todd

Now I'm embarrassed for us...

I know hate is a strong word...but I hate the show the Bachelor. I saw 15 minutes of the show last night...that is... the after the rose thing-of-ma-bob...what a worthless show...it points out how lame our culture really is.

The main reason I hate it is that it is just so frick'n embarrassing...Could there be a show that more Americans watch with such mussy star-crossed pointless hopefulness? But Todd...Maybe this time...a guy who is dating/sleeping with multiple women will make at least one woman the luckiest woman alive. I mean, all of America is hoping that Jason will make Melissa or Molly (Holly) that lucky gal...one of them will get their prince charming.

All of America, half of which are divorced or will be in the near to distant future...know for a fact that real grown world doesn't work like this...but lets just embarrass ourselves...let's let a few young people find true love and happiness and have all their hopes and dreams realized in a few short weeks...because I know Melissa or Molly/Holly will take care of Jason for the rest of his life...

Perhaps someone is exploiting our naive fall in love quick notion so they can make money...nah...

It's just embarrassing...I am embarrassed...no wonder relationships in America suck...we still think Jason and Molly/Holly have a chance...and we lie to ourselves...

What an amazing country we live in and so many people are lonely and unhappy...thanks for making the bachelor and reminding us how lame relationships are in America...thanks ABC, can't wait until next season when we see true love blossom again...I'll plan on TiVo-ing it so my kids can take notes on how to have a real relationship like Jason.

 

Mushrooms...

I mostly grew up as an only child...so I often found myself hanging out with people much older than myself...parents, grandparents, and the like. I am not going to lie to you...that is, the four people who read this blog...when hanging with the grown-ups I found myself more times than not bored out of my mind...mostly due to the conversations that seemed ho hum.

But years later, I see a positive by-product of hanging out with people older than myself...Simply...I really enjoy  "old" people's stories, wisdom, humor, and perspectives.

I got a chance the other day to hang out with some old people...Bill Giovannetti, Erich Roehl, Roger Simmons, and Ken Jones...these guys are decades older than me...but I love them.

We all went to Rivers for lunch...now two of the guys are authors...one of the guys is a former IBM executive...the last guy is an ex-air force dude...all of them are wise...a couple of them are wicked smart (I'll let them decide which two)...all have a lot of life experience...so the scene is set, 4 old guys with solid, "man experience" resumes, and myself, just a youngster, ready to order food from the nicest restaurant in town.

The waitress begins taking our orders...I see the item I want on the menu; when my turn comes to order I say, "I'll have the Portabella Burger. Can I get that medium rare?"

To my surprise and chagrin, time stands still as all eyes lock-in on me. Bill, the author, says to me, "You know, there isn't any meat on that, the burger is a big mushroom." I didn't know that...furthermore...I hate mushrooms...in my mind I was ordering a burger, I didn't know what portabella meant, but I knew Carl's Jr. had a burger with the word portabella in it, and I figured I was good to go...nope...instead I was red faced, being laughed at and laughing at myself...hey, can't take myself too seriously, when you are an idiot, be the idiot...won't make that mistake again...thanks to the wisdom of my four old friends...

I figure it this way...if it wasn't for their wisdom...I would have ended up with a $45 medium rare mushroom in a bun.

One Month to the Day...

...since my last blog. What's the deal with me? Well...I, like Johnny Cash have been everywhere doing a little bit of everything...bought a minivan, a 2002 Honda Odyssey...I like it a heck of a lot more than I thought I would...thinking about trading in the Civic for a minivan I can drive everyday...visited the East Bay Area...saw some good friends...watched Kole and Bob Nishizaki become best friends...and went to the beach in Santa Cruz...it was the middle of November and it was 75 and sunny...saw Paul Skinner (my dad), who now owns a motorhome and a jeep CJ7...played a ton of basketball with Jeff, Chris and Lepinski...read a ton of pages for seminary...preached sermons...attended ridiculously long meetings...had Thanksgiving at Uncle Jeff's house...wrote long papers for seminary...attend more meetings...and read more books...and ate an obsence amount of mexican food...throw in some date nights with Deborah...sitting in the spa every night...and prayer....and we are all caught up...wait...and I have been all fired up about some core theological underpinnings that my generation and my kidbrother generation are screwing up; thereby wanting to start my own fight club where disagreements about God are not met with nicities, but with some good old fashion fisticuffs...and now you are all caught up.

They're kindof a BIG Deal...

These two munchkins are showing why I love them so much...the attached picture is their faces after I yelled, "Dirty Underwear" to get them to smile...I realized I was on to something and keep yelling "Dirty Underwear" over and over and over again...if it wasn't for my wife's chagrined face I still would be yelling "Dirty Underwear"...I had those two in a frenzy...Micah was squealing like a pig and Kole couldn't breath he was laughing so hard...I feel blessed, my wife feels even more chagrined now that I blogged about it...(click on the image to magnifiy it and see the good drool that Micah has going)

Interesting...political tidbits...Prop. 8, 2, Obama, Memory Loss and Jr. High

I am so glad the political season is over...now we can get back to watching Heroes at it's normal time and begin to give college basketball it's proper place...not to mention NFL football...I do have a few political tidbits rolling around in my head that I would like to lay to rest...

Prop. 8 passes mostly because of strong support from African American and Latino voters who came out in droves to vote for Obama...Interesting...voting for an ultra liberal president, but protecting ultra conservative values...only a relativistic society can pull that off

California's prop. 2 showed how much we love our animals...hands down, supporters of prop. 2 had the most graphic, heart-wrenching TV ads...those animals in those ads seemed like life really sucked for them...now that prop. 2 passed, their lives will be much improved before they are slaughtered...Because of those ads, I am never going to eat eggs or meat again...except for when I am hungry...but besides that...never.

Next...56 million people didn't want Obama as their president, while 63 million people did. Not sure how much of a landslide victory that is...some people are thrilled, some are pissed...All I know is that I'm pissed if I live in Hawaii...the President was announced and gave his speech before they even finished voting...that's funny...but then again...they get to live in Hawaii...they'll get over it.

Age was more of a deciding factor than ethnicity in this presidential election...getting older stinks...at least in America...in Africa is it an honor...in America your elderly wisdom makes you out of touch...McCain is so out of touch it seems, that he can't even remember how many houses he owns. How can you forget the number of homes you have...worse...while being interviewed? Do you not realize how you came across to the younger generation, African Americans, and Latinos...let alone everyone else in the world? Perhaps it was a senior moment.

#1 Reason people voted the way they did...money...really...Americans care about money...remember money buys Americans the title of 23rd Happiest Place to Live in the World each year...If second place is like kissing your sister...what is 23rd place...I know...23rd is like kissing one of those prop. 2 animals...

Finally, I have learned that the Presidential Election is a lot like a Junior High Class Presidential Election...whoever promised that soda would flow through the drinking fountains...pizza would be everyday, not just Fridays in the cafeteria...and there would be no more HOMEWORK...that Jr. Higher, and he alone got my vote every time...and dang it, that stink'n Jr. Higher never delivered...we had crappy water in the fountains...disgusting sloppy joes in the cafeteria on Mondays...and teachers still gave HOMEWORK that I wouldn't do...so here you go Obama, the Senate is yours, the House is yours...I want soda in the fountains and affordable health care and pizza everyday and less taxes and no homework and peace...I'd just settle for soda in the fountains, but at least one spout has to be Diet...I'm in my 30's now and can't handle the Mountain Dew like I could in 7th grade...

My Dad Google and My Mom YouTube

I am surprised no one has written a book yet with this title...My Dad Google...It has occurred to me that Google is my dad. If I am in need of any sort of help, I ask my dad Google for the answer to my problem.

The American Dad is being replaced by Google, heck, I refer Kole to Google to answer questions about Volcanoes, Africa, Dinosaurs, Tornadoes, and why baseball players charge the mound after getting hit by the pitch. Ok...my mom YouTube showed Kole about bench clearing baseball brawls...the look on his face...Priceless.

I see myself using Google to fill in the gaps my dad missed in my upbringing...how to fix things, etc...Kole and Micah's generation might not need parents at all...the Internet will raise them.

Broken by the Dan Lance Beard Challenge

Couldn't do it...perhaps the love of sugary coffee...or Los Gordos EL Jefe tacos...blame it on a slowing metabolism...or lack of discipline...too little exercise...or just wanting my kids and wife not to cringe in terror when my beard hits their faces...I am out...done...finished...I lost 5 lbs and I am cherishing that as a moral victory...I could have kept going, but let me share the real reason I am clean shaven...

Simply, the beard was rapidly becoming a side-show and off-the-cuff comment attractor from friends and strangers alike...who felt it necessary to chat a while about my facial hair...in other words, it was becoming weird and a point of interest everywhere I went...the YMCA, the coffee shops, the restaurants, church, my neighborhood...I felt I had to explain to everyone, every time the reason for the beard...and The Dan Lance Challenge wasn't a good enough answer for my hillbilly-mountain man look...a few side notes as I close...shaving the beard was kind-of fun...me with a mustache creeps me out...and sorry Dan, you are on your own...

You go and do something like this...and totally redeem yourself

I don't know if it's Dave's tickled pink head tilt or Jon's cake eating grin...what every it is...this is a ridiculously funny picture taken earlier today by David Nishizaki...right before they road off to lunch on the bike.  Click on the picture to see the intricacies of the photo.

Priceless Picture.Which...when studied closer, reminded me of another motorcycle/scooter scene from the greatest movie of all time. Check it out below...Is Dave...Harry?...and Jon...Lloyd?...or vice-versa?

Conference update; and not giving a Beard update, it's depressing

Spent the last 5 days in Sacramento, eating myself from one end of that city to the other, and I was also at the National Youth Workers Conference. But wait Todd, you work with Young Adults...why did you go to a Youth Conference...and the Beard Challenge?

Simply...those youth are going to be young adults before I know it and I better know it... and the NYWC is the best at gauging the youth culture and where it is headed. And no Beard Challenge update...I'm also not speaking with the scale and consequently ignoring it.

I don't want this to be too long (though it might) so here are a few odd quick tidbits; let's call it the  Top 5 that first come to mind.

#1 Shane Claiborne spent the good part of an hour and a half trying to convince me the death penalty was wrong...and the Iraq war was wrong...cool...I love seminars that focus on politics...I mean nothing unifies us Christians more than a good talk on politics...really, what  unites us Americans better than politics? The thought occurred to me during his talk, "if a Iraq veteran would have been in here (that seminar), Shane would no longer be with us."

He didn't offend me...I have heard him speak before...I knew what I was getting into with him...he does does noteworthy works of compassion around the world...I went to the seminar to learn more about his perspective and his Social Justice work. When it comes to a young person being passionate about Social Justice...Shane is second to none.

#2 Tony Campolo gave me everything I expect and more. My favorite quote from him was, "I don't know how you can be a Christian and drive a BMW." What do you do with that? So, if I follow Tony's logic, this Sunday, anyone with a Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Audi, or any other luxury car should be asked that question before exiting their vehicle. We now have a easy standard to test maturity in Christ. Tony was a wonderful communicator, thought provoking, interesting and fun...but the BMW comment was too much. By the way, I drive a 1995 Honda Civic, 41 mpg on the freeway...but I will trade you for your 2009 Beamer if you want.

Really, Tony could have said anything, "I don't know how you can be a Christian, and ..." Own a 200,000 dollar house? Buy a $100 pair of jeans? Buy a $1000 computer? An Ipod? An Iphone?

His point was that Christians waste money on status symbols...which is true, for sure...but he left out that God is the one who judges the heart. We can have a wealthy Christian who is righteous in owning a BMW, and another Christian who is unrighteous in owning a BMW. God sees the heart...BMW or no BMW, God knows the sinful motivation of our hearts. Let's leave the judging of people's hearts to God.

 

#3 Mike Pilavchi was the best. He always is. He is super funny, humble, and a great communicator of God's Word.

#4 Phyllis Tickle was the surprise of the conference. She is an elderly woman who had all 2500 of us glued to her every word. My favorite quote from her, "I love a good murder every now and then." Referring to her High Church hierarchy, and her hope for some of the power players to die off.

#5 Worthy of the top 5 tidbits, but not apart of the conference per say. Nonetheless, Top 5 conference moment was Kelley and Holly doing the Youth Workers speed dating...I don't know if they landed a mate, but ask them about it.

The deep stuff of the conference will take some time to let out...we all were overwhelmed by the constant information...we spent 8 to 10 hours each day engaged in sessions, seminars, conversations, and more conversations; all of our experiences there will take a while to unpack. Starting in 10 hours at our Department Staff meeting.

The wife signed me up...

Kole's Pre-K teacher, Mrs. Hall, reminded me today that my wife signed me up for Career Day next week in Kole's class. Thank you...and come on.

I was told I would be following a banker, and then a parent who sells medical equipment, in which he may bring in some plastic arms and legs as props. Mrs. Hall led me to believe the plastic arms and legs are going to be a big hit.

What props do I have to dazzle 4 year-olds that can compete with plastic arms and legs?

Nothing is coming to mind. Pretty sure I want to go after the banker, unless he is handing out free money.

Suggestions are welcomed as to how I can not make my son's Pre-K class completely turned off to being a Pastor; thereby preserving the fact that I am still number one in my sons eyes.

I guess Sam's mom was right, the devil wants me fat.

Some of you know one of my best friends in the world is Sam Boone , we have been solid friends since we were 13 and in Junior High together. Sam's mom Mary, who is an awesome women of God, once mentioned to Sam she was checking out a new Christian diet plan which had the tag line, The Devil Wants You FAT!

Gosh, if she wasn't right. I have taken the Dan Lance Beard Challenge in hopes of losing 15 lbs. I will not shave my beard until I drop that extra weight, but dang it, if the devil and his miscreants don't want me tubby. Those pounds just aren't dropping off like I had hoped.

Though only day 6 of the scratch my face-off mountain man look, I am succumbing to the idea I may be that guy who has food in his beard and doesn't know it, but on the bright side, I have strange visible gray hairs in my beard, thank goodness for that novelty. If you see the devil punch him in the face from me for the extra lbs, and feel free to vandalize Lance's Eco friendly Toyota Echo for the Beard idea.

I've taken the "Dan Lance Bearded Challenge"

Blogger extraordinaire  Dan Lance has motivated me to follow in his footsteps. Dan has recently declared he will not shave his facial hair again until he sheds some unwanted pounds. Brilliant. I too, will not shave until I drop 15 lbs.

Deborah is super stoked about this...the sarcasm is thick...just like my beard. She hates facial hair, but is allowing this endeavor for the sake of not having to buy me more "big boy" clothes. This is really a money saving, "slash", life saving intervention.

I have gotten a few people who think beard's are gross, to them I say, clogged arteries are gross, beards are MACHO.

Who knew? Hagquist has the best blog...

Some, perhaps many, may not know I was smitten, nay, privileged to be the non-band-member-roommate of the band Ember (formerly Ediger 309) years ago. My favorite, again, nay, most memorable roommate was Josh Hagquist by far.

Josh, thoroughly talented as a guitar player, bass player, half-court shot specialist, and magazine collector, spent most days playing Madden Football with me. You would find him at all times in his underwear, controller in hand, and a 64oz Big Gulp within arms reach. We would only take a break for a little "porch" ministry and then back to the video games. Where Josh would get mildly pissed-off when the "computer (PlayStation) picked me to win" over and over again.

Now, years later, I find my fine feathered friend writing the smartest, funniest, and most clever blogs; probably still in his underwear, and I'm betting a Big Gulp in tow. Check out his blog, it's worth it. Josh Hagquist

Dominating Kickball may have been short-sighted

Everyday I ask Kole how his day at school was. Recently he answered by telling me that he learned about mammals. He said, "They have hair, they have babies, don't lays eggs and aren't cold blooded." Then to my demise, he asked me if I knew that. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what a mammal was. I said, "Bud, daddy didn't know any of that." To which my wife looked at me with a dumbfounded stare, non-verbally informing me she wanted the last 12 years of her life back. Now realizing I had without a doubt just proved she had married down, and she was stuck with an idiot, I defensively said, "Public school sucked."

So, I have told a few people my story of "Being dumber than a pre-K-er", and everyone else in the world, who also went to public school, already knew the definition of a mammal. Am I the only one on the planet who didn't know the definition of a mammal? What was I doing in school during mammal week?

That answer is pretty simple, I was dominating in Kickball, foursquare, Russian dodge ball and basketball during mammal week. The main reason I went to school was not to learn, but to hone my athletic abilities on the playground. I would just about cry on days we didn't have P.E. or outside recess due to rain. And don't even get me started about the days we decided to stay inside to do arts and crafts or talk about mammals, or math or whatever and not PLAY KICKBALL.

I did my time in the classroom, so I could live life to the fullest on the playground. The playground was my sanctuary. If the classroom clock was within 25 minutes of recess or P.E. I went into lock-down mode and began mentally envisioning my playground glory.

This now all seems to be have been short-sighted if I am already getting stumped by Kole in Pre-K; I am pretty sure I am screwed. Sweet. Should have pulled it together educationally early on, now I am really paying for my misplaced focus. Let this be a lesson to all you kids...kickball is just for a moment, but mammals, they are everywhere.

Weird

Deborah asked me a question today when I got home from church (she was unable to go today). She said, "Was it weird not seeing Peter and Lauren in church today?" And I said, "Yeah" in my tough guy answer veneer.

But between me, and the 4 of you that read this blog it was weird not seeing two people that have been a staple of Refuge and The Well. I thought of them a couple of times today, hoping that they were going to walk through the doors, but that never happened. I have known Lauren since she was 13, and Peter has become a good friend. I truly missed them today.

I know Kole is upset too. He asked me today to do all the things Peter would do with him before the church service started. But, I was unable to wheel him around on the chair-dollies like Peter.

The good news is Redding is on the I-5 life-line between Portland and everywhere south of here, so they will be by from time to time. Which is better than nothing, and I do expect one Sunday at The Well to see the both of them walk through the doors, even if it is only for a short visit.

Perhaps...I'll try something crazy

Perhaps I should do what most do, when they do, what they do in the blog world. I should give an update on life, with it's oddities and so forth. I feel a little weird about this, but Peter Black told me I needed to use the website more, so what the heck.

Kole update: My four year old son, Kole, informed me today that his favorite part of school was, "Everything, I love it all." So I have ceased using a "timeout" as a discipline method and have reverted to saying, "Kole if you can't obey you can't go to school." He seems to straighten up and listen a lot better all of a sudden. I don't know how much mileage I will get out of this one, and I am sure it is going to back fire on me soon, but my kid loves school; as of day 4.

Micah update: He is 17 pounds...chubby would be a kind word to describe him. Did I mention he isn't even 12 weeks old yet. He is smiling like crazy, waving his arms and legs wildly. Tonight we stuck a small american flag in his hand while he was waving his arms and I chanted "U-S-A, U-S-A!" repeatedly. It was the most patriotic moment of the Olympics.

Deborah update: Candice has been a good walking friend and Deborah has been able to get out of the house recently. I call it her time in "adult world", I think she just calls it freedom.

Grandma update: Her room is still blue, carpet is white, and Kole seeks her out every morning to pray with her. Having my grandma, who's great grandparents date back to the early 1800's is a trip to say the least. She has a ton of wisdom and understanding of God, life, church, and family. As hard as it is having an 88 year old grandparent/Kole and Micah's great-grandmother live with us, we are getting a fuller picture of how to live life well.

Todd update: Besides getting to preach every week at The Well which I love doing, life has been a little rough recently, but by God's grace, I am hanging in there. I have felt burdened and down about some situations recently and almost like clock-work people have appeared with unsolicited encouragement. It has come in a variety of ways, from phone calls to emails, to letters in the mail, and people just stopping by the office to encouarge me. I have felt uplifted the past two weeks, when I have felt the lowest. The scripture that has continuely run through my head each time this happens is Isaiah 59:19b "When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him."
I have seen the Lord lift up a standard recently to push back the enemy each time I have become downcast, he has used people encouraging me to lift my head.

So help me...

At times I feel as though stupidity has become the norm of society. So help me, if I hear this phrase anymore I am going to go crazy.

"Everyone is entitled to share their opinion."
   
No. No. No. Not if your opinion is moronic, perhaps evil, and stupid. Sorry. At some point, one must realize their opinion doesn't have to be shared and may not matter. Don't get me wrong. You as a person matter more than words can say. But you as a person needing to be validated by expressing your thoughts on ever matter; acting as though your opinion carries the weight of an expert, is getting old and tiring.

But our culture isn't backing me up on this. Shoot. Our culture teaches us that everyone's opinion matters. Everyone's opinion is right. We must make room for everyone's ideas. And so these ideas creep into the church. And people's "stupid" opinions about God are listened to, people nod their heads, and the church is "stupider" for it.

The latest thing that is killing me is people's opinion on this 3 topics: salvation, heaven and hell. Anyone with a computer and a blog can anoint themselves to be the foremost experts at revealing the church's misunderstanding that Jesus isn't the only way, heaven is for everyone (not just Christians), and hell isn't real. Never mind 2000 years of Christianity believing the opposite, well articulated church doctrine, countless Bible scholars, theologians, martyrs, church councils, a reformation, and THE BIBLE  itself which contradict all 3 of those lame opinions.

Our culture teaches us we all need to be sensitive to your opinion, because "Your opinion is valid. I won't tell you that you are wrong, that would be wrong." And everyone is nodding their heads, saying, that makes sense.

Sorry, only one person's opinion truly matters and that is God's opinion.

Didn't Job want to give his opinion to God? What did God say? "Well Job, before we talk, could you remind me about how the foundations of the earth were formed. Remind me. What were the math equations I used" (Job 38 paraphrased). God wanted to know Job's qualifications for having a conversation that would put Job's opinion on the same playing field with God's.

God wanted Job to think about his moronic opinion in light of God's amazing opinion. Job got it, and by Job 40:4, after two chapters of God flattening Job with His flawless wisdom, Job humbly replies, "Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth."

Some friendly advice for the day, and your life for that matter. Find a Godly mentor, who knows God, has worn out the pages of their Bible, and walks in the Spirit (showing the fruit of the spirit). Once you find that person put your hand over your mouth and listen to what their opinion is about God, church, and life is all about.

Come on...really? Lame-o

In a word, "lame-o". The LA Times put out an article recently on the spirituality of Californians. Within the article, a staggering stat jumped out at me, "Seventy percent believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life"; 57% of Evangelicals feel that way, as do 79% of Catholics."

WHAT!!!

57% of Evangelicals believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life", you have to be kidding me. Come on...really?  If that is true, almost 6 out of 10 CHRISTIANS believe that faith in Jesus Christ is NOT the only way to eternal life.

The trouble I find in my heart and mind is that I believe that stat isn't far off.

Try and follow me here. We have a generation of young Christians raised in a culture that values extreme tolerance which produces the fruit of non-confrontation that in actuality make them feel devalued and exactly the same as everyone else. I think Dash had it best in the Incredible's cartoon movie when he said, "If everyone is special, then no one is." (It's as though our culture is pushing us Christians to say that Jesus isn't any more special than anyone else. But I digress)

I remember the first time I got a trophy for being on a sports team. The whole team got trophies, no one got a special trophy, we were all given the same ugly little trophy with a kid kicking a soccer ball and we were all told we were special. So I threw my trophy away, I wasn't an idiot. I knew what kids on the team were gifted in soccer and which kids were athletic nightmares. We weren't all the same, we were different and some stunk, and some were really good. Some kids deserved trophies and most didn't.

My parents told me that giving every kid a trophy was for their own self-esteem. If any kid didn't get a trophy they might feel bad about themselves. Great point, I mean what makes a kid feel great about themselves anymore than lying to them and telling them they are a great soccer player when they know, and we teammates have told them they stink.

I am not saying that telling my uncoordinated friends on my soccer team that they stink was good, it was hurtful, but giving them a trophy and telling them they were just as good as the kid who scored every goal for us that season (Hector) wasn't any better. Kids aren't that dumb, they knew that weren't as special as Hector at soccer. Hector deserved his own MVP trophy, but he got the same as everyone else.

So let's give every religion the same trophy, they are all the same. No one religion is more special than any other one.

Which is along the same line of thinking that states, "No one should decide for you what is right or wrong. You need to decide for yourself. Truth is what you say it is." I will blog about that statement at a later date. My initial response is again, "lame-o". Sorry I digressed again. That above quote is really saying that everyone is right, which people really don't believe, so since they don't really believe that everyone is right, they end up thinking, "If everyone is right, then no one is right."

And therein lies the rejection of faith in Jesus as the only way to attain eternal life.

Christian, don't be lame. You really don't believe that. Christianity and Jesus Christ are crystal clear that faith in Christ is the only way to heaven (John 14:6, John 3:16) and of course Acts 4:12 which I will post here for you, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."(NASB)

So why are so many evangelicals (that is Christians) taking the easy road and abandoning Jesus' own words and rock solid biblical doctrine of Salvation in Christ Alone. Simple, CONVENIENCE (a post-modern form of PRIDE.)

Convenience of making God look better in our culture than he appears in the Bible. Convenience of everyone liking how open minded you are. Convenience of living your life the way you want with the full approval of our lost friends.

Consider this, if Jesus really was the only way to heaven and if his commands were really the only thing we should be worried about obeying, then dang it; we would have to change and live holier lives and that just isn't convenient.