A Ba$t@rd's Thoughts on Manhood

I recently wrote an op-ed piece as an assignment for a class I am taking through Mars Hill Church in Seattle. That article can be seen here. The assignment was to interpret and comment on a particular aspect of culture from a Christian worldview. I have invited some of my friends from the Albuquerque portion of the class to share their papers as a guest post on this blog. I will be sharing some of their pieces over the next few weeks. As a side note, several of their papers deal specifically with Albuquerque culture. However, all of them have some great insights that are relevant and applicable to a variety of cultures. Enjoy!

A Ba$t@rd's Thoughts on Manhood

 Growing up in a city just like me     by Brandon Kirk

I was lucky. My mom had a job and worked hard to put a roof over our heads and food on the table. My grandparents were able to care for me while my mom went to school to be a paramedic. My mom and my grandparents were loving, kind, and caring. By all accounts, I had a good childhood. The only problem? I, like 60% of the kids in New Mexico, grew up without a dad.  More than half of the kids in our state will go to bed without a father to hug them, kiss them, and tell them how much he loves them. And many of the other 40% have an absent or abusive dad. Albuquerque has a man problem. 

The Albuquerque Journal is filled with stories about these children. I did not have a childhood like Jayden Smith who, at 11 months old, was beaten by his mom and her boyfriend. If he survives, he will have total paralysis on the entire left side of his body. I did not have a childhood like Alizandra Jasso who, at 3 years old, was murdered by her mom's boyfriend for soiling her pants. She was slammed down on the toilet and, after crying "no daddy, no," was thrown against a shower door and left to die. On top of the rampant child abuse, 45 men have been arrested in the last 8 months in a child sex sting run by Homeland Security and APD. New Mexico has a man problem.

There have been 3 prominent international cases where a girl has been raped while pictures of the assault showed up during the attack on social media like twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Two of those girls have killed themselves. Our world has a man problem.

A prominent New Testament figure, the Apostle Paul, wrote to warn a young pastor named Timothy that "people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:2-4 ESV)." All it takes is a quick glance through the Albuquerque Journal to know that this description fits our city, as well.

What this city, this state, this generation needs is men who are honorable and willing to protect women and children. We need men who take responsibility for themselves and their families so that women are cared for and children are provided for. We need good single men to marry single moms who have been abandoned by losers parading around as men. We need men to teach their sons that being a man doesn't mean being the opposite of a woman, it means using our strength for other's good. We need men to take their daughters on 'daddy dates' and snuggle so the girls know that they're loved and that they don't have seek the wrong kind of attention from adolescent boys. We need one-woman men who love their wives instead of jumping from girl to girl, leaving a trail of tears, abortions, and fatherless kids in their wake. As men, we need to raise the bar. Ultimately, what we need is men who are bathed in God's Word, forgiven and changed by Jesus, who love Albuquerque like Jesus loves Albuquerque.

But men, you're not alone, you're not too far gone, and you haven't blown it forever. God wants to be a Father to you, to forgive you and show you how to be a father like Him. He wants us to love Him and live in community with other men who love Him. He wants us to share our struggles because being a man isn't about being perfect, it's about being honest and being responsible for ourselves. Being a man is about worshipping Jesus and inviting others to do the same. We hold much power in this city because God has shared His title of 'Father' with men. Jesus wants to heal Albuquerque and He wants to use the men to do that.

I want my wife to know that Jesus is real and that He is good. I want my two sons to know that Jesus is the Perfect Man who loves us even though we are sinners. If God would so bless me with daughters, I want them to know that Jesus is the Great Protector who pursues sinners and makes them saints. I want Albuquerque to know that Jesus is the Great Healer who came to seek and save the lost and he can redeem a person no matter how far off they are from Him.

I grew up without a dad, so I struggle to know what it means to be a man. However, I can look to Jesus as the manliest Man to ever live. He was tough on religious bullies who tore down women and children. He was tender with the outcasts and the broken. He was fun and safe for children. He didn't run from responsibility but, instead, took responsibility for our sin. Though he never sinned, he died with the weight and punishment of our guilt on His shoulders. He is now the Risen King who rides into battle riding a great white horse wielding a fiery sword. He has conquered Satan, sin, and death to protect His kids and display His glory. He will destroy bullies, tyrants, thieves, and abusers. But He also died to offer His friendship and salvation to the worst of us. So, Christian or not, good or bad, come to Mars Hill Church and meet Jesus and men who love Him.

Brandon Kirk is a community group leader at Mars Hill Church. He and Andi, his beautiful wife of three years, have two boys together. He is a computer engineering student at UNM and has lived in Albuquerque his entire life.

Porn, video games, and the demise of guys

There was an ebook that came out last year called "The Demise of Guys: Why Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It" (Also, see TED talk video). I have not read the book yet, but mention it to bring up this issue of the lame-ifying of boys (we can't really call them men) due to pornography and excessive video game usage. The description of this book paints the picture: "an addiction to video games and online porn have created a generation of shy, socially awkward, emotionally removed, and risk-adverse young men who are unable (and unwilling) to navigate the complexities and risks inherent to real-life relationships, school, and employment."

While several preachers have been talking on this subject for quite some time now (See: Video), more and more people are starting to realize that we have a serious problem on our hands, a problem that all people, Christian or not, should be concerned about.

My point in writing this blog is merely to echo what others have already noted: we are losing REAL men, those who take responsibility for themselves, their wives, and their kids, to a never-ending adolescence of porn and video games. We are on a demise as a gender and everybody-men, women, and children-loses when we men neglect our responsibilities.

The world needs REAL MEN. Not perfect men. Not men who have got it all together. Not men who do nothing bad but neither do anything good. But men who are willing to fight. If we are not fighting like men for what is good and right; if we are not taking responsibility for ourselves and others; if we are, instead becoming enslaved to fantasy worlds and fantasy women, then we have no excuse for being labeled as lame and on a demise.

We need Jesus...

Loyalty without covenant, loyalty without commitment!

I recently wrote an op-ed piece as an assignment for a class I am taking through Mars Hill Church in Seattle. That article can be seen here. The assignment was to interpret and comment on a particular aspect of culture from a Christian worldview. I have invited some of my friends from the Albuquerque portion of the class to share their papers as a guest post on this blog. I will be sharing some of their pieces over the next few weeks. As a side note, several of their papers deal specifically with Albuquerque culture. However, all of them have some great insights that are relevant and applicable to a variety of cultures. Enjoy!

Westside 'Til I Die!

Loyalty without covenant, loyalty without commitment!

Burque is my city! I may not live in Albuquerque proper, but should anyone ask, I'm from Burque! This city, my city, is all about loyalty! It's "blood in, blood out" vato!

We won't even consider someone who didn't grow up here their whole life, from Burque! We’re loyal to our ethnicity. As a Hispanic man, it is all about Brown Pride. We're loyal to our high school. When people from other parts of America ask, "What school did you go to?” they mean college. Here we tell them our high school. I went to West Mesa, by the way. We're loyal to our side of town (see title). We're loyal to our family. Don't you dare say something about my family, and don't even come close to saying something about my mom!

A friend of mine said that to understand Albuquerque is to understand contrasts. It's a city of low river valleys and high mountain peaks; A city of cultural contrasts, where you have vestiges of ancient cultures right next to the newest in high technology.            

We say we love local restaurants alone, but we have every chain imaginable.

We mock the "Land of Entrapment", but don't move away.

We say we're, "Born Catholic, Die Catholic", but we don't go to church. Most only go for baptisms, weddings, funerals, and maybe Christmas and Easter. We use the church.

We have old friends that have been together 15+ years, but seem to have no intention of ever getting married.

We say we want kids safe, but we have strip clubs and porn shops next to children's amusement parks.

Moms stick up for dads that are deadbeats, dad’s that don't stick around, don't love, don't serve, don't pay, and yet are still called good dads.

We say we’re about family, but we leave our wives, if we marry them at all, and we abandon our kids to chase pleasure.

We're very vocal about being loyal, yet we're hypocrites.

We may "know" about loyalty, but we know nothing of covenant! We know nothing of swearing to our own hurt! Albuquerque has the second highest rate of divorced adults in the Southwest, as of 2011.  Albuquerque has a huge fatherlessness problem, statistics range from 43-58% among Hispanics in New Mexico. Nearly half of the kids in our state have no dad in their lives. As a father to four wonderful children, that breaks my heart! We know nothing of binding commitment. 

Jesus is more than loyal. Jesus was and is a man committed to covenant. At one point Jesus, "set His face towards Jerusalem", which means He was committed to going to the cross. He was committed to dying for the sins of Burqueños, dying for my sins! Jesus was a man who was willing to give up His freedoms and hobbies and to do what was best for His family. He was committed to doing the will of the Father. He was committed to dying and rising for you and for me. Jesus is the faithful son. He grows up. He doesn't remain the "Baby Jesus" that everyone loves. He grows up to live the life we couldn't live and die the death we deserved to die. He rises again and He is coming to judge the living and the dead! Jesus keeps His covenants! Jesus is the loyal covenant keeper! The Bible says, “When we are faithless, He remains faithful.

Burque needs men who aren't just "loyal", but men who are like Jesus! Burque needs men who are willing to lay down their lives for their friends. Not in a gang fight, but like Jesus did, as a sacrifice for all! Burque needs men who with their dying breath are going to be planning who is going to take care of their moms, just like Jesus did for His mother Mary. Burque needs men who are going to care for the abandoned children and ask that the little children come to them. Burque needs men who are committed to their churches. Burque needs men who are committed to their brides! Let us follow the words of Saint Paul, as he tells us, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." Burque needs men who don't just like the idea of family but who love their family. Men who love their wives and who love their kids. Men who love Jesus!

Burqueños can't do this on their own. It is impossible for us to achieve this. Only Jesus can do the things that we need to do. We need the righteousness that Jesus has achieved and we need Him to give it to us. The Bible describes this in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." This is called “The Great Exchange." This is where He gets our sin and our false "loyalty" and we get Jesus’ righteousness, His covenantal faithfulness.

Jesus loves Burque and Burque needs Jesus!

Carlos Garcia is a lifelong Burqueño who lives next door to his parents in Corrales. (Contrast!) He has been married to his lovely bride Michelle for 10 years. Together they have four children, two sons and two daughters whom he loves very much. He is a Deacon and Elder Candidate at Mars Hill Church, where he serves as the head of the Premarital Ministry and Coach over Community Groups on the North Westside of Albuquerque.

What does Jesus' suffering on Good Friday tell us about God and our suffering?

I recently wrote an op-ed piece as an assignment for a class I am taking through Mars Hill Church in Seattle. That article can be seen here. The assignment was to interpret and comment on a particular aspect of culture from a Christian worldview. I have invited some of my friends from the Albuquerque portion of the class to share their papers as a guest post on this blog. I will be sharing some of their pieces over the next few weeks. As a side note, several of their papers deal specifically with Albuquerque culture. However, all of them have some great insights that are relevant and applicable to a variety of cultures. Enjoy!

What does Jesus' suffering on Good Friday tell us about God and our suffering?

By Daniel Schuman

Albuquerque is no stranger to suffering.  The violent crime rate in 2010 was higher than the national violent crime rate average by 94.92%.  Probably every one of us have grieved the senseless murder of a friend or loved one. Others of us have experienced the suffering of growing up without a Dad, leaving us vulnerable to poverty, emotional scars, and physical abuse.  Single mothers birthed more than half the babies born in New Mexico in 2005, which is higher than the national average.

At the same time, our beloved state has deep religious roots.  During Holy Week, especially on Good Friday, some thirty thousand people will make pilgrimage to the Catholic church- Santuario de Chimayó.  Some will walk hundreds of miles.  Others will carry crosses.  Why?  For example, Elisabeth Sacco had buried four of her loved ones during the last week, and it was all she could do to keep herself together as she reached the Santuario de Chimayó.  The walk, she said, helped her cope with the deaths.

One of the most troubling issues for people, whether they consider themselves religious or not, is understanding the presence of suffering in the world.  In fact, a Barna research poll found that the one question people would ask God if they had the opportunity was: “Why is there so much suffering in the world?” As New Mexicans, we are familiar with suffering, and most of us are familiar with the term Good Friday, but many of us don’t understand what it means.  I want to identify what Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday tells us about God, and secondly, what Good Friday shows us about how God relates to our suffering.

Like Albuquerque, the God of the Bible is no stranger to suffering.  The Bible teaches that Jesus was fully God, and that He came to this earth, born of the virgin Mary, taking on flesh.  Jesus was 100% God and 100% man.  This is called the “incarnation.”  Being God, Jesus was completely sinless.  Being human, Jesus experienced things common to humanity such as: hunger, thirst, pain, and even death. 

The murder of Jesus on what is called “Good Friday” is the most horrific event in all of history.  It is physical trauma, it’s ribbon-shredded flesh, it’s nakedness and shame, it’s the wrath of God being poured out, and it is glorious!  But, you interject, “How can this be good?”

 

Hebrews 12:2-3 states, “...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.”

First we need to realize that Jesus was not suffering because of His sin.  He was sinless.  The Bible teaches that those who place their confidence in Jesus as their substitute, trusting Jesus lived the perfect life that you could never live, and took the punishment that you deserve; you can be the beneficiary of all that He achieved.  So, on Good Friday Jesus was suffering because of my sins and your sins!  By placing your confidence in Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf, you can know that the just punishment you deserve for breaking God’s commands can be erased. 

Furthermore, on Good Friday Jesus was also suffering taking upon Himself the shame from the ways that we have been shamefully sinned against by others; and thus, Jesus removes our shame.  This is called “expiation.”  This is great news for those who feel violated and defiled by heinous acts committed against them.  Jesus was publicly shamed, abused, and crucified.  For those trust in Him, Jesus can and will restore their dignity and identity.

Suffering is not something most of us would choose.  However, Jesus willingly chose suffering!  Why?  So, He could sympathize with our suffering, and so we could have the opportunity to be reconciled to God.  But, why does God still allow suffering?

I believe one reason that God allows suffering in this life, is so that we realize something is wrong with this world.  Things are not as they should be.  Things need to be set right.  Towards the end of “The Lord of the Rings”, Samwise Gamgee awakens after much suffering.  He says, “Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead! Is everything sad going to come untrue?” Pastor and author Tim Keller, who spoke at the 9/11 fifth anniversary responded, “The answer is yes. And the answer of the Bible is yes. If the resurrection is true, then the answer is yes. Everything sad is going to come untrue.”[4]

God knows and feels what we do. He has wept, He has suffered, and He too had a beloved Son violently murdered.  And because Jesus, the God-Man died, and rose again victoriously; those who trust in Jesus can be assured, in time, everything sad is going to come untrue!  In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, Jesus promises that He is preparing a new home for His children, where there will be no more suffering, no more death, and no more tears.

Let’s enter into Good Friday, with all it’s suffering, and remember that even the most bitter of circumstances can be sweetened by the hope in the promises of God’s redeeming grace through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  Therefore, Jesus’ suffering on Good Friday and your suffering are not meaningless.  Rather, they are the doorway to enter into hope, healing, and where everything sad can come untrue!

Daniel is the worst sinner that he knows, but as He reminds himself of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection on his behalf, he is realizing that he is more loved and welcomed than he ever dared dream!  Daniel serves as the Director of Biblical Living at Mars Hill Church Albuquerque.

---

Hymns vs. Contemporary Choruses

Some thoughts as a worship leader:

Worship through song should engage the whole person-mind, affections, and will. It should not just give us an emotional experience, but should leave our attitude and posture towards God and life changed. Many argue over whether hymns or contemporary choruses are a better vehicle for worship. This is often an argument over the value of engaging the mind verses the value of engaging the emotions. 

What is often left out of this discussion is the role of the will, that which leads to actions. If our worship through song is unconnected to how we live our lives then we are hypocrites. We can rise to the heights of passion or we can fill our minds with lots of great theology but if the 30 minutes of singing is unattached to how we live the rest of our lives we are fools. 

It is my opinion that both hymns and contemporary choruses can be a great tool for engaging the whole person in worship. I say this with the following warnings:

Those with a heavy bent towards contemporary choruses should be aware of the following risks: 
1) Neglecting to engage the mind, 
2) Singing songs that are more "me and my feelings" focused than God focused, 
3) Engaging a narrow set of emotions, namely, joy and thankfulness, 
4) Losing the men in the congregation who struggle to connect with songs that sound eerily similar to 8^th grade love songs (is it any wonder that most churches have many more women than men?), 
5) Never dealing with rich theological truth that people need, 
6) Losing the more heady, intellectual type in the congregation

Those with a heavy bent towards hymns should be aware of the following risks: 
1) Boring the people to sleep, 
2) Singing 500 words in three minutes without an opportunity to stop and consider what the heck was just sung, 
3) Forsaking the benefits of simplicity, especially in cries and pleas to God, 
4) No matter how “cool” you make an old hymn, some people will naturally have aversions to hymns because of the church they were raised in, 
5) Losing the more emotional, feeling type in the congregation.

New Mexicans: Thirsty for Justice

I recently wrote an op-ed piece as an assignment for a class I am taking through Mars Hill Church in Seattle. That article can be seen here. The assignment was to interpret and comment on a particular aspect of culture from a Christian worldview. I have invited some of my friends from the Albuquerque portion of the class to share their papers as a guest post on this blog. I will be sharing some of their pieces over the next few weeks. As a side note, several of their papers deal specifically with Albuquerque culture. However, all of them have some great insights that are relevant and applicable to a variety of cultures. Enjoy!

New Mexicans: Thirsty for Justice

Justice in Albuquerque has a name.  When no one else seems to be willing or able to help the people, we call Larry Barker.  Minus the mask, cape and high-tech gadgetry, he’s the Batman for our own Gotham City, taking on corruption at the highest levels.  The mere mention of his name brings hope to the downtrodden and fear to wrongdoers. 

Barker’s reputation is not undeserved.  Over a 38-year career in broadcasting, his name has become synonymous with investigative reporting in the state.  Just in the past year, he’s uncovered illegal horse racing linked to Mexican drug cartels, life insurance paid for by the state that it’s employees rarely can collect, a NM law that gives licenses back to DWI repeat offenders who cause the majority of the state’s fatal car accidents, and numerous cases of wasted tax payer monies at the city and state level.  Year after year, Barker relentlessly speaks for those who find it difficult to speak for themselves…the ordinary people of New Mexico…and we love him for it.  All the tired, huddled masses need to say is, “Don’t make me call Larry Barker.”  You can even get T-shirts and bumper stickers to show your allegiance and put would-be wrongdoers on notice.

Barker’s popularity in the state made me curious about the history of investigative reporters, those journalistic dirt-diggers that President Theodore Roosevelt famously once called “muckrakers.” In doing so, the president was alluding to a character in John Bunyan’s seventeenth-century allegory Pilgrim’s Progress who could not be troubled to take up the journey to the celestial city because he was so focused on raking the “filth of the floor”.  Roosevelt meant it as an insult, but the muckrakers adopted the term as a badge of honor.

It turns out that our own muckraker, Barker, follows in the footsteps of a long line of journalists who thought it their duty to gather and boldly present facts that challenge authority and oppose the abuse of power on behalf of ordinary citizens. The decade of 1902 to 1912 is known by many as “the golden age of public service journalism.”  Government corruption, corporate wrongdoing and social injustice dominated the journalism of the day and the people loved every written word of it because there was someone who saw what wasn’t right and had the courage to stand up and say so.  The cause of right-ness or more religiously, righteousness, was claimed by the first muckrakers and embraced by their eager audience.  Lincoln Steffens, one of the most famous muckrakers during this time declared, “I was not the original muckraker.  The prophets of the Old Testament were before me.”  Always controversial and frequently persecuted by the powerful they seek to expose, the muckrakers do have a prophetic quality to them.  They are first and foremost proclaimers of the truth and defenders of an ideal form of government where the eyes of lady justice truly are blind and the guilty are always punished. 

But what is it within us that wants to see the powerful and corrupt brought down?  It seems that the rise of the muckrakers and their crusade to restore justice is built upon an objective sense of right and wrong, to which we all instinctively adhere.  It seems surprising in the 21^st century, the age of tolerance for so many things that were condemned by previous generations, that there still remains in us a moral outrage against certain actions that makes our blood boil in righteous indignation. 

However, rather than condemn Barker and his colleagues for their hubris to keep digging until they expose the corruption hidden within the corridors of power, we embrace them as folk heroes in the vein of Robin Hood or the Caped Crusaders of the comic books we all read as kids.  There is something in us that knows that right is right and wrong is wrong, no matter how often the evolutionary theorists try to tell us otherwise.  From earliest childhood we can see evil in others even if we are slow to confess it in ourselves.  It is human nature to cry out for justice when we are wronged or when we see others wronged who have neither the strength nor courage to make it right.  And therefore, we cheer our own Larry Barker when he gives a voice to those who would otherwise have not been heard. 

Maybe Steffen’s claim to be a modern-day prophet isn’t merely religious self-promotion.  Like the Old Testament prophets we read about in Sunday school, Muckrakers assume the worst, dig till they find it, and proclaim what was once in darkness from the rooftops.  But perhaps, the muckrakers should look to the Bible’s most famous prophetic voice for courage to face their most powerful opposition.  The language Jesus used against the political and religious elite of his day would make even Larry Barker blush. 

The “brood of vipers” and “white-washed tombs” of his day had failed the oppressed and marginalized masses living under the heavy hand of Rome, instead using spiritually exploitative practices to line their own pockets.  Not above overturning tables and driving out purveyors of corruption with a whip, the gospels paint a very different picture than the modern-day conception of Jesus as a good moral teacher, more fond of feeding the poor than opposing the powerful.  But that’s not how Jesus’ own mother described his ministry.  She proclaimed:

He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.  He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. (Luke 1:51-53)

Mary had the longings of all people who are oppressed and want someone to come and right the wrongs of this world.  She raised a reformer who, in true muckraker tradition, opposed the powerful and was persecuted for it, ultimately costing him his life after a mock trail and brutal public crucifixion.

New Mexico loves Larry Barker because we love justice.  Perhaps deep in our bones we are also longing for Mary’s son to proclaim a truth that won’t just expose the guilty but will free us from the evil that we know lurks within us as well.

______________________________________

Matt Kelley works as a corporate recruiter at Summit Electric Supply and is also a lay leader at Mars Hill Church at 4100 Sant Mateo NE in Albuquerque.

New Confession 2

Here is another confession that I wrote for us to use during our worship service.

Pastor: “And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!’” 

Less than a week later, the same crowds cried out, “Crucify him!” 

Congregation: Our Lord and Savior, we confess that we are prone to wander from you. We confess that we honor you as king one day and forget about you the next. We confess that we run to you in times of need and wander from you in times of comfort and abundance. We confess that we lift you up as first in our lives one day and then worship our own selfish ambitions the next. We repent of our wanderings and forgetfulness.

Pastor: As Jesus was crucified, he cried out concerning his murderers, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” In that moment it was our forgiveness that was accomplished.  It was our sins that held him there. To all who turn their back on him, to all who wander away from him, to all whose sins cry out, “Crucify Him!,” Jesus says, “Father, forgive them.”  Through God’s mercy in Jesus Christ, you are forgiven and cleansed. Through Jesus’ death your sins have been cast as far away as the east is from the west. Rejoice, for you are free!