Why God isn't boring

Well they showed you a statue, told you to pray!
They built you a temple and locked you away...
Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done.....

-Billy Joel, Only the Good Die Young

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The world looks on the Christian faith as boring. Now, we don't combat "boring" with "hip", though that's certainly a step in the right direction of being culturally relevant. We combat "boring" with Christ. If your church has lost its appeal to the world, consider that maybe we've lost the cross as the center of what we do. 

I just felt like tonight that I ought to make a point, and it relates to the song I quoted. The worst thing we could do is make Christianity a "Looney Tunes" religion, complete with angels and clouds we can sit on, and lots of mahogany harps. I don't know ANYONE who would wanna live anywhere like that. God did not incarnate himself, Christ, in human flesh to come and die so that we would think of him as a distant, boring God! I'm tired of bored faith, I'm tired of not bringing people into my church, I'm tired of being dominated by my routine and my wallet! I don't want to be another cheap American Christian! Our faith here in the States is pretty shoddy. If you think you know persecution, just drop yourself off in another country and talk to me in a month. Let me know how you feel. We don't have to deal with jack-diddly crap. 

I'm not saying I have all the answers. I just know that if I were Satan, I would try to make God (and everything that gives you strength as a Christian) to seem some sort of very distant, ethereal idea that you kinda go "yeahhhh...." about in your head but you never really connect, you never really understand, you never really *click* and become convicted of how your life needs to change! Just go ahead and take the VITAL things of God like his salvation, spiritual aid in the form of angels, and the Holy Spirit (which, need I remind you, is literally the King of the Universe inside you), and we take those things and we make them vague, glossy, pretty, Hallmark-card material that never is PRACTICAL and REAL enough for those things to come through for us. You let our friend die, our mom get hit by a drunk driver, and see if that kind of flowery, distant faith comes through for you. I guarantee you you're going to blame God, or worse, you'll keep quoting sentimental cliches like "Think happy thoughts" without having any REAL support or relationship, AKA, Christ. It's not a relationship if you holla at your boy only when life hates you. And so we put John 3:16 and our flowery Christian propaganda on our coffee cups without understanding that as sinners, we have blood on our hands but there is real, concrete help here for us. Don't fall in this trap. 

Ok. So as material beings trying to understand an inmaterial God, that problem is naturally going to happen. But there are things we can do so that we aren't singing about "feeling the brush of angel's wings" on Sunday, and yet Monday night, our distant view of a boring Heaven with harps (who plays THOSE?) isn't stopping us from having sex with our girlfriend.

1) God is not a robot. He has feelings, he wants a relationship with you (in other words, he's not just a homeboy you can tell off and he won't care). He burns for your loyalty. PRAY that unlike the sinners in Romans 1:26, he won't abandon you to your ignorance, but that he will continue to beat wisdom into your head until you care enough to spend time with him. Pray that the "passive wrath" of God won't befall you. More on this to come later.

2) The Pentecostals got at least one thing right: the Holy Spirit is worth listening to and communicating with. As Christians we are linked by blood and spirit to Christ, and his Father's very Spirit lives inside of us (if our hearts really have changed to love Jesus more than ourselves at all, that is). If this isn't amazing to you, you've clearly blown a fuse. So call me crazy, but if a God beyond Creation's comprehension gave me... um... HIMSELF to live inside me, that's worth going more nuts over than a bunch of mere people playing a football game. I have no idea where our passion is, that we can get so flustered over stuff like sports, and yet just feel reluctant to "get into it" when worshipping God when we all know he's real. I think about the times that I've felt distracted and disengaged in church, seeing later on that day as I'm yelling at a football game on my TV that my interest isn't really so much with God as I thought.

3) Prayer is your way of proving to God you care. He already knows what you're gonna pray... pray anyway. The only point in a sovereign God asking you to pray is that it proves you actually care to spend your time on him. He's not up there going "Sorry can you repeat that? I had 15 thousand angels trying to tell me stuff all at once and I didn't catch that." You can dare to believe in God's power. He is beyond anything we even know.

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I am in seminary now. I have to labor and sweat to "want" to spend time with God in a relationship context instead of a textbook context. What is wrong with my heart?! Don't I know how much I need God? Don't I remember how depressed I was on October 29, 2007 when I was saved, and how terrified I was of the loneliness I felt? 

We all need God to come through for us. We're all messed up. Any sinner like you or me can see that. Just please, I beg of you, fight to remember the intimacy of God. Remember that he's right here and he wants you.

A Hopeful Crossroads in Life

Hey! So let me share what's going on in my life right now. From the start, this blog was supposed to be me revealing to you everything about me in my brokenness so that you will see (God willing) what it looks like for a sinner to stumble upon the flattering grace of God and remain humble about it. That's what it feels like... flattering. I don't deserve this love, guys... it flatters me that God cares about me.


I'm handling seminary online fairly well. Subtract the late-night Call of Duty sessions and add S.O.A.P. in the morning (see bottom of post), and thats what God wants of me, I know. 


The crossroads I speak of is this. I am growing sick of being known as "the downer" and the withdrawn kid who remembers painful memories more than the good ones. I have realized that I am at a point where I'm asking myself, who do I want to be? I think I started realizing this after listening to John Mayer's "Who Says". 

"Who says I can't be free, from all of the things that I used to be? 

Rewrite my history... who says I can't be free?" 

Everyone wants that! I'm emotionally needy, I'm vulnerable, and I'm aware I need God because of how wicked I am. I battle myself every day... and 99 percent of my problems are only problems because of how I respond to them. So I ask myself, can I really live my life letting this stuff get me down? Can all this really keep me in chains? How much longer can this really go on? I have hope in God, I know he comes through! I really don't believe that my life will be dominated by hopelessness much longer!

So I'm sick of staying in this position. Turning to what is wrong in me, I want a different life. I'm still a spoiled little white American Christian brat who loves money and attention. It's gotta stop. It's nothing but rot in my heart. God has changed SO much in me but he also calls for action, for obedience, and procrastination is NOT obedience. I want to see myself characterized by several things: 

• Giving money to my church so WE can have increased ability to bless our community.
• Not being tossed to and fro by my emotions, but instead tossed to and fro by the Holy Spirit. 
• Making real friends, and being deliberate in giving them my time. 
• Listening to God all day because I love to... not because it might make me "good". 
• Being aware that I can choose to make people happy or sad, and that others' emotions matter too... not just my own. Narcissism doesn't only come in obvious forms.

I love you guys. I'm real quiet, and socially withdrawn, and I really don't wanna be that way. I hate it... I want so much to spend time really getting to know my friends and anyone who desires that too. Help me get to know you, k? Don't think I'm not grateful for all you do. :) -G

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Afterthought. I plan on attending the S.O.A.P. meeting at Bojangles tomorrow morning at 7, Bojays on Arlington with Randy and JoMo, oh you know it, it's gonna be sweeeeeeeet

Actually it's going to be a really intimate time with God as I admit, in a spirit of chagrin, that I don't have it all together...  and as I ask him to please reveal more of himself to me in the Word. That's the point of the Bible... to learn more about God. Why am I so arrogant to claim to know the point of the Bible? Well, I'm not... but the Bible is all about God. Life is about nothing more than his glory. Whether you live or die, you will serve to show how utterly powerful he is. He has already won. So, if you want to know more about this God who wants your loyalty, ask me what times there are S.O.A.P. meetings and I'll let you know. I think it's a wonderful idea from a wonderfully different church who just wants to stay loyal to God out of the sheer joy of it. 

Relaxing in God's grace

Perhaps it sounds cliche. Maybe the reason for that is we as churchgoers have developed our own catchy phrases and lingo. But relaxing in God's grace is the best (and only) thing we can do.

I've had a stressful week prior to now. The seminary has a different online system from Blackboard, so I'm trying to figure that out, and one of my professors doesn't have everything up yet, so that was confusing me when I was trying to figure out what to study, and I had to drop my Hermeneutics class because it looked like it would literally be too much work. At least for an online class with which I have to hold myself accountable. Top that off with the fact that I sincerely began doubting if this is what I want to do with my life (that is, study my ass off to become somewhat of a Bible scholar). It was a scary feeling that hit me the other day... it pushed me emotionally away from God so that I didn't even want to seek Him for a good 3 days or so. I just felt completely overwhelmed with this feeling that I'm overstepping my abilities and desires to learn about God. I mean, we all say we love God, but who wants to write 5 papers per semester, per class, on random ancient topics? The scary realization was that I'm simply not that bright.

The upside (wow... I was just rereading that and that is depressing!) is that I woke up today feeling refreshed and happy. I got out of bed with the light coming through my windows with the forest twenty feet from my room, and it's just a really cool view. Lots of green. Keeps me mellowed out. And I got up at 9:40 AM, which is probably why I didn't feel like a sloth that had been beaten with a baseball bat, like I usually do. Sleeping too long sucks.

I've got to run up to Wake again today to return some books... I'm just in a difficult spot. More than anything I wanted to make it into ECU's Marriage and Family Therapy program. Who wants to be a 23 year old with a B.A. in something he can't use? My self-esteem is suffering right now because I lacked the assertiveness in college to call people and get an internship, which would have helped me get into grad school and possibly find a job around here, even a menial one. I'm just trying to relax and see that God loves me anyway and that I am growing up; it's just a slow, painful process... the prepubescent growing pains haven't stopped, they just changed form and now they're psychological, not physical.

New Hillsong Church in NYC

Hey you guys! I wanted to blog about something really interesting happening. Apparently, Hillsong has plans to plant a church in NYC!

I want to share some thoughts and reflection on this that have come to me since I found out about this a month ago. 

At first, I was pumped... because this is a really big deal. But I began to ask myself why I was excited about it... and it dawned on me that I have been caught up in the hype of a huge, successful church organization and forgotten about all the small, local churches in NYC who have been making the message of Christ their mission during the last century. 

I want to stop and just thank the bigger churches in NYC like Redeemer, and the smaller churches in NYC like Bethel Gospel Assembly. Thanks for bleeding and sacrificing and suffering well for the cause of Christ. You impressed me with your love for Christ and how real you are about loving people well.

Is anything wrong with Hillsong? Not at all. They are one of the most Spirit-driven churches around, it seems. My point is that it's easy to flock to the churches with the best bands, the biggest bucks, etc (because it's exciting!)... and to forget about the ones that are struggling to pay their operating costs. These local churches in NYC deserve a huge honor for the work they've done. 

So my thoughts changed from admiring Hillsong to feeling almost critical of them for doing what seemed to be "throwing fists of money" into NYC to create another successful American church. But don't get upset... I changed my mind.

When I saw this video, I realized that Hillsong's leadership and people have a vision that is Gospel-centered... not success-centered, not entertainment-driven. And I felt a new respect for them. So in essence, I went from being a fan (but only for the hype), to being a critic (because I'm critical of money-stuffed megachurches), to being a fan again (because I see they have the right heart about this venture. 

Here's the VIDEO I just saw. God bless you guys. Thanks for reading. 

Tips for new Twitter users

Tips for Tweeting 

1) Don't tweet everything. (Like when you use the bathroom)

2) Your internal monologue is where you find your tweet material. 

3) Don't tweet if you couldn't say it in front of your girlfriend.

4) Don't tweet about work. 

5) Tweet like you get paid to do it. 

6) Tweet about your favorite places to eat, go, etc. (Peeps like to know) 

7) Follow your local news on Twitter. 

8) Tweet the word "sexy" at your own risk... crazy people will start following you. 

9) Block fake twitter accounts posing as temptuous women... they're probably fake accounts. 

10) Tweet your political views only rarely... and add humor to prove your point. Keep Twitter a lighthearted place. 

11) When you link Twitter to Facebook, more people read your tweets than you think. (Be careful what you tweet)

12) Don't be afraid to unplug from it all once a week or so. (It's easy to become obsessed with what others think... and just tweet all the time to constantly get attention)

Hope this helps!

update on my life

Hi all! I have not been a faithful blogger. But I wanted to update you on some things in case you didn't already know. 


I got into seminary at Southeastern in the town of Wake Forest! That means the first year I will be doing it online and living here in Greenville, because I signed a lease before I ever thought of going to seminary. And I don't feel like backing out on good friends when that would mean they'd be responsible for paying my portion.


Everything else is pretty much the same. Off and on I have trouble with my back... please pray for that. Pray that I would be diligent about my rehab and that the core issues with my back would be resolved and corrected. I need this... I need my life back. 


I just got Alex Denning to make a blogger profile but Safari crashed and he lost it. He'll do it later. 


When it comes to being single, I'm back and forth, but I'm leaning towards content, right now. I'm more than willing to be patient if it means waiting for the right girl. Amazing all the bullcrap people feed you about "being a virgin is harmful to your psychological well-being." If I had ever had sex, especially with any of the crazies I dated, I promise you I'd be one MESSED UP kid. I had enough issues that I needed to pray through for years, even without that problem. Adding that bond to a kid who grew up clingy, and that would have made me go off the deep end. 


Anyhow. Thank you for reading! Thank you for following me on Twitter as well. I'm elated that so many of you think I'm funny. I think I am too sometimes. I just get these thoughts and I go with it. I could never be a comedian... but life is just funny sometimes, don't you agree? And I have funny friends that allowed my sense of humor to develop and take form. Thanks guys. 


Thanks for being my friends. I realize I can be critical and sarcastic sometimes. I've been confronted on it. Sometimes I'm the only one who thinks a statement is funny. I shall be more wise with my tongue next time. 


My hope is that I can be more real with everyone and live to please God, not myself. Being a suburb kid is a deadly thing. I don't want to live insulated from reality forever. In terms of my faith, let's just say that I'm very much snuggled up in my routine and that I don't really want anything major to change right now. Pray my heart is broken for my neighbors here in America that rot slowly in the dark away from the life God gives. I feel like my mission field is here. 


But anyway. Love Christ. That's all I ask. Love you guys. -G

Could video games be ministry?

I've heard that some have tried to use their xbox subscription to the glory of God by evangelizing online during a video game match. A lot of people think that's absurd. However, because I like to look at both sides of an issue, I'm not going to immediately condemn it. But I do have some thoughts that I think give some insight into this subject.

I was thinking today about how my little brother and I play online and how it never really brings us together. Let me explain.

He misses me a lot. I'm often away from home for long periods of time, so I can see why. He also plays video games a lot, so that's a great opportunity to hang out with him, right?

Well, I'm beginning to think differently. The very nature of the games we play, such as COD 4 Modern Warfare, are such that several things happen in the game that actually keep us "apart" the whole time we're playing together. Literally, the very nature of the game separates us even though we're trying to spend some time together.

Here's what I mean.

Problem One. I die a lot in Call of Duty. Fact. That means that even if I can find my bro in the game, and I try to fight alongside him, I don't last long. Then I get spawned again, this time across the map, so I have to spend the majority of my time in cyberspace actually "away" from my brother, trying to get to him, when the whole point is to be "with" him playing this game.

Problem Two. We're not in the same room, we're in opposite sides of the house, playing in the same match. Problem is, even though we have headsets to talk to each other, that's the only real thing about my brother that I'm getting to encounter in this game. And you know boys. We don't talk much... we just shoot things.

So maybe if it were Nintendo Wii, or if we were playing splitscreen, then I'd actually get to sit in the same room as him and do something fun that makes us laugh together. I've been hoping for another way to connect to my brother besides this... because really, the way it feels when we're done playing, is very, very unfulfilled. I don't feel like I've seen my brother at all, or enjoyed any time with him. It's really robbed me of getting to joke around and laugh with him. You know, doing stuff that makes memories, that we all love doing. Cause who doesn't love hanging out? It's just meaningless. You just play and then you're done, and what do you get to keep? What about your videogame endures beyond you turning off the console? Are you finding your self-worth in what achievements you've earned on XBOX Live? Talk about sad!

So the next time he asks me if I can play Call of Duty, I have to wonder... what are some other things we could do that would actually make us feel like we spent time together? Makes me sound like a goody-goody nerd who writes self-help books, but I don't care. I'm not.

So I have to question anyone who says they're trying to talk about Jesus while people are busy blowing each others' heads off. Not very many videogame players are thinking about how unfulfilled they are while they are playing, but instead after they play. Your online presence has little affect on anyone. It's a waste of time... because it's not real.