Shedding Identity As A Christian

Our pastor recently returned from a trip to Indonesia with a story of people who are running covert operations in the name of Jesus. What I mean is, they are immersing themselves into the Muslim Culture and teaching the way of Christ to them, or how to follow the Teachings of Jesus and still be a Muslim.

My question that I keep going back to is this: can we shed our Christian name and identity but still be Christians? If we are immersed into the Muslim Culture, are we then Muslims if we take on their identity (i.e. names, rituals, etc)? Can we still call ourselves Christ Followers if this is the case?

I wonder this because amazing things are still happening that would be considered “normal” for a Christ Follower. For Example, the idea of Christian ethics are being introduced unknowingly, Muslims are praying in Jesus’ name, and Bible studies are being formed by muslims as well. But it is not known “in the name of Christ”. It is just happening.

I guess I stumble, because I feel as if there has to be some kind of Christian stamp on it. Somewhere, we need to know that it’s happening, in some form, for and by Jesus’ strength alone. BUT IT DOESN’T! Does it?

Addicted to Triathlon Training

Today I was thinking about Triathlon. Seriously, it takes up a lot of my brain space. I’ve only been training for a month and a half, but I think about it a lot. Some of the the things I think about include my workout, my diet, prep for my workout, stretching, when I can get a work out in, how excited I am that I can run three miles in a row, why cant I run three miles any faster, when is it going to warm up so I can run/bike/swim outside, when I’m swimming what is the easiest way to do it, what are my arms supposed to look like, I need to get new padded shorts for bike riding because my butt be hurtin’, maybe that will make my butt look big, that’s probably not a bad thing…

really the list goes on and on.

My name is Ron. I am addicted to Triathlon Training. I keeps it real.

Confession: I’m only human! I’m Sorry…

Yesterday I led the church through a worship service and we discussed dreaming about how we can impact our immediate neighbors.

Afterwards, I went to Haggen and a guy speeding through the parking lot had to slam his brakes so he didn’t hit me in the crosswalk.

My Confession: I almost flipped him off. After leaving the service talking about loving God and Neighbor, I was half a second away from giving this guy his half of a peace sign. Whoopsie.

My question: Why do we smile and wave when we almost kill people with our vehicles? I’ve almost hit a person who came out of nowhere before, and I did the exact same thing this guy did. Smile and wave. Does this make it better?

Whatever Happened to Please and Thank You?

Is it me, or are people getting grumpier and grumpier? People pushing and shoving. No Please or Thank You’s.

Manners? Forget about it. They don’t seem to exist as much anymore. I wish that I could tell more customers at St. Arbucks about this. In fact, I wish more people heard this song below.

As cheesy as it is, the message of the song sure could be used by a lot of the people I come into contact from day to day. I find it funny that we push manners on our kids, but we don’t use them ourselves. Eye Contact People!!! Friendly Conversation! Otherwise, this bumper sticker may be right up your alley:

Thoughts?