So here’s my predicament: I ignored a beggar on the off-ramp today while coming to work. And when I say, “ignored,” I mean “totally did not even acknowledge his existence – no eye contact, no wave, nothing.” Just to be clear.

As I passed him, I noticed the sign he was holding. It said, “Hungry – Need food, please help!” Instantly, I became angry. I was angry at a presumably homeless beggar on the side of the road. I know what you’re thinking, “Wow, this pastor sure is compassionate. Where do I sign up to go to his church? I bet they not only ignore the homeless, but punch gentle elderly folk in the face and gamble with the offering dollars!” Trust me, I felt awful about my initial reaction as well. It was a struggle that has followed me around since the incident this morning. Allow me to let you into my struggle…

When I passed this man, I noticed something very peculiar:

He was not old, he was young. He couldn’t have been older than 30.
He was holding a sign about being hungry, yet he was smoking a cigarette with the pack in his other hand.
He was dressed not in rags, but in fairly decent clothing. I wouldn’t have chosen his clothes, but he looked presentable.

This puzzled me.

I am of the belief that knowing the background of any given situation will change the reality of that situation almost 100% of the time. For instance, a father on a subway with seemingly no control over his screaming and out-of-control children looks a lot different when you learn that he just came from the hospital where his wife died and he has no idea how to tell his kids. Compassion breaks forth when you learn of this and a mild irritation becomes a heartbreaking scenario.

Take my puzzling situation from this morning and I will fully admit to you that my compassion was tested. It was tested because of the questions in my head:

“If he’s hungry, then why is he smoking cigarettes? Why couldn’t he take that money and buy a meal? Or even a hamburger? If there is money for cigarettes, why could there not be money for food?”
“If he is hungry, and as young and as healthy and well-dressed as he appears to be, why can he not go and get a job? Even manual labor can provide a livable wage – what is the hang up here?”

So this is what I struggle with. Maybe you have struggled with the same question? The question of, “when do I give to the poor and how much?” This question, regardless of religious affiliation, is a uniquely human one. Even as a committed follower of Jesus, this question still hangs over my head like a cartoon thought bubble made of bricks. (What makes this matter even more difficult is the increasingly common stories of “beggars” who make $100,000 a year sitting on the corner, begging for a living. They are professional beggars. They don’t beg because they need it, they beg because, quite literally, it’s an easy buck or two… or one thousand.)

How do you answer this question? Would knowing the background of every beggar that you meet change if and how much you give? Why or why not? Would you give even if you knew the person would spend the money on something else than what they needed? Where does the line for benevolence begin and the line for personal responsibility end?

Some of the things I’m considering on a Tuesday morning. Peace to you…

I am in charge of taking out the trash for our family. A few weeks ago we were making chicken and placed the trimmings (read: disgusting fat strands that make we want to wretch) in our garbage. The bag was full so I closed it up and took it out to our garage and placed it in the larger collection can. Then we went on a trip and I forgot to take the collection bin out to be emptied. That was a mistake.

Seems as though chicken entrails, enclosed spaces, and warm temperatures don’t mix. We came back and the smell that had permeated our garage was a violation to the senses – a mix between a room full of soiled diapers and sweaty feet pressed directly into the nostril. Needless to say, that will be one of the last times I forget to take the garbage out

I was reminded of that story as I was listening to the morning show on a local radio station in Des Moines. The show has a segment called, “Hollywood Trash.” It’s basically a time for one of the co-hosts to dish the latest celebrity gossip – who’s dating who, who got arrested, awards show results, etc. Normally, this show is a very good, high-quality production that is a safe alternative to the raunch that normally goes on during the morning show hours.

As I listened today, for the first time ever, I realized what I was listening to: Trash. (With a segment named, “Hollywood Trash,” you would think this would be fairly obvious, but I can be slow to learn at times.) By naming it “Hollywood Trash,” the producers/hosts of the show picked a name that we normally reserve to describe the items that we do not want anymore – the things we find useless, old, gross, slimy, moldy, or unfit for human consumption. Simply put, it’s waste that smells awful in most cases.

Proverbs 17:4 says this, “An evildoer listens to wicked lips; and a liar gives heed to a mischievous tongue.” I was reminded of this as I listened to “Hollywood Trash” this morning and determined that I won’t listen to it anymore. Not in a, “you pagan media vultures! Judgment be upon ye sinners!” But in a, “I don’t want to fill my ears and mind with something that is labeled ‘trash’.”

Think about it – trash. Do you want to fill your life with something that is essentially useless? What trash do you see in your life that needs to be removed? There’s a reason why no one lives in a landfill…

Martin Luther is reported to have said the following:

“If you preach the Gospel in all aspects with the exception of the issues which deal specifically with your time you are not preaching the Gospel at all.”

I was struck by the pertinence of Luther’s words along with the appeal to speak a culturally relevant language. He illustrates the fact that you can have an amazing message to communicate, but if you do not speak the language of the audience to which you are delivering this amazing message, you have failed.

You’ve failed.

If I, and English speaker, want to tell a German-speaking audience how to make a million dollars selling the trash from their trashcan on eBay and I do not translate that message into German, they will not hear it. They won’t hear it and the power and relevancy of that life-changing message will be lost.

So it is with the church. We need to be speaking a culturally relevant language – “the issues which deal specifically with your time” – in order to communicate the life changing message of the Spirit of Christ.

Do you think our culture might be fascinated by sex (or, in some cases, “Sex”)?

The much touted “Sex and the City” debuted this weekend to the tune of a cool $55.7 million. It was also the largest debut ever for a feature comedy film with a female lead (Sarah Jessica Parker) and it had the best debut ever for an R-rated comedy. Needless to say, more people went to go see this movie – women and men – then were forecasted to go.

I go back and forth on this, as a studier of cultural patterns as well as a pastor. The thought that lingers in my mind is this: “does culture influence and therefore reflect entertainment or does entertainment dictate our cultural patterns as a society?” Simply put, do those in the entertainment industry tell us as consumers what do to or do they simply translate what is going on in the culture already?

I have my suspicions. I watched an interview with Cynthia Nixon (“Miranda Hobbes” on “Sex and the City”) on the Today Show in which she plainly stated to her interviewer, “our show is not reality.” She went on to describe how she frequently “runs into” people on the streets of New York who stop her to tell her they’ve moved to New York because of the show. “I have these people from… like… Iowa [author's note: she really did mention Iowa] who stop me and say ‘I just love the show – I want my life to look like yours!’” She quipped.

Later in the interview, she went on to mention how she was nothing like her character on the show and that an “exciting night” for her involved Ben & Jerry’s on the couch, watching a movie and petting her cat. This, as it were, seems to be a far cry from the character she portrays on the show.

Where does reality begin and fantasy end? Where is the truth to be found in all of this? How do you speak to a culture that so badly desires for “SATC” (a popular acronym to describe the show, I’ve heard) to be reality when one of the main characters starkly states, “this show is not real.”

Furthermore, where and how does God play into all of this? Is “SATC” able to be enjoyed without transferring something spiritually into our in-most being? Without dictating some sort of message to our spirits? Did you see the movie? What do you think?

For those of you who have ever stepped foot in “The 8″:

Go ahead Megs, go ahead.

Something struck me as I was preparing for my message this week: Jesus thinks very highly of us.

Jesus thinks highly of us because he’s God. If Jesus is God and God is Jesus and Jesus not only loves us but actually likes us, then that would mean that God feels the same way about you and about me.

God honors you (Isaiah 43:4).
God calls you “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
God, in fact, loves you (1 John 4:9-11).

I think this struck me so hard because I wonder how many people really believe this? Christians included! Most of us – if only subconsciously – believe that God is mostly mad at us and is really disappointed with our lives. He’s standing in heaven with a long, flowing beard, checklist and clipboard and a sharpened #2 pencil in hand, constantly checking our behavior, scribbling on his checklist and clucking his tongue whenever we goof up.

My question is simply, “who would want to follow a God like that?”

Not me.

Luckily enough, that’s not the God of Scripture and it’s not God the Father of Jesus Christ. Even as I write these words, I can feel a weight being lifted off of my shoulders… God is not mad at me!

Would you take a moment during your day and ask yourself the question, “how do I think God sees me?” Then ask yourself a second question, “how do I see God?” Those two questions, G.K. Chesterton says, are “the most important beliefs” someone has.

God is good. Good is God. God says we’re “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Any questions?

This is great, courtesy of my brother:

This video… man. This video got me in trouble today in class. I just… Wow. Take a look:

I really love this guy. I mean, I really do. I’ve been listening to a lot of Matisyahu lately. I don’t want to go into a long back story on the guy, suffice to say he’s the only Hassidic Jewish Reggae artist that I know. The man is centered on Yahweh – he’s a lover of God. Any guy who loves God like this is alright by me. Heck, half of his lyrics are from the pages of the Old Testament. Nice.

My wife and I had a chance to see Matisyahu with 311 a few weeks ago here in West Des Moines. Kerry bought me tickets to the show for our first anniversary (!!!), plus she graciously attended the show with me which, we found out, is not Kerry’s “cup of tea.” Of course, after sweating off 15 lbs. in water weight, breathing in a, shall we say, “smokey” environment for three hours, having copious amounts of stale beer spilled on her, and being elbowed in the eye by a well-intentioned, yet severely inebriated, “hippie chick,” I can’t say that I blame her I had fun though, and she had fun because I had fun. That works for me. Here’s some pics: