I'm a pusher.

Yep.  I'm a pusher.  And I'm not ashamed of it.

What do I push? A better question might be, whom do I push?  The Answer; most everyone I can.  And I think it's time for a little blog style pushing.

I can clearly remember the summer of 1999.  I must have seen at least 2 dozen punk shows that summer plus a fabulous day at a windswept warped tour.  If you could ever get your hands on a copy of Skateboard Canada's summer issue from that year you will find a close up photo of yours truly which was taken as I was walking away from a crazy slam dancing pit for the band 7 Dust. You see back then I LOVED pushing people!

These days I'm much more laid back.  Gone is the wild bleach blonde hair style, the chain necklaces and the urge to stick my tongue out at every photo op.  I've put away the giant baggy shorts, wife beater tank tops and the chain from my wallet to my belt.  I've stopped throwing elbows into the faces of strangers and calling it "dancing".  But I think that in a new way, I still LOVE pushing people.

In place of the reckless, thoughtless, angry 20 year old who loved the Holy Spirit but hated most Christians; sits a much softer guy in early 30's (33 to be exact), someone who actually loves Christians, and the Holy Spirit.  For those who see me regularly at church, it may surprise you to know I am probably outwardly the calmest and quietest I've ever been in church. (Post Holy Spirit)

But here's the thing, I think I'm burning hotter than ever before.  And I pray that I can help catch you on fire!

One thing I don't understand is indifference in the hearts of people who profess Jesus.  I don't dislike the people who are indifferent, I just don't get it.  It doesn't make me angry, it makes me sad to see those who profess to be awake, walking through life in a stupor.  It's like their neither awake or asleep.  It seems to me that mediocrity when it comes to Jesus is just about the stupidest place anyone could ever live.

To go through life on the fence must be the worst torture...but the thing is, if you're on the fence, fear is probably what's keeping you there.

I remember a day when I was about 8 or 9 and my friend Brad and I were having a competition/race to see who could get from one end of my street to the other.  Except the thing was we had to go through people's backyards, climbing fences and not getting caught/stopped by any home owners along the way.  I remember this now because I recall what happened to Brad when he slipped mid climb and came down with one leg on either side of a 6 foot fence.  NOT a feeling/sight anyone forgets.

I think the same type of thing is experience by "Christians" who live their life on the fence, eventually you come down with one foot on each side.  Ouch.  It would have been far better just to hop down and live your life in one reality or the other.


This is the fence...the dividing line.  Jesus.  And what you are going to do with Him is the most important decision you will ever make.

You see, Jesus compels people to live on one side or the other.  Walking on the line is a refusal to make a choice as to which reality you are going to live in.  Or, maybe, the refusal to really commit is the choice that's being made.  If that's the case, I think you are behaving cowardly. But, what do I know right?

I do know that the Gospel of Jesus is the most polarizing/divisive thing I can think of. In fact Jesus said this as recorded in Matthew " 34 "Don't think that I came to bring peace to earth. I didn't come to bring peace but conflict. 35 I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A person's enemies will be the members of his own family. 37 "The person who loves his father or mother more than me does not deserve to be my disciple. The person who loves a son or daughter more than me does not deserve to be my disciple. 38 Whoever doesn't take up his cross and follow me doesn't deserve to be my disciple. 39 The person who tries to preserve his life will lose it, but the person who loses his life for me will preserve it."

Jesus was a "pusher"  He wouldn't let you come to church on Sundays only. He wants your entire life. Every minute, thought, deed.  HE is ALL Consuming.  and He is wonderful. Jesus wouldn't let you sit in worship service with your arms folded, mumbling along to some of the words.  

So my friends, I hope you make a decision about Jesus.  Either HE is real, and everything He says is Truth.  Which, if that's the case, demands that you lift your eyes from this temporal place and throw your life at His feet continually.   OR Jesus is not real, not who He says He is,  Which if that's the case demands that you do everything you can to keep people away from believing in Jesus, even a little bit.  


Time to jump off of the fence.  or... you could always let the Holy Spirit push you ; )