The Obligatory Introductory Post

I haven't blogged since my Xanga years in college, and I'm not quite sure how to get back in the groove of things. One thing is for sure, and that is that I need an outlet. Facebook is too shallow. I get tired of seeing all my acquaintances re-posting the same shallow videos, articles, and ideas, without any concern for its truth or consistency.

First would be that Jefferson Bethke video, "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus". I will admit, I did not watch it. Perhaps I will get around to it one day, but the title annoys me too much. Since college, I have heard over and over again, "It's not about religion, it's about a relationship." Technically, this is true. Jesus states in John 14:6:

I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (NASB).

Jesus is the only way through which one can be saved, and I have no argument with that. I think that the phrase "It's not about religion, it's about a relationship" is mostly aimed toward legalism, which is why the phrase, on the surface level, appears harmless. I think that this phrase first started to annoy me when I was in college. I was attending a church in my college town that was all fluff. They LOVED this phrase. Every week that I showed up for church, I was surrounded by people who lived very non-Christian lives, but showed up to get their weekly feel-good on. A spiritual enema of sorts. THESE were the people who made me abhor that phrase. They used to repeat it as their mantra, using it to justify their actions throughout the week. They could let a few rules slide, because after all, they were saved, and that's what matters. It became a battle cry for the sinning lifestyle.

Obviously, the people I am talking about were unrepentant, and therefore, most likely unregenerate, and I know that not everyone who likes using that phrase falls into that category. I just think that we need to be careful what bandwagons we jump onto. The truth is, Christianity is a religion. You cannot get to heaven by following laws, but once one becomes a follower of Christ, one's heart is transformed, and begins to love the law of God. And yes, God has laws. I know it's not "cool" to have laws, but I am tired of people trying to make Christianity cool. In Matthew 10:22, Jesus states that

You will be hated by all because of My name (NASB).

We do not need to make Christianity look "cool". When we attempt to do this, we only make it look inconsistent. There is nothing that WE, as humans, can do to change a sinner's heart. The work is solely God's. People WILL reject the Gospel. The truth is hated, and no one, on their own, longs to know it. It requires the regenerating work of God to make us new and to bring us to Him.

Anyway, that was a long rabbit trail. The other thing that really bothered me was that stupid McDonald's chicken nugget article. If you have been living under a rock and didn't happen to see it circulate through Facebook, it was basically an article with a really gross-looking picture that depicted the process of mechanically separating meat. It then goes on to exaggerate what that process entails. Then, it claims that McDonald's chicken nuggets are made from this meat. I watched scores of people re-post it with a lot of "EWWWWW"s and "OMG"s, and not ONE of them bothered to fact-check. I am naturally skeptical of anything, especially if it has a liberal agenda, so I looked it up, and WHAT DO YOU KNOW?! It's not true. It is a real process, but it has not been used by McDonald's since 2003 or so.

Moral of the story: don't believe everything you read on the internet. And question EVERYTHING. Do NOT jump on a bandwagon unless you know where it's going.