I received a rebuke of sorts tonight for being less than diligent after missing a couple posts last week. That’s my bad. I will redouble my efforts and strengthen my waning resolve.

Speaking of resolve, we had a unique opportunity tonight to further The Kingdom. Now there is a certain kind of Christian who does crazy things for God. They do things like go on short-term mission trips to Africa, talk to their friends and family about spiritual matters, and actually pray for people when they say they will. Beyond that you have what I like to call the extremist or fanatic. These people are “all in” and absolutely sold-out for the Gospel. Many of them take the Bible so literally that they sell their possessions to become full-time missionaries and share their faith with everyone they know and even some people they don’t. They may fast through multiple meals in a single day to better focus on the many blessings they’ve been given.

But there is another level of Christian passion that exceeds these other two respectable but lower tier Believers that I like to label Zealots or Jesus Freaks. This premier stratosperical category is reserved for those who go to Church every single Sunday or Saturday or podcast a sermon if they were running too late or got busy. These people try really hard to read their Bible and/or pray every day, and we, I mean they, do insane, extremely bold things like eating tacos for Jesus.

Fifteen percent of tonight’s proceeds at Rosa’s Cafe in Highland Village went to an upcoming mission trip with The Village Church if patrons mentioned “Kenya”.

How are you being crazy for Christ?

It’s been crazy busy the last couple days, but excuses aside, this is one of the most popular clips online of our pastor clearly articulating the gospel message. This is what Christ is all about. Hear the words of Matt Chandler from The Village Church, but listen for the God of the Bible speaking through him.

I’ve seen many people asking and discussing this question online, but the issue has been somewhat confused. The question should not be, “How many TOTAL tweets/day?”

@replies are only seen by followers of both parties, so I don’t consider this spam. Instead it should be viewed as having a conversation within a closed circle of friends. The real question is RTs (re-tweets) and OTs (original tweets).

You should keep a very tight reign on RTs. Too many RTs/day is going to get you unfollowed real fast.

But OTs are much different. You have some leeway here. I am much more interested in what you have to say than what other people are saying or even what you think is interesting that other people are saying. That is why I am following you instead of the person you are RTing. The occasional RT may persuade me to follow that other person, so only RT their very best content.

Rules of Thumb:

     1. No limit on @replies, but use your better judgement.

     2. Keep RTs to a minimum. 2-3 RTs/day tops. (Unless you are a professional blogger/writer who lives online.)

     3. Maximum of about 5 OTs/day. Maybe 1 less if you RT often, maybe 1 more if you never RT.

Disclaimers:

     1. Everyone has a bent toward either quality or quantity. Be willing to push yourself to the middle ground that maximizes both.

     2. It’s OK to go an entire day without tweeting.

How much do you tweet?

My good friend Jon Acuff, who I’ve met once and had dinner with, has a fairly successful blog at www.stuffchristianslike.net. It’s obviously about stuff that Christians like (a truly brilliant title). His snarky sarcasm mixed with genuine affection for Christ really encouraged those traits in my own personality and is at least partially responsible for the start of www.songofsloman.com. Since we here at Song look up to Stuff as a big brother in many ways, it’s only fitting that we imitate to most sincerely flatter (at least until Jon asks me not to). With that said, here is the first thing that Christians like.

Christians like their friends, but they love their Christian friends even more, especially their Christian friends from their own church. A recent incident really brought this to light in an awkward way. I had extended a noncommittal invitation to some friends from church saying, “We’re probably just watching the Mavericks’ game at our place Sunday night. We might have some people over, so I’ll let you know.” Little did I know, my wife had set up plans for us to watch the game with one of her co-workers and her husband and daughter. Now this is no problem. Said co-work and family are Christians so we are good to go there, but I floated that partial invite and had no way of retrieving it. And unlike the U.S. military I will leave things behind. It doesn’t matter if you’re a person, place or thing, if you’re about to drag me down into a pit of embarrassment or undue responsibility, you better believe I’m dropping you like a bad habit.

But my invitation was not only to another couple from our church (The Village Church (Best Church in the World)), but more specifically our very own home group, and here we are cheating on them with these other Christians that attend Valley Creek Church. I don’t think they’re even Baptist. Heaven forbid they might be Presbyterian, Methodist, or (dare I say it?)… nondenominational. How will we ever explain ourselves if the word gets out? Will we be voted out of our home group? (Of course this wouldn’t happen since we are the leaders.) We don’t have any other friends. (Well, except for that couple that caused all this trouble in the first place, but I’m not sure they could handle how needy we are by themselves.) I’m sure my wife was completely unaware of the fallout that could ensue from this innocent engagement. Then again maybe this is a cry for help. I need to make an appointment with a marriage counselor stat.

Do you cheat on your church friends with other Christians?

Due to lack of interest in what I think was a post of superior quality yesterday, I’m throwing a Pithy Party for myself. It’s my blog, and i’ll be terse if I want to. So with no further ado, I’d like to send a succinct shout-out to SongOfSloman’s reader up in Fargo, North Dakota. Appreciate ya’ll up there, donchya know? And I’ll leave you with what may be the greatest motivational speech I’ve ever heard. So have a great weekend, and THUMBS UP EVERYBODY… FOR ROCK ‘N’ ROLL!!!

Today, on Theological Thursday, I’d like to ask a simple question. Would you catch a grenade for Jesus? Because He would catch one for you. What are you willing to sacrifice for Christ? What if following Christ makes you less cool? What if standing up for Christ costs you your job? Would you follow Him to the ends of the Earth? Would you die for Him? He died for you. And with a few minor tweaks, I think this is the exact point Bruno may have been trying to make. Our faith is too weak. Please play the following song while reading and meditating on the modified lyrics, and ask yourself, “Am I truly committed to Christ?”*

 
01_Grenade.m4a

Easy come, easy go
That’s just how you live, oh
Take, take, take it all,
But you never give
Should of known you was trouble from the first sin,
Why were We** hopin’?
Gave you all I had
And you tossed it in the trash
You tossed it in the trash, you did
To give me all your love is all I ever asked,
Cause what you don’t understand is
I’d catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I’d hang and die on a cross for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
You know I’d do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh, oh
I would go through all this pain,
Spill my blood to wash away your stains,
Yes, I would die for ya baby;
But you won’t do the same

No, no, no, no
Black, black, black and blue beat me till I’m numb
Tell the devil I said “hey”. If you repent you won’t see him.
Mad human, bad human,
That’s just what you are, yeah,
You’ll smile in my face then rip the love out my heart
Gave you all I had
And you tossed it in the trash
 
You tossed it in the trash, yes you did
To give me all your love is all I ever asked
Cause what you don’t understand is
I’d catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I’d hang and die on a cross for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
You know I’d do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh, oh
I would go through all this pain,
Spill my blood to wash away your stains,
Yes, I would die for ya baby;
But you won’t do the same

If my body was on fire, ooh
You’d watch me burn down in flames
You said you loved me you’re a liar
Cause you never, ever, ever did baby…
But darling I’ll still catch a grenade for ya
Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I’d hang and die on a cross for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
You know I’d do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)
Oh, oh
I would go through all this pain,
Spill my blood to wash away your stains,
Yes, I would die for ya baby;
But you won’t do the same.
No, you won’t do the same,
You wouldn’t do the same,
Ooh, you’ll never do the same,
No, no, no, no

Adapted from Grenade. Original lyrics by Bruno Mars

*OK. This may be a bit much. If you are frustrated or angry after reading this post, please re-read the initial paragraph dripping with as much sarcasm as literarily possible. Now enjoy your second time through the song.

 **”We” obviously refers to the Trinity.

In my previous post yesterday / this morning, I was asking, “How big should we dream?” Should we be more realistic when setting goals, or should we aim past the stars? Where is the balance between complacent apathy from lack of ambition and crushing disappointment when we fail to attain what was never possible?

I propose that you dream big, perhaps a little bigger than you think feasible. Then you work hard, pray hard and play hard. In the end, but also along the way, give thanks for what you have and strive for contentment in all circumstances.

I don’t have that Dodge Viper or BMW X5 yet, but maybe someday (then again maybe I’ve matured enough to give those things less value)… In the mean time, I am content and even ecstatic that the 1993 Mazda 626 that I began driving 12 years ago, is still running like a champ (most days) with over 190,000 miles. We are not yet home owners, but we love our apartment with a view of the golf course and pond. And although babies may be just past the horizon for us, we are enjoying this time alone that may be non-existent for 20 or 30 years (dang, that’s a long time).

So what’s your not so far-fetched fantasy?

I need to appologize to everyone out there in SOS Nation. I am sure you were all waiting anxiously for my airplane post yesterday, but it never came. I let you down, and I’m sorry, but I want to assure you that it will happen again. And that is a promise I’m willing to stand behind. And that is a promise that I will deliver on.

All kidding aside, I did have inspiration and intention of posting yesterday, but I was just too tired, or more accurately, too lazy to do so. While I was in South Texas this week doing an energy audit for a school district, I came across an oddity that I had to take a picture of. The photo above is truly rediculous, but somehow later in the day, God used it to teach me a lesson. This piece of equipment on the side of a school building is apparently worth protecting, but not worth protecting well. I’m not sure what this picture says to you, but to me it says that I put way to much trust in the time and effort and planning of my finances that have a great appearance of safety, when in reality money has no way of shielding me from life’s greatest tragedies. My savings account can’t keep my wife safe. My stocks can’t prevent me from being diagnosed with terminal cancer tomorrow. And my 401(k) can not offer deep-seated hope and peace in this life or eternal salvation for the next.

What “protections” do you put too much hope in?