Eric's thoughts

Am I the only one? I know we have all seen “those people” on the street corner. Many with the cardboard signs reading, “Hungry, just lost my job”, “Help! Can you spare some change?” Or perhaps one of the more honest signs that I have seen, “Why lie? I need a beer!” After all that is what they are after anyway, right?

We all see them, but does anyone else react like me. I drive by, sometimes hoping not to be caught sitting at the red light ten feet from them on the corner, then I may end up making eye contact and in a moment of “weakness” pull out a dollar bill and hand it over. Maybe, I make sure that my window is up, so they don’t get the wrong idea and expect that I may give them money. After all, who knows what they are going to use the money for? And I can sure justify not giving any money because, Lord knows, I don’t want to be an enabler. I can even quote a verse, “He who doesn’t work shouldn’t eat”, to make me feel more spiritual. And I’m way too busy to buy some food and take it over, besides I’m struggling as it is.

Am I the only one? I don’t know, maybe I’m being a little too transparent here.

In this way, I believe my seven year old son may be the greatest example of a Christian I have ever seen. He is not perfect by any means, just spend the afternoon with him and you will see that. However, several months ago he challenged the way I feel about these people. Sitting in the back seat of my car he read one of those signs that said “hungry”. Intrigued, he asked a great question, “Why don’t we help that man? We have food and I have some money in my piggy bank.” It’s one thing for me to justify it to myself, but to my son? I had no good excuse. We drove to the nearest Burger King, parked the car, bought a Whopper meal and walked over to one of those people.

We came to find out that one of those people actually has a name, Daryl. And although his theology is off, he is a man that loves Jesus (he actually started “evangelizing” me as we walked over with his burger).

I have since had a few conversations with our buddy, Daryl. And every single night my boys will not let me forget to pray for him.

Jesus has definitely given my son a huge heart for the poor. He has even rubbed off a bit on his younger brother, as it has become a regular occurance that when both my boys see a person on the corner, they want to help.

And as a grown man, I want what he has, but I’m sure I’m not the only one.

One of my favorite (and most challenging) teaching series that we have ever done for high school students was a series we did this past fall, in which we titled "Grey". In this series we talked about what many consider to be biblical gray areas (even the spelling of grey seems to be a gray area). Things like cussing, alcohol, and tatoos, to name a few.

A verse that I have heard quoted many times in reference to gray areas is 1 Thessalonians 5:22, "Abstain from every form of evil." In other words, a traditional take has been, as a Christian I am not to give any hint of wrong doing. Well, I guess that sums it up. Or does it?

Check out respected Biblical scholar, Dan Wallace's, take on that verse in context.

http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2008/02/19/avoid-every-appearance-of-evil/#more-598

After watching a little bit of the political debates this past weekend, trying to understand their current positions, listening to several of them say, "the people are not interested in them attacking one another, they just want to hear about the issues", (to be honest, I was more interested in listening to them attack one another) and trying to gain some insight as to who I will vote for, I was reminded about something I've read recently concerning what some might call, Christian America's search for a political savior.

In his book, The Ever-Loving Truth; Can Faith Thrive in a Post-Christian Culture? Speaker/Author, Voddie Baucham, writes that a political savior is not coming. This view "assumes that a person with that kind of prophetic edge could be elected to a national office." He goes on to write, "... this view assumes that such a candidate would be right in imposing his or her will on the nation. I find it interesting when ideas come across the news with which we (Christians) disagree, such as the Ninth Circuit Court decision that the words 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance were unconstitutional, Christians cry foul. Why? Because we believe it is wrong for a three-person panel to dictate such things to the masses. I agree, but I must pose a question: What makes regulating our behavior any more appropriate when a 'godly' president does it under the ideal of saving us from pagan immorality by imposing his will on us? The truth of the matter is that we believe such a president would make it easier for us (Christians) to live our lives."

He makes a good point.

Should we vote by our convictions? Absolutely! Should we be looking for a political savior? Absolutely not! Besides, we already have a Savior, and his name is Jesus Christ.

I know it's fall here in the North West and if you walk outside it feels nothing like summer, but I'd like to take you back to the summer when many students along with several adult leaders and parents had the opportunity to minister to a family and several kids in Mexico. Partnering with NorthWest Outreach, a team of students and adults were able to connect with kids and families, conduct a VBS, and build a house for a family in need.

On this trip, we saw many step out of their comfort zones and become true heroes in my sight, and in the eyes of many.

Check out this video on Youtube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfudgrpa0YY, to get an idea of what went on that week.

Thank you to those of you in our congregation that allowed your resources (financial and other) to help us minister to these people. There were even those in our community, specifically some employees at a local BiMart that paid for most of the gas for the trip.

Of course, glory be to God for what he has done and is doing in and through the lives of all those involved on this trip.

Has anybody seen the CBS show, Kid Nation? A new reality television series that placed 40 children, ages 8 to 15, in the New Mexico desert to build a society without contact with their parents for 40 days.

Yep, that sounds like a good idea, let me send my child away for over a month with out any contact, guidance, love, encouragement, support, discipline from the people that are supposed to love, encourage, support and discipline their kids. But at least they get the chance to win a gold star worth $20,000 dollars. Where can I sign my kids up?

Is anyone else appalled by this? In fact many people are, which has filled the airing of the show with much controversy. Many people blame the producers, the idea makers behind the show. I point the finger directly at parents for even considering sending their young child off to an environment like this.

Maybe you've felt like a nice 40 day break from your kids would be a good idea. You can probably even make an argument that certain kids (maybe in the teenage range) could benefit from this environment. But kids as young as 8? In fact, one 8 year old boy named Jimmy, made the decision to go home after 4 days.

"I got really home sick," he told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm "And a whole bunch of stuff wouldn't stop getting in my eyes. It was really, really cold that night. I missed my own bed and I hated sleeping on those little, little mattresses."

When asked about sending her child off to a show like this his mom replied...
"He ended up making the decision pretty much on his own," she (Jimmy's Mom) said. "After we met everyone that was involved, all the support staff and everything, I was -- I was pretty comfortable. They were definitely competent. I was pretty happy with them."

Making the decision on his own...are you kidding me? How old is this boy again? But at least they were competent, that's helpful.

However, as the old saying goes when you point the finger there are always fingers pointing back at you. Watching this show and reading the buzz about what others are saying about it, it really got me thinking. If it really is my job as a dad, to raise, guide, direct, discipline, love, encourage, support, even disciple, my kids (to name a few)then, how am I doing? It's easy for me to point the finger, sit at my desk and rant in a blog about it. It's hard for me to evaluate how I am doing as a parent.

As a parent, or maybe as someone that will someday become a parent, it might be a question that we all need to reflect on. Do I have the courage to look at the fingers pointing back at me? Do I have the courage to raise, guide, direct, discipline, love, encourage, support, even disciple, my kids? To name a few...

There is no denying that pornography destroys marriages, homes, and lives. There really is no debate. Or so you might think.

Craig Gross, pastor, author, and one of the leaders behind xxxchurch.com (a website helping many overcome porn addiction) and porn star Ron Jeremy are touring the nation doing just that, debating porn.

Recently they appeared on CNN to promote the show. You can check that out, as well as read Craig's blog on touring with Ron, here...
www.xxxchurch.com (click x3 blogs to the left and x3 featured video on the right of the home page)

Does the event promote porn? Will it expose some to porn? What if Ron Jeremy wins the argument? Is it making a circus out of the issue? Will it cause some to stumble? Is this what Jesus would have done?

Can we answer any of those questions accurately? I don't know. All I know is, as I have stated before, that pornography destroys lives, and I have seen and experienced that first hand.

After reading Craig's blog, I believe his heart is in the right place, and that he is seeking out how Jesus would "be" in this situation. And he wants to be Jesus to Ron. It's tough to argue with that.

Do we need the Christian rock industry? Granted, I am saying this not as a huge fan of Christian rock in general, but as a huge fan of The David Crowder Band (Worship band), as well as a rap duo by the name of Mars Ill who are Christians that happen to do rap music (which is a way artists separate themselves from the Christian music industry, yet attempt to make solid music with Christian values.)

I realize one blog can't answer this question, but it can start discussion. :)

I was listening to a local Christian station, which I do often, when a U2 song came on. But it wasn't U2 singing the song, it was a Christian band doing a cover of the song. Apparently, as I have read, because the spirituality of the band isn't explicit, mostly because it's members drink, smoke, and swear. The three unpardonable sins, I guess.

Now, why would taking U2's lyrics and have them sung by a band that apparently doesn't drink, smoke, and swear, make the music anymore spiritual?

Why would a "Christian" singing a song that is biblically off (it happens more often than you think, just listen) give me any insight to Christianity or point me to God at all? Wouldn't that be pointing me to a false god? Or when I hear a Christian sing a song with lyrics that you would hear coming from any band, how is that any different from a non-christian singing similar lyrics?

Yes, I do see the value in worship music, but I also see the value when truth speaks to me through "secular" (a term which I don't like) music as well.

And if this is true with music, why not a Christian plumbing business? Christian Insurance agencies? Christian Restaurants?

Shoot, while we are at it let's just create our own Christian sub-culture!

I'll come out and say it. I don't like most tracts. You know, those little pamphlets of paper that are supposed to represent the Gospel. In fact, it's borderline hatred. I especially have a hatred for those money tracts.

A few weeks ago my son's kindergarten friend found a few tracts hidden in the wood chips of the playground at their school. The tracts looked like money folded in half. I believe it was fake $20 bills. I was helping in his class that day and walked over to the commotion of kids who had thought he had found dollar bills, and of course his classmates wanted their cut.

On the tract it said, something to the extent of- Disappointed? Jesus will never disappoint you. Then it proceeded to give how one could be assured of heaven. Repent, pray the prayer, etc. My son's teacher walked over took a look at the fake money tract, chuckled, and then told the kids that it wasn't real. The tract did get one thing right...the kids sure were disappointed.

I have also heard stories of people handing out the money tracts as tips at restaurants, don't worry, sometimes it is handed out with actual money.

Now, I don't know if you are a tract person or not, and I understand that they help some people share the good news about Christ. I also know first hand that tracts are very useful in some cultures. All I know is that when these tracts on the playground were found, and I hear of stories like these, I am rarely more embarrassed to be a Christian.

Think about the question most tracts seek to answer..."If you died where would you go"? Are people even asking this question? Can't we do better than that. (By the way, for more about the questions people are asking check Ed Stetzer's blog at www.theresurgence.com/es_blog_2007-03-27_beginning_a_conversation_about_christ

Some would say that the ends justify the means and at least they heard or read the Gospel. Is this the Gospel? I am too cheap to leave a tip, but here's a tract to tell you where the real treasure is. Or Christ won't disappoint you, but I will! At best this makes us look cheap, cheesy, unloving, and out of touch with the human race...and makes Jesus look the same.

I know I don't have everything right, and I blow it in representing the Gospel more often than I would like, but if this is how we are going to represent Christ, I want no part of it.

There has been a bit a of controversy over a video featuring Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, that was shown in a church planting conference and then was banned from being handed out to the attendees. Apparently, largely due to the fact that it doesn't address women and the promoters of the event didn't want to create a big fuss after the video was criticized by one of the speakers.

The video speaks mainly to those planting churches but I believe speaks largely to the church as a whole.

Here's a link to the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIrIKbCz3n4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Etheresurgence%2Ecom%2Fmd%5Fblog%5F2007%2D04%2D28%5Fbanned%5Fchurch%5Fplanting%5Fvideo

I tend to agree with a large amount of what he says (even the way he says it) and believe that it not only affects church plants, but every church.

Okay, I can understand the books, they were entertaining and even a bit challenging (the ones that I read anyway). I was excited when the first movie came out, slightly less excited after seeing it. But do we really need a "Left Behind" video game?

The game is marketed toward conservative Christians (which makes me think of what might be the real motivation behind the video game) although seeks to appeal others.

Check out the links below, they are of a CNN story on the game, a review by G4, and a "This Week In God" segment from The Daily Show.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic6fXmhvv4A&mode=related&search=
www.youtube.com/watch?v=unNeTZgbIfk&mode=related&search=
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-hzYodttU

Admittedly, I have not played the game, but I have read a few reviews and seen the demos. Is this the way we are going to reach people? Is this a message that we want to send out?

For me, it just gives people more ammo into the fact that when products are labeled "Christian," most of the time, it just means that the products are less than quality attempts to break into what people perceive as cool. In turn, it separates us, as a whole, even further from the culture and from some people that we are trying to reach.

Don't get me wrong, I actually wish Christians would have more of an impact in the areas of books, movies, music, and other realms of media. And maybe the impact would come if we stopped worrying about how "Christian" the product is and started worrying about quality.

Have you ever felt distant from God? I'm about to confess something...I have. I know some of you are completely shocked, I mean I'm supposed to be in the God business, I should never feel distant from God, after all it is my job to point others to him, right? For others, I know it didn't come as a shock because some of you were already questioning my salvation. I can confess this because I know I am not the only one.

When you tell someone else about how you feel they typically give you the same answer, to get close to God you must, read your Bible, pray more, go to church, commit more, love God more. And so you do all this, but you still feel nothing. Then others say, well you can't base everything on your feelings, which is true, but sometimes it doesn't... well...feel true. These are all great things that God uses to bring us to him, and I agree that we should be doing a lot more of, but what happens when we do these things and still feel distant? I confess again...I have.

Some say, if that doesn't work then it's because of the way you've been living. Then we give some list of things they need to be doing or not doing like, don't have sex outside of marriage, don’t drink, don’t cuss, don't get angry, and don't do bad things. In other words behave yourself. Is that what it's about? Jesus came to this earth and died and came back again so I can behave myself?

So what have we done? We've just painted a picture of what a relationship with God looks like...pray, read the Bible, don't do this and that, and behave yourself. There you have it. But here's the problem, if I do this does that mean I have a close relationship with God? If I do this, does that mean I even have a relationship with him? You see, all of these things are based a large part on me...and can have nothing to do with God at all.

But what if what if I started with Him instead of me. What He has done for me? The grace, the mercy, the blessings, the pain, the trials, the love,...the death,...the resurrection.

In my life, it is when I have caught a little glimpse of what he has done for me, I want to know him more, so then I pray, then I read the Bible, then I pay attention to the way he tells me to live and get the most out of life.

I find the more I take myself out of the equation the closer I am to Him.

Several years ago I had a conversation with a few young men outside of a coffee shop. It was obvious that these young men were on something. Somehow the conversation turned to church. “Do you guys go to church?” I asked. “Church sucks.” The response came from a student too “out of it” to respond to any other part of the conversation. I agreed. If I were to be able to articulate his response it might sound something like church is irrelevant, complicated, hokey, too focused on insiders…you can probably make your own list.

Maybe our culture would say this of church… “Church is for church people.” I mean, basketball is for basketball players, hunting is for hunters, and coffee is for coffee drinkers, so church is for church people. Makes sense, right? But the problem is if church is for church people then Christianity is just for Christians, and if Christianity is for Christians then Christ is just for church people. Does anyone else see a problem here?

I came across Luke 11 this morning, in which Jesus criticizes some religious leaders that crush people with their impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to ease their burden (verse 46). How these experts in religion remove the key of knowledge from the people (verse 52). It is so easy to point the finger when you read over a passage like this…but upon further review…could this be us? Talk about pointing the finger..US!? Could this be me?

Are Christians guilty of this? Is the Church as a whole guilty of this? Think about it, do we complicate things or make it easy for people to come to Christ. We have upteen million denominations saying that this is THE way. We tend to tell people more about their morals and teach them to fix their morality before we try to give them Christ...again, you can probably make your own list.

We complicate and complicate and complicate and add burden upon burden upon burden. Seems to me I remember reading Jesus saying “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

By the way, the student that shared those words with me, died in a car wreck several months after our conversation.

I believe Christ is for everyone, and if Christ is for everyone then Christianity is for everyone, and if Christianity is for everyone then church is for everyone!

I don’t know about you, but I just want people to meet Jesus. I don’t want to spend a minute of my life loading burden after burden in some meaningless religion. And I’ll bet you don’t want to spend a minute of your life doing that either.

I've been called some bad nicknames during my baseball playing days in college...there was stickman, pogo stick, chalk (because if I would ever lay down in the chalk line nobody would find me)to name a few. Fortunately none of those stuck(that is until now.)

At least I can say that I didn't get stuck with a nickname like Thomas, one of Jesus's disciples. (John 20) Which is maybe the worst nickname of all time. I mean for the rest of time he will be known as Doubting Thomas. When people get to heaven they are going to be saying things like, "You're THE Doubting Thomas. How could you doubt Jesus?"

Maybe I should have though. I mean, if I were honest, I'd admit that I have doubts at times. Most of the time my doubts come when the Christian life is going to cost me something, like reputation, or when I try to put God in a box and he does something that I consider to be out of bounds. But let's face it, if you were a bit honest, you'd admit that you have doubts too. I mean, everybody has doubts, even during the time of Jesus, there was John the Baptist, the disciples, you can even make an argument that Jesus had doubts in the garden of whether he wanted to go to the cross or not. Yet Thomas is the one stuck with the nickname.

We all have, will have, or have had doubts. Yet what so many Christians do is try to cover up their doubt and questions. What makes us do that? What makes us think that we have an insecure God that can't handle our questions? Why do we try to pretend we have it all together? Do we really believe that God is honored when we pretend to have things figured out? Why aren't we honest with ourselves? Maybe a better question is why aren't we honest with God? Why don't we just come to grips with the fact that we are not going to have all the answers?

Here's what I propose, why don't we stop trying fool ourselves and others into thinking we have it all figured out and admit that we don't have all the answers. We can't have all the answers, can we?

But here's what we can have...we can have the God of the answers. We can have THE answer...Jesus. We can still have The Way, The Truth, and The Life. And He invites us into a relationship with Him...doubts and questions and all.

Maybe a nickname like Doubting Thomas isn't such a bad thing after all...in fact it sure beats broomstick with a hat on.

On Thursday, I came back to the office expecting to find on my computer screen saver Nehemiah 6:3, which is a verse that I find inspiring (for your sake and time I won’t explain why right now). However, I walked to my computer to find Dueteronomy 22:10. Which is a good reason not to show a picture of your Pastor and boss on the big screen in church as a dead ringer to Ned Flanders of The Simpsons. Especially if he believes in revenge.

For those with out a Bible in front of them, here it is, "Do not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.” Not quite as inspiring. Unless you happen to own an ox and a donkey and have a problem with harnessing them together, then by all means, apply away.

Shockingly, the verse did inspire some discussion amongst some when the same verse was read from the King James Version. For those of you with out a King James, I'm sure you can figure it out. And if you are still in the dark, password is...“donkey.”

The discussion then moved from the verse to what exactly is a cuss word? Is cussing a heart issue or is it even a sin? Do people not cuss just because a good Christian is not supposed to or because it might be offensive to others? Is saying the word “shoot” the same as the other one (see, I can’t even get myself to write it out for fear of what one might think of me.) And if not, what if I said it in anger? Someone even asked me if my kids asked me about cussing what would I tell them? I guess I’d tell them not to do it, but the best reason I could come up with was because it’ll make their dad look bad if they do. Should that be the main reason why those words shouldn’t came out of our mouths, or is there more to it?

So there’s my question, all because in the King James they were too lazy to spell out the word donkey.

“Deep…Man, that’s deep…I just want to go deeper.” These are things we often say or hear, but what does that mean? What does it mean to go deeper?

Many people want a deeper relationship with God. I mean, I do, I think I do anyway, but what does that mean? Many people would say it’s deep to know more about God or to know a lot about the Bible. Some would say it’s the dissecting of each word in scripture. Others would say it’s in the application.

Many say a deep realationship is found by picking up your Bible and reading it. Others say praising him through out the day, or listening to “Christian” music. Still others would say through prayer. Some say the answer lies in understanding and enjoying God’s creation. Some would even say it is a combination of all those things.

I've even heard a lot of people say they go deepest with God on retreats or summer camp. I guess God must like summer camp more than church services.

In fact, I have given a few messages and heard more in which people criticize the speaker for the teaching not going deep enough. Whereas others that listen to the message say how deep the same, exact teaching was. People even leave one congregation for another because what is taught is not deep enough, while others stick around because the teaching is so deep. HUH? Which leads me to ask, is listening to a deep sermon, well…deep?

I have heard many differing opinions on what a deep relationship with God looks like, yet we are left confused as to what it actually means to have a deep relationship with him. Maybe this question is too deep? Not deep enough? I don’t know…somebody help! What is deep and how do we get there?

In light of Jon's blog posted 3/20/06, and after attending the "Battle Cry for a Generation" event that attracted 25,000 young people, parents, and youth leaders to SBC Park in San Francisco, which featured many of today’s top Christian artists and key speaker Ron Luce, President of Teen Mania Ministries. I have a question, did Jesus call us to be anti-culture?

This seemed to be the central theme of the event, to fight against culture. Ron Luce encouraged teens to not be "branded" by popular brand named apparel like Abercrombie and Fitch, or violent video games. Especially encouraging teens to fight against MTV, Victoria's Secret, and MySpace.com. Offering a "Christian" alternative to myspace.com, battlecry.com. At one point, several teens were brought up front and asked what they would say to the leaders of these companies marketing to teens, to which they were encouraged to yell in their faces.

It's interesting though, you don't see Jesus getting in the face of any tax collector or prostitute. Maybe our modern day equivalent would be shrewd businessmen and lingerie models. He seemed to show these people their sin, but with compassion. On the other hand, Jesus did get in some faces, mostly the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, and he did turn some tables, but wasn't that in the Temple? Even the Disciples heard some challenges in this manner.

Seems to me that fighting culture is like spitting in the wind. You could do it if you want to, but you better duck. And when all is said and done have you done more harm than good?

Are Christians to be anti-everything? Or anti-nothing? And if it is somewhere in between, then where do we draw the line? What do you think?

I know that this may sound weird, but I've been thinking a lot about sex lately. You might be thinking, "Well, that's not a shocker, you're only human, don't 99.9% of all guys think about sex often?" Or you might be thinking, "Oh my, you're a pastor, a man of the cloth...is that word even in your vocabulary?" And I guess the answer is yes to both, I am human and the word is in my vocabulary...but I have been preparing for the upcoming series of talks on the subject of sex that we are bringing the high school students starting Sunday, March 5th.

No doubt you thought something along those lines when I brought up the S word, but here's my question, why do we have those reactions? Why does a pastor saying that word sound so weird? Could it be because many churches have been silent or going about the idea in a well meaning, but wrong, fashion? Or why do we pretend like it isn't a big deal? Could it be our culture has made the topic no big deal?

Again, I believe, the answer is yes to both. Sometimes all we say as a church is, "Don't do it." A great thing, but then we are being bombarded with images and sexual language in our culture because we can't take a 10 minute drive, go for a walk through any campus, or locker room, go on-line, turn the TV, or radio on for more than 30 seconds without catching at least a hint of sex.

Maybe it's time we raise the bar. Maybe it's time to talk about the things that lead to the illicit sexual behaviors instead of just saying, "Don't do it!" Because the reality is you don't have to be having sex to be caught in its prison. It's no wonder many females feel as if they have to flirt or show off their bodies to get the emotional connection they desire. It's no wonder so many males are caught in shackles of pornography or secret sexual fantasies. But we are only human.

Jesus didn't take that excuse when he raised the bar and said, "But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:28)

Maybe it's time we talk about the heart of the issue, the L word...LUST. Then again, maybe I shouldn't use that word, I am a pastor.

I have a friend who has a brother that used to play for the Lakers when Shaq dominated the Staples Arena. He tells many stories of his two years there, mainly bragging about what a generous guy Shaq is. One that stands out to me, though, is the fact that almost everywhere Shaq went, off court, he was surrounded by bodyguards. Wait, I don't know if you caught that, Shaq O'Neil, 7'2" 300+ pounds, surrounded by bodyguards. Now I can understand him wanting and even needing to have bodyguards, but I'd sooner have any bodyguard, man, any three bodyguards after me than Shaq himself!

As crazy as bodyguards for Shaq sounds to me, it's even crazier that a lot of Christians feel as if God needs a bodyguard. God, the all powerful creator of the universe, needing me, all of 175lbs. of me, to be his bodyguard, how crazy is that? Yet, Christians will readily jump into any picket line, codemn people to hell, argue until we are blue in the face about issues that others could care less about, furiously debate issues, and ridicule anybody and their beliefs that might stand in His way...or is it our way?

I wonder how many people are we pushing away, as a bodyguard would. I've done it, I know of several others that have done it, even the Disciples tried to push people away through the crowds, yet Jesus would often say things like, "Let them come to Me."

It doesn't sound like He needs a bodyguard. Sounds like He needs others who are willing to love people as He does, unconditionally, without an agenda. People that would use the scriptures to lovingly reason with people, rather than to get their point across. People that would help others feel their way toward Him...and find Him.

It looks as if He might need a few more followers, and a few less bodyguards.