Who is this man?

I look at the man
And see something new
Each time I glance
Is it me or is it you?

One day a monster
The next day a leader
He looks like a man
Or he looks like a cheater

I see him daily
Adorned with a smile
Or a glare so fright
Am I crazy or in denial

Who is this man
This monster, this leader
It's the reflection I see
When I look in the mirror

Wake Up Young Lady

You hate your life, you hate yourself
You hate the world, hate that you love someone else

Hate consuming, happiness alluding
Sorrows abound, failure looming

Wake up young lady, life isn't as it seems
Look up young lady, work to accomplish all your dreams
Wake up young lady, don't worry about the others
Look up young lady, you are not just a number

Despising romance, hating passion
Longing heart, bitter past and
Hate your future, coming fast
Forget it all, it never lasts

This world you call hell
It's all you got to live in
Live a story you can tell
Stop the hating, start the living

Wake up young lady, life isn't as it seems
Look up young lady, work to accomplish all your dreams
Wake up young lady, don't worry about the others
Look up young lady, you are not just a number

This depression that you wallow in
Will soon encompass all your thoughts
Maybe it's pride you should be swallowin
Leave the past, it's been forgot

You know there's more than this
The Truth shall set you free
Now quit drowning in your tears
And put away all your fears
There's more to life than this

Why Go to Church?

Since we have arrived back in California, Kathy and I started looking for a church. The search for a place to learn and worship on Sunday mornings has been somewhat frustrating because we haven’t gone to a place and received a “BOOM!” feeling, like this is the place we should be. To add to the confusion, at the same time we started looking for churches, I got into a discussion with a friend about attending church and he rattled off many logical points to explain why he no longer attends church. Perhaps an easier blog topic would have been on the reasons why not to attend church - I can mention many different things, but I’ll echo my friend’s points:

1. The American church is, as a whole, dead and not passionate about Christ (this point can be argued, keep in mind this is coming from someone pessimistic about the American church)
2. Christ says that where two or more people gather, He is there – so why go to a service at a specific church at a specific time just to be offended and/or disappointed by the church leadership?
3. People that attend the church gossip too much, are hypocritical and judge too quickly
4. All churches want is your money! (again, this is coming from a pessimist who has been burned)
   

All are valid points and are not easily argued or proven wrong; but let’s spend some time discussing positive points on church before coming to any conclusions.

1. The benefits of gathering with a diverse group of people that share your beliefs, hold you accountable to your morals and enjoy the same activities you do are too many to mention.
2. Sitting back in your chair and listening to someone give a motivational speech to improve your life is great. Throw in some conviction to change and you have a weekly “shot to the arm” to get you through the week.
3. We are commanded to praise God, so by worshipping on Sunday morning we are obeying and we get to listen to some beautiful music by talented volunteers.
4. Many churches offer services for their members such as counseling for the broken and baptismal services for those that wish to make a public proclamation of their faith.
5. Christ commands us to give Him a portion of our finances; giving to the church you attend regularly could be one way to give back to Him.
   

There are many other good reasons to attend church, but I want to expand my five main points above. There are positives with gathering with a group of people and sharing your heart with them; but there can also be traumatic negatives such as broken trust and betrayed friendships. One thing we must keep in mind when considering whether or not to attend church (and picking a church, which is an entirely different discussion) is if you want to open up to other Christians. Opening up to Christians is different than being transparent to your non-Christian co-workers and friends; because Christians are commanded to keep each other accountable for their actions. If you are vulnerable with your Christian family, you run the risk – no, the promise – of being judged based upon your actions.

My friend knows the Bible much better than I do; his recollection of Scripture astounds me. But there’s something about going to a gathering of those who believe like you and hearing a sermon from someone who has studied the selected topic for an extended period of time. A good preacher will convict you, stretch you, challenge you and get you thinking about your faith. Without a regular test to your beliefs, how can you be solid in your faith or be able to defend the Truth to the skeptics (or even your own inner demons)? Note: Please never just accept a sermon’s theology; make sure you’re getting fed the Truth!

We are commanded to praise God; and part of this praise is through singing to Him. While I enjoy praising Christ during the week through my words and actions, it’s an experience to sing to the Creator with other believers and just worship Him for who He is and for what He’s done for you.

The church is not just there for you on Sunday mornings, many churches offer other services to their members (some do not require membership) like counseling, baptisms, Bible studies, classes on Biblical and extra-Biblical (finances, parenting) topics, addiction recovery programs and other benefits that can prove to be invaluable when you need them.

Lastly, one of the most controversial topics in the Church today is tithing. God commands us to give back a small portion of what we have been given, so by not giving back to Him in some fashion would be considered a sin (according to my interpretation of the Scriptures). Many churches or individual pastors seem to be constantly asking for your money; I understand and echo any unease this gives churchgoers and those that are considering whether or not to attend. I would encourage you to not give to that particular church if you do not feel like your money would be “wasted.” However, many churches do a lot of good things with the money! They need to keep the lights on, pay the staff, support their social programs, supply the classrooms, maintain their equipment, pay the rent, etc. If the regular attendees of the church do not contribute to the church fund, the church will shut down.

I hope this post was encouraging to you.

Pirahnas

I've noticed a disturbing tendency among Christians (myself included) to have a pirahnic effect on our sinning brothers and sisters. The trend goes like this:

1. Christian is told they are doing wrong (assuming this is done in a helpful, constructive manner)
2. Fellow Christians come alongside the "sinner" and remind him of wrongdoing
3. Christians talk among themselves about the "sinner" and the sin (gossip)
4. Process continues until "sinner" feels condemned and leaves the church, extremely hurt and definitely not in the mood to repent

The first step is not wrong; and the second step (reminding your Christian brother or sister) could also be positive if done in the right mindset, and not intended to shame. However, the gossip and constant reminder of the wrong-doing is not only harmful to the "sinner" but is detrimental to the group dynamic.

I'm posting this because I caught myself doing this very thing, and I wanted to throw it out there as a reminder: we have enough problems outside the church, let's not make church (or our church small groups) a burdensome place to be.

Spiritual Gifts and the Church

I’ll preface this post by outlining some conclusions I have come to: supernatural spiritual gifts are real, they are relevant, and they are powerful; any believer today can duplicate Christ’s miracles.
[Note: It is written that every believer should work out their faith for themselves, so don’t take my conclusive statements to be judgmental proclamations or factual points. If you disagree with my theological standpoint, feel free to email me and let me know where we disagree. Any constructive criticism related to my theology would be seen as an act of love for a brother in Christ you believe to be mistaken; and not as a personal attack on me or my beliefs.]

A church I attended regularly recently witnessed the power of the Holy Spirit through supernatural miracles. Before this experience the pastor was regularly preaching about the validity of spiritual gifts and the power we all have as believers. Now that this church has seen the miracles first-hand, the pastor is continuing to preach about the supernatural and our access to them. The reason I wrote this post is to ask this: is there a number of sermons (or another benchmark) by which we should draw a line for teaching about the same aspect of God? I’m concerned that a continued, non-stop focus on the same aspect will not edify the body; and as a result the believers will become stagnant and die!

Lastly, I want to state a disclaimer: I do not believe that the spiritual gifts should not be mentioned or imparted on a weekly basis. I am concerned with the focus of the sermons staying on the same topic; I am not implying or suggesting that we do not draw attention to the power of God on a weekly basis.

My Faith Has Been Rocked

Have you ever had an experience that completely changed the way you look at the world? And I don't mean in the cliche, oh-my-gosh-what-a-trip experience, but an event that makes you realize that your idea of reality is wrong? Well, I had one of those experiences on Saturday night.

Before I moved to Chicago I regularly attended church at Christian Life Assembly (Lancaster Blvd and 30th St East). This last weekend, CLA held a "Firestorm" meeting that was billed as a "healing service". I don't know about the readers of this blog, but I was more than skeptical - I was downright cynical that anything would happen. I didn't attend this meeting to be healed or delivered or anything positive, but to cast a skeptical eye upon these guests. The service was nothing extraordinary, and I didn't really find any holes in their theology or their explanations of miracles and the possibility of miracles happening today. I believe that God can still work through people if he wishes, but I hadn't seen it and I know some really "religious" (for lack of a better term) people, fellow believers that I look up to for wisdom had never had this happen to them.

At the end of the sermon, the main speaker and his team of about ten students stood up and gave an open invitation for anyone to come to the front to get prayed over. So, me and Kathy walked up to the front. I can't explain why I felt the urge to get prayer, but I definitely felt like I should go up there. I reasoned, "What's the worst that can happen?" One of the students came up to Kathy and explained she would like to get healed. Kathy explained to her how her neck's been in constant pain for years, her back's misaligned, her hip has been really bothering her, she had tendonitis in her knee and her right achilles tendon has been very painful as of late. So the woman prayed for her and asked Kathy, "Do you feel anything?"

Kathy moved her neck from side-to-side, bent her knees, moved her ankle in a circle and replied, "No, I don't feel anything. That's the weird thing. I was in pain two seconds ago!" I looked at Kathy with an are-you-nuts look...I thought she was pulling my leg here. She looked up at me and couldn't contain her excitement. "Alex! Oh my gosh, I have no pain! This is great!" Ever the unbeliever, I was happy but not quite yet to throw my towel in the ring. I asked her throughout the night, "Do you have any pain now?" "No! This is so awesome!"

Not to repeat myself, but I always believed God could work miracles and heal people as He wished. But it was never going to happen to me, or through me. I was wrong. It happened to my wife; and I'm a believer.

Come to Christian Life Assembly one Sunday and see what all the fuss is about.

Life in California

Man, is it great to be back in sunny California! I have a good job out here (I'm not sure yet how good of a job it is, we'll see as time goes by), my business is doing good and I'm hopping back in the political game. Me and Kathy have a *great* apartment in Lancaster, we absolutely love it. Kathy did an awesome job decorating the place (of course), pictures will be up soon.

Our marriage is different now. In Illinois, I relied on Kathy for support; out here the roles have reversed because of our friends situation. It's not bad, it's just different - arguably healthier. Married life is great and I love it; but man is it hard work! I can't imagine what Kathy goes through living with me! :P

Me and Kath are looking for a church out here, we really want to find a small, stable church where we can feel close to a lot of people (and not just a number) and be fed on a regular basis. I have a great community with a lot of the people at Christian Life Assembly, but I'm not sure that's where God wants us to worship right now. We're looking at a few places right now, we'll be attending Quartz Hill Community this weekend, if you're interested I'll let you know what I think of it after we go.

I am so, so happy to be back and be able to hang out with all my friends! I missed so many people, I need to work to get those friendships back to being solid again. Distance and time do a lot to erode friendships, it'll take some work to get them all back. Marriage also plays a big role in friendships, I just don't have as much free time anymore!

So that's my brief update, more blogs on my deep (?) thoughts soon.