Thursday, October 05, 2006

Big and Famous

As I was watching Bono from U2 being interviewed by Bill Hybels, my thought went also to the SPEAKER who said that “God is no respecter of man”. I have been pointing out that the church is not being a New Testament Church for quite a while. I’ve been pointing that 98% of the sermons preached from up the pulpit are "skubala" and void in applicable content. I’ve been also pointing that our seminaries teach a lot about preaching, exegesis, Old Testament, Liberation Theology, Advanced Theology and other things but too little, if not none about GRACE. I’ve been pointing out that our churches don’t evangelize at all. I’ve been pointing out that we don’t take care of the poor in USA, much less around the world. I’ve been pointing out that we love to go to slums abroad, but can’t stand going to the ghettos in the USA. I’ve been pointing out that some pastors and other Christian leaders are far more into religion politics then Christianity. I’ve been pointing out those conventions fighting conventions favors the devil b/c the enemy is much ignored when we fight a Christian civil war. I’ve been pointing out that legalism is a toll of the devil. I’ve been pointing out that churches don’t need to spend millions of dollars in facilities while kids and women starve to death in other parts of the world. I’ve been also pointing out that our churches don’t need to build impressive buildings to attract people. I’ve been pointing out that most Christians organizations and religious leaders do favor the rich and the scholars over the poor and ignorant when it comes to relationship. I’ve been pointing out that even though you might not see, our love and care for non-Christians is deficient, poor, biased and sometimes done with the wrong motivation. I’ve been pointing out that the American culture and way of life is not the closest one to the bible; can you imagine if Jesus was a regular American, with all the love for things, big stuff and that self-centered mentality? I’ve been pointing out that God has blessed America with so much and we are not really blessing others with so much; we act in our own imperialist way, always ready to shove into people’s face that we are the most powerful nation in the world. I’ve been pointing out that what is going to destroy America are not the Muslins, terrorists or plagues, but our light Christianity; our gold Christianity; our relationship Christianity; our legalistic Christianity; our Christianity that when challenged defends itself by calling the challenger a judgmental beast (unless he’s Bono); our lack of knowledge of grace means Christianity; in sum, we Christians are probably the most vicious elements of the society, b/c we think we know the truth and we shove it in everybody but us.

Why do we need Bono to tell us this? Why can’t we take that from Jesse, or Pablo, or Josef, or Yuri, or Jean Pierre, or Jeremy, or Tommy, or Cindy, or Andy, or Gutierrez, or Cesar Gevert? To some is b/c we are not famous, to others b/c we are not scholars, to another others is b/c we lack leadership skills…. Not famous? Not scholars? Lack of leadership skills?

Bono is famous, not a scholar and is a not a better leader than Jesse, or Pablo, or Josef, or Yuri, or Jean Pierre, or Jeremy, or Tommy, or Cindy, or Andy, or Gutierrez, or Cesar Gevert. He is a singer, a famous singer that decided to use his influence to something big. But he is controversial and his truth hurts as much as Jesse’s, or Pablo’s, or Josef’s, or Yuri’s, or Jean Pierre’s, or Jeremy’s, or Tommy’s, or Cindy’s, or Andy’s, or Gutierrez’s, or Cesar Gevert’s.

What am I trying to say? That Bono can point some problems of Christianity and be acclaimed while I have been execrated and sometimes even ostracized for my controversial remarks, and don’t tell me that he’s a better leader than me; that his truth is truer than mine, that he’s smarter than me. He might be famous, richer and traveled, but not smarter than any of those, and frankly; I bet he would agree with me. The same Christians that idolize Christian celebrities are the ones that marginalize the Christian Underground movement.

"Is there such a thing as an absolute right or wrong?"

Right or wrong and the absolutes are a hard issue to be discussed for most people, especially Christians. Some Christians have been using the bible as a manual for the right or wrong absolute. It is not that Christians are extremists, but they feel the need to defend what is right and separate from what is wrong. The problem with this is that a wall was created in between sacred and secular, Christians and non-Christians.
Let’s use gay marriage as an example. Christians have been pressing for amendments, bans, and respect for the institution of marriage. The bible says that homosexuality is wrong. Homosexuals are going to hell. God hates fags. We hear that all the time. The point here is not whether homosexuality is right or wrong, but how we approach the issue.
On the other side, our culture is based in ourselves. We see the truth as a personal opinion. We've been told that no one can say which religion or set of morals are true, therefore we do what we want; we are entitled to make our own decisions.
Christian intransigence has been one of Satan’s biggest tools. He loves when we go out there calling everybody rotten and corrupt. He takes delight when a group of Christians raise banners against Homosexuality, gay marriage, democrats and etc. Sometimes it seems like that Christians are, in their zeal to God's affairs, Satan’s biggest helpers.
Paul writes that if you are not mature enough to eat certain type of food, don’t eat; but also do not pass judgment over someone that eats certain type of food. Where is the absolute right or wrong there? Jesus infuriated the teachers of the Law by picking up fruits to eat on a Sabbath. Where is the absolute right or wrong there? It was wrong for a Jew to travel from south to north through Samaria, but Jesus did it anyway. Where is the absolute right or wrong there? On that same trip He spent sometime alone talking to a strange woman, and she gave her life to Him then led half of her city to Christ as well. Where is the absolute right or wrong there?
Is it right to be a homosexual? I cannot say it is. The bible clearly condemns it. Does that give me the right to pass judgment over it? Does God hate the person because of the sin? Some might say: Jesus called others hypocrites, liars, sinners and etc; why cant I do the same? To the best of my knowledge, Christ was blameless and sinless. He had the authority to tell anything to anyone, due to His pureness. What about us? We are all fallen, corrupt, selfish and dirty; none of us deserve forgiveness.
Morals alone cannot fix anything. Instead of fighting against gay marriage, we should preach the gospel, because the only thing that can set a sinner free from any kind of sin is Jesus Christ. He is the only absolute right. Now, what do we do with the wrong?

A Peace that Surpasses all Understanding!

"it's going to kill me, for the rest of my life, let me apologize if I'm still alive".

Apologize to whom? For what? About what? When?
Who is going to kill me? Why? Rest of my life?

Live after death?

I was killed, I was not only killed, but I was tortured. It hurts pretty bad. I'm still sore.

It was a pretty cool death, though. It was a glorious moment in my life and I had fun dying, even though I was pretty scared.

Who killed me?
That's a good question. I like to answer: "the Gospel". The gospel killed me. It was like this: This strange type named "the law” started bugging the hell out of me. Every time that i would do something against "the law", I would feel pretty annoyed. "The law" convicted me of so many cool things that I used to do!! "The law" was so arrogant that convicted me to abstain from sex and drugs. Can u believe that? How can I live without my weed? Man! "The Law" sucks. He bugged and annoyed me so much that I started to try to understand Mr. the Law. Oh boy, that was hard.

Upon learning about Mr. The Law, I learned how to get rid of him for the rest of my life. I learned that If I would lean to Mr. Mercy and Mr Grace, which was established at a cross, I would get rid forever of Mr. the Law.

So... I made up my decision, touched by the Ghost. That was the moment where I was killed. I don't know if I was shot, stabbed or stoned; I know that I died. Boy, and how I died!

But somehow, right after dying, you know all the commotion; I open my eyes, and the sky was still blue, the grass green, the sun shinny, the ocean salty, my face ugly, and on and on. I couldn't understand how could I die and still be here. How could that be?

I toughed myself trying to find the perforation, the scar, and couldn't find it anymore. One thing I can say, I was feeling kind of funky. I was not worried anymore about my future. I wasn't scared of the unknown. I was actually in peace.

I realized that I was given a second chance. No, it was not a second chance: I was born again. But who am I now?

What's going on?

Who am I?

Mr. The Law is dead to me. Sometimes he haunts me. Miss church likes to hold on to much to him, and that sometimes affects my life, but the truth of the matter is that Mr. Law is dead to me.

Did I tell you about Mr. Grace? This one is cool. He doesn't look at my dirtiness, my filthy thoughts, my fears and my past, b/c when he looks at me he sees Mr JX. When G.O.D. looks at me, He goes beyond my carcass, my clothing, tattoos and ugly face. When G.O.D. looks at me he sees a saint.

That's it, that who I am. I was killed and became a saint alone. My JX who lives in me is what enables me to be seen by G.O.D. as a saint.

Dead to sin, alive in Christ. WOW!!! What a ride.

I have a dream, too.

I must admit that my last series "Leaving Jesusland" was pretty strong, so let's get some fresh and pure air.



I have a dream, too.

A dream of equality and justice.
A dream that one day all nations of the world will have the right to have fun together under the same God.
Generations come and go, and the world still is spinning at the same speed; is it me, or things are getting weirder and weirder?
The United States have a naval base in Cuba, animals have more rights than little babies, more and more people buy two Big Macs and drink a Diet Coke, churches all around the country are having more and more dumb events to attract potential members, Ive heard that a church in New Mexico was offering a membership at a local Mens Club with two Thailand eases massages a week, for the first 10 members that arrive on the morning service.
Conformity? Are Christians conformed to the patterns of this world? What kind of patterns? What kind of Christians? What kind of world?
Conformity? Im conformed that conformity is not a really good word.
Weve been trying to be good Christians, even though the only good thing that live inside us is Christ, even though many of us insist that we are the ones responsible, even though the Spirit that lives inside us is the real source of goodness, even though many of us dont even remember that theres a called Holy Spirit dwelling somewhere inside, even though we do not deserve, even though thats another story.
I have a dream, too.
A dream that one day Ill be able to eat enchiladas and not get sick of my stomach, because Im a Brazilian and my stomach cannot handle that kind of food, even though is delicious.
Sometimes is better to be quiet and dance through Gods music than keep playing that same old song, in the same old rhythm, the same old voice, with the same old heart.
Blessed are the meek of heart, the queen of spades, and the Diamond Shamrocks cheap gasoline.
I have a dream to, actually I have many dreams, but the best one, the dream of peace, joy and love, God already gave me, through His son Jesus Christ.


Be renewed

Jesusland Final Part

My wife got that LEAVING JESUSLAND lyrics and adapted as if it was a Christian singing. I loved it. I believe that’s how a Christian should be. Jesus was like that. Don't forget that Jesus spoke with a whore in Samaria alone.

We don't need to tell a homosexual that he's wrong; we have to preach Jesus to him.

We don't need to tell a atheist that he has no faith, but preach Jesus to him.

We don't need to tell a whore that she's wrong, but preach Jesus to him.

We don't need to bug someone to stop smoking, but preach Jesus to him.

We don't need to raise a banner of decency, but raise Christ's banner, without an agenda. Christ alone.

The world does not need to stop being homosexual, liars, robbers, fornicators, dirty, whore, corrupt and other; the world has to hear about Jesus. We have to preach Jesus not so homosexuals are going to become straight, but for the honor and glory of God. It doesn't matter if you are a sinner; I love you anyway, but please, listen to what god has to tell you today. All your sins can be forgiven and boy the peace. The peace is unbelievable. And that's not talking about the eternal life with God.

Once the person has the Holy spirit, that you start working with old habits, costumes and addictions, knowing that something’s take time and lot's of prayer.

Anyway, Here's the Christian version of LEAVING JESUSLAND.

"Moving into Jesusland" by: Jenny Rosenberg

Well is our heartland a very smart land, IQ's are very low but threat levels are high
Aint got a mandate, don't want no man-dates, we have so many hates and people to despise

In the dust bowl, cerebral black hole, the average weight is well over 200 pounds
I hate to generalize, but have you seen the thighs, most haven't seen gluttony as a sin

Maybe that's why they're so scared of us
We've concerns other than fear and hunger pangs

Queers, transgends, and lesbians, vegans and vegetarians
All you brownish red and yellow ones please join us in Jesus land

No longer svelte, We gotta punch new holes in the Bible belt
Have we blown out the fire under the melting pot,
the red blood of America is starting to clot
No compromise, go see through others' eyes,
don’t be the ones to flush Salvation down the drain
You gotta emigrate, stop living in hate,
what makes this country great is dwelling on either side

Yes we want visitors in Jesusland
Don’t want life canned and bland in the fatherland

We want people with college degrees, drug use experience and STD's
People with open-minded philosophies, come hug any one of these
Cultural revolution now, You can run the devil outta town
We're gonna burn these barriers down,
And then we're off to Religion, Legalism and Bias too, then we're coming after you

The fear stricken, born again Christian, We’ve got a vision a God loving state
Textbook decline, intelligent design
The World thinks we have a list to execrate

Yes, we want visitors in Jesusland
Don’t want life canned and bland in the fatherland

Punk Rockers and emo kids, people doing things the church forbids
Buddhists, agnostics, and atheists we're moving into of jesusland
Art students and thespians, including country, all the musicians
We want all hookers and comedians, nihilists are welcome too

No longer svelte, We gotta punch new holes in the Bible belt.


Peace

Jesusland Part 3

You might be wondering why the subject is named JESUSLAND. That’s the name of a song of a band named NOFX. The first time I heard that song I got shocked, sad and angry with the author. Than I start listening to the song, not as a Christian that is readying blasphemous lyrics, but as a Christian that's taking that as a wake up call. That's how our Post Modern society views us. They don't see the light in us, but our humanly flash.
Anyway. Read these lyrics and reflect. Don't blame the author, but reflect if people see you, your church, and your actions like this.
Pay attention to the fact that the author never blames God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit for anything. His angst is against us, God's people. Don't write me back saying that the reason is because he's lost, possessed, biased or liberal. Think on why he feels so beaten by us.
anyway, here it is:

"Leaving Jesusland"

We call the heartland not very smart land, IQ's are very low but threat levels are high
They got a mandate, they don't want man-dates, they got so many hates and people to despise

In the dust bowl, cerebral black hole, the average weight is well over 200 pounds
I hate to generalize, but have you seen the thighs, most haven't seen their genitalia in a while

Maybe that's why they're so scared of us
We've concerns other than fear and hunger pangs

Queers, transgends, and lesbians, vegans and vegetarians
All you brownish red and yellow ones come and join us on the coast

No longer svelte, they gotta punch new holes in the Bible belt
They've blown out the fire under the melting pot, the red blood of America is starting to clot
No compromise, no sight through others' eyes, they're just flies spreading pieces of shit
You gotta emigrate, stop living in hate, what makes this country great is dwelling on either side

They don't want visitors in Jesusland
They want life canned and bland in the fatherland

We want people with college degrees, drug use experience and STD's
People with open-minded philosophies, come hug California trees
Cultural revolution now, neo-conservatives run outta town
We're gonna burn Orange County down,
And then we're off to Riverside, Bakersfield and Fresno too, then we're coming after you

The fear stricken, born again Christian, they got a vision a homogenized state
Textbook decline, intelligent design
They got Bill Nye on the list to execrate

They don't want visitors in Jesusland
They want life canned and bland in the fatherland

Punk Rockers and emo kids, people doing things the church forbids
Buddhists, agnostics, and atheists we're moving out of jesusland
Art students and thespians, excluding country, all the musicians
We want all hookers and comedians, nihilists are welcome too

No longer svelte, they gotta punch new holes in the Bible belt.



Now reflect about yourself. I pray to God that people don't see me like that.

Jesusland Part 2

I never said that we shouldn't tithe, or that tithing is bad. I never said that. On the contrary, tithing is a vital part of a Christian's life, but is not the most important as many churches want to make it look like. Churches stress so much about tithe not because tithe is the most important thing for a Christian, but because they have bills to pay. Now let's think about some of those bills: recently the Community Bible Church in San Antonio, TX unveiled its new building. Price tag: $25 million dollars. How in the name of Jesus you spend 25 million dollars in a building? There's no reason for that. It’s like a 5 starts church. People dying around the world and we in America spend 25 million dollars in a building. Missionaries get paid nothing while we are building awesome buildings. Where's that in the Bible? Our churches are run like a business. We run everything out of a budget. What’s the problem with a budget? That's putting God inside a box. I was talking to a pastor of a small church these days and he told me something pretty cool. "If someone asks me 1% of my monthly expenses to a mission project, I’ll probably be able to give, even though it will be little. That's because we don't tie everything in a budget. Now if you go to a mega church and ask them for some help they will deny it right away, because their finances are tied in a budget. They leave no room to God."
I myself as an ex-seminary student went through that: I needed $1500 to finish paying one semester without having to get a loan. I decided to send letters to the 10 biggest churches in the city and all of them said the same: "I'm sorry, but I can't help you." Why that? Their budgets are gigantic and they still can't help people, because they are bound to budgets, mega buildings maintenance and air conditioning, etc… Look back to the bible and where is stated that we can't help the poor because of building and budgets?

In the bible people comes first.

We are no different that the secular world with our fancy cars and houses, I-Pods, 50 inches televisions and etc.

I'm not saying that a Christian should be poor, that's not the point. If you have the money to buy it, go ahead. But we, just like non-Christians put material goods in our credit cards. We strive to buys good things.

Have you ever seen someone putting the tithe in the credit card?
Have you ever seen someone sending a donation in the credit card?

Talking about donation: why do people donate to church? Lot of people donates with a pure heart, but most of the big donations are tax breaks to non-profit organizations.

It is time for us to rethink our Christianity. Only 2% of Christians share their faith in this country. We are an army that doesn't follow the advices of the commander. We are new creatures that are totally free from the bound of sin and death; dead to the old nature, but we can't let go. The post mother society is influencing our Christian worldview and this not good.

Be renewed.

Jesusland

Jesusland

For the ones that know me, I'm pretty much frustrated with the way that Christians live their Christianity today. We take it for granted and live like non-Christians. Live like a non-Christian does not mean drink, have sex, smoke weed, rob, cuss. That's not what I mean, when I say that we abuse is because we don't show compassion, we don't show love, we are materialists, we want stuff, we want to fit, we are selfish, we don't study about our God, we go to church on Sunday and on the rest of the week we don't even think about God, we are snobs, we go to church to meet friends instead of hang our with God, but again, we do not even know that we don't need to go to church to talk to God. We can worship God at home, at the can, playing PS2, driving, at school, work and 6 flags. Do we do that? Noooo! We agree with the world that it is not cool to be Christians, we agree with the worked that money and stuff is more important than faith in Jesus, we agree with the world that some people deserve more of our attention than others.

So what do we do? We try our best to live for Christ, but the truth is that we can't, because Christ is the one that can live for us. Every time that we try to live for him we fail, we judge, we gossip, we fall, we are self righteous. We can live and do things through God, and only when we allow Him to possess the inner being of our faith, soul and body, we will shine the light in this dark world.

Am I saying that church is wrong? No, by no means. But I don't agree with 80% of its doctrines. Church morals and church standards are flaw to me, therefore I can care less. Church is man made. The temple of the Holy Spirit is not a building with a mortgage, but every Christian. So why should I follow the church moral and values? I don't know about you, but I don't. I believe that the church is getting farther and farther from God day after day.

Did you know that there are more important things for a Christian to do and learn than tithing? So why churches teach so much about tithing? Because they have to pay they mortgages, salaries, electricity, insurance and all that stuff. I cannot believe that the teaching of giving is more important that the teaching of Grace, and in spite of that, it's hard to hear about the grace of god in church, but we hear about tithing all the time. Would it be that the reason why we don't tithe as much as we should?

Music. All music was invented by God through us. Who gives you inspiration? Who gives you emotions? Even Marylyn Manson, who gave him the talent of songwriting? Some of us use God's given talents against His name, and others cannot praise God with his own talents because stupid people that think different put God inside a box. The church is so full of Pharisees that is hard to distinguish who loves Christ with a pure heart and who is a legalist. Usually, the legalists are the ones with power within a church, because they are safe, they look nice in well groomed suits and ties, they go with the majority and talk nice.

Let's wake up for life with Christ.