Silence; or almost there of. Not a soul is stirring, the electricity is off, my computer’s fan is humming. I sit in the dark by the flickering of a single candle. Although small compared to the room I am in, it lights up and shines forth light surprisingly well. Outside the wind is howling and blowing ever so hard. Pushing 10:30pm, the electric has been off for about 5 hours. I am always amazed at how much Americans rely on power: for heat, for lights, for cooking, for entertainment. Before I noticed that standing by the kitchen counter, 8 objects within an arms length required batteries to operate. Batteries, electricity, technology, all consuming and dictating lives. It’s a wonder how we even get along without harnessing the power of electrons and routing them through complex intricate circuits to serve us with whatever our hearts desire. Without the simplistic electrical energy running through wires, we are stumped for what to do and thus revert to using candles and sitting together as a family on the couch with blankets. Technology is a wonderful thing, even now I am using a laptop, but I wonder just how wonderful it is at times. Internet, cable tv, both of which require electricity to operate. Our lives are often ruled by such things as these. TV has become an acceptable medium for quality and quantity family time. There is little to no interaction between individuals. TV sucks and injects the very blood in our veins and it becomes an addiction. Internet… google… all questions are answered. E-mail, facebook, woot.com, youtube, all dictate our life. Technology… cars… headlights, more electricity. More ways for us to cram more into a day.
Americans get so frustrated if the power goes off at all. We should be thankful that we actually have power 99.99% of the time. Other countries the power goes off randomly throughout the day with no warning and stays off for hours at a time.
The world is small. I am small. I am a speck of dust amidst the cosmos wandering around in life. This is the American dream: become educated, go to college, collect a ton of debt, graduate, buy a car, rent a house, buy food, get married, have kids, have even more debt, spend rest of life paying off debt to eventually retire, retire, sit on butt all day and do nothing but watch tv, if you were lucky and had a good retirement, you may have a second home or a nice car as well or may be able to travel. After that, the only thing certain in life comes. Death. Exciting huh? That’s it, that’s the American dream. Sucks doesn’t it? Seems a bit useless. I am not going after the American dream. I don’t care if I live in a trailer, if my car is 10 years or more old. I don’t care if I don’t have any fancy toys to show off or the biggest grill in the neighborhood. I actually would not mind not owning a lot of stuff. Anything that fits into my car would be a blessing of a motto! Americans are materialist though, and this is almost an impossibility. I refuse to spend money on useless things that do not serve any purpose. I will not have a TV where I live. My children and wife will get the best, but I will not spoil them. They will learn to be happy with what they have and consider it a blessing. Call me a miser if you wish, but maybe I am sick of the American dream. I don’t understand makeup or jewelry or anything of the like. If love is love, then my future wife will not care if I do not get her a diamond ring, right? In fact, I would love to make my own ring. Why stop there? Why not make your own clothes and use wood for heating? Why not go green as they say and get back to the basics of energy saving efficiency? Why should I give in to consumerism? Why buy when you can give? Why buy cheap goods from foreign countries that support slave labor to make the items for you? Yes, sweat shops are real, slavery is real. Sex trafficking is real and happens right next to your closest interstate.
Do not even get me started with politics or the government or war. All are necessary evils. Don’t take me wrong, I love the freedom Americans have. I just don’t like the politics and stupid policies which go on. I do not believe in killing any human being, whether in war or in the judicial system. Who is to say that humans now are able to decide who lives and who dies? How would you like me to say that your wife or brother or mother should die with no cause? Walk in the shoes. Open your eyes. Death is death. Different people have views of death and all have different religion. What do you base these ideas off of? Do you candy coat yourself as a Christian? So many Christians have false views of what Christianity is all about. The gospel is not about saving people from hell. The gospel is about Jesus Christ and the outworking of redemption for mankind and the world. Christians have so many misconceptions about heaven as well. Why do you believe that heaven is “up there”? Is not Christ’s redemption of the world going to create a new world/earth? Should not we be living out Christ’s redemptive power now, living out the kingdom of God on earth now? Ever think that heaven is not our eternal destiny, but earth is? Why am I saying these things? Have we ever stopped to think about what we actually believe? Why do you believe certain things? Cause you grew up with it? Guess what, its probably wrong. A lot of my beliefs are wrong. Search for yourself! Don’t just accept what you have been always taught, dig deeper and research for yourself. Don’t just accept what someone says. Challenge! Think!
Christians are so lost and so confused about Christianity in America. We bring so many presuppositions and assumptions to the table. Another of which is the idea of the left behind series. Is this really biblical? Many think not, and I tend to agree with this camp. Either way, Christians need to get back to the basics. Agree to disagree! Major on the major and minor on the minor. Our own view and denomination limits the ultimate awesomeness of who God really is. God can do whatever He pleases! God is not catholic, Baptist, or nondeminationalistic. God is God, but often we turn God into god. We make up for ourselves who we think God should be. Do we turn God into god or an idol of theology? Base it in the Bible, keep it real. Don’t take scripture out of context. Look at the big picture.
As a Christian, what have you done with your life? What are your goals? What do you care about? Have you shared the gospel message with anyone? This bugs me to the utmost extent that I have not shared my faith more with people I interact with on a daily basis. I also hate the expression, oh well im just watering or planting seeds in peoples lives and they will see Christ based upon how I act. I think there is truth to this, but we have come to accept that this is all we need to do. This is a lie from satan! If our faith really mattered to us as Americans, we would act so much differently. I also love the expression of God opening and closing doors. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely think God directs us. But often the case comes where we say “oh well God said thus and so and so I can’t do that cause He closed the door”. I think we need to be careful with this and not base choices on our own emotions of what we our self want to do.
More later…
Disagree? Let me know!
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