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Is there any word in English that has a more negative connotation than “preach”? Okay, I can think of a few (and no, I am not going to list them here – the internet is forever). But no one ever says “I wish someone would preach at me.” Movies that are too heavy-handed in promoting an agenda are called “preachy.” When I was a kid there was even a song by Madonna (sing it with me…”papa don’t preach…he’s been good to me”…HA! Now that is stuck in your head!).

So I will use the word tell. But I mean preach. In a less negative context. I hope.

 
 

There’s just no way to get around it. I have to talk about Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Now Dog is not always what you would call a sympathetic character. He dresses oddly. He makes baffling hairstyle choices. He and his entire family are arguably three fries short of a happy meal. He vacuums for fun. He has been recorded using racial epithets (an item near the top of the list of  “public persona unforgivable sins” – a list that does not seem include cheating on your wife or driving while drunk. But I digress).

There are a million things I could say to mock Dog. Most of them are far too obvious to make it worth the time. And for the record, I am not a hard-core Dog-fan, Dog-defender, Dog-catcher, Dog-pound member, whatever you want to call it. I couldn’t tell you when the show is on or what channel. But since confession is good for the soul, I have to admit that on at least four occasions, I have been flipping by that channel and been drawn into an hour of Dog-watching. And he always makes me want to cry.

Let the mocking begin.

 

Part Two in a super-elongated series – an assignment to myself  “to start laying out what I believe God asks of us – first individually, then corporately as churches”. Here’s where we are:

• One: Repent.
• Two: Believe

Since One was “repent”, I think I should. I have neglected blogging (this is bad for me, not for you necessarily). I am trying to be more disciplined in weekly schedules and such. The advent of a new baby on the way and some big work projects (plus summer in general) have held me up a bit. To repent is to turn from your current path, so my deeds showing my repentance will be blogging in nature…

The second thing I think God asks of use is to believe. And I think these may be in reversed order. Maybe you have to believe first, otherwise repentance is fairly hollow. You don’t have to repent if you don’t believe in moral authority. If “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,” then acknowledging God exists has to be the starting point of our approach to Him.

And that’s the real issue, isn’t it? God seems to have made a frustrating decision to base most of our interactions with Him on faith alone – not observable, provable, scientific-y stuff. “Why for?” you may ask (and I have done so many times).

I have been meditating on that last assignment I gave myself – “to start laying out what I believe God asks of us – first individually, then corporately as churches”. A tall order indeed – and what follows will be some opening salvos. I am hoping maybe a few of you lurkers will be tempted to give me your two cents worth – I know I always need to grow and be challenged…

I think one of the first things we are asked to do in the Bible is repent. God’s words to us often begin with an invitation to change our course and a promise of restoration, redemption, and reconciliation (hey ma – I used a big word!).