I love writing this blog for so many reasons.  One of the reasons is that it’s an adventure.  Sometimes I sit down planning on writing about a certain subject but then it goes in a completely different direction.  Like today for instance, I was planning on writing about something that’s been on my heart lately but then it went to The Bible and then it stalled again so I said, “Okay God, so what am I going to write about today?”

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And then it went here, which I’m not gonna lie, is a little strange.

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Imagine a world without crock pots.

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I know what you must be thinking, “What kind of messed up world are you asking me to imagine here?”

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I know, I know but just stay with me here. 

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And then one day, along came you – the very first crock pot. 

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Are you there?  Imagining it?  You are the very first crock pot.  Only problem is, you don’t know that you’re a crock pot.  You don’t know what you are.  You came with no instruction manual, there were no illustrations on the box and nobody around you seems to know what your purpose is either.

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So what do you do?

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Trial and error has you trying all sorts of things:

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Tool cleaning, feet soaking, candle making, rain measuring, dog water dish, candy holder (hopefully you bathed somewhere in between the feet soaking and candy holding), silver polishing, mud carrying and plant holding.  You finally settled on your current job – paper weight, which you’re pretty good at.

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And while you may not be miserable, deep down inside you know that you’re not being properly utilized.  You know there’s a greater purpose for you.  You’ve searched and searched (I mean, why else would you try foot soaking?) but you’ve never realized that potential you have.  But you know it’s there.   

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So how do you find it?

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You could just keep trying different things but how’s that worked out for you?

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I’ll tell you how it’s worked out for you in three words – DOG WATER DISH.

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So you can just resign yourself to being a paperweight for the rest of your days unless something better happens to come along.

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Or

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You can look to the one who created you because who better to show you what you were made for than the one who made you?

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“BINGO!”

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So you seek and find your creator and next thing you know, you’re making the tastiest, melt in your mouth, pot roast.  Two weeks from now you’ll be entering the Flaming Hot Chili Cook Off and you’re pretty sure that you’re going to have a big part in that beef stew recipe that was recently put on the counter.

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Purpose found! 

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All it took was seeking the one true person who knew what you were made for.

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Try it on your own, you might end up soaking bunions.  Seek your creator and you’re making Rotel cheese dip for the family get together. 

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So……

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Are you a crock pot paperweight?

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Well

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“….Everyone who seeks, finds.” – Matthew 7:8

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EVERYONE

Situational Christianity

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This is something I’ve wrestled with ever since I became an Unlikely Christian.

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It’s also something I’m done with.

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Are you a situational Christian? 

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Are you a Christian when you get together with your church buddies? – Yep

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How about at church?  Duh….of course!

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At community group?  Oh yeah!

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How about when you go back home to visit your friends and or family?  Umm…well…uhhh…

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How about at work?  Well…..you see…..

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That used to be me.  A Christian within the safe confines of the holy huddle for sure, but around my non-Christian friends/family, work or any other place where the conditions/people weren’t favorable….yeah not so much.

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Why?

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Well for me it was because I didn’t want to freak them out.  I didn’t want to push them away. 

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As a Christian, I became a guy that I never thought I’d be – a Christian.  In doing so, I also became a guy that I know they aren’t necessarily fond of – a Christian.  So when around them, I didn’t want to weird them out. 

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Is that for the right reasons?  I don’t think so.  I basically denied Jesus in front of them?  Well I didn’t fully deny Him.  They know I’m a Christian because they know I go to church and have a Christian blog but did I tuck it away?  Oh guilty, guilty, guilty.  I folded it up nicely and put it in my backpack.  It was there with me, I could get it out at anytime but I didn’t because I didn’t want to freak them out.  I didn’t want them running the other direction.  I want them to be open to a relationship with Jesus so the last thing I wanted is them seeing me as some crazy religious nutjob.  Not that I have any religious nutjob traits but a close family member already made some comments to that effect once I started writing about being an Unlikely Christian.  It freaked him out a little bit. 

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Is that family member saved?  No, maybe, I don’t know.  Do we talk about it?  Well, no.  One of the last times we got into a conversation about it, another family member made it clear that subject matter such as that, was not to be talked about in their house, which was totally weird for me.  I was the guy who was being told to stop talking about God.  I let it go and I haven’t brought it up again.

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So when around them, I just acted like the old Bill and that’s a travesty.  Am I to believe Jesus will honor that?  Because I don’t want to be uncomfortable or make things a little weird, I basically kept my Christianity hidden.  

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“Well done good and faithful servant”…. yeah, I don’t think so.

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Jesus went to parties and hung out with non-Christians but He didn’t stop being Jesus.  He was full on, full blown, Jesus.  He didn’t pretend to be somebody He wasn’t to help others feel comfortable.  He made others feel comfortable by being true to who He was and wants us to do the same – “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.  No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” – Matthew 5:14-16

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Going back to Pre-Jesus Bill (PJB) in those situations is putting a lit lamp under a basket.  What good is that doing?  What if deep down inside they are actually watching me to see if I really am different, to see if I’ve changed?  Well then I’m sure they’re thinking, “Yep, same old Bill, nothing’s changed, guess there isn’t really anything to this Christianity thing”. What if my non-Christian friends/family are secretly reading my blog but then when I’m around them I’m PJB?  Talk about some mixed signals.  The phrase, “All talk and no walk” comes to mind.

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Maybe they want to see the Jesus in me.  Maybe they’re looking for it.  Maybe that’s what they need to see to be open to it.  Instead I’m giving them PJB - “Yeah look at me, nothing’s changed so feel free to do it too.” 

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That’s not right.

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But that’s what being a situational Christian does. 

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It puts the light under a basket.

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If you’re a Christian that means you belong to Christ and, “The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

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Did you get that? 

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The old life is gone.

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GONE!

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Bye-Bye!

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C-U-L8R

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Not to be resurrected in certain situations.

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GONE!

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I’m finally letting go of mine.

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And while it’s not always easy, it’s oh so freeing.

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The bottom line is, situational Christianity isn’t really Christianity at all.

POSER!

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As a skater (skateboarder, not figure skater) from the 80’s, I am very familiar with the word poser. 

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In that world, a poser was somebody who had a skater haircut, skater clothes, a nice Powell & Peralta or Santa Cruz deck, with some Indy Trucks, Bullet Wheels and the fastest bearings money could buy.  Sounds like a typical skater right?  Yeah but if you looked closely at their board, you’d notice that their wheels always looked clean, the deck was scratch free and even the grip tape looked brand new. 

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And the reason for that was simple.  They didn’t skate.  They were posers.  Their look, their board, the way they talked, was all for show.  They were wannabe skaters – Posers. 

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I’m not sure what benefits they hoped to reap by pretending to be skaters.  There were certainly no pop songs being written about Sk8er Boys back then.  We weren’t the most popular guys in school, if anything we were outcasts.  In spite of all that, people wanted to be like us.  We had something they wanted and because of that, there were a large number of posers in our school, which we enjoyed pointing out.

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Why did we enjoy pointing it out?

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Because they were posers!  For whatever reason, they didn’t have the courage to shred.  They were never going to drop in on a quarter pipe, spray paint “Skate or Die!” on the neighborhood concrete ditch or leave skin on the driveway while perfecting their ollie skills.  But we…..we had earned the moniker “Skater” thru blood, sweat, tears and more blood.  The scars on my elbows tell the story.

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Real skaters lived it, while posers pretended.  Real skaters were fully committed to the sport / lifestyle, posers wanted what real skaters had without the commitment.  Skaters were easily recognized as skaters because, well we were skaters, it was what we did.  Posers…..well everybody knew they were posers because they didn’t really skate.  All you had to do was sit back and watch for a little bit and you could tell who the skaters were and who the posers were.

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Posers…..yuck!

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Today, however, I have a different view of posers.  Why?  Well because I can relate when it comes to being a Christian. 

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I go to church on Sunday, I volunteer there twice a month, I wear a cross necklace, an “I AM SECOND” bracelet and I have a Christian Blog.  But do I skate?

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Am I really living the life Jesus called me to live?  The life Jesus died to give me?

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Everybody knew I was a skater in high school because I lived it.  It’s who I was because it’s what I did.

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But who outside of the “Holy Huddle” really knows I’m a Christian?

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Like I said earlier, all you had to do was sit back and watch to tell the skaters from the posers.

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What can people tell by watching me?  Can they tell that I’m a Christian or do I come off as more of a poser?

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If I’m being honest with myself, I don’t really like the answer to that question.

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I love Jesus.  No doubt about it.  But truth be told, I think some posers loved skating.  They romanticized about doing it but for whatever reason they just didn’t.  They dressed the part, had the equipment and maybe even the skills, but they just didn’t while skaters did and because of that, they remained posers.

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When taking inventory, I’m afraid that I might be more of a poser than a Christian.

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I don’t want to be a poser.  I want to be all God made me to be.  I want to live the life God called me to live.  

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As I said earlier, the main difference between a poser and a skater is – Skaters do, posers don’t. 

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It’s time for me to start doing. 

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a 17 year old Unlikely Christian

Sk8er Boy

Oh, I still got it This was a couple of years ago.

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I’m a shortcut guy. 

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I’m not a shortcut guy in the sense that I’m lazy, or at least that’s not how I see it anyway.

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I just like getting to places fast.

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Maybe it’s the man in me, I don’t know, but when there’s a clear destination, I want to be there NOW.  I don’t want to wait and I don’t want it to take very long to get there.  This is true in most areas of my life.

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It was certainly true when I became a Christian, and I think that has led to a lot of the frustrations I’ve encountered in my spiritual walk. 

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You see, I wasn’t content with being a new Christian.  I was 38 years old for crying out loud!  I’d missed out on too much time, so I felt like I needed to play some serious catch-up to get where I wanted to be.

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My destination, in case you were wondering was just a couple of ladder rungs below SuperChristian.  I wanted to be a walking wealth of Christian knowledge.  Not so I could compete on Christian Jeopardy one day, but because I truly wanted to be a great Christian man.

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But I wanted to be a great Christian right then and there.  I wanted what other people who had been walking with Christ for years and years had.  In essence, I wanted to be given a job that required years of experience, without having to actually rack up all the years of experience. 

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So being the shortcut man I am, I decided I needed to blow through The Bible so I could get all that Biblical knowledge in me as fast as I could.  So I cranked through Genesis and Exodus.  I got a little bogged down in Leviticus and Numbers but I kept the RPM high, got through it and before I knew it, I had finished The Bible.

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Did I understand it all?  Nope.  In fact I’m sure I would’ve bombed the multiple choice comprehension quiz had there been one afterwards.  Yeah, I jotted down some scripture that spoke to me but my destination was Revelation 22:21, so I didn’t stop at too many scenic rest stops to just take in the beauty.  And in doing so, I’m quite sure I missed a bunch of Grand Canyons, Niagara Falls, Old Faithful Geysers, the second largest ball of twine on earth which was only 4 short hours away, and so many other fantastic things.  And yes I did just throw Clark Griswold into a post about The Bible.

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Then, still not feeling any closer to my ultimate destination of SuperChristian, I started diving into Christian books, which was great because these I could actually understand better.  So I flew through books by Meyer, Warren, Graham, Lucado, Chan, Lewis, Ortberg etc…and without question, they helped me to grow.  For some reason scripture in their books seemed to jump out at me more.  Their books certainly got my gears turning but I still felt light years away from my destination.  

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And just recently it hit me.  I’ve been using these Christian books as a shortcut to try to get to where I want to be.  But the problem is, and I think all of the above mentioned authors would agree, these books will only get you so far.  You have to abide in God’s Word to truly become all that God made you to be.

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Jesus didn’t say if you abide in the words of others with a little bit of My Words sprinkled in, you are my disciples.  He said, “…If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” - John 8:31-32 NKJV
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Now I truly believe God uses Christian writers to help Christians grow, but if we rely more on them to bring us the word than God’s already written word, when we start using Christian books, Christian podcasts etc… in lieu of God’s Word, we will stumble, get frustrated, stunt our growth etc….

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We have to abide in God’s Word.

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Is The Bible an easy read?

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It is certainly not, but it is God’s Word for us and the more time you spend in it, the more you will learn and grow in Him.  

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I have come to learn that there are no shortcuts in Christian growth.  Oh from time to time, God may enroll you in some accelerated learning courses where growth comes fast and furious but your walk with Him is just that, a walk.  It‘s not a sprint, jog or skip.  It’s a walk, a slow and steady walk.  And you can’t circumvent God’s navigation either.  There are no shortcuts.

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None of us may ever achieve SuperChristian status here on earth but if we abide in God’s Word, we become His disciples indeed.  And we shall know the truth, and the truth shall make us free!

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So get in His word, then keep walking and abiding and see where God will take you!

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I love buffets.  They are the absolute best case food scenarios for picky eaters like me..

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Just a little background on me.  When it comes to food, I live by one simple rule: If it’s green, it doesn’t go in my mouth.  Actually, that was my original rule in my food bill of rights.  Since then, there have been several amendments to my food constitution.  Here’s a few: 

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Amendment #4 – If it’s a vegetable, other than corn or potatoes, it doesn’t go in my mouth. 

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Amendment #7 – When in doubt, don’t eat it because it’s probably vile. 

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If it sounds like these amendments were written by a child, well it’s because they were, but much like our country sticks to rules that were written 225 years ago, I stick to mine. 

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Is it a little ludicrous to follow rules written by a child?  Well, I have an amendment that addresses that.

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Amendment #17 – People may tell you, “Now that you’re an adult, your taste buds have changed.  Go ahead and give this green bean casserole a try.  I bet you’ll like it.”  These people aren’t looking out for your best interests.  Don’t be fooled by them and their evil intentions.  They might even try to tempt you by wrapping green beans in bacon.  Don’t take the bait.  You know how unpleasant green beans really are, wrapping them in bacon doesn’t change that.  It just ruins perfectly good bacon.  Ignore these people and their food promptings.

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Ridiculous?  Yeah probably but I can’t help it.  I am a very picky eater.

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So when it comes to buffets, I’m all, “Heck yes!”

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I grab my plate and head straight for the meat and starches.  I’ll have some of this fried fish, some corn nuggets, is that Salisbury steak? Oh you know I’m gonna have me some of that.  Let’s see, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, some more meat, a little more meat and some meat.  That’s me.  I head straight for the good stuff, giving the cabbage, cole slaw, beans of all types, peas, carrots, salads of all types, asparawhatevers etc….. a wide berth.  I ignore them all together.

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Buffets are great.  Pick the stuff you like, ignore the stuff you don’t.

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So not to try to punch you in the stomach now that you’re hungry but do you ever treat The Bible like a buffet?

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Okay, I’ll have some abundant life, some salvation, is that God’s Blessings? Oh you know I’m gonna have me some of that.  Let’s see, Holy Spirit, Christ’s Strength, some more of God’s Blessings etc…  Meanwhile steering your plate clear of the, being a blessing to others, loving your neighbors as yourselves, tithing, loving God more than anything, including your family. 

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Are you guilty?

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Man I am.

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And I bet I have plenty of company.  We live in a buffet world and let’s face it, we kind of dig the buffet world, but the abundant life God has for us can’t be found in the buffet world.

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As Christians you have to decide, are you going to take the plate God Himself dished up for you or are you going to try to pick and choose?  Buffet lovers a.k.a. World lovers, don’t like others dishing up their plates because chances are, especially for guys like me, there’s going to be some stuff on there that’s not overly appealing.  There might also be some stuff on there that you know you don’t like as well as some stuff that you don’t even know what it is.  

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The Bible is not a buffet though.  Oh you can lock onto and memorize bits and pieces of scripture that speaks to you but remember that scripture has a beginning and an end.  That scripture is just a small part of the whole enchilada, so to speak.

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In other words, it doesn’t work if you just try to get platefuls of only, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” - James 1:5 – NLT because in that same scoop of James 1:5 is James 1:6-8 “But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.   Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.”  You don’t get verse 5 without verse 6-8.  It’s a package deal, impossible to separate.  There is no “…Ask and He will give it to you” without the “…Be sure your faith is in God alone.”  The two go together like, ramma lamma lamma ka dinga da dinga dong.

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The Bible isn’t a buffet, it’s a heaping plateful of everything that you need.  Some of it, you would’ve gladly dished up yourself, some of it you’d never dream of putting on your plate but it all fits together perfectly.  And take heart in knowing who it was prepared by.  It wasn’t prepared by some hormonal teenager, who forgot to wash his hands and put on his hairnet.  It was prepared by God Himself.  The God that LOVES you.  The God who gave the ULTIMATE sacrifice for you.

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When it comes to The Bible we can’t treat it like a buffet.  We can’t just pick and choose and we can’t put our own amendments on it either.  We as Christians have to accept it as the plateful of everything that we need.  Yep, even the green stuff that doesn’t always look appetizing on the surface.  God knows us better than we know ourselves and He prepared this meal just for us.

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So dig in.

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