Strange Manifesto

 Remember in Avengers: Infinity War when Dr. Strange was on Titan zen’d out of his mind, literally, watching the millions (AND MILLIONS (The Rock reference)) of endgame scenarios play out? Aware of the situation they were in but oblivious to what was happening in that moment, Strange found the single path to victory amidst overwhelming odds.

That path to victory required monumental sacrifice and patience. With all the variables in play, hard choices had to be made… knowing most wouldn’t understand why.

Hi. I’m Dr. Strange.

I’ve seen the future because I’ve seen the past.

There IS a way out of the American 2020 Experience, but it’s going to cost things people don’t want to give and come slower than people will want to allow.

People with beliefs across the board must release what they hold so dearly… their hatred.

This Strange Manifesto will touch on so many connected-yet-not-always-apparently-related ideals that it may not make sense. I’ll try to connect the thoughts as seamlessly as possible, but it may turn into a pinball bouncing around, hitting bumpers and knobs. But trust me… I’ve seen it. I’m right. And if you think I’m not… you can’t prove a negative anyway. So either way, you’re wrong.

As we find ourselves in the most important election season of our lives, until next time, we must understand the actual problems we’re facing.

Covid is an issue, not the problem. An oncoming financial tsunami will be a massive issue, but is not the overriding problem. Moving to a socialist America and away from truth, justice, and the formerly-American way is certainly an issue but not the problem.

Trump is also not the problem. Neither is Biden.

You. Me. Us.

We’re the problem.

Everything else is a symptom to the problems we’ve caused. As Biden pointed out to Trump in their debate, it is what it is because we are who we are. And much how Covid creates all sorts of symptoms that must be treated because they CAUSE problems, we must get to the root. Treating symptoms helps us feel better but we won’t GET better until the problem is fixed.

We won’t be looking for Trump to MAGA because it would never lose its greatness in the first place. We won’t be looking for Biden to bring civility back to the White House because it would have never left.

I heard a quote in college and I bring it up from time to time. It may be the most powerful nugget of wisdom I hold onto…

What one generation tolerates, the next embraces. (John Wesley)

2020 didn’t just happen. 2020 is the lovechild of every year prior. 2020 is here b/c Elvis rocked his swingin’ hips in the ‘50s pushing us into free love and social unrest in the ‘60s so we’d get high through the ‘70s to forget it all only to enjoy the lap of luxury in the excess of the ‘80s giving us technological

advancements that would be great but open Pandora’s Box (the internet) in the ‘90s which gave us all a social media outlet in the ‘00s so that we can all troll each other in the ‘10s.

And now we’re here. And don’t expect 2021 to be better because it’s going to have a fresh sheen of 2020 all over it.

As Billy Joel said… we didn’t start the fire. It was always burnin’ since the world’s been turning. Each thing we tolerate leads to something we use to abhor. Sometimes progress is good. Sometimes it’s not.

For any progressives out there, you need to understand non-progressives are not evil. We just see that what’s past is prologue. History has consistently shown there never is enough. We aren’t afraid of ‘progress’. We’re afraid that your version of progress will lead us down a slippery slope our government has shown no ability to control. They’ve only shown the ability to corrupt it.

We aren’t against everyone having access to healthcare. We’re against a government telling they need to be the ones doing it. You believe it’s a right. We believe it’s labor and services and you aren’t entitled to our labor and services. We aren’t against government programs (to an extent). We’re against a government who has repeatedly shown they’ll mess up and waste the money we give them.

We aren’t heartless. We’re cautious. And we consider you foolish for not being so. And history is on our side in the argument, not yours. We live in a world, not of wishes and hopes, but where reality exists.

We want good things for people. We just want to not have to pay for it ourselves when we’re having a hard enough time under THESE conditions affording life. We want to know our hard work pays off for us more than it does you.

And this argument is why many (myself included) are scared of Biden.

Conservatives disagree with his politics because we disagree with his party. But we the biggest fear for conservatives who don’t want Trump (I’ve already discussed my reasons there in other posts) is we think Biden is a puppet to his party.

Most of us think he’s a fairly decent man, if not a little sniffing-hair creepy. But he’s a puppet to a party we completely reject so even if he actually WAS moderate, his party wouldn’t let him be. He’s Annabelle. A benign doll haunted by demons controlling his every move.

Heck, the progressive side of his party is already starting to put pressure on him. (Google ‘Progressives unveil 2021 agenda to pressure Biden’). He’s going to have to appeal to some of their wishes, regardless of how moderate he might be. So, even acquiescing just a little pushes us further than most Americans, even Democrats, want to go.

That tolerance will push the next generation to embrace that mess. We’re 20-30 years from not really BEING America anymore. That’s not hyperbole. That’s our historical future.

Because Trump ain’t winning folks. I know, I know. Some of you are smiling and others think I’m an absolute idiot. But, I’ve seen the future by seeing the past. You can disagree with me now. You won’t later.

I’m not going to argue for/against either candidate. I’m kinda out of that business at this point. I’m just going to point out facts so you’re making informed decisions.

And if somehow I read these tea leaves wrong, I’ll admit it. Don’t worry. But I won’t have to.

Trump won in 2016 by realizing there was a huge middle ground of people who felt politically disenfranchised. Liberals are going to be liberate. Conservatives are going to er, conservate. But that huge middle section who don’t affiliate… who just want this country to be something they can be proud of again is looking for someone.

Trump tapped into that and convinced enough people in the right places, even by not winning the populace, that they should give him a shot. And they did.

And he turned that chance into a narcistic world tour.

People are hunting, looking, crying out for someone to be a responsible-enough adult leader and he’s steadfastly refused. The first debate he had (maybe only?) with Biden was a greatest hits album reinforcing everything people are on the fence about when considering him.

Trump, because I know you read my stuff, just be a semi-adult. We kinda like your policies enough to at least consider you, but you’re doing everything you possibly can to remind us why we don’t like you in the first place. Your ego trumps (giggle, I got jokes) the good we think you MIGHT be able to do. Let that sink in.

People may be tired of the establishment (Biden’s 47 years in Washington), but it’s taken four years of idiocracy to make us sick of you.

Trump won the middle/forgotten section of American by asking them to give him a chance. He asked them what they had to lose and then went out and showed them. He’s lost enough people who gave him a chance.

I’ve had conversations with people and remember back to 2017 when I said I don’t think he’d win re-election. The math doesn’t work. And there’s no Cambridge Analytica to save him this time. (If you’re not familiar with that, there’s a cool Netflix special about it).

And all those conversations were obviously before the train wreck things have turned into.

He got lucky winning in the exact places he needed to to win the right amount of votes in the right districts in the right states. It was a weapons-grade surgical analytics attack to which he no longer has access. And there’s no Hillary email scandal to save his hide now, either.

Is there a scenario he wins? Well, as Dr. Strange, I DID see one. He suppressed voting to a level in the right places and then the Supreme Court ruled in his favor. But, I honestly don’t expect it to even get to that point.

Just like Covid, we don’t know the long term damage Trump will have on our country. I can tell you he was a knee-jerk reaction to the distaste conservatives and moderates had for Obama. And knee-jerk reactions increase in response to each other. The backlash to Trump, whenever it comes, it going to be severe. And damaging.

When my daughter’s school went virtual last March, a big gripe amongst parents (and even students) was there was no direction or much work assigned. Regardless of why, that was a result of the quick Covid-related school adjustments. This year, as most schools started virtually? The biggest gripe wasn’t

the pain-in-the-butt access to Canvas or Google Classroom or whatever. It was the huge, heavy, unrealistic workloads being assigned. They WAY overcorrected. I told my daughter to expect it. (And to expect them to figure it out and re-calibrate). That’s exactly what happened.

And that’s exactly what’s going to happen here. The knee-jerk reaction to Trump is going to be a major American problem. And what sucks about that even more? It’s going to galvanize his supporters for him even more when he’s gone, whenever that happens.

You like your 401(k)? Trump has done a good job with that. Awesome. Hope you’ve already retired because once the Democrats get in power, it’s likely to drop significantly. And that reaction is going to cement what people already like about Trump.

Our economy was rocking before Covid. Regardless of who you blame and why, it’s come crashing down. When someone else gets in power, even ignoring Covid, they will need to maintain something that has never happened before to save face. It’s highly unlikely under the best of circumstances. So, when it DOES come crashing, Trump will look like the genius he says he is.

Trump is a corporate businessman. His scope is limited.

There’s no way around that. He did well building our economy. (You can argue whether the ends justify the means, but that’s separate). But his entire philosophy is short-term gain. Do what it takes to increase as much as possible NOW. Tomorrow will worry about tomorrow. His political strategy mirrors his financial strategy. My financial advice? Talk to an adviser on how to mitigate against a guaranteed financial regression. And watch out for the people worshipping the Trump-god who ‘got’ us there in the first place.

Enough about that guy though… I’ve got so much more.

Remember when I said we are the problem and Trump is the symptom? Well, he’s our creation. Our monster. And anything in response to him is too. Want to fix the problem? We need to fix our perspective and habits.

We are a social justice, social media, socially stunted world more interested in trolling people and confirmation bias than actually researching things to form our own opinions. If it’s said on a meme or a TikTok or an Instagram post, then that’s good enough. We are our thoughts and we’re letting other people determine and shape our thoughts.

We are sheep. No one likes to admit it, but it’s true. Again, look up Cambridge Analytica.

There’s a reason advertising is expensive. It works. We are being manipulated. And the only way to fight it is to acknowledge it. Take the red pill. Uncover and accept unpleasant truths. But to do that, you need to source the data you’re absorbing.

I’ve busted so many people for sharing blatantly untrue and misleading things. And heck, I fell victim to it the other day myself… after doing some research! I wasn’t paying close enough attention and even though I researched, I wasn’t looking for THE truth… just confirmation of something I suspected.

And I was still wrong.

If you think you aren’t a sheep, or aren’t vulnerable to being one, then they’ve got you fooled and that proves you are anyway.

Stop looking for confirmation bias. Look for viewpoints you don’t agree with and read those. Understand why someone might view something differently. And do so with the assumption that they aren’t a pig-headed idiot. Try to understand we all want nice things. Maybe we disagree on what that means. Or how to get there.

Yes, there are idiots out there just looking to watch the world burn. Let them be the exception. Don’t normalize idiocy. Understand your opponent. Understand why they want what they want and why they want it. Sometimes your opponent will just be an idiot. Sometimes they won’t share your beliefs. But, you won’t fully understand what you think until you fully understand what they do. Expose yourself to opposite viewpoints so you can identify half-truths. Question facts. Look up info for yourself. It takes all of 15 seconds. Make sure you know what you’re talking about. As Pence said in the VP debate, you’re entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts.

Understand the context behind those facts. Heck, reach out to someone you think might have a perspective similar to yours. And someone opposite.

If your issue is faith-based (let’s use abortion), then understand you can’t expect someone who doesn’t hold your faith to understand your argument against it. That probably doesn’t make them a blood-thirsty-baby-killer. It makes you realize they’re looking at the topic without a lens you have.

Doesn’t mean you have to come to agreement, but it does help having conversations that don’t devolve into name-calling fits where you lose all faith in humanity.

And for the love of all that is good and holy (and I’m speaking to myself here too), stop celebrating when someone gets trolled publicly. We’re so interested in the one-line zinger that when it happens, it overshadows anything of substance. Just know… those zingers are curated. Orchestrated. Planned.

You’re a sheep and they know it.

2020 has happened because we’ve surrendered the ability to think for ourselves anymore. We let others do the thinking for us and we’ll believe, share, or like anything we tend to agree with. Truth is largely irrelevant anymore.

THAT is the problem. WE are the problem.

Also understand that political problems rarely require binary solutions. There’s no, “If we do this and not that, we’ll be ok…”

Fixing healthcare isn’t about having universal healthcare or not. It’s not about limiting Rx costs or not. It’s not about limiting insurance increases or not. Fixing healthcare requires about 1,000 different interests that are layered to be peeled back in the right order at the right speed by the right people at the right time for the right reasons.

Fixing our education system is the same. It’s not about vouchers or teacher’s pay. It’s not about saying everyone should have equal access. It’s about changing what public education looks like so it works for those who don’t. These problems require us to rebuild foundations and acknowledge how we do something now worked in a different era so let’s rethink what works in THIS one.

One thing I’ve always been fascinated by is how we end up with the belief systems we have. Why do most liberals want gun control, free healthcare, bigger government, are against the death penalty, open borders, support higher taxes, support same-sex marriage, and I could go on. And most conservatives have the absolute opposite views almost across the board. It fascinates me how if you believe one piece on either side, you’re likely to support most, if not all that side’s beliefs naturally. The fact there is little crossover is interesting.

Or it’s a product of political parties training us for so many years to believe what they want us to. I don’t know.

But, having beliefs that straddle the political demarcation lines is fairly rare. We may have a few small things, but it’s interesting to me how and why that works. I’ve got other thoughts there, but I’ll save that.

But, regardless of what the cause there is… make sure to research opposing viewpoints and think for yourself. By parroting party discussion points and plagiarizing their lines in discussions, you’re immediately going to be ignored. At least by me. We’ll still be friends if you can conduct yourself civilly. I’m cool with people disagreeing. But if you’re using the same words and ideas someone else on TV uses hoping no one notices so you can sound smart?

I notice. And you don’t.

I have other things I can say. I’ll save them for specific conversations I know will likely happen. But this Strange Manifesto isn’t about Trump. Or Biden. Or Harris. Or Pence. Or the fly on his head.

It’s about identifying the problem and how to fix it. It’s about you. And me. And us.

It requires sacrifice, patience, and humility. And remember… Dr. Strange said that’d be the case.

These things certainly are not the American Way anymore.

Thanos was asked what it cost for him to get all six infinity stones. His answer?

“Everything.”

His was willing to allow others to pay the price for his ambitions. (There might be a Trump or Hillary joke in there…) That’s what made him evil. But are you willing to pay the price for yours? History says no.

So does the future. I have seen it.

It's Time We Hurt for Others... Our Faith Might Depend On It

Normally I'd post this either on my blog or the Seeds group... but I'm gonna put this in each place.

So if you’ve been tuned in to the ‘Christian’ scene lately, it’s hard to avoid a major shift going on that’s making Satan smile a sly grin, like someone whose plan is just now beginning to bear its rotten fruit.

Two fairly large Christian influences (Marty Sampson of Hillsong and pastor/author Josh Harris) have both come out to question their faith at best (Sampson) or renounce it altogether (Harris).

Lots have been said about these two, but just a few quick notes before reaching MY main point:

1) These two need serious prayer. Not only are under serious attack and obviously doubting their faith, but because they are both obviously very influential, those who follow these guys are in danger of being swayed themselves.

2) In the case of Sampson, he’s clarified to say he hasn’t renounced his faith but it’s on ‘incredibly shaky ground’. While I’m not really sure what that means, it tells me that while an obviously talented songwriter, his theology and Christian mentorship is severely lacking. Read his words and his clear lack of understanding regarding his faith is painfully apparent. None of this is to take shots at him. Actually, to the contrary, he’s a victim to what I’ve said for a very long time… Christians need mentors to help guide, direct, teach, disciple, and cultivate other Christians. It seems to me that in spite of all his songwriting ability and insight into the character of God, he really hasn’t been taught about the nature of God. I understand Harris’ renouncement of faith. Faith is a tough thing to hold onto sometimes in a world slobbering away at itself to take it away from us Christians. But, without obviously having a discussion with Sampson, I don’t understand how faith can be on shaky ground. Those words actually give me hope for him, in an odd way. He WANTS to have something to believe in but he’s losing his ability to see something worth believing in. While incredibly sad, that desire to WANT is encouraging. He’s seeking. He’s searching. Or at least he recognizes he WANTS to be. So if that WANT is truly there, I pray God will show someone into Sampson’s life to help him see what he’s gone blind to. Now, if he HAS lost his faith completely but is just conflicted enough to not fully admit it, then he’s in a way even more ‘lost’ than Harris. And being lost, confused, and searching is a miserable existence… whether it’s for a job, a partner, or a faith.

3) These guys won’t be the last. This world will give someone every reason to doubt faith in God when we look for the answers we want vs. the answers God provides sometimes. I have no idea why God works in mysterious ways sometimes. His ways are higher than ours, for sure. Maybe where some of us don’t understand what God is doing, someone else sees clearly what He’s done and are encouraged/blessed by it. So, we need to stop looking at the world so myopically. Our perspective isn’t absolute. God has touched us in ways that probably didn’t move the needle for others. Give God the benefit that He’s capable of moving in someone else’s life when you don’t know that He is.

4) These guys (or anyone else) renouncing their faith really doesn’t matter. It matters to them and those who love/follow them, of course. But, truth is truth regardless of who believes it. It was true before you yourself became a believer. It’s no less true should you decide to stop.

Now onto my main thought.

While very disappointing, when someone ‘loses faith’, there’s an interesting battle going on in their mind and heart. They went through a deep mindful and heartfelt process to reach a level of faith. So, to reverse that means they are still deeply going through that process… often over and over. That’s actually a good thing because if we aren’t pondering, thinking, and examining our faith, then we’re probably not taking it very seriously.

These guys do/did. They’ve just reached (or are reaching) a conclusion that their faith is unwarranted.

Without knowing their life experiences, in many ways, that is on us as Christians. We’re failing to reflect Christ so that others can see Him through us.

If we’re honest, we all face times where we question our faith. Many things give us reason to do so. Good people suffer. Bad people flourish. That abundant life we’re supposed to know often looks suspiciously depressing at times. We look for validation of our faith and when we don’t see it, we question if it’s warranted in the first place.

Maybe you don’t or never have. Share your secret because life can sometimes make you question if there’s anything good out there worth believing in at all.

But, this is where our knowledge, study, mentors, etc come in to reinforce us. That while something make have us question our faith… truth is still true, whether we buy into it or not.

I can’t imagine these two guys (or anyone) reaches a faithless conclusion easily. It has to be a gut wrenching process. And in a strange way, I admire people who go through this doubting journey. I’ve done it. Yes… most people you’d never expect have, if they’re willing to admit it. Maybe even multiple times.

Now, very often, this journey begins when we’ve let our own faith grow stale through inaction. Faith is active, folks. There may be a benchmark moment where our faith is stamped, but unless we put it to action and let God validate it, we aren’t going to see it validated in others. It’s rooted in who God is, not who man isn’t.

That said, we as Christians need to do our best to live out a living faith because we just don’t know the impact it might have now… or in the future.

I heard a story recently where a kid was saved just before 8th grade and decided to bring his Bible to school with him. Sure, he got a few funny looks but nothing miraculous happened. He never really got the opportunity to share his faith because of just that. It was just a non-event.

At the time.

Twenty-ish years later, he gets a call from a guy whose name he vaguely recognizes. The guy asks him if he could help, as he’s the only Christian he knows. “You brought your Bible to school every day, right?” A random phone call referencing a random act of faith two decades ago turned into a man who accepted Christ over a phone call. His marriage was in shambles and he just needed to reach out to SOMEONE for help. A bit later, the wife called him and asked what he told her husband, because he’s a different guy. Another phone call, another soul brought to Christ. All because of a faithful act twenty-ish years ago that felt like it didn’t matter.

The guy’s name is Ketric Newell if you want to Google him and ask him more about the story. (He was our camp pastor a few weeks ago).

But that stuck with me. But, in the same vein… is it possible some of the things we do to screw up our faith might also have a lasting impact to someone years later? That’s probably fair to assume. We need to be careful both ways.

I think maybe when people go through trials of faith-questioning… it’s indicative of a deeper heart and soul that probably ends with a certain level of depression and sadness. Honestly, and this is the main point I’ve been working toward, I think as Christians should spend more time depressed and sad than we do.

And coming from a guy who suffers from depression, that’s a big statement. One I’ll write about another time.

But, for our faith in Christ to matter as it relates to bringing other people to Christ, our hearts must hurt for them. We must care for them. And to care for others means to be vulnerable to how things currently are for them. If God’s heart hurts because people are lost, then ours should to.

I’m NOT talking about clinical depression in any way, shape, or form.

But we need to take our faith seriously enough to be bothered by the state of the world. And that ‘state of the world’ really equates to the state of people’s hearts. Lots of bad things happen and as Christians we should hurt for people. Not superficially but genuinely. The world (people’s hearts) aren’t going to buy superficial concern. They’re going to respond to authenticity and genuine care.

Harris and Sampson, for all their issues and doubts, are at least deep enough in their own thoughts and hearts to ask questions. They dove deeper into a well they found empty. That’s incredibly sad. Problem is, they dove into a well looking for something that is there but they just can’t see it.

That inability defines our failure as a Christian community as a whole. Don’t let it define your circle of influence.

I think to take anything seriously, we think and ponder upon it. If you like photography, you think about different angles, exposures, or ways to get a cool shot. If you take your job seriously, you spend time thinking how you can improve yourself, a project, or how to get more out of others. Why would our faith be any different? If we take our faith seriously, shouldn’t we examine our faith in light of what’s going on around us? If we don’t take the time and effort to ponder our faith, is it really real to us?

Now, if you start coming back with answers that may diminish your faith, talk to someone. Express your concerns, doubts, and thoughts. If you take it seriously enough to question it, take it seriously enough to allow others to show us a perspective we hadn’t considered ourselves.

That right there is where I’m guessing Harris and Sampson might have failed. Not only were they possible not mentored early in their faith journey, but they didn’t seek to reinforce a loss of perspective. And by leaving that door open, that created just the opportunity for the King of Liars to do his thing.

So, instead of looking on with disgust when someone ‘loses their faith’, pray for them and pray for reinforcement of your own faith so that you don’t ever reach the conclusion they did.

But don’t be afraid to hurt for others. Don’t be afraid to be sad that people you know aren’t saved. We SHOULD hurt for them. God does.

*I didn’t post links to stories regarding them, but Googling Josh Harris or Marty Sampson will bring you to plenty of coverage regarding all this.*

Blue Pill, Red Pill... What Is Fake and What Is Real?

“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.” – Thomas Jefferson

Occasionally you encounter wisdom that just strikes at your core, and this one did.

Life is a journey we all experience at our own pace but at the same speed. It presses forward with or without our approval. And part of that journey is discovering who we are and comparing it against who we were and who we want to be.

If hindsight is 20/20, it’s easy to tell who we were. We can clearly look back and assign ourselves a grade on who we used to be. Sometimes it’s depressing to do that, one way or another. You can either be sad you weren’t better… or you can be sad you USED to be better. Or, for these same reasons, this can be pleasant. But, looking back is easy.

It’s even easier to imagine who we want to be because we get to make up whatever perfection we can and pretend that will be us one day. We can envision the best attributes of ourselves at their peak performance and how that can create a utopian self. This process balls up all our best intentions and brings them to fruition. Where can you be in 5 years? Well, after a better diet, consistent gym time, more time serving others, etc… this fabricated future self is as easy to imagine as what we might do if we won the lottery. It can be kinda fun too. But, deep down, we realize it’s unlikely, especially if we aren’t taking steps to get us there. But best case scenarios and good intentions create the future us we love to think about!

The hard part is, in the moment, figuring out who you ARE. This is where our flaws smack us in the face like a door too heavy to stop. Today is where we pay for the regrets of our past. In some cases, it’s where the fruits of our efforts are already tasting sweet. But today is fleeting. Our present is immediately our past. We are beings of an ever dwindling future and ever growing past. The present just doesn’t last.

We WANT to be one thing. We used to be another. But, where in the timeline of our lives do we fall today, right now?

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” The running joke is that most adults are still asking themselves that at age 40, 45, 50 and beyond. But, it’s a joke born from truth. Most of us don’t know. We’re scrambling through life hoping to make it through the best we can. We react to life. But don’t really know how to make it what we want because we don’t know how to make US what we want.

And we don’t know how to do that because often, we are searching for who we really are at any given moment. It’s elusive. What happens later today can fundamentally alter who we’ll be tomorrow, so how do you nail down the person you are currently?

Thomas Jefferson was a wise man. Read those words again.

“Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.”

In much less wise ‘Sammy-speak’… We are what we do.

I’m purposely keeping a faith-centric angle out of this because that changes (and often enhances) the dynamic I’m talking about. It most definitely comes into play, but only to the extent you believe in it. If you don’t, this journey and Jefferson-wisdom still rings true.

We are what we do.

Wanna know who you are? What do your actions say? Not your words. Words are intentions. Words are empty. Words reflect what we think. Words may reflect what’s in our hearts. But words don’t get things done. Sometimes action stems from speaking it first… but without action, words just occupy the air, polluting our hopes of what we wish vs what we are.

Do you consider yourself a caring person? What recent actions demonstrate that? Or was that all in the past?

Do you consider yourself a faithful person? How have you helped anyone else lately?

Do you think you’re a person of integrity? Are you willing to show someone your browser history?

When you’re searching for who you are… and we all do that from time to time… the first place to look is what do your actions say? Sometimes that can be a painful realization. Sometimes it can validate what we hope. But it’s essential to self-awareness. If you’re unwilling to examine yourself at this level,  you’re unwilling to know yourself. You’re content to play pretend. It’s The Matrix. Are you willing to take the red pill to learn the truth? Or are you satisfied with what is fake, letting the blue pill keep you in oblivion?

Self-awareness can be tough. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart, as it forces you away from the ‘ignorance is bliss’ dynamic of life. It’s certainly simpler to live in a blue-pill world.

But at our core, I think we ALL come to a point where we’re compelled to take that red pill and examine who we are. It can be uncomfortable. Or it can validate what we’d hoped.

Ultimately, our actions define us. We control our future by our current actions. But, in this slice of time, you are what you are doing. Or not doing.

I love to read. Or better put, I love to accumulate books that interest me that I tell myself I’m going to read but rarely do.

I intend to read them. I want to read them. Heck, I spent money because I think the growing library (not an exaggeration) will benefit me somehow. But, at the end of the day, if I’m not reading them... do I really love to read? Or did I just used to?

What I’m interested in doing is a far cry from what I AM doing.

If you’re reading this and are in the process of self-search, start there and work outward. The process of changing our actions is an entirely different topic. One probably meant for someone else to write… at least at the moment.

Define yourself by your actions, not your intentions.

As I tell my daughter when I tell her to clean her room and she says, “I will...” or “I am…”

Don’t tell me what you’re doing. Show me what you’ve done.

Everything else is just words.

Less Tolerance, More Hate I Tell You!

I saw someone post recently about a crappy situation and someone said in the comments they “aren’t supposed to hate, so I don’t like.........”

This comment was very benign and from someone I admire. It just got me thinking… (oh Lordy, watch out!)

 

We live in such an ironic world where hatred is hatred is taboo. It’s a good sentiment but in reality, if the world had more hatred in it, we’d be better off.

 

Stick with me.

 

To hate the right things means you’re opening room to love the right things. Problem is… our world more and more hates what is right in deference to what is evil. The yin-yang has now become a yang-yin. We’re backwards.

 

Hate is not a bad word when directed where it should. In that respect, it’s much like a gun (which, similarly, many don’t seem to understand that as well). It’s a powerful and useful tool with a specific purpose meant to keep people safe. But, when used inappropriately, can cause unspeakable damage and pain.

 

God, Jehovah, hated.

The God of Love… Love Incarnate… hated. Don’t let people tell you otherwise.

 

He just never hated his own creation… people. And this is another fundamental example of how ungodlike we are. We sure don’t love like God does, but don’t even know how to hate correctly.

 

What does God hate?

 

Proverbs 6:16-19

There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

 

Proverbs 8:13

To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I (God) hate pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth.

 

Proverbs 21:27

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to God; how much more when he brings it with a wicked mind?

 

Proverbs 3:31-32
Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways. For the devious are an abomination to the LORD; But He is intimate with the upright.

 

Proverbs 3:6-7
Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right,  for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception.

 

Proverbs 11:1
A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but a just weight is His delight.

 

Proverbs 11:20

Those with twisted minds are detestable to the LORD, but those with blameless conduct are His delight.

 

Proverbs 12:22
Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but faithful people are His delight.

 

Proverbs 15:8-9
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but He loves him who pursues righteousness.

 

Proverbs 15:26
Evil plans are an abomination to the LORD, But pleasant words are pure.

 

Proverbs 16:4-5
The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

 

Proverbs 16:12
It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts, for a throne is established on righteousness.

 

Proverbs 17:15
He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.

 

Proverbs 20:10
Differing weights and differing measures, both of them are abominable to the LORD.

 

Proverbs 21:12
The righteous wisely considers the house of the wicked, but God overthrows the wicked for their wickedness.

 

Proverbs 20:23
Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD, and a false scale is not good.

 

Proverbs 28:9-10
He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, even his prayer is an abomination. Whoever causes the righteous man to go astray in an evil way, he himself shall fall into his own pit, but the upright shall inherit good.

 

Proverbs 29:27
An unjust man is detestable to the righteous, and one whose way is upright is detestable to the wicked.

 

And these are just from one book of the Bible… It’s not an exhaustive list.

 

Hatred has become a taboo word because it is synonymous with people… and not sin. And in this PC world, the last thing we want to be accused of is hatred. It’s a brand no one wants. A label everyone fears. Heck, the branding of hatred has twisted the minds of many Christians and hushed them into a corner, fearing the vitriol for speaking their minds for being intolerant, sometimes even from other Christians. (It’s happened to me…)

(Newsflash: Christianity is NOT a tolerant faith. Those who tell you otherwise don’t understand it. Tolerance and love are very different. Sin cannot be tolerated. The person can (and should) be loved. But the world doesn’t even know what love is anymore. They tie it to tolerance when in fact, it is very often quite the opposite).

 

And that parenthetical statement is the core of the problem… if you don’t tolerate something, you’re a ‘hater’. But when society tells you what to tolerate, by definition you’ve taken your eyes (and heart) off what God says. What society says to hate, ALMOST by definition contradicts what God tells us to hate. And what’s even sadder, is that there are some really good people who have it wrong.

 

This is the ultimate dilemma of our time as Christians…living in a world that has twisted tolerance and hatred, truth and falsehood, righteousness and sin, love and acceptance.

 

What one generation tolerates, the next embraces. And when it comes to sin, tolerance is the slippery slope and the exact reason our world keeps continues tumbling down that slope, picking up speed. 

So the Cliff’s Notes version of all this? God hates sin. This world has put sin and tolerance on a pedestal.  Kick that pedestal over with love and the hatred of things God hates.

 

And I’ve said before, this twisting is filtering down into the minds of young Christians. Most seem more concerned with what the world thinks than what God says because if they don’t, they are ‘haters’. It’s the scarlet letter of our time. And young people will do everything they can to run from the label. They’ve been indoctrinated into a society teaching us to value man’s opinion more than God’s. Be mindful if you’ve fallen into that trap. We all have and we all do. The only way out is to first recognize it. 

 

It’s always been that way of course. That’s humanity. But, never in human history has there been the ability to inflict so much immediate scorn than we do now. Welcome to the social media age.

 

This world rebels against Godly truth. And the truth is God hates evil. And He defines evil in many different ways. But, when that definition steps on our toes, we reject it as outdated, intolerant, misinterpreted, and extreme. We refuse to admit it for what it really is. We know we aren’t perfect, but too often we refuse to admit where we really ARE imperfect. We only want to admit the things we are willing to change… and it’s often the things we AREN’T willing to admit that holds us back.

 

We have an extreme faith. But God has extreme love.

 

I’ve talked about Christian love before, but the one thing it’s not is tolerant of sin. It can’t be. And once you tell someone what they’re doing is wrong (sinful), natural instinct and defense mechanisms unleash.

The first is usually pointing out how imperfect YOU are when you mention something. If they have any Biblical knowledge, they’ll spout some version of Matthew 7:5 (cast out the plank in your own eye before talking to someone else about their own sin), probably not aware of Colossians 3:16, which tells us to admonish each other in love. (But if you can’t comprehend what ‘in love’ really means, of course that verse gets ignored!)

 

Yes, there’s some context missing in all this, but good grief, this is a blog, not a dissertation. 

 

The point is, when we get offended, we lash out. It takes a Godly maturity not to do so… and this world is full of ungodly people and Christian babies.

 

Which brings me to the next generation(s). We’ve built them a world and society that tells them to hate and love the wrong things. But what’s even sadder… they may have no choice in order to function in the future world. It will take the brave, hard-core grounded, steadfastly faithful to keep a Godly view and not a tolerant, worldly one. And by brave, I mean people who are willing to suffer a bit for their faith when success and prosperity might be on the flip side.

 

Fellow Christians… don’t examine the Bible based on what you want it to say. It’s God’s Word, not yours.

Be self-aware enough to know God’s Word is true even when it hurts our sensibilities and feelings. If something in there offends you, don’t hate it. Examine why. Change your mindset and heart to His. Embrace the lesson and understand the end goal is to make God’s will and God’s truth our own… not the other way around.

 

Hate sin. Recognize it and don’t tolerate it in yourself. Don’t tolerate in those you love. Don’t tolerate it in society. Fight (in love) for what is right.

Love people. Build relationships with them so they know your views on what is sin isn’t from self-righteousness, but out of Godly love.

 

Less tolerance. More hatred.

 

Love yourself enough to be self-aware enough to find your own sin. If we as Christians would tolerate less sin in our own lives, the world would start seeing the sin in theirs. But, when they see us as Christians not caring about it, why on Earth or Heaven should they?

 

The problem with hatred today is society is so twisted, it hates what is good and loves what is sinful.

 

Don’t be ashamed to hate. Just make sure to hate what needs hating.

March on!

So there are walk-outs happening throughout our schools across the country. But for what?

Gun control? Not really, but for some, probably.

Stopping gun violence? Kinda, yeah.

To find an excuse to skip class? For some, definitely.

I won’t rehash what I wrote a couple weeks ago about how change is coming and this is the generation at the forefront of it. But, regarding these walk-outs, I’m fascinated by some of the opinions I see.

But most all of them I’ve seen are from adults. Who don’t go to school.

I’ve seen some teachers chime in with good points on all sides of the issue.

But, of those who think these walk-outs are stupid and pointless, I find it interesting they are all from adults. I’m sure there are some kids who do as well. I’m not dumb enough to think I’ve seen the entire gamut of opinions here. But, as adults, we’ve conditioned ourselves to think we know better, so we just shut down and ignore the voice of the young. And if history has proven one thing, it’s marginalized voices eventually get fed up and force themselves to be heard.

What does it accomplish? Sometimes nothing. Sometimes something.

But it reminds me of a verse I learned in Jr. High from Benny Proffitt. (Some of you may know him/of him).

1 Timothy 4:12: Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

For this ‘movement’ to gain traction, I do believe it has to be rooted in good speech, good conduct, love, faith and purity.

But, just because someone is young, doesn’t mean they are always wrong at the expense of adult opinion.

It may change nothing, but who are we to stomp out their voice and flame? Maybe part of the problem we created in the world they live in was because we never acted on our convictions when WE were young. We keep saying the world is getting worse and worse… why snuff out their desire to make it better before life proves they can’t? It goes beyond the issue at hand. It’s a concept. Gun violence in schools is just the backdrop to a larger discussion and movement of having their voices heard and respected.

Who are we to deny them developing a voice. Our might have been snuffed out when we were younger and the only thing that changed as we grew up is this world got more messed up. Maybe this next generation will screw things up even worse. But we can’t pray for change and then knock the podium away from those willing to speak toward change. We can’t be saying the children are the future then deny them the right to make it theirs. Children are the future. But it’s their future. We had our chance and our present is the future we made for ourselves back then. They deserve the right to create their future-turned-present.

Most of the fear of ‘their future’ stems from our fear of what that future will be. That’s why they need adult guidance. There’s a fire in youth that usually gets snuffed by the adulting world. Let them embrace what youth really can do before adulthood grips them and doesn’t let go.

Bills. Responsibilities. Jobs. Dumb Presidents.

All these things and more eventually weigh down and turn our youth into adulthood. By then, it’s usually too late. That fire has to be harnessed and controlled… and guided. If it’s just chaotic, then it’s our fault for allowing it. But, you can either be scared of that fire and put it out or turn it the direction it should go and watch it burn what needs burning and spare what needs sparing. Because when they become adults, that fire will probably burn less hot too. But if we teach them by our actions now that their voice doesn’t matter… if we water down their fire out of fear, then that’s our problem that we are shoving down their throats.

 

We may have done that with the national debt. We don’t need to do it in every other way too.

Don’t be scared of change… step up and in to help guide it.

Recapture some of the fire YOU had when you were young and didn’t know what you know now about life.

If you’re worried (or just carry the opinion) that this will do nothing or these kids are just getting out of class, etc… then look for ways to educate them on the issue. They are a captive audience. They may initially reject it… but who can blame them? All they see from most adults is people telling them to shut up and sit down. But, once they trust you, they’ll be sponges to trusted guidance.

Some won’t. Obviously. Some are knuckleheads. But, there’s enough sincerity in the cause to make plenty of noise. Noise that can turn into coherent sound and a true voice if it’s guided appropriately.

Will the walk-outs themselves accomplish anything? Probably not. But it lets those in power know they deserve a seat at the table we set for them.

It doesn’t mean they control the conversation… or outcomes. It teaches them what they can and can’t control, actually. But, at minimum, it’s a lesson in what it really takes to enact meaningful change and at most, actual change for the better will happen.

If we are raising them to be good adults, we can’t say something must change and then deny those most impacted a voice.

That’s not good adulting.