I believe I will begin writing here again. I feel the creative flow....well, flowing. Brace yourselves.
jake
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Blessed Are You When People Call You "Bible-Thumper"
I try not to be too political with my thinking and with my writings, and I give you my word as a gentleman that I had already written most of this a few weeks ago, but I think it is important to mention something before I go into this blog. Today, this very morning, our President visited a Chinese State Church. For those of you unfamiliar with China and its practices regarding religion, the State Church is a dumbed down, powered down, and God-downed version of Christianity, for those people who would like to go to Church but just don't want all of the hardship it can bring in a communist nation. It's very troubling to me that the leader of our "Christian" nation would go and embrace the public face of persecution. I say all of that just to do my little part to make people more aware, and to inform you that this post is written in honor of and in prayer for all of those who suffer in the name of a risen savior, a just God, and the hope of a redeemed world.
All that being said, I got to thinking about persecution a couple of weeks ago. I heard a sermon about how to react to being persecuted, and I looked around the room. I don't know what your Church is like, but the VH is pretty typical of the sort of congregation I grew up in; very white, very middle class, very well off. The point? In the year of our Lord, 2008, in the United States of America, in the nation's midwestern breadbasket, it is hard to conceive that middle class white people are being persecuted by anyone for anything.
Lets start with a verse that I think is troubling to many modern Christians; "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." - 2 Tim 3:12-13
See, there is this thought in early Christianity that the powers that be are not going to like what Jesus and his Church do. From the earliest moments of his ministry, Jesus is speaking of persecution, and ensuring his followers that they'll be blessed in Heaven for suffering for his sake on Earth. It's amazing to me how modern Christianity has managed to dilute the word persecution. Once upon a time it meant imprisonment, torture, and eventually a gruesome death for those that wouldn't renounce Jesus. Today? Well if most of the preachers I've heard are to be believed, it apparently means getting teased for wearing a WWJD bracelet and not listening to Eminem.
So what I'm asking, what makes this verse so uncomfortable is this; why aren't we being persecuted? The way I see it, there are two possibilities here. Either this world, or at least our own little corner of it has finally seen the light and joined up with God's way of doing things, or we as Christians are not doing our duty.
I'm sure you can guess which way I lean; so my challenge to you? Figure out what you're leaving out. I'm not gonna give all of the answers here, go read you a bible! Dig around, see what Jesus wanted from us, figure out why the world hated him, and why it seems to love us so much. Maybe if you're really good at it you'll upset some government and start a persecution.
(jake)
For more information on the persecuted Church in China and across the world, visit The Voice of the Martyrs at http://www.persecution.com/ If you really wanna stir things up, go to www.cc.org (The Christian Coalition) and www.focusonthefamily.com and ask them why their boy Dubbya is getting buddy buddy with the persecutors.
All that being said, I got to thinking about persecution a couple of weeks ago. I heard a sermon about how to react to being persecuted, and I looked around the room. I don't know what your Church is like, but the VH is pretty typical of the sort of congregation I grew up in; very white, very middle class, very well off. The point? In the year of our Lord, 2008, in the United States of America, in the nation's midwestern breadbasket, it is hard to conceive that middle class white people are being persecuted by anyone for anything.
Lets start with a verse that I think is troubling to many modern Christians; "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived." - 2 Tim 3:12-13
See, there is this thought in early Christianity that the powers that be are not going to like what Jesus and his Church do. From the earliest moments of his ministry, Jesus is speaking of persecution, and ensuring his followers that they'll be blessed in Heaven for suffering for his sake on Earth. It's amazing to me how modern Christianity has managed to dilute the word persecution. Once upon a time it meant imprisonment, torture, and eventually a gruesome death for those that wouldn't renounce Jesus. Today? Well if most of the preachers I've heard are to be believed, it apparently means getting teased for wearing a WWJD bracelet and not listening to Eminem.
So what I'm asking, what makes this verse so uncomfortable is this; why aren't we being persecuted? The way I see it, there are two possibilities here. Either this world, or at least our own little corner of it has finally seen the light and joined up with God's way of doing things, or we as Christians are not doing our duty.
I'm sure you can guess which way I lean; so my challenge to you? Figure out what you're leaving out. I'm not gonna give all of the answers here, go read you a bible! Dig around, see what Jesus wanted from us, figure out why the world hated him, and why it seems to love us so much. Maybe if you're really good at it you'll upset some government and start a persecution.
(jake)
For more information on the persecuted Church in China and across the world, visit The Voice of the Martyrs at http://www.persecution.com/ If you really wanna stir things up, go to www.cc.org (The Christian Coalition) and www.focusonthefamily.com and ask them why their boy Dubbya is getting buddy buddy with the persecutors.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
And They're Always Glad You Came
Okay, it's beginning to flow a little better. Rather than racking my brain for something profound each week, I'm getting back into the groove of just spewing forth whatever God's put on my heart. Brace yourselves for spew.
The scum of the Earth gather there, because they feel welcome there. Some of them are actually highly successful people who have come to wrestle with their demons, perfectly normal and healthy people who simply need some support to keep up with the good work. Good, bad, ugly, all are welcome, all are wanted. Some get extremely involved and are regulars; others simply show up and enjoy the good vibes.
Or there is our second location. It's a high class place, filled with the wealthy and elite. It's a club that seems easy enough to get into, but for some reason a lot of people have trouble sticking around there. The elite rulers of the day are strong advocates, using their membership to springboard themselves into greater positions of power, from which they further exploit the weak and the poor. Everyone is well groomed, everyone is clean, everyone looks perfect. Sadly, beneath the surface there is a great deal of sin and corruption dealing beneath the surface. It's not that the people here are wicked, that they enjoy their state, it's just that no one's ever taken the time to show them any better.
Scene one? A bar.
Scene two? A Church.
Sure, not all Churches are like that, I know, I attend a couple of pretty good ones. And no, bars aren't exactly wholesome places. Still, can't argue with the facts.
I really wish Church were more like a bar.
(jake)
The scum of the Earth gather there, because they feel welcome there. Some of them are actually highly successful people who have come to wrestle with their demons, perfectly normal and healthy people who simply need some support to keep up with the good work. Good, bad, ugly, all are welcome, all are wanted. Some get extremely involved and are regulars; others simply show up and enjoy the good vibes.
Or there is our second location. It's a high class place, filled with the wealthy and elite. It's a club that seems easy enough to get into, but for some reason a lot of people have trouble sticking around there. The elite rulers of the day are strong advocates, using their membership to springboard themselves into greater positions of power, from which they further exploit the weak and the poor. Everyone is well groomed, everyone is clean, everyone looks perfect. Sadly, beneath the surface there is a great deal of sin and corruption dealing beneath the surface. It's not that the people here are wicked, that they enjoy their state, it's just that no one's ever taken the time to show them any better.
Scene one? A bar.
Scene two? A Church.
Sure, not all Churches are like that, I know, I attend a couple of pretty good ones. And no, bars aren't exactly wholesome places. Still, can't argue with the facts.
I really wish Church were more like a bar.
(jake)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Hitchiker's Guide to Eternity
Ugh. It seems like everytime I get on a roll with this thing and get a decent number of people reading again, I fall out of the loop and forget to post for a month or three. So, for the first of this semester's 3 posts...
To me, that title is brilliant. It's a little known fact that my favorite part of writing these blogs is writing the title. I also wash my hands before I read and sometimes pray for super powers. Seriously, you couldn't handle 20 minutes in my brain.
So while in the land down under I kept thinking about the Bible. I have been thinking about the Bible a whole lot lately, because as you all know I'm now a Bible Major. I spend a lot of time doing homework about the Bible. Why do I say this? Because I think that for a vast majority of my life I have viewed the Bible incorrectly.
Rob Bell is a favorite author of mine, and in his book Velvet Elvis, he implores us to drop the whole Bible-as-an-instruction-manual analogy. I have to say, I love this idea, and I want to second it. It's time we stopped looking at the holy word of the divine God as a rules list.
I got to thinking about this, and how much of the greater sins I've committed against people in my life have really been born of that misunderstanding of scripture. Because I thought that the Bible was a set of rules, I judged people and treated them like I was better than they were. Because I misread Jesus' teachings on grace, I treated people like they were beneath me. If you are a regular reader, or if you're bored enough to trail back a couple of posts, you'll notice my conflict with Cross Guy. I honestly used to think like Cross Guy, I'm ashamed to say, and I think that it's because I wanted to see the Bible as a rulebook.
Now let me clarify; I'm not saying we shouldn't follow the rules in the Bible. God does give some direct commands, and they should be obeyed. But if that's all you're making it, if you're taking this precious gift from God and making it something as simple and legalistic, then you've completely missed the point I'm afraid.
I struggled a lot to find bible verses that would sum this up, because this feels like the sort of thing that it is so important to have God's backing on. The one that seems logical is 2 Timothy 3:16, which says that all scripture is God-breathed and useful for training in righteousness. It seems to me that the term "God-breathed" probably means that it was something straight from the mouth of God, something that carried with it his very will and his heart. I mean think about it, the main time that we see God breathing something into existence, it isn't a rule book, it's a freaking human being! God doesn't breathe things that are unliving, the breath of God is universally recognized as something that brings life.
So where does all of this lead? My point is to make us rethink scripture and how we study it. Just memorizing the facts is fine at first, but read the stories, read the words of God, the way he treats his people, the way he cares for them no matter what; learn to mimic the ways of God. Scripture is more than a list of rules, it is a unique look straight into the heart of God, a wonderful examination of the very nature of God, of who he is and what he wants from his people; read it to learn who God is, and in turn, to learn who you are. I promise you, this is something that will completely change your life.
(jake)
-This post is dedicated to Cindy Hess.
To me, that title is brilliant. It's a little known fact that my favorite part of writing these blogs is writing the title. I also wash my hands before I read and sometimes pray for super powers. Seriously, you couldn't handle 20 minutes in my brain.
So while in the land down under I kept thinking about the Bible. I have been thinking about the Bible a whole lot lately, because as you all know I'm now a Bible Major. I spend a lot of time doing homework about the Bible. Why do I say this? Because I think that for a vast majority of my life I have viewed the Bible incorrectly.
Rob Bell is a favorite author of mine, and in his book Velvet Elvis, he implores us to drop the whole Bible-as-an-instruction-manual analogy. I have to say, I love this idea, and I want to second it. It's time we stopped looking at the holy word of the divine God as a rules list.
I got to thinking about this, and how much of the greater sins I've committed against people in my life have really been born of that misunderstanding of scripture. Because I thought that the Bible was a set of rules, I judged people and treated them like I was better than they were. Because I misread Jesus' teachings on grace, I treated people like they were beneath me. If you are a regular reader, or if you're bored enough to trail back a couple of posts, you'll notice my conflict with Cross Guy. I honestly used to think like Cross Guy, I'm ashamed to say, and I think that it's because I wanted to see the Bible as a rulebook.
Now let me clarify; I'm not saying we shouldn't follow the rules in the Bible. God does give some direct commands, and they should be obeyed. But if that's all you're making it, if you're taking this precious gift from God and making it something as simple and legalistic, then you've completely missed the point I'm afraid.
I struggled a lot to find bible verses that would sum this up, because this feels like the sort of thing that it is so important to have God's backing on. The one that seems logical is 2 Timothy 3:16, which says that all scripture is God-breathed and useful for training in righteousness. It seems to me that the term "God-breathed" probably means that it was something straight from the mouth of God, something that carried with it his very will and his heart. I mean think about it, the main time that we see God breathing something into existence, it isn't a rule book, it's a freaking human being! God doesn't breathe things that are unliving, the breath of God is universally recognized as something that brings life.
So where does all of this lead? My point is to make us rethink scripture and how we study it. Just memorizing the facts is fine at first, but read the stories, read the words of God, the way he treats his people, the way he cares for them no matter what; learn to mimic the ways of God. Scripture is more than a list of rules, it is a unique look straight into the heart of God, a wonderful examination of the very nature of God, of who he is and what he wants from his people; read it to learn who God is, and in turn, to learn who you are. I promise you, this is something that will completely change your life.
(jake)
-This post is dedicated to Cindy Hess.
Monday, May 19, 2008
A Conundrum if You Will...
I am stranded in York for two more weeks. Every morning I get up and look out my window at the dead campus and let a single tear roll down my eye, pollution-indian style.
Anywho, in keeping with the great educators of history, this week I choose to teach by posing questions. The following is a series of questions that were posed in my Wednesday night High School class last week, and I've got to say, they handled it very well. So now, allow me to play Yoda to your Luke.
I'm not going to directly cite any scripture today, which might be a gutsy move, but I would rather that you open scripture and search for yourself on this one. I will direct you to the Sermon on the Mount in early Matthew, and James 2, starting around verse 15. Now, moving on.
Consider two people. First, a personal hero of mine whose picture hangs on my wall next to one of my many Spiderman posters. No, not Optimus Prime. Mahatma Gandhi. In case you're not up to date on your Indian civil rights leaders, let me fill you in. Gandhi quit a job as a high paid lawyer in order to live with the Untouchables, a group of people in India who were seen as literally, untouchable. They lived in poverty and disease, because they were considered outside society, beneath the notice of civilization. Gandhi dedicated his life to these people, living among them and living like them, trying to help them. This is in fact the most Christ-like thing I've heard of since feeding a multitude.
Unfortunately Gandhi had a major problem in his worldview, namely, Hinduism. Now I'm not about to denigrate someone else's beliefs, but at the same time, I'm not about to say that all roads lead to God. They don't. Some roads lead to lots of vague and fictitious gods, and that's what Gandhi chose.
Exhibit B however is one of my least favorite people in the world. While he has yet to acknowledge our feud publicly, I consider this man to be one of my arch-enemies. I am of course speaking of Pat Robertson of the 700 Club. Pat, for those of you not in the know, has used his media empire to spread wonderful Christian beliefs. Like the time he said that 9-11 was the will of God, brought on to punish us because of feminism. (Might have been Katrina, I'm not entirely sure, so if you read this Pat, don't go getting all techinical on me. You know what I'm getting at.)
So Pat Robertson, a man who is far more concerned with making sure we know who goes to Hell than with helping others get to heaven, calls on the name of Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior. While I'm never ever going to say that Pat Robertson is any kind of Christian, at the same time, I also have to believe that grace can cover hypocrisy and bigotry, or a great number of Christians, including myself, are all going to Hell.
So consider this a different sort of post; rather than a challenge or a moral, today I leave you with a question. Which of these two is more pleasing to God? The man who lives a Christ-like life outside of Christ, or the man who embraces all encompassing grace but denies it to others?
(jake)
Anywho, in keeping with the great educators of history, this week I choose to teach by posing questions. The following is a series of questions that were posed in my Wednesday night High School class last week, and I've got to say, they handled it very well. So now, allow me to play Yoda to your Luke.
I'm not going to directly cite any scripture today, which might be a gutsy move, but I would rather that you open scripture and search for yourself on this one. I will direct you to the Sermon on the Mount in early Matthew, and James 2, starting around verse 15. Now, moving on.
Consider two people. First, a personal hero of mine whose picture hangs on my wall next to one of my many Spiderman posters. No, not Optimus Prime. Mahatma Gandhi. In case you're not up to date on your Indian civil rights leaders, let me fill you in. Gandhi quit a job as a high paid lawyer in order to live with the Untouchables, a group of people in India who were seen as literally, untouchable. They lived in poverty and disease, because they were considered outside society, beneath the notice of civilization. Gandhi dedicated his life to these people, living among them and living like them, trying to help them. This is in fact the most Christ-like thing I've heard of since feeding a multitude.
Unfortunately Gandhi had a major problem in his worldview, namely, Hinduism. Now I'm not about to denigrate someone else's beliefs, but at the same time, I'm not about to say that all roads lead to God. They don't. Some roads lead to lots of vague and fictitious gods, and that's what Gandhi chose.
Exhibit B however is one of my least favorite people in the world. While he has yet to acknowledge our feud publicly, I consider this man to be one of my arch-enemies. I am of course speaking of Pat Robertson of the 700 Club. Pat, for those of you not in the know, has used his media empire to spread wonderful Christian beliefs. Like the time he said that 9-11 was the will of God, brought on to punish us because of feminism. (Might have been Katrina, I'm not entirely sure, so if you read this Pat, don't go getting all techinical on me. You know what I'm getting at.)
So Pat Robertson, a man who is far more concerned with making sure we know who goes to Hell than with helping others get to heaven, calls on the name of Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior. While I'm never ever going to say that Pat Robertson is any kind of Christian, at the same time, I also have to believe that grace can cover hypocrisy and bigotry, or a great number of Christians, including myself, are all going to Hell.
So consider this a different sort of post; rather than a challenge or a moral, today I leave you with a question. Which of these two is more pleasing to God? The man who lives a Christ-like life outside of Christ, or the man who embraces all encompassing grace but denies it to others?
(jake)
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Broken Tools
So I have a confession: I have not been in Mexico for two months. I have in fact been in York, Nebraska, finishing up the fourth year of what I'm beginning to suspect is a forty year wandering as punishment for some past sin. The good news is that I am still playing guitar, and I believe it shows; last night some stranger paid for my food at Buffalo Wild Wings, and just today, the girl at the coffee shop gave me a few extra packages of tea as I bought my rooibus. I've said it before, chicks dig the artsy type.
So I have begun to consider leadership. A little late in the game perhaps, but it is important I think that I re-evaluate. I'm not always the best leader, and next year I've got more to lead.
So I took to reading from the Bible, specifically the parts that deal with The Jesus and his take on leadership. Now there are lots of great passages, and one that I want to focus in on, but first I want to take a look at something written by Paul. Pay close attention children, as I can only perform this trick once:
So I have begun to consider leadership. A little late in the game perhaps, but it is important I think that I re-evaluate. I'm not always the best leader, and next year I've got more to lead.
So I took to reading from the Bible, specifically the parts that deal with The Jesus and his take on leadership. Now there are lots of great passages, and one that I want to focus in on, but first I want to take a look at something written by Paul. Pay close attention children, as I can only perform this trick once:
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (1 Cor 1:25)
Understand before we go any further on this adventure that God is not concerned with how humans do things. Humanity views leadership as an upward climb, a battle to the top. You step on who you can to get higher up, you demonstrate the most strength, and people will inevitably respect and follow you. Basically, the idea is to look like you have everything together, even though we all know no one has it all together. Maybe we follow people like this in order to forget our own brokenness? "Hey, he's got it figured out. If I do like him, maybe I'll get all of my crap together." The incredible thing is, that that person we're following is likely every bit if not more broken than we are.
Okay, so with all of that in mind, here's the Jesus part. There's this great passage in Mark where Jesus is just sitting down after a long journey, and he decides he's going to nail the disciples. See, earlier on the road they had been arguing about who was greatest of them, and Jesus decides to put in his two cents. And what does he say? Simply this.
"If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." (Mark 9:35b)
You getting that? Jesus doesn't want people who are powerful and have it all together. If you don't think that's what this verse means, then read the whole freaking story of his life. Jesus didn't show up and change the world by finding the rich and powerful; he went to the broken, the rejected. He picked fishermen and con-men to be his best friends, and then went and hung out with hookers and sick people. What do all of these have in common?
Brokenness.
I submit to you that I, Jake Owens, am a poor leader, because I am completely wrapped up in getting it all together, and projecting an aura of confidence and power. I have wasted my time and talent on trying to appear like I have life figured out, when in reality, I have no freaking clue what I'm doing. I am 22 years old, still in college, and doing my absolute best to figure out how to get out of debt. Sometimes I avoid saying hi to people not because I don't like them or because I'm shy, but because I just assume the don't want to talk to me. Somedays I worry I might be borderline OCD, and every day I wonder if I'll ever get my student loans paid off.
I am messed up. And God still chooses me, and God still loves me.
Leadership is not about getting it all together. Leadership is about admitting to God how broken you are, and letting him do what he will with you. One of the most wonderful things about Jesus is that he does his best work with broken tools like me.
(jake)
Friday, March 14, 2008
Hola Ninos!
I'm gonna be in the land down under (Mexico) for a week or so. I've got a few good ideas for blog when I get back. I'll try and get one posted before I leave, but don't hold out on that. More to come true believers!
(jake)
(jake)
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