Whew! It's been a while...

As usual, I'm slacking. If you expected anything more from me then you are easily duped. Moving on...

I really, really hate choices. I have said before that I think we have way too many choices in our world. Just go to a grocery store, book store, car dealership, or any other store-ship if you need convincing.

At Food City the other night, I had toilet paper on my list (hockey tickets, according to Frank Alexander). So I wheeled down the aisle and looked for my favorite brand.

*Note: In the case of toilet paper, quality does indeed matter.

As I perused the options, a rough count revealed 22 different brands. Not to mention the different versions within each brand. Double rolls, mega rolls, quilted, aloe-enriched (shoo-wee...too smeary), and, believe it or not, decorative patterns. Seriously?!? Think the rats in the sewer are comparing whose TP looks best? Point is, there are a hundred different ways to pamper your pooper.

And this is the case with any other product in the world. I think it's silly. It's all about making the buyer think there is a difference in each product, therefore making the buyer believe they can have something better than someone else. The only real difference is price, and most folks believe if they pay more, they are worth more.

In my humble and extremely opinionated opinion, too many choices = deception.

On the other hand, eternity comes with a simple choice. Life or death. Beautiful thing about God's plan is that it is anything but over-complicated.

God has put it all out there, plain and simple, for humanity to read, see, hear, and believe. But, in our choice-conditioned world, we shop around for enhanced versions.

We'll gladly surrender as long as we can choose the terms of surrender. We'll take the straight and narrow road as long as we can detour occasionally in our own directions. We'll die to ourselves as long as we can choose the method of execution. And we'll live our lives for His glory as long as we're allowed to define what brings Him glory.

You see, I think it's getting really difficult to tell if someone is a Christian or not. Or maybe the word "Christian" has more than one definition today. The Bible clearly says that our faith should be shown by our works. So when did it become okay to disconnect our works from our behavior? Oh wait, right. That happened about the same time we started letting celebrity preachers and trendy churches tell us who God is and what He wants to bless us with each day. We didn't like the choice we were given, so we added a few more options.

I guess I just don't understand how Scripture can be interpreted so many different ways. Jesus said there was one Way, one Truth. Now that is simple.

I've been chastised for not posting...

..so I'm posting. I guess I've not had much to say. Or maybe I haven't felt like saying it. Either way, here's something for anyone who still tunes in to this station.

I'm learning again. Seems like I do that alot. And as always, I'm learning from my mistakes, many as they are. I'll spare you the intricacies but suffice it to say that my long, winding, crooked road has been made straight again.

You see, I'm a drifter. Not the Hollywood, Clint Eastwood kind who blows through town and saves the helpless widow from the greedy land-grabber, but a spiritual drifter. Most Christians have guardrails on their road to keep them between the lines, but my road is lined with steep drop-offs and precipices. (I've always wanted to use precipice in a sentence.)

So I drifted away, yet again. I've been kinda fakin' it for the last few months. Attending church, teaching, smiling and praying, but only superficially. Then, I was asked to lead "Downpour." I said yes (because I always seem to say yes), but really wasn't into it. Poor attitude. But my childhood-instilled work ethic convinced me that if I was going to lead this study, I must apply myself wholeheartedly. So I did. I followed the exercises to the letter, made the prescribed prayer times, and read everything the book instructed. Then we got to the sin chapter.

It's called "Sin in the Mirror" for a reason. The daily exercises caused me to look at myself in an honest manner and to give God the freedom to plow through my heart like a John Deere. I prayed the "do the surgery, God, and get it all" prayer and sat back.

Here's a tip: when you ask God to search your heart and remove the things that are roadblocks to Him, don't use the surgery metaphor. God doesn't use anesthetic.

I was confronted with things I knew were there, but wanted to hold onto. And I was shown some new things. I don't mean "new" as in shiny, new, favorite Christmas toy, either. I mean fresh, as in fresh, open, bleeding wound.

But the most intense part was that the study encouraged us to not move straight into the "confess it and move on" stage. We were encouraged to wallow. You won't hear that from Lakewood, folks.

Refer to 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 if you want to read it for yourself. Heartfelt sorrow and grief over our sins is a key part of the process. We need to be made to hate our sins, to be disgusted by them and to feel the full weight of the wrongs we have committed. That won't happen if we hurry and brush them off like a bee that is threatening to sting. We must be stung.

I have to say that I have realized that any Bible study you undertake is only as good as your commitment to it. "Downpour" isn't that different from "Crazy Love" or "Experiencing God" or "Purpose-Driven Mail Delivery Truck." But for me, it felt like a last chance of sorts. I felt like God brought it my way as a final warning that some very old, very deep-rooted things had to go, and go now.

They're going. That's the praise in all of this. I've been delivered of some things. Some of them a decade old, believe it or not. I don't think it's over. That's okay, though, because there are some replacement things that are amazing. I haven't felt this light in a very long time.

So there. Judging by the reaction in our small group, I think I'm the only one who is really feeling this whole downpour thing. I guess that's okay, too. It seems that God brought me to it for this purpose. Who am I to argue with that? A $17.00 book fee is a small price to pay for the renewed presence of God and peace.

Peace out.

Stay thirsty my friends...

I assume you've all seen the ads with the "most interesting man in the world." I've been perusing the Facebook page where people post they're own phrases for him. I've been absolutely rolling with laughter so I thought I'd share some of my favorites. For reference, one of the best from the actual commercials says, "He is the life of parties he's never attended."

"He once touched a jellyfish... and stung it."

"The cable installer waits for him from 9 a.m. til 1 p.m."

"He could reverse global warming with a cold stare."

"It is said the universe expands around him."

"He ended the Never Ending Story."

"It is said he gave DaVinci the code."

"Butterflies feel him in their stomach when they fall in love." (love that one!)

"He's so successful his insurance covered his birth."

"Horses hang his shoes on the wall for good luck."

"He is the reason the chicken crossed the road."

"He told Victoria the secret."

"Puberty had to go through him."

"His motto is, 'Safety third.'"

"He wrote the songs that make the whole world sing."

"He was once quoted saying, 'Don't quote me on this.'"

"His mom has a tattoo that says "Son."

"Wishing wells throw coins at him."

"The Swiss use his bank."

"When he went to Pamplona, the bulls ran with him."

"When he's in Rome, the Romans do as he does."

"He spent a winter in Canada and all the birds flew north."

"He made Journey stop believing."

"The Tower of Pisa leaned just to get in a picture with him."

"Roses stop to smell him."

"Stars wish upon him."

"Rabbits consider his foot good luck."

"Four leaf clovers look for him."

"The eight ball asks him for advice."

You get the picture.

Observations

(First of all, newer, happier look. The deary, rainy clouds were getting me down.)

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I'm a brand new Facebooker. Yeah, late bloomer. I've actually been very adamant about not joining in the past, but I was finally worn down.

The story goes, my 20 year class reunion is coming up. One of the reunion coordinator ladies kept sending me Facebook invitations (which I continually ignored). She built it up as the perfect way to stay in the know about reunion plans, reconnect with long lost classmates, blah, blah, blah. Not interested. Then, I had an opportunity come up that will require some nominal networking in the future. So, when I got the next Facebook invitation, things started clicking in my head (not the normal noises I hear), and I realized that it was indeed time to join the rest of civilization.

So I started the process of building my friends list and profile. I've noticed a few things while I've been doing this.

First, the bio. I can't help but wonder how different my bio, and probably everyone else's, would be if Facebook had been invented fifteen years ago. I actually had to stop and think about what I would write in mine. Is that strange?

I'm sitting alone at my computer, creating my Facebook profile and can't think of the things that make me interesting. That's kinda sad, come to think of it. But I actually did struggle with it. I think it's because there have been many different Chuck's through the years.

Our bio's are pretty much determined by where we are in life at the time we're writing them, so at any given time, the bio could be completely different than what it is now. Mine currently reflects that my life's activities revolve around church and what I'm involved in there. But just a few years ago, it would have been about my circle of friends and all the running around we did and how life was a party.

So it's not really a bio. I think it's more of a snapshot. Take a new snapshot every so often and update.

Then there's the "friends." Really? I mean isn't that a very loose interpretation of the word? I'm sure the Facebook founders wanted it to appeal to the lonely hearters around the world but maybe it should be more categorized.

How do you define who friends are? I've always thought that friends were special. Real friends are few and far between and we're lucky if we have more than a few in our lifetimes. Friendships are one of those spiritual-level things, trust and love level things that shouldn't be tossed around based on the whims of the day. But it seems that that view is changing. These days, a friend can be someone you've actually never spoken to in person.

Popping out a request to someone because they seem interesting isn't really making a friend. It's making a contact. I think friends are made through tougher processes.

I've noticed that, when I introduce someone, I will add to the word "friend" based on our relationship. I might say, "this is my good friend" or "let me introduce you to a buddy of mine." But without really ever realizing it, I have a category reserved for those few that I really, really consider a true friend.

I introduce them as "dear" friend. I don't really know when or where I started doing that. I can recall many times over the past few years when I've used that term for those that I know beyond doubt are real, true, walk through hell with you friends. As I said, they are very rare. I think they're getting even more rare, sadly.

So I advocate being able to divide our Facebook friend lists. We should have tags that we can apply to their profiles that describe the type of friend they are. And when it posts on someone's wall, it can say things like, "Chuck is a dear friend of so and so."

Or how about, "Chuck sent a request to this person but he doesn't really know him."

Make friends, y'all. But more importantly, be a friend to those you already have.