Christians seem to once again in some circles be circling the wagons regarding the upcoming movie "The Golden Compass". It is written by and atheist, they kill God in the movie, it is a book that is a reaction against the Narnia Books of C.S. Lewis. Well it always seems like a smart move to take time to listen to the man behind the novels that are inspiring the movie. FilmChat has a great interview that answers a lot of questions we all have regarding this movie.
My opinion is that a movie is not something that seems to be able to shake the Kingdom of God, even though it seems to shake us up a lot! I think this movie is a great chance to go watch and purposely pursue conversation with people about the truth in the film, about the truth in the gospel. I probably would not let my 12 year old daughter (she is 2 right now but...) go see the movie alone without making sure to invest time in discussing the themes of the movie after. I do think there needs to be a level of discernment upon entering in ANY movie, even ones with "Passion" in their title.
I think I am going to tell Zach Nielsen our worship leader to look into playing this song this Sunday. I think it is applicable as we are approaching an election year! I realize that if you are an Arminian that there are not a lot of songs that speak of our "free will" and our ability to choose God, maybe cause there are not many verses that allow that...maybe... is it yes or no?
I live in the suburbs and the church I work at an upper middle class church in the suburbs, I am not a fan of the suburbs, I am not a fan of kids who drive around in daddy's BMW. I have grown so much in this church though, where I would be happy and comfortable in the University area of town or downtown ABQ which are a "little rougher" than the Desert Springs Neighborhood, I realize that the Albuquerque suburbs is my Samaria. This is where I would normally avoid going to, the Starbucks with the 14 year old ordering a non-fat, decaf iced Carmel organic latte while the mom is checking how her last botox treatment went. Yeah this is the place I did not want to be, but God has stretched me, has challenged me to see that the gospel is not just for the city, the gospel is for the suburbs and in a lot of ways I am dealing with college students that grew up in a youth group that was all about fun, and stupid games, never hearing the gospel, but yet thinking they are saved. I am growing up around a bunch of Zach Morris's and Kelly Kaposki's and I am learning to be content and learning to love these people. I am not there yet, but I hope some day!! Until then I am going to be hitting up Steve McCoy's blog over at Reformissionary and his new page "Mission to the Suburbia"
So yes we here at UNM are excited for the hire of Coach Steve Alford a man I consider a friend. We are 6-0 right now with wins over not the best of teams, but still all you can do is play who is in front of you right? Well it seems Coach Alford's old school is not doing so well either in basketball or football.... Although I am not sure if God is a Hawkeye fan or not, relating their trials to Job's is a little extreme, living in Iowa must truly truly suck, maybe I will ask former Iowa resident Vitamin Z his opinion...
I have the extreme pleasure and privilege to be this year's UNM Men's Basketball Team Chaplin. I had previously been the video coordinator before leaving to work full time at my church Desert Springs to lead the college/young adult gathering. As Chaplin my job is not super complicated, I give a 10-15 minute message to the players who wish to stay for it as well as for Coach Steve Alford and his staff. I am leading the team through a fly over of the bible and hoping to connect the reality that all stories in the O.T. all point and are shadows if Jesus Christ.
Today though for their chapel time before their game against Hawaii I read Psalm 100, a Psalm of thanksgiving. I also read these statistics to them:
1. More than 1.5 billion people around the world live on less than a $1 a day.
2. More than one billion people do not have access to clean water.
3. Every year six million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday.
4. More than 50 percent of Africans suffer from water-related diseases such as cholera and infant diarrhea.
5. More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day, 300 million are children.
6. Of these 300 million children, only eight percent are victims of famine or other emergency situations. More than 90 percent are suffering long-term malnourishment and micronutrient deficiency.
7. Declining soil fertility, land degradation, and the AIDS pandemic have led to a 23 percent decrease in food production per capita in the last 25 years even though population has increased dramatically.
8. A woman living in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy. This compares with a 1 in 3,700 risk for a woman from North America.
These stats were taken from a sermon from Pastor John Piper, here is the manuscript. The reason I wanted to read these was for these players to and myself for that matter to realize that we are blessed, blessed beyond blessed. Most of these players dream of playing for the NBA and probably most will never achieve this, so my hope was that they realize in the larger scheme of things on this planet having a pair of shoes is a blessing, having clean drinking water and food 3 times a day, heck having food 1 time a day is a tremendous blessing given from our Lord.
I hope as the season goes on that they will see that being sponsored by Nike and playing one of the greatest arenas in sports, "The Pit" are great joys, but nothing compared to the blessing that is offered in Christ. The joy of being redeemed and brought into an unbreakable family, given eternal nourishing bread of life, and being able to drink from the fountain of life, that those things found ONLY in Christ would being their and my motivation to get out of bed in the morning!!!
Well I am off to the game, in my SUV with my beautiful wife and daughter to cheer with 15000 fans for the team, and all I can say is......blessed!
"The only thing of transcendent importance of human beings is the knowledge of God. This knowledge does not belong to those who endlessly focus on themselves. Those who truly come to know God delight to just know him. He becomes their center. They think of him, delight in him, boast of him. They want to know more and more what kind of God he is. As they learn that he is the God "who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth," naturally they want those same values to prevail- not because their egos are bound up with certain arbitrary notions of, say, "justice," but because their center is God and they take their cues from him and his character. They boast in him."
I saw this video this morning and it just reminds me of what I have in Christ alone! Yeah something to be thankful for come Thursday, someOne to share with family and friends!!!
Ok this is a bit of a rant, but here it goes. I was on another blog, Between Two World's reading about Mark Driscoll's apology and seeking for Humility and while most people would praise or even be convicted by Mark's words instead they (the commentators) are freaking upset about a joke and T-Shirt. This is what I do not get about reformed people sometimes (and I am one) we are so unbelievably fast to critisize about anything. We take out our magnifying glasses and pick apart every little thing. And it seems like a lot of these reformaniacs seem to think that we should all preach like Jonathan Edwards and speak like John Owen! Are you serious?? I love those two men and love to read them, but that does not mean I preach or I act like either 2, I am a 27 year old hispanic preacher in New Mexico, not an old white dude in London or New England. I have noticed that we are so quick to pick apart a song sung, or a preacher if he ever so slightly slips up. Yeah we sure are a great city on a hill sometimes, we pick each other apart, we get upset when someone makes a freakin joke on stage or if someone talks about loving others in their city more than loving the Puritans. I do not get it, I do not want any part of it.
We need to get off our butts ( would say another word but don't want others to miss the point of the blog cause something off hand was there) get our nose out of theology books for like 5 min and be in the world. We (Calvinists) suck at this, I am not talking about mission trips to China, I am talking about Mission trips to Starbucks tonight!!! We suck at loving those around us, we suck at proclaiming the gospel in a loving way, basically we suck at loving our neighbors.
This is some real frustrations I have, I think they are legit, I do not know the answer, but I think throwing grenades at someone who is confessing is not the best start.
Here are my fav. living preachers, all of which I have heard people critisize for one reason or another, John Piper- he is too friendly to charasmatics, he said ass in a sermon. Matt Chandler-Charasmatic...enough said, Mark Driscoll-Do I even have to go there...
I have received a couple email forwards that are warning me about a new movie coming out called "The Golden Compass". These emails come from Christians and have told me not to take my daughter, and to boycott this movie. From what I have read this movie along with the other 2 that will follow are based on books written by an atheist who wrote this series as a reaction against C.S. Lewis's "Chronicles of Narnia". The whole stink about this movie is that it is promoting a atheistic agenda and that we need to avoid it and boycott this movie, one email even told me that "they kill God in the end", kinda dramatic if you ask me.
I do not like mass emails that warn me to boycott this or this because of anti-Christian messages, or avoid so and so because he has this political agenda, and I down right loathe the email messages that tell me if I am not ashamed of Jesus I will forward it on to 10 of my best friends. The truth is that, that email has got me wanting to see this movie, whereas before I probably could have cared less. Why? Why should we not boycott it. Because were are called to be in the world, we are called to understand different worldviews, we are called to love people outside our bubble. Crazy, I know, but we are called to be lights in darkness, which means we need to go to the dark places.
Internet Monk shares a great response to such boycott and warnings and I think he is right on... Check it out here
Here is a thought, go see this movie, use discernment, realize it is a movie enjoy it for what it is. And then maybe engage people who want to discuss the underlying themes that are in it. Remember God's Kingdom is a Kingdom that cannot be shaken!
So today is Halloween a day when mini Harry Potters and Optimus Primes will be coming to the door expecting some candy. Being a Christian what does this mean for us? Do we hide in our home with the lights off, do we go to a church where there is a "Fall Harvest Festival" going on, or do we answer the door, give out good candy, actually maybe for the first time meet our neighbors?
Anthony Bradley a professor at Covenant Seminary and a pretty chill dude has a great article on this, stuff to think about as we approach the question: WWJD tonight??
Also one more rant it is funny to me that we Christians sometimes get so distraught when people call Christmas parties, Winter celebrations, or use another term than Christian, but when we have a party on Halloween that looks like a Halloween party, smells like a Halloween party and feels like a Halloween party we call it a Harvest Festival, that is just funny to me...
I have been a Christian for almost 5 years now, so that means I have had 4 Halloweens in the "bubble" and something I do not understand is the Christian Festivals or Bible Track instead of candy option. I see churches advertising these festivals all over the place during this time of year, like a somehow healthy alternative or something to skittles or 8 year old power rangers. What I do not understand is that we are called to be Christ's ambassadors right? (2 Cor 5:20). From my public school and private catholic school understanding of this is that we are to represent our King, not ourselves, we are to look at our King as how we should live in the world. I do not see Jesus seeing the "sinners" and telling his disciples "ok fellas let's go and do our own party so we do not get influenced". So how are we the "ambassadors" representing our King when we huddle together, have dark houses with no candy, or if we are at home we hand out bible tracks, how are we representing our King properly?
Are we not representing Him as a legalistic, anti-cuture, anti-neighbor moralist?? I understand that dressing your 7 year old up like Harry Potter can be an invitation to Witchery and the like and that could lead him down a path of debauchery or whatever, but seriously how about we actually look at our King! How about we represent Him by having a light on, maybe even, dare I say it, giving out good candy and loving the people coming to our homes. Maybe start living with others, actually living life with them, getting to know them, their names, their dreams, their faiths, this seems to be what our King did. Maybe start loving people in such a way that when we do share the glorious hope of the gospel it will be genuine love coming across, maybe this Oct. 31 instead of holy huddling it, or doing trick or track (as in bible track) evangelism, we start to know those the Lord has put in our neighborhoods, and just maybe we will see something happen in our hearts and theirs too!!
Yesterday was my birthday, I remember people telling me that once you pass 21 it is all downhill. I could very easily at times agree with that statement. I think though moreso I feel I am more alive than ever, more aware of the present and the things of life seem to have more depth and meaning than when I was 20 or even 24. At this time 6 years ago I was freaking out cause the previous weekend I had been arrested for DWI, I was a week away from being 21, so I was underage to top it off!!! Yeah I was up a creek.. I had lost my license and had the threat of going to jail, and losing a lot of things including my job, my parents trust and my families view of me being a good kid...At that time I remember thinking, my life was over that this crisis would define me forever and that I would never recover from that.
Tonight I type this as my wife is up in Glorieta NM at a women's retreat with our church and place I work Desert Springs Church. My 18 month old daughter is asleep in the other room, and oh yeah did I forget to mention that Lauren my wife is pregnant with kiddo number 2?!? I am paying a mortgage, leading my own family as well as The Well College Gathering at DSC. SO needless to say my life did not end, I did recover from that crisis, but not on my own, only from the work of an outside source.
Between then and now, about 4 years ago I came to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior, as my hope for reconciliation between God and myself. I came to realize by God's grace alone, that I am a sinner, an enemy to the eternal, perfect Judge of the Universe and my trespasses against Him merited a eternal punishment!! I was facing Hell, I was facing what I deserved, But God saved me, by putting my punishment, the punishment I deserve on His only Son Jesus Christ!! and the perfect, holy life that His Son Jesus, who came down and was man and God at the same time, the life He merited was now credited to me, as if I had lived that life, as if I live that life now.
How does all this mesh together, well it is my life for starters, but now, through new eyes through a heart changed and focused on the cross of Christ I see a DWI, a family to lead, a house to pay for, a wife and daughter and baby to love as all things that have shaped me, and are shaping me in a lot of ways. But NONE of these define me, only what Christ has done is what defines me!!! Only His work on the Cross defines me. I am a slave to Christ, not a perfect one, far from that, I suck and still have a lot of crap in my life that does not reflect my new position in Christ, BUT again that is not what defines me, cause my definition of who I am relies on the work of another, it relies on the work of Jesus Christ!!!!
Life is going downhill??? It's just starting in light of eternity!!!!!
So my first blog in a while, it should be something deep, something that will make you think and really ponder. Maybe I will discuss the implications of the emerging church, or give a review of Michael Moore's new movie Sicko and give my take on the Health Care system here in America. I know I could discuss the upcoming elections and discuss the future of evangelicalism in America if Clinton is elected!!!!!
Due to Fox's cancellation of "The O.C.", my family was in search of a new show to watch, so we had been told by many people to watch this show. My wife and I are now addicts of the show "The Office" during the past 4 weeks we have watched seasons 1,2 and caught up on season 3, thanks to Itunes. This show is amazing and painfully funny. Now we must sit and wait out for new episodes to become avaliable, but here is a preview of what awaits!!!
"Why tell this story now? From an objective point of view, David Brainerd was an utter failure: he never achieved stardom; he never made a fat wad of cash; he didn’t possess any special talents or skills; he wasn’t especially successful in his occupation, and the decisions he made in his life ultimately led to his death before he hit 30. If he were around today, there’s a good chance he would be in a medical hospital or a mental hospital, and yet, I find myself relating to him. "
Thinking about missions, maybe going to Guatemala or Algeria? Think you are not "qualified" or spiritual enough to go? Think again, cause the amazing thing about God, is that He uses us, the jacked up to accomplish His purposes of proclaiming His name to every tribe, tounge and nation... David Brainerd is an example of this,read this article then go to Amazon and buy his biography..It will be worth it.
Let me tell you about my Thursday this past week. It started off with a very good men's bible study at my church at 6am (only God's grace has me up that early), it followed with some good talks to people on staff at the church. I had a great talk with our youth pastor about getting our college group together with the youth and serving the community together. I also got to talk to our Worship Leader (Vitamin Z) and we talked about everything from the Lobo Basketball team (where I work) to the emerging church and theology. I then went to the University of NM student union building for a time of reading and coffee, I there met up with a friend and we had a good talk about soccer, ministry and life. My day seemed to be working out just great as I pulled up to the UNM basketball practice complex where my office is located. I started my day off the usual checking emails, working on some video stuff as well as going to some blogs and seeing what people were writing about. One of our assistant coaches came in as I was doing these things and said we needed to do a scouting report film for our upcoming game at Utah (where I currently am), the next thing he said changed everything about the day and my life in some ways.
Coach D told me at 1:45 that day there was going to be a press conference to announce that Coach McKay, my boss and friend was going to be fired at the end of the season. At that moment if felt like a punch had just been landed to my gut, the air was taken away, the room got super small and it was just this surreal feeling. The men that God had used to bring me to Christ were not going to be here next year. The rest of the day was filled with press conferences, meetings and just trying to figure out what the heck was going on. While this outcome was not totally shocking, we were not performing as well as people expected. There was drama this year off the court, and people really never did accept Coach McKay. So the writing was on the wall, but when it actually happened it was still shocking, the timing of it was not expected either.
My mind was filled with thoughts of who will replace him, what will happen to the other coaches, and what will happen to me. While I am not a coach, it is possible still that the new coach will bring in his own person to do video for the team and that means adios for me. At that moment I felt naked, vulnerable and helpless before God, my future was unknown in so many ways now, in short my life was rocked. I sat there filled with anxiety and worry for the rest of the day. The time came finally to leave and return to my church to get ready for The Well, our young adult gathering, in which I am one of the leaders. My mind was such a tornado that I did not feel like doing much, but then our worship leader came and we talked about the night, and soon I was starting to focus more on other things.
Soon people started to arrive and again my mind became filled with worry and anxiety. With my mind racing I decided to step outside and pray and greet people as they came in. As I stood out there I looked up in the sky, there were some clouds and patches of sky and stars. Then the Spirit hit me, and hit me hard. I was convicted of my sin of worry and anxiety. God had me where He tells us He likes us, where we have nothing but Him and Him alone to rely on. A specific scripture was put on my heart:
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3: 17-19)
This verse just kept pounding in my heart and mind. All I could think was yeah I know it says that, but it is not as easy to do. And it was right then that I realized that, that was the point. It cannot be done on my strength, on my own I cannot rejoice in God, I cannot find joy in God. I am a selfish sinful man that wants to control everything, and I am only concerned in finding joy in stuff, in things, in what revolves around me. As I stood there I realized it is a fight, but a fight that can be won, cause it is not a fight I fight alone, God is my strength, God is my fight for joy. As I stood outside pondering everything the thought of God sovereignty came to mind, that Jesus is the same today and yesterday and tomorrow. God revealed in my heart that it is His strength that brings joy because His strength and His name and His Glory never change. This job is not my hope, a paycheck is not where I find joy, but in God through the work of Christ on the cross is where I am brought by the Spirit to enjoy God and find my treasure. In those 45 minutes I stood outside God had crushed me, convicted me, and then encouraged me and strengthened me.
I would be lying if I said that now I am totally worry-free and I do not at times doubt. What has changed though is the knowledge that, yes it is a fight for this joy, and yes it is His strength that will be my victory in the fight. And the hope that now I see dimly, but then in heaven I will see my treasure face to face.. I will see God, our creator, our sustainer, our judge and redeemer!!
So yes life comes at us fast, whether it be a loss of a job, or it be a report from the doctor that we have cancer and 6 months left, but life never comes at God fast. God is sovereign over all and His hand is what guides bosses hearts, is what allows cancer to grow in us. It is His mercy, love and justice that sent His Son to the cross to atone for our sins and that never changes no matter what in life comes at us.. Amen!!!
