Wayward Son

Musician. Composer. Recovering perfectionist. Minister-in-transition. Lover of puns. Hijacker of rock song references. Questioner of the status quo. I'm not really a rebel. Just a sincere Christ-follower with a thirst for significance that gets me into trouble. My quest has taken me over the fence of institutional Christianity. Here are some of my random thoughts along the way. Read along, join in the conversation. Just be nice.

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More About Leaning

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Categories: faith, food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

So I’ve continued to ponder the subject of faith being a matter of trust more than just a matter of belief, and about what it means to lean oneself on the Lord. (Read here to catch the last post to know what I’m talking about.)

There’s actually something about the idea of leaning on God that can be a bit troubling to some. I’m thinking specifically about those who say religion in general (and Christianity, in particular) is a crutch for the weak. It’s true enough that the idea of faith being “leaning” signifies dependence, even need. Certainly not a picture of strength that would be obvious to the world. And there’s also the modern thought pattern that says we should not trust in anything we cannot see or prove through natural means.

This is a preview of More About Leaning. Read the full post (765 words, 2 images, estimated 3:04 mins reading time)

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Leaning

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Categories: faith, Meanderings (look it up)

A few years ago, when my religion was failing me, a lot of that season was actually about un-learning and re-learning the concept of faith.

Being raised with a charismatic, Word-of-Faith background, my whole picture of faith was to take Scripture that applied to my case, pray, confess the word, and believe with all my heart that what I wanted to happen, would happen. Despite all claims to the contrary–to me, it was a formula I worked. And if it didn’t work, I must have done something wrong.

This is a preview of Leaning. Read the full post (488 words, 1 image, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

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The Mentality of "Us Versus Them"

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Categories: food for thought

Tracy wrote a very thoughtful piece today called “Us Versus Them“, talking about the mentality so prevalent among us humans to differentiate ourselves from others, to see ourselves as superior to others over this or that belief, or color of skin, or what-have-you.

At the end of the post, she asked us, her readers, to consider whether we still struggle with the us-versus-them mentality. The thoughts came pouring through my mind, too much to put in a comment; so I thought I’d reflect on it here. (I think this problem is common to all mankind, but for our purposes I’ll put it in the context of belief and practice of faith.)

This is a preview of The Mentality of "Us Versus Them". Read the full post (677 words, 1 image, estimated 2:42 mins reading time)

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Outside the Box: Not Just About Being Weird

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Categories: changing mindsets, church, food for thought

Here’s a question for any gamers out there. Have you ever been playing some sort of puzzle game and found yourself apparently stuck? Like, you’re in a room with no apparent way out, or you have a door you must open but you cannot figure out how?

I have a sure-fire way of getting out of those predicaments: go to a hints website and find a cheat. 🙂 No, seriously. I have no patience with stuff like that. Actually, what intrigues me about finding a hint is how simple the solution usually is–if only you approach the problem from a slightly different angle. When I get the hint, I usually have a V-8 moment. (*Smack* “Why didn’t I see that before??”)

This is a preview of Outside the Box: Not Just About Being Weird. Read the full post (938 words, 2 images, estimated 3:45 mins reading time)

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The Elusive Search for Relevance

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

Have you ever watched the movie Napoleon Dynamite? I haven’t–not all the way through, anyway. I like certain kinds of what I call “stupid humor”, but I lost interest really quick when I tried to watch this movie. Like maybe 10 minutes into it, I said, “That’s enough”, and changed the channel.

I understand, though, why Napoleon Dynamite was so popular. The one thing that it had going for it is that people really get a kick out of watching someone who thinks he is cool, but really isn’t.

This is a preview of The Elusive Search for Relevance. Read the full post (800 words, 2 images, estimated 3:12 mins reading time)

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The Subculture of Christianity

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Categories: church, food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

So I’ve been pondering how my thinking has changed over the past few years, and how I can’t stomach so much of the Christian-ese lingo and churchy behavior anymore–which is funny because I used to be all about that stuff not too very long ago. I don’t go near Christian television anymore, I don’t listen to Christian radio hardly at all, and I usually can’t stand to listen to sermons anymore. And I feel very out of place in most church meetings.

And I know why I’m like this now. And it’s not that I’ve abandoned my faith.

This is a preview of The Subculture of Christianity. Read the full post (555 words, 1 image, estimated 2:13 mins reading time)

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Defending the Christian Label (or Traveling Light)

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Categories: church, food for thought, Rantings

Yesterday we went to a local retail hobby store, and there was a “now hiring” stand with lots of employment applications folded like brochures stuck in it. Out of curiosity, The Wild One picked one up.

The amount of red tape required just to get employed at this store was daunting. Drug/alcohol testing, background checks, aptitude tests (none of which I am opposed to, BTW)…but then there were literally two pages of fine print about an “arbitration agreement”, where anyone who wanted to be employed there must sign a binding agreement to resolves disputes through arbitration (read: you can’t sue us). NO ONE gets employed unless they sign the agreement. I know; it says so about four different times on the application.

This is a preview of Defending the Christian Label (or Traveling Light). Read the full post (1061 words, 2 images, estimated 4:15 mins reading time)
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