Posts tagged humanity
OMNI
Jul 2nd
If I was a pastor I would do a series called “OMNI”. This series probably would have worked better during the height of the “all that and a bag of chips” era. Omni is just a fancy word for all. And since we all think we are all that and a bag of chips, if the year was currently something B.C. we would be building our own little idols. Maybe we already are with things like twitter.com/knutsoncody, codyknutson.com, and for those of you who are on the book of faces, facebook.com/allthatandabagofchips. As I think about sin, mine in particular, it always comes down to selfishness. Said bluntly, I desire to be like God. Meaning I want to do whatever in the hell or heaven that I want to. That’s how it started with Adam and Eve, right?
Week 1: Omniscience – actually knowing everything that can be known. God knows all. We have a fascination to know all. The biggest names in the internet game attempt to provide us with knowledge instantly. I learned of MJ’s death through Twitter and I imagine it was way before CNN could/would confirm the details. Of course there is nothing wrong with knowledge but I believe we focus too much on insignificant knowledge.
Week 2: Omnipotence – having unlimited power or authority. God has all power. Why do we try to rob him of this? It’s a bleak attempt at best, yet we continue to try. Of course we try to be all powerful. Tell me you never try to control everything. I mean everything. We even try with our wannabe omniscient powers to come up with answers for why things happen. The old cliché of letting go and letting God is a lot easier said than done.
Week 3: Omnipresence – the property of being present everywhere. God is like Santa Claus, he is everywhere at all times. I ain’t gonna lie, if I could jump into a Delorian and go back to 1985 I would. We’ll maybe not 1985 but I would love to be able to travel the world. This attribute of God alone, should help us realize that we ought to quit attempting to be all knowing and all powerful.
In response to the Fonzie post…
May 20th
As I mentioned, I like to portray myself as cool. Deep down I’m just out of touch with society and especially pop culture. About all of the pop culture I digest comes from Time magazine. Time, is my go to toilet material because I am cool like that.
A few issues back there was an article about a county in southern California. And like every where else, this county was trying to be cool by “going green.” The commissioners had issues with getting people involved and trying new things though. (if you aren’t willing to try new things, you probably aren’t cool. unless, you are Johnny Cash) The county marketed and even created laws enforcing the green lifestyle. Neither worked. The county got smart. They revealed each homes savings of money and energy to the neighbors. When people saw that their neighbor was doing better than them, a keeping up with the Jones’ effect happened.
This story made me think. I ain’t cool because somehow I have the ability to relate and compare everything and anything to some aspect of my belief system. As a society we are so willing/wanting to be accepted. We don’t want to be the odd one out. We are looking for the next thing (you can stop looking because that is me). We are always prepared for the curve ball. This is cool to me because we never get bored and if we do, we will just label something as cool. I truly feel society is looking for something to follow. Something to believe in. Something that will actually last.
I think I have the answer.
Peter or Paul
Apr 9th
I have been digging through the events that lead up to Jesus’ death. I always try to find some detail that I have never noticed before. Actually, I found 2 things that made me go hmm. I won’t talk about them though. I don’t feel like hashing through Jewish customs on this platform.
Something that I realized, while doing this, is I like Peter. Reading about Peter reminds me of myself. More so his failures than his successes. I love how Peter is revealed as a real dude. I am not sure why Jesus’ other company is not. Maybe Peter was just more vulnerable and didn’t punch people in the mouth when his purposes were questioned.
I am not a big fan of Paul. Paul was a stud. Paul changed the world. But I don’t think we would have got along. I know people thought he was an ass at times. Believe me I should be more like Paul but I just don’t think we would have jived.
Peter loved Christ. Peter loved his culture. Christ loved Peter. Jesus gave Peter a cool nickname as well. The Rock.
Some say that Peter was the rock that the church should be founded upon. Catholic priests consider themselves representatives of Peter’s position. Another thing I love about Peter is that he dared to walk on water. Ya, he sunk but at least he had the nuts to step off. He trusted Christ but then began to look else where. Who hasn’t?
Back to the Easter scene. Peter denied Christ. The rooster crowed. Peter was questioned about his companionship with Christ. The rooster crowed. He had been seen with Christ. Peter was picked out of a crowd. He must have been influential in Christ’s ministry within the region. There is a party going in the midst of Jesus’ trial, I can only imagine chaos. Yet Peter stands out. He is accused of being with the Nazarene. His actions proceed him. And we all know he denies his relationship with Christ.
It’s easy to be the armchair quarterback and say you wouldn’t have denied Christ. We deny Christ everyday. This day coming up, that is filled with peeps and little girls in flowery dresses, should be the ultimate reminder of how Christ didn’t deny us. Christ didn’t deny Peter even though He called Peter out on denying Him.
Peter went on to runamuck in Christ’s name. I think we should realize that our denial of Christ is magnified during this season. When you walk out of church Sunday, will you have realized that you deny Christ or will you just be saddened by the torture inflicted upon Jesus? Regardless, I plan on coming out with guns blazing. I plan on being a better follower. I plan on being a better husband. I plan on being a better father.
We must remember that Jesus chose to face the cross. When his boys were sleeping while they were to be on the look out He knew he would be betrayed. He didn’t call on a legion of angels. He followed through with the Father’s will but it wasn’t easy for Him. He asked the Father to give him the strength to complete this task.
He wanted to die for you. You chose Him at your convenience but do you follow Him? I guess the best person to ask that question to is Christ himself. Sunday, this is what I intend to do. I plan on asking my Savior, “Do I follow you in a manner that benefits your cause?”
I stole Los’ post!
Mar 24th
I know the infamous Los doesn’t need me sending you to his blog, because if you happen to read this, then you probably check his insight long before you check mine. However, I insist that you check his greatest post ever, now!
I have wanted to say this but I have been afraid. The church has lost touch with it’s divine purpose. I have lost touch with my ultimate intention as a believer. We have tried to be cool. And in doing this we are not ourselves. We have tried to be edgy. And in doing this we have lost our foundation. We have tried to be trendy. And in doing this have swayed from ecclesiastical ideology.
Jesus and his followers were not viewed as cool. Loving them or hating them, their community knew they were real though. Jesus and his crew were real people with real problems with a real answer. They were either accepted or rejected but they did not attempt to bring people in with making their claims relevant by trying to familiarize themselves with trends. It was quite the opposite. I am not saying that the church as a whole is doing anything wrong but that it is not being as effective as possible. Let’s break bread and offer a full meal in our dirty homes. Let’s worship him by rejecting sin. Let’s relate to them by being vulnerable with our faults. Let’s allow people to see the real us. Let’s quit making pastors famous and make Jesus famous. Heck, let’s make sure that we spend more time corporately outside the four walls than we do inside them.
But, who am I?
This Is In Our Hood
Mar 6th
Gracepointchurch.tv! If we sit back and don’t do something about THIS, we are liars!
