Christian Speak and Intellectualism

Today, our Pastor introduced his lesson with an amusing MP3 clip of how sometimes we Christians speak in a manner that is either confusing or offsetting to a non-be liver or a new believer. I chucked until I realized that that is exactly how we talk and address day-to-day issues. I once heard another minister address the issue by saying that sometimes our speech is so spiritual that it is of no earthly value. Now; on the other hand is the group of Christians that approaches and intellectualizes a subject to the point that not only is it confusing; it can be irritating. A classic example is an article pointed out by my son. The article is "The Boyfriend is back (and you are gonna be in trouble)" via Headsparks. First of all, let me say that I am not at all demonizing the individual that wrote it - for all I know, he wanted to stimulate our thought process and rock us out of our comfort zones - In my case he succeeded. While I agree with some of the points, I felt that an opportunity to speak many basic biblical truths was missed. My reaction was: Our focus must be toward a deep relationship with Jesus. I felt the article was over thinking the issue. Yes, there are a few that do not understand that to "love" Jesus is not the romantic love of "in love with". It would be better if they stuck to the definitions of love put forth in the bible. If it makes a man feel creepy to tell another man that he loves him ; he doesn't understand the concept of "Agape". That being said - the article makes a good point but the emphasis should be on how we have "naturalized" our spirituality and melded our "relationship with our Lord" to a carnal statement and misunderstanding of how we should feel toward God and Jesus. I wonder if Professor Stackhouse equates "Jesus I am not in love with you" to "Jesus I don't love you"?...

Texting, virtual worlds, and social networking: Cont...

Sorry for slacking folks. I promise to keep up from now on… Well, what about Virtual Worlds… It seems like everyone is getting involved in them one way or another… either directly or indirectly. A friend of mine pointed out that even an element of the church has set up shop in Second Life. If you are curious; Here is the URL .
Scot Hacker has a blog about “Religion in Second Life. It’s at

My thoughts are; Obviously, God foresaw this but would He have us choose it as a method of fulfilling the “Great Commission”? I wonder how serious a player (some with avatars of Robots and Cats) would take his path down Roman’s Road. It seems hard to hold someone’s attention while they wait for you to type in the message. I guess if one can be brought to Christ in this manner, I am all for it but I fine it hard to understand the virtualization of the Holy spirit.

Texting, virtual worlds, and social networking

As a System Engineer in the IT industry, it is my job to stay up with the latest technology – sometimes I muse; “they actually pay me to do this….Wow”. Well recently I attended a conference on Cyberinfluence – a fancy word for how the latest information technology affects our world. I had previously had a conversation with my son about this and this conference validated some of my feelings… First, let me go on the record by saying that the Internet (i.e., Web 2.0) is not the “Spawn of Satan” and the technology has its uses. However, as with everything innovative and only understood by a select few, it has its good, bad, and ugly sides. I think that it is not the technology but the application of it that is sometimes silly and misleading (especially to those who do not know who they are). Our current age is one of confusion and rapid application of everything - and it is not only IT. For example, it is difficult just to buy a bag of popcorn kernels (you know- those you pop yourself – without using the Microwave).

Last week, I had a conversation with a friend of mine who was worried that his daughter spent an inordinate time texting her friends. Outside of the obvious financial concerns, his fear was that she was losing her contact with the family. I can not comment on that but I thought it was no more unusual for the teenager of this generation than it was for the teenagers of previous generations to spend hours on the telephone… The difference now is that that today’s teenager has the technology to sit at the dinner table and text their friends and you don’t know what he/she is saying. What I was more concerned about is “texting” in general – or more to the point, the “dumbing – down” of the written word to a form of written Ebonics that has made its way into our colleges

What do You Believe?

Recently, I attended an excellent service at a church that is serving the Lorton community. The name of the church is the Grace Bible Church. Although in its beginning stages, It has, in my opinion, begun to serve its flock biblical staples of "knowing what you believe and why you believe it..." It is doing this through a series called "Core Values". At the service I attended, the Pastor's sermon included a summary of the core values taught to date. They were:
• Biblical Teaching (the Bible as the foundation)
• Fellowship
• Worship
• Prayer
• Community
• Outreach
At first, I thought this is basic food for the Christian... Ho Hum... But as I contemplated on the lesson, the Holy Sprit pointed out to me the intricate aroma, texture and taste of this gourmet meal... My Christianity must consist of two basic relationships: First, my relationship with God and secondly, and almost as equally important; My relationship with my fellow man. My Christianity is as much about "community" as it is "spirituality"...

Good Men

Last week, I spent the 4th of July with my Son and Daughter-in-Law. It was very enjoyable. One of the activities we participated in was to watch and discuss Tyler Perry's "The House of Payne". This is not a critique of the show; so let me get to the point of the blog post. On the show there are three main adult male characters: (1) Lavan Davis - Curtis Payne (head of the House); (2)Lance Gross- Calvin Payne (Curtis' son); and (3) Allen Payne - CJ Payne (Curtis' nephew ( and to me the most complicate and tragic figure thus far)). Later, as I mused over my visit, I could not help but think about the situations of these three men, their individual issues and their interactions/relationship with each other. A question that nagged the back relms of my mind was; Are these "good" men? This leads be to the point of this blog... How does the Bible define a good man?

One book of the Bible that defines elements of a good man is Proverbs. It not only states what are major components of a "good" man, it devotes more than half of its pages telling us how to attain and maintain these components through respect for God, wisdom, understanding, and obedience. I am interested in your interpretation of what God tells us about being good men.

Obey you call

This blog is, in part, a reflection of my attempts to come to grips with my procrastination to accept the “Great Commission”. Maybe my thoughts will stimulate you to activate that latent dynamic energy inherent within you.
As I started blogging this article, I came to the realization that I had issues… I was struck by the phrase, “spending time with the Master”. Now I know that this is the base of any foundation of Christianity and it seems almost a “no-brainer”. Yet, if honest, most of us must confess that we do not spend much time with the Master. Now why is this? We men have a basic problem – the very concept of having a Master is anathema to most men. It suggests subservience and yielding to domination. Now, my sisters, don’t feel too superior; you probably have this issue also. OK, what’s the point, David?
We all have bought into the current “Culture of Self”. What do I mean? I mean that we are inundated with subtle (sometimes not so subtle) concepts that indicate that we are must always be in control of our activities.
Think back to your high school English class. Can you remember any of your favorite poems? I remember one of mine…“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley. The line that I loved best is; “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my sole.” Really good manly stuff, right…? Wrong… Yes, God gave us free will, but we have, as mankind, chosen poorly. Submission to the Lord and obedience to His will are manly characteristics – (not wimpy or moist) Need a practical example of misplaced understanding… How about the fact that Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh left the Victorian poem “Invictus” as his last message to the world before he was executed.

The Disciple's Cross

A major focus of our travel toward discipleship and self improvement as men is an instrument for visualizing and understanding our opportunities and responsibilities is called the Disciples Cross.
The Disciples Cross is based on six principles aimed at focusing our development of a deeper relationship with Jesus. They are:

1. Spend Time with the Master
2. Live in the Word
3. Pray in Faith
4. Fellowship with Believers
5. Witness to the World
6. Minister to Others

What does it mean to be a disciple? During our journey, this is one of the things we want to discover. One vision is that a disciple of Christ is a person who makes Christ the Lord of his or her life. A disciple’s primary commitment is to deny yourself. What…! No, it does not mean to reject your identity – It means to renounce the self-centered life. To do this we must learn to follow the six disciplines listed above. During our journey, we will examine each of these principles.