Punk Rock Christianity

If you spent your teenage years in a contemporary church like I did, you had two getaway-type events that happen once in a while. More traditional churches will have 'Bible Camp,' and more contemporary churches will have 'Youth Retreats.' We had the latter, and they were always the epitome of awesome. Loud rock music, fun night staying up late with the guys, fun days and, of course, that last night you get the heart-thumping message from the speaker and the band plays the emotional songs and your life just feels different. You wake up on the last day, and the world seems a bit brighter, and you're so pumped for God, it feels like you'll never be the same.

If you never got to experience a youth retreat or conference or weekend program like a StudentLife conference or Disciple-Now, I truly cannot express how awesome and important they are to teenagers. In fact, it was at my first Disciple-Now weekend I committed my life to Christ - right at four years ago now. In fact, our church is having a Disciple-Now weekend coming up, and if you go to my church and are reading this... and have not signed up, DO. Right now!

Anyway, most Christians have experienced those special times where you just feel so happy and energetic. The other day, I examined myself and realized something really rather surprising, and sad, too.

I had become such a... boring Christian.

Not that I was doing anything 'wrong,' per se, or that I wasn't loving God as much as I could, but... there was little joy in my life. If you read my blog a lot, you know I've been battling with a wave (heck, a hurricane) of depression. It's been really hard. This past week, some friends and I were discussing the Bible, and we came to the conclusion that Happiness does not equal Joy.

And... it seemed that I had become so boring. I had no joy. I was not into having fun, or enjoying... anything anymore.

With that on my mind, a friend of mine and I were chatting on Skype the other night, and we randomly listened to an old Hawk Nelson video that we remembered watching back in the early 2000's. Here it is.

The rest of the night was spent watching about two hours of the Christian punk rock videos that filled our teenage years - that reminded us of that joy we had. So happy singing the songs, totally SHREDDING on air guitar, and just being filled with happiness that could come from no one but God.

Why have we become so boring? We think once we leave the Youth Group at church at age 18, we're supposed to suddenly get all serious and never have fun again? Never allowed to feel that 'Christian Punk Rock' joy you see bands like Hawk Nelson or Steller Kart or Relient K have?

With that one my mind, I prayed to God something like 'Lord, let me believe in fun again. Let me feel your presence in the fun things in life. Show me it's okay to let loose sometimes.'

"Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life." Ecclesiastes 5:18

I found that verse today, and it just hit me... that God loves fun. He created fun. He loves it when we have fun. He wants us to have fun. Part of an abundant life (like the one Jesus promised us in John 10:10) is to enjoy it.

I've made it a point from now on to live more of a what I like to call a 'Punk Rock Christianity' attitude. Enjoy it. Have fun. Everyday, don't just thank God for the day, enjoy the day he's given you! Learn to love life, even on the days that it seems ultimately sucky. Even on the days it feels like your friends have abandoned you. Even if all seems down, you have Joy that not even the armies of Hell can take from you. That should get you fired up!

So get up! Play some air guitar! Jump around! Shout! Sing! Dance! Grab a group of friends and grow throw a frisbee. Put on some flip-flops and lay in some grass, soak up the sunshine! Blast some music! Do a cartwheel! A hand stand! Do a cannonball into a swimming pool! God loves to see you just enjoying the day and the life He's given you. It's like a dad watching his kids having fun - He loves it.

So think about 'Punk Rock Christianity' when you go about your day. Enjoy your day. Have FUN! Have a great day - I really mean that, have a great day!!

Reinventing Valentine's Day

Ah, Valentine's Day. A holiday of crushes, boyfriends, girlfriends, dates, flowers, chocolates, cheesy romantic comedies, and general goosh-ery of every variety. We see the store displays with the chubby Cupid with his bow and arrows with the heart tips. We see those nasty little heart-shaped candies with little phrases like 'BE MINE' or "I LUV U' on them. We embrace telling out sweethearts 'I love you, babe' or 'You are beautiful!' or if, you're a fundimentalist Christian, 'I enjoy your presence and would like to pursue you with a friendship outing.' Gag. Not to mention the singles that decide to pout and sit around wishing they had a boyfriend or a girlfriend or were married, etc.

What, really, is the point of all this? One day of the year to focus on... romance? Love? What is Valentine's Day really about? I'm about to give you the Linus answer; you know, where Linus on 'Charlie Brown' stands up on stage and tells the Christmas story? Well, imagine I'm Linus, and it's Valentine's Day.

The Legend of St. Valentine is just that - a legend. There's little historical record about him, and in fact, there were several St Valentines recognized by the early church. I think, though, the idea of his story is what we should look at; the man, yes, but more so his message. If St. Valentine exists only as a parable, so be it - the story is still one of the deepest love. Love you won't find in a Hallmark card or on a balloon or in a sappy romance song.

In a time when Christians were being persecuted for their love for Jesus Christ and the life they led because of that, St. Valentine was a brave man. When they could dip you in burning oil, feed you to lions, or just corner and slay you in the street because of your devotion to Christ, St. Valentine saw that as a problem. Legend has it that Valentine helped many Christians escape the harsh torture and even murdering of his Christian brothers and sister, which perfectly exemplifies John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

For this, the Roman government had Valentine killed. He died for the sake of the Gospel - showing such TRUE love, and not the sappy romantic crap that ends up on cakes, cards, and Facebook that has been associated with his name these days. What a shame, eh?

Love is a theme that is probably the most profound theme in the Bible. Besides salvation itself, which is basically God proving his love for us, love is an obvious main bullet point in scripture and Jesus' teachings. Love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Love is patient, kind, doesn't envy or boast, is forgiving rejoices in truth, it protects, trusts, hopes, preserves (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). It is the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). It is God Himself! (1 John 4:18). Doesn't that sound like something you'd devote a holiday to?

What if this year, we forgot all the generally mooshy and sappy traditions and connotations associated with this holiday, and look at it from a Christian perspective? What if we focused on TRUE love, and not the love of some star-crossed teenagers, a dozen roses, or posting the lyrics of out favorite love songs on the internet? What if we treated Valentine's Day like Christmas or Easter? We complain that those holidays are losing their 'true meaning,' but we still celebrate Jesus at least a little bit on those days; why not Valentine's Day?

Think about it: a day devoted to love! Christian love! A type of love that when you see it in others, you don't get depressed; you are filled with joy! A love that when shared can literally change the world! A love that saved you, and a love that is perfectly exemplified in our God.

The Beatles sang 'All you need is Love.' Switchfoot calls the love of God 'A symphony, a melody, a song...' They also say 'Love is the Movement; Love is the revolution.' Jars of Clay says 'Love is the protest!' Muse says 'Love is the Resistance!' Steve Fee says the love of God 'is better than life.' Now, doesn't that sound a lot better than 'BE MINE' or crappy dollar store candy?

I dare you to look at Valentine's Day differently today! Look at it still as a day of love, but as a day of TRUE love. The Christian Love. The kind of Love God has for us. I promise, your holiday, as well as your life, will be much better when we take that into practice.

So Happy Valentines Day! Love this day!!

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Also, thought this would be cool. I made a playlist called 'Love Is...' and it has a bunch of great songs, all having some variation of the phrase 'Love is.' Enjoy!