i Hate Church » hours

Robbed at the currency exchange

ThompsonWrites — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:44:04 +0000

I now understand a very simple concept – that is simple, but brings life an insane amount of color. When someone says they Hate Church, is this another method of dodging? We laugh at guys like Aziz Ansari and cry at movies like Dear John. We dance to beats made by Kanye, in clothes crafted by colorful people like Alexander Wang. Our daily food life consists of recipes bombarded upon us by food creatures like Giada or rebels such as Bourdain. Why do they do what they do, and why are we stuck watching?

Collision – (physics): a brief event in which two or more bodies come together; “the collision of the particles resulted in an exchange of energy and a change …”

If we look at the physics definition of collision, the words “energy” and “exchange” pop out like an X-rated movie found in the kids section. It is as if we tripped, fell and are caught face down staring at the words. Let’s start off in micro thoughts concerning the word, energy.

-How have you used energy in a positive way?

-What sort of surroundings have you created to expand your energy?

-Maybe you are on the other side and have created a world of non-energy? I am talking about the word energy in a non-caloric definition… for those of you who are tragically falling off the (2010 diet) wagon.

Let’s not jump off the deep end, sit in a circle, stare at each other and measure our energy levels with massive amounts of weed. I am not talking about some kind of freak show in order to attempt to synthesize energy. What I am talking about is when someone says to me “I hate church,” and then are incapable of defining what it is they hate? Do they really hate church, or the ideas of some in the church? Do they hate the feeling of lifeless energy at church? They will also tell you how “boring” it is. This may be a better word for “energy.” I want to YELL AT THEM: how can you be bored with 100 apps on your iPhone, while you watch Live Olympic coverage …. From – your – phone!

Really? You’re bored?

Let’s say someone really does hate church. How would they like to change it… (this is the part when you go off like Osama Bin Laden in September 11th part 2, and write it in the comments section, go ahead … let it roll)

What ideas about church must be changed in order for the world to be a better place? Do we do away with church altogether? Do we recreate a new God and what would He be like?

If you are still reading and haven’t commented below, than check out this next word used in the definition of, collide…

Exchange.

Big word, with alot of meaning. My mind seems to automatically think of all the airports around the world, when I had to exchange money. Not sure if you have ever done it, but 90% of the time I am pretty sure I could have been ripped off trying to exchange currency.

I can remember (times) arriving to Munich, Durban, Narita, Kampala, or for that matter, even Los Angeles and sliding American dollars below the glass window. After I slid the money under, I usually forgot how much I gave them. Then as I look to the exchange rates my brain remembered, I had just traveled for 22 hours straight and said back to me: “hey, I dont really care how much money you get back, can you just get enough so we can buy some food and find a bed, and make sure I can lie flat on the bed.” I am tired of sleeping in economy. At this point, it becomes quite obvious (looking back), I may have never received the correct exchange rate.

-What are you exchanging every day?

-What company do you keep, and what is this micro think tank exchanging?

-What do your conversations consist of, and who is driving the topics?

Look back and see if you have received the full value of your daily exchange. Life is moving so quickly. Many times we forget what has just happened. Freeze that moment and apply the currency test to your daily exchange. Are you happy with what you have received? Are you happy with what you have slid under the window…do you even know what you slid under the window?

The exchange example I gave involved traveling. There was action involved before the exchange was even an option. I had to physically be in a profession that involved traveling. I had to have this kind of international trip booked. My bags had to be packed, schedule sorted and pre trip communications in order. Emails and itineraries confirmed and only then could actions be amplified. What sort of actions are you taking to foster a life of exchange?

LET ME SAY IT LOUD AND CLEAR…

WHAT ARE YOU COLLIDING INTO?

We used the words energy and exchange to expound on the word collide. Why? Because today people have more ways to collide with people, but now are finding they have zero time to make this exchange. In my world, people stand from afar and complain about how they hate church, are too busy or too bored to collide. They have found a way in a world of more technology to not exchange energy than a way to collide. Does that sound like someone you know?

We change OUR status updates on Facebook and Twitter but do we try to ask how other people are doing? What if we tried to collide with people? I mentioned earlier about people like Aziz, Kanye, Giada, Bourdain and Wang, and we follow what they do. The only difference between them and you is they are colliding with people. They are taking the time on a daily effort to not only journal their discoveries but are monetizing them. The simply exchange energy with others and have shaped their own world simply by, colliding into others.

What have you done with your last good idea?

What To Do When You Hear Voices

ThompsonWrites — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:42:39 +0000

by Hamad Mosoumi

Read Time: 3 minutes
Location: Tinley Park, IL

When I rise in the dark of night I know you are there. My flesh is forced to believe I can get back to sleep, but my spirit taps gently. I begin to notice how sleep attempts to play tricks on you. She entices you to be with her. She holds onto you with everything she has so you believe you cannot live without her. While you need to balance your time with her, you have a quiet soul, waiting so peacefully.

Your soul will not demand or scream for its way. He will not invade your space or text message you to remind you. He is the still voice you hear, but cannot explain. He whispers to you the thoughts, which you struggle to respond to. He is the balance in your life.

I awake in the middle of the night and I hear one voice scream: “Go back to bed you must sleep or you will be tired tomorrow,” or “Just relax. You just need to relax and be still. You probably drank too much coffee today.” As I attempt to get comfortable and do my best to fall back asleep, I hear another voice whisper, “You’re awake, why don’t you write or read The Word?” This voice, so calm and so collected, takes me by surprise. These are the thoughts which I would normally not respond to.

Life has become more about what I normally would not do, and less about what I normally would do. Although I love sleep – to the fullest – and am sure to give my body ample rest, I believe we need to listen less to this voice of sleep. Dale Carnegie said it like this, “If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.”

Daily, I urge myself to squeeze every drip out of life. As I lay down to sleep at night, I thank my God for this day of life and everything it was composed of, because He does not promise tomorrow. In the same way, I caught myself tonight at 4am saying, “You can write tomorrow… you can read your Bible tomorrow… you will be at church all day …”

These thoughts imploded in my mind, are mirrored in Proverbs.

Proverbs 24:30-34
I walked by the field of a lazy person, the vineyard of one with no common sense. 31 I saw that it was overgrown with nettles. It was covered with weeds, and its walls were broken down. 32 Then, as I looked and thought about it, I learned this lesson: 33 A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— 34 then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.

We have to decide what we want to become. The world delivers a daily diet of what it thinks we should do, but the life quotient we need to hold onto is from the guidebook to heaven. The Bible states the opposite of what we read in magazines and daily blogs…in what we hear on television. The whisper you hear probably matches quite closely to Biblical standards. If you are unsure, one of the greatest exercises you can do is to form a CA also known as comparative analysis. This form of thinking is the same tactic we use when we go shopping: we look for an object and begin a CA, in order to investigate best price, durability, warranty etc..

If you have not noticed the difference, I suggest you take 7 days and construct a CA of articles you read in magazines, television shows you watch, and online editorials or websites you follow. Extract the synopsis of each and compose a CA. As you compose this document and take notes of your findings, use an online Bible to aid you in your search of the scriptures.

There are a few, which I use quite often: http://BibleGateway.com is an excellent source for most Bible translations and commentaries. They are the foremost and most popular online Bible. Once you begin to use it, you will find out why.

Another excellent online Bible which I use quite often: http://Just1Word.com. I always like to find new websites, and this one lends itself to the creative person. They have the most popular topics, easily tabbed for you to explore hundreds of scriptures. In addition, because this site is new and growing, they have outstanding customer service and are quite interested in exploring new ways to meet online user requests. I just went to the site to see what sort of interesting topics they are covering, and the first two mentioned are: Suicide and Tattoos. ‘Gotta love it.

I just looked at the clock (5:47am) and then outside my window. Looks like I’ll hangin’ out with the Sun; haven’t done this in awhile.

Your greatest asset in life will be your knowledge of our Guidebook To Heaven, also known as the Bible. It is not how much you think you know, but it is the knowledge, which pumps through your blood. It is to truly know: why are you a Christian? What makes you different than a good person? Why do you go to church, and why do you watch Christian television? The answers to these questions are not in educated, articulated answers, but must be found in our Guidebook.