Living Like Children

I read this passage this morning...

The blind and the lame came to him, and he healed them in the Temple. The leading priests and the teachers of religous law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David." But they were indignant and asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these little children are saying?"

'Yes," Jesus replied. "Haven't you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, 'You have taught children and infants to give you praise.'"

Matthew 21: 14-16

As I read this, I had to set my Bible down and look at my two boys. They would definitley fit into the category of children and infant. They have such a stripped down reality that has not been blurred quite yet. Children have that ability to see something
for what it is. In this passage, the only response the children could have was of worship toward the Person of Christ. They did not understand the complex aspect of who he was, but saw someone worthy of prasie and i desire to be near him.

All of that to say that my prayer this morning was to refocus on Christ the Person and not the precepts that have come around him to try and explain him or understand what he is. I think he said, "come and follow me". So today and hopefully tommorrow, i will focus on being amazed by Jesus and allowing him to invade my other relationships.

Peace.

Super Bowl Party

Now for my most important posting of my blogging era:

Bobito the Chef and J-Lou will be hosting a SUPER BOWL PARTY at J-Lou's house:

Location: 812 S. 2nd St, Alhambra

Time: The games starts at 3:00 pm, but feel free to show up at anytime. We will serve the food around 3:30 - 4:00 pm.

What we are providing? tri-tip, chicken and shrimp cocktail!

The question for you is what are you bringing?

Please place a comment if you are planning to attend and share what you will be bringing to the event.

Thank you for supporitng J-Lou and Bobito the Chef Production of another reason to gather in the name of sports.

Peace.

speaking a new language

I am going to start a new posting to move the focus off my boys and move it this aspect of postmodernism and if being a good model of what it looks like to follow christ is enough. I am saying that is great but what happens when we open our mouths. Do we discredit ourselves? What if I moved to central america and I loved my neighbor as christ teaches me, but when they asked me a question and when I attempted to speak to them I did not know spanish. How well will I be able to communicate the gospel to them. My point is that the world is speaking another language and we must learn this language if we are too communicate it to them. We also must remove the western glasses that have hindered us from understanding what the gospels are saying to us. We cannot use words like "saved" "born-again" "santification" "altar call" "sinners prayer" and others that I could continue with that have been created over the last decades to help us create the system of Christianity that I grew up in. I am rambling, but I feel like we are missing the point in regards to the struggle I am feeling. A post christian generation will continue to ignore Jesus if we do not do a better job of speaking their langiauge and a better job of taking our western individualistic form of faith out of our language.

christianity and my boys

last april i was in the middle of a number of thoughts that i was really wrestling with in regards to what does faith look like, taste like, feel like in this world we are living in. if you have known me for very long, you know that i am not a big fan of the word "Christian" and how it is perceived or defined by most people. i think people who call themselves "Christians" have a misconstrued definition and the people who do not call themselves "Christians" do not have a correct perspective either. i would even say that i probably as well have a wrong definition of the word, so back in april and the few months before that i was really attempting to think about new words or new ideas for what defines following Christ. i think that idea of the gospel and the later teachings from the new testament would direct us to a way of life that follows the ideals and values of Christ.

i have two boys and they are ... Kade who will 5 in March and Evan who turned 2 last november. i am scared to death of the type of faith that i am going to lead them toward and direct them toward and raise them up in. i am NOT too excited about raising them in the ideals and model of "Christianity" that i was raised in. not that is was bad, wrong, or that i don't appreciate all of the people who influenced my life for Christ and shaped me into the person i am today. but i think it was highly influenced by our western american culture and a modern worldview.

but since last april i have been side barred and have taken a long brain break from these thoughts and ideas, but like i said in my first posting i have begun to read again and that is a dnagerous thing for me... because when i read i think and than i can't sleep. ecsepcially if i have no one to brain dump on. so i am beginning to start this journey to figure out this issue for myself and my boys... and all of those that i luv and have been talking about the issue with for the last year or so, minus my brain break.

so i am very interested in hearing other peoples frustration with ... i guess you could say mainstream "Christianity" that is represented on the radio... in most bookstores (i hate the poperi) and that is shared from most pulpits. i know this version is not connecting to many of the people i interact with on a daily basis and the students that i have worked with in the community for so long. i do not want to throw it all under the bus or say it is bad, but i want to begin to ask questions like ... how "Biblical" is the religous right? why are people who are pro-life are for the death penalty? why are people who are for abortion are against the death penalty? is it possible to raise two boys in this country that will NOTgrow up to be greedy and not have the desire to love thier neighbor? ... will they even care who their neighbor is?

well that is all for today... peace

i've entered the blog realm

hey world... john lewis has entered the blog realm as of today... i am sure it will be life changing for everybody. as my first blog i will give you my five reason for deciding to launch this endeavor. so here we go...

#5 - i am jealous of pablo and ben... they have blogs and i don't
#4 - this is my first step to creating my own myspace to interact with the oikos crew
#3 - to say that i had a blog before jaime puente... since he should already have one
#2 - i have begun to read again (took a break with a little drama in the life) and i need an outlet to throw my thoughts and smart remarks... kade and evan really do not like to discuss henry nowen or brian mclaren.
#1 - as people now that i like to talk and since i am no longer a youth pastor... i need a place to actually pretend that someone is listening... anyways i like to talk to myself and this will help my typing skills...

so please tread lightly as i enter this realm and hopefull forge the way for other (ie jaime puente) to also enter the wolrd of thier personal blog. but i have been reading and am ready to let loose on some old pet peaves and new ones. anyways i think this is a good start.

peace

j-lou