Ye Shall Be Judged

Why are we so quick to judge? That’s been the question on my mind recently. The Facebook/Twitter generation makes our immediate thoughts and reactions so accessible to one another, that hardly anyone thinks before they “speak” anymore. If you do a quick Google search for “quick to judge”, there are countless blogs and web sites where people are asking the question, “Why are we quick to judge?”. Many of them point to discussions about why Christians are so quick to judge, claiming we are being hypocritical (which I generally agree with).

But until you add the keyword “Bible” in the search itself, no passages are returned to the top of the results page. Yet there happens to be plenty on the subject in question. We may need to think about this more.

Our culture makes it so easy to judge things these days, it’s become a way of life. Vote for your favorite American Idol by texting, vote online for your favorite song or actor/actress with a single click, or voice your opinion on your own blog or someone else with whom you agree or disagree. It’s easy and immediate. We are constantly being encouraged to give our opinion, let alone have one. It’s assumed that we feel strongly about every subject one way or another, and it is our right/duty to voice it in some manner. My question: why?

You used to have to be an expert on a subject to have your opinion heard beyond your water cooler or family holiday party. Now, you can just as easily become a celebrity (think YouTube) just by doing something stupid. In many cases, the stupider (word?), the better.

It is interesting to think about why we have become this way, where we so quickly and easily come to judgment and declare ourselves experts on so many topics. Our ancestors might consider us all modern day “Jacks of all trades”….or maybe just fools. I wonder.

Take the example of the recent reality show/family disaster of Jon & Kate. Now, I don’t even have to say “plus 8″ for you to know exactly who I’m talking about. A few months ago, millions of people didn’t know this family existed, yet they happily lived out their struggles to grow as a family on TV for anyone to see. They seemed happy, and wanted to do this, so we decided it was a good thing.

Then, whether fame became too much or if they just couldn’t deal with life anymore, it all started falling apart. It seemed like the worse it became, the more interested the public become. Somehow, many even decided they wanted them to fail, while others proclaimed, “Who cares?”. Either way, almost everyone took sides before the inevitable downfall came and the couple decided to split.

So, I ask, why do we feel justified in having an opinion about their situation? Is it because we think we know them, because we were given an intimate glimpse into their personal lives? Or has it become our nature to simply judge whatever is thrown in our faces that week? I think part of the rush to judgment comes from the fleeting existence of most things that gain enough fame to warrant mass coverage on a national scale. We inherently know that Jon & Kate are here today, but gone tomorrow, so we might as well make up our minds before they become irrelevant (which they already have, as soon as a bigger celebrity died). To the news, it’s just another day, another story. Yet to us, it seems like a way of life.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’m left equally frustrated and exhausted playing this cat and mouse game with the media. I truly do not care about celebrity gossip and what the latest story is. One reason I prefer the Internet as a news source to watching TV or reading a magazine/newspaper is that I can filter content to what I want to read, and can ignore the rest (except for those annoying pop-ups).

As Christians, shouldn’t we be challenging each other to live out what the Bible teaches about judgment? If we did, wouldn’t we be looked at as reasonable human beings more so than impossible to please hypocrites?

Consider this verse, and how it might change your perspective regarding how you react to the next breaking story “everyone is talking about”:

“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again”. – Matthew 7:2

I hate FREE

It’s weird for me to write that, because I actually love a lot of things that are free, especially technology related. I also subscribe to the maxim, “If it’s free, it’s more”, in life…in general. I’m a cheap person, meaning I’d rather do some bargain hunting to find the best price than just pay for something without knowing if it’s a good deal.

Online, I’m a huge supporter of Open Source software, which is usually free to download and use for the general public. It is especially nice when it also happens to hurt Microsoft, as is the case with Open Office, for example. I also love free web services like Facebook and Twitter.

Rethinking it, I guess a more accurate statement than the title I gave this article is, “I hate what is happening to the reputation of free”. A little wordy, so I’ll leave the title for now. What I’m frustrated with in our digital culture is that, in many cases, little to no value is given to anything that is given away for free. A perfect example of this is playing online poker.

A few years ago, during the Chris Moneymaker boom that poker experienced, new gaming sites popped up all over the Internet allowing people to play against people all over the world, for free, from the comfort of their homes. No need to go out, get dressed up, face your opponent and have to stare down someone trying to determine your bluff, and most importantly, no money.

These sites became an instant success in providing a medium for the millions of people who suddenly felt inspired to feel the rush of going “All-In” and wait to see if their 2 cards would hold up to win it all. With almost no barrier to entry, literally anyone with an Internet connection and a gambling itch that needed scratching could sign on and be pushing their chips into the pile (figuratively speaking, of course) without having to open their wallet.

I, equally enamored at the bright lights of future fortune and instant success and fame, signed up on one of these sites and started to hone my game. I quickly realized that there were too many people looking for an easy score than anyone who really wanted to learn and improve their skill at this easy to learn, but impossible to master card game. At first I was frustrated, because what I would see happen in literally every single game I sat down in was 7-8 of the 10 people seated at my “table” would go All-In on the very first hand! Knowing the fundamentals of the game, I easily figured out that not all these people were getting great starting hands. As a rule, it is better to play slow early on (lots of folding unless you have a great starting hand), get the feel of the table and try to stick around so you can be there at the end. I mean, isn’t winning the whole point of playing a game? Apparently not.

To whatever level of excitement going All-In on the first hand, regardless of the hand you are dealt, it plays to the detriment of the game. Now, instead of having to face 10 opponents each trying to figure out how to beat you and everyone else at the table, I was one of 3 people left at the table. I had all my chips, as did one other player. But the person who inevitably would luck out and win that first hand with Q-7 off suit (typically a bad starting hand), would have 8 times as many chips as the rest of us. If you’re anything like me (I’d like to think I’m rational), your immediate cry to the world is, “This is NOT FAIR!”.

The reason I stopped playing online poker is because it became too easy to win, and I don’t mean that in a good way. I wanted a challenge, to improve my game and see how good I could really get. But online is not a place for that to happen, nor do I think it ever will be. I can teach you how to win at online poker in seconds, and if you’re really interested in trying it, it really is quite simple. The problem is that you will get bored, because playing winning poker is not fun or exciting. It simply takes discipline, very little knowledge of the game, and a tiny bit of luck. Every once in awhile, that guy who won the first All-In, will call your massively dominant hand (KK to his J-4), and because of his chip lead, you are forced to go All-In early, he will suck out on the river (last card dealt) and knock you out. But, I can honestly say that I win about 70% of the time, and come in 2nd 25% of the time by following these very simple rules.

1. No matter what cards you have (AA or anything else), DO NOT PLAY THE FIRST HAND. This is the most important rule, which is why it’s first. If you do, you WILL lose. Every once in awhile, you’ll win (probably about 10% of the time), but if you do that, you are just like everyone else. No need to keep reading if you can’t do this first one.
2. Play tight. This is a general rule that should apply to the rest of the game, until you are heads up (1 other person left). You can get to heads up by playing extremely tight and folding everything until the other guy busts out, or you can push all your cards in when you have a AA, KK, or QQ, or top pair with an Ace kicker after the flop (you will win 90% of these hands, and I promise you will get called, so you might as well get your money’s worth if you waited for one of these hands to play it).
3. When you finally get to heads up, realize that if you’re playing the guy who went All-In on the first hand and won, you are better than him. This has to be true, since you are still in the game, and you know what hands he plays that you didn’t. So believe it. Outplay him, watch what he does and take advantage of every mistake he makes (trust me, there will be plenty). He is trying to finish you off so he can get to another game and try to do the same thing. Use this. When you’re strong, push him, you’ll get called. When you don’t have it, back off. You cannot and will not bluff him of his hand (if he even knows what it is).
4. Finally, when you are heads up, now is the time to be aggressive. Notice I don’t say play stupid. If you have any pair or at least 1 Ace-Jack, you might as well put it all in because you almost always will have the advantage. Like I said, if you get this far, you’ll win if you’re still paying attention – because the other guy isn’t. It never ceases to amaze me how easily a player who has convinced himself he is good, because he has a huge chip lead early, is now so eager to hand over his chips. And you will gladly take them.

So, it’s really that easy. You don’t have to read a book, or even know what the hand ranking are (although it helps). You will learn little things along the way, and as you increase ever so slightly your sensitivity to how you play and continue to observe how others play, you’ll be on your way to creating a monster advantage for yourself for a long time, if you can stand continuing to play there. And if you run into someone like me (you probably will, if you play long enough), give it your best and learn from everything that happens. Poker is a lot like life: you take the bad beats and get up and just keep going. And yes, you can quote me on that.

All this is to say, I no longer play poker online. I recently played a game, sat down at a table, and won using this exact strategy (took about 20 minutes). I almost got sucked out on one hand, where he hit an Ace on the river (I had KK to start), but luckily by that time I had him covered. The very next hand, I sucked him out where I hit a K on the river. Just goes to show, if you stick around long enough, what goes around will come back around. After that, it was smooth sailing to the win.

Getting back to my original point, I still don’t understand why so many people enjoy this type of play. I guess it reflects our instant gratification culture. If it’s not easy, they don’t want to work for it, and are on to the next “adventure”. To me, there is an immense amount of joy and satisfaction in winning this game by playing well and beating worthy opponents. Unfortunately, that experience does not exist in the virtual world and I am unwilling to pay (and most likely lose) lots of money for. I’d rather go see a movie, but that’s just me.

Church Hunting

How do you find a church? For the first time in my life, I find myself churchless. I grew up in one church, then left with my family to start a church plant, where I was married and have been a member for over 5 years.

Due to a number of unfortunate circumstances, we decided it was time to move on as a family. It was an extremely difficult situation, but we felt God calling us to step out in faith.

So now, we have to figure out what we want in a church. Big or small? Close or far? Which denomination? What kind of preaching and music? What ministries? How is their nursery? It has quickly become overwhelming.

I do know a few things. We want to find a place where we feel comfortable leaving our kids in the nursery. We would like a place that has a strong commitment to their community so we can be involved in outreach. I would personally like a place where they preach through the scripture verse by verse, but that is unlikely. I also know that at this point, while I would like to find a well organized worship team to be a part of some day, I don’t care what the music sounds like. I want passionate and real worshippers to join in song every Sunday.

Please pray for wisdom and guidance. While I’m excited to see where God wants to send us to serve, I’d be lying if I said it will be easy. But maybe that’s what God wants, to allow us struggle so we can put all of our trust in Him during this time in our lives.

Believe it, or else

I think Christianity is criticized sometimes because people who are “followers of Christ” tend to follow somewhat blindly, especially if they are raised in that faith. This is actually probably true of most religions (including “non-religion”), seemingly because good parents are trying to impress upon their children the beliefs they hold as true.

This “believing without knowing why you believe” mentality severely hurts an individual’s ability to explain their faith anyone who disagrees with them. While you may know in your heart that what you believe is true, that alone will not resonate in someone still searching for answers or believing something else.

When you are raised in a Christian church, and testify publicly that you believe to be true everything you have heard from the Bible, little is done by the church to enhance your knowledge what you are now assumed to believe, let alone why. You are mostly fed with simple, application-based messages to help you live your life in a better way (or “more like Jesus”), and every once in a while, you learn a Greek or Hebrew word for something that will help you understand what a verse meant back when it was written.

I’m not criticizing this method of preaching or teaching, I simply wish there was more available from the place you go to worship and that deeper studying was encouraged. Throughout history, there were always groups of people who knew their scripture forward and backward, but in modern times the appreciation for in-depth knowledge, insight, and memorization seems to be of little importance to many believers.

I think, as Christians, we are so often told what to believe that we have a hard time questioning anything to find out what we do believe. This mentality influences not only our personal faith, but also our daily lives in things like politics and how we raise our children. Is it really the church’s responsibility to cover a topic like “parenting” in a group setting? If more of an effort was placed on knowledge of the scriptures, wouldn’t life-applicable things come more into focus as we would gain the understanding from the teachings already in place

I hope it doesn’t sound like I am just venting, or complaining, about the state of the church (at least in America) today. I just want to challenge everyone to continually evaluate what their Christian life is made up of. Do you just go to church on Sunday and live your life the way you want the rest of the week? Do you read the Bible and pray every day, but keep God out of certain areas of your life? Do you tell God that you can’t be a missionary because you don’t want to give up the nice things you have today?

Before we can have any kind of real effect on the world around us, we need to be sure we are constantly changing on the inside as we pursue holiness and sanctification. We do not claim to be perfect, but we believe in a God who is. It’s not easy to understand things like the Trinity, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. We are commanded by God to, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” – I Peter 3:1

Are you prepared?

Recording: Day 2

Last night I was able to track some drums through the keyboard input.  This is a pretty boring process because you’re just kind of sitting there clicking away on one key throughout the whole song.  But, by the end it sounds pretty good and now I can add effects individually to each drum piece.  There is actually no snare yet, so I’m still trying to decide if it needs any.  Right now it’s just a bass drum and high hat, which I’m pretty satisfied with.

Secondly, I toyed around with some different guitar sounds and effects, and finally settled on a dirty sounding amp with a touch of fast tremolo for the lead part.  I came up with a little riff that repeats throughout the entire song except for the chorus, where I transition to a picking part over the chord changes.  I think it came together quite nicely.

I have to say it’s pretty cool – this record is going to be full of dissonance, particularly in the guitar parts.  I’m working on a bunch of new ideas, all of which feature a bunch of notes close together in the main guitar parts.  As far as I’m concerned, the more of that I can get on the album, the better.  I also love experimenting with vocal harmonies that don’t just sound like a regular harmony that you would expect.  I really think what I added to “These Hands” gives it such a unique flavor.  To me, that’s the whole fun of recording, since you can’t layer your voice when you sing live (at least not yet).

Experimenting with different sounds and creating the finished product is the best of part of recording.  So far, I’m loving it!  The only downside is that I usually lose track of time and end up staying up way too late, so I’m exhausted the next day.  But it’s been worth it so far.

Thanks for following me on this journey.  Even though I won’t be releasing full versions of my songs until the whole thing is finished, I will upload some clips here and there to get some feedback.  And maybe, when it’s almost done, if I have to decide between 2 songs, I’ll ask for your help.