FROM MINISTRY TO JOKE, IN A MATTER OF SECONDS

FROM MINISTRY TO JOKE, IN A MATTER OF SECONDS


Once I was part of a ministry on the bible belt. It was awesome and very Christ-centered. It was a blessing for my family and I. We ministered, worshiped, laughed, cried, had fun, obstacles, victories and loved, oh we loved. It was an awesome environment.

Somehow everything that is great in God’s eyes makes Satan mad, and Satan started infiltrating that ministry. From the night to the day all ministry, worship, laugh, cries, fun, obstacles, victories and love disappeared. It become just a job, and a very bad job. Fights, gossips, back stabbing, aggression, rudeness was the new reality of the ministry. It was very hard to see God in any action taken by the upper level. Lies, pride and arrogance instead of truth, humility and humbleness.

The saddest thing is that this new reality was hidden behind the name of God.

But I fear no evil, because that ministry belongs to god, not to the hypocrites that are running it. At His place and time, God will deliver that ministry from those who are trying to destroy it, it will be swift. I pray to Good to have mercy on the staff, because they are not bad people, but prideful humans.

My prayer goes to the ones that are ministered by that hoard, that God will touch them in the midst of all that, because it’s not their fault. My prayer goes to every ministry that tries to run like a business, not caring about the feelings of others, just the results; please God, sow them the truth. I pray for my replacements, that they will not be treated like crap just like I was; I pray that they will be treated with dignity.

Christian Hypocrisy

Here are the 3 biggest Christian hypocrisies:

1. Not drinking alcohol. That one is stupid, because it was not grape juice, and if you think it was, you should read the bible without stupid, man made, legalistic biases. Jesus first miracle? WINE. "i don't drink b/c i am a Christian is probably the most stupid statement out there." Pure ignorance.

2. I am a conservative Christian- that is the must of the BS. since when Jesus Christ was a conservative? or Paul? Jesus Christ hung out through Samaria (conservative Jews were not supposed to go there) and stood up on a well by himself with a hooker (can you imagine if one of those stupid conservative Christians would pass through that scene, what would they say?) more than half of the city was saved because Jesus Christ was not a conservative hypocrite American Christian. George Bush is a conservative and self called "Christian", plus a liar and a murderer. Plus he took our country down the drain.

3. We have to live a Christian moral life. - that one is dumb too. If you are a Christian, you already live a Christian life. Morality is not something that comes through conservatism, legalism and Christian hypocrisy. Morality will truly come when the Christian understands the freedom that he/she has under Christ and stop saying that this is good and that's bad.
Who cares if Oprah made a devil church? who cares if a gay guy wants to marry another gay guy? who cares if i like drinking a beer? who cares if the muslins want to control the world? Worry about your understanding of Freedom in Christ, and you'll see that those things will never more bother you, because it's beyond your reach.

I'll finish with these other 3 little points:

1-THE WHOLE WORLD IS LOST, DYING AND GOING TO HELL!!!!!!!

2-YOU DON'T GIVE A FUCK!!!!!

3-YOU ARE SO WORRIED ABOUT THE "F" BOMB THAT I DROPPED ON POINT NUMBER 2, TO EVEN CARE ABOUT POINT NUMBER ONE, WHICH IS "THE WHOLE WORLD IS LOST, DYING AND GOING TO HELL!!!!

CONCLUSION: WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS?


If you got very offended with all this that I wrote, you are really one of those Christian hypocrites that don't drink alcohol for the sake of the gospel; you are one of those conservative Christians that blindly support George "devil" Bush, you try to live a moral Christian life through legalism, and you don't give a FUCK about the fact that the whole world is lost, dying and going to hell.

The Crown

Love is the deepest emotion that a man can feel
Comes from the utter of the soul
And can turn the heart ill.

Love is a destroyer of pride
It makes a man kneel down
Turns the lover into a tide
It’s a vision from the crown

Love can be God’s unfailing gift. (PS. 32:10)
The truth that never thrift
Jesus’ hands giving ye a lift.

God, Father, Holy and Son
For you, for me, for every one.

THE WAY YOU LOOK AT ME

Seating at my computer, listening to “The Ataris”, a big realization popped into my mind.
I’ll never be able to make you look at me the way that I really want you to look at me. There’s just nothing that I can do.
I can be your best worker, employer, manager, coworker,
son, dad, husband, brother, uncle, cousin;
pastor, teacher, patient, preacher;
doctor or lawyer:
hero, neighbor, friend,
firefighter or police;
It doesn’t matter who I am, how much money I don’t have; tall or short, skinny or fat, black or white, pretty or ugly, preppy or punk, smart or dumb;
It’s not about being a Christian, mature or immature; teacher or listener; shepherd or sheep;
We’re all one in Christ, sons of the same Father; we read the same Bible, sing the same old songs, believe that same old things;
But we are all different, created on His likeness, but different.
We were raised by different parents, which came from different backgrounds, cultures, and time periods.
We come from different cities, states, countries, continents, and maybe even planets, who knows?
We come from different schools of thoughts: Calvinists, Lutherans, Marxists, and even Lucadists;
We come from different socio-economical earthly families. Rich, poor, white, non-white, half-white, anti-white, black, Jack Black;
Our churches are Baptist, Anabaptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Lutherans, Churches of Christ, and Mennonites;
They play old songs, new songs, no songs, praise and worship, hymns, punk rock or just the choir;
They believe that the truth will set them free, but are bounded in a bunch of untruths, or they believe that the same truth that can set them free bound them to righteousness.

It doesn’t matter; you will never look at me the way that I really want you to look at me.

Vessel

Vessel.
It can be a ship, a large boat or similar craft; a hollow container, as a bowl, pitcher, jar, or tank; receptacle. A duct; a narrow tube for containing or circulating a bodily fluid. Abroad, it can be chong cho, vasija, vaso, vaisseau, or οστρακινοζ (ostrakinos).
In literature a vessel can be someone talking about a journey through life.
Philosophically, vessel would be, “How come?”, “What if?”, “Isn’t it?”
For an Italian, vessel might be the same as nothing, but if you say “recipiente”, “vascello” or “nave”, it might make sense.
Vases de terre!
For a flower, a vessel is its house, and for the staples, the stapler.
It can be Abel’s offering, Noah’s arc, Lot not looking back, Joseph’s dreams, fall and raise; Moses slowness of speech, Gideon Bibles, Ruth’s loyalty, Samuel being awaken during the night, Daniel’s sling, Solomon’s wisdom, Esther’s favor with the king, Job’s worship when things were tough, soar like an eagle, a potter’s masterpiece, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the furnace; Mary, Joseph, and the Wise Men; paralytics, blinds, the Samaritan, Peter’s denial, Judas betrayal, Thomas’ disbelief, Paul’s blindness, incarcerations, and letters; John’s visions, Christ, Cross, tomb, resurrection; The Comforter.
Vases de terre!
A person considered as a receptacle or agent of a particular quality.
Our eyes, hearts, souls, will, desire, hands, feet, mind, abilities, thoughts, fears, frustrations, praises, worship, excellence, past, present, future, words, honor, thankfulness, and body.
Abilities to write, read, cook, sew, study, teach, study, preach, drive, joke, work, talk, walk, draw, and play.
Plane, cars, bikes, boats, roads, Tv, radio, phones, paper, computers, books, plus pen and ink.
A vessel is a vessel when awake, or lying down, at the school, at work, or at the Spurs game; with friends, family, or strangers; tired or rested, healthy or unhealthy, happy or sad, dead or alive, Sunday till Sunday, January till January, from mid-night till mid-night.
Vases de terre!
Earthen vessels!
“Vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work”.

Holy Discontent

“The person who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The person who walks alone is likely to discover places no one has ever been before.
Creativity in living is not without its attendant difficulties. For peculiarity breeds contempt. And the unfortunate things about being ahead of your time is that when people finally realize you were right, they’ll say it was obvious all along.
You have two choices in life: You can dissolve into the mainstream, or you can be distinct. To be distinct, you must be different. To be different, you must be what no one else but you can be.”

As I was at a church planting meeting one of these days, I heard a testimony of someone that has problems with some stuff that happens with the church. That really caught my attention, because I have been a big critic of the mainstream religion nowadays.

Lately I have been wondering why I am so critical about the church. My wife also has been questioning this more and more, and I cannot explain it to her. It is hard for me to explain it to anyone, because it is hard for me to understand what the problem is.

During these past 3 weeks I have even questioned my Christianity. The deal is this: I don’t like to see the wrong in the church and the body of Christ all the time; it is time consuming, and not very well appreciated. I feel like an outcast sometimes, and trust me, that is not a very good feeling. I have prayed many times asking God to allow me to conform to the patterns of what our Christianity became. I would like to be able to just go to any kind of church and appreciate it like most people seems to. I’ve asked God many times to make me blind to all the wrong and mistakes that the church does. The interesting thing is that He is not blinding me or allowing me to conform, but I am becoming more and more edgy. So, I came with 2 options: all this is either a God given thing, or I am not a Christian and am just trying to create dissent in the body of Christ. The problem with this is that I believe with all my heart that I am a Christian.

So if I rule out that I am not a real Christian that means that God is allowing me to go through this. Talking to a friend of mine, he told me that I do not babble against the church with disdain, but every time that I say something, he sees and feel my love towards the church. He told me that I am going through something called HOLLY DISCONTENT. I laughed out loud when I heard that, but the more I thought, the more I realized that he was right. I am discontent with what I see, and God is allowing me to see all this.

This HOLLY DISCONTENT is like a curse though, because it makes me feel like a Mac computer: Mac Internet browser, the Safari, is not compatible with a lot of web applications. You can’t find Mac software and components anywhere you go. Very few people understand how to run a Mac, so when you have questions, the answers are very limited.

But I promise that for now on I will be content with my HOLLY DISCONTENT. I don’t know where this will take me, and pray for God to lead me. I believe that God has something stored for me; otherwise He would not allow me to go through this.
What and why is my HOLLY DISCONTENT? The church is not effective. The conventions (SBC, BGCT, CBF and others) are not effective. My fellow Christians are not effective. The messages preached from the pulpit are not effective. Our discipleship is not effective. Our church programs are not effective. Our Christian events are not effective. Our tithe is going to non-effective ministries. Our leaders are not effective.

We are failing in all aspects.
Let’s use evangelism as an example: when was the last time that you shared Jesus with someone? When was the last time that you lead someone to Christ? When was the last time that you sacrificed some leisure time to go visit and tend to the poor? When was the last time that you passed a track to the supermarket clerk? When was the last time that you visited all the neighbors of your street, and gave them some cookies or something like that?

What is the point of spending enormous amounts of time in bible studies, leadership meetings and ministerial positions if none of the above was part of your life on the past week, month or year?

Many pastors, board members, elders, conventions directors and staff are on the same boat. They only minister inside their box, and sometimes even use the excuse that each one of us have a gift, and “his gift is to be behind the desk making the plans or coordinating.”

My boss told me these days that I have the gift of evangelism, because I lead 80% of the girls of our ministry to Christ. I told her that I don’t have the gift of evangelism. I really don’t. What I have is the burden for the unsaved, for the lost, and I somehow understand that I must share the gospel; I must talk to others about Christ. Am I scared of the ridicule? You bet! Am I scared of being ostracized? You bet! Do I feel bad to have a door shut on my face? Yes, I do! But I have to share about Christ. Christ is the only way, and if we Christians don’t share, who will?

Only 2% of Christians share their faith. Are you one of them?

Read this article: http://www.afajournal.org/2005/march/3.05cameron.asp

That was only evangelism; there are many other failing that we Christians are doing. To fail is not the problem; the problem is the blindness that we are on the right path, when we are not.

I spent 5 years on a Bible College. I experienced grace over there, but I was never taught in deep the significance of grace in a person’s life. Seminaries and bible colleges continue with that old and defeated theory that “we are sinners saved by grace”, or that we have a “sinner nature”. How can I have a sinner nature if I have the nature of Christ and the Holy One lives in me? How can I be a sinner and a saint at the same time? I am not a sinner, I am a saint. Why is this so hard to hear, and even sound a sacrilege? Because we have been mistaught for decades, our theology is poorly divided into sacred and mundane, and we are scared of talking about the freedom, the total freedom that a Christian have in Christ. Instead of teaching victory in our churches, we are teaching defeat.

I am sick and tired of seeing new born Christians being taught a theology of defeat. I am sick and tired of seeing our leaders fighting over doctrines, when both of them practice a defeated theology. I am sick and tired of the divisions in the body of Christ; not just the conventions divisions, but the racial divisions, the denominations divisions and the economic divisions. First Hispanic Church, First African American Church, First Brazilian Church, First Korean Church, and others are separatists, segregationists’ churches. The body of Christ is not united. BGCT members don’t like to even hang out with SBC members.

I will not conform to the patterns of this world. My mission in earth is way bigger than this circus that is happening right now.

And then I keep receiving blogs, journals and other Christian infomercials about how this or that ministry is achieving well their goals.

"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as Skubala ! - so that I may have Christ"

S.H.I.T.

You need to be warned that this post contains a bad word. But it does so only because the Bible itself contains a bad word. You probably don't know it either, because you've been protected from knowing it.

ἀλλὰ μενοῦνγε καὶ ἡγοῦμαι πάντα ζημίαν εἶναι διὰ τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς γνώσεως Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ κυρίου μου δι' ὃν τὰ πάντα ἐζημιώθην καὶ ἡγοῦμαι σκύβαλα ἵνα Χριστὸν κερδήσω



The word you want to keep your eye on is "σκύβαλα"--pronounced "skubala." Here's a literal translation of the verse.



"But indeed I also consider everything to be loss on account of the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of whom I forfeited all things; and I consider them shit so that I may gain Christ..." (Philippians 3:8)



Yes, you heard me right. Skubala means shit. Not only does it literally mean shit--i.e., human excrement--but it also has the same connotation. It is a vulgar word. Paul would not have said it in mixed company unless he expected a reaction.

It's difficult to find Christian sources that discuss skubala, but its use in ancient writings outside of the Bible makes clear that it was considered very impolite. The leading modern Greek lexicon--BDAG, it's called--glosses skubala as "refuse," "garbage," "human excrement," "crud," and "crap"--very strong words for this Christian scholarly book.

So the original text of the sacred Scripture contains a so called "dirty word". I don't know about you, but I felt a profound sense of relief when I discovered this.

English translations don't like this word. They take the edge off it.

King James: ...Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ...

New American Standard: "...Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ..."

New English Translation: "...Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things– indeed, I regard them as dung! – that I may gain Christ... (I suppose the exclamation point is there to make it a bit "edgier.")

Revised Standard: "...Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ..."



It's interesting that all these translations "soften up" the original vulgarity. What does that say about the people who make and buy Bibles? What does it mean when the Bible is more profane than we are?

Why Do We Sanitize the Bible?

I'm betting there are two sorts of people reading this post. One sort of person will be asking, "Why have the translators been sanitizing the Bible? If Paul said it, surely it's not our business to change it." The other sort of person will ask, "Why are you writing about this? Why air this dirty laundry? How is this discussion helpful to Christianity?"

Interestingly, the answer to both these questions lies in Philippians 3 itself. Paul uses this naughty word for a reason. Look at what Paul is saying here (Phil 3:4b-9, NET translation).



"If someone thinks he has good reasons to put confidence in human credentials, I have more: I was circumcised on the eighth day, from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. I lived according to the law as a Pharisee. In my zeal for God I persecuted the church. According to the righteousness stipulated in the law I was blameless. But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things– indeed, I regard them as dung! (shit) – that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ's faithfulness–a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ's faithfulness."



So what's the connection between the fact that Paul uses a dirty word and the fact we purge it from our translations? The connection is legalism.

How Good is Good Enough?

Legalism is the pretense that some human beings are nice and others are naughty: that there is a standard of "normal" behavior that defines what sort of person is "decent" and what sort is a scumbag. The Philippians were starting to buy into this idea, and Paul wrote to them to wake them up. He says, in effect, "Don't bother trying to be 'decent': I've already tried it. I was as 'normal' and 'decent' as you can get and I was still a scumbag. If you want to be righteous, it's going to take a whole lot more than politeness and normalcy. It's going to take a divine intervention." And to make sure they get the point, as well as to illustrate his contempt for human standards of normalcy, Paul drops the s-bomb.

In his discussion of legalism, Paul is saying what Jesus himself said again and again. Here are some of the ways Jesus said it.

"Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23:27-28)

"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28)

"On that day, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!'" (Matthew 7:22-23)



Interestingly, in the Old Testament, Isaiah uses another "vulgar" image when talking about this same topic:



"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight." (Isaiah 64:6)



In other words, what human beings perceive as upstanding behavior, God perceives as a soiled tampon. Thanks for that image, Isaiah.

Insiders and Outsiders

We only let G-rated people into our churches. In church, a person who smokes, or cusses, or reeks of liquor, or dresses seductively is viewed as suspect, inferior, abnormal, an outsider. You're only allowed into the church body/family/club/clique if your shirts are starched and your smile is white and your speech is inoffensive.

It wasn't always this way. Jesus himself hung out with "sinners"--including tax collectors, drunks, and prostitutes--to such a great degree that the decent "church people" of his day accused him of being a debauched party animal (Luke 7:34). The early church was a motley crew, not the clean middle-class stereotype of modern evangelical churches.

What changed? One of the things that changed is the reason why we go to church. Now we go to "connect with people like ourselves," to "form community," to "fellowship" and receive "support." We go so that our children will be in a loving, safe setting where they can learn about God and family values. Well, these are noble goals, but what do they have to do with Jesus hanging on a bloody cross? Did Jesus hang on a bloody cross to provide us with a clean, safe, child-friendly mall-like clubhouse where we can hold banal conversations with like-minded family-values-oriented people? Or did he hang on a bloody cross to utterly transform our shitty lives? And if it is the latter, who do you think "gets" Jesus more: the clean, polite middle-class people or the dirty, vulgar funky-class people? He said: "Those who are healthy don't need a physician, but those who are sick do. Go and learn what this saying means: 'I want mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:12)



So the Bible says "shit" and "soiled tampon" because that's what the Bible thinks of how good we are. But our translation says "dung" and "filthy rags" because Christians are still trying to whitewash the truth.

Invested in Sin

Well, how's this strategy working out for us? We evangelicals are faring pretty well, right? I mean, maybe we don't uphold God's crazy-high standard of moral behavior, but we sure do a lot better than the normal human standard, right?

Oh sure. That's why our divorce rate is no better than the national average. That's why 50% of all Christian men admit to being addicted to pornography--admit to being addicted. Twenty percent of Christian women do too.

And that's why Ted Haggard's recent confession does not surprise me in the. Evangelicalism has become a religion of appearances. We've created a subculture of politeness and "good morals" instead of humble worship and radical obedience to God. We churn money and votes through our glistening mega churches, but have lost touch with our own deep brokenness. Our talk is all about "conversion" (i.e. selling club memberships) rather than the discipleship (transformation and obedience) that Jesus offers and commands. Why should I be surprised when the king of the religion of appearances turns out to be not as he appears?

There's an interesting article on the National Association of Evangelicals' response to the Ted Haggard scandal. In it, Rev. Leith Anderson, a megachurch pastor who is temporarily replacing Haggard as NAE director, says, "(Most people) will understand that if there are 45,000 churches (affiliated with NAE), that 44,999 of them have leaders that did not misbehave and that one person misbehaved and that that is an anomaly."

So "misbehavior" is an anomaly? See, that's funny, 'cause I thought the Bible said everyone misbehaves; something like: "There is no one who does good, not even one." Is "misbehavior" different from "sin," in Rev. Anderson's view? Is he suggesting that misbehavior is gross, whereas sin is mild and excusable? Or is he saying that "misbehavior" is when sin becomes embarrassingly public, whereas mere "sin" is kept pleasantly private?

It's too bad that a religion that names itself after Christ, that purports to offer his Good News to the world, still wants to deny the very reason he went to the cross. People are broken. Not some people: all people. So which is worse: to be broken in a way everyone can see, or to be broken in a way that you can keep secret--even from yourself? Think about it. To understand the answer to that question is to begin to understand the Sermon the Mount. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." "Blessed are those who weep and mourn." "I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it." "I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." The Bible doesn't offer "decency" as an option. Either you're mired in sin, or you are justified. The Bible neither denies sin nor revels in it. It tells the truth about our grotesque brokenness, and then offers a supernatural solution. Isn't that the gospel we are so eager to spread? Then why are we still running from it?

Jesus ' story of the two worshipers sums it all up (Luke 18:10-14).

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: extortionists, unrighteous people, adulterers–or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.' The tax collector, however, stood far off and would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!' I tell you that this man went down to his home justified rather than the Pharisee."



Proverbs 25:11 says "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." God is not one to make mistakes in choosing and using words. He inspired Paul to use a certain word, which in fact was and is an expletive.

So then, let's stop with the hypocrisy of our Christian tradition and read the verse translated right.



"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as shit! - so that I may have Christ"


Due to the fact that there are several translations of the bible, we can also translate that verse like this:



"Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as bullshit ! - so that I may have Christ"

Leadership?

We need to say no to the Christian hypocrisy in our politics. How can we support a hard head (I haven't done anything right and lied a lot on your face but I am a Christian, I am against abortion and gay marriages) president? Is there a degree of sin? Is infidelity any worse than lying? The answer is no! Why do we accept a president that lies to our faces but declares he's a Christian? Bill Clinton was also a self declared Christian and the Christian society wanted to impeach him because of fornication; is it because we are a bunch of hypocrites, that support parties instead of people?

This for me is the turning point in all the Christian movement: we are more lost that the non-Christians; we don't share the gospel, we don't witness neither by words nor by acts, and we are as blind as a Satanist.

What do we worry about? Leadership, power, big churches, good salaries, the American mortgage and prosperity dream and all the rest?

We even have Christian celebrities like Rick Warren (UnPurposed Driven Life), T.D. Jakes, Bill Hybels and others... These are not leaders, but marketers; leader is a man that put others first above all, with no personal gain. I am not saying that we should not have cars, houses and jobs, but in a so-called Christian nation where one of the main topics is Leadership, and only 2% share the gospel once a month, someone has to raise a red banner with the words: "CAN'T YOU SEE IT IS NOT WORKING?"

Just a thought.

to be a PUNK or not to be a PUNK

Shakespeare was the first person to use the term “punk”. In his words it was used to describe beggars, prostitutes, thieves and others. During the 70’s, a journalist begun to use the word “punk” to describe a urban movement. Today “punk” can be a marginal, underground, rebel…

Punk has to do with attitude, not just a tribe. Many people don’t have a Mohawk, don’t listen to punk rock, and don’t skate, but still have the punk attitude of not conforming to the patterns of this world.

There’s also the MTV generation punk with their colored hairs, chains all over the body, and junky clothes. They just think about having a good time, drinking, doing drugs and fighting. Some have that big anarchic “A” on their chest, but have no clue who was Bacunim or what is self government. They stay on the Shakespeare term of being “punk”.

John the Baptist told Herod that his wife was not his, and we know what happened to him.

Nathan was scared of King David when he called him an adulterer and a murder.

Martin Luther King wasn’t scared of being shot, and he was shot.

They all knew what they had to do or say and they did it. Our Christian theory is pitiful; our faith seems dead. Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Buddhists, and Muslims know more and proclaim more about their faith than us Christians.

Our God is a God of minorities. I’m not talking about Liberation Theology, but minorities of Christians. Few people really leave their lives behind and dive into a deep devotion and commitment to God. These are people of attitude and they usually end up being marginal, undergrounds and rejects.

God uses the courageous, and they are the minority.

Let’s think about Gideon; he called 32,000 men to a war. 22,000 of those got scared and ran away. 9,700 ran away with the excuse of not being prepared. 300 went to war. Gideon went to war with the 300 courageous men remained and they change the reality of a nation.

Fearful people or chicken: It’s easy to be part of a majority. It feels safer and correct. Carry the tradition. That’s a good alibi, to be anonymous in the multitude.

Unprepared people: that’s also a large group. Those are the ones that question everything that has to be done. “If there’s a chance that this project will fail, let’s not even try.” Predictable people.

Courageous: men of faith that believe on the impossible. Don’t question the power of truth and don’t conform to the injustices of this world.

Very few people; to some a gang.

Truly an army.

Punk is attitude.

To be a Christian is to have attitude. A Christian without attitude is just an adornment.

Conferences, bible studies, mission/vacation trips, more bible studies, church duties, Wednesday services, more bible studies…. All easy and under control. What happens when we have to get out of our comfort zone, nock on doors, evangelize, look like fool because of our beliefs; compromise?

Christianity has a broad field of attitudes: charities, visits, prayer, listen, care, seek, plan, community work, neighborhood, donate, hospitals, jails, asylums, children and on and on…

Sad is that most of these activities are done by the minority while the majority is on conferences, bible studies, mission/vacation trips, more bible studies, church duties, Wednesday services, more bible studies….

The minority just like punk rockers are discriminated and at some points cast aside. Do I care? Of course I do. The last verses of the second chapter of the book of Acts give us a glimpse of what Christian unity is like. I’m not going to post the verses to you, b/c I want you to get up and go look for it.

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.