I grew up in the Christian faith tradition.  Within that tradition I would say we were more on the conservative end of the spectrum.  As I take a look back at the short history of my own life, it seems, honestly, pretty silly where I've come from.  Here's a quick example.

If you weren't aware, Jesus Christ is the central figure in the Christian religion and has been since it's inception.  It's also important to note that traditional arguments claim the resurrection as the make-or-break portion of what Jesus came to do.  I heard this statement on one of the popular Christian sub-culture websites the other day.  The quote said: "Without the resurrection, we have nothing."  I'll tell you why this has become a rather disturbing statement to me as of late.

The basic premise of that statement argues, what is life for is we don't have the resurrection ticket?  In short, why should we worry about being good people if Jesus isn't our ticket into heaven?  If Jesus didn't raise up from the dead, then there is no reason for me to live for him or call myself a Christian because, if I can't go to heaven, this life isn't worth living.  So, for who knows how long, traditional Christian thought has been tangled up in a delusion.  Our entire faith structure hinges on one event.  If the resurrection fails, everything fails.  Honestly?

I'm not buying it.  I'm tired of identifying myself with a group of people who have, for way too long and in horribly violent ways, refused to engage our brains, excluding anyone who thought differently.  I'm not claiming a lack of academic excellence from within the Christian tradition, because there are many who are very studied in matters of theology.  However, it's difficult for me to understand why we continue to live in a world where we don't ask questions.  We "have faith" and refuse to budge on anything that calls into question those things which we have called untouchable.

Basically, all I am suggesting this morning is that I don't believe the statement I quoted earlier.  "Without the resurrection, we have nothing."  No matter if I've got the reward of heaven or not, I must take an honest look at the life of Christ and gage whether or not it's a life that I deem worthy of worship.  My argument is that even if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, I'm still going to follow him, just as many follow Gandhi or the Dalai Lama.  Honestly, I'm more concerned about living a life, as Jesus, Gandhi and many others, of social justice, or concern for humanity.  Jesus claimed all through scripture that the kingdom of heaven is near.  That kingdom was near because of his presence in the lives of people.  He wasn't encouraging people to get their things packed up for their trip to heaven and it's gold paved streets.

As a popular Christian speaker Rob Bell says: "We, just like Jesus, have the opportunity every day to invite people to live in this new kingdom, a heaven of sorts.  Or, we have the choice to allow people to continue to live in the hell of this life."

It's time to retranslate the Christian tradition to language of today.  It's time to ask the question, especially to the mirror, "Is life worth living is there's nothing in it for me?"  My opinion is, absolutely YES!

Here's a question for the ages.  Is Jesus still worth following is the God we've defined through theism is dead?  I would argue, yes, much like the person of Gandhi or the Dalai Lama, who are revered because of what they stand for in their fight for humanity.

Ultimately, I believe that's who Jesus was, a humanitarian.  But, that's a bit hard to see through the God our western world has created.  A God who does our bidding...  I would even venture to say that because of the God we've created, the essence of Jesus is no longer visible.  I mean, doesn't it seem silly that God does all these things for us?  He died for us, He's our savior, He watches over us, He listens to our prayers (but never really seems to answer them)... Anyone tracking with me?  Seems more like a god we've created to help us feel better about ourselves, to "help us up when we fall," and "save us from our sinful ways."  It also seems like we've made him an easy target to shove all responsibility on for the terrible things that happen in our world.

I mean, as the great musician Derek Webb says, we're content to sit around and bicker about faith traditions and not give a shit about 50,000 people who died today.  It's much easier to create a God who we can push all our responsibility on and when things go sour, we say "it's God's will."

Bullshit!!  It's God's will for us to ignore the suffering of humanity?  It's God's will for us to be excessive consumers depleting all the earth's resources just so I can have an HD TV, an H2 and indoor plumbing?  The theistic God just doesn't compute in today's world.  We as Christian people claim to have faith, but most of the time we don't have a clue that what we've put our faith in is a load of crap in our world today.  Yet, we are content to live in our ignorance refusing to educate ourselves on the bigger issues.  I would argue, on the issues Jesus Christ would have been standing for or against.

I think Jesus Christ must live on and walk beside those people like the Dalai Lama and Gandhi, but this God we've created must die.  Too much damage is being done because "it's God's will."  It's time for people of faith to quit believing the right things and start doing the right things.  And when we come down to it, we don't need a theistic God to define what's right.  I believe we have been wired with an innate sense of right, and justice.

Now, let's grow some balls, take some responsibility and make this world a better place instead of passively waiting for God to burn it all up and take me away to live in a mansion with a gold paved driveway and home theater room...

It should be interesting to come back to this blog after a couple years to see how I've changed.  Some things will be obvious, such as the name, pretty clever I must say (I'll explain a bit more about that one later).

I've also intentionally left all my previous posts here mostly for the humor of how drastically one person can change his opinions.  And honestly, I'm not sure it's that I've necessarily changed my opinions; it would be more accurate to say that I've grown in my understanding of life.  It seems odd to say it, but I've spent quite a bit of time over the past couple years engaging my mind, using my brain.  But, considering where I cam from, it's a pretty major leap.

So, this post will function as a re-introduction of sorts.  This blog will probably become the place where my alter-ego has a chance to come out of hiding.  To catch a glimpse into my discussions and struggles with organized religion, feel free to visit vineliving.wordpress.com.  This will probably be the place where I am able to unpack thoughts of a more holistic, intentional lifestyle that is moving away from organized religion and theism.

Thus, the name.  Mountains and Tofu.  It is in the mountains that I find a sense of mysticism and wonder that seems to reach beyond reason.  That said, I'll explore some of those mystical components alongside a life of health and purity.  It's here that Tofu enters the conversation.  Life must be more than consumption and plunder.  What happens when we choose to eat a certain way, choose certain types of transport over others and so on?  What does life look like when out purpose for living is to make this world a better place, not just for me, but for my family, extended family, my community, city and nation.  I'm interested in exploring what it means for think beyond self.

In a nutshell, that's what we'll see here, for those very few who actually spend time reading...

We all need a bit of humor to make it through each day. Now, just imagine a precious three year old girl telling this one around a thanksgiving table. It makes the joke that much more humorous.

What's the difference between brocolli and boogers?

Kids eat boogers!

Any other good jokes? Preferrably clean...

An audio Bible. What a wonderful tool for those of us who simply can't catch everything by reading. Who would have thought that the geneology of Adam was so interesting? If you haven't done so in a while, I would encourage you to go back through the stories of Genesis. Stories of our history, of our ancestors. Though we may not think so, we have a wonderful family tree. Just imagine, the literal fathers of the people of this earth talked with God, walked with him as a mentor and a young student.

And I'm still trying to grasp the first few verses of John's gospel parallelled with the book of Genesis. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..." The very Word that spoke everything that we know into being, came to live with the dust, heat and sinful man that continually forgets who is living and walking with him every day...

"In the beginning was the Word..."

The saying goes, "You know you're closest to the target when you're catching the most flack." My question is, does the enemy ever run out of ammo, or at least need a moment to stop and reload?

We need people to pray that the enemy runs out or stops to reload. Though we have been here for two weeks, the battle hasn't slowed down for us. In fact, I get the feeling that the offensive has increased.

My question still remains. Why even bother satan? You've already lost. You don't have a chance because God crushed the only power you had, that was death. Christ knocked you out! And you're wasting your time with us anyway. Call us stubborn, call us "Job Reloaded", but we are not letting go of our God. Those words from the book of Daniel ring true now, more than ever. "We fully believe God can deliver us from you (Nebucanaezar), but even if He doesn't, we will NEVER bow down to your idol."

"Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD."

As you know, last week brought some interesting twists to the already crazy ride we have been on. Fundraising is now my full time job. Never thought that would happen. If I was a betting man, I would bet that God is beginning to mold me into the person He needs me to be in order to reach the people here in Savannah. Now, what that man looks like, I couldn't tell you in a million years. And if I knew, I would probably say, NO WAY!

This morning I decided I would pick up my Bible and read whatever I opened to. Hosea. I'm not quite sure how this story speaks to me at this particular moment in my life, or if it is even suppposed to speak to me now. But, what a wonderful story of an unconditional love that has never and will never lose its grip. I guess that's why we are here. To bestow that life changing love on everyone we come into contact with. What an amazing God we serve!

ps-Those of you out there who feel called by God to support U.S. mission work, I want to talk to you. My email address should be someplace on the blog, otherwise, I can give it to you. And, if you've got names of people whom you know are interested in supporting mission work, I would love a chance to talk to them as well.

Most of all, thank you for your prayers.

Is there anyone in all of "blog-o-sphere" who knows even a hint about missionary fundraising, or church planting fundraising, or any kind of fundraising for that matter.

We are sitting in an odd boat at the moment. I'm looking for another job, but that's all I can think about. We are here in Savannah, as ministers, as church planters, yet all my time is spent looking for another job. God has, however, changed the direction of my job search. There is too much work here to ignore. So much needs to be done for the sake of Christ and the people of this community. That is why my job searching has shifted gears. Now I am starting to, the best way I know how, raise funding for our ministry.

Please keep us in your prayers. And, now more than ever, we solicite advice, ideas and other creative ways in which to raise funding in the shortest amount of time...if that is even a realistic concept...