Just Another Blog about Obama

I wasn’t planning on blogging about this but I guess you can say that the feeling has me gripped. I’m not going to comment on the historical significance of this event because I cannot even begin to understand what this means to African-Americans in this country. I won’t even pretend to try; this is more about personal impressions…

I’ll be the first to admit that I wasn’t and still am not the most sold out supporter of President Elect Barack Obama. HOWEVER, I will also just as quickly admit that tonight’s event swept me away. Coming into tonight’s festivities, my intentions were to maintain the role of an observer as much as possible. (I did vote, so I guess I wasn’t completely an observer but also a participant). Anyway, despite my best efforts to remain objective, I was quickly swept up into the competitive spirit of seeing “my guy” win.

My feelings swung several times in several ways during the last five or six hours. Hope was and is the prevailing sentiment. But reality slapped me upside the head at least a few times and I remain cautiously optimistic. Questions like “what can one man do?” and “can anyone possibly do what he promises to do?” have plagued me for many months and tonight was no different.

Then he spoke. It was only a speech—but somehow, it felt like more than that. His words were poised and well-articulated; his delivery was accurate and poignant; but the most striking impression to me was the focus in his eyes. From what I saw, I did not see a man who was overwhelmed by the situation or who was too big for the moment. He seemed to understand the burden as best as anyone possibly could, but he also seemed very humbled by it. He was also quick to share the credit and the spotlight with those who contributed to his journey. I think for the first time, the hope that I dared not dive into became a realistic step.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not ready to crown President Obama the messiah just yet. However, I do believe that he represents exactly what this nation needs: something to believe in and rally around. Although he hails from one party, he seems to have a bipartisan approach, a collectivist attitude, and a diplomatic spirit. If nothing else, the rest of the world may start to see Americans as something more than militaristic, naïve, and air-headedly arrogant.

Still, it’s not enough. My hope is not in a man. As Derek Webb put it in his song A King and a Kingdom: My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man/My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood/Its to a King and a Kingdom. My hope is not in change or in America. I’m not saying that Obama was or was not “God’s choice.” Let’s please not be so simple-minded. This election has taught me that the issues are far more complicated than I thought. God spoke to me in a different way tonight.

Here’s what I mean. I was harshly rebuked at the election booth this morning. After the presidential candidates and the U.S. Senate candidates, I had absolutely NO idea who I was voting for. In reality, the local and state elected officials have far more practical impact on my life than the nationals ones, so why don’t I know who they are?! I’m sick of being voluntarily oblivious. What’s more, I realized that I am also largely unaware of and uninformed about national issues. As I felt personally convicted, my thoughts turned to the Church. A change in office is all well and good, but what will the Church do? Can we engage people in honest and open discussion on political issues without attacking or getting defensive? Will the Church change? Will we wake up this slumber?? I think God is concerned about the state of His people just as much as He is about who is leading the “Free World”.

Above all, I believe in God’s sovereignty. I certainly don’t understand it, but I do trust and believe in it. The world appears to be falling apart around us. What will the Church do? What will you do? What will I do? These are the questions that this election has forced me to confront. I know that God is building His Kingdom through ways seen and unseen. Will we take part or stand on the sidelines and watch our chance pass by?

I’m still cautiously optimistic, but I can say that the flicker of hope in my heart is sparking brighter than it was. I hope that these next years will be interesting because we will step up to die in prayer on our knees, answer God’s call, sell out to His mission, and make them unforgettable years. It’s for a King and a Kingdom.

 

Response to…

I was initially going to just comment on Pastor David Swanson’s post but it ended up being too long-winded, so I am just creating a new entry.

Even though I read the book with David, reading his summary makes me want to re-read those chapters! So I highly encourage you all to read The Jesus Way by Eugene Peterson as well. This is the first book of his that I’ve read and it has prompted me to also start reading through The Message, Peterson’s paraphrase of the Bible. I’ve been using it as my text for an intensive Bible study that I’m involved with at church and it’s been fruitful so far.

Anyway, my general feeling on his question:

A reoccurring idea in The Jesus Way thus far is the importance of the community of God to be distinct. Distinct in the stories we tell, our robust imagination, the language we use to describe the world, etc. This of course raises a question: In your experience, are the people of God a unique community formed by our pursuit of Jesus? Or, does our life together more closely resemble our surrounding culture?

is that we seem to operate out of a fear of being too different from the surrounding culture. Being too different runs the risk of lower church attendance and attracting controversy and scrutiny. However, sadly, it also keeps us from really living to the full as Jesus did. This is the very way that God has challenged me as I’ve made my way through the book. Am I any different? More importantly, is Jesus a means or an end to me? Am I using Jesus as a more effective means of achieving what I selfishly want in this life-acceptance, significance, a sense of purpose-or is He my end and my means? It’s been a difficult question to confront but a wholly necessary one.

I believe that it takes a lot of soul searching and honest inquiry of our hearts to determine whether Jesus is THE way or is just a way for us. Is He the only Life that we want or is He a genie that we try to conjure up from time to time to grant our wishes? So far, all of my answers to these questions haven’t been pretty.

 

Medication Ruling the Nation

This post was inspired by a story I came across on MSNBC (for full story). Basically, psychiatrists (MDs) have been increasingly relying on medication and less on psychotherapy (or just talk therapy). Apparently, insurance companies reimburse at higher rates for 15-minute medication visits compared to 45-minute talk therapy visits. I’m sure that has a lot to do with this trend.

This is disturbing news to me. Not because I wholeheartedly believe in the merits of psychotherapy or because I work at a school of professional psychology (our graduates aren’t allowed to prescribe medication because they’re not MDs), but because it confirms my rather unscientific theory that America is relying too much on medication. There’s more to our selves than pills can “fix” or adjust. What does this say about our nation and culture?

Anecdotally speaking, I’ve observed that a lot of people these days seem to feel isolated. It’s something of a paradox considering that the world is shrinking and that we can stay in communication with each other digitally 24/7 without ever seeing each other face-to-face. But perhaps what is hurting some of these people who seek therapy is not only physiological but also emotional and spiritual. I can point to a number of times in my life where I’ve talked to a friend about something that had been bugging me and I felt a million times better. It wasn’t always because the issue was resolved but because being in contact with another person provides some energy, boost, or vitality that cannot otherwise be obtained.

Recently, I’ve discovered just as poor I am at communicating my thoughts clearly. This tends to magnify with less personal forms of communication. I stink at having serious conversations on gchat and am only slightly better on the phone. Face-to-face is the way to go! To support my point:

Psychotherapy uses verbal methods to get patients to explore their emotional life, thoughts or behavior. The goal is to ease symptoms, sometimes through getting the patient to change behavior or mental habits.

Its benefits can be seen in brain imaging studies, said Dr. Eric Plakun, who leads an American Psychiatric Association committee working to restore interest in psychotherapy by psychiatrists.

“The couch is far from dead,” Plakun said. “The couch turns out to be an effective 21st century treatment.”

Whether you take this as an advertisement for my school or not is up to you! But seriously, why are we so obsessed with quick fixes? Talking it out may take longer, but chances are, the healing will be more long-term than a pill can promise.

 

Monday morning post

On the train this morning, I was reading the last two chapters of Searching for God Knows What to prep for Wednesday’s first community group discussion. Donald Miller points out that perhaps, as Christians in America, we have become overly concerned about how we are perceived by the world. We are trying to be so cool that our acceptance by the world has become more important than showing Christ’s love. As I thought about myself, I think there is some merit to that thought. Then as I was walking to work from Union Station, I was in the mood for Switchfoot. I found the songs I heard to be oddly appropriate; although, because most of their songs are about this theme of the world lacking what only Jesus can offer and provide, it’s not a huge coincidence. Anyway, here are two of my favorite snippets from the two songs:

The Blues

Is there nothing left now?
Nothing left to sing
Are there any left who hasn’t kiss the enemy?
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?

Does justice never find you? Do the wicked never lose?
Is there any honest song to sing besides these blues?

And nothing is okay
Till the world caves in…

Awakening

Face down with the LA curbside endings
With the ones and zeros.
Downtown was the perfect place to hide.
The first star that I saw last night was a headlight
Of a man-made sky, but man- made never made our dreams collide,
Collide.

Here we are now with the falling sky and the rain,
We’re awakening
Here we are now with our desperate youth and the pain,
We’re awakening
Maybe it’s called ambition, you’ve been talking in your sleep
About a dream, we’re awakening

So that’s it. I guess it’s learning these days that ministry is more than discipleship or even having correct theology. If we don’t work to change this world by loving people, Scripture will fall on deaf eyes.

 

Changes

Recent developments in the sports world and listening to Mike and Mike in the Morning today sparked a thought about change. I feel like one of the consequences of a fast-moving culture is that we expect change to happen quickly, we expect it to last, and we expect it to vault us to new heights in record time. I mean this on every level possible.

Take the Willie Randolph firing by the New York Mets in baseball. I mean, sure, the team has a lot of talent and should probably be doing better than they are, but honestly, it’s been 1 1/2 years! It’d be one thing if the players weren’t responding to him or if they were losing games because of his in-game decisions, but I don’t know that that was the case.

Now the Celtics situation is quite different. They made huge trades involving players but stuck with a much-maligned coach and seemingly incompetent general manager from a year ago. Look at them now, they went from worst to first. The fear, as Mike Greenberg points out, is that other teams will learn the wrong lesson from that situation. On the surface, it appears that the C’s turned it around due to huge changes, but in reality, what really happened? Pieces were moved but the whole was not disturbed. On the court, what won the championship? It was their DEFENSE. Dominant team defense doesn’t come about from simply adding good individual defenders. It comes from building a philosophy, a culture that commits to playing team defense, to communicating with each other, and to sacrificing individual glory for the team good.

Contrast that with what we saw from the Bulls this year. It looked like a bunch of individual players who are simply not good enough to achieve without buying into a team philosophy. The odd part is, the Celtics players were probably good enough to get pretty far by trying to play individually. But you see, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen had all tried that way on their previous teams and learned that that approach doesn’t get you anywhere but consistently booted out of the 1st or 2nd round of the playoffs against a TEAM like the Spurs or Pistons.

All that to say, it takes time for lasting change to settle in and it takes some serious sacrifice to achieve it. Now, in sports, it seems a bit dramatic and yet inconsequential to “real life”. But take my life. I’m definitely one who tries to hurry change. I want to change…but I want it now. God knows this all too well. However, it is slowly dawning on me that that same principle holds true in life. Lasting, meaningful change takes time. It doesn’t come by saying you will change. It comes from committing to follow God’s way and not my own. It comes from accepting that it will take time and it will require learning humility and learning to admit that I’m wrong.

It struck me this morning as I was journaling in just how many areas of my life I don’t know what I’m doing. Even after 10 months on this job, I’m still learning new things and consistently realize that I’m clueless. To be frank, I don’t know how to lead a small group; I don’t know how to be a loving person to those around me and close to me. The bottom line is, I don’t know what I’m doing at all and must rely on God and go on in faith. I’m sure it only gets tougher as we go. I won’t know the first thing about being a loving husband or father. I have no idea how to “do” ministry. But you know what? That’s okay. I’m learning to cut myself some slack because it was never about me anyway.

This morning, I really felt God urging me to stop and look up. There is something much greater happening. I’ve been so busy trying to perfect my own tune that I’ve stopped listening for God’s great symphony that’s been playing from before the beginning of time. God doesn’t expect me to perform alone or want me to impress Him with my creativity or talent; He wants me to get in line with the music that He’s already making. It may sound cheesy but it’s true. There’s no sense in kicking against the goads any longer. And sure, I say this now but I also understand that I will falter and I will fail. But over time, God is changing me. It may not be in my timing or at my desired pace but the change He brings about is real and it’s lasting.

So how about a little patience? Perhaps then our lives will also play out like the Boston Celtics 2007-08 season.

 

Blast from the Past

This is an entry from my now dead xanga (www.xanga.com/drift1would). Something very strange happened to me and thought it would be worth rehashing…It has been preserved for historical value

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Bird? So here’s a harrowing tale…it’s worth the read! i walked into my apartment 1/2 hour ago, and there’s a BIRD sitting in the living room. no windows are open, no doors are open. and there’s a BIRD in the living room! so i very very carefully whip the balcony window open but the bird darts into the screen 3 times and flies away. i won’t lie. at this point…i’m terrified. i’m clutching to an umbrella like it’s Excalibur ready to ice this bird if it so much as looks at me. of course, i can’t see it. was it more scared of me than i of it? well that principle works with bears, so let’s extend it to cover the entire animal kingdom. anyway, the bird has decided to take up residence in my roommate’s room. this bird’s smart! this room is about as close to a bird’s nest as you’ll ever see. the clothes sprawled about the floor and bed make for great nesting places. thud thud thud, it tries to fly out the closed window in that room. i get on all fours and slooooowly make my way to the window to liberate my new friend. unfortunately i can’t see where it is in the Lost Land of Clothes that is my roommate’s quarters. one bad move…one rustle that echoes in the silence and that bird takes flight with a fury only equaled by my womanly scream and subsequent dive for the door. i swear it was heading right for me! crap… what do i do? i shut the door like a coward and call management on a sunday afternoon. you win this time, bird! i’m sure during this time the bird was considering what life would be like in this new comfortable land. speaking for it, i would have been pretty pleased. hmm…the maintanence guy is 30 miles away. tells me – “ laughing under his breath – “ to open the patio doors, close every other door, and chase the bird out. freak…it’s time to man up. so i did the appropriate opening and closing, lift up a quick prayer, take a deep breath and re-enter the fray. with my trusty umbrella in hand, i triumphantly push my way into the portal that leads to the Lost Land and drop to my belly (side note: espionage video games have prepared me well for such occasions). that bird doesn’t know who it’s messing with! back to the action, i toss nearby objects about to rouse it. an empty box, a pair of shorts, a book didn’t do the trick (before you label me cruel, i didn’t throw a wrench, an amp (!!), or a guitar, after all, i’d become quite attached to it by this time). i was convinced that by some miracle, the bird had phased through the wall or window. gaining courage with every inch i boldly and deftly advanced like an Allied soldier on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. then like a BOLT OF LIGHTNING, the bird shoots out of the room and out the open patio door! there were but two sounds: my pre-pubescent shriek and the bird’s victorious cry of FREEEEEEEEEEDOM! you and me both, my friend! somehow i survived this dangerously close encounter with a tiny pigeon. no animals were harmed =) to redeem this…”Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every other living creature that moves on the ground.” – Genesis 1:28 i think i exercised a little dominion today!

 

Pearl Jam and Chapstick

here is a sampling of my stupidity and apparent sub-conscious addiction to breath mints:

i have something of a nightly routine that involves applying chapstick to my lips and lotion to my hands before i go to bed. (incidentally, this is the reason why i have girly soft hands!) anyway, last night, i noticed that my chapstick was gone. chances are, it got lost somewhere during the transfer between Angela and me. we went to Sports Park on Oakton last night and she held onto the contents of my pocket (including chapstick) while i was crushing pitches in the “very fast” batting cage. either it was lost then or it fell out of my shorts’ pocket (one reason why i dislike wearing shorts).

anyway, this morning, i made a mental note to pick up a new stick at the Mart before heading into the office. after pulling out some cash from the ATM at the Mart, i headed into the convenience stand to make my purchase. i was on auto-pilot, if you will, and instinctively picked up my Spearmint Ice Breakers and paid for them. as i was putting the new package in my pocket, i realized that i wasn’t out of mints…

what is wrong with me?!

it took me a good 30 seconds before i remembered why i actually went to the store. playing it cool, i asked the lady at the counter if they had chapstick and bought that as well.

…………………….

i heard a live version of Black by Pearl Jam in the car the other day and the Sandfords, Angela, and i had a nice little jam session for a few minutes. i was listening to the studio version this morning and it struck me just how moving the riff in that song is. the lyrics are charged with emotion and even though Eddie Vedder is probably telling his story of heartache from his childhood or teen years, you can still hear the pain in his voice. does he not have one of the most emotive voices of our generation? coupled with the riveting solo, this song is a masterpiece of the early 90s. there’s nothing like reliving the good ol’ alternative rock of the early 90s on a humid summer morning

 

Dribblings from morning train ride

These are some thought-provoking quotes and ideas that drifted through my head during my morning train ride. Enjoy!

“but i give myself to what looks like love
and i sell myself for what feels like love
and i pay to get what is not love
and all just because i see things upside down”
- Derek Webb from What is not Love

“you know i’m not blind to imperfection
i’m still a realist by trade
a pragmatic pessimistic
overthinker on a break”
- Shaun Groves from One of those Days

“Christianity is a way of seeing all of life and reality through God’s eyes. That is what Christianity is: a worldview, a system, and a way of life. I believe that when you truly see the Gospel in its fullness, it’s so much more. It is the most exciting, radical, revolutionary story ever told.”
- Chuck Colson from unChristian, p. 87

“What is an emotion? As I was growing up, my dad taught me that an emotion is a physical expression of how we perceive the status of something we value. Anger, gladness, fear, sadness, joy, jealousy, and hatred are all combinations of our perceptions and our values.”
- Joshua Harris from Boy Meets Girl, p. 46

“The evil in our desire typically does not lie in what we want, but in that we want it too much.”
- John Calvin, as quoted in Boy Meets Girl, p. 61

Podcasts of Note

so i’ve been listening to podcasts during work and they have been greatly encouraging but mostly convicting, rebuking, and downright frightening. serving God is no joke. anyway, check out

www.rzim.org (Ravi Zacharias) although he is mainly an evangelist, his sermons are just as relevant to believers of all ages. one that i highly recommend listening to is titled “The Angelic Devil: Balaam” under the “Let My People Think” subheading.

www.truthforlife.org (Alistair Begg) i just love this man. his Scottish accent puts me at ease. not only that, he delivers the truth in a remarkably loving way. considering that i’ve never heard him in-person and am only going on verbal communication (a large percentage of communication is non-verbal), that is high praise. anyway, check him out. just about any sermon will do.

thanks for once again humoring my ramblings. until next time…

 

Sensory OVERLOAD

this will be mostly confessional and probably entirely nonsensical.

i tend to have a lot of jumbled thoughts and from time to time, these jumbled thoughts create a knot in my brain. i wouldn’t call it depression or an episode or as some people have commented: “my time of month”. more so, i think it’s just a general malaise that probably occurs because i’m not doing what i’m supposed to be doing.

that sounds overly dramatic. (things tend to take on that tone when i’m mired in this state.) what i mean is, i think God stops me in my tracks every once in awhile, not because my life isn’t good but because He wants more of me. this day-to-day stuff is fine but in it, i often lose my sense for eternal significance. i’m not saying that every moment should have the pressure of eternal consequences. more accurately, i think it happens when i lose my lifestyle of worship. things that i was once very thankful for and processed in prayer and in communion with the Holy Spirit just become routine. isn’t that a darn shame? i’m a spoiled little brat.

looking at my life, i can pretty much say that God has blessed me with everything i could have asked for at this point. but my level of thankfulness is not on par with the level of blessings. as a result, i’ve gradually displaced God on the throne with myself. it’s become all about me and i’m not a very good king. i’m tyrannical, jump to insane conclusions, and am largely negligent of other people’s needs. come to think of it, this just makes me a bad person!

but you see how this becomes about me again? it’s a vicious cycle.

not less of me but more of Him and more of others. i’ve recently become quite entangled with strategizing ways to maximize my financial situation. i’ve found that there are fewer paths that more quickly lead to selfishness and self-absorption than this one. as mundane as it sounds, thoughts of buying a new car to lower monthly payments and paying down my student loans faster have gripped my heart!

anyway, all this to say that a new leaf needs to be turned. John 3:30 relates to all spheres of my life right now.

 

i’m back

boy, my commitment to this blog fizzled quickly, didn’t it?

i’ve been busy with work and church and i guess this got neglected.

anyway, i just finished watching Kurt Cobain: About a Son. I didn’t think it was that great. Maybe it’s because I was never a huge Nirvana fan, but I never really understood the big deal with Cobain. I get that he’s iconic in the sense of having probably literally altered a generation through his music, but just because someone is a talented musician doesn’t suddenly make him worth listening to or following for that matter.

I just find this phenomenon fascinating. Not to bash on Cobain or Nirvana fans or anything but consider this. On what grounds is someone’s word worth listening to? In the same vein, why should what I say matter? Really, I don’t think it does or should at all. The only voice worth listening to is God’s Word and anyone or anything that God chooses to inspire. Someone speaking of their own merit or experience has only that much from which to draw. In the end, it is purely experiential and personal. There’s no guarantee that what works for you will work for me. However, God speaks from some place else altogether, doesn’t He?

I’m not saying that we should burn all of our other books or stop listening to secular music. (God knows how bored I’d be and how much money I would waste if that happened!) I guess this just reminds me to check which voices I’m listening to and, in essence, obeying. There are a lot of contending sides out there vying for our hearts, but there is only one truth. Those contenders will have a lot to say about who we are and how we should live, but there is only one that speaks out of love.

I like Nirvana and I liked Kurt Cobain, but I doubt that even he wanted to be exalted as much as he has been.