Updates: Where I've Been Since Our Last Meeting

Now that we have all the heavy stuff out of the way (for now), let’s talk about what has happened since I last wrote in this blog.  I’m not sure I can remember the last time I did post something; the most recent article I can remember writing was two years ago.  Obviously, there’s a lot that I could cover given that range, but I want to touch on just a couple personal highlights, what’s happening in my field of study, and a look at where this blog is heading in February. 

First of all, let’s get the popular question out of the way.  This is my last semester of college.  No, I don’t know what’s coming next other than I will be living here in Springfield at least for the next two years while my fiancée, who will become my wife in that time, gets her master’s degree at Missouri State.  Which lead me straight into the second and, in my humble opinion, biggest highlight for the last two years…

I’m getting married this year!  The last time I remember writing for the blog, I had just started dating my best friend, Noel.  I’ll spare everyone the sappy details, but every moment since then has been the best of my life.  She is still my best friend, so this past November, I asked her to spend the rest of her life with me.  

I don’t talk about my artistic exploits enough on this blog, and considering I am trying to make a career out of it, it only seems fitting to discuss what I’ve been up to in that area.  When this blog was last updated, I had just wrapped up a production of My Fair Lady here at Evangel.  That fall, Noel and I struck out on our own to direct a Broadway revue concert to raise funds and donations for a local elementary school.  

Turns out, I love directing almost as much as performing (Did I mention Noel and I got to go on TV to promote it?).  To say it was a trial by fire would be an understatement, but there is no education like being right in the thick of things and having no choice but to figure out how to accomplish your goal.  It was a very similar experience a year later, fall of 2020, when I became the music director and accompanist for a radio production of It’s A Wonderful Life.  These have been two of the most valuable learning experiences in the last four years for me. 

Speaking of It’s A Wonderful Life, in my senior year, I have been afforded the opportunity to play two very iconic roles.  The music director position came a few days before the first readthrough of the show, and I was already cast in the show as the lovable angel, Clarence.  Being the overcommitted person I am, I didn’t think twice about taking both responsibilities on, and somehow, we pulled it together.  This semester, I get the second of those iconic roles as I am portraying Schroeder in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown.  (Shameless plug, we are doing live shows April 8-11; tickets go on sale soon.)

Before I close this, I want to share with you, what I have planned for Given to Words this month.  I will be sharing my discoveries and new year’s decisions concerning business, money, and university life.  Next week, I’m going talk about the small business Noel and I started last spring during lockdown, what has come of it, and what I’ve learned so far.  After that, I will share some decisions I made concerning where my money goes this year, and we will close February with some thoughts on my final semester of college.

If you already miss the more intense posts, don’t go anywhere, I have more drama planned for March.  

Until then, thank you for continuing on this journey of creative expression with me.  

A Nation Trying To Erase Histoy

Last week, I talked about the roots of racism and where the real solution lies.  It seems appropriate while those words are fresh, to talk about something which has accompanied the social justice discussion.  

I want to begin with my experience over Christmas break in Kyiv, Ukraine.  Perhaps the most eye-opening experience of the trip was visiting their World War II museum.  I have seen the American perspective on this dark time in human history numerous times, but it was a completely different experience to see the perspective of an Eastern European country.  

While the world watched Germany, Stalin and Russia carried out their own holocaust in the east.  While the United States saw their soldiers heroically sweep in and save the day, Ukraine saw its people forced into their enemy’s army if they weren’t exiled or starved to death.  

Among many realizations that day, I realized just how much history is based on perspective.  

As I left the museum, my thoughts came to America, where the Black Lives Matter movement has caused us to take a look at history, perhaps not in the right way.  I don’t need to reiterate the debates this summer over the display of flags, Confederate general statues, brand mascots, and even sports teams’ names.  I think we have the right motive but the wrong approach.    

Passion for justice is not wrong.  But America has developed a mentality where social justice seems to begin with eradicating the memory of injustice in history, whether that is racism or issues of war.  

Blind passion has resulted in a group of people more interested in erasing history than fixing the present. 

The saying is old: “Those who do not know history are bound to repeat it.”  It is absolutely vital that we remember the good, bad, and ugly part of our background.  America fought an ugly battle against racism, and we are still fighting it in new ways today.  I find myself concerned that our attempts to promote diversity and normalize the appearance of multiple ethnicities involve removing all images of diverse ethnicities from pop culture.  Whether it’s Aunt Jemima syrup or the Cleveland Indians, we are attacking what little representation other ethnic groups have in America in the name of equality.  Call me narrow-minded, but it simply does not make sense to me.

Now I know what you’re thinking.  What about those Confederate statues or team names involving slurs like the Washington Redskins (appropriately representing our nation’s capital)?  

We can and have, in ignorance, represented other cultures inappropriately.  As for the statues, perhaps we should not have the statue of a general who defended slavery or kept slaves out in a prominent place where we also celebrate freedom and equality.  However, by this same logic, should we remove all images of America’s Founding Fathers who owned slaves?  Should we ignore their words and ideals because they bought and sold human beings? 

My answer to the statue debacle comes from Pastor Alex Bryant, who spoke at my church here in Springfield last fall.  Instead of putting these images in the public square, he suggested we put them in a museum, where they can still serve an educational purpose.

Remember Ukraine’s perspective on World War II?  I never saw a statue of Joseph Stalin anywhere in the city.  I didn’t see images of Russian generals in front of important buildings.  But I did see images of Ukraine’s abuse and suffering during the war in museums and memorials, prominently displayed as a dire warning to the rest of the world not to let this happen again.  

It is acceptable and right to want to remove statues and images with negative historical connotations from the public square.  However, my warning to anyone reading this is to beware the slippery slope of erasing history.  

Make sure the horror of oppression is not downplayed; ensure this generation can clearly see how evil came to be.  If we rob our nation of its history, I can promise we will never see the end of racism, and that will only be the first of our worries. 

Fighting Fire With Fire: Why Racism Persists

For months, I have been watching America’s political narrative spiral further and further than we ever thought possible.  As if the chaotic response to COVID-19 didn’t give us enough to think about, the resurgence of Black Lives Matter has forced all of us to acknowledge the vestiges of racism that exist in our nation, no matter what end of the political spectrum you find yourself on.  

This is not my first attempt to write on this issue.  I held back for a long time, because I never want to use a platform to say something that is already being screamed in 50 other ways on Facebook.  Other times, I stared at the blank page for a while, not knowing where to start.  I am forcing myself to break silence, because I no longer wish to be numbered among the silent majority letting the nation burn.  

I think racism is such a hard and scary issue for people to address, because with one slip of the tongue, you can end up in the middle of the blame game.  Everyone has picked a side, and if you aren’t on it, they will tear you to pieces.  

I find it terribly ironic that we are trying to eliminate racism by picking sides and spewing hate at anyone who is not like us.  The Republicans would have you believe this is all a liberal agenda designed to undermine their president.  The Democrats would have you believe we still live by a 19th century social hierarchy.  

Maybe they’re both wrong.  As a Christian, I believe that there is always a deeper issue beyond what we can see.  Perhaps, the way we are trying to combat racism is only making it worse.  

Before I apply that statement to specific events and methods, I want to establish what the root of racism is.  Racism begins in a person’s heart when they place themselves at the center of the universe.  When you elevate yourself to be top dog, everyone else becomes an enemy threatening your position.  When you assume you know everything, one experience becomes the reality you project on everything else, whether or not it has any relation.  America is a highly individualistic society, which means it is very easy to develop a superiority complex, and naturally, those who have it don’t self-examine enough to know it’s there.  The result is disdain for people who do not live like you, and this is where racism springs forth.  

The tragedy of our situation is that we have been pleasantly distracted from the truth.  Emotions run high, tempers build, and social justice ends up looking very different from what it should.  

I understand the heart behind protests (and please understand the crucial difference between a “protest” and a “riot”), but these are not the answer.  I appreciate the passion behind a #blacklivesmatter post on Facebook, but that is not the answer.  These things only stir up emotions and draw lines in the sand.  We are running in circles looking for a solution from a movie, a desperate, physical, and visible fight for equality, but the answer is not on a visible battle front.  

The protests, the celebrity statements, the social media posts, they are puppets on the end of a string which Satan is pulling to keep up distracted from the source of all this animosity.  Racism is an issue of the heart, and its solution comes from a person’s quiet decision to love their fellow man.  

Before we stand in solidarity, each of us as an individual needs to fall on our knees before the Lord and offer our hearts to be made clean.  We cannot love strangers of our own accord, we must have our hearts filled with God’s pure, unconditional love.  

This is a quiet battle.  It isn’t visible.  It isn’t glorious.  But this is where the real fight is against the real enemy.  

We can’t solve racism fighting an “us vs them” battle.  We have to get our hearts right and learn how to love people who are different from us, how to appreciate and value another person’s background.  

And we have to get our hearts right with God for any of it to last. 

America's New Religion: How This Election Has Exposed The Church (and Everyone Else)

I started writing this post on Thursday, January 7.  Originally, I was going to fuss for a few paragraphs about some people think are acting like President Trump is Christ-incarnate and post it on the 22nd.  

Then there was a big Trump tent revival meeting on Wednesday, January 6 that got real exciting real fast.  So now you lucky readers of mine get a post going in a fairly different direction being posted a week before planned.  Let’s dive right in, shall we?

I do not know what exactly transpired at the Capitol last week, how the protest progressed into a near-coup.  I do not trust a single news source to tell me what happened without forcing their agenda down my throat.  I agree that what happened Wednesday was violent and tragic. 

That being said, I am shocked America didn’t see this coming from a mile away.  

With all the tension that has built in this nation year after year, it only makes sense that such a volatile election would finally make people crack on both sides of the spectrum.  The 2020 election happened under a spotlight, and no one liked what they saw.    

This breaking of the floodgates isn’t about one election.  It’s about decades of government corruption in both parties and a system straying drastically from its original intent.  

As I watch the pot boil more vehemently closer and closer to Inauguration Day, events like Wednesday’s protest don’t surprise me.  In fact, a voice inside me says we had it coming.  

I do not condone senseless violence.  I do think America is overdue for a little shaking, and I hope recent events have opened at least a few people’s eyes. 

If there’s one thing the 2020 election has proven, it is that a new religion dominates the country: politics.  

Before any violence occurred on Capitol Hill, I was already appalled by what I saw on my feeds from believers, whether peers I barely knew or adults whom I looked up to as spiritual leaders.  As Joe Biden pulled closer and closer towards becoming President-elect, these people spoke as thought Trump was their Messiah being crucified before their eyes.  Some posted laments that made it sound like God was being rendered powerless by the presence of a Democrat in the Oval Office.  

Excuse my ignorance, but I did not realize God’s unlimited power hinged upon the success of the Republican party.  The irony of it all is that I do favor the values of the Republican party, and still, I can only shake my head at the behavior of others who adhere to the same.

It is high time the American church resets its priorities.  We have taken Jesus Christ off the throne of our lives and hung all our hopes on flawed men, and we should be ashamed of ourselves.  As I watch the church preach the love of Christ only to spew hatred at the other party and elevate conservative candidates to a level of almost deity, I finally understand why my generation is leaving the church as soon as they leave home.  

I know I am speaking harshly.  I know someone will read this and want to tell me that I am brushing Democratic corruption under the rug.  Don’t get me wrong, I agree that the government is corrupt and the election was rigged.  America is run by a bureaucratic 1%; I’d believe you if you said fraud play a role in every process by now.  We’ve elevated our nation to some high ideal, and we think it cannot fall from that like any other country. 

A lot people need to wake up, and those of us who profess Christ as Savior need to start.  We cannot call America an idolatrous nation when we treat Republican politicians like a god.

Only God is in control of this nation.  He has equal power over Donald Trump and Joe Biden.  What He wills for this nation, no politician from any party can stop or change.  It’s time for us to stop insulting Him by projecting our left or right-wing political affiliation on Him.

God will reign whether you are happy with the political climate or not.

Glory: An Expectation for 2021

On Christmas Day, I made the mistake of getting on Facebook before bed only to find a wealth of hatred, self-righteousness, and propaganda that does not belong on Facebook any time but especially on Christmas Day.  It was another regret-filled trip in line with plenty of others that have worn me down.   

The world is getting more and more chaotic.  Whether overseas or under my nose, the tension feels higher every day.  We need a miracle.  We need something drastic, and we need it fast.  

This is how I found myself sitting in front of an open Bible wondering what I could possibly do.  I landed at Exodus 19, in which the people of Israel are being prepared for God to come down on Mt. Sinai and deliver the Ten Commandments, and was struck by how serious the preparations were for this moment.  God required that the people be consecrated and washed.  They could not come up to the mountain and touch it or risk being struck dead; only Moses could approach.  God’s glory was about to be revealed to the people, no barriers, face to face, and they needed to be ready.  

Everything came together in my mind as I read.  The people needed to be prepared, because when they encountered God’s full glory, the trajectory of their lives was going to be drastically altered.  God’s glory meant the giving of the Law, the beginning of Israel’s journey to becoming a nation, the consecration of God’s people for a specific purpose.  

Nothing would be the same again.

In that moment of reflection, I decided to assign myself the word “glory” for the new year.  People need a lot of things right now: peace, healing, a good dose of common sense, and so on.  But what I think we need more than anything is to see God’s glory revealed.  When that happens, it forces change.  God’s glory brings the healing and restoration we so desperately need.  It convicts us of wrongdoing, passes judgement on those who have refused to repent, and presents us with a fresh start.  The peace, the miracles, the common sense that we need are all wrapped up in the impact of encountering God’s glory.  

This is my prayer: that the presence of God would shake and humble us into a refocused way of living, into lives of obedience.  I pray that my own heart would be a reflector of God’s glory, that I may have some small part to play in His redemptive work.  As I spend the next three weeks sharing my conclusions on the big issues of the year, I pray that everything will travel through this lens, that only the presence and glory of God can save us. 

The Scripture is clear that God will be glorified; that is His nature.  Like Israel, we need to get ready.  

Resolutions In A Broken Year

It’s that wonderful time of the year again.  The turn of the year is my time to sit and reflect upon the previous year, set goals for the new year, and of course, purge my social media of all the people whose timelines do not contribute productively to society.  

Now, I want to scream every time someone says this phrase, but yes, this year has been different.  And the process I face at the end of this year is different because of it.  I took one look at last year’s goals and decided to pass on recording how I did.  And my annual social media culling promises to be very exciting.

When it comes to setting goals for the next year, I find myself facing even more pause.  In fact, if I’m being completely honest, when I first thought about it, it felt wrong to prepare New Year’s resolutions.  

Let’s face it, this year has been a difficult and taxing season, a stupid and needless tragedy.  What began for me as a firm and successful commitment to keep my life moving even as the world came to a sudden stop has evolved into a numb, brooding resignation.  I’ve tried to write about what’s around me, to lend my voice to a revolution that needs to happen, but I’ve never felt that I could do any more than add a decibel to all the wicked noise.  Yet, the longer I wait, the more my thoughts eat at me, and the more I think about just trashing the resolutions for this year, the more I balk at my own passivity.  

So here I am, writing once again.  Maybe all this will do is add to the noise.  I cannot know for sure or be concerned with finding out.  I have to speak.  I have to write.  If not for a blog and what faithful remnant of old readers is finding this then for myself.

All this to say that I am indeed setting bold goals for myself in 2021.  The intense year we have faced requires an intense answer.  I’m disoriented after the past 10 months, I must admit.  Among my goals for the new year is the use of this blog to reorient and express myself.  There are things I have wanted to say, topics I have wanted to address, and I am going to use this platform to address them.  With that being said, let me use the rest of this post to look ahead.  

This month is dedicated to a series I am calling “Hot Take.”  So many things are on my mind after this year, and I am going to share my thoughts after 10 months of reflecting on current events.  Next week, I am going to share more about my outlook for 2021 and establish the lens with which I will be looking at everything else. The journey will go from there.  

This is an open invitation.