1. Last Republican debate tonight before Super Tuesday.  It is on CNN at 8PM EST.  The debates are what they are.  My hopes for a brokered convention are fading, I hope someone prominently moves ahead so we can move onto the general election, which will prove to be a battle.

2.  Had I been able to reach my goal of being a platform minister so many years ago, I would have never been able to write this blog on mentoring.  I have never been more sharpened than I am now and that is primarily because I have guys who want to go deeper, which challenges me to be even more on my game.  Sure you can temporarily impact hundreds to thousands from the platform but I don’t want temporary.  I want to see how they are doing 20, 40, 50  years from now and still be having the great conversations.  It truly has changed the way I think of “success” and ministry.

3.  Preston Yancey has put together an excellent blog series called “At the Lord’s Table: A Blog Conversation.” It is a collaborative effort of many bloggers and ordinary people who are expressing their part of the Body of Christ.  Yancey is a really good thinker, recently got accepted to St. Andrews (though I really believe Notre Dame should have been closer to the top) and has a book coming out soon.  Check out the series.

4.  I am going to Nashville in a couple of weeks for a conference.  I am pretty excited to reconnect with a lot of friends and fathers of the faith.  The topics should be intriguing and I hope to blog on them in the upcoming months.

There you have it.  Do you have any random thoughts you would like to share?

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might  ~Eph. 1:17-19

I sit across from a guy who just poured his guts out to me.  Not only has he become vulnerable, he also sits and listens as I take an axe to the perceptions that are not based in reality but instead are semi-rooted in an emotional narrative.

This isn’t Oprah.

His eyes simply stare at the table, the pieces of his life are laying there for everyone to see.  I sigh and state the same thing I have said over a thousand times now in six years, “there is still hope and this isn’t the end.”

Mentoring is one of the most difficult things a person can commit to on either side of the table.  The vulnerability, the time and the emotional effort that a person commits to bettering themselves, being challenged and simply being real can be daunting.  However, the measure of freedom and confidence that should come out of the process can be the difference between a person who loses hope in their calling versus a person who is strengthened to approach life head on.

Mentoring is not tearing someone apart.  It is not breaking someone’s will.  It is not your time, as a mentor, to show how much you know.  It is a time to help someone know what they were made for.  That the gifts, talents and passions that have been ingrained in a person from birth may become manifest.  That iron would sharpen iron.

Paul was one of the best mentors in the Bible and when he is praying this prayer, it was also a moment to mentor the church of Ephesus.  You can almost feel the yearning of his writing saying, “BELIEVE, HOPE CONTINUALLY!  HE IS ALIVE IN YOU!”  He was so for the church, for the people he had stood with for years.  He was committed.  What an example for a mentor to take hold of and thrive from.

The Lord of the Rings is my favorite movie series of all time.  The spiritual symbolism throughout the movie is strong and, in my opinion, holds a prophetic edge about it.  The clip above parallels so clearly with the spiritual war we deal with as Christians.

There are so many King Theodens around us, walking in bondage, chained to the will of the enemy, completely deceived.  The turning point in the initial battle between the prophetic in Gandalf and the witchcraft of Saruman was when Gandalf revealed himself all in white.

We too are clothed in white.  White robes, cleansed by the blood of Christ, meant to be a bright light that dispels the darkness and pronounces the glory of God to those around you.  I am not suggesting that we go around doing exorcisms like the movie exemplifies but I certainly have to believe that the Holy Spirit will draw people to the light and furthermore into the Kingdom of God.

If we have the faith to step in, knowing our authority, and believe that God wants to do something big where we are at, I have to believe the world can change.  Let it happen in a coffee house conversation, the soup kitchen, at the mall, wherever you feel led to impact and let His light shine.  The results may not be as dramatic as the movies but the promise of eternal life certainly is better than anything Peter Jackson can put together and that is saying a lot.

The church I attended in Santa Cruz was not bad, I tired of acting like I enjoyed participating in a traditional, once a week community.  If I simply wanted to hear a sermon and then leave, I could do that in my studio by listening to a sermon online.

The dilemma consistently present in my Christian walk has always been my lack of enjoyment over Sunday services.  To be honest, they bore me.  While being involved in the general Christian community is important, I find myself much more comfortable in a singular setting like Starbucks where I can get to know you, hear your heart and have a strong, Biblical conversation right there.  Sunday services have always provided an awkward mix of introducing yourself to people you will probably not talk to again, while putting on a happy face, trying not to look like you have issues during worship or making sure that everyone sees you working through your issues in prayer.  It feels like a bad Broadway show.

Additionally, the internet has provided a strong medium to receive excellent teaching from seasoned pastors from the past.  I would rather hear a sermon from Leonard Ravenhill, Ian Paisley or A.W. Tozer over most modern day pastors.  There are reasons more people quote other speakers or authors than their local pastor on Facebook, it’s because we connect with strong, intelligent orators.

Is that fair?  Probably not.  Is it reality?  You bet a duck’s butt it is.

Presently, I found a good church that I have attended on a more than normal basis.  I like the pastor, the teaching and the overall group of people that attend.  It felt good when I received an email wondering where I was after a two week absence.

The thing is, I really don’t want my life to revolve around my local church.  The church can function as one of many instruments to help me grow in my faith but if I miss a week because I haven’t had a solid block of time to sit, read, meditate, go deep in God’s Word, let Him do His thing, I am going to do that.

Does that make me a bad Christian?  Judge however you want.  I am thankful for it all and thankful that I no longer attend church with a feeling of complete disappointment and dread.  If I am that far in my journey to making Sunday service important again, then I will admit that I am happy with that progress.

Prayers must be red hot.  It is the fervent prayer that is effectual and that availeth.  Coldness of spirit hinders praying; prayer cannot live in a wintry atmosphere.  ~E.M. Bounds

I like to think of prophecy as a tool, similar to how doctor’s use a scalpel.  When they cut, it is meant to make a very precise line, with very little width and tends not to create a ton of blood everywhere.  It is clean, concise and hopefully hits the mark; not to deep, not to shallow.

Prayer is the same way.  That’s why I love this quote.  Red hot!  Burning.  Prayer should resonate in your heart, burn like a flame of fire.  It should constantly hit the mark with God and not be a babbling conundrum of random conversation, like a meeting with an old girlfriend, awkward but eerily familiar.

It should also not be dull or cold.  Something that Mike Bickle said at Onething was, “sin dulls your spirit.”  Such a simple message but so true.  In my own life I can tell when I am sharp and when I am dull.  It sucks when I am dull.  You know that you are not giving someone your best.  It feels like you are running with two anvils attached to your feet.

You notice that your prayers turn from what you want to give God to what you want to get from God.  We stop worshiping Him for who He is and begin to worship the problems that He isn’t fixing.  We want to hear His voice but it sounds muffled, filtered through cobwebs.

There is something so amazing when you make a choice to be red hot in your walk with the Lord.  It not only rocks your life, it expands to shake others also.

I am tired of constantly returning to the wintery season in my soul.  I want to be ready in the moment and not sluggish.  I want to pray and hit the target the first time, confidently in Him.

I am not going to say that this video is representative of most young adults, that would be unfair.  However as the election is approaching, the bigger concern should be, “how educated will people be regarding the candidates?”

The media tends to dictate what they think you should focus on regarding each candidate.  The recent perceived slant against Newt Gingrich by the Drudge Report shows that people can be sensitive to media bias.  However, that perceptive group is small compared to the “news at a glance” group that the majority of this country makes up.  In fact, it may be even better for the Occupy Wall Street group to stop with their silly “they are the 1%, we are the 99% slogan” and want to become the people who actually take time to educate themselves about what stands each candidate  takes in an election.  They could actually go from the 99% ignorant to the 99% non-ignorant.

In a conversation with my mom, she said that the one thing candidates were not providing were solutions to the problems.  In the case of Romney, he is pulling smoke screens left and right to decimate his opponents with attacks but hasn’t provided any feasible solutions to the problems that plague this country.  If I hear “57 point plan one more time,” without actually laying it out for a normal person to understand, I am going to suggest he is blowing smoke up our butts.  Gingrich is just as bad with large grandiose ideas but little substantial means to actually fund/plan for these programs.  Paul is the only one that seems to have simple plans, with simple solutions to complex problems.  Santorum just says he is the conservative candidate and how he was the first in congress to write any bill with a conservative edge, which simply doesn’t say much.

Here is what I would suggest is reality.  Elections are a beauty contest.  If Romney wins the nomination, it is going to be a slugfest of negative ads where one candidate is going to hope they look less bloody than the other and come out on top.  There will be little substance and tons of ad hominem arguments to state who should win the election.  Pathetic?  You bet your dog’s bone it is.

So maybe this election we can try and increase the 1% to 10%.  Instead of just passively letting people state complete misinformation about either candidate, ask where they heard that, suggest a different opinion and where you got it from.  If they heard their information from Anne Hathaway or Matt Damon, politely take a glove off, slap their face and encourage them to read Politico.com and not TMZ.  Simple things that bring simple solutions.

Yes, we can change America, one glove slap at a time.  Will you join me?

In fact, I have been a hurt person for about six years now.  The trust that has been destroyed can only be rebuilt block by block.

The reality is, the narratives are quite powerful.  But mine will not be one of them.  At least not in such a public way.

It isn’t fair to other people when you write about them in such a public way.  It never ends up….right.  As much as it would provide a sentimental outpouring, it wouldn’t mend or provide forgiveness…instead it would look more like revenge.

John Maxwell says, “hurt people hurt others.”

I can say that where I love the most is in my relationships with people.  Where I hurt most is in the organized church.  So I have worked hard to create strong boundaries so I can heal.

My narrative is told to a few key people who want to know more, care enough to pray and encourage me to not wallow in my own self-pity.

I can’t speak for the gentlemen that went through some very, from what their story suggests, painful experiences; painful enough that they felt going public would hopefully bring some exposure/closure to the situation?

As much as part of me wants to do the same, I personally feel that it would not breathe life into anyone.  Maybe I am getting older, cause I know about 4 years ago I wouldn’t have thought twice about it.  I hope that the narratives I share will encourage, edify and bring a new perspective to your own journey.  Until then, I hope the healing process continues so I can keep going.

After watching Thursday’s debate on CNN, it left me underwhelmed, apathetic and somewhat disgusted with most everyone on stage (minus Ron Paul who seems to nice to dislike).  In the end, one of these two egomaniacs are going to be the nominee for the Republican party and the rest of America is going to be stuck voting between the other egomaniac from the Democratic party.

Noone is happy in America with either side and the showing for someone like Ron Paul, a fantasy third party candidate, shows the dissatisfaction growing in America that truly wants change in Washington, DC.  If elections are simply who we get stuck with to vote, then are they true elections anyway?  It almost feels like the collegiate football BCS system all over again.  While it was ok that Alabama and LSU played in the national final, we all knew that there were three other teams that could have had just as good of a chance in the game as Bama.

Unfortunately, money runs all things.  Unless a Trump, Bloomberg or other billionaire egomaniac decided to run, it would be difficult for a third party to rise.  Most are counting Gingrich out because he simply doesn’t have the money that Romney has.  Isn’t that sad?  It would be sadder if it were a candidate I could fully get behind, then I could at least write a stronger argument.

I am tired of waiting four years for someone to come along and give us the leadership that has made America so great for not only Americans but the world.  If we could only press reset on this whole group and put people in that we knew would focus on issues, not have fifty million skeletons in their closet and be able to lay out coherent plans on how to get our nation back on the right path.

But hey, people have been shouting about the BCS system for years and that hasn’t changed, so I guess we should buckle down and get ready for another four years of meh.  Of course, maybe something will surprise us yet.

• The State of the Union: If you watched it, you deserve a piece of cake.  Listening to more of the same rhetoric, knowing nothing will come of it, really defines the need for new leadership all the way around.
• Speaking of new leadership, in my opinion, Gingrich is as good as it gets….that isn’t saying much.  If a stronger third party candidate rose up, I would drop him like a hot poker.  Of course, some people won’t even vote if he becomes the nominee which is flat out sad.
• Nyquil makes me open up like alcohol would make a drunk person open up to the masses.  I am not sure if that is a good thing or not but when you are Facebook chatting and you suddenly realize that you explained your innermost analytical thoughts to another friend….ummm….I should probably turn the computer off as the sleepy goodness takes affect.
• People asking the Holy Spirit to manifest to receive a personal, emotional satiable experience is wrong.  I will write more on this when my head isn’t a bowling ball from this cold.
• Thunderstorms in January, lightning in the snow, crazy weather.  Welcome to Indiana.
• I definitely felt an emotional connection with the people chosen to have their story told in front of millions at the State of the Union.  Agree or disagree with the president, it must be an honor to be asked to such an event by the most powerful leader in the world.  Their stories were inspiring that anyone can get out of the grime of life and try again.
• Some days, I wish I lived in Alaska simply to see this.

Thanks for reading and allowing me to form better posts by not forcing content before it’s ready.

Thankfully four remain and we can all get over the fantastical notion that any of them (sans Santorum) really are as conservative as they gleefully proclaim on the trail.  At the moment, they will say anything they can to become the nominee and then make a sweeping shift to the center to reign in independents so that they can proclaim that they ended the worst presidency ever.

Personally, I was over this whole Evangelical political charade early into the second Bush term.  Too many promises, too many broken and feeling quite used after.  In the end, politics and religion really do not mix well.  The Evangelical idea that we can get “God’s chosen” into the White House and all will be well is complete idiocy.

So here are my thoughts on the remaining candidates:

Mitt Romney

He has worked very hard to make everyone forget that it was only four years ago he lost, badly, to John McCain.  He wants all of us to forget that he supported Romneycare; that he has flip-flopped on every issue under the sun; that he has a ton of money; that he hasn’t been successful in any major political office; he just wants us to forget.

He has worked very hard to follow President Obama’s playbook, guarded, on message and no leaks from his initial campaign.  Yes, he has worked very hard to create a sequel to a very bad movie to hope that we all forget that this is still the same man that noone liked then and really don’t like now.

As you can tell, I don’t like Romney.

Rick Santorum

What can you say about Rick?  The only reason he is still standing is because he drew the last straw of the conservatives in Iowa and happened to win.  Being under the radar was a good thing for him and I can’t imagine how many times he has thanked God for being placed on the end during those debates.

While the guy has the most conservative record, he is also the most ideologically goofy.  To list the silly notion that radical Islam was the sole reason for 9/11 and to completely disregard very smart analysis by Ron Paul that Bin Laden would wage a war against Western Orientalism shows how ignorant Santorum is to sociological research on this subject.

I couldn’t take him seriously in the beginning of the campaign and honestly can’t now.  Getting someone like that into office would be Obama in reverse and we simply can’t have another person come in on the far right who will ostracize the entire Democratic base, creating another stalemate of political activity.

Nope, not a fan.

Ron Paul

Paul has been the consistent “Libertarian acting as a Republican” voice in the race.  In many cases, he talks and makes so much sense that you wonder why he isn’t taken more seriously; and then other times, he talks and sounds so senile that you wish he would just retire.  He is this year’s Ross Perot.

He has been able to do what many other candidates could not, pull from the left to the right based on a myriad of political stances (anti-war, anti-interventionist, removing government from most things).  If Paul doesn’t win the nomination, expect an increase in Libertarian membership.

To me, Paul comes off as a pipe-dream candidate.  You think, it would be nice to do everything he is stating but the consequences of a one term Paul presidency would be devastating for the country, much less the world.  Like it or not, we are in a global world now; by pulling out in the ways that Paul suggests, we would devastate other nations by simply not being present either militarily or fiscally.  If there is one way to start a war, that would be one.

While I appreciate Paul and many of his logical approaches, I feel he simply wouldn’t be able to bring serious solutions or be able to work with a Congress that has too many pet projects that Paul would want to abolish.

Newt Gingrich

Evangelicals like my friend, Matthew Lee Anderson, are pretty much stating that Gingrich winning South Carolina is the end of many moralistic views.  I guess Gingrich must represent some form of modernity within the Republican party that makes them just cringe.

Gingrich is far from perfect.  However, to state that you wouldn’t support Gingrich because of his past marriage issues would pretty much disqualify a good chunk of our current pastorates, many of our church leaders and overall half of the Evangelical church in regards to divorce.

Is it any worse that Romney blatantly lies about his flip-flops or spins how Bain made their money?  They are all politicians, attempting to say anything to win your vote.  If we were voting on a purity scale, Paul and Santorum are definitely better in that category.

With Gingrich, I will admit that while I find his past unappealing, I also find my own in the same light.  I am not voting for a person who will best be able to fill the role of  Jesus Christ, Superstar; I am voting for a person that I feel can actually make considerable change in DC.  In that regard, Gingrich has a record of being able to work with Democrats (aka Bill Clinton) to get good bills passed.

Now, when Gingrich gets into some of his grandiose ideas, I simply shake my head.  Stick with what you know you can accomplish and you should be good.

I believe Gingrich has bucked the trend of narrow-minded Republican approaches and can at least be more of a centrist in the long run.  Hence, why I currently support him.  That could all change in a day though, depending on what other truths come out.

If Romney became the Republican nominee, it would be very difficult for me to vote for him.  In fact, it would probably be his Vice Presidential candidate that pulls me in.  Otherwise, I may have to really research alternative party candidates.  Maybe you feel the same way.

Overall the Republican group of candidates are underwhelming and I wish that someone, anyone else would be running.  But until Americans demand better, this is what we get.  Pretty sad eh?