Coming up....

There is a question out there that everybody is asking inside. They are probably asking it even if they don't know they are asking it, or wont admit they are asking it. Suppressed questions are of little value and always pose the threat of building up steam and popping out at a later date with ill effects. What's worse is when they build up and don't pop out at all. Such phenomena often result in moldy growth on the upper ganglia and possibly damaged eye sockets. Seeing the precursory symptoms of this phenomena there is a question that must be gotten out and dealt with openly....for I already feel something fuzzy on my upper ganglia.

The question: IS THE INSTITUTION GOOD AND IS IT NECESSARY?

If you don't know what is meant by "INSTITUTION" in this context....ask someone who does...it cant really be found in the dictionary.

I am doing some writing on community right now and I can go no farther without asking this question. I want to be accountable for my thinking, and I want open honesty both from myself and others. Questions MUST....let me repeat....MUST be answered in community. I'm tired of this one being in the closet. I don't have the answer, but if I do nothing else, at least I will get this question out of the closet an on the table.

I'm going to begin a series, here at Krriptonite, that "objectively" wrestles with this question, though that's a fully impossible model. I accept interaction and criticism. Brothers....Sisters....none of us want mold on our upper ganglia or enlarged eye sockets, which would force us back to those huge grasshopper glasses of the 1980's.....lets work together on this question.

Jesus Selfishness

Right now I'm fed up to my side burns with selfishness. I was ranting to a friend last night, telling him that I don't know what I'm going to do with my own selfishness. Interestingly enough I had just enough time to turn the OTHER cheek this morning when John Coblentz preached a smashing sermon on selfishness.

After the first few minutes of "smashing" I got lost in my own thought world that I'll try to outline here. It strikes me that religion is VERY selfish. As I study religions it seems to me that most religions are simply organized structures that allow God to better serve the individual. Religion is what channels God's salvation/service to MEEE! It sure does feel good though.(By the way, there is such a thing as hording Jesus wealth AND using that wealth to manipulate and control others)

In the words of some brave heretic(I'm sure he must be in hiding somewhere by now), "the only thing to be feared more than not having religion.....is having religion." May I suggest that Religion cannot replace Community and The Body(Church).

I confess that I'm pretty selfish with MY Jesus. Do I follow Jesus for the return? Sadly, I often find myself following Jesus because of what He can do for ME! Now be advised, I'll share with you what He's done for me. Its kind of like giving you some "hand me down" cloths...I've already worn them and they're too small for me now anyway. But if you think I'll share with you what He hasn't done for me....think again. What would I get out of that...other than a pretty puny looking image.

I'm asking myself a new question that generally sends me into a cold sweat. "Would I continue to follow Jesus if MY Jesus following did absolutely nothing for me.....but everything for everybody else?"

Fathers Day: Quit Blaming Dad....Lets Have Some Respect Kids!

I don’t believe its any secret that America needs a “Ramp up Fatherhood Program.” Mr President Obama himself asks fathers to turn off the TV and be dads. While American fathers have been less than stellar, it should be recognized that few fathers, even the most base of them, don’t want to see their children succeed. I am convinced that fathers care about their children more than their children could ever guess.

Fathers Day, which really could be interpreted, “Father Appreciation Day” gracefully lands on a Sunday. The Fathers Day sermons will likely be less graceful, and simply a crock of beating bad fathering around. Why not preach to the children about respecting and appreciating Dad on such a Day? I’m tired of a culture that allows children to blame EVERYTHING on Dad or Mom! I just want to throw out there at this point that I have an imperfect Dad that is fully worthy of my respect SIMPLY BECAUSE HE IS MY DAD! I hate to say it this way, but...if he didn’t exist…you wouldn’t even have to consider that nagging worry that Krriptonite might be dissing you in front of his web audience!:)

Dad’s…..thank you for simply being dads, especially when nobody appreciates it! I’m especially proud of my own dad on this day, and especially thank him for being dad when his children didn’t want him to be dad.

I decided to take a little poll with my youth group(They didn’t know this is what I was doing). Young people have a tendency to get infatuated with themselves, forgetting that the world is a whole lot bigger than the end of their golf club or the extent of their ego. To a young person, Dad always seems to be getting in the way of their pleasure search. Maturity is often measured by one’s ability to sacrifice self for another person. With this in mind I requested a very small sacrifice from each young person on behalf of their Dad. Its too easy to simply say “happy fathers day” in the morning, so I asked that a member from each family give 10 minutes of their time and possibly a bit of their ego, if they so desired to have that involved. That’s not sacrificing a whole lot….wouldn’t you agree? As a little father appreciation in a very selfish world, I asked for a very short memory or story about their own Dad.

Who made the sacrifice???? Find out and read their stories below!!!

1.) One of the most remarkable things about dads is their ability to involve their yearlings in projects that seem completely absurd to the young ones. It was probably such a project that found Dad, my brother, and I driving to Pittsburgh in “THE TRUCK.” Now, the main downfall of “THE TRUCK” was not that it was nigh unto an antique and a flamboyant bright baby blue. Though the backfire, following all shut downs, gave you a chance to give your brother a drop kick, the real problem was the massive exhaust leak that poured directly into the sleek, mouse chewed interior. Consequently, the amplified roar of the shortened exhaust pipe and open windows made conversation nearly impossible while in route.

After chewing on and swallowing exhaust fumes for nearly a half hour, Dad impulsively wheeled the great machine into a small convenience store. When he came out he produced several big packs of mint gum. To a six and nine year old this was a grand treat, so each of us inserted a sizeable plug of mint flavored gum. Surprisingly the mint and exhaust flavors combined to form a very desirable and sweet flavor all of its own. Since then I have continually searched the racks of gum for the exhaust flavor. If anyone ever finds any…let me know…I want some. - Krriptonite

2.) The roller coaster was one the most visited attractions at an amusement park where my family & some cousins spent a day. It was a thrilling ride (for a beginner that is). According to Dad, though, the ride was twice as fun if you screamed, but you needed to be intentional about your screams. He wanted world-class screams. To help those on board the roller-coaster attain his desired level of perfection, he proceeded to involve all the occupants of the roller coaster (most of whom he did not know) in a "screaming practice" session...before the ride even began. – Desiree Brubaker

3.) Once, my Dad and I participated in a game of Anabaptists. The group that was playing was fairly large. I would guess around 30 people. Of course in Anabaptists, you have your Anabaptists who have to have church in secret, and you have your policemen that try to catch you when you are having your secret church meeting. Well, as the story goes...... my dad and I were both Anabaptists. As the group of us were having our secret church meeting, we were abruptly interrupted by a pounding on the door. The police are here!!! We all made a quick scramble for the exit and dispersed, trying to find a hiding place where the police would not find us. My dad and I quickly found our hiding place and thought that we had a pretty good one, that was until we found out that we had hidden in the dungeon. The exact location that our fellow Anabaptists were taken after they were captured!! Needless to say, we were close to the last Anabaptists captured. Not many policemen have to look in their own prison for the people they are pursuing.

( This story took place approximately when I was 4-5 years old. ) – Erikson Lehman

4.) Most of the time us girls are the clumsy ones: dropping things, running into things, and just being uncoordinated, and Dad likes to tease us about our hilarious accidents. On our vacation at North Myrtle Beach this past week we went out to eat at a "New York" pizza place that was run by some Hispanic people. The pizza was amazing, but before it could even get to our table we were goofing off in our impatience. Dad and I were tossing a balled up straw rapper at each other trying to get as close to each other's drinks without getting the paper into the glass. I had gotten bored with the game so Dad tried to get Ellen into it. Just after she had hurled the paper at him frustratedly, he tried to quickly toss it back but instead knocked his glass of iced tea all over the table. Moving rapidly we were able to clean it up with no one wet but of course Dad. Now we have a funny story about a time when Dad was the clumsy one and can tease him about it when ever we do something embarrassing. – Laurretta Skalko

5.) One memory I have of Dad is when he took me fishing when I was like 6 or 7. And Dad like never goes fishing. I remember that the only thing we caught was a big snapping turtle that bent Dad's fishing rod in half. –Patrick Mullet

6.) Every summer growing up dad would make sure we would have one long family vacation. He would use some work delivery to determine where we would go for the trip. The trip I remember the most was traveling to Texas to build a gigantous gazebo. On the trip down, dad needed to replace the trailer tire several times because it kept blowing under the heavy weight of the gazebo. I never saw him get frustrated with the continual problem, but wait till someone would stop by and help us get a new tire. – Chad Weaver

7.) Now my dad, you gotta know him, he's only about 5'6'' and 145 pounds, not a big man by any means. Well, one day after church and the fellowship meal, when everyone was just sitting around, leaning back in their chairs and talking about the weather, one of the men gets this bright idea that they're gonna see who's the strongest of them. So they say, "How we gonna do this?" Well they decided arm wrestling was about the only way they could do it without getting their good sunday meeting clothes all dirtied up. Now some of these men were a right good size. So they're all arm wrestling and they start realizing, wow, this little skinny guy's pretty much beating everybody he takes on. So a couple of the young guns that think they're pretty big stuff come over and sit down at the table. All the while they're probably thinking "Just let me have a shot at this skinny, little fellow, besides he's old. Well, long story short, they got pretty much humiliated by that skinny, little, old fellow. Boy, I was one proud little boy, after all, my dad had just showed all my little friends whose daddy was the strongest of 'em all. – Marcus Graybill

8) Dad, Pop, Papa… third person formal, third person informal, second person.

Thinking of dad, brings many things to mind. Most of the frustrations track well with my own faults. But these are not the main themes. I think of an intense caring…

Like the time we went out for breakfast when my world seemed to fall apart…

Like driving solo 700 miles one way to take his presence to a family conflict…

Like driving his daughter almost that many miles to stay with his sister when she had mono…

Like enduring intense consequences for refusing to vilify fellow believers…

A deep concern and distress when the leadership of husbands and fathers is undercut and despised…

A longstanding warning and passion that we not hide from Jesus behind our systems of doctrine and practice…

A rejection of the hermeneutic that seeks to build from the epistles a doctrinal basis for our practice and then filter the witness of Jesus and the gospels through that grid.

I have much needed this challenge to see the incarnate Jesus as primary revelation of God.

Thank you, Papa. - Marlin Sommers

9)A memorable story about my father is one time he allowed us two older boys to ride with him in the log truck that he was driving at the time. It broke down. It was a cold day and nobody close by was at home. He was able to make the time easier to stand by telling stories which also kept us distracted from the cold. - Joseph Horst

10) I believe that Fathers have the most important part in a family, yet fathers also get the most pressure to live up to a certain standard to be a certain kind of Dad that fits into a certain mold of how they should raise their children and what is expected of them in raising a family, and often i get caught up in that as a child as i look at my dad i let my mind go to his weak points to the places i feel that he has let me down and I see myself judging my dad and complaining and wishing he would be different, but in doing that i become blind myself to the real Love of a Father, The one thing that i often took for granted but has become very real to me lately is my dad's love. It seemed that throughout my life i would see his faults and mistakes and overlook what he gave to me and my siblings, as i reflect i feel ashamed and humbled to know where i let my heart go. I could not ask for a better dad and as i look at him now i am honored to have him as a father. In him i see a man of God. Dedicated to giving his children the best that he could and in order to do he gave up many personal hobbies and interests in order to put his family first in life. My dad greatest joy in life is to see the happiness of his children, I see in my dad a reflection of Christ, a provider, a father, a protector and a rock, So on this Father's Day i want to honor him and let him know that he is absolutely the Perfect Father for me and i will be forever grateful for him for all that he has done for me and continues to do for me every day. - Susie Warren

Fly Killer

Woowzers...excuse me while I replace my toupee and share some very stale, two day old news headlines. The headlines frame Osama (wait...he's the one that kills people like flies)....I mean they frame Obama, killing flies like people! During a recent interview in the Whitehouse with CNBC, our dear president blatantly swatted a fly.

(insert very sarcastic voice)
Folks...we have reached a new American crisis! Our President treats flies like people. "Mr President....TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!!

Community Living

What is Christian living anyway? And is there really any significance in what your doing? My life is like a drop in the ocean when compared to the sea of time, both past and future....how does my life make a difference? We've all asked these questions, but last night I was convicted of asking such a selfish question. Maybe its simply the wrong question.

I was out after dark and I literally stumbled into a large uncut hayfield. The literal stumbling was a result of how dark it was. The sight before me was one like I have never seen before. It had recently stopped raining and apparently the lightning bugs were venturing out of the uncut hay to dry off. Though I DO fish and I DO hunt I don't bow to the Holy Cow, and I am not exaggerating in the least when I tell you there was visible light being shed on the field. It looked like camera flashes at the Espy awards or something. I'm not even sure what the Espy Awards are, but you get the picture:) There must have been thousands upon thousands of lighting bugs lit up at any given moment, though each light would only be lit for a short time. The thousands of winking little lights produced a sight that really cannot be described by words simply because they were winking together.

My life may be a mere wink in the expanse of time; however, when my wink is seen beside your wink, and our winks beside the winks of many others....we create a kind of light that is too beautiful to be described by words. We try with words like: Community, Church, Brotherhood, etc...

It is not enough for you to have your own little personal "Jesus show" going on somewhere. If you can't seem to bring yourself to commit to life in community....maybe your being selfish? Maybe you're too concerned about how YOUR VERY OWN life has significance?

After a congregation of lighting bugs shed some light on my own selfishness, I am no longer asking how MY life is significant. I am now asking how Christ's church and the community of believers can be significant. Furthermore....how can I help THEM be significant?

A Community of Runners

Is it possibly just a little wee bit ok to be proud of something you've accomplished? At this point, if I were really a "spiritual person" I would tell you how a 10 year prayer was answered or how I've memorized the whole book of Leviticus. I apologize to those of you who might be looking for that kind of spiritual steroid. While such things are fine and dandy, I've now stooped as low as being proud of merely finishing my first marathon. Now to be honest...finishing a marath0n DOES call for a healthy amount of memorization and prayer. After approx. mile 23, you've told yourself, "one more step" so many times that you may very well answer the phone with that phrase the next time somebody calls. Furthermore, by this point you've already spent a considerable amount of time in silent supplication, praying that the individual who marked out the course forgot that there are two numbers between 23 and 26 (I've always heard that there's power in praying after the fact).

Now this marathon is not called "Gods Country Marathon" for nothing (its considered to be within the ten most difficult marathons in N.America). The first 16 miles are a gradual but steady climb followed by an extremely steep two mile climb up the face of a precipice that in Pennsylvania is commonly referred to as a mountain. They offer pick axes and oxygen tanks at the base of the mountain for those who lack the momentum to ramp themselves over the precipice. When you've reached the summit you are at the 18 mile marker. It is now safe to consider yourself at the half way point because the last 8 miles feel more like 30. This is also the point where the prayer and memorization work begins.

After painting such a horrible picture of marathoning, may I assure you that its really not that bad. One of the things I liked best was the community of runners. Everybody pulls for everybody. I heard nothing but encouragement, even from those you are passing. One older experienced marathoner stooped to pace me for a while. Beyond that, its good for the masculine pride and soul to be soundly dusted by several women and old men. I've got to throw out there that I ran with two married guys: my brother Shannon, and Phil Nisley. Married men aren't supposed to be involved in such foolishness, yet Shannon even took the gold among the three of us, finishing about two minutes ahead of myself.

If you're tired of your techno world, and feel like you live light years away from the creation, I promote a little distance running. There's not a lot of engine, metal, and rubber between you and the creation when your running, and its only as hard as walking to your closet and getting your sneakers out....well maybe a little harder than that :)

Note of Clarification

To clarify some confusion...it is Derrida that asks, "what do you love when you love your God?"
This would explain why I was surprised by the question when a friend informed me of it recently, for I had never found it in any of my reading of Girard.

Love without Love?

I have read some Girard's work, but the most profound thing I've ever heard him say was introduced to me recently. It is a mere question, but....maybe THE question. Girard asks.....

"What do you love when you love your God?"

A Mass of Hemoglobin

Welcome, my friends, to "Just War!"

Continue reading....

Do You Believe in Corners?

I'm speaking of those out of the way places where you would never expect anyone to be hanging out. If your in a corner there is nowhere to go...except out of the corner. I used to hate these corners. I used to look for a quiet little corner to escape the crowd and that blasted "sap the energy right out through the pores in your epidermis" individual that I didn't want to talk to was always already there. Maybe that's why I keep finding Jesus in unexpected little corners. He begins there and works from the bottom up, into more powerful places. Corners have come to be the staple of my journey, and I now love them. I found Jesus tonight in another unexpected little corner of my life.

I played basketball with the guys from town for the first time since I've returned from Shippensburg. After a sadly lopsided day, that not only POWERED its way out the wrong side of bed but managed to land on the wrong foot and add to an extensive stubbed toe collection, I felt more like working on the French Horn....(beats me where I'd even get one).... than playing basketball. Then....that relentless Hound of Heaven showed up in a corner again!

When I walked into the gym. one of the young men that has been coming to play hoops for some time started telling me about his Jesus, and his new found power in Christ and the Holy Spirit. Talk about the proverbial cherry on the mudpie. Yea....I know all about the Balm in Gilead, but I'm talking about a balm in Faith Builders Gym....thats not usually the first place I go to find the Energizer Bunny! I also know about the Berlin Wall, that Reganomics are screwed, and Obama can save us. Its selfish, but I'd love if you would pray for me when you don't feel like it...and pray for Ben as he grows in the power of Christ.