My parents never told me Santa Claus was real.  I always knew it as them that put the presents under the tree.  Even when other people in my family would write “From Santa” on the cards I knew.  I played along, but I knew where those gifts were coming from.  Later my parents explained to me the reason they did that was because they didn’t want me to find out later in life that they had been lying to me this whole time making me believe in something that was made up.  As I grew up they didn’t want me confusing the imaginary Santa that they had lied about with the real Jesus that they had also told me existed, but I couldn’t see him and he did nice things for us.  That’s always seemed to make sense to me.

This post has nothing to do with Santa.

Over the past few months I’ve seen, read and heard countless “influential” bloggers, authors and musicians suddenly come to a realization that for “so long it’s been all about me, but this time it’s different”.  It’s typically coupled with some request for something or right before explaining some new venture they are about to embark on.  They’ve come to their senses and this time it’s really not about them.  This time it’s about the children, or the church, or the ministry, or the outreach.  This time it’s different.

Well good Mr. Influential Blogger Guy.  It’s nice to know that for however long you’ve been doing this that you’ve been lying to me and the masses that are following you.  It’s great to hear that the campaign that you did last year that I supported was really just a ploy to get yourself attention and it turns out the whole thing was ‘all about you’.  But at least now that’s different.  It’s good to see that you’re coming clean now and I can fully trust your motives this time.

See, saying something like that doesn’t make you more authentic to me.  It doesn’t make me want to support your cause this time around.  It makes you someone I don’t want to trust again.  It makes me feel like you burned me already by thinking that you were authentic last time.  So, all you folks thinking that the best way to get someone to believe you is by saying that you lied last time, that’s not the case.  In fact, I don’t need to hear it at all.  Just start making things not about you and we’ll be just fine.

Anyone else notice this ‘tactic’ or am I the only one?

It Used To Be All About Me is a post from: Brody Harper

James 1:27 NLT – “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

This verse hit me differently this week.

See, there’s this weird thing going on in my head recently, and I’ve debated writing about it for a long time simply because I don’t know if I have it fully processed and I’m sure there’s a chance, depending on my wording, I could really piss some folks off.

I feel like there’s this technology induced trend right now where every charity out there is fighting for who is the most charitable.  Have you seen it?  Twitter wars, Facebook ‘Like’ battles, who can raise the most awareness or get on the most morning talk shows.  There’s even people out there that seem to bounce from one charity to another depending on it’s popularity or influence.  Folks creating new charities based on other charities, but they do it better.  Come on, tell me you haven’t seen this?

This is a good thing….. right?

I mean, what’s wrong with everyone on Twitter fighting over who’s going to give the most clean water?  What’s wrong with these charities being ‘popular’?  It’s helping.  Right?

Have you ever watched someone online and thought, “Man, that must be the most loving, charitable person on the planet.  They are constantly Tweeting about what they are involved in and how they are changing the world.  How do they even find the time to pour themselves into so much ‘good’?”?  Then you’ve met that person and they are too wrapped up in their own world to give you the time of day?  They blow you off because you’ve got nothing to offer their ’cause’?

Have you ever felt that way?  Or is it just me?

I’ve met some folks, who from the outside look like the most charitable, giving, loving people in the world and have treated me and others around them like absolute garbage because I can’t further their efforts at that exact moment.  They are too busy pursuing their charity to even bother speaking to the ‘normal’ people.

Then this week I stumbled onto this verse.  See that ‘and’ right there in the middle of that verse?  It’s interesting isn’t it?  Now, I’m no Bible scholar, I don’t know the original Greek or any of that, but I know what the word “and” means.  I know it means “also”.

“In addition to.”

See we’re told, “pure and genuine religion means caring for the orphans and widows”, but that’s where most people stop.  Unfortunately there’s that pesky “and” there.  ”AND refusing to let the world corrupt you.”  Interesting.

How many times have we seen people corrupted by the world through ego, arrogance, fame, recognition?  We have shows following the ‘famous’ folks through rehab.  We’ve watched pop-stars destroy their lives because of their fame, politicians corrupted by money and power.  We’ve even seen powerful pastors crack under the pressure of popularity.  I wonder if that’s where that “and” is going.

What about a more ‘well known’ verse?

1 Corinthians 13:3 NLT - “If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.”

I wonder what the word “others” means there.  Other countries?  Other states?  Other cities?  Other neighborhoods?  Other churches?  Or all ‘others’?  Does it matter if the person sitting next to you at church can’t further your cause?  Does it matter if the Home Depot checkout lady can’t fund your missions trip expenses?  Or has the world started corrupting?

I wonder how Jesus would have handled this online charity trend.  I wonder what he would have thought about everyone announcing publicly how much they are doing to ‘personally’ change the world for the better.  But then again, I wonder if he kind of already said something about it.

Matthew 6:3 NLT - ”But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand (*or your 20,000 Twitter followers) know what your right hand is doing.” ( *I added the Twitter part.)

Overlooking The ‘And’ is a post from: Brody Harper

Now, let me start off by saying that I don’t know either one of the guys pictured above.  I don’t know their personalities, I don’t know their families, and to be honest I had to Google one of their names.  That being said, the one thing I know is that I can’t stand their music.  Now, I’m not saying that you, the reader of this post, can’t like their music, but it’s what I can’t help but call “bro-rock”.  You know those guys right.  They are the guys at the high school or college parties that are trying to open beer bottles with their teeth or punch you in the arm too hard when saying ‘hi’ and calling you ‘Bro’.

Well, as most of you probably know, Bart caught a bunch of crap on Twitter for simply saying that he doesn’t like Creed.  All of the sudden people were bashing his Christianity, his looks, his ministry.  It was pretty unbelievable, actually.  The funny thing was, most of the people bashing him were focussing on how ‘hot’ Scott Stapp was or something similar.  Seems like they have a pretty deep fan base.

Anyway, if you’ve followed this blog or my Twitter at all you know that when I’m on the road I have a strict ‘No Nickelback’ rule on the bus.  That obviously goes for the house too.  Creed is right there too, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been as passionate about it.

So here’s my question today.  We all have music that we strongly dislike.  That doesn’t make it bad, it just makes it bad to you.  So what’s your absolute least favorite style of music?  And yes, bro-rock is a genre…. I think.

The Bro Rock is a post from: Brody Harper

Kristin had never been to New York before two weeks ago. She’d seen the pictures, seen the movies portraying the city, even read books set there, but never actually been involved in the culture that is New York City. I’d been a few times for work. Nothing more than a day or two there to walk around and catch as much as I could in the short time I was there. Certainly not long enough to capture the entire ‘vibe’ of the city.

Now, as far as the ‘stereotype’ for New York goes, we all know it right? Rough, hurried, self-centered, rude… the list goes on right? I mean, I could be wrong, but from an outside perspective I think we’d all agree that New Yorkers are considered to be a certain way, right? Funny thing is, not many of those characteristics are similar to what we’d call ‘Southern Hospitality’ right?

Kristin and I took the subway several times in the couple times we were in the city and there were a couple things that jumped out at me on those short rides. Now, I’ve been on public transportation in tons of major cities in America and typically (especially in San Francisco) the insides of the cars are usually decorated with all sorts of ads. Since sex sells here in America most of these ads are pretty provocative or at the very least pretty suggestive. So naturally it took me back to see that in the middle of New York City the ‘ads’ that are covering the subway car walls were pretty different.

One stated “Bring Manners Back To The City: Give an elderly person or pregnant woman your seat”. This one had a picture of a guy in a suit standing up and offering a pregnant woman his chair on the subway.

The second was a picture of a man with a dirty face and jacket. Under his picture it said this: “Help the homeless.” Then beneath that in the small print it said something like, “help the homeless or if you see someone in need dial 311 and we’ll send someone out to help”. Not the exact wording but you get the idea. Pretty striking difference than what we’d expect from such a “rough” city. Sure, there are rough areas, and I’m certainly no expert on the city of New York, but that certainly jumped out.

Fast forward about 15 hours as we’re pulling into the “Bible Belt” south of East Tennessee and we are greeted with none other than the Confederate Flag waving proudly in the sky. Now, we’ve had some pretty great conversation about the flag, the meaning of it, as well as the perception of it, but I have to be honest. Going from what is stereotypically a rude, self-centered, rough place publicly promoting manners and caring for others, to the Bible Belt and what is stereotypically generous and “hospitable” waving such a “controversial” icon struck me as a little weird.

And here’s the thing.  I’m not claiming to be some culture expert and certainly have no idea what each person in the world thinks about homeless or manners or racism or hate, but I do, however, have eyes.  And I have perception.  And like every one else in the world I have questions about it all.  So, I know there’s not really a point to this rambling, but I’m curious what you think about all this.

Southern Pride – Northern Manners? is a post from: Brody Harper

My parents divorced when I was three… or four… something like that.  I don’t know, I was little.  Now that I’m older I know about  some of the events that lead up to that divorce.  I don’t know all the stories of pain, violence, infidelity, or whatever, but I know that it was a mess.  Enough of a mess for it to need to end.  And let’s face it, who doesn’t have a mess to some degree in their life?  Anyone my age or younger knows the ripple affect of a broken home, abuse, neglect or things like that.  Who doesn’t have drama from their upbringing, right?

But here’s where I start getting real passionate.  I had a pretty amazing guy step in and take the roll of my dad.  To this day he’s one of the closest people to me in my life.  Does that mean I don’t have life-long drama from the handful of years that I was alive without him?  Nope.  Does that mean that I didn’t grow up with the ‘awkwardness’ of having two dads?  Nope.  Or having to be the decision maker of where I was going to live?  Or what last names my wife and kids were going to have?  But I’m going to be honest.  I had a pretty great upbringing.  It was safe, it was healthy, and it was exactly what I needed as a kid and now adult with my own kids.

And here’s the thing.  We live in a generation of people looking for any excuse possible to blame their selfish actions on what we’ve conveniently named ‘Generational Sin’.  I could blame  any of my actions on the broken home that I came from.  The dad that wasn’t around, the frustrations of Summer Vacations away from my friends, weirdness of having to explain who that guy is at my graduation.  All that.  I could sit back and not take ownership of any of it.  And that’s exactly what we do right?

“This is what my parents did, so it’s natural.”  ”I’m an alcoholic because my dad was.”  ”I treat women badly because that’s what I saw growing up.  It’s in my blood.”  ”I’m a manipulator because my mom cheated.”  ”I’ve got a temper that I inherited from my dad.”  The list goes on.  It’s the easiest out right?  We want to blame our selfish, screwed up lives on something biological.  It’s something we can’t change.  It’s the way we are wired.  Really?  Let’s take a look.  *I’ve added the “bold”*.

Jeremiah 31:29-32 (NIV)
In those days people will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes–his own teeth will be set on edge. “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers…”

Ezekiel 18:14-16,18-20 (NIV)
“But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things: He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look to the idols of the house of Israel… He does not oppress anyone… He does not commit robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for the naked… He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live. But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people. Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.“

Well crap.  There goes that theory I guess.  Looks like I’m going to have to answer for myself when I treat my kids badly.  Looks like it actually is my fault when I selfishly go against what I know is right.  Seems like there really is no excuse for living like a jerk.

Okay, that last paragraph was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but you get the idea.  So, I want to hear what you guys think.  I’ve never  really had an open discussion about “Generational Sin” and my opinions on it, with anyone but Kristin.  She knows it’s something that has always bothered me, but I don’t know if it’s just me.  The thing is, I don’t buy it.  I refuse to accept the excuse from anyone that there’s some magical blood running though our bodies that causes us to not be able to control our own selfish actions.  It’s not our great-great-great grandfather’s fault that we act the way we do.  It’s not the chemical make-up of my DNA that causes me to treat people badly.  It’s selfishness and sin.  Bottom line.  Unless I’m missing something in these verses.

So what do we think?  I know it’s a little heavy of a topic, but I’m curious your thoughts.

Ready?  Go.

Generational Sins is a post from: Brody Harper

Now, that’s not even remotely the only instance where I’ve heard someone proclaim on Twitter, Facebook or blogs that they are “just being honest”.  It seems that we are all allowed to ‘just be honest’ whenever we want even if that means that we come back a day later and apologize because we realized our ‘honesty’ may have been inappropriate at that time or place.  You’ve seen it too haven’t you?  Someone spouting off from their soapbox that is Twitter or Blog and tag it with “I’m just being honest here”.  Then there’s a whole bunch of comments about how “authentic” they are, or how “real” they are being.  Meanwhile the destruction in their wake leaves people feeling beat up and hurt.

I think if we’re really being ‘honest’ the posts would look a little more like this:

I’m an insecure person.  Technology has allowed me to have a platform to a handful of people who agree with my views and opinions on certain things.  Because I have this circle of people digitally surrounding me I feel safe to lash out at people I’ve never met because I know that a good percentage of ‘my people’ will agree with me.

Because of this digital expression I have also found a small niche of things that I have thought about maybe a little more than others, and can now claim to be an expert on it, thus giving me the right to berate people who feel differently or haven’t thought about it as much as me.  After all ‘my people’ will agree with me right?  And if they don’t “I’m just being honest and, they apparently just can’t handle my honesty.  That’s not my fault.  It’s theirs.

Never mind that we are called to love each other, this is an expression of ‘me’ and if you don’t like it, that’s just too bad.  Jesus never had a blog or Twitter, so there’s no rules on what can or can’t be done there.  It’s fair game blanketed by ‘honesty’, and the way I am ‘honest’ makes me feel better about myself as a person.  In fact, when I attack people digitally I walk a little straighter that day because I ‘stuck it to someone else’ and proved to my readers how much I know about my niche topic.  It makes me feel good about myself and that’s really what I’m after.  That’s what we are all after when it comes down to it.

I know that I’m supposed to put others before me, but I try not to let that affect the way I Tweet or blog because sitting in my room it’s really about me and what makes me feel good.  And that’s just me being honest.

‘I’m Just Being Honest’ is a post from: Brody Harper

Last night Blue played his last basketball game of the season.  They lost by about ten points.  The other team’s coach screamed the entire time.  Running up and down the court, waving his arms, pointing, kicking and stomping.  Sort of a joke really, if you ask me.  But his team won.  Kristin and I sat in the bleachers with a couple other parents from our team surrounded by parents from the other team as they screamed and yelled at how bad the ref was doing, how bad their team was doing (though they were up by ten points) and all sorts of other things.  I’m pretty sure my jaw was dropped in dis-belief the entire game.

Maybe this is kids sports.  Maybe it’s kids sports in the South.  Maybe it’s just that team.  Either way, I know that if any of our kids ever end up on a team with that type of coach and those types of parents, we’ll take the season off and go camping.

Anyone run into these parents?  I wonder, it’s almost cliche’ to make fun of these parents. How is it that they still exist?

Sport Parents is a post from: Brody Harper

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI—Less than two weeks after converging upon the site of a devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake, American anthropologists have confirmed the discovery of a small, poverty-stricken island nation, known to its inhabitants as “Haiti.”

Located just 700 miles off the southeastern coast of Florida, the previously unaccounted-for country is believed to be home to an estimated 10 million people.

Even more astounding, reports now indicate that these people have likely inhabited the impoverished, destitute region—unnoticed by the rest of the world—for more than 300 years.

Researchers believe this was once the capital, though it’s unclear if the Haitian people ever had a truly functional government.

“That an entire civilization has been somehow existing right under our noses for all this time comes as a complete shock,” said University of Florida anthropology professor Dr. Ben Oliver, adding that it appeared as if Haiti’s citizens had been living under dangerous conditions even before the devastating earthquake struck. “Of course, there have been rumors in the past about a long-forgotten Caribbean nation whose people struggle every day to survive, live in constant fear of a corrupt government, and endure such squalor and hunger that they have resorted to eating dirt. But never did we give them much thought.”

Added Oliver, “Had it not been for this earthquake, I doubt we would have ever noticed Haiti at all.”

Though anthropologists said they still did not know much about Haiti’s history, they claimed that, by observing the Haitians’ reactions to this particular disaster, and studying the way the people had come together and taken solace in one another’s sorrows, it appeared as if most of them were accustomed to tragic, even horrific, events.

Researchers also came to the “startling” conclusion that Haiti’s inhabitants must have at some point in their history been exposed to the English language, as many seemed capable of uttering such phrases as “Help us,” and “Please don’t abandon us again.”

“They are normal people just like you and me,” said Harvard University’s Aimee Coughlin, who before last week had never come across any mention of the struggling island republic, whether in conversation, on television, or while scanning the front pages of newspapers. “They communicate with one another, they have families and loved ones, and they value religion. However, judging by the way they are fending for themselves—a position they seem almost resigned to—it’s clear these mysterious Haitian people don’t have much else.”

According to Coughlin, the Haitian civilization was discovered on the night of Jan. 12, when relief workers were rushed to several resorts in the Dominican Republic to see if any American tourists had been injured in the quake. During an aerial tour of the island of Hispaniola, members of the Red Cross noticed signs of human life coming from Haiti.

“When we first landed there, I thought, ‘No person could possibly live here,’” Oliver said. “Not only did the arid landscape look incapable of sustaining any sort of agriculture, but there was absolutely no infrastructure either. Had we known about this desperate, desperate place sooner, perhaps we could have shared some of our technological advancements with them.”

“I’ve vacationed just miles away in beautiful St. Kitts many times,” Oliver added. “Never did anyone say anything about this Haiti place.”

Members of the world community were equally shocked at the discovery of such an impoverished civilization. U.N. representatives noted that Haiti’s location puts it in the direct path of recent natural disasters such as Hurricanes Jeanne, Hanna, and Ike, disasters that probably caused massive flooding, disease, and death.

Likewise, leaders from a number of Western nations announced Tuesday that they were dumbfounded to learn people were still living without decent shelter, hospitals, or regular access to food and water.

“They must have had no way of communicating with the outside world, because had we known about these Haitians, we would have done everything in our power to help them,” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said. “Of that I have no doubt.”

- The Onion

________________________________________________

Now, obviously I don’t believe that anything going on in Haiti is a joking matter, but this article does speak a little truth in satire don’t you think? Send all hate mail to Chris @ Side3.me

Massive Earthquake Reveals Entire Island Civilization Called ‘Haiti’ is a post from: Brody Harper

In my opinion there aren’t many more offensive “Christian” t-shirts than this one.  I’ve seen it before and literally thought about it for hours after I saw it for the first time.  As if all of the world’s problems just vanish before our eyes the second we accept Christ.

There’s no more hunger, no more death, no more pain, no more sin, no more struggle and I’ve got the Staples rip-off t-shirt to prove it.

This post is a response to a Tweet with this shirt on it that, at least on my end, originated today from Charlie Lowell then I re-Tweeted it, and so forth.  Here’s what it said along with the picture of the shirt.  “Wow, what a grave insult to anyone who desires to truly follow Christ.” -@cdlowell Now that it’s become sort of a “conversation” I thought I’d bring that conversation here to see what you guy think.

Now, I understand the “idea” behind this ridiculous product, but I’d love for the guy who came up with this to take a trip to any number of third world countries and sit down with a mother and her starving baby and give his ‘pitch’.  Or maybe a part of the world where Christians are forced to sneak around because their faith will get them killed.  Maybe the conversation would go something like this:

“See, there’s this store in America that sells office products and they came up with this commercial.  People that are having a hard time ordering paper can just push this button and then paper shows up in their office and their boss loves them and all their problems go away.  It’s sort of like that but with Jesus…. and you’re the slacker office worker… only you’re child is starving.. or you’ll be shot if someone catches you praying.  But if you accept Jesus all that goes away… except for the part where your kids need food to survive or you’re killed for what you believe.  Get it?  We’ll sell hundreds!!”

Maybe I’m way off, but this shirt has always bothered me.  And I’m sure I’m just scratching the surface of the issues with this shirt but I’d love to know what you think.

Ready?  Go.

It’s That Easy is a post from: Brody Harper

We are a skeptical culture. We’re paranoid that we are going to get sick from everything. We are concerned that our kids will die from every sickness. We are worried about viruses that are all around us. And at the same time we are paranoid that the Government is pumping us full of useless, dangerous chemicals. We’re vigilant to not let ‘Big Brother’ take over. We’re naturalists.

So here’s my question. Did you, or are you planning to get the H1N1 vaccination? And your reasoning. Ready? Go.

The H1N1 Debate is a post from: Brody Harper