Luke 6

To many times I feel like a pharisee... and too much do I know that I have enough knowledge... or just enough rope to hang myself, essentially acting as a wise fool, thinking I know more than I really do.

I have a tendency to be very black and white, judgmental. Using my own life in many circumstances to judge my place and others has proved to make me more of a pharisee than I'd rather admit. And so knowing this, and trying to move away from this rut that my mind catches all to often.

I look at Jesus' interaction with pharisees and how they despise him, and try to trap him. They are obsessed with their own insecurities of self righteousness and are disgusted that Jesus can live with such freedom yet be perfect... it as if when they look at Jesus, it is a glaring reminder that Jesus meets a standard that try as they might they could never ever attain, yet they have dedicated their lives to it.

Its very much like an athlete who dedicates their every moment of their life to a sport. They live, eat drink, think, sleep, love, and die by their devotion to it. Yet they despite all their work fall short of being a champion. And are completely consumed with hate when a gifted athlete who has not dedicate all their being to the sport, but lives a life full of experiences other than the sport that he plays, is a seemingly effortless champion.

But look, look at all I have done! Do I not deserve to be a champion with all that I have sacrificed? Do I not deserve to be honored for my dedication? Why do you respect and honor him, he laughs at your praise, and doesn't even seem to take this sport seriously! I can imagine that the miserable athlete and the miserable religious leaders felt similarly and demanded answers to similar questions.

How sadly do I being rich in what this world values tend to identify with pharisees and the ungracious athlete. Change my heart Jesus.

I've had a lot on my mind lately. I feel overwhelmed with emotions and feelings that I can't control so I hold them in and suppress them. Praying and talking to Jesus helps, he give me comfort and peace when I am most at odds with myself, though I feel Him urging me to process through them instead of running away from them.

It was just today that it occurred to me being in touch with one's emotions doesn't mean that they automatically get shared or expressed. I have fooled myself into believing that. But because I am a man in touch with my emotions, doesn't mean that I can't harbor and bottle them up just as much as the next guy. It still takes work, thought, intentionality, and wisdom.

I'm in touch with my emotions, yes. I feel and relate deeply... but when I don't know what to do with them I bottle them up, because I've some way or another come to the conclusion that in general emotions are inappropriate, ill timed and reveal weakness. And in general my life has been lived with my loved ones at arm length because first and for most I dearly want to be there for those I love and be strong for them, and that if I did smother them with my feelings and emotions, it would lead to just that: smothering them.

One Body

I've come back to the habit of listening to podcast sermons again during the week, something I did quite a bit last year. One dude that just cuts me deep is Francis Chan.

In a few weeks Catalyst is starting a new series called re:Think CHURCH. So lately I've been rethinking, re-evaluating a lot of aspects of church culture that perhaps I've settled for, instead of holding out and dreaming for that ideal.

One thing that has struck me lately and I really caught the vibe I've been trying to resonate on with Francis discussing how individualized American Christianity is. God loves you, Jesus died for you, the church is here to serve you... That's not very "I'm third" (God first, other second, I'm third). In fact, most of the time "you" in the text is a plural you. Meaning its more like we, and us instead of you and I.

Community really takes a different spin when in that context. We are to open our homes, we are loved by God, we are to love others as we love each other, Jesus died for our sins, we are called be intentional, caring, and compassionate together as one, unified.

Revealed by Out Cry

In tough times of trial and nasty life stuff, what will I pray?

Will I be embittered, and demand that God fix my situation, or make my problems disappear? Will I plead that God help me find a way out, so I can escape and run away? Or will I ask what is in me, what is my heart in this, how is He revealing Himself to me in these circumstances? Will I ask for wisdom, and strength to make it through?

Hardship and trial come by two ways, by His will and by our disobedience. Either way there is much to learn, for whether God is preparing and tempering us or bring us back to His hand, He isn't safe but He is good and loves us dearly. He dreams great adventure for our lives, and with great adventure come great peril.

Will I risk all to follow that adventure?

Mal·lea·ble

1: capable of being extended or shaped by beating with a hammer or by the pressure of rollers
2 a: capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces or influences b: having a capacity for adaptive change

I've been confronted with a few theories and studies that makes me want to re-evaluate some of my preconceived notions and even well-thought-out notions alike. How much of our decisions are influenced by environmental circumstance? Think about it, in the Tipping Point, a book I'm currently reading, Malcom Gladwell outlines a study that tries to measure just what that question asks:

This research was inspired by the story of Good Samaritan which is about a low caste man who helps a wounded person on the road while a priest and a noble man pass him by, without helping.

The psychologist met individually with a group of theology students. Each of them was given a topic to speak about. Some of them were given the story of Good Samaritan, other were given some other topic from the bible. They were informed that they would have to go to the nearby building a give an extempore talk on this subject. To some of them they said, “Oh, You are late, they were expecting you few minutes ago, you better hurry”, to others they said “It will be a few minutes before they are ready for you, but you might as well head over now

Along the way to the presentation, each student ran into a man who had fainted in the alley. They wanted to find out who would stop and help this man. We would assume that the person who is going to be speaking on the “Good Samaritan” would be most likely to stop and help the man. However, it did not have any significant impact on the helping behavior. The only thing that mattered was whether the student was in a rush. Only 10% of those who were rushed stopped to help the man as against 63% of those who knew they had time.

If circumstance plays a significant role in how we make decisions, then a question glaringly comes to the forefront of my mind. How do I become one of the 10% who are able to keep the larger vision/picture/ideals/beliefs in view instead of being so narrowly focused on current tasks that I'm oblivious to opportunity? Is it really true that we are so malleable to circumstance, or is it that our belief systems don't match our actions?

This kind of idea really makes me think specifically about Character and Belief. If true character, the encoding of the soul and what is branded in the heart, is exposed and revealed by our actions in a circumstance known to no one. And similarly if true belief is a concept not limited by what is said by our lips, or memorized by our mind, but the system, the filter in which every decision is run through in order to act in a manner that is in line with the teachings we follow. So that what a person believes can be gathered by mere observation of their life, without a single question asked.

Can I say that for my life? Can you say that for your life?

What if we were held to that standard, that definition of Belief? How would people define our Character? Who's to say that people don't already have a different conclusion about my character then the one I have myself?

If that's true then am I perhaps living in a "pipe dream" where my perspective is jaded/sugar coated by my own preconceived notions about who I'd like to be?

Helmets on, Strap yourself in

A little school update.


Fall classes are lacking, 4 out of the 6 I need to take aren't available. So I've spent the last week moving everything around to make it work. Introduce Summer classes!

I'll be taking at least 12 credits in eight weeks. 9 credits is considered a very full load, so Chaz is expecting to have 0 life for two months. Specially if I sign up for one more...

Ya I might steal that kid's lid before I start trying to bash my brains out again my text books.

This is Staggering

As I mentioned a while back, I'm going to start writing about more from a business management and marketing perspective. I've got a lot of ideas and thoughts running around in my head but I haven't made enough links to really be able to bang out and coherent posts about them yet. But more on that later.

Today as I was browsing through my usual millions of various news articles, I stumbled across a piece on employee retention. The results in one area of their study was almost unbelievable:

If you do receive an attractive offer from another company, don’t expect your current employer to offer much to retain you. Even though the cost to replace a worker averages $21,000 -- a 40 percent increase over last year’s estimate -- employers on average are willing to offer just a 7 percent raise to entice a valued employee to stay. Though roughly half of employers surveyed said they “sometimes” make counteroffers, 35 percent said they never do.

(emphasis added by me)

Wow! One of the most important parts of business is retaining valuable employees. Specially when it takes 20 extra G's to get a new employee up to speed, and that still doesn't make up for the experience the previous employee built up over the years that is now unavailable. In my mind it seems that its more cost effective to offer some of that money that would have taken to bring a new worker in. But that's only surface level, really if a worker is getting an offer from another company pay is probably a fraction of the issue, and if the employer digs a bit, they'll probably find that the employee is not satisfied due various combinations of: under utilization, lack of challenge, is unable to catch the vision of the company, has poor relationships with peers, feels they hit a career glass ceiling, etc.

So even if an employer counter offers well and wins the continuous loyalty of their valued employee. It doesn't end there, look deeper, and get a company gut check. You'll definitely learn something.