Christmas Video Countdown Part Two

The videos I posted yesterday were fun, but I want to be serious today and show a clip from Morgan Spurlock's documentary "What Would Jesus Buy?" I know it's not very "Christmas-y" but I think it's something you should watch and really think about.

#8) What Would Jesus Buy?:



"More consumption, less satisfaction...how about, less consumption and more satisfaction."

Wise words.

It's sad to think that some of the clothes we wear and the toys our kids play with have caused injuries and cost lives to people who get paid only cents per day working 19 hour shifts. Is that what Christmas has become? Does this kind of Christmas have anything to do with Christ? Absolutely not.

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Getting into the Christmas spirit has taken on new meaning for me throughout the years. When I was little I would make a paper chain out of construction paper and number each one. I would hang it on a hook that was screwed into the ceiling and I would rip one paper chain link off each day to count down to Christmas. I would usually make my chain in September, so it was pretty long at first. And then I would get really excited when the paper chain would get short enough that it wasn't lying on the ground anymore. Christmas was coming soon! Toys! Games! Candy! Christmas Specials on TV! Christmas tree! Pretty Christmas lights!

As I've gotten older I've found it harder to get into what we call the Christmas Spirit. I can't find it in the same things that I did when I was a kid. Although I did sit down with my fiancée and her little four year old boy the other night to make a paper chain and it brought back memories. I think that's where it started for me this year. Then I went to my church for a service we call Carols and Candles. It was a great time for fellowship with friends and family and that got me even more in the mood for Christmas.

I'm still unemployed and that has really been bogging me down, I never thought I would get excited for Christmas this year. But I'm starting to. It's almost like the Whos in Whoville. They woke up on Christmas morning with nothing but each other and they were thankful for that. I need to be thankful for what I have rather than worry about what I don't have. What I have is a family that loves and cares for me. I have a great girl in my life who will soon be my wife and that's all I've every wanted. She has a little boy who looks up to me and I'm going to try to be a good father figure even though I'll never be his dad. Why should I be sad, I have everything I need to be joyful. I have a God who loves me and a savior named Jesus Christ who sacrificed everything for me and you and all of humanity.

There is a saying that goes "Jesus is the reason for the season". But what happens when someone hears that saying and all they know about Christmas is trying to get a good parking spot so they can go Christmas shopping and try to buy everyone the things they want?

Is Jesus the reason why we go into debt this time of year?

Is Jesus the reason why people get stressed during the holidays?

Is Jesus the reason why we get annoyed while trying to string up the lights on the house?

Is Jesus the reason why some people get trampled in the stores and killed just to get that one item that's on sale?

NO!

That's our own stupid fault. We've made Christmas into the monstrosity it has become.

Jesus is the reason for the season because he came to show us how to live. He showed us how to love our family, our friends, our neighbors, our enemies. He came to give of himself, not to have things given to him. He was a teacher, a servant, a savior. That's what the Christmas Spirit is all about. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of that. And it isn't something that should just come once a year, but all year long, continuously forever and ever.

Amen.

Culture Clash

I would like to share part of a story from another blogger known as Stacy From Louisville. It's been quite awhile since she's posted anything, but perhaps she's been called to do other things. So I'll set the stage for this small part of the story. On one of Stacy's blog posts she was talking about a guest speaker who had come to the college she was attending. He was a lifelong missionary who had been serving in a secluded area of Africa. Here's the rest:

When he and his wife first began their ministry in Africa a large portion of their financial support came from one particular church. He frequently sent that congregation letters to update them on how his work was progressing. On one occasion he sent several photos. The women of the church were horrified to see the women of that tribe were naked from the waist up. In response to the ungodly, offensive nature of the native women the church banded together to collect t-shirts for each one. The shirts were then sent to the missionary - as a surprise - for those impoverished women.

Several weeks later the missionary sent another letter to the church. In it he enclosed a photo. He relayed that the women were overjoyed with the colorful t-shirts. So much so, they CUT SPECIAL HOLES IN THEM SO THEY COULD WEAR THEM AND STILL FEED THEIR CHILDREN. The picture showed a large group of smiling African women wearing new t-shirts - with the front cut out.

I think I just about died laughing when I read that story. But this story also brings up a good question. Was it wrong for the African women to be naked from the waist up, or was it wrong for the women of the church to think it was wrong? Perhaps in that culture in that secluded area of Africa it is just the norm for women to walk around topless, no problem. Of course here in America if that happened it would cause car accidents, arrests, and just a lot of other problems. But that's our culture, not theirs.

What's wrong in one part of the world may not be wrong in another part of the world. That's kind of how I view the idea of sin. I think when most people hear the word "sin" they automatically think sin is always about bad things or things that are wrong. I think sin is more about what separates us from God rather than what's bad or wrong. What may be a sin to one person may not be a sin to another. In Romans 14 Paul uses food and drink as an example:

It's high time that you welcome all people weak in the faith without debating and disputing their opinions. Here's the issue: One person believes that nothing's off the menu; he'll eat any food put before him with no concern whether or not it has been associated with a pagan ceremony. But here's another believer-we'll call him the weaker-who eats only vegetables because the meat is tainted through contact with an idol. If you are an eater of all things, do not be condescending to your vegetarian brother or sister. In turn, those who abstain from certain foods on religious principles should not judge your brothers and sisters who eat meat-if God has accepted them, you have no reason to reject them.

vs. 1-3

In light of this, we must resolve never to judge others and never to place an obstacle or impediment in their path that could cause them to trip and fall. Personally I have been completely convinced that in Jesus, our Lord, no object in and of itself is unclean, but if my fellow believers are convinced that something is unclean, then it is unclean to them. If the food you eat harms your brother, then you have failed to love him. Do not let what you eat tear down your brother; after all, the Liberating King laid down his life for him. Do not allow people to slander something you find to be good because the kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking. When God reigns, the order of the day is redeeming justice, true peace, and joy made possible by the Holy Spirit. You see, those who serve the Liberating King in this way will be welcomed into the whole acceptance of God and valued by all men. Join us, and pursue a life that creates peace and builds up our brothers and sisters.

vs. 12-20

I think a good example would be something like this: Alcohol in and of itself is not unclean or bad or wrong. The abuse of alcohol is where the problem lies. So even though you may be a responsible drinker, it would not be wise to have even a sip of it if you are around someone who may be a recovering alcoholic. Here's one more thing from Romans 14:

It is right for you to abstain from certain meats and wine (or anything else for that matter) if it prevents your brother from falling in his faith. Hold on to what you believe about these issues, but keep them between you and God. A happy man does not judge himself by the lifestyle he endorses. But a man who decides for himself what to eat is condemned because he is not living by his faith. Any action not consistent with faith is sin.

vs. 21-23

The word sin is a term used in archery. The sin is basically the measurement between the bullseye and where the arrow lands on the target. If the arrow hits the bullseye, there is no sin. So another way to describe sin is to "miss the mark".

But back to cultural differences. I was reading an article in the July/August 2008 issue of Relevant magazine. The article is called "God Bless the Broken Road" by Christine Stanley. The article talks about how missionaries have been doing some good work in Nagaland, which is in north-eastern India. It's great that they've gone there and helped to change lives and share the life and teaching of Jesus with them, but something else happened as well. The Naga were introduced to Western culture.

Like I said, it's great that missionaries were going there to share Christ's love, but the influence of Western culture is erasing their identity. Here is a snippet from the article:

The Naga, an indigenous peopl of Indo-Mongoloid decent thought to have migrated to their current territory more than 500 years ago, have, in just three generations, undergone a rapid religious transformation that's inspired the majority of Nagaland's 2 million people to dedicate their lives to Chirst.
The conversion has proven positive on a number of social levels for these hill tribes, but change didn't come without severe and ultimately detrimental impacts to the very way Nagas understand themselves, their history and their future. In fact, their cultural transformation has been so marked that many Naga believe with certainty that in 10 or so years, the traditions of this culture will cease to exist.

Here are a few quotes from the article that came from some of the Naga people themselves:

The younger generation will lose our identity. We've totally forgotten the traditions of our culture.

We should keep our identity. I highly object to these changes. You see my tattoos? Any man should have these tattoos-they make you handsome. But now, my son thinks not. He has said no to them, and that is his choice.

The missionaries came and we jumped from one life to the next without the journey between, and that's dangerous. So now we have a Bible in our hands but no land or tradition, it pains me.

At first we could not differentiate between culture and faith. We thought that all things our forefathers used were evil-traditional song and dance, ethical values. All these things we disregarded with the introduction of Christianity, and many of these items were destroyed.

We don't just blame Christianity, but also modernity-[Western] lifestyle, dress, music. It was all coming together at the same time, and we could not differentiate, and that was the problem.

I wouldn't put the blame on Christianity as a whole. But there seems to be an American brand of Christianity here in the US and it's that kind of Christianity that so many times is presented to the people of foreign lands. I think the American brand of Christianity may be to blame for trying to convert the world to an American version of Christianity. I reject American Christianity and I embrace a world-wide Christianity. One that works with and through the cultures and traditions of people all over the world. Christianity doesn't look exactly the same all over the world.

So if you happen to go to a foreign land on a mission trip, learn about the culture of the people you are going to see. And it's not wrong to teach them about your own culture, it just shouldn't be forced on anyone. Well, that's all I've got for this one. Comments and other insights are always welcome. I want this blog to start conversations. I want to know what others think, I'm not always happy with just my thoughts and opinions. What are yours?

Pennsyltucky

I have come to the realization that I have been laid off from my job at just the right time.

"But Dan, what do you mean by that? How can anytime be the right time to get laid off?"

Well, I'll tell you. I was laid off at just the right time so I could help out by taking pictures at VBS this year. I wouldn't have been able to do this if I was still at my job. Also, while I was still at my job I wasn't able to get the days I needed off to go on a week long mission trip to Kentucky, but now I can.

"But Dan, what will you do for income?"

Well, for now I'll be collecting unemployment. Things were very stagnant at my former job and I felt uncomfortable there because my boss and I didn't get along very well. I think it's a good thing that I'm not there anymore.

"But Dan, aren't you worried that you might not find another job?"

I don't think that this should be a time for worrying, in fact no time is a good time for worrying. How does worrying help anything? Like I said before, I was let go at just the right time so I could help with VBS and go on this mission trip. I get a chance to serve God in ways that I was not able to while I was working.

"But Dan, how will you live if you can't find another job?"

How will I live? Well first of all, Christ is life. It is not a job that will provide me with life. Too many people put too much emphasis on how important their job is to the point where their job becomes their god. Yes, I know that I need to eat, sleep, and pay the bills, but I also need to trust and have faith that God will provide. God has provided me with a family and with friends who won't let me end up in the gutter. I pray for those who aren't as fortunate as that. But I also know I can't just sit on my butt and wait for God to drop things out of the sky. I need to meet God halfway and get out there, do things, make things happen. I know that God will provide me with a new job, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be looking in the newspaper or online because I feel those are sometimes the outlets he chooses to reveal these things to us. How pointless would life be if God just handed us everything we wanted while we just sat around?

"Well Dan, you make a good point. Thanks for clearing things up for me."

You're welcome.

"Hey Dan."

Yes.

"Uh, don't you think people will think you're a little schizo talking to yourself like this?"

No comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So yes, I will be going to Kentucky next week, so there will be no blog posts next week. I will be out of range. No internet. For a week. Pray for me. Seriously, I will have a great time. I'm going to a school called Hope Hill. The school takes in teenage girls who have had a rough life. Many have been abused, abandoned, been into drugs and alcohol. So we're going there to do some maintenance work on the buildings they live in and the grounds. Weed whacking, painting, hammering nails and all that good stuff. But we'll also spend time with the girls teaching them about God and about what he has done in our lives. And we are going to talk with them not just at them. I find that the best way to connect with people is to interact with them individually and show them and tell them what God has done in my life. Just standing on a stage and talking at people and telling them what God is about without mentioning any personal stories is not as effective. We'll also do some fun stuff with them. We have some activities and games planned out. We need to let those girls know they are not alone in their suffering and that they can overcome whatever they've been through. Hopefully those who never heard of Jesus will come to know him and those who have heard of him will truly come to know who he is and what he came to do. He came to liberate.

I'll be back after next week, keep me in your prayers. God bless.

Deep Thought Thursday ~ Entirely?

Last week I talked about how the Bible is a collection of books, story books, poetry books, history books, etc. I also talked about how I believe the entire Bible shouldn't be taken literally. Even Jesus told fictional stories that pointed to the truth. He used cultural references so the stories would stick with the people who heard them so they wouldn't forget. It would be interesting to hear the cultural references he would use today. Even Paul alluded to Greek mythology in some of his writings so the people these writings were intended for could understand it and relate to it.

I believe the entire Bible is the inspired word of God, but I do not believe it is the entire word of God. What do I mean by that? I feel that if we believe every word God said is in the Bible then we are limiting him and sticking him in a box. I'm not trying to downplay the Bible, but God does not belong to the Bible, the Bible belongs to him. He is not a part of the Bible, the Bible is a part of him. Do you understand what I'm saying? There is so much more to God than a small library of 66 books. If everything about God were to be written down on paper, there would not be enough room in the entire universe to hold all those pages.

Just on a side note, I've been referring to God as a "him". But God has no gender, so the reason why we tend to give him one is because it's better than referring to God as "it". I don't think it matters if you refer to God as him or her, take your pick, I just say him probably because I'm a guy. But that's another way we kind of box God in by slapping a gender label on him. I think he was mostly referred to as male in the Bible because of the male dominated society that existed during the different times the different books of the Bible were written. But in Genesis 1:27 it says: "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." There are some some verses in the Bible that give God feminine attributes. In Matthew 23:37 it says "...how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings..." Isaiah 66:13 says "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you..." So God uses these words to describe what he is like, not what he is because God is neither male nor female. He is neither, but takes on the attributes of both.

Sorry, that was a long side note but I think it somewhat relates to what I'm talking about. I can't claim to have ever heard the audible voice of God, but I have heard him speak through other people, through their words and their actions. And when I hear God speak through other people it's not like that person all of a sudden starts to levitate off the ground and glow and speak in some language with a bunch of "thee's" and "thou's", it's usually through simple conversation. Sometimes people say things, the simplest things, and I just somehow know it's God speaking through them. Sometimes I'll be thinking and thoughts will just *pop* into my head, things that I know I would never have thought of on my own, and I think God speaks to us in that way as well.

So there is more to God's word than what is written in the Bible, but I also think there is enough information in the Bible to help us live our lives as God intended. It should never be looked at as a rule book or even a guide book because we only look at those kind of books when we need guidance. I think it's a good idea to read the Bible everyday. People do this in different ways. Some people may read an entire book of the Bible in one sitting, and some people may only read a verse or two and spend the day reflecting on it and absorbing it. I think each of us need to find a way that best suits us so we can remember and understand what it says.

Even though I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, not all of it inspires me and I don't think it was meant to. Different sections of the Bible affect different people in different ways. I think that is one reason why there are four different accounts of Jesus's life in there, the four gospels. Each one was written in a different way by different authors to reach different people.

So look for God in other places besides the Bible. Look for him in other people, in music, movies, art, in cities, in the country, in the air, the water. He exists in everything because he created everything. Whatever is beautiful reflects the beauty of God, wherever you find truth, it's God's truth. If we confine him to only a small collection of books, then he just becomes a character in those books.

Artsy Fartsy Wednesday ~ Earthen Vessels

I'm going to talk a little bit about a band called Earthen Vessels...uh, I mean, Jars of Clay. Although if they would have taken 2 Corinthians 4:7 from the King James Version they might have been called Earthen Vessels. They must have taken it from the New International Version or the English Standard Version, but let's take a moment to look at some other possibilities of what Jars of Clay could have been called:

Vessels of Earth (Amplified)
Fragile Clay Jars (New Living Translation)
Brittle Vessels (Wycliffe New Testament)
Pots Made of Earth and Clay (Worldwide English New Testament)
Unadorned Clay Pots (The Message)

Cracked Pots Made of Earth (The Voice)
Vasija de Barro (Biblia en Lenguaje Sencillo)
Vases D'argile (La Bible du Sameur)

Okay, that's enough of that. I had talked briefly about Jars of Clay on Monday and what they are doing with blood:water mission. They are one of the few bands in the so-called Christian music genre that I still listen to because they simply make good music and the lyrics of some of their songs are very inspiring. Most people know them from their hit single "Flood" way back in the mid 90's and they are still going strong today. Even though "Flood" was the #1 single on their debut album, I personally think "Worlds Apart" is the strongest song on that album.

I also enjoyed their 2nd album, titled Much Afraid. I thought the song "Overjoyed" had a very Beatlesque sound to it. The title track "Much Afraid" is an honest song about how we're not perfect and we end up in some dark places sometimes, and how much we need Jesus in those times. I admit that I wasn't really into their 3rd and 4th albums, "If I Left the Zoo" and "The Eleventh Hour". I don't know, they just didn't have the same impact on me as the first two. But then "Who We Are Instead" came out and I thought it was a great album. The song "Faith Enough" is probably my favorite on that one. It's kind of a backwards thinking kind of song, but that's how God's kingdom works, it's backwards from the way we think it should be.The music and lyrics for that song will be at the end of this post.

I haven't picked up any albums since then even though they've released a few of them. But I was listening to the Relevant podcast one day and they had a live studio recording of some songs from their new album and it was great. They played a song called "Headphones". It was about how people have become so disconnected with each other. The first verse starts off like this:

I don't have to hear it if I don't want to
I can drown this out, pull the curtains down on you
It's a heavy world, it's too much for me to care
If I close my eyes it's not there

If you get a chance, download the Relevant podcast on iTunes for free and listen to the one from 4.20.09, it has the Jars of Clay live studio recording on it.

The ice is thin enough for walkin'
The rope is worn enough to climb
Throat is dry enough for talkin'
The world is crumblin', but I know why
The world is crumblin', but I know why

Storm is wild enough for sailing
Bridge is weak enough to cross
This body frail enough for fighting
I'm home enough to know I'm lost
Home enough to know I'm lost

It's just enough to be strong
In the broken places, in the broken places
It's just enough to be strong
Should the world rely on faith tonight

Land unfit enough for planting
Barren enough to conceive
Poor enough to gain the treasure
Enough a cynic to believe
Enough a cynic to believe

Confused enough to know direction
Sun eclipsed enough to shine
Still enough to finally tremble
I See enough to know I'm blind
I See enough to know I'm blind

Should the world rely on faith tonight


Visit the official Jars of Clay website here.

Deep Thought Thursday ~ Literally?

Today I would like to talk about a book. This particular book is probably the most controversial, misinterpreted, and misunderstood book in the world. In fact, it's not even a book at all, it's a library of books, but it takes the form of a single book. It's full of stories, both fictional and non-fictional, poetry, songs, genealogies, parables, prophecies, letters written to entire cities, wise sayings, teachings, forthcoming events, and even a book about sex. It's called the Bible, and the word Bible even translates to the word library. So perhaps we should call it "The good library" rather than "The good book". I went to a restaurant in Baltimore's inner harbor called UNO's. They had a book in the center of the table called "The good book". I picked it up and it was full of desserts. It was indeed a good book.

Anyway, there is so much I could talk about concerning the Bible, but I want to focus on the fact that some people take the entire Bible literally, and I don't think it was intended to be taken that way. Of course much of it is to be taken literally; Love God, love all people; do not murder; they're not drunk, it's only 9 in the morning; yadda, yadda, yadda. That kind of stuff is pretty straightforward. But there is a lot of poetry, stories, and analogies in the Bible as well that may not be literal, but they do point to the truth.

Take a look at what it says in Mark 9:43-47:

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.

Geez Louise! Literally?! Honestly, if I were to cut off every body part that caused me to sin then you'd have to throw me in a giant blender and hit purée! There is a popular saying that goes something like this "People should know you are a Christian as soon as you enter a room". Take that saying with the verse above and then imagine people sitting in a waiting room at the ER. A man enters the room. He's missing one hand, only has one eye, no tongue...you get the point. A little girl looks at her mother and says "Mommy, mommy, what's wrong with that guy?" and the mother replies, "Oh, don't worry dear, he's just a Christian. He comes in here all the time, probably cut off another body part." People should know we are followers of Christ because of our love, not because we are missing body parts.

Let's go back to some earlier verses in Mark 9, verses 38-41:

"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."
"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.

Even though this man was doing things in Jesus name, he may have done them a little differently than Jesus and his disciples were doing them, but Jesus said it was okay because he was doing it in Jesus's name. This happens too many times in the church. Let's say the people who go to church A do things a little different than the people who go to church B. This makes church B upset because church B thinks that they've got it all figured out, that they are the ones who are absolutely right and that anything different, even slightly different from they way they do things is the wrong way. The people who go to church B need to be a little more open-minded. That's how it is in some churches though. The people think that they have it all figured out, a few hundred or a few thousand people of a congregation think their way is the right way and the rest of the world's population is absolutely wrong because they don't go to the same exact church building they go to. It's ridiculous.

Rob Bell said "If we become too dogmatic or too absolutly sure that our particular view is the only one, then something dangerous happens to the mystery of the divine." You see, it's not about our way, it's about Jesus's way. The problem is that too many people have formed Jesus into what they want him to be. I think we all do that to some degree. Let's get to know the Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus that Bob or Linda or Fred made up to suit their own selfish needs. (No offense to anyone named Bob, Linda, or Fred, I was just randomly picking names.)

So, I think that's all I'm going to say for now, there's more, but I want to go in a different direction next week. Have a great day, and I literally mean that.

Inspiring Minds Monday ~ Gumbel

I know what you're thinking, "the picture above doesn't look like Bryant Gumbel." No, it doesn't. That's because it's a picture of Nicky Gumbel. Nicky Gumbel is the senior pastor, or vicar, at Holy Trinity Brompton in London. Growing up, Nicky considered himself to be an atheist and he encouraged his friends to stay away from Christians because he thought they were dangerous people. It wasn't until his first year at Trinity college in Cambridge that he started reading the New Testament. It was then that he started following the teachings of Jesus Christ. Nicky said "I was enthralled. It was as if I had found what I had been looking for all my life." I learned about Nicky when a course was offered at my church called the Alpha course. I was intrigued, so I signed up.

The Alpha course is an introductory course to Christianity and it is presented in a very relaxed, low-key way. But it is definitely not presented in a bait and switch kind of way which is a tactic I'm afraid is used way too often when trying to present Christianity to others. I think I had mentioned the bait and switch approach in an earlier blog post. What I mean by that, is too many times Christianity is presented in a way that says "Give your life to Jesus and everything will be hunky-dory." (Does anyone still say hunky-dory?) Then somebody decides "Yea, sounds good, sign me up!" Then when they find that things aren't always hunky-dory, they drop out like a college freshman. Anyway, after the first meeting at the Alpha group, I was hooked. I remember thinking "That is one witty, straight-to-the-point, British dude." Even though Nicky didn't start the Alpha course, he took it over in 1990 and made it what it is today. The Alpha course is presented on a set of DVDs featuring messages by Nicky Gumbel and is shown all over the world. Like I said before, the Alpha course is an introductory course to Christianity, but it's also designed for people who have been Christ followers for a long time as well.

After taking the Alpha course once, it was offered again at my church and I came back as a helper/co-leader. I don't remember all of the details of this, but one of the most memorable stories Nicky told on one of the Alpha DVDs was about the time he was in college and he was renting an apartment which was above a bank. He had some friends over one day and they decided to do an experiment. They wanted to know how many people would have to jump on the floor at the same time before it would be noticeable to the people downstairs in the bank. There were about ten people in the apartment and they sent one down to see how long it would take before the noise was noticeable. They started off with just one person, then, two, three, and so on. They didn't hear anything from their friend so then they started jumping off chairs and then a table. Finally, their friend came back up to tell them to stop. The fact was that the noise was noticeable when the first person jumped the first time. The friend who went down into the bank decided not to go running out the door and back up to tell them because he didn't want to make it obvious that he was a part of it. But he felt he needed to go up and tell them to stop when parts of the ceiling started to fall to the floor. I did a horrible job of telling that story, Nicky tells it better.

One thing someone in our group noticed was that he wore a blue shirt on every single talk that he gave. The rest of us hadn't really noticed. So the following week, that person said, "I wonder if he'll be wearing a blue shirt again" and he was! We all started cracking up laughing, ha, ha, ha...uh, I guess it was one of those "You had to be there" moments.

I've mentioned this before, but one of my favorite Nicky Gumbel quotes is "When people say 'Christians are such hypocrites' I say 'Duh!'". That quote is not only funny, it's true. I like how Nicky doesn't present Christians as some kind of polished squeaky-clean group of people. He doesn't sweep the dirt under the rug.

You can listen to Nicky's messages by searching for HTB Sunday Talks in the iTunes podcast directory. Nicky doesn't always give the message every week. Many others on staff at HTB are also given the oppotunity to speak and I've heard some great messages by them as well.

When I was taking the Alpha course, I noticed on one of the messages he had mentioned that he and his wife, Pippa, were married in 1978. I was born in 1978 so I knew they would be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary since I was turning 30 the year I took the course. Yup, I did the math. So I went out and bought them a really nice anniversary card and I had everyone in the group sign it. I later received an e-mail from Nicky which said:

Dear Daniel

Thank you very much indeed for your kind and thoughtful Anniversary card. Pippa and I were delighted to hear about how God is working in people's lives. Please pass on our thanks to all of your team who signed the card.

With very best wishes
Nicky

If you ever see an Alpha course being offered in the area where you live, I suggest you check it out. It helped me take a look at my faith in a different way and it got me interested in learning more about God again when I was going through a dark time. It helped me to focus on God and start figuring out what my life should be about.

Deep Thought Thursday ~ Hidy Ho, Good Neighbor!

On Monday I had talked about Shane Claiborne and the Potter St. community. Today I want to talk about what community could look like. Not everyone is going to have neighbors that would want to cooperate, but I think community should be all about sharing possessions. It would cut costs for everyone. I touched on this a little on Monday when I was talking about sharing a lawnmower. Share your food, vehicles, time, abilities, etc. To live this way we'll need to avoid issues such as greed and jealousy. If vehicles are going to be shared it needs to be discussed how things will be handled if a vehicle gets damaged. The same should go with other shared things to avoid placing blame. Get to know your neighbors well enough that you could trust them enough to babysit for you if you need a night out. Be sure to return the favor in some way. It may be difficult to live this way, but personally I think it is a better way to live and build relationships with others. It will take a lot of trust and patience to do this, and no, it's not a perfect way to live. At times it may seem inconvenient, but life isn't about convenience.

On Monday I said that Shane Claiborne chooses to live a life that many of us cannot. My friend Jesse commented:

In all reality, I think many of us CAN live this way, and will have to before long. The cold hard fact of the matter, in my opinion, is that we are going to have to live like Shane, the question is, are we going to do it now, on our own, or be forced to do it later?

He brought up a good point and what I meant by saying many of us cannot live this way was that many of us would rather not choose to live this way. I know I can't, not right now anyway. It would be difficult to jump right into living the kind of life Shane does. I've been taking baby steps though and it's been a process of focusing less on me and focusing more on others, by trying to be a little greener, and finding more opportunities to serve God. I still have a long way to go though. Jesse also commented:

Think about it. With the recession supposedly getting worse and worse lasting well into next year (I doubt this will be the last one in our lifetimes), population out of control, famine, water shortages, war...the world seems pretty unstable and scary. What I mean to say is, as Shane puts it, the world can't afford the American dream.

The so-called "American dream" has become such a nightmare for so many people. The American dream has become something that's all about the self, about getting everything you've ever wanted by stepping on others. I'm not saying people who are financially wealthy are all self-centered and greedy, but many are, and they've gained their wealth through selfish and unjust means. Then there are people like Rick Warren who I don't know much about, but I do know that he gives away 90 percent of what he earns. That's amazing! Sure, he's rich he can afford to do it, right? I'll be honest and say that I'm not at that point in my life where I feel I can give 90 percent away, but I don't think that being rich has anything to do with that kind of generosity.

Think about it, we were born completely naked, we came into this world with absolutely nothing except for two eyes, a nose, and 1,998 other parts (according to Lever soap). Everything we have has been given to us by God, it all belongs to him. Some might say "Nuh-uh! I work for my money! I've earned it with my own two hands!" Who gave you those hands, who formed you in the womb? God gives us everything we've ever had and doesn't demand we return anything to him, but he does encourage us to take what he has given us to use it for his kingdom. Our money, our time, and our talents. That's where the sharing and giving comes in to play. And let us not give just because God says it is good to do so, but let's feel good when we give. Give cheerfully, because even if you give and then complain about it, it still means you're selfish. Yes, harsh but true. I've been there, and I still go there sometimes. There are still times when I give reluctantly and I need to get over it.

I watched a film by Akira Kurosawa called "Dreams". It was a collection of eight short films, each about 15 minutes long. I'm going to show you the final story in that film. I found it on YouTube in two different parts. It's called "Village of the Water Mills". Turn down the lights, get some popcorn and enjoy!

Part One

Part Two

When I watched this film I thought to myself, "What a peaceful place, I want to live there." I think it's appropriate that the film is called dreams. Perhaps what was shown in the film should be the new American dream. I don't know how long I could live like that though. I've grown up in a culture with too many unecessary convieniences. My favorite part of that film is where the traveler makes the point that it gets very dark at night and the old man points out the obvious, so funny. I really do want to learn to live like that but it will take time and I don't know if I'll ever quite get to where the old man in the film is, but like I said before, I'm taking baby steps. By the way, if you watched the clips, how many of you have the song from the funeral procession stuck in your head? Good luck getting that out of there. Come back tomorrow and we'll finish up the week.

To end this post I want to challenge people who think being alone and doing everything on your own is the best way to live by reading this:

There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
"For whom am I toiling," he asked,
"and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?"
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
(Ecclesiastes 4:8-12)

Deep Thought Thursday ~ Gimme, Gimme, Gimme

I've never understood the concept of being selfish, even though I have been selfish many times throughout my life. In fact, I've spent a large amount of my life being selfish and not even knowing it. I didn't realize that I was being selfish with my time. I used to be a real loner. Part of it was due to the fact that I have Social Anxiety Disorder, which God has helped me overcome by leaps and bounds. And it's something that God and I are still working on. But the other part of my loneliness was due to my selfishness. There was a time when my friends wanted me to go out with them but I would rather stay at home playing video games and watching movies. I did like to go out and have fun, but sometimes a friend would want me to run some errands with them and I would think to myself "I don't want to waste my time with this person unless we're doing something fun." I'd rather stay at home and race a car or slay some huge beast all from the comfort of my recliner. What a waste.

Over time I've learned that doing the simplest things with people, like spending time with them while they run errands is a great way to connect. It's not always as easy to connect with people when you're just having fun with them. I got myself into this daily routine where I would have to do certain things everyday and that interfered with my social life, not that I had much of one anyway. That was a dangerous place to be, to be stuck in a routine, same thing everyday. But it was comfortable, why knock it?

A good friend of mine gave the message at church this past Sunday since our pastor is on a mission trip. He talked about getting too comfortable with the everyday routine. He had become too comfortable in his life as well, so he changed a few things up. He said we need to take an adventure. It could be a big one or a small one, but just do something different for a change. Approach God in different ways. I thought it was a great message. So after church, instead of going out to eat like we usually do, my girlfriend, her little boy, and I went to the grocery store and bought some things so we could go on a picnic. It was a lot more work than just going out to eat and I probably spent more money than I would eating out, but it was so rewarding to sit in the shade of a tree somewhere away from town and just enjoy ourselves. Plus, there was enough leftover food to last that I could take to work the rest of the week. So I really spent less money than eating out in the long run.

Anyway, to get back to the subject of selfishness and why I don't understand the concept of it. There are people out there who live only for themselves, "Me, me, me, mine, mine, mine. I'll take whatever I want when I want it, no one can stand in my way to get it!" I imagine that this is the phrase that constantly repeats over and over again in the mind of a selfish person. What is the point of serving only yourself? How can someone like that even have a true relationship with others? If you spend your life serving others, then most likely others will serve you back. But we should not serve others expecting anything in return. If we do that, then it is still selfish to do something just to get something.

Christians tend to fall into this trap as well. How many have done things for God expecting a reward from him. We cannot approach God as if we're his pets and he's dangling a Snausage over our heads waiting for us to do a trick for him.




I know it's besides the point but sometimes we misjudge God's will for us. He throws us a Beggin' Strip and we yell "It's bacon!"




Okay, that's enough of the God and dog treats analogies. Gotta get back on track.

In the book of 2 Samuel in the Old Testament, King David is on the roof of his palace when he sees a woman bathing. He sends someone out to find out about her. He finds out that her name is Bathsheba and she is married to Uriah, a soldier in David's army, but it didn't stop David from taking her for himself. She became pregnant to David, so David decided to send Uriah to the front lines of battle so he would be killed. This is where selfishness can lead us sometimes. The story goes on:

The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him." David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, "As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity." Then Nathan said to David, "You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master's house to you, and your master's wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.' (2 Samuel 12: 1-10)

Even though David was king he could have had Nathan killed for revealing David's selfishness and humiliating him. But David was humble, he knew Nathan was right and he realized what he had done was wrong. Nathan reassured David that God would forgive him, but there would be consequences to David's decisions.

I think community is the key for living selflessly. Letting your neighbor borrow things or even giving things away. So get to know your neighbor, and I'm not just talking about the people who live next to you. There is a great song by Derek Webb called "Rich Young Ruler" which has a message of generosity by truly giving. Perhaps I will talk about that song in another post. It relates to the rich young ruler story in the Bible. I'm not going to type it all out (i.e. copy and paste), but you can find it here.

So many celebrities and financially wealthy people find out the hard way that having everything really means nothing when it boils down to it. Sure, financial security must be nice, but it doesn't even come close to filling that empty space inside. Following Christ seems to be the thing that works for me. I'm not sure what else to say about selfishness other than it's just not worth it.

Deep Thought Thursday ~ Just Be

The other day I watched a documentary by Morgan Spurlock called "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?" He's the guy that directed the documentary "Supersize Me" and was the producer of the documentary "What Would Jesus Buy?" He also did a short series called "30 Days" which lasted only eight episodes but I haven't seen those yet. But today's post isn't about Morgan even though he is worth talking about later on down the road.




I don't want to spoil the "Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden" documentary for you but there is an important point that came up in that film. As Morgan traveled to places like Morocco, Israel, Egypt, and Afghanistan in search of Osama he learned that the people of these countries are just like anyone else. They get up, they go to work, they spend time with their families, and they watch TV. They laugh, they love, they live. Not everyone is involved in Al-Qaeda or terrorism, even though that's what the news media seems to want everyone to think.

One thing the news media is infamous for is only showing the extremists of a particular group. Last Monday I talked about an extremist group that thinks they are representatives of Jesus Christ and the church even though their ideas and actions are many times the opposite of Jesus's teachings and actions. This group has received a lot of media coverage. You can read that blog here if you haven't already. It's the same thing that happens with media coverage in the Middle East, they only show the extremists, the people in the streets with anti-American signs. The media doesn't come right out and say it, but they twist words and ideas to try to make people think "Here is this group of people, this is what they do, this is why we should hate anyone who refers to themselves as belonging to this group." They do it subliminally in a way. I can't say that all the news media outlets are like this because then I would be stereotyping them. There is a good movie called "Mad City" and it stars Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta. This film is a good example of how the news media can get out of control by manipulating stories for the sake of ratings.

So many of these extremist groups tend to get violent. Not always physically violent, but violent in their words as well. Eboo Patel, the executive director of Interfaith Youth Core once said, "The violent people of all religions belong to one religion, the religion of violence." By the way, Eboo is one of the coolest names I've ever heard.

I've said before that I do not promote universalism which is basically a mish-mash of all faiths and religions into one uneven clump, but I do promote getting along with people of other faiths and religions without conflict. I also don't believe in making people into projects. What I mean by that is acting like you are befriending someone just to try and convince them to believe what you believe. That is so wrong, it is not true friendship. I just want to live my life by trying to follow Jesus's teachings and if anyone asks why I live my life the way I do I will share that with them and if that interests them and they want to experience and explore that, then great!

It was St. Francis of Assisi who said, "Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words." When I hear that it reminds me to just be myself instead of trying to convince people to belive what I believe. Too many people try to practice their faith or religion as if it's some kind of chore and they have to do this and they have to do that. I just want to say stop doing and just be. Live your life and take what you believe and just be who you are with that. Don't try to be someone you're not because people will see how fake you are. Don't pretend to be someone's friend, just be a friend. Don't pretend to love, just love, unconditionally, regardless of what others believe. Don't pretend to be perfect, just be imperfect, make mistakes, have doubts, ask questions.

I want to end this post with this statement: If we are to achieve world peace it will not come about because everyone believes the same thing, it will come about because we will all agree to disagree with each other. Unfortunately we will never see world peace because there will always be those who disagree with this statement.

Deep Thought Thursday ~ Mind Boggling

Yipee! Someone is following this blog! Thank you Ty Why for becoming the first follower of this blog. So why, Ty, what was it that lured you here? I wish I had a gift or something to give you. Here's a fist bump ==@@==. Sorry, that's the best I could do. I know that my girlfriend and some of my close friends read this blog, but they don't "follow" it (hint, hint).

Okay, time to get into the nitty-gritty. Last week I tackled the question "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" (Jon Acuff over at "Stuff Christians Like" has an interesting post dealing with the same question. Click here to see it.) I explained how God doesn't smother us like overprotective parents. He allows us to figure things out on our own. So maybe we should ask the question "Why do people do bad things to other people?" Decisions. We all make them, some good, some bad. It's our decisions that effect the world around us. Sometimes we make decisions that hurt others whether it be accidentally or purposely. Now I need to ask you to make a decision:

(Cue Matrix movie reference)

You take the blue pill, the blog ends and you believe whatever you want to believe. You'll wake up in bed, you won't remember any of this, you'll probably have some drool on your pillow. Seriously, that's gross, clean it up! Or you take the red pill and experience how deep the blog goes.













So, you have chosen the red pill. Good. Now you will see where we are going with this. Plus you just got your daily dose of Vitamin A, B, C, D, E, Iron, Zinc, and Riboflavin. Oh, the blue pill? It was just Nyquil. Anyway, we were talking about decisions. We make them everyday, multiple times a day. Some are big or small, some we make unconsciously while others require much thought. It's all a part of our God-given free will. But if God knows the future and how everything is going to turn out and he knows all the decisions we are going to make, wouldn't that be fate? That's what I want to do today. I want to take last week's conversation and steer towards the idea of free will vs. fate. Like I said before, I don't have the answers, just some thoughts.

I've mentioned Rob Bell a few times on this blog. He has a video out called "Everything is Spiritual" I highly recommend it. Part of this video has Rob talking about a marker. He holds up a whiteboard marker lengthwise to the audience and asks what shape the marker appears to be when held that way. It appears to be in the shape of a rectangle. Then he turns the marker so all you can see is one end of it. It appears to be in the shape of a circle. Then Rob asks if the marker is a rectangle or a circle. His answer to that question is, "Yes". Then he asks if there is free will or fate. Again his answer is "Yes".

Now we all know that a marker is more of a sphere shape because it is a three dimensional object. He was just trying to make an interesting point. So, can free will and fate co-exist? Can shadows be cast without light? How would you know what good is without experiencing the bad? I believe free will and fate can both exist at the same time. We have the free will to make decisions and each of those decisions will eventually lead us to an outcome, or fate.



"No fate but what we make" is what I remember Sarah Connor saying in Terminator 2. (Wow, a Matrix and Terminator reference in the same post, rock on!) It boggles my mind the more I think about it. Does anyone remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books? I used to love those. If you come to a bad ending you could always go back and make a different decision.

"You see an abominable snowman approching."

If you want to run away from the creature, turn to page 82.
If you want to introduce yourself to the creature and shake its hand, turn to page 112.

PAGE 112

"As you approach the abominable snowman you extend your hand to him. It extends its hand to you as well. After a brief handshake the abominable snowman proceeds to tear you limb from limb. The End."

With that, you can go back and try page 82. You can decide your own fate in those books by making different decisions. But of course that's not how real life works. We can't go back, we can't rewind. It sounds silly but just before something tragic happens in a movie I've already seen, I think to myself "Maybe they'll make the right decision this time". I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who does this. No matter how many times you watch the movie, the same thing is always going to happen. I think this is how God views our lives, like a movie he's already seen.

What I mean by that is God is not constrained by time. Just as he is with us when we are infants, at the same time he is with us as elderly individuals. He can see the entire timeline of our lives all at once, even the events we have not yet experienced. He can go on ahead of us, he knows what's going to happen. And as much as he probably wants to say "Maybe they'll make the right decision this time" when he's watching the movie of our lives, the same thing is always going to happen. I think God also allows things to happen so that it doesn't take away the freedom he has given us to choose what we do with our lives.

I know it sounds like I'm talking as if God is far away, just watching us live out our lives, but he is very close. I think it's ridiculous when people say things like, "We were at our Bible study and things were getting pretty intense and then God showed up." Really, God showed up did he? Sooooo...he wasn't there before? God never "shows up". He's always there. Even though he let's us live our lives and make our own decisions, he's always speaking to us and guiding us. If you knew someone who knew what the future holds, wouldn't you want to put your trust in them...hmmmm?

That's about all I have to say on the subject for now. What I had to say today either sounded really deep and intellectual, or I sounded like a complete moron. I'll let you decide.

If what I said sounded deep and intellectual, turn to page 61.
If I sounded like a complete moron, turn to page 134.

Artsy Fartsy Wednesday ~ Mufreesboro

In the summer of 2007 I went to a music and arts festival called Purple Door in Lewisberry, PA which is just outside the state capital of Harrisburg. Some of my favorite bands were there such as mewithoutYou, Anberlin, and Spoken. I also discovered a few artists that I now enjoy listening to now like The Chariot, Derek Webb, and Cool Hand Luke. Today I would like to talk about Cool Hand Luke, the band, not the movie.

I had heard of Cool Hand Luke before but never really heard their music. I was browsing the merch section of the festival with my friend Jesse when he told me Cool Hand Luke was going to be playing soon. Before we left the merch section I picked up a Cool Hand Luke CD on a whim that I would like it. Plus it came with a free t-shirt. Anyway we went to see them play and they were awesome. I like most genres of music but I try to find ones that are unique to the genre they are in and Cool Hand Luke definitely fit this description. Plus they didn't just come, play a show, and then leave. They stuck around all weekend and hung out with the fans. The next day I saw the bass player playing hacky-sack with a bunch of kids. Later I walked by the bass player and he pointed at me and smiled probably because I was wearing the Cool Hand Luke shirt I had bought the day before. By the way, you never wear the shirt of a band that is playing that day, it's improper band shirt etiquette. That's why I wore it the day after they played. The bass player also came out on stage during the mewithoutYou set and belted out some of the Arabic lyrics from the song "The Dryness and the Rain" with Aaron Weiss. Below are a few photos I took at Purple Door '07 of the band.





The album I picked up is called "The Balancing Act". The cover art is found at the beginning of this post. It's a compilation of songs from previous albums and maybe a few new ones. This is the only album of theirs I own, but I plan on getting the other ones. A booklet came with "The Balancing Act" which give a history of the band. I'm going to share a few sections of that. Mark Nicks wrote:

"I met Brandon and Jason in 1998 at a Ruby Tuesday in Mufreesboro, TN the night before the last exam of my freshman year at Middle Tennessee State University. The first thing they said to me was, "Do you play drums?" I did. They asked me if I wanted to play in a Christian punk band. I didn't. I was losing interest in punk music and I didn't know much about Christian music except that I usually didn't think it was very good. For some reason, though, I called Brandon the next week. His number was scribbled on the back of a picture of Gwynneth Paltrow that one of their friends had in his wallet. A few days later I met up with Brandon and Jason, and we walked around 2nd Ave. in Nashville. They informed me that the band already had a name - Cool Hand Luke. They had never seen the movie. In fact, they didn't know it was a movie before I told them. They had heard someone say it and thought it sounded like a good name."

"I was very impressed that Brandon suggested we pray before we started playing. I wasn't accustomed to praying about something like playing music, but I thought it was a great idea. It immediately showed me that Brandon and Jason were real about their faith and they really wanted it to be a part of the music they played. It became an important part of Cool Hand Luke."

"It didn't take long for us to realize that our vision for what we wanted this band to be had very little to do with entertaining people or playing music that made our audiences mosh. We started to take our faith more seriously and how we could get that across musically and lyrically without it seeming trite or cliché."

"We could all write pages and pages of funny, ridiculous, moving stories from those days. Stories about our 25-year old van with linoleum floors and more cabinets than seats that got so hot that we had to drive with the side door open, stories about that van breaking down just about anywhere in America and praying that it would start again, stories about dumb shows in which the number of bands playing was greater than the number of people in attendance, stories about staying in a house that was so gross we drove through a tornado just to leave it, stories about Joe Creep (the band's manager) putting the WRONG water bottle on stage so that I took a big gulp of my urine after our first song, and lots of other stories"

Those are just a few blurbs from the booklet. Say Mufreesboro, it's fun to say. I especially like how he said they wanted to share their faith through their music without it sounding trite or cliché. I think that is a huge problem in the Christian music industry. There are too many artists out there who have written piss poor music and then say that it was inspired by God. I think that is so wrong. What if God doesn't want to be associated with that song because it doesn't represent what he is truly about? I think we should use our God-given talents to just create art and music and allow God to flow out of it rather than try to cram him into it.

Well, I've rambled on long enough, time to bring this one to a close. I'll leave you with a video and the lyrics to a Cool Hand Luke song called "Wonder Tour". This song helped me during a rough time in my life. I had just graduated from college and I hadn't found a job in my field yet. This song really spoke to me, I hope it speaks to you. God bless.



You've already made to many mistakes
To ever amount to anything great
You're not allowed to dream out loud
You're far too young to even count
And much too poor without any doubt
And you haven't done nearly enough
To deserve any grace or anyone's love

God speak truth
To the lies that we've believed instead of you

You're in the wrong city for that line of work
And you'll never make it unless you're a jerk
Live for yourself and store up more wealth
We've traded in dreams and youthful ideals
For less noble things of paying the bills
And trying our best to look like the rest
While hiding our fears by the way we all dress

God speak truth
To the paychecks we have trusted instead of you

Visit the official Cool Hand Luke site here.

Story Time Tuesday ~ The Break Down

This story takes place about six years ago. I was on my way home one night from seeing a friend who lived more than an hour away from me. I was still a good half-hour from home when my car started making noise. I pulled off at the next exit, parked under the overpass and my car died. Did I mention I was on I-80 in Northeastern, PA? There was nothing off this exit, no gas stations, restaurants, or hotels. If anything, there were probably some hunting cabins nearby. Oh yea, and no cell reception. I tried starting the car a few times...nothing. My 94 Chevy Cavalier was dead.

I grabbed my backpack because I didn't know if I was going to get back to my car before I went back to class on Monday or not and I started walking. I knew there was a rest stop up ahead, I just couldn't remember how far ahead. It was about 9:30pm in November when I started walking and it was 35ºF, which isn't too bad for walking, it's still a few degrees above freezing. Traffic was pretty heavy along the interstate that night which created a breeze which made it feel much colder than 35ºF.

I have to be completely honest though and say that I was angry. I was angry at myself, I was angry at God for letting this happen. I spent a lot of time cursing and yelling at God as I was walking along the side of the road. So I just kept on walking having my own little pity party for myself.

The whole time I was walking no one pulled over to give me a ride. Although I did come across cars that were pulled over on three separate occasions that night. The first car I came across was full of people. They opened the window a crack so I could talk to them. They told me they were waiting for a tow truck. I almost asked them if I could ride in the tow truck with them to the rest stop but there probably wouldn't have been enough room to ride along, plus I could tell they were pretty freaked out since I had come out of nowhere in the middle of nowhere. When I noticed their discomfort I told them that I would keep on walking, there was a rest stop up ahead.

The next car I came to had one person in it. I tapped on the window to get his attention. He didn't even acknowledge me. He must have thought I was some crazy serial killer too. Maybe it was the fact that I was carrying a backpack. For all they knew I may have had someone's severed head in there. But it was just art and design books for school. I kept on walking.

A little further down the road there were two cars parked along the highway. Two guys were looking under the hood of the one car, checking the fluids. I struck up a conversation with one of them. They told me they were Penn State students. I thought to myself, "This is it! I go to Penn College which is owned by Penn State, which isn't exactly a sister college to Penn State, it's more like a third cousin." So I told him I was a Penn College student and asked him for a ride, I mean, we're practically brothers, right? Wrong! He said he would have given me a ride but his girlfriend was pretty freaked out by me. I looked in the car and his girlfriend was busy chatting and laughing with her friend in the backseat. She probably didn't even know I was there. I looked at him and thought "Are you sure you're not the one that's scared?" So as he was getting in his car he said "The rest stop is only 15 seconds down the road" and they drove off. There were no good Samaritans on the road that night.

So I started walking again. After a few minutes I came across a sign that read "Rest Stop 1 Mile" At least I knew how much further I had to walk. Then I thought about what that dork from Penn State said "The rest stop is only 15 seconds down the road". Even if I was driving I would have had to go 240 m.p.h. to make it in 15 seconds. I did the math in my head, I had enough time while I was walking.

I finally arrived at the rest stop. There was a pay phone, remember pay phones? I'm sure that when I have children they will one day learn about them in their history books. I didn't have any change so I had to buy a bag of chips from the vending machine to get change. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I'm sure it was close to 11pm so I called my grandmother. Everyone else I knew was probably in bed, but my grandmother usually stays up until 11 or 12. She doesn't go to bed at 7:30pm like most retirees. So she came and picked me up.

The next day my mom drove me out to my car. We had AAA meet us out there. We were following the tow truck back home and I counted how many miles it was between where I broke down and where the rest stop was. It was only five miles. It seemed like a whole lot more than five miles though. Probably not because of the cold, the dark, or the fact I couldn't get a ride, but it was because of my crappy attitude. Like I said earlier, I had spent a lot of my time walking along the road moaning and complaining about my situation and being angry at God for letting my car break down. My car wasn't the only thing that broke down that night.

What I was lacking that night was joy. You might ask yourself "Why would you be joyful during a situation like that?" I think too many times people confuse joy with happiness. They are two different things. We can be joyful even when we aren't happy. I guess being joyful is another way of saying "Look on the bright side" That's what I should have been doing. I should have been joyful that I was getting some good exercise and that when I arrived at the rest stop I was able to get a ride because I have a family that cares about me and I serve a God that looks out for me and will always love me even if I get angry with him.

We put too much faith in our "things". We expect our cars to take us where we want to go. Sometimes cars go bad, but God is always good.