"If you're allergic to the truth then I suggest you keep your distance"

Oh heck yes. The blogging is on. Let us begin.

So why have I been gone so long? It started out practically. I was trying to edit this (the new) blog, to take out certain "objectionable materials" to make it more widely acceptable. In a sense. It was kind of connected to a narrow angle job search, but that wasn't all of it. To a certain extent I've done that, but I'm kind of over it. What's here is here.

The other part was that eventually I didn't want to. Not really in a palpable way. Not anything easily identified or described, but surely there nonetheless. It manifested in just doing other things. But now that's done to. Blogging will begin in earnest. Just try and keep up.

Now, the story for how I'm coming back is understandably predictable, and yet somehow still unexplainable. It has something to do with discovering the coverage I could get by networking this blog into Facebook. When I did so and just linked it in my profile, I got an absurd number of hits. To give you a good idea, it was more than 10% of my friends list. Which is, ridiculous. To be honest it kind of scared me. I wasn't sure I wanted that kind of exposure. But alas again, who the heck cares.

So what are we talking about? Good gosh, what aren't we.

First things first. This blog is "new". Which is to say that its an edited version of a still running nearly identical blog whose address is now only available upon request. I'm moderately happy with wordpress, though I have some minor complaints, such as the small number of themes, and specific problems with the available options. The writing window is also pretty unappealing, which make sit difficult to pay attention while writing.

The picture you see above, legit right? Its a fairly famous statue that I'll give mad points to whomever can identify it and its location.

The good news with it being nearly three weeks since I last posted, is that I can't even begin to bore you with all the things that have happened in the mean time. Let it be said its been a lot. Going to Kairos. Telling a lovely young lady I was interested in her. A few parties. A race at the Nashville Road Course. Lots of work around the house. Lots of reading. Going to Northeast. Blah . . . blah . . . and so on.

I don't even feel like going into how I've dealt with the subject matter of the last two posts over the last few weeks. What we'll do instead, is deal with large themes that have stood out.

The first is that God has kept up His insistence on giving me informal ministry opportunities. He just keeps placing me in situations where I can serve do to nothing but natural relationships. And it feels great. That being said I can definitely recognize the absence of deep community on a mission.

Second is the issue of prayer, and God's will in general. A few Sundays ago my men's small group discussion was on prayer. That, in combination with everything that has been going on has led to a rather essential quandary. I am stuck wondering where the intersection is between God's will, and our prayers of petition. The existence of, "rightness" of, and God's own endorsement of each are clearly evident in Scripture, leading me to wonder how they play out practically.

I believe emphatically that God has a will, for my life. One possible dead end of this, is that this will involves few, if any practical elements. In this scenario the extreme option is that God's will eventually resides only in our relationship to Him. Therefore if we have been reconciled, and are living by faith, His will has no other constraining elements.

Another adaptation of this is the possibility of limited practical induction. This itself has two variants. One is where God has a few large points where His will intercedes with our direct living. Things like CERTAIN jobs, who we marry, or what our ministry focus is, though obviously, His concern for each of those areas is debatable. The other option here is that He has a practical will that is very general, wherein He gives us gifts, talents, and desires and sets us loose to apply them to the Kingdom. Ultimately I find all three of these options lacking, however, because God just doesn't seem that hands off.

We can see it in how our ultimate purpose is wrapped up in our daily sustenance. We can see it in how the Letter speaks to concerns of very real and constant life. And we can see the statistical difference faith makes in things like grief recovery, drug treatment, and oddly enough, sexual satisfaction in marriage.

So the question is where God's practical, rather than ultimate, will for our lives intersects His insistence that we bring Him our requests. And I just don't know.

That is especially frustrating given the absurd number of choices I've seen come up in my life recently. As well as seemingly complete lack of God speaking in my life. Didn't He used to do that all the time?

However, one of the points of a book I read recently is that we Protestants have forgotten the concept of "sins of inaction". As a result there are areas where I'm just pushing, and being willing to make mistakes and be wrong, just because something has to happen.

Now, as for the title of this post. I've been listening to rap/hip hop nearly all day and this is a line from one of my favorite groups, Mars Ill.

It struck me tonight while I was getting ready to start this post because of how much this idea has been on my mind lately. It started months ago when I first began musing on how concerned Christians/churches can get with being attractive to unbelievers, and how genuinely unChristlike that is. He loved everybody. He wants everybody. But He's readily admitted most people aren't going to make it.

Combine this with my rereading a book examining the exemplary masculinity of Christ, and His insistence on never holding off on the truth, and sometimes being harsh. The result is a pretty severe case of turmoil.

I love unbelievers. I walking with them and being Christ for them. I love showing them love and talking to them about my faith. I love seeing them get interested and not just write it off. But where does that intersect not slacking off a bit of truth?

In personal interactions, its quite easy. A case of things easier done than said, something almost exclusive to following Jesus. But as far as how you institutionalize such a dichotomy, that is a giant can of worms. And its especially poignant because I'm experiencing that dilemma right now.

I'm co-teaching this Wednesday at CAKE with Jenn, and I'm worried that the overall tone will be a message I don't agree with. And I don't know how to settle that.

As if I needed more reason for this issue to be on my heart, tonight I made somebody very angry because I was answering a question honestly. I'm not exactly proud of it, but I'm not ashamed either.

In the end I know the answer of how this plays out in my life, and how it will play out Wednesday. I just have to love Jesus and be with Him, and the overflow of that love will produce exactly what it should.

As long as I don't try to stop it.