Category Archives: Dying to the Flesh

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Gay Marriage Is Not an Attack on the Church, It’s an Opportunity

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Coming to My Senses, Dying to the Flesh

July 22, 2012

Gay Marriage is Not an Attack on the Church, It’s an Opportunity

Just based on the title of this article, if you are a “traditional marriage protector,” you are probably reading this article because you already disagree with me. If you are someone who is a “gay marriage equality advocate,” you probably pointed at your computer screen and said “yeah, exactly!” Well, before you jump to conclusions in agreement or disagreement, you probably want to read on…both groups will probably find plenty to disagree and get angry with in the following paragraphs. Let me preempt your judgements by saying that this article is not intended to be argumentative, hateful or divisive in any way. Like all of my articles, this is just me putting my thoughts down and making them available in a public forum. Hot-button topics such as gay marriage are very real and personal issues for many people, and personal issues often create powerful emotional responses. I just hope you will read this and respect my beliefs and opinions, whether or not you agree.  Read more...

ChurchSurfer 2012, Dying to the Flesh

Extremist? Yes. Ashamed? No.

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Coming to My Senses, Dying to the Flesh

July 1, 2012

Extremist? Yes. Ashamed? No.

I have a non-believing friend who is what you call an “argument waiting to happen”. I say that not intending to negatively portray him as someone who is angry at the world and always trying to pick fights, but rather as someone who is a philosopher of sorts and loves to argue and hash out the various points of different issues and beliefs. I personally think that it bothers him that some people seem (emphasis on seem) to “blindly accept” things at face value without constantly taking opposing views into consideration. I would say that I’m somewhat the opposite, and that it bothers me when someone never accepts anything except that they are open to everything. It bothers me because these are the people who accuse believers of being “narrow-minded”, though in my eyes there is little difference in the open-mindedness of someone who adopts a truly strong faith in one particular belief system and  someone who believes that there is absolutely no single faith worth having faith in. Either person is adopting an absolute and leaving little room for differing opinions.

So the point of writing this article is to answer his (and those of the “Christians-are-narrow-minded” camp’s) criticism of my faith. Hopefully this will encourage and inspire believers who may struggle with these types of attacks from non-believers. I will begin by sharing part of a note he wrote to me after a recent “argument”:  Read more...

ChurchSurfer 2012, Dying to the Flesh

People Are Trying to Kill Me

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Coming to my Senses, Dying to the Flesh

June 9, 2012

People Are Trying to Kill Me

I am convinced that people are trying to kill me. Sounds like a statement from a crazy person, right? (no offense intended to crazy people, just a figure of speech) Rest assured, I’m not a paranoid person. I don’t think ‘big brother’, the ‘eye in the sky’, or Google are out to get me. So why, then, would I honestly believe that people are trying to kill me? Well, let me explain. I have been lied to. We all have. We are being lied to on a daily basis by businesses who seek to profit at the expense of our health. Our food supply has been turned into poison.

We are being marketed and sold food that has little to no nutritional value because the companies that produce processed foods can get a much higher profit margin on it. Higher profit margins come from fillers and additives that make raw produce go much further and government subsidies that keep ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils much cheaper than they should be. This all makes producing low nutrition food very attractive from a business perspective.  Read more...

ChurchSurfer 2012, Dying to the Flesh

Because Christians Are the Only Ones Who Judge

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Recently when I participated in the 48 Hour Launch competition I received a great blessing – to be hated for the sake of my savior, Jesus Christ.

Let me explain.  You see, as a Christian I am typically surrounded by other Christians (at least in settings where we all know the beliefs of those around us…such as at church, a ministry meeting, or a spiritual retreat).  When I go to a restaurant, a movie theater, a shopping mall, or any other public place, nobody knows what the spiritual or religious beliefs of anyone else are.  So even though I might be surrounded by non-believers, I would never be subject to any kind of public repercussions to my faith.

I think it is safe to say that it is public opinion that Christians are judgmental…the way we are portrayed in the media and all the coverage about radical Kuran-burners and gay-funeral-protesters ensures that we all get lumped into one big heap of hateful people who are anti-everything-that-has-anything-to-do-with-equality-and-acceptance.  Everyone outside of Christianity (and not in some crazy cult), is of course, completely rational, accepting of everyone’s belief systems, and sympathetic to everything that is unjust in our society.  Think again.

At 48 Hour Launch I experienced how “accepting” people are of Christians.  I watched all weekend as the 50 or so people who made up the nine other teams interacted with each other, shared conversations, and walked right by my table without a glance.  I watched all weekend as the other people talked with excitement about how each of the other projects would entertain or offer a business service to the Chattanooga community, but then never once came by to find out what ChurchSurfer would offer.  I watched all weekend as people kept their distance.  I also watched as people who probably wanted to come talk to me didn’t because of what others in attendance might think of them.  Read more...

ChurchSurfer 2012, Dying to the Flesh

ChurchSurfer @ 48 Hour Launch Chattanooga: Winning Without Winning

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This weekend, I competed in an event called 48 Hour Launch with “Team ChurchSurfer”, which included some very dedicated and now very dear friends, Chante Newcomb, David Hunter, Mike Crane, and Joey Miller.  We also had support and contributions from several other people including my wife Laura Davis, Michael Brooks, Tony Burgess, and Chris Littleton.  Everyone who pitched in touched me in a way they probably don’t understand, because they chose to work on a project that is much bigger than just creating a website and mobile application that helps people find a church.  By supporting this project, it demonstrated that, like me, they desire to serve God and serve the community by using their time and skills to create things that will help others.  So thank you from the bottom of my heart to all those who were part of the 48 Hour Launch weekend…it really means a lot to me.  48 Hour Launch Chattanooga

For those who might be interested in what went on at 48 Hour Launch, I thought I would share my presentation speech with you on my blog.  While other teams used their four minutes of time to tout the usefulness and cool features of their mobile apps and websites (and they definitely were really good!), I chose to use my time to share a personal testimony and give glory to Jesus Christ for saving my life.  Unfortunately, we did not win the competition, but we do have a functioning website that is waiting for churches to sign up and fill out their information so that people can begin finding a church to connect with.  So please encourage your pastor to sign up at ChurchSurfer.com and contact me directly if they need any assistance!  Read more...