shoo fly, don't bother me!

*this is a talk i'm giving at AWANA on wednesday night. it's intended for K-6th grade, but i believe very applicable to any and all who have "voices inside of their head"!
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Shoo, fly, don't bother me,
Shoo, fly, don't bother me,
Shoo, fly, don't bother me,
For I belong to somebody.

I feel, I feel,
I feel like a morning star,
I feel, I feel,
I feel like a morning star.


Have you ever had a really annoying fly buzz your head? Maybe when you were sleeping? Maybe when you were playing baseball, standing in the outfield? Or when you were at a lake swimming or playing with water hoses or water balloons in a field? You swat at it, and think that you got it, only to have it come back in a couple more seconds? Or maybe sometimes you give it a good swat and it goes away for a long time, but sure enough… it returns to haunt and torment you and drive you nuts!

Have you ever seen a cartoon where a character has two little imaginary men standing on his shoulder: an angel on one side, telling him what good things he should do, and a little devil on the other telling him the bad things he should do. This is a way cartoonists portray our conscience. Our conscience is NOT a little cricket named, “Jiminey”, although he represents a conscience in the movie Pinnochio. Our conscience is a GOD-given natural “voice inside our heads” that helps us to determine what is the right thing or the wrong thing to do. Often times our conscience’s weapons are “the warm-fuzzies” and “guilt”. When you do things that are good, you get the warm-fuzzies and when you do things that are bad, you get the guilt... that knot in the pit of your stomach.

So what does this have to do with GOD and the Bible?

I believe that our conscience was created by GOD and given to us so that we can live a life that is marked by “good things”, like love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, sincerity, honesty, integrity, and other characteristics that Jesus portrayed and exemplified in His time on earth. [by the way, Jesus wasn’t a sissy… and “loving your neighbor” is not a sissy thing to do. It is hard and it takes a man with courage to really do it! and talk about living “sincerily” and with “integrity”… man!] When we live out those things, we know we are living the way GOD wants us to and made us to live. We feel connected with Him. We feel at one with Him. We feel those “warm-fuzzies”. Have you felt the warm-fuzzies lately? Those feelings let us know that He is fond of us. We know that we did the right thing. We are His sons and daughters and we have made Him proud. We belong to Him. That is why we feel so good inside! We are in “good relationship” with GOD. We are unified with Him, NOT working against Him. It is good.

However, our conscience also works by providing us with a bad, guilty feeling when we’ve done things that are wrong, or about to do things that are wrong. Do you know the feeling? I do. Sometimes i get shaky, sometimes i start to get a little bit of sweat going. My head gets tense. And i feel angry, confused, or guilty. Have you ever felt this way? Think into your past week or month, have you felt this way lately?

GOD made us to be good people. He desires us to be peaceful, to be giving, to be generous, to be helpful, and to love others more than our self. When we don’t act in these ways, we go completely against the very way we were created to and intended to live. It causes and in-balance of who we are: we are sons and daughters of GOD, created to live in peace with Him and others, but while we choose to not live that way, things go a little hay-wire. The bad feeling comes over us: our stomach tightens into a knot, we get hot-headed and angry, we feel confused, life starts to get hard. It’s our conscience kicking in. our GOD-given voice inside our heads that says, “Hey, this isn’t right… this isn’t how I made you. Back down, return to ME. Things will be better. It can be peaceful again. Let’s renew our relationship.” And we have this very opportunity, every single time, to renew that right-living with GOD.

The Bible talks about sin “hardening our hearts”. What do you think that means? I think it has to do with “blocking our conscience”. If something is hard and made of stone, it is impenetrable. When we continue to choose the wrong things, our hearts and minds and very essence of our being, become hardened and impenetrable to the voice of our GOD-given conscience. We have a more difficult time hearing clearly GOD’s voice of right and wrong. We have a more difficult time changing our choice from wrong to right, and we begin to live less and less in the very image of GOD because of our own personal choices and actions. Our life begins to be marked by confusion, anger, lack of control, broken relationships, wounded hearts, guilt, rage, fighting, swearing, hurtful words, disappointed parents, and an “emptiness” in the part of your soul where GOD once lived. Do you know what i’m describing? Have you ever felt this way before? I have, and i don’t like it. not one bit. There, life is hard. It is no fun, it hurts myself and hurts others around me. It is not the way i was meant to live.

So what’s the solution?

Our solution is to listen to the voices inside your head! Block out the one that tells you to do the bad things and follow the one that leads to life, light, and love. You’ll know which one to follow, listen to your heart and your gut: warm-fuzzies or stony guilt?


For those of you that have spent a long time following the wrong voice and are feeling that emptiness and anger and guilt that i’ve talked about, you’re in a tough place. Getting back to square one is not going to be easy, but it is possible.
It starts with redeeming your hardened heart for one that is soft and moldable. GOD’s got it. in fact, that is His promise to his people: i will take away your heart of stone, and in it’s place, i will give you a heart of flesh: one that is soft, warm, capable of love. The journey continues by making wrongs into rights. Approaching those that you’ve hurt, apologizing, and asking for forgiveness, both people and GOD. And the journey will forever continue because you will always, always, always have 2 voices in your head: right and wrong. You will always, always, always have 2 choices to choose between: right and wrong. And you will always, always, always have a GOD who will remove your wrongs and help you to be right with Him and others.

Here’s the good news: The more you follow the right side, the easier it will be to hear that voice above the other and the easier it will be to follow after it, taking it’s advice step-by-step closer to living like you belong to the family of GOD.

taking the LORD's Name in vain

well, i think this one will ruffle some feathers. please bear with me and weigh out your intentions as well as hearing mine. if you can, lay aside your preconceived ideas and hear my heart and thoughts.
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i don't think "swearing" [or what we refer to as cussing/profanity] is a sin or non-christian. i told you this was going to be a good one! many christains, especially in older generations and those with kids would tell you that, as a christian you should not swear because of the commandment, "thou shall not take the Lord's Name in vain". however, i see a different meaning, one that i believe is more applicable to our christian walk in this commandment.

vain [adj.] - lacking in substance or worth
in vain [idiom] - in an irreverant or disrespectful manner

i think that taking the LORD's Name in vain has more to do with our level of faith in our GOD. when we doubt Him and His provision and His protection, we are believing that he is lacking in substance or worth.

let me ask you a question. when is the most common time that you hear the phrase "in Jesus name?" that's right, at the end of a prayer, and [let's be honest here] what does it really mean? it means, i'm done praying and everybody please wait just one count then let's all say "amen" together. [amen: a word that doesn't mean anything except empty religious significance in today's culture]. so, by using "in jesus' name... amen." we are actually speaking out a very religious/vain saying for the main purpose of signaling the end of a prayer, more than the probably intended formulation of the phrase referenced from John 14:13-14. But i think we've turned it into, "here's my requests, and now i say the magic words on the end of the prayer "in Jesus' Name... amen" THERE! now You have to do it becuase i prayed it "in your name"! irreverant. disrespectful. Jesus doesn't ask us to do many religious things. he asks us to live our lives as followers of Him, which, in this case doesn't mean "say my name everytime you do something or want something"; it means live like i am your example. in my example. do things like me. love your neighbors. be firm in your faith. spend time with the Father. forgive. tell stories about how good i've been in your life. be generous. spend time with people who are hurting and need your presence. be uplifting. preform miracles. do the unthinkable. love. unconditionally. love.

now as far as profanity goes. i don't think jesus cares much about the formulations of our english words any more than he cared about the formulation of words in any other language. we can say s-h-i-t as a form of letters and have no problem. but like all things having to do with jesus it's what comes from your heart that is the important thing. if you are projacting slander or tearing someone down with your words, he could careless is you called them a dumb shit or a jerk or a foolish person, the point is that your words are producing death and not life, they are tearing down not building up, they are destroying and decaying another person, which is the result of an "unwholesome word proceeding from your mouth" as we read about in ephesians. however, as a young person or old person, if profanity or cussing is banned in your school or your family, then you need to submit to the rules in authority over you, and therefore the rules in authority superceeds your freedom to use an arangement of letters. think to yourself: why do i want to cuss? can i say what i mean to say in a different way, or should i not say what i want to say at all, or do i need to take this thought captive/take control of it and submit it to the throne of GOD for him to weigh.

and as far as the term swearing, the Bible does not back up that we should not cuss by saying, no swearing. the bible term for swearing refers to making promises by something. so when we talk about not swearing by the heavens or the earth or by anything in the heavens or the earth, we have to consider the second half of the verse as well, "so let your yes be yes and your no be no." *as a christian, we shouldn't have to "swear" by something, especially something we can't control. instead we need to just be honest and upright people who are as god as their word. if you say you're going to do something: do it. if you say you won't do something: don't do it. pretty simple in the kingdom of GOD, isn't it?

and the term profanity's root is the word profane, meaning common. so i've heard some people say we, as christians shouldn't "cuss" because it si just common and it is what the rest of the world does... that's such a small and trivial distinction and there are so many other things that we should be focusing on that are more harmful to the name of Jesus than cussing. like judgement. condemnation.

not cussing seems to be more of a gentlemanly or courteous issue than a christian/non-christian issue. i think somewhere in our recent history some christians turned cussing into a sin in order to distinguish those that were "rough" and those that were "cultured" as most christians were assumed to be at that time. i liken it to common courtesty: opening doors for women and others is a good thing to do. if you don't do it, it's not a sin. same with cussing.

so basically i want to challenge you:

think about what you say before you say it.
don't just do "religious motions" like saying in jesus' name... amen, to end a prayer.
think about all your actions at all times
what comes out of mouth is the very root of your heart, whatever the language.
think about your intentions.
don't cuss, cause it's not gentlemanly.
don't judge or place condemnation on people.
definitely don't make things a sin that aren't a sin!
stop writing your agenda into the Bible!

OK, at the end there i have to admit i got kind of passionate and fired up, but i'm serious, let's let grace motivate us. let's live in the love and understanding of GOD in Jesus' lifestyle.

again, this was a long post of a very controversial topic and if i offended you, i'm sorry. ask youself why i did. was it because of your interpretation of the bible or what somebody else taught you?

isn't it more important to ascribe value to the power found in the name of Jesus and living in His lifestyle than bickering over a couple of 4-letter english words?

love,
justin

you might be emergent if...

this is a really great post.
really great.

http://www.purgatorio1.blogspot.com/2005/11/you-might-be-emerging-if.html

the comments some people left are really funny* cause it says a lot about them.




*and when i say funny. i mean funny to laugh at because they are totally lame.

books of late

A new Kind of Christian - Brian McLaren
Velvet Elvis - Rob Bell
Blue Like Jazz - Don Miller
The Magician's Nephew - CS Lewis
Radical Reformission - Mark Driscoll


*all of them are very excellent reads. i highly recommend them. challenging. thought-provoking. different.


[and i'm now planning on getting back into this... as if anyone cares!]