Well, not yet. Three weeks from today I turn 27. That number seems crazy to me, considering I still feel like a 14-year-old. But considering that these days, to me, college students look like high schoolers and high schoolers look 12 it must mean that I’m getting older.

Some time ago, I came across an organization called charity: water that was founded by a guy who wanted to make a difference on his birthday. He was turning 31, and he had realized that his faith had grown stagnant and his life was all about himself. So he asked his friends to do away with the gifts and try to raise money to deliver clean water to areas of need. In the last two years, they have raised over $7.5 million, funded 1,030 water projects in 13 countries and effected the lives of 500,000 people. Talk about putting faith into action.

This year, I want to do the same. Instead of gifts, I’m asking for contributions. $20 will provide clean water to one person for twenty years. If you think about it, $1 will give someone clean water for a year. A year of clean water for the price of, what, chicken nuggets? A third of a cup of coffee? The amount of change in your couch? For my birthday, I want to provide 1000 people with clean water this year.

The past month I’ve been part of a study through the book of Proverbs, and one thing has been staggeringly clear to me: God wants us to care about those who need help. In fact, He says it is an abomination to ignore the cries of the poor and needy. According to Merriam-Webster, an abomination is extreme disgust and hatred. I don’t want to be that anymore.

Please watch the video from founder Scott Harrison, it’s nothing short of inspirational. Go to charity: water and read about the organization. 100% of public donations go directly to water projects.

Then, please consider going to www.mycharitywater.org/chris. Every dollar saves a life.

Even though I work in the world of mass media, sometimes it bothers me how much the media penetrates our lives. There seems to be some sort of brainwashing power the media holds over us, as we remember and parrot the most annoying things revealed to us in television, movies and music.

These are ten phrases from the last ten years that I never want to hear again. In fact, if I hear you say it I just might slap you. There, I said it. Consider yourself warned.

In no particular order:
“Wazzup?!?”, or “Wassup?!?”
Like many super bowl commercials, this was the gift that kept on giving. Even when I asked it to stop.

“Git ‘r done!”
In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ve never liked rednecks. Or poor grammar.

“I’m kind of a big deal.”
Chances are, you’re not. Please stop telling me you are.

“In these (tough) economic times…”
I can’t count how many times I’ve heard this phrase in the last two years. Yes, we get it. Move on.

“Oh, snap!”
Oh, shut it.

“Debrief”
If you’re in the military, you can go to debriefings. But this term has become so commonplace. I particularly dislike hearing it in the context of Christian activities. It seems like every missions trip, retreat, and bake sale needs a debriefing.

“Emo”
For the first part of the last ten years, the term “emo” was used to describe anything that didn’t fit a specific category. Music was emo. Haircuts were emo (specifically, mine. It got old fast.). Deserts were emo.

“I’m Rick James, b—-!”
I love Dave Chappelle as much as the next guy, but that doesn’t mean that every frat bro in the world needs to quote it. It’s funny when Dave says it, not you.

“Holla back”
I’m sorry, you want me to holler back? I don’t holler anything.

“OMG”, “LOL” and smiley faces
Technically, this may have started in the mid-to-late 90s, but it exploded in the last ten years. I would say something snarky like, “You teenage girls need to learn to write correctly,” but considering my peers and elders invented and adopted this language I can’t help but feel partly responsible.

I’m sure the next decade will give light to many more phrases that bother me, but I’m hoping we can at least leave a few of these in the past.

It’s hard not to think of what happened in 2001 when September 11 rolls around. I feel bad for those with birthdays (Sorry, Sarah!) and anniversaries (Sorry, Chris and Meredith!) on this day that will be forever overshadowed by the worst act of terrorism on American soil to date.

This day really gets me thinking about what we value, and the status of America in the world. Unfortunately, I think the golden age of America is over. For a century, we were the powerhouse. Our economy fueled the world. Nations looked to us like the reserved, well-respected kid on the playground that would resolve conflict. The “American Dream” was born and achieved.

But where are we today? Involved in two unpopular wars. A fledgling economy. A country divided. It’s amazing to think that 8 years ago, every American put aside their differences and were actually united. Too bad it took a horrific event to unite us.

So where does that lead us? With the rise of Russia, China, and India in the last couple decades and too many frenemies with supposed nuclear capabilities (I’m looking in your general direction, Iran and North Korea), it seems like the USA chants are fading in the background and the world’s nation-crush with us is over.

To be honest, I’m glad. Partisanship, failed economics, and less respect on the world stage might be exactly what this country needs. Every world power or dominant society in history came to an end, so why would we expect America to be any different? I doubt Cesar saw his downfall coming.

I think Jesus had it right. Give to Cesar (or Obama, or whoever) what belongs to them, but give to God what belongs to Him. We really need to be careful, now more than ever, of where we put our hope and our hearts. Our hope is not in Obama. He might bring change, he might not. But the reality of pain and suffering, politics, and all the other junk we deal with will still be there. Bi-partisan politics and legislation will not unite us, and will not solve our problems.

God’s been calling for unity for a long time. I just hope we respond before we need another wake up call.

“Blessed be the peacemakers.”

The past few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster for the Saldanha’s. Katie and I both agree that it might have been the hardest couple of weeks of our marriage. The great thing about that is it’s not because of something we did, but just learning how to deal with circumstances. Once God has put a little more shape to this story we’ll be sure to tell it, but for now I’ll continue to be vague.

This past weekend we took three days and headed east to the lovely town of Holland, Michigan to visit the Bishop’s. Becca Wade Barry Bishop is Katie’s best friend from Hope College, and her husband Josh and son Jackson are studs. We had a great time. We also visited Mars Hill Church, home of Rob Bell. This was my fourth visit to Mars Hill without actually hearing Rob speak, but they always have fantastic guest speakers.

This weekend was no exception.

Shane Hipps was visiting from Phoenix, and teaching through spiritual disciplines. This week covered solitude and meditation. For me, this was one of those “we’re just visiting so this won’t really apply to me” mornings. I was wrong.

So wrong, in fact, that God destroyed my heart in the first 15 minutes of the service. We began singing a couple beautiful songs and already I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Then the music director read from the Psalms, and the verses spoke to exactly what Katie and I were dealing with. I started to feel that lump in my throat that comes with brokenness.

And then . . . silence.

The music director told everyone to close their eyes and just pray. Whatever was going on, just pray. In that moment, my heart came undone. I cried for two minutes straight, unable to utter a word to God about what I felt and what I needed, but I knew at that moment that He completely understood and was purging all this junk from within me. I hadn’t really dealt with the things that were going on, I just shelved them, said I believed God was good, and moved on. But I never really experienced that truth, I simply knew it.

Shane’s message gave shape to what I was feeling and experiencing the first part of the service. We’re so quick to learn about God, but do we really know Him? I don’t take the time to quiet myself and just experience God. J.I. Packer says that if you don’t experience God, you don’t really know Him. You just know about Him. I so desperately want to know Him.

Our culture is full of distractions, which is why I think both God and the devil don’t do a lot of miraculous stuff around us. We’re sidelined by total crap that is accessible whenever we want it.

We need to learn to be quiet, and then maybe we’ll hear the voice of God that we so desperately long for.

I love this video because:

1. The first guy doesn’t care what other people think.
2. It shows us our true nature of wanting to be part of the crowd.

It amazes me how long it takes for other people to join in, but when they do people are flocking, literally running, to get in on the action. Why? Why did it take so long?

I can imagine people sitting on their blankets and saying to their friends, “Look at that guy! He’s probably high or something.” Moments later, those same people can’t get off their blanket fast enough to join the crowd, most likely so they can come back to the blanket and say, “Did you see me over there? Wasn’t that awesome?!?”

Human beings are timid sheep. We want to be part of the crowd, but are afraid to look dumb if nobody else comes with. I hope that in my life I can be like the first guy, dancing and having fun and not caring what anybody else thinks. The least I could do is be the second or third guy. I don’t want to be a timid sheep.

Just saying (or typing, rather) the word makes me feel kinda dirty. It’s always been a strange sounding word to me. But God said it, so I guess it’s okay.

I’m not a big Mark Driscoll fan, but I was listening to a message of his about the heart. He was saying that all issues of sin are really a matter of the heart. Drinking problem? Gotta change the heart. Lust? Change the heart. Overeating? Change the heart. We’ve gotten really good at establishing rules (don’t do this, do that) to avoid the temptations and failures, but we still don’t change the heart motivation, and the part of us that drives our desire for wrong things is still broken.

The thing that struck me was when he dropped a classic C.S. Lewis quote about our desires not being too strong, but too weak. We have weak desires for the right things. If our desire to follow God in obedience was stronger we wouldn’t be so apt to doing silly and destructive things to feed the cravings of our soul.

Driscoll said a question he gets a lot from people is, “don’t you think you’re missing out?” As though being a Christian means you can’t do a lot of really fun things. It got me thinking, what am I missing out on?

• Binge drinking, drunkenness, and puking
• Promiscuity
• Conflict/distrust with my wife
• Excessive self-consciousness
• The emptiness that follows filling whatever craving I have in hopes that it finally satisfies me

I’ve been there, and I can say I’m not missing out on anything. Seems like the world is the one missing out. I pray God would give me stronger desires for the right things.

So this is it, the day Jesus hung on a cross and proclaimed the completion of His work. It is both “good” and sobering.

I have the privilege of having the day off (thanks to the Catholics that started the business where I work!), and have been trying to pray and focus on what this day means. James Denney (courtesy of J.I. Packer) has helped lay the groundwork:

“Not Bethlehem, but Calvary, is the focus of revelation, and any construction of Christianity which ignores or denies this distorts Christianity by putting it out of focus.”

If we have the wrong view of this day, we have the wrong view of everything. It is a warning well heeded.

One thing I have been meditating on is the fact that Jesus would not tell the disciples when He would once again return to Earth. They are already wrestling with the fact that Jesus is going to die on a cross, and then He won’t even tell them when He’s coming back.

The common view is that since Jesus was fully man, God the Father was only giving Him partial knowledge and revelation while here on Earth. In the end, it doesn’t really matter why He wouldn’t tell the disciples, all that matters is that He didn’t.

Maybe Jesus didn’t want to lower the bar for the disciples. If they knew Jesus was coming back at a certain time, they would only have to position their hearts and wills to living a specific way for a specific amount of time. But the unknown is scary and hard. Jesus could come back tomorrow, but He might not come back for 30 years, so we better live in a way that is purposeful for 30 years. Or it might be 300 years. Or 3000.

I think Jesus wants our hearts to be transformed for a eternity, not just for a short time. It’s the least we could do, after all, He did take the weight of all humanity upon Himself today. He deserves our hearts.

If I knew I had a day to live, I wonder what I would do. I think we’ve all played that game. Maybe travel somewhere you have always wanted to go, or spend time with family. Accomplish something you have always wanted to do, or experience something familiar one last time.

Jesus knew tonight would be His last meal with His disciples. In fact, it would be His last night on Earth. So what does He do? He washes the disciples’ feet. Even in His last moments, Jesus is showing us the example of humility, grace, respect, and authority.

I pray that I could embody that same love and devotion. Where are my priorities in my last moments?

As I was reading the gospel accounts of the days leading up to the crucifixion, something caught my eye. On the night of the Last Supper, after Jesus broke the bread and shared the wine, they did one more thing before heading out to their prayer retreat. They sang.

I can’t imagine that moment. Jesus just told the disciples He was going to suffer and die, Judas got called out as the betrayer, and they just finished their last meal together. What song could possibly do that moment justice?

As I write this I’m listening to the singers practice the closing song of the Easter production. I think the song of the disciples would have sounded something like this.

This weekend will be an amazing celebration.

Traditionally, the Eastern church commemorates the parable of the ten virgins on this day. I wish we had better insight into what Jesus’ week was like between entering into Jerusalem on Sunday and having dinner with the disciples on Thursday. What we do know is that Jesus dropped a whole lot of parables this week.

It’s almost like Jesus was in a race against time to get people to understand who He was and what that means. Faith that moves mountains, obedience to righteousness, the reality of rejecting Jesus, answering His call, the resurrection and life, the marriage relationship between us and Jesus, and on, and on, and on . . .

When it comes down to it, the message seems simple. Jesus is leaving this earth, and that will have significant consequences for the those who believe and those who don’t. Even today, it’s the same call: faith in, and obedience to Jesus is what gives us the keys to life. We have only a handful of days before we have to reconcile the consequences of our faith, or lack of it, for eternity.