unAmerican Dream

Please understand from the start that this blog is out of my best try for humility, and my desire for urgency. I am as guilty as the next man in every regard. Please read this with an open mind and as if it were from someone important.

I’m typing this in a Starbucks. Home to the hoitiest of the toity. Nine out of ten folks here are wearing Tom’s shoes, house slippers, or those stupid shoes where the soul sticks out past the heel… Most people with laptops have Macs. Most have a $6 coffee. Is this the representation of our generation? If it is, I don’t want anything to do with it. Now, this is coming from a guy with a $200 phone, a $500 laptop, $70 shoes, and glasses worth more than necessary. What I have on me is worth more than some people will see in the year 2011. For the first time in my life I don’t want all this stuff. I want my next phone to be one of the free ones that is just “so awful…2.1 megapixel camera? Where is the twitter app?” I want to refrain from getting new shoes until my toes bust out of them.

 I almost slept in my car last night, just to avoid being a burden to someone else. My girlfriend thought that it was an awful idea. That’s a predictable reaction. I would think that would stink too! That made me think though. What is so bad about sleeping on the cushioned seat of a warm car, with a comforter nonetheless? Oh no! I have experienced poverty at its worst! I have money in the bank, a car that is paid for, and a Droid, but sleeping in the car is an atrocity. It would be easy to type a thousand facts about how impoverished other people are compared to me, but let’s just say that I flush water down the toilet that would be the cleanest some folks could ever hope to drink.

I’m tired of being safe… Why should I be scared of someone because they are homeless? I saw a man peeing in an ally way once, and I rushed Amy away because I wanted to protect her. What are the odds that he was violent and would take my money and my girlfriend? Call me naïve, but that’s too safe. I had a $50 bill in my wallet at the time that I know I should’ve given him. I didn’t think about it at the time. When someone asks you for money, and all you have is some high bill, what does that matter? They need it, and we want it to keep us comfortable, what’s the debate? What kind of broken down church do I represent by acting stingy, selfish, and greedy? I feel like such a fool for all the money I have wasted on selfish ambitions, all the time I spend dreaming of wealth, and all the trends I’ve bought into. I’m sick of living in the generation that makes helping the poor a marketable trend. No more Tom’s-shoes-help-save-the-world mentality. How about I buy a plane ticket and go give someone my own shoes (or cut them in half and give four people shoes [because size 15 is plenty big for two]).

The reason that we don’t trust our Sovereign Lord is because we don’t need to. We are doing just fine on our own. Our bank accounts, clothing, and actions don’t reflect a need for anything. Does it take terminal illness to live outrageously? I don’t want to be fine any longer. If you see me, keep me humble. I want to be a vision of Jesus Christ, not a fuzzy lens that distorts who he is. So until my death I will be fine with being a PC, having Cross Trekkers, using a not-so-smart phone, and sleeping wherever the Lord gives me to lay my head.

I hope you know that every word of this blog is, hopefully, from God and not my own arrogance. Don’t take this from me; take is as an outlet to be challenged by God.

Tragedy

This blog is directed toward girls, ladies, and/or women, but guys can read it too; it's not exclusive. My heart has been broken many times over girls, and it has nothing to do with them dating me or not. This isn't about girls leading me on, or hanging me out to dry. My heart breaks for girls because they are being let down. THIS IS NOT A SLAM ON GUYS. I really do get sick of everyone blaming problems specifically on males', or females', evil nature. I want to ask girls how much they think they are worth? I want to ask you desperately, how much do you think you're worth?

I have done through school hearing about friend after friend losing their virginity. Because virgin is a dirty work, after all, an insult. Out of the people who lost their virginity, very very few were upset. Most people will brag about such a thing. Since when do people brag about losing something? Imagine someone saying, "Dude! I lost $1000 at the casino, and it was awesome," or, "I lost my house and my marriage because of foreclosure! Yessss!" It just doesn't make sense... What about taking that from someone? If a guy takes a girl's virginity, it is some sort of accomplishment. Some people would brag about what they have stolen, but wheat kind of decent person brags about thievery? Guys, why do we think we can take that from anyone? Ladies, why would you let someone steal from you so easily? Do you value it? Aren't you scared of losing something that you were given one time?

Women, you were created by God-- your Father who loves you. Jeremiah 1 says that God crafted you in your mother's womb, and that he numbers the very hairs on your head. God has a purpose for you, and he loves you with such a special fervor. God gave you the gift of virginity and purity. The only one who is allowed to take that is your husband, because you are exchanging that gift. That doesn't mean you give it to: someone who is special to you, someone you love, someone you think you could marry, and not your fiance. What man, who isn't your husband, is worthy of getting that? Why would you value your virginity so little? That is sacred. Your body was meant to be the temple of the Holy Spirit (God dwelling in you) and you can't let someone desecrate it. Girls, please don't fall for that trap! If a boy want to have sex with you before you are married, then he is either: acting foolishly in the moment, or doesn't value you enough to respect your purity. And what about the gray areas between kissing and sex? Stay the heck away! Why test the boundaries, just be safe and remain as pure as possible. You should regret losing such a thing. God has placed such a high value on you, please see that.

A brief comment for us guys: don't be stupid. Let's not let our southern half control our lives. If you are proud of what you have taken, then you are lost. If you are lost, God is the only way to be found. Jesus Christ paid too high a price for us to be fooling around with his precious daughters.

Thankfully, if you have lost your virginity, it is not the end of the story. You are not ruined, you are not forsaken, and you are not filthy. You lost a precious gift, but what can we give away that Jesus Christ can't restore? You are God's daughter regardless of what you've done. I'm happy to say that there is hope for everyone to be restored. Please, please just avoid the spreading tragedy. Value yourselves, please. So many people will ignore purity...what a tragedy.

Through Anything

In wedding vows people tell each other all the mushiest of the mushy things to express their love for the other, and follow with the statement that they will be together forever. Over fifty percent of marriages are failing. Divorce is at an all time high. How can people say that they will love each other forever, through anything?

When the Holy Spirit sought me out, and broke my heart, I told Him that I would follow Jesus no matter what happened to me. I still feel that way, and I think a lot of Christians would say they feel the same way. There's the question, "What if someone held a gun up to your head and asked you if you were a Christian," to which most of us would would reply, "yes." For some people, that may be true (it's fairly impossible to say what you would do if the situation actually occured) but what about something other than your own death? What if it meant torture? What if it meant being ostrocised from society? What if it meant harm to your family, friends, or your stuff? What if someone at school would take you less seriously? It is too easy to think that we would die for what we believe in when we aren't even giving all we got in our life. Living for Jesus is harder than dying for Him. Why can't we give up everything we have in speech, time, music, and movies? We would die, but not give up watching Pineapple Express, listening to Weezy, or taking the edge off our jokes. I am very guilty, don't get me wrong, but it's a struggle! If we won't even give all the simple stuff to God, what about the life-altering ones? People really do take your stuff and hurt your family for the Gospel. Are we willing to let anything go for God's kingdom to be furthered? I know I couldn't yet... No one is going  to touch my family. No one steals from me without consequence. You think I'm just going to let you take my money? You don't attack America, it's my country.  What I am learning is: not a thing in this world, or the next, is mine. My family is a momentary blessing, my stuff and money are a means to bless others, and this country is a great nation, but it's not the kingdom I pledge my allegiance to. God needs to mean so much more to me than anything of this world. If I lived a life like that, how many people could I lead to Christ? This is a battle...

It's tough to follow God through anything, this life isn't easy. People are leaving the church at an all time high. How can we say we love God forever, through anything? God doesn't need us to die for him, he wants us to live for him. Jesus didn't just die for us, he lived for us.

Some things that people should be forced to do...

1. Work Retail for a year. -This would make people realize how bad retail sucks, and how we don't need people making it even more difficult with the following acts: throwing stuff on the floor, asking how much something costs rather than using the price scanner that is right behind you, assuming that i have control over the price, availability, and quality of a given object.

2. Take a parenting class.- The worst generation of parents is right now, and the one to follow is forseeably worse. I am frightened by the little monsters that are rising up...

3. Learn how to use a gun.- Maybe if people knew that guns weren't scary, they wouldn't fight to get rid of them. And those who are too stupid or irresponsible to own guns will never have the opurtunity to own one!

4. See poverty before you complain about lacking anything. -Same goes for "needing" something. Working at a toy store gives wonderful insight into such stupid behavior. We are fine here...that's why we don't call on God enough.

5. Pass extensive, difficult, and complicated driving courses before they get a license.- Don't even get me started...most people don't deserve to own a license at all.

6. Look at their life and try to find the meaning. - Why are you here? Is it to play high school sports and pursue a sexual prowess? Is it drinking yourself unconscious every weekend and get yourself into a dozier-induced comotose in between times? Some people live their lives as children with freedoms. That is why they become parents, and bad ones at that. Life is not about ourselves... I don't know if most people can comprehend that notion. IT IS NOT ABOUT US. I know...unbelievable right? Life without Jesus is worthless. If i could life 400lbs with one arm, that wouldn't make me a strong man. If I never cried again in my life, that wouldn't make me tough. If I had sex with thousands of woman, that wouldn't make me romantic.

7. Man up.- Some people just have some growing to do. High school is over, get out of mom's house. It's time to get a job and be responsible. We can't parade around like little boys any more.