This last weekend I was listening to my friends talk about motorcycles. I’ve never been one to get involved in those types of conversations, but I started to really listen to how they were talking about their favorite hobby. This is where it came to my attention that when you are involved in a particular hobby or activity that other people call their own as well, you always get two types. The speaker will always refer to two sides in their current hobby. The first being the older people involved. They are either looked up to as teachers who you are always learning from, due to their experience, or scoffed at because they are old and been “doing it” too long to have any good sense in current trends a.k.a. “stuck in their ways”.


The second group of people, and my personal favorite, “the new guys”. They are also referred to as noobs/n00bs, newbies, new meat, youngin’s, and generally inexperienced. No matter what these people do, if they come into the hobby after you have already been involved for sometime, they will most assuredly be treated like they know nothing. As innocent as their ideas may be, they will always be baulked at by people who have “been in the business” longer then them. These types of people can only get out of the “noob league” if they submit themselves to the older generation as the teacher type mentioned before. Even then, they will always been seen as less knowledgeable. In case you need it, here is the urban dictionary’s definition of a noob and a newb:

Contrary to the belief of many, a noob/n00b and a newbie/newb are not the same thing. Newbs are those who are new to some task* and are very beginner at it, possibly a little overconfident about it, but they are willing to learn and fix their errors to move out of that stage. n00bs, on the other hand, know little and have no will to learn any more. They expect people to do the work for them and then expect to get praised about it, and make up a unique species of their own.

The amazing part in all this is while listening to others talk about their hobbies, they are never a part of either group. They will always make fun of the noobs/newbs, praise the teachers and condemn the stubborn. They will never put themselves into either of the main categories and will never admit their own shortcomings in front of others they feel are in the same league as them. I know I probably do the same thing when it comes to my own hobbies, but I at least have this piece of knowledge to try and curve these things. People are so oblivious sometimes. Oh well, someday when I rule the world...

I heard someone say that church is the fuel that gets him through the week. That seems so wrong. Is that what church is? Is it a simple drive-in and fuel-up, so you can get from point to point until you run out again? I commute to Decorah from Waukon, and as every day goes by, I watch my fuel gauge drop until I need to go fill it. I hope my life with Christ is nothing like this. Think of it this way; What good does gas do for your car, if you don't use the gas to go places that are important? What happens if you fill your tank at the end of every week, but you never use that gas to take your car to the mechanic or the car wash? It does nothing for your car.

This is why church shouldn't be a fuel pump. People go get energized and happy, in hopes that it will fill them with enough strength to make it to the next Sunday, without dying along side the road somewhere. On top of that, why should you have to have church to get through your week? Is church nothing more than your source of courage or perseverance to keep going? If so, you are missing the point of church. God wants to use your church experience to get you motivated to affect the world you live in, not just navigate it safely and efficiently. Church was never intended to be anyone's gas station, God wants more out of us than to “make it through” our weeks.

So here it is: Church is not the fuel to get you from place to place, but the vehicle in which you are traveling in. You need to take church with you everywhere you go. The church God wants to create, is the one that goes where God has plans to affect peoples lives. Just like going to the mechanic or car wash, you need to get tuned up and washed clean so you can start over and be in the world with a passion for the masses. Sunday morning church is a tool to use in your drive with God, but not the only source of your faith. We need to stop longing for Sunday to come so we can feel better about our struggles and start knowing God is always there, all week long. We have to stop living up to the stereotype that Christianity is a crutch, by showing we can live in confidence day to day and not just on Sunday morning.

Sometimes, you just gotta dance...

After a dentist trip and a little too much happy gas...

After having a talk with a friend recently, I finally realized the power of being alone. The conversation was heated at times. It was geared towards trying to enlighten the opposite person on what is the right spiritual choice. As we went back and forth it became apparent to me that we weren’t getting anywhere. Then a question flashed through my mind that brought things back into perspective. It was, “All semantics aside, why is it important to you, that this guy believes what you believe?” After thinking through my life’s struggles in my own journey, I realized why believing in God was so important to me.

I couldn’t offer any heart felt story of how God turned me away from drugs or how my life was spared on the brink of death. There were no visions of Jesus or prophecies that that were told to me and then came true. In this thinking I almost lost my own grasp on why I believe there is a God, but before it was too late, it dawned on me. I have never felt truly alone.

Sure there were times when I felt alone. For years I longed for a relationship with a woman, someone I could love and call my own. Night after night I walked into my room alone, but laying in bed, in the dark, talking to God, I always knew it wasn't just me here. It took a long time to get that person, but I knew God was looking out for me. Now I have the most amazing woman in my life, who I couldn't be more satisfied with. Currently my car is falling apart around me as I drive it to work and the bills are starting to pile up. $200 for tires, $120 for a new battery I didn't actually need, and now my starter needs replacement. So now, I have to plot and equate just how much money I have and how to get all this payed off. For a little while in this tornado, I feel alone, but when I tell him what my problems are, I know I'm not alone and they don't feel like problems anymore. I'm going to get through this like I have so many times before.

There in lies the answer. When I relinquish my need to take ownership of my shortcomings, it allows room for God to work. That is when I feel alone the least. I never want to be alone and because of that desire, I know I can't live without God in my life. I know that the void that has been filled by him can only be filled by him and I won't let anyone rob me of that relationship.

There are too many people who have to feel like it's there problem to fix. I've seen so many of my friends depressed over the fact that they know they are the only ones that can solve their problems. We as humans love to take on the burdens of situations with the idea that we can do it and nothing can stop us. It only then takes failure to bruise our pride and show us how alone we really are. No amount of planning will ever prepare you for whats going to happen next in life and we need to get over that obsession of being in control.

This is a clip from my favorite movie of all time: Signs.

So What kind of person are you?? Do you feel alone when life throws you a curve ball or do you live with a hope?? A hope that someone is watching over you and not leaving your life to chance, will help you abandon the loneliness you are feeling, through life's struggles. I know I'm a miracle man.