Is Knowledge Power?

Sometimes it's just better to let someone else say it in his own words. I got this from Donald Miller's blog and I didn't want to ruin it by using my own words. I hope you enjoy and appreciate his post as much as I did. I would also encourage you to view his blog here http://donmilleris.com.

Years ago, when I worked at a small publishing company outside Portland, I’d get together every couple days with a former seminary professor named Ross Tunnell. Ross had left seminary work and was doing graphic design, but was widely considered to be one of the smarter Old Testament teachers in Portland. I made a deal with Ross, saying that if I bought lunch, he’d teach me the old testament. And Ross took me up on that offer. We probably met more than fifty times over two years. It was a terrific arrangement.

Ross passed away only a few months ago and I’ve been thinking about those lunches, of all that I learned. But last night I remembered the greatest lesson Ross ever taught me. I was thinking about this lesson because while surfing around on the internet, I saw a minister somewhere speaking very arrogantly about how he had some bit of theology figured out and somebody else didn’t. I think maybe it was a moment of weakness for said minister, but nevertheless it helped me remember something Ross once said.

We were driving back from a conference in Salem and I was going off about some bit of scripture, explaining it to Ross as though he’d never come to the same revelation. I must have talked for about ten minutes, perhaps condescendingly (a way of speaking that prevents true dialogue, and also prevents anybody from disagreeing with you, at least in public) and Ross just sat there and listened. I don’t even recall what scripture I was talking about, but when I was done, and when I looked over at Ross to give an affirmation to my unparalleled intellect, he sat quiet. Finally, I asked what he thought. And Ross just stared straight ahead and said “I think knowledge puffs up.”

I was embarrassed, to say the least. There have been a thousand times since, though, that I wish Ross was standing next to me when I’ve made equally as embarrassing tirades.

Of our fifty or more meetings, that’s the lesson I remember best: Knowledge puffs up.

And I think this is the thing that ruins many a seminary student. Knowledge. It’s not that knowledge is bad, it isn’t, it’s good, very good according to Solomon. It’s just that knowledge is incredibly powerful and dangerous. It has to be handled with care, like a radioactive material. It can easily explode and kill many, pushing people away from the church (unless of course they agree with you.)

A good test for me is to come back to the fruits of the spirit. Is my knowledge producing these characteristics: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control?

If we acquire knowledge before we are emotionally healthy, that is if we are insecure, we are going to use it to boost our own ego and compare ourselves to others. The desire for knowledge will be like a need for a drug, then, pacifying a wounded spirit through comparative associations. Entire theological camps have been built and bolstered by this needy, angry, gluttonous desire for knowledge. But if we have confidence, if we are secure, knowledge humbles us. We realize that we did not invent truth, we simply stumbled upon it like food on a long journey. Knowledge will then produce the fruits of the spirit.

Seeking knowledge, then, is like tending a vineyard. It’s just farming. But you aren’t the one who produced the fruit, God is. You’re just a farmer, just a guy who makes and distributes wine. It’s blue-collar work.

Ross was one of the most humble men I’ve ever met. And he was also one of the most intelligent. Those two combinations are sadly rare. These days I’m wishing I knew what he knew, in more ways than one. Goodbye old friend. And thanks for the lesson.

Is Image Everything?

This is a question that I have wrestled with for years. Being in the biker community I see it A LOT!!!! Image is everything, and I know I'm generalising, for most bikers. The kind of bike you ride, the type of clothes you wear, the type of music you listen to, the type of movies you watch etc... You can't imagine over the years how many times I've heard "You're not a real biker if...", I've read blog posts that claim to be a real biker you must do this or do that but in the end who is right and who is wrong. Who should I listen to or should I make my own decisions when it comes to being me.

Christian circles are no different when it comes to image. Churches has unwritten rules when it comes to dress codes, types of worship music, ways to pray, where to sit and who to sit with. I always thought that church was a place where you could be open and honest with people without reservation you can just let it all out and be yourself. But apparently I was wrong Image comes into play even at church.

Over the next couple of days I will share with you my image issues that I've been battling with and I truly hope you will be able to comment and give me suggestions.

Until tomorrow talk at you later.

Marty

Feeling Much Better

Hey everyone I hope you are feeling better then I was last week.  Just getting over an inner-ear infection and without getting into any details trust me it was really painful and annoying.  It felt like a mix of constant tooth ache with dizziness and a little bit of nausea added in just for kicks!  I was off work for almost the whole week just not able to do anything.  It finally started getting better during the weekend and every day this week is getting better and better.  The reason I wanted to post this is for accountability.  I've been trying to get back to the gym since some time in December and there always seems to be something stopping me.  Sometimes it's lazyness, sometimes it's an actual good reason but most of the time it's excuses, too busy, too tired, too out of shape, too much work, too little work the list goes on and on and on.  But now I figure that if I put it out there I will be accountable to you the readers of my blog, all 3 of you!!!!  I need to get back into shape, now that Christmas is over, the gyms are starting to empty out after the New Year's resolutions have all been broken and people realize it's too late to lose the weight before going on holidays down South this is the perfect time to start back up.

  As an accoutability tool I have decided want to keep you up to date with what will be happening as I get back to working out.  I will post my results and keep track of my progress online.  Please feel free to comment on anything posted and if you want to start at the same time as I am and if you want to post your results I would love to hear from you.  So I hope you will join me as I begin the long hard road to getting back in shape and maybe someday we will look back on this and laugh or cry at the results.

Talk at you later

Marty

What a Great Night

Did you ever have one of those great nights when everything seemed to be going right? I've been doing Youth Ministry for almost 2 years and even though all nights are good nights some of them are great and some are TOTALLY AWESOME! Last night was one of those totally awesome nights. Those are the nights that as a Youth Pastor you remember for a long time and you hold on to when you feel like quitting. Because let's face it sometimes when it doesn't go "as well" as it should it's easy to say this ain't worth it, I'm outta here!!!! But everyone once and a while you get a night like last night and that feeling goes away!


The evening started off rough having to deal with traffic and arriving 5 minutes late, but once things finally settled down and the service started it was awesome. I had a very pleasant surprise that made my night, actually it made my week. It put the parable of the lost coin and the lost son in perspective. Two regular youth members that stopped coming out to the youth group awhile ago decided to show up last night for no particular reason so seeing them made me so happy. I've been praying for them a lot lately and to see them show up was an answered prayer. I care deeply for everyone of those kids and I feel truly blessed and honored to be able to teach them week after week but when one of them and in this case 2 of them return "home" it really is a reason to celebrate. There is a passage in the Bible that says if a Sheppard has 100 sheep and he loses 1 sheep does he not leave the 99 to find his lost sheep, well I feel the same way with my group when 1 of them is missing or decides that they're not coming back I want to do everything to in my power to keep them.

I feel truly blessed being part of this group and I hope and pray that they will continue to grow their faith and their journey.

Until next time

Marty

  

Can Someone be Too Honest?

This is a question I wrestle with constantly! Can someone be too honest or is it possible to ALWAYS tell the truth even at someone else's expense? Funny how sometimes you can do 2 things at once that are completely unrelated and all of a sudden something happens that brings the 2 things together. Yesterday I was reading my Bible and in the background I was listening to a movie with Jim Carey called Liar Liar and the passage I was reading dealt with honesty and integrity at the same time the character was asking his son to take back his wish of not lying for a whole day in order for him to be able to lie because "he was a lawyer and that's what they do for a living" (direct quote not my opinion). So I started thinking can anyone go through life and never lie, embellish the truth, omit certain things or change the subject to avoid the question and my answer is " I don't think so!"
Work with me for second, the reason why I think we can't do it is because in some cases we either love the person too much or we just can't be bothered getting into an argument with certain people. Let me give you some examples: Your spouse comes up to you and asks (this one is for the guys) does this outfit make me look fat, (now one for the women) aren't I the best handyman you have ever seen? How about this one, wasn't that the best chick flick you have ever seen, dude does this leather jacket make me look tough (I added that last one just for fun). How about at work when your boss asks you to do something it gets done quickly and on time then your boss takes full credit for your idea when asked do you sink your boss CLM (career limiting move) or do you just bite the bullet smile and agree. This is what I'm talking about it's not the black and white type lies that I have issues with it's the grey area. I know lying is lying no matter what, but what do you do in those grey areas.
I usually lean towards the relationship side of the equation and the intention behind the action. "Does this outfit make me look fat, you know what dear I really love seeing you in the other outfit you wore last time, the color really brings out your eyes and you got a lot of compliments when you wore it." Avoiding the truth but saving the evening by not being brutally honest.

Give me your thoughts I promise to be brutally honest with you.
 
Marty 

New Year's Resolutions

Ah yes it's that time of year again, the time when people sit down and think of ways to torture and guilt themselves into doing something they should be doing anyway.  Stuff like eating better, going to the gym loosing weight, becoming a better person or whatever, the list goes on and on and on.  Every year my friends try to sucker me into doing it and every year after much debate (and usually a cash incentive) I end up giving in and making some New Year's resolution and sticking money in the pot.  Oh and by the way in case someone from Revenue Canada or someone from a church board reads this post all the money that I win goes directly to a charity, and maybe someday I will win and that last statement will be true.  
So this year was no different from any other year, I was at home January 1st expecting a call from my buddies, but there was no call????  I was like, finally the tradition has been broken no more resolutions WOOHOO!  So I went to bed thinking this is going to be a good year, I'm not starting off the year with any kind of stress like no coffee for the year knowing that by day 2 I would be eating the coffee grinds directly out of the can using the excuse that theoretically it's not a cup of coffee it's just spit and grinds ( I know I'm pathetic but I hate loosing) or quiting chocolate and 1 week later eating a bar of non-sweetened bakers chocolate and using another excuse that I wanted to bake something and needed to know if this was good for diabetics.  But this year it was different no silly resolutions to get in my way of enjoying the new year.  By Sunday I said to myself, not that I speak to myself regularly, "Well Dude", cause that's what I call myself, "this sucks!"  I was totally bored and felt unchallenged so I called my buddies and asked them what was going on, why no resolutions this year and telling them that I want in and that I had a great resolution this year?  And that's when it hit me, like a flash of lightning through my brain I remember saying to my buddies right before Christmas, and I quote myself "My resolution for next year will be to not make a resolution!!!!!"  After long periods of laughing and pointing at me by my friends I realized that I had lost the challenge AGAIN!  So it's back to waiting another year!

Let me just say for the record since I lost the game, I ended up making a few resolutions on my own.  Personal resolutions that will help me get closer to God and hopefully become a better Pastor.  It doesn't have anything to do with my physical health but everything to do with my spiritual health and since I'm accountable to Him only I will keep it that way.  I will keep my resolutions personal and private and hopefully by this time next year I will be able to report on how it went, how long it lasted and if I made it or not.

Talk at you later.

Marty  

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone, sorry if it's been a long time since my last post. The end of the year and the end of the decade went out with a bang. I really wanted to keep you up to date with everything that was going on while Rob was away but unfortunately it got soooo busy that I didn't have time to blog, tweet or update my status on Facebook. You see while Rob was away on Sabbatical for 3 months I was the acting Senior Pastor and Youth Pastor at Bikers Church while working full time at my regular job during the busiest time of the year, trying to be a good husband and father to my 6 year old twin girls and finally teaching a 6 week class in October and November. Please don't think I'm throwing myself a Pity Party, on the contrary I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to serve because it showed me 5 things that I needed to know and they are as follows:

1. How far I can be stretched and not broken.
2. When I do reach the breaking point I'm never alone.
3. I can and need to get out of my comfort zone.
4. How much support I have around me at all levels.
5. I need to learn how to set priorities and ask for help.

I was watching a video in May, at the end of my school year, by Craig Groeschel that was recorded at Catalyst a couple of years ago. He said that he prayed a simple prayer over and over again and he encouraged people to say the same prayer so I did because I didn't know any better. He was right it was a simple prayer but what he didn't mention is how dangerous that prayer was. Always be careful what you wish or pray for because you may get exactly what you are praying for. His prayer to God was Stretch me! Ruin me! Heal me! So I spent all of June and July asking God to stretch me, break me, heal me so He did!

As much as it was busy, now that things are finally back to somewhat normal, I want to start the year off with a clean slate and since this is officially my first day back to work from the Christmas holidays this will be my first post of the new year and the new decade. Over the next couple of days and weeks you will notice some slight changes to the look, format and content of this blog, don't worry I'm not going to get all serious or preachy or uptight! It's just not my style or who I am and I firmly believe that you have to be who you are and who you were created to be. I firmly believe that we are all gifted in different areas and we should utilize those gifts. Being someone you're not, adds to the frustration, confusion and stress of everyday life. So stick with me it will be a fun ride this year.