Accepting Me

I was having a discussion with the Kool Aid Kid (from one of my previous blogs) about a book I've been reading and after sharing with I've decided to share with you.

I'm currently reading Posers, Fakers, and Wannabes written by Brennan Manning & Jim Hancock. This book is actually an explosion of a chapter you would find in another one of Brennan Manning's books, Abba's Child. The chapter in Abba's Child this book expounds upon is the chapter titled The Imposter.

In Posers, Fakers, & Wannabes Brennan tackles the oh so common dilemma we have of wearing different masks. He talkd about how we pretend to be one person here and another person there and how these different people we all pretend to be are just "The Poser" within us.

The Poser is the one who first protected us from the world, who would want to hurt us, by showing us how to hide our true self. Because of this we've come to trust the poser and lean on him to keep us safe. He is a distinct part of who we are.

Brennan does something I haven't seen many authros do. Instead of bringing us face to face with what we've done, he brings us face to face with who we are. He gets us to stare ourselves in the mirror.

Doing this has brought out some true honesty in my relationship with God. It's brought to light some of the thoughts and feelings which for the longest time have resided in the darkest places of my being. I've discovered thoughts and feelings I didn't even know I had, but have been at the roots of the other thoughts and feelings.

By facing the Poser and befriending him, instead of hating him, I am coming to love who I am. Rather than hating who I am being and desiring who I am suppose to be. Now the Poser and I are taking the journey together. Perhaps for the first time we are being sanctified rather than manufacturing the appearance of sanctification.

What the Blog?

So it's been two weeks and I haven't blogged about anything. This week I still don't know what to blog about. So this is me filling space so some of you have something to read when you stop by my blog.

Rich Mullins' Award

This last weekend the local Christian radio station had a tribute to Rich Mullins, a man who seemed to be an icon of Christ, in reference to simplicity. This blog also comes from some introspection and conviction, which showed over the last while I've been pretty Dave-o-centric. As a result, I've decide to use this week's blog to recognize three guys I met at Bethany who are neither ego-centric or materialistic.

Living in a dorm you get to see the sides of people you wouldn't see in the cafeteria, chapel, or classroom. You see how guys react when their clothes' soap is used without permission (ie. purple Kool-Aid), when the guys won't give up the TV for Smash Brothers, or the Geeks...I mean guys, won't give up Nintendo for the Playoffs. It's during these times when it seemed no one was watching that these guys' lifestyles and hearts seemed to reflect the same spirit as Rich Mullins.

Now in Rich Mullins' simplicity of life he most likely wouldn't have seen any need for an award or any recognition. He would have felt these guys are just living the way they are suppose to be and I'm sure these guys would feel the same way as Rich. The rest of us aren't quite as free from the materialism or self promotion, which is why they're getting the award and we're not. While these guys would probably blush and insist I was making a big deal over nothing, to the best of my knowledge none of them read my blog, so let's keep this our little secret.

The 3 guys I would say are deserving of the Rich Mullins' Award are:

Jason Major (Duffy Moon)
Dusty Crozier
Donnie MacDougal