue that rather than Christ's knowledge being limited it is more likely that our knowledge is insufficient to comprehend why Christ, who knew all things, chose not to reveal things to us as humans."

Self Interest

I realize I just put a post down but I had a little urge to continue writing tonight about a little problem I have called self-interest. It was Kinlaw in his book, "The Mind of Christ" who said that the root of all sin is self-interest. I'm not sure if that is true in every single case we point out but most of the things that run through my mind do seem to point back to the fact that sin is about the betterment of ourselves rather than the betterment of God's Kingdom or the people who reside in it, wish to reside in it, or have no idea of that Kingdom. So that is why I continually find myself in a seemingly unending tragic circle of sin that seems to pour out of my heart. (That may be a slight exaggeration but you get the point and we are a species of sin) For example, my biggest problem with sin at school is the fact that most of the worship, study, or prayer to God comes from the curriculum and guidelines of Johnson Bible College. I worship in chapel 3 times a week. I open my Bible to study for classes, and the majority of the time I pray is at the beginning or end of class. Now I'm not saying that those are bad things, but I think that my personal devotion to God suffers when it is all required and I simply don't take the time to immerse myself in the great mystery that is God's Love. 

You see there are sins omission and commission. It's pretty to figure out which sins fall into what category. Either we omit something from our lives and its not there and it is sinful to not have it there like a respect for parents, keeping the Sabbath Holy, truly worshipping God. Then there are the sins we commit like murder, stealing, adultery, or worshipping false idols (like a grade for instance). So at school I find myself in a path of serving myself interest by looking for the grade or by not going into a true personal time with God and I see myself serving self-interest. 

You see it is a pattern that we all get into and it is all about the fact that we are more concerned with our story than the story of God. You all get a little preview into what I will be preaching about next week in chapel. You see it comes from Louie Giglio's book "I am not but I know I AM," which is all about us becoming less to glorify God. I think that John the Baptist said it best when he said, "He must become Greater, I must become less." I can't help but think that the reason most of us go through our lives continually wanting more and not truly being happy is because it is impossible as long as we serve self-interest. We were created in the image of God, not be be god. And if we take that message to heart, if we truly see our purpose in life to be a child of God and to bring glory to his name then we have lost self-interest. We have immersed ourselves into something greater that is called the Story of God, and only being a part of that story will we find true happiness. A happiness that comes from being a part of something that has no beginning and has no end. Something that stretches forever throughout time and we, by the Grace of God, are humbly allowed to leave our mark upon it. 

So to sum it up my goal this semester is to pull myself out of the never-ending perpetual sin we call self-interest, which in itself is a portion of almost all other sin. Will I completely succeed? No. But that shouldn't stop me from finding my spot and being a part of the Story of God. That shouldn't stop me from beginning to find time with God where I don't care about grades, I don't care about knowing more, but where I simply take time to be immersed in the Word, and be immersed in wonder of the mighty God. 

TReturn to Johnson

So I have completely neglected writing in this for a few weeks even though I'm pretty sure nobody reads it. It has been a crazy few weeks getting ready to come back to school. After moving from Springfield home and then to school I am so excited to finally be done moving around and I can focus on the important things of school now. Thats not to say I won't be busy. Tomorrow I will have my first Greek class of the semester with a guy that has a reputation for being hard and challenged me enough in my BCB class. I am totally excited for the class and I wouldn't take it with anyone else except Rodriguez because I know he will push me, but I am worried about all that I am involved in. Like tonight I had one of two meetings I still need to have before I preach student-led chapel on Wednesday. I had a meeting with the worship leader of student-led and I still need to meet with the professor in charge of it. Plus I have the River to be concerned about. So next week I preach on Wednesday and then again on Sunday. Pretty sure everyone is going to be sick of hearing me speak. Oh well it should be fun.

But all in all it is good to be back and I cannot wait to get even more involved in everything this semester because I seem to have a good list of classes I can go off of. I have Old Testament Poetry, Composition, Greek, Speech, and Homiletics. It isn't too heavy off a schedule but I will stay busy. It is exciting however to be back in a place where I can get into those deep discussions with my friends about life, Church and God which come up a lot. Well I will have to expand upon some of my crazy thoughts later as I really have nothing bugging me right now or nothing I have to think through. I promise, it will come later.  Till next time...

WHODEY!!!

So just a quick thought for today and that thought is about how stoked I am for the first game of the season even if it is preseason. Tonight at 8 the Bengals will take the field against the Packers and it will be interesting to see how Chad and Palmer hook up with the passes and to see who has improved and or who shouldn't be on the team. It should be a fun night and I look forward to spending some quality time in front of the TV. Go Bengals. WHODEY? WHODEY? WHODEY THINK GONNA BEAT DEM BENGALS?

Old People and Jr. Highers

So this week I have been all over the board with whom I interact with. On Monday I had to teach a Bible Study for my grandma's small group which was quite the experience; good in some ways yet bad in others. For starters it was a picnic first before I gave my lesson and I showed up in basketball shorts, a Reds jersey, flip-flops, and a hat while everyone else was in stuff that is too formal for me to wear to a funeral (just an exaggeration but you get the point). So I felt underdressed and the leader of the small group was an elder which meant that he was my boss so from the beginning I was thinking they were probably all judging me for my non-formal attire at a picnic. This kind of left me with the impression of the fatalistic fundamentalist mentality from them which says if you don't adhere to our ridiculous standards that are not mentioned in the Bible your not a Christian, and it is this Christian fundamentalist mindset that makes many people, myself included, not like many Christians for being judgmental and shying away from simply loving people who are sinners. They are essentially just Christian pharisees. So I wasn't too happy with the whole I need to dress formally everywhere. 

I taught another lesson earlier this year for a church Bible study, but before I got there my grandma got mad at me because I was going to teach in sandals. She said that when we go before God we should wear our best. I simply reminded her that Jesus was a poor homeless man that wandered around in tattered clothes and sandals to love people and that we are called to be like Jesus, who didn't care about his appearance. Well she told me that it wasn't the same and today and that as a minister I needed to impress people. I left the argument before I really hurt my grandma's feelings but I can't help but think that all of this stupid stuff contributes to the downfall of Christianity as a religion and makes us fall away from simply being devoted followers of Christ. When my grandma started to say I needed to impress people I just have to disagree. The only opinion I should truly care about is God's and his approval for what I do with my life. Now unfortunately I do care what other people think, but not to the point where I feel I have to impress them with my clothes. You see, when we start thinking that we should impress people with how we look - clothes, hair-styles, cars, houses, and any other material things that elevate our position - we start worshipping our image rather than submitting to God and I would have to say all of us, not just the old fundamentalists, are a part of this all the time."First, worship is not something done solely by Christians or 'spiritual' people. rather, because everyone was made to worship God, everyone is in fact a worshiper whether or not he or she has any religious or spiritual devotion." (Mark Driscoll, Vintage Jesus, pg. 165)

So all that aside teaching the older people was kind of fun because they thought I was amazing simply because of the fact that I am a young guy going into the ministry. Oh, and they think the corniest jokes in the world are hilarious. For example, I planned on being this lame simply because I knew it would get a laugh out of them, I had no idea what to speak on so I put like 3 of my ideas together and I told them this: "Syncretism is the blending of religions and beliefs, well I call this 'Bradtism' and the blending of my thoughts." I know it is completely retarded but they all thought it was hilarious. So in that respect they are kind of fun to teach.

Then on wednesday I took twenty Jr. Highers down to a Reds game which was an experience I don't wish to revisit anytime soon. First off, Jr. High kids think they know everything. They thought I was wrong on every point and don't understand that they are completely wrong in almost every aspect of what we talked about. Some dumb conversation about Northern Kentucky being part of the Greater Cincinnati area (which it is). A friend of mine put it really well when he said Jr. High kids = suck because they think they are awesome when in reality they are just really awkward. That being said they are annoying but kind of cool because they think I'm cool which makes me like them. Oh and I get to threaten them. Like we were sitting at Skyline and a couple of the guys started squirting hot sauce in each other's drinks and I yelled at them saying if they didn't stop I was going to take the hot sauce and squirt it in their eyes. Yes, I know it is a weird threat. Yeah well my semi-venting session is now over and you can go think of how dumb I am to write about this pointless stuff.

Summer Closing

So I just realized that I haven't written in like a month, mainly because I had this weird idea that I had to somehow be deeply theological in my posts even though nobody reads them, and since I haven't had any time to be deeply theological lately I didn't get a chance to write simply because I've been at another week of camp and then a week of CIY in the middle of doing lessons at Church and going home on some of the weekends. 

However it really doesn't seem like it is time for me to be getting ready to go back to school. I have had an awesome summer and on one hand I think I have accomplished more this summer than ever before but on the other I'm not sure I accomplished anything. I mean yeah I spent the summer working, teaching, going on trips and stuff, and I have learned a lot, but did I really leave a mark? I just have to wonder if I did God's will by simply coming up here for a couple months to gather experience for myself, rather than getting involved in a group of students I already knew to help make a bigger difference for God rather than myself. That and it was hard at points this summer being up here with no past connections and knowing all of my friends were back home enjoying being around each other and stuff like that, all though that is a jealous thought that is about serving myself rather than God. And all that free time gave me the opportunity to read many books like, "I am America and so can You" by Stephen Colbert, "Vintage Jesus" and "Radical Reformission" by Mark Driscoll, "I am not but I know I AM" by Louie Giglio, "Finding our Way Again" by Brian McLaren, and "Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller. Those are all fairly decent books by the way if you are ever interested in reading some of them. So maybe it was the right decision to do this internship my first summer of college but I don't know. 

Oh well, its over and almost done with now so it doesn't really matter and even if I didn't make a big difference I got plenty of experience dealing with people and relating to students. I am excited to go back to school though. This year is going to be amazing and I can't wait to be back and seeing all of my friends and getting kicked out of Target and really stupid stuff like that. It should be a good time. All though it does suck that I barely got to hang out with my old high school friends this summer. They all should just go to Johnson, because Johnson is awesome. And definitely the cheapest which works. And Johnson gives even more money to people who have come from the same home church. Right. Anyway. 

Oh and I have to say that Dark Knight was freaking amazing and I don't care if I'm a nerd for loving it as much as I did but I mean I just didn't want that movie to end. Freaking amazing!!!!!!

Yeah, anyways thats all I got right now. Maybe next time I'll gather my thoughts together for some great crazy theological thought for the grand total of like 2 people who will actually log in and read my crap. Talk to you all later.

Vintage Jesus

So after a short break from reading after school got out I am now back into my search of knowledge from the authors that I love. I am currently plowing my way through the book "Vintage Jesus" by Mark Driscoll. Driscoll has to be my favorite author right now simply because of his take no prisoners, tell it like it is, no BS, straight to the point style of writing. It seems that Driscoll writes not only to spread what he think and knows, but rather to confront any idea out there that is heresy in his eyes.

I love the second chapter in this book which is called "How Human was Jesus?" The first sentence of this chapter reads, "Jesus was a dude. Like my drywaller dad, he was a construction worker who swung a hammer for a living." (Driscoll, pg. 31) It goes on to talk more of this with Driscoll's typical style of writing to include, "...he likely had calluses on his hands and muscles on his frame, and did not look like so many of the drag-queen Jesus images that portray him with long, flowing, feathered hair, perfect teeth, and soft skin, draped in a comfortable dress accessorized by matching open-toed sandals and handbag." "No, Jesus was not the kind of person who, if walking by you on the street, would require you to look for an Adam's apple to determine the gender." (Driscoll, pg. 31) You just gotta love that type of confrontational no messing around writing. 

I can't wait to finish the book because Driscoll is dead on with this world's preconceived idea of Jesus. That idea is that Jesus was this stoic boring guy that seemed to be on prozac. In scripture we see Jesus throwing over tables, confronting demons, killing pigs by sending demons into them, partying with the sinners and low-lives. Not to say that Jesus sinned, but he did all of these things in a manner of not sinning and to show people the way to Him. It's a lot different than the Jesus we see in the picture Bibles holding the lamb. The Jesus we see in scripture is approachable, but also a man to reckon with. He is love, but he is also a voice of strength and truth. He is God, but he is also the man that simply wants a relationship with us. 

Mark Driscoll paints a clear picture of why Jesus is God, and why Jesus is the one true way to Heaven. I can't help but think that if we all as Christians have that determination to be up front about the truth about Christ things would be better off. I mean Christ did say, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) We need to hold onto that view and not be afraid to spread it. I understand that it is hard for people to confront people with this idea and say someone is going to Hell, but if we believe that all scripture is God-breathed then we cannot back away from this simple fact that Christ is the only way. Not Buddha, Muhammad, Jewish, or good deeds. I though of all this when I was watching Joel Osteen being interviewed by Larry King. Larry King asked him something along the lines of if you have to be Christian or believe in Christ to get to heaven. Joel had a great opportunity to be confident and resolute in this message to America (which may have gained a little respect for him in my book) but Joel simply danced around the question being wishy washy and didn't just come out and say the truth that Christ is not A way but he is The Way. And its not just Joel Osteen. Driscoll talked of a female pastor who did the exact same thing on a radio broadcast in the Seattle area in "Vintage Jesus." 

All I'm trying to say is when you get into those inevitable theological discussions about religion and spirituality and Christ, don't shy away from what you know to be truth. Be firm in what you say, confront false teachings, and stick to your beliefs. Christ was a tough, muscular, carpenter that worked with hand tools his entire life, and He is the only way to Heaven. Oh and go buy "Vintage Jesus" and see even more what I'm talking about.

Lessons learned in a week of camp

Well I just got back from Butler Springs Christian Camp with my group of fifth and sixth graders from the church I work at. It was an amazing week and I am truly sad to now be home. This week I experienced a side of ministry I had never experienced before. I had a great group of kids in my team that I mentored and even learned from myself. 

This week of camp was called "The Mess" and was based off of the book "Messy Spirituality" by Yaconelli. I have yet to read this book but after this week it is now on my list. It was an intense week culminating in me preaching last night for us to reach out and cry out "Abba Father" or "Daddy" like a little child. However, I saw more than just running to the father this week.

Wednesday was the most intense day of the camp for everyone. We had a morning activity where we had to do certain tasks in order to find puzzle pieces to put together. First team to put the puzzle together won. My team was amazing. I had seven girls and 3 boys in my specific team and we were one of eight teams. My group came together and did everything that was asked of them. We had to dress alike at one station, pick up trash at another, give the dean a drink, and at one even run over a mile. When my team got our final puzzle piece there were two other teams already putting theirs together, but my team flew through the puzzle and got it together first. We had come in first. However, this was not a good thing actually. 

See, the game was all to show how we serve the world. Dress alike, be fit, watch TV, and other things. It showed the idols that we worshipped. I knew this the whole time but my team didn't. (I was still proud of my team because they hustled beyond all belief) So we took all the kids up to the gym and Jason, the dean, told them of the secret behind the game and that they had to be punished for their sins of serving the world. Jason had prepared a slip and slide, but this had baby oil, shaving cream, rotten milk, and the left over liquids from the bucket that everyone had been pouring their leftover stuff in all week. And each kid had to go through it. It was their punishment.

So since my team won we walked them down to the slip and slide. I had girls crying in my group. I had to put my arms around them to get them going but I had to keep telling them that they had to go through. So we got to the slip and slide and we were ready. Jason called one of my kids up to go first. Right before the kid took the slide I got in front of him and told him not to move. Jason then told Carly to go. "Don't move Carly!" I yelled. People later told me that they thought Jason and I were about to fight and that I would be kicked out. Jason kept calling kids forward and I yelled for each one of them to stay put. When Jason yelled at me that someone had to go through my response was "This is my team! This is my team! I love them! I will go through that for everyone of them! They don't have to go through it!" Jason yelled at me that it was their crap, their mess and I just yelled back "Not anymore!" I slid through the baby oil, the rotten milk, the backwashed drinks, the dirty nasty water from the creek. I took it for my team. It was possibly one of the grossest things I've ever done. 

When do we look at our mess in a visual form? Faith has been watered down to the point of almost non-existence anymore. For those of us who have been in the church for a while we forget everyday what Christ went through for us. How we deserved death, yet we do not die. We deserve damnation, but with Him we have life. And how many times do we run to him crying out with joy for what He did? You see, I just went through some nasty stuff. But for my team it didn't matter. After I had cleaned up and changed clothes I went down to my team meeting spot. And every single one of my kids ran to me and wrapped their arms around me. I felt a joy at the appreciation they had for me. I felt a joy that I could do that for them. And it was just a glimpse to what God must feel every time one of his children runs to Him and wrap their arms around Him. I was a team leader and a dorm dad to those kids, but I'm nothing compared to the Abba Father I have in heaven. So my thing for the day is just try to put the wages of your sin in visual form. Try and think of what you should owe. What you should have to go through. You will find a new appreciation for the sacrifice laid out for you. And if you do this, never again will you just think of Christ's death as a normal thing for you. A new appreciation will be found for the everyday life and relationship we have with our Abba Father. When we cry out to him like a little child saying, "Abba, daddy, I love you."

Preaching and criticism

I apologize now for the continual posts on topics such as God, Religion, Church, and theology. As a Bible College student I really can't help it. I know two things very well. My faith and sports. And seeing how nobody wants to hear me rant on about the Cincinnati Bengals (I probably will at some point however) or the Reds who have absolutely sucked the past eighteen years then my faith should have to provide sufficient amount of ideas and topics for me to post. To anybody reading this (all though I don't know who would listen to a barely experienced nineteen year old Bible nerd) you should understand that I get carried away in my writing. I have a style that I have deemed theological throw-up. When I am writing something I will just start typing/writing everything that comes into my mind on the subject. It is only later that I organize and add supporting details and facts to what I have said. Since this is a blog it is very possible that you will simply receive tons of theological ideas in an apparently unorganized and non flowing passion, simply because I doubt I will receive grades for what goes on to these posts. But don't worry, for some of the tricky stuff and when I say outlandish things I will break down and throw in a quote or two and more likely than not some scripture. However, this post should not be overly theological, but we'll see what happens. I never know myself.

There are very few preachers that I will go out of my way to listen to. In this exclusive list includes such people as Mark Driscoll, Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio (spelling? didn't feel like finding it) and my brother simply because he is my brother and not because he is an amazing preacher. I come from a church called Lakota Christian Church. It was a great place to grow up. The Minister there is named Dr. Stephen Sams. Stephen was a great pastor in the sense that he truly and deeply cares about people. He is one of the greatest pastoral men I have met. However he is not the greatest speaker. Despite this fact I would not trade him for any other minister to come into Lakota. This brings me to my first point to acknowledge the fact that there is more to a pastor than his preaching. My mom at times would complain that Stephen was not doing the greatest job preaching. I would argue that he spent a lot of time taking care of the church and the congregation. However my mom would not understand this as part of Stephen's job. "He's being payed to preach," she would say. However, if you hire a minister there are always going to be people demanding his attention. There is never enough of one man to go around to a congregation. Which brings me to the point that if you expect some type of amazing preaching (depending on the size of the congregation) more people will need to be hired for the regular pastoral duties. I am interning at a church this summer called First Christian Church. It is a church of about 1700 people right now and they are still growing rapidly. They say (all though no one in the world knows who "they" are when they start quoting statistics like this) that they are the third quickest growing church in America. Very possible since they have gained over 600 people in a brief 18 months. This church however has hired a "Pastoral Care Minister" whose job is simply to watch over the people. He does hospital visits, house calls, counseling, talks with people, baptism consulting, and things such as that. This frees up the Senior Minsiter, Craig Grammar, to do the preaching at which he is very talented. Also at my home church Lakota there have been new hires which has allowed for Stephen to further his ability in speaking. All I am saying in this point is to encourage your pastor if he isn't doing the greatest preaching job. Maybe he isn't that great of a preacher but despite his abilities he is probably having way too many things thrown his way. Encouragement and help will go a lot further than simply criticizing.

However, there are those speakers out there that you have to be wary about. Some preachers have such charisma that a congregation or any type of audience through any type of medium will take that speakers word as truth. There are two men especially that come to mind when I think of this problem. One of them I like and the other I think could emerge as the anti-Christ or something along those lines (I say that sarcastically because I won't go into Revelation much in my posts). The first man that I like is Rob Bell. Bell has the amazing ability to connect with any type of audience. You just have to simply watch his Nooma videos to fall in love with what he says. Also there is the book Velvet Elvis which is absolutely amazing. However, the problem with Rob Bell is that he is not always correct, nor is any other human being. But this means that for serious followers of Christ we cannot simply stop searching and just agree with everything that Rob Bell says. In his book Velvet Elvis he even talks about this to an extent. I do not have the book here with me right now so I won't put the quote in but what he essentially says is that our personal study and devotion and wading through the tough parts of the Bible is a true form of worship, not just listening to earthly men speak. Rob Bell is great though for new Christians, or anyone who is looking for some extra advice and words of inspiration in their personal studies. 

The other speaker I think of though I cannot stand. If there were ministers that I could say I hate the two of them would be Benny Hinn (because he is ridiculous) and Joel Osteen. Joel Osteen has incorrect doctrine, theology, and ways of ministering to people. I laugh every time I see one of his books in the stores because its just his face covering the entire book. I think he should be the president of the Narsicissts of America club. I mean he's a minister but I honestly have to think he just loves seeing his face everywhere because if the words Joel Osteen are mentioned you will most likely see his face nearby (except on this blog). If you want my true feelings of Joel Osteen you should go to this link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IuiUOapK1w. I have to agree with Mark Driscoll that Osteen is preaching an incorrect message. It is a problem that pastors like Joel Osteen have such influence as they do (mainly because 75% of the church is women looking at him because apparently he's good looking or something). Thats something that gets to me all the time is the fact that most Christians today do not know what it means to study for themselves. I have seen many people that had to have everything spoon fed to them. I may be spoiled with the speaking that I have heard because I've had access to sermons from Driscoll, Stanley, and my former youth minister who was incredibly talented when he spoke once or so every other month. True he had more time to prepare for each sermon he preached at our church but he was very charismatic and applied things to our lives all though I had to pull myself out of the trap of just accepting everything he said and losing my own personal devotion. 

My advice to anyone out there is to find a preacher that speaks to you. I have given you a few ideas here and each one has a podcast like Mars Hill sermon, North Point Community, or even Lakota Christian Church. Check these out and find a pastor that can relate things to you. Listen to Rob Bell, listen to these other guys, but follow it up with your own personal search. Follow it up with your own walk to be more like Christ. If you do these things, then you will begin to find a system for personal devotion like you have never discovered before. I love preaching, but I loved it even more when someone at school told me that something I said pushed them to find something in the Bible. A preacher's job should be to take a text or lesson, apply it to someone's life, make it personal, and push them to make their own discoveries, ideas, and personal revelation. A preacher should be a guide, not just an information database. To next time I hope I've given you some stuff to chew on. I'll be getting even deeper into my crazy mind soon....

First Post; Look at the Blog Name

As I just said, if you look at the Title of my blog page, then you can guess what this post is going to be about. For the first post in my first blog I will have to rant, criticize, and uplift the ins and outs of a student at Johnson Bible College. Now I know that many people who hear the phrase "Bible College" immediately think of a previously home schooled kid that was sheltered and doesn't know a lot about true life. Well at the risk of sounding arrogant that is not who I am at all. 

As a student at Johnson, I take joy in the fact that I don't adhere to the traditional stereotypical mindset of a Bible College student. I went to Lakota West High School in West Chester, Ohio, the home of the Firebirds. I graduated with 600 other students, most of whom had rich parents. So most of the people I knew in high school had too much money and too much time on their hands. That got me out of the sheltered classification quickly. When I applied to Johnson there was a form called the Johnson lifestyle agreement, which I signed. It said that there were certain things that I wouldn't do. I signed it realizing that there was no way that I would listen or adhere to most of those rules. My extensive movie collection alone is enough to show that I do not listen to these rules. The next big thing on the form was that I would not use tobacco products, even though it was legal for me to do so. I signed but continued my ways of smoking cigars once a month or so (but I will never touch a cigarette). I wanted to rebel against the institution of Johnson Bible College, while at the same time was so glad to be going there.

Now here I am a year later after my first year of college. I still want to smoke, but I'm trying to quit for reasons still truly unknown to me. Its not because I'm addicted that it is a struggle to stop, because it only happens about once a month, but rather because I love the feeling of sitting on my back deck with my friends, listening to music that ranges from country to acoustic to classic rock, and lighting up a stogey. Still a bit of a rebel, I am now much more experienced with life than what I was before this school year. 

My first year at Johnson seemed to fly by quicker than a single semester at my old high school. My favorite class at Johnson was entitled Basic Christian Beliefs, taught by a 31 year old professor that has already received his doctorate; Rafael Rodriguez. This class was a theological class and was anything but basic. It was the hardest course I had all year, especially the take home final exam which took me 25 pages double spaced to answer ten short questions. I learned countless amounts of theological ideas in this class. I quickly got the opportunity to do some preaching. Over the course of the year I preached twice in student led chapel and twice at an evening church service called The River, which we have on, well, the river in Knoxville. Since then I have been asked to organize speakers and lead student led chapel next year and I was also asked to lead The River speakers. I agreed to do both and can't wait for the fall to begin in furthering my own speaking and administrative abilities. 

Johnson is a place of opportunity for me. At Johnson I'm not tested so much in class as I am with how I relate to people. There are people at Johnson that I simply cannot stand. However, I have to learn to cope with them, and even minister to them at some points. I have been given the opportunity to become a better speaker even though, again at the risk of sounding arrogant, I know that God has given me the ability to preach. As a freshman I was known by most of the 715 students at Johnson. Johnson is also the cheapest private school in Tennessee, allowing me to go to school for simply 12,000 a year for everything. So I love Johnson and probably always will simply because of the experience I gain from the school.

However there are frustrations as well. Johnson tends to be very uptight and stingy on rules. If the administration knew I smoked (or at least used to), knew all the R rated movies in my room, or knew my thoughts on Church and the Body of Christ and how we minister to people, I would probably be kicked out. We have a curfew, which is new to me because my parents were never home. The girls are allowed in our dorm rooms only one night a semester which gets frustrating, and there are numerous other things that drive me crazy about my school's rules and administration. However, nothing is going to change while there are many traditional alumni walking around still alive and giving money to the school. 

So there you have a bit about me and maybe a little more about what to expect from my later thoughts and ideas which will be posted. I love my school, I love the opportunities, my professors, most of the people, but sometimes Bible College can keep the exciting spark of ministry tamed with the ways of the past. For anybody else reading this post, especially if you go to Bible College, don't let these traditions and rules stop you from going on the never-ending search for truth and the ways of less traditional leaders so that you may become a Christ follower dedicated to bringing more glory to His Kingdom. Until next time...