We apologize beforehand for this rant.  We were just talking and had to get it out…

We do a lot for God in the western church.

We have great “talks” about practical life issues, using His word as a template for the hot topics of today.  We have five ways to become a better wife/husband/parent/businessperson, and a follow-up podcast with small group curriculum to boot.  This is the prophetic declaration of God’s word.

We sing passionate songs about him (sometimes to him) so that we can share our excitement with anyone who cares to listen.  We especially enjoy it when they sing along and possibly smile.  We’re thrilled if a handful of them lift their hands.  This is worship.

We send hundreds of young men and women out of our churches and into the the far reaches to share his Word.  Ironically, His word looks a lot like prepackaged western culture, complete with American prosperity, American values, and the American dream.  This is missions.

We gather our teenagers in back basements and multipurpose rooms, dreaming of a generation who finally gets around to rising up.  Secretly we hope that our games, Christian-flavored stand-up comedy, and skits can coax at least half of them into actually keeping their faith.  This is youth ministry.

We’ve heard the impassioned cry that “God just wants you!”  We nod our heads, applaud loudly, then turn back to our distractions and our excuses like warm, fuzzy blankets.

Alex and I have decided that all this stuff…it’s not working.

Now we just have to figure out what is.

Since hearing the “We Believe” album by Brian and Jenn Johnson over at Bethel Church in Redding, California, I always sort of knew that I’d end up over there somehow or another.  Well…here I am.
What I didn’t know was how much this whole movement (Bethel resists being called a “church.”  They’re a “house” or a “movement,” which I love) would so TOTALLY resonate with me.  There is such a simple authenticity and total dedication to true, deep worship here that blows me away.  It’s refreshing in a way that I can’t even begin to explain.

I’ll start getting into actual stuff I’ve learned in the next post, but believe me when I say that this place is legit, the real deal, and not nearly as wacky as I was afraid it would be.

Peace,

Ben

Hello.  My name is Ben, and I’m a doubtaholic.

(pause for the gratuitous “Hi, Ben.”)

I have doubts, real ones about lots of things.  I doubt the actual meat content in the hamburgers at McDonalds.  I doubt the actual markdowns at the Circuit City closing “sale.”  I doubt the goodness of God.

(pause for the gratuitious “You do WHAT?”)

I doubt the goodness of God.  It’s true.  Sometimes, in fact recently, I have been less than convinced of the benevolence of God.  I almost wish it was because of all the bad crap that happens in the world: starving orphans, poverty, fear.  Unfortunately, it’s mostly…well, all selfish.

I doubt he’s good because of my continued screw-ups.

“God, if you’re good, then why do you keep setting me up to fail?” I ask.

“I try, I try, I try.  I try so damn hard to do the right thing, to please you, and  I keep failing over and over and over and over….”

To which, he responds:

“So, you think your doing the right thing is what pleases me about you?”

And I answer:

“Uh, yes?”

“Keep searching.”

“But God I’m SO FREAKING ANGRY AT YOU!!!”

“Okay.”

“BUT I’M PISSED OFF!!!”

“I can handle it.”

Then there’s nothing.

And I’m still angry, but hopeful.

This is, I suppose, more  than I had before.

Okay, so I’m doing my laundry yesterday at good ole Golden Isles Cleaners and Laundromat over on Altama (partly because of my broken-down dryer and partly because of the gratis wifi hotspot) and I notice a gaggle of old ladies over in the corner commenting on the show that was being shown on the big screen.  I’m not sure what exactly the name of the show was, but it was one of those judge shows.  You know the type:  Judge Judy, Judge Mills Lane, Judge Brown, Jury Duty, Pet Court, Family Court, etc.

I sat there for a moment just listening to the pathetic rants of the various (forgive me if this is mean) white-trash “plaintiffs/defendants” and started to get angry.  I’m talking “Hulk Smash” angry.  What a filthy, rotten perversion our society has made of justice where small people broadcast their small problems to a world of laundromats and old ladies with nothing better to do than to act as if these people and their problems actually mean something to them.

Now, I get that as humans, we all have an inward desire to see justice done, but come on…by Judge Judy?

I actually had to fight the urge to stand on top of the uncomfortable plastic chair I was seated in and start ranting about how people had no right to expect real justice for themselves if this garbage was the only justice they exposed themselves to, but I didn’t because then, I’d be no better than the rest of ranting people in this world who choose to do nothing.  So…as of today, I’ve decided to passionately pursue justice in my life.  What does that mean?  Well, I’m figuring it out, but it looks something like this:

-Suppose, like today at lunch, I pass a piece of trash on the ground on my way out the door of my favorite coffee shop.  That piece of trash is an injustice in this world.  It’s small, sure, but it’s an injustice.  It makes the whole area look bad and immediately makes me think negatively about that coffee shop.  Justice would be to pick that piece of trash up and toss it.

-Suppose, like yesterday, I see a man yelling at his little girl in McDonald’s for no good reason, saying things like “Jesus Christ, you drive me f*&#ing nuts!” as he storms away.  That man has committed an injustice on his child.  Justice for me was to walk up to her before I left and say “You’re a pretty little girl.  I like your glasses.  They kinda look like mine.”  Her smile told me justice had been done.

El Ben is issuing a challenge to you:  As you go about your day, open yourself up to see the injustice around you and what you can do to change it.  Take a little action, it doesn’t have to be huge, just something to chip a little bit off the injustice around us.

Maybe with a lot of us taking some small steps to restore justice to the world, we won’t have to depend on garbage like I saw on the T.V. to satisfy our sense of it.

I’m a young guy and as such, I’ve rarely felt the gut-wrenching agony that older, more experienced people talk about from things like losing a child, getting unexpectedly laid off, or burying their parents. I’m talking, of course, about emotional pain, because physical pain I can deal with. I’m really good at turning on the ignore switch and just dealing with it. I can even deal with it without medication. Heck, I prefer to deal with it without medication.

Emotional pain, however, I’m not so good with. Despite being a “drama llama” (thanks Renee), I really don’t like people to know what I’m feeling, a habit that I picked up from my dad. Giving people insight into my emotional state makes me feel weak, so I avoid it like the plague, and we all know how healthy that is. I guess my question this week for you guys is this: How do you (or don’t you) deal with pain? Do you self-medicate (overeat, overspend, etc), do you numb yourself, or do you have your own little way of handling it?

Spill.

Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that I’m a TOTAL sucker for good music. Now, ever since I came in contact with Kari Jobe’s music about two or three years ago (on one of the CFNI worship albums, Glorious), I have been totally captivated by her ability to lead people into times of passionate worship. To me, one of the measures of an artist is the ability iconify a song not their own and make it theirs, i.e.: Jeff Buckley with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, or Joe Cocker with the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from my Friends.”

Contrary to popular belief, Revelation Song was not written by Kari Jobe, but by an East-Texas housewife named Jenny Lee Riddle, but everyone knows this song as it is sung by Ms. Jobe.

Revelation Song is an interesting song in the fact that it contains only four chords (D-Am-C-G). This gives the lyrics the spotlight, to be sure, but it also is demanding on a worship band in the area of dynamics. Intensity has to be TIGHTLY controlled on this song or else you risk either stealing its iron or GROSSLY overplaying it.

That being said, watch the following video below to see the utter MASTERS of dynamics, Gateway Church, do something that can only be described (in the words of Emeril Laggasse) as “kicking it up a notch.” Watch for the INCREDIBLY cinematic interlude that starts after the third verse (around four minutes). I’d suggest watching the whole video, but pay SPECIAL attention to this particular section. Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUGH-UAfa-w

Yes, that’s me shaking my badonkadonkdonk. Something tells me I’m gonna regret it later. Anywho, this is the Elevate Worship Confession #1. Special thanks to Jay and Brooke for the video.

I did shake my butt on this video, so if you’re offended by that type of thing, then don’t bother watching it, but I find it hilarious that I have that talent…not that I’ll ever use it again.

The Following is quoted from Fred Mckinnon’s blog.

Hey Everyone,
Usually when something seems “too good to be true”, it is. In this case, that doesn’t seem to be the way things shake down … and this is verified by USAToday news.

A rather new Payment Processor (like PayPal, Alertpay, etc) has launched by the vice chairman emeritus and current founder of AOL (American Online) to create “Revolution Money Exchange” … a competitor to PayPal.

Through tomorrow, you will get a free, $25 credit if you open a banking account with them. I just did it, and the $25 was in my account right away, and of course, I’ll be xferring it to my bank account right away, too!

Help a brother out by setting up a free account by clicking the button below. This will give you a free 25 dollars and give me 10 more.

If you’ve ever asked me about what I see myself doing in five years, ten years, or what you think God has for me to do in the future, I’ve probably either beat around the bush for a few minutes or told you straight up that I know that I will pastor a church one day. I say I know this because…well, I do. It’s kinda like the way you know a song is about to come on the radio before it comes on or the way you know a person’s about to call you just before they call you.

I just know.

Whatever the case, I’ve really been giving a lot of thought lately to what that church would look and feel like. I think I’ve got a grip on several aspects of it, and there are some that are not quite there yet, but I would like to share with you what I do know already and that is the purpose. The purpose is twofold, but simple (this is not a pithy statement of purpose and vision, so don’t take it as that commercialized bull that I detest so much):

1.) To facilitate an authentic, intimate creator/creation relationship (in which a person worships passionately, prays often, lives righteously and hears clearly from God), upon which all Christian life rises or falls.

2.) To provide authentic, intimate community in which people can be introduced to a loving God through the love of the saints. (Caring for widows and orphans, comforting the afflicted [and afflicting the comfortable], setting the captive free, healing the sick, casting out demons, and preaching the gospel [with words, if necessary.])

Loyal readers, you know that if ever I get something that tickles my funny bone, I’m gonna share it with you, so get ready to feast your eyes on this:  Jesus People.

Apparently, a group of comedians have been spying on we Christians and have nailed down our mannerisms and habits to a “T.”  Watch these videos (which are a surprisingly accurate critique on mainstream Christianity) and take the opportunity to laugh at yourself.  Ever been “that guy?”  I know I have. Keep in mind that this is parody, so it can get a bit extreme with the sterotype.  Enjoy (I’m partial to part three myself):

Part One:

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Part Two:

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Part Three: MY PERSONAL FAVE!!!! If you don’t watch any other, watch this one!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

This stuff is funny.