What is Furry, anyway?

A Guest Post by Dillon Lucas

Furry is a subculture, a wide group of people who utilize a world of anthropomorphic animals to create different types of artwork. The artwork varies between drawn or painted works, written stories, or even crafts like making mascot suits by oneself, but that’s more of a rarity, despite the publicity that the mascot suits, or “Fursuits” get. “Furries” as they are called, generally hang out in Internet Relay Chatrooms (IRC) or on forums, at which they exchange their works that they’ve created. Some like to roleplay within their respected IRCs or forums as a means to play out their own furry characters that they’ve created, also known as “fursonas”. If Furries get the chance, they love to meet up and hang out together. This is generally because the subculture isn’t all of a big thing, and it’s exciting for them to meet with another Furry, or “Furr” for short, due to how rare it is to see one.

Some Furries are really big cartoon buffs, and gear their artwork more towards a cartoonish style. Others are intrigued by realism in the Furry universe, and incorporate that into their works. Here are examples of some of the artwork:

http://furry.org.ua/pic/bbbasil.jpg, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Anthro_vixen.jpg, http://fc04.deviantart.com/images3/i/2004/142/d/5/sci_fi_rp_tiger_anthro.jpg, http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/509157/Apples-Marten.jpg

I may or may not have given it away with the above links, but Furry art generally utilizes anthropomorphic canines and felines. You normally won’t see a “Furry” turtle or something like that… unless you watched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when you were little. Those count.

Here are a couple examples of the fursuits:

http://pics.wildillusions.com/albums/userpics/10003/normal_Fursuit_v1_Comparison.jpg, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Fursuit_TaniDaReal_top.jpg, http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/509157/DSC_0553.jpg

Fursuits take a LONG time to make, months even, and are VERY pricey (800+ to 2000$+). Others are too lazy to express their “Furriness” with suits, so they just make tails or ears, or wear collars (so, it’s not always the Goth kids!). The suits are generally worn at conventions, where a large number of Furries can congregate and show off their work to each other. Never been to one myself, but they generally have lots of fun from what I’ve been told.

Now, there are a very large range of misconceptions about Furries; I’ll rattle off a few.

1.) Furries seriously think that they’re animals. Why else would they wear the suits?

No. People, in general, who believe that they’re animals, or believe that they possess the soul of an animal are known as Therianthropes. Some Therians happen to be Furries, but those are a minority (Wikipedia Therianthropy for more info).

Furries wear Fursuits for a couple of reasons… but generally just for the heck of it. Also, like I said previously, “Fursuiting” isn’t all that big, it just gets a lot of publicity.

2.) Furries have absolutely no life and just waste away online.

Again, no. Some furries do, but I’ve also met my fair share of very successful, and good Christian Furries. One Christian Furry I know works with NASA!

3.) Furries are sick, disgusting perverts who condone and perform zoophilia, or beastiality.

ICK! Sad to say, but there are furries that do this. HOWEVER, they are a minority and are known as “Furverts” within the subculture.

4.) Furries are sexually confused.

No. There are some homosexuals who happen to be Furry, but that’s not what Furry is.

Sadly, the Furries who dance with all these sins get the most publicity, and are also the most bashed by those who know what a Furry is. This causes newcoming Furries to keep their interest in Furry a secret from friends and family, and they find themselves sinning too sometimes, because no one’s holding them accountable. When I say the sinful Furries get the most attention, you’d get that immediately if you played with Google Images for awhile (DON’T. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life).

With all the bad stuff around, it’s hard for a lot of people to see how it could be a good, God-glorifying thing, especially when people are keeping it a secret from people that they care about. When I was still a Furry myself, I was guilty of keeping it a secret too, especially because of a darker past that I struggled with (for more info on that, see my blog and scroll to the very bottom of it: http://oncebound.blogspot.com). I eventually did tell Mom and Dad, but they were less than friendly with it; by now you can see why.

If you look at the Chronicles of Narnia, that would be considered a piece of Furry literature by the subculture. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, but I’m sure there’s other Christian works that happen to utilize the Furry world, and many more could be made… but the problem is, some Christian Furries are keeping their interest in the subculture a secret, because they’re afraid of judgment by their peers, their Church, and their parents. Some of them treat it like a sin because they keep it so hidden, and for others, it becomes one.

This is a terrible, terrible picture folks! Here you have a pretty cool world full of ways in which God-glorifying things could be created, but it’s also in the midst of a subculture that’s looked down upon because the sinners within it get so much publicity. So, what’s my mission? Why am I writing this to you guys?

I’m writing for prayer, for hope. This secret has to be broken! A day has to come when Furries can give all they do to the Lord, and do so without shame! Some I have spoken to have considered starting a new Furry movement, a Christian one, and rebranding the works of art and the interest as a whole. Whether or not that’s the way to go, only God knows. So, I’m begging you guys, be praying that God moves these people, and that the shackles of the sins they don’t want to be accused of are broken.

Here are some Christian Furry forums you can take a peek at!

http://christianfurs.net
http://www.furrsfurchrist.com/forum/

Questions

If you have any questions, you are more than welcome (encouraged, in fact) to post them here, or you can contact Dillon with any of the following:
E-mail: dillon1990@hotmail.com
Skype: kail200x
AIM: kail200x
MSN: bereftofdream20xx@msn.com

I really encourage you to pray for this movement. Pray that:

1. God would work through Christian Furries to help other Furries who are lost.
2. God would help Dillon and his comrades to clearly present the gospel in an understandable way.
3. God would take away the shame felt by many furries and cause them to come out in the open with their interest.

With the growth of these things, some inappropriate content has started to seep into the internet.  Many Christians have for the most part turned their backs on technology and decided to stay with “old school” media just for this reason.  This does block out all the bad influences on the internet, but it also takes away the many good things it has to offer.  In the list below, I’ve summarized a few of the ways the internet can help you in your Christian walk.

1. Online Bibles

By far the best tool that computers can offer you is the online Bible.  You say, “what’s wrong with the Bible on my shelf?”  The answer is that your Bible is only one translation, has a limited concordance, and doesn’t tell you the Greek meaning behind all the verses.  Online Bibles do all this and more.

My personal favorite online Bible, Blue Letter Bible (blueletterbible.org), has not only all of the features I mentioned above, but it also offers daily devotionals, commentaries (text, audio and video), images and maps, study tools, and again, much more.

Some other online Bibles are BibleGateway.com, OnlineBible.net, and Bible.com.

2. Christian Forums

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42

If the early Christians devoted themselves to fellowship, then I believe we should as well.  This is one reason why going to church is so important - it gets us together with other Christians so we can encourage each other.

But you don’t have to just do this on Sunday.  With online forums or discussion boards, you can talk with other Christians about your faith, what you’re going through, and even ask for prayer.  My favorite Christian forum is The Rebelution forum (therebelution.com/forum), but there are many others like ChristianForums.com, ChristianForums.net, and ChristianChatForum.com.

3. Christian Videos

Another way that you can be encouraged online is through Christian videos.  Whether they be slideshows, sermons, or songs, they can really help you in your Christian walk.

My favorite Christian video site is by far tangle.com.  It not only has great videos, but it also has a great Christian community.  You can connect with your friends, comment on Bible verses, and even post prayers to the prayer wall.

Conclusion

I’m not saying that whoever doesn’t use the internet because of its inappropriate content is wrong, I’m just saying that you should consider all the good that it can be used for.

If you are struggling with bad things on the internet, I would highly recommend getting an internet filter for your computer.  My favorite is K9 Web Protection.  It is by far the best web filter I’ve come across, and is even free from their site.

Over all, I think the internet has a lot to offer us as Christians.  We do need to be careful of what we let into our eyes and minds, but we shouldn’t shut out everything that it has to offer.

The Importance of Being Earnest

No, I’m not referring to Oscar Wilde here. One of the things I have observed in my struggles with time management skills is that it is incredibly important to be earnest in your desire to grow in this area. Otherwise, it’s like trying to build a sandcastle with too much water in the sand: it just crumbles when you remove the mold.

Does this mean that we have to hold unwavering resolve in order to make any progress? Of course not! Our God is a forgiving God, and is used to working with flawed clay (Heck, He’s been doing it since the Fall). He does not require that we be perfect to improve; that would be absurd, but He does look for a willing heart.

Post-It Notes®

Post-Its are wonderful creations. They stick almost anywhere. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. And they are actually really useful for time management purposes. Though it may not be abundantly obvious how they help, they really do. It’s something my mom encouraged me to do.

In the morning, you take your various responsibilities and hobbies into account. Pray it over with God. I journal about it, but not everyone benefits so much from writing prayers down. After getting a sense for what God wants you to do, pray about what priority different items on the list take. Then work out an order in which to tackle them.

Here’s an example Post-It for me (with names of people in asterisks):

1. Math
2. Read The Brothers Karamazov Sections 6.1-6.3
3. Write letter to **** and *****
4. Check in on ****’s progress
5. Finish Translating “Known For What We Do” and post.
6. Study Danish

As you can see, I put my schoolwork (Math and The Brothers Karamazov in top priority, because those were absolute musts for the day. Then came my secondary responsibilities, pertaining to the Rebelution Translation Project. Only after that did my truly optional task begin (Danish). Of course, your tasks and the order you put them in will be different, but I hope you get the gist.

After you write the list of things down on the Post-It, you should stick it somewhere where you will see it all day. Maybe that’s on the dashboard of your car, or on your fridge, or maybe you need to stick it to your body (I have to do that sometimes ). Then just follow the Post-It to the best of your ability (not that it’s a god or anything, but it is a guideline)

Pick it up to put it down

Of course, things rarely go completely according to plan. No matter how much we may try, we can never control the world. So that’s where another piece of my mom’s wisdom comes in: sometimes we make a plan just to practice laying it down. (Sorry, if that wasn’t her thought originally; she’s who I heard it from)

For example, on the day for the above Post-It that I wrote, I did not accomplish everything I had hoped. In fact, I only got through item 4; the rest had to wait until the next day. But that does not make that day a failure. That had been my fatal mistake: thinking of a day as a success if and only if I accomplished everything I had hoped for. Even though I didn’t finish all my tasks according to my list, but I did finish God’s list for me, which is the only important one. We must remember to “trade our dreams for His,” (Casting Crowns) but hopefully they’re not in conflict.

First, we must make one thing clear, and that is that the word “brother” in the Bible often refers to all Christians. That doesn’t matter, though, because out siblings should be under that category anyway.

The first verse that I want to look at is a rather confusing one. It is Proverbs 17:17. Does it mean that we are intended to quarrel with our siblings? No – in this passage, the “brother born for adversity” is just being used as a contrast to show how much a friend loves. Take a look at Psalm 133:1. It pretty much shows that God wants us to be united with our brothers and sisters, not adversary.

But does it really matter if we fight with out siblings? From the world’s perspective, no – it doesn’t matter at all. In fact, they might even call it “survival of the fittest”. But does it matter from God’s perspective? Is it true that He hates quarreling and fighting? Yes – it is true, painfully true.

Remember the story of Cain and Able? Cain got upset with Abel over a little matter of sacrifices, and he got so angry that he killed him. Later, God appeared to him and questioned him about his brother. You can read about it in Genesis 4. Because of Cain’s killing his brother, God cursed him to be “driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” That was a pretty serious punishment, even though the crime was murder.

Another example of how much God hates brotherly adversity is in Matthew 5:21-26. Here, Jesus is saying that if you simply called your brother a bad name, you would either have to face the Sanhedrin, jail, or even the fire of Hell. That’s a pretty harsh punishment for a simple name-calling incident, don’t you think? It just goes to show how much God hates quarreling and rivalry amongst siblings.

By now, you are probably convinced that God is opposed to sibling rivalry and quarreling. So that means that you can just go home and totally ignore your siblings, right? Wrong. God not only wants you to not fight with them, He wants you to love them.

Read 1 John 2:9-11. It pretty much says that whoever loves his brother lives in the light, but whoever hates his brother lives in darkness. Later on in 1 John, read chapter 4 verses 7 and 8. Here, Paul is saying that whoever loves his brother knows God, but whoever does not love his brother does not know God. Still later on in 1 John, read chapter 4 verses 19-21. Paul is saying again that whoever claims that he loves God, but hates his brother, is a liar. Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Although we should love our siblings and not argue with them, we should still correct them if we see them doing something wrong. Read Matthew 18:15-17. It says that if your brother sins against you, you should first try to settle the dispute between yourselves. If he doesn’t listen to you, then you should get some of your friends together as witnesses. If he still doesn’t listen, then you should take him in front of the church, and if he still doesn’t listen, then you should treat him as an outcast. Now I doubt that all that will happen to you and your siblings, but it shows that God wants us to correct as well as love each other.

Another verse on this is Luke 17:3-4. The word “seven” in this passage means “infinity”. So if our brother sins infinite times, yet asks his forgiveness the same amount of times, we should forgive him.

So in conclusion, God wants us to not argue with our siblings, to love them, and to correct them whenever they sin. This not only applies to your siblings, though. It applies to everyone we meet. So next time you are tempted to be short or argue with someone, think again.

Is being mediocre in our faith acceptable? I would say not. While such exertion is difficult, the Christian walk is one of constantly pushing forward.

Uphill

You’re on roller-skates (or some other vehicle with wheels) on a hill. It’s very steep, and the top seems to never get closer. You can see it, with the sun rising over it, but you feel as though you aren’t making any progress towards it. You look around. Surrounding you are others on roller-skates, traveling up this same insurmountable mountain with you.

Suddenly wondering why you’re exerting so much effort in a seemingly useless endeavor, you make your way to a fellow skater. “Excuse me,” you say as the sweat pours from your brow. The other person turns and smiles as they two strain to make their way up the hill.

“Hey! How are you?” they cry, as though the sweaty, panting person actually knew you.

“Uh…fine, thanks,” you reply, confused. “Could I ask you a question?”

“Sure, shoot away, but don’t stop working,” came the reply.

Even more perplexed, you continue regardless, “Why exactly are we skating up this stupid mountain?”

“What a silly question! Don’t you know? There’s a great reward for all of us at the top, and there we will rest forever with our King!”

Seeing several stopping their work to rest, you think I don’t care enough about that silly prize to keep going now. I’m too tired. Besides, all these people are stopping too; I don’t want to stand out. I’ll just rest here for awhile. So, you do.

Now you tell me: will you stay where you are, will you go forward, or will you go downhill.

Explanation

This is one of the very valuable things my mom (a very wise woman) has helped me see. The Christian life is an uphill battle. If you stop pressing forward, even for a moment, you go backwards. One cannot really “be” a Christian, because the Christian walk is so active that an anemic state of being verb is inadequate to describe it. We are to be constantly pushing forward.

I said that if we don’t push forward, we slide backwards. You may have taken issue with that. If you did, I completely understand. This backsliding is sometimes hard to detect (especially in our own hearts), but it is there. Keep in mind that you are most likely surrounded by others who have stopped moving forward, so it would be very easy to gauge your walk by those around you, convincing yourself that you are doing just fine.

This acceptance of mediocrity must change if we are to be all we are meant to be in Christ. We must be fully for Him or fully against him. We can no longer sit on the fence. The CCM group Casting Crowns, in their latest album, have a song called Somewhere in the Middle (Please listen to it here) that captures this concept very well.

What Happened to Grace

Of course, it is very easy to adopt a legalistic, do-it-in-your-own-strength mentality in talking about this. As always, we must be careful to keep that difficult balance between works and grace, legalism and licentiousness. I would say that the only remedy is to truly process this with God and press on towards Him, soaking in His Word and relying on his strength.

What about you?

• Have you noticed this dynamic of “if not uphill, then downhill” in your Christian walk?
• What steps have you taken, if any, to counteract that entropy?
• Do you see it as a problem that we often settle for mediocrity?
• What advice to you have for remaining grace-based in the fight against mediocrity?

But when it comes to Christians, the music can often be a stumbling block to us.  Usually we either allow any type of it into our ears, or we try to listen to a select genre that we feel comfortable with.  Sometimes we don’t really know what we’re allowed to listen to as Christians, so we simply listen to nothing.  All of these approaches have their benefits and dangers, and I’m not here to push my own view on anyone, but I believe that there are three major questions you should ask before listening to any type of music.

Does it glorify God?

The Bible has a lot to say about music.  Especially throughout the Psalms, there are many verses that emphasize the importance of praising God, or glorifying Him.

Psalm 71:23 - My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to Thee; And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed.

Psalm 75:9 - But as for me, I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

Psalm 96:2 - Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

Psalm 98:4 - Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

Psalm 105:2 - Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders.

There are also many references to other types of singing in the Bible.

James 5:13 - Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Ephesians 5:19 - Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.

As you can see, there are many references to singing in the scriptures.  However, all of the verses I just listed have one thing in common - the songs are being sung to the Lord, praising Him for what He alone has done.

The importance of using songs to praise God can’t be stressed enough.  In fact, it is one of the only verbal ways mentioned in the Bible of offering up praise to Him.

So, judging from the Bible’s stress on praise, I believe that most of the songs we sing/listen to should be centered on praising God and giving Him glory.

Will it build me up?

Not all music, even if it is praising God, is suited for every occasion.  Some songs are simply meant to be sung when you’re sad, and some when you’re happy.  For example, if you’re all happy and excited about everything God’s doing in your life, I don’t think you should sing a slow, sad song such as “He dragged me up from the pit of despair, where I could never have escaped on my own”.  Don’t get me wrong - these sorts of songs are great if you’re feeling down and out, but sometimes they can dampen your spirits and even make you depressed.

Not only is not all music fit for every occasion, but some music just isn’t edifying for our spiritual walk.  For example, some songs these days are simply made up of “Hallelujah” or “Praise God” repeated over and over (and over).  These can sometimes be good, maybe when you don’t necessarily want to think deeply about profound lyrics, but most of the time we need something with more spiritual depth to encourage us.

This is one thing I don’t like about some contemporary Christian music.  Often times, the lyrics have almost nothing to do with Christianity, and if they do, it doesn’t add anything to my walk towards Christlikeness.

This all depends on what you personally find encouraging in your own life as a Christian.  If classical music helps you quiet your heart and focus your mind on God (Psalm 46:10), then that’s great for you.  If rock music can do the same for you - and yes, this is possible, I know from my own experience - then listening to it is perfectly fine (as long as you take into consideration the next question).  The thing that is important here is choosing music that will build you up, not just create “noise”.

Will it cause others to stumble?

This question is more of a music question as opposed to a content question.  Let’s face it - not everyone is attracted to hard rock music.  Then again, not everyone is attracted to classical music.  If you want to be the best example you can to someone, sometimes you need to meet them where they are.

If there’s a teenager in your school who likes to dance around with a radio booming rock music, you are more likely to make an impression on him if you show him some Christian artists on the harder side (Skillet, Pillar, and Disciple come to mind).

On the other hand, if there’s another kid in your school who listens to only classical music, you’d be more likely to open doors if you played him some of the old Christian hymns, or maybe artists like Chris Rice, Selah, and Shane & Shane.

The key here is balance.  Believe it or not, people can be turned away from Christ if the first people they hear talking about him are a scream-o band.  The same can go for classical music.  If someone hears an old hymn being played on the radio, they might feel like they can’t connect with Christians because they have no “good music”.  Music is an extremely important aspect of life, and we don’t want to overlook its power to influence.

Secular music

You’re most likely wondering - “does this mean that I can never listen to secular music?”  This is a hard question to answer, and opinions vary.  My personal view is that secular music, if the lyrics aren’t anti-Christian, can be fine to listen to.  Some songs can help you quiet down your mind, and others can have good lyrics with lessons to be learned.

However, your main music library should be one that praises and glorifies God.  Don’t praise anyone or anything other than Him, be it genre, song, or artist.  He is the One who created all things, and saved us from the depths of despair.  He should occupy your thoughts, actions, and yes, the music you listen to.

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Through Him everything in both the physical and spiritual realm has being.

The Footstool

Nature is truly awesome (in the older, non-anemic meaning of the word). It’s easy to see why we sinful humans turn to forces of creation as gods when we are fleeing the one True God. Wind rips things apart, water rages in torrents, earth falls and crushes, and fire consumes and burns. We both fear and love the world in which we live.

Romans 1:22-13 – “Although [men] claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”

In a more literal sense, men stopped worshipping the true and glorious god and started worshipping a copy (the graven images) of a copy (the things of this creation, i.e. “mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles”) of a copy (the shadow of the glory of God in creation). We ignored the divine Creator who ruled (and rules) over it all. He makes both the tsunamis that devastate and the beautiful flowers and sunshine that please. He controls all of it and uses it for the ultimate good of those whom He loves

The Throne

The story of the ten plagues that God sent on Egypt is probably familiar to all of us. Various lessons can be gleaned from it about different things. But the thing that stands out most to me is how God used it to show his superiority over the Egyptian pantheon. The plagues were chosen to destroy any illusion of power that the false gods presented. Each directly defied a specific god. For example, the ninth plague (three days of absolute darkness) directly defied the power of the sun god (called either Ra/Re or Amun-ra/Amun-re).

In defying their authority God showed His power to be superior. He denied the magicians the power to replicate his miracles on several occasions, displaying his sovereignty over even the power of the demons masquerading as gods. Demonic forces have power, but it is God that grants them power to wield it. Job chapter one recounts an interchange between Satan and God where Satan is trying to get permission to torment Job. As much as the Deceiver would have loved to have his way with the man, he was not able to as long as God was restraining him. My mom likes to call this (I’m not sure if it’s original or not) God keeping Satan “on a short leash.” As dark as things may seem or as great as the power of the demonic may appear, we can know that God is greater and has complete power over the spiritual realm.

Conclusion

The heavenly realms are His throne and the earth is his footstool. He is so great that He fills our sense of reality and overflows like choice wine from a large goblet. We cannot fathom him, yet he deigns to call us His children. He reveals Himself to us in part now, but we shall see Him as He truly is one day. Let us pray that day will be soon…

After watching this movie, I tried to imitate that man and have my own conversations with God.  It was great!  If I was alone, afraid, or just depressed, I could tell my troubles to God, and know that He was listening to my every word.  It felt good to know that God was in control of everything in my life, and that He cared about my problems as much as I did.  This went on for a while, and I truly believe that I drew closer to my maker during this time.

The Problem

But then, as I was reading in my Bible one day, I came upon a verse that put some doubt into my mind:

Ecclesiastes 5:2, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.”

As you can tell, this appears to go against everything I had started doing, saying that since God is in heaven and we are on earth, we should let our words be few and not “bother” Him.  I really struggled with this, because it seems to say that it is possible to pray to much.  Had I been bothering God?  Had I been sinning?

I decided to set out and find the answer to my problem.  I started by reading the Bible and seeing what it had to say on Prayer.  However, I just got more confused when I got to verses like “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18).  It seemed as though I had stumbled upon one of those “contradictions” that many people say the Bible has.

The Solution

About this time, I decided to look for outside help and ask the pastor of my church (Andrew Weaver) about my problem.  I sent him an email explaining everything, and he graciously (and thankfully) got back a few hours later.  This is what he said:

The writer - The “teacher” - advises caution in the matter of worship in “God’s house” and, specifically, in the matter of making vows.  The sacrifice of fools may refer to worship that does not include right intention and contrition.  A fool thinks that by offering worship to God he automatically is OK.  But a humble, reflective approach to worship is wiser.  Better a few words than many hasty ones.  And caution is also appropriate when making vows.  Better no vow than a hasty one.  The picture may be of a foolish and wordy worshiper who makes a hasty vow, then tells the Temple messenger that it was a mistake.  If a person has awe reverence for God, he will be careful to avoid such hasty, wordy vows.

So … I don’t believe Ecclesiastes 5 is saying, “Don’t pray too much.”  Rather, the context is about a foolish and careless worshiper who makes hasty vows.  I also believe the rest of Scripture encourages a life of moment-by-moment walking with God.

As usual, his answer was extremely insightful and helpful.  After reading that, everything just seemed to fall in place.  I now know that, as pastor Weaver said, it’s not wrong to pray a lot, it’s just wrong to keep on “babbling like the pagans” as Jesus said in Matthew 6:7.

So next time your are doubtful as to if you are praying too much, or you are not praying very much and want to know if you should be praying more, remember that God accepts as much prayer as you give Him, as long as it’s genuine, sincere prayer from the heart.

The Myth of “Great Exploits”

The Rebelution blog is all about combating the Myth of Adolescence by setting higher standards for teens. But I think that in some ways it can be misleading. The Twins (as we Rebelutionaries affectionately call Alex and Brett) focus of political exploits and public life as methods of fighting the Myth of Adolescence.

This focus in the literature surrounding the Rebelution has resulted (at least for me) in the misconception that that sort of stereotypical “great exploits” is the only sort. I slowly shifted from viewing the Twins as role-models to thinking of them as the very essence and definition of Doing Hard Things. My mind started operating under the assumption that I wasn’t doing hard things if I wasn’t doing something specifically mentioned by the Twins.

Use the Summer for your Calling

The shift described above is dangerous. It could (and in my case, has) result in unnecessary fretting and/or abandonment of those things which God has called you to. God has called each and every one of us to something. These calling vary amazingly (testifying to our Creator’s amazing nature), and all of them are worthy callings. If what you love to do is God’s calling in your life, then it is no less worthy than anyone else’s calling. So, in a sense, “great exploits” are relative.

So, what to do with the summer? Pursue that activity in which you feel God’s pleasure. The great missionary and Olympic runner Eric Liddell was once reprimanded by his sister for choosing to run when he could be ministering in China. His response was that when he ran he felt God’s pleasure. That was his calling at that point.

Does this mean that you will always be doing that same calling? No, calling does not (hopefully) consume every waking moment. Liddell eventually felt God calling him to actually go to China, so he went and ministered there until he died. If God has one of those “great” things in store for you, He will bring you to it. Your responsibility is to hear and answer His call.

Hearing the Call

How do you hear the call? I don’t have any clear formula for you. First and foremost, you need to pray with God about it. But there are a couple things you should remember as you examine your pastimes:

• Remember that your calling will likely be the pastime that you experience the most joy and peace doing.
• Remember that you may have more than one calling.

So, I recommend that you use this summer to pursue this love that God has put on your heart. It might be anything from helping neighbors to fighting political battles, but whatever it is, so long as it is what God wants you do to, it is the most worthy way to spend the summer in the world.

However, most of us don’t realize that God has given each and every one of us an amazing superpower.  It is so powerful that it can break down the barriers that Satan and his demons set up in front of you and other people.  It melts the ice that holds hearts captive, and shines light into dark minds.  What is this power?  It is simple - love.

That’s right…

Now don’t roll your eyes and groan - you’re probably thinking “this is just another article by one of those fanatics who gives extremely impractical advice on how to do unbelievable things”.  Well, I am telling you how to do unbelievable things, but they are extremely practical things that you can start doing today.

What is love?

I’m sure you all have your own definition of love - maybe it’s buying your mother roses on mother’s day, sending your friend a “get well” card when their sick, or helping someone in your church move to a new house.  Those things are good, but true love, in its deepest sense, is putting someone else’s will before your own.  This means not only giving the other guy the biggest half of the cookie, but it also means doing things like inviting someone on vacation who hasn’t had one in a while, even if you don’t particularly like them.

How much power does it have?

Love not only builds up relationships between you and the people you show the love to, but it is appealing to the layman who sees it in you.  I was just at a men’s retreat over the weekend, and a man there named Tunch told us about how he came to know the Lord.  He said that in the beginning, the thing that attracted him to Christianity wasn’t necessarily Jesus Christ - he didn’t even learn about Him until later on.  No, the thing that attracted him was the love that he saw being played out in the lives of a group of Christians on his football team.  Something about the passionate, unconditional love that those football players had for each other was an extremely powerful magnet that pulled him closer to them, and eventually got him to ask the reason for the love they had.

How can I use this superpower?

In Tunch’s case, which I just described, the only reason he was drawn to Christianity was because of the love he saw withing a group of Christians on his football team.  Let’s face it - if a non-Christian is out walking the streets of New York and he sees a man dressed in an expensive suit carrying a Bible walking towards him, he would most likely high-tail it out of there.  I have to admit - I might do the same thing, even after being a Christian all these years.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that street evangelism is a bad thing to do - it has brought many, many people to the faith.  However, I think that so-called “Bible wavers” have been deemed excentric and avoided at all costs.

What I’m saying is this - if you live a life of love for God and for fellow men, you will touch many people not only in their heads, but down deep in their hearts.  This kind of touch doesn’t wear off quickly, and more often than not invites them to ask you about your faith.

Practically speaking

Ok, I said this would be practical, and it is.  To touch thousands of lives around you, you need simply to love the people God places in your life.  Truly care for them.  Don’t just “go through the motions” of being nice to them, but give them the love that bubbles over from the love that Jesus gives you.  When people see this kind of love, they won’t be able to help but ask you the reason for it.  This will open up doors that could never be opened before, and start conversations that could have eternal significance.