Category: Outside the Box

Non-mainstream thoughts and musings

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Fall Is Here

Where I live, “fall” is kind of a relative term. Instead of trees turning beautiful colors, everything dies and turns brown. Instead of everybody wearing scarves and drinking pumpkin spice lattes, we get hurricane season. Instead of looking forward to fall, we get three more months of flip-flop weather and all the kids get sick.

But, all is not lost! You see, the beautiful thing about fall here is that after six months of being inside with A/C, we can finally go outside and not die of heatstroke. We open all the windows in the house, send all the kids outside to play, and just revel in the gorgeous weather while it lasts. It truly is a wonderful time of year, when it’s not too hot or cold. (Now I sound like Goldilocks!)

It also is a good time for us to do some “fall cleaning” around the house while the kids are occupied and all the windows are open. We pull out furniture away from the walls. We clean off stacks of junk that accumulate during the beginning of the school semester. We get to a break in school, and the kids just play and relax for a bit. It’s glorious. We start thinking about getting ready for late fall, and about getting the house in order for when it gets cold and we’re stuck inside again.

But mostly for us, it’s about a renewal. New ideas, new routines, newfound energy. It’s like spring, but without the allergies.

With that in mind, I’m thinking about posting a few more articles on minimizing, and frugal living. I haven’t done anything on that in a while, and I’m getting the itch. I might even revive my attempt at the 23 Days Of Frugality Challenge.

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Ragamuffin

I just finished watching Ragamuffin: The Rich Mullins Story. I think, as I look back on it, I was most impacted by the spiritual hardships he endured. And as usual, it got me thinking.

It seems to me that the most creative, amazing, Godly people I know of got that way due to horrible hardships and trouble. I can’t think of one person who really impacted the world for God who was perfect. And it seems to me that the more people suffer through, the more creativity they have at their disposal.

When you hear someone play the blues, it’s easy to tell if they’ve lived through real hardships. It comes through in their playing. There’s a grit there, a sorrow, a hardness that you just can’t fake. Some of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard were written by people who were teetering on the brink of destruction. Their passion and hearts were poured out, even as their lives came crashing down around them. Because their lives were crashing down around them.

I’d like to say I’ve been through hardships. I suppose, compared to a lot of people, I have. I’ve cheated death more than once, and somehow God saw fit to save me from my own stupidity, or whatever it was, and give me another day to live and serve. Continue reading “Ragamuffin”

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Success And Failure: Rest And Laziness

I hate sleep. And much for the same reasons, I love coffee (and caffiene in general).

But try as I might, I can’t shake the fact that I need sleep. I need rest. And I’m not comfortable with that, really. I always feel like I’m missing out on something. I’m always thinking about some cool project, idea, story, song, or something I’d like to have time to work on. I feel empowered when I accomplish things, and God has gifted me with the ability to do some amzaing things. Like being a dad, a writer, a musician, an inventor, an avid cyclist, etc.

Lately, I’m beginning to believe that when God commanded man to rest on the Sabbath, it applied to more than just one day a week.

God knows we are made to be workers. We are innately capable of working tirelessly if the proper motivations are in place. For years, I was ridiculed and singled out by my school teachers for being “lazy” because I didn’t give a rip about history or math. Or homework. The truth was, as a genius-level child, I was bored to tears. I hated homework because I generally got the concepts and understood them fully in class. I didn’t want to practice something I already knew. I was ready to move on to something more exciting! I was the farthest thing from lazy, but they couldn’t understand that. Continue reading “Success And Failure: Rest And Laziness”

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In All Seriousness

I just can’t be serious all the time. I guess after years of blogging here, I’ve become accustomed to only writing about things that really irritate me, or things I’m really passionate about. This might lead one to believe I’m an angry stuffed-shirt curmudgeon who disapproves of everything.

But that’s the furthest thing from the truth. I’m actually a very laid-back, chilled kind of guy. Anybody who’s met me in person knows that… if I were any more laid back, I wouldn’t have a pulse.

And yet in my day-to-day life, I don’t get to discuss things like theology, economics, politics, music theory, programming, and so on. They’re just not common topics of conversation. This is a large reason why I blog about that stuff here. And of course, anybody here is welcome to discuss anything civilly. I relish those opportunities to think and talk about things besides Sportsball and Hunting (the two national passtimes of southern Louisiana). I have absolutely nothing against those things, but I also don’t really care about them, either.

I don’t want to seem indifferent about everything though. I don’t really hate a lot of things. Driving while texting/calling, yes… I despise that with the burning fire of a thousand suns. But I don’t hate people as much as I hate seeing the effects of what people do. Sometimes it gets depressing, honestly.

But not to fear! I haven’t lost my sense of humor. Maybe I need to post funny cat pics, cause you can never have too many of those, right?

DOg chasing dog FAIL GIF

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Need Vs. Want

There are times when people (Christians specifically) need to seriously take a look at what they’re asking and whether or not it’s appropriate. There are, believe it or not, some times when you need to think about Jesus outside of church. I’m seeing a tendency for Christians today to go into “incognito mode” when they’re discussing anything not directly church-related. We compartmentalize Jesus and God, so that even mentioning them outside of a church building is seen as “inappropriate” or a “Jesus juke.”

But I’ve heard this so many times, I’m going to step on some toes. This just shows that we have superficial faith. In reality, God is involved in every area of our lives, whether we acknowledge it or not. It would be foolish of us to pretend otherwise. I see this predominantly in Christian circles where people are asking recommendations on some sort of new expensive toy or luxury. We don’t ask if it’s wise to get something like that. We effectively suppress the teachings of Jesus in order to not offend anyone.

This is comparable to secular consumerism today. Is it okay to demand that our food be ethically treated before we kill and eat it, but not okay to ask if someone’s food choices are wise? Is it okay to demand our electricity be cleanly produced (because environment!), and yet pay no heed to ecology when we purchase disposable (and toxic) electronic devices, all designed with planned obsolescence? So it shouldn’t surprise me when I see people claim “Jesus is Lord!” and then proceed to pamper themselves with luxury. Continue reading “Need Vs. Want”

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Who Do You Want To Be?

Recently, I stumbled across a sermon series by Bill Hybels, called “Simplify.” I listened to it, thinking all the while it was going to be full of useful advice on how to simplify our lives… pretty obvious, right? He talks about simplifying finances, simplifying your schedule, simplifying your job, and so forth. For the most part, I was right.

Except that in one of the messages, he says something to the effect of “Don’t ask what you should do; ask who do I want to become? And when you schedule your life around that idea, the rest will fall into place.”

I can’t really explain why, but that little question made me stop and think. What is it that I want to become? Why am I wasting time on doing things that have nothing to do with what I need to be? Why do I do those things? Continue reading “Who Do You Want To Be?”

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The First Rule Of Fight Club

For the last few months, I’ve been really torn about the exceedingly hostile culture towards Christians, specifically in Geeky circles. At first, I pretended to not notice it. The random, unrelated references to “Science” as a proper noun. The occasional comment about despising church. And then, I started seeing actual vitriol flung at people for simply asking questions. It progressed to the point where some people I respected were joining in the fray, participating in character assassination based solely on one facet of someone’s faith.

I thought rational people were supposed to ask questions! I was raised to question authority, and more and more, I’m seeing this being frowned upon by the very people who are supposed to be tolerant and open-minded. What this tells me is they’re not arguing for atheism because they want to prove it correct; they’re not even trying to disprove the existance of God. They’re arguing it for their own personal reasons. They are, quite simply, trying to get us to shut up so their own conscience can be quiet.

Atheism has become the very thing it despises… an authoritarian, prejudiced, intolerant religion. Continue reading “The First Rule Of Fight Club”

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The Death Of The Gentleman

Sadly, modern Feminism is destroying the gentleman. Instead of encouraging women to become more, since the 50’s it has mostly slid into the practice of dragging men down. It is becoming difficult to teach boys to be gentlemen when girls are constantly being told they don’t need gentlemen. Or men.

Being a gentleman is a lost social grace… when technically they’re not needed. If a man serves as a gentleman at all times, when the need arises he will be ready and trained to think of others outside himself.

We have to break the cycle. It has to start somewhere. We must continue to teach and expect our boys to be gentlemen, regardless of what society tells them. That way when things finally (hopefully!) level out and reason comes back into fashion, they will be poised and ready to fill that role in society. They refuse to be victims, and insist on true “correctness” even when nobody is looking.

What is the purpose of a Gentleman? Why are they in short supply, and are they even really needed? The Fierce Gentleman Manifesto breaks a Gentleman down into twenty-one basics, which does an excellent job of explaining. So much so, that I’m not going to try to recreate what they’ve already done so well. I’ll touch on a few of these that are near and dear to my life, however. Continue reading “The Death Of The Gentleman”

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Pray All The Things!

If you’ve been paying attention over the last few years, you may have noticed a disturbing trend in the Church. It’s sort of what happens when the culture you live in is overrun by people who value relativism and hate the truth. It’s where you believe that positive thinking literally makes things happen, and that everybody has “a little bit of God in them.”

This really scares me. People like T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyers, Kenneth Copeland, and Joel Osteen are telling people “God will bless you financially/physically if you’re truly faithful” but let me tell you, people… this is not what Jesus said.

Kenneth Copeland says:

The fact is, you really haven’t prayed in faith if you pray about something, but don’t take it. If you get up from prayer saying, “I don’t have it. I’m still sick, I still feel bad,” then you didn’t take it…and you certainly don’t have it.

Joel Osteen says:

God has already done everything He’s going to do. The ball is now in your court. If you want success, if you want wisdom, if you want to be prosperous and healthy, you’re going to have to do more than meditate and believe; you must boldly declare words of faith and victory over yourself and your family.

And we could go on and on. How much emotional crippling damage has this done to people’s faith? It totally takes God’s will out of the equation. Can you imagine telling the Apostle Paul “I’m sorry, but God’s not going to heal the thorn in your flesh because you haven’t prayed in faith.“ Or maybe telling Peter “Sorry, if you had declared words of faith and victory, you’d be rich and comfortable right now instead of being martyred upside-down on a cross.”

What if God doesn’t want you to be rich in this life?

What if God doesn’t want you to be comfortable in this life?

What if God doesn’t want you to be healed in this life?

The truth is, God doesn’t need us to be healthy or rich for us to serve Him, for us to worship Him, for us to glorify Him.

And we aren’t called to do anything else. Continue reading “Pray All The Things!”

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The World Needs Solutions, Not Answers

One of the things I’ve spent a lot of time dealing with in my life is where we derive our self-worth as human beings. On what basis do we judge ourselves as “successful?” Where do we look for validation, and how do we achieve it? Is it even worth trying?

The World® has all kinds of answers. Vapid and pointless answers, but they do have answers. Plenty of people who are looking for the answers to life really believe these answers, too. This is the tragedy of our modern church. We have failed to provide answers for a populace that is desperately seeking them. And in typical human fashion, they found their answers elsewhere, even if they’re wrong.

When I tell people “God loves you” I’m assuming they know certain things that I know. I assume they know that Jesus Christ was God in human form. I assume they know about Sin and Atonement. I assume they know they need a savior.

But what if they want an answer, when they don’t even know the question?

[Insert joke about the number “42” here]

In reality, people don’t know what they want answers for. They’re looking for solutions, not answers. Someone might ask me “Why won’t my car run?” I can tell them “Your car won’t run because it broke the timing belt,” but if they don’t know what a timing belt is, it won’t help. It’s the correct answer to their question, and it’s helpful to someone like myself who knows what to do with that information. But if they have no clue, it doesn’t help… the problem is still unsolved in their minds. I haven’t offered any solution. Continue reading “The World Needs Solutions, Not Answers”