A Few thoughts on General Conference 2012 thus far

            First let me start this off by stating I am not physically present at General Conference 2012, I am at school in Denton. School is so boring, and what really captivates and motivates me is happening all the way in Tampa, FL. I am not captivated by the legislative process, but in what it means for the UMC as a whole, and consequently how it will affect me in the future. 
            So far a lot of decisions have been made that I have not been happy with, I was very upset with the church for not voting to remove the "incompatibility clauses" or the punitive language in ordination and same-sex unions. I was not pleased that the committee on General Administration could not reach a decision on church re-structuring, and I was not appeased when it came to the bullying of LGBTIQ delegates/observers/clergy. I was not happy with the decision to move on legislation that removes guaranteed appointments to ordained clergy, and the decision not to speed up the ordination process. Not to mention women's rights are completely being ignored, as are most of the voices of the Central Conferences.
            In spite of all of the actions/in-actions I did not like, God was still very present, and very much moving. Last night a new trend on Twitter arose from out of GC2012, and it was very inspiring. The hashtag "whywearemethodist" was so very inspiring. I was so overwhelmed with emotion I did not know what to do with myself. Just hours before I was online shopping for another denomination, since it seemed like the UMC did not want me. I was so close to calling my home district and telling them to withdraw me from the ordination process, cause I was moving onto greener pastures. The tweets about "whywearemethodist" reminded me of why I love the UMC so much, about how she courted me and wooed me unto herself and consequently reminded me of my love and desire to be with Christ. I may not love everything the Church decides this week but honestly, I really do think I am going to stick with her as long as she will let me. 

A Few Thoughts on War

“Do not kill.” - Exodus 20:13

“Then Jesus said to him, “Put the sword back into its place. All those who use the sword will die by the sword.” - Matthew 26:52

It is very ironic to me that I am a pacifist that lives in the United States of America. The USA is by far the most aggressive and violent nation in the world, no nation can even come close to comparing to the absolute supremacy of the US when it comes to being a nation of war. No other nation has as many active military bases, only one other nation has a comparable amount of nuclear missiles. Thus living in and being a citizen of this nation is very ironic seeing as everything the US government truly stands for is completely the opposite of what I, as a Christian am expected to stand for.

Let me say this now: The US government does not, nor ever has stood for life, liberty and the pursuit of property or happiness, at least not for all people. Just ask the Native Americans (I suppose the government was pursuing property there), the slaves (from Africa and the child sex slaves still being trafficked through US ports), women, the LGBT community, Hispanic-Americans who have to respond to “Show me your papers”, the list goes on.

One of the primary problems of modern American Christianity is simply that it is more American than it is Christian. I have met many “American Christians” in my life but I have met very few “Christians who are American”. Christianity today in the USA has opened itself up and allowed itself to become infected with the “holy spirit of US patriotism”, this patriotism promotes the worship of the flag, it has its own “holy days” (the 4th of July, President’s day), it has its own idols (the bald eagle, the Washington memorial), it has its own praise and worship music (“America the Beautiful”, “The Star Spangled Banner”, “Proud to be an American”). This patriotism is so close to religion that is even has places of worship where people can go on pilgrimages such as Plymoth Rock, Mount Rushmore, and Gettysburg to name a few. Christians in America typically do not realize that they are putting their nation on equal footing with their deity, if they did they would quickly “repent”, but most do not and continue in the practices of celebrating the marriage of Jesus and Lady Liberty (not Uncle Sam though...). The problem with this is that the US has as much of a say in within the American Church, if not more, than Church leaders do. The government can convince the US Church that God did not really mean “Do not kill” what was meant was “Do not kill - unless the US government says it’s okay.” Other matters get twisted as well like in historical approaches to women’s rights, slavery, just refer to the list above.

This problem really has an easy solution for those that know this is an issue, they must stop placing their country in a position that should only be reserved for God and they should do their best to help others cease from this practice as well. For those that do not really see this as an issue I suppose they do not really care to change things, and that is dangerous because then they are in a position where they are proselytizing a religion that really is not a religion it is simply just patriotism with the words and names of Christianity utilized. I think that could also be one of the reasons more and more young “Christians” are becoming atheists, most of them were never really Christians, they were just Americans talking about this beautiful blond-haired blue-eyed man called Jesus.

Back to war. The Biblical evidence is there, Jesus, the Jewish one, was not in favor of any form of violent retaliation (Matthew 5:39; Matthew 26:52; Luke 6:27-28) The question I have now is: If Jesus Christ is the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), then why is His command to to put down the sword not enough for Christians?

Feel free to respond I love input.

Boys vs. Girls?

            God is not a man, God does not prefer men. Yet God calls "Himself" Father; this is an issue I struggled with in Sunday school. "God isn't a boy or a girl, HE is just God." Well if God is not a man why do we call "Him", "He"? Yes the Bible says that God is the "Father", Jesus is His "Son", that He is the "King"; but we also know that the prophets were writing in the context of their own society, our's has progressed. Why then do we in the 21st century still need to make God a man?
             John Piper recently has come under fire, and rightly so, for saying:

"Now, from all of that I conclude that God has given Christianity a masculine feel. And being God, a God of love, He has done that for our maximum flourishing both male and female."

"He does not intend for women to languish or be frustrated or in any way suffer or fall short of full and lasting joy in this masculine Christianity. From which I infer that the fullest flourishing of women and men takes place in churches and families that have this masculine feel."

"When I say masculine Christianity or masculine ministry or Christianity with a masculine feel, here's what I mean: Theology and church and mission are marked by an overarching godly male leadership in the spirit of Christ with an ethos of tender-hearted strength, contrite courage, risk-taking decisiveness, and readiness to sacrifice for the sake of leading and protecting and providing for the community. All of which is possible only through the death and resurrection of Jesus."

            John Piper and I rarely agree, but I found these statements rather disturbing mostly because of how absolutely gender exclusive Piper's Christianity is. I honestly have to categorize this as a new form of Christianity because it is obviously not the Church Jesus founded. Jesus was inclusive and protective of women (Luke 7:36-50; John 8:1-11; John 4:1-42). John Piper forgets that if he is simply going off of what the Bible says in the Old Testament where he locates his primarily "masculine" God, that he, a gentile, would not welcome to be a leader in the Church. In fact, even in the New Testament the all-male leadership of the Church at Jerusalem determined that gentiles could be saved, but no where does the New Testament state that male Gentiles can be leaders in the Church, they must first become Jews. John Piper, and others in his camp, are aggressively using the Holy Word of God as a weapon to harm women in the Church, subdue them, and rob them of the spiritual freedoms that Jesus Christ made for them. The double standards exhibited in this weak theology is not only sexist, it is dangerous for the women within the churches where this theology is taught. It essentially states: "God made Christianity for men, but don't fret women, you can still be our sidekicks." It forces the women that are within the churches to almost grow to loathe their own womanhood and desire to be men in order to be full participants in this "Masculine Christianity".
             I am a man, and I am glad that I am a man because that is how God made me. But my mother is a woman, and I am so glad that she is a woman, and that my grand-mother is a woman, and my aunt, and my female cousins, and Mary the mother of Jesus. I am glad that Ruth, and Esther, and Mary Magdalene, and Mother Theresa were also women. And I am glad that they are women, because they each brought something to my faith that men could not bring their femininity. I am so glad that God does not have a sex or gender, because then people might start foolishly thinking that he/she/it picks favorites in the "boys vs. girls" arguments that go on on the playgrounds of life. God in the wisdom that only is contained only in an infinite being created both men and women and said both were good. Unlike the U.S. government God in supreme demonstration of wisdom also did not make men and women "separate but equal" God made the two become one, so that they can together be a minor reflection of the splendor of their Creator's glory, and most importantly their Creator's love.

15 Sporadic Thoughts about Harry Potter.

I haven’t written a blog in a while, so in honor of the last Harry Potter movies, I decided to share 15 of my sporadic thoughts about the series as a whole. Ready or not here they come.

1.        My theory, Harry Potter is not the real star. I have never really liked Harry Potter the character, I pitied him, I didn't hate him. I just didn’t like him as much as I liked other characters. My favorite character in the series has always been Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. I liked everything about Dumbledore, and even in the Deathly Hallows where his character was been defamed, I liked him more because it humanized him. Harry, to me has always just been a self-pitying character. Not just about his parents deaths, but about everything, from his friendships, to his studies, to his girl troubles, to his “curse” of having people be faithful to him. Dumbledore was pretty much responsible for Harry succeeding in every book, and even in every film. The Sorcerer’s Stone: He told Harry how to find it. Chamber of Secrets: His pet phoenix brought Harry the Sorting Hat that had the Sword of Gryffindor which he used to slay the Basilisk. Fawkes the Phoenix also heals Harry’s wounds with his tears. In The Prisoner of Azkaban: Tells Hermoine how to use the Time Turner to save the day. In the Goblet of Fire: Dumbledore saves Harry from Barty Crouch who was disguised as Mad-Eye Moody. In the Order of the Phoenix: Dumbledore defends him in court, he takes the fall for Harry forming ‘Dumbledore’s Army’, and then he defends Harry when Voldemort attacks him. In the Half-Blood Prince: Dumbledore reveals what Horcruxes are and that Harry must destroy them in order to defeat Voldemort for good. He also stuns Harry so he doesn’t do anything stupid and hides him from Death Eaters with the cloak of invisibility. Finally in the Deathly Hallows: Dumbledore’s gifts to Harry, Ron, and Hermoine help them all get what they need to successfully defeat the Dark Lord. Dumbledore also gives Harry advice from the grave at King’s Cross. For these reasons I believe that Dumbledore is the real star of the Harry Potter series and I believe that the books should all be re-named “Harry Potter’s Adventures with Dumbledore”.

2.       Harry and Ginny suck at naming babies. It’s just a fact.

3.       Draco Malfoy isn’t really as evil as people think he is. He did try and protect Harry, Ron and Hermoine from Bellatrix. He did choose not to kill Dumbledore. I think in the end he isn’t all that bad.

4.      Voldemort isn’t the most evil character in the series, Bellatrix Lestrange is. Voldemort only kills when he needs to or when he gets super ticked off. Bellatrix tortures people for fun, laughs and sings while doing it. She even tells Harry when he tries to use the Cruciatus Curse “You need to really want to cause pain — to enjoy it…”. Voldemort wanted power Bellatrix merely wanted to have fun hurting others.

5.       Dobby is the greatest house elf ever. Correction, the greatest FREE elf ever.

6.       Hermoine should have become Hogwart’s Headmistress, she had to have been the smartest witch around.

7.       Dumbledore was not gay, like JK Rowling said; he was obviously sleeping with Professor McGonagall. The way she attacked Snape when Harry revealed that Snape killed Dumbledore proves it. She didn’t even bother to ask if it was true. It was an assault of passion.  That and in the Order of the Phoenix he sees her in her nightgown and doesn’t ask her “Why are you in your nightgown professor? This is inappropriate.” He was thinking “Oh my here she comes, back for more of my magic.”

8.       The Harry Potter is essentially the gospel but with magic instead of miracles.

9.       (Just some questions) Why do all of the witches and wizards in the U.K. all go to Hogwarts? Wouldn’t it get overcrowded? Where did Hagrid’s half-brother go in the last movie?  If Voldemort really hated Dumbledore why did he let Dumbledore’s body rest in peace? Did anyone else notice that Harry and Voldemort are distant cousins?

10.    I would hate if J.K. Rowling tried to write another Harry Potter novel. She can write more books, even more books in the same world, just not about him. His saga needs to end. Seven books and eight movies are enough. But if she was to write a book series about Dumbledore that would be another thought entirely.

11.     If anyone wants to get me a present, a room modeled after the Headmaster’s Office would be nice.

12.    Harry Potter >Twilight. Anyone who says different needs mental help.

13.    Nagini is probably the creepiest, yet simultaneously amazing pets ever(besides Fawkes). She understands English, how to disguise herself as a human and trick Harry Potter and Hermoine into following her. She is perfect for disposing of Voldemort’s enemies. And she is a back-up soul carrier.

14.   If the Forbidden Forest is really forbidden, why wasn’t a fence built around it? There’s no keep out sign, or trench, to get there all one does is keep walking. Why is the only Forbidden Forest right next to a school where any unsuspecting first-year could accidently wander in it?

15.    I want to go to Oxford, because a lot of the Harry Potter movies were filmed in part on its campus.

A Lesson in Hypocrisy.

I am a very self-aware person, I know myself pretty darn well. I know why I do the things I do and what causes me to do them. I know my strengths and my numerous flaws and I know that at times I am a hypocrite. I know this and I accept it, but sometimes I miss out on certain areas of hypocrisy. Today was one of those days it was blatantly revealed to me via a painful experience.

 (Back-story) Two weeks ago I was giving my parents grief for considering purchasing a gas-guzzling vehicle needlessly. My mom wanted an SUV with more space, although she only has two children (and I have a vehicle of my own). I went on for about thirty minutes telling them that the Earth is God’s gift to mankind and to mistreat it is to spit in His face.

(Fast-forward) Today I went running because I told myself I needed to exercise more. Well I was trotting along and thought to myself ‘This isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.’ I kept running for about two blocks and then it hit me. BAM! The pain started as a tingle in my gut and slowly spread outwardly and my id said to my ego ‘What the crap are you doing to me?’ I thought ‘Just make it to that bench’, and then the bench starting looking further and further away and I stopped the jog and went into a power walk. I kept power walking and in my mind the thought occurred ‘I can’t pass out here, my neighbors have no idea who I am. I am a black teen in a white neighborhood; they’ll call the cops before they try to help me.’ So I managed to jog my way back and on the way a thought so venomous came to my mind that it could only have come from God. Only in my immensely painful situation would God teach me a lesson. The voice was quiet in my mind but clear when it said ‘Shame on you, you’ll take care of the Earth, but not my Temple.’ Conviction was laid on my mind on top of the physical conundrum taking place right beneath my head. My body burst into sweat and my conscious just burst.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20(ESV) There it is in plain black and white. My body is just as much a gift as the Earth, and I have been neglecting to take care of it. So tomorrow I will attempt another jog (not a run) around the neighborhood, so that by taking care of my body, I will glorify God. Being obedient is difficult and at times, painful, but “obedience is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22), and I want to be the best servant of God I can be, even if that means subjecting myself to pain temporarily, in the long run it will be for my benefit because God’s commands are always meant to benefit His children. 

Hope for P&W Music

                 Ever since about the mid-70’s contemporary or modern Praise and Worship music (p&w) has been constantly streaming forth like a river trying to cover the mountain of secular music already in existence while at the same time complementing the hymns that were already in place in the worship setting at churches in Western society. Over time the p&w brand begin not only to complement hymns in worship but complete replace them in some new church plants this trend although it was noticed, was not really fought too strongly for fear of not being seeker-friendly. As with most every trend Christians have adopted as their own such as the “make a t-shirt for everything trend”(as demonstrated by the emergence of corny Christian tees and brands such as NOTW or Truth, Soul, Armor) or the “make a wristband for everything trend” (WWJD, Witness Bands) the music festival trend (Creation Fest) or even websites (YouTube became GodTube, Stuff White People Like became a book and blog called Stuff Christians Like) and recently pole dancing for Jesus (search for that on YouTube maybe even GodTube); while all of this is interesting (and disturbing) and somewhat trivial the same mimicry of the secular music industry has taken place. This takes place mostly because there is not a single mainstream Christian artist that is not in some way employed by one of these secular record companies like Chris Tomlin, Steven Curtis Chapman, Mandisa, and Matt Redman who works for Sparrow Records which is owned by EMI the same company responsible for “artists” such as: Joss Stone, The Sex Pistols, Twista, The Rolling Stones (until 2008), and my favorite band Radiohead. EMI is also the distributor of sixstepsrecords music the company owned by Louie Giglio  that distributes all of the Passion conference’s music and the David Crowder Band’s record label. Gospel music is employed by the same employers of the rappers the gospel artists criticize for promoting violence; Christian artist praise God while taking a paycheck from the same company that pays the secular artist singing about everything Christians are known for turning their noses up at. I wonder why Christians view this as acceptable.

                Before I continue my digression on the greed of Christian businesses; my point is that as the secular music industry has settled for mediocrity, the Christian music industry followed suit. Instead of hiring talented songwriters like Rich Mullen, it began to settle for pretty faces or great gimmicks instead of real God honoring talent that actually does exist out there; I have seen it all over. There are Christians out there with real talent, with real creativity ready to take the Christian music industry beyond its lackluster current state and into a state of actual goodness. Shane Claiborne wrote on his blog on RedLetterChristians.org “As a friend of mine quipped: “All these Christian artists say, ‘God gave me this song,’ and then you listen to it and know why God gave it away.” I later learned that Christian art doesn’t have to be a mediocre counterfeit of the original.”(Taken from The Christian Industrial Complex) His point is that Christians should not be slowly following the trends society creates, but be so enveloped in God that His creativity becomes our own. “Music is supposed to inspire…” Lauryn Hill said in 1998 “…how come we ain’t getting no higher?” Her point being if it’s real music we wouldn’t remain the way we are. True music is creative and with it reveals an intimate moment with the creator and eventually the Creator. Where are this musical innovators like Bob Dylan, Lauryn Hill, and Arcade Fire? Well they are actually all on tour at the moment; the real question is when are Christians going to start innovating I suppose. The answer is easy.

                The innovators of Christian music are here, among us. They aren’t hiding anywhere, they just aren’t as financially beneficial as mediocre artists are, therefore they will not get the media attention and must be searched for. Typically the mediocre is promoted and thus it is easier for us to find. Yet, last night I was at a concert in a Church of Christ of all places and I was amazed by the sheer artistry this band displayed. From the jazz guitar solo, to the cello solo, or the cellist putting down her cello to pick up her keytar, or the music hiding in the silence just before the singers voice broke through to begin the chorus all over again. I was greatly impressed. I was shocked first-of-all because this was a group that was sold at a Christian bookstore, so I was expected corny love songs for Jesus, you have heard the kind I am describing the ones that take Song of Songs to the extreme and make one uncomfortable as if you are flirting with your Lord and Savior because He save you the damsel in distress.  Yet instead I was invited into a worship experience that used almost liturgical lyrics that described real tangible pain and suffering and death, yet glorified God for the healing and restoration and resurrection that only He can bring. The band – Gungor. The album – “Beautiful Things”. I was amazed and wondered why there weren’t more groups like this, but there are innovators in Christian music as much as I doubt him Steven Curtis Chapman’s last album “Beauty Will Rise” was actually pretty amazing, taken from dark circumstances it was so brilliantly written at points I was on the verge of tears listening to the agonizing conversation he was having with his Father. The David Crowder Band is amazing (even if they are distributed by EMI). Sufjan Stevens is an indie artist that happens to be a Christian making real music on his own making his own rules as he goes. Phil Wickham, Jon Foreman, John Mark McMillan, Sara Groves, Derek Webb, Will Reagan, JJ Heller, Jenny & Tyler, Jesus Culture, the list goes on(I know it is short on women but that isn’t because women aren’t talented musicians but because Christians as a whole are less likely to support Christian female artists and thus they are few and far between). The new trend Christian music is beginning to follow is the indie music trend, becoming independent of major labels has been great for real artists that are Christians. Such as NoiseTrade a website founded by Derek Webb that offers music for as cheap as free.

                The real problem here is not musicians and singers selling out, but with Christians who support them because “I’d rather give my money to ____ than those rappers encouraging mindless violence.” Sure, supporting ____ is better than supporting Twista, but by buying a ____ album you are indirectly supporting Twista anyway. And supporting mediocrity only encourages it to continue. Parents know that cheering for their toddler when he/she pees on the floor won’t make them want to use the toilet. Dog owners know that giving a dog a treat for biting them will only encourage the dog to keep on biting them. We as consumers need to either retrain the Christian music industry with the way we spend or just give up all hope on it and just turn to the secular community to provide us entertainment and hope God will edit it for us.  Or I suppose we could pray they all go Indie. While we are at it we should pray the Church goes Indie too, independent from the lobbying it does for politicians and businesses that truly have no interest in Jesus or advancing His Kingdom.

                There is hope for Praise and Worship music, we are that hope. Our Christian brethren or sister-en with musical gifts that aren’t afraid to make good music that glorifies God, even if that means still having a day job. That hope is the DCBand, Gungor, Sara Groves. That hope is Jesus the ultimate Creator. So let’s make some real music?

Audition Next Week

Next week I am auditioning for a choir for the summer. I have to audition with a folk song so I picked one of my favorite spirituals There is a Balm in Gilead. In looking up the lyrics I found what a deep and powerful song it really is. It is a Negro spiritual so all of its lyrics have double meanings, but its overall meaning is universal. Read them for yourself:

There is a Balm in Gilead 
To make the wounded whole
There is a Balm in Gilead 
To heal the sin-sick soul


Sometimes I feel discouraged
And think my work's in vain
But then the Holy Spirit 
Revives my soul again


If you cannot preach like Peter
If you cannot pray like Paul
You can tell the world of Jesus
And say He died for all


I loved the lyrics so much, but I felt that the alternate verse wasn't quite right so I kind of -re-wrote them, and by "kind of" I mean I did. Here is the verse I altered. The first part is the same but the rest I changed:

If you cannot sing like angels
If you cannot calm the seas
Remember God in His goodness
Sent Jesus Christ to thee

Hmmm... I don't know if I like it or will sing it next week, but who knows. Love y'all. I will post another article soon I hope tell y'all I made it.