Sorry everybody.

Open Letter of Apology to The World

Please bear with me, this is long overdue and there's lots of ground
to cover. I want to make sure that I get it all out. Not just for me,
but because I think you need to hear it. Maybe there are other
Christians out there as well that need to make apologies and will find
courage here. I appreciate your time, I know it's valuable.

Dear Members of the World,
I'm just a guy, nobody really. Son of a preacher. Years
and years of Vacation Bible Schools, summer camps, youth ski trips,
puppet shows - you name it. I'm not a bad
guy, I've been mostly behaving myself and everybody seems to like me.
I do some good stuff here and there.

But lately I've been trying to understand Jesus more and stuff I never
noticed before has really started to bug me. I've been taking a look
around and I'm having a hard time making sense of what it is we've
built here. So, it just seemed like, whether anybody else says it or
not, I need to take responsibility for the part I played and say what
I have to say.

Here we go ...

I know you think that Christians are a big bunch of hypocrites. We say
we're more "religious" and we're going to heaven and you're not, and
then we drive our big shiny cars with little fishies on the trunk and
cut you off in traffic as we race by the homeless guy on the corner.
We average just 2% of our money to church and charity, despite that we
say the Bible is the word of God and it says we're supposed to give
everything. On average, we buy just as many big screen TVs and bass
boats and fur coats and makeup and baseball cards and online porn as
anybody else. Maybe more. You've seen leader after leader end up in
jail or court or a sex scandal of one sort or another.

Well ... you're right. We're guilty of all of it. We've done it all.
And, I'm really sorry.

You see our cheesy TV shows and slick guys begging for money and you
get that there's something seriously sneaky and wrong here. A high-
pressure call for money so they can stay on the air? Were we supposed
to use Jesus as just another form of entertainment? Who do we think
we're kidding? Where's Jesus in all this? Aren't we supposed to rely
on him? Isn't He going to meet our needs if we're inside His will?

What happened to sacrifice and suffering and helping the poor? I'm
just sick about this. I mean, the church leaders, they're not all bad
guys, there are lots and lots of really hard-working well-meaning
folks who love and care and are meeting real needs in the community.
Some of them understand and love Jesus - but I'm just real sure those
pastors don't drive Bentley's, have multi-million dollar homes and
their own lear jets! I mean, what "god" are we worshipping? Money?
Ego? Power?

You see our massive shiny new buildings all over the place. Heck,
maybe we even kicked you out of your house so we could expand our
parking lots. You can't figure out why we need four different
Christian churches on four corners of the same intersection. We've got
playgrounds and bowling alleys and basketball leagues. We've got
Starbucks coffee in the sanctuary. We've got orchestras and giant
chandeliers and fountains out front. We've got bookstores full of
"jesus junk" with every imaginable style and flavor of religious knick-
knack. But where's Jesus? Is this what HE wanted?

Oh, sure, there are good folks all over and not every church is such a
mess, but Christians are the ones that say we're supposed to be "One
Body." So even the good ones are guilty of not putting a stop to it
sooner. We were supposed to keep each other in line and not tolerate
factions and dissensions and greed and idolatry and all this other bad
stuff. Man, we really blew it! We've got 33,000 denominations and most
of them won't talk to the other ones. We lose over $5 million a day to
fraud from "trusted" people inside the church! We spend 95% of all our
money on our own comforts and programs and happy family fun time shows
and we let 250 MILLION Christians in other countries live on the very
edge of starvation. Not to mention the billion or so that have never
even once heard of Jesus - or the homeless guy downtown we almost ran
over when we cut you off.

We're as guilty as we can be. All of us. Nobody is exempt. We should
have put a stop to it a lot sooner. But I can't apologize on behalf of
anyone else. This is about me.

I know that you might have gone to church as a kid and stopped going
as soon as you could. I know that you might even have been abused by
somebody in the church! Maybe we got you all fired up and then just
let you drift off like we didn't really care. Maybe you just don't fit
our "profile." You might have piercings and purple hair or tattoos or
been in jail -- and somewhere inside you just know that even if you
wanted to go to church one Sunday, it would not go well. I'm sorry for
that. Jesus loves you. He always hung out with the most unexpected
people. He had the biggest heart for the folks everybody else tried to
ignore. What have we done? We've told you to put on a sweater and some
loafers or you can't go to heaven. I just want to throw up.

Look, I know you're mad. And you have a right to be. We've done you
wrong for a LONG time now. There's some things about Jesus that people
need to hear, but we've buried a beautiful masterpiece under hundreds
of layers of soft pink latex paint. If you have a Bible handy, look up
Matthew 23. (If you don't, you can look it up here - www.BibleGateway.com
.) Find it? Read it carefully, the Pharisees were the "religious"
people of the day, the leaders of the faith. In this chapter Jesus
SEVEN times says how pitiful and wretched and cursed they are for what
they're doing to the people they're supposed to be leading. He even
calls them "white washed tombs of dead mens bones" and a "brood of
vipers"! I don't have time here, but read it and see if we're not
doing EVERY single one of those things. Jesus can't possibly be happy
about what we've done to you.

Sure, we like to kid ourselves and pretend everything is OK - but it's
not. We're hated. Now, please understand, Jesus was hated, too. But
that was because he said hard things and sometimes people don't like
hearing the Truth. And he promised we would be hated if we were like
him. But that's not why we're hated at the moment. We're hated right
now because we're a giant pack of lying hypocrites that say one thing
and do something else altogether. If we were hated because we were
like Jesus, that would be one thing, but that's not it at all. You see
right through our happy music and fluffy services and you can tell
there's something desperately wrong here. We're no different than
anybody else - except that we say we're better than you.

It was never supposed to be like this. Jesus asked us to care for the
widows and orphans, to feed the hungry, care for the sick, visit those
in prison, reach the lost. He wanted us to love our enemies and pray
for them. He cared about human justice and suffering, the lost and
lonely. But I don't think He would have marched on a picket line - He
had His mind on much bigger problems. He wanted us to focus on the
eternal things, not the everyday. He never once said to go into all
the world and build big buildings and divide up into factions and buy
Bentleys. Just the opposite! I get that you're mad at us and I think
you have a right to be, but please understand, you're mad at what
we've made under our own power, you're mad at "Churchianity." That's
different than Christ and what he wanted. Don't be mad at Jesus! This
mess wasn't His idea!

Look, I'm really sorry. I accept responsibility for my part in having
hurt you. But I'm committing to you all, dear Members of the World,
that I'm not going to do it any more. Not a single penny more. I'm not
going to put my faith in "Churchianity" or any leader or program or TV
show -- but in Christ Jesus and His salvation. That's when I was set
free and began to see that God wants and expects more of us than this.
And I'm not helping anybody that's not fully committed to the same
thing.

It took centuries to build this monster, so it's not like it's going
to just turn around overnight. But the times are changing and we're
way overdue for something new. Big bad things are happening - like the
tsunami in Asia - and I think more are coming. I don't want any more
time to go by without having said this. I'm sorry for all the time and
money I've wasted. But Jesus saves. Really. The church itself isn't
even the point. Jesus is the real deal. He lived and He died for my
sins and He rose again. He is who He said He was and He cares about me
- and you. He's our only hope. We need places you can go that will
only teach Jesus and will not be swayed or tempted or distracted by
anything else. God willing, that's coming.

Please don't think all Christians are just posers. Some of them really
mean it when they say they belong to Christ. The problem is mostly in
the West where we're all comfy and complacent and seem to like it that
way. The Christians in China and other places are deadly serious.
There's no room for anything but Jesus when you're on the run from the
government. They are dying every day for their faith and doing crazy
hard things because they're absolutely committed to Christ. These are
martyrs. People willing to crucify little pieces of themselves every
day to be more like Christ. People willing to set aside everything
they want to do what Christ wants. People willing to rot in prison or
take a beating or die if that's what it's going to take. People that
act in pure love and never back down. I'm not worthy to tie their
shoes. And there are some like that here, too, and I hope we can get a
lot more people to start living that way. It's way overdue.

If you're talking to someone and they tell you they're a Christian,
ask them if they're the kind of Christian that really means it all the
time or the kind that just means it on Sunday. The Bible says we'll
know them by their "fruits" - by the faith and purity and love in
their deeds and words. When you find one that proves Christ is in them
by how much they love you, ask them to tell you all about Jesus. If
you know one of those fearless martyrs that speaks nothing but pure,
clean, hard Truth - ask lots of questions. Truth is a lot more rare
than you would think. But don't settle for soft, fluffy and
comfortable anymore - that's not in the Bible.

As for me and my house, we're really sorry. From now on, we're going
to serve the Lord, not "Churchianity." We're going to try to call
together as many of those martyrs as we can and start doing what
Christ wanted. If I run into you someday, please give me a chance to
shake your hand and apologize in person. I'm going to try harder from
now on, I promise. I think there are lots of others feeling the same
way, so don't be surprised if you start hearing stuff like this more
often.

Hey hey hey!

It's been some crazy kind of spring this year! With all the people from out of state coming to our house, and all of the people that live in the state that come regularly, it's been really whacked-out! And now I'm sick. Sinus infection, big time!
:(
I hate it. Really really hate it.

On a big time positive side, I'm car shopping online, and I found a totally awesome one. Unfortunately, blogger is being retarded, so even if I really really really wanted to show you guys what it looked like, I couldn't. I just couldn't.

I got this from Brant. He's pretty much a genius...

If Jesus Had a Blog...

Most people that I know read my blog read Brant's blog too, so this will probably just be a re-read for most of you. But, with any luck, maybe someone who doesn't read Brant's blog reads my blog, and will see this post.

We FINALLY got an internet cafe in Galilee. The ESSENES have DSL, and we're just getting dial-up. That should tell you something!

Anyway, I was hanging out with some religious leaders. They got on my case for not keeping their Favorite Rules (apparently, you HAVE to wash up before dinner, in accordance with scripture.) I told them religious leaders love to have rules to make everyone else feel inadequate. They "tithe", and stuff, but my Father doesn't care, because He's all about people having hearts for mercy, and justice, not the tithing rule.

Didn't fly very well. :0

Posted 12:36 p.m. in Category "Stuff I Was Talking About in Aramaic Today but Now I'm Typing in English"

12 Comments

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COMMENTS

Jesus, love ya, but I think you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater again, here. There's nothing wrong with tithing, there's a lot of scriptural precedent for it.

I "get" where you're coming from, a lot of the time, but this is a little too simplistic. I encourage you to continue to learn and study.

-- karifish777

I normally don't comment, but I had to come out of lurking here.

"karifish" is right, Jesus. It's easy to criticize and critique, but how exactly do we measure "mercy" and "justice"?

Maybe pray about this and talk to your pastor about it. Oh -- I forgot -- you don't HAVE a pastor! (I still remember that "brood of vipers" entry...)

-- chapterboy21

J -- I usually love your blog, and I appreciate the need for "love", here, but you're basically saying (am I clear on this) that it doesn't matter if I give money or not?

You go off on these guys, but they're following their convictions. I appreciate your emphasis on having a heart for mercy, but that's not the only issue. We need people to DO things that show their hearts, and tithing is part of that. I'm glad I tithe.

My dad is a pastor, and I showed him your blog. He said (no offense) you've probably got a thing with authority. Anyway, I don't think you do, but you tend to over-simplify things.

-- buckeyesgo02

Dude, what are you smoking?

Honestly I love some of the funny stuff you post here (that cartoon of Herod was over-the-top, though) but this is just wrong, I'm sorry. You are too reactionary against religious authority. God put those authorities in your life. Look it up in the Bible, the Word of God. (I know, I know, I caught your post about how YOU are the word. Didn't care for that, either.)

-- quiettimephil

OMG. I *love* this.

THANK YOU for posting this. I have felt like a loser for so long, like I can't keep up with all the rules and everything my church is asking me to do and I feel like a failure as a single mom. And you're saying you just want to see me love people!

I'm crying. Thank you.

-- karen83

J-Train -- Love the blog. Keep it comin' brother!

You do seem to lump all religious leaders together. I appreciate your point, but the fact is, there are LOTS of great religious leaders out there. You've got a little 'tude going on there, and you speak in big, blanket statements.

Yes, our religious system is messed. But we don't need to trash it. We need to reform it. Blasting our leaders doesn't help. We NEED great religious leaders. I just wish you'd acknowledge that.

Anyway, just a thought from a brother.

-- agape4U

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-- yourmedsnow2323434

I linked to your blog from your woodworking site. I had ordered a new wood pulpit, but now I'm going to cancel, now that I can see where your head is with regard to religious leaders and our system.

To be honest, I'm surprised you have a public platform in Christian ministry, and that you're still allowed to do it. I wonder if your audiences knew what you really thought...would you still have a job?

-- preachtheword9021

Yeah, let's all stop tithing. Let's stop obeying all the rules. There won't be any pastors, and we won't be able to pay the bills for our churches. Nice.

While I'm at it, I'll quit as worship pastor and give all my money to the poor. Why don't you quit ripping on everything and tell us how church government is SUPPOSED to work? You never detail that, you just rip, rip, rip.

-- jesusfreak777

Dude -- This story is CLASSIC.

This is why I try to link everyone to your blog. In fact, my church-planting site is all about trying to get people to believe what you're saying. You RULE, man.

I'm so totally with you on the establishment, too. The weird thing: Almost as soon as I get a new group of Jesus-blog-followers going, and then I try to recognize the mature SERVANTS among them, they all start ranking themselves, and jostling for position and attention. Unbe-freaking-lievable.

I write letters to them, telling them to quit putting rules on people, and then they make rules out of my letters. Hellooooo?

Anyway, I used to be one of those guys putting rules on people, trying to make things complex. Swet gig, that. THANKS -- seriously -- for putting me out of THAT job.

-- saul_call_me_paul23

Love the blog. I think you way over-simplify, and I don't think you're right on all this stuff. But if you are, I just wasted three years in seminary.

-- lutherules99192

i don't understand the tithe thing but i like yourblog and i read the thing about how kids rule and i liked that a lot

i like the little yellow flowers U made UR AWSOME

-- horsegirl1999

Wow, I didn't even have to ask nicely.

About two days earlier, facebook disabled my account, claiming I was "spamming." So I sent them an e-mail. It was far from polite, and I don't think anyone there really enjoyed reading it, but they didn't seem to mind. (Well, for one, I'm surprised they even read it.) Anyway, they reactivated my account after reading about my situation with sending messages. So it's cool now, I guess. But still, I didn't even have to ask nicely, I thought for sure they'd hate me for that e-mail, but instead they did me a favor.

Thanks, geniuses!

Geniuses, I tell ya, geniuses!

I'm talking about the geniuses who run the internet social utility called "facebook."
They are absolute geniuses. Because they know how to cut you off in a conversation with a friend that you can't see every day, and you have to use facebook to talk to them. If you want to keep your facebook account, don't send messages back to your friends, because if you do, they'll disable your account. and say you were "spamming."
What I don't understand is why they disabled my account and not my friend's too when they were sending messages just as often as I was. Thanks to these geniuses, I don't know when I'll see my facebook again. Why? Because these geniuses are idiots.

The great commision, and the battle that's already been won.

I was reading a book called A Scandalous Freedom by Steven Brown when I read an excerpt from him that said, (and I'm paraphrasing) the battle has already been won by Jesus. What the author left out is our role after that. If the battle is already won, why are we still here? Then, as I was reading on, God reminded me of something not even in Steve Brown's text, but in His text, the Bible. He reminded me of the Great Commission. When Jesus commanded the apostles to make disciples of all men, I believe he was telling them to love. How else do you make disciples? There is no other way. So then I thought, if the battle is already won, then why are we making disciples? Has Jesus not won them over already? Well, the obvious answer is that not everyone has been won over by Jesus. So is the battle really won?
Yes.
The reason we're still here is we, as Christians, have been assigned a task out on the battlefield. Now that the enemy is defeated, it is our job to tend to the wounded. Those who were damaged by the original sin, and still need help getting to a doctor. There's only one doctor that can tend to their wounds, and that's Jesus. So our assignment is a recon mission. Out to find the wounded and bring them to Jesus. We aren't fighting anymore, we're healing. We're leading our wounded brothers back to the medic. All men are our brothers. We must tend to their wounds, and be sensitive to them. Those of you who understand this metaphor, thanks for reading.

When life gives you lemons...

Just thought I'd like to remind anyone who reads my blog and might be going through hard times about one of my favorite scripture verses:


We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

If you're struggling, and you're down in the dumps, no matter how hard this may be for you to believe, please know that whatever you're going through is for God's purpose, and that His will for you is unmatched in how good it is for you. It may be hard. May seem impossible, but faith in God's promise to work all things together for you and His purpose will bring a way through the impossible. So remember, when life gives you lemons, God is making lemonade for sure.

Just thought someone out there needed that reminder.

Title

Blog Entry (a.k.a. post)

Easter Wellabration!

Not much to be said about it. It was just like the new Year's Wellabration, except there were eggs flying in the air instead of fireworks. It was, once again loads of fun. We had egg relays and egg tosses, and kinda left the true meaning of Easter to be taught by the parents at home, because it was not time for Easter sermons, it was a time for Wellabration!
Hey-yeah!

Whew!

I know it took forever, and the anxiety of anticipation was unbearable, but here are the pics from Disney World. Enjoy! One is sideways. No big deal. We went to all four parks, but we only have pics from Animal Kingdom and MGM Studios. Sorry.

About those pictures...

They'll be here soon. As soon as I feel like installing the equipment needed to put them on the computer, since we bought some funny digital from Disney, our computer shut down the last time we tried to install it, it even had the blue screen of death, but no information seems to be lost, miraculously. Anyway, I don't really feel like posting anything else until I have the pictures, so if you ever really cared to read this blog in the first place, you're just going to have to cope until I get them ready. I'm sure you'll be miserable until then...

Hello everyone!

I'm back from Disney World, which hardly anyone knew I was even going there. But I was, and I did, for four days. And it rocked!! Pictures and more info soon. :)

Something about the phrase"plugged in" really bugs me.

So, some who read this blog may know that I am not "plugged in" to any "real church" "program." Instead, me and a good forty to fifty people meet on Sundays as friends before God, and learn from eachother, and God's word. Mostly God's word, and how we daily experience the truths of His word in our lives. It's a beautiful scene every Sunday which was put together by God's beautiful scheme. Unfortunately, some people feel that it's not enough to be doing what we're doing every Sunday. They think we should be "plugged in" as if the Bible tells us to be "plugged in... or else." My older sister, a senior in high school was at a youth group she had enjoyed attending for about a year. There came a time (very recently) when she became interested in going on a mission trip to Jamaica with the youth group. Keep in mind that she does not attend the church. Because that's the thing that gave the youth pastor grounds to say, and these were the words, "No, you don't come to this church, you're not plugged in. I'm looking for people who will work well together as a team, but I don't see you as one of them. You don't attend this church."
What a shame! How wrong is that? In an effort to get her to attend "his church" this guy used something important to her, already a believer, as leverage. This is not how it should be! The dude is going to Jamaica to spread God's word, and he rejects the help of a sister in Christ because she is not "plugged in." I would dare anyone to justify his reasoning! Such a rejection is uncalled for! How can you turn away someone so willing to come with you? Just because she's not "plugged in?"

Pillar, For the Love of the Game...

This will be THE album of the year in my book! Buy it like it. If you don't, you belong in a phyche ward. Deal with it. I don't care who you are, you should like it, because this will be THAT good. I mean it. Not that good, or That good, or even THat good, but THAT good. Get it, it rocks!!!!

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!