The Relationship

Leviticus 9/Luke 5

            The fact that God asks anything of us shows the level of intimacy that He wants to have with us. The depth of any relationship is measured in how high the expectations are. If you don’t believe that to be true look at the different labels we have for non-family members. You have strangers, acquaintances, friends, buddies, best friends, bros, boys, significant others etc. We label people by how close they are to us and the closer they are the more we expect from them.  This isn’t mean spirited; it isn’t unreasonable, it is the very nature of relationships.

The Man (Johnny Cash) and Wife. 

            Look at a good marriage. Each member gives 100% of themselves. There is no 50/50. It is all or nothing. God often equates our relationship with Him to a marriage. My wife has higher expectations for me then anybody else on the planet. Are these expectations given out of distrust or hate? No, they are given out of love and intimacy. These expectations show the difference between love and like.

God is not out of line in asking us to love and serve Him. He created us, we goofed, and He saved us. He has put Himself 100% in this relationship multiple times. He has proven to us that He cares. Jesus modeled the level of expectation in the relationship God wants with us. God is not unjust. God is not a tyrant. He leads by example. God loves us all and with that love comes expectations. The expectations don’t save us but they show how He feels about us and how He wants us to feel about Him.

Why is it so hard for us to look at our relationship with God this way? We have super high expectations for Him. If anything bad happens we say, “Why did you do that?” When we don’t like what He has for us we say, “You could’ve done better.” When He gives us His expectations we say, “No, I’m philosophically opposed to that, so You’re wrong.” Why can’t we look at God’s example, what He’s done and just say, “Thanks”?

Relationships are always messy. The deeper the relationship is the bigger the mess will be. God knows this. God knows that the intensity of our relationship with Him will cause some sparks and spilled milk. The question to pose is where will we be standing after the smoke clears: closer or further?

Image originally found at:www.lettersofnote.com 

                       

           

             

           

            

Reconciliation It's personal.

Amos 9/Obadiah

            I don’t see God tearing people or countries down without a reconciliation plan. The times in the Bible God says, “Go wreck house and level them, leave no survivors” are relatively few. If you do a cursory study of the history of those people you can usually see why God said that and most people often agree. If God’s desire for mankind were total annihilation then He would've done it in Eden. If God’s desire were to let us do whatever and have to relationship with Him or to destroy us while He watched. He wouldn't have sent/come as Jesus.

            We don’t view our thinking as flawed yet we are okay to point out how God’s is all messed up. If we can justify how we’d do it that way, why we’d do it way, then we act like we’re better then God. The issue is that God can see the entire Universe and eternity at the same time and we can only see our little microcosm. I've met a lot of arrogant people in my time but I haven’t met anybody who said they know everything that’s going on in the Universe and eternity all the time.

            It’s because of His knowledge and love that God has been in the business of reconciliation since the second we started the business of sin. It was automatic. Adam and Eve sinned and in that first conversation afterwards God gave them a hint to His plan.            It is never God that bucks reconciliation. It is never God who pushes away. I understand getting pissed at God for when bad stuff happens. It’s a gut reaction. But if we sit back, take inventory, we can see that this was not His original plan. We can’t let that keep us from seeking his aid. We have a tendency to think we’re going to show God what’s up by not listening to Him when it was not listening to Him (or somebody else not listening to Him) that got us in this mess in the first place.

            Yes, God will tear down our sin. He has to destroy it because it separates us from Him and us from what He made us to be. Yes, that will hurt. But let’s be fair, shall we? God’s final answer to sin was letting Himself get torn down in the place of it all. That’s what makes God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit different from other religions. That’s what makes God’s plan so much better: It’s personal. 

Love, Grace, Wrath

Amos 3+4/Matthew 17+18

            Why do I continually get amazed when the World acts like the World? Uh, duh, right? They gossip, they lie, they cheat, they blame, they run after success, they are bitter, they do drugs, they have sex, they think I’m crazy. They are exactly how I am apart from Christ.

            Again, uh, duh? I wouldn't be upset if a guy in a wheelchair didn't stand to pray, so why do I get upset when the people who haven’t been redeemed by Jesus don’t act like people who have been redeemed by Jesus? Apart from Him I can do nothing and neither can they. The only difference is I know that. That pisses them off even more.

           Most of my frustrations (and probably most of a lot of Christian's frustrations) come from forgetting where we've been. After being submersed in Christian culture for so long we forget that at one point none of this God, Jesus, Spirit stuff made any sense to use either. That's when we become condescending religious nuts. That's when we start acting outside of God's love, grace, and wrath. That's when we, ironically, start acting a lot like what God saved us out of. 

         The whole foundation of Christianity is Jesus' redeeming work on the Cross. The whole foundation for that is God's love for us and our inability to fix the problem of our sin. That realization should allow us to show Grace, and only Grace to those who are no different than us. 

            Lord, help me show Grace to those who don’t know You and act accordingly.

                                                                                                            -Amen

A Simple Prayer

Hosea 13+14/ Romans 1+2

            “Lord I wanna love you…with all of my heart…all of my heart…” –Keith Green

            Lord, that’s all I have today. That’s all I have any day. I have nothing to offer anybody except loving You. I don’t want to fake it or trivialize it. I just want to love You more. Let that be what people see when they see me. Holy Spirit, I pray You would be the number one person in my life and that people would see You and be called by You.

                                                                                                            -Amen

           

Obligatory New Years Day Post

   Wow. 2013. It's a New Year alright. Happy Tuesday. To start off the New Year you get an off the cuff invitation to the inside of the Exyle Dome. We have plenty of seating, no admission fee, and no guarantees.
     I'm old enough to have had years of total awesomeness and total crap.
01-04 were fantastic.
05+07 were great years.
06 was pretty bad.
09-11 sucked hardcore.
2012 had it's moments of incredible happiness and pain.
      If I looked over my three decades I think I would find myself in the positive as far as good vs. bad years. God is faithful even when the locust are hungry. I have a great wife, great kids, a good job, and some sweet tattoos.
      I think we love New Years Day because we like artificially mandated times to start over. We really feel that if we try super-de-duper hard this year all of our dreams will come true. This will be my year. This will be the year I run that 5k. I will quit smoking. This will be the year I have sex three times a week, every week. This will be the year my boss finally notices all the hard work I put in. This will be the year I save money for retirement. We need that day. We need January 1st of whatever year to give us a point of reference.
     The February 1st rolls around and we wake up, drink a nice tall glass of EFFIT, and lay back down. The gym can wait. Cigarettes are on sale this week. You've got a headache. Your boss is a prick anyway. The furnace blew up. How many days until January 1st? Then man, this year is totally shot, so I will start next year on the up and up and THAT will be my year.
     January 1st is a day off for me. It's a day off where I sit at the computer and let the kids run wild because my age is catching up to me. Who the hell needs to see midnight anyway? That is such a stupid time of day to be awake. Am I saddened by this? Am I as hopeless and crotchety as I sound? No. I refuse to bitch and complain without having the answer.
     Everyday is new for me. Does that sound as cheesy as it feels to write? It's true. I have been blessed with shorter spurts. Everyday, week, month, minute, hour, what have you, it's all new. I know that the second after I screw up I can start over. I know that the second I spill the milk I can clean it up. I know that the Monday I skip the gym there's a Tuesday with my gym bag already packed. I know that just because the kid was up all last night puking and my wife doesn't want to see me doing anything but schlep a mop and pail that there is another night on it's way.
      What's my secret? How do I have this mindset? Well for four easy payments of $29.95 I'll tell you....okay, I'll tell you anyway:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”
                                       

Lamentations 3:22-24

   Does this mean I have it all figured out and I have no issues? Yah, no. If you even think I feel that way read the rest of the posts here or follow us on Twitter and you will see why I am under no preconceived notions that I am anything more than another beggar who knows where to find bread. What God has done and is doing in me is too amazing for me to take any credit for. Everyday I feel the fight between my flesh and His Spirit in me. 

    Everyday is new because He makes it that way. I have received so much Mercy that I know that every minute offers a new shot, a new chance, a new lease. I don't need an arbitrary day because I know what happens when I hit my knees and pray. 

    So yah, Happy New Years Day, friends. 

More like Dad

Hosea 11+12/ Matthew 15+16

            Everything that is not Christ or giving glory to Christ has the potential to replace Christ in my life. Love, job, sex, identity, relationships—they all need to point to Christ or just go away.

            This is hard for me. Deep down I want peace but I also want war. I love to agree and antagonize. I love to be helpful and humble and the Alpha Dog. I love to love people. I love to encourage. I love to watch people get saved. I love to pray over people and I hate to let people down.

            Christ. I need more Jesus Christ. I need more Holy Spirit. Jesus had the same bipolar in His ministry too. He loved everybody and showed compassion when needed but He also kicked butt when He needed. He did it perfectly. God enacts perfect wrath, judgment, and love all at the same time.

            Me, not so much.

            Lord, please teach me to be more like You. Let me love peace and justice. Let me show Grace, mercy, and strength in You all day to everyone.

                                                                                                -Amen

Confession

Hosea 9+10/Romans 2+3

            Why is it that I so badly want to put my faith in other people? God has never let me down and I argue with Him, while people (myself included) are constantly pissing me off and letting me down and I beg for their approval. There, I admit it. I want people to like me. I say, “I don’t care what you think,” because I like the respect I get for it. AM I FOR REAL? Nope. I’m a total fake. Well, not totally I guess. I am, thankfully, totally redeemed. Even though I know this. Even though I know God loves me and Jesus took care of my penalty, I still seek God and man’s approval. I hate letting people down and I hate failure. 

Say that again?

Hosea 1+2/Acts 25+26

            God told Hosea to marry a whore.

            God told Paul to stay in jail.

            Wow.

            Since the Bible is the story of God and He is the main character, we don’t see a lot of the internal monologues or details of the secondary characters.

How did Paul feel when he found out if God hadn't called him to go to Rome he could have been set free?

What did Hosea say when God told him to marry a hooker and love the kids that came out of her?

Since this is the story of God what matters most isn't the secondary character’s turmoil but their actions. What they did was obey. What they did was trust God even when they knew it wasn't going to work out well. Beyond what they knew was their God who was bigger. Beyond what they were feeling, which was totally real and painful, there was the Creator’s redemptive plan.

That’s what is important. We can speculate on the human emotions. We can figure it out. What we could never come up with on our own is the benefits and importance of obeying God. 

MDiv.

Daniel 5-8/Matthew 13+14/Acts 27+28 

            Following Jesus and the Bible is as counter cultural as Beatniks,  Hippies, and Punks. The conservative, conformist, clean-cut Christianity offered to us by the church, not the Bible, doesn't mirror the life of Christ or the Old Testament Prophets. Jesus was a well-respected weirdo. The Prophets were crazy. Nobody outside of the prompting of the Holy Spirit would look at them and want to emulate them.

            Exile, imprisonment, embarrassment, shipwrecks, lion’s dens, death by sword, robbers, ambushes, mud-filled cisterns, days without food, no friends, betrayal, snake bites, riots, floggings, beatings, baskets over city walls, marrying hookers, buying them back, burying spouses, unresponsive kings, indignant crowds, shitty reputations—There is no seminary class for this. 

Playing with a Little Poetry

Lamentations 3-5/Acts 23+24

This time of year is so damn exhausting. It’s like a constant battle where no one is dying and when one of us gains a little ground the other one brings reinforcements from over the top to defend and then push back.

Praise the Lord for being my right hand!

            Praise the Lord for going

            before and behind.

Praises to the King for being both

            a mighty ruler and Mighty Warrior.

Two years Paul spent in prison before Felix.

Seventy-five years the Israelites spent

in exile before the Babylonians.

Thirty-three years Jesus spent in exile from Heaven,

imprisoned in flesh.

            There is nothing new,

            There are no surprises,

            Nothing shocks

            The Spirit of God.

Proper order.

Song of Songs 1+2/Acts 19+20

The Bible is not unclear it is inconvenient. There is a lot less subtlety then we want to admit. The Bible goes nearly 100% what our sinful, broken bodies and psyches want to do. This is why we have a world and church full of people who are desperately trying to disregard the Bible and/or make it say what it doesn't say.

            Job. Church. god. That was Dimitrius’ argument against the Christians in Acts 20. That shows the religious person’s heart. god serves a purpose, gets us paid, makes us “better people” and if that gets threatened we fight.

            God. God. God. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Spirit. Spirit. Spirit. There is the focus of a Christian’s life. Okay, there should be the focus of the Christian life. All other stuff is a gift from God. The question that arises again is do we love God or do we just want His stuff?

I Hate Me.

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do and what I hate I do.

-Romans 7:15

When a London newspaper posed the question “What is wrong with the world?” writer, philosopher, and theologian G.K. Chesterton sent this simple letter:

“Dear Sirs,

I am.

Sincerely Yours,

G.K. Chesterton”

I hate me the way an author hates a rough draft. I hate me the way a painter hates his piece in a gallery. I hate me the way a musician hates hearing his song on the radio. I hate me the way a retired boxer can’t take a hit any more. I hate me the way a former Miss America hates her post pregnancy body.

Don’t worry friends, I’m not sitting here with a shotgun in my mouth waiting to post then splatter my attic. I’m not eating myself into an early grave or getting high and watching Sponge Bob. I’m not depressed.

I have found freedom in self loathing.
I think a lot of depression comes from being taught that we can do anything that we put our mind to, that we’re all special, and deep down we are really, truly, good. For years we never heard a teacher tell us “no.” We had parents that made our happiness top priority. We had a government that made sure we had all the food and medication we needed.

Now the dust has settled and we’re all a bunch of middle aged adolescents wondering why everybody was so wrong. If we’re all so special and all so perfect and if we can all do anything why is nothing getting done?

And the self loathing, self medicating, midlife-crisising, self destruction, begins.

I think Kurt Cobain splattered his attic because he proved he could do anything he put his mind to and felt unfulfilled. I think the reason we can have news stories dedicated to celebrity mugshots is for the same reason. Do your best. Try real hard. The world is yours. Then what?

I think we’re all hardwired the same. The operating system might be different but the hardware is similar. Deep, deep down we all know that no matter what we do, no matter how hard we work, no matter how much we accomplish we’re not built right. We have a ton of desire to succeed, do well, make a difference, but we don’t. We all know that somewhere a wire got crossed, a step was missed, a lightbulb went out, and we can’t fix it.

See I hate myself because I see all that I should be, all I was created for, and I get frustrated because I am me and that means I am inherently imperfect. Don’t believe me? When you mess up and you run out of excuses what do you fall back on?

“Well, I’m only human.”

“Nobody’s perfect.”

“We all screw up.”

Why do we say it? We say it because not only do we know that we’re not perfect but that nobody else is either. Here in lies the problem. If we aren’t perfect, which we know we’re not, then we will never know complete fulfillment.

I remember a kid in a college class going so far as to say that imperfection is perfection. As an English guy I couldn’t deal with that kind of oxymoron. That was just his way of dealing with the fact that he was messed up and since he couldn’t fix the problem then there was no problem.

But look at us. Look at the world. All the issues, all the crap, all the hate, violence, poverty, it all stems from people just doing what they think is the best thing. It all stems from people meeting their full potential. A dictator feels like he’s the best at what he does so he takes over. The people let him. Another politician feels as though his ideas are the best because he made it to the top, dammit, and then he sends his country down the crapper. The greatest villains are not the one who are unabashedly evil, but the ones who think they are doing good.

Once we see that we can’t be all that we want to be, once we hang up our desire to be that brain surgeon, we settle for good enough. The worst part about “good enough” is that it’s not an appreciating value. We know very well that we aren’t supposed to live this way but, who cares? We’re getting by. Let the good people be good, the bad people be bad, let the smart people be smart and me, I’ll crack open another Coors and call it a day.

Yah, we were made to be perfect. That’s how God made us. Then we messed it up with sin and the whole world has felt the pangs since. You’re right, you’re not perfect, you’re only human, and you’ll never be good enough. Now let’s take these excuses, burn them in a hole, and keep going. There is no picking yourself up by the bootstraps. There’s no fixing the problem.

There’s only healthy self loathing.

I don’t blame God for the world going to crap. I blame me. I blame the human race. We’ve tried Theocracies, Monarchies, Democracies, Anti-Theocracies, Republics, Dictatorships, Anarchy, and Communal living. It all turns out the same way: failure. What is the common factor when things go south? Is it God? Nope.

It’s me.

Christianity is Dead

“Everyone will hate you because of Me.” -Luke 21:17

“Punk Rock died the day the first kid said, Punk ain’t dead.” -Bill Mallonee


There has been a raging debate as long as I can remember about the status of punk rock. Punk is dead. Punk isn’t dead. Both sides have great arguments. After the surging popularity of bands like the Ramones and Sex Pistols and after The Clash started selling out stadiums the edge may have started to wear off. Then we had bands like Green Day, Blink 182, MxPx coming onto the scene and making it marketable, the old timers said it was done. While bands like Rancid, Minor Threat, Pennywise, Dropkick Murphys, and Bad Religion would make even the most cynical of us believe that Punk will always survive it’s safe to say that it certainly loses it’s way from time to time.

I was talking to some of the Hipster kids I work with and I told them I was excited because Punk was becoming punk again. They didn’t get it. I told them it was simple. Listening to punk was no longer cool or how this generation was rebelling. Thus, it was subversive again. It was underground and could possibly stand for something once again. It was fantastic.

Much like punk Christianity is becoming a subversive subculture again and I am excited. I laugh at pastors and politicians who freak out that our country is not falling in line with the point of view of the Bible. They act as though it is some cosmic treason that non Christians aren’t living like Christians or upholding Christian values.

Uh, Duh?

Let’s face it. Thanks to the 1980s North American Christians have become fat and lazy. For a while we had “Christian” presidents and politicians who convinced us that we live in a Christian nation. We had pastors who, when they weren’t stealing money or doinking their secretaries, were letting us know that the morals in America were strong and Christian. Jesus got radio play. The Holy Spirit put out a top 40 record. Christianity became mainstream. People saw the money that could be made and the power to be had.

Thank Christ that is all changing. It took me awhile to get to this point but now whenever I hear somebody on Fox News or Focus on the Family talk about how the world’s going to hell in a handbasket and how Christian values no longer rule society I send up a quick prayer of thanks. People are ignoring the Bible all over the place and things are going bad. People are either egotistical or lazy. It’s all about feelings and the individual. I’m so freaking happy.

See here’s the bass-ackwards part. It is not the church that’s shunning the philosophy of the world (most churches happily embrace it but that’s another blog for another time) but rather that the world is shunning the church. It feels as though the gauntlet is being tossed down. “We don’t need your church” seems to be the cry from those on the outside. Dammit, they are right.

But now, for me anyways, it’s the best of both worlds.  Want to be like Christ? Go to a Bad Religion concert. Want to be punk rock? Go to a Bad Religion concert sporting a “Jesus Saves” t-shirt. Face it hippies and punkers, you’ve won the cultural battle and the oppressed have become the oppressors. Face it friends of Fallwell, the Left has won and is in charge. Secular humanism reigns supreme. Now we can really be like Jesus.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, there are some people that are fighting really, really, hard to keep the Christian Culture cool, hip, and popular. I’m not sure if it’s for religious, Biblical, or fiscal reasons, but, dammit, they are working like the Dickens to keep it “relevant.” And why not? Once Christianity loses its marketability it will be harder to follow.

Whoa, what a novel, frickin’, idea. Too bad God and Jesus came up with it first. Then Peter talked about it, and oh yah, Paul, James, John, and way before them we had Isaiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel--yah, see the pattern. I triple dog dare you to find one passage in the Bible where God says, “Go, preach my word, and it’s all going to be chill.” The closest thing we have to that is Jonah and Jonah tweaked out when it happened. When was the last time you preached in Las Vegas and all the casino owners closed up shop and the hookers put sweatshirts on?

I know a lot of you who are coming to this realization that Christianity no longer reigns supreme in North America are about to cry all over your Joel Olsteen books and blow your nose on your Jeremy Camp t-shirts. Calm. Breathe. It’ll be okay. Christianity is dead but Christ is not. For some of you that might even be a scarier thought. This may not mean you have to give up all of Christian culture but you have to give up the idea that it is what saves you. When you get to heaven there isn’t a special house for the person who has the entire Kutless discography.

Christianity has never been based on what we do but on what is done for us. Yes, we show our love for Jesus through our life change like we show love to our spouses through fidelity. That living for Jesus, that love for Christ, that desire for Him and Him alone is what makes the world hate us. Culture is moving in a different direction. This direction is away from the Bible and the saving Grace of Jesus. This makes culture progressive and Christianity subversive. Why? Because obviously if culture is moving in a direction that direction is forward to all those who are leading the charge. The rest of us are dirty, stupid, street punks that don’t value education, science, or rules.
I love it! For thousands of years Christianity meant sacrifice. All over the world Christianity still means sacrifice. In those places Christianity grows like mad because it actually involves life change. It actually costs something. In developed nations Christianity is, “Okay God, you give me this, this,this, and a little bit of that and I will honor you with my Sunday mornings.” You go to places where Christianity kills you, makes you a pariah, or where they are lacking severely in material stuff, and it’s all, “Jesus, you did so much, how can I do more?” We are slowly getting back to that point.
Now check yourself. Does this excite you and piss you off? If you’re scared and pissed ask yourself if you’re a cultural Christian or a Christ follower. If we are cultural Christians we get scared when we see Facebook posts, presidential speeches, and blogs about how Christianity is stupid, science is God, faith in something is key, philosophy reigns, and Christian music is dumb. We get all up in arms and scared because it looks like our culture is getting dismantled. However, if you’re a committed follower of Christ these things are just a little annoying, kinda sad, and sometimes just adorable hissy fits.
Christian culture in the developed world needs to be dismantled. It’s hilarious. People need to make fun of the crap we worship instead of Christ. American Christianity has become to Jesus what Sum 41 became to the Clash: a cheap, laughable, rip off.  
No punkers and Christ followers here we go. It’s time to realize that we won’t ever fit in totally. The question is are you going to be okay with that? 

Danny Exyle is the chief writer for Sinners Circle Blog. Follow him on Twitter if you want his random rantings throughout the day and follow Sinners Circle Blog on Facebook.

Good God, Bad People

“What shall we say then brothers and sisters? When you come together each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue of interpretation. Everything must be done so the church may be built up.” -1 Corinthians 14:26

“Dear God, Save me from Your followers.” -Bumper Sticker


I was talking to a guy who spent 25+ years at one church. He left the church peacefully because of doctrinal disagreements. He told me that the church friends he and his family had been friends with that whole time, the kids his kids had grown up with, the people that were over his house once or twice a week were all of a sudden too busy to come over. They were too overwhelmed to call. All of a sudden best friends turned into awkward run-ins at the supermarket.
This totally sucks. It was a huge blow to my family when we left a church and then apparently in the world of Facebook, cell phones, and Twitter, everybody’s too busy to communicate. One time and this wouldn’t be too bad, but three or four times really makes me sick.
It’s usually at this point that I fall back onto my FTW attitude and if they don’t want to have anything to do with me then I don’t want to have anything to do with them. I’m hoping as I age I mellow out, but it isn’t looking good. So what do I do? Well, like any red blooded American I start to blame the church. My issues aren’t with Jesus. My issues are now with the suits and ties that run a church. They might not actually wear suits and ties, they might be cool and all with ripped jeans and sagging beanies, but you get the point. They’re so judgemental. They’re so hypocritical.  They’re why nobody is getting saved. They are what’s wrong with the church. They are why people stop going to church.

Then I look in the mirror and say, “Oh crap, that’s me.”

It only takes a quick observation for me to realize I am a huge piece of that problem.  I am part of the Church. Do I get judged a lot? Yes I do. I can tell when my tattoos and clothes bother pastors because they continue to remind me how it doesn’t bother them and their so happy somebody “like me” is at their church. Do I judge right back? Hell yes I do. I let them know how lucky they are to have somebody “like me” be willing to work with them.

Is the problem that people are judgemental? Partly. Is the problem that people care more about function and form then the Gospel? Sometimes. The problem really lies in the fact that God made His church out of a bunch of dirty no good sinners who at times, regardless of how holy we try to come across, are just dirty no good sinners. The problem isn’t inherent with the church its inherent with the human race.  

“...for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” -Romans 3:23. This is a verse we tell most non Christians when we’re trying to get them saved. Then we shift our focus to

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ a new creation has come: the old is gone and the new is here!” What we often forget is that one verse doesn’t cancel out the other. Yes we are a new creation, but we are still sinners. Yes that person who once was an alcoholic who was getting hammered every night is now an alcoholic who isn’t getting hammered every night. If he relapses is he no longer a new creation? Nope. He still is a new creation he’s just still a sinner.
Savvy?
What we do is we put unrealistic expectations on our fellow Christians. Should we hold each other accountable to living as Christ did? By all means. Should we be critical of things in the Church organization that are opposed to the Bible (which, come on, wake up America, we are saturated in it)? Oh, you better believe it, sister.
Since we are a bunch of dirty rotten sinners we often do the opposite of what needs to be done. When we see other Christians in the church (leadership or not) acting in a way that isn’t Biblical we shouldn’t go around and bad mouth. We shouldn’t be sneaky and remove them. We need to treat the Church like we treat ourselves.
I got really chubby my freshman year of college. I hated the way I looked. When I decided to lose weight I started to take care of myself. If I didn’t change my life I’d be Biggest Loser material by now. If I started tickling my tonsils and revisiting every meal I would be hurting myself. If I started avoiding food then I’d be abusing the body I wanted to make better. We do this with church because we forget, “so in Christ we, though we are many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Romans 12:5
Ain’t that a punch to the gut? When was the last time you looked around your church service and thought, “Dang, we’re all many parts of one body that all belong to each other”? I don’t do this.
“That dude left,” or “We left that church” and “They don’t see everything the way I see it,” these are all crappy reasons to leave and bad mouth. You’ll fix nothing. In fact you’ll be hurting your faith and the faith of others. All of my friends that have left church because of the BS (and there is plenty) and tried to make it on their own have never survived in the faith. The ones who do are like unicorns. We all hear about them, people have claimed they exist, but we don’t really know any. They’re always our friend’s, cousin’s second roommate’s, niece's boyfriend’s dog walker. We don’t survive Christian isolationism because we weren’t built for it.
The issue lies here: why are we going to church? Even better, why are we Christians? Are we going to church and calling ourselves Christians because it’s better than crack? Are we going to church for friendships, healings, and warm fuzzy feelings? Are we going to church, reading our Bibles, and living the “Christian” life to make us better people? If we are then we are putting unfair expectations on things.
I’ve been around enough Christians to realize that people are dumb. I’ve been in enough non Christians to realize that people are dumb. It’s an epidemic. If we are searching amongst these people for the answers to all our problems then we are part of the epidemic. We can’t expect sick people to make us well. We need to be going to church, following Christ, pursuing relationships based solely out of adoration for Jesus. Anything else is idolatry and will lead us nowhere.

We R Effed (A Love Story)

If there is a mental disorder for manic doubt, or doubt attacks, I think I have it. A couple of times a year I have these mini-crises where I doubt everything. I’m not talking, “If I can’t see it I don’t believe it” doubt, I’m talking Matrix, there is no spoon, is this all a dream, doubt. It’s in the pit of my soul. I can feel it around my heart (literally, that’s where my stress and worry physically manifests itself in my body). I lose sleep and I freak out for days or weeks at a time. I question everything.

Of course God, Jesus, religion, all of it, gets put on trial when I go through these bouts. What if there is no God? What if the Bible is wrong? What if Jesus was just a moral teacher? What if I’m a Christian only because I was born in America? What if all my atheist friends are right and I could be sleeping in on Sundays? What.....If.....All of it. It flies through my brain at lightning speed. I wish I could tape it all and put it on YouTube.

All of that to tell you that I understand doubt. I understand when we hear evidence that doesn’t jive with our worldview we discredit it before we actually look into it. I understand grabbing and grabbing and coming back empty. I know what it’s like to read my Bible, go to church, pray, and feel nothing. I thank God for that.

Do you know what keeps me here? Do you know what keeps me with the Bible and Jesus and Christianity? It’s the only religion or philosophy that is honest with me. The Bible tells me in the midst of my doubt, inferiority, brokenness, and weakness that I am inferior, broken, and weak. I know in our self help, everybody’s special, life your best life now, I blame the system and my mom, world this is not what’s supposed to be said, but the truth is at the least cathartic and at the most freeing.

Ever been lead on by somebody you loved? That sucks. That girl or that guy who flirts and flirts and you really want to be with them and they act like they want to be with you and then you find them making out with somebody else? Oh, that’s a kick to the boys. The Bible doesn’t do that while modern philosophy does. Modern philosophy tells us how awesome we are, and special, and that we’re naturally good. This is the leading on.

We R Effed. We are royally messed up. Can you honestly look into yourself and say, “I’m naturally good”? If you can then you are delusional. Can you honestly bank on the idea that by the time you die you will have done more good stuff then bad stuff? Not to mention, whose standard are you using? If you’re true to yourself that’s great, but are you the universal standard for right and wrong? No, you are not. I’m sorry to tell you that.  I hope your therapist, bong, or social media can have a field day with that realization.

The Bible, God, and Jesus are honest with us about our current condition. We are irrevocably broken and there is nothing we can do about it. There is no balm, there is no bandage, there is no salve to take care of the deep gash that we have. There is not a doctor smart enough, a drug good enough, sex amazing enough to fix the fact that we do stupid shit. Sure, you can cover it up, you can hide it, that’s fantastic, but when we pull a Homer Simpson and put electrical tape over the “check engine” light in our car in hopes of the problem going away deep down we know the repercussions are coming and we aren’t doing the right thing.

Think I’m exaggerating? Think I’m being a dick? Perhaps. If you totally disagree with me look back and see when the last time you said, “Well, nobody’s perfect” or “I’m only human” and you will see you agree that as humans something is naturally broken.

That’s what keeps me in the Bible. That’s what keeps me in with Jesus. That’s the Grace of God. He doesn’t lie to us or let us lie to ourselves. He says “You are broken. You need help. I have the only help.” A lot of people don’t like this. A lot of people think God is an arrogant prick because He claims to have the only way and acts like He’s in charge.

But what if He’s right? What if our best efforts are not going to cut it? Wouldn’t you rather be told that upfront then wasting all of your time? God doesn’t pull any punches. “Your righteousness is like a dirty tampon to me” (Isaiah 64:6). God isn’t interested in the good stuff we do to try to appease Him. He has no interest in how “good” we are. He doesn’t set up a list of do’s and don’ts that must be completed before we die. All He said is, “Follow me.”

See, that’s where Jesus is a shitty moral teacher. He doesn’t teach us how to be good, instead He teaches us how we don’t have anything good in us that isn’t a lonely remnant of Eden. Jesus teaches us that He is the answer to God’s impossible standard. God is His own answer because He’s that big. He doesn’t need us to answer questions for Him and He doesn’t need to answer all our questions either. He doesn’t HAVE to do anything, but He did.

Believe me, in another post we will get into this much, much, deeper. What I want you to do now is take solace, comfort, and joy in the fact that, on our own, We R Effed.

Welcome to the Sinner's Circle

When King Arthur created the Knights of the Round Table he made it a round table so that way there could be no head. Pauper, prince, king and knight were all equal at the Round Table. This was how he governed, this was how he fought. This was how he lead. Circles are equal.

Hi, you’ve reached another blog. It’s called the Sinner’s Circle. We’re not afraid of your shit. Congrats. We hope you just stumbled upon it at 2am while you’re eating Hot Pockets and drinking beer. Or maybe a friend told you about this and you’re checking it out. Wow, some friend you’ve got there.

Let me tell you what we’re all about. Jesus. Yah, Jesus. Don’t roll your eyes. Don’t stop reading. We understand that people have vastly different points of view about Jesus. We are okay with that. Does that mean that we agree with everybody’s point of view? No. We just understand that everybody has their reasons. We will never tell you that your reasons are stupid.  We will never tell you that your opinions are stupid.

But here’s the skinny. We all need to put our faith, point of view, and life under the microscope. That goes just as much for you Christians who found us as the atheist, hooligan, hipster, punk who stumbled upon this. We have no problem with questions. Jesus has no problem with questions. He is big enough. Not all questions can be answered. Not all answers will be liked. We have grown to be okay with that.
In the content of this blog you will find honest talk about God, Culture, and Life. This involves Jesus, church, music, movies, news, experience, and very rarely, politics. It’s an open conversation that has no room for trolling, disrespect, or condescension (unless perpetrated by Willy Wonka).
This idea came about when our chief writer, Danny Exyle, was fired from a church. A few years earlier Danny’s father was fired from a ministry. When Danny started going to another church he saw an old pastor that had been fired from his church. All three were axed for violently different reasons ranging from unfaithfulness and lust to differing ministry philosophies. The one thing that struck Danny was that all three of them were sinners and needed a place to be accepted to deal with their shit.

You can search us on Facebook and like us. This is where you’ll see a lot of Danny Exyle’s off the cuff, uncensored rantings. If you want all that even faster check out our Twitter (@SinnersCircleX).

Since buildings are expensive and blogging is free here we are. We hope you enjoy. We hope you are open and most of all we hope you see:

There’s always a seat open at the Sinner’s Circle.