So here's my life in brief: Grew up in a small town in East Texas and took the first opportunity out to a slightly larger town in Central Texas for College, then to still a larger town to do a ministry that never worked out.  Then to the Dallas area for a while (still larger).  Then after moving back to that small, central Texas town, on to Denver.  3 years in Denver in school and then back to a town of about 100,000 in West Texas.  Now I find myself in a small town in the hill country living inamongst what many might call "Rednecks."  But here's what I've discovered, if there is such a thing, the Redneck Way is the best way.  Let's put religion and politics aside and look at the practicalities of this lifestyle.  Unfairly considered uneducated, these people are doctors, lawyers, artists, musicians, writers, and actors (that's right here in my little town and within my little circle of friends).  Most of these people live in the country, show hogs and goats at the county livestock show, ride horses, wear cowboy boots, and talk with a slow drawl.  Yet, they are educated and know what is important.  Here's what matters to them: Family, loyalty, honesty, hard work, enjoying being outside, and having fun doing it.  They are not concerned with things like status, how they look in others' eyes, or having the latest gadget.  So my conclusion is, the redneck way has to be the best way.

Ok, I know it's been half past forever since my last post.  So I sincerely apologize to all two of you who have been waiting patiently for more of my thoughts.  Part of the reason for my absence has been my absence from the world I typically know.  I spent a week in central Mexico helping to build a cabin at a camp, then two days in the office and then off on a short vacate-ion to Colorado.  So, I've covered about 5,000 miles, spent time with new friends and old friends alike.  All that makes me think.

I saw how people I had never met, never worked with; people who don't come from the same background as I, and don't believe exactly as I believe have the same goals I do and we can work together to accomplish that.  That encourages me.

I also walked into a place I used to work, a place I love filled with people I love.  I had no idea who was still there, but I was pleased when a former coworker came up, hugged us, and generally shared how glad he was to see us.  I was amazed that though we are certainly different in our beliefs, our backgrounds, and our goals, we still found ourselves wanting to stay, or at least go get a cup of savory coffee and continue the reunion-ing. 

All in all, it was a spiritually refreshing trip, though it was physically exhausting.  I was reminded of what is important and that the relationships I have developed over the years are still strong and the relationships I have just begun will be just as strong as the years pass on.

Ok, I've been visiting Fairmoon's blog http://fairmoon.tblog.com" title="http://fairmoon.tblog.com" target="_blank"http://fairmoon.tblog.com for some time now and through that and our conversations I have learned much about Wicca and Witches.  I have come to respect Fairmoon's ideas and her attempts to create an interfaith dialogue.  She has been struggling with the contentions between Christianity and Wicca and it would seem has been called "evil" in that process of conversation.  So, I thought it good to write a few words on that topic.

As a Christian, I believe certain things to be true.  I believe that the God of the Bible is the creator and savior of the world (in the person of Jesus the Christ).  I also believe that I have a personal relationship with God (through the person of the Holy Spirit).  I believe that if I give Jesus my life, then my eternity will be one of worshipping God the Father (we call that "heaven").  With that said, I also believe that sin (or evil if you want to refer to it that way) is anything we do apart from God.  We were created to have a relationship with God, and so we "sin" by doing things outside of that relationship.  When we enter into a relationship with God (many Christians refer to that as being "saved") God changes us.  I can't fully describe how, but he does.  That does not mean that we will no longer do things apart from God (sin), just that we are much more aware of it and want it less and less based on our relationship with God. 

So you may wonder how this has anything to do with Fairmoon and her struggle for interfaith dialogue.  I respect Fairmoon, but I will disagree with her on some things.  This is one of those things: Doing good does not make one good or ensure any type of eternal reward or pleasant afterlife.  We may do good things and do them apart from God.  Now, that does not mean that followers of Christ are not instructed to do good.  It means that doing good apart from God is still sin.  We may impact our world in incredibly positive ways, but if it is done apart from God, we have sinned.  If we are to follow God, we must accept God's will and God's method to accomplish his will. 

Now, I know that sounds harsh, and some of my critics and even some of my friends might say that I am being narrow-minded.  But I'm not forcing this belief on anyone.  I also know that if I refer to a sinner, I am also talking about myself.  I'm no better that any other person.  I follow Christ as best as I know how.  I'll tell you about that if you ask of if I feel God telling me to share my faith with you.  Otherwise, we can talk about all kinds of things.  We may disagree (even on these important issues) but that does not minimize you or your worth in my book.  So I hope that though we disagree, Fairmoon, I, and others may continue to dialogue about what we believe and how we live.

For whatever reason, this subject has come up quite often recently, and I thought it prudent to comment (given that I told another blogger that I would do so). 

First, please understand that when I speak of homosexuality I may substitute any number of activities, thoughts, or lifestyles.  Maybe you'll understand that a bit better later. 

I must point out that homosexuality is identified in the Bible as sin.  For Christians who believe the Bible, that fact must not be denied.  We may certainly interpret it differently, but it is still a statement in the Bible that we must choose to believe to be true or not.

That being said, I guess the real issue here is how do conservative Christians deal with homosexuality (specifically, should the church accept it, or deny membership to homosexuals, etc.).  To understand my reasoning on this issue, you must accept my premises, which some of you will not, and that's ok.  This is how I get to the conclusion that I have reached.

We are created for realationship with God.  That is our identity.  However, we somehow want more than that.  We go our own way.  In doing so, we lose our true identity and search for substitutes.  That is what sin is.  It is searching for another identity apart from God.  We all do it.  I've been a Christian for many years and I still do it.  This is what is true for all people, including homosexuals.  At its core, it is an identity issue.  When one commits their life to following Jesus and begins a relationship with him, They are restored to their true identity.  The other parts of thier identity become secondary.  In my estimation, this issue is not about God versus homosexuals, or homosexuality versus the Church; it is about who we are as people. 

Now, here's how this affects us.  Let's say a person who is homosexual visits a local church.  Should they be allowed in the door?  Absolutely.  The church is a place for all people.  Let's say they profess to be a Christian and want membership within the church, but are unwilling to leave their homosexual lifestyle.  Should they be allowed to join?  Well, there's the rub.  This is where that little part in the Bible comes in.  I think it is here that we misunderstand membership.  It is not like a club where we sign a card, go through an initiation, or pay a fee and, boom, we're a member.  It is entering into a community of faith where we can live out our true identity with others who are doing the same.  It is becoming a part of something supernatural.  It is becoming part of God's family.  It means that you agree with what the church teaches.  It doesn't mean that you will always agree with the rest of the church or it's members, but it does mean that you agree with its purpose and its basic and most crucial teachings. 

I guess this is what it boils down to: God wants our relationship with him to be first in our lives.  If we are unwilling to give up something for membership in his family, then are you really part of his family.  The problem here for churches and many Christians is that while sensitive issues like homosexuality are so readily shunned, other, more subtle issues (alcohol/drug addiction, greed, lust, gluttony, etc.) are overlooked when someone seeks membership in the church.  I think we as the church need to take a long, hard look at that. 

These are just a few thoughts on a subject that could take pages and pages to discuss.  I may be able to fill in the blanks a little later. 

Here's how crazy our world has become:

The other day, my wife and I are watching our local news (which really isn't that local for us) and the lead story was about a murder investigation, or was it.  Basically, what happened was two women got married (which is illegal in our little part of the world).  One of these women was pursuing a sex-change operation and for all appearances was a man.  These two had some sort of disagreement and the "husband" shot "his" "wife" and killed her.  The story, however, was much more focused on how two women could get married when the law is certainly against it.  There was very little as to the tragedy of the murder. 

It just seems to me that this is an example of our society not focusing on what is most important.  Come on people, a life has been taken in a most tragic and violent way.  Why continue to talk of the sexual identity of the people involved which seemed to have nothing to do with the murder itself.  I'm just wondering what lessons we can learn from this.  I guess we (or at least the producers of this particular news channel) love to exploit the lifestyles of people rather than show concern and love for the actual people involved. 

I think it's interesting how easily we generalize here in this little cyber-world.  Few of us really know one another, and I think fewer of us know members of the groups we attack.  Let's be honest and admit that we really don't know that much about the people we argue with over issues of religion, philosophy, and politics.  I posted this a while back, but that it timely to put it up again:

to know

do not think assume or believe

that by the simple fact that your eyes

can see these words

and your mind

can comprehend each one individually

and compile them into a coherent

thought    & nbsp;   &n bsp;  or form

that you know me

words are only a taste

of a much larger

and more diverse meal

a word or phrase

only a signpost

on a larger and greater journey

that until you have traveled

for many miles

can you begin to know much

of the journey at all

until you’ve gripped my hand

in sweat and struggle

until you’ve look on my reaction

when I see my daughter laugh

until you’ve been close enough

to feel the weight of my anguish

until you’ve believed you could almost taste

the frustration I feel

you don’t know me

only words

only sounds

only

Still working through the Church thing, but here's another thought to chew on:

The Bible speaks of "rewards" in heaven (Matthew 16:27, Luke 6:23, Ephesians 6:8 ).  These rewards seem to be based on the lives we live, therefore each reward is different.  So how is that possible if we are equal in the Kingdom?  Do we get more stuff, just because we were more obedient to God than someone else?  Here's what I think:  Our reward is our seeing God's joy in us.  We get to see in his face how much we have pleased him.  I believe that is the only thing that can be unique to all of us and that we would care about for eternity.

Thank you all for your comments.  They have been quite helpful.

So the question remains: What does the Church offer that nothing else does?  It is salvation?  Well, salvation comes from God, not from the Church, so it can't be that.  Is it a relationship with God?  Again, I think not because one can have a relationship with God without truly becoming part of the Church.  Is it truth?  No, truth can be found in many places.  The Church does not have a monopoly on truth.  Is it wisdom?  No, wisdom is found in many places.  Is it love?  Again, love can be found in many places.  Is it ritual, prayer, comfort, or guidance?  I don't need the Church for that, I can get that out of a little Zen book on my bookshelf.  I think many of us look to the Church for these things and if we do, we will be disappointed in the end. 

Before I go on, I want to make sure we are clear as to what I mean by "Church."  I mean the global body of followers of Jesus the Christ past, present and future.  This global body is represented in local bodies called "churches."  I am a member of a church and a Member of the Church (member in the sense of attender, support, and part of a local body and Member in the sense of an organ connected to a larger body with a particular purpose). 

Now, I believe the Church (and church) offers above all else, true community.  Now, I know many of you are skeptical of that answer and I can venture a guess as to why.  We have all experienced glimpses of community, but in most instances this has been some perverted version of true community (even within the Church).  I am speaking of the true community that we are intended to have.  This is what the Church offers.  This is what the Church is.

Community can be simply defined as the sharing of one's life with others.  It means that we live together, cry together, laugh together, grow together, struggle together, and ultimately die together.  Our lives are connected with one another and with God.  We are living the way we were created to live.  We have unity with one another because we have unity in Christ.  Because of this unity, we can be extravagantly diverse.  We can find our true personality (as opposed to the accepted personality we have adopted based on society's influence).  We are free to be who we were created to be because we have an unbreakable unity with the other Members.  We have one purpose, but a multiplicity of ways to accomplish it.  This is what the Church offers: unity in diversity; living our lives in right relationship with God and with one another and with the earth.  This is community.  Deep down, this is what we all seek.

Here is the current culmination of my thoughts prompted by all the comments you've given and the posts I've read.  How do we know that we know anything?  I mean, how do I know that these graphic symbols we call letters convey any meaning whatsoever?  Here's what I think: we know that we know through relationship.  To know anything or anyone requires a relationship.  When I first meet a chair (I often meet chairs about town), I don't know if it is something I can sit on or not.  I don't know what it is made out of (all kinds of stuff can look like all kinds of other stuff).  All I know is that it is shaped like something that will accept my buttocks and support my weight so I can rest my feet for a while.  So I meet the chair, I get closer to the chair, and I might even pick the chair up.  Ultimately, I trust the chair.  I sit and it supports me.  Over time, my relationship with the chair grows.  I know that it will support me.  I know that it is useful for more than just sitting.  I know what it is made of.  If my relationship with the chair is especially good, I care for it, and even heal it if it is broken.  I know it because I have a relationship with it.

All this to make one simple point.  Knowing...without relationship isn't really knowing.  We can make all the best logical arguments about the origins of the universe, the history of mankind, theology, philosophy, medicine, architecture, science, or whatever else might strike our fancy.  But if those arguments are based on logic without relationship, then they really don't mean anything.  They may be great arguments, but for life, they are wortheless.  The human mind is capable of a great many things, but I do not think it can know, truly know something outside of a relationship.