INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (7116,12,'2012-07-04 21:56:57','2012-07-05 04:56:57','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"Uncensored Prayer.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\n\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading Wilson\'s book, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\n\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. Joy Wilson\'s book, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\n\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"My dearest child . . .\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\n\nJoy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\n\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the seminarian in me:\n\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\n\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"crap\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. But for the most part, he is patient, loving and kind. He is the God of Scripture. I have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\n\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\n\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with my own identity after I fell from the ministry. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\n\nDuring my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\n\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\n\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision','','','2012-07-04 21:56:57','2012-07-05 04:56:57','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/04/7114-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7117,12,'2012-07-04 21:59:32','2012-07-05 04:59:32','','prayer5','','inherit','open','open','','prayer5','','','2012-07-04 21:59:32','2012-07-05 04:59:32','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer5.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7118,12,'2012-07-04 22:00:31','2012-07-05 05:00:31','','jwilson','','inherit','open','open','','jwilson','','','2012-07-04 22:00:31','2012-07-05 05:00:31','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7119,12,'2012-07-04 21:58:46','2012-07-05 04:58:46','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"Uncensored Prayer.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\n\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading Wilson\'s book, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\n\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. Joy Wilson\'s book, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\n\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"My dearest child . . .\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\n\nJoy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\n\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the seminarian in me:\n\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\n\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"crap\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. But for the most part, he is patient, loving and kind. He is the God of Scripture. I have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\n\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\n\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with my own identity after I fell from the ministry. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\n\nDuring my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\n\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\n\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. Don\'t hesitate to buy it and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-2','','','2012-07-04 21:58:46','2012-07-05 04:58:46','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/04/7114-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7120,12,'2012-07-04 22:02:21','2012-07-05 05:02:21','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"Uncensored Prayer.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\n\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading Wilson\'s book, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\n\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. Joy Wilson\'s book, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\n\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"My dearest child . . .\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\n\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the seminarian in me:\n\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\n\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"crap\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. But for the most part, he is patient, loving and kind. He is the God of Scripture. I have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\n\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\n\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with my own identity after I fell from the ministry. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\n\nDuring my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\n\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\n\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. Don\'t hesitate to buy it and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-3','','','2012-07-04 22:02:21','2012-07-05 05:02:21','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/04/7114-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7121,12,'2012-07-04 22:03:09','2012-07-05 05:03:09','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"Uncensored Prayer.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\r\n\r\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading Wilson\'s book, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\r\n\r\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. Joy Wilson\'s book, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\r\n\r\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"My dearest child . . .\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\r\n\r\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the seminarian in me:\r\n\r\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\r\n\r\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"crap\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. But for the most part, he is patient, loving and kind. He is the God of Scripture. I have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\r\n\r\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\r\n\r\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with my own identity after I fell from the ministry. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\r\n\r\nDuring my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\r\n\r\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\r\n\r\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. Don\'t hesitate to buy it and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-4','','','2012-07-04 22:03:09','2012-07-05 05:03:09','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/04/7114-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7192,12,'2012-07-12 21:23:14','0000-00-00 00:00:00','I got a chance to catch up with Joy Wilson, author of <em><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1342152739&amp;sr=8-1\">\"Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God,\" </a>(Civitas Press, 2011)</em> recently. <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/07/book-review-uncensored-prayer-by-joy-wilson-2/\">After reading and reviewing her book</a>, I had some questions for her. Some were germane to the book and some were just things I really wanted to know.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>I loved your book and I want to ask some really detailed questions about it in a minute, but I want to get to know you a little better first. You’re very honest about your life and who you are, but I want to know some superfluous things first. What kind of books do you like to read?  What are your favorite kinds of music?  What do you like to do in your spare time?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: In my spare time, I’m usually reading 3-4 different books simultaneously, mostly history (<em>especially Civil War and WWII</em>) and mysteries.  Favorite authors are Stephen E. Ambrose, Shelby Foote, David McCullough, and Anne Perry.  My musical tastes run from Joni Mitchell and Stevie Ray Vaughn to old scratchy record blues and the great sacred classical choral works.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What do you mean by “uncensored prayer” and “wrestling with God”?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: God wants to have totally honest conversations with us, and we can say anything we want since He/She already knows what we think.  No topic, language, or feeling is unholy.  It’s wrestling through anger, faith, pain, hope about every aspect of our lives. As we begin to develop a personal relationship of love and trust, we can experience the redemptive freedom that comes from speaking freely with God.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>You said “God wants to have totally honest conversations with us.”  How does a person hear from God?  Is it an impression upon your soul?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: Most people think of prayer as talking to or at God. The most common question I’m asked about prayer is, “<em>How do you know you’re hearing from God?”</em>  The Lord can speak to us in a variety of ways – through Scripture, a song, nature, what someone says, and just in our hearts. God’s response might be a direct answer, or peace that hasn’t come through any other means.  God wants us to know that we’re hearing from Him or Her and will make sure we do, if we’re willing to listen.  We won’t always get the answer we want, or when we want it, but the Lord always gives us what we need.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>Do you find that some people feel threatened or afraid of trying uncensored prayer?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: We all have beliefs about God and prayer.  Some of us are comfortable with religious rituals that define what’s appropriate to say in prayer.  Other people think prayer is a four-letter word, and are unwilling to approach a Deity they think is angry, judgmental, and easily offended.  Stepping out of our comfort zone is never easy, because the unknown is scary.  But seeking God in complete honesty gives us the chance to find out for ourselves what God is really like.\r\n\r\nMy conservative Christian upbringing taught me that God accepts or rejects us based on what we do.  Because I <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer53.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7197\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer53-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" /></a>didn’t/couldn’t meet those requirements, including “faith”, I gave up trying to please a God who was already mad at me.  One day I screamed out my pain and anger in uncensored prayer.  To my total shock, God screamed back His love for me, which is what it took for me to believe I was unconditionally accepted, and our relationship grew from there.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>You give insight to your writing process in your book. You talk about the need to be inspired before you write. What inspires you to write? Is your writing process a lot like how you engage in uncensored prayer?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: Uncensored prayer is spontaneous; writing takes work, but when God and I write together, creativity flows from our combined hearts and minds.  In contrast, when I write by myself, even if I have a great idea, it’s like pulling up words out of concrete and it usually ends up in the trash!\r\n\r\nSome ideas just come to me – like the first line of a poem.  Poems are my written uncensored prayers (though I also pray out-loud). If I’m in a position to drop everything and get by myself, a poem will usually be completed within thirty minutes, and except for one or two word changes, it’s finished.  Writing articles or chapters takes a lot of time and effort, but I enjoy it (usually!).  My editor, Jonathan Brink, inspired me to write prose.  Actually, he taught me to write prose!\r\n\r\nRC: <em>In your book, you mentioned that you felt that some people might be upset with what they read. Was that a consequence of your writing? If it was, how did you handle it?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: To my great surprise, I’ve only received one negative comment since the book was released in July, 2011.  My belief is God is putting the book into the hands of people who need it and are receptive to its message.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What has been the most unexpected outcome of the publication of your book?</em>\r\n\r\nThe opportunity to teach my book on-line.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>In hindsight, is there a message you wish you could add to the book?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: For years, I’ve been aware of both the male and female characteristics of God.  If I could make one change in the book, I would probably refer to God as He/She most of the time, or state in the introduction that I would be calling God “He” for simplification purposes.\r\n\r\nRC: What did you learn from writing this book?\r\n\r\nJW: That following God can be terrifying, because the Lord always leads us into the wild unknown and has a bad habit of jumping off cliffs, dragging us along while we scream, “NOOOOOO!”  But if I hadn’t gone through the doors God opened, my book wouldn’t exist.  Through the experiences of writing and teaching my book, and telling people about it, I have learned to trust God on a much deeper level.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>After reading this book, what can someone do to pursue uncensored prayer further?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: For a guided, in-depth study, I recommend my on-line class.  Over five weeks, we explore and practice wrestling with God through every aspect of our lives in complete honesty, and learn how to hear from God.  It is self-paced, so you can participate whenever best fits your schedule.  The course includes reading assignments in my book, daily guided prayer time, keeping a journal, and class interaction on a Discussion Board.  The next class will be offered July 23-August 24, 2012.  For more information and to register, click on this link: <a href=\"http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer\">http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer</a>\r\n\r\n_________________\r\n\r\nMany thanks to Joy for her book and her openness in writing this book. It has helped me immeasurably since I read it. Take time to buy it/download it for yourself and be blessed. More than that, enroll in her class and see the power of Uncensored Prayer in your own life.','Interview With Civitas Press Author, Joy Wilson','','pending','open','open','','','','','2012-07-12 21:23:14','2012-07-13 04:23:14','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=interview&#038;p=7192',0,'interview','',0),(7123,12,'2012-07-04 22:20:02','2012-07-05 05:20:02','','cross8','','inherit','open','open','','cross8','','','2012-07-04 22:20:02','2012-07-05 05:20:02','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7124,12,'2012-07-04 22:03:19','2012-07-05 05:03:19','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"Uncensored Prayer.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\r\n\r\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading Wilson\'s book, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\r\n\r\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. Joy Wilson\'s book, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\r\n\r\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"My dearest child . . .\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\r\n\r\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the seminarian in me:\r\n\r\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\r\n\r\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"crap\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. But for the most part, he is patient, loving and kind. He is the God of Scripture. I have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\r\n\r\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\r\n\r\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with my own identity after I fell from the ministry. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\r\n\r\nDuring my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\r\n\r\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\r\n\r\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. Don\'t hesitate to buy it and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-5','','','2012-07-04 22:03:19','2012-07-05 05:03:19','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/04/7114-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(7125,12,'2012-07-04 22:20:28','2012-07-05 05:20:28','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"Uncensored Prayer.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\r\n\r\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading Wilson\'s book, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\r\n\r\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. Joy Wilson\'s book, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\r\n\r\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"My dearest child . . .\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\r\n\r\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the seminarian in me:\r\n\r\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\r\n\r\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"crap\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. But for the most part, he is patient, loving and kind. He is the God of Scripture. I have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\r\n\r\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\r\n\r\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with my own identity after I fell from the ministry. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\r\n\r\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\r\n\r\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. Don\'t hesitate to buy it and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-6','','','2012-07-04 22:20:28','2012-07-05 05:20:28','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/04/7114-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(7126,12,'2012-07-04 22:21:14','2012-07-05 05:21:14','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<em>Uncensored Prayer</em>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\r\n\r\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading Wilson\'s book, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\r\n\r\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. Joy Wilson\'s book, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\r\n\r\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\r\n\r\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the seminarian in me:\r\n\r\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\r\n\r\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"crap\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. But for the most part, he is patient, loving and kind. He is the God of Scripture. I have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\r\n\r\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\r\n\r\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with my own identity after I fell from the ministry. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\r\n\r\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\r\n\r\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. Don\'t hesitate to buy it and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-7','','','2012-07-04 22:21:14','2012-07-05 05:21:14','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/04/7114-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(7127,12,'2012-07-04 22:30:15','2012-07-05 05:30:15','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Uncensored Prayer</em></a>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\n\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading Wilson\'s book, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\n\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. Joy Wilson\'s book, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\n\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\n\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the theologian in me:\n\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\n\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"crap\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. But for the most part, He is patient, loving and kind. He is the God of Scripture. I have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\n\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\n\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466123&amp;sr=8-1\">my own identity</a> after <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/\">I fell from the ministry</a>. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\n\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\n\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Don\'t hesitate to buy it</a> and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-8','','','2012-07-04 22:30:15','2012-07-05 05:30:15','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/04/7114-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(7128,12,'2012-07-04 22:31:58','2012-07-05 05:31:58','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Uncensored Prayer</em></a>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\n\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Wilson\'s book</a>, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\n\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Joy Wilson\'s book</a>, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\n\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\n\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the theologian in me:\n\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\n\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"<em>crap</em>\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. But for the most part, He is patient, loving and kind. He is the God of Scripture. I have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\n\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\n\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466123&amp;sr=8-1\">my own identity</a> after <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/\">I fell from the ministry</a>. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\n\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\n\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Don\'t hesitate to buy it</a> and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-9','','','2012-07-04 22:31:58','2012-07-05 05:31:58','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/04/7114-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(7199,179,'2012-07-12 07:24:56','2012-07-12 14:24:56','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\r\n\r\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was taboo back in the mid 1970′s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\r\n\r\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn’t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I wanted one. So was my life for many years — no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was and felt alone.\r\n\r\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete or so I thought.\r\n\r\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered well (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Surprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted every time he saw me hanging out with her and didn’t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\r\n\r\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father’s first marriage) didn’t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy’s little girl.\r\n\r\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I’ve got a younger sister who’s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it’s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we’re getting along well.\r\n\r\nI’m still surprised that I’ve got a baby sister (pictured in this post).\r\n\r\nI can’t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-9','','','2012-07-12 07:24:56','2012-07-12 14:24:56','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(7131,12,'2012-07-05 21:11:16','2012-07-06 04:11:16','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Uncensored Prayer</em></a>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\n\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Wilson\'s book</a>, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\n\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Joy Wilson\'s book</a>, if you allow it to be, it is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\n\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\n\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the theologian in me:\n\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\n\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"<em>crap</em>\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. I know that without a doubt, she has spoken to the God of Scripture. Yes, the God of Scripture has said, \"<em>crap</em>.\"\n\nIt\'s important for me to address this. Know why? Because before my fall from ministry, I would have had a very serious problem with this. In her book, though, Joy lets us know that God responds to her in the same way she speaks to her. I think that\'s awesome. But I can even do one better than that.\n\nWhen I was in seminary, my Hebrew professor went on and on about how the Hebrew language was the crude \"<em>language of Canaan</em>.\" Hebrew is a very earthy language. And God used it. Boy did he ever. I suppose God could have used some kind of eloquent language to express Himself to the Jewish people. But He didn\'t. He was down to earth with them. Don\'t believe me? Go read Ezekiel 23. Enough said.\n\nGod reveals Himself to His people to let them know that He loves them as they are. And that is beauty. He did that with my mother when he said to her in her prayer journal, \"My beautiful child . . .\" and he does it in Joy\'s book when he says in her song, \"<em>You Are I AM</em>,\" (more to come about that later): \'<em>You can\'t offend me with the truth, or drive me away</em>.\" That is the God I see in Scripture. That is the God I want to follow. That is the God I met after my fall and the God who has held me and loved me unconditionally ever since.\n\nI have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\n\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\n\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466123&amp;sr=8-1\">my own identity</a> after <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/\">I fell from the ministry</a>. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\n\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\n\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Don\'t hesitate to buy it</a> and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.\n\nThank you, Joy, for sharing this with us. Thank you for bringing back to me the memories of my mother who had uncensored prayer in her life. Thank you for brin','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-10','','','2012-07-05 21:11:16','2012-07-06 04:11:16','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/05/7114-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(7132,12,'2012-07-05 21:12:36','2012-07-06 04:12:36','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Uncensored Prayer</em></a>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\n\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Wilson\'s book</a>, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\n\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Joy Wilson\'s book</a>, if you allow it to be, it is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\n\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\n\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the theologian in me:\n\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\n\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"<em>crap</em>\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. I know that without a doubt, she has spoken to the God of Scripture. Yes, the God of Scripture has said, \"<em>crap</em>.\"\n\nIt\'s important for me to address this. Know why? Because before my fall from ministry, I would have had a very serious problem with this. In her book, though, Joy lets us know that God responds to her in the same way she speaks to her. I think that\'s awesome. But I can even do one better than that.\n\nWhen I was in seminary, my Hebrew professor went on and on about how the Hebrew language was the crude \"<em>language of Canaan</em>.\" Hebrew is a very earthy language. And God used it. Boy did he ever. I suppose God could have used some kind of eloquent language to express Himself to the Jewish people. But He didn\'t. He was down to earth with them. Don\'t believe me? Go read Ezekiel 23. Enough said.\n\nGod reveals Himself to His people to let them know that He loves them as they are. And that is beauty. He did that with my mother when he said to her in her prayer journal, \"My beautiful child . . .\" and he does it in Joy\'s book when he says in her song, \"<em>You Are I AM</em>,\" (more to come about that later): \'<em>You can\'t offend me with the truth, or drive me away</em>.\" That is the God I see in Scripture. That is the God I want to follow. That is the God I met after my fall and the God who has held me and loved me unconditionally ever since.\n\nI have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\n\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\n\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466123&amp;sr=8-1\">my own identity</a> after <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/\">I fell from the ministry</a>. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\n\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\n\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Don\'t hesitate to buy it</a> and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.\n\nThank you, Joy, for sharing this with us. Thank you for bringing back to me the memories of my mother who had uncensored prayer in her life. Thank you for showing us the way to a God who loves us for who we are.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-11','','','2012-07-05 21:12:36','2012-07-06 04:12:36','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/05/7114-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(7133,1,'2012-07-06 08:00:41','2012-07-06 15:00:41','[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao_PdmERD_U[/youtube]\r\n\r\nSound off!','Bill Maher Calls Evangelicals Bluff','','publish','open','open','','bill-maher-calls-evangelicals-bluff','','','2012-07-05 21:56:53','2012-07-06 04:56:53','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7133',0,'post','',7),(7134,1,'2012-07-05 21:56:46','2012-07-06 04:56:46','[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao_PdmERD_U[/youtube]\n\nSound off!','Bill Maher Calls Evangelicals Bluff','','inherit','open','open','','7133-revision','','','2012-07-05 21:56:46','2012-07-06 04:56:46','',7133,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/05/7133-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7135,12,'2012-07-05 21:13:13','2012-07-06 04:13:13','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Uncensored Prayer</em></a>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\r\n\r\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Wilson\'s book</a>, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\r\n\r\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Joy Wilson\'s book</a>, if you allow it to be, it is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\r\n\r\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\r\n\r\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the theologian in me:\r\n\r\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\r\n\r\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"<em>crap</em>\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. I know that without a doubt, she has spoken to the God of Scripture. Yes, the God of Scripture has said, \"<em>crap</em>.\"\r\n\r\nIt\'s important for me to address this. Know why? Because before my fall from ministry, I would have had a very serious problem with this. In her book, though, Joy lets us know that God responds to her in the same way she speaks to her. I think that\'s awesome. But I can even do one better than that.\r\n\r\nWhen I was in seminary, my Hebrew professor went on and on about how the Hebrew language was the crude \"<em>language of Canaan</em>.\" Hebrew is a very earthy language. And God used it. Boy did he ever. I suppose God could have used some kind of eloquent language to express Himself to the Jewish people. But He didn\'t. He was down to earth with them. Don\'t believe me? Go read Ezekiel 23. Enough said.\r\n\r\nGod reveals Himself to His people to let them know that He loves them as they are. And that is beauty. He did that with my mother when he said to her in her prayer journal, \"My beautiful child . . .\" and he does it in Joy\'s book when he says in her song, \"<em>You Are I AM</em>,\" (more to come about that later): \'<em>You can\'t offend me with the truth, or drive me away</em>.\" That is the God I see in Scripture. That is the God I want to follow. That is the God I met after my fall and the God who has held me and loved me unconditionally ever since.\r\n\r\nI have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\r\n\r\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\r\n\r\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466123&amp;sr=8-1\">my own identity</a> after <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/\">I fell from the ministry</a>. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\r\n\r\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\r\n\r\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Don\'t hesitate to buy it</a> and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.\r\n\r\nThank you, Joy, for sharing this with us. Thank you for bringing back to me the memories of my mother who had uncensored prayer in her life. Thank you for showing us the way to a God who loves us for who we are.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-12','','','2012-07-05 21:13:13','2012-07-06 04:13:13','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/05/7114-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(7136,179,'2012-07-06 22:50:40','2012-07-07 05:50:40','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Uncensored Prayer</em></a>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\n\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Wilson\'s book</a>, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\n\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Joy Wilson\'s book</a>, if you allow it to be, is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\n\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\n\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the theologian in me:\n\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\n\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"<em>crap</em>\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. I know that without a doubt, she has spoken to the God of Scripture. Yes, the God of Scripture has said, \"<em>crap</em>.\"\n\nIt\'s important for me to address this. Know why? Because before my fall from ministry, I would have had a very serious problem with this. In her book, though, Joy lets us know that God responds to her in the same way she speaks to Him.  I think that\'s awesome. But I can even do one better than that.\n\nWhen I was in seminary, my Hebrew professor went on and on about how the Hebrew language was the crude \"<em>language of Canaan</em>.\" Hebrew is a very earthy language. And God used it. Boy did he ever. I suppose God could have used some kind of eloquent language to express Himself to the Jewish people. But He didn\'t. He was down to earth with them. Don\'t believe me? Go read Ezekiel 23. Enough said.\n\nGod reveals Himself to His people to let them know that He loves them as they are. And that is beauty. He did that with my mother when he said to her in her prayer journal, \"My beautiful child . . .\" and he does it in Joy\'s book when he says in her song, \"<em>You Are I AM</em>,\" (more to come about that later): \'<em>You can\'t offend me with the truth, or drive me away</em>.\" That is the God I see in Scripture. That is the God I want to follow. That is the God I met after my fall and the God who has held me and loved me unconditionally ever since.\n\nI have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\n\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\n\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466123&amp;sr=8-1\">my own identity</a> after <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/\">I fell from the ministry</a>. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\n\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\n\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Don\'t hesitate to buy it</a> and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.\n\nThank you, Joy, for sharing this with us. Thank you for bringing back to me the memories of my mother who had uncensored prayer in her life. Thank you for showing us the way to a God who loves us for who we are.\n\n_______________\n\n<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341596413&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Uncensored+prayer\">\"Uncensored Prayer\" is available at Amazon.com</a> in paperback and Kindle formats and online through other retailers.\n\nYou can also follow her on her blog: <a href=\"http://joyleewilson.org\">joyleewilson.org</a>','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-autosave','','','2012-07-06 22:50:40','2012-07-07 05:50:40','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/06/7114-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7137,12,'2012-07-06 10:38:03','2012-07-06 17:38:03','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Uncensored Prayer</em></a>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\r\n\r\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Wilson\'s book</a>, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\r\n\r\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Joy Wilson\'s book</a>, if you allow it to be, it is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\r\n\r\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\r\n\r\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the theologian in me:\r\n\r\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\r\n\r\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"<em>crap</em>\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. I know that without a doubt, she has spoken to the God of Scripture. Yes, the God of Scripture has said, \"<em>crap</em>.\"\r\n\r\nIt\'s important for me to address this. Know why? Because before my fall from ministry, I would have had a very serious problem with this. In her book, though, Joy lets us know that God responds to her in the same way she speaks to Him.  I think that\'s awesome. But I can even do one better than that.\r\n\r\nWhen I was in seminary, my Hebrew professor went on and on about how the Hebrew language was the crude \"<em>language of Canaan</em>.\" Hebrew is a very earthy language. And God used it. Boy did he ever. I suppose God could have used some kind of eloquent language to express Himself to the Jewish people. But He didn\'t. He was down to earth with them. Don\'t believe me? Go read Ezekiel 23. Enough said.\r\n\r\nGod reveals Himself to His people to let them know that He loves them as they are. And that is beauty. He did that with my mother when he said to her in her prayer journal, \"My beautiful child . . .\" and he does it in Joy\'s book when he says in her song, \"<em>You Are I AM</em>,\" (more to come about that later): \'<em>You can\'t offend me with the truth, or drive me away</em>.\" That is the God I see in Scripture. That is the God I want to follow. That is the God I met after my fall and the God who has held me and loved me unconditionally ever since.\r\n\r\nI have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\r\n\r\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\r\n\r\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466123&amp;sr=8-1\">my own identity</a> after <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/\">I fell from the ministry</a>. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\r\n\r\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\r\n\r\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Don\'t hesitate to buy it</a> and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.\r\n\r\nThank you, Joy, for sharing this with us. Thank you for bringing back to me the memories of my mother who had uncensored prayer in her life. Thank you for showing us the way to a God who loves us for who we are.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-13','','','2012-07-06 10:38:03','2012-07-06 17:38:03','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/06/7114-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(7138,12,'2012-07-06 10:41:51','2012-07-06 17:41:51','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Uncensored Prayer</em></a>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\r\n\r\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Wilson\'s book</a>, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\r\n\r\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Joy Wilson\'s book</a>, if you allow it to be, it is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\r\n\r\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\r\n\r\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the theologian in me:\r\n\r\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\r\n\r\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"<em>crap</em>\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. I know that without a doubt, she has spoken to the God of Scripture. Yes, the God of Scripture has said, \"<em>crap</em>.\"\r\n\r\nIt\'s important for me to address this. Know why? Because before my fall from ministry, I would have had a very serious problem with this. In her book, though, Joy lets us know that God responds to her in the same way she speaks to Him.  I think that\'s awesome. But I can even do one better than that.\r\n\r\nWhen I was in seminary, my Hebrew professor went on and on about how the Hebrew language was the crude \"<em>language of Canaan</em>.\" Hebrew is a very earthy language. And God used it. Boy did he ever. I suppose God could have used some kind of eloquent language to express Himself to the Jewish people. But He didn\'t. He was down to earth with them. Don\'t believe me? Go read Ezekiel 23. Enough said.\r\n\r\nGod reveals Himself to His people to let them know that He loves them as they are. And that is beauty. He did that with my mother when he said to her in her prayer journal, \"My beautiful child . . .\" and he does it in Joy\'s book when he says in her song, \"<em>You Are I AM</em>,\" (more to come about that later): \'<em>You can\'t offend me with the truth, or drive me away</em>.\" That is the God I see in Scripture. That is the God I want to follow. That is the God I met after my fall and the God who has held me and loved me unconditionally ever since.\r\n\r\nI have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\r\n\r\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\r\n\r\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466123&amp;sr=8-1\">my own identity</a> after <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/\">I fell from the ministry</a>. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\r\n\r\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\r\n\r\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Don\'t hesitate to buy it</a> and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.\r\n\r\nThank you, Joy, for sharing this with us. Thank you for bringing back to me the memories of my mother who had uncensored prayer in her life. Thank you for showing us the way to a God who loves us for who we are.\r\n\r\n_______________\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341596413&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Uncensored+prayer\">\"Uncensored Prayer\" is available at Amazon.com</a> in paperback and Kindle formats and online through other retailers.','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-14','','','2012-07-06 10:41:51','2012-07-06 17:41:51','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/06/7114-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(7139,179,'2012-07-06 10:46:40','2012-07-06 17:46:40','A week ago, there was a man sitting in the Nashville International Airport reading Joy Wilson\'s book, \"<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\"><em>Uncensored Prayer</em></a>.\" He had tears running down his face and was trying to conceal them from the people passing by. Why was he crying?\r\n\r\nThis man had a seminary degree and thought he understood the God of Scripture. A God who had revealed Himself through the prophets in a structured manner. But while reading <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Wilson\'s book</a>, he understood that God is a passionate God who desires to engage with His children, lavish his love upon them, and hold no good thing back from them. In essence, the rote prayers this man had been saying and his understanding of God had been shaken by Wilson\'s words. He had known it even before he had cracked her book open, but he was glad to have had it confirmed by her life experience.\r\n\r\nYou probably figured it out, but that man was me. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Joy Wilson\'s book</a>, if you allow it to be, it is life transforming. It will change the way you encounter and talk to God and it will reroute your thinking about Him as well.\r\n\r\nTo be honest, I knew a long time ago that you could talk to God in an uncensored way. Apologies to Joy, but when I was seven, I sneaked a peek at my mom\'s prayer journal. She was an author and she recorded many of her conversations with God. When I read them, she wrote messages from God that began with, \"<em>My dearest child . . .</em>\" For years, I thought about that. Could God really speak to us like that?\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7118\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" /></a>Joy Wilson believes God wants to. But we have to be willing to approach God in an honest way, bearing our hearts and souls to Him and laying it all on the line. She bases much of her book on Jacob\'s experience with the angel in Genesis (also referred to in U2\'s <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6nzA5gtBUY\"><strong>Bullet the Blue Sky</strong></a> <em>\"Jacob wrestled the angel and the angel was overcome\"</em>). We can and will discover more about ourselves and God when we engage and wrestle with Him in prayer. She\'s right.\r\n\r\nLet me say this - I wasn\'t sure what to expect theologically. I love theology. Not because I am a fan of arguing aspects of theology, but because I love God. Joy\'s book resounds with sound, biblical theology. I was so proud of her. She comes from a solid church upbringing and has matured into a place that is suited for her now. Let me quote a few lines that really impressed the theologian in me:\r\n\r\n\"<em>God can talk to us through anything: a movie, song, book, or the microwave if He wants to. But I promise you that God will make sure we know it\'s from Him. He isn\'t going to let us think we\'re crazy</em>.\"\r\n\r\nI love it. In this book, Joy says that God says \"<em>crap</em>\" to her. He uses 21st century language to her. He is crass at times. He is crude. I know that without a doubt, she has spoken to the God of Scripture. Yes, the God of Scripture has said, \"<em>crap</em>.\"\r\n\r\nIt\'s important for me to address this. Know why? Because before my fall from ministry, I would have had a very serious problem with this. In her book, though, Joy lets us know that God responds to her in the same way she speaks to Him.  I think that\'s awesome. But I can even do one better than that.\r\n\r\nWhen I was in seminary, my Hebrew professor went on and on about how the Hebrew language was the crude \"<em>language of Canaan</em>.\" Hebrew is a very earthy language. And God used it. Boy did he ever. I suppose God could have used some kind of eloquent language to express Himself to the Jewish people. But He didn\'t. He was down to earth with them. Don\'t believe me? Go read Ezekiel 23. Enough said.\r\n\r\nGod reveals Himself to His people to let them know that He loves them as they are. And that is beauty. He did that with my mother when he said to her in her prayer journal, \"My beautiful child . . .\" and he does it in Joy\'s book when he says in her song, \"<em>You Are I AM</em>,\" (more to come about that later): \'<em>You can\'t offend me with the truth, or drive me away</em>.\" That is the God I see in Scripture. That is the God I want to follow. That is the God I met after my fall and the God who has held me and loved me unconditionally ever since.\r\n\r\nI have no doubt that Joy is speaking to the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. And in that passage I just quoted, she speaks volumes about the character of God. She speaks about His revelatory nature. She speaks about His truthfulness. About the interaction between Him and His creatures. In a few sentences, she says more about God than I\'ve read about guys today on their high and lofty blogs.\r\n\r\nWhen you read Joy\'s book, it\'s like you\'re sitting in her living room with her, sharing her deepest feelings with her and hearing her darkest secrets. She\'s been in some bad places and she is honest with you. That\'s why you know she has communed with God. That\'s why you know you can commune with God like she has.\r\n\r\nI think the overwhelming theme that kept slapping me in the face was that God loved me for who I am. I\'ve struggled in the past few years with <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466123&amp;sr=8-1\">my own identity</a> after <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/\">I fell from the ministry</a>. Joy does an amazing job of proving from Scripture and her own life that God loves us for who we are, over and over, regardless of what we do. His love is boundless, amazing and full of grace. For that reason alone, this book is worth purchasing and sharing. We can never fully understand or appreciate the grace of God in any capacity.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7123\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cross8-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>During my seminary studies, I must have read dozens of treatises on God\'s grace. None of them touched my heart like the poetry of Joy Wilson. I cried numerous times when reading her work. She helped me understand the true nature of God and His grace like I had never understood it before.\r\n\r\nThis book is worth buying for several reasons: At least three of Joy\'s poems, if not more. Joy wrote a song for her children in the absence of her husband. It is called, \"<em>You are I AM</em>.\" It is one of the most touching songs I have ever read. In it, she describes how God is all we need. Another one is called \"<em>Stark Dark</em>.\" When I read it, it was something I wanted to share with God when I was in my deepest depression. Finally, an interaction Joy had with God called \"<em>Pilgrim\'s Progress</em>.\" It touched my heart, especially as she and God talked about how to help other people who were struggling.\r\n\r\nFriends, this is an earthy, lovely, and passionate work from a woman who has dealt with a lot of issues in her life and experienced God on her own. As a former pastor, I\'ve read a lot of books on prayer and encountering God. This book is the indie Experiencing God of our time. <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341466171&amp;sr=1-1\">Don\'t hesitate to buy it</a> and learn to love and experience God like you never have before.\r\n\r\nThank you, Joy, for sharing this with us. Thank you for bringing back to me the memories of my mother who had uncensored prayer in her life. Thank you for showing us the way to a God who loves us for who we are.\r\n\r\n_______________\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341596413&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Uncensored+prayer\">\"Uncensored Prayer\" is available at Amazon.com</a> in paperback and Kindle formats and online through other retailers.\r\n\r\nYou can also follow her on her blog: <a href=\"http://joyleewilson.org\">joyleewilson.org</a>','Book Review: Uncensored Prayer by Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7114-revision-15','','','2012-07-06 10:46:40','2012-07-06 17:46:40','',7114,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/06/7114-revision-15/',0,'revision','',0),(7608,48,'2012-08-25 08:00:13','2012-08-25 15:00:13','Victim.\r\n\r\nConsider that word for a moment. Victim. What does it bring to mind? Do you picture someone who has been attacked or abused or otherwise harmed-- someone who compels you to compassion and concern? Or does the word “victim” bring to mind a weak, whiny, and wretched example of a human being-- someone who blames everyone else for their misery?\r\n\r\nIf you found yourself in the latter camp, you are not alone. Victim blaming seems to be the prevailing mind-set in many circles. It happens every day in business and politics: those with power fear losing it, and some strive to keep it at all costs. Any voice crying of injustice or dissent is a threat to their power that must be hushed up. So, how is that done? It\'s simple: spin the facts so as to push the blame on the victim. And if that can’t be done, then bully or coerce them into silence.\r\n\r\nThis doesn’t just happen in politics and the business world—sadly, it’s just as rampant in the Church. If we hurt a fellow brother or sister in Christ and that person calls us out on it, do we sincerely apologize? Or, do we give them the hallow \"I\'m sorry you took offense” apology, which is not really an apology at all. It’s an accusation. If the offender happens to be a minister or in Church leadership, the victim is often instructed to suppress their complaint, because speaking out against leadership is seen as a sign of rebellion and submission issues, as well as the big no-no: \"touching the Lord\'s anointed.\" I\'d like to note that, while this idea about not touching the Lord’s anointed comes from 1 Samuel, it is taken completely out of context to support this odd doctrine of silence. Here David isn’t saying that he shouldn’t speak out against the wrong that Saul has done, but rather that he cannot <em>physically</em> harm Saul (1 Samuel 24: 4-7; 26: 9-11). In fact, directly after both incidences where David states he will not touch the Lord’s anointed, he goes on to immediately, and publicly, rebuke Saul (1 Samuel<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 24: 8-13; 26:17-20).  </span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/silence1.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7621\" title=\"silence\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/silence1-300x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" /></a>Recently one congregation, Beaverton Grace Bible Church (BGBC) in Beaverton, Oregon, even went so far as to sue former disgruntled members for defamation, in order to further enforce the code of silence. The focus of the suit, as well as the publicity surrounding it, seemed to center on Julie Anne Smith, who blogs about her experience with spiritual abuse and BGBC at <a href=\"http://bgbcsurvivors.blogspot.com/\">BCBG Survivors</a>. On her blog, Julie Anne states that she created it after her negative Google reviews of BGBC were repeatedly deleted. It was at least in part because of the negative online reviews and Julie Anne\'s personal blog that the church brought about the defamation suit against her and four other former church members. However, while churches may try to silence their flocks within church walls, apparently they can\'t continue to do so when the sheep decide to leave the fold; the judge dismissed the case on all counts, and even ordered BGBC to pay the defendants\' court fees. Since gaining notoriety from the defamation suit, Julie Anne’s blog has now moved beyond a space simply to discuss her experiences at BGBC, into a platform to discuss spiritual abuse in the Church at large, as well as a community for those trying to heal from similar experiences.\r\n\r\nI too, experienced silencing tactics and victim blaming during my time at a rather dictatorial ministry, which I wrote about in \"<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/01/16/the-c-word/\">The C Word</a>.” I regularly witnessed the head of the ministry mocking wounded and hurting people for their \"victim mentality\", both behind closed doors and in front of the pulpit. It didn’t matter how legitimate the pain or hurt, you were simply told to \"get over it\". Furthermore, those who left the ministry and dared tell anyone about their bad experiences were labeled as having an \"offended spirit\", or worse, being demon-possessed or down-right crazy. They regularly taught that speaking out against leadership was rebellious, relying heavily on the clobber verses in 1 Samuel that I mentioned previously. It was as though ministers were untouchable, accountable to God alone.\r\n\r\nI strongly suspect my former ministry leader would not be terribly happy to stumble upon my article. But, my point in writing it was certainly not to damage him or the ministry. That is why I never named the ministry in the article. Furthermore, the ministry’s name is not listed in my author biography, nor is it on the public profiles of any of my other social media site profiles. I even took great pains to try to remove any associations that could come up via web searches. My point was not to harm them, but to tell my story, and for good or ill (and despite my greatest attempts at erasing my history with them from my web presence), my experience there will always be a part of my story. And as a writer, I may frequently draw from my experience there to further the story.\r\n\r\nIn the words of one of my favorite Christian writers, Anne Lamott, \"You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should\'ve behaved better.\"  Telling your story can bring healing to yourself and to others who have suffered similarly. Regardless, you own it; it’s your story to tell. Don’t let others silence your voice. Tell it bravely, and tell it with grace.\r\n\r\nWhat bothers me the most about victim-silencing and blaming is that it has become such a normal occurrence in the world and, more distressingly, in the Church. Is this really Christ\'s response to the wounded and victimized? To silence their voices and pat the backs of the oppressor? Hardly! Christ didn\'t tell the wounded to “get over it\". He healed them. Christ didn\'t tell the oppressed and victimized to be quiet. Instead, it was the harsh and hypocritical religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees, whom he rebuked. Victim blaming and silencing tactics have nothing to do with Christ.\r\n\r\nThis is not to say that there are not times when both parties are to blame. And yes, even those who have been greatly mistreated may hold some responsibility in their pain. At the very least, we all have the responsibility to forgive. But at this point in time, I believe the pendulum has swung too far in one direction; by and large we seem much quicker to side with the abuser than the victim. I mean, it’s easier to blame the victim, isn\'t it? There\'s no mess to clean up and no work for us to do if they just need to get over it. But the real work of love is found in comforting those who are in pain and seeking justice where there is none. In the end, is that not what God requires: to “do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 NASB)?\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Silencing the Voices of the Wounded in the Church','','publish','open','open','','gag-order-silencing-the-voices-of-the-wounded-in-the-church','','','2012-08-24 22:33:20','2012-08-25 05:33:20','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7608',0,'post','',2),(7484,1,'2012-08-01 17:21:47','2012-08-02 00:21:47','This post is a contribution to the August synchroblog.  The theme is \"Follow\" and bloggers are invited to share their thoughts and ideas about what it means to follow Jesus.\r\n\r\nMy journey of following Jesus led me to a point where I had to completely start over. Some real life stuff came along and made me take a closer look at what I believed about God, following Jesus, Christianity, the Bible, the church etc. and I realized that most of the stuff that I had been so devoted to ... attending church, listening to sermons, reading the bible, witnessing, maintaining the church building, adding to church membership ... didn\'t seem to have much to do with following Jesus.\r\n\r\nIn recent years I have come to think that following Jesus is more about justice and love than about church and believing - more about community than about me getting into heaven - more about people than about institutions or buildings.\r\n\r\nStarting over hasn\'t been easy. It has often meant enduring criticism, rejection and loneliness. But from where I sit I can\'t see that there was another way for me.  I had to let go of all the preconceived ideas, religious dogma and conventional wisdom in order to get a fresh look at Jesus, his mission and his message.\r\n\r\nThese days following Jesus for me is about accepting the call to follow Jesus into the world as an agent of the Kingdom of Heaven - working to bring the way of heaven to earth.\r\n\r\nSometimes that is as simple as sharing a meal with someone and sometimes it is as complex as working to dismantle an unjust system.\r\n\r\nIn the beginning of my journey of following Jesus I thought the main questions were \"who is going to heaven and who is going to hell?\" but now I think the main questions are \"how can I bring heaven to earth and how can I participate with God to bring restoration to the world?\"\r\n\r\nThe humorist Garrison Keillor said \"give up your good Christian life and follow Jesus\" and that is what I feel like I have had to do.\r\n\r\nThese days I am more committed to following Jesus than any other time in my life and yet I\'m not a member of a church and I don\'t often read the bible. My worship of God usually comes in the form of working for justice, and serving and loving others rather than singing songs in church while clapping or raising my hands. I don\'t care about converting people to Christianity but I do want to influence people to live in a loving and generous way. I am interested in cultivating my faith to be a bridge that connects me to others rather than a barrier that separates me from those who don\'t profess to be followers of Jesus.\r\n\r\nI certainly do not think that I have arrived anywhere and on any given day I would be hard pressed to even tell you where I am going ... but for now I am trying to follow Jesus where he leads me even if that means giving up my good Christian life.','Give Up Your Good Christian Life and Follow Jesus','','inherit','open','open','','7376-revision-9','','','2012-08-01 17:21:47','2012-08-02 00:21:47','',7376,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7376-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(7267,12,'2012-07-24 09:56:05','2012-07-24 16:56:05','I love writing on Provoketive. I\'m pretty conservative. And there are people who write on here who are less conservative than me. Good for them. They have a voice. I\'m about to write something that may not be very popular. And I\'m glad I have a place to write it.\r\n\r\nToday, several things happened in reaction to the <a href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/22/us/penn-state-paterno-statue/index.html\">Freeh Report</a> in regards to lack of institutional control at Penn State. Specifically, head coach Joe Paterno\'s role in lack of reporting the child molestation that had been occurring for more than a decade there while coach Jerry Sandusky was having his way with underage kids.\r\n\r\nLet me say this - that is disgusting. There is no way I tolerate that. I have seen it happen first hand in my life and I wanted justice right away.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/paterno2.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7269\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/paterno2-300x202.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"202\" /></a>I don\'t know what to think about Joe Paterno. He\'s gone. Shortly after he resigned, he died. All his life all he knew was football and caring for football players. What I do know is this - we are most often remembered for what we do at the end of our lives than what we do for the bulk of our lives.\r\n\r\nLet me say this as well. I am an Arkansas Razorback fan. I have no axe to grind either way. Arkansas has had its own <a href=\"http://fallenpastor.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/the-sins-of-bobby-petrino/\">problems with Bobby Petrino</a> this off-season, that\'s for sure.\r\n\r\nThe now famous \"<a href=\"http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/22/us/penn-state-paterno-statue/index.html\">Freeh Report</a>\" documents that Paterno held back information that could have stopped child abuse. We all know that it looks like there was institutional freaking problems in reporting these things. Absolutely. It makes me sick. We all have the same questions - \"Why wouldn\'t you have said something?\" \"What was your deal?\" \"Doesn\'t your silence make you the same as the perpetrator?\"\r\n\r\nSlow your roll for a second.\r\n\r\nI know it\'s hard. It\'s hard for me. These men got their day in court. Nothing can erase what happened to them. Sandusky got his trial and will be off to hard time. Justice is served. Yet, the NCAA stepped in. What was their ruling? $30 million for however long. Fine. But the NCAA has never stepped in for a criminal ruling. What else? Scholarship reductions in the future.\r\n\r\nLast of all, let\'s take down the statue of Joe Paterno. I don\'t know how I feel about that one. I really don\'t.\r\n\r\nLet me explain that. Seriously. As a sports fan. What if that happened at my campus?\r\n\r\nTen years ago, Beaver Stadium, held over 100,000 fans. They weren\'t screaming and cheering for a man who was concealing pederasty. For a second, let\'s take Joe Paterno out of the question. Most fans don\'t even show up to cheer for the coach. They show up to cheer on the athletes. They were there to cheer on the athletes who showed up in August when no one was around, who put up with two-a-days, vomited, worked hard, and ran their guts out trying to beat their rivals.\r\n\r\nFans show up to cheer a team. You want to take down Joe Paterno\'s statue? Fine. But don\'t hamstring the athletes who are there now who didn\'t rape kids in the shower. Don\'t stain the education and pride those kids feel because they still want to be part of Penn State. Penn State is bigger than Joe Paterno. It\'s bigger than Sandusky. All the NCAA did today was say that Penn State is equal to those two.\r\n\r\nDon\'t hurt those kids for the next four years by taking away their bowl games and money. Let those kids play. They have <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/pennstate.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7270\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/pennstate-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" /></a>heart and drive. Let the legal system take care of the people who are really guilty of the crimes involved. Take care of the administrative figures who turned a blind eye to what was going on.\r\n\r\nBut  don\'t hurt a bunch of 18-21 year olds who had no idea what was going on behind their backs while a bunch of evil adults were making decisions. The NCAA should be ashamed. Let Penn State live. Let them rise out of this like a Phoenix. Let the new coach and players make their mark on society. Let them say that this is a temporary setback that they had nothing to do with.\r\n\r\nTear down the statue if you have to. But this is a new day for Penn State. Let the new players make that statement. Don\'t let it be a death knell for a bunch of kids who had nothing to do with it.','Joe Paterno And Villification','','publish','open','open','','joe-paterno-and-villification','','','2012-07-24 11:00:48','2012-07-24 18:00:48','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7267',0,'post','',1),(7147,12,'2012-07-10 08:00:48','2012-07-10 15:00:48','My lovely wife came to me a few weeks ago and told me about a book, \"<em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em>.\" She told me that the ladies at her work were just raving about it. What really caught my attention was when she told me that the ladies at work were keeping it secret from their husbands that they were reading it. One of them asked my wife, \"<em>If you read it, would you tell your husband?</em>\"\r\n\r\nShe said unflinchingly, \"<em>Of course. We don\'t keep secrets from each othe</em>r.\"\r\n\r\nShe came home that day and told me about the trilogy that has swept the women of the world by storm. So much so that it has become the fastest selling paperback in history. It is a story of erotica, sadism, masochism and is being called \"<em>mommy porn</em>.\" But there is a lot more than that. I\'ll get to that in a minute.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-7152\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"230\" height=\"281\" /></a>Maybe it\'s just me, but I\'ve seen this book around a lot. I mean, a lot. Not just in the hands of \"regular\" people. But I\'ve heard Christians discussing it. I don\'t have any hard and fast statistics to share with you, but I\'ve seen and heard enough online and face to face chatter to let me know that Christian people are reading this book. What gives?\r\n\r\nMy wife asked me if it was okay for her to read it. I told her she was an adult and she could make her own decisions. I told her to read it if she wanted to. She said she wanted me to read it with her so that we could share it together and talk about it together. At the time, I was reading <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/07/book-review-uncensored-prayer-by-joy-wilson-2/\">Joy Wilson\'s book for a review for Provoketive</a>, so she read the trilogy by herself. She seemed to enjoy it and the characters and from time to time I would read over her shoulder and say, \"<em>What in the crap?</em>\" She would say, \"<em>You\'ll see when you get there</em>.\"\r\n\r\nDuring that time, Provoketive writer Jordan Hageman wrote an article called, <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/05/03/fifty-shades-of-truth/#comments\">\"<em>Fifty Shades of Truth</em>\"</a> which I highly recommend for your reading. It is thought provoking and very heart felt. In it, she notes that she did not read the book, and for very good reasons. Thank you, Jordan, for writing that article. I applaud you for having the courage to do that. She makes the point that some people may read things like that and may have a problem with what our spouses should look like. We may read something like <em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> and compare what our spouses look like and think, \"<em>Why doesn\'t my spouse walk and talk like that?</em>\" It can be a deceptive problem for a lot of people.\r\n\r\nListen, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341899364&amp;sr=8-1\">I\'m the man who committed adultery while he was a pastor</a>. I did a solid job for eight years and then fell in the ministry. No one is above temptation. I know that. Sin is crouching at the door, ready to take any of us.\r\n\r\nThat\'s why I was so intrigued by the phenomenon of this book. This book has created an amazing surge of emotion in our culture - that\'s why it has captured our attention.\r\n\r\nLet me start with a little history. E. L. James, the author of the trilogy, is actually named Erika James. She is from West London and lives a very reclusive life and has been married for 20 years and has two teenage sons. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_Of_Grey#Background\">Her book started as a fan fiction story of the Twilight vampire novels</a> online and morphed into the novels you know today. In a sense, I get her. I love that about her. After I fell from ministry, I started blogging online anonymously about my story. People began to read my story and reaching out to me for help. It was there that Jonathan Brink from Civitas Press found me and asked me to write something for him.\r\n\r\nWe live in a different age of publishing. An age where people can write online and be discovered like never before. If you have a story that has meaning, you can reach people. In that sense, I understand the appeal of E. L. James. She had an immediate audience. I didn\'t have anywhere near her audience, but I can say that I understand what it\'s like to be discovered like many people in today\'s market.\r\n\r\nSo let\'s cover the actual book review first. Spoiler free, in case you\'re thinking about reading it. I only actually read the first book of the trilogy. My wife filled me in on the other two books. Honestly, I don\'t think I could have read the other two. After reading the first one, I kinda figured out basically what would happen.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/darker.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7153\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/darker-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" /></a>(<em>I\'m not real good at reading or reviewing this kind of novel since it is the only kind of book I\'ve ever read or probably ever will read, so please forgive me.</em>) Anastasia Steele is a college graduate who meets Christian Grey, a millionaire dude, during a college newspaper interview. They hit it off and she learns about his dark past. He\'s into some kinky masochistic stuff and wants her to sign onto it. She\'s pretty naive about it all (she\'s never been with a man) and just wants to be with him. Together, they go back and forth and learn about love, life and give a little both ways.\r\n\r\nThere. That\'s my synopsis. Yeah, there\'s some sex in there too. I\'m trying to be family friendly.\r\n\r\nAbout the writing. It\'s not so great. There are a lot of bad metaphors. A lot. I\'m a published writer, but I\'m not Hemingway. Heck, I\'m not even close to anything you could pull off of the juvenile section at your local library. But the author is repetitive in her metaphors. Over and over. There\'s not a lot of plot. But there is some good story. The two main characters are well developed, but the sub-characters aren\'t. It\'s not the best fiction I\'ve read, but heck. It\'s sold a lot of books.\r\n\r\nYou want a real review? <a href=\"http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9373098/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-so-whats-the-story.html\">Read this one by Rowan Petting</a>. Petting has written and read a fair share of erotica for a very long time.\r\n\r\nIn fact, Petting gets to the real heart of the matter. Petting states several things that are germane to why people love this book at all: <em>the fantasy they relive has less to do with sadomasochism than the tale of a self-effacing, clever young woman who beats off all competition to win the unobtainable male.</em>\r\n\r\nFurther, Petting says that the success of this book has to do with the format in which it comes. The fact that it first came out on ebook/Kindle is monumental: <em>This is not just because so many millions of copies are being read on Kindles where prying eyes cannot discern that the vicar’s wife is perusing escapist smut. The actual reason is far more fundamental: the core readers discovered the book online and their enthusiastic electronic chatter – and that alone – brought it to the notice of publishers.</em>\r\n\r\nHere we are in a crisis moment, though. I haven\'t seen too many Christians speaking up about this book. However, in my own little bubble of a world, I <em>know</em> that there are a lot of Christians reading this book. So what are we supposed to do? Is it okay for Christians to read this erotic novel?\r\n\r\nWell, darnit. I read it. I wish someone else was writing this blog.\r\n\r\nLet me start with this. A book is never just \"<em>a book</em>.\" It contains ideas, thoughts and emotions. It is written to convey the feelings of an author. It is the hope of the author that you will feel something. James\' book will definitely make you feel something. It may arouse you, disgust you, or make you hide your face in shame. But it will do something to you.\r\n\r\nIsn\'t it amazing the effect words have on us? I\'m amazed the effect this book is having on our culture. There seem to be two extremes, but aren\'t there always? One extreme seems to make you feel like a pervert for reading it. The other makes you feel like you\'re sexually evolved for having experienced it. I don\'t think either is true. Yeah, it\'s a book that triggers an emotional response, but each of us is still ultimately responsible for our emotions.\r\n\r\n<em><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/freed.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7156\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/freed-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" /></a>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> isn\'t just about sadomasochism. There is a further developing story beyond all the \"naughtiness\" as my mother would say. After I got past the first few chapters and the poorly written metaphors, I realized where the author was going and saw a story. Would I put it in the church library? Heck no. Recommend it to my kids? Of course not. Would I recommend it to someone who has a problem with lust? Absolutely not.\r\n\r\nLet\'s look at the two sides of the moral argument. First, there\'s the Christian liberty argument. Some would say, \"<em>I\'m free in Christ to do what I may. All things are freely done in the marriage bed. There are many other things in this culture that are much worse for me to look at on television/movies/internet that can invade my mind. I know my boundaries and a book isn\'t going to harm me</em>.\"\r\n\r\nThe opposite argument is this: \"<em>As Christians, we aren\'t to let any kind of impurity into our minds or hearts. Letting lust into our minds is the first step into the wrong direction. Playing with any kind of fire is a way to get burned</em>.\"\r\n\r\nIt\'s all challenging. I would add something that some random seminary professor said to me a decade ago: \"<em>Know what your people are watching, reading and doing.</em>\" That doesn\'t mean you have to read every novel or watch every movie that comes out. But be aware what the rest of the community is doing. You may not like what everyone else in the Christian community is doing, but that doesn\'t mean we don\'t need to be aware of it.\r\n\r\nIt comes down to the age old question: \"<em>How far are we supposed to separate ourselves from the culture? Are we supposed to? Do we stop watching television? Stop watching movies? How far do we remove ourselves from it all but remain part of the world?</em>\"\r\n\r\nA good question is this: \"<em>Why are so many people interested in this book</em>?\" An even better question for the Christian community is, \"<em>Why do so many Christians seem to be reading this book?</em>\" It would seem that a lot of Christian people are reading this and hiding it from their significant others.\r\n\r\nThose are a lot of questions raised by one book. They are all questions that have been raised before and they all deserve to be asked again.','Fifty Shades Of Grey: Book Review . . . I Think','','publish','open','open','','fifty-shades-of-grey-book-review-i-think','','','2012-07-10 08:29:26','2012-07-10 15:29:26','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7147',0,'post','',2),(7148,12,'2012-07-09 22:29:37','2012-07-10 05:29:37','My lovely wife came to me a few weeks ago and told me about this book, \"Fifty Shades of Grey.\" She told me that the ladies at her work were just raving about it. What really caught my attention was when she told me that the ladies at work were keeping it secret from their husbands that they were reading it. One of them askedmay wife, \"If you read it, would you tell your husband?\"\n\nShe said unflinchingly, \"Of course, we don\'t keep,secrets fromeach other.\"\n\nShe came home that day and told me about the trilogy that has swept the women of the world by storm. So much so that it has become the fastest selling paperback in history. It is a story of erotica, sadism, masochism and is being called \"mommy porn.\"','Fifty Shades Of Grey: Book Review, I Think . . .','','inherit','open','open','','7147-revision','','','2012-07-09 22:29:37','2012-07-10 05:29:37','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/09/7147-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7233,0,'2012-07-17 16:43:37','2012-07-17 23:43:37','Daisy\'s writing is witty, engaging, and challenging. Her first book \"Juxtaposed\" is a searingly honest retelling of her childhood, which was marked with sexual abuse. She lived a lie for so long growing up that she has decided to always be honest about herself and her perspective. This leads to incredible writing-- sometimes bawdy, but always heartfelt and ultimately uplifting.\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Cody Stauffer\nAUTHOR EMAIL: staucody72@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://www.daisyrainmartin.com/\nSUBJECT: Nominating A Writer For Provoketive\nIP: 97.121.19.96\nArray\n(\n    [Your Name] =&gt; Cody Stauffer\n    [Your Email] =&gt; staucody72@gmail.com\n    [The Writer\'s Name] =&gt; Daisy Rain Martin\n    [The Writer\'s Website or Post] =&gt; http://www.daisyrainmartin.com/\n    [The Writer\'s Email] =&gt; daisydaisychick@yahoo.com\n    [Why You Think They Should Write For Provoketive?] =&gt; Daisy\'s writing is witty, engaging, and challenging. Her first book \"Juxtaposed\" is a searingly honest retelling of her childhood, which was marked with sexual abuse. She lived a lie for so long growing up that she has decided to always be honest about herself and her perspective. This leads to incredible writing-- sometimes bawdy, but always heartfelt and ultimately uplifting. \n)\n','Cody Stauffer - 2012-07-17 16:43:37','','publish','open','open','','b639219b819d52b791fd7abd1f2b7395','','','2012-07-17 16:43:37','2012-07-17 23:43:37','',1537,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=7233',0,'feedback','',0),(7150,12,'2012-07-09 23:54:40','2012-07-10 06:54:40','My lovely wife came to me a few weeks ago and told me about a book, \"<em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em>.\" She told me that the ladies at her work were just raving about it. What really caught my attention was when she told me that the ladies at work were keeping it secret from their husbands that they were reading it. One of them asked my wife, \"<em>If you read it, would you tell your husband?</em>\"\n\nShe said unflinchingly, \"<em>Of course, we don\'t keep,secrets from each othe</em>r.\"\n\nShe came home that day and told me about the trilogy that has swept the women of the world by storm. So much so that it has become the fastest selling paperback in history. It is a story of erotica, sadism, masochism and is being called \"<em>mommy porn</em>.\" But there is a lot more than that. I\'ll get to that in a minute.\n\nMaybe it\'s just me, but I\'ve seen this book around a lot. I mean, a lot. Not just in the hands of \"regular\" people. But I\'ve heard Christians discussing it. I don\'t have any hard and fast statistics to share with you, but I\'ve seen and heard enough online and face to face chatter to let me know that Christian people are reading this book. What gives?\n\nMy wife asked me if it was okay for her to read it. I told her she was an adult and she could make her own decisions. I told her to read it if she wanted to. She said she wanted me to read it with her so that we could share it together and talk about it together. At the time, I was reading <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/07/book-review-uncensored-prayer-by-joy-wilson-2/\">Joy Wilson\'s book for a review for Provoketive</a>, so she read the trilogy by herself. She seemed to enjoy it and the characters and from time to time I would read over her shoulder and say, \"<em>What in the crap?</em>\" She would say, \"<em>You\'ll see when you get there</em>.\"\n\nDuring that time, Provoketive writer Jordan Hageman wrote an article called, <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/05/03/fifty-shades-of-truth/#comments\">\"<em>Fifty Shades of Truth</em>\"</a> which I highly recommend for your reading. It is thought provoking and very heart felt. In it, she notes that she did not read the book, and for very good reasons. Thank you, Jordan, for writing that article. I applaud you for having the courage to do that. She makes the point that some people may read things like that and may have a problem with what our spouses should look like. We may read something like <em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> and compare our spouses look like and think, \"<em>Why doesn\'t my spouse walk and talk like that?</em>\" It can be a deceptive problem for a lot of people.\n\nListen, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341899364&amp;sr=8-1\">I\'m the man who committed adultery while he was a pastor</a>. I did a solid job for eight years and then fell in the ministry. No one is above temptation. I know that. Sin is crouching at the door, ready to take any of us.\n\nThat\'s why I was so intrigued by the phenomenon of this book. This book has created an amazing surge of emotion in our culture - that\'s why it has captured our attention.\n\nLet me start with a little history. E. L. James, the author of the trilogy, is actually named Erika James. She is from West London and lives a very reclusive life and has been married for 20 years and has two teenage sons. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_Of_Grey#Background\">Her book started as a fan fiction story of the Twilight vampire novels</a> online and morphed into the novels you know today. In a sense, I get her. I love that about her. After I fell from ministry, I started blogging online anonymously about my story. People began to read my story and reaching out to me for help. It was there that Jonathan Brink from Civitas Press found me and asked me to write something for him.\n\nWe live in a different age of publishing. An age where people can write online and be discovered like never before. If you have a story that has meaning, you can reach people. In that sense, I understand the appeal of E. L. James. She had an immediate audience. I didn\'t have anywhere near her audience, but I can say that I understand what it\'s like to be discovered like many people in today\'s market.\n\nSo let\'s cover the actual book review first. Spoiler free, in case you\'re thinking about reading it. I only actually read the first book of the trilogy. My wife filled me in on the other two books. Honestly, I don\'t think I could have read the other two. After reading the first one, I kinda figured out basically what would happen.\n\n(<em>I\'m not real good at reading or reviewing this kind of novel since it is the only kind of book I\'ve ever read or probably ever will read, so please forgive me.</em>) Anastasia Steele is a college graduate who meets Christian Grey, a millionaire dude, during a college newspaper interview. They hit it off and she learns about his dark past. He\'s into some kinky masochistic stuff and wants her to sign onto it. She\'s pretty naive about it all (she\'s never been with a man) and just wants to be with him. Together, they go back and forth and learn about love, life and give a little both ways.\n\nThere. That\'s my synopsis. Yeah, there\'s some sex in there too. I\'m trying to be family friendly.\n\nAbout the writing. It\'s not so great. There are a lot of bad metaphors. A lot. I\'m a published writer, but I\'m not Hemingway. Heck, I\'m not even close to anything you could pull off of the juvenile section at your local library. But the author is repetitive in her metaphors. Over and over. There\'s not a lot of plot. But there is some good story. The two main characters are well developed, but the sub-characters aren\'t. It\'s not the best fiction I\'ve read, but heck. It\'s sold a lot of books.\n\nYou want a real review? <a href=\"http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9373098/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-so-whats-the-story.html\">Read this one by Rowan Petting</a>. Petting has written and read a fair share of erotica for a very long time.\n\nIn fact, Petting gets to the real heart of the matter. In fact, Petting states several things that are germane to why people love this book at all: <em>the fantasy they relive has less to do with sadomasochism than the tale of a self-effacing, clever young woman who beats off all competition to win the unobtainable male.</em>\n\nFurther, Petting says that the success of this book has to do with the format in which it comes. The fact that it first came out on ebook/Kindle is monumental: <em>This is not just because so many millions of copies are being read on Kindles where prying eyes cannot discern that the vicar’s wife is perusing escapist smut. The actual reason is far more fundamental: the core readers discovered the book online and their enthusiastic electronic chatter – and that alone – brought it to the notice of publishers.</em>\n\nHere we are in a crisis moment, though. I haven\'t seen too many Christians speaking up about this book. However, in my own little bubble of a world, I <em>know</em> that there are a lot of Christians reading this book. So what are we supposed to do? Is it okay for Christians to read this erotic novel?\n\nWell, darnit. I read it. I wish someone else was writing this blog.\n\nLet me start with this. A book is never just \"<em>a book</em>.\" It contains ideas, thoughts and emotions. It is written to convey the feelings of an author. It is the hope of the author that you will feel something. James\' book will definitely make you feel something. It may arouse you, disgust you, or make you hide your face in shame. But it will do something to you.\n\nIsn\'t it amazing the effect words have on us? I\'m amazed the effect this book is having on our culture. There seem to be two extremes, but aren\'t there always? One extreme seems to make you feel like a pervert for reading it. The other makes you feel like you\'re sexually evolved for having experienced it. I don\'t think either is true. Yeah, it\'s a book that triggers an emotional response, but each of us is still ultimately responsible for our emotions.\n\n<em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> isn\'t just about sadomasochism. There is a further developing story beyond all the \"naughtiness\" as my mother would say. After I got past the first few chapters and the poorly written metaphors, I realized where the author was going and saw a story. Would I put it in the church library? Heck no. Recommend it to my kids? Of course not. Would I recommend it to someone who has a problem with lust? Absolutely not.\n\nLet\'s look at the two sides of the moral argument. First, there\'s the Christian liberty argument. Some would say, \"<em>I\'m free in Christ to do what I may. All things are freely done in the marriage bed. There are many other things in this culture that are much worse for me to look at on television/movies/internet that can invade my mind. I know my boundaries and a book isn\'t going to harm me</em>.\"\n\nThe opposite argument is this: \"<em>As Christians, we aren\'t to let any kind of impurity into our minds or hearts. Letting lust into our minds is the first step into the wrong direction. Playing with any kind of fire is a way to get burned</em>.\"\n\nIt\'s all challenging. I would add something that some random seminary professor said to me a decade ago: \"<em>Know what your people are watching, reading and doing.</em>\" That doesn\'t mean you have to read every novel or watch every movie that comes out. But be aware what the rest of the community is doing. You may not like what everyone else in the Christian community is doing, but that doesn\'t mean we don\'t need to be aware of it.\n\nIt comes down to the age old question: \"<em>How far are we supposed to separate ourselves from the culture? Are we supposed to? Do we stop watching television? Stop watching movies? How far do we remove ourselves from it all but remain part of the world?</em>\"\n\nA good question is this: \"<em>Why are so many people interested in this book</em>?\" An even better question for the Christian community is, \"<em>Why do so many Christians seem to be reading this book?</em>\" It would seem that a lot of Christian people are reading this and hiding it from their significant others.\n\nThose are a lot of questions raised by one book. They are all questions that have been raised before and they all deserve to be asked again.','Fifty Shades Of Grey And Christian Sexuality','','inherit','open','open','','7147-revision-2','','','2012-07-09 23:54:40','2012-07-10 06:54:40','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/09/7147-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7152,12,'2012-07-09 23:58:02','2012-07-10 06:58:02','','jamess','','inherit','open','open','','jamess','','','2012-07-09 23:58:02','2012-07-10 06:58:02','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7151,12,'2012-07-09 23:56:08','2012-07-10 06:56:08','','50','','inherit','open','open','','50','','','2012-07-09 23:56:08','2012-07-10 06:56:08','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/50.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7153,12,'2012-07-09 23:59:36','2012-07-10 06:59:36','','darker','','inherit','open','open','','darker','','','2012-07-09 23:59:36','2012-07-10 06:59:36','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/darker.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7156,12,'2012-07-10 00:00:41','2012-07-10 07:00:41','','freed','','inherit','open','open','','freed','','','2012-07-10 00:00:41','2012-07-10 07:00:41','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/freed.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7157,12,'2012-07-09 23:58:31','2012-07-10 06:58:31','My lovely wife came to me a few weeks ago and told me about a book, \"<em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em>.\" She told me that the ladies at her work were just raving about it. What really caught my attention was when she told me that the ladies at work were keeping it secret from their husbands that they were reading it. One of them asked my wife, \"<em>If you read it, would you tell your husband?</em>\"\n\nShe said unflinchingly, \"<em>Of course,we don\'t keep, secrets from each othe</em>r.\"\n\nShe came home that day and told me about the trilogy that has swept the women of the world by storm. So much so that it has become the fastest selling paperback in history. It is a story of erotica, sadism, masochism and is being called \"<em>mommy porn</em>.\" But there is a lot more than that. I\'ll get to that in a minute.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-7152\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"230\" height=\"281\" /></a>Maybe it\'s just me, but I\'ve seen this book around a lot. I mean, a lot. Not just in the hands of \"regular\" people. But I\'ve heard Christians discussing it. I don\'t have any hard and fast statistics to share with you, but I\'ve seen and heard enough online and face to face chatter to let me know that Christian people are reading this book. What gives?\n\nMy wife asked me if it was okay for her to read it. I told her she was an adult and she could make her own decisions. I told her to read it if she wanted to. She said she wanted me to read it with her so that we could share it together and talk about it together. At the time, I was reading <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/07/book-review-uncensored-prayer-by-joy-wilson-2/\">Joy Wilson\'s book for a review for Provoketive</a>, so she read the trilogy by herself. She seemed to enjoy it and the characters and from time to time I would read over her shoulder and say, \"<em>What in the crap?</em>\" She would say, \"<em>You\'ll see when you get there</em>.\"\n\nDuring that time, Provoketive writer Jordan Hageman wrote an article called, <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/05/03/fifty-shades-of-truth/#comments\">\"<em>Fifty Shades of Truth</em>\"</a> which I highly recommend for your reading. It is thought provoking and very heart felt. In it, she notes that she did not read the book, and for very good reasons. Thank you, Jordan, for writing that article. I applaud you for having the courage to do that. She makes the point that some people may read things like that and may have a problem with what our spouses should look like. We may read something like <em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> and compare our spouses look like and think, \"<em>Why doesn\'t my spouse walk and talk like that?</em>\" It can be a deceptive problem for a lot of people.\n\nListen, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341899364&amp;sr=8-1\">I\'m the man who committed adultery while he was a pastor</a>. I did a solid job for eight years and then fell in the ministry. No one is above temptation. I know that. Sin is crouching at the door, ready to take any of us.\n\nThat\'s why I was so intrigued by the phenomenon of this book. This book has created an amazing surge of emotion in our culture - that\'s why it has captured our attention.\n\nLet me start with a little history. E. L. James, the author of the trilogy, is actually named Erika James. She is from West London and lives a very reclusive life and has been married for 20 years and has two teenage sons. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_Of_Grey#Background\">Her book started as a fan fiction story of the Twilight vampire novels</a> online and morphed into the novels you know today. In a sense, I get her. I love that about her. After I fell from ministry, I started blogging online anonymously about my story. People began to read my story and reaching out to me for help. It was there that Jonathan Brink from Civitas Press found me and asked me to write something for him.\n\nWe live in a different age of publishing. An age where people can write online and be discovered like never before. If you have a story that has meaning, you can reach people. In that sense, I understand the appeal of E. L. James. She had an immediate audience. I didn\'t have anywhere near her audience, but I can say that I understand what it\'s like to be discovered like many people in today\'s market.\n\nSo let\'s cover the actual book review first. Spoiler free, in case you\'re thinking about reading it. I only actually read the first book of the trilogy. My wife filled me in on the other two books. Honestly, I don\'t think I could have read the other two. After reading the first one, I kinda figured out basically what would happen.\n\n(<em>I\'m not real good at reading or reviewing this kind of novel since it is the only kind of book I\'ve ever read or probably ever will read, so please forgive me.</em>) Anastasia Steele is a college graduate who meets Christian Grey, a millionaire dude, during a college newspaper interview. They hit it off and she learns about his dark past. He\'s into some kinky masochistic stuff and wants her to sign onto it. She\'s pretty naive about it all (she\'s never been with a man) and just wants to be with him. Together, they go back and forth and learn about love, life and give a little both ways.\n\nThere. That\'s my synopsis. Yeah, there\'s some sex in there too. I\'m trying to be family friendly.\n\nAbout the writing. It\'s not so great. There are a lot of bad metaphors. A lot. I\'m a published writer, but I\'m not Hemingway. Heck, I\'m not even close to anything you could pull off of the juvenile section at your local library. But the author is repetitive in her metaphors. Over and over. There\'s not a lot of plot. But there is some good story. The two main characters are well developed, but the sub-characters aren\'t. It\'s not the best fiction I\'ve read, but heck. It\'s sold a lot of books.\n\nYou want a real review? <a href=\"http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9373098/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-so-whats-the-story.html\">Read this one by Rowan Petting</a>. Petting has written and read a fair share of erotica for a very long time.\n\nIn fact, Petting gets to the real heart of the matter. In fact, Petting states several things that are germane to why people love this book at all: <em>the fantasy they relive has less to do with sadomasochism than the tale of a self-effacing, clever young woman who beats off all competition to win the unobtainable male.</em>\n\nFurther, Petting says that the success of this book has to do with the format in which it comes. The fact that it first came out on ebook/Kindle is monumental: <em>This is not just because so many millions of copies are being read on Kindles where prying eyes cannot discern that the vicar’s wife is perusing escapist smut. The actual reason is far more fundamental: the core readers discovered the book online and their enthusiastic electronic chatter – and that alone – brought it to the notice of publishers.</em>\n\nHere we are in a crisis moment, though. I haven\'t seen too many Christians speaking up about this book. However, in my own little bubble of a world, I <em>know</em> that there are a lot of Christians reading this book. So what are we supposed to do? Is it okay for Christians to read this erotic novel?\n\nWell, darnit. I read it. I wish someone else was writing this blog.\n\nLet me start with this. A book is never just \"<em>a book</em>.\" It contains ideas, thoughts and emotions. It is written to convey the feelings of an author. It is the hope of the author that you will feel something. James\' book will definitely make you feel something. It may arouse you, disgust you, or make you hide your face in shame. But it will do something to you.\n\nIsn\'t it amazing the effect words have on us? I\'m amazed the effect this book is having on our culture. There seem to be two extremes, but aren\'t there always? One extreme seems to make you feel like a pervert for reading it. The other makes you feel like you\'re sexually evolved for having experienced it. I don\'t think either is true. Yeah, it\'s a book that triggers an emotional response, but each of us is still ultimately responsible for our emotions.\n\n<em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> isn\'t just about sadomasochism. There is a further developing story beyond all the \"naughtiness\" as my mother would say. After I got past the first few chapters and the poorly written metaphors, I realized where the author was going and saw a story. Would I put it in the church library? Heck no. Recommend it to my kids? Of course not. Would I recommend it to someone who has a problem with lust? Absolutely not.\n\nLet\'s look at the two sides of the moral argument. First, there\'s the Christian liberty argument. Some would say, \"<em>I\'m free in Christ to do what I may. All things are freely done in the marriage bed. There are many other things in this culture that are much worse for me to look at on television/movies/internet that can invade my mind. I know my boundaries and a book isn\'t going to harm me</em>.\"\n\nThe opposite argument is this: \"<em>As Christians, we aren\'t to let any kind of impurity into our minds or hearts. Letting lust into our minds is the first step into the wrong direction. Playing with any kind of fire is a way to get burned</em>.\"\n\nIt\'s all challenging. I would add something that some random seminary professor said to me a decade ago: \"<em>Know what your people are watching, reading and doing.</em>\" That doesn\'t mean you have to read every novel or watch every movie that comes out. But be aware what the rest of the community is doing. You may not like what everyone else in the Christian community is doing, but that doesn\'t mean we don\'t need to be aware of it.\n\nIt comes down to the age old question: \"<em>How far are we supposed to separate ourselves from the culture? Are we supposed to? Do we stop watching television? Stop watching movies? How far do we remove ourselves from it all but remain part of the world?</em>\"\n\nA good question is this: \"<em>Why are so many people interested in this book</em>?\" An even better question for the Christian community is, \"<em>Why do so many Christians seem to be reading this book?</em>\" It would seem that a lot of Christian people are reading this and hiding it from their significant others.\n\nThose are a lot of questions raised by one book. They are all questions that have been raised before and they all deserve to be asked again.','Fifty Shades Of Grey: Book Review . . . I Think','','inherit','open','open','','7147-revision-3','','','2012-07-09 23:58:31','2012-07-10 06:58:31','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/09/7147-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7158,12,'2012-07-10 00:02:35','2012-07-10 07:02:35','My lovely wife came to me a few weeks ago and told me about a book, \"<em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em>.\" She told me that the ladies at her work were just raving about it. What really caught my attention was when she told me that the ladies at work were keeping it secret from their husbands that they were reading it. One of them asked my wife, \"<em>If you read it, would you tell your husband?</em>\"\n\nShe said unflinchingly, \"<em>Of course. We don\'t keep, secrets from each othe</em>r.\"\n\nShe came home that day and told me about the trilogy that has swept the women of the world by storm. So much so that it has become the fastest selling paperback in history. It is a story of erotica, sadism, masochism and is being called \"<em>mommy porn</em>.\" But there is a lot more than that. I\'ll get to that in a minute.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-7152\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"230\" height=\"281\" /></a>Maybe it\'s just me, but I\'ve seen this book around a lot. I mean, a lot. Not just in the hands of \"regular\" people. But I\'ve heard Christians discussing it. I don\'t have any hard and fast statistics to share with you, but I\'ve seen and heard enough online and face to face chatter to let me know that Christian people are reading this book. What gives?\n\nMy wife asked me if it was okay for her to read it. I told her she was an adult and she could make her own decisions. I told her to read it if she wanted to. She said she wanted me to read it with her so that we could share it together and talk about it together. At the time, I was reading <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/07/book-review-uncensored-prayer-by-joy-wilson-2/\">Joy Wilson\'s book for a review for Provoketive</a>, so she read the trilogy by herself. She seemed to enjoy it and the characters and from time to time I would read over her shoulder and say, \"<em>What in the crap?</em>\" She would say, \"<em>You\'ll see when you get there</em>.\"\n\nDuring that time, Provoketive writer Jordan Hageman wrote an article called, <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/05/03/fifty-shades-of-truth/#comments\">\"<em>Fifty Shades of Truth</em>\"</a> which I highly recommend for your reading. It is thought provoking and very heart felt. In it, she notes that she did not read the book, and for very good reasons. Thank you, Jordan, for writing that article. I applaud you for having the courage to do that. She makes the point that some people may read things like that and may have a problem with what our spouses should look like. We may read something like <em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> and compare our spouses look like and think, \"<em>Why doesn\'t my spouse walk and talk like that?</em>\" It can be a deceptive problem for a lot of people.\n\nListen, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341899364&amp;sr=8-1\">I\'m the man who committed adultery while he was a pastor</a>. I did a solid job for eight years and then fell in the ministry. No one is above temptation. I know that. Sin is crouching at the door, ready to take any of us.\n\nThat\'s why I was so intrigued by the phenomenon of this book. This book has created an amazing surge of emotion in our culture - that\'s why it has captured our attention.\n\nLet me start with a little history. E. L. James, the author of the trilogy, is actually named Erika James. She is from West London and lives a very reclusive life and has been married for 20 years and has two teenage sons. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_Of_Grey#Background\">Her book started as a fan fiction story of the Twilight vampire novels</a> online and morphed into the novels you know today. In a sense, I get her. I love that about her. After I fell from ministry, I started blogging online anonymously about my story. People began to read my story and reaching out to me for help. It was there that Jonathan Brink from Civitas Press found me and asked me to write something for him.\n\nWe live in a different age of publishing. An age where people can write online and be discovered like never before. If you have a story that has meaning, you can reach people. In that sense, I understand the appeal of E. L. James. She had an immediate audience. I didn\'t have anywhere near her audience, but I can say that I understand what it\'s like to be discovered like many people in today\'s market.\n\nSo let\'s cover the actual book review first. Spoiler free, in case you\'re thinking about reading it. I only actually read the first book of the trilogy. My wife filled me in on the other two books. Honestly, I don\'t think I could have read the other two. After reading the first one, I kinda figured out basically what would happen.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/darker.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7153\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/darker-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" /></a>(<em>I\'m not real good at reading or reviewing this kind of novel since it is the only kind of book I\'ve ever read or probably ever will read, so please forgive me.</em>) Anastasia Steele is a college graduate who meets Christian Grey, a millionaire dude, during a college newspaper interview. They hit it off and she learns about his dark past. He\'s into some kinky masochistic stuff and wants her to sign onto it. She\'s pretty naive about it all (she\'s never been with a man) and just wants to be with him. Together, they go back and forth and learn about love, life and give a little both ways.\n\nThere. That\'s my synopsis. Yeah, there\'s some sex in there too. I\'m trying to be family friendly.\n\nAbout the writing. It\'s not so great. There are a lot of bad metaphors. A lot. I\'m a published writer, but I\'m not Hemingway. Heck, I\'m not even close to anything you could pull off of the juvenile section at your local library. But the author is repetitive in her metaphors. Over and over. There\'s not a lot of plot. But there is some good story. The two main characters are well developed, but the sub-characters aren\'t. It\'s not the best fiction I\'ve read, but heck. It\'s sold a lot of books.\n\nYou want a real review? <a href=\"http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9373098/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-so-whats-the-story.html\">Read this one by Rowan Petting</a>. Petting has written and read a fair share of erotica for a very long time.\n\nIn fact, Petting gets to the real heart of the matter. In fact, Petting states several things that are germane to why people love this book at all: <em>the fantasy they relive has less to do with sadomasochism than the tale of a self-effacing, clever young woman who beats off all competition to win the unobtainable male.</em>\n\nFurther, Petting says that the success of this book has to do with the format in which it comes. The fact that it first came out on ebook/Kindle is monumental: <em>This is not just because so many millions of copies are being read on Kindles where prying eyes cannot discern that the vicar’s wife is perusing escapist smut. The actual reason is far more fundamental: the core readers discovered the book online and their enthusiastic electronic chatter – and that alone – brought it to the notice of publishers.</em>\n\nHere we are in a crisis moment, though. I haven\'t seen too many Christians speaking up about this book. However, in my own little bubble of a world, I <em>know</em> that there are a lot of Christians reading this book. So what are we supposed to do? Is it okay for Christians to read this erotic novel?\n\nWell, darnit. I read it. I wish someone else was writing this blog.\n\nLet me start with this. A book is never just \"<em>a book</em>.\" It contains ideas, thoughts and emotions. It is written to convey the feelings of an author. It is the hope of the author that you will feel something. James\' book will definitely make you feel something. It may arouse you, disgust you, or make you hide your face in shame. But it will do something to you.\n\nIsn\'t it amazing the effect words have on us? I\'m amazed the effect this book is having on our culture. There seem to be two extremes, but aren\'t there always? One extreme seems to make you feel like a pervert for reading it. The other makes you feel like you\'re sexually evolved for having experienced it. I don\'t think either is true. Yeah, it\'s a book that triggers an emotional response, but each of us is still ultimately responsible for our emotions.\n\n<em><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/freed.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7156\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/freed-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" /></a>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> isn\'t just about sadomasochism. There is a further developing story beyond all the \"naughtiness\" as my mother would say. After I got past the first few chapters and the poorly written metaphors, I realized where the author was going and saw a story. Would I put it in the church library? Heck no. Recommend it to my kids? Of course not. Would I recommend it to someone who has a problem with lust? Absolutely not.\n\nLet\'s look at the two sides of the moral argument. First, there\'s the Christian liberty argument. Some would say, \"<em>I\'m free in Christ to do what I may. All things are freely done in the marriage bed. There are many other things in this culture that are much worse for me to look at on television/movies/internet that can invade my mind. I know my boundaries and a book isn\'t going to harm me</em>.\"\n\nThe opposite argument is this: \"<em>As Christians, we aren\'t to let any kind of impurity into our minds or hearts. Letting lust into our minds is the first step into the wrong direction. Playing with any kind of fire is a way to get burned</em>.\"\n\nIt\'s all challenging. I would add something that some random seminary professor said to me a decade ago: \"<em>Know what your people are watching, reading and doing.</em>\" That doesn\'t mean you have to read every novel or watch every movie that comes out. But be aware what the rest of the community is doing. You may not like what everyone else in the Christian community is doing, but that doesn\'t mean we don\'t need to be aware of it.\n\nIt comes down to the age old question: \"<em>How far are we supposed to separate ourselves from the culture? Are we supposed to? Do we stop watching television? Stop watching movies? How far do we remove ourselves from it all but remain part of the world?</em>\"\n\nA good question is this: \"<em>Why are so many people interested in this book</em>?\" An even better question for the Christian community is, \"<em>Why do so many Christians seem to be reading this book?</em>\" It would seem that a lot of Christian people are reading this and hiding it from their significant others.\n\nThose are a lot of questions raised by one book. They are all questions that have been raised before and they all deserve to be asked again.','Fifty Shades Of Grey: Book Review . . . I Think','','inherit','open','open','','7147-revision-4','','','2012-07-10 00:02:35','2012-07-10 07:02:35','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/10/7147-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7159,179,'2012-07-10 08:30:39','2012-07-10 15:30:39','My lovely wife came to me a few weeks ago and told me about a book, \"<em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em>.\" She told me that the ladies at her work were just raving about it. What really caught my attention was when she told me that the ladies at work were keeping it secret from their husbands that they were reading it. One of them asked my wife, \"<em>If you read it, would you tell your husband?</em>\"\n\nShe said unflinchingly, \"<em>Of course. We don\'t keep secrets from each othe</em>r.\"\n\nShe came home that day and told me about the trilogy that has swept the women of the world by storm. So much so that it has become the fastest selling paperback in history. It is a story of erotica, sadism, masochism and is being called \"<em>mommy porn</em>.\" But there is a lot more than that. I\'ll get to that in a minute.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-7152\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"230\" height=\"281\" /></a>Maybe it\'s just me, but I\'ve seen this book around a lot. I mean, a lot. Not just in the hands of \"regular\" people. But I\'ve heard Christians discussing it. I don\'t have any hard and fast statistics to share with you, but I\'ve seen and heard enough online and face to face chatter to let me know that Christian people are reading this book. What gives?\n\nMy wife asked me if it was okay for her to read it. I told her she was an adult and she could make her own decisions. I told her to read it if she wanted to. She said she wanted me to read it with her so that we could share it together and talk about it together. At the time, I was reading <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/07/book-review-uncensored-prayer-by-joy-wilson-2/\">Joy Wilson\'s book for a review for Provoketive</a>, so she read the trilogy by herself. She seemed to enjoy it and the characters and from time to time I would read over her shoulder and say, \"<em>What in the crap?</em>\" She would say, \"<em>You\'ll see when you get there</em>.\"\n\nDuring that time, Provoketive writer Jordan Hageman wrote an article called, <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/05/03/fifty-shades-of-truth/#comments\">\"<em>Fifty Shades of Truth</em>\"</a> which I highly recommend for your reading. It is thought provoking and very heart felt. In it, she notes that she did not read the book, and for very good reasons. Thank you, Jordan, for writing that article. I applaud you for having the courage to do that. She makes the point that some people may read things like that and may have a problem with what our spouses should look like. We may read something like <em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> and compare what our spouses look like and think, \"<em>Why doesn\'t my spouse walk and talk like that?</em>\" It can be a deceptive problem for a lot of people.\n\nListen, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341899364&amp;sr=8-1\">I\'m the man who committed adultery while he was a pastor</a>. I did a solid job for eight years and then fell in the ministry. No one is above temptation. I know that. Sin is crouching at the door, ready to take any of us.\n\nThat\'s why I was so intrigued by the phenomenon of this book. This book has created an amazing surge of emotion in our culture - that\'s why it has captured our attention.\n\nLet me start with a little history. E. L. James, the author of the trilogy, is actually named Erika James. She is from West London and lives a very reclusive life and has been married for 20 years and has two teenage sons. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_Of_Grey#Background\">Her book started as a fan fiction story of the Twilight vampire novels</a> online and morphed into the novels you know today. In a sense, I get her. I love that about her. After I fell from ministry, I started blogging online anonymously about my story. People began to read my story and reaching out to me for help. It was there that Jonathan Brink from Civitas Press found me and asked me to write something for him.\n\nWe live in a different age of publishing. An age where people can write online and be discovered like never before. If you have a story that has meaning, you can reach people. In that sense, I understand the appeal of E. L. James. She had an immediate audience. I didn\'t have anywhere near her audience, but I can say that I understand what it\'s like to be discovered like many people in today\'s market.\n\nSo let\'s cover the actual book review first. Spoiler free, in case you\'re thinking about reading it. I only actually read the first book of the trilogy. My wife filled me in on the other two books. Honestly, I don\'t think I could have read the other two. After reading the first one, I kinda figured out basically what would happen.\n\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/darker.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7153\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/darker-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" /></a>(<em>I\'m not real good at reading or reviewing this kind of novel since it is the only kind of book I\'ve ever read or probably ever will read, so please forgive me.</em>) Anastasia Steele is a college graduate who meets Christian Grey, a millionaire dude, during a college newspaper interview. They hit it off and she learns about his dark past. He\'s into some kinky masochistic stuff and wants her to sign onto it. She\'s pretty naive about it all (she\'s never been with a man) and just wants to be with him. Together, they go back and forth and learn about love, life and give a little both ways.\n\nThere. That\'s my synopsis. Yeah, there\'s some sex in there too. I\'m trying to be family friendly.\n\nAbout the writing. It\'s not so great. There are a lot of bad metaphors. A lot. I\'m a published writer, but I\'m not Hemingway. Heck, I\'m not even close to anything you could pull off of the juvenile section at your local library. But the author is repetitive in her metaphors. Over and over. There\'s not a lot of plot. But there is some good story. The two main characters are well developed, but the sub-characters aren\'t. It\'s not the best fiction I\'ve read, but heck. It\'s sold a lot of books.\n\nYou want a real review? <a href=\"http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9373098/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-so-whats-the-story.html\">Read this one by Rowan Petting</a>. Petting has written and read a fair share of erotica for a very long time.\n\nIn fact, Petting gets to the real heart of the matter. Petting states several things that are germane to why people love this book at all: <em>the fantasy they relive has less to do with sadomasochism than the tale of a self-effacing, clever young woman who beats off all competition to win the unobtainable male.</em>\n\nFurther, Petting says that the success of this book has to do with the format in which it comes. The fact that it first came out on ebook/Kindle is monumental: <em>This is not just because so many millions of copies are being read on Kindles where prying eyes cannot discern that the vicar’s wife is perusing escapist smut. The actual reason is far more fundamental: the core readers discovered the book online and their enthusiastic electronic chatter – and that alone – brought it to the notice of publishers.</em>\n\nHere we are in a crisis moment, though. I haven\'t seen too many Christians speaking up about this book. However, in my own little bubble of a world, I <em>know</em> that there are a lot of Christians reading this book. So what are we supposed to do? Is it okay for Christians to read this erotic novel?\n\nWell, darnit. I read it. I wish someone else was writing this blog.\n\nLet me start with this. A book is never just \"<em>a book</em>.\" It contains ideas, thoughts and emotions. It is written to convey the feelings of an author. It is the hope of the author that you will feel something. James\' book will definitely make you feel something. It may arouse you, disgust you, or make you hide your face in shame. But it will do something to you.\n\nIsn\'t it amazing the effect words have on us? I\'m amazed the effect this book is having on our culture. There seem to be two extremes, but aren\'t there always? One extreme seems to make you feel like a pervert for reading it. The other makes you feel like you\'re sexually evolved for having experienced it. I don\'t think either is true. Yeah, it\'s a book that triggers an emotional response, but each of us is still ultimately responsible for our emotions.\n\n<em><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/freed.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7156\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/freed-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" /></a>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> isn\'t just about sadomasochism. There is a further developing story beyond all the \"naughtiness\" as my mother would say. After I got past the first few chapters and the poorly written metaphors, I realized where the author was going and saw a story. Would I put it in the church library? Heck no. Recommend it to my kids? Of course not. Would I recommend it to someone who has a problem with lust? Absolutely not.\n\nLet\'s look at the two sides of the moral argument. First, there\'s the Christian liberty argument. Some would say, \"<em>I\'m free in Christ to do what I may. All things are freely done in the marriage bed. There are many other things in this culture that are much worse for me to look at on television/movies/internet that can invade my mind. I know my boundaries and a book isn\'t going to harm me</em>.\"\n\nThe opposite argument is this: \"<em>As Christians, we aren\'t to let any kind of impurity into our minds or hearts. Letting lust into our minds is the first step into the wrong direction. Playing with any kind of fire is a way to get burned</em>.\"\n\nIt\'s all challenging. I would add something that some random seminary professor said to me a decade ago: \"<em>Know what your people are watching, reading and doing.</em>\" That doesn\'t mean you have to read every novel or watch every movie that comes out. But be aware what the rest of the community is doing. You may not like what everyone else in the Christian community is doing, but that doesn\'t mean we don\'t need to be aware of it.\n\nIt comes down to the age old question: \"<em>How far are we supposed to separate ourselves from the culture? Are we supposed to? Do we stop watching television? Stop watching movies? How far do we remove ourselves from it all but remain part of the world?</em>\"\n\nA good question is this: \"<em>Why are so many people interested in this book</em>?\" An even better question for the Christian community is, \"<em>Why do so many Christians seem to be reading this book?</em>\" It would seem that a lot of Christian people are reading this and hiding it from their significant others.\n\nThose are a lot of questions raised by one book. They are all questions that have been raised before and they all deserve to be asked again.','Fifty Shades Of Grey: Book Review . . . I Think','','inherit','open','open','','7147-autosave','','','2012-07-10 08:30:39','2012-07-10 15:30:39','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/10/7147-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7161,179,'2012-07-10 00:03:02','2012-07-10 07:03:02','My lovely wife came to me a few weeks ago and told me about a book, \"<em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em>.\" She told me that the ladies at her work were just raving about it. What really caught my attention was when she told me that the ladies at work were keeping it secret from their husbands that they were reading it. One of them asked my wife, \"<em>If you read it, would you tell your husband?</em>\"\r\n\r\nShe said unflinchingly, \"<em>Of course. We don\'t keep, secrets from each othe</em>r.\"\r\n\r\nShe came home that day and told me about the trilogy that has swept the women of the world by storm. So much so that it has become the fastest selling paperback in history. It is a story of erotica, sadism, masochism and is being called \"<em>mommy porn</em>.\" But there is a lot more than that. I\'ll get to that in a minute.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-7152\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jamess.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"230\" height=\"281\" /></a>Maybe it\'s just me, but I\'ve seen this book around a lot. I mean, a lot. Not just in the hands of \"regular\" people. But I\'ve heard Christians discussing it. I don\'t have any hard and fast statistics to share with you, but I\'ve seen and heard enough online and face to face chatter to let me know that Christian people are reading this book. What gives?\r\n\r\nMy wife asked me if it was okay for her to read it. I told her she was an adult and she could make her own decisions. I told her to read it if she wanted to. She said she wanted me to read it with her so that we could share it together and talk about it together. At the time, I was reading <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/07/book-review-uncensored-prayer-by-joy-wilson-2/\">Joy Wilson\'s book for a review for Provoketive</a>, so she read the trilogy by herself. She seemed to enjoy it and the characters and from time to time I would read over her shoulder and say, \"<em>What in the crap?</em>\" She would say, \"<em>You\'ll see when you get there</em>.\"\r\n\r\nDuring that time, Provoketive writer Jordan Hageman wrote an article called, <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/05/03/fifty-shades-of-truth/#comments\">\"<em>Fifty Shades of Truth</em>\"</a> which I highly recommend for your reading. It is thought provoking and very heart felt. In it, she notes that she did not read the book, and for very good reasons. Thank you, Jordan, for writing that article. I applaud you for having the courage to do that. She makes the point that some people may read things like that and may have a problem with what our spouses should look like. We may read something like <em>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> and compare our spouses look like and think, \"<em>Why doesn\'t my spouse walk and talk like that?</em>\" It can be a deceptive problem for a lot of people.\r\n\r\nListen, <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Fallen-Pastor-Finding-Restoration-Broken/dp/0615567096/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1341899364&amp;sr=8-1\">I\'m the man who committed adultery while he was a pastor</a>. I did a solid job for eight years and then fell in the ministry. No one is above temptation. I know that. Sin is crouching at the door, ready to take any of us.\r\n\r\nThat\'s why I was so intrigued by the phenomenon of this book. This book has created an amazing surge of emotion in our culture - that\'s why it has captured our attention.\r\n\r\nLet me start with a little history. E. L. James, the author of the trilogy, is actually named Erika James. She is from West London and lives a very reclusive life and has been married for 20 years and has two teenage sons. <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifty_Shades_Of_Grey#Background\">Her book started as a fan fiction story of the Twilight vampire novels</a> online and morphed into the novels you know today. In a sense, I get her. I love that about her. After I fell from ministry, I started blogging online anonymously about my story. People began to read my story and reaching out to me for help. It was there that Jonathan Brink from Civitas Press found me and asked me to write something for him.\r\n\r\nWe live in a different age of publishing. An age where people can write online and be discovered like never before. If you have a story that has meaning, you can reach people. In that sense, I understand the appeal of E. L. James. She had an immediate audience. I didn\'t have anywhere near her audience, but I can say that I understand what it\'s like to be discovered like many people in today\'s market.\r\n\r\nSo let\'s cover the actual book review first. Spoiler free, in case you\'re thinking about reading it. I only actually read the first book of the trilogy. My wife filled me in on the other two books. Honestly, I don\'t think I could have read the other two. After reading the first one, I kinda figured out basically what would happen.\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/darker.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7153\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/darker-214x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"214\" height=\"300\" /></a>(<em>I\'m not real good at reading or reviewing this kind of novel since it is the only kind of book I\'ve ever read or probably ever will read, so please forgive me.</em>) Anastasia Steele is a college graduate who meets Christian Grey, a millionaire dude, during a college newspaper interview. They hit it off and she learns about his dark past. He\'s into some kinky masochistic stuff and wants her to sign onto it. She\'s pretty naive about it all (she\'s never been with a man) and just wants to be with him. Together, they go back and forth and learn about love, life and give a little both ways.\r\n\r\nThere. That\'s my synopsis. Yeah, there\'s some sex in there too. I\'m trying to be family friendly.\r\n\r\nAbout the writing. It\'s not so great. There are a lot of bad metaphors. A lot. I\'m a published writer, but I\'m not Hemingway. Heck, I\'m not even close to anything you could pull off of the juvenile section at your local library. But the author is repetitive in her metaphors. Over and over. There\'s not a lot of plot. But there is some good story. The two main characters are well developed, but the sub-characters aren\'t. It\'s not the best fiction I\'ve read, but heck. It\'s sold a lot of books.\r\n\r\nYou want a real review? <a href=\"http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/9373098/Fifty-Shades-of-Grey-so-whats-the-story.html\">Read this one by Rowan Petting</a>. Petting has written and read a fair share of erotica for a very long time.\r\n\r\nIn fact, Petting gets to the real heart of the matter. In fact, Petting states several things that are germane to why people love this book at all: <em>the fantasy they relive has less to do with sadomasochism than the tale of a self-effacing, clever young woman who beats off all competition to win the unobtainable male.</em>\r\n\r\nFurther, Petting says that the success of this book has to do with the format in which it comes. The fact that it first came out on ebook/Kindle is monumental: <em>This is not just because so many millions of copies are being read on Kindles where prying eyes cannot discern that the vicar’s wife is perusing escapist smut. The actual reason is far more fundamental: the core readers discovered the book online and their enthusiastic electronic chatter – and that alone – brought it to the notice of publishers.</em>\r\n\r\nHere we are in a crisis moment, though. I haven\'t seen too many Christians speaking up about this book. However, in my own little bubble of a world, I <em>know</em> that there are a lot of Christians reading this book. So what are we supposed to do? Is it okay for Christians to read this erotic novel?\r\n\r\nWell, darnit. I read it. I wish someone else was writing this blog.\r\n\r\nLet me start with this. A book is never just \"<em>a book</em>.\" It contains ideas, thoughts and emotions. It is written to convey the feelings of an author. It is the hope of the author that you will feel something. James\' book will definitely make you feel something. It may arouse you, disgust you, or make you hide your face in shame. But it will do something to you.\r\n\r\nIsn\'t it amazing the effect words have on us? I\'m amazed the effect this book is having on our culture. There seem to be two extremes, but aren\'t there always? One extreme seems to make you feel like a pervert for reading it. The other makes you feel like you\'re sexually evolved for having experienced it. I don\'t think either is true. Yeah, it\'s a book that triggers an emotional response, but each of us is still ultimately responsible for our emotions.\r\n\r\n<em><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/freed.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-7156\" style=\"margin-left: 6px;margin-right: 6px\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/freed-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" /></a>Fifty Shades of Grey</em> isn\'t just about sadomasochism. There is a further developing story beyond all the \"naughtiness\" as my mother would say. After I got past the first few chapters and the poorly written metaphors, I realized where the author was going and saw a story. Would I put it in the church library? Heck no. Recommend it to my kids? Of course not. Would I recommend it to someone who has a problem with lust? Absolutely not.\r\n\r\nLet\'s look at the two sides of the moral argument. First, there\'s the Christian liberty argument. Some would say, \"<em>I\'m free in Christ to do what I may. All things are freely done in the marriage bed. There are many other things in this culture that are much worse for me to look at on television/movies/internet that can invade my mind. I know my boundaries and a book isn\'t going to harm me</em>.\"\r\n\r\nThe opposite argument is this: \"<em>As Christians, we aren\'t to let any kind of impurity into our minds or hearts. Letting lust into our minds is the first step into the wrong direction. Playing with any kind of fire is a way to get burned</em>.\"\r\n\r\nIt\'s all challenging. I would add something that some random seminary professor said to me a decade ago: \"<em>Know what your people are watching, reading and doing.</em>\" That doesn\'t mean you have to read every novel or watch every movie that comes out. But be aware what the rest of the community is doing. You may not like what everyone else in the Christian community is doing, but that doesn\'t mean we don\'t need to be aware of it.\r\n\r\nIt comes down to the age old question: \"<em>How far are we supposed to separate ourselves from the culture? Are we supposed to? Do we stop watching television? Stop watching movies? How far do we remove ourselves from it all but remain part of the world?</em>\"\r\n\r\nA good question is this: \"<em>Why are so many people interested in this book</em>?\" An even better question for the Christian community is, \"<em>Why do so many Christians seem to be reading this book?</em>\" It would seem that a lot of Christian people are reading this and hiding it from their significant others.\r\n\r\nThose are a lot of questions raised by one book. They are all questions that have been raised before and they all deserve to be asked again.','Fifty Shades Of Grey: Book Review . . . I Think','','inherit','open','open','','7147-revision-5','','','2012-07-10 00:03:02','2012-07-10 07:03:02','',7147,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/10/7147-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(7164,188,'2012-07-11 10:40:52','0000-00-00 00:00:00','There is a problem in our society that is overwhelming, devastating and heartbreaking to say the least. It is so easy to turn our heads and pretend it isn’t happening. However, most everyone has seen the devastating effects that drug use has had on not only the user but their friends and families. I have witnessed too many times the struggles that families face trying to get their loved ones some help. Often the user will do whatever it takes to get the fix they need and refuses to be rehabilitated.\r\n\r\nAddictions come in many forms whether it’s gambling, tobacco, sex, drugs, as well as food. However, I would like to focus on crystal meth and meth labs used to make it.\r\n\r\nI saw in the Newsleader last week that there were four different arrests for drugs and that every one of them involved a “white powdery substance” referred to as “meth”. Normally, I would quickly turn my sights to another article where someone received an award or maybe a donation was made to a charity. It’s so easy to look the other way. But, there’s a little girl I know that I can’t seem to get out of my mind who has been deeply effected by drugs and I’m doing this article for her and the many other people’s lives who have been effected.\r\n\r\nThe first step in conquering a problem is getting educated. I didn’t know a lot about crystal meth or meth labs except what people told me over the years so I did a little research.\r\n\r\nA meth lab is a clandestine drug lab that is a collection of materials and ingredients used to make crystal meth and is made mostly from common household ingredients. These ingredients are mixed and cooked together to make meth and the harmful chemical mixtures can remain on household surfaces for months or years later. There may be health effects in people exposed to chemicals to make meth before, during and after the process. Therefore, each lab is a potential hazardous waste site, requiring evaluation, and possibly cleanup, by hazardous waste professionals.\r\n\r\nMeth labs have been discovered in hotel and motel rooms, restaurants, barns, private homes and apartments, storage facilities, fields, vacant buildings and (moving or stationary) vehicles. A minimum of 5 to 7 pounds of chemical waste are produced for each pound manufactured.\r\n\r\nHealth effects caused by exposure to meth lab chemicals depend on the lab process and chemicals used, the amount of chemical and length of exposure and the age and health of the person exposed. Chemicals may enter the body by being breathed, eaten, or absorbed through the skin. An acute exposure is one that occurs over a relatively short period of time.\r\nAcute exposure to meth lab chemicals can cause shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, dizziness, lack of coordination, chemical irritation, burns to skin, eyes, nose and mouth. Death could result when exposure is to a particularly toxic chemical or the person exposed is particularly vulnerable. Acute exposures can occur in non-drug users during or immediately after making meth.\r\n\r\nThe warning signs of a meth lab are: strong odor of solvents, residences with windows blacked out, iodine or chemically stained bathroom or kitchen fixtures, travel trailer or RV parked on the property, increased activity, especially at night, excessive trash.\r\n\r\nWe all wish the problem would go away but there are actually some pro-activists who are working hard at making a difference.\r\n\r\nI attended a weekly meeting of “Narcotics Anonymous” at the First United Methodist Church in my home town, which is a twelve step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous describing itself as a \"fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. Membership in Narcotics Anonymous is voluntary; no attendance records are kept”.\r\n\r\nI stayed a bit after the meeting was over and talked to two of the men whom I will call “Bill” and “Joe”. “Joe” drives all the way from Memphis, which is an hour and a half away. He said that he was addicted to alcohol more than drugs. He remembers doing crystal meth at the age of 16 but was not addicted to it. When I asked what got him to start drugs at all he said “curiosity and peer pressure”. I asked “Did your mother (father not at home) not know?” Joe replied “I believe she did but turned her head the other way. She was the one that gave me money whenever I needed it.” However he said his real addiction came from alcohol when he joined a fraternity in college and the drinking began.\r\n\r\n“Bill” said that he had been addicted to crystal meth and has been clean for more than a year after a relapse. When I asked what made him relapse, he replied “I quit coming to these meetings. You can’t do that. You gotta keep on coming.” I asked them both what was the effect of crystal meth? “Bill” replied that “You have overwhelming confidence”. However, “Joe” said he started hallucinating and thought he was going to die. \"You’re high for about a day and half, but it takes three days for your body to shut down. After that all you want to do is sleep.” he said.\r\n\r\nI asked what the negative consequences were and “Bill” told me that your body ages 10 times, your teeth fall out, your heart starts to give out as well as the devastating effect it has on your job, family and finances. You are also depressed for about a year because your brain has to learn to reproduce dopamine.\r\n\r\nThe group also pointed out that all types of people were addicts: rich or poor, homeless to professional. You may know an addict personally and not know it because, “Addicts are great con artists.” They often know how to hide what they are doing.\r\n\r\nWhen asked what was the best way for people to stay clean, they recited several quotes: “Change your people, places, and things”, “Surround yourself with sober people”, “One day at a time.”\r\n\r\nThey said there is always help if you seek it. There are places all over the world. You just have to want to get help. They both agreed that complete abstinence was the only way to go.\r\n\r\nOn leaving the meeting, they gave me a sincere hug and I was pleased that I had come. They were very sincere in their desire to help others and hoped that I would get the word out about their meetings so they could in turn help others. As one of them said, “Seeing what others go through helps me to keep the path that I’m on.” They were truly inspirational and I hope that their meetings will inspire others to come and get the help they need.\r\n\r\nI was telling my good friend and co-worker Doris Scott about this article I was doing. She mentioned Rev. Julius Hill as someone that I might talk to so I called him up. He was more than happy to come by and talk to me.\r\n\r\nOne good thing about doing articles is getting to know new people and learning about their lives. I knew I liked Rev. Hill right away. He came with a sincere positive attitude which is something I admire. I asked him to tell me more about himself and what he had done to help with the drug epidemic.\r\n\r\nRev. Hill is a retired 22 year detective from Philadelphia, Penn. His wife is from Osceola, Arkansas, and wanted to come back to Arkansas. He wanted to become a minister. They decided to move to Wynne, Arkansas, when an opening became available at the First Baptist Church.\r\n\r\nHe told me with a smile what a beautiful town that he had. “The crime is nothing like we had in Pennsylvania or anywhere I’ve lived.” He also became the Wynne Police Chaplain and has a badge for it. Sometimes he talks to inmates when requested and other times he gives counseling to those who come to him. He also helps to coordinate the inmates to work off their fines by doing jobs for the city.\r\n\r\nRev. Hill also helped to jump start the neighborhood watch program. This is a group of people that care about their community and are taking offensive steps to combat crime. It consists of block captains who are strategically placed at bus stops, parks, etc. to ensure the safety of their neighborhood.\r\n\r\nI could tell that Rev. Hill was sincere in his efforts and not boastful at all. He said that back in Philadelphia he always tried to rehabilitate those if thought there was hope. When his retired friends found out that he was a minister they weren’t surprised.\r\n\r\nHowever, don’t let the humble exterior fool you. He can get tough when need be. He told me when he got angry enough seeing a group of guys doing their drugs to take the drugs and smash them with his foot on the ground. He immediately let them know that this was not acceptable. Sometimes that’s the only language people understand.\r\n\r\nHe had nothing but good to say about our local police department. “They are always there at our neighborhood meetings as well as city officials.” He said they have an anonymous crime reporting system where people can report crimes without being worried about retaliation. He said that he wished we could pay our good officers more where they wouldn’t leave.\r\nHe said the two worst drugs to worry about were crystal meth and crack cocaine. The pushers are making so much money that it’s become a “way of life”. It is important that we give our kids other things in which to get involved. He had nothing but praise for the Boys and Girls program, saying. “Wynne is a blessed place.”\r\nAfter these interviews, I felt that I had learned a lot about the drug epidemic in Wynne. However there is still more to learn. I will continue with research with my next story. \"Proactive and Making a Difference – Tackling Drug Addiction in Cross County Part 2\".','Men on a Mission – Tackling Drug Addiction in Cross County','','draft','open','open','','','','','2012-07-11 10:40:52','2012-07-11 17:40:52','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7164',0,'post','',0),(7165,188,'2012-07-10 12:28:58','2012-07-10 19:28:58','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7164-revision','','','2012-07-10 12:28:58','2012-07-10 19:28:58','',7164,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/10/7164-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7171,179,'2012-07-10 17:30:35','2012-07-11 00:30:35','There is a problem in our society that is overwhelming, devastating and heartbreaking to say the least. It is so easy to turn our heads and pretend it isn’t happening. However, most everyone has seen the devastating effects that drug use has had on not only the user but their friends and families. I have witnessed too many times the struggles that families face trying to get their loved ones some help. Often the user will do whatever it takes to get the fix they need and refuses to be rehabilitated.\n\nAddictions come in many forms whether it’s gambling, tobacco, sex, drugs, as well as food. However, I would like to focus on crystal meth and meth labs used to make it.\n\nI saw in the Newsleader last week that there were four different arrests for drugs and that every one of them involved a “white powdery substance” referred to as “meth”. Normally, I would quickly turn my sights to another article where someone received an award or maybe a donation was made to a charity. It’s so easy to look the other way. But, there’s a little girl I know that I can’t seem to get out of my mind who has been deeply effected by drugs and I’m doing this article for her and the many other people’s lives who have been effected.\n\nThe first step in conquering a problem is getting educated. I didn’t know a lot about crystal meth or meth labs except what people told me over the years so I did a little research.\n\nA meth lab is a clandestine drug lab that is a collection of materials and ingredients used to make crystal meth and is made mostly from common household ingredients. These ingredients are mixed and cooked together to make meth and the harmful chemical mixtures can remain on household surfaces for months or years later. There may be health effects in people exposed to chemicals to make meth before, during and after the process. Therefore, each lab is a potential hazardous waste site, requiring evaluation, and possibly cleanup, by hazardous waste professionals.\n\nMeth labs have been discovered in hotel and motel rooms, restaurants, barns, private homes and apartments, storage facilities, fields, vacant buildings and (moving or stationary) vehicles. A minimum of 5 to 7 pounds of chemical waste are produced for each pound manufactured.\n\nHealth effects caused by exposure to meth lab chemicals depend on the lab process and chemicals used, the amount of chemical and length of exposure and the age and health of the person exposed. Chemicals may enter the body by being breathed, eaten, or absorbed through the skin. An acute exposure is one that occurs over a relatively short period of time.\nAcute exposure to meth lab chemicals can cause shortness of breath, cough, chest pain, dizziness, lack of coordination, chemical irritation, burns to skin, eyes, nose and mouth. Death could result when exposure is to a particularly toxic chemical or the person exposed is particularly vulnerable. Acute exposures can occur in non-drug users during or immediately after making meth.\n\nThe warning signs of a meth lab are: strong odor of solvents, residences with windows blacked out, iodine or chemically stained bathroom or kitchen fixtures, travel trailer or RV parked on the property, increased activity, especially at night, excessive trash.\n\nWe all wish the problem would go away but there are actually some pro-activists who are working hard at making a difference.\n\nI attended a weekly meeting of “Narcotics Anonymous” at the First United Methodist Church in my home town, which is a twelve step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous describing itself as a \"fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem. Membership in Narcotics Anonymous is voluntary; no attendance records are kept”.\n\nI stayed a bit after the meeting was over and talked to two of the men whom I will call “Bill” and “Joe”. “Joe” drives all the way from Memphis, which is an hour and a half away. He said that he was addicted to alcohol more than drugs. He remembers doing crystal meth at the age of 16 but was not addicted to it. When I asked what got him to start drugs at all he said “curiosity and peer pressure”. I asked “Did your mother (father not at home) not know?” Joe replied “I believe she did but turned her head the other way. She was the one that gave me money whenever I needed it.” However he said his real addiction came from alcohol when he joined a fraternity in college and the drinking began.\n\n“Bill” said that he had been addicted to crystal meth and has been clean for more than a year after a relapse. When I asked what made him relapse, he replied “I quit coming to these meetings. You can’t do that. You gotta keep on coming.” I asked them both what was the effect of crystal meth? “Bill” replied that “You have overwhelming confidence”. However, “Joe” said he started hallucinating and thought he was going to die. \"You’re high for about a day and half, but it takes three days for your body to shut down. After that all you want to do is sleep.” he said.\n\nI asked what the negative consequences were and “Bill” told me that your body ages 10 times, your teeth fall out, your heart starts to give out as well as the devastating effect it has on your job, family and finances. You are also depressed for about a year because your brain has to learn to reproduce dopamine.\n\nThe group also pointed out that all types of people were addicts: rich or poor, homeless to professional. You may know an addict personally and not know it because, “Addicts are great con artists.” They often know how to hide what they are doing.\n\nWhen asked what was the best way for people to stay clean, they recited several quotes: “Change your people, places, and things”, “Surround yourself with sober people”, “One day at a time.”\n\nThey said there is always help if you seek it. There are places all over the world. You just have to want to get help. They both agreed that complete abstinence was the only way to go.\n\nOn leaving the meeting, they gave me a sincere hug and I was pleased that I had come. They were very sincere in their desire to help others and hoped that I would get the word out about their meetings so they could in turn help others. As one of them said, “Seeing what others go through helps me to keep the path that I’m on.” They were truly inspirational and I hope that their meetings will inspire others to come and get the help they need.\n\nI was telling my good friend and co-worker Doris Scott about this article I was doing. She mentioned Rev. Julius Hill as someone that I might talk to so I called him up. He was more than happy to come by and talk to me.\n\nOne good thing about doing articles is getting to know new people and learning about their lives. I knew I liked Rev. Hill right away. He came with a sincere positive attitude which is something I admire. I asked him to tell me more about himself and what he had done to help with the drug epidemic.\n\nRev. Hill is a retired 22 year detective from Philadelphia, Penn. His wife is from Osceola, Arkansas, and wanted to come back to Arkansas. He wanted to become a minister. They decided to move to Wynne, Arkansas, when an opening became available at the First Baptist Church.\n\nHe told me with a smile what a beautiful town that he had. “The crime is nothing like we had in Pennsylvania or anywhere I’ve lived.” He also became the Wynne Police Chaplain and has a badge for it. Sometimes he talks to inmates when requested and other times he gives counseling to those who come to him. He also helps to coordinate the inmates to work off their fines by doing jobs for the city.\n\nRev. Hill also helped to jump start the neighborhood watch program. This is a group of people that care about their community and are taking offensive steps to combat crime. It consists of block captains who are strategically placed at bus stops, parks, etc. to ensure the safety of their neighborhood.\n\nI could tell that Rev. Hill was sincere in his efforts and not boastful at all. He said that back in Philadelphia he always tried to rehabilitate those if thought there was hope. When his retired friends found out that he was a minister they weren’t surprised.\n\nHowever, don’t let the humble exterior fool you. He can get tough when need be. He told me when he got angry enough seeing a group of guys doing their drugs to take the drugs and smash them with his foot on the ground. He immediately let them know that this was not acceptable. Sometimes that’s the only language people understand.\n\nHe had nothing but good to say about our local police department. “They are always there at our neighborhood meetings as well as city officials.” He said they have an anonymous crime reporting system where people can report crimes without being worried about retaliation. He said that he wished we could pay our good officers more where they wouldn’t leave.\nHe said the two worst drugs to worry about were crystal meth and crack cocaine. The pushers are making so much money that it’s become a “way of life”. It is important that we give our kids other things in which to get involved. He had nothing but praise for the Boys and Girls program, saying. “Wynne is a blessed place.”\nAfter these interviews, I felt that I had learned a lot about the drug epidemic in Wynne. However there is still more to learn. I will continue with research with my next story. \"Proactive and Making a Difference – Tackling Drug Addiction in Cross County Part 2\".','Men on a Mission – Tackling Drug Addiction in Cross County','','inherit','open','open','','7164-revision-2','','','2012-07-10 17:30:35','2012-07-11 00:30:35','',7164,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/10/7164-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7166,188,'2012-07-10 12:35:28','0000-00-00 00:00:00','In my last article I talked to you about the devastating effects that drugs are having on our society. Unfortunately it is nothing new, and I have witnessed how parents are choosing drugs over the right to keep their children. What’s worse I have been told that parents are “doping” while the children watch. It’s unbearable for me to hear how mothers are giving up their rights to their children because of their addictions. I can’t imagine anything in this world that would prevent me from being with my child so I had to do some research to find out more.\r\nLast week I talked to you about crystal meth. This week I did some research on another problem drug in our area which is cocaine and it’s addictive quality. According to a national survey done in 2008, almost 15 percent of Americans had tried cocaine, with 6 percent having tried it by their senior year of high school. Many of the kids surveyed reported that powder cocaine was \"fairly easy\" to obtain.\r\nCocaine is the most potent stimulant of natural origin. This substance can be snorted, smoked, or injected. When snorted, cocaine powder is inhaled through the nose where it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the nasal tissues. When injected, the user uses a needle to release the drug directly into the bloodstream.\r\nCrack is cocaine base that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. This form of cocaine comes in a rock crystal that is heated to produce vapors, which are smoked. The term “crack” refers to the crackling sound produced by the rock as it is heated.\r\nCocaine is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant. Much of the cocaine available in the United States is transported from South American nations, particularly Colombia, through the Mexico-Central America Corrido. Cocaine continues to be the most frequently mentioned illicit substance reported to the Drug Abuse Warning Network by hospital emergency departments nationwide.\r\nSo why are people choosing to get high? Many of the people you see every day can be a drug addict. Research has led to a clear understanding of how cocaine produces its pleasurable effects and why it is so addictive. Scientists have discovered that cocaine acts by blocking the removal of dopamine from the normal recycling process which results in an accumulation of dopamine. This is what causes the initial euphoria commonly reported by cocaine abusers.\r\nThis highly addictive drug is often taken in \"binges,\" during which the cocaine is used repeatedly and at increasingly higher doses. This can lead to increased irritability, restlessness, panic attacks, and paranoia—even a full-blown psychosis, in which the individual loses touch with reality and experiences auditory hallucinations. Regularly snorting cocaine can lead to loss of sense of smell; nosebleeds; problems with swallowing and an overall irritation of the nasal septum, which could result in a chronically inflamed, runny nose. Persons who inject cocaine have puncture marks called \"tracks,\" most commonly in their forearms, and may experience allergic reactions, either to the drug or to some additive in street cocaine, which in severe cases can result in death. Many chronic cocaine users lose their appetite and experience significant weight loss and malnourishment.\r\nI went on a visit to Police Chief Jeff Sanders and talked to him about our drug epidemic. He agreed that crystal meth and cocaine were the two most problem drugs in our area. I asked him what he thought about rehabilitation and he seemed a little unsure about it. He said that he had a lot of repeat offenders and feels they often want rehab to get out of paying their fines or serving jail time. However he did say that he worked with the prosecuting attorney (Michael Ladd) and often requested that first time offenders get rehab if they want it.\r\nChief Sanders noted that he’s seen people get back from rehab that were doing well and then “come back to the same environment and same old friends.” He said “the best way to get off of it is to “change your environment and make new friends.”\r\nHe also felt that most of the robberies/thefts in the county were due to the drug problem in order to pay for their habits. I was excited to ask him if I could go see a drug meth lab (just for my curiosity’s sake) but he smiled and said he didn’t have anything for me to see. However he told me of some pretty elaborate labs that they’d discovered.\r\nHe said that they monitor the lab sites uploaded by local pharmaceuticals when something as pseudoephedrine (one of the ingredients to make meth) is purchased,  so I called up local pharmacist Gene Boeckmann. Gene told me that when pseudoephedrine was purchased that they were required to upload the purchase and it will be accepted or denied due to activity.\r\nLast week when my part 1 of my article came out, Melissa at the newspaper called me and told me that a lady by the name of “Shirley Harvell” had come by and left me some information, so I went and picked up a lot of drug prevention info that looked like it was geared toward either kids or teenagers. I gave her a call and got a friendly voice on the other line. She had told me she was so excited to read my article and that she put it on her bulletin board as well as mailed it to a lot of places across the state. Since it is my hope to educate and/or inspire I was truly appreciative. We set up a meeting to talk.\r\nShirley works for the Mid-South Health Systems on Addison Drive which is a privately owned counseling service that helps with the mental health needs in our community. In my fifty years of living I have never seen anyone more passionate about their job. She is one of the friendliest and most down to earth people that I’ve ever met. I realized that I didn’t need to ask many questions because she really liked to talk about her work. I found this refreshing as well as very educating.\r\nAfter an “APNA” survey in 2006 revealed that Cross County led the state in underage drinking, a grant was issued to help with this problem. The grant was approved from 2008 (Wynne) and 2009 (Cross County) and ends on June 30, 2011. Shirley along with Dina Milton (Wynne schools) and Nicole Woods (Cross County schools) help to bring awareness about the problem of underage drinking in the area. “Many people don’t realize that alcohol is a drug as well.  The drug problem is not always on the street corner. Alcohol is a gateway drug to other things.”\r\nShe stated “One of the problems is that is so easily acceptable.” Between the internet/tv and even the parents it’s a growing problem. You could tell she was angry with the beverage industry as she pulled out two large cans and placed them on her desk. She talked about how they were marketed toward kids. Both cans looked similar but one was a bloody mary and the other was an energy drink. She was proud to be one of the many who lobbied to get this off of the market.\r\n“Kids don’t want to be lectured to.” That’s why we have a “Positive Action” program where they work in the schools to send a positive message which is “Making positive thoughts leads to positive actions.”\r\nShirley is the director of the Cross County Coalition which Is a group of concerned citizens and parents intent on keeping the youth of their community drug free. Members include youth, officers from the police force, officials from school, churches, businesses, etc.\r\nIn 2008 the state average for alcohol use in youth was 49% while Cross County was 68.8%. These numbers have been reduced by over 10% since the Coalition began.\r\nBetween billboards, brochures, education, yard signs, etc. they are getting the message out. “Dina was so creative she even thought of putting cards in the boutonnieres during the prom.”\r\nI’m glad to see positive actions in our city. Although the grants are ending, there are still positive messages to tell and positive people to tell them. I will finalize my proactive articles with more interesting people in our community. The final article is titled “Tackling Prescription Drugs - Drug Addiction – Part 3”.\r\n','Proactive and Making a Difference – Tackling Drug Addiction in Cross County Part 2','','draft','open','open','','','','','2012-07-10 12:35:28','2012-07-10 19:35:28','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7166',0,'post','',0),(7167,188,'2012-07-10 12:32:15','2012-07-10 19:32:15','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7166-revision','','','2012-07-10 12:32:15','2012-07-10 19:32:15','',7166,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/10/7166-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7168,188,'2012-07-10 12:36:44','0000-00-00 00:00:00','On my final series of the journey to explore drug in Cross County, I was very surprised to learn about the abuse of prescription drugs especially among our youth.  Ms. Shirley Harvel (interviewee in last week’s article) had informed me that this was a major problem and that I should look into it so I did and was very surprised at what I learned.\r\nLaw enforcement officials and experts in drug addiction are also concerned about growth in the abuse of prescription drugs. In Arkansas, the abuse of prescription drugs is particularly alarming because it is getting worse among teenagers. A report by a federal agency found that Arkansas youth ages 12-17 led the nation in prescription drug abuse in 2007. Another study, conducted in 2008, indicated that 22 percent of Arkansas teenagers had taken prescription drugs for fun rather than for treatment of an illness. \r\n\r\nAn official at the Ark. state Board of Pharmacy said that the problem is growing  exponentially. “Teens are abusing prescription drugs because they believe the myth that these drugs provide a medically safe high.\" This common misconception leads some teens to bring prescription drugs from their home and share them with kids at school, or even take them, often mixing several kinds together, at parties. However, when they are not used according to a doctor\'s prescription they can cause serious side effects, addiction and even death.\r\n\r\nPeople often obtain prescription drugs by \"doctor shopping.\" That means going to numerous physicians for multiple prescriptions for controlled drugs like powerful painkillers and anti-depressants.\r\n\r\nThe attorney general as well as law enforcement officials have begun a campaign to educate the public. The campaign emphasizes the importance of monitoring how many drugs are in the family medicine cabinet and securing them from youngsters. Finally, the campaign promotes proper disposal. If you have unused prescription drugs don\'t leave them around the house. Most drugs should be thrown out in the trash. Mix them with unpleasant substances like garbage, kitty litter or dirt. Peel the label off old drug bottles to prevent anyone from using it for an improper refill. Some drugs should be flushed down the toilet. Call 1-888-463-6332 for information about disposing of old medications.\r\n\r\nSome things you can do to prevent your teen from abusing prescription drugs include:\r\n\r\n1. Monitor the quantity of pills that are in a bottle or pill packet and keep track of refills. You may also consider keeping your prescriptions in a lockbox or locked cabinet.\r\n2. Set clear rules for your teens about all drug use, including not sharing medicine, and always following the medical provider\'s advice and dosages.\r\n 3. Be a good role model by following these same rules with your own medicines. If you misuse your prescription drugs by sharing them with your kids, or abusing them yourself, your teen will take notice.\r\n4. Properly dispose of old or unused medicines in the trash. Remember to remove any personal, identifiable information from prescription bottles or pill packages before you throw them away.\r\n5. Ask friends and family to safeguard their prescription drugs as well. Make sure your friends and relatives, especially grandparents, know about the risks too, and encourage them to regularly monitor and secure their own medicine cabinet.\r\n \r\nAttorney General Dustin McDaniel strongly encourages all parents to sit down with their children and talk with them about prescription drugs and the dangers of abusing them. \"We, as parents, must teach our children the dangers of all kinds of drugs - including prescription medication,\" says McDaniel.\r\n\r\nDue the seriousness of the problem, last month the White House announced plans to crack down on prescription drug abuse, including putting a priority on ridding the nation\'s medicine cabinets of outdated, unused medications. It was said that nearly 75 percent of people who abused prescription drugs reported that they got painkillers from friends or relatives.\r\n\r\nThe legislation would call for national adoption of a Medicaid \"Lock-In\" program, which limits the number of doctors high-risk patients can visit, as well as the pharmacies from which the patients can obtain prescriptions. South Carolina\'s pilot program spurred a 43 percent decrease in the number of pain medications prescribed.\r\n\r\nI was concerned about these alarming results. I had a mother that was willing to come by and talk to me about the ordeal she had with her son who had recently received treatment in rehab for prescription drug abuse. Since this is a very personal matter I will call her “Ann”. \r\n\r\nAnn told me that her son had been feeling anxious and so she took him to the Dr. where he received a prescription for Xanax. (Xanax is primarily used to treat moderate to severe anxiety disorders and panic attacks, and with moderate depression.) She told me this was the beginning of a 7 year battle with addiction. “If I could only go back I would’ve found another way. I would have got him to exercise more or something.”\r\n\r\nHe got to where he was angry, lashing out, aggressive, and couldn’t keep a job. He would stay out all night and sleep all day. The people he hung around with were the same way.  He had no trouble getting the prescription drugs without a prescription and was continuously getting arrested for them. “I realized later that I was enabling him by continuously bailing him out.”\r\n\r\nOne day her son came in and looked like “death”. She realized that she had better do something or it would be too late. She then called the law enforcement and told them that she was going to forcibly admit him for treatment. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.” She said that you can forcibly admit someone if you felt their life was in danger.\r\n\r\nHe was admitted to a place in Newport called “Project New Start“ in Newport, AR. This a Christian based program that helps men and women with their addictions. There are strict guidelines that you have to follow. “I could visit him twice a week. He was angry at first but finally thanked me for saving his life.”\r\n\r\nShe was proud that he was able to finish the 6 month program with a good standing. “His life has changed. If he can only change his environment.” (I noticed this is a common denominator in all addictions.) She says he is living out of town now and looking for a job. However, she was cautious. “I worry about him coming home for just a day, afraid that he will go back to his old friends and old ways.”\r\n\r\nShe said that other parents were calling her that were having the same problem. “I could hear the fear in their voices just like I’ve had.” She said it’s very helpful to talk to others who have been through the same thing.\r\n\r\nAfter talking with her I empathized with her, her son, and her family for the pain that they have been through. Drug addicts are not the only victims. I was deeply touched by her passion to tell her story so others may learn about this terrible epidemic.\r\n\r\nAfter that I received a call from a lady who had told me how my last article had touched her. She and her family had been victims of what seems to be a plague in our area. I felt the pain in her voice as she told me of her ordeal.\r\n\r\nI don’t know if it was the music on my cd, my hormones or the pain that I had just felt by talking to these family members, but tears fell down my face all the way home. I have my father’s nature to want to fix everything and make it all ok but I know that this is not an easy problem to fix.\r\n\r\nAlthough I can’t bring back the child whose lost a parent, a marriage that is broken, or bring back the years who were stolen by substance abuse, I hope in some small way that I can inspire some family member to take action and get some help. \r\n\r\nTo learn more about teenage prescription drug abuse, including how to tell if your teenager is abusing prescription drugs, visit the following sites:\r\n-www.drugabuse.gov\r\n','Tackling Prescription Drugs - Drug Addiction – Part 3','','draft','open','open','','','','','2012-07-10 12:36:44','2012-07-10 19:36:44','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7168',0,'post','',0),(7169,188,'2012-07-10 12:35:29','2012-07-10 19:35:29','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','7168-revision','','','2012-07-10 12:35:29','2012-07-10 19:35:29','',7168,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/10/7168-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7236,160,'2012-07-18 08:47:32','2012-07-18 15:47:32','','charlton_heston_plays_moses','','inherit','open','open','','charlton_heston_plays_moses','','','2012-07-18 08:47:32','2012-07-18 15:47:32','',7235,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/charlton_heston_plays_moses.jpeg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7172,184,'2012-07-11 07:51:51','0000-00-00 00:00:00','Have you ever gotten an invitation that you did not want to open because you knew who it was from, and to open it would disqualify you from being able to use all of your typical excuses to get out of the obligation of attending the event?\r\n\r\nWhat if the invitation was from God?  And what if the invitation represented a culmination of everything that you had tried to hide for most of your adult life?  What if you knew that your reaction to that invitation would change, not only the way that you would view yourself for the rest of your life, but also the way you view God?  Like a divine confrontation waiting to pick a fight, it had come for you and you knew that God had found your deepest and darkest hiding place.  Until now, most of His invitations had been irresistible, like when He would call me away to take a break in my day as a busy wife and mom to come worship Him and just sit in His presence for a while.  And sometimes the invitations came in the form of a feeling, like a bubble of pain welling up in my heart in a place that only He can see.  Time would always beckon me to shove it down just a little longer, but Jesus would come for me and rest my head on His heart until the tears would pour down like rain, washing the wall between my heart and His away.  His heart would overtake mine and, for too brief a moment, I would be enveloped in nothing less than the knowledge that I am deeply loved by God.\r\n\r\nThis invitation is different, it calls me to go to a place that I fear I may never emerge from, and even if I do, who will I be?  Like Lazarus being asked to go back into the grave that he emerged from, Christ is asking me to go back to that place where I have already rolled the stone, blocking myself from any form of re-entry.   My voice takes over and declares, “I have already been forgiven for that.”  And I hear Him echo His reply, “yes, but you have not been redeemed.”\r\n\r\nSo often I feel like a bird that forgets how to fly.  The very thing that sets me apart from experiencing something different from the rest of mankind seems to be the very thing that I often struggle with knowing how to do.  Even if I wanted to go back into that grave, I don’t know how to force my feet to move in that direction.  All I can do is cry out for Him to carry me to a place where His love for me overtakes my fear.\r\n\r\nI am so afraid of what I might encounter in that grave, so afraid to look upon those three little faces and let them become real to me, knowing that I am the one who placed them in the grave, I am the one who took their lives from them.  I am the one who decided that my life was more important then theirs.  What happens when Christ asks you to enter the grave as a woman who chose abortion, three times nonetheless?  And to know that, if I make it out alive, it will be as their mother…the mother of the babies that I aborted.\r\n\r\nThe smell of the grave cloths overwhelms me and makes me sick.  I shudder at the thought that their little bodies where probably thrown out as trash, in a garbage bag, and burned.  In human terms, they are no more than ashes now.  And His voice breaks through again, “…<em>to comfort all who mourn in Zion-to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes</em>…”(Isaiah 61:3).  What man saw as waste, God saw as precious and sacred.  My heart is overwhelmed with the realization that, it was not them He felt sorry for on those three fateful days, it was me.  I was the one He wept for; I was the one He interceded for.  I was the one who continually allowed myself to sink deeper and deeper in to the cement of death; I was the one who was aborting God through declining His invitations to Life.  Three times I denied Him, and now, I hear Him calling out to me the third time, “do you love Me?”  And I know what his question means.  His question searches me and shows me the truth about myself, the truth that maybe I don’t love Him as much as I thought I did.  Certainly there are parts if myself that I would rather hide from than bring into His light.  This is my moment of truth.  I am faced with this confrontation.  What do we do when He asks us to follow Him into the places of our deepest shame and fear?  I am afraid, yet I feel my feet moving toward him.  “Where else can go, for He holds the words of Life.”  Jesus, please let there be life on the other side of this.  I have accepted His invitation.','My Divine Confrontation; Christ and My Abortions','','draft','open','open','','','','','2012-07-11 07:51:51','2012-07-11 14:51:51','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7172',0,'post','',0),(7173,184,'2012-07-11 06:26:27','2012-07-11 13:26:27','Have you ever gotten an invitation that you did not want to open because you knew who it was from, and to open it would disqualify you from being able to use all of your typical excuses to get out of the obligation of attending the event?\n\nWhat if the invitation was from God?  And what if the invitation represented a culmination of everything that you had tried to hide for most of your adult life?  What if you knew that your reaction to that invitation would change, not only the way that you would view yourself for the rest of your life, but also the way you view God?  Like a divine confrontation waiting to pick a fight, it had come for you and you knew that God had found your deepest and darkest hiding place.  Until now, most of His invitations had been irresistible, like when He would call me away to take a break in my day as a busy wife and mom to come worship Him and just sit in His presence for a while.  And sometimes the invitations came in the form of a feeling, like a bubble of pain welling up in my heart in a place that only He can see.  Time would always beckon me to shove it down just a little longer, but Jesus would come for me and rest my head on His heart until the tears would pour down like rain, washing the wall between my heart and His away.  His heart would overtake mine and, for too brief a moment, I would be enveloped in nothing less than the knowledge that I am deeply loved by God.\n\nThis invitation is different, it calls me to go to a place that I fear I may never emerge from, and even if I do, who will I be?  Like Lazarus being asked to go back into the grave that he emerged from, Christ is asking me to go back to that place where I have already rolled the stone, blocking myself from any form of re-entry.   My voice takes over and declares, “I have already been forgiven for that.”  And I hear Him echo His reply, “yes, but you have not been redeemed.”\n\nSo often I feel like a bird that forgets how to fly.  The very thing that sets me apart from experiencing something different from the rest of mankind seems to be the very thing that I often struggle with knowing how to do.  Even if I wanted to go back into that grave, I don’t know how to force my feet to move in that direction.  All I can do is cry out for Him to carry me to a place where His love for me overtakes my fear.\n\nI am so afraid of what I might encounter in that grave, so afraid to look upon those three little faces and let them become real to me, knowing that I am the one who placed them in the grave, I am the one who took their lives from them.  I am the one who decided that my life was more important then theirs.  What happens when Christ asks you to enter the grave as a woman who chose abortion, three times nonetheless?  And to know that, if I make it out alive, it will be as their mother…the mother of the babies that I aborted.\n\nThe smell of the grave cloths overwhelms me and makes me sick.  I shudder at the thought that their little bodies where probably thrown out as trash, in a garbage bag, and burned.  In human terms, they are no more than ashes now.  And His voice breaks through again, “…<em>to comfort all who mourn in Zion-to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes</em>…”(Isaiah 61:3).  What man saw as waste, God saw as precious and sacred.  My heart is overwhelmed with the realization that, it was not them He felt sorry for on those three fateful days, it was me.  I was the one He wept for; I was the one He interceded for.  I was the one who continually allowed myself to sink deeper and deeper in to the cement of death; I was the one who was aborting God through declining His invitations to Life.  Three times I denied Him, and now, I hear Him calling out to me the third time, “do you love Me?”  And I know what his question means.  His question searches me and shows me the truth about myself, the truth that maybe I don’t love Him as much as I thought I did.  Certainly there are parts if myself that I would rather hide from than bring into His light.  This is my moment of truth.  I am faced with this confrontation.  What do we do when He asks us to follow Him into the places of our deepest shame and fear?  I am afraid, yet I feel my feet moving toward him.  “Where else can go, for He holds the words of Life.”  Jesus, please let there be life on the other side of this.  I have accepted His invitation.','My Divine Confrontation; Christ and My Abortions','','inherit','open','open','','7172-revision','','','2012-07-11 06:26:27','2012-07-11 13:26:27','',7172,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/11/7172-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7174,184,'2012-07-11 07:46:30','2012-07-11 14:46:30','','file1841334398775','','inherit','open','open','','file1841334398775','','','2012-07-11 07:46:30','2012-07-11 14:46:30','',7172,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/file1841334398775.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7175,184,'2012-07-11 07:07:00','2012-07-11 14:07:00','Have you ever gotten an invitation that you did not want to open because you knew who it was from, and to open it would disqualify you from being able to use all of your typical excuses to get out of the obligation of attending the event?\n\nWhat if the invitation was from God?  And what if the invitation represented a culmination of everything that you had tried to hide for most of your adult life?  What if you knew that your reaction to that invitation would change, not only the way that you would view yourself for the rest of your life, but also the way you view God?  Like a divine confrontation waiting to pick a fight, it had come for you and you knew that God had found your deepest and darkest hiding place.  Until now, most of His invitations had been irresistible, like when He would call me away to take a break in my day as a busy wife and mom to come worship Him and just sit in His presence for a while.  And sometimes the invitations came in the form of a feeling, like a bubble of pain welling up in my heart in a place that only He can see.  Time would always beckon me to shove it down just a little longer, but Jesus would come for me and rest my head on His heart until the tears would pour down like rain, washing the wall between my heart and His away.  His heart would overtake mine and, for too brief a moment, I would be enveloped in nothing less than the knowledge that I am deeply loved by God.\n\nThis invitation is different, it calls me to go to a place that I fear I may never emerge from, and even if I do, who will I be?  Like Lazarus being asked to go back into the grave that he emerged from, Christ is asking me to go back to that place where I have already rolled the stone, blocking myself from any form of re-entry.   My voice takes over and declares, “I have already been forgiven for that.”  And I hear Him echo His reply, “yes, but you have not been redeemed.”\n\nSo often I feel like a bird that forgets how to fly.  The very thing that sets me apart from experiencing something different from the rest of mankind seems to be the very thing that I often struggle with knowing how to do.  Even if I wanted to go back into that grave, I don’t know how to force my feet to move in that direction.  All I can do is cry out for Him to carry me to a place where His love for me overtakes my fear.\n\nI am so afraid of what I might encounter in that grave, so afraid to look upon those three little faces and let them become real to me, knowing that I am the one who placed them in the grave, I am the one who took their lives from them.  I am the one who decided that my life was more important then theirs.  What happens when Christ asks you to enter the grave as a woman who chose abortion, three times nonetheless?  And to know that, if I make it out alive, it will be as their mother…the mother of the babies that I aborted.\n\nThe smell of the grave cloths overwhelms me and makes me sick.  I shudder at the thought that their little bodies where probably thrown out as trash, in a garbage bag, and burned.  In human terms, they are no more than ashes now.  And His voice breaks through again, “…<em>to comfort all who mourn in Zion-to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes</em>…”(Isaiah 61:3).  What man saw as waste, God saw as precious and sacred.  My heart is overwhelmed with the realization that, it was not them He felt sorry for on those three fateful days, it was me.  I was the one He wept for; I was the one He interceded for.  I was the one who continually allowed myself to sink deeper and deeper in to the cement of death; I was the one who was aborting God through declining His invitations to Life.  Three times I denied Him, and now, I hear Him calling out to me the third time, “do you love Me?”  And I know what his question means.  His question searches me and shows me the truth about myself, the truth that maybe I don’t love Him as much as I thought I did.  Certainly there are parts if myself that I would rather hide from than bring into His light.  This is my moment of truth.  I am faced with this confrontation.  What do we do when He asks us to follow Him into the places of our deepest shame and fear?  I am afraid, yet I feel my feet moving toward him.  “Where else can go, for He holds the words of Life.”  Jesus, please let there be life on the other side of this.  I have accepted His invitation.','My Divine Confrontation; Christ and My Abortions','','inherit','open','open','','7172-revision-2','','','2012-07-11 07:07:00','2012-07-11 14:07:00','',7172,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/11/7172-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7235,160,'2012-08-10 07:42:31','0000-00-00 00:00:00','<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/charlton_heston_plays_moses1.jpeg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-7237\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/charlton_heston_plays_moses1-150x150.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" /></a>\n\nAs fires roared through Colorado a couple of weeks ago, Pat Robertson and the other self-appointed interpreters of God’s Divine Will were strangely quiet.  They are often quick to point the finger of judgment at places that they feel have been deserving of a good smiting; far-away places like Thailand, Haiti, or even New Orleans.  Colorado, on the other hand, was a little too close for comfort.   With organizations such as Focus on the Family headquartered in Colorado Springs, it has been called the Evangelical Vatican.   So, was some sort of miscalculation made in the heavenly realm?\n\nIt’s hard to fathom God sending cataclysms to punish people who don’t have much more in common other than an area code.   But, perhaps, there is a more obvious message to be gleaned from these increasingly frequent natural disasters.  God allows me to suffer the consequences for poor decisions I’ve made in my own life, so why wouldn’t He let the human race reap what we’ve collectively sown?   This would include actions such as clear cutting whole forests, stripping mining and mountain top removal, fracturing through shale, and pumping pollutants into the water and air.\n\nHuman beings require the earth’s resources for food, shelter, and a whole bunch of other, less necessary stuff.   For the most part, corporations have established themselves as the middlemen between the planet and the consumer.   While they make our lives infinitely easier, corporations are not in the business of conservation.   With seven billion customers and counting, we are stressing the limits of the earth’s capacity.   In Brian McLaren’s book, <em>Everything Must Change</em>, he compares this unsustainable relationship with our ecosystem to a ‘suicide machine.’\n\n<em>“The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish.   The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.  Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt.  Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.”  </em> Isaiah 24: 4-6\n\nWhile this passage in Isaiah sounds like it could be our future, it’s dangerous to apply Old Testament prophecies to our modern day world.   What is even more dangerous is to ignore real warning signs that our world is sending to us.  Despite the disagreement in public opinion, the scientific community has been agreed on global warming for some time.   The fact is there has been a steady upward trend in global temperatures over the last three decades with 2000 to 2009 being the hottest since they started measuring temperatures in 1895.   2012 is already the hottest half-year on record.\n\nCarbon dioxide (CO2) is a heat trapping (or greenhouse) gas, so it’s not too surprising that as more manmade CO2 has been released into the atmosphere, global temperatures have risen.  While some CO2 emissions occur in nature, humans and corporations are adding to the overall effect by burning fossil fuels and cutting down trees at an alarming rate.  There is evidence that naturally occurring CO2 helped to end the last ice age.   Since we’re not in an ice age, the question is where will the temperatures go from here?   The answer is - no one knows where any of this is going…\n\nIncreasing CO2 levels will probably mean hotter climates, which will lead to more droughts and famines.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently reported that the ice caps are melting faster than previously thought.  Since ice caps reflect heat, their disappearance will only exacerbate global warming.   And, of course, melting ice caps will cause water level to rise.  Combined with oceanic warming trends, this creates conditions for even wilder weather.  It’s also well documented that warmer water is also more acidic and destructive to marine life.\n\n<em>“The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great – and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”</em>  Revelation 11: 15\n\nThat should serve as a warning to those who destroy the earth, including those who consciously confuse the issues for their own political and financial gains.  Of course, everyone shares responsibility.   We have to de-politicize the debate and demand a more constructive forum.   We have to better understand the problems we face and implement real changes to public policy.   The environment is an issue both religion and science should be able to get behind.   If God is sending a message, maybe we should answer the call.  In the end, no one wants to prove the prophets of doom right.\n\nJeff Fulmer lives in Nashville Tennessee and is the author of the book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Hometown-Prophet-Jeff-Fulmer/dp/1463632312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1312940193&amp;sr=8-1\">Hometown Prophet</a>.  <em> If God spoke through a prophet today, would we really want to hear what he has to say?</em>','Are Natural Disasters a Sign from God? ','','draft','open','open','','','','','2012-08-10 07:42:31','2012-08-10 14:42:31','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7235',0,'post','',0),(7179,134,'2012-07-16 08:00:25','2012-07-16 15:00:25','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\r\n\r\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was taboo back in the mid 1970′s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\r\n\r\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn’t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I had one. So was my life for many years — no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was, and felt, alone.\r\n\r\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete, or so I thought.\r\n\r\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered well (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Surprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted every time he saw me hanging out with her and didn’t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\r\n\r\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father’s first marriage) didn’t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy’s little girl.\r\n\r\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I’ve got a younger sister who’s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it’s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we’re getting along well.\r\n\r\nI’m still surprised that I’ve got a baby sister (pictured in this post).\r\n\r\nI can’t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father. He\'s hurt and practically destroyed the life of everyone he was to love, care for and protect -- the women he\'s slept with, the children he\'s fathered and even his grandchildren. Although the lives of my siblings and mine are far from perfect, <em>we\'re not so messed up</em>.','Sins of the Father','','publish','open','open','','sins-of-the-father','','','2012-07-14 11:39:13','2012-07-14 18:39:13','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7179',0,'post','',0),(7180,134,'2012-07-12 04:52:35','2012-07-12 11:52:35','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\n\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was tabboo back in the mid 1970\'s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\n\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn\'t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I wanted one. So was my life for many years -- no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was and felt alone.\n\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete or so I thought.\n\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered vwell (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Suprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted everytime he saw me hanging out with her and didn\'t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\n\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father\'s first marriage) didn\'t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy\'s little girl.\n\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I\'ve got a younger sister who\'s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it\'s time to get to know her and welcome her.\n\nI can\'t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision','','','2012-07-12 04:52:35','2012-07-12 11:52:35','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7181,134,'2012-07-12 04:52:59','2012-07-12 11:52:59','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\r\n\r\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was tabboo back in the mid 1970\'s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\r\n\r\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn\'t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I wanted one. So was my life for many years -- no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was and felt alone.\r\n\r\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete or so I thought.\r\n\r\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered vwell (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Suprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted everytime he saw me hanging out with her and didn\'t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\r\n\r\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father\'s first marriage) didn\'t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy\'s little girl.\r\n\r\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I\'ve got a younger sister who\'s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it\'s time to get to know her and welcome her.\r\n\r\nI can\'t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-2','','','2012-07-12 04:52:59','2012-07-12 11:52:59','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7182,134,'2012-07-12 05:15:51','2012-07-12 12:15:51','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\n\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was tabboo back in the mid 1970\'s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\n\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn\'t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I wanted one. So was my life for many years -- no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was and felt alone.\n\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete or so I thought.\n\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered vwell (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Suprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted everytime he saw me hanging out with her and didn\'t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\n\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father\'s first marriage) didn\'t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy\'s little girl.\n\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I\'ve got a younger sister who\'s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it\'s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we\'re getting along well.\n\nI\'m still surprised that I\'ve got a baby sister.\n\nI can\'t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-3','','','2012-07-12 05:15:51','2012-07-12 12:15:51','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7185,134,'2012-07-12 07:17:14','2012-07-12 14:17:14','','Emperatriz','','inherit','open','open','','emperatriz-500x250','','','2012-07-12 07:17:14','2012-07-12 14:17:14','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/emperatriz-500x250.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7186,134,'2012-07-12 07:10:26','2012-07-12 14:10:26','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\n\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was tabboo back in the mid 1970\'s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\n\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn\'t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I wanted one. So was my life for many years -- no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was and felt alone.\n\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete or so I thought.\n\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered vwell (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Suprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted everytime he saw me hanging out with her and didn\'t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\n\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father\'s first marriage) didn\'t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy\'s little girl.\n\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I\'ve got a younger sister who\'s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it\'s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we\'re getting along well.\n\nI\'m still surprised that I\'ve got a baby sister.\n\nI can\'t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-4','','','2012-07-12 07:10:26','2012-07-12 14:10:26','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7187,134,'2012-07-12 07:17:40','2012-07-12 14:17:40','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\r\n\r\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was tabboo back in the mid 1970\'s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\r\n\r\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn\'t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I wanted one. So was my life for many years -- no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was and felt alone.\r\n\r\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete or so I thought.\r\n\r\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered vwell (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Suprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted everytime he saw me hanging out with her and didn\'t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\r\n\r\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father\'s first marriage) didn\'t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy\'s little girl.\r\n\r\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I\'ve got a younger sister who\'s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it\'s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we\'re getting along well.\r\n\r\nI\'m still surprised that I\'ve got a baby sister.\r\n\r\nI can\'t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-5','','','2012-07-12 07:17:40','2012-07-12 14:17:40','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(7188,134,'2012-07-12 07:17:52','2012-07-12 14:17:52','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\r\n\r\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was tabboo back in the mid 1970\'s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\r\n\r\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn\'t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I wanted one. So was my life for many years -- no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was and felt alone.\r\n\r\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete or so I thought.\r\n\r\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered vwell (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Suprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted everytime he saw me hanging out with her and didn\'t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\r\n\r\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father\'s first marriage) didn\'t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy\'s little girl.\r\n\r\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I\'ve got a younger sister who\'s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it\'s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we\'re getting along well.\r\n\r\nI\'m still surprised that I\'ve got a baby sister.\r\n\r\nI can\'t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-6','','','2012-07-12 07:17:52','2012-07-12 14:17:52','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(7189,134,'2012-07-12 07:21:30','2012-07-12 14:21:30','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\n\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was taboo back in the mid 1970′s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\n\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn’t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I wanted one. So was my life for many years — no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was and felt alone.\n\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete or so I thought.\n\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered well (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Surprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted every time he saw me hanging out with her and didn’t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\n\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father’s first marriage) didn’t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy’s little girl.\n\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I’ve got a younger sister who’s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it’s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we’re getting along well.\n\nI’m still surprised that I’ve got a baby sister.\n\nI can’t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-7','','','2012-07-12 07:21:30','2012-07-12 14:21:30','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(7190,134,'2012-07-12 07:23:57','2012-07-12 14:23:57','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\r\n\r\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was taboo back in the mid 1970′s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\r\n\r\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn’t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I wanted one. So was my life for many years — no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was and felt alone.\r\n\r\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete or so I thought.\r\n\r\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered well (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Surprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted every time he saw me hanging out with her and didn’t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\r\n\r\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father’s first marriage) didn’t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy’s little girl.\r\n\r\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I’ve got a younger sister who’s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it’s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we’re getting along well.\r\n\r\nI’m still surprised that I’ve got a baby sister.\r\n\r\nI can’t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-8','','','2012-07-12 07:23:57','2012-07-12 14:23:57','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(7191,134,'2012-07-13 12:50:38','2012-07-13 19:50:38','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\n\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was taboo back in the mid 1970′s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\n\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn’t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I had one. So was my life for many years — no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was, and felt, alone.\n\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete, or so I thought.\n\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered well (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Surprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted every time he saw me hanging out with her and didn’t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\n\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father’s first marriage) didn’t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy’s little girl.\n\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I’ve got a younger sister who’s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it’s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we’re getting along well.\n\nI’m still surprised that I’ve got a baby sister (pictured in this post).\n\nI can’t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father. He\'s hurt and practically destroyed the life of everyone he was to love, care for and protect -- the women he\'s slept with, the children he\'s fathered and even his grandchildren. Although the lives of my siblings and mine are far from perfect, <em>we\'re not so messed up</em>.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-autosave','','','2012-07-13 12:50:38','2012-07-13 19:50:38','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7179-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7193,12,'2012-07-12 21:19:38','2012-07-13 04:19:38','','prayer5','','inherit','open','open','','prayer5-2','','','2012-07-12 21:19:38','2012-07-13 04:19:38','',7192,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer51.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7194,12,'2012-07-12 21:20:12','2012-07-13 04:20:12','','jwilson','','inherit','open','open','','jwilson-2','','','2012-07-12 21:20:12','2012-07-13 04:20:12','',7192,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7195,12,'2012-07-12 21:20:52','2012-07-13 04:20:52','','prayer5','','inherit','open','open','','prayer5-3','','','2012-07-12 21:20:52','2012-07-13 04:20:52','',7192,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer52.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7196,12,'2012-07-12 21:23:32','2012-07-13 04:23:32','I got a chance to catch up with Joy Wilson, author of <em><a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Uncensored-Prayer-Spiritual-Practice-Wrestling/dp/0615480810/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1342152739&amp;sr=8-1\">\"Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God,\" </a>(Civitas Press, 2011)</em> recently. <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/07/book-review-uncensored-prayer-by-joy-wilson-2/\">After reading and reviewing her book</a>, I had some questions for her. Some were germane to the book and some were just things I really wanted to know.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>I loved your book and I want to ask some really detailed questions about it in a minute, but I want to get to know you a little better first. You’re very honest about your life and who you are, but I want to know some superfluous things first. What kind of books do you like to read?  What are your favorite kinds of music?  What do you like to do in your spare time?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: In my spare time, I’m usually reading 3-4 different books simultaneously, mostly history (<em>especially Civil War and WWII</em>) and mysteries.  Favorite authors are Stephen E. Ambrose, Shelby Foote, David McCullough, and Anne Perry.  My musical tastes run from Joni Mitchell and Stevie Ray Vaughn to old scratchy record blues and the great sacred classical choral works.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What do you mean by “uncensored prayer” and “wrestling with God”?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: God wants to have totally honest conversations with us, and we can say anything we want since He/She already knows what we think.  No topic, language, or feeling is unholy.  It’s wrestling through anger, faith, pain, hope about every aspect of our lives. As we begin to develop a personal relationship of love and trust, we can experience the redemptive freedom that comes from speaking freely with God.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>You said “God wants to have totally honest conversations with us.”  How does a person hear from God?  Is it an impression upon your soul?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: Most people think of prayer as talking to or at God. The most common question I’m asked about prayer is, “<em>How do you know you’re hearing from God?”</em>  The Lord can speak to us in a variety of ways – through Scripture, a song, nature, what someone says, and just in our hearts. God’s response might be a direct answer, or peace that hasn’t come through any other means.  God wants us to know that we’re hearing from Him or Her and will make sure we do, if we’re willing to listen.  We won’t always get the answer we want, or when we want it, but the Lord always gives us what we need.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>Do you find that some people feel threatened or afraid of trying uncensored prayer?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: We all have beliefs about God and prayer.  Some of us are comfortable with religious rituals that define what’s appropriate to say in prayer.  Other people think prayer is a four-letter word, and are unwilling to approach a Deity they think is angry, judgmental, and easily offended.  Stepping out of our comfort zone is never easy, because the unknown is scary.  But seeking God in complete honesty gives us the chance to find out for ourselves what God is really like.\r\n\r\nMy conservative Christian upbringing taught me that God accepts or rejects us based on what we do.  Because I <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer53.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7197\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer53-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" /></a>didn’t/couldn’t meet those requirements, including “faith”, I gave up trying to please a God who was already mad at me.  One day I screamed out my pain and anger in uncensored prayer.  To my total shock, God screamed back His love for me, which is what it took for me to believe I was unconditionally accepted, and our relationship grew from there.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>You give insight to your writing process in your book. You talk about the need to be inspired before you write. What inspires you to write? Is your writing process a lot like how you engage in uncensored prayer?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: Uncensored prayer is spontaneous; writing takes work, but when God and I write together, creativity flows from our combined hearts and minds.  In contrast, when I write by myself, even if I have a great idea, it’s like pulling up words out of concrete and it usually ends up in the trash!\r\n\r\nSome ideas just come to me – like the first line of a poem.  Poems are my written uncensored prayers (though I also pray out-loud). If I’m in a position to drop everything and get by myself, a poem will usually be completed within thirty minutes, and except for one or two word changes, it’s finished.  Writing articles or chapters takes a lot of time and effort, but I enjoy it (usually!).  My editor, Jonathan Brink, inspired me to write prose.  Actually, he taught me to write prose!\r\n\r\nRC: <em>In your book, you mentioned that you felt that some people might be upset with what they read. Was that a consequence of your writing? If it was, how did you handle it?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: To my great surprise, I’ve only received one negative comment since the book was released in July, 2011.  My belief is God is putting the book into the hands of people who need it and are receptive to its message.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What has been the most unexpected outcome of the publication of your book?</em>\r\n\r\nThe opportunity to teach my book on-line.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>In hindsight, is there a message you wish you could add to the book?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: For years, I’ve been aware of both the male and female characteristics of God.  If I could make one change in the book, I would probably refer to God as He/She most of the time, or state in the introduction that I would be calling God “He” for simplification purposes.\r\n\r\nRC: What did you learn from writing this book?\r\n\r\nJW: That following God can be terrifying, because the Lord always leads us into the wild unknown and has a bad habit of jumping off cliffs, dragging us along while we scream, “NOOOOOO!”  But if I hadn’t gone through the doors God opened, my book wouldn’t exist.  Through the experiences of writing and teaching my book, and telling people about it, I have learned to trust God on a much deeper level.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>After reading this book, what can someone do to pursue uncensored prayer further?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: For a guided, in-depth study, I recommend my on-line class.  Over five weeks, we explore and practice wrestling with God through every aspect of our lives in complete honesty, and learn how to hear from God.  It is self-paced, so you can participate whenever best fits your schedule.  The course includes reading assignments in my book, daily guided prayer time, keeping a journal, and class interaction on a Discussion Board.  The next class will be offered July 23-August 24, 2012.  For more information and to register, click on this link: <a href=\"http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer\">http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer</a>\r\n\r\n_________________\r\n\r\nMany thanks to Joy for her book and her openness in writing this book. It has helped me immeasurably since I read it. Take time to buy it/download it for yourself and be blessed. More than that, enroll in her class and see the power of Uncensored Prayer in your own life.','Interview With Civitas Press Author, Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7192-autosave','','','2012-07-12 21:23:32','2012-07-13 04:23:32','',7192,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/12/7192-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7197,12,'2012-07-12 21:22:58','2012-07-13 04:22:58','','prayer5','','inherit','open','open','','prayer5-4','','','2012-07-12 21:22:58','2012-07-13 04:22:58','',7192,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer53.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7201,174,'2012-07-14 08:00:40','2012-07-14 15:00:40','The summer staff eats dinner together every night. We talk about the evening program and our days with the groups. There comes a breaking point where laughter erupts and the conversation devolves into mindless rumble. Last week, this laughter evolved into playful criticism towards me. I lead the music for the evening program and I am not ashamed to say I pick songs that are indie. You know, songs from bands that no one has ever heard of or songs originally sung in different languages? The staff complained of hearing the same songs each week, although the youth love the songs that I play and every week sing with a different group. They called me a pseudo-hipster, which infuriated me and I proceeded in pretending to throw things and destroy the office. One song that I adore is a Spanish worship song titled Montaña by Salvador. The lyrics are thus:\r\n<blockquote>If you have faith like a seed of a mustard\r\nThat’s what the Lord has said\r\nIf you have faith like a seed of a mustard\r\nThat’s what the Lord has said\r\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\r\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\r\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away\r\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away</blockquote>\r\nIt takes the group at least two go arounds to really get into this song. Once this happens, the energy in the sanctuary is incomparable to other songs throughout the week. Youth, as well as adults, love it. I have come up with a few theories about this passionate energy. The youths are first filled with vigor, as they sing a song different from in their own churches. Second, the melody is catchy and resonates; they cannot help but jump around during the chorus. There are other responses, but I am going to focus on the fact that the youth are expecting/experiencing the kin-dom of God, where the world will be turned upside down. This is why they  jump in joyous presumption that God is participating with them in creating something new.\r\n\r\nPost-modern philosopher and theologian, John Caputo, crafted the book ”The Weakness of God,” which I have been devouring this week. Caputo summarizes the dichotomy between the world’s kingdoms and God’s kin-dom, writing,\r\n<blockquote> “The kingdom that Jesus called for was a kingdom ironically, one that was itself mocking the business-as-usual of the powers that be, one in which a divine madness reigned, even as it was, from the point of view of the Roman Empire, of the Brutality of the world, simple foolishness, outright stupidity” (15).</blockquote>\r\nThe kin-dom that we are expecting is one of reversals. The youth groups observe reversals of cultural normalcy through urban gardens, Narcotics Anonymous Meetings, in small neighborhood churches reaching out into their communities through play. Explosions of reality occur at every location, most of it concrete and tangible with the senses. For example, when the youth uproot weeds that choke vegetables and herbs, they smell soil, manure, and hay; soil slips in their fingernails, and sweat drips from their forehead. This contradicts the common pattern they are used to, such as going to fast food restaurants, standing on hard tile, receiving food wrapped in paper, and drinking sodas with unknown ingredients. Eruptions of the kin-dom gives hope to the hopeless. They force one to reconsider the way they have been living. One can see the mountains move before their very eyes, if not now, soon with the coming kin-dom. The role of imagination appears in the middle of kin-dom and reality. Imagination lends one to think of a different reality where the impossible is possible, where the food deserts in north Philadelphia become places of lush gardens of vegetables and orchards of fruit, where people are treated with respect rather than contempt.\r\n\r\nYet, it is much too simple to be cynical about reality, to allow the kingdom of the world to dictate our actions. For this reason, communities of believers must be the imaginative voices in their towns. A group of people where their imagination is intricate in their prayer life is those who practice the Ignatian Spirituality. One is asked to imagine scenes in their minds when praying, e.g. biblical scene of Mary and Elizabeth meeting while both are pregnant. These kind of imaginative practices must bleed into the very life with how we perform everyday. The imagination and the kin-dom to come should be intertwined and seek this new world, while trying our best to create something in the present.','Christian Imagination and Moving Mountains','','publish','open','open','','christian-imagination-and-moving-mountains','','','2012-07-13 13:35:58','2012-07-13 20:35:58','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7201',0,'post','',0),(7202,134,'2012-07-13 09:15:49','2012-07-13 16:15:49','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\r\n\r\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was taboo back in the mid 1970′s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\r\n\r\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn’t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I had one. So was my life for many years — no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was, and felt, alone.\r\n\r\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete, or so I thought.\r\n\r\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered well (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Surprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted every time he saw me hanging out with her and didn’t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\r\n\r\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father’s first marriage) didn’t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy’s little girl.\r\n\r\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I’ve got a younger sister who’s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it’s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we’re getting along well.\r\n\r\nI’m still surprised that I’ve got a baby sister (pictured in this post).\r\n\r\nI can’t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-10','','','2012-07-13 09:15:49','2012-07-13 16:15:49','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7179-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(7203,174,'2012-07-13 12:58:04','2012-07-13 19:58:04','','Voyage to the Moon','','inherit','open','open','','voage-to-the-moon','','','2012-07-13 12:58:04','2012-07-13 19:58:04','',7201,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voage-to-the-moon.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7204,174,'2012-07-13 13:00:11','2012-07-13 20:00:11','','Voyage to the Moon','','inherit','open','open','','voage-to-the-moon-2','','','2012-07-13 13:00:11','2012-07-13 20:00:11','',7201,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voage-to-the-moon1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7212,179,'2012-07-13 13:35:13','2012-07-13 20:35:13','The summer staff eats dinner together every night. We talk about the evening program and our days with the groups. There comes a breaking point where laughter erupts and the conversation devolves into mindless rumble. Last week, this laughter evolved into playful criticism towards me. I lead the music for the evening program and I am not ashamed to say I pick songs that are indie. You know, songs from bands that no one has ever heard of, or songs originally sung in different languages? The staff complained of hearing the same songs each week, although the youth love the songs that I play, and every week sing with a different group. They called me a pseudo-hipster, which infuriated me and I proceeded in pretending to throw things and destroy the office. One song that I adore is a Spanish worship song titled Montaña by Salvador. The lyrics are thus:\r\n<blockquote>If you have faith like a seed of a mustard\r\nThat’s what the Lord has said\r\nIf you have faith like a seed of a mustard\r\nThat’s what the Lord has said\r\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\r\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\r\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away\r\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away</blockquote>\r\nIt takes the group at least two go arounds to really get into this song. Once this happens, the energy in the sanctuary is incomparable to other songs throughout the week. Youth, as well as adults, love it. I have come up with a few theories about this passionate energy. The youths are first filled with vigor, as they sing a song different from in their own churches. Second, the melody is catchy and resonates; they cannot help but jump around during the chorus. There are other responses, but I am going to focus on the fact that the youth are expecting/experiencing the kin-dom of God, where the world will be turned upside down. This is why they  jump in joyous presumption that God is participating with them in creating something new.\r\n\r\nPost-modern philosopher and theologian, John Caputo, crafted the book ”The Weakness of God,” which I have been devouring this week. Caputo summarizes the dichotomy between the world’s kingdoms and God’s kin-dom, writing,\r\n<blockquote> “The kingdom that Jesus called for was a kingdom ironically, one that was itself mocking the business-as-usual of the powers that be, one in which a divine madness reigned, even as it was, from the point of view of the Roman Empire, of the Brutality of the world, simple foolishness, outright stupidity” (15).</blockquote>\r\nThe kin-dom that we are expecting is one of reversals. The youth groups observe reversals of cultural normalcy through urban gardens, Narcotics Anonymous Meetings, in small neighborhood churches reaching out into their communities through play. Explosions of reality occur at every location, most of it concrete and tangible with the senses. For example, when the youth uproot weeds that choke vegetables and herbs, they smell soil, manure, and hay; soil slips in their fingernails, and sweat drips from their forehead. This contradicts the common pattern they are used to, such as going to fast food restaurants, standing on hard tile, receiving food wrapped in paper, and drinking sodas with unknown ingredients. Eruptions of the kin-dom gives hope to the hopeless. They force one to reconsider the way they have been living. One can see the mountains move before their very eyes, if not now, soon with the coming kin-dom. The role of imagination appears in the middle of kin-dom and reality. Imagination lends one to think of a different reality where the impossible is possible, where the food deserts in north Philadelphia become places of lush gardens of vegetables and orchards of fruit, where people are treated with respect rather than contempt.\r\n\r\nYet, it is much too simple to be cynical about reality, to allow the kingdom of the world to dictate our actions. For this reason, communities of believers must be the imaginative voices in their towns. A group of people where their imagination is intricate in their prayer life is those who practice the Ignatian Spirituality. One is asked to imagine scenes in their minds when praying, e.g. biblical scene of Mary and Elizabeth meeting while both are pregnant. These kind of imaginative practices must bleed into the very life with how we perform everyday. The imagination and the kin-dom to come should be intertwined and seek this new world, while trying our best to create something in the present.','Christian Imagination and Moving Mountains','','inherit','open','open','','7201-revision-4','','','2012-07-13 13:35:13','2012-07-13 20:35:13','',7201,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7201-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7205,174,'2012-07-13 13:01:48','2012-07-13 20:01:48','<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voage-to-the-moon1.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-7204 aligncenter\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voage-to-the-moon1-237x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"237\" height=\"300\" /></a></p>\nThe summer staff eats dinner together every night. We talk about the evening program and our days with the groups. There comes a breaking point where laughter erupts and the conversation devolves into mindless rumble. Last week, this laughter evolved into playful criticism towards me. I lead the music for the evening program and I am not ashamed to say I pick songs that are indie. You know, songs from bands that no one has ever heard of or songs originally sung in different languages? The staff complained of hearing the same songs each week, although the youth love the songs that I play and every week sing with a different group. They called me a pseudo-hipster, which infuriated me and I proceeded in pretending to throw things and destroy the office. One song that I adore is a Spanish worship song titled Montaña by Salvador. The lyrics are thus:\n<blockquote>If you have faith like a seed of a mustard\nThat’s what the Lord has said\nIf you have faith like a seed of a mustard\nThat’s what the Lord has said\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away</blockquote>\nIt takes the group at least two go arounds to really get into this song. Once this happens, the energy in the sanctuary is incomparable to other songs throughout the week. Youth, as well as adults, love it. I have come up with a few theories about this passionate energy. The youth are first filled with vigor, as they sing a song different from in their own churches. Second, the melody is catchy and resonates; they cannot help but jump around during the chorus. There are other responses, but I am going to focus on the fact that the youth are expecting/experiencing the kin-dom of God, where the world will be turned upside down. This is why they  jump in joyous presumption that God is participating with them in creating something new.\n\nPost-modern philosopher and theologian, John Caputo, crafted the book ”The Weakness of God,” which I have been devouring this week. Caputo summarizes the dichotomy between the world’s kingdoms and God’s kin-dom, writing,\n<blockquote> “The kingdom that Jesus called for was a kingdom ironically, one that was itself mocking the business-as-usual of the powers that be, one in which a divine madness reigned, even as it was, from the point of view of the Roman Empire, of the Brutality of the world, simple foolishness, outright stupidity” (15).</blockquote>\nThe kin-dom that we are expecting is one of reversals. The youth groups observe reversals of cultural normalcy through urban gardens, Narcotics Anonymous Meetings, in small neighborhood churches reaching out into their communities through play. Explosions of reality occur at every location, most of it concrete and tangible with the senses. For example, when the youth uproot weeds that choke vegetables and herbs, they smell soil, manure, and hay; soil slips in their fingernails, and sweat drips from their forehead. This contradicts the common pattern they are used to, such as going to fast food restaurants, standing on hard tile, receiving food wrapped in paper, and drinking sodas with unknown ingredients. Eruptions of the kin-dom gives hope to the hopeless. They force one to reconsider the way they have been living. One can see the mountains move before their very eyes, if not now, soon with the coming kin-dom. The role of imagination appears in the middle of kin-dom and reality. Imagination lends one to think of a different reality where the impossible is possible, where the food deserts in north Philadelphia become places of lush gardens of vegetables and orchards of fruit, where people are treated with respect rather than contempt.\n\nYet, it is much too simple to be cynical about reality, to allow the kingdom of the world to dictate our actions. For this reason, communities of believers must be the imaginative voices in their towns. A group of people where their imagination is intricate in their prayer life is those who practice the Ignatian Spirituality. One is asked to imagine scenes in their minds when praying, e.g. biblical scene of Mary and Elizabeth meeting while both are pregnant. These kind of imaginative practices must bleed into the very life with how we perform everyday. The imagination and the kin-dom to come should be intertwined and seek this new world, while trying our best to create something in the present.','Christian Imagination and Moving Mountains','','inherit','open','open','','7201-revision','','','2012-07-13 13:01:48','2012-07-13 20:01:48','',7201,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7201-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7206,174,'2012-07-13 13:03:26','2012-07-13 20:03:26','<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voage-to-the-moon1.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-7204 aligncenter\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voage-to-the-moon1-237x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"237\" height=\"300\" /></a></p>\r\nThe summer staff eats dinner together every night. We talk about the evening program and our days with the groups. There comes a breaking point where laughter erupts and the conversation devolves into mindless rumble. Last week, this laughter evolved into playful criticism towards me. I lead the music for the evening program and I am not ashamed to say I pick songs that are indie. You know, songs from bands that no one has ever heard of or songs originally sung in different languages? The staff complained of hearing the same songs each week, although the youth love the songs that I play and every week sing with a different group. They called me a pseudo-hipster, which infuriated me and I proceeded in pretending to throw things and destroy the office. One song that I adore is a Spanish worship song titled Montaña by Salvador. The lyrics are thus:\r\n<blockquote>If you have faith like a seed of a mustard\r\nThat’s what the Lord has said\r\nIf you have faith like a seed of a mustard\r\nThat’s what the Lord has said\r\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\r\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\r\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away\r\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away</blockquote>\r\nIt takes the group at least two go arounds to really get into this song. Once this happens, the energy in the sanctuary is incomparable to other songs throughout the week. Youth, as well as adults, love it. I have come up with a few theories about this passionate energy. The youths are first filled with vigor, as they sing a song different from in their own churches. Second, the melody is catchy and resonates; they cannot help but jump around during the chorus. There are other responses, but I am going to focus on the fact that the youth are expecting/experiencing the kin-dom of God, where the world will be turned upside down. This is why they  jump in joyous presumption that God is participating with them in creating something new.\r\n\r\nPost-modern philosopher and theologian, John Caputo, crafted the book ”The Weakness of God,” which I have been devouring this week. Caputo summarizes the dichotomy between the world’s kingdoms and God’s kin-dom, writing,\r\n<blockquote> “The kingdom that Jesus called for was a kingdom ironically, one that was itself mocking the business-as-usual of the powers that be, one in which a divine madness reigned, even as it was, from the point of view of the Roman Empire, of the Brutality of the world, simple foolishness, outright stupidity” (15).</blockquote>\r\nThe kin-dom that we are expecting is one of reversals. The youth groups observe reversals of cultural normalcy through urban gardens, Narcotics Anonymous Meetings, in small neighborhood churches reaching out into their communities through play. Explosions of reality occur at every location, most of it concrete and tangible with the senses. For example, when the youth uproot weeds that choke vegetables and herbs, they smell soil, manure, and hay; soil slips in their fingernails, and sweat drips from their forehead. This contradicts the common pattern they are used to, such as going to fast food restaurants, standing on hard tile, receiving food wrapped in paper, and drinking sodas with unknown ingredients. Eruptions of the kin-dom gives hope to the hopeless. They force one to reconsider the way they have been living. One can see the mountains move before their very eyes, if not now, soon with the coming kin-dom. The role of imagination appears in the middle of kin-dom and reality. Imagination lends one to think of a different reality where the impossible is possible, where the food deserts in north Philadelphia become places of lush gardens of vegetables and orchards of fruit, where people are treated with respect rather than contempt.\r\n\r\nYet, it is much too simple to be cynical about reality, to allow the kingdom of the world to dictate our actions. For this reason, communities of believers must be the imaginative voices in their towns. A group of people where their imagination is intricate in their prayer life is those who practice the Ignatian Spirituality. One is asked to imagine scenes in their minds when praying, e.g. biblical scene of Mary and Elizabeth meeting while both are pregnant. These kind of imaginative practices must bleed into the very life with how we perform everyday. The imagination and the kin-dom to come should be intertwined and seek this new world, while trying our best to create something in the present.','Christian Imagination and Moving Mountains','','inherit','open','open','','7201-revision-2','','','2012-07-13 13:03:26','2012-07-13 20:03:26','',7201,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7201-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7211,179,'2012-07-13 13:35:40','2012-07-13 20:35:40','','voyage','','inherit','open','open','','voyage-2','','','2012-07-13 13:35:40','2012-07-13 20:35:40','',7201,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voyage1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7207,179,'2012-07-13 13:37:14','2012-07-13 20:37:14','The summer staff eats dinner together every night. We talk about the evening program and our days with the groups. There comes a breaking point where laughter erupts and the conversation devolves into mindless rumble. Last week, this laughter evolved into playful criticism towards me. I lead the music for the evening program and I am not ashamed to say I pick songs that are indie. You know, songs from bands that no one has ever heard of or songs originally sung in different languages? The staff complained of hearing the same songs each week, although the youth love the songs that I play and every week sing with a different group. They called me a pseudo-hipster, which infuriated me and I proceeded in pretending to throw things and destroy the office. One song that I adore is a Spanish worship song titled Montaña by Salvador. The lyrics are thus:\n<blockquote>If you have faith like a seed of a mustard\nThat’s what the Lord has said\nIf you have faith like a seed of a mustard\nThat’s what the Lord has said\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away</blockquote>\nIt takes the group at least two go arounds to really get into this song. Once this happens, the energy in the sanctuary is incomparable to other songs throughout the week. Youth, as well as adults, love it. I have come up with a few theories about this passionate energy. The youths are first filled with vigor, as they sing a song different from in their own churches. Second, the melody is catchy and resonates; they cannot help but jump around during the chorus. There are other responses, but I am going to focus on the fact that the youth are expecting/experiencing the kin-dom of God, where the world will be turned upside down. This is why they  jump in joyous presumption that God is participating with them in creating something new.\n\nPost-modern philosopher and theologian, John Caputo, crafted the book ”The Weakness of God,” which I have been devouring this week. Caputo summarizes the dichotomy between the world’s kingdoms and God’s kin-dom, writing,\n<blockquote> “The kingdom that Jesus called for was a kingdom ironically, one that was itself mocking the business-as-usual of the powers that be, one in which a divine madness reigned, even as it was, from the point of view of the Roman Empire, of the Brutality of the world, simple foolishness, outright stupidity” (15).</blockquote>\nThe kin-dom that we are expecting is one of reversals. The youth groups observe reversals of cultural normalcy through urban gardens, Narcotics Anonymous Meetings, in small neighborhood churches reaching out into their communities through play. Explosions of reality occur at every location, most of it concrete and tangible with the senses. For example, when the youth uproot weeds that choke vegetables and herbs, they smell soil, manure, and hay; soil slips in their fingernails, and sweat drips from their forehead. This contradicts the common pattern they are used to, such as going to fast food restaurants, standing on hard tile, receiving food wrapped in paper, and drinking sodas with unknown ingredients. Eruptions of the kin-dom gives hope to the hopeless. They force one to reconsider the way they have been living. One can see the mountains move before their very eyes, if not now, soon with the coming kin-dom. The role of imagination appears in the middle of kin-dom and reality. Imagination lends one to think of a different reality where the impossible is possible, where the food deserts in north Philadelphia become places of lush gardens of vegetables and orchards of fruit, where people are treated with respect rather than contempt.\n\nYet, it is much too simple to be cynical about reality, to allow the kingdom of the world to dictate our actions. For this reason, communities of believers must be the imaginative voices in their towns. A group of people where their imagination is intricate in their prayer life is those who practice the Ignatian Spirituality. One is asked to imagine scenes in their minds when praying, e.g. biblical scene of Mary and Elizabeth meeting while both are pregnant. These kind of imaginative practices must bleed into the very life with how we perform everyday. The imagination and the kin-dom to come should be intertwined and seek this new world, while trying our best to create something in the present.','Christian Imagination and Moving Mountains','','inherit','open','open','','7201-autosave','','','2012-07-13 13:37:14','2012-07-13 20:37:14','',7201,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7201-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7213,12,'2012-07-15 08:00:54','2012-07-15 15:00:54','I found a chance to catch up with Joy Wilson, author of \"Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God.\" After reading it and reviewing it, I had a few questions for her. Her book had already challenged my prayer life so I wanted to dig just a little bit deeper.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>I loved your book and I want to ask some really detailed questions about it in a minute, but I want to get to know you a little better first. You’re very honest about your life and who you are, but I want to know some superfluous things first. What kind of books do you like to read?  What are your favorite kinds of music?  What do you like to do in your spare time?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: In my spare time, I’m usually reading 3-4 different books simultaneously, mostly history (especially Civil War and WWII) and mysteries.  Favorite authors are Stephen E. Ambrose, Shelby Foote, David McCullough, and Anne Perry.  My musical tastes run from Joni Mitchell and Stevie Ray Vaughn to old scratchy record blues and the great sacred classical choral works.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What do you mean by “uncensored prayer” and “wrestling with God”?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: God wants to have totally honest conversations <em>with</em> us, and we can say anything we want since He/She already knows what we think.  No topic, language, or feeling is unholy.  It’s wrestling through anger, faith, pain, hope about every aspect of our lives. As we begin to develop a personal relationship of love and trust, we can experience the redemptive freedom that comes from speaking freely with God.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>You said “God wants to have totally honest conversations with us.”  How does a person hear from God?  Is it an impression upon your soul?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: Most people think of prayer as talking <em>to</em> or <em>at</em> God. The most common question I’m asked about prayer is, “How do you know you’re hearing from God?”  The Lord can speak to us in a variety of ways – through Scripture, a song, nature, what someone says, and just in our hearts. God’s response might be a direct answer, or peace that hasn’t come through any other means.  God wants us to know that we’re hearing from Him or Her and will make sure we do, if we’re willing to listen.  We won’t always get the answer we want, or when we want it, but the Lord always gives us what we need.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>Do you find that some people feel threatened or afraid of trying uncensored prayer?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: We all have beliefs about God and prayer.  Some of us are comfortable with religious rituals that define what’s appropriate to say in prayer.  Other people think prayer is a four-letter word, and are unwilling to approach a Deity they think is angry, judgmental, and easily offended.  Stepping out of our comfort zone is never easy, because the unknown is scary.  But seeking God in complete honesty gives us the chance to find out for ourselves what God is really like.\r\n\r\nMy conservative Christian upbringing taught me that God accepts or rejects us based on what we do.  Because I didn’t/couldn’t meet those requirements, including “faith”, I gave up trying to please a God who was already mad at me.  One day I screamed out my pain and anger in uncensored prayer.  To my total shock, God screamed back His love for me, which is what it took for me to believe I was unconditionally accepted, and our relationship grew from there.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>You give insight to your writing process in your book. You talk about the need to be inspired before you write. <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer54.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7215\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer54-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" /></a>What inspires you to write? Is your writing process a lot like how you engage in uncensored prayer?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: Uncensored prayer is spontaneous; writing takes work, but when God and I write together, creativity flows from our combined hearts and minds.  In contrast, when I write by myself, even if I have a great idea, it’s like pulling up words out of concrete and it usually ends up in the trash!\r\n\r\nSome ideas just come to me – like the first line of a poem.  Poems are my written uncensored prayers (though I also pray out-loud). If I’m in a position to drop everything and get by myself, a poem will usually be completed within thirty minutes, and except for one or two word changes, it’s finished.  Writing articles or chapters takes a lot of time and effort, but I enjoy it (usually!).  My editor, Jonathan Brink, inspired me to write prose.  Actually, he <em>taught </em>me to write prose!\r\n\r\nRC: <em>In your book, you mentioned that you felt that some people might be upset with what they read. Was that a consequence of your writing? If it was, how did you handle it?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: To my great surprise, I’ve only received one negative comment since the book was released in July, 2011.  My belief is God is putting the book into the hands of people who need it and are receptive to its message.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What has been the most unexpected outcome of the publication of your book?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: The opportunity to teach my book on-line.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>In hindsight, is there a message you wish you could add to the book?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: For years, I’ve been aware of both the male and female characteristics of God.  If I could make one change in the book, I would probably refer to God as He/She most of the time, or state in the introduction that I would be calling God “He” for simplification purposes.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What did you learn from writing this book?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: That following God can be terrifying, because the Lord always leads us into the wild unknown and has a bad habit of jumping off cliffs, dragging us along while we scream, <em>“NOOOOOO!”</em>  But if I hadn’t gone through the doors God opened, my book wouldn’t exist.  Through the experiences of writing and teaching my book, and telling people about it, I have learned to trust God on a much deeper level.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>After reading this book, what can someone do to pursue uncensored prayer further?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: For a guided, in-depth study, I recommend my on-line class.  Over five weeks, we explore and practice wrestling with God through every aspect of our lives in complete honesty, and learn how to hear from God.  It is self-paced, so you can participate whenever best fits your schedule.  The course includes reading assignments in my book, daily guided prayer time, keeping a journal, and class interaction on a Discussion Board.  The next class will be offered July 23-August 24, 2012.  For more information and to register, click on this link: <a href=\"http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer\">http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer</a>\r\n\r\n_________________________\r\n\r\nPlease take time to <a href=\"http://joyleewilson.org/wordpress/\">visit Joy\'s Blog</a>. She is a regular contributor here at Provoketive as well.','Interview With Civitas Author Joy Wilson','','publish','open','open','','interview-with-civitas-author-joy-wilson','','','2012-07-14 11:27:06','2012-07-14 18:27:06','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7213',0,'post','',0),(7209,179,'2012-07-13 13:34:46','2012-07-13 20:34:46','','voyage','','inherit','open','open','','voyage','','','2012-07-13 13:34:46','2012-07-13 20:34:46','',7201,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voyage.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7210,179,'2012-07-13 13:06:40','2012-07-13 20:06:40','<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voage-to-the-moon1.jpg\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-7204 aligncenter\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/voage-to-the-moon1-237x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"237\" height=\"300\" /></a></p>\r\nThe summer staff eats dinner together every night. We talk about the evening program and our days with the groups. There comes a breaking point where laughter erupts and the conversation devolves into mindless rumble. Last week, this laughter evolved into playful criticism towards me. I lead the music for the evening program and I am not ashamed to say I pick songs that are indie. You know, songs from bands that no one has ever heard of or songs originally sung in different languages? The staff complained of hearing the same songs each week, although the youth love the songs that I play and every week sing with a different group. They called me a pseudo-hipster, which infuriated me and I proceeded in pretending to throw things and destroy the office. One song that I adore is a Spanish worship song titled Montaña by Salvador. The lyrics are thus:\r\n<blockquote>If you have faith like a seed of a mustard\r\nThat’s what the Lord has said\r\nIf you have faith like a seed of a mustard\r\nThat’s what the Lord has said\r\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\r\nYou can say to the mountain move away move away\r\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away\r\nAnd the mountain will move away move away move away</blockquote>\r\nIt takes the group at least two go arounds to really get into this song. Once this happens, the energy in the sanctuary is incomparable to other songs throughout the week. Youth, as well as adults, love it. I have come up with a few theories about this passionate energy. The youths are first filled with vigor, as they sing a song different from in their own churches. Second, the melody is catchy and resonates; they cannot help but jump around during the chorus. There are other responses, but I am going to focus on the fact that the youth are expecting/experiencing the kin-dom of God, where the world will be turned upside down. This is why they  jump in joyous presumption that God is participating with them in creating something new.\r\n\r\nPost-modern philosopher and theologian, John Caputo, crafted the book ”The Weakness of God,” which I have been devouring this week. Caputo summarizes the dichotomy between the world’s kingdoms and God’s kin-dom, writing,\r\n<blockquote> “The kingdom that Jesus called for was a kingdom ironically, one that was itself mocking the business-as-usual of the powers that be, one in which a divine madness reigned, even as it was, from the point of view of the Roman Empire, of the Brutality of the world, simple foolishness, outright stupidity” (15).</blockquote>\r\nThe kin-dom that we are expecting is one of reversals. The youth groups observe reversals of cultural normalcy through urban gardens, Narcotics Anonymous Meetings, in small neighborhood churches reaching out into their communities through play. Explosions of reality occur at every location, most of it concrete and tangible with the senses. For example, when the youth uproot weeds that choke vegetables and herbs, they smell soil, manure, and hay; soil slips in their fingernails, and sweat drips from their forehead. This contradicts the common pattern they are used to, such as going to fast food restaurants, standing on hard tile, receiving food wrapped in paper, and drinking sodas with unknown ingredients. Eruptions of the kin-dom gives hope to the hopeless. They force one to reconsider the way they have been living. One can see the mountains move before their very eyes, if not now, soon with the coming kin-dom. The role of imagination appears in the middle of kin-dom and reality. Imagination lends one to think of a different reality where the impossible is possible, where the food deserts in north Philadelphia become places of lush gardens of vegetables and orchards of fruit, where people are treated with respect rather than contempt.\r\n\r\nYet, it is much too simple to be cynical about reality, to allow the kingdom of the world to dictate our actions. For this reason, communities of believers must be the imaginative voices in their towns. A group of people where their imagination is intricate in their prayer life is those who practice the Ignatian Spirituality. One is asked to imagine scenes in their minds when praying, e.g. biblical scene of Mary and Elizabeth meeting while both are pregnant. These kind of imaginative practices must bleed into the very life with how we perform everyday. The imagination and the kin-dom to come should be intertwined and seek this new world, while trying our best to create something in the present.','Christian Imagination and Moving Mountains','','inherit','open','open','','7201-revision-3','','','2012-07-13 13:06:40','2012-07-13 20:06:40','',7201,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7201-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7214,12,'2012-07-13 14:03:29','2012-07-13 21:03:29','','jwilson','','inherit','open','open','','jwilson-3','','','2012-07-13 14:03:29','2012-07-13 21:03:29','',7213,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/jwilson2.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7215,12,'2012-07-13 14:04:25','2012-07-13 21:04:25','','prayer5','','inherit','open','open','','prayer5-5','','','2012-07-13 14:04:25','2012-07-13 21:04:25','',7213,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer54.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7216,12,'2012-07-13 14:02:29','2012-07-13 21:02:29','I found a chance to catch up with Joy Wilson, author of \"Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God.\" After reading it and reviewing it, I had a few questions for her. Her book had already challenged my prayer life so I wanted to dig just a little bit deeper.\n\nRC: I loved your book and I want to ask some really detailed questions about it in a minute, but I want to get to know you a little better first. You’re very honest about your life and who you are, but I want to know some superfluous things first. What kind of books do you like to read?  What are your favorite kinds of music?  What do you like to do in your spare time?\n\nJW: In my spare time, I’m usually reading 3-4 different books simultaneously, mostly history (especially Civil War and WWII) and mysteries.  Favorite authors are Stephen E. Ambrose, Shelby Foote, David McCullough, and Anne Perry.  My musical tastes run from Joni Mitchell and Stevie Ray Vaughn to old scratchy record blues and the great sacred classical choral works.\n\nRC: What do you mean by “uncensored prayer” and “wrestling with God”?\n\nJW: God wants to have totally honest conversations <em>with</em> us, and we can say anything we want since He/She already knows what we think.  No topic, language, or feeling is unholy.  It’s wrestling through anger, faith, pain, hope about every aspect of our lives. As we begin to develop a personal relationship of love and trust, we can experience the redemptive freedom that comes from speaking freely with God.\n\nRC: You said “God wants to have totally honest conversations <em>with</em> us.”  How does a person hear from God?  Is it an impression upon your soul?\n\nJW: Most people think of prayer as talking <em>to</em> or <em>at</em> God. The most common question I’m asked about prayer is, “How do you know you’re hearing from God?”  The Lord can speak to us in a variety of ways – through Scripture, a song, nature, what someone says, and just in our hearts. God’s response might be a direct answer, or peace that hasn’t come through any other means.  God wants us to know that we’re hearing from Him or Her and will make sure we do, if we’re willing to listen.  We won’t always get the answer we want, or when we want it, but the Lord always gives us what we need.\n\nRC: Do you find that some people feel threatened or afraid of trying uncensored prayer?\n\nJW: We all have beliefs about God and prayer.  Some of us are comfortable with religious rituals that define what’s appropriate to say in prayer.  Other people think prayer is a four-letter word, and are unwilling to approach a Deity they think is angry, judgmental, and easily offended.  Stepping out of our comfort zone is never easy, because the unknown is scary.  But seeking God in complete honesty gives us the chance to find out for ourselves what God is really like.\n\nMy conservative Christian upbringing taught me that God accepts or rejects us based on what we do.  Because I didn’t/couldn’t meet those requirements, including “faith”, I gave up trying to please a God who was already mad at me.  One day I screamed out my pain and anger in uncensored prayer.  To my total shock, God screamed back His love for me, which is what it took for me to believe I was unconditionally accepted, and our relationship grew from there.\n\nRC: <em>You give insight to your writing process in your book. You talk about the need to be inspired before you write. What inspires you to write? Is your writing process a lot like how you engage in uncensored prayer?</em>\n\nJW: Uncensored prayer is spontaneous; writing takes work, but when God and I write together, creativity flows from our combined hearts and minds.  In contrast, when I write by myself, even if I have a great idea, it’s like pulling up words out of concrete and it usually ends up in the trash!\n\nSome ideas just come to me – like the first line of a poem.  Poems are my written uncensored prayers (though I also pray out-loud). If I’m in a position to drop everything and get by myself, a poem will usually be completed within thirty minutes, and except for one or two word changes, it’s finished.  Writing articles or chapters takes a lot of time and effort, but I enjoy it (usually!).  My editor, Jonathan Brink, inspired me to write prose.  Actually, he <em>taught </em>me to write prose!\n\nRC: <em>In your book, you mentioned that you felt that some people might be upset with what they read. Was that a consequence of your writing? If it was, how did you handle it?</em>\n\nJW: To my great surprise, I’ve only received one negative comment since the book was released in July, 2011.  My belief is God is putting the book into the hands of people who need it and are receptive to its message.\n\nRC: <em>What has been the most unexpected outcome of the publication of your book?</em>\n\nJW: The opportunity to teach my book on-line.\n\nRC: <em>In hindsight, is there a message you wish you could add to the book?</em>\n\nJW: For years, I’ve been aware of both the male and female characteristics of God.  If I could make one change in the book, I would probably refer to God as He/She most of the time, or state in the introduction that I would be calling God “He” for simplification purposes.\n\nRC: <em>What did you learn from writing this book?</em>\n\nJW: That following God can be terrifying, because the Lord always leads us into the wild unknown and has a bad habit of jumping off cliffs, dragging us along while we scream, <em>“NOOOOOO!”</em>  But if I hadn’t gone through the doors God opened, my book wouldn’t exist.  Through the experiences of writing and teaching my book, and telling people about it, I have learned to trust God on a much deeper level.\n\nRC: <em>After reading this book, what can someone do to pursue uncensored prayer further?</em>\n\nJW: For a guided, in-depth study, I recommend my on-line class.  Over five weeks, we explore and practice wrestling with God through every aspect of our lives in complete honesty, and learn how to hear from God.  It is self-paced, so you can participate whenever best fits your schedule.  The course includes reading assignments in my book, daily guided prayer time, keeping a journal, and class interaction on a Discussion Board.  The next class will be offered July 23-August 24, 2012.  For more information and to register, click on this link: <a href=\"http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer\">http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer</a>\n\n_________________________\n\nPlease take time to <a href=\"http://joyleewilson.org/wordpress/\">visit Joy\'s Blog</a>. She is a regular contributor here at Provoketive as well.','Interview With Civitas Author Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7213-revision','','','2012-07-13 14:02:29','2012-07-13 21:02:29','',7213,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7213-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7217,179,'2012-07-14 11:19:58','2012-07-14 18:19:58','I found a chance to catch up with Joy Wilson, author of \"Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God.\" After reading it and reviewing it, I had a few questions for her. Her book had already challenged my prayer life so I wanted to dig just a little bit deeper.\n\nRC: <em>I loved your book and I want to ask some really detailed questions about it in a minute, but I want to get to know you a little better first. You’re very honest about your life and who you are, but I want to know some superfluous things first. What kind of books do you like to read?  What are your favorite kinds of music?  What do you like to do in your spare time?</em>\n\nJW: In my spare time, I’m usually reading 3-4 different books simultaneously, mostly history (especially Civil War and WWII) and mysteries.  Favorite authors are Stephen E. Ambrose, Shelby Foote, David McCullough, and Anne Perry.  My musical tastes run from Joni Mitchell and Stevie Ray Vaughn to old scratchy record blues and the great sacred classical choral works.\n\nRC: <em>What do you mean by “uncensored prayer” and “wrestling with God”?</em>\n\nJW: God wants to have totally honest conversations <em>with</em> us, and we can say anything we want since He/She already knows what we think.  No topic, language, or feeling is unholy.  It’s wrestling through anger, faith, pain, hope about every aspect of our lives. As we begin to develop a personal relationship of love and trust, we can experience the redemptive freedom that comes from speaking freely with God.\n\nRC: <em>You said “God wants to have totally honest conversations with us.”  How does a person hear from God?  Is it an impression upon your soul?</em>\n\nJW: Most people think of prayer as talking <em>to</em> or <em>at</em> God. The most common question I’m asked about prayer is, “How do you know you’re hearing from God?”  The Lord can speak to us in a variety of ways – through Scripture, a song, nature, what someone says, and just in our hearts. God’s response might be a direct answer, or peace that hasn’t come through any other means.  God wants us to know that we’re hearing from Him or Her and will make sure we do, if we’re willing to listen.  We won’t always get the answer we want, or when we want it, but the Lord always gives us what we need.\n\nRC: <em>Do you find that some people feel threatened or afraid of trying uncensored prayer?</em>\n\nJW: We all have beliefs about God and prayer.  Some of us are comfortable with religious rituals that define what’s appropriate to say in prayer.  Other people think prayer is a four-letter word, and are unwilling to approach a Deity they think is angry, judgmental, and easily offended.  Stepping out of our comfort zone is never easy, because the unknown is scary.  But seeking God in complete honesty gives us the chance to find out for ourselves what God is really like.\n\nMy conservative Christian upbringing taught me that God accepts or rejects us based on what we do.  Because I didn’t/couldn’t meet those requirements, including “faith”, I gave up trying to please a God who was already mad at me.  One day I screamed out my pain and anger in uncensored prayer.  To my total shock, God screamed back His love for me, which is what it took for me to believe I was unconditionally accepted, and our relationship grew from there.\n\nRC: <em>You give insight to your writing process in your book. You talk about the need to be inspired before you write. <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer54.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7215\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer54-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" /></a>What inspires you to write? Is your writing process a lot like how you engage in uncensored prayer?</em>\n\nJW: Uncensored prayer is spontaneous; writing takes work, but when God and I write together, creativity flows from our combined hearts and minds.  In contrast, when I write by myself, even if I have a great idea, it’s like pulling up words out of concrete and it usually ends up in the trash!\n\nSome ideas just come to me – like the first line of a poem.  Poems are my written uncensored prayers (though I also pray out-loud). If I’m in a position to drop everything and get by myself, a poem will usually be completed within thirty minutes, and except for one or two word changes, it’s finished.  Writing articles or chapters takes a lot of time and effort, but I enjoy it (usually!).  My editor, Jonathan Brink, inspired me to write prose.  Actually, he <em>taught </em>me to write prose!\n\nRC: <em>In your book, you mentioned that you felt that some people might be upset with what they read. Was that a consequence of your writing? If it was, how did you handle it?</em>\n\nJW: To my great surprise, I’ve only received one negative comment since the book was released in July, 2011.  My belief is God is putting the book into the hands of people who need it and are receptive to its message.\n\nRC: <em>What has been the most unexpected outcome of the publication of your book?</em>\n\nJW: The opportunity to teach my book on-line.\n\nRC: <em>In hindsight, is there a message you wish you could add to the book?</em>\n\nJW: For years, I’ve been aware of both the male and female characteristics of God.  If I could make one change in the book, I would probably refer to God as He/She most of the time, or state in the introduction that I would be calling God “He” for simplification purposes.\n\nRC: <em>What did you learn from writing this book?</em>\n\nJW: That following God can be terrifying, because the Lord always leads us into the wild unknown and has a bad habit of jumping off cliffs, dragging us along while we scream, <em>“NOOOOOO!”</em>  But if I hadn’t gone through the doors God opened, my book wouldn’t exist.  Through the experiences of writing and teaching my book, and telling people about it, I have learned to trust God on a much deeper level.\n\nRC: <em>After reading this book, what can someone do to pursue uncensored prayer further?</em>\n\nJW: For a guided, in-depth study, I recommend my on-line class.  Over five weeks, we explore and practice wrestling with God through every aspect of our lives in complete honesty, and learn how to hear from God.  It is self-paced, so you can participate whenever best fits your schedule.  The course includes reading assignments in my book, daily guided prayer time, keeping a journal, and class interaction on a Discussion Board.  The next class will be offered July 23-August 24, 2012.  For more information and to register, click on this link: <a href=\"http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer\">http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer</a>\n\n_________________________\n\nPlease take time to <a href=\"http://joyleewilson.org/wordpress/\">visit Joy\'s Blog</a>. She is a regular contributor here at Provoketive as well.','Interview With Civitas Author Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7213-autosave','','','2012-07-14 11:19:58','2012-07-14 18:19:58','',7213,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7213-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7542,1,'2012-08-12 08:43:57','2012-08-12 15:43:57','<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/crosshairs.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-7431\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/crosshairs-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" /></a>\r\n\r\nHigh profile shootings occur every year or so; Gabby Giffords, Treyvon Martin, Virginia Tech, and Columbine come to mind.  The latest chapter was played out in Aurora, Colorado where a disturbed young man took his automatic rifle with a 100 round drum of bullets out on as many people as he could put in his cross hairs.   Of course, other countries have mass shootings too (Norway and Finland), but they typically enact tough gun laws in the wake of their tragedies.   Not in the US.\r\n\r\nThe NRA and their supporters have been very effective in shouting down any movement toward common sense gun control.   The United States leads the world in gun ownership and, as a result, we have twenty times more gun-related murders (10,000 annually) as other high income countries.      Afraid of a backlash, preachers and politicians typically sidestep the topic completely, leaving us doomed to repeat the same cycle of violence over and over again.\r\n\r\nWhile the 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment gives every citizen the right to bear arms, it was written when homesteaders were at the mercy of outlaws and Indians.  It was back when neighbors formed posses and militias, and many hunted for food.  Now, virtually every community has a police force that is a 911 call away, not to mention grocery stores.  We also have the most powerful military the world has ever known, so we are probably not in danger of being invaded by a foreign country any time soon.\r\n\r\nThe 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment is also there to make a stand against our own government, should it become too oppressive.   Extreme gun enthusiasts are quick to find fault in public policies or certain politicians as an excuse to feed their dark fantasies and stockpile weapons.   Civilization would have to become seriously derailed for guns to play a part in a survival scenario.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who had rather prepare for the Apocalypse than work for a better world in the here and now.\r\n\r\nI know many pro-gun proponents who are strong Christians, but it is difficult to find support for their beliefs in the Bible.   Sure, there are plenty of bloody battles in the Old Testament, but that does not mean that violence was ever God’s first choice.    God condemned the killing of Abel and, a couple of chapters later, we are told God decided to destroy the entire earth with a flood because, <em>“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence.”  </em>(Genesis 6:11)   Even though King David was a man after God’s heart, he wasn’t allowed to build the temple because <em>“you have been a man of war and have shed blood.”  </em>I Chronicles 28: 3\r\n\r\nJesus presents a radically different approach to conflict resolution, whether he was blessing peacemakers, or telling his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.  When the authorities arrested Jesus, Peter drew a sword and cut off a soldier’s ear.  <em>“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”  </em>(Matthew 26: 52)  Jesus challenges us to go beyond taking an eye for an eye, and examine how we view others, even those who would do us harm.\r\n\r\nIt is instinctual to want to protect our families, but more guns actually make society more dangerous.  Instead of finding compromise with reasonable restrictions (limiting high capacity clips and automatic weapons), some are trying to push guns into our parks, bars, and even our schools.  Besides the number of shootings (accidental and otherwise) that will inevitably rise, we are becoming a nation that accepts violence as a way of life.   As a result, we are moving further away from the example Jesus set on the cross and closer into the cross hairs.\r\n\r\nJeff Fulmer lives in Nashville Tennessee and is the author of the book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Hometown-Prophet-Jeff-Fulmer/dp/1463632312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1312940193&amp;sr=8-1\">Hometown Prophet</a>.  <em> If God spoke through a prophet today, would we really want to hear what he has to say?</em>','Into the Cross Hairs','','inherit','open','open','','7429-revision-5','','','2012-08-12 08:43:57','2012-08-12 15:43:57','',7429,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/12/7429-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(7219,179,'2012-07-14 11:26:44','2012-07-14 18:26:44','','joy','','inherit','open','open','','joy','','','2012-07-14 11:26:44','2012-07-14 18:26:44','',7213,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/joy.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7220,179,'2012-07-13 14:05:13','2012-07-13 21:05:13','I found a chance to catch up with Joy Wilson, author of \"Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God.\" After reading it and reviewing it, I had a few questions for her. Her book had already challenged my prayer life so I wanted to dig just a little bit deeper.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>I loved your book and I want to ask some really detailed questions about it in a minute, but I want to get to know you a little better first. You’re very honest about your life and who you are, but I want to know some superfluous things first. What kind of books do you like to read?  What are your favorite kinds of music?  What do you like to do in your spare time?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: In my spare time, I’m usually reading 3-4 different books simultaneously, mostly history (especially Civil War and WWII) and mysteries.  Favorite authors are Stephen E. Ambrose, Shelby Foote, David McCullough, and Anne Perry.  My musical tastes run from Joni Mitchell and Stevie Ray Vaughn to old scratchy record blues and the great sacred classical choral works.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What do you mean by “uncensored prayer” and “wrestling with God”?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: God wants to have totally honest conversations <em>with</em> us, and we can say anything we want since He/She already knows what we think.  No topic, language, or feeling is unholy.  It’s wrestling through anger, faith, pain, hope about every aspect of our lives. As we begin to develop a personal relationship of love and trust, we can experience the redemptive freedom that comes from speaking freely with God.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>You said “God wants to have totally honest conversations with us.”  How does a person hear from God?  Is it an impression upon your soul?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: Most people think of prayer as talking <em>to</em> or <em>at</em> God. The most common question I’m asked about prayer is, “How do you know you’re hearing from God?”  The Lord can speak to us in a variety of ways – through Scripture, a song, nature, what someone says, and just in our hearts. God’s response might be a direct answer, or peace that hasn’t come through any other means.  God wants us to know that we’re hearing from Him or Her and will make sure we do, if we’re willing to listen.  We won’t always get the answer we want, or when we want it, but the Lord always gives us what we need.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>Do you find that some people feel threatened or afraid of trying uncensored prayer?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: We all have beliefs about God and prayer.  Some of us are comfortable with religious rituals that define what’s appropriate to say in prayer.  Other people think prayer is a four-letter word, and are unwilling to approach a Deity they think is angry, judgmental, and easily offended.  Stepping out of our comfort zone is never easy, because the unknown is scary.  But seeking God in complete honesty gives us the chance to find out for ourselves what God is really like.\r\n\r\nMy conservative Christian upbringing taught me that God accepts or rejects us based on what we do.  Because I didn’t/couldn’t meet those requirements, including “faith”, I gave up trying to please a God who was already mad at me.  One day I screamed out my pain and anger in uncensored prayer.  To my total shock, God screamed back His love for me, which is what it took for me to believe I was unconditionally accepted, and our relationship grew from there.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>You give insight to your writing process in your book. You talk about the need to be inspired before you write. <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer54.jpg\"><img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7215\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/prayer54-208x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"208\" height=\"300\" /></a>What inspires you to write? Is your writing process a lot like how you engage in uncensored prayer?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: Uncensored prayer is spontaneous; writing takes work, but when God and I write together, creativity flows from our combined hearts and minds.  In contrast, when I write by myself, even if I have a great idea, it’s like pulling up words out of concrete and it usually ends up in the trash!\r\n\r\nSome ideas just come to me – like the first line of a poem.  Poems are my written uncensored prayers (though I also pray out-loud). If I’m in a position to drop everything and get by myself, a poem will usually be completed within thirty minutes, and except for one or two word changes, it’s finished.  Writing articles or chapters takes a lot of time and effort, but I enjoy it (usually!).  My editor, Jonathan Brink, inspired me to write prose.  Actually, he <em>taught </em>me to write prose!\r\n\r\nRC: <em>In your book, you mentioned that you felt that some people might be upset with what they read. Was that a consequence of your writing? If it was, how did you handle it?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: To my great surprise, I’ve only received one negative comment since the book was released in July, 2011.  My belief is God is putting the book into the hands of people who need it and are receptive to its message.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What has been the most unexpected outcome of the publication of your book?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: The opportunity to teach my book on-line.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>In hindsight, is there a message you wish you could add to the book?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: For years, I’ve been aware of both the male and female characteristics of God.  If I could make one change in the book, I would probably refer to God as He/She most of the time, or state in the introduction that I would be calling God “He” for simplification purposes.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>What did you learn from writing this book?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: That following God can be terrifying, because the Lord always leads us into the wild unknown and has a bad habit of jumping off cliffs, dragging us along while we scream, <em>“NOOOOOO!”</em>  But if I hadn’t gone through the doors God opened, my book wouldn’t exist.  Through the experiences of writing and teaching my book, and telling people about it, I have learned to trust God on a much deeper level.\r\n\r\nRC: <em>After reading this book, what can someone do to pursue uncensored prayer further?</em>\r\n\r\nJW: For a guided, in-depth study, I recommend my on-line class.  Over five weeks, we explore and practice wrestling with God through every aspect of our lives in complete honesty, and learn how to hear from God.  It is self-paced, so you can participate whenever best fits your schedule.  The course includes reading assignments in my book, daily guided prayer time, keeping a journal, and class interaction on a Discussion Board.  The next class will be offered July 23-August 24, 2012.  For more information and to register, click on this link: <a href=\"http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer\">http://beadisciple.com/workshops.html#UncensoredPrayer</a>\r\n\r\n_________________________\r\n\r\nPlease take time to <a href=\"http://joyleewilson.org/wordpress/\">visit Joy\'s Blog</a>. She is a regular contributor here at Provoketive as well.','Interview With Civitas Author Joy Wilson','','inherit','open','open','','7213-revision-2','','','2012-07-13 14:05:13','2012-07-13 21:05:13','',7213,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7213-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7221,179,'2012-07-14 11:38:53','2012-07-14 18:38:53','','sister','','inherit','open','open','','sister','','','2012-07-14 11:38:53','2012-07-14 18:38:53','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/sister.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7222,179,'2012-07-13 12:49:26','2012-07-13 19:49:26','Growing up, it was hard looking around and seeing all the perfect lives and families. My friends and classmates had more money, healthy families, no divorced parents, in other words, no skeletons in their closets.\r\n\r\nI remember telling a friend or group of about my father being divorced from a previous wife. That was taboo back in the mid 1970′s and even a reason for mockery and teasing. I then decided not to tell my so-called friends about it.\r\n\r\nMy father being divorced was no secret to me. I even knew I had a sister and a brother, whom my mother didn’t allow me to see. All the while, I saw my friends with their siblings and I wished I had one. So was my life for many years — no brother, no sister, my parents fighting all the time till they finally decided to separate when I was fourteen (1985). In other words, I was, and felt, alone.\r\n\r\nAt last, when I was fifteen, my father had the courage to introduce me to my sister and my brother. We became fairly close and tried to catch up with all that wretched and wasted time. My family life was complete, or so I thought.\r\n\r\nAbout a year or so later, my mom told me that my father had gotten in trouble with the law, which I remembered well (Christmas 1979), because he had a daughter whom he had failed to give child support. Surprisingly enough, a very short time later, a then-friend stopped me as I was walking somewhere. She then told me that we shared the same father, which explained how my father reacted every time he saw me hanging out with her and didn’t surprise me at all. This new sister is a year and a half older than I and most likely born before my parents met.\r\n\r\nMy oldest sister and brother (from my father’s first marriage) didn’t know about this other sister. They were fairly surprised, especially my oldest sister who had always been daddy’s little girl.\r\n\r\nNow, twenty-six years later, I find out by chance that I’ve got a younger sister who’s seven years younger than I. This means that my father impregnated another woman while married to my mom. As my oldest sister said, this new sister has no fault, which is undeniably true. Now it’s time to get to know her and welcome her. So far we’re getting along well.\r\n\r\nI’m still surprised that I’ve got a baby sister (pictured in this post).\r\n\r\nI can’t stop feeling more and more disappointed at my father. He\'s hurt and practically destroyed the life of everyone he was to love, care for and protect -- the women he\'s slept with, the children he\'s fathered and even his grandchildren. Although the lives of my siblings and mine are far from perfect, <em>we\'re not so messed up</em>.','Sins of the Father','','inherit','open','open','','7179-revision-11','','','2012-07-13 12:49:26','2012-07-13 19:49:26','',7179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/13/7179-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(7331,43,'2012-07-30 19:29:24','2012-07-31 02:29:24','When most people think of \"child evangelism,\" what comes to mind is something along the lines of <em><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Camp\">Jesus Camp</a></em>.  It recalls a very specific image of adults pounding the Gospel into children, who in turn take the message out on the streets and hand out tracts.  We are, naturally, uncomfortable with the idea that children would be manipulated, frightened, or shamed into belief.  I think perhaps I understand where it comes from. Many people have been deeply hurt by the church. As a result, they are on a mission to stop anyone else from being hurt by the church.\r\n\r\nWhatever the reason, a current trend is to demand that parents stop \"evangelizing\" their children.  <a href=\"http://signon.org/sign/freedom-from-religious?source=s.tw&amp;r_by=5228485\">This petition</a>, for example, found on SignOn.org, is a call for cessation of evangelism under the guise of aid.  <a href=\"http://theoatmeal.com/comics/religion\">This post on The Oatmeal</a> likens religious indoctrination within the family to controlling a child\'s color preference.  Pressure from outside the church raises two important questions.\r\n\r\nFirst, is it bad for parents to raise their children in the church?  I don\'t believe it is, for several reasons:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>This anti-evangelism campaign is nearly always directed at the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam).  I\'m the last person you will ever hear crying \"Persecution!\"  But even I recognize that this is out of proportion.  Should we tell the non-religious to stop telling their children there is no God, just in case their children want to believe in one?  I doubt that\'s what anyone has in mind.</li>\r\n	<li>I believe that all parents have the right to communicate their religious beliefs with their children.  We don\'t need to pretend we don\'t have a set of religious beliefs and traditions.  Provided we are taking care not to shame or scare our children into belief, I see nothing wrong will making it explicit that this is what we believe to be true. I think we can teach them about our religious convictions while simultaneously reassuring them that we will love them whether they agree or not. We don\'t need to say non-committal things to them like, \"Some people believe in God. Some people don\'t. What do you think?\" (Part of the problem with that is that it avoids the question. Young children ask questions about God and faith because they want to know what their parents believe. Using the phrase \"some people\" avoids taking responsibility for our own beliefs.)</li>\r\n	<li>There is a difference between raising children among people with shared religious beliefs and forcing those same children to believe.  I am actually in favor of keeping spiritual dialogue open in the home. Parents should, as their children grow, talk to them about the ways that other people believe—without making statements about the eternal fate of specific people. I personally am not going to flip if my children grow up and decide they don\'t believe in Jesus, or in God at all. I\'m not going to live in fear for their immortal souls or kick them out or make demands on them that they raise their children in the church. I\'m not going to someday insist on bringing my grandchildren to church or religious activities, certainly not against the wishes of their parents.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe second important question is whether it\'s wrong to evangelize children who are not our own.\r\n\r\nI agree that this can be done in a scary, inappropriate way. I\'ve seen it happen. Many years ago, when I was working as a camp counselor, we would deliver a message of God\'s love, grace, and forgiveness to the campers. We would use a skit to illustrate what we were trying to communicate. I remember telling the other counselors that I refused to participate in the skit that explicitly stated that if our friends went to hell, it would be our fault for not telling them about Jesus. That particular skit had left more than one child in tears in the past, and I wanted no part of it.\r\n\r\nPresenting a message to children about salvation can also take a disturbing turn when we use manipulation and fear tactics.  Anyone who has ever <a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301235/\">seen the documentary <em>Hell House</em></a> (or been to an actual Hell House—yes, they still exist) can attest to that.  Within some churches, there is extraordinary pressure for children to make a \"faith commitment\" at a very young age, including among those five and under.  And mission work, particularly certain types of relief aid, can take the form of forced evangelism.\r\n\r\nSo, yes. I get it. Teaching kids about religious beliefs can be done in a  pretty frightening manner.  I think about how I would feel if anyone thought they had the right to take my children to a religious institution that wasn\'t Christian and terrify or shame them into belief.  But it doesn\'t have to be that way.  Not all evangelistic endeavors leave children feeling that they need to conform in order to be accepted or loved.\r\n\r\nIn order to avoid the typical pitfalls, we as adults need to be aware of several things.\r\n\r\nFirst, we must be careful not to attach our love for our kids to their faith.  If we put pressure on our children to make early decisions about their beliefs, we risk having children who think we will only love or be proud of them if they agree with us.\r\n\r\nSecond, we must deliver the message in love, without the fear.  Even if we as adults (and not even all adults agree on this) believe that faith in Jesus is necessary for entrance into Heaven, we should be cautious about how we share that information.  The truth is, we cannot know the eternal fate of anyone else.  Teaching children that they deserve Hell for their sins does more harm than good.\r\n\r\nThird, related to the second, is that the message should be developmentally appropriate.  One of the reasons it can be damaging for children to hear that they need to be saved from Hell is that it is confusing for young ones.  Better that the kids begin with a solid foundation of love.  There is no reason to go in-depth on the matter with a six-year-old.\r\n\r\nFinally, parents need to be aware that their children may not find their childhood religion meaningful when they reach adulthood.  We need to be prepared that not every child raised in church or who attended vacation Bible school every summer will end up being a Christian.  We must be ready to give them the space they need to uncover their own spirituality.\r\n\r\nMy children attend church. We read the Bible with them every night. We pray before meals and we pray for people in need. They go to Sunday school, they go to a Christian camp, they attend the children\'s ministry at our mid-week service. Do we hope they will grow into faithful adult Christians? Absolutely. Will we love them any less if they choose something different? Most emphatically, no.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think? Should we avoid religious instruction and evangelism for children?\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Faith Like a Child','','inherit','open','open','','7325-revision-4','','','2012-07-30 19:29:24','2012-07-31 02:29:24','',7325,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/30/7325-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7226,182,'2012-07-16 11:51:16','2012-07-16 18:51:16','','Counselling and Support','','inherit','open','open','','counselling-and-support','','','2012-07-16 11:51:16','2012-07-16 18:51:16','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/4517635821_4807194b76.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7328,43,'2012-07-30 19:25:47','2012-07-31 02:25:47','When most people think of \"child evangelism,\" what comes to mind is something along the lines of <em><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Camp\">Jesus Camp</a></em>.  It recalls a very specific image of adults pounding the Gospel into children, who in turn take the message out on the streets and hand out tracts.  We are, naturally, uncomfortable with the idea that children would be manipulated, frightened, or shamed into belief.  I think perhaps I understand where it comes from. Many people have been deeply hurt by the church. As a result, they are on a mission to stop anyone else from being hurt by the church.\r\n\r\nWhatever the reason, a current trend is to demand that parents stop \"evangelizing\" their children.  <a href=\"http://signon.org/sign/freedom-from-religious?source=s.tw&amp;r_by=5228485\">This petition</a>, for example, found on SignOn.org, is a call for cessation of evangelism under the guise of aid.  <a href=\"http://theoatmeal.com/comics/religion\">This post on The Oatmeal</a> likens religious indoctrination within the family to controlling a child\'s color preference.  Pressure from outside the church raises two important questions.\r\n\r\nFirst, is it bad for parents to raise their children in the church?  I don\'t believe it is, for several reasons:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>This anti-evangelism campaign is nearly always directed at the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam).  I\'m the last person you will ever hear crying \"Persecution!\"  But even I recognize that this is out of proportion.  Should we tell the non-religious to stop telling their children there is no God, just in case their children want to believe in one?  I doubt that\'s what anyone has in mind.</li>\r\n	<li>I believe that all parents have the right to communicate their religious beliefs with their children.  We don\'t need to pretend we don\'t have a set of religious beliefs and traditions.  Provided we are taking care not to shame or scare our children into belief, I see nothing wrong will making it explicit that this is what we believe to be true. I think we can teach them about our religious convictions while simultaneously reassuring them that we will love them whether they agree or not. We don\'t need to say non-committal things to them like, \"Some people believe in God. Some people don\'t. What do you think?\" (Part of the problem with that is that it avoids the question. Young children ask questions about God and faith because they want to know what their parents believe. Using the phrase \"some people\" avoids taking responsibility for our own beliefs.)</li>\r\n	<li>There is a difference between raising children among people with shared religious beliefs and forcing those same children to believe.  I am actually in favor of keeping spiritual dialogue open in the home. Parents should, as their children grow, talk to them about the ways that other people believe—without making statements about the eternal fate of specific people. I personally am not going to flip if my children grow up and decide they don\'t believe in Jesus, or in God at all. I\'m not going to live in fear for their immortal souls or kick them out or make demands on them that they raise their children in the church. I\'m not going to someday insist on bringing my grandchildren to church or religious activities, certainly not against the wishes of their parents.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe second important question is whether it\'s wrong to evangelize children who are not our own.\r\n\r\nI agree that this can be done in a scary, inappropriate way. I\'ve seen it happen. Many years ago, when I was working as a camp counselor, we would deliver a message of God\'s love, grace, and forgiveness to the campers. We would use a skit to illustrate what we were trying to communicate. I remember telling the other counselors that I refused to participate in the skit that explicitly stated that if our friends went to hell, it would be our fault for not telling them about Jesus. That particular skit had left more than one child in tears in the past, and I wanted no part of it.\r\n\r\nPresenting a message to children about salvation can also take a disturbing turn when we use manipulation and fear tactics.  Anyone who has ever <a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301235/\">seen the documentary <em>Hell House</em></a> (or been to an actual Hell House—yes, they still exist) can attest to that.  Within some churches, there is extraordinary pressure for children to make a \"faith commitment\" at a very young age, including among those five and under.  And mission work, particularly certain types of relief aid, can take the form of forced evangelism.\r\n\r\nSo, yes. I get it. Teaching kids about religious beliefs can be done in a  pretty frightening manner.  I think about how I would feel if anyone thought they had the right to take my children to a religious institution that wasn\'t Christian and terrify or shame them into belief.  But it doesn\'t have to be that way.  Not all evangelistic endeavors leave children feeling that they need to conform in order to be accepted or loved.\r\n\r\nIn order to avoid the typical pitfalls, we as adults need to be aware of several things.\r\n\r\nFirst, we must be careful not to attach our love for our kids to their faith.  If we put pressure on our children to make early decisions about their beliefs, we risk having children who think we will only love or be proud of them if they agree with us.\r\n\r\nSecond, we must deliver the message in love, without the fear.  Even if we as adults (and not even all adults agree on this) believe that faith in Jesus is necessary for entrance into Heaven, we should be cautious about how we share that information.  The truth is, we cannot know the eternal fate of anyone else.  Teaching children that they deserve Hell for their sins does more harm than good.\r\n\r\nThird, related to the second, is that the message should be developmentally appropriate.  One of the reasons it can be damaging for children to hear that they need to be saved from Hell is that it is confusing for young ones.  Better that the kids begin with a solid foundation of love.  There is no reason to go in-depth on the matter with a six-year-old.\r\n\r\nFinally, parents need to be aware that their children may not find their childhood religion meaningful when they reach adulthood.  We need to be prepared that not every child raised in church or who attended vacation Bible school every summer will end up being a Christian.  We must be ready to give them the space they need to uncover their own spirituality.\r\n\r\nMy children attend church. We read the Bible with them every night. We pray before meals and we pray for people in need. They go to Sunday school, they go to a Christian camp, they attend the children\'s ministry at our mid-week service. Do we hope they will grow into faithful adult Christians? Absolutely. Will we love them any less if they choose something different? Most emphatically, no.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think? Should we avoid religious instruction and evangelism for children?\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Faith Like a Child','','inherit','open','open','','7325-revision-2','','','2012-07-30 19:25:47','2012-07-31 02:25:47','',7325,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/30/7325-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7327,43,'2012-07-30 19:09:50','2012-07-31 02:09:50','When most people think of \"child evangelism,\" what comes to mind is something along the lines of <em><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Camp\">Jesus Camp</a></em>.  It recalls a very specific image of adults pounding the Gospel into children, who in turn take the message out on the streets and hand out tracts.  We are, naturally, uncomfortable with the idea that children would be manipulated, frightened, or shamed into belief.  I think perhaps I understand where it comes from. Many people have been deeply hurt by the church. As a result, they are on a mission to stop anyone else from being hurt by the church.\n\nWhatever the reason, a current trend is to demand that parents stop \"evangelizing\" their children.  <a href=\"http://signon.org/sign/freedom-from-religious?source=s.tw&amp;r_by=5228485\">This petition</a>, for example, found on SignOn.org, is a call for cessation of evangelism under the guise of aid.  <a href=\"http://theoatmeal.com/comics/religion\">This post on The Oatmeal</a> likens religious indoctrination within the family to controlling a child\'s color preference.  Pressure from outside the church raises two important questions.\n\nFirst, is it bad for parents to raise their children in the church?  I don\'t believe it is, for several reasons:\n<ol>\n	<li>This anti-evangelism campaign is nearly always directed at the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam).  I\'m the last person you will ever hear crying \"Persecution!\"  But even I recognize that this is out of proportion.  Should we tell the non-religious to stop telling their children there is no God, just in case their children want to believe in one?  I doubt that\'s what anyone has in mind.</li>\n	<li>I believe that all parents have the right to communicate their religious beliefs with their children.  We don\'t need to pretend we don\'t have a set of religious beliefs and traditions.  Provided we are taking care not to shame or scare our children into belief, I see nothing wrong will making it explicit that this is what we believe to be true. I think we can teach them about our religious convictions while simultaneously reassuring them that we will love them whether they agree or not. We don\'t need to say non-committal things to them like, \"Some people believe in God. Some people don\'t. What do you think?\" (Part of the problem with that is that it avoids the question. Young children ask questions about God and faith because they want to know what their parents believe. Using the phrase \"some people\" avoids taking responsibility for our own beliefs.)</li>\n	<li>There is a difference between raising children among people with shared religious beliefs and forcing those same children to believe.  I am actually in favor of keeping spiritual dialogue open in the home. Parents should, as their children grow, talk to them about the ways that other people believe—without making statements about the eternal fate of specific people. I personally am not going to flip if my children grow up and decide they don\'t believe in Jesus, or in God at all. I\'m not going to live in fear for their immortal souls or kick them out or make demands on them that they raise their children in the church. I\'m not going to someday insist on bringing my grandchildren to church or religious activities, certainly not against the wishes of their parents.</li>\n</ol>\n&nbsp;\n\nThe second important question is whether it\'s wrong to evangelize children who are not our own.\n\nI agree that this can be done in a scary, inappropriate way. I\'ve seen it happen. Many years ago, when I was working as a camp counselor, we would deliver a message of God\'s love, grace, and forgiveness to the campers. We would use a skit to illustrate what we were trying to communicate. I remember telling the other counselors that I refused to participate in the skit that explicitly stated that if our friends went to hell, it would be our fault for not telling them about Jesus. That particular skit had left more than one child in tears in the past, and I wanted no part of it.\n\nPresenting a message to children about salvation can also take a disturbing turn when we use manipulation and fear tactics.  Anyone who has ever <a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301235/\">seen the documentary <em>Hell House</em></a> (or been to an actual Hell House—yes, they still exist) can attest to that.  Within some churches, there is extraordinary pressure for children to make a \"faith commitment\" at a very young age, including among those five and under.  And mission work, particularly certain types of relief aid, can take the form of forced evangelism.\n\nSo, yes. I get it. Teaching kids about religious beliefs can be done in a  pretty frightening manner.  I think about how I would feel if anyone thought they had the right to take my children to a religious institution that wasn\'t Christian and terrify or shame them into belief.  But it doesn\'t have to be that way.  Not all evangelistic endeavors leave children feeling that they need to conform in order to be accepted or loved.\n\nIn order to avoid the typical pitfalls, we as adults need to be aware of several things.\n\nFirst, we must be careful not to attach our love for our kids to their faith.  If we put pressure on our children to make early decisions about their beliefs, we risk having children who think we will only love or be proud of them if they agree with us.\n\nSecond, we must deliver the message in love, without the fear.  Even if we as adults (and not even all adults agree on this) believe that faith in Jesus is necessary for entrance into Heaven, we should be cautious about how we share that information.  The truth is, we cannot know the eternal fate of anyone else.  Teaching children that they deserve Hell for their sins does more harm than good.\n\nThird, related to the second, is that the message should be developmentally appropriate.  One of the reasons it can be damaging for children to hear that they need to be saved from Hell is that it is confusing for young ones.  Better that the kids begin with a solid foundation of love.  There is no reason to go in-depth on the matter with a six-year-old.\n\nFinally, parents need to be aware that their children may not find their childhood religion meaningful when they reach adulthood.  We need to be prepared that not every child raised in church or who attended vacation Bible school every summer will end up being a Christian.  We must be ready to give them the space they need to uncover their own spirituality.\n\nMy children attend church. We read the Bible with them every night. We pray before meals and we pray for people in need. They go to Sunday school, they go to a Christian camp, they attend the children\'s ministry at our mid-week service. Do we hope they will grow into faithful adult Christians? Absolutely. Will we love them any less if they choose something different? Most emphatically, no.\n\nWhat do you think? Should we avoid religious instruction and evangelism for children?\n\n&nbsp;','Faith Like a Child','','inherit','open','open','','7325-revision','','','2012-07-30 19:09:50','2012-07-31 02:09:50','',7325,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/30/7325-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7334,43,'2012-07-30 19:32:54','2012-07-31 02:32:54','When most people think of \"child evangelism,\" what comes to mind is something along the lines of <em><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Camp\">Jesus Camp</a></em>.  It recalls a very specific image of adults pounding the Gospel into children, who in turn take the message out on the streets and hand out tracts.  We are, naturally, uncomfortable with the idea that children would be manipulated, frightened, or shamed into belief.  I think perhaps I understand where it comes from. Many people have been deeply hurt by the church. As a result, they are on a mission to stop anyone else from being hurt by the church.\n\nWhatever the reason, a current trend is to demand that parents stop \"evangelizing\" their children.  <a href=\"http://signon.org/sign/freedom-from-religious?source=s.tw&amp;r_by=5228485\">This petition</a>, for example, found on SignOn.org, is a call for cessation of evangelism under the guise of aid.  <a href=\"http://theoatmeal.com/comics/religion\">This post on The Oatmeal</a> likens religious indoctrination within the family to controlling a child\'s color preference.  Pressure from outside the church raises two important questions.\n\nFirst, is it bad for parents to raise their children in the church?  I don\'t believe it is, for several reasons:\n<ol>\n	<li>This anti-evangelism campaign is nearly always directed at the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam).  I\'m the last person you will ever hear crying \"Persecution!\"  But even I recognize that this is out of proportion.  Should we tell the non-religious to stop telling their children there is no God, just in case their children want to believe in one?  I doubt that\'s what anyone has in mind.</li>\n	<li>I believe that all parents have the right to communicate their religious beliefs with their children.  We don\'t need to pretend we don\'t have a set of religious beliefs and traditions.  Provided we are taking care not to shame or scare our children into belief, I see nothing wrong will making it explicit that this is what we believe to be true. I think we can teach them about our religious convictions while simultaneously reassuring them that we will love them whether they agree or not. We don\'t need to say non-committal things to them like, \"Some people believe in God. Some people don\'t. What do you think?\" (Part of the problem with that is that it avoids the question. Young children ask questions about God and faith because they want to know what their parents believe. Using the phrase \"some people\" avoids taking responsibility for our own beliefs.)</li>\n	<li>There is a difference between raising children among people with shared religious beliefs and forcing those same children to believe.  I am actually in favor of keeping spiritual dialogue open in the home. Parents should, as their children grow, talk to them about the ways that other people believe—without making statements about the eternal fate of specific people. I personally am not going to flip if my children grow up and decide they don\'t believe in Jesus, or in God at all. I\'m not going to live in fear for their immortal souls or kick them out or make demands on them that they raise their children in the church. I\'m not going to someday insist on bringing my grandchildren to church or religious activities, certainly not against the wishes of their parents.</li>\n</ol>\n&nbsp;\n\nThe second important question is whether it\'s wrong to evangelize children who are not our own.\n\nI agree that this can be done in a scary, inappropriate way. I\'ve seen it happen. Many years ago, when I was working as a camp counselor, we would deliver a message of God\'s love, grace, and forgiveness to the campers. We would use a skit to illustrate what we were trying to communicate. I remember telling the other counselors that I refused to participate in the skit that explicitly stated that if our friends went to hell, it would be our fault for not telling them about Jesus. That particular skit had left more than one child in tears in the past, and I wanted no part of it.\n\nPresenting a message to children about salvation can also take a disturbing turn when we use manipulation and fear tactics.  Anyone who has ever <a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301235/\">seen the documentary <em>Hell House</em></a> (or been to an actual Hell House—yes, they still exist) can attest to that.  Within some churches, there is extraordinary pressure for children to make a \"faith commitment\" at a very young age, including among those five and under.  And mission work, particularly certain types of relief aid, can take the form of forced evangelism.\n\nSo, yes. I get it. Teaching kids about religious beliefs can be done in a  pretty frightening manner.  I think about how I would feel if anyone thought they had the right to take my children to a religious institution that wasn\'t Christian and terrify or shame them into belief.  But it doesn\'t have to be that way.  Not all evangelistic endeavors leave children feeling that they need to conform in order to be accepted or loved.\n\nIn order to avoid the typical pitfalls, we as adults need to be aware of several things.\n\nFirst, we must be careful not to attach our love for our kids to their faith.  If we put pressure on our children to make early decisions about their beliefs, we risk having children who think we will only love or be proud of them if they agree with us.\n\nSecond, we must deliver the message in love, without the fear.  Even if we as adults (and not even all adults agree on this) believe that faith in Jesus is necessary for entrance into Heaven, we should be cautious about how we share that information.  The truth is, we cannot know the eternal fate of anyone else.  Teaching children that they deserve Hell for their sins does more harm than good.\n\nThird, related to the second, is that the message should be developmentally appropriate.  One of the reasons it can be damaging for children to hear that they need to be saved from Hell is that it is confusing for young ones.  Better that the kids begin with a solid foundation of love.  There is no reason to go in-depth on the matter with a six-year-old.\n\nFinally, parents need to be aware that their children may not find their childhood religion meaningful when they reach adulthood.  We need to be prepared that not every child raised in church or who attended vacation Bible school every summer will end up being a Christian.  We must be ready to give them the space they need to uncover their own spirituality.\n\nMy children attend church. We read the Bible with them every night. We pray before meals and we pray for people in need. They go to Sunday school, they go to a Christian camp, they attend the children\'s ministry at our mid-week service. Do we hope they will grow into faithful adult Christians? Absolutely. Will we love them any less if they choose something different? Most emphatically, no.\n\nWhat do you think? Should we avoid religious instruction and evangelism for children?\n\n&nbsp;','Faith Like a Child','','inherit','open','open','','7325-revision-7','','','2012-07-30 19:32:54','2012-07-31 02:32:54','',7325,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/30/7325-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(7329,43,'2012-07-30 19:28:51','2012-07-31 02:28:51','','child faith cropped','photo by singhajaykr25','inherit','open','open','','child-faith-cropped','','','2012-07-30 19:28:51','2012-07-31 02:28:51','',7325,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/child-faith-cropped.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7330,43,'2012-07-30 19:26:27','2012-07-31 02:26:27','When most people think of \"child evangelism,\" what comes to mind is something along the lines of <em><a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_Camp\">Jesus Camp</a></em>.  It recalls a very specific image of adults pounding the Gospel into children, who in turn take the message out on the streets and hand out tracts.  We are, naturally, uncomfortable with the idea that children would be manipulated, frightened, or shamed into belief.  I think perhaps I understand where it comes from. Many people have been deeply hurt by the church. As a result, they are on a mission to stop anyone else from being hurt by the church.\r\n\r\nWhatever the reason, a current trend is to demand that parents stop \"evangelizing\" their children.  <a href=\"http://signon.org/sign/freedom-from-religious?source=s.tw&amp;r_by=5228485\">This petition</a>, for example, found on SignOn.org, is a call for cessation of evangelism under the guise of aid.  <a href=\"http://theoatmeal.com/comics/religion\">This post on The Oatmeal</a> likens religious indoctrination within the family to controlling a child\'s color preference.  Pressure from outside the church raises two important questions.\r\n\r\nFirst, is it bad for parents to raise their children in the church?  I don\'t believe it is, for several reasons:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>This anti-evangelism campaign is nearly always directed at the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam).  I\'m the last person you will ever hear crying \"Persecution!\"  But even I recognize that this is out of proportion.  Should we tell the non-religious to stop telling their children there is no God, just in case their children want to believe in one?  I doubt that\'s what anyone has in mind.</li>\r\n	<li>I believe that all parents have the right to communicate their religious beliefs with their children.  We don\'t need to pretend we don\'t have a set of religious beliefs and traditions.  Provided we are taking care not to shame or scare our children into belief, I see nothing wrong will making it explicit that this is what we believe to be true. I think we can teach them about our religious convictions while simultaneously reassuring them that we will love them whether they agree or not. We don\'t need to say non-committal things to them like, \"Some people believe in God. Some people don\'t. What do you think?\" (Part of the problem with that is that it avoids the question. Young children ask questions about God and faith because they want to know what their parents believe. Using the phrase \"some people\" avoids taking responsibility for our own beliefs.)</li>\r\n	<li>There is a difference between raising children among people with shared religious beliefs and forcing those same children to believe.  I am actually in favor of keeping spiritual dialogue open in the home. Parents should, as their children grow, talk to them about the ways that other people believe—without making statements about the eternal fate of specific people. I personally am not going to flip if my children grow up and decide they don\'t believe in Jesus, or in God at all. I\'m not going to live in fear for their immortal souls or kick them out or make demands on them that they raise their children in the church. I\'m not going to someday insist on bringing my grandchildren to church or religious activities, certainly not against the wishes of their parents.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nThe second important question is whether it\'s wrong to evangelize children who are not our own.\r\n\r\nI agree that this can be done in a scary, inappropriate way. I\'ve seen it happen. Many years ago, when I was working as a camp counselor, we would deliver a message of God\'s love, grace, and forgiveness to the campers. We would use a skit to illustrate what we were trying to communicate. I remember telling the other counselors that I refused to participate in the skit that explicitly stated that if our friends went to hell, it would be our fault for not telling them about Jesus. That particular skit had left more than one child in tears in the past, and I wanted no part of it.\r\n\r\nPresenting a message to children about salvation can also take a disturbing turn when we use manipulation and fear tactics.  Anyone who has ever <a href=\"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301235/\">seen the documentary <em>Hell House</em></a> (or been to an actual Hell House—yes, they still exist) can attest to that.  Within some churches, there is extraordinary pressure for children to make a \"faith commitment\" at a very young age, including among those five and under.  And mission work, particularly certain types of relief aid, can take the form of forced evangelism.\r\n\r\nSo, yes. I get it. Teaching kids about religious beliefs can be done in a  pretty frightening manner.  I think about how I would feel if anyone thought they had the right to take my children to a religious institution that wasn\'t Christian and terrify or shame them into belief.  But it doesn\'t have to be that way.  Not all evangelistic endeavors leave children feeling that they need to conform in order to be accepted or loved.\r\n\r\nIn order to avoid the typical pitfalls, we as adults need to be aware of several things.\r\n\r\nFirst, we must be careful not to attach our love for our kids to their faith.  If we put pressure on our children to make early decisions about their beliefs, we risk having children who think we will only love or be proud of them if they agree with us.\r\n\r\nSecond, we must deliver the message in love, without the fear.  Even if we as adults (and not even all adults agree on this) believe that faith in Jesus is necessary for entrance into Heaven, we should be cautious about how we share that information.  The truth is, we cannot know the eternal fate of anyone else.  Teaching children that they deserve Hell for their sins does more harm than good.\r\n\r\nThird, related to the second, is that the message should be developmentally appropriate.  One of the reasons it can be damaging for children to hear that they need to be saved from Hell is that it is confusing for young ones.  Better that the kids begin with a solid foundation of love.  There is no reason to go in-depth on the matter with a six-year-old.\r\n\r\nFinally, parents need to be aware that their children may not find their childhood religion meaningful when they reach adulthood.  We need to be prepared that not every child raised in church or who attended vacation Bible school every summer will end up being a Christian.  We must be ready to give them the space they need to uncover their own spirituality.\r\n\r\nMy children attend church. We read the Bible with them every night. We pray before meals and we pray for people in need. They go to Sunday school, they go to a Christian camp, they attend the children\'s ministry at our mid-week service. Do we hope they will grow into faithful adult Christians? Absolutely. Will we love them any less if they choose something different? Most emphatically, no.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think? Should we avoid religious instruction and evangelism for children?\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Faith Like a Child','','inherit','open','open','','7325-revision-3','','','2012-07-30 19:26:27','2012-07-31 02:26:27','',7325,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/30/7325-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7412,1,'2012-08-01 17:25:52','2012-08-02 00:25:52','','feet walking','','inherit','open','open','','feet-walking','','','2012-08-01 17:25:52','2012-08-02 00:25:52','',7389,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/feet-walking.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7413,1,'2012-08-01 16:00:49','2012-08-01 23:00:49','“Take up your cross and follow me.” ~Jesus\r\n\r\nAs I reflect on the severely polarized and politicized struggles within American Christianity it is evident how little these struggles really have to do with Jesus. Both sides are more interested in isolating an ideology and then vilifying those who hold a different view. And of course, we are all convinced that our ideology is more “biblical” than any other. In all honesty, I think we hold on for dear life to our stances and beliefs so that we may convince ourselves that this is what Jesus really wants from us. It’s like a collective thought disorder. But it’s much easier than following him.\r\n\r\nBecause honestly, who really wants to follow him?\r\n\r\nHe did the very thing that our American worldview does not allow. We are all about being upwardly mobile, successful, safe and prosperous and so we have co-opted God into that belief. We believe that God is all about blessing our efforts and that our success proves God’s favor. Our Christianity has become a prop for middle to upper class comfort and security. That ideal is found nowhere in the gospels. Jesus movement was decidedly downward. He moved right into the neighborhood of powerlessness and need.\r\n\r\nI think what is most difficult for us is that Jesus, though already fairly poor, chose to become homeless. He claimed all humanity as his family and moved away from his nuclear family, which in his culture was a shameful act. (He obviously needs a tutorial in family values.) But in addition to that, while most good Jewish men of his age would have married and started having children, his singleness aligned him with the “non-procreators”, like eunuchs, who were considered unclean and inferior. There were no categories of gay or straight in Jesus’ day; people were either procreative or non-procreative. Those who did not or could not produce children for any reason were suspect, or outcast. (See Jesus’ words in Matt. 19:11-12.) He chose solidarity with the most despised.\r\n\r\nWe know he treated women as full and competent disciples, he welcomed the stranger and the sick, touched the dead, and healed the children of the enemy. In his presence the tight miserly hands that held onto precious silver and gold opened wide. He undermined every structure of religion and empire and really, really ticked off those with power. Let’s just be honest. It’s far, far easier and safer to convince ourselves that being pro-life and justifying the harsh realities of the lives of those with less (money, resources, opportunity), or feeling superior for being more tolerant than thou, is somehow at all like the path Jesus walked.  So Jesus asks us to pick up the instrument of our death and to follow where he goes. Any sane person would count the cost. Any sane person would struggle with it, because to follow Jesus means that we no longer get to co-opt the faith to make our own lives work. \r\n\r\nMost of those whom I know consider themselves to be “biblical” Christians feel that the “dying” that is asked of them means they reject the “world” and its values (hence the dogged political views). However, I wonder if how we have come to understand “the world” has become quite distorted. Blogger and Wild Goose Founder Mike Morrell says, “Jesus was referring to the world of principalities and powers, those inhuman and dehumanizing forces of religion and empire. He wasn’t referring to culture-as-such, and certainly not to planet earth. Millions of friends-of-God are awakening to the reality that we live in a God-blessed and God-beloved world that God still thinks is ‘very good,’ however marred by egoic haze and degradation its become. We’re all connected – for life or death.” \r\n\r\nAnd there it is. What will “kill” us is following Jesus’ movement into the God-blessed and God-beloved world, and receiving those for whom Christ died as we would Christ Himself. That means making a home with them, here. That means looking beyond political and doctrinal divisions into the eyes of all humanity, not to minister to them or over them, but to join them and work alongside them. Jesus asks us to do the very thing our religious and political hearts find abhorrent. But by making space within ourselves to receive the other, we are changed by them and ego dies. We begin to become less defined by our certainties and stances, and more defined by love, by becoming “we”. And Kingdom comes. That was Jesus’ prayer for us before he died, and his prayer for us as he continues to live. \r\n\r\nIt’s much easier to convince ourselves that we are following Jesus by choosing to eat or not eat at a certain chicken restaurant. It’s much harder to share your table with those whom you have decided don’t belong. It’s even harder to admit that there is only One Table. However, we are going to need each other because let’s face it, Jesus’ path is more than a little crazy. It will cost us our lives.\r\n','Follow Me','','inherit','open','open','','7389-revision-2','','','2012-08-01 16:00:49','2012-08-01 23:00:49','',7389,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7389-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7415,1,'2012-08-01 17:40:59','2012-08-02 00:40:59','','wine and friends','','inherit','open','open','','wine-and-friends','','','2012-08-01 17:40:59','2012-08-02 00:40:59','',7367,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/wine-and-friends.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7416,73,'2012-08-14 08:00:12','2012-08-14 15:00:12','Every time I hear the word follow, every single time, I think of my 16 year old self, getting ready for Club, and then I think about Bono. Yeah, that Bono; the dude with the shades from U2. I hear him making his fervent pronouncement, \"I will...follow!\" at the end of the song of the same name.\r\n\r\nWho\'d have thought Bono would be a sort of John the Baptist for me, making the way for Jesus in my heart? It was U2 and the noblesse oblige of some suburban mothers who taught me that follow wasn\'t a four letter word. That following Him didn\'t have to take my (very high) cool factor to the basement.\r\n\r\nClub was where church kids with attitude spent their Fridays. It was the one place where we could both listen to our alternative music and ask questions about God that we didn\'t want to get into with our parents. It was where the mothers plying us with vats of Kool-aid smiled evenly at everyone; no matter how we dressed. A few churches across Pittsburgh opened wide their social halls for a cover band, led by the long-haired cool guy Ramsey, and let us dance in the dark until curfew. Even carefully coiffed \"edgy\" kids want to hang out with an endless supply of good music and free cookies. I didn\'t want to follow anyone if it didn\'t make me look good. Club made it possible for me make myself comfortable on the fence.\r\n\r\nTwo things defined our time at Club, and as teenagers; music and style. My friends and I planned our outfits with care, making sure all our-black clothes were clean, our tights ripped just so. Friday after school, we gathered at my house and sprayed our hair into impossible spikes, rimmed our eyes with liner, laced up our boots and marched off.\r\n\r\nWhen the DJ played Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Smiths, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen we danced our faces off.  We cornered the territory and we defined it, policed it, with vigilance and a healthy dose of self-importance. We, my dark clad, angry looking friends and I, were real fans. We understood the artists, you know. We uncovered the deeper meanings behind songs like \"Lips Like Sugar,\" (there really is no deeper meaning there) and \"Khundalini Express.\" We followed the artists\' lives with no help from twitter or Facebook. Cripes, we were still playing music on tape decks, people.\r\n\r\nI knew that we were not conforming. I knew that we were different. I knew that they were nothing more than followers..\r\n\r\nExcept. That\'s exactly what I was doing. I believed that to like a genre of music, one needed to look a certain way, act a certain way and follow a prescribed set of ideologies. Even if a kid doesn\'t use music as an identity shaper, high school years are fraught with the tug between following and leading, between dependence and independence. Plus the hormones! It\'s a wonder so many of us survive that time.\r\n\r\nFollowing the distanced and contrived facade of someone else\'s imagining is to find ourselves in the same predicament as U2; we still won\'t be able to find \"what we\'re looking for.\" It was fine to experiment with personae as I grew into myself, but at some point, that fence on which I sat grew rather uncomfortable.\r\n\r\nThankfully, the DJ played U2 as well as Siouxie and the Banshees. When I heard that iconoclastic cry, the decision to follow, I knew it was time to choose sides. Here was a band that wrote about more than having sex and how painful break ups are. Here was a dense and wrought musical language that combined faith and cool like nothing I\'d ever seen. Here was a middle ground that allowed me to engage both my intellect and my emotions to approach an idea about God.\r\n\r\nWhich is to say, U2, and the kind ministrations of the juice ladies, pushed me off the fence. I wanted a textured faith, to follow something relevant and lasting but also deep enough to handle my questions. I wanted a faith that let me engage in culture to find the redemptive. In my mind, it hadn\'t existed until I fell for U2.\r\n\r\nUnlike so-called Christian bands, which even my pastor dad skewered as bad theology and worse music, U2 consistently has been able to use spiritual and scriptural allusions without the blunt force of straight-up Jesus talk. Few \"secular\" artists strike such a powerful balance between rock and reason, juxtaposing the (assumed) debauchery of stars with spirituality like U2. Without looking too hard, one could hear the redemptive bubbling to the surface in so many of their songs. A basic understanding of Judeo-Christian beliefs were all one needed to notice how cleanly scriptural truths were presented.\r\n\r\nTo a teen standing on the edges of faith, wading into the treacherous waters of identity formation, U2 offered a flavor of belief system I could swallow without a chaser of Kool-aid. Listening to U2 honed my critical thinking skills and I listened to other music, other lyrics, or approached the visual or written arts. I learned to decipher the music and art I consumed, asking what it demanded of me. I was going to follow this Jesus, I sure didn\'t want a crappy soundtrack.','U2 and the Call to Follow','','publish','open','open','','u2-and-the-call-to-follow','','','2012-08-10 07:32:56','2012-08-10 14:32:56','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7416',0,'post','',6),(7417,1,'2012-08-01 17:11:07','2012-08-02 00:11:07','In practical and academic theological circles it\'s popular to ponder, write, consider, and act upon the meaning of following Jesus, especially following Jesus to the cross. You read scripture and start to realize going to the cross of Calvary means resisting death-dealing secular and religious bureaucratic and \"other\" assorted authorities, rejecting anything but love and justice as the measuring line, disallowing all that\'s other than righteousness as the plumbline; after a few years of living out our baptism, we start discovering Resurrection Sunday morning is every bit as demanding as Good Friday afternoon. It\'s easy to take pride in demonstrating visibly for ecclesiastically popular causes, maybe getting onto the evening news, feeling good about ourselves for sometimes getting too involved with concerns not popular with our local judicatories. Soundbite on the late night news, anyone? Spending a season with Mother Teresa\'s peeps or serving Thanksgiving dinner at Father Joe\'s place. Those bigger, more obvious, more stars-in-our-crowns activities. And for the most part, they\'re all good. Often very good and life-transformative.\r\n\r\nBut in the ambient heat and humidity of mid-summer 2012, I like to remember Jesus partying with friends and with strangers. A spontaneous feast because they\'d hauled in a big catch, had freshly baked bread, and the grapes were ripe and juicy. Or a quick roundup of \"whatever\" resources because so many hungry people had surrounded them. I love stories of Jesus making sure everyone got enough to eat, commanding and demanding his disciples feed others, too. I love how we keep celebrating holy communion, the sacrament of the welcome table, the holy eucharist, with each other. More than simply \"liking\" the way potluck dinners, annual picnics, and strawberry ice cream socials have becoming close to definitive for the church. Ever attended a new to you church that didn\'t have an after worship (or between services) social hour? It\'s all about gathering, talking, relating, feeding, eating, and being fed. And we\'re not likely to keep on performing an action unless it has meaning, unless it says something to us and about us, unless it meets a basic need.\r\n\r\nA religious ritual? There are plenty of those. If we are to remember Jesus, do we need bread and wine? Do we need potlucks and picnics? Throughout the records of Jesus\' life we find accounts of Jesus feeding other people and feasting with his friends; Jesus repeatedly talks about those who will banquet in the Kingdom... and about giving his body for the life of the world. But is that gift of a body broken unto death for the life of the world the whole, entire thing?\r\n\r\nIn feeding friends and strangers, in celebrating bounty of the sea, gifts from the ground, and fruit of the vine, Jesus reveals a worldview that\'s at a 180-degree angle to most common ideas of religion and religiousness. We find loving justice, mercy, and embrace graciously at work wherever Jesus goes, and wherever we follow him into the world so hunger, greed, need, judgment, and exclusion are wiped out.\r\n\r\nLike Jesus, will we actively search for the lonely, the different, the outcast, and the stranger, welcoming them not only to our more formally scheduled eucharistic liturgies (well, turning them out of the narthex, back into the street <em>would</em> be awkward), but also afterwards at social hour (no snarkiness allowed), week night potlucks or annual picnics (I brought enough for everyone and would love to try your special dish), ice cream socials (we\'ve never done it that way, but we\'d love to try your way)? Will we be making our worlds, our neighborhoods and our churches into sanctuaries, holy places, into a foretaste of the reign of God on earth? Will we follow Jesus by including everyone, excluding no one? Will the world recognize us as the body of Christ when we pour out our everyday lives with compassion just as we pour out the eucharistic wine?','following Jesus everywhere','','inherit','open','open','','7367-revision-10','','','2012-08-01 17:11:07','2012-08-02 00:11:07','',7367,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7367-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(7418,1,'2012-08-01 17:44:04','2012-08-02 00:44:04','The topic:  <strong>Follow.</strong>  In August we are going to consider the idea of following.  Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” and that has powerful implications in the way we live.  How does that affect you?   We believe the power of voice has tremendous capacity to inspire and encourage people. Provoketive is a space to explore our humanity, who we follow, and who is following us.\n\nThe following is a list of participants in this Synchroblog.  To participate, click <a title=\"New Synchroblog Coming – Follow\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/19/new-synchroblog-coming-follow/\">here</a>.\n\nAugust 2nd - Ray Carroll - Following Christ After Extreme Failure\n\nAugust 3rd - Jeremy Myers - Everyone is Following Jesus\n\nAugust 4th - Carol Kuniholm - Which Way Am I Called to Follow?\n\nAugust 6th - Leah Randall - Two Words\n\nAugust 7th - Liz Dyer - Give Up Your Good Christian Life and Follow Jesus\n\nAugust 8th - Ellen Haroutunian - Follow Me\n\nAugust 9th - Leah Chang - Following Jesus Everywhere\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Follow - Synchroblog List ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-revision','','','2012-08-01 17:44:04','2012-08-02 00:44:04','',7393,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7393-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7419,73,'2012-08-01 17:44:34','2012-08-02 00:44:34','Every time I hear the word follow, every single time, I think of my 16 year old self, getting ready for Club, and then I think about Bono. Yeah, that Bono; the dude with the shades from U2. I hear him making his fervent pronouncement, \"I will...follow!\" at the end of the song of the same name.\nWho\'d have thought Bono would be a sort of John the Baptist for me, making the way for Jesus in my heart? It was U2 and the noblesse oblige of some suburban mothers who taught me that follow wasn\'t a four letter word. That following Him didn\'t have to take my (very high) cool factor to the basement.\nClub was where church kids with attitude spent their Fridays. It was the one place where we could both listen to our alternative music and ask questions about God that we didn\'t want to get into with our parents. It was where the mothers plying us with vats of Kool-aid smiled evenly at everyone; no matter how we dressed. A few churches across Pittsburgh opened wide their social halls for a cover band, led by the long-haired cool guy Ramsey, and let us dance in the dark until curfew. Even carefully coiffed \"edgy\" kids want to hang out with an endless supply of good music and free cookies. I didn\'t want to follow anyone if it didn\'t make me look good. Club made it possible for me make myself comfortable on the fence.\nTwo things defined our time at Club, and as teenagers; music and style. My friends and I planned our outfits with care, making sure all our-black clothes were clean, our tights ripped just so. Friday after school, we gathered at my house and sprayed our hair into impossible spikes, rimmed our eyes with liner, laced up our boots and marched off.\nWhen the DJ played Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Smiths, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen we danced our faces off.  We cornered the territory and we defined it, policed it, with vigilance and a healthy dose of self-importance. We, my dark clad, angry looking friends and I, were real fans. We understood the artists, you know. We uncovered the deeper meanings behind songs like \"Lips Like Sugar,\" (there really is no deeper meaning there) and \"Khundalini Express.\" We followed the artists\' lives with no help from twitter or Facebook. Cripes, we were still playing music on tape decks, people.\nI knew that we were not conforming. I knew that we were different. I knew that they were nothing more than followers\n\nExcept. That\'s exactly what I was doing. I believed that to like a genre of music, one needed to look a certain way, act a certain way and follow a prescribed set of ideologies. Even if a kid doesn\'t use music as an identity shaper, high school years are fraught with the tug between following and leading, between dependence and independence. Plus the hormones! It\'s a wonder so many of us survive that time.\nFollowing the distanced and contrived facade of someone else\'s imagining is to find ourselves in the same predicament as U2; we still won\'t be able to find \"what we\'re looking for.\" It was fine to experiment with personae as I grew into myself, but at some point, that fence on which I sat grew rather uncomfortable.\nThankfully, the DJ played U2 as well as Siouxie and the Banshees. When I heard that iconoclastic cry, the decision to follow, I knew it was time to choose sides. Here was a band that wrote about more than having sex and how painful break ups are. Here was a dense and wrought musical language that combined faith and cool like nothing I\'d ever seen. Here was a middle ground that allowed me to engage both my intellect and my emotions to approach an idea about God.\nWhich is to say, U2, and the kind ministrations of the juice ladies, pushed me off the fence. I wanted a textured faith, to follow something relevant and lasting but also deep enough to handle my questions. I wanted a faith that let me engage in culture to find the redemptive. In my mind, it hadn\'t existed until I fell for U2.\nUnlike so-called Christian bands, which even my pastor dad skewered as bad theology and worse music, U2 consistently has been able to use spiritual and scriptural allusions without the blunt force of straight-up Jesus talk. Few \"secular\" artists strike such a powerful balance between rock and reason, juxtaposing the (assumed) debauchery of stars with spirituality like U2. Without looking too hard, one could hear the redemptive bubbling to the surface in so many of their songs. A basic understanding of Judeo-Christian beliefs were all one needed to notice how cleanly scriptural truths were presented.\nTo a teen standing on the edges of faith, wading into the treacherous waters of identity formation, U2 offered a flavor of belief system I could swallow without a chaser of Kool-aid. Listening to U2 honed my critical thinking skills and I listened to other music, other lyrics, or approached the visual or written arts. I learned to decipher the music and art I consumed, asking what it demanded of me. I was going to follow this Jesus, I sure didn\'t want a crappy soundtrack.\n\n\n.','U2 and the Call to Follow','','inherit','open','open','','7416-revision','','','2012-08-01 17:44:34','2012-08-02 00:44:34','',7416,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7416-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7420,73,'2012-08-01 17:45:50','2012-08-02 00:45:50','Every time I hear the word follow, every single time, I think of my 16 year old self, getting ready for Club, and then I think about Bono. Yeah, that Bono; the dude with the shades from U2. I hear him making his fervent pronouncement, \"I will...follow!\" at the end of the song of the same name\nWho\'d have thought Bono would be a sort of John the Baptist for me, making the way for Jesus in my heart? It was U2 and the noblesse oblige of some suburban mothers who taught me that follow wasn\'t a four letter word. That following Him didn\'t have to take my (very high) cool factor to the basement\nClub was where church kids with attitude spent their Fridays. It was the one place where we could both listen to our alternative music and ask questions about God that we didn\'t want to get into with our parents. It was where the mothers plying us with vats of Kool-aid smiled evenly at everyone; no matter how we dressed. A few churches across Pittsburgh opened wide their social halls for a cover band, led by the long-haired cool guy Ramsey, and let us dance in the dark until curfew. Even carefully coiffed \"edgy\" kids want to hang out with an endless supply of good music and free cookies. I didn\'t want to follow anyone if it didn\'t make me look good. Club made it possible for me make myself comfortable on the fence\nTwo things defined our time at Club, and as teenagers; music and style. My friends and I planned our outfits with care, making sure all our-black clothes were clean, our tights ripped just so. Friday after school, we gathered at my house and sprayed our hair into impossible spikes, rimmed our eyes with liner, laced up our boots and marched off.\nWhen the DJ played Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Smiths, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen we danced our faces off.  We cornered the territory and we defined it, policed it, with vigilance and a healthy dose of self-importance. We, my dark clad, angry looking friends and I, were real fans. We understood the artists, you know. We uncovered the deeper meanings behind songs like \"Lips Like Sugar,\" (there really is no deeper meaning there) and \"Khundalini Express.\" We followed the artists\' lives with no help from twitter or Facebook. Cripes, we were still playing music on tape decks, people.\nI knew that we were not conforming. I knew that we were different. I knew that they were nothing more than followers..\n\nExcept. That\'s exactly what I was doing. I believed that to like a genre of music, one needed to look a certain way, act a certain way and follow a prescribed set of ideologies. Even if a kid doesn\'t use music as an identity shaper, high school years are fraught with the tug between following and leading, between dependence and independence. Plus the hormones! It\'s a wonder so many of us survive that time.\n\nFollowing the distanced and contrived facade of someone else\'s imagining is to find ourselves in the same predicament as U2; we still won\'t be able to find \"what we\'re looking for.\" It was fine to experiment with personae as I grew into myself, but at some point, that fence on which I sat grew rather uncomfortable\nThankfully, the DJ played U2 as well as Siouxie and the Banshees. When I heard that iconoclastic cry, the decision to follow, I knew it was time to choose sides. Here was a band that wrote about more than having sex and how painful break ups are. Here was a dense and wrought musical language that combined faith and cool like nothing I\'d ever seen. Here was a middle ground that allowed me to engage both my intellect and my emotions to approach an idea about God.\nWhich is to say, U2, and the kind ministrations of the juice ladies, pushed me off the fence. I wanted a textured faith, to follow something relevant and lasting but also deep enough to handle my questions. I wanted a faith that let me engage in culture to find the redemptive. In my mind, it hadn\'t existed until I fell for U2.\nUnlike so-called Christian bands, which even my pastor dad skewered as bad theology and worse music, U2 consistently has been able to use spiritual and scriptural allusions without the blunt force of straight-up Jesus talk. Few \"secular\" artists strike such a powerful balance between rock and reason, juxtaposing the (assumed) debauchery of stars with spirituality like U2. Without looking too hard, one could hear the redemptive bubbling to the surface in so many of their songs. A basic understanding of Judeo-Christian beliefs were all one needed to notice how cleanly scriptural truths were presented.\nTo a teen standing on the edges of faith, wading into the treacherous waters of identity formation, U2 offered a flavor of belief system I could swallow without a chaser of Kool-aid. Listening to U2 honed my critical thinking skills and I listened to other music, other lyrics, or approached the visual or written arts. I learned to decipher the music and art I consumed, asking what it demanded of me. I was going to follow this Jesus, I sure didn\'t want a crappy soundtrack.\n\n.','U2 and the Call to Follow','','inherit','open','open','','7416-revision-2','','','2012-08-01 17:45:50','2012-08-02 00:45:50','',7416,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7416-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7421,73,'2012-08-01 17:47:38','2012-08-02 00:47:38','Every time I hear the word follow, every single time, I think of my 16 year old self, getting ready for Club, and then I think about Bono. Yeah, that Bono; the dude with the shades from U2. I hear him making his fervent pronouncement, \"I will...follow!\" at the end of the song of the same name.\nWho\'d have thought Bono would be a sort of John the Baptist for me, making the way for Jesus in my heart? It was U2 and the noblesse oblige of some suburban mothers who taught me that follow wasn\'t a four letter word. That following Him didn\'t have to take my (very high) cool factor to the basement.\nClub was where church kids with attitude spent their Fridays. It was the one place where we could both listen to our alternative music and ask questions about God that we didn\'t want to get into with our parents. It was where the mothers plying us with vats of Kool-aid smiled evenly at everyone; no matter how we dressed. A few churches across Pittsburgh opened wide their social halls for a cover band, led by the long-haired cool guy Ramsey, and let us dance in the dark until curfew. Even carefully coiffed \"edgy\" kids want to hang out with an endless supply of good music and free cookies. I didn\'t want to follow anyone if it didn\'t make me look good. Club made it possible for me make myself comfortable on the fence.\nTwo things defined our time at Club, and as teenagers; music and style. My friends and I planned our outfits with care, making sure all our-black clothes were clean, our tights ripped just so. Friday after school, we gathered at my house and sprayed our hair into impossible spikes, rimmed our eyes with liner, laced up our boots and marched off.\nWhen the DJ played Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Smiths, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen we danced our faces off.  We cornered the territory and we defined it, policed it, with vigilance and a healthy dose of self-importance. We, my dark clad, angry looking friends and I, were real fans. We understood the artists, you know. We uncovered the deeper meanings behind songs like \"Lips Like Sugar,\" (there really is no deeper meaning there) and \"Khundalini Express.\" We followed the artists\' lives with no help from twitter or Facebook. Cripes, we were still playing music on tape decks, people.\nI knew that we were not conforming. I knew that we were different. I knew that they were nothing more than followers..\n\nExcept. That\'s exactly what I was doing. I believed that to like a genre of music, one needed to look a certain way, act a certain way and follow a prescribed set of ideologies. Even if a kid doesn\'t use music as an identity shaper, high school years are fraught with the tug between following and leading, between dependence and independence. Plus the hormones! It\'s a wonder so many of us survive that time.\n\nFollowing the distanced and contrived facade of someone else\'s imagining is to find ourselves in the same predicament as U2; we still won\'t be able to find \"what we\'re looking for.\" It was fine to experiment with personae as I grew into myself, but at some point, that fence on which I sat grew rather uncomfortable\nThankfully, the DJ played U2 as well as Siouxie and the Banshees. When I heard that iconoclastic cry, the decision to follow, I knew it was time to choose sides. Here was a band that wrote about more than having sex and how painful break ups are. Here was a dense and wrought musical language that combined faith and cool like nothing I\'d ever seen. Here was a middle ground that allowed me to engage both my intellect and my emotions to approach an idea about God.\nWhich is to say, U2, and the kind ministrations of the juice ladies, pushed me off the fence. I wanted a textured faith, to follow something relevant and lasting but also deep enough to handle my questions. I wanted a faith that let me engage in culture to find the redemptive. In my mind, it hadn\'t existed until I fell for U2.\nUnlike so-called Christian bands, which even my pastor dad skewered as bad theology and worse music, U2 consistently has been able to use spiritual and scriptural allusions without the blunt force of straight-up Jesus talk. Few \"secular\" artists strike such a powerful balance between rock and reason, juxtaposing the (assumed) debauchery of stars with spirituality like U2. Without looking too hard, one could hear the redemptive bubbling to the surface in so many of their songs. A basic understanding of Judeo-Christian beliefs were all one needed to notice how cleanly scriptural truths were presented\nTo a teen standing on the edges of faith, wading into the treacherous waters of identity formation, U2 offered a flavor of belief system I could swallow without a chaser of Kool-aid. Listening to U2 honed my critical thinking skills and I listened to other music, other lyrics, or approached the visual or written arts. I learned to decipher the music and art I consumed, asking what it demanded of me. I was going to follow this Jesus, I sure didn\'t want a crappy soundtrack.\n\n.','U2 and the Call to Follow','','inherit','open','open','','7416-revision-3','','','2012-08-01 17:47:38','2012-08-02 00:47:38','',7416,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7416-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7422,73,'2012-08-01 17:48:51','2012-08-02 00:48:51','Every time I hear the word follow, every single time, I think of my 16 year old self, getting ready for Club, and then I think about Bono. Yeah, that Bono; the dude with the shades from U2. I hear him making his fervent pronouncement, \"I will...follow!\" at the end of the song of the same name.\nWho\'d have thought Bono would be a sort of John the Baptist for me, making the way for Jesus in my heart? It was U2 and the noblesse oblige of some suburban mothers who taught me that follow wasn\'t a four letter word. That following Him didn\'t have to take my (very high) cool factor to the basement.\nClub was where church kids with attitude spent their Fridays. It was the one place where we could both listen to our alternative music and ask questions about God that we didn\'t want to get into with our parents. It was where the mothers plying us with vats of Kool-aid smiled evenly at everyone; no matter how we dressed. A few churches across Pittsburgh opened wide their social halls for a cover band, led by the long-haired cool guy Ramsey, and let us dance in the dark until curfew. Even carefully coiffed \"edgy\" kids want to hang out with an endless supply of good music and free cookies. I didn\'t want to follow anyone if it didn\'t make me look good. Club made it possible for me make myself comfortable on the fence.\nTwo things defined our time at Club, and as teenagers; music and style. My friends and I planned our outfits with care, making sure all our-black clothes were clean, our tights ripped just so. Friday after school, we gathered at my house and sprayed our hair into impossible spikes, rimmed our eyes with liner, laced up our boots and marched off.\nWhen the DJ played Depeche Mode, The Cure, The Smiths, The Psychedelic Furs, Echo and the Bunnymen we danced our faces off.  We cornered the territory and we defined it, policed it, with vigilance and a healthy dose of self-importance. We, my dark clad, angry looking friends and I, were real fans. We understood the artists, you know. We uncovered the deeper meanings behind songs like \"Lips Like Sugar,\" (there really is no deeper meaning there) and \"Khundalini Express.\" We followed the artists\' lives with no help from twitter or Facebook. Cripes, we were still playing music on tape decks, people.\nI knew that we were not conforming. I knew that we were different. I knew that they were nothing more than followers..\n\nExcept. That\'s exactly what I was doing. I believed that to like a genre of music, one needed to look a certain way, act a certain way and follow a prescribed set of ideologies. Even if a kid doesn\'t use music as an identity shaper, high school years are fraught with the tug between following and leading, between dependence and independence. Plus the hormones! It\'s a wonder so many of us survive that time.\n\nFollowing the distanced and contrived facade of someone else\'s imagining is to find ourselves in the same predicament as U2; we still won\'t be able to find \"what we\'re looking for.\" It was fine to experiment with personae as I grew into myself, but at some point, that fence on which I sat grew rather uncomfortable\nThankfully, the DJ played U2 as well as Siouxie and the Banshees. When I heard that iconoclastic cry, the decision to follow, I knew it was time to choose sides. Here was a band that wrote about more than having sex and how painful break ups are. Here was a dense and wrought musical language that combined faith and cool like nothing I\'d ever seen. Here was a middle ground that allowed me to engage both my intellect and my emotions to approach an idea about God.\nWhich is to say, U2, and the kind ministrations of the juice ladies, pushed me off the fence. I wanted a textured faith, to follow something relevant and lasting but also deep enough to handle my questions. I wanted a faith that let me engage in culture to find the redemptive. In my mind, it hadn\'t existed until I fell for U2.\nUnlike so-called Christian bands, which even my pastor dad skewered as bad theology and worse music, U2 consistently has been able to use spiritual and scriptural allusions without the blunt force of straight-up Jesus talk. Few \"secular\" artists strike such a powerful balance between rock and reason, juxtaposing the (assumed) debauchery of stars with spirituality like U2. Without looking too hard, one could hear the redemptive bubbling to the surface in so many of their songs. A basic understanding of Judeo-Christian beliefs were all one needed to notice how cleanly scriptural truths were presented\nTo a teen standing on the edges of faith, wading into the treacherous waters of identity formation, U2 offered a flavor of belief system I could swallow without a chaser of Kool-aid. Listening to U2 honed my critical thinking skills and I listened to other music, other lyrics, or approached the visual or written arts. I learned to decipher the music and art I consumed, asking what it demanded of me. I was going to follow this Jesus, I sure didn\'t want a crappy soundtrack.\n\n.','U2 and the Call to Follow','','inherit','open','open','','7416-revision-4','','','2012-08-01 17:48:51','2012-08-02 00:48:51','',7416,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7416-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7423,144,'2012-07-30 10:44:09','2012-07-30 17:44:09','&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/unexpected1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7311\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/unexpected1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"635\" height=\"276\" /></a>\r\n\r\n“Follower of Jesus” is the new cooler way to say “Christian”, a word loaded with centuries of baggage that no longer seems very Christian. Yet, “follower of Jesus” sounds a little smug to me. It reminds of those church-goers in ancient Corinth who weren’t in the camp of Paul or Apollos; they followed Jesus. Smug.\r\n\r\nHowever, trying to figure out just what it really means to follow Jesus is something that merits careful consideration, especially, because it so misunderstood.\r\n\r\nFollowing Jesus in his day meant just that. That’s how the cream of the crop, the young people with the most potential were educated. They followed their Rabbi for years. They lived and traveled together. The kids who were not the best and brightest, learned a trade.\r\n\r\nThere are no rules for following Jesus, you just stay with him, watch him; see what he does, how he responds; watch what he does when he is stressed.\r\n\r\nHe took his followers to the darnest places. Think about where they wound up as they followed Jesus. You might find yourself in some of the same places. You might wind up…\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>At parties with the most notorious people in town</li>\r\n	<li>At the graveside of a dear friend</li>\r\n	<li>At the public forum butting heads with powerful people (repeatedly) who can put a contract on your life if they disagree with you</li>\r\n	<li>Playing with children when you wanted to be all serious</li>\r\n	<li>Listening to what he says as people are preparing to stone a woman to death who was caught in the act of adultery</li>\r\n	<li>Trying to explain to a powerful religious man how God wants to restore his relationship with humankind</li>\r\n	<li>Hanging out with whores who are attracted to him</li>\r\n	<li>Chatting with corrupt government officials and corporate fat cats</li>\r\n	<li>Panicking in the middle of nowhere with thousands of admirers, but no food</li>\r\n	<li>Listening to great stories</li>\r\n	<li>Watching the crowds thin and some of them turn against him</li>\r\n	<li>Breaking lots of stupid rules that misrepresent God and hurt people</li>\r\n	<li>Seeing amazing things that remind you you’re walking with God</li>\r\n	<li>Talking with all kinds of people from all walks of life about this very topic, “What does it mean to follow?”</li>\r\n	<li>Running for your life as your leader is betrayed and tortured to death</li>\r\n	<li>Running to a cemetery checking out an unbelievable rumor</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThat’s where we go when we walk with Jesus. We will be a thorn in the side of some powerful people, a friend to some powerless people, someone who is fully alive in the moment that sees God everywhere, a lover of all kinds of people, who finds himself in all types of weird, new situations.\r\n\r\nJesus likes to put his followers in new, challenging situations and then, afterwards, discuss what they learned.\r\n\r\nOh, I forgot to mention that to be a good follower of Jesus you need to read your Bible more, pray more, stop looking at porn, never argue with your wife, have beautiful, completely compliant children, never miss Sunday services, tithe, take classes on how to be a better Christian, keep a beautiful lawn and home, and spend all of your free time in church activities. (Or maybe I didn’t forget to mention it.)\r\n\r\nI used to care more about that kind of religious stuff than simply following Jesus, but that stuff always seemed separate from regular life. So, now I am trying to jettison religion and merge faith and life together to live a more integrated, true, whole life.\r\n\r\nPeople have all different ways of following Jesus, but a lot of us are trying to find a stripped down, raw and real approach that makes sense.\r\n\r\nFollowing Jesus means doing the kinds of stuff he did, turning love into action.\r\n\r\nReminder to self: Watch, learn, reflect, mimic. Never let him out of my sight.','Strange Places','','inherit','open','open','','7305-revision-9','','','2012-07-30 10:44:09','2012-07-30 17:44:09','',7305,'http://provoketive.com/2012/07/30/7305-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(7424,1,'2012-08-03 08:35:52','2012-08-03 15:35:52','“Follower of Jesus” is the new cooler way to say “Christian”, a word loaded with centuries of baggage that no longer seems very Christian. Yet, “follower of Jesus” sounds a little smug to me. It reminds of those church-goers in ancient Corinth who weren’t in the camp of Paul or Apollos; they followed Jesus. Smug.\n\nHowever, trying to figure out just what it really means to follow Jesus is something that merits careful consideration, especially, because it so misunderstood.\n\nFollowing Jesus in his day meant just that. That’s how the cream of the crop, the young people with the most potential were educated. They followed their Rabbi for years. They lived and traveled together. The kids who were not the best and brightest, learned a trade.\n\nThere are no rules for following Jesus, you just stay with him, watch him; see what he does, how he responds; watch what he does when he is stressed.\n\nHe took his followers to the darndest places. Think about where they wound up as they followed Jesus. You might find yourself in some of the same places. You might wind up…\n<ul>\n	<li>At parties with the most notorious people in town</li>\n	<li>At the graveside of a dear friend</li>\n	<li>At the public forum butting heads with powerful people (repeatedly) who can put a contract on your life if they disagree with you</li>\n	<li>Playing with children when you wanted to be all serious</li>\n	<li>Listening to what he says as people are preparing to stone a woman to death who was caught in the act of adultery</li>\n	<li>Trying to explain to a powerful religious man how God wants to restore his relationship with humankind</li>\n	<li>Hanging out with whores who are attracted to him</li>\n	<li>Chatting with corrupt government officials and corporate fat cats</li>\n	<li>Panicking in the middle of nowhere with thousands of admirers, but no food</li>\n	<li>Listening to great stories</li>\n	<li>Watching the crowds thin and some of them turn against him</li>\n	<li>Breaking lots of stupid rules that misrepresent God and hurt people</li>\n	<li>Seeing amazing things that remind you you’re walking with God</li>\n	<li>Talking with all kinds of people from all walks of life about this very topic, “What does it mean to follow?”</li>\n	<li>Running for your life as your leader is betrayed and tortured to death</li>\n	<li>Running to a cemetery checking out an unbelievable rumor</li>\n</ul>\nThat’s where we go when we walk with Jesus. We will be a thorn in the side of some powerful people, a friend to some powerless people, someone who is fully alive in the moment that sees God everywhere, a lover of all kinds of people, who finds himself in all types of weird, new situations.\n\nJesus likes to put his followers in new, challenging situations and then, afterwards, discuss what they learned.\n\nOh, I forgot to mention that to be a good follower of Jesus you need to read your Bible more, pray more, stop looking at porn, never argue with your wife, have beautiful, completely compliant children, never miss Sunday services, tithe, take classes on how to be a better Christian, keep a beautiful lawn and home, and spend all of your free time in church activities. (Or maybe I didn’t forget to mention it.)\n\nI used to care more about that kind of religious stuff than simply following Jesus, but that stuff always seemed separate from regular life. So, now I am trying to jettison religion and merge faith and life together to live a more integrated, true, whole life.\n\nPeople have all different ways of following Jesus, but a lot of us are trying to find a stripped down, raw and real approach that makes sense.\n\nFollowing Jesus means doing the kinds of stuff he did, turning love into action.\n\nReminder to self: Watch, learn, reflect, mimic. Never let him out of my sight.','Strange Places','','inherit','open','open','','7305-autosave','','','2012-08-03 08:35:52','2012-08-03 15:35:52','',7305,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7305-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7455,1,'2012-08-01 19:24:36','2012-08-02 02:24:36','&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/unexpected1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7311\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/unexpected1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"635\" height=\"276\" /></a>\r\n\r\n“Follower of Jesus” is the new cooler way to say “Christian”, a word loaded with centuries of baggage that no longer seems very Christian. Yet, “follower of Jesus” sounds a little smug to me. It reminds of those church-goers in ancient Corinth who weren’t in the camp of Paul or Apollos; they followed Jesus. Smug.\r\n\r\nHowever, trying to figure out just what it really means to follow Jesus is something that merits careful consideration, especially, because it so misunderstood.\r\n\r\nFollowing Jesus in his day meant just that. That’s how the cream of the crop, the young people with the most potential were educated. They followed their Rabbi for years. They lived and traveled together. The kids who were not the best and brightest, learned a trade.\r\n\r\nThere are no rules for following Jesus, you just stay with him, watch him; see what he does, how he responds; watch what he does when he is stressed.\r\n\r\nHe took his followers to the darnest places. Think about where they wound up as they followed Jesus. You might find yourself in some of the same places. You might wind up…\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>At parties with the most notorious people in town</li>\r\n	<li>At the graveside of a dear friend</li>\r\n	<li>At the public forum butting heads with powerful people (repeatedly) who can put a contract on your life if they disagree with you</li>\r\n	<li>Playing with children when you wanted to be all serious</li>\r\n	<li>Listening to what he says as people are preparing to stone a woman to death who was caught in the act of adultery</li>\r\n	<li>Trying to explain to a powerful religious man how God wants to restore his relationship with humankind</li>\r\n	<li>Hanging out with whores who are attracted to him</li>\r\n	<li>Chatting with corrupt government officials and corporate fat cats</li>\r\n	<li>Panicking in the middle of nowhere with thousands of admirers, but no food</li>\r\n	<li>Listening to great stories</li>\r\n	<li>Watching the crowds thin and some of them turn against him</li>\r\n	<li>Breaking lots of stupid rules that misrepresent God and hurt people</li>\r\n	<li>Seeing amazing things that remind you you’re walking with God</li>\r\n	<li>Talking with all kinds of people from all walks of life about this very topic, “What does it mean to follow?”</li>\r\n	<li>Running for your life as your leader is betrayed and tortured to death</li>\r\n	<li>Running to a cemetery checking out an unbelievable rumor</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThat’s where we go when we walk with Jesus. We will be a thorn in the side of some powerful people, a friend to some powerless people, someone who is fully alive in the moment that sees God everywhere, a lover of all kinds of people, who finds himself in all types of weird, new situations.\r\n\r\nJesus likes to put his followers in new, challenging situations and then, afterwards, discuss what they learned.\r\n\r\nOh, I forgot to mention that to be a good follower of Jesus you need to read your Bible more, pray more, stop looking at porn, never argue with your wife, have beautiful, completely compliant children, never miss Sunday services, tithe, take classes on how to be a better Christian, keep a beautiful lawn and home, and spend all of your free time in church activities. (Or maybe I didn’t forget to mention it.)\r\n\r\nI used to care more about that kind of religious stuff than simply following Jesus, but that stuff always seemed separate from regular life. So, now I am trying to jettison religion and merge faith and life together to live a more integrated, true, whole life.\r\n\r\nPeople have all different ways of following Jesus, but a lot of us are trying to find a stripped down, raw and real approach that makes sense.\r\n\r\nFollowing Jesus means doing the kinds of stuff he did, turning love into action.\r\n\r\nReminder to self: Watch, learn, reflect, mimic. Never let him out of my sight.','Strange Places','','inherit','open','open','','7305-revision-10','','','2012-08-01 19:24:36','2012-08-02 02:24:36','',7305,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7305-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(7425,1,'2012-08-13 09:14:07','2012-08-13 16:14:07','The topic:  <strong>Follow.</strong>  In August we are going to consider the idea of following.  Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” and that has powerful implications in the way we live.  How does that affect you?   We believe the power of voice has tremendous capacity to inspire and encourage people. Provoketive is a space to explore our humanity, who we follow, and who is following us.\n\nThe following is a list of participants in this Synchroblog.  To participate, click <a title=\"New Synchroblog Coming – Follow\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/19/new-synchroblog-coming-follow/\">here</a>.\n\nAugust 2nd - <a href=\"http://www.fallenpastor.com/\">Ray Carroll</a> - <a title=\"Following Christ After Extreme Failure\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/following-christ-after-extreme-failure/\">Following Christ After Extreme Failure</a>\n\nAugust 3rd - <a href=\"http://www.tillhecomes.org/\">Jeremy Myers</a> - <a title=\"Everyone is Following Jesus\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/03/everyone-is-following-jesus/\">Everyone is Following Jesus</a>\n\nAugust 4th - <a href=\"http://wordshalfheard.blogspot.com/\">Carol Kuniholm</a> - <a title=\"Which Way Am I Called to Follow?\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/04/which-way-am-i-called-to-follow/\">Which Way Am I Called to Follow?</a>\n\nAugust 6th - <a href=\"http://protestantheretic.wordpress.com/\">Leah Randall</a> - <a title=\"Two Words\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/06/two-words-2/\">Two Words</a>\n\nAugust 7th - <a href=\"http://gracerules.wordpress.com/\">Liz Dyer</a> - <a title=\"Give Up Your Good Christian Life and Follow Jesus\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/07/give-up-your-good-christian-life-and-follow-jesus/\">Give Up Your Good Christian Life and Follow Jesus</a>\n\nAugust 8th - <a href=\"http://ellenharoutunian.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Ellen Haroutunian</a> - <a title=\"Follow Me\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/08/follow-me/\">Follow Me</a>\n\nAugust 9th - <a href=\"http://www.desertspiritsfire.com/\">Leah Chang</a> - <a title=\"Following Jesus Everywhere\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/09/following-jesus-everywhere/\">Following Jesus Everywhere</a>\n\nAugust 10th - <a href=\"http://www.glennhager.com/\">Glenn Hager</a> - <a title=\"Strange Places\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/10/strange-places/\">Strange Places</a>\n\nAugust 11th - <a href=\"http://www.fallenpastor.com/\">Ray Carroll</a> - <a title=\"“Where Will We Go?” Christ vs. The Crusade System\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/11/where-will-we-go-christ-vs-the-crusade-system/\">\"Where Will We Go?\" Christ vs. The Crusade System</a>\n\nAugust 13th - <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/sarita.brown1\" target=\"_blank\">Sarita Baker Brown</a> - <a title=\"Why I Am Leaving Christianity\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/08/13/why-i-am-leaving-christianity/\">Why I Am Leaving Christianity</a>\n\nAugust 14th - Jennifer Luitweiler - U2 and the Call to Follow\n\nAugust 15th - Kathy Escobar - What It Means to Follow\n\n&nbsp;\n\n&nbsp;','Follow - Synchroblog List ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-autosave','','','2012-08-13 09:14:07','2012-08-13 16:14:07','',7393,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7393-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7426,1,'2012-08-01 17:44:04','2012-08-02 00:44:04','The topic:  <strong>Follow.</strong>  In August we are going to consider the idea of following.  Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” and that has powerful implications in the way we live.  How does that affect you?   We believe the power of voice has tremendous capacity to inspire and encourage people. Provoketive is a space to explore our humanity, who we follow, and who is following us.\r\n\r\nThe following is a list of participants in this Synchroblog.  To participate, click <a title=\"New Synchroblog Coming – Follow\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/07/19/new-synchroblog-coming-follow/\">here</a>.\r\n\r\nAugust 2nd - Ray Carroll - Following Christ After Extreme Failure\r\n\r\nAugust 3rd - Jeremy Myers - Everyone is Following Jesus\r\n\r\nAugust 4th - Carol Kuniholm - Which Way Am I Called to Follow?\r\n\r\nAugust 6th - Leah Randall - Two Words\r\n\r\nAugust 7th - Liz Dyer - Give Up Your Good Christian Life and Follow Jesus\r\n\r\nAugust 8th - Ellen Haroutunian - Follow Me\r\n\r\nAugust 9th - Leah Chang - Following Jesus Everywhere\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Follow - Synchroblog List ','','inherit','open','open','','7393-revision-2','','','2012-08-01 17:44:04','2012-08-02 00:44:04','',7393,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/01/7393-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7429,160,'2012-08-13 12:00:20','2012-08-13 19:00:20','High profile shootings occur every year or so; Gabby Giffords, Treyvon Martin, Virginia Tech, and Columbine come to mind.  The latest chapter was played out in Aurora, Colorado where a disturbed young man took his automatic rifle with a 100 round drum of bullets out on as many people as he could put in his cross hairs.   Of course, other countries have mass shootings too (Norway and Finland), but they typically enact tough gun laws in the wake of their tragedies.   Not in the US.\r\n\r\nThe NRA and their supporters have been very effective in shouting down any movement toward common sense gun control.   The United States leads the world in gun ownership and, as a result, we have twenty times more gun-related murders (10,000 annually) as other high income countries.      Afraid of a backlash, preachers and politicians typically sidestep the topic completely, leaving us doomed to repeat the same cycle of violence over and over again.\r\n\r\nWhile the 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment gives every citizen the right to bear arms, it was written when homesteaders were at the mercy of outlaws and Indians.  It was back when neighbors formed posses and militias, and many hunted for food.  Now, virtually every community has a police force that is a 911 call away, not to mention grocery stores.  We also have the most powerful military the world has ever known, so we are probably not in danger of being invaded by a foreign country any time soon.\r\n\r\nThe 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment is also there to make a stand against our own government, should it become too oppressive.   Extreme gun enthusiasts are quick to find fault in public policies or certain politicians as an excuse to feed their dark fantasies and stockpile weapons.   Civilization would have to become seriously derailed for guns to play a part in a survival scenario.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who had rather prepare for the Apocalypse than work for a better world in the here and now.\r\n\r\nI know many pro-gun proponents who are strong Christians, but it is difficult to find support for their beliefs in the Bible.   Sure, there are plenty of bloody battles in the Old Testament, but that does not mean that violence was ever God’s first choice.    God condemned the killing of Abel and, a couple of chapters later, we are told God decided to destroy the entire earth with a flood because, <em>“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence.”  </em>(Genesis 6:11)   Even though King David was a man after God’s heart, he wasn’t allowed to build the temple because <em>“you have been a man of war and have shed blood.”  </em>I Chronicles 28: 3\r\n\r\nJesus presents a radically different approach to conflict resolution, whether he was blessing peacemakers, or telling his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.  When the authorities arrested Jesus, Peter drew a sword and cut off a soldier’s ear.  <em>“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”  </em>(Matthew 26: 52)  Jesus challenges us to go beyond taking an eye for an eye, and examine how we view others, even those who would do us harm.\r\n\r\nIt is instinctual to want to protect our families, but more guns actually make society more dangerous.  Instead of finding compromise with reasonable restrictions (limiting high capacity clips and automatic weapons), some are trying to push guns into our parks, bars, and even our schools.  Besides the number of shootings (accidental and otherwise) that will inevitably rise, we are becoming a nation that accepts violence as a way of life.   As a result, we are moving further away from the example Jesus set on the cross and closer into the cross hairs.\r\n\r\nJeff Fulmer lives in Nashville Tennessee and is the author of the book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Hometown-Prophet-Jeff-Fulmer/dp/1463632312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1312940193&amp;sr=8-1\">Hometown Prophet</a>.  <em> If God spoke through a prophet today, would we really want to hear what he has to say?</em>','Into the Cross Hairs','','publish','open','open','','into-the-cross-hairs','','','2012-08-12 21:22:18','2012-08-13 04:22:18','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7429',0,'post','',0),(7431,160,'2012-08-02 14:18:22','2012-08-02 21:18:22','','crosshairs','','inherit','open','open','','crosshairs','','','2012-08-02 14:18:22','2012-08-02 21:18:22','',7429,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/crosshairs.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7432,160,'2012-08-02 14:19:16','2012-08-02 21:19:16','<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/crosshairs.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-7431\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/crosshairs-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" /></a>\n\nHigh profile shootings occur every year or so; Gabby Giffords, Treyvon Martin, Virginia Tech, and Columbine come to mind.  The latest chapter was played out in Aurora, Colorado where a disturbed young man took his automatic rifle with a 100 round drum of bullets out on as many people as he could put in his cross hairs.   Of course, other countries have mass shootings too (Norway and Finland), but they typically enact tough gun laws in the wake of their tragedies.   Not in the US.\n\nThe NRA and their supporters have been very effective in shouting down any movement toward common sense gun control.   The United States leads the world in gun ownership and, as a result, we have twenty times more gun-related murders (10,000 annually) as other high income countries.      Afraid of a backlash, preachers and politicians typically sidestep the topic completely, leaving us doomed to repeat the same cycle of violence over and over again.\n\nWhile the 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment gives every citizen the right to bear arms, it was written when homesteaders were at the mercy of outlaws and Indians.  It was back when neighbors formed posses and militias, and many hunted for food.  Now, virtually every community has a police force that is a 911 call away, not to mention grocery stores.  We also have the most powerful military the world has ever known, so we are probably not in danger of being invaded by a foreign country any time soon.\n\nThe 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment is also there to make a stand against our own government, should it become too oppressive.   Extreme gun enthusiasts are quick to find fault in public policies or certain politicians as an excuse to feed their dark fantasies and stockpile weapons.   Civilization would have to become seriously derailed for guns to play a part in a survival scenario.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who had rather prepare for the Apocalypse than work for a better world in the here and now.\n\nI know many pro-gun proponents who are strong Christians, but it is difficult to find support for their beliefs in the Bible.   Sure, there are plenty of bloody battles in the Old Testament, but that does not mean that violence was ever God’s first choice.    God condemned the killing of Abel and, a couple of chapters later, we are told God decided to destroy the entire earth with a flood because, <em>“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence.”  </em>(Genesis 6:11)   Even though King David was a man after God’s heart, he wasn’t allowed to build the temple because <em>“you have been a man of war and have shed blood.”  </em>I Chronicles 28: 3\n\nJesus presents a radically different approach to conflict resolution, whether he was blessing peacemakers, or telling his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.  When the authorities arrested Jesus, Peter drew a sword and cut off a soldier’s ear.  <em>“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”  </em>(Matthew 26: 52)  Jesus challenges us to go beyond taking an eye for an eye, and examine how we view others, even those who would do us harm.\n\nIt is instinctual to want to protect our families, but more guns actually make society more dangerous.  Instead of finding compromise with reasonable restrictions (limiting high capacity clips and automatic weapons), some are trying to push guns into our parks, bars, and even our schools.  Besides the number of shootings (accidental and otherwise) that will inevitably rise, we are becoming a nation that accepts violence as a way of life.   As a result, we are moving further away from the example Jesus set on the cross and closer into the cross hairs.\n\nJeff Fulmer lives in Nashville Tennessee and is the author of the book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Hometown-Prophet-Jeff-Fulmer/dp/1463632312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1312940193&amp;sr=8-1\">Hometown Prophet</a>.  <em> If God spoke through a prophet today, would we really want to hear what he has to say?</em>','Into the Cross Hairs','','inherit','open','open','','7429-revision','','','2012-08-02 14:19:16','2012-08-02 21:19:16','',7429,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7429-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7433,160,'2012-08-02 14:38:24','2012-08-02 21:38:24','<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/crosshairs.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-7431\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/crosshairs-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" /></a>\r\n\r\nHigh profile shootings occur every year or so; Gabby Giffords, Treyvon Martin, Virginia Tech, and Columbine come to mind.  The latest chapter was played out in Aurora, Colorado where a disturbed young man took his automatic rifle with a 100 round drum of bullets out on as many people as he could put in his cross hairs.   Of course, other countries have mass shootings too (Norway and Finland), but they typically enact tough gun laws in the wake of their tragedies.   Not in the US.\r\n\r\nThe NRA and their supporters have been very effective in shouting down any movement toward common sense gun control.   The United States leads the world in gun ownership and, as a result, we have twenty times more gun-related murders (10,000 annually) as other high income countries.      Afraid of a backlash, preachers and politicians typically sidestep the topic completely, leaving us doomed to repeat the same cycle of violence over and over again.\r\n\r\nWhile the 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment gives every citizen the right to bear arms, it was written when homesteaders were at the mercy of outlaws and Indians.  It was back when neighbors formed posses and militias, and many hunted for food.  Now, virtually every community has a police force that is a 911 call away, not to mention grocery stores.  We also have the most powerful military the world has ever known, so we are probably not in danger of being invaded by a foreign country any time soon.\r\n\r\nThe 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment is also there to make a stand against our own government, should it become too oppressive.   Extreme gun enthusiasts are quick to find fault in public policies or certain politicians as an excuse to feed their dark fantasies and stockpile weapons.   Civilization would have to become seriously derailed for guns to play a part in a survival scenario.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who had rather prepare for the Apocalypse than work for a better world in the here and now.\r\n\r\nI know many pro-gun proponents who are strong Christians, but it is difficult to find support for their beliefs in the Bible.   Sure, there are plenty of bloody battles in the Old Testament, but that does not mean that violence was ever God’s first choice.    God condemned the killing of Abel and, a couple of chapters later, we are told God decided to destroy the entire earth with a flood because, <em>“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence.”  </em>(Genesis 6:11)   Even though King David was a man after God’s heart, he wasn’t allowed to build the temple because <em>“you have been a man of war and have shed blood.”  </em>I Chronicles 28: 3\r\n\r\nJesus presents a radically different approach to conflict resolution, whether he was blessing peacemakers, or telling his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.  When the authorities arrested Jesus, Peter drew a sword and cut off a soldier’s ear.  <em>“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”  </em>(Matthew 26: 52)  Jesus challenges us to go beyond taking an eye for an eye, and examine how we view others, even those who would do us harm.\r\n\r\nIt is instinctual to want to protect our families, but more guns actually make society more dangerous.  Instead of finding compromise with reasonable restrictions (limiting high capacity clips and automatic weapons), some are trying to push guns into our parks, bars, and even our schools.  Besides the number of shootings (accidental and otherwise) that will inevitably rise, we are becoming a nation that accepts violence as a way of life.   As a result, we are moving further away from the example Jesus set on the cross and closer into the cross hairs.\r\n\r\nJeff Fulmer lives in Nashville Tennessee and is the author of the book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Hometown-Prophet-Jeff-Fulmer/dp/1463632312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1312940193&amp;sr=8-1\">Hometown Prophet</a>.  <em> If God spoke through a prophet today, would we really want to hear what he has to say?</em>','Into the Cross Hairs','','inherit','open','open','','7429-revision-2','','','2012-08-02 14:38:24','2012-08-02 21:38:24','',7429,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7429-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7434,160,'2012-08-02 14:38:50','2012-08-02 21:38:50','<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/crosshairs.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-7431\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/crosshairs-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" /></a>\r\n\r\nHigh profile shootings occur every year or so; Gabby Giffords, Treyvon Martin, Virginia Tech, and Columbine come to mind.  The latest chapter was played out in Aurora, Colorado where a disturbed young man took his automatic rifle with a 100 round drum of bullets out on as many people as he could put in his cross hairs.   Of course, other countries have mass shootings too (Norway and Finland), but they typically enact tough gun laws in the wake of their tragedies.   Not in the US.\r\n\r\nThe NRA and their supporters have been very effective in shouting down any movement toward common sense gun control.   The United States leads the world in gun ownership and, as a result, we have twenty times more gun-related murders (10,000 annually) as other high income countries.      Afraid of a backlash, preachers and politicians typically sidestep the topic completely, leaving us doomed to repeat the same cycle of violence over and over again.\r\n\r\nWhile the 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment gives every citizen the right to bear arms, it was written when homesteaders were at the mercy of outlaws and Indians.  It was back when neighbors formed posses and militias, and many hunted for food.  Now, virtually every community has a police force that is a 911 call away, not to mention grocery stores.  We also have the most powerful military the world has ever known, so we are probably not in danger of being invaded by a foreign country any time soon.\r\n\r\nThe 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment is also there to make a stand against our own government, should it become too oppressive.   Extreme gun enthusiasts are quick to find fault in public policies or certain politicians as an excuse to feed their dark fantasies and stockpile weapons.   Civilization would have to become seriously derailed for guns to play a part in a survival scenario.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who had rather prepare for the Apocalypse than work for a better world in the here and now.\r\n\r\nI know many pro-gun proponents who are strong Christians, but it is difficult to find support for their beliefs in the Bible.   Sure, there are plenty of bloody battles in the Old Testament, but that does not mean that violence was ever God’s first choice.    God condemned the killing of Abel and, a couple of chapters later, we are told God decided to destroy the entire earth with a flood because, <em>“Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and full of violence.”  </em>(Genesis 6:11)   Even though King David was a man after God’s heart, he wasn’t allowed to build the temple because <em>“you have been a man of war and have shed blood.”  </em>I Chronicles 28: 3\r\n\r\nJesus presents a radically different approach to conflict resolution, whether he was blessing peacemakers, or telling his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.  When the authorities arrested Jesus, Peter drew a sword and cut off a soldier’s ear.  <em>“Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”  </em>(Matthew 26: 52)  Jesus challenges us to go beyond taking an eye for an eye, and examine how we view others, even those who would do us harm.\r\n\r\nIt is instinctual to want to protect our families, but more guns actually make society more dangerous.  Instead of finding compromise with reasonable restrictions (limiting high capacity clips and automatic weapons), some are trying to push guns into our parks, bars, and even our schools.  Besides the number of shootings (accidental and otherwise) that will inevitably rise, we are becoming a nation that accepts violence as a way of life.   As a result, we are moving further away from the example Jesus set on the cross and closer into the cross hairs.\r\n\r\nJeff Fulmer lives in Nashville Tennessee and is the author of the book <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Hometown-Prophet-Jeff-Fulmer/dp/1463632312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1312940193&amp;sr=8-1\">Hometown Prophet</a>.  <em> If God spoke through a prophet today, would we really want to hear what he has to say?</em>','Into the Cross Hairs','','inherit','open','open','','7429-revision-3','','','2012-08-02 14:38:50','2012-08-02 21:38:50','',7429,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7429-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7435,174,'2012-08-06 08:00:01','2012-08-06 15:00:01','<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"LEFT\">Preface: Lately, I have been contemplating who will be in the kin-dom of God. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:15-24), Jesus said that those who will come into the kin-dom are the \"the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\" After reading the rest of the kin-dom parables, and watching <em>Beasts of the Southern Wild, </em>this is the poem that sprung up within me.</p>\r\n--------------------------------------------\r\n\r\ngod calls the lowly, the foreigner,\r\nthe strange, widows, adulterer,\r\nthe prostitute and the middle manager\r\nworking to survive\r\n\r\nto rest\r\n\r\ngod desires the misspeller, girls playing\r\nhouse and abused mothers,\r\nbeggars, crusties, and the misunderstood\r\ntransgendered male\r\n\r\nto rejoice\r\n\r\ngod seeks the bruised cantaloupe, the rotting\r\napples, diseased celery, god seeks overwatered broccoli\r\nand beetle-bitten beans\r\n\r\nto resurrect\r\n\r\ngod sends away the rich, the wise, the schooled,\r\nthose who have cabinets full and four bank accounts,\r\nthose who house cars, who buy healthcare\r\nfor their pets, the middle class\r\n\r\nto reject\r\n\r\ngod chose what is low and despised\r\nin the world, things that are not,\r\nto reduce to\r\nno-thing things that are. 1 Corinthians 1:28\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif;\">\r\n</span></p>','Coming To Terms With the Kin-dom of Rejects','','publish','open','open','','coming-to-terms-with-the-kin-dom-of-rejects','','','2012-08-03 10:20:16','2012-08-03 17:20:16','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=7435',0,'post','',0),(7440,174,'2012-08-02 17:47:58','2012-08-03 00:47:58','<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7437\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\">\nPreface: Lately, I have been contemplating who will be in the kin-dom of God. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:15-24), Jesus said that those who come are the \"the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\" After reading the rest of the kin-dom parables, and watching <em>Beasts of the Southern Wild, </em>this is the poem that sprung up within me.</p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">\n</span></p>','kin-dom of rejects','','inherit','open','open','','7435-revision-3','','','2012-08-02 17:47:58','2012-08-03 00:47:58','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7435-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(7442,174,'2012-08-02 17:48:27','2012-08-03 00:48:27','<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7437\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\">Preface: Lately, I have been contemplating who will be in the kin-dom of God. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:15-24), Jesus said that those who come are the \"the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\" After reading the rest of the kin-dom parables, and watching <em>Beasts of the Southern Wild, </em>this is the poem that sprung up within me.</p>\r\ngod calls the lowly, the foreigner,\r\nthe strange, widows, adulterer,\r\nthe prostitute and the middle manager\r\nworking to survive\r\n\r\nto rest\r\n\r\ngod desires the misspeller, girls playing\r\nhouse and abused mothers,\r\nbeggars, crusties, and the misunderstood\r\ntransgendered male\r\n\r\nto rejoice\r\n\r\ngod seeks the bruised cantaloupe, the rotting\r\napples, diseased celery, god seeks overwatered broccoli\r\nand beetle-bitten beans\r\n\r\nto resurrect\r\n\r\ngod sends away the rich, the wise, the schooled,\r\nthose who have cabinets full and four bank accounts,\r\nthose who house cars, who buy healthcare\r\nfor their pets, the middle class\r\n\r\nto reject\r\n\r\ngod chose what is low and despised\r\nin the world, things that are not,\r\nto reduce to\r\nno-thing things that are. 1 Corinthians 1:28\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">\r\n</span></p>','kin-dom of rejects','','inherit','open','open','','7435-revision-5','','','2012-08-02 17:48:27','2012-08-03 00:48:27','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7435-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(7441,174,'2012-08-02 17:48:20','2012-08-03 00:48:20','<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7437\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\">\r\nPreface: Lately, I have been contemplating who will be in the kin-dom of God. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:15-24), Jesus said that those who come are the \"the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\" After reading the rest of the kin-dom parables, and watching <em>Beasts of the Southern Wild, </em>this is the poem that sprung up within me.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\ngod calls the lowly, the foreigner,\r\nthe strange, widows, adulterer,\r\nthe prostitute and the middle manager\r\nworking to survive\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\nto rest\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\ngod desires the misspeller, girls playing\r\nhouse and abused mothers,\r\nbeggars, crusties, and the misunderstood\r\ntransgendered male\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\nto rejoice\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\ngod seeks the bruised cantaloupe, the rotting\r\napples, diseased celery, god seeks overwatered broccoli\r\nand beetle-bitten beans\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\nto resurrect\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\ngod sends away the rich, the wise, the schooled,\r\nthose who have cabinets full and four bank accounts,\r\nthose who house cars, who buy healthcare\r\nfor their pets, the middle class\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\nto reject\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\ngod chose what is low and despised\r\nin the world, things that are not,\r\nto reduce to\r\nno-thing things that are. 1 Corinthians 1:28\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">\r\n</span></p>','kin-dom of rejects','','inherit','open','open','','7435-revision-4','','','2012-08-02 17:48:20','2012-08-03 00:48:20','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7435-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(7436,174,'2012-08-02 17:38:27','2012-08-03 00:38:27','','3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z','','inherit','open','open','','3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z','','','2012-08-02 17:38:27','2012-08-03 00:38:27','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7437,174,'2012-08-02 17:40:30','2012-08-03 00:40:30','','bursting in with the kin-dom','','inherit','open','open','','3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z-2','','','2012-08-02 17:40:30','2012-08-03 00:40:30','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(7438,174,'2012-08-02 17:42:23','2012-08-03 00:42:23','<p style=\"text-align: center\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7437\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>Preface: Lately, I have been contemplating who will be in the kin-dom of God. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:15-24), Jesus said that those who come are the \"the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\" After reading the rest of the kin-dom parables, and watching <em>Beasts of the Southern Wild, </em>this is the poem that sprung up within me.</p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God calls the lowly, the foreigner,</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">the strange, widows, adulterer,</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">the prostitute and the middle manager </span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">working to survive</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to rest</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God desires the misspeller, girls playing</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">house and abused mothers, </span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">beggars, crusties, and the misunderstood </span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">transgendered male</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to rejoice</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God seeks the bruised cantaloupe, the rotting </span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">apples, diseased celery, God seeks overwatered broccoli</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">and beetle-bitten beans</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to resurrect</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God sends away the rich, the wise, the schooled, </span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">those who have cabinets full and four bank accounts, </span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">those who house cars, who buy healthcare </span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">for their pets, the middle class</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to reject</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God chose what is low and despised </span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">in the world, things that are not,</span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to reduce to </span></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">no-thing things that are. 1 Corinthians 1:28</span></p>','kin-dom of rejects','','inherit','open','open','','7435-revision','','','2012-08-02 17:42:23','2012-08-03 00:42:23','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7435-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(7439,174,'2012-08-02 17:42:30','2012-08-03 00:42:30','<p style=\"text-align: center\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7437\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a>Preface: Lately, I have been contemplating who will be in the kin-dom of God. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:15-24), Jesus said that those who come are the \"the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\" After reading the rest of the kin-dom parables, and watching <em>Beasts of the Southern Wild, </em>this is the poem that sprung up within me.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God calls the lowly, the foreigner,</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">the strange, widows, adulterer,</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">the prostitute and the middle manager </span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">working to survive</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to rest</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God desires the misspeller, girls playing</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">house and abused mothers, </span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">beggars, crusties, and the misunderstood </span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">transgendered male</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to rejoice</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God seeks the bruised cantaloupe, the rotting </span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">apples, diseased celery, God seeks overwatered broccoli</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">and beetle-bitten beans</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to resurrect</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God sends away the rich, the wise, the schooled, </span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">those who have cabinets full and four bank accounts, </span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">those who house cars, who buy healthcare </span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">for their pets, the middle class</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to reject</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">God chose what is low and despised </span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">in the world, things that are not,</span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">to reduce to </span></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">no-thing things that are. 1 Corinthians 1:28</span></p>','kin-dom of rejects','','inherit','open','open','','7435-revision-2','','','2012-08-02 17:42:30','2012-08-03 00:42:30','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7435-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(7443,174,'2012-08-02 17:53:18','2012-08-03 00:53:18','<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7437\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a></p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\">Preface: Lately, I have been contemplating who will be in the kin-dom of God. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:15-24), Jesus said that those who will come into the kin-dom are the \"the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\" After reading the rest of the kin-dom parables, and watching <em>Beasts of the Southern Wild, </em>this is the poem that sprung up within me.</p>\n&nbsp;\n\ngod calls the lowly, the foreigner,\nthe strange, widows, adulterer,\nthe prostitute and the middle manager\nworking to survive\n\nto rest\n\ngod desires the misspeller, girls playing\nhouse and abused mothers,\nbeggars, crusties, and the misunderstood\ntransgendered male\n\nto rejoice\n\ngod seeks the bruised cantaloupe, the rotting\napples, diseased celery, god seeks overwatered broccoli\nand beetle-bitten beans\n\nto resurrect\n\ngod sends away the rich, the wise, the schooled,\nthose who have cabinets full and four bank accounts,\nthose who house cars, who buy healthcare\nfor their pets, the middle class\n\nto reject\n\ngod chose what is low and despised\nin the world, things that are not,\nto reduce to\nno-thing things that are. 1 Corinthians 1:28\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">\n</span></p>','Coming to terms with the kin-dom of rejects','','inherit','open','open','','7435-revision-6','','','2012-08-02 17:53:18','2012-08-03 00:53:18','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7435-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(7444,174,'2012-08-02 17:53:23','2012-08-03 00:53:23','<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7437\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\">Preface: Lately, I have been contemplating who will be in the kin-dom of God. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:15-24), Jesus said that those who will come into the kin-dom are the \"the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\" After reading the rest of the kin-dom parables, and watching <em>Beasts of the Southern Wild, </em>this is the poem that sprung up within me.</p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\ngod calls the lowly, the foreigner,\r\nthe strange, widows, adulterer,\r\nthe prostitute and the middle manager\r\nworking to survive\r\n\r\nto rest\r\n\r\ngod desires the misspeller, girls playing\r\nhouse and abused mothers,\r\nbeggars, crusties, and the misunderstood\r\ntransgendered male\r\n\r\nto rejoice\r\n\r\ngod seeks the bruised cantaloupe, the rotting\r\napples, diseased celery, god seeks overwatered broccoli\r\nand beetle-bitten beans\r\n\r\nto resurrect\r\n\r\ngod sends away the rich, the wise, the schooled,\r\nthose who have cabinets full and four bank accounts,\r\nthose who house cars, who buy healthcare\r\nfor their pets, the middle class\r\n\r\nto reject\r\n\r\ngod chose what is low and despised\r\nin the world, things that are not,\r\nto reduce to\r\nno-thing things that are. 1 Corinthians 1:28\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">\r\n</span></p>','Coming to terms with the kin-dom of rejects','','inherit','open','open','','7435-revision-7','','','2012-08-02 17:53:23','2012-08-03 00:53:23','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7435-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(7446,174,'2012-08-02 17:57:11','2012-08-03 00:57:11','<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1.jpg\"><img class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-7437\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/3459427547_8ce9409f2b_z1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" /></a></p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\">Preface: Lately, I have been contemplating who will be in the kin-dom of God. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:15-24), Jesus said that those who will come into the kin-dom are the \"the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.\" After reading the rest of the kin-dom parables, and watching <em>Beasts of the Southern Wild, </em>this is the poem that sprung up within me.</p>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\ngod calls the lowly, the foreigner,\r\nthe strange, widows, adulterer,\r\nthe prostitute and the middle manager\r\nworking to survive\r\n\r\nto rest\r\n\r\ngod desires the misspeller, girls playing\r\nhouse and abused mothers,\r\nbeggars, crusties, and the misunderstood\r\ntransgendered male\r\n\r\nto rejoice\r\n\r\ngod seeks the bruised cantaloupe, the rotting\r\napples, diseased celery, god seeks overwatered broccoli\r\nand beetle-bitten beans\r\n\r\nto resurrect\r\n\r\ngod sends away the rich, the wise, the schooled,\r\nthose who have cabinets full and four bank accounts,\r\nthose who house cars, who buy healthcare\r\nfor their pets, the middle class\r\n\r\nto reject\r\n\r\ngod chose what is low and despised\r\nin the world, things that are not,\r\nto reduce to\r\nno-thing things that are. 1 Corinthians 1:28\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left\" align=\"LEFT\"><span style=\"font-family: \'Times New Roman\', serif\">\r\n</span></p>','Coming to terms with the kin-dom of rejects','','inherit','open','open','','7435-autosave','','','2012-08-02 17:57:11','2012-08-03 00:57:11','',7435,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/02/7435-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(7510,144,'2012-08-03 08:36:34','2012-08-03 15:36:34','“Follower of Jesus” is the new cooler way to say “Christian”, a word loaded with centuries of baggage that no longer seems very Christian. Yet, “follower of Jesus” sounds a little smug to me. It reminds of those church-goers in ancient Corinth who weren’t in the camp of Paul or Apollos; they followed Jesus. Smug.\r\n\r\nHowever, trying to figure out just what it really means to follow Jesus is something that merits careful consideration, especially, because it so misunderstood.\r\n\r\nFollowing Jesus in his day meant just that. That’s how the cream of the crop, the young people with the most potential were educated. They followed their Rabbi for years. They lived and traveled together. The kids who were not the best and brightest, learned a trade.\r\n\r\nThere are no rules for following Jesus, you just stay with him, watch him; see what he does, how he responds; watch what he does when he is stressed.\r\n\r\nHe took his followers to the darndest places. Think about where they wound up as they followed Jesus. You might find yourself in some of the same places. You might wind up…\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>At parties with the most notorious people in town</li>\r\n	<li>At the graveside of a dear friend</li>\r\n	<li>At the public forum butting heads with powerful people (repeatedly) who can put a contract on your life if they disagree with you</li>\r\n	<li>Playing with children when you wanted to be all serious</li>\r\n	<li>Listening to what he says as people are preparing to stone a woman to death who was caught in the act of adultery</li>\r\n	<li>Trying to explain to a powerful religious man how God wants to restore his relationship with humankind</li>\r\n	<li>Hanging out with whores who are attracted to him</li>\r\n	<li>Chatting with corrupt government officials and corporate fat cats</li>\r\n	<li>Panicking in the middle of nowhere with thousands of admirers, but no food</li>\r\n	<li>Listening to great stories</li>\r\n	<li>Watching the crowds thin and some of them turn against him</li>\r\n	<li>Breaking lots of stupid rules that misrepresent God and hurt people</li>\r\n	<li>Seeing amazing things that remind you you’re walking with God</li>\r\n	<li>Talking with all kinds of people from all walks of life about this very topic, “What does it mean to follow?”</li>\r\n	<li>Running for your life as your leader is betrayed and tortured to death</li>\r\n	<li>Running to a cemetery checking out an unbelievable rumor</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThat’s where we go when we walk with Jesus. We will be a thorn in the side of some powerful people, a friend to some powerless people, someone who is fully alive in the moment that sees God everywhere, a lover of all kinds of people, who finds himself in all types of weird, new situations.\r\n\r\nJesus likes to put his followers in new, challenging situations and then, afterwards, discuss what they learned.\r\n\r\nOh, I forgot to mention that to be a good follower of Jesus you need to read your Bible more, pray more, stop looking at porn, never argue with your wife, have beautiful, completely compliant children, never miss Sunday services, tithe, take classes on how to be a better Christian, keep a beautiful lawn and home, and spend all of your free time in church activities. (Or maybe I didn’t forget to mention it.)\r\n\r\nI used to care more about that kind of religious stuff than simply following Jesus, but that stuff always seemed separate from regular life. So, now I am trying to jettison religion and merge faith and life together to live a more integrated, true, whole life.\r\n\r\nPeople have all different ways of following Jesus, but a lot of us are trying to find a stripped down, raw and real approach that makes sense.\r\n\r\nFollowing Jesus means doing the kinds of stuff he did, turning love into action.\r\n\r\nReminder to self: Watch, learn, reflect, mimic. Never let him out of my sight.','Strange Places','','inherit','open','open','','7305-revision-13','','','2012-08-03 08:36:34','2012-08-03 15:36:34','',7305,'http://provoketive.com/2012/08/03/7305-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),