brent(inWorship)

When our family decided to participate in Lent, I did not foresee the strong opinions on both sides to being a part of this activity. I’ve watched people in the social media world bash Lent and others champion this season as if it is a duty. I don’t see either of these things as appropriate.

Lent is a practice that was put into play by the Catholic Church. With even the mention of the Catholic Church, many will turn their back. I personally know people who have had flourishing Christian lives in the Catholic Church and I know many that have been badly beaten up and spit out by the same churches. For me, its not a Catholic of anti-Catholic thing.

Let’s stop for a minute and determine if there are valuable times in our life to sacrifice. If we are honest, every day is an opportunity to sacrifice. Our family has chosen to take this season to sacrifice. We love to eat out, but we know that it can be very unhealthy, both physically as well as financially. It’s a time to eat together around a table. Purposefully.

I do not champion Lent. And I do not champion religious practices of the church. Catholic or non-denominational. I champion sacrifice. I champion the act of removing our desires and allowing God to replace them with His desires for our lives.

So, what is the intent of Lent? Who knows. The practice itself has been around for a long time and I believe that practices like this, often lose their original intent over time. They become about ritual and not about heart. But, the reason we are choosing to “fast” from something during this Lent season is all about intent. We desire to draw closer to Him. If simply changing my eating habits can help in this process, then we are in! It’s not about how much, or how long. Its about intent. Its about the heart.

So, celebrate Lent, or don’t. But, I challenge you to sacrifice and surrender this season…and all year round.

Does it exist? Is it real? Can truth be absolute? Is there truth at all?

I say…yes.

I think a large movement in “spirituality” today, is to allow for the thoughts and feelings of others. No matter what you believe, or what you think you know, no one has a lock on truth. Absolute truth does not exist.

But, I don’t agree with this. Absolute truth does exist.

Im writing this post from a little coffee shop in Nashville, Tn. Tammy and I are here this week to join with others at re:create. An amazing gathering of artists, musicians and leaders, looking to connect with God and each other in a deeper way. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to join friends at Crosspoint.tv. Pastor Blake spoke. He made a statement. “Truth is not a what, truth is a who“.

I believe that this is the key to the argument of absolute truth. Yes, we will have philosophical differences. Yes, we will disagree on motive or reason. Yes, we will have moments where we can’t see eye to eye. But when we start with truth being a who…there can be no discussion. You either believe in Jesus, as the bible says He is, or you don’t. But it doesn’t change the truth of who He is. It is absolute. Jesus is who He said He was. He is alive. And He is coming again.

So, all that stuff in between, really is not the issue. And I believe that the fight for or against “absolute truth” is held in that arena, way too often. We should not be fighting over the non-essentials, because they do not hold truth.

Only Jesus does…

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”
-John 14:6

I’m sitting in bed, checking Twitter and researching some new iPhone apps. We’ve had a great day. Brandon and Kristen Buchanan are in town and have helped us lead worship at Table Rock tonight. We have 3 more services with them tomorrow and I am loving it.

The TV is on in the background and it is on the Chiller channel. I love cheesy, B horror movies. Always have. The movie that is on is about some group of college kids that get stuck sleeping the night in an old abandoned building.

As I am checking Twitter, I see a link to a friend that is singing a worship song with his sister. It’s a YouTube link. I go to check it out. It was really beautiful. Loved hearing them sing. And I was drawn into the song and the amazing lyrics. “Your name, is a strong and mighty tower”. I pause for a moment and think of how big God is. How little I am. And how important and valuable He still sees me.

I then look up. I suddenly realize that the show on TV has just been running something really innapropriate. Then it cuts to commercial.

Why am I telling you this?

I’ve heard it said, that when life is tough, just focus on Jesus. Focus on others. Focus on caring. It takes all attention away from our own problems or hurts and puts them into perspective.

I realized right then, that as I took time to focus on Jesus, those things that I want no part of, didn’t even exist. When my eyes were on him, in worship, drawn in, nothing else mattered. I was seeing what I needed to see. Hearing what I needed to hear. Filling myself with what I needed to be filled with.

I liked it.

I just finished writing a big long post about “taking sides”. It was a jumbled mess of thoughts that were not coming together. But, I have to say something.

Here’s the heart of it. Recent events in sports culture have divided people. Brought people out of their shell. I heard Christians lashing out against Tiger Woods and I have no clue why. We don’t know him. We have no facts. It’s none of our business. And, yet, we took sides.

Now, there is a church and a local critic going at it and I am watching it happen all over. We don’t know the people involved. We don’t know the facts. It’s none of our business. Yet, we are still taking sides. I don’t get it.

We should be praying for Tiger. We should be praying for this church and the victim. We have no right to express our opinions on this situation, based on whether or not we like something or not. Whether we agree with a Pastor or a teaching, or whether we disagree. We have no right to attack or defend. It’s not our place. We don’t know what’s happening. We do not have the right to place some sort of “godly” wrath on anyone. Even if we had all the facts, we wouldn’t have that right.

The church keeps beating the crap out of itself. It’s dumb. It’s gotta stop. And the only way I know how to help that process, is to stop taking sides. In my last post, I made the comment “We seem to over hype events in America. Both in defense of it…as well as opposition to it.” I stand by this. I do it myself. And I believe we do it, because we like taking sides. We like it too much.

So, hold me accountable to not taking sides. But, I am asking you…join me.

First and foremost. I know! I wrote a post! Haha. Well, let’s see if we cant get this thing going again

Black Friday! Ahhhhhhh! It’s Awful! It’s Evil! It’s UnChristian. It’s proof that America has forgotten all priorities, and only seeks to serve self. It’s consumerism at it’s worst!

These are all things I’ve heard today in response to Black Friday. However, I have a different perspective. Let me explain.

I’m not going to argue whether or not today can be a terrible day. Some awful things will happen today. People will argue fight, even kill. We’ve seen this happen in the past. I pray people are safe today.

There are people shopping today, that have nothing in mind, but self. This is true. We are human and sinful. we are selfish and have unhealthy desires. But I also know many that use today for good.

After reading some crazy tweets this morning, I put this tweet up…

So. If I need to buy socks. Why is it wrong to buy them at 80% off? Why is that evil exactly? #blackfridayhype”

We seem to over hype events in America. Both in defense of it…as well as opposition to it.

I know people that have saved all year to go shopping today. That takes discipline

I know people that wait all year to buy underwear and socks on Black Friday. Because today is the cheapest price they’ll pay. That takes planning.

I know people that have put a budget in place for Christmas, so they can enjoy giving gifts to friends and family. They use today to shop, because, today is the best bang for their buck. That’s financial wisdom.

I know people that will be at the mall all day, enjoying time with family and friends, and smiling at people as they shop together. That takes patience.

I know people that will actually see people in public today, that they normally will only see inside the church walls. They will have an opportunity to see each other in a different space and possibly even create a new relationship because of it. That’s living life together.

I say Black Friday is what we make it.

I contend that Black Friday is not the issue. People are. So, let’s be people of virtue and grace. Maybe, then, Black Friday, wont be so Black.

I’ve been given the privilege of writing for my buddy Tyler’s blog. Tyler has an awesome blog called Man Of Depravity. Tyler is a seminary student here in Oregon at Multnomah and is also a worship leader for Sunset Presbytarian Church in Beaverton. It’s been a blast to get to know him, both through the blog and twitter worlds, as well as in person.

Tyler has been hosting a series of posts on God’s Sovereignty, written by some great people and today I wrote some of my thoughts for the series.

So, head on over!