Friday, July 13, 2012

The Facebook Girl


Girls seem to think they own insecurity. Like it's something that they have exclusive access to, so therefore, all guys, except for the few "weak" ones, are all super-confident and secure in their worth. Their macho behavior certainly indicates that, right?

ACK!

I'm sick of it.

I'm sick of girls posting pictures of themselves on facebook with the caption: "I hate this picture! I look so ugly here!"

I'm sick of girls saying, "I wish I could be as beautiful as her!"

I'm sick of girls changing their profile pictures every day in the never-ending quest to find the one that makes them look perfect.

I'm sick of girls dressing like street-walkers to fill the man-void created in them by their fathers, or lack thereof.

The truth is, everyone's insecure. Scratch that, everyone's broken. To quote Brandt + Skinner, we've all had a "bad start in life." This means guys, girls, adults, celebrities, homeless men, supermodels, blue-collars, Mark Zuckerberg, and billionaires. I have a theory:

Most of who we are, as individuals, has been determined by the pain we've experienced in the past.

What girls have done in the area of dressing crazy, men have mirrored in trying to be accepted as manly by being quiet, having lots of muscles, and banging lots of women. The reality is that we all try to find a way to make human acceptance and attention fit the empty space between our hearts and our souls, and when that doesn't work, we try to get more of it, 'cuz that definitely will, right?

My point? I heard this once and it was like lightning was electrifying the couch I was sitting on:

Most of us believe that God loves us, but we have a hard time believing that God loves me. We have an even harder time believing that God likes me.

And when I say me, I mean you. As an individual. I'm not referring to some large group or something. I'm saying that God loves you and likes you, as your own person. And if He's the fulfillment of our brokenness and insecurity, who gives a flying crap about what anyone else thinks?

He certainly doesn't.

Monday, July 9, 2012

RMP: YOLO!



I will admit. I have used YOLO as a joke a few times. It was funny! And I think that's ok, but the reality is that people live their lives like the YOLO lifestyle is actually a valid one.

The guy who's talking about this mentions something at the end. He talks about the other lies hip hop has told  him. We gotta start recognizing the deeper truths of what these artists are actually saying. Because, even though we might not actually actively think about this stuff, the culture has so influenced our thought and behavior that this stuff has become our belief system.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

The Safety Net



The Golden Gate Bridge was one of the most mechanically and technologically significant advancements of its time. It daunted the "reasonable" minds of the day with its then-ridiculous price tag of $35 million. To give that a bit of perspective, that would be about $1.2 billion in more current estimates. No one had ever built a suspension bridge with one of the towers in the water. No one had ever built a suspension bridge that long. It was unheard of.

Well, along with all of this, there came new challenges. How do you even get workers to go 700+ feet into the air for their day job? Well, they did. Apparently, people were lining up for the work. I guess they realized that this was gonna be a big piece of history. And that it would slap some meat on the table.

There was one little caveat: it was a pretty common understanding among the construction laborers of that day that, in large projects such as this, it was fairly understood and accepted that one man died for every million dollars sunk into the work. In fact, it was expected. I can imagine getting up for work every day with the fairly expected belief that today might be my last day alive.

In any case, imagine what your work output would be like if you knew that every moment held the very real possibility of your imminent death. Let's just say you'd probably be taking your time. A lot of it. And if you're like me, you'd probably have to take a breather once every few... seconds. Joseph Strauss, the lead engineer on the Golden Gate project, thought he'd do something about this. He instituted the safety net.

Once workers saw that they had assurance of safety, everything changed. Work picked up as the men saw that they could traverse the bridge with a new ease and confidence, even despite seeing the water hundreds of feet below. In fact, many of the workers got yelled at for jumping into the net for kicks.

Ladies and gents, I'd like you to meet your safety net. It's called God's Love. It's been around a while longer than the Golden Gate's net, but don't worry - time hasn't worn it out. It does, however, seem to have the same effect as that of the net in San Fran: it takes the fear of man away.

It's for this reason that we've seen men dive into the deep darkness of sharing the gospel to hostile tribes. God's Love is the net that has allowed men to stay true to their Savior when guns are pointed at their family. This is the net that has given men the audacity to speak loudly, love furiously, live unconventionally, stand firmly, trust completely, live nobly, believe against all odds and fight against all tides.

Instituted since the beginning of creation, this net has saved too many to count, and the men who dive into it find that the death they had feared was insignificant compared to life after the fall.

So, there's this project that's going on. It's called "Redemption." I hear it's been instituted with an unlimited budget. The boss need workers, but don't worry.

He's got a safety net for you.

Monday, July 2, 2012

RMP: A Post about Dunking?



The answer is yes. This is a post about dunking. And not the kind that has to do with coffee and donuts. I'm talking one of the most ridiculous dunks into a basketball hoop I've ever seen.

"Yep, Kingdom Eyes is officially getting secular."

I beg to differ. I'm a firm believer that once you start living your life in a conscious effort to be filled with the Holy Spirit, you see everything as an opportunity to show the glory of God. In this situation? I saw this guy's vertical hop coming out of cartwheel and I had my mind blown. It was like someone flipped on the "amazement" receptors in my brain. The guy FLOATED. How do you even respond to that!?

Anyways, here's my thought: if this is what we can train our bodies to do now, what about on the other side of eternity? I'm not gonna say too much more - I'd rather let your imagination run wild.

That is all. You may go.