parenting and spirituality

This week I have been thinking a lot about my kids and the way that I interact with them and around them. At church on Sunday Timmy was talking about parenting and some of the things said really impacted me. I try to be the best parent that I can, but I know that I fail my kids and make plenty of mistakes. Timmy was talking about making sure that we provide to our kids a positive example. He mentioned how what we model to our kids will be lived out by them. Certainly not a new insights and certainly not the first time that I heard that insight. For some reason though i was incredibly convicted and I have since spent much thought on how I exemplify living to my kids. Would I be okay with my kids saying the things that I sometimes say, Would it be okay for my kids to talk to me or to others the way that I sometimes talk to them. I realize that I really need to take step back and review the example that I am laying before my kids. Parenting is tough and it sometimes reveals clearly some of my biggest weaknesses, but it can also make me a better person and help to make me less and less selfish.

The churc h of Oprah????? are you kidding me??

I saw this video on line last week and I thought it was absolutely ridiculous. I think the video id called the church of Oprah, or something like that. Anyways, the video is all about this church on the rise and it's followers and how dangerous this new church or cult or whatever is. It talks about Oprah and isolates clip from different episodes where Oprah talks about spirituality and says things that aren't exactly in line with traditional evangelical beliefs or theology.
They then talk about the book "The New Earth" and how Oprah had in it her book club, except the video suggests that the book is basically Oprah's statement of faith and that she started an online church following the teachings of this book. In actuality Oprah said she really liked the book and then had it in her book club and then there was an online study of the book in her book club, as there is for several books. (No, I am not in Oprah's book club nor am I a huge Oprah fan)
It just really bothers me that the church that I love and I gladly represent, the church of Christ, is putting out such hateful and demeaning propaganda. That video rips on Oprah and rips on those who are "Oprah's followers". And, all this on the heels of Oprah's Big Give where each contestant had to give, give, give to others and the winner got one million dollars and had to give half of that away to others in need. And the next thing you know the church of the God who represents all that is good puts out a video trying to destroy someone who is doing good. I don't think that Christ would ever be apart of such negative propaganda. As I look at my savior, i see that he never blasted on those of his culture or the "worldly" people of his time. The only people that he approached and said "what the heck are you idiots doing, STOP!" to was those who were the "church leaders". The same people who created and distributed this video.

And, besides if you really wanted to discredit someone, elevating them to a church leader or goddess is not the way to do it. By calling the people who watch Oprah or are in Oprah's Book Club her followers or worshipers you are just elevating her to a higher level than she would ever acknowledge her self as. It just doesn't make sense.

Also if there was somebody out there that does like Oprah and watches her show regularly and goes to church casually, this video doesn't change their mind about Oprah, it makes up their mind about the church and turns them off to the church. I guarantee you that this video turned off more people about the church and its tactics than it did turn off people to Oprah. This video is nothing but destructive. To the church that I love and promote and to Oprah who is just trying to do good. It is okay to disagree with her theology or her beliefs, but lets as a body of Christ spend more time promoting good than we do opposing people that God loves.

If you see this video please don't send it to tons of people or promote, just pass it off as another act of ignorance and judgmental condemnation and go on about your way doing good and promoting good.

The churc h of Oprah????? are you kidding me

The churc h of Oprah????? are you kidding me

beneath the surface

Lately in //epidemic we have been talking about faith, and we discussed the different meanings of the word faith. Today we explored faith as it represents a set of beliefs. I was so impressed Witt several of the students. We had an open discussion about our core beliefs, about what makes us who we are, and to be honest, I really expected that a lot of the students were going to give real generic and surface level comments. You know, "Jesus!" or, "I like sports" or "I'm a skater" etc... But I was wrong. we had so many kids that gave really good responses. They really got to the core of what makes then who they are, and i think it is incredibly important to be able to do that. We need to be able to identify that which we stand for and the definitive about our values. Those things that we wont compromise on.
Think about it, What do you stand for. What would other people say are you values? If we don't decide for ourselves who we are and who we are going to be, someone else will surely influence into who they want us to be. I am not telling anybody who they need to be, but I am saying to everyone reading this and everyone that comes into //epidemic, know who you are and who you are going to be and live it, breath it, be it.

myoooo-sick

Music is awesome. It is, well at least for me, one of God's greatest gifts. I have to confess, that I have not been very good about spending quality devotion time with God, but i have found some really goo times that bring me back to God and sustain me, getting me connected to God. Those times are when i am driving to work and listening to some good music in the car. I can just put some good worship stuff on and next thing i know my spirit is being moved and i am connecting to God. It is so cool how i can connect to god so deeply and so intimately from the driver seat in my car. I love that about my God. I can be in a sanctuary or in my driver seat, or in a bathroom stall for that matter and connect as deeply and as intimately as I want t. He is always there and has no preference on location, just on the condition of the heart. He is just glad to have time with us and he is blind to our surroundings, but he is gazing ever so intently and passionately into our hearts. So, go listen to some music, or go sit on the toilet or where-ever it is. Spend some time with God there. He'll love it and appreciate it and so will you.

It has been far too long since I blogged here, especially since i am supposed to be doing this at least once a week. Well, here I am anyways. Life is gooooood. I have a new son who is awesome and I adore, I have a new job at Farmers Ins. that is great, Baseball season is just around the corner, the Lakers are On Fire! I got a bunch of new music from Jack Johnson and Ben Harper and I LOVE my wife! I love life!
What new things has God been teaching me lately?
- Well, i don't know if it is necessarily anything new, but God has been teaching me about calling and purpose in life. I really like my new job at Farmers and there are incredible money making opportunities at Farmers and i have been getting myself back into the mode of getting up and praying early in the morning lately, and during those times I have been sensing God speaking to me about not allowing the almighty dollar to lure me further away from things at church, and reminding me that I have gotta get the youth ministry at church kickin'. I love those internal battles and conversations because they are such a strong reminder that there is most definitely a spiritual realm and There is most certainly a God at work that is speaking to our hearts if we are willing to listen.

That's my boy

Wow! My son, William Geoffrey Lundy was born this week. It is so exhilarating. When the doctor pulled him out I was flooded with hundreds of emotions and thoughts, all good, of course. This is what life is all about. This is as good as it gets this side of heaven. To have an awesome wife and beautiful daughter and a perfect baby boy... Right now, I cant see how this could get any better.

If you like to experience new, adventurous, exhilarating things in life, have kids. Be there in the delivery room when your child is born. Help your wife after a C-Section. Help your wife breast feed your little tyke. Man, it feels like you're face to face with God. Talk about a worship experience. I can think of no better response when my son comes out healthy and gorgeous and my wife recovers great but to give thanks to an incredible God.

Great past couple of days.

I hope everyone gets to experience such things ... and my heart aches for those that long for such experiences but cannot have these experiences.

GOOD STUFF!

Worship

As we have continued to talk about worship in youth group at church, and... well, I am ashamed to say that i have been very neglectful in my time with God. I haven't made time for my relationship with God and today as I reflect upon my time spent with God I am ashamed and kind of frustrated with myself for the brevity of time spent with God in the past week or so. I have had the time, but i chose to do other, way less meaningful and way less productive things (i.e. Madden). By the way, Louie, if you're reading this, i blame it on you for your trash talk that you would beat me in Madden, so I found it necessary to prove to myself just how good at Madden I really am, and i have concluded that you wouldn't stand a chance. But, anyways, even having proved more than capable at Madden, I've simultaneously proved myself incapable as a worshiper / follower of Christ. And, with all that said I sit here and reflect back to see what my worship experiences have been like this week and i see that there have indeed been some incredible time of worship this week. They are the times when i have been overcome by joy in the anticipation of my son being born, which will happen on Wednesday Jan. 23rd 2008. I cant wait and I just thank God and worship him for allowing me to be apart of such miracles as this. A son being born. That kind of summarizes my week, Anticipation for the birth of a son. Maybe some of you have been a part of similar miracles; the birth of a child or whatever incredible things you have experienced or will soon experience. Cling to those things and use them as avenues to worship God.
SEEK GOD!
In Christ,
Geoff

huh?!

I am at work right now and i am trying to blog inorder to stay awake. I have gotten 3 hours of sleep in the past 3 days. I feel like I am in some kind of a daze. I wonder if this is what it feels like to be on drugs. If so, it really sucks. Well, this post officially sucks too. I have nothing to say and I certainly am not coherent enough to say anything that would make any sense anyways.

Experiencing God!

At //epidemic we are sharing about worship and what worship is all about and why we worship and who and what we worship... so I wanted to just briefly share about some worship experiences. I experienced a true worshipful experience last night at work. Me and a co-worker were talking about spirituality and fear and overcoming bad experiences. In that conversation we both recognized God's presence in difficulty and how He casts out fear and brings us new perspectives about our "bad experiences". In that my heart, and I believe hers as well, told God how awesome we think He is and how thankful we are for Him. THAT'S WORSHIP!

Be all that you can be in the aa-aarmy

I recently was talking with a friend and we were talking about some of my issues, my stupidity and my friends response was the ever-enlightening "that best thing that you can give to another person or do for them is to be the best you that you can be..." There is a great deal of truth in that statement and it really inspires me to do some things to get myself more emotionally and spiritually healthy, but something occurred to me the other day as I had my face buried in my downstairs T.V. watching/video game playing/ prayer chair. (that's my special chair where I like to go and pray and play video games and watch ESPN; all three are very important activities!) As I was praying and asking God to help me become the best Me that I could be and as I was confessing all my crap to God and apologizing for allowing so much time to elapse between our much needed visits, much needed on my part that is, I was struck. I realized that the best me that I can be isn't really all that good and that the people that I really love deserve more than the best me that i can be. I realized that I had not been retreating to God very often and that His Spirit, while available and present was not the core of my life. I realized that I have been trying to be the best me that i could be and that I was growing frustrated because it was still leaving those that I love hurt by me. I realized that the best me that i could be had nothing to do with my ability to be good. And, I know this sounds really Christianeese, but, I need to be the best me that God can make me.
I say that because when I go to God in prayer and really receive His Spirit and really seek out His Spirit in my Life and I am a different person. I am a more pleasant person. I am a more driven person, I am a more successful person, i am a more loving person...., things are just all around good. So, if you are reading this my apologies to all of you who i have offended or hurt or neglected in any way because i was not be a good enough me. I wasn't being the me that i can only be through true connection with God.

affirmation

This week I have been reading a book by Brian McLaren called "A New Kind Of Christian" and it has been so awesome. There are things that are said in that book that just really confirm and solidify a lot of thoughts and feelings that I have been dealing with lately. Some of these thoughts and feelings have left me feeling guilty, or ashamed. Feeling like I was commiting heresy for thinking and feeling like some of what I have been taught in Bible School about God and about and about church is almost obsolete. But while reading this book things are becoming so much clearer and so much easier for me to come to come to grips with.
I would suggest that everyone read this book. It will either make you happy, or relieved or confused or angry or excited or... but it will surely make you think... and in a good way.

Seek truth
SEEK GOD

HIGHER POWER

John 4:22-24
22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."



I work at a facility called Adolescent Center for Treatment (ACT) and we deal with drug and alcohol addicted teens. We teach many groups with the clients in attempt to lead them through treatment and most of these groups are developed around a 12-step program. We teach each kid the 12 steps and how to implement them and we encourage each kid to get a sponsor and we try to walk the clients through these steps on their way to recovery. As some of you may know, the 12 step model for recovery is very spiritual. It deals with many spiritual ideas and mentions God in over half of the steps, while every step focuses around getting right with God and getting right with people. (sounds an awful lot like Luke 10:27 huh!) Well, one of the groups that I teach is called “Upward Pathways” and it deals with coming to identify a “Higher Power” as they say in AA and NA groups. As I have talked with many students about identifying a Higher Power and the importance of that step in recovery, I have heard a confusing and disturbing response from several students on several occasions. The response is this; when being asked about who they would identify as their Higher Power many students have replied saying something to the effect of…”Well, I believe in God and all, but I wouldn’t call Him my Higher Power, I would say that my Higher Power is probably…” That shocks me every time, because in essence what they are claiming is that they truly believe that there is a being out there somewhere in the cosmos that is big enough and powerful enough to create this world in which I live and even create humanity and that this all powerful being is out there wanting to know them and be their “Higher Power”, to be their help, and they’re saying, “nah, I want my help, my “Higher Power” to be my sister or my boyfriend, or I have even heard one of these God believing clients say that their’s was their dog. I leave thinking, how can these clients make statements like that. I mean it makes no sense. I have actually put quite a bit of thought into this phenomenon. What I have come to realize is that these client have been told for years that thee is a God, a creator, or maybe through their own thinking and fathoming about our universe, our world they have come to conclude that there must be a creator, but they have never come to understand who God is. They have probably put very little effort into attempting to understand who God is. Their perception of God is that he is this great big magic character out there somewhere that created our universe and that there are theses weird people on earth that know some magic code and jump through all sorts of crazy hoops and follow all sorts of strict rules and so they kind of know God. That’s it! That is their understanding of God, which couldn’t be further from the truth about who God is. I truly believe with all my heart that if we could strip away all that we know or think or have seen from so-called God followers and strip away all that we think we know of God, and begin afresh with a true understanding of who God really is we would not be able to respond to him in any other way than to worship Him. Worship Him in spirit and in truth.

wwwooorrrrrryyy

Why do we tend to be worrisome and stress ourselves out? or, maybe it's not a we thing, but a me thing. All I know is that I find my self getting worried about stuff all the time and it is so stupid, because all it does is mess me up and make me faithless and irritable and impatient and selfish. It makes me so unproductive. Isn't it crazy that when we prescribe to worry it is in response to some pressing issue that we are unsure or stressed about getting resolved and yet this very common response to such issues, disables us from actually resolving the issue at hand. It is so counter productive. That is why the master of wisdom (Jesus) said in Matthew chapter 6:
...25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

There is also a song by a band called PAX 217 called "Free to Be and that song just soothes my heart and my mind when I feel stressed. I just put that song in and pump it out and say a prayer and I am on my way. The song is all about the idea that we are free to be with out worry. Like we wear worry like a set of shackles, yet we don't have to. We actually choose to imprison ourselves and hinder ourselves with worry. It doesn't make any sense, but I still do it almost every time there is any kind of dilemma in my life.
Not now though! I a, done worrying for today and hopefully for a long time and with the issue at hand, well, I am just going to have to trust and make sure that I do everything that i can to help resolve it. Worrying about it sure wont help. It just makes it worse! So, as my lovely wife would say, "EFF YOU Worry!.

In Christ,

No Haters... -Yo!

This week I was talking to my wife about other people using blogs as a venue to bash others and how I dont want to be like that. I dont want to be a "hater" by "hating" on the "haters", but I just dont want to use my energy and time to complain about what I can identify that is bad or wrong around me, I would rather be the type of person that that uses my words, and my thoughts to indenify and point out that which is good and right. Well, anyways, with all that said, I caught myself several times this week complaing about others and things and even bashing on things that I really didnt know very much about. I dont want to be like that and it is so typical that as soon as I take the time to be like, "I hate it when people are always bashing on something and when they use blogs to be a platform for their hate and their complaints" I then start catching myself being the same way. I guess that just goes to tech me that I ought to be more occupied with myself and my behaviors that are innappropriate than with others. Jesus said to the Pharisees when they were trying to bash on God's people who werent quite godly enough, "Before you point out the splinter in your neighbor's eye, first remove the plank fron your own eye" Of course those Pharisees didnt believe that those unworthy and lowly followers of a man named Christ were even worthy of being called their neighbors, so they were okay with judging them. Or so they thought! Anyways, I guess I just write this to share with you how God works in my life. Maybe it will someday resonate with somebody, maybe not, but I'm gonns just try to keep looking up and trying to be open with God and with others.
-- SEEK GOD!--
- Geoff

REAL

Real stuff is so cool. This past week at //epidemic we just had a few kids because the weather was bad on Sunday Morning. Anyways, I just kind of struck up some conversations and let them rum with some stuff, and next thing you know we stripped away all barriers and these kids were having real honest conversation. Kids talking and being honest about what kind of things they have done and what kind of things they see their peers do and where they draw the line and why they draw that line. Kids were actually being honest with their youth pastor with no shame about times they drank and did other stupid things. And it was so cool, the more I and the others didn't condemn and just listened, the deeper they went and the more honest they all got.
It was so awesome foe me because I have rarely had experiences like that. For some reason people have always had inhibitions about being open and shameless with me. Kids, especially, always seemed to hold back like they were afraid of what I would think or say to them and about them. In all honesty I guess that was all on me. I mean, I always said I was non-judgemental and I always felt like I was understanding and non-condemning, but there must have been something that was saying otherwise to the people that I talked with if they were afraid to be honest with me. Or, actually, now that I think about it, maybe it was because i always worked at churches that had a culture of hypocrisy and condemnation, and no matter how open or understanding I was as long as I was in the setting of those churches, that culture superseeded myself. Whatever the reason, all I know is that I didn't have it then and i do have it now and I like it alot!
All of us should strive to experince such freedom and honesty and openness in our conversations and relationships with others. We should try to develop and be a part of an atmosphere of honesty and acceptance. I ahve truly learned that people love when other people are REAL, but people will only be real when they know that their real self is going to be more than adequate for the person that they are interacting with. It is just so awesome to be apart of a community of people where this is a reality and not just an ideal, as it was in previous experiences.

fear...

"Inside my skin there is this space... Ittwists turns it bleeds and aches. Inside my heart there's an empty room. It's waiting for lighting, it's waiting for you. I am wanting, I am needing you here inside the absence of fear. Muscle and sinew, velvet and stone... this vessel is haunted it creaks and moans. My bones caal to you in a separate skin. I make myself translucent to you in, for I am wanting, I am needing you here inside the absence of fear. There is this hunger this restlessness inside of me and it knows that you're no stranger, you're my gravity..."
that is an awesome song by Jewel and it speaks so clearly about what I have been thinking about so much lately. How many things can I identify in life that I am to some extent discontent with, sometimes insanely discontent, and sometimes appropriately discontent, that I leave unchanged. Things that I let go and let grow because of FEAR. I am afraid of the work and the pain and the potential offense to others that might ensue if I take action and try to change those things with which I am discontented.

God, give me the courage and the strength to overcome my fears and make the necessary changes in my life...

Right Here, Right Now!

As we have been talking about prayer and seeking God at //epidemic this month it is cool to think upon God's presence in our lives. This morning as I was sitting on the toilet I was reading one of the books that I keep near the throne, called "Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer. In the section I was reading it was talking about God's presence and that God is here among us and always near us. It said " there is no place that one can go and be any closer in proximity to God or further in measurable distance from God and His Spirit." That is a cool thought. We often talk about seeking after God like it is some mischievous game of hide-and-seek. But that couldn't be further from the truth about who God is and how he interacts with us, his creation. He is not toying with us or even hiding from us, as if he who is lucky enough to stumble upon His hiding place wins. God is here and among us. His Spirit is right before our eyes, waving his hand in our face as if to say, yohoo, are you awake?! Like we would do to some one in a fixed daze. We are just not looking with the right eyes. If we just open our hearts and our minds to His Spirit and His eternal, immanent presence we will be amazed and overwhelmed by His glory and His splendor and the pleasure that He takes in us.
... Gotta run...

Wow, I really love this time of year. The holidays are awesome and in times like these, more so than any other time of the year, the saying at the top of my page is true; "LIFE IS GOOD"! Actually, to be entirely honest what makes life the most good is those little things in life. Like today for instance, I'm driving my daughter to pre-school and she wants to listen to Jewel, isn't that weird, she's only four and wants to listen to Jewel. Well, anyways we're driving along and she starts singing as loud as she can "I will get down on my knees, and I will pray" Then I just smile and think wow, God, this is awesome. Life is good! Lets enjoy this time of year and just look for the reasons that life is good instead of the reasons that life is good, because I guarantee that we will find which ever we are looking to find.