One of the get outta here swedish jesus branches

I do not want your Jesus...

I do not want this Jesus who wants you to get rich...

I do not want this Jesus who shows up at weddings and parties and tells you how wrong you are for drinking, dancing and having fun...

I do not want this Jesus who only hangs out with the popular people with lots of money, power, big houses and cars...

I do not want this Jesus who requires me to show up at a building once a week for the rest of my life so I get to go sing for the rest of eternity...

I do not want this Jesus who is white, with perfectly white glowing robes, and perfectly long brown hair and tidy looking sandals, and makes racist jokes against others because they are different than him (but they aren't really racist, just jokes)...

I do not want this Jesus who sucks the life out of life itself...

I do not want your Jesus...

...

...

...

...I want a Jesus who believes in justice.

...I want a Jesus who loves people regardless if they are rich, poor, fat, skinny, brown, white, popular, loners, gay, straight, young or old.

...I want a Jesus who took a stand against religious leaders all in the name of love and bringing his father glory.

...I want a Jesus who is rough, and hangs out with those who have no friends, and judges not those different from him.

...I want a Jesus who loves me for who I am, and then calls me to love others and BE a change in the world.

...I want a Jesus who gives life, and celebrates life to the full, in a fun and contagious fashion.

...I want Jesus...

...raw, untamed, rebellious, loving...

...NOT the swedish looking Jesus on your wall with everything all together smiling on you for your lifestyle and popularity, but the Jesus I've read so much about who is different and involved and in relationship with people, who calls us to so much more.

...THIS IS MY JESUS.

One of the amazed branches

Recently a group of my friends and I sat down and discussed the idea of creation. There were various opinions around the circle... and although we did not all agree on everything, I saw that regardless of opinions on whether or not God created it all...

We are amazed at the universe....

We are so small in the grand scheme (whatever that scheme may be)...

It hurts our brains to think about...

There is no proof either way, just piles and piles of evidence...

Science means "the study of truth", and I cannot help but believe that science backs up this notion that there is a creator. This whole thing is a huge debate, and my intentions aren't to spark debate. However, I will speak my peace, because I am overwhelmed by the bigness of it all, the intricateness of it all and the beauty of it all. 

I don't know how God did it...

But I think God made the universe, and I am ok with not understanding everything, because if I could completely understand God, that means he has a brain and thought process like me...and thats not a good thing.

Here is a song I enjoy listening to lately, and although it involves science, I think it just shows how creation screams with evidence for a creator. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk

Thoughts?

One of the polluted branches

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world"

James 1

Do we believe it?

If this is true, then why do we tend to associate orphans and widows as people who are polluted and end up treating them as pollution ourselves? Orphans aren't just cute little babies wrapped in sackcloth who can't tend to their own needs.

Orphans can be full grown people who have had a fatherless or motherless life and as a result have made bad choices or have lacked guidance. At least in my opinion. Widows in their distress can be men or women who have experienced such loss that they don't know how to deal with their loss and resort to means that we may not agree with. At least in my opinion.

The World in scripture covers a wide variety of things. In our culture, I think it tends to be things like greed, pride, and selfishness along with many other possibilities. Yet, our idea of the pollution of the world tends to be strictly alcohol, drugs, smoking, uncleanliness, and four letter words (#@$%). We want to be religious, so we run from these "pollutants".

What do you think constitutes pollutions that we need to keep ourselves from? And is it the pollutants or those who may be polluted that we avoid?

As a result of this, we are not pure, but tainted. We are not faultless, but at fault. We neglect the orphans and the widows unless of course it means giving money to some poor little aids orphan in Africa. Don't get me wrong, these are good causes too, but in our failed attempts, we create a terrible religion that screams of injustice and pain for orphans and widows.

Lets open our eyes to an old kind of religion that God sees as pure and faultless.

Lets open our eyes to who God views as the orphan and the widow.

Lets show compassion and justice to those who we think least deserve it.

One of the Surrendering Branches

Surrendering...

Do you ever feel like it is soooo hard to surrender? 

I don't mean giving up little bits and pieces of something. Not just handing over a portion of something. By surrender I mean giving up everything.

This week I have been dealing with possibly the hardest situation in my entire life. I have always felt before that I was pretty good at giving God my "full" trust. I felt like I was fully surrendered to God and that no matter what happened, that God would have control...

This week I have been stretched beyond belief. 

I am broken. I am beaten. I am destroyed.

I...have...nothing...left...to...give...

It is in this complete brokenness and desperation that I find myself seeing why God wants our full surrender, and also why it is so important to surrender fully to God. 

I am inadequate and have nothing left to give, and it is because of this that I can now rely on God's strength. It is because of this that I can now rely fully on God's wisdom. It is because of this that I can rely fully on God's love. 

I...have...nothing...left...to...give...

...I surrender...

One of the NOT SO conservative branches

Here is a doozy.

The other day I went out for lunch with two of my co-workers.

I was sitting and enjoying my burger and fries, like any normal person would, and listening to a co-worker tell about a previous job he had. He worked in the government, so alot of the lunch chat was about politics. This co-worker is not a "Christian", and does not regularly attend church. He knows who I am, and what I believe, and seems to have no problem with any of it, but doesn't have a claim to it himself. As the conversation was getting into the whole Conservative vs. Liberal debate (not political party names), as these type of things tend to head towards...

My co-worker made one of the most profound statements that I think alot of us Christians need to hear and think about thoroughly....

Here is pretty much what he said...

"What is up with you Christians being so conservative? I don't know much about this stuff, but the little I do know is that this Jesus was NOT conservative!"

...thoughts?...

One of the hopeful branches

Some people are downers.

I don't know if you know any of these people, but they are the people that can only find the negative in things. It seems like whatever you are talking about, the conversation always tends to turn towards how bad things are and how screwed up the world is. 

They are negative.

I think we all know people like this...

...in fact, I think we all have the tendency to find the negative in every situation. 

I have a few examples of people/human kind/situations that just remind me that the world hasn't "become pure evil", and that God is truly working through his people is amazing ways.

A few weeks ago I went to walk with my mom in the Regina Relay for Life. My mom is a cancer survivor, and I was so excited to walk around the track with her and share in this amazing moment of honoring her strength, courage, and patience in overcoming this disease. My dad on one side of mom, and myself on the other, we held her hands and walked around the track. All the way around the track were people (hundreds) cheering on the cancer survivors with joy in their voices and hope on their faces.

I left the location of the relay feeling a few things.... first I was so proud of my mom. Secondly, I was so excited about these people, who were mostly strangers, who were showing love and support for those who suffered with cancer and being genuinely excited about the hope in battling the disease.

Another example to me of people loving others and showing hope in our world...

...Is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. 

There, I said it. 

Every time I watch this show, almost without fail, I cry. Seriously! I see a family, which is such a beautiful and important human structure, that is suffering yet battling to stay together and pursue hope. I watch these families be shown mercy, kindness, and generosity, and see their happiness and thankfulness. This to me brings hope to our world.

My point, is that it is EASY to find the negative things in our world. It is EASY to talk about the things that piss us off. It is EASY to be another negative hopeless voice in the world.

We need to find those hopeful, redemptive people and situations in our world and cling to them, allowing them to inspire us to show hope, love and generosity to others. 

There is hope in this world. God created us to be the messengers. SO stop being a downer.

One of the Question Branches

Lately I have been thinking about the idea of how we do not understand God.

I do not understand God. 

There are so many questions I have to ask God. There are so many things that I cannot begin to understand about God. I continually feel like I am learning more and more about God each and every day, but within this, I discover that I understand less than I think I do as time passes. 

I hear a lot of people say that they can't believe in God because ...

..."How can a God who is loving do this..."

..."How can God have done this?"

..."Why would God allow evil in the world?"

..."How can a good God send people to hell?"

..."How could God have been here before time?"

To those who turn down God because of the questions they have, or because they don't have everything figured out... let me encourage you to keep wrestling with things and ask the tough questions. Trust me, no one has God fully figured out... if they say they have God figured out, they are telling lies out of their butt. 

The point is that there are a lot of questions out there in Christianity. We all have the issues and questions. Some people try and shut us down from asking the questions. Have you ever noticed that? Some people seem to have "all the answers figured out". 

One thing that I love about God... is that His mind, His thinking, His reasoning is far above mine. If God did things in a way that I could fully figure out and understand...If God had the mind and thought process that I do, the world would be in for a ton of hurt. 

I am alright with not having all the answers. 

I love that God doesn't expect me to have all the answers, but encourages me to ask the tough questions and talk about them with those around me and search honestly for more understanding of Him. 

What are your difficult questions?