Moments With Mason

I’ve been thinking. I was in my scriptwriting class the other day. My final project was was to take one of my original assignments and turn it into a twenty-five page script. I chose to do mine on the new NBC show Community. Hilarious show by the way. Once we had finished our script, we were to ask our classmates to read them out loud for the whole class. Most seemed to like my script. They laughed at all the parts I wanted them to laugh at. They even laughed a bit more than I thought and a little harder than I expected. They were enjoying what I had created. My creation had done exactly what I created it to do. Therefore, when my classmates were laughing, it felt really good; almost like being congratulated on my creation. Is this how God feels when his children do what they were created for? I was so proud that they liked my script because that’s why I created it – to make people laugh. I sat back in my chair and grinned as they laughed and soaked it in. I want you to picture God our father sitting back in his chair and telling everyone he knows that he created you and that He’s so proud of you for what you are. It’s encouraging isn’t it? With that being said, I have no intention of dying on a cross to ensure that my script gets a fair shot of being on television (even though I was told it was that good). Our father is so proud of us just for being what we were created to be. Maybe he created you to be a leader. Maybe he created you to help people. Maybe he wants you to relate to people because of a specific talent he gave you. I know for a fact that God made me the funniest person in the room. Do what you were created to do. It makes God smile with pride in his children. Can I get an amen?

Hey guys. Just wanted to stop by and say hi, as well as talk a bit. Seth gave me the chance to teach the college class for the remainder of the semester. I chose to do at least a couple of classes on the book of Jonah. This past summer was first time I had ever really read the entire book of Jonah. I was honestly surprised by the ending. If you’ve read the whole book, you know what I’m talking about. It’s the only book in the bible that ends in a question. This is the main reason that I have fallen in love with the book. It’s very ambiguous and therefore it forces us to attempt to fill in the blanks since the author of the book was quite vague.

But before we get on to what the book is about, let me get something off my chest. It bugs me to no end when people go out of their way to specify that what swallowed Jonah was a big fish, not a whale. Anyone who finds significance in this little fact is looking way past what the author intended. Plus, to a man who lives around 780bc, what is the difference between a big fish and a whale? Who knows? Maybe it is truly unforgivable to not know that a whale is clearly not a fish, but a mammal. How dare he? After all, we all know that the research existed back then to differentiate between the two. So if you’re ever talking to me about this story, call it what you want, but don’t correct me if I may call it a whale without thinking about it.

Anyway, back to Jonah. The first thing that appeals to readers is a man living in the belly of a whale for three days and three nights. However, the fish only represents a prison in which Jonah must face God and eventually himself as well as his calling. What appeals to us next is how much we find ourselves in this story. We all have our place in it. Some of us are the religious individuals who want all the grace in the world until it comes time to forgive someone who “isn’t as good as me.” While some of us are the people who need to be forgiven for our sins that we are ignorant of. We all need the attitude of the Ninevites and pray that God may show us the mercy that we don’t deserve. Maybe sometimes we find ourselves in the place of God, genuinely wanting to forgive someone who constantly rejects our love.

The reason that this story surprised me so much when I read it this past year is because of all the children stories who make it sound like Jonah was afraid and finally preached God’s word because he decided to be brave. Jonah may have been scared some (to be fair, God may as well have asked Jonah to ask Hitler to stop the holocaust), but it was not his  reason for running. The Veggie Tales adaptation is the most accurate among any version made for kids, although it did leave out Jonah’s prayer from inside the whale. Jonah ran because he was a religious, self-righteous, racist bigot who did not want to see Nineveh forgiven for their crimes.

Now, while it is not necessarily what attracts me to the story the most, there are a couple of really big themes. I would say the overall theme is God’s everlasting, all-encompassing, unconditional, unlimited, deep compassion for his children. It is a well that shall not soon run dry. Who knows how long God has been wanting to redeem the people of Nineveh. The fact that God relented from his threat to destroy them as soon as they repented tells me that forgiveness is not what God was wanting to accomplish; it was redemption. God cannot wait to redeem Nineveh because he loves them. God’s compassion runs deeper than we often think when it comes to our own lives. Pause for a moment, and consider what He has done for you. Maybe He has healed you like he did the man’s ear. Maybe He defended you like he did the woman who was about to be stoned. Maybe He has comforted you like he did Martha and Mary after their brother died. Maybe He fed you as he did the hungry 5,000. We will all say that He has forgiven us when we don’t deserve it just as he did the criminal on the cross. And He has redeemed us and taken us back just like the prodigal son (as well as Nineveh). God’s compassion is bigger than my sin. As in the story of Jonah, His compassion is bigger than our arrogance, self-righteousness, and our refusal to reach out to those who need Him most. Compassion is defined as the desire to relieve someone else’s suffering. Compassion is taking sympathy one step further. While it is technically a noun, the bible uses it more as a verb. This is so encouraging to me. God is not a god of feeling sorry for his people. He is a God who will deliver and heal and forgive his children. Let’s make compassion a verb.

Another theme I like from this story is religion vs. the gospel. Jonah is a very religious individual. I’m sure he observed the law just fine and did everything he should to achieve what we wrongly consider righteousness. The law began with the ten commandments and grew into several more. It’s intention was to allow me to measure how bad I am. I am supposed to look in the mirror and say “God, this is how dirty I am. Can you please love me anyway?” This is a good prayer right? The only problem is that we don’t use the law as a mirror to examine ourselves. We use it as a way of accusing others. If someone struggles with a certain sin that I don’t, they should be as good as me, right? This is Jonah’s attitude when we meet him. Nineveh does not deserve forgiveness because they’re not like Jonah. Unfortunately, this is what religion can be and usually is. I don’t necessarily think religion has to be a bad thing, but at this point, I don’t consider it a good thing either. I believe wholeheartedly that Jesus wanted to abolish religion. Jesus didn’t say to get everything right. He said to love God and love people (the only two lessons Jonah struggled with) and don’t worry when you don’t always get it right. That’s why he chose to die, so we don’t have to worry about it. This is what happens in the second chapter of the book. There is no religion to practice in the belly of a whale. There are no synagogues, scribes, or laws in the belly of a whale. Obviously, Jonah was still not crazy about the idea of saving Nineveh, but he realized who God is; and he will go along with it because God is determined to save the world and there is nothing Jonah can do about it. I don’t think God calls us to enjoy everything he does, but He does ask that there is enough love in our hearts to love the world anyway. This is the gospel. It is driven by love. This is what was asked of Jonah and is asked of us. How will we respond?

But here’s the grand finale. What I love most about the story is the ending (or lack thereof). Jonah, despite agreeing to reach out to Nineveh, still wants the destruction of the city to happen. It’s not happening though. God asks Jonah the one question that will haunt him all the way to his grave. It almost makes me shiver when I think of it from Jonah’s point of view. God’s question is this: “Why should I not be concerned for Nineveh?” I’m paraphrasing a bit, but that’s the question. If you think about it, this is the last thing that Jonah wants to hear from the God he has so eagerly served. Why should he not be concerned? I’ll bet Jonah had a thousand answers to that question (all of which God would have scowled at). I like this ending. It feels more like literature to me than most of the bible. There is some question of this book’s validity. For one, Jonah is mentioned in 2 Kings ch. 14, and Jesus mentioned him as well in Matthew ch. 12. So we know that Jonah was real. I personally feel like this story is kind of like one of those movie trailers that shows a caption that says: “based on the inspiring true story”. That’s just my point of view, so take it with a grain of salt. But that’s the reason I love it. A fictional story allows me to use my imagination and so does the book of Jonah. I am forced to consider what Jonah’s answer may have been. I kind of think Jonah included some expletives in his response to God’s question. But this story also forces us to do something else. It makes us think of all the questions God may be asking us. Who are You calling me to love? Why did You take my grandma away from me? Am I really worthy of Your compassion? Where is Your mission taking me? Spend some time with the questions that haunt you most and see if you don’t grow from it. I can’t decide if I think Jonah finally grew up or not. But God had to break Jacob before He could make way for Israel. A muscle must be torn first for it to grow. Maybe God asked Jonah this particular question for a divine reason. Maybe God wants to confront the things that will break us so that He can fill in the cracks. Can you think of a question that might break you if you give it the chance? Face it head on. If you make a story out of it though, try to add an ending.

Hey guys. It’s been too long. Ever so often, something catches my attention to the point that I can’t hold it in. Last night I went to see the new movie called The Invention of Lying. It was quite humorous, as well as PG-13. I’m giving you the rating because I want anyone who can to see it and I want to give that warning. It definitely has its vulgarities and some language, but I’m not telling you to see it because I think you will laugh out loud. Brace yourself. I want you to see this movies because it is a blatant attack on religion. While it will sell itself as a romantic comedy, writer and director Ricky Gervais (The Office) obviously had an objective as well. To brief you without hopefully giving away too much information, it is a world where there is no gene in the human brain for lying. The main character somehow learns how to lie and therefore tries to make the world go his way. However, when he has to comfort his dying mother, he makes up a wild fantasy for an afterlife so that she won’t worry about death. But soon the rumor spread about this afterlife. So our protagonist makes up ten rules that were given to him by the “man in the sky”(sound familiar?). In these rules it was stated that the man in the sky was in fact responsible for all the bad things and good things that happened to us. Also, the man in the sky only permitted us to commit two bad actions toward someone else. Three bad things and you’re going to the bad place, not the good place. I think he wanted to show how easy it is to make up the God we believe in. Now it is our first reaction to fight back now that we’ve been pushed into the corner. We (myself included) want to stand up and say: That is NOT what Jesus came to die for! But let’s talk through this. He wanted to show how simple-minded our belief is, that our God is not so complicated. Let us consider who our god is. Sure, instinctively we will say God the Father, the creator of the universe; Yahweh. But do we possibly worship a list of morals, a list of all the dos and don’ts. The promise of an afterlife allows us the chance to look down on those who are not pursuing it as visibly as some of us are. A bit later in the movie there is a man preaching on a sidewalk saying: If the man in the sky allows you two wrong actions, then do two wrong things and you will still go to the good place with the man in the sky. Someone please convince me that they don’t get these ideas from us! Hearing that and knowing Christians are responsible for that point of view existing makes me want to fall on my knees screaming to God begging please don’t send me to hell! If it doesn’t do the same for any other Christian, that person really ought to examine him/herself. I do think the writer was generalizing on all religions, but he is British and also lives in America. So I’m guessing his thoughts on religion came from Christians. His perspective did not seem very scholarly, which means he gets these ideas from us, not the bible! We have got to know that Jesus never intended for his followers to never be part of a religion, but a worldwide community of people who love each other and love God. That part of the Christian belief was found nowhere in the movie. Do you know why? Because we don’t show it! Hopefully by the number of exclamation marks so far, you will know how disappointed I am in the church (and yes, I am a part of it as well). I really don’t like bashing the church most of the time, but this movie was a wake up call and a well deserved slap in the face from a lot of people who I have hurt in the name of Jesus. That’s why I want you to see this movie. We need to wake up. We need to know what the world thinks of us. If you are reading this and you are not a religious person, please know one thing: I AM SORRY FOR HOW MUCH HURT THE CHURCH HAS BROUGHT TO THE WORLD. We were never meant to regulate our lives based on a quota of wrong actions, but the love of our loving savior. Let’s get it together church.

I believe that God has placed ministry on my heart. It is my short term goal to be in a ministry position within the next five years. I think many people who have this goal go to seminary or a Christian college to get a degree. I am in the process of getting a creative writing degree with a minor in religious studies at the University of Central Arkansas. This is not religion as in Christianity. This is religion usually from a philospher’s point of view. Most philosopher’s will tell the religious individual that he/she is out of their mind. This is a lot of fun. I do not want my faith to go unquestioned or unchallenged, and I don’t think God wants that either. So I sit down a few times every week and listen to what some intellectual person has to say about something he/she has never experienced. I usually don’t speak up. I’m a firm believer that arguing gets Christianity nowhere, so I just soak it in. Sometimes it hurts, but I know I’m growing. Plus, these people are the sheep, not the bible students at Harding (nothing against Christian schools). I’ve heard students and teachers alike say things like “The church only raises money to survive”, and “God could create us only to do the right thing without compromising free will.” Of course I don’t agree with these things, but I think Jesus would get along just fine with these people. I don’t think that Jesus or the apostles ever argued with an atheistic philosopher (I could be wrong), so I guess I’ll have to learn how to deal with philosophers from philosophers. I’m praying for patience and wisdom. The only thing about about praying for either of these is that God makes you earn it. If I want wisdom, I’d better be ready to open up some books. And if I want patience, God is going to put more skeptics in my face than I will ever want. But I think it will be worth it. And I am exited about it. God is on the move and I get to be a part of it, so I will gladly accept the opposition.

The day was April 1st. I am on my way to have lunch with a friend from work when I see an elderly man (very elderly) walking practically on the road. Cars are having to drive around him. He is pushing a cart with a walker in it and several smaller things. He clearly needs help. And so the classic question enters my mind: “What would Jesus do?” Now, this is a silly question to begin with, but most of you probably agree with me so I’ll continue with the story. Having argued with myself for a good two or three seconds, I did what we Pharisees do best, I drove by him. As soon as I did, it was like the Holy Spirit punched me in the stomach in that loving way only He can. So I quickly turned into a gas station parking lot, and turned around. I pulled into a very small parking lot where he was walking by and stopped, got out and asked him if I could offer him a ride anywhere. He spoke unclearly and I asked him to repeat himself and he told me he was on his way to the senior citizens center and his daughter was going to pick him up. He then proceeded to point his finger over my shoulder as I turned around and and realized I was in the parking lot of the senior citizens center. He thanked me for the offer and began to make his way inside. I told him to have a blessed day.

So I ask you, faithful readers, does this count as good intentions (which I think God is less than impressed with most of the time) or a good deed? It’s been killing me.

“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the lest of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” -Matthew 25:40

I am now convinced more than ever that God has a sense of humor. Happy April Fools Day.

Hey guys, it’s been a while. I apologize to those of you who enjoyed our moments together here, especially you John. You seemed particularly bothered by my blog abcense. But here I am, and here I go.

Things are good. I am still at UCA. My major will soon be creative writing with a minor in religion. Religion at UCA is nothing at all like a bible program at a Christian university. I usually feel like a single Christian in the middle of twenty or so atheists, agnostics, or whatever they prefer to call themselves. It’s all apathy in my opinion. But I enjoy it deeply. I think I can learn just as much from them as I can from a Bible professor. If I am to become a minister of some sort, I will be reaching out to non-believers as much as teaching Christians. Plus, this past weekend has helped me realize that a classroom full of non-believers is as much a mission field as I’m ever going to see.

Now, as for the weekend I’ve had, I feel immensly blessed and enlightened. The theme of this year’s Tulsa workshop was “Evangalistic Revolution.” I won’t say it’s been a revolution for me because I’ve got to live it out first, but it was awesome. There were several speakers that I enjoyed listening to such as Craig Hicks, Jeff Walling, Josh Ross, Terry Rush, and of course my great friend John Dobbs. My favorite by far though was Patrick Mead. I did not get a chance to hear him last year, but his series this year was extremely inspiring. He is a servant of God and of men, plus his accent is hilarious. He gave several testimonies of inviting “outsiders” to God, not church. He attacked the church today for what we’re not doing, and it made me uncomfortable; not because he was incorrect, but because I felt like he was talking to me. And for any skeptics, he had every right to speak about what evangelism is and what it is not. I won’t get into the specifics of every sermon I heard, but every speaker I mentioned was fantastic and blessed my heart.

Now I just have to be able to live without constantly being inspired or enlightened. But I am exited about putting some thoughts into action. Please be praying for the UCC Student Ministies, that we can become more evangelical and learn what we need to and then some. As for me, I’ll be back here again. I won’t promise that this will be a constant thing, but I will try. John, I hope your happy.

The Dark Knight. I’m sorry if it seems like I’d rather blog about a comic book movie than something real… like myself. But this movie is without a doubt blog-worthy. This movie had a lot of hype to live up to. It also had a reputation to live up to. Batman Begins was the first movie of this series. I gave it five out of four stars. No, that is not a typo. However, director Christopher Nolan would not let this film disappoint. Christian Bale came back as the Batman who is beginning to fear that Batman’s purpose in Gotham is being misunderstood and not appreciated. Heath Ledger’s Joker is truly scary. As bad as this may sound, seeing this movie made me better understand his death. He played the Joker so well, I really believe Ledger went insane. I’ll warn you, Joker can be hard to watch at parts of the film. We are also introduced to Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart. Dent will later become the villain known as Two-Face, who is also difficult to look at. Harvey Dent is Gotham’s crusading district attorney who goes rogue after a tragedy and terrible scarring. Whether this movie tried or not, there are several Christian themes in this movie. The most noticeable is Batman taking credit for crimes he didn’t commit so that Gotham wouldn’t lose faith in their hero DA. Batman earlier wanted to give in and quit so that blood of victims of the Joker would no longer be on his hands, but ultimately that he will be whatever Gotham needs him to be. Even if that means he has to be hated for their faith to grow. I give The Dark Knight five out of four stars. I give Jesus seven.