In my first week of teaching I was told by a fellow teacher why
ever teacher goes into teaching…for summer break,
I start to wonder what i am going to do this summer.

To be honest, I really have no summer plans what so ever.
The only thing I know for an absolute is that I am going to the guru conference
hopefully with Ben Parker, playing softball
and I am taking part in the fantasy day at busch stadium.
Other than that, I have no “real” plans.

To make myself feel a little better, I have decided to come up with my ideal summer.
Obviously the best way to do this is to break it down into a top five list.
So here it is, my top five plans for my ideal summer:

1) Get a Girlfriend
As crazy as this dream sounds. To make this a very ideal summer would be
getting an ideal girl. I am not asking for much, just somebody.
I don’t want any parking place girls thought (see brennan loveless blog video)

2) Make some money doing something I enjoy
Who doesn’t want this?
I go back to a couple years ago in my life where I was a gas station attendant,
terrible times of monotony. The people were great, but the job, not so great.
What is my ideal job? Working with people who have a mission and doing
something I enjoy….can you say personal shopper

3) Read a lot of books
Nothing would be better than to go back to my sophomore year of college
when I was reading a book a week. Reading at least 5 to 7 books this summer
would be great.

4) Pick up a new hobby
I really don’t know what it will be. But I would like to start up a new
hobby that will keep me busy this summer. Any ideas?

5) Make a difference in someones life
I know this sounds funny or cheesy, but for me, to have an ideal
summer, I would like to make a difference in someones life.
Whether it be a timely phone call, a one-on-one conversation,
or a word of encouragement, I would love to make a difference
in someones life this summer.

So these are my top five ideal moments for the summer, I am curious…
what are your ideal plans for the summer?
If you want to blog about it, trackback here so we can read it

here is the trackback link: http://kylereed.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/summer-plans/

*Kyle

Tonight’s the big night. The night we have been waiting for since August.
The night where two enter and one leaves, tonight is the…Ok I will stop there.

Tonight is the final performance on American Idol.
Kris Allen and Screamy AKA Adam Lambart (SP? I don’t care)
perform for America in hopes of winning a competition that is already pre-arranged.
Ya, that’s right, it has already been decided. Adam Lambart is going to win.
Do you really think that Fox and Simon Cowell let America decide who is going to win?
I think not. Now I digress…

With the complete disappointment of the season finale of 24,
where nothing was resolved and we probably have to wait two more years
to watch terrible acting and phony suspense (why do I even watch?) to find out
how Jack will save the world, again. American Idol could be another big
disappointment in the eyes of yours truly.
Don’t get me wrong, in the Reed household Jack Bauer is sacred. If we didn’t believe
in the real God, Jack Bauer would be our god, we even named our dog Jack.
But after last nights finale, I am starting to doubt the goodness that is 24.

This scares me, I am worried that American Idol is going
to end in disappointment as well.
The aforementioned Kris Allen is my pick to win (here is why).
But, unfortunately this is not going to happen.
Adam is going to sing the same song the same way
and get the same response from Paula and he is going
to be crowned the winner of American Idol.

I hope I am wrong. Look at it this way, if I am right I look like a genius,
if I am wrong I still look like a genius because I picked
Kris Allen to win earlier in the year.

Looks like I am the true winner.

What do you think, who is going to win?

*Kyle

Recently I picked up and then put down Anne Jackson’s Mad Church Disease
Now when I say I put it down, I mean that in a very good way. I bought the book on
Saturday and finished it today (Tuesday). Needless to say, it was a good book.

I would suggest you buy this book and read it based off of a couple things I learned from
this book:

1) Burnout
At some point we will all taste burnout.
I am the son of a burnout and I know all to well what it is like
when people burnout. There are several ways to react,
and for most of us, we do not know how.
In MCD Anne talks about how to react, respond, and then to work through burnout.
She does a great job of giving simple, practical, and very useful ways to work through burnout.

2) Am I burned out?
You might be wondering about burnout, what it is and do you have it.
Anne does a great job of giving you a symptoms test to see if you classify under the category burnout. Another great reason to read the book.

3) Interviews
At the end of each chapter, Anne does interviews with different leaders
around the country finding out how they have dealt with different matters of having mad church disease.
Whether it be their physical, spiritual, or emotional health
to how they dealt with handling conflict,
she gives us a little glimpse into conversations she has had with other great leaders.

4) Questions
This to me was the best part. The questions at the end of each chapter
were well worth the price of the book.
It helped me work through some of my own issues that I was having
and turned out to be very therapeutic.

5) It has a cool title
If you want to know what Mad Church Disease is you will just have to buy the book and see for yourself.

I give Mad Church Disease a 4 0ut of 5. It is a subject that needs to be addressed and Anne does a great job of showing her sin nature side and honesty about who and where she was and how she is continuing to pursue God and not the church. I wish she would have told some more stories about when she was younger and how she dealt with the issues of being a pastor’s kids and the shaping effect that had on her life. But she gives enough of a glimpse to see the picture.

I leave you with this question that she was asked and eventually led to her writing this book. If you answer yes, you might want to read this book:
Does Working at this church interfere with your communion with Christ?

*Kyle

This morning I was driving into work, and it was one of those mornings where I needed energy that could not come from caffeine. I was in need of an uplifting from the Lord, and as I sat in my truck waiting at a stop light praying, the bright lights of the green sign caught my eyes….STARBUCKS. I was drawn into the allure of the cozy coffee shop with hot coffee that gives you a warm feeling. As The light turned green and I was tempted to pull in and get some happiness in a cup I realized something, what is this cup of coffee going to give me? Earlier in the morning I was trying to think about something that would get me through the day, something promising, something that would give me some motivation for waking up that morning. As silly as this sounds, a cup of coffee from starbucks could have been that much needed boost. I started to think about how it would be a treat, something that I didn’t get everyday. It would be a great change up from the folgers coffee that I have to drink every morning. I really started to think that if I could have a venti guatamala coffee I would be in business and this day would be good. As I hit the turn single I realized that I was falling into a trap, a lie: that happiness could be found in a cup of coffee. Sure, it would bring me some momentary happiness that lasted until it hit my esophagus, but what would it do for me when I was faced with a challenge? What would it do for me when I felt unmotivated to even talk? What would it do for me when I was working on my paper for school? Nothing, nothing at all. I wonder how many times I have bought happiness in a cup, hoping it would get me through the day? Have you done this before?

In a previous post found here, I talked about finding true happiness and how it did not come from your situation you were in, but that it came from your heart and what God has called you to. To be honest, I have lost that these days. I have lost any energy and passion for what I do. Sure, I love talking with students all day, helping coach baseball, and getting to study the bible for a living. But most of the time now I am more motivated to sit on the couch and play MLB the show 09 until 345 in the morning (which I did a couple of days ago) then get up and talk to some students about God’s redemptive plan.
What is wrong with me? I keep wondering where it went, what happened, why am I constantly struggling with this? To be honest, I really don’t have any answers or any brilliant revelations (that really never happens). What I do have is a King. A King without a crown.
I have been listening to Matisyahu a lot lately. He is a jewish rapper that has a lot of biblical truths in his lyrics. He has a song called King without a crown. Check out some of the lyrics:
“I say You’re all that I have and you’re all that I need
Each and every day I pray to get to know you please
wanna be close to you, yes I’m so hungry
You’re like water for my soul when it gets thirsty”

A little snippet of a great song (if you want to read the rest click here). Though he is not talking about Jesus, I am glad that we serve a King who is the anti-king. A King that was not bought by the happiness of the world (see Jesus in the desert), a King that did not offer happiness in a cup, but offered happiness that last forever. As little as this might sound, for me this is what is helping me make it through.
As I prepare for Easter, I am reminded of what the King of kings did for me and for you. Though I do not have any answer, and don’t ever claim to, I pray that you will continue to be encouraged and that you will look past the cup of coffee and see a God that is bigger than we can ever imagine.

Thoughts?

*Kyle

Today was a harsh reality, the alarm started ringing at 645 and the sad but true reality hit me that I had to wake up and go to work. Really it is not my job that brought hard cold truth, it was more of the fact that the freedom that vacation brings is over, I am not going to be able to hang out at the beach, not be able to sleep whenever I want, and not be able to eat whatever I want.
For me, this was my vacation. We (My Family) spent a week and a half in Hawaii visiting two Islands, Waikiki and Maui. It was awesome and a lot of fun. But I think one of the hardest thing about vacation is having to come back. Post-vacation is one of the harder things I have to deal with. I hate getting out of my routine and having to try and catch up with what I missed. I didn’t realize that I was so far behind in prep for class, google reader, and email. I feel like I am drowning and it is going to take me a couple of days to get back on top of things.
I will share some pictures and stories later, but I thought I would throw a quick blog post in here because I haven’t posted one in a week or so.

Are vacations worth it? Do you like being out of your routine?

*Kyle

As I conclude this series of war and piece and I have really been stressed by comments and questions that have been posed to each post. Great conversation and good responses. I am glad that I did this.
Last but not least I want to talk about how we respond or like I like to call it…

What Now?

This question is something that I often forget to ask myself. Whether it be an idea or a problem, I never ask the question…What Know? Many times I feel like I bring problems up but never have a solution. I don’t want to do that with this issue of War and Peace, offering up the problem, but having no solution. But I feel like the solution is a very personal issue. Something that has to be decided you and God. There is one thing that I am continuely working on, and that is I am trying to respond with love in situations that drive me to respond with hate. I really have a hard time with this. Sure I can say that I am loving my enemies in another country that I don’t know, but the hardest people to love are the ones that surround me. I always wonder if I will never have enemies, it seems like I always do. Maybe, God is trying to teach me that I need to love my enemies. The reason I would offer up peace in times of war is because I have not seen that demonstrated. I would be interested to see the response of another country if instead of responding with war, we respond with the other cheek. Maybe they would attack us again and kill some more, but maybe, just maybe they would see that we care about them and not that we want to get even with them.
The “now what” will always be with us. Something that will constantly plague our problems and complaints. I will leave you with the words of David Crowder and let him explain the now what:

And the problem is this
We were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned
Even when it wasn’t hit

Oh, the world’s about to change
The whole world’s about to change

Now What?

*Kyle

Appreciate all the comments that were left yesterday and am excited about the rest of the week. I encourage everyone to continue to comment and read, I have a lot of smart friends out there and look forward to hearing what you have to say (that includes you O’Malley).

The Myth of a Christian Nation*
Before I get into what a myth is and why people are believing in myths, I want to first address something that was brought to my attention through an email from my Grandpa. He brought up the issue of defining something. And so I think it is important that I first define what a Christian is (in my mind) before I move on.
There is a song that I remember as a kid that is ringing out in my head right now, “they know we are Christians by our love by our love, they will know that we are Christians by our love” (sung in my Grandma Reeds voice). Cheesy song, but a lot of truth inside of it. Looking at Jesus what separated him the most from other great teachers and prophets was His love. Many believe that Jesus was a great teacher, that is undeniable, but where the problems start to arise is whether or not he was God in human form. To me, this is answered by the statement “God is Love” found in 1 John 4:7-8.  What separates Jesus from any other teacher was His love in all things, a perfect love. That was best demonstrated by his servant leadership (great demonstration of love) and his ultimate death on the cross (the ultimate show of love). For further understanding on this go and listen to Rob Bell’s love wins sermon, amazing. To be a Christian is to love, which might be too simple of an answer. A Christian is someone who prescribes to the love of God, taking the Holy Spirit as his/her guide, and being Jesus (love) to all. I might have missed some things there for you, but I don’t have time to get into everything.

So what is this thing about America being a Christian nation all about? For the longest time Christianity for me has been associated with white people. My whole life I have been surrounded by white people. Leades, church paritioners, family, and politicians, white people have been the face of Christianity. If you don’t think this is true, go and look at most depictions of Jesus in art/media and tell me who He looks like. As well, most white people are associated with America, amazing enough we did not settle America, but the Indians were the founding fathers. And yet for some reason, America has turned into the white mans home, which means that America has believed what the white man believes, and that is Christianity. Now there are several forms of Christianity that are represented (unfortunately) but for the most part, %90 of people would say that America is a Christian nation. I was one of those people for a long time. Until I started to look for what America stood for, or at least what people see America standing for. America was founded on freedom, which is great because I might not be the man I am today if not for that fact. But for some reason, that religious freedom that America was founded on has become more of an after thought when it comes to people believing differently (more on this later). For the most part America is seen as a free country, but inside this freedom comes a whole new set of problems. These problems are what America is known for. Capitalism (which I heard from Shaun Hannity that capitilism is dead with Obama being president) pursuit of Happiness (american dream) free market, freedom of speech, all that good stuff that America is known for leads one to believe that this is what Chrsitianity is known for. People would characterize Christians and Christianity a couple ways: Hypocritical, Narrow Minded, and Egocentric.
Can you see the relationship that Christianity has with America. A place founded upon the idea that money brings happiness, that you need to look a certain way so that you can fit in, that what you believe is right and if someone disagrees with you then they are wrong. I have heard all of these messages preached in one form or another over my life time. I think we all know someone who fits into this mold, and to be honest maybe I fit into this mold, but that is not the mold that Jesus was in. If you are willing to say that America is a Christian nation then you are willing to claim the fact that we killed innocent people (Indians) for the sake of “freedom”, that we told men (African Americans) that they were not men and they were animals that work for us, and that we let the desire/greed for money and power make decisions about war and peace. These are just a couple claims (major ones) that are associated with America which in turn is Christianity. I am not free of any of this, I am sinful man who is bent on sin saved by the grace of God. But I am slow to claim America as a Christian nation. That is not the Christianity that I know, that is not the way of Jesus that I know. Never do we see Jesus associate himself with a nation or a city, actually he did the opposite. For the sake of brevity, I will stop there.
America is not a Christian nation, we have bought into the idea that if we are or can continue to be we can control and make people better. The fundamental problem with that idea is depicted in the picture of a blind man leading another blind man around a room full of chairs and expecting them to not get tripped up, funny to watch, but we know the outcome.

So what is the myth that we are believing? That America is a Christian nation, and that becuase of this Christ will use America to make people “good,” that through rules set up by America people will come to believe in God, and that if we continue to keep Christian principles and men/women in places of power to rule people will fall in line and Christ will be glorified.

I will stop there, thanks for reading. Your turn, blast me for what I said or agree with me. But make yourself heard on a very important subject.

*Kyle

**The myth of a Chrsitian nation was stolen from the book “The Myth of a Christian Nation” by Greg Boyd. Great book, got a lot of new thoughts out of this book. At the end of the week I will provide a work cited page for resources and places I got most of my thoughts.