Raise Your Hand

Evangelism was the topic at the Kanakuk Institute this week.


If you are anything like me, then your first thought when you hear the word "evangelism" is a old video clip of a guy spewing the gospel message in a Huey P. Long campaign speech type technique.  


Those video clips are much more fun to watch than they are to listen to.


For the generation of which I am a part of, these types of speeches are not as relevant as they were in years past. 


There are tons of different types of evangelism these days.  Some methods that we looked at in class are the 4 Spiritual Laws, the Roman Road, passing out tracts, open-air preaching, the Bridge method, Soularium, and relational evangelism.  


I don't think it's necessary for me to talk about what each one of these things is.  You can Google them if you're interested.


We also talked about the "gift of evangelism" this week.  The speaker asked who had the gift, and me and about 3 other people raised our hands.  The Bible talks about evangelism specifically in a few different spots.  The word "evangelism" means to proclaim good news.


I don't think that I just naturally have a gifting that lends itself to me proclaiming good news.  I'm not going to be the first guy on anyone's list to speak to a large group of people.  I'm not a smiler or a joke teller and all that.  I am so glad that there are other people who have that skill set.


So why would I raise my hand?


From what I've read in the Bible and my experiences so far in life, I think that everyone in the room should have said their hands.  


Some people do have gifts that allow them to have a platform for proclaiming good news, but I think everyone who has experienced salvation through Jesus Christ has the gift of evangelism.  


The gift of eternal life, the gift of being in right relationship with God, the gift of salvation.  Those are things that every child of God has the privilege to share with other people whether those other people are also believers or non-believers.  


Proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ is a choice.  With that said, there is a right choice and a wrong choice.

It's the Church Baby

It’s The Church Baby

Man the church is a messy thing. 

Let me think of some other messy things...

Government, families, businesses, teams, the Jersey shore. Now what do all of these things have in common? People.

Church is messy because of the people who go to it?  Yes – sort of.  Most of us have a diluted definition of the word, “church.”

The church is not a thing that people go to.  The church is people.  Specifically, the church is God’s people.  God’s people are the church when they are sitting in pews on a Sunday morning, or sitting in bleachers on a Friday night.  So does that mean that the same conduct should apply in the pews and in the bleachers? 

Ouch. My bad yall… Nachos and beer would be kinda cool in the pew tho, right?

There are some churches that actually might take me up on that idea.  Ok, nachos and beer might be a stretch now, but if they keep heading down the same path without checking up for truth, a nachos-and-beer-church will be a conservative one by comparison.

The kind of church that I’m talking about are part of the “emergent church” movement and the “emerging church” movement.  Yes, they sound similar phonetically, and they do have some similar characteristics.  I do want to talk about these movements and how they compare to each other.

The Emerging church refers to a movement of churches in the present time that seek to make churches (building) more relevant to and applicable to people of today’s society.  One part of this movement is a “House Church” lane.  This lane appeals to people’s distaste for big buildings and congregations.  These people want to stay away from the big performances and plastic grandeur of “mega-churches.”  The Emerging Reformers lane of the movement look to Acts 29 for guidance to make church services more relevant.  They seek to respect the past while moving forward.

The Emergent church is often referred to as, “Emergent Liberals.”  These churches call in to question Biblical doctrine that should not be questioned.  They consistently hesitate to take a stand on absolute truth.  They are pushing a perverted version of Christianity that can be molded around a person’s personal preferences rather than God’s authority through scripture. 

When studying church history this week at the Kanakuk Institute, we learned about these modern day church movements.  In my observations of the information that we were presented about the church’s history throughout all time, the Emergent church seems more likely to be disregarded as heresy rather than accepted as another reformation based in truth.

I do think that the Emerging church can hold tightly to truth and season it with relevance in order to bring about reform in the way church is done in America.  Do I think that this would be a bad thing? No. I think that with truth of scripture as the priority, churches should seek new ways to present that truth so that it is relevant to the culture. 

Kingdom Era

This week in class at the Tute has been one of the less thrilling weeks. 

History is interesting, but it's not always what you want to sit thru for 4 hours, 3 days in a row.  Especially when the week before was about something super applicable like marriage.  The history that we went thru was the Kingdom Era.  Basically 1 and 2 Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles in the Bible.  Understanding the Kingdom Era is crucial to understanding the Bible.

I want to make sure and say that I did appreciate this week, even if I didn't necessarily love it.

So my assignment questions are a little boring, but ya know I have to answer them anyway.

Question 1: What have you learned about leadership from the Kingdom Era?

The thing that comes to mind right off the bat is, "how not to lead."  That is because the Kingdom of Israel was divided and rules by some awful kings for most of it's existence.

However, there were some good kings during the division, and there were also 120 years when the Kingdom was united under the rule of Saul, David, and Solomon.  Saul wasn't a righteous king.  David was a great king, and his son Solomon was a good king for about half the time. 

As far as leadership goes, David would definitely be the model.  Yes, everyone knows about what he did with Bathsheba, and he suffered some grave consequences for that.  David's life was so much more than the Bathsheba incident though.  Even before David was king he showed the leadership that a man of God should live by.  David relied on God's provision in several situations that people would normally shrink away from.  For example, David trusted that God would give victory in fights with lions and bears, and no one can forget the great underdog story of David and Goliath. 

It is important that we admire David's faith.  The whole Bible tells of people who were given power to do great things because of their faith in God.  David is one of these people who recognized that God's power was much greater than his own power.  He went to God humbly when he was facing trials.  The biggest issue that I have been working thru in my personal walk with God is my tendency to rely on myself to take care of all my needs, instead of relying on God to meet those needs.  God has been teaching me humility.  Usually He teaches me by humiliating me. I don't have to tell you how little fun it is to be humiliated. 

So God has taught me that a good leader has humility because of the knowledge that God is sovereign. 

Question 2:  What is something that you have learned from the Kingdom Era about the character of God?

Well, I think this relates to the first question.  David struggled at times with relying on his own strength for things.  Like when he took a military census and stuff like that that he knew God disproved of.  David was trying to get a gauge of how much power he had as king of the nation.

God taught David lessons by doing certain things to get his attention.  For example, God sent a plague thru Israel that killed 70,000 people after David took the census. 

This is a lesson to me that shows that God doesn't let things slide.  He teaches us lessons, and sometimes those lessons aren't easily learned.  In other words, discipline is in God's character.  I think when I am raising children this lesson will take on new meaning.

If you want to know anything about the Kingdom Era of the Bible, Holler at me. 

Marriage Week at the Tute

Marriage Week at the Tute

Dear reader,

This week at the Kanakuk Institute we talked about marriage.  Let me start by saying that I'm glad that I'm already involved in marriage with a WOMAN who loves me even though I don't deserve that love 105% of the time. 

You see when you're wife loves you like that, you know that she's a blessing from God.  Polly is my personification of the grace that we receive as believers in Jesus Christ.  By the way the Jesus Christ guy is the one true God who came down to earth as a man to live a perfect life so that He could die as a perfect human sacrifice for the sins that you and I commit on the daily.  The only way for any human being to live eternally in Heaven is for said human to place faith in Jesus that He is who He says He is.  The reason I say "is" instead of "was" is because after He was dead and buried for three days He was resurrected back to life by the power of God.  He then ascended into Heaven via a cloud.  A bunch of folks saw him get carried off into the sky, so don't act like I'm trippin.  Oh, and the reason you can live eternally when you believe in Jesus is because in exchange for simply believing, God offers you grace for your sins and sees you through the lens of Jesus' perfect righteousness. 

Holler at that, right!  I know man, it's crazy good news.  Lots of people call it good news too.

God even goes further than grace though (as if that weren't enough).  He comes and takes control of our soul and lives within us.  How?  There is an aspect of God called the Holy Spirit.  This is the part of God that dwells here on earth in order for us to live empowered and stay connect to God.

ok, back to the marriage stuff

So I didn't ever do relationships with girls perfectly.  I actually made tons of mistakes.  One time I realized how much of a failure I had become in the area of interacting with females; so I literally asked God to shelter me and girls from myself by distancing me from them.  Well along came Polly (oh get over it) about three months after this, and I wanted to treat her like she deserved to be treated.  So I tried to treat her good.  I messed up again.  The crazy thing though is that Polly forgave me for messing up and helped me learn how to treat her better.  God even let Polly fall in love with me after awhile (I was in love with Polly after two weeks of just being her friend).  So you see, grace is this phenomenon that comes from God, and it is crazy because no matter how much you or I mess up, God continues to hang in there with us and teach us how to serve him better.  He continues to trust us even after we betray His trust. 

So you see, He trusted me with Polly and helped taught me how to do right even after I had messed up a bunch of times before. 

Thank you God! I think this blessing everyday, and I will never take her for granted because I know that I only have her because of Your lovingkindness (yep, one word. no spell check line came up).

My assignment this week is to tell you 5 new things I have learned about marriage this week that I didn't already know, and tell you 5 goals that I want to implement in my marriage.

I'm combining them.  Here we go:

0.       I learned that my own quality of life is not based on my wife being the person who I think she needs to be.  My stress level is based on how my relationship with God is.  When I trust in Him to work things together for good according to His purpose, I can be at peace.  My goal from this is that when I get stressed and life is stormy, to be still and know that Jesus is God.  I need to remind myself that I'm not the sovereign authority on anything, and taking anything out on Polly is moronic.

1.       If Polly needs to change, God will work that out with her.  Im here to love and encourage  and pray for her just like Christ's love and sacrifice for the church is continual.  I'm so dang critical, and I should have my mouth permanently gagged because I say some dumb, hurtful things to Polly sometimes.  If I were to take a second and think before I speak, I would surely realize how much of an idiot I am.  My goal is to trust God's wisdom in how to correctly love and serve Polly.  I know there is wisdom in thinking before I speak, especially when I am frustrated.

2.      Proverbs 22:4 Says that "The reward of humility and fear of the Lord are riches, honor, and life."  I've got to be humble.  I've got to humble myself as a servant to Lord, to my wife, and to other people.  Mark 12:30-31 say that I must love the Lord and love my neighbors.  Humility in the marriage relationship is something that has hit me this week, and it is also my goal.

3.      I learned today that Polly has 3 doors to her heart.  The first is Logic which is opened by the Holy Spirit.  The second is Emotions.  Part of loving Polly is treating her emotions as important.  My goal is to validate her emotions by listening to her tell me about them and having empathy.  I can't easily do that.  I know that makes me sound like a jerk, but I'm being honest when I say that it is difficult for me. The third door is Spiritual.  I need to love her by participating in her walk with God.  I need to know what's going on with her, and she needs to know what's going on with me.  This takes time, and my goal is to make time.

4.      At the beginning of this week, we took spiritual gift assessments and personality assessments.  Polly and I learned that she is gifted with encouragement, and I am gifted with prophecy.  We also learned that I have a more task driven personality, and she has a more whimsical free spirited personality.  We kind of already knew the personality stuff, but the tests reiterated that it's true.  The goal from this is for us to be able to love each other better and serve God's kingdom better because we have a better understanding of who we are and what we are naturally bent to do.

Thanks for sticking it out through all that.

There are some things that convicted me, but they weren't new things.

5 new things is awesome! I have a lot to work on!

The Tute Made Me Do It

One of my personal policies for my blog is that I never force an entry.  That is to say, I do not want to put pressure on myself to come up with something to say, simply so I can  have something posted.  I have had things to say since my last entry, but I never felt compelled to say them through the medium of my blog. 

Well I am breaking my own policy out of obligation.  The obligation is not something that I am disappointed with though.  The obligation (I'm tired of saying obligation, duty would have been more fun) is this, I have to do an assignment each week while I am at the Kanakuk Institute (google it). These assignments can be in the format of an essay, a talk outline, a lesson-plan, or a blog entry.  Naturally, I chose the blog entry. 

So, are you reading my first assignment? Yes you are.  This assignment is about the Inductive Bible Study Method.

Say what?

Yeah I'm about to explain.

You think it's going to be a boring read don't you? Well shut up thinking and read it anyway.  You aren't too busy to blow this off.

The Inductive Bible Study Method is a strategic plan for studying the Bible in a way that allows the studier to understand the Word literally.  That definition sounds like I copied it off of something, but I thought it up myself.  Go me.

 

The three major areas of the IBSM are observation, interpretation, and application.

Observation is simply examining what the text says.  Some great things to look for are who, what, when, where, why, and how. You also want to keep your eye out for words and phrases that get repeated a lot.

  Interpretation is understanding what the text means.  Ok, so this is getting a little deeper.  The biggest thing you want to remember to note is the context that the text is written in.  If you pluck a single scripture out of somewhere without reading the context that verse is set in, you can't really be confident  that you know exactly what the author meant by writing that verse.  So when Paul says that he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him.  He is saying that whatever situation he is in (rich, poor, prison, sickness, healthy) he can serve the Lord faithfully.  If you didn't read through the context of that verse, you might think that he's saying that you could run a marathon in an hour, or flap your arms and take off in flight, or feel great after eating at Griff's / Steak n Shake.  Context is a big deal y'all.

Alright, application is applying the meaning of the text to your life.  So, this is talking about your belief and your behavior.  If you believe something, your behavior should prove that.  For instance, if I believe that the stove that I turned on 10 minutes ago is hot, I won't put my hand on it.  Also, if I read in John 3:16 that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, my application to that is to believe in Jesus.  If I read in Mark 12:31 that I shall love my neighbor as myself, I choose to believe that I am supposed to do that.  I should apply that to my life and start loving my neighbors as myself.  Application is mostly easy to understand, yet many times it is difficult to put into practice.

So speaking of application, I have to answer the question of how the Inductive Bible Study Method applies to my life.  Well, I can start by saying that learning things like this is exactly why I wanted to come to the Institute (the reason that I actually came is that Polly made me).  I've gotten to the point in my quiet times that I've heard about most everything I read, so it is familiar.  However, I don't grasp much meaning.  The results of these quiet times are two-fold.  I don't feel like reading my Bible because I don't know what I'm reading, and I am motivated to learn how to understand what I read at a deeper level.  So learning this method of understanding the scriptures is meeting a need in my spiritual life that can help me out of neutral and into drive.

Man I have to tell you though, this Kanakuk Institute life is intense. I would say something cliche` like, "it aint for the weak and faint-hearted," but if that were the case I wouldn't be here because I'm definitely weak and faint-hearted.

If you want some more info on the Inductive Bible Study Method, holler at your boy.  andygrass100@gmail.com

I'm also a recent Twitter convert, so you can look me up at @andygrass. or not  

Sugar Free Gum and Mickey Mouse Camouflage

Back when I was like 8 or 10 or 12 years old, the Pendergrass side of my family would do some squirrell hunting in the woods in North Louisiana. I remember my grandfather always fussed at my dad about me and my brothers having "mickey mouse" hunting gear (not that our camo actually boasted the mouse man of Disney on them, but that they weren't quality threads).

That random thought has nothing to do with the main point of this blog. However, this next random thought does strangely enough have to do with this blog.

Another auxiliary memory to the actual squirrel harvesting is that my Uncle Bill would always offer me, my brothers, and my cousin a piece of the pink Sugar Free EXTRA Gum. It tasted like bubble gum, but could scarcely form any respectable bubble. To this day, if I ever see a pack of that gum, I think about squirrel hunting with my family. And if I think about squirrell hunting, a pack of pink gum often flickers through my thoughts for a brief moment.

weird right?

just one of those things I guess.

so the other day I thought about both squirrell hunting and the pink gum simultaneously like there were two screens in my mind and one side was a first person view from my junior self tramping around the woods amidst my kin. The other side was a still frame of the pink gum.

This time it was a new thought that triggered the flashback.

I was talking to Mrs. Pat (my employer) about how I had gained some encouragement from her husband earlier in the day when he talked about how he was praying for some discernment about a decision he had to make. He told me that he had reached a point when he just told God, "you know that I don't want to do the wrong thing, so I will just be at peace and wait until you show me what is right."

That was a lesson and encouragement to me because I am a hasty decision maker...even when I offer up a dutiful prayer asking for discernment I usually already have my mind made up. #hardheadedtomfoolery

So when I was talking to Mrs. Pat- I was like, "truly wanting to do His will is pressure-less if you allow yourself to be at peace and wait for His lead."

Little did I know that Mrs. Pat was packing a six-shooter loaded with spiritual wisdom bullets.

She cocks back the hammer and sweetly says, "yes, I don't even need to know where I'm going when He's leading me. I just go!"

BABOOOOOM - picture a sweet little lady in her sixties on the outside, but a righteous Doc Holliday on the inside. So that makes me Ringo. (watch Tombstone, but not around small children..or any sort of children)

So this is when I see gum and mickey mouse camo

Why?

Back when we would go hunting, we would be out near Lake Darbonne, Corney Lake, or on our hunting lease outside Minden. I had know idea where we were on a globe, in the state of Louisiana, or especially in the actual woods. If I were by myself I would have never known how to get anywhere. Even if I got out of the woods and to a road, I wouldn't have known which direction to take the road.

I was simply following wherever the people that I trusted went.

So all of this applies to my life in this way: I have felt a lot of pressure to make decisions about my future recently. Like, what am I going to do after the Kankakuk Institute? Where are Polly and I going to live? What do I want to do with my life? What can I do with my degree?

The truth is this: I will make these decisions and others when God leads me to the right things to do. I wont try to make stabs in the dark just to have answers. I trust that God will lead me where there are lots of squirrels, and if he sees fit then maybe he'll even offer me a piece of that pink sugar free gum at some point along the way.

July is Fun

Whew it is time to check in with you.

We've been so busy enjoying life that I kinda forgot that I have a blog.

I'm pretty sure that I've spent every moment since my last blog entry having a great time. That is except for when I got food poisoning on my birthday and spent the 4th of July under attack of some vile thing that was in the king crab dinner I had.

But alas, I shook back and had a great rest of the week.

We love our employers! They treat us like family. We love hanging out with them and also Mary's fam bc we get to be a part of family atmosphere (which we need in our lives).

So we hosted Scott again for the better part of a week. He and I caught some salmon. We all hiked up Mt. Roberts. Polly and I really enjoyed Scott's company.

Polly and I have been hanging out on sandy beach a lot.  I make a fire and then we only pause our reading to roast weenies or make s'mores... I also write thank you notes while out there.

It's just what I do ok.

Our friend Kelly got us free spots on a SWEET tour that involved taking a helicopter to the ice fields, landing on a glacier, and being pulled on a sled by Alaskan huskies that have done the iditarod race (google it).

 And yes I named this puppy Craig Michael Turner.

That was almost as cool as the weekend trip we just got back from. Me, Polly, Josh Garmon, Mary, David, Kelly, and Marg hopped on a float plane and flew across the ice fields to the Taku Lodge which is on the Taku River and looks out at the Hole-in-the-Wall Glacier. (oh yes, something this awesome exists).

We ate a grilled salmon feast (nature's solution to cleaning off the grill) and then took a 20minute boat ride to a guy's 60th birthday party. We got off the boat and Josh says, "where the heck are we?" which is exactly what I was thinking. So we partied with some backwoods Alaskans and then went back to the lodge to stay the night.

When we got back to Juneau on Sunday, Polly and I spent the day with Mr. Howard and Mrs. Judy Doughty. We went out to the Mendenhall with them and hiked a little bit to Nugget Falls. We were glad to get to see and hangout with them!

I'm so proud of Josh and Kyle. They have been appointed to leadership positions in the Juneau Men's Project because staff just left. Kyle is the Project Director, and Josh is the Director of Manhood Development.  They are both perfect for those positions, and project is in good hands with Kyle and Josh leading it.

Those are some legit dudes.

Speaking of legit dudes... None other than The Michael S. Plette (aka the most attractive man in the world) is set to arrive in Juneau today. I can't wait to give that dude a hug before I push him into the ocean. He doesn't know it, but we are going to make him cook gumbo at Mary's house one day this week. I cooked crawfish bisque for them last week, and it was a hit. So they want to experience more Louisiana food.

Well I'm not sure when I will blog next, but in the meantime you can find me in downtown Juneau, Alaska - where we happily break out our shorts and t-shirts on 70 degree days like today.

 I almost sweated yesterday...

I need to go to bed because it's 2am, which is actually not too far from sunrise.

But I don't want to end this entry without a shout out to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Polly and I are blessed to be living this good good lifestyle. We feel so fortunate to be able to be here with a roof over our heads and food in the fridge, not to mention getting to do all the amazing things that we are getting to do. I don't want to trip like we could've pulled this off on our own, and I don't believe in luck.

Where the Whale and the Polar Bear Run

Man I love me some John Denver

It has been quite awhile since I told you what is going on with Polly and I. So here we go...
We've gotten settled in to our apartment nicely.  After cooking with a headlamp, sleeping on camp beds, and having to look at a wall full of star wars posters for 3 weeks; we bought a nice bed off of craisglist, got our kitchen light fixed, and our wall tapestry from urban outfitters arrived to cover up yoda (I was just thankful that Jabba-the-hut wasn't on a poster).

Meanwhile.

Polly and I hiked out the the ice caves at the Mendenhall Glacier and had us a nice little pick nick.

We went kayaking with our dear friend Mary.

We built a fire on sandy beach and watched a beautiful sunset.

We hung out with Josh, Kyle, and our new friend Ann on the docks at Auk Bay

We have packaged and sold too many bars of soap to count.

We got to hangout with Scott when he came to Juneau and stayed a couple of nights with us.

And lately we've been doing some salmon fishing.

This week we have been working a lot more than usual because Mrs. Pat and Mr. Jimmie took their youth group on a mission trip to Palmer, AK.

I am looking forward to getting out into some nature more in July because we have just gotten used to our apartment and work routine.

It has been such a blessing for us to be here.  We have experienced a lot of stress relief and a nice break from lives of business and being pulled in many different directions at the same time.  Nowadays, work pulls me 6 blocks down the hill from my apartment 5 days a week, and the only other pull I feel is nature.  The good thing about nature in Alaska during the summer is that I've got an 18 hour window of time to see to it everyday.

I really really wish you (yes you, whoever you are) would come up here and experience life in Juneau with us.

To finish out this blog, I want to tell you about something that happened yesterday...

A friend of mine and Polly's stopped by the soap shop yesterday and told us about a conversation that she had with one of her co-workers.  The co-worker asked our friend, "Do you really believe all of it (the Bible)?" 

"yes"

"really?"

"yes"

"all of it?"

"yes!"


That made me smile.

So

Do you really believe all of it?

really?...All of it?

If you don't know whether you do or not, and you want to talk about it. Shoot me an email at andygrass100@gmail.com

Tyrus Lamar Pendergrass

Blog readers, I apologize for the lengthy gaps in my blogs lately. There is just so much life to live in Juneau, and we don't have our own internet in our apartment. I would love to update you on what has been going on with Polly and I, but today is a special day that calls for a special blog.

Today is June 19, 2011 - Father's Day

As I was sitting and thinking about my Dad in church this morning in Juneau at 11am, my Dad was probably at my brother Jeremy's house in Ruston, LA hanging out with Jeremy, Emery, Luke, my mom, and Emery's fam at what would be 2pm his time.

Man I really wish that I could have been there to give my Dad a hug.

I like hugging my Dad, but sometimes his glasses are hanging from around his neck and I'm afraid that they are going to break when our chests meet.

Anyway, I take my Dad for granted. Always have.

I thought about how tons of sons don't worry about breaking their Dad's glasses when they hug him because they never hug him. Some wouldn't even know their dad if he was in the same room with them. And some would rather give their dad a firm handshake and a weak smile because their relationship was never one where love was shown. Yes, some sons would probably rather take a swing at their dad than hug him.

Hugging my Dad isn't the only thing I like about him though. Oh no, I could make a huge list. So, I will just stick to the things that I like about him most.

My dad has always been available. It has been such a blessing for my whole family that my dad's job has allowed him to be available and present whenever we need him. Even though I'm willing to bet that it's not always super convenient for him. I always thought that it was awesome that he could be at all of my baseball games in high school (they began at 2 or 3 in the afternoon and he worked til 5 but he would take off). That was really cool, and he was always noticeable in the crowd because he wore a wide brimmed hat to keep the sun off of his neck. I have never told him that I liked that, but I really liked it a lot.

My Dad has always pushed me to do things that are honorable, respectable, and purposeful. I can't say that I've always done those things. Actually, I don't think I could say that I've often done those things, but I probably would have never done anything that had those characteristics if my dad didn't always advise my towards them(no wonder he is good at his job). One thing that is true for as long as I can remember is that Dad has been a good role model for doing things that are honorable, respectable, and purposeful.

My Dad's love for me doesn't have a limit. He has been upset with me a lot, mad at me a lot, disappointed with me a lot. But he has never abandoned his post as a loving father. He has been patient with me a lot, prayed for me a lot, and worked things out for me a lot.

Dad has never ceased to be interested or involved in my life. He wants the best things for me and now Polly as well.

I have never ever EVER needed anything that my dad wouldn't either provide me with or help me get.

I am so thankful for my father.

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

I desire to honor my father and my mother, and I aim to do so by not departing from the way they trained me to go.

The blessing of having a father like mine should not go unnoticed by his son. There have been a bunch of times when I have not obeyed my dad and didn't listen to him. Probably every kid does his own thing sometimes (maybe not quite as much as I do), but it doesn't negate the things I have learned from Dad.

there are plenty of things that my Dad has taught me by the way he lives his life that I have chosen to follow after and duplicate in my own life.

Dad emailed me and Jeremy and Tristan the other day to thank us for something, and at the end of the email he told us that we had grown into fine men.

I cannot even express how deeply that pleased my soul.

My whole life I've heard people call me grandfather and my dad fine men. It always made me so proud to be their son and grandson.

So, for my dad to call me a fine man is not a small compliment to me. It is a huge affirmation that encourages me!

So obviously, this blog goes out to my Dad.

Thanks Dad. I love you.

God Bless America

Whewww we are glad to be back in the United States of America.

Don’t tell any Canadians you know, but I am not a fan of their country.  I don’t think Polly is too fond either. They can have their metric system.  We’ll do just fine with our miles, inches, yards, pounds, and gallons. 

Ok. Some things in Canada are cool like the Canadian Rockies and all the wildlife that tends to hangout on the Al-Can highway.

But Alaska is so much better….Ok so I’m mostly happy to be back in the US because things aren’t as expensive and I can use American dolla-dolla bills yall again.

So a quick update:  Polly and I camped out by a frozen lake last night at Summit Lake Campground along the Al-Can Highway.  I’d tell you where it is located but all I could say is the longitude and latitude.  No civilization for miles.  It was a lot of fun for us-our first campout together as married people. Oh, and it didn’t get dark until midnight.

Yesterday (Saturday) we drove the rest of the way to Skagway and stayed in the Skagway Home Hostel which still smells the same as it did two years ago….soupy

Polly and I are on the ferry from Skagway to Juneau right now! Aren’t you so excited?  We just saw Polly’s first whale!  Oh yeah, we did end up seeing tons of cool animals yesterday on the last leg of our drive.

Black Bear: 14

Elk: 8

Caribou(tay): 2

Moose: 2

Buffalo: 10

Bald Eagle: 1

Pretty cool stuff for a couple of yahoos from Louisiana.

So this afternoon/tonight we are planning on hanging out with Josh and Kyle.  Funny story, when we were leaving the hostel in Skagway this morning, we saw “Thanks from Bunkie, LA” written on the white board in the kitchen.  Definitely Josh’s handwriting.

It is so weird to be 4000 miles from home, but have some home waiting for you at your destination.

Speaking of home

When we got into Skagway and all the cruise ships were docked, I felt this odd sense of being home.  I think a combo meal of being back in the USA and seeing things that I remembered so vividly from last time made me feel that way.  Then the realization that I am home for now hit me.  Polly and I don’t have a dwelling except for the one we are moving in to on Tuesday (326 4^th Street.  Juneau, AK 99801.   mail us something).  We are our own family unit.  Wherever we go together to reside is home for us.  It’s a really different feeling than anything else I’ve felt.

I am thankful that God has brought us to this place.  I am also thankful to have a wife who had the guts to make this move with me, and we are both thankful to have families that support us like they do.

The world is smaller than you think.  Get out there and see it.

This Girl Is Following Me Everywhere I Go

aaaaalright.  so a lot of you have pre-requested that I blog so you can stay updated on us.

Nosey aren't ya?

 ah what the heck...  I enjoy updating you on the adventure lifestyle.

while all of you (meaning most of you) live your stable, planned out lives.

Polly and I are just doing what we can.  Not really having too much idea of what life is going to look like on the horizon.

I get jealous of you, you get jealous of us. That's the way it works I guess.

One thing I am getting good at is thanking God every time he gets us to whatever the horizon happens to be.

oh. By the way, I want to say a HUGE thanks to Jake Dugard for re-designing my blog.  He did a great job didn't he.  - rhetorical question,  because I know the answer.


So what has been happening?

Well on Sunday night, Polly and I loaded up and drove to Little Rock and stayed at my Uncle Tracy's house so that we could get a little head start on our drive.

Monday we drove straight north to Sioux Falls, South Dakota and then headed west to stay the night in Chamberlain, South Dakota (which is right on the Missouri River).  For lunch on Monday, we stopped by Kansas City to see my brother Steele.  He was kind enough to treat us to some authentic Kansas City BBQ.  What a guy right?

yum

On Tuesday, we got up and after dusting a sub-par continental breakfast off our shoulders, we drove to Billings, Montana where we stopped at Montana Brewing Company (it was a re-visit for me).  We started with the sampler then Polly got a Taco Salad (all you tech students who eat on campus can eat your hearts out) and I got the Black Jack Bison Burger...because it was so incredible two years ago that I remembered it.

With full stomachs we headed to Cabela's to buy some Bear Pepper Spray.  I tasted it, it's not too bad.

Annnnd then we drove north to Great Falls, Montana where we stayed the night.

Wednesday morning we left our Holiday Inn and drove to Canada....well sort of.  When we got to the border they did background checks on us, which took like an hour.  They probably re-checked mine like 10 times because I look so dang lethal.  Then they told us that we weren't welcome in Canada because I was packing heat.  So they sent us back across the border, and we drove to the nearest town, where we went mud riding in the Honda on their mud streets until we found the nearest honky-tonk.  In this honky-tonk was a guy named Danny.  I convinced Danny that he needed a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum, and he bought it for $300.  It blue books for $345 so I feel like I did ok.  Then we drove back to Canada, and this time they let us in.  Even though they still probably didn't like letting a lethal looking foreigner like me in their turf, and I think they suspected that Polly was smuggling in fruit and firewood.

ANYWAY. we wasted no time driving to Banff where it has been gloriously CLOUDY the whole stinking time.  But we have still been able to catch glimpses of Banff's beauty...

Our first night in Banff we stayed in this very trendy hotel called Banff Aspen Lodge.  Super cool place.  We ate supper at a place called The Keg...we thought it was going to be like burgers and stuff, but it was actually a really fancy steakhouse that we were not prepared for(financially).  We ordered their cheapest items and enjoyed our meal, and we tried to keep in mind that it wasn't the restaurant's fault that it wasn't what we thought it was.

The next day (Thursday) we had a "Rocky Mountain Continental Breakfast" featuring local bakery bread and the hotel's homemade granola (they were supper eco friendly).  Then we headed to Lake Louise and Lake Moraine.  I hadn't been to Lake Moraine before, and I am glad Polly and I went because it was amazing.  On our way back from Lake Moraine we saw a rushing river that we thought was cool so we stopped the car, threw on our hiking shoes, and tumbled down a SUPER STEEP piece of mountainside to get to the river.  It was worth it.

oh and Polly got up in a porcupine's grill to get a pic of it.  I have to give her props for getting as close as she did.  Even though they can't do anything, I didn't expect Polly to be fearless like she was.

2 slaps on me for underestimating.

After getting a little snow on our shoes and a lot of dirt on our rear-ends, we took the party back to Banff to check into our new hotel, the Brewster Mountain Lodge.  It is very....lodgey.

We did some Facebook picture posting, then went out on the town.  First stop - Maple Leaf restaurant (because we earned a $25 voucher there when we booked at Brewster) where we had fondue for two and asparagus tempura.

Then we walked down to the Banff Brewing Company to have a pint while we watched the Bulls get beat by the Heat.  We think the NBA finals will be a good series, and we have decided that we are going to root just a tad more for the Heat, but we can be happy with a Mavs win because they deserve a championship.

ok

We love Banff!

Tomorrow we will begin our journey through beautiful British Columbia.  We are planning on making it to Fort Nelson, BC.  Then Saturday we are planning to drive the last leg of the journey to Skagway, Alaska.  I hope to blog again at Skagway or on Sunday when we get to Juneau.  Hopefully we will have more pictures of wildlife to post.

Tug-of-War

As my time in Ruston reaches its end, I feel a tug-of-war emotionally.  Polly and I are leaving behind family, friends, and our church. 

I think if Plette hadn't just left I wouldn't feel quite as ready to leave as well.  I feel a little bit like the last man standing, even though that will actually be Jake when I leave.  I realized yesterday that no one is left that I was friends with freshman year except Jake, and of course Beggs.  However, I don't see them much these days anyway.

I miss the heck out of the blue house boys, Plette, Bailey, Christian, Potts, and others.  I think that living in Ruston just makes their absence in my daily life more obvious.  

Then there is my job. Man- I really do hate my job. I'm a college grad and my job title has the word "boy" in it. I am surely struggling with rage because of the disrespect I am surrounded with at work. I should take it as a lesson in humility, but man it's hard for me.

Looking forward, I am so excited to move to Alaska with my wife, and then move to Branson with my wife. I'm excited about going to the Kanakuk Institute.


Peace out Ruston.... is tugging me one way.


Then I'm reminded of what I do still enjoy here. My family- Jeremy(the president), Emery(first lady), and Luke(first baby), and of course Phoebe.

Also, my church which has been a home base for me in hard times and in great times.

My wife and I walked out of College Life for the last time yesterday, and I was really really sad.  But even through the sadness I feel encouraged by what I saw as I cast one last glance at the scene of post college life social circles.

I think back to my freshman year when College Life was "Access" and was held on Tuesday nights. There was probably an average crowd of 12-15 in a circle while Jordan Smith led worship on acoustic guitar. I remember feeling like I was pretty tight with all the people in attendance.

Now, College Life is way different, but still so good. To an old guy, it seems fresh and packed with potential. I want to stay and still be a part of the worship service that I love so much. It is so full of life and growing.

Then there are great friends that I've become so close to in these recent years and months.I have so much hope in the guys that I have gotten to mentor. That they will be men of God. Men of integrity. I want to stay and see what they do for the rest of their time in Ruston.

And to be honest. I like my house, and only paying $375 to rent it ain't bad at all.


I'm comfortable here, so why not stay... is tugging me back.


I have no doubt as to whether I will stay or leave. I have both loved and hated living in Ruston, but it is very clear to me that the time has come for Polly and I to leave. I don't know if 1 person will read this blog, but if anyone who I've known while I've lived in Ruston reads this; I'd like to say that it has been a pleasure.

*picture me and Polly on the back of the train with deuces held high....you're yelling good-bye, but we can't hear you because the train won't quit blowing that damn horn.

Come as You Are

The title of this was almost "Come Strong"

Then I realized that I couldn't come if that was the case.

So I'm coming as I am to this blog- eating frito lay BBQ sunflower seeds and drinking a vanilla coke, while my wife drives us home from Lake Charles in the Tahoe.  Mellowed out in "Desert Song" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.

And if it wasn't for the fact that I know Josh Garmon, Daniel Shaw, Stephanie Dugard, and a FEW others; I would say that there is nothing good in central Louisiana. 

Back to my title. 

As much as I want my wife and the people close to me to think that I am a strong person, if I'm honest with myself- I can't think of myself as strong.

Fears, responsibilities, relationships, and the future are just a few things on a long list of things that make me feel weak just thinking about them.

I believe that we all have things that make weaklings out of us, and I also believe that the things that potentially make us weak are the things that drive us for most of our lives.

I think that I would be able to live a much more meaningful life if I ran to God in prayer and praise as soon as I start to feel weakened by stressors.

Comfort and renewed strength are things that I've felt when I've run to God in the weakest moments of my life. However, I always try to be strong myself before I take my weakness to God.

He tells us to come to Him as we are. I am certainly glad for that because I usually come to Him weak, arrogant, stubborn, and close-minded.

A friend recently challenged me to not ask God for anything in prayer, but to instead only thank God for what he has already done for me and what He will do for me.

This has revolutionized the way I spend time with God. Sometimes I can't even say anything to God because I'm so used to only asking Him for things - even things like wisdom, open doors, and to see His will. Now I thank Him for what wisdom He has given me, the opportunities that each day holds, and that He cares about what I do with my life.

I've become much more aware and thankful for where I am in life. I've also realized how ungrateful I actually am and our culture is.

I encourage you to try this.
AND
I hope that when you are weak, tired, arrogant, selfish, or whatever else you are; you will come to God just like that. Because the only requirement He has is that you Come and Believe.

He's waiting to scoop you up out of whatever it is that has your soul in a bind. 

Regrets and Other Thoughts

First off, I want to apologize for the lack of transitions in this blog. This is the result of some reflecting I did on Sunday afternoon. I really just wrote what I was thinking, so it's more of a stream of consciousness than most of my other posts. Even though I do think that many of my posts have some of that feel to them.

I don't buy into the whole, "I have no regrets" idea.  I do wish that I hadn't done a lot of things that I've done.  Yes, the case can be made that I wouldn't be who I am today without those things.  To that I say, I'd rather be someone who hasn't hurt people in the ways that I have and lead people to do things they had no business doing.  I also would rather not have to live with the memories of these things.  
I am thankful that Jesus stepped in to take God's punishment for me. Talk about unfair though.  God erases evil without erasing people. All because of what Jesus did for humankind.  The day that Jesus Christ died is the most important day in human history.

At times when I think about the way I am, my thoughts float between how I don't like the way I am and that God made me like this so there must be a reason I'm like this. 

There are also sometimes when memories that I don't often think about invade my thoughts. Random things that I will not forget, but I don't necessarily know what the memories of those experiences mean.  Like today in church I started thinking about Sigma Nu pledge retreat.  "I will cling to the old rugged cross" made me think of clinging to the tree in the middle of the rocky island in Lake Ouachita, and how I would have rather that trip never happened.  I appreciate the active member being nice to me and offering me a sip of whiskey and coke while I was being hazed, but I wish that he would have instead told me that I didn't have to do all that nonsense and it would be a lot easier if I just told the people hazing me to go drown themselves.    
 

MAN, God really scooped me up out of that stuff.

Back like Tiger?

I haven't blogged in quite awhile.

I'm sorry

because a lot of yall told me to keep blogging.

I've been busy, and I've been lazy. I do not aim for either of those to be a habit, but I have a feeling that busy will be habitual.

Oh well.

So what's been on my mind?

Well, awhile back I was wanting to blog about pop music. So I'll give you a brief run-down of what I was thinking:

J-Lo's song "on the floor" sounds like her best attempt at her version of a Ke$ha song.
Katy Perry is crazy popular right now but she won't be remembered for long because she has zero songs that are actually about something. She just sings words, no meanings. Yes, I know all pop music can be described this way, but it seems like the artists that are remembered are the ones who had at least one song that was about something.

I started reminiscing about pop a little, and I decided that I miss the days that the charts were always full of Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliot, Christina Aguilera, Nelly Furtado, No Doubt, Mariah Carey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, and Ludacris. (may all of your radio smashes be happy in their retirement)

I know some of those artists are still found in the charts these days but not like they used to be.

Oh yeah, and Usher used to be so much better than he is now.


(random theory- the train that goes thru Ruston is the Hogwart's Express)


My wife and I went down to Mexico for our Honeymoon a week or two ago. I highly recommend all-inclusive resorts. - especially Excellence Playa Mujeres. Forgive me if I do not go into details of our honeymoon, as those are quite private.

I'll just say that my wife looked so sexy in the two new bikinis that I bought her, that I thought a few times that some people were acting like they were taking pictures of the resort's lush scenery so that they could secretly take pictures of the super-model that was laying next to the guy reading Harry Potter.

Tiger Woods played well yesterday. So people(me) actually cared about golf for a moment. The great debate of whether or not Tiger will win another Major tournament continues to rage on. People keep saying that Tiger is back, or Tiger will never be back. I don't know if he's back, but I do know that I like golf if he does well. If he's stinking it up, I'm about as interested in golf as I am following celebs on Twitter, or watching Cake Boss, or drinking motor oil.

that all for now

Be Loved?

You know, never does the Bible tell us to "be loved by other people."

  it tells us to love the Lord and love our neighbor.  In the words of one of my mentors, "love up and love out."

Man the Bible tells us that God loves us. So why are we running around looking for love from other people? We think that His love isn't enough.  If we believe the Bible, then looking for love elsewhere is a contradiction.

We are supposed to be love to other people.  That takes some personal sacrifice because a lot of times people are hard to love.

We are Christ's people to love. He sacrificed His life for us because He loves us, and believe me His love is way more than enough...

There was a time in my life that I really relied on the love that one particular person had for me.  This person would do anything for me. It really became unhealthy because they would idolize me, and I would idolize everything that I could get out of that person.
I was really focused on manipulating the relationship so that I could gain whatever I wanted out of it, and man I looked like the happiest most fortunate dude on the block.  That was just a facade though because on the real I was never satisfied --always looking for the next thing that I wanted.

The Lord ended up showing me that I was being a huge jerk.  He made it clear that I needed to stop all the nonsense and get myself focused on Him only.  That can sound like a noble calling or revelation, but I was anything but noble.  I did not want to give in to God's will at all. It took me months to work up the courage to make this decision that would shift my life completely into an unknown place, and I was mostly scared that I would be lonely.

I remember praying over and over again for wisdom to know if I really had to stop that relationship in order to do God's will, and then I prayed for strength to go through with it.  I remember pleading with God to comfort me, be there for me, and not leave me hanging in the aftermath.

He was there for everything I needed Him for and more.  Man He just scooped me up, and to be honest I've never felt like He let go of me since. I know He's got me.  (I've felt distant a times, but never felt let-go-of or not-loved)

After experiencing His love and being focused on only needing Him, I can firmly tell you that there is nothing else you need as far as being loved.

And He totally showed me so much grace because He blessed me with another chance with someone else who made my wildest dreams seem tame.  

You see it really is true that when we mess up it's because we are living like we need God and _____(something else) to be happy, satisfied, or complete.

It's God and nothing else.

Faith that God is enough.

FAITH

OBEDIENCE

GOD.


alot of you are living with things or people that you need to give up --and you know you need to give them up, but you're scared.
i know you are because i've been there, and i was scared. I know it's not easy (i don't want to sound like a prick).
but i promise you that it's worth it to give them up.  He says that whoever loses their life for Him, will find life.

lose your life and start over. it's better when it's His way.

Who am I?

My life has drastically changed over the course of 1 week.  I'll give you a time line of how it went down:


Tuesday. February 22, 2011: Completed my coursework to receive a degree from Louisiana Tech in Family and Child Studies, and interviewed for a job at Dillard's.
Wednesday. February 23, 2011: Job hunted.
Thursday. February 24,2011: Met my oldest brother's girlfriend for the first time and got to see my friend Mary who came in from Juneau, AK.
Friday. February 25, 2011: Set up chairs and tables for Saturday, and went to my rehearsal dinner at Squire Creek. I spent most of Friday surrounded by my brothers, all 10 of them.
Saturday. February 26, 2011: Became the husband of Polly Thomas Pendergrass.
Sunday and Monday. February 27 and 28, 2011: HONEYMOON. new orleans. *Adult rated content*
Tuesday. March 1, 2011: Became the proud uncle of Luke Tyrus Pendergrass at 5:21pm.


This morning I was thinking about who I am in relation to other people. Here's where this train of thought lead: Who am I?

I am Andrew Mark Pendergrass.
Husband of Polly Thomas Pendergrass
Son of Tyrus Lamar Pendergrass and Patricia McKinney Pendergrass.
Son-in-law of Tom Thomas and Barbara Thomas
Grandson of Tyrus and Darlene Pendergrass and Joanne and George McKinney.
Grandson-in-law of Mom and Pop Bond and Pa Joe and Granny.
Brother of Tristan Pendergrass, Jeremy Pendergrass, Christian Dunn, Elzie Hollins, Craig Turner, Nathan Welch, Michael Plette, Steele Shippy, Tyler Wallace, and Matthew Cassity. (and yes, we all look alike)
Brother-in-law of Seth, Kristen, Scott, and Phoebe Thomas, and Emery Pendergrass
Uncle of Seth Aubrey Thomas Jr. and Luke Tyrus Pendergrass.
Big Brother of Sutton Davison, Kyle Johnson, Young William Stagg, Steven Turner, Josh Garmon, Kevin Prater, Daniel Shaw, and Matt Nelson.
Body Guard of Chris Hanchey

Member (not technically) of Crossroads Church
As I type this I just got a job. So ...Employee of Squire Creek (for the third time).
Resident of 109 S. Sparta in Ruston, LA
Future resident of Juneau, Alaska and Branson, Missouri (not at the same time).

my life has truly truly been blessed by God. I would without a doubt never have been born if it were not for Him working in my Dad's life.  So since I absolutely owe my very own existence to Him....

I ask the question again, Who am I?

A debtor of God?

No, my debt was paid with Jesus Christ's blood.

Who am I?

I am a Slave of Jesus Christ.

Bike Wreck

Today (technically yesterday because I'm posting after midnight) was my last day as a college student.

I'm not going to trip.  It feels good.  Really good.

I will wake up tomorrow with NOTHING hanging over my head that I have to get done for a deadline.  With that in mind, journey with me as I flashback to something that happened today that caused something to physically hang over my head.  Nothing epic, just an occurrence.

So I finished my last final (Parenting class) today at 1:30.  I felt confident going into taking the exam.  Partly because I actually studied a tad the night before rather than waiting until that morning to start studying, but mostly because I had a greasy good lunch at Popeye's (I ordered and paid for that 3 strip combo w red beans and rice, but I got that 5 strip combo with red beans).

Ate it all without even using a napkin. That takes skill people.

Ok. Lunch had nothing to do with me feeling confident, and to be honest I didn't even feel any more confident than I would any other time.  I kinda just wanted to add Popeye's in to this blog.

After my test I was walking tall tho.  I mounted my trusty stallion (Felt X-City hollerrrrr) outside the doors of Carson Taylor Hall (CTH on your printable class schedule) and rode out like a boss.

Now here's where it all starts to go wrong.  I took an abnormal route to get home because I wanted to go around a hill and some construction.  On my way into the quad, I tried to yank my front tire up on a curb so I could make the transition from road sharer to pedestrian.  Well I didn't quite get my front tire up high enough so it completely stops against the curb.  I normally don't ride slow, and today was no exception.  So my momentum was carrying me forward at let's say 10mph. 

Ok so my body is still going 10mph, but my bike is going 0mph. So naturally my body lunges forward over the handelbars, and my feet are in toe clip pedals so the back of the bike follows me.

FREEZE

See this frozen state of Andrew Mark Pendergrass.  Louisiana Tech Alum with the world ahead of him. With hands stretched out in front of his body, only the front bike tire on the ground, facing the ground, sunglasses sliding off of his face, top of his backpack looking like it's stuck to the back of his head.

And just in that moment.  My feet come out of the pedals and secure on the pavement, and my left hand catches my Oakleys that have flown from my face.

Saved by instincts.  All the decisions that my body made to save myself from face planting on pavement at 10mph were made in fractions of a second.

So with my backpack on my head and my rear bike wheel still spinning in the air behind me.  I act like nothing crazy happened, and just mount back up and ride on home.

These bodies that we have are crazy complex.  We've been blessed to have highly functioning vessels to control.  It's like God knew that we would unknowingly put our lives at risk, and He gave our bodies built in emergency response systems to save us from harm. Shoot, my body even reacted to catch my sunglasses. Take care of your body.  Because you never know when you'll need it to take care of you.

Cars are now coming equipped with instinctive emergency response technology.  Good job human race.  It only took you thousands of years to create something that God created by breathing air into some arranged sand particles. 

Mad props to you automobile engineers tho.  Best creation mimicking God since Hair Club.

I Can't Take Back the

3.5 pages and 2 tests...

then a vast expanse of no-homeworkness will sprawl out before me.

and I will give a head nod to that expanse

and it will wave back at me and say, "Hello. welcome to your life. I've been waiting to meet you since the first day you stepped into that Kindergarten classroom at Mt. Olive Christian School in Athens."

I'll smile and offer up a snort of a laugh and say, "Sweet liberation." While I remember (with a grimace) that there was a chicken house next to Mt. Olive Christian School in Athens, and it smelled like chicken death and chicken booboo every day (which made going out to the playground for recess bittersweet to say the least).


These last 4.5 years of life that I've spent at Louisiana Tech have been very shaping for the play-dough that is my life.  I say "play-dough" instead of "clay" because clay is formed in shapes that are meant to harden, while play-dough is molded and then remolded throughout its lifetime.  Also, play-dough is salty.  Yes, I'm going to the Bible with this one.

This is an excerpt from an instance when Jesus was surrounded by a crowd, and in an attempt to spit some wisdom to his close disciples.  He retreats up a mountainside with his boys, and He just starts teaching them.  These particular nuggets of knowledge are called "The Beatitudes."  After, he finishes the Beatitudes is when I picture him maybe standing up with a really serious look, and like a coach giving a half-time speech. He looks his disciples in their eyes and says with a sense of urgency:  


"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot."      Matthew 5:13

You might be reading this, and you grew up going to church with your parents.  Maybe you didn't go to church much, but you know what all this Bible stuff is generally about.  Maybe, you enjoyed going to church for awhile, and then it just became dull compared to other things that you could spend your time doing.  You might think that since you haven't been to church in awhile, you'd rather ignore spirituality because you'd rather do that than have to make changes and put in work to get your life right.  You don't want to be salty because being salty is a responsibility.  You don't want to put forth the effort to be salty.

To you I say this: I've been thrown out and trampled underfoot before.  I had lost my saltiness.  I didn't take seriously the responsibility I had to be salt and light to the world.

oh what? you think that sounds cheesy?  Ok, I'll deal with you and your cynicism in a moment.

So I was completely irrelevant as a disciple of Christ for a long while.  To be honest, being a disciple of Christ was not even a thought for me.  Why? Because I cared way more about me and what I was doing/saying/wearing/listening to/driving than I cared about other people and what God could have used me to do if I was paying attention to him.

So why was that so bad?

Because I treated some people really poorly, and I was a bad influence on several people.  Also, I came to realize that that long period of my life that I spent as a selfish punk, is time that I will never get back to do things for the Kingdom.

Once you begin to make a positive impact on the world, you get addicted to it.  At least, I have.  Please don't think that I'm being self-righteous here.  I have no grounds to be self-righteous because I didn't willingly become salty.  God shook the saltiness into me (like a salt shaker).  At least, he shook a bunch of the unsalty things out of my life.

It is such a picture of the grace that he came to give when he takes a person who is being selfish and uses them for the Kingdom.  I really didn't have a say in the matter when it happened to me.  He took me from death to life.

It's like He watched me be thrown out and trampled on, and finally He couldn't take it anymore so He snatched me up and used me to get some things done for Him.  That experience was so unbelievably fulfilling that I want more responsibility.  I am begging to have more responsibilities to further the Kingdom.


It's safe to say that I'm passionate about my God.  I think you would be too.

So now for you cynics of Christianity, and you people who read this and think condescending thoughts.

I don't give a rip about your cynicism and snarkiness.

I WILL NEVER APOLOGIZE OR TEMPER MY COMMENTS ABOUT MY FAITH IN ORDER TO KEEP YOU INTERESTED.


I encourage you to get up off the ground and stop being trampled on.