At times in my life, I can be a pretty cynical human being.
I think I've seen, heard, and done enough things to make any good Christian boy question the motives of most people.
About a year and a half ago I took my jr. high youth group to a three day conference at Anderson University called Believe.
They had a featured artist. His name was Robert Pierre. He was fourteen years old.
The kid could definitely sing, but I was more embarrassed than I was impressed by him. Over the course of the next three days the event staff deemed Robert's talent decent enough to force feed us his songs, commercials, and music videos.
Reason #47 why I have such a disdain for the Christian subculture: Robert Pierre's music video...
Someone please put this kid in little league and get him a girlfriend.
Jar
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Guilt vs. Freedom
I read this article today on relevantmagazine.com.
It's funny that this topic has been popping up in a lot of what I read lately, because it's one that I've been contemplating in my own life the last few months. Then again, maybe I'm just drawn to the idea itself.
Either way, some things that stick out to me:
I agree with this statement in the sense that many of us DO do these things out of a sense of guilt, but where I may want to stress understanding is that we can not let this thinking divert us from holy living as well.
There have been many times in my own life when knowledge, or what I perceive to be the truth, has afforded me the opportunity to exercise my sinful nature, just because I was telling myself I shouldn't do the opposite out of guilt. Sometimes guilt can be a good thing, at least in the sense that it motivates us to no longer continue in what is making us guilt ridden.
Too often though, we can allow our guilt to stiffen our actions; whereupon it becomes this apathetic, dry religion that we claim, instead of the passion filled, adventurous faith we can live.
To sum this post up, I can think of no better way than to leave you with the author's final paragraph:
Jar
It's funny that this topic has been popping up in a lot of what I read lately, because it's one that I've been contemplating in my own life the last few months. Then again, maybe I'm just drawn to the idea itself.
Either way, some things that stick out to me:
"We [Christians] feel guilty if we stay out too late on Saturday and sleep through church on Sunday morning. We feel guilty if the physical components of our relationships with our girlfriends or boyfriends 'go too far.' We feel guilty if we don’t give money to the Church or spend the right amount of time in prayer. Unfortunately, many believers are driven to do these things—pray, tithe, attend church, remain sexually pure—by a rabid sense of duty."
I agree with this statement in the sense that many of us DO do these things out of a sense of guilt, but where I may want to stress understanding is that we can not let this thinking divert us from holy living as well.
There have been many times in my own life when knowledge, or what I perceive to be the truth, has afforded me the opportunity to exercise my sinful nature, just because I was telling myself I shouldn't do the opposite out of guilt. Sometimes guilt can be a good thing, at least in the sense that it motivates us to no longer continue in what is making us guilt ridden.
Too often though, we can allow our guilt to stiffen our actions; whereupon it becomes this apathetic, dry religion that we claim, instead of the passion filled, adventurous faith we can live.
To sum this post up, I can think of no better way than to leave you with the author's final paragraph:
"It seems a passionless faith may be one reason so many find our faith unattractive and disingenuous. We must revive the great idea of our great God. We must rediscover the great commission and great commandment. We must pursue a passion-driven Christianity. If our faith is to become a transformative, redemptive power within the culture, we need to flee guilt-driven, duty-centered puppetry and call down a passion for the great idea of the Gospel."
Jar
Saturday, August 2, 2008
First Edition of Push Ups Different From All Other Editions...
Having pretty much taken the whole summer off from posting, I've decided it's high time to get things going here at PUSH, and to kick us off, we're going to hit the ground running with a new feature.
At the end of each week, I'll post the top links that Tyler and I have come across in the previous days. Some of these items may be informative, while others could just be there for our own random amusement. Either way you slice it, I'm in charge of this blog, and you are not; so you'll take it.
Without further ado, I give you the first installment of Push Ups. (Because our name is PUSH, get it????)
That's it for this week. Tune in next time.
Oh, we'll feed you, baby birds...
Jar
At the end of each week, I'll post the top links that Tyler and I have come across in the previous days. Some of these items may be informative, while others could just be there for our own random amusement. Either way you slice it, I'm in charge of this blog, and you are not; so you'll take it.
Without further ado, I give you the first installment of Push Ups. (Because our name is PUSH, get it????)
- Burnside had this to say and I can't say I find much to disagree with...
- Taking MurderBall to a whole new level...
- Michael Scott was on to something...
- Lebron James is official...
- Oklahomans are rejoicing right about now...
- Apparently God can't handle the truth either...
- One step closer...
- Oh sweet, sweet physics...
- Two good reasons why we love the NBA...
That's it for this week. Tune in next time.
Oh, we'll feed you, baby birds...
Jar
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