Twice my high school made the local news. Once as a suburban school with a clean reputation and a kid in a coma after another student punched him and his head smacked the asphalt. It happened again during lunch outside of Burger King. Ethnic tension turned into a stabbing and the news media descended once again on West Bloomfield High. But guns, shootings? It’s something I’ve always reserved for TV and video games. But the evening news is beginning to sound more and more like the last action flick I saw. I can’t help but ask why, and look for an answer. But as I gaze into the depths of humanity, I realize our answer goes much deeper than gun control and child safety locks. What happened to the love of Jesus? Is it somehow possible that this generation has not effectively seen the life changing love we have to offer? Perhaps Christ’s love wouldn’t change things, but maybe it would. Maybe the neighbor of that 6-year-old boy never took the time. I can’t help but wonder if I’m not taking the time. Maybe too many people passed that Pittsburgh man by, and his heart grew angry and callused. I can’t help but wonder who I let pass by. Some are calling for legislation, but I wonder if love is what we really need.

Ah, Valentine’s Day. The token holiday for a forgotten saint celebrated with naked babies with wings and arrows, inflated floral prices, and candy hearts expressing sentiments of affection. You might expect that me, being an engaged young man, would thoroughly enjoy the romantic possibilities of such a day. However, I have some news for the single men and women out there who are continually put out by the mid-February holiday of love: I could care less. Valentine’s Day is an excuse for couples to be romantic. The one time a year when a man is forced to be charming and thoughtful. Certainly a good ideal to work towards, but I think the goal would be achieved much more successfully if there was no such day and a man was left to express his love on his own terms at his own time.

Continue reading Deconstructing Valentine’s Day →

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matthew 5:33-37 NIV)

Maybe I’m just stupid, but I’ve never really understood this passage before. I’ve always read it and thought about oaths. I thought it meant when you promise to do something don’t swear by heaven that you’ll do it. I always concentrated on the oath part and never on what you were actually doing. Jesus was talking about being truthful. Don’t swear to God that you’ll never beat up on your sister again. Just don’t beat up on your sister. Don’t make all these triumphant claims appealing to God about what you will or won’t do. Just do or do not do them. It’s that simple. It’s an integrity issue. And all this time I thought it was about saying ‘no’ instead of ‘hell, no.’

A thousand questions and realities, ways of seeing the world, yet you are guided by just one. Not only are you narrow sighted, you push your one dimensional God on every generation. Why do you smother imagination, extinguish creativity, and exhaust my patience? All I can do is throw up my hands and leave it to a higher power. A higher power that you’ve categorized, idealized, and squeezed every last drop of life. What can you possibly have left to offer? Isn’t the world a bigger place? Don’t the horizons go into infinity, the stars innumerable. But you won’t have it. You cling to every letter, every word, no room for reason, no room for creativity, no room for dissent. You clip our wings before we can fall and learn to fly, you stunt our growth, stunt our faith, and make it impossible for us to ever soar with wings as eagles. Instead we will peck along the ground and you’ll see to it that we never wonder why.

Have you ever been completely infuriated at people’s stubbornness? They so want to see things their way so badly that they ignore the obvious. They’re blinded by their own stubbornness. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the blind one. I’m probably opening a can of worms here, but I think it’s time to pop the lid. Christians have a serious problem dealing with this world. By “world” I don’t mean the people in this world. That’s another issue. By world I mean environment. Christians have a very hard time dealing with the environment we live in and how we’re supposed to interact with that environment.

Continue reading People’s Stubbornness →

Your mother tells you not to cross the street. An elderly neighbor across the street tumbles to the ground, and desperately needs help. Although you’re only seven, you’re the only person around. Do you disobey your mother, and cross the street to help the old person. Or do you obey your mother and let the old person struggle to get up?

Do you follow the letter of the law, or the spirit? Your mother most likely told you not to cross the street out of concern for your safety. You’re usually too excited to look both ways, and she doesn’t want you to get run over. At the same time, your mother has also taught you to be kind to others, and to help you neighbors.

Scenario 1: You wave at the old man, explaining that you’re not allowed to cross the street. The old man curses and fumbles around for twenty minutes before finally getting to his feet.

Scenario 2: You look both ways and carefully cross the street and help your neighbor to his feet. He kindly thanks you and smiles as you skip back across the street.

I still don’t quite understand Christmas. We run around the malls, scouring the stores looking for the perfect gift for everyone on our list. Half the time we get them something they really don’t need, sometimes something they don’t even want. And half the time we do it out of a sense of duty. It just doesn’t seem right.

When I was a little kid Christmas was always the best time of the year, because from Christmas morning on, the world seemed different. I had a whole new set of toys to play with. Nothing would be the same again. As I grew up, this feeling came less and less, as I realized that receiving toys and gifts isn’t a life changing event. In essence, I was greedily looking forward to the new toys I could play with, never quite content with what I had.

I can’t help but wonder how much of this stuff we really need. How many of this year’s presents will be collecting dust in the basement in a few years? This year’s fad, next year’s garage sale item. Isn’t my desk cluttered with enough stuff? Sometimes I just have to wonder.

A yard full of bright flashy lights, hollow plastic characters, and more Christmas kitsch than anyone could ever handle. I saw the house from the freeway, and just had to drive by. Messages were spelled out in lights. Santa could be seen in six different places. Some gingerbread men were playing on the seesaw. Reindeer, snowmen, elves, candy canes and more. A wreath at the top of the house kept flashing “Happy Birthday Jesus.” The front yard was lit up like the inside of their house. As we drove by several cars pulled over and their joyful occupants flooded the street for a better view. I drove away shaking my head.

Continue reading The Haze of Christmas Lights →

People say as you grow up you get smarter. Sometimes I think you get dumber.