Bored at Work

Had a class mate show me this game. Next time you are bored at work try it out. http://www.helicoptergame.net/

Reconciliation With Hamas???

Someone else directed me to this article. I "wonder" why this hasn't shown up in the Western press. I don't understand how people continue to protest for these people.

History Abounds

Today and tomorrow will be filled many firsts. Today Rick Warren is speaking at Martin Luther King Jr.'s church, the first white man to speak their, ever. Tomorrow we will see the first African-American president, ever, in the history of this great nation. But these two statements lead me to wonder if we have farther to go. We have come such a long way from the society of the 1800's where slavery was legal. It appears that we have become, in general, a post-racism society. But is this where we should stop? If in 15 years I explain to my little brother that these days were historic should I expect him to understand? Or should I prefer that he not understand it at all? Should I hope that he has no concept of race? That he no longer sees someone for the color of their skin but for the character of their heart, which was King's dream. If you'd like to weigh in feel free to do so. And please understand that I am proud to see this day. I am glad we have come this far. But I simply see the ability to improve. But maybe this is misguided. These days truly are great. Here is to a new era.

Comics and Toddlers

So I bought a LA Times today because they had a section on the Inauguration of Barack Obama. When I got home I opened the paper and flipped through. As I was flipping through my little brother was standing by me and I thought "I should show him the comics." Because kids love the comics right. Apparently I was wrong. He didn't get much out of them. Do you know why? I figured it out but it never would have occured to me until I tried to read one to him. He didn't get much out of them because he didn't get them. He didn't get the word plays or the thoughts behind pictures themselves. It occured to me as I read one with a guy playing football buried by a bunch of players and stating to his wife on the phone "Hey, hon, can I call you back? I'm buried." Now I expect you to get that if you are an American who speaks English as a primary language or has some understanding of the English language.

So this got me thinking. How often do we put people off or do people simply not get what we are saying because of the internal language we use. Often Christians have a set of words they use that they assume everyone else gets but really only Christians get. Now I understand that some of this is unavoidable but we can remove some of the interal language. Our message should not be hindered by our terms. So next time you are going to share something about Christianity with someone that isn't a Christian try to use as little Christianese as possible. Crazy factoid: Christianese is actually a word according to my spell check on the Mac. Just goes to show that we have internal language. Now next time you share make sure you are not preventing their understanding because of your Christianese.

Quick Reflection on Psalm 40:1-3

So Psalm 40:1-3 reads:

"1I waited patiently for the LORD;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD."

Recently while serving at Fuse one of the girls I was serving with commented about one of the other female leaders. She said "I really want to be like her. You can just tell she loves Jesus. I really want my life to reflect that too." This got me thinking. Both of these girls love Jesus and both of their lives have been far from perfect. But the difference is that one of them is allowing the new song in their mouth to be seen. What we have to realize is that this is something that we can allow to happen or prevent from happening. When I interact with people I want to have the new song be evident and this occurs by the way I live my life. Not only in public but in private. The Christian life is not a lazy life. We need to constantly work towards growing. If we never read our bibles and never obey the words of Christ then we can hardly expect our lives to be filled with joy. We need to remember Jesus words in John 15:9-11 regarding abiding in him.

He states: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full."

If you notice there is a cause and effect that we can participate in. As you go about this next week I hope you partake in this cause and effect. May your joy be full.

Moving Out Of The Way Fail

So I'm working on a sermon illustration for a message I am giving at Saddleback Irvine and I stumbled upon this video. It's pretty funny.

Are You (Red)?

Most of you by now have heard of the RED campaign. If you have not, it is a campaign to help fight HIV/AIDS in Africa that was started by Bono from U2. The theory behind the campaign is to get existing companies to commit to donating a portion of their profit when specific (RED) items are sold. By doing so it brings awareness and provides money for the cause. Just recently Starbucks became a (RED) partner and they have an awesome new addition to the campaign. They released the (Starbucks)RED gift card. Every time one of these cards is used between 1/3/09 and 12/31/09 5 cents will be donated to the campaign. Now that might not sound like a lot, but there certainly are a lot of people who go to Starbucks on a regular basis. It is a great place to hangout or do homework. So if you are a regular to Starbucks I encourage you to get one of these cards and continue to use it. Once it runs out of money you can reload it by ask a Starbucks partners (employee). By doing so you will continue to help fight the global pandemic of AIDS. And if you won't reload the card pass it onto someone who will.

Is It Finished?

So I took my little brother to see Bolt last weekend. At one point during the movie he leaned over to me and said "It's over." Knowing that he is not very well versed in movies I could tell that it was not actually over and told him that there was more movie. But I could see how he would think it was over. This got me thinking about how often we think something is over before it actually is. We think it is the end when we actually need to be hoping for more.

Like when David and Bathsheba's first child died. Everyone thought David should continue to mourn but he praise God. He knew what would come later. He knew he would be with the child. Or when Jesus was on the cross. He cried out a psalm of hope. He knew there was more to come. He was letting those around him know it was not over. He knew more was coming.

Often things get turned totally upside down and our first response it to question God. But what if we took a new perspective. What if we questioned our feelings? What if we questioned our perspective? What if we claimed "It is not over"? If you have a relationship with Jesus then you can claim this. Paul writes "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." If you do not have a relationship with Jesus you cannot claim this. But you can.

So there are two responses possible here. If you have a relationship with Jesus you need to remind yourself that "It's not over." If you do not have a relationship with Jesus you can respond by putting your hope in him. If you are interested in that you can email me @ jcvarner@gmail.com. There is actually a third option and that is to not respond to this information. You can go on living as you have been. But there is no hope in that. In Jesus we have hope. We know that "It's not over" for the resurrection has come.

In the Stream

I found this quote today.

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
- Thomas Jefferson

I wonder if this is to some degree what Paul meant in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (ESV)

"19For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23I do it all for the sake of the gospel,that I may share with them in its blessings."

Right now how are you swimming and how are you standing?

Verse to Reflect On

This verse was shared this weekend at church and I thought I'd pass it on as it is a great verse for reflection this time of year.

Isaiah 9:8 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Christmas vs. Xmas

So I keep having this strong desire to type out and write Xmas. But every time I think about it I am reminded of "The Reason for the Season." I know cheesy. But I want to encourage you all to consider writing Christmas rather than Xmas. For Christ truly is the reason we celebrate all this. And the more we can do to remind ourselves of that the better. With all the hustle and bustle, plus the consumerism. It is often Jesus that is lost in this time of year. So when you are at the store in line and are getting frustrated with how long it is taking take a look around. See if you can find something to remind you that this is about Jesus. And W.W.J.D.? I know cheesy. Or the next time you are searching for a parking spot or have one jacked look at the lights and remember He is the Light of the World. Still cheesy? Basically what I am saying is take a look around and I bet you can find something to remind you of Jesus. Even if it is Santa Clause. Remember he was a Christian. Not this modern Santa Clause but Saint Nicolas. Advertisers all the time use little messages for their purpose. So why not use the true little messages of Christmas to change your perspective. I hope you all have an amazing and wonderful Christmas season.

Justice and Mercy

Thoughts I'm pondering right now: To what degree do we offer mercy towards a Christian man guilty of a crime? To what degree do we yearn for punishment against a Christian brother? What should be my response when a Christian brother is accused of a crime? What should it be if he is found guilty?

I understand what my response should be when it is simply an act of sin; forgiveness.

Any thoughts?

Luke's Gospel

So I've been reading Luke's Gospel during my devotionals as of late. I've chosen to go through Luke because it appears that Luke writes to a man of power and position. While I do not have these I feel my current life setting has more to do with rich men of that day than it does with the other Gospels, not that they do not speak to me. I just thought I would read through Luke and let it challenge me as a privileged young man in a very wealthy county. So today I was excited to find out that the Singles Blog for Saddleback Church is doing a devotional set for the Christmas Story for Luke. When you have a chance you might want to check it out. It'll be very interesting to be challenged again by this story.

Craziness

So a month ago I was having a discussion with a friend and he said "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. I'll sound crazy." As a prodded him for more information I said something that I didn't quite grasp until after I said it, I know typical me I say something before I think about it. I responded by saying "We believe in a God who was raised from the dead. Dead people don't rise on a typical basis. We deal in crazy." This statement has stuck with me since that day. I wonder what are something that we believe are impossible that are actually not that far off from occurring. I was once one of those lost cause people who few thought I would ever come to know Jesus. How many friends have I seemingly written off as unsavable? How many times have I written off a healing because it seemed impossible? As a Christian I have to believe that prayer works. I have to believe that God actually cares what happens. I have to believe that the impossible is possible. Every time we read the story of the resurrection it should to some degree remind us that the impossible is possible.

Here is what I am trying to say. When ever you think something is impossible remember that day roughly 2000 years ago when the Son of God was raised from the dead. Remember that friend who came to know Jesus. Remember what he has done for you that seemed impossible. Remember that as long as it will lead to good God deals in the impossible. When the night is darkest remember that the impossible is possible.

I pray that you will all continue to form a worldview of craziness.

Advent Conspiracy Promo Video

Found this video and it really struck me. What will we focus on this Christmas?

From a Friend

A long lost friend of mine posted this on her blog. I thought you all might appreciate it.

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.

You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."

William J. H. Boetcker (1942)
(Quoted by Ronald Reagan)

This Guy is Great.

This guy brings up some great points. Especially about the actors at the end.

ACORN

So recently the group known as ACORN has been caught performing voter fraud in multiple states. In Indiana they were caught because the state had 105% of its population registered to vote. They were caught in Nevada because they registered the entire Dallas Cowboys starting lineup. So this issue is extremely upsetting to me. This is a right many men have died fighting for. It is a right that other people in other places would die to have. Think about the people in Burma or other places that yearn for this right and would die for it. So in light of this I decided to add up the top 10 Wars in American History by deaths. You want to know what it adds up to?

Death Total: 1,308,244

The lives of these men is worth more than winning an election, but I guess not everyone thinks that way.

Parable of the Talents

So I've been spending some time reflecting on the Parable of the Talents. Not the whole parable, just a part, actually just part of a single verse. The part I have been reflecting on is found in Matthew 25:15. The part I've been reflecting on is "each according to his ability." Not really sure why this struck me but it has. I think we generally understand what the point of the parable is, that we are to be responsible with what we have and more will be given, but I keep thinking about this portion of a verse. As I think about this I wonder "what exactly does it mean?" So as I process this I am beginning to wonder what abilities he has given us that we often forget about and we often miss opportunities to use the abilities and therefore are unfaithful with them. Or if we don't know about the ability and we miss an opportunity will we have what is given taken away. I'm unsure if we are responsible for what we do not know.

This has also gotten me thinking about what abilities I have and I am not using. What do we do when we don't have opportunities to use our abilities? Do we search opportunities out or do we wait until we are given them?

Any how, just some random thoughts to get you thinking. Feel free to process in comment form if you like.

The Possible

So Purpose Driven Childrens Ministry Conference started today at Saddleback. The theme is Pipedream: Making The Impossible Possible. This got me thinking "What are the things my friends or myself might do if we thought it was actually possible?"

Here are some of mine (Feel free to post yours as a comment if you like):

Plant a church in Portland that ministers to the poor and the captives.
Start a retreat center that is a ranch.
Lead some long time friends to Jesus.
Write a book that brings people closer to Jesus.

That's it for now.