The Drunk Monkey Mind

One of my daily struggles is trying to decide what creative pursuits I’ll spend my time on. And believe me when I say there’s no shortage of creative things the right side of my brain is telling me to do.

But just because I can do something doesn’t mean it’s necessary. In fact, more often than not, it takes time away from more important things I need to do.

Ultimately, this deals with my subconscious mind: what’s been called “The Drunk Monkey” mind. Most people’s subconscious mind operates in two modes: keeping you alive by avoiding danger, and keeping you alive by seeking out big game to hunt.

I heard a story about a young woman who was recently killed while standing around at a highway rest stop by a rogue flying 18-wheeler tire. Just standing there, and WHAM! Truck tire in the face. Dead. My subconscious- my “drunk monkey mind”- says “Great! Now every time you’re near a highway you have to look for flying tires.” It is desperately afraid of everything. This is the “avoiding danger” part of the monkey. It’s trying to keep me alive despite my best efforts to live. Continue reading “The Drunk Monkey Mind”

I Want To Be Better But I Can’t

“Poor Tomato. He wishes he could sing strong and sweet like the cucumber; but he can’t! He can’t even whistle!”

Have you ever felt like you wanted to become a better person, but simply couldn’t? Have you ever wanted to accomplish something big, and then realized that you didn’t have the resources to make it happen?

Have you ever gone so far as to say to yourself “I probably shouldn’t even try this”?

If this has happened to you (as it’s happened to me numerous times) you may feel like giving up on everything, and Netflix binging until you feel better about life in general.

That doesn’t work. But I can tell you what does work: looking to something stronger than yourself. Continue reading “I Want To Be Better But I Can’t”

How To Ignore God and Fail Miserably

As a Christian, I’m always in tension. I’m torn between being absorbed in self-improvement, and being fully submitted to God. And as an added complication, I’m supposed to protect myself- but not on my own strength? And what does that even mean?

More importantly, where do we draw the line between what we should do and what God should do?

You see these conflicts between Man and God all the time- every time you hear about a Christian entrepreneur going out of business. Every time someone says “God helps those who help themselves.” Or a loved one, whom you’ve prayed for healing over, dies from a degenerative disease and your church family says “it’s because you didn’t have enough faith.” (That’s horrible, by the way. Don’t ever say that to someone. Jesus should punch you in the mouth if you do.)

What does it mean to fully, completely, unquestioningly rely on God for absolutely everything? I don’t really know, and I won’t stop seeking until I find out.

But what I do know, I’ve learned from years of trying to do certain things on my own, and failing miserably.

This is what I want to discuss today: how to fail at listening to God. (I’m an expert.)

Continue reading “How To Ignore God and Fail Miserably”

Struggling With The Spirit

When we believers struggle with the Holy Spirit in our lives, it doesn’t mean we’re fighting against God- not just against Him, anyway- it also means we’re fighting against our own nature. Our war is a spiritual war, according to Ephesians 6:12

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but but against rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Our nature as sinful people can’t be trusted. On our own, we’re weak. Our minds lie to ourselves, telling us we don’t need God, we don’t need redemption, and we don’t need help.

But we do need help. And that help comes in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Over the last 20 years, I’ve learned a lot about God and Scripture. I learned a lot about Jesus Christ, and the early church in the book of Acts. But one thing I was hardly taught was The Holy Spirit. And the sad part is, I don’t think it was intentional.

I think churches today fall into two main camps: those who completely ignore the Spirit’s work in believers’ lives, and those who overemphasize it to the point where even other believers think they’re crazy. There seems to be no middle ground, no in-between. No common sense approach seems to have taken hold.

I’m just now, after 20 years in the faith, realizing that I knew next to nothing about the Holy Spirit. And that shouldn’t be the case- certainly not in America.

What then, do we know about the Spirit? What does the Scripture say about Him? What is His role in my life? Continue reading “Struggling With The Spirit”

Finding Direction In A Dark World

Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking.

Specifically, I’ve been thinking about what my life’s purpose is. There’s plenty of things tied into this, but the majority of it boils down to this:

If you had to define your existence with one driving statement of purpose, what would it be?

If you don’t know, what are you waiting for?

And this is where I found myself after years of floating, like a leaf in the wind. I realized I had no real, solid purpose. I mean, sure, I had “purpose” but I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was. “Following God” only gets you so far, as that could look like any number of things. “Loving your neighbor” could be me, sitting on my couch, invisibly loving people from afar. What does “helping people” look like? Specifically, for me? What does “Love the Lord your God with all your heart” look like, for me? Continue reading “Finding Direction In A Dark World”

Three Things Every Believer Must Do

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? What does it mean, what does it require? I spent some time this weekend contemplating on what I needed to do, at the very least, to say I’m actively living out my faith.

What are the basic tenets of Christian Faith? What is non-negotiable? Your mind may be swimming with ideas of charity, piety, prayers, who knows.

The first place we should be looking for an example of living out the Christian Faith is Christ Himself.

I’ve narrowed down the most crucial responsibilities of the Believer to these three things:

  1. Prayer
  2. Scripture
  3. Worship

Now, we’re supposed to act out our faith in deeds as well, but for building the foundation of our faith, these three are it. The “Building Blocks,” as it were. Continue reading “Three Things Every Believer Must Do”

Does God Want Us To Be Strong?

There are tons of websites, books, and shows about self-improvement. It’s a billion-dollar business. Everywhere you look, there’s ads for someone offering to help you become a better person.

Is this what God really wants of us?

We know that God can use the weak things of the world to defeat the strong. We know he uses the simple things to confound the world’s wisdom. So where is there room for us to want to become stronger, wiser, and better?

I know it sounds preposterous at first. “Why would God not want us to become stronger?” But there are people who, by their actions, believe exactly that. They have become so weak, that they fear any kind of strength.

David, the second King of Israel, was a strong, fighting man. And yet, we see how God used not David’s strength, but his devotion, to defeat his enemies. Does that mean it was wrong for him to be a strong fighter? Certainly not! It is who God intended David to be. David’s strength was useful in all areas of his life, not just the battlefield. And in the end, he still had to fight battles.

One of the interesting things about training to become stronger is that you have to come to grips with how weak you currently are. You can’t focus on eliminating weakness unless you can spot it. This applies to mental and spiritual weakness as well! And everyone- everyone– has weakness.

Is Weakness Bad? Continue reading “Does God Want Us To Be Strong?”

Hail To The Insanity

Why don’t I post more about politics?

Simply put, I dislike politics, politicians, and the government in general. I don’t like hearing people’s opinions on it, I can’t stand reading about all the stupidity that Washington D.C. propagates, and it infuriates me to think about voting for a President when I know none of the people applying for the job are who I’d want to run the country.

It gets pretty discouraging, really. In America, our political system is corrupted from top to bottom, and it’s not going to just suddenly fix itself. When you remove morals from everything, what you get is a disgusting mess. People waving around handfuls of excrement, shouting “look how progressive we are!” and nobody believes it.

Really, this is nothing new. Compared to the Roman Empire, America isn’t even a flash in the pan. Back then, corruption was worse, morals and ethics were worse, death and destruction were worse, the economy was worse… everything about life sucked more than it does now.

Today, we don’t have it that bad. Even with all the “horrible” things going on, we still live in the lap of luxury compared to most places, then or now. Continue reading “Hail To The Insanity”

Is Being Fat A Sin?

I believe that God expects us to physically take care of our bodies.

I also believe God expects us to seek Him, first and foremost.

When I first met God I didn’t understand a lot about theology, prayer, or the Great Commission. I just knew I was a sinner in need of forgiveness. As I grew and learned, I came to struggle with a lot of things in my life that were causing me (and my friends) to stumble. I gradually changed a lot of my habits, and learned how to walk closer to how Jesus walked- not that I’m an expert, mind you.

I didn’t get interested in my health until about 5 or 6 years ago. Before that, I was overweight, out of shape, and a typical Cajun guy. I ate everything fried, double helpings, with tons of sugar and junk on the side. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, borderline diabetic. I felt like crap and my mental health began to suffer because of my self-inflicted physical hardships. Continue reading “Is Being Fat A Sin?”

Life In Perspective

Sometimes life just clips along, and we merrily go through it, paying no mind to anything. We’re the happy center of our own universe, and nothing matters except what’s immediately in front of us.

And then there are days where you come face to face with the reaper, and you realize you’re just a single breath away from eternity.

This past week, a guy at work died of cancer. He only knew about it 2 months before he succumbed to it. I’ve known other people who were diagnosed with and died of cancer within 2 weeks. Two Weeks.

So what’s the point of it all, if we’re just dust? If we’re such insignificant specks in the flotsam of the universe, why do we even bother? Continue reading “Life In Perspective”