" I think Jerry Falwell is going to hell"

this quote was from a conversation I had today with a self proclaimed Communist Marxist. His thought line in a snippet was that religion was just a "Utopian thought made up by man." (In this instance, religion to him meant faith. What is faith and what is religion is another topic but I will stick to religion as faith in this post.)

It is a time like this where I wish I had read that extra book or spent an extra hour in my political studies of Karl Marx just so I wouldn't butcher the moment.

I had to pray for wisdom because I had an opportunity to shape his thoughts on Christianity either for the good or simply reinforce his already negative view of it. For me, this was like base jumping without a parachute, the further I went on, the more likely I was to end up unrecognizable.

Now, Jerry Falwell, regardless of one's opinion of him, is surely resting in Christ based on his faith in Him. He founded Liberty University in Virginia and was a major voice for Christians within the political arena. Of course the media will make a monster out of him but that fact is, he was filled with faith in Christ and lived out his convictions.

Now, for someone who is a Marxist, to make a remark about someone going to hell is a bit amusing to me. Can one who has no religion, claim that an individual who lived by one is doomed to hell? This Marxist obviously believed in eternity, it is just funny who he is putting where. Also according to him, the Christian right is what is wrong in this world today. How can Christians answer someone like this? I wanted to rant and rave but in this situation I just asked more questions.

I come to find out that he was raised in a very liberal United Methodist church and had a very, to me, small confrontation with an elderly woman that totally turned him off to organized religion. I reminded him that one person does not represent Christianity as a whole. He agreed with me and we went about our conversation.

the whole point of this just made me think about the various thoughts and world views that are out there in our own backyards. People hunger for meaning and purpose and they want more than just a track or a sermon about what they aren't and where they need to be. I was challenged in my mind as to whether or not I could give honest educated answers about faith in Jesus within the context of today's world and be able to communicate who He was to people.

Not sure how good I did, but at least it was brought to my attention that though I may be called to be a teacher at times, I am a student forever. Also, it made me hunger for a good book.

God continues to challenge my thoughts, my mind, my spirit, my everything. Easily pleased, never satisfied.

a few dribbles...

I'm working at the OC today. Not as pretty as it looks on television...yet still enjoyable.

I had a great weekend just hanging around the house being married. It's so underrated. My wife rocks.

J-Z's sermon on Sunday really lit the flame under a few peoples shorts. It was funny to see the swtiching and sweating and nervous movements from the congreation. It was funny because I have been there before. When it comes to sex, how can we not see our brokenness and need for Christ? Sex can be so great and powerful yet so destructive and demeaning.

found a new artist this week- Japhia Life for you hip hop fans. Nice sound and not spiritually compromising.


I've been doing some music on my own as well. It's an outlet for me. I'd like to finish an album , which is a goal of mine and I think I'm over half way there. Currently though I'm in a creative fog again. I'm having a hard time getting my thoughts out in some type of order.

I'm in the mood for pizza. Actually, I can't remember a time when I wasn't in the mood for pizza.

11:02am and I'm out...

the roads much traveled

keep coming these lines on the road
be it a full one or light and happy load
see the upper most eastern terrain
with its gray climate
and enough troubles for the day

move south through the plains
and hear the farms from old
keep coming these lines on the road

from plains land to mountain hills
all within the hour
Ohio has its own treasure
be it southern sunny skies
or northern showers

I never knew how vast and wide
how diverse the people
how diverse the skies
how large the fields
how high the peaks
all within our perspective
all within our reach

so many stories
yet untold
keep coming these lines on the road

what are we in this for?-- some thoughts jotted down

every now and then, though now more frequently then first thought, I think about the state of my faith in Christ. For me, I question my commitment. I even question the point of it all. Even in my conversations with others who claim to follow Christ, commitment is rarely brought up. Could I be the only one questioning? Am I the only one that sees that it is much more than devotional times, lifegroup and church service? I am left looking for more...

Is the point of our faith JUST salvation? For if it is, why continue on through the spiritual growth process? We are saved right? Jesus is just the means to an end. The means by which we enter the Kingdom, the means by which we find our eternal bliss and comfort. Do we only really follow Jesus to fulfill our final agenda of finding eternal peace. Were we provoked to follow Jesus by fear of hell fire? As I've heard before"I didnt want Christ, I just didn't want hell more" What are our motives in our following Him?

I'm finding that the purpose of our faith is that we are able to know God more. We have access to and may be in relationship with the creator God and fulfill His purposes in our lives. He is the potter and by faith we let Him mold and shape us. Heaven will be what it is, but the fact that I was separated from God and then brought near by God himself through the blood of Christ, is the reality of my faith. My condition before God and how my sins kept me from this relationship should be forefront. (Not the fear of eternal damnation or the bliss of heaven) Through His word, God reveals Himself to us and He has given us eyes to understand Him and see what He is doing.

In His day, Jesus would use "hard sayings" that caused many Jews to turn away from following Him. It is these same "hard sayings" that make me search within myself and that challenge me and lead me to question. It is these hard sayings that tear my world apart. It is these hard sayings that crush me beneath myself. It is these hard sayings that destroy my future. Yet, it is these same hard sayings that restore and recreate me.

I'm ok with our motives not being 100% pure but through that, God continues to mold and shape. We should never be content with our walk with Christ. Sure there are those moments of peace we experience but it takes a life time to change and now matter where we are, we are to be sooo much more.


"It takes all I am to believe, in this mercy that covers me"