Why I Hate Halloween

I'm going to be honest. I'm like the scrooge of Halloween. I am not a fan at all of this holiday. I love every other holiday (Valentine's Day is conditional on the circumstances: please revert back to "The Life of a Single Twenty-Something"), but I just never look forward to Halloween. It's not because of religious reasons. I don't think because you put on a scary mask and ask strangers for candy is of the devil or anything (kind of creepy once you write it out, though). I mean, Halloween gives churches a great opportunity to reach out to the community with Fall Festivals and such, but that's really all this crappy holiday has going for it.

Now, you're probably asking yourself "Why so hostile towards Halloween? It brings joy to so many people? Have you not seen Ernest Scared Stupid?" Yes, I have seen that movie and it changed my life, but that's beside the point. Here's just a few reasons why I think this holiday sucks.

1. It used to be fun
Remember being a small child and you would dress up every Halloween. You'd go to school where they had some sort of party and you'd show off your costume to everyone. You'd probably watch a movie, eat some cookies, drink some punch, and then go home for a night of trick-or-treating, where you would go door to door with your little plastic jack-o-lantern container (a pillow case when you got smart about it) and cap it all off with an all night sugar-fest. I remember the mountain of candy. I remember being introduced to candy I've never seen before. Like Sugar Babies! They were basically sugar coated in liquid sugar! I remember how big my eyes got when I saw the tiny boxes of Milk Duds! Life was good and all was well with the world. I still remember the costumes I wore. There was Wolverine, Raphael the Ninja Turtle, a pirate with a sweet hook made out of a clothes hanger (that one got confiscated at school), a pirate with a scary pirate skeleton mask, and finally, just a kid with a scary pirate skeleton mask. Oh the creative juices were flowing that Halloween! How glorious of time it was! I can still hear the eloquent poetry that was inspired by this holiday:

Trick or Treat

Smell my feet

Give me something good to eat

Welp, not anymore! There are no more parties with sugar cookies and punch where I can show off my sweet costume to everyone! There is no plastic jack-o-lantern container to put my candy in! No sugar babies! No milk duds! There is nothing! I can't dress up in some cheap plastic costume from K-Mart and demand that my neighbors give me candy or I'll make them smell my feet. Well, I can but not without them having me arrested.

2. Stupid kids and their shenanigans
This is what normally went through my head when Halloween came around: "Oh boy, I wonder how much candy I'm going to get on Halloween!" Now, it's more along the lines of: "Ah man, I hope no one does anything to my car on Halloween." I never did quite get that.

"Hey we're too old to go trick-or-treating, what should we do? Oh, I have an idea, how about we terrorize the neighborhood! It is Halloween after all."

This mentality would make no sense on any other holiday. Can you imagine?

"We're Jewish so we don't celebrate Easter, what should we do? Oh, I know, let's shave the neighbor's dog!"

I don't want to have to wake up the day after Halloween dreading what I'm going to find in my front yard. I don't want to see an omellette of eggs on my car and I certainly don't want my dog shaved! I thought we outlawed terrorism a long time ago! Now because kids are too old to get a sugar high, it's acceptable for them to do the work of Al-Quaeda?!

3. Horror Movies
Halloween is the time that every possible horror movie you can think of makes it to the big screen. From the newest gore genre flick that's primary goal is to make you puke to the revising of old beloved characters. Such blockbusters as Alien vs. Predator, Freddy vs. Jason, Bride of Chucky, Jason Goes to Disney, When Chucky Met Sally, Saw XXVI, Freddy and the Bandit, and the classic, 3 Villains and a Baby. The sad thing is, people actually get excited for these movies. You always have a friend that's like "Oh my gosh, they're making a new Jason movie and it's rumored that there's going to be a cameo from that freaky girl from The Ring! It's going to be so awesome!" They completely take up all the release dates of October, so my selection of new movies to see are limited (as if I have time to go to movies but you get the picture).

So call me a pessimist but I speak from the heart. I love all sorts of holidays! I can't wait for Thanksgiving! I can't wait for Christmas! Halloween just has too many negatives for me to enjoy! It used to be sweet, but now, it's just a day that I have nothing to look forward to but spending money on candy to give out and living in fear of what someone's going to do to my front lawn. But at least it only comes once a year........

Perfectly Safe

Alright, so I haven't gotten around to putting Part 2 of my little blog series and I'm not going to now. I'll just sort of redo the last entry a little bit. I know everyone is so disappointed (I'm not even really sure if anyone actually reads this anymore) but I just have to write this. This doesn't really have anything to do with Trailhead or some random bizarre thing that happened to me. I just want to write.

Warning: This blog is actually serious. I know, I've been a little serious when it comes to blogs recently, but serious times call for serious blogs.

I just want to get my thoughts out. Not too many people know what my favorite worship song is. Many believe it is "Sweep Me Away" but that is incorrect. That just happened to me favorite song the Flood Band did back in the day (before I started my solo project: "The Adam Davis Experience"), but actually my favorite worship song is a song by Skillet called "Angels Fall Down" off their Ardent Worship Live album from back in the day. It's on their new live CD/DVD (amazing btw) and it's good.......but nowhere near as good as the original. The original version is about 7 minutes long and starts with a duet between John and Korey Cooper with only piano accompaniment. The lyrics go something like this:

I saw angels fall down

At the glory of the Lord

And as I raise my hands I see

I saw angels fall down

At the glory of the Lord

And as I hit the ground I see

And I fall down

Afraid and shaking here

And I fall down

I'm perfectly safe right here

I saw angels fall down

At the glory of the Lord

The hurt and the broken find rest here

I saw angels fall down

At the beauty of the Lord

And as I kneel I cry to know him

And I fall down

Afraid and shaking here

And I fall down

I'm perfectly safe in here

Then after that (about two and a half minutes) they start into basically just an instrumental part that builds up with just a "lyric-less" worship. The reason I love this song is because what it makes me think of and just that place it takes me. Even after listening to this song for almost 5 years, it still puts me in this place. The lyrics just make me think of safety. It makes me realize that no matter how things in life can be, no matter how weathered you may be from any storm, no matter what hurt or pain clings to you, you are perfectly safe in the presence of God. I just love how these lyrics remind me of that and the feel of the instrumental part just makes me think of this overwhelming power that just covers you in this place of brokenness, in this place where you can come to find rest, to be healed, to find that safety. To come to that place where you can just fall down before Jesus and find that peace, find that safety, and find that rest.

I know this blog was a little out of the ordinary, but I just wanted to write that. That amazing things happen in the presence of God. When you come to him with a broken spirit and just fall before him and let his safety overwhelm you.

That's all.

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken

Psalm 62: 1-2

Finding Rest In Lame Horror Movies

I am not a particular fan of horror movies. Especially the horror movies of today, which are basically pornography with gore, but earlier this year, I was invited to go see this movie, "Shutter" with some friends (don't worry it was PG-13). If you don't know what the movie's about, well I pretty much forgot most of the plot (as you can tell, this movie had a big impact on me). All I know is that it stars Joshua Jackson (so dreamy) of "Dawson's Creek" fame and he just got married and somehow this ghost woman that he made mad that died is haunting him and his new wife and blah, blah, blah, this movie sucked, alright?

So you may be asking, "Adam, if this movie sucked, then why blog about it? I mean, 'Forrest Gump' was a great movie and you blogged about it, but why 'Shutter?'" Well, I'll tell you. In this movie, Jackson's character basically did some things that led this woman to kill herself, thus, why she's haunting him (apparently, women get pretty mad when you inadvertently kill them. Who knew?) Throughout the movie, Jackson complains of having neck pain and his hunched over quite a bit. At some point, he goes to the doctor and he ends up weighing the weight of two people. You find out at the end of the movie that it's because the woman that killed herself's ghost has been hanging on his neck the whole time. Long story short, we last see him in a mental institution, hunched over with her on top of his back.

So we find at the end of the movie, that Jackson's physical pain and the weight he'd felt on his shoulders was this woman. Do we smell a metaphor coming? Yes we do. Many times in our lives, we put this huge weight on our shoulders and we don't even really realize it. We yoke ourselves with the weight of decisions, regret, and fear and this is carried around on our shoulders, haunting us (nice word usage, right?). It's natural for us to carry these things around. I mean, we face decisions, fear, and unfortunately regret almost on a daily basis, but what happens is we let them pile up to where we're hunched over with unnecessary weight.

Since the fall of man, mankind has been prone to this kind of lifestyle and that's because mankind as a whole has not had an alternative. Well, Jesus offered a very radical alternative to this. One of my favorite scriptures is one we've all heard over and over again:

Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. - Matthew 11:28-30

Jesus offers us something different. Jesus offers us rest. When you carry around a large weight for so long, you need rest. You need to feel the weight no longer holding you down. You need peace. Jesus is offering to remove our weight and take on his. It's a not a yoke of decisions to make on your own, a yoke of regret, or a yoke of fear, but it is a yoke of peace, joy, and a yoke that leads you on the path that you're supposed to go on.

This yoke that he offers us is far different than our own yokes we take on. This yoke leads to God and it's a yoke that does not weigh you down and it is not a yoke that burdens you. The first yoke, will lead to destruction. Often times, we see this as hell, but we as Christians often forget how many times we take off the yoke Jesus offers, and put on our own and then we find ourselves in crappy situations due to poor and irrational decision making and we wonder how exactly we got there. It's because we were motivated out of fear, impatience, restlessness, worry, greed, pride, or selfishness and God is not in these qualities, therefore God's not in the decisions motivated by it.

I was originally going to make this a two part deal, but I think I'll hold off the rest for some time in the future. Just know that God is in control and it's God that leads the path to peace and prosperity. Everything else leads to chaos and destruction.

I've noticed that since the launch of Trailhead Church, it feels like I'm just living weekend to weekend. My week just goes by like it was nothing and then the weekend's here. It's as if every Monday, somebody activates my flux capacitor and it's Friday. Will this change when I'm actually living in Burlington? Will I still go weekend to weekend or will it slow down as I'm able to be more active in weekly stuff and evening services? I don't know, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Anyway, on another note, I'm looking forward to Sunday. I'm really believing that we're going to have a great turnout this weekend and see some new faces. I like the Ramada but I can't wait until we have our own building down the road. Then, there's no more setting up and tearing down, and no more having to clean up after wedding receptions and having to enjoy the smell of dried booze at 7:30 in the morning.

It's hard to believe that these are someday going to be the moments of nostalgia (wow, that sounded like something straight out of an Alanis Morissette song). That someday we're going to look back in awe of where we started compared to where we're at. When we look in our sanctuary and think back to the Ramada or when we finally finish decorating our children's sanctuary and think back to that to that little cubbie hole in the back of the convention center. I mean, you never know who's going to walk in next at the Ramada Center. Quite possibly, one of the most influential people in our church's history may have their first Sunday with us this Sunday. We don't even know it, but elders, pastors, and missionaries could be just now coming. I can't wait for that day where we just look back.

Church Planting Through The Eyes of Forrest Gump

I have been spoiled my entire Christian life. Anytime I've gotten involved with a ministry, that ministry or church has been established in terms of a name or financial resources. Church planting is a whole new ball game. Especially when it's planting in a completely new city where you have no contacts or some sort of established name to fall back on.

Trailhead has had it somewhat easy compared to other church plants. I mean, (completely through the favor of God), we have been able to have these financial resources to buy amazing equipment and provide amazing marketing and outreach before we even had one seat filled! So sure enough, we were extremely excited to get this thing underway. What started in a meeting some time ago was now manifesting from vision to reality. I mean, we knew we were going to grow into a mega church within the first month. I mean, it only makes sense that since we have been blessed with so much, that we would have at least 5000 people the first service! Right?

Not quite. Now, I would first like to say that at Trailhead, we have been blessed with some awesome people coming into our doors. We have been so thankful for the smiling faces and amazing personalities that we have been able to worship and become friends with, but we haven't exactly broke the 5000 mark yet. One service we had about 30 people (granted, about 20 of them were people visiting from the West Virginia), one service we had 12, one service we had 20, and one service we had about 7. One thing that I can say about this is that regardless if you have 5000 or 5 people there, the exact same God of the 5000 is there with the 5 and He has showed up every Sunday to meet with us in amazing ways. I can honestly say that I have yet to have had any disappointment in any service (except of course, I didn't get to feed any babies yesterday and that's just too adorable), but we know that God does have bigger plans for us in terms of growth.

Let's get one thing straight, numbers are important! It's true! I know it may not seem to be the most humble thing in the word to say but seeking to have a high number is important in ministry. Not so you can have have a high number for the sake of having a high number, but because you have a high number of people coming to Christ and/or growing into a deeper relationship with God and I think we can all agree that having 1000 people on fire for God is better than 10.

So (to get to the point), I was thinking yesterday while I was having a bit of prayer time before service started and I got to thinking about Forrest Gump. I know, I'm sure others on staff were probably thinking of something deeper and more spiritual than that, but for some reason my mind went to Forrest.

Unless you are Hillary Chaney, I'm sure you've seen this movie. Well anyway, you probably remember when Forrest became a shrimp boat captain to honor his friend, Bubba and Lieutenant Dan came out to be his first mate. Well, they had the shrimp boat, they had the crew, and they had the sea...therefore, they should immediately be set for life! Just throw over the nets and wait for the shrimp! Not exactly......

One time they would have about three, another time they would have five, then they had a toilet seat, then an army helmet, and this trend continued. Needless to say, they weren't exactly pulling in major amounts of shrimp. Forrest then gets the notion that they should pray and the next scene cuts to Forrest singing in a choir at a small African-American church with Lieutenant Dan drinking from his flask in the back. Then, the movie cuts back to the boat where they pull up......nothing, and Lieutenant Dan says to Forrest "Where is this God of yours?" and Forrest replies with the famous narrative, "It's funny that he said that, because right then, God showed up."

Well, the crew of "The Jenny" was caught in this hurricane. The hurricane was so bad that the only shrimp boat that survived ended up being "The Jenny." Cut to the next scene and Forrest and Lieutenant Dan are pulling up massive nets filled to the top with shrimp and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Corporation would go onto being a multi-million dollar corporation.

Though, we often hear the stories of churches starting out massive, seldom do big things start off that huge. I've heard of mega churches having 1000 their first service and I've heard of mega churches now starting off as a bible study a couple of years prior to launch. Like the crew of "The Jenny," many times we start off with the 5, 7, 20, or the toilet seats, but does that mean that that is the destiny for the future? No way! That just means, that we are starting. That just means it's the beginning and we continue to seek God no matter the size of the church. Then the storm comes. Now the storm can be anything and it can happen in a moment or over a period time. It can be the rain of revival (that's the fun one), it can be a time where the only thing you can do is trust in God to survive (like being caught in a hurricane), or it can be a difficult time where anything preventing you from true growth is destroyed, whether it be ignorance, lack of faith, or your own personal spiritual immaturity (the other shrimp boats). Paul wrote in Romans to rejoice in your sufferings because in your sufferings, in your struggles, and in the time where all you can do is trust, you grow spiritually and you develop the trust and Godly characteristics needed to take yourself, your vision, or that goal to a much higher level. In a way, you are growing up depending on how you respond to the tough times. We're never destined for just a beginning. There's so much more destined for us in our lives and in the life of Trailhead Church, than a few shrimp in the nets. Sometimes you need to have those nets that are filled with only a few shrimp (or even sometimes the toilet seats) to fully appreciate the full nets that are destined to come after the storm and sometimes you need that storm to get you ready for those nets.

I thank God all the time for the people that have came to the church and not only have came but want to be involved. It kinda weirds me out to think about how some of the people walking through those doors of the Ramada Inn may be on staff one day or be elders, deacons, children's church workers, youth leaders, or start their own ministry in the church. I thank God for the small nets and I thank God for every storm regardless of the form it comes in, because that simply preps me and my spirit for the full nets about to come, and we do the same at Trailhead Church because we know that we are being prepped for something much bigger than a beginning.

Kutless = Satan's Poster Boys?

Last Friday, I abstained from more normal routine of "Trailheading" it down south (I know that that was incredibly lame of me to say and I can't believe I said it either. I can't believe that I'm not removing it from my blog right now but I guess I'm just stubborn) and instead put that off for a day and went to a concert in Charleston that I was pretty amped to see. It was the Creation Festival Tour and they had a lot (I mean, a lot) of great bands playing and for $20 you couldn't beat that with a stick! It was headlined by Kutless and even though I don't really care for Kutless, I still found it worth checking out all the groups playing that night. So as soon as I got off work, I picked up a bunch of youth from my church and drove to the Municipal. I had to pick up the tickets at will-call (great seats by the way) and on my way there, who did I see? Oh these guys:

I didn't make this video but I appreciate whoever did for putting it on YouTube. So of course, the many teenagers that were coming to see a plethora of their favorite Christian artists were met by some angry protesters that were infuriated by that "devil rock and roll" music that those kids listen to and found that it was their duty to save their souls by holding up large signs explaining God's judgment and passing out anti-Kutless literature.

Now I'm personally not a huge Kutless fan but wouldn't go to the extent to say that their music will send your soul to hell. I just simply choose to not listen to them. Not because of moral reasons but because of musical preference reasons. Their music is pretty Christ-centered and so was every other artist performing that night, not to mention that the founder of the Creation Festival spoke about winning others for Christ and then two people came forward to receive Jesus in their lives. So what is it about these groups that are so evil? I didn't accept their literature and I'm kind of regretting it right now just so I can see their reasoning because they sure weren't listening to anyone else's (even the lead singer of Kutless that came out to speak with them). It must just be that evil rock music. I mean let's face it, no one has been able to reach this generation musically and get a party going like these guys:

Be sure to check out their new CD, "Chanting With My Homies," which drops early 2009. But anyway, why is it that so many Christians are absolutely terrified of culture? Honestly, why is it we're afraid of taking something used to entertain and taking it and using it for a greater purpose? Why is it so evil to engage and even attempt to set the standards of culture to reach others? It's not compromise. There's nothing in the Bible that says that Christians using different forms of music or entertainment is wrong. In fact, Paul encourages Christians to become like others (without compromising their morality) to reach others (1 Cor. 9:19-21) and the last time I checked, the Bible doesn't declare any type of music immoral.

So I wonder how many people those guys converted and won for Christ. I wonder how many teenagers went home and threw away their Pillar CD's and tore down their KJ-52 poster and replaced it with a poster of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. I wonder how many lives were changed that night because they saw that listening to Christian rock music would send them to hell.

If we allow ourselves to become culturally irrelevant, then we allow our message to appear irrelevant as well. We should be like Paul and become like those we are trying to reach (again, without compromising our morality or putting ourselves in compromising situations. Don't try to reach crackheads by smoking crack.) We need to be taking care of our message of the gospel and making sure it's put in the most appealing of packages and put it in a form where it will be able to reach others. We need to be making those bridges (through inspiration and wisdom from God) from the gospel to the person.

For instance, I don't get why people are so hung up on only using King James in church. The King James Bible was released in 1611. Do you know who the audience was that the KJV was directed to? People that lived in England in 1611! No one talks like they did in 1611 now. Do you know how many more advancements we've made in translating since then? I mean, would you want only medical advice from 1611? Think about it. KJV is great and played a big role in English-speaking Christianity but there are other translations that are far more accurate and contain speech very similar to how we talk like oh, I don't know.......NOW! Again, there's nothing wrong with going with King Jimmy. If that's your preference and you feel you get the most out of it, you go for it, but why do so many put God in a box and make it so that He has to speak to us like in a manner more suited for Henry VIII?
I don't understand why some Christian television programs try to use methods that may have been appealing back in 1994 to reach young people in 2008.
I don't understand why many Christian radio stations somehow think that the only music that will attract and appeal to others searching for more is that of Rich Mullins and Amy Grant from 20+ years ago (I mean, we all knew "Baby, Baby" was going to be what sparked a national revival).
I don't get why so many churches are terrified to talk about controversial issues, yet complain about how so many people live with these issues.

I mean, God bless people for their good intentions but it's time to grab hold of this culture that is using itself to tear down people and use it to make a bridge between them and salvation. God's word is always relative and never changing, but the delivery needs to adjust with time in order to reach the culture that is adjusting along with the time. If we don't, then we limit who we're trying to reach to........well, no one.

I'm making this my prayer: "God, as a minister of your gospel, don't allow me to become irrelevant."

That Ain't My Baby Daddy

So I got home yesterday from work and went to my room to change, turned on the TV, and anticipated watching Seinfeld reruns on TBS. But to my dismay, there was no Seinfeld. Just Everybody Loves Raymond. Can I just say that I hate Everybody Loves Raymond? I never thought it was funny and I think every episode is the exact same thing. So how dare they take the slot of my precious Seinfeld?! So I flipped channels to try and find something else to watch...nothing. Then I reached channel 12 and what was on? The Maury Povich show. So basically these were my options at the time: I could have done something productive and enlightening such as read my bible, pray, or just read a book; or I could watch Maury. I watched Maury. I know, it's a bit pathetic and I shouldn't have watched it I knew I would be supporting trash but I was drawn in. It was like a horrible car wreck. You know that if you look you'll be scarred for life but you can't help but just stare gawkingly.

Of course Maury was doing one of those "You are the father" shows that he's famous for. Basically what happens is the father doesn't want to admit that the baby that looks exactly like him is his so the mother does the only thing a rational human being would do and that is take her dirty laundry on national television. So we are introduced to the mother and then given a video introduction of the father on par with a presidential nominee's video at his party's convention. You can pretty much sum it up with:

Maury, she says that I'm the baby's father, but I ain't his father. She's been with so many men that there ain't no way. My buddy Scooter saw her coming out of my brothers house so I know......You can use your imagination on where it goes from there. Then the father's new girlfriend or mom usually throws in a: Maury she says that Lester is the baby's daddy but he ain't and she best be leaving me alone because we in love (If it was the mom they probably wouldn't say that......or would they?)

The father comes out and gets in a cussing match with the mom and possibly her parents as well if they decide to come. Then, Maury tells him that he is the father and then steps in to heal the rift between the mother and the father because, gosh darn it Maury is just that kind of guy. I mean, that man cares. Every now and then, they'll have a couple where they're coming on to see if the father really is the father because mommy cheated on him. Those are as equally heart-warming as the others. Also, throughout the show you'll hear random censor bleeps because the audience just loves to randomly throw out there own obscenities as well. So along with some random birthday parties and little league games, the child now has a new video to add to his childhood collection. I wonder if those videos of little league games also has his mom doing lewd dances in his father's face or is that reserved only for special occasions like when the whole world's watching?

So I'm watching this and saying...why? I mean really, why? Why are these people allowed to breed? If they think that their best option is to go on Maury to find out who the kid's dad is, why are they allowed to create life? I mean, I know babies are cute and abstinence is just impossible for anyone to do, but it's time to stop! I understand that sometimes things happen that you wish didn't and God can still turn that into an incredible blessing for you or a family looking to adopt. I know people who have gone through this and end up being very loving parents that never thought it was a good idea to take their whole business in front of the country on some crappy talk show and instead, actually handle it like civilized people. But when you have 15 kids (one of the fathers did) and the best option for you is to go on Maury to find out if you are the baby's daddy, then I think it's time for you to stop breeding. For the sake of the children, it's time for you just to stop. Also why is their a market for this stuff? He does these shows all the time, why is there such a huge market for this? Well, I guess because idiots like me actually watch it. I personally blame TBS for trying to subject people to Everybody Loves Raymond instead of Seinfeld but that's neither here nor there.

I think Child Protective Services should just sit and watch Maury everyday and start taking names and try to give these kids a fighting chance so they don't end up on Maury 20 years later trying to find out who the baby's daddy is. Maybe CPS is actually watching and the fact that I watch keep ratings up and I'm actually doing a good thing by watching this show. You're welcome, America!

Random Fact: I also found out while my dog was laying on my bed with me that when I say in a high pitched voice "That ain't my baby daddy" she will run to the opposite end of the bed and start barking as if it wasn't me doing it. This provided me with about an hour of entertainment.

Grace v. Karma

When you think about it, Karma actually makes perfect sense. You do something bad, something bad happens to you. You do something good...well you get the picture. Our human thinking has embraced this prinicple in our legal system, our schools, and our discipline of our kids. Paul even warned that "you reap what you sow" (Galations 6:8), but there is a fundamental and crucial difference in Christianity and that is grace.

Grace makes absolutely no sense. Grace goes beyond our Karma-like thinking of getting what you deserve. Grace does the impossible. Grace goes beyond justification. Because we cannot justify anything wrong we've ever done so therefore we are a prisoner to our past...until grace comes into the picture. Grace overcomes Karma. Grace does the opposite of what Karma is supposed to do by using justification and instead uses redemption.

Wrongs cannot be "righted." It's impossible. You can't go back in time and stop events from taking place and mistakes being made. So naturally by Karma's standards you are doomed to punishment. Without grace, you are a slave to your failures and condemned to face the consequences. But grace........overcomes Karma and removes the condemnation you were doomed to face.

Grace is not deserved. If it was deserved, it wouldn't be grace. It would be a prize, a reward, something deserved and therefore no one would have it. That's what makes it so unbelievably beautiful. To know that you are not cursed by your failures anymore and you don't even deserve it. How much love does our God have for us to completely wipe away our past records and completely go beyond our world standards to simply forgive and embrace us as His precious children. Grace is so amazing and it is so wonderful and the only reason I have a life now that has some sort of purpose, some sort of meaning, and some sort of fulfillment is because God loves me enough to completely disregard the complete piece of trash I was without any hesitation. If we as Christians wrap ourselves around this concept and around how much God does love us, then we probably wouldn't find it as difficult to share in his character and show that same grace to those that have been complete pieces of trash to us.

"Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs" (Proverbs 10:12)

I could probably write more on this topic. In fact, I know I have before on some old MySpace blog, or at least I think I did, but I just had some thoughts in my head that I wanted to get down and try and process. So please excuse the randomness of this entry.

You See The Man My Sins Disguise

So I get home yesterday and I go to check the mail. I like to do this first just to see if there's any letters concerning employment, but today there was none. Which is a good thing. Usually when you get a letter from somewhere you applied, it's a "Hey I think you're nice and all but let's just be friends" letter. But there was something else in the mail for me. It was addressed to "Pastor Adam Davis." You wanna talk about being freaked out. I've heard those words used before but now it was in writing...with certification!

That's just weird for me. I mean, if you would have asked me 6 years ago if I would ever be referred to that, I would say you're an idiot and probably throw in a few obscene hand gestures while having the melodic sounds of Limp Bizkit playing in my head (I used to be a fan, I know it's sad). And here I am now. It's just weird for me to hear that. I mean, I'm just now adjusting to having an authoritative position in a church. I mean, you want to talk about major adjustment last Sunday. I mean, who am I? I'm just anti-social loser from a small town that couldn't take it anymore and just decided to go to church one day.

Growing up is so weird.