It’s true - I wear my “cranky pants” from time to time. I don’t like to admit it, nor do I like to allow it, but I do have my cranky days just like you do.

It is my hope and my prayer that I am never defined by a bitter, angry, negative attitude.

A person cannot call herself a follower of Christ, the ultimate representation of love, and not love her brother/sister. It’s oxymoronic…like a jumbo shrimp…or a winning Detroit Lions team.

Our worldly circumstances are minor when we have a big picture perspective. Life isn’t that bad. It’s quite good, actually.

If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 1 John 4:20

…and in the words of the great theologians dc Talk, love is a verb.

Popularity: 16% [?]

A recent poll from CNN.com reads:

Clay Aiken reveals he’s gay: Is the timing right?

What does that even mean??

Regardless, when does the album burning begin? How much longer until we can picket one of his concerts (does he even perform anymore??)? Somebody DESPERATELY needs to remind this young man that God hates fags (sarcastic Westboro reference - relax)!

Or we could try something new and simply love him as we love ourselves. That’s just a [radical] thought though, I know.

I am invisible. Oh yes, invisible I am.

Popularity: 54% [?]

When I think:

• how much I hate my job
• how I wish I was married
• how I am tired of being in this “middle” phase of my life
• how great tomorrow will be

I forget:

• how blessed I am to be able to work only two days a week so I can focus on school
• how much this dating phase will help a potential marriage
• how I’m being groomed, educated, shaped, and molded for the rest of my life
• how great today is/can still be

When we focus on what we don’t have, we can easily lose sight of what we do have. Even worse, we’ll soon find ourselves as unappreciative and ungrateful.

Popularity: 64% [?]

Check out this video podcast where I explore the possibility of Christians being the number one cause of atheism.

Warning: some Christians may hate me after watching this video.

RSS friends: click the above small video still or click here to watch this video.

Popularity: 14% [?]

The way we know we’ve been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn’t love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don’t go together.

This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly, living in God’s reality. 

1 John 3:14-18. Emphasis mine.

This exists, but not as much as it should. Would you agree?

Instead we argue and tear each other down. I refuse to be part of that nonsense anymore.

Popularity: 9% [?]

One of my favorite things about Greg Surratt, my pastor at Seacoast Church, is that he doesn’t spend his time dogging other  churches or pastors.

Is anyone else tired of hearing pastors talk about why/when/where/how “church X” spends their money, or how “church Y” invests too much time into resource “X” and not enough into resource “Y,” or how “Pastor Jones” preaches too much of a “feel good” message.

If you believe that things should be done differently, do them differently. Right? Aside from blatant disregard/misuse of God’s word, is there really any reason to invest so much time into other churches or pastors?

If I’m ever in a position of leadership, I hope I can remember this.

Popularity: 9% [?]

I tutor for a summer program. The first day there was this adorable little girl who was constantly calling out her classmate. I kept telling her “worry about yourself” instead of tattling.

And yet…

I complain about and secretly judge writers who spend more time whining about Mother Theresa and religion than actually contributing anything important to society. I roll my eyes in disgust when I see “religious” people talking about how much God hates their guts. About a week ago, I basically went off in two, count em two, Bible study groups back to back on how the church needs to be more actively loving and more giving.

However, on the drive back from the Bible studies, I realized how much I meet my own standards of being a “good Christian” who contributes greatly to society:

Not much.

Ouch.

If you looked up hypocrite in the dictionary, you’ll find my happy face with freaking arrows pointing towards it.

So why with the harsh judgment of others?

Maybe it’s because it’s easier to see their flaws. Or maybe it’s because it’s a heck of a lot harder to look at myself in the mirror and see what I have to work with.

I dunno.

I believe that I often forget how much grace God has given me over the years. And as I try to remind myself of this undeserved, yet unchanging grace that I am given, hopefully I can in turn show this same grace to others.

“Forgive those as you have been forgiven.”

Kindergartners can teach you a heck of a lot!

Popularity: 14% [?]

I’m terrible with names, don’t take it personally…     

Heard this excuse before? Used this excuse before? Yeah, me too.

Remembering and using a person’s first name is a thing of the past. Sad, isn’t it? Want to scare somebody? Next time you go to the grocery store, bank, or local fast food joint, look at the employee’s name tag and speak to her using her first name. She’ll look at you like you’ve lost your mind.

In my opinion, remembering and using a person’s first name is on of the greatest ways we can make a person feel special. There’s just something so personal that occurs when you hear a person use your first name. 

“What does any of this have to do with Christianity?” you may be asking yourself.

If you’ve spent any amount of time at FriendlyChristian.com, you know that I subscribe to a very relational form of evangelism. What I mean by that is, I believe that the best way to share Christ with somebody is by forming a genuine relationship with them and allowing them to see God through me, as opposed to the ‘turn or burn’ or ’smack you over the head with my bible’ method of evangelism: that’s just gonna cause a person to turn a deaf ear.

Sadly, in the church world, we seem to have lost the desire to remember each other’s first names. When we meet a person, we smile, shake hands, quickly and carelessly exchange first names, and move on. The very next week we’ve already forgotten the person’s name and have to do that “Heeeyyyy….buddy…..how are ya?” nonsense.

Many of us, myself included, don’t even know the names of our next door neighbors! Our desire to take the time to really get to know one another has been replaced by a ‘I’m too busy to slow down now give me what I want and give it to be NOW’ never-ending chase. Gone are the days when neighbors sit down and enjoy meals together. Gone are the days when friends are more important than the dollar or the pursuit of “happiness.”

One of my friends once said that one of the main reason that he didn’t attend church was because of the ‘meet and greet’ part of the sermon (ya know, when the pastor says “let’s take a minute and shake somebody’s hand and say good morning”).

“It’s so fake,” he said. “I don’t want someone to give me a fake smile, pretend to care about me, and not even listen to me when I tell them what my name is.”

Enough said, huh?

Popularity: 12% [?]

The other day, Tiffany, the girl insane enough to date me, was offered a part on Army Wives, a Lifetime television series starring Kim Delaney and Catherine Bell. You can only imagine her excitement. Today she had a meeting with the directory/producer guy (not sure his exact role or title). The part was hers, and there was no need for any type of audition or tryout.

A phone conversation from 10 minutes ago:

Tiffany: Well, I just finished meeting with the guy.
Me: And…?
Tiffany: I have the part. There was no need for any type of audition. I’m playing a girl in a bar who is either drunk or stoned and is “hooking up with” some dude.
Me: Oh…
Tiffany: So I turned it down.

Director/Producer guy: But it’s just acting…
Tiffany: Yeah, regardless, that’s just not who I am [and not who I care to portray myself as].

We try to live in such a way that no one will be hindered from finding the Lord by the way we act, and so no one can find fault with our ministry. In everything we do we try to show that we are true ministers of God.

(Did you catch that? …”by the way we act…” lol…funny.)

I hope I have the courage to stand up for what I believe in when “opportunity” is within reach like this.

Tiff, I’m extremely proud of you, baby. Way to go. I’m honored to be the recipient of your love and efforts. You were bold and confident, and I find that extremely sexy.

Popularity: 11% [?]

On a dark rainy night in England many years ago, a young man tries to escape the clutches of those who want him hanged. Deep down he knows that he has committed a terrible crime. He is not yet ready to die. Faster and faster he runs throughout the city, as fast as his legs can carry him. His body shakes of fear and he becomes increasingly weary. Only his mind and his heart pushes him through “just a little further”. In the background he hears, “Stop him!” Even though his legs ache, the young man continues to run. As he looks back to see if he is safe, he trips over a pothole. The mud, water and gravel cover his face and sting his eyes. His leg is cut, blood dripping from the knee. And just as he starts to lose hope, he looks up and see the stained glass windows of a church. The young man picks himself up and heads toward the church. As he stumbles inside, he cries out “Sanctuary!” An elderly priest greets the young man and assures him that he is safe.

Ok this is a bit of a historical exaggeration, but back in the day the church was a place where criminals could be safe from persecution. All they had to do was cry “Sanctuary!” and they were safe until they could decide whether or not to confess.

This is how I envision the church: a place where people can find some rest without condemnation. Guys, we need to get back to the concept of church being a place of safety and willingness to share. With a community that cares for you regardless, one could be set free by sharing their life.

A situation like this happened to me not too long ago. As most of you know, I am in grad school and I’m not the best with time management. Because of this, everything literally snowballed me towards the end of the semester (huge exit exams, projects, papers, etc). On top of that, I struggled with an intense desire to just “chuck the whole Jesus thing” cause I didn’t see anything coming from it. I avoided these feelings by trying to focus on other things, but they did not nothing to ease my fear. I decided then to just share everything with my small group ( a group consisting about 8-15 people from a church for those who do not know). I could barely look up as I shared my heart. What I received in return was empathy, words of encouragement from those who have been there, and a few hugs. The relief I received from sharing my life while not being condemned was amazing. And I’m getting better. Slowly but surely.

Sadly, I think some in the church (and I say some because I know there are many Christians who are) aren’t a sanctuary for people anymore. We do something worse. We ignore. We focus on our jobs, our friends, and not give a second thought about others. Why do we ignore? That’s not what Jesus did. That is not what the church in Acts did. And this is something the church of today should not stand for. Not only should we be a place for safety but we should also be out there where “they” are. The broken. the needy. The “least of these.” To offer comfort, peace and a place for others to share. Not just for 40 days, but for life.

So this is my challenge, Christians: let us be this broken world’s sanctuary.

This comes to mind when I think of this topic.

Popularity: 21% [?]