Category Archives: Christianity in the real

So glad I don’t have to be a genius

Posted by on October 21, 2011 No comments

Read an interesting post (warning, rough language) about Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com. Bezos set the tech and consumer world on fire about a month ago when he announced the full line of Kindles Amazon was going to be releasing. Specifically, the Kindle Fire astounded everyone, not only in what the product was but the very low price-point they were setting it at. In many posts I read about his presentation many were raving that Bezos was the “new Steve Jobs.”

Gizmodo’s article (linked above) explores how Bezos seems to be freakishly smart. The writer almost sounds in awe of him.

As a younger man, I’m pretty sure my first reaction to reading such an article would have been, “Hey, I can be that smart! I can be that visionary!” My reaction today, though, was a much more relieved, “Thank God he is that smart – I definitely wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.” Why, you might ask?

I don’t need to be the smartest. In fact, getting a few more years under my belt has helped me understand that, really, I’m not the smartest guy. I’m smarter than many, more clever than others, but there are plenty of guys out there that can put me to shame. So what’s my problem, did I lose my ambition? Did I lose my drive to be the best?

No, I had a realization of a different sorts. The reality of it had been working through my soul for about five years now, but it wasn’t until the last year that I started picking up on it in my conscious mind. The realization? Simply this: God isn’t using me for my smarts or my genius, he’s using me and working in and through me because of my surrender to him.

I was reading my kids a story from “The Jesus Storybook Bible” tonight and I love this line in it:

Because the people God uses don’t have to know a lot of things, or have a lot of things – they just have to need him a lot. (p. 210)

And that’s where I am now. It’s taken me almost thirty years to even begin to grasp how much I need God. How much I need Christ. Therein lies my success as a man. And therein lies the seed of greatness. Not a greatness that will get me written up in an article that thousands/millions will read. Greatness that will win me esteem from a single One. I’m striving for seven words that will have no purpose if a man utters them, but will affirm my entire purpose if they are said by God, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

If I can allow my need for Christ to permeate all that I am, then whatever I do, wherever God calls me, I will be able to live the Gospel and my life will be on that points to God and fails to draw attention to myself.

A skit to Lifehouse’s “Everything”…aaahhh, I remember when…

Posted by on August 6, 2009 1 comment

A friend at work recommended I check out this video. When I searched for it, I found a ton of “imitations” – well, not imitations, exactly, but more of videos inspired by (churches doing their own versions of it). It’s not too bad, actually. Check it out, and I’ll give you my thoughts on it below the video:

First response: wow, quite powerful. But I know I’ve seen the same type of skit performed in years past to another song. How could that be? Well, the skit really has nothing to do with the song. Really. Check out the lyrics. The lyrics seem overtly Christian, though they could be sung to a lover… I don’t really know anything about the group Lifehouse, but I think there may have been rumors that their music had Christian themes. Interestingly enough, the song (if taken as a “Christian” song) is one sung by man, directed to God. The skit actually portrays the emphasis to be Christ singing it to man. Interesting, huh?

So why does it work so well? First off, the skit dramatically explores a deep theological truth, that God created us for himself, and all our wandering away from him causes him pain, and he is doing all he can, to even the sacrificing of his son, to get us back to himself. That truth speaks to the heart of man, because every man (woman) wants to be loved, wants to have a place, wants to have meaning. This skit highlights that truth. And the skit is also very wisely choreographed to seize the energy and passion when the music of the song shifts gears. The lights and background video emphasized that even more. Basically the who presentation is engineered for an emotional reaction.

Do I have a problem with them doing so? Not really, but I a mildly irritated at the fact that they have taken a song so focused on how Christ/God is everything and turned it to mean man is everything (or I am everything, I am important) – note the shift, a focus from God to a focus on man. But, then again, to attempt to portray the actual meaning of the song would be much more difficult to dramatize.

All in all – great skit, excellent acting and special effects. Good times. So did they teach on the atonement or Christ as the propitiation for our sin afterwards?

Great message on suffering

Posted by on March 22, 2009 No comments

Sorry I haven’t been blogging much lately. As usually happens I’ve gotten rather swamped with schoolwork (gonna be staying up late to finish a paper tonight – yay…). But I thought I’d share a rather solid sermon on suffering I came across. It’s by Dr. David Platt when he came and spoke at our chapel here at Southeastern. I downloaded the mpeg video from the SEBTS site, and this should be a direct link to the message on there.

If that doesn’t work, you can watch it using this link (or just right-click and save the mp4 file to your computer).

I wanted to share this because Dr. Platt just gives an incredible perspective on suffering, expositing from Job 42, but also drawing from many other passages. Definitely check this out for some very solid soul food.

Modern day persecution?

Posted by on October 11, 2008 No comments

So I open up Firefox and on my Google homepage a CNN headline catches my eye: “Christians flee Iraqi City Rather Than Convert”. Instantly my interest was piqued. Clicked the link. The headline on the page it opened read, “Christians flee Iraqi city after killings, threats, officials say.” A little discrepancy? I think so. Read the article for yourself.

The article only speaks of the persecution, not of the Christian’s motivations for fleeing. There is nothing derogatory in the article about Christians. Only on that one headline/link I saw on the CNN headline thingy I have on my Google home page. So who comprises who’s journalistic integrity? A simple, fact-oriented article becomes tainted with a slanderous title and paints your entire perspective of the information presented. A perspective, mind you, which is not evidenced at all in the writing of the author of the article.

Is there a Biblical prerogative for the Christians to stay? For them to flee? I think both courses of action could be supported scripturally, both fleeing to keep one’s family safe, or staying at the risk of one’s life to share the Gospel. It seems to me, in that situation, a Christian should seek the Lord as to what should be done. In this case, I definitely would not be the one to cast the first stone…