Who Was That Anyway?

The context police might arrest me for this one. Yes. I am using this passage completely out of context. Moi-hahaha!

Luke 12:7 (New International Version)
7Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

For anyone who doesn’t think that God is all that great, I really don’t think they have much of an idea of who He is. Today I was at Canadian Tire paying off part of my Canadian Tire Mastercard. As I stood waiting at the cashier, a young woman fell in line behind me. Due to the look on her face, I could tell that she thought she knew me. So I did what anyone else does in similar circumstances. I smiled politely and said hi.

Now, even though I have written one book and even though I do write a blog post from time to time, this isn’t the scenario where I am this huge public figure who just can’t seem to escape the public lens. I’m not being chased by throngs of individuals who have checked me out on YouTube and are looking for the chance to finally meet me face to face.

Side note. I think fans are idolaters.

I have had the privilege however of speaking at a few (and I mean a few) different churches in my area and I do on occasion run into people with whom I have had some enjoyable, yet brief contact. Fortunately, the smile and the hello were enough to deal with the awkwardness of the situation.

“So. Did your daughter enjoy youth group last night?” She asked.

That’s it. This lady must be part of the youth program at my church. At least now I have some basis for initiating a polite conversation.

You’ve likely been there too haven’t you? We just can’t remember everyone we meet. I know that this won’t be an impressive post, but think on it. God not only knows every person in the world, he even knows how much hair we have.

How horrible it would be if God were like me. I can’t imagine going to Him in prayer during my time of greatest need, only to have Him reply, “Do I know you? Where have we met?”

Even if you don’t know Him, He knows you. I don’t know if that’s comforting or not. It’s just the way it is.

Artificial Intelligence

“Hey Kev. Do you know what a climax is?”

There was always some moron who knew the meaning of some sexual term or phrase who thought that he had discovered to key to supreme knowledge itself. I was in grade 7 and at that point in time, I didn’t know what he was talking about. It’s funny. That type of attitude was something that was supposed to have died in high school, but it doesn’t.

There are a lot of things I just assume that people ‘grow out of’, but I’m wrong. This is one of them. Now that I’ve openly taken my stand with Jesus, very few people ask me if I’m up on the latest disgusting sexual terms, but I still overhear the conversations between individuals who should have grown out of it. The people who have the inside scoop on the latest sexual terms, usually like to think that they are privy to some special kind of knowledge, much like my friend who knew what a climax was.

Now that I’ve been walking with Jesus for a while, I think if I ever get the opportunity, I’ll respond differently next time. You see, I know a lot of Biblical terms that many people in the general public are unaware of. The conversation might go something like this;

“Hey Kev. Do you know what a Chicago Steamer is?”

“No I don’t. Please tell me so that I might share in your special wisdom. But since we’re talking about definitions, do you know what Sanctification is?”

I wonder how that conversation will end.

How about you? Are you authentically impressed with this type of knowledge?

Busy about other 'Good' things

Hi there. No I haven't forgotten you. I know I haven't been writing here a whole lot lately. Fortunately I'm not the source of your true spiritual nourishment. Otherwise, you would all be malnourised, if not dead. (I'm leaning towards dead.)

I'm still busy, but I've been busier than usual in my teaching. I just came home from teaching men's group and I'll likely be doing that for the next two Thursdays.

This coming Sunday I'll be speaking at New Sarum Baptist Church. It's my very first Baptist Church. Yay! Kind of. It's funny in a way. Most of the time, when I have had the privilege of speaking, it always seemed like God gave me a similar message. It was like I always had it on my heart to talk about sin, and Christ's lordship and the need to receive and remain in Him. This has always made me feel like I'm a broken record. Fortunatley however, the messages were always packaged differently enough that they were somewhat bearable. (I think.)

So, many times I think, 'Why am I always on about sin? Why can't I ever have a comforting message?'

It's here! I finally have the sense that I am supposed to talk about some nicer things. I'm hoping that it's because the people of New Sarum are generally a faithful bunch. I'll be speaking on the 23rd Psalm. So if you've ever wanted to hear me talk and NOT touch on drunkennes or any sexual sin, 'church' starts at 11:15 am. If you come at 10:30am, there is supposed to be coffee and a time to interact.

I also have the privilege of speaking at Aymer's EMMC church again on Oct 30th, so it might be some time before I'm here again.

Night.

Kevin

Everybody Hates Me. Nobody Likes Me.

Lately, it just seems that everybody hurts. Several people in my life have serious health concerns. Others have marital or other relationship problems. As I walk through life, it often seems difficult to notice any tangible benefit for those who have been purchased out of the world. I mean, we still die from heart attacks and strokes. We lose loved ones to drunk drivers. We have all of the problems that everyone else has, and sometimes more.

So, if God doesn’t miraculously fix all of our problems, why bother? Why remain in Him? Is there anything that we can count on? There is a difference and there are things that we can count on in our faith and if God is willing, I hope to speak on it next Sunday at New Sarum Baptist church.

There are many things that God does for us that He does not do for those who haven’t received and remained in Him. I use the words ‘received and remain’ for a very specific reason. I’m not saying that the benefits of our faith are actually claimed by all Christians. What I’m saying, is that there are benefits which are available if we, as His children, would claim them.

“We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God.” 2Corinthians 1:8-9

For many people, when they endure severe ridicule or persecution, life can seem hopeless. It isn’t uncommon for some people to take their own lives when it seems like the world is against them. There is however a staying power that we see in the life of Paul, and it’s something that I have witnessed in those who hold tightly to Jesus. Paul is speaking about the adversity he has faced in his ministry for Christ. He doesn’t give specific details here, but if we study his life closely, we find that he endured more than just ridicule and condemnation. There are many who actually wanted to kill him.

Maybe this is something that is just for people like Paul. How about it? I realize that many nonbelievers get through life. In fact, most do. But when I think on the people I know who have learned to rely on God, there is a certain strength that exudes from the life they live. I don’t see them picking up the bottle or other crutch when all seems lost.

If you are thinking, ‘But I know Christians who…..’

Look carefully at the language I’m using. I’m not talking about Christians. I’m talking about people who have learned to rely only on God. Sadly, there is a difference.

Selfish Advocacy

"There are lots of incidences of bullying that go on. I wonder why Ellen choose this one to focus on."
By chbaresich on The Case Against Public Ridicule at 10:38 AM


I received this comment on one of my posts. In it, I was referring to how Ellen DeGeneres was speaking out against bullying; specifically in regards to homosexuality. Just so you know that there is no controversy here, I’m not speaking against Ellen or slamming her. She’s right. We shouldn’t be cruel, post sex videos online or call them names. If you don’t know any derogatory names for homosexuals, you likely didn’t go to public school. The issue is why? If there are many forms of bullying, why would she speak out against merely this one form?

This past Monday night, my wife and I were staying at a motel as we celebrated our 14 year anniversary. Before lying down for the evening, I spent some time watching the evening news. There was a segment looking at a woman who was trying to raise awareness for violence against aboriginal women. I found that to be rather odd. So, is violence against other women acceptable?

The sad truth is that certain forms of violence and bullying are more tolerable in our culture than others. This might surprise you, but the woman who was speaking out on violence against aboriginal women was an aboriginal woman. Likewise, Ellen is known to be a homosexual herself.

We as human beings tend to advocate only for things that affect us personally, and this even includes our charity; myself included. I have a friend who has a certain disease. So when she is raising support, I try to support her. I have a family member who had breast cancer. So when I hear about breast cancer, I receive it differently than if it had never touched my family.

Notice how ‘I’ am involved in the whole process. I have a friend who suffered from……..I have a loved one who has……I am suffering from……

Michal J Fox is a well know advocate for Parkinson disease. Know why? He has the Parkinson disease. Wouldn’t it be both strange and uplifting for some celebrity to get Alzheimer’s, and spend their life raising money for cancer research?

Violence against anyone should be abhorred, be it male or female, Aboriginal or Caucasian. Bullying in any form deserves our attention.

God Of Comfort (Not the same as Southern Comfort)

I started this week being mildly discouraged. My oldest son came up to me in church carrying the contents from our mail folder. He likes to be the first one to get there. In his hands was a copy of my book that I had given to one of guys in a group who had played at our church a couple of weeks back.

I understand. I had given him the book after asking whether or not he would want it. I don't expect them to read every book from every person that buys their cd. It's just, when you like what someone does, you prefer to think that they might like what you do. Of course, I'd rather have it back than have him throw it in the garbage. Still, I would have prefered a polite refusal to begin with.

Today however has been a great encouragement. It's not that our joy depends on our circumstance, but its still nice to be reassured somehow that what you do matters. Today at work, one of my customers asked if I could speak at his church. After checking out my blog, I found that Helen liked my last post. I don't know if this is always how it works, but God proves Himself over and over to be a God of comfort. It seems to me that He often uses His own people to be that very vessel of comfort.

2 Corinthians
The God of All Comfort
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

The Case Against Public Ridicule

A few of my friends on Facebook posted a link to Ellen DeGeneres’ YouTube video this week. In it, Ellen made a heartfelt plea against bullying. She was refereeing specifically to a Tyler Clementi, whose roommate posted a video of him having sex with his male partner online.

I often take a bit of time to process these kinds of things. In fact, I really didn’t know what to think at all in the moment. I couldn’t tell if Ellen was speaking out against bullying in general or if she was just speaking in reference to the gay community. People tend to be a rather cruel creature and we do tend to pick on those who seem to make the best targets. Facial abnormalities are always good for a good laugh. If she’s speaking out on bullying in general, I’m with her. Even if she’s merely telling us NOT to record our gay roommate having sex and post it on the internet, I’m still with her, although, I’d take the fight beyond the box of human sexuality.

It has only been within the last year that the Lord has dealt with me about having fun at the expense of another. Growing up, I was about as cruel as any other boy. By myself, I really didn’t hurt anyone much, but place me in a group, and I felt quite free to taunt whichever person seemed to be the weakest. It might have been the new kid, just having moved in from Mexico who could barely speak English. They were always fair game. The handicapped were always great to have fun at their expense as well. Fortunately (or unfortunately), we didn’t have any homosexuals to make fun of. Although, we would tease each other and call each other queer.

For whatever reason, God never struck me dead. So I grew up and grew out of it. Or so I thought. Then came Karl. Karl was the new guy at work. He was taller than I was. He had more hair than I did. He had more tool boxes than I did. He had military training and had taken karate, which I had none of. So I unconsciously did what I thought I had to do. I frequently made fun at his expense. When you cut other people down, it makes you feel taller. Doesn’t it work that way?

As I worked my way through Proverbs, I came across this passage,

Proverbs 12:18 (New Living Translation)
18 Some people make cutting remarks,
but the words of the wise bring healing.

And then the thought occurred to me, ‘Even though I think I’m doing this all in good fun, maybe Karl doesn’t see it that way.’ The next day, I made a point of talking to him and asked,

“Karl. Does it bother you when I make jokes at your expense?”

“Yes Kevin. It does.”

I really had believed that it was all in good fun, but the way that I was treating him really did bother him. It didn’t shake him to the core or push him to jump off of a bridge, but he really didn’t want me doing it. So I stopped.


Today I’ve been thinking more of young Tyler and the kind of shame he must have felt. To be honest with you, there are scenes in my life, that if they had been caught and posted online, I wouldn’t want to face the world either. I’m sure that most of you are better than me, but as for me, my shame really isn’t much different than Tyler’s.

That’s the amazing thing about God’s love. Even though He saw me, even though He caught me on tape and saw me in the darkest parts of my life, He chose to demonstrate love to me. He sent His only Son to literally bear my shame; being subjected to public ridicule, mockery, torture and execution. Whenever I hear the word, ‘shame’, there are certain scenes of my life that come to mind. Jesus has both watched, and bore them all. I don’t have to jump off of a bridge to try and escape the humiliation of my past. My crimes were punished and paid for in full on the cross. I wish that Tyler could have discovered that truth. Of course, even if I had known him, I don’t know if I could have articulated these things clearly enough for him or if he would even want to surrender his cares to Jesus anyway. If you have your own personal demons, perhaps this can help you.

Now that I’ve been made right with the Father, there is another kind of ridicule that I endure, but it really isn’t so bad. The world still loves to make fun of believers. Just watch a few episodes of South Park or The Family Guy. If you’re discerning, you know what I mean. If we talk too much about Jesus, they might even kill us. Not that it will get much media attention. And not that we're looking for it.

Most of the people I work with respect me and my faith well enough. I’m thankful that those who do make fun of me do so behind my back. I find out, but it’s easier to handle well after the fact. In a weird kind of way, I’m thankful to be made fun of. It’s different than being ridiculed for some humiliating act. Instead, it’s kind of a compliment. If I live in a world that hated and killed Jesus, then maybe in a small way, it’s evidence that I really do belong to Him.