Counter Cultural

When God corrects you

chriscrossing — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:34:33 +0000

Today I got the first negative feedback I’ve ever gotten from a job. I heard that some people don’t like working with me. It was the first time I’d ever heard anything like that and I was taken aback. I try to be a team player. I’ve always gotten wonderful reviews and been told the opposite of what I was told today. I think after my colleague told me, he was sorry he did. I think he thought I felt bad. I did. But I also told him I know that not all people are going to like me.

So, now, what do I do with this? First of all, the information came when I was complaining about working with a certain person. So I really feel like God was setting me straight. Oh, you are complaining about working with someone. Well, guess what? Other people have complained about you. Humbling? You bet. But you know what? Although I would probably be happier not knowing this piece of information, I am grateful that God cares enough about me to correct me when I am doing ungodly things.

You can bet I am going to be processing this over the next couple of days and bringing it to God to make sure I have learned all the lessons from it that he wants me to learn. This is what life is like when you walk with Jesus. I could have reacted with an “oh yeah, well most people like working with me so tough for them.” Or something worse. But when you walk with Jesus your eyes are open to life’s lessons and God gently gives them to you to make you a better person.

What it takes to be a real man

chriscrossing — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:18:09 +0000

I haven’t had much time to write anything for this blog. But I do find gems on the web. And I’d like to share this one from Trey Morgan (I’ve linked to him before, read his blog, it’s good).

A song for birth mothers and adoption

chriscrossing — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:25:44 +0000

Mark Schultz has a new song called “Everything to Me” which is a song he wrote to his birth mother who gave him up for adoption. Here’s the story behind the video:

and you can watch the video on his site.

The sickness in our souls

chriscrossing — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 03:19:42 +0000

This past Sunday my minister preached a sermon where he said we (meaning Christians) are speaking FM to a world that is tuned into AM. So if you stumble upon this blog and it doesn’t make any sense to you, that’s probably why.

Oh, how I believe that. On Monday nights, when the television show "24" is on, I stay in the office and turn my music on or go up in my room and close the door so I don’t have to be exposed to the yuck coming out of my TV. But my family is being exposed. And they think nothing of it. They crave it, as a matter of fact.

Tonight, as I walked out of the office and up the stairs, I caught sight of the image on the TV before turning away. It was an image of a captor behind a young girl, holding her head. And these words trailed after me even as I left the room. " Do what I said, now, or I will gouge out your daughter’s eyes." I ask you, what part of our sick soul does this feed? Why would anyone find this entertaining? No wonder we live in a world full of violence.

Don’t tell me that it doesn’t affect you. Don’t tell me that it’s just a story, or that it’s a reflection of real life. Real life is NOT what God has planned for us. But we fall far short from the way God wants us to be as human beings. And embracing the things of this world as normal and acceptable keeps us there.

If we live according to God’s spirit we are full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (see Galatians 5:22). And we are exhorted to focus our mind on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy (see Philippians 4:8). Is that the stuff shows like 24 are made of? I think not.

God help us all.

A daring prayer

chriscrossing — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 05:07:42 +0000

Not everybody liked these words prayed by Rev. Joe Wright before the Kansas legislature in 1996. It would probably be even less popular more than 10 years later and further down the slope we are slipping down:

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ”Woe to those who call evil good,” but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that; we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism; We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism; We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle; We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery; We have neglected the needy and called it self preservation; We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare; We have killed our unborn and called it choice; We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable; We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem; We have abused power and called it political savvy; We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition; We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression; We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of this state and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state of Kansas. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will.

I ask in in the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ

Videos on abortion

chriscrossing — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:22:56 +0000

I’ve recently come across a couple of videos on abortion I want to share:

and

http://www.nmatv.com/video/1318/Preteen-pro-life-speech-goes-viral#featureVideo

Gets you thinking.

A Gathering Force

chriscrossing — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 04:04:26 +0000

Interesting article by Francis Chan. Lots to get you thinking. A couple of excerpts to tease you into reading the whole thing:

Is there any logic in believing that God started His Church as a Spirit-filled, loving body with the intention that it would evolve into entertaining, hour-long services? Was he hoping that one day people would be attracted to the Church not because they care for one another, not because they are devoted to Him, not because the supernatural occurs in their midst, but because of good music and entertainment?

I reasoned that this type of fellowship was probably not intended for our time. Besides, we don’t have time to love like this. Looking back, I wonder if I came to those conclusions because there was a part of me that wasn’t sure I wanted it. It’s interesting how much our theology is driven by desire.

Choices

chriscrossing — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:13:18 +0000

“Our very lives are fashioned by choice. First we make choices. Then our choices make us” – from the Traveler’s Gift, by Andy Andrews.

I love this quote. I haven’t read the book. I actually heard the author speak on a TV show and I’ve been thinking about the quote all day.

My choice lately has been to immerse myself in my Bible. I feel like I am rediscovering God, spending time with Him. And so, not so much blog writing. I feel like God is bringing me to a place where I can know Him without words. I’m reading/finished reading a couple other pretty good books, too – Crazy Love, by Francis Chan; Respectable Sins, by Jerry Bridges; and The Attributes of God, by Arthur Pink. I’m flooding my mind with learning about God! It’s a choice that I’m hoping will make me better, make me see life through God’s eyes, help me to follow Jesus, my Savior.

Are we okay?

chriscrossing — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:37:19 +0000

Here is a verse from the Bible, 2 Timothy 2:24-26. I was reading it this morning and realized this is what I am trying to do with this site. Gently instruct.

And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel. Instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to his will.

According to the Bible, the devil is the king of this world. Those of us not being ruled by God are being ruled by him. That’s not something easy to stomach. We prefer the “I’m okay, you’re okay, we’re all okay” theory of life. But according to the Bible, if we are not obeying God, living the way He wants us to live, we’re not okay. The Bible doesn’t mince words. I think that’s why a lot of people don’t want to read it. If you read the Bible, you come up against yourself with nowhere to hide.

The Right to be Born

chriscrossing — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:57:11 +0000

I signed this petition against the Freedom of Choice Act. I hope you will, too. I know a huge part of our culture doesn’t think abortion is taking a life because they don’t think a fetus is a life. But this is what the Bible says:

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. – Psalm 139:13

God made us. We are his creation before we are born. We don’t all of a sudden become human once we are outside of our mother’s body. It’s not that difficult to realize. It’s just that realizing it can make life complicated, especially if we weren’t planning on having a baby.