It’s the last day of Chuck Klosterman week, and I think we have all had a lot of fun. But if you didn’t, in about 200 words you will see why I don’t care. It has got to be hard to write books about your life experiences and still keep your friends. It is this dilemma that Chuck decides to bring “Killing Yourself to Live” to a close.

“Lucy: Chuck, please don’t write a book about women you used to be in love with…I just want to go on record as saying that the idea of writing such a book is dubious.
Chuck: But if I don’t write the book, there will be no record of this entire conversation. Your disdain can only be voiced if I do the opposite of what you suggest.
Lucy: Well fine, just don’t complain to me when all those idiot bloggers write things like, ‘Ultimately, the author should have listened to his friend Lucy Chance.’ Because you know that will happen.”
-Killing Yourself to Live (Page 234)

Let me just say Lucy (on the record), that this blogger is glad Chuck wrote this book. And this brings me to my final point during Chuck Klosterman week: you can’t always listen to your friends. This is not to say that you shouldn’t ever listen to your friends, as often they are our best sources of accountability and reason in our lives. However, sometimes, you just got to do what you know you need to do.

There is a lot in Jesus’ life that didn’t make sense. I always laugh at the people who e-mail us at the show and use comments like, “God gave us a brain to think with and to reason with and not to use it would be wrong.” I always think this argument is a mute point. Why? Because this question is in the same category as the “when did you stop beating your wife” question. You can’t really disagree with it, less you are a moron. But if you agree with it, you are basically conceding to anything anyone wants to say that originated from his or her brain.

Yet God himself says that His ways are not always our ways. And while He did give us the ability to reason, and He does expect us to use it well (like all gifts), sometimes reason has to take a backseat to faith. It doesn’t make sense “to turn the other cheek.” It certainly doesn’t make sense to give money to the poor. And forgiveness is about the most retarded thing I could think up. Yet God wants all three of these elements (and others) to be an active part of each of our lives. And while our brain (and Lucy) might sometimes tell us otherwise, we have got to do what we know is the right thing to do, and pray that God uses it to touch the lives of others.

Chuck, while I would encourage you to find the transforming power of God in your life, I can say with the utmost confidence your book definitely touched my life.

It’s day five of Chuck Klosterman week, and today’s passage I have to say is personally the most entertaining of the entire book. The context of “Killing Yourself to Live” is a road trip Chuck takes to different locations of famous music industry deaths. One finds out quickly that this book really isn’t about a road trip, but about his past (and present) love life. Now this I can relate to. Chuck has an imaginary conversation with all of his girlfriends as if they were all riding in the car.

Quincy (Girl #1) says, “The year you spent ‘killing yourself’ to make me love you … I thought that was us being best friends. But you see that kind of behavior as the work you’re forced to do in order to sleep with people you want to sleep with.”
Chuck responds, “That’s not true, I would do anything to go back to that year when we weren’t having sex.”
Quincy responds: “You say that now, but you’d do the same thing if we went back to 1996.”
Lenore (Girl #2) pipes in: “I kind of have to agree with Quincy on this point. Chuck you do tend to repeat the same behavior over and over again, and all you really change is the person involved.”
[Skip ahead]
Dianne (Girl #3) joins the conversation: “Chuck, it really bothers me that you seem fixated on beautiful women in problematic situations, particularly women who are already in serious relationships.”
-Killing Yourself to Live (Page 117-121)

This conversation reminds me of high school. And let me put a little context. My high school dating life had something called the “Big Switch.” Sophomore year I dated someone name Emily, and Adam dated someone named Laura (although there is some dispute on whether or not they “officially” dated, but they did). Then junior year I dated Laura and Adam dated Emily: switch #1 (this is all while someone named Keenan dated someone named Teresa). Now senior year, I dated Teresa, and Keenan dated Laura, switch #2.

Now you say, wow, pretty incestuous, and you assume that we just dated around the circle of friends. But that is the amazing thing about all of this, that wasn’t the case. In fact, none of us were mutual friends (you could argue Emily and Laura were friends because they were both cheerleaders, but there is some dispute about if they were really friends before the “big switch” or because of the “big switch”).

But this was my angst during high school, especially senior year, because my life felt like the imaginary conversation Chuck had with his ex-girlfriends on the road trip.

Now you say, whippedy-do, what does this have to do with me. This all gets back to relationships. Why? Because of this. Jesus said that to understand Him you had to approach him like a child. Now this does not mean that he wants us all to be children for the rest of our lives. No, God designed us to grow and mature. However, as I have gotten older I have realized how true Jesus' words about faith are. The more childlike that faith can be, the “trueer” an expression of faith that really is. And sometimes I think love is like that too. Love never used to be complicated. It never used to play games. It was just love. And while we all need to mature out of high school, sometimes I think we need to de-mature in love.

Thus, parents (and youth ministers) shouldn’t keep high schoolers from dating, but rather use this time to cultivate healthy dating patterns that include trust and accountability. Realize that there is a lot to learn from these relationships about oneself, members of the opposite sex, and life in general. And if all my girls got together, they’d probably agree (or maybe that’s just the imaginary conversation in my head).

P.S. The photo above actually has all three of these girls in the photo. Can you spot them, besides the obvious?

You know what seems to suck about being a Christian (and I think if we were all more authentic we would admit this)? What sucks is that nothing ever seems to be enough. It seems like we “sell” Christianity on the simplicity of the gospel. Then when someone becomes a Christian, we complicate it by adding things to do. Then when those things are done, we tell people that God expects them to in turn be responsible for all the people who have yet to come to this realization as well. While not a Christian, Chuck Klosterman experiences this in an Arkansas hotel room – admittedly while high – while watching a show on “Christian TV” that goes something like this:

“The protagonist [Steven] is a teen…who is torn apart by temptation. But what’s interesting are the things Steven is tempted to do; he is not tempted to try drugs…nor is he tempted to have sex…Our hero is never involved in any of that sh#*. Steven’s gut-wrenching crisis…is the temptation to not save his adolescent peers from doing all of those terrible things. In other words, he is not frayed by a desire to go down on his girlfriend or the desire to get drunk and feel cool…His problem is that he wants to merely ignore all the kids in school who are going to hell."
-Killing Yourself to Live (Page 99)

What fascinates me about this is that I was Steven in high school (although admittedly, unlike Steven, I was also tempted to go down on my girlfriend). But what people like Chuck will never understand until they too are “tempted like Steven,” is that it is precisely the charge to “make disciples” in an unfriendly world that makes faith in Jesus for an intriguing life.

Five years out of high school (and 3 years out of my teens) I find myself working at a church (which as I have stated before, I don’t usually like telling people I meet). What I miss the most now that I work in a church is how few people I run into that aren’t Christian. It drives me nuts. But I find that all people are pretty much like this – Christian or not. If you work in NYC and are 30, you are somewhat of pretentious individual surrounded by other pretentious individuals. If you are white, wealthy and in your 50s, most of the people you play golf with are also white, wealthy and in their 50s. But a faith in Jesus is about bringing all of humanity into community centered around the Cross (which is totally different than a plain, vanilla, “we-are-all-the-same” community).

Jesus wants all of his followers to spread the “good news” to people we come in contact with. However, unlike most “evangelism” movies, this doesn’t usually take place with the random guy on the plane, or by preaching on the street corner. After all, Jesus doesn’t just want followers, he wants relationships. These relationships are between Him and his followers, as well as His followers and other followers, as well as His followers and those yet to be His followers. While nothing may ever seem to be enough in the Christian life, I think we should all admit that it is this drive to surround ourselves with people different than us that makes life intriguing enough to be worth living.

Woody and I sat up at a Big Bear, California cabin on a Worship Band retreat in August of 2004. Woody had an incredibly hard job, in which I truly felt bad for him. He was replacing the eternally popular Chris as APU’s campus pastor. As we sat and I shared what little wisdom I had about our campus, the point I kept reiterating is that this campus wants someone who is authentic. We don’t care what you struggle with. We don’t care what you’ve done. But what we expect is that you will be real with us. This is why our generation (you know, the one who doesn’t have a name but is after Generation-X and sometimes gets lumped in with them) is unique. I think Chuck Klosterman might agree.

“Somehow, it was acceptable to…make a joke about a massive earthquake as long as it happens in some distant place like Iran or China. I honestly believe that people of my generation despise authenticity, mostly because they’re all so envious of it.”
-Killing Yourself to Live (Page 42-43)

I am sort of surprised that someone from Generation-X would talk about a generation as a whole, as that concept seems to be pre-modern (you know, what happened before post-modernism came to enlighten us). It isn’t very post-modern to limit an entire generation to one specific distaste. But then again, those of us in the generation behind Chuck’s have a tendency to question both the pre-modern and post-modern. Why? Because we have authenticity, and this confuses those in generations behind us even though they are actually the cause of this desire.

I like to call our generation “Generation-D” for two reasons. One, we are the Digital Generation, meaning we grew with the advent of the computer (nothing like Oregon Trail in 2nd grade). We are also Generation-D because we are the Divorced Generation. Sure, we are not the ones getting a divorce. No, those are the great, self-centered, soon-to-bankrupt-social-security, baby boomers. Or more effectionally called, our parents.

In a world that seems to be built on lies and broken promises, we long for that which is true and authentic. It is why we are more into spiritually than past generations, but not necessarily into spiritual institutions. It is why we are more into political causes, but not politics itself. And it is this evolution of politics that I am intrigued to see develop. As the baby-boomers die off (those who aren’t authentic), and Generation-X gets older (those who hate authenticity), politics is in for a surprise when Generation-D demands authenticity. The days of partisism, wedge issues, and a Washington that becomes more and more of joke with every release of the Washington Post will hopefully, soon be over. That is, unless Generation-X decides to make a joke of us – just like Iran.

I have to say I miss college. I have now been out of college for exactly 1 year, 1 month, 19 days, 8 hours, 32 minutes and 7 seconds. All this time has created one thought: I loved college. The interesting thing is, when I was in college, I used those 4 years to come to the conclusion that I loved high school. Now this does not mean that I am living in a constant stage of nostalgia, unable to appreciate the moment. But what I don’t understand is why are these feelings so powerful sometimes that I just want to give up everything, call all my college friends, and get a job at McDonalds if it means I can be with them again like we once were. Day 2 of Chuck Klosterman week speaks to this.

“There are so many things that will never happen to me again, and I never even noticed when those things stopped occurring…They die long before you do. It’s astonishing to consider all the things from your past that used to happen all the time but (a) never happen anymore, and (b) never even cross your mind."
-Killing Yourself to Live (Page 130)

This is what I think saddens me the most. Waverunning at the Huntington Reservoir used to be one of the favorites of my summer activities. I have no idea when that stopped, but most likely, it will never be apart of my life ever again. I’ll never watch another high school football game with my closest friends in 20° weather. I’ll never walk again into a friends dorm room, or mod, or apartment after class, pop in a Friends DVD and watch the entire 8th season. I’ll never wake up at the Justice’s lake house to a beautiful morning, on the porch, reading my Bible, and waiting for the girls to wake up so we can go boating.

What kills me is that I don’t even know when this happened. Sure, waverunning stopped after I graduated from college and failed to return to Indiana afterwards. Football ended in November of 2000. But these are just time frames. I don’t want to know when these things ended. I want to know when these things ended. When did I wake up, and for the first time realize that those are memories of nostalgia, not next Friday’s activities. These things were so cool, so fun, so fulfilling, and I didn’t even notice them ending. I just moved along.

The All-American Rejects ultimately speak to this situation. We just Move Along and I don’t know why. I guess life doesn’t allow for you to stay put. So you either suck it up and move along or you become “that guy” who still living in high school. And being that guy is sadder then living with nostalgia.

One of my favorite authors (and I don’t have many, maybe this guy and C.S. Lewis) is a man named Chuck Klosterman. I was first “introduced” to Chuck’s writing by a friend of a friend at the Flying Saucer in Nashville while attending a Youth Ministry conference. He started talking about this book “Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puff.” I read. I loved it. Last week I picked up his other book, “Killing Yourself to Live.” I read it. I loved it. I decided to spend an entire week of blogs on insight derived from it. Thus, this is the official Chuck Klosterman week on the 2timothy42.org Blog.

I should state from the beginning that Chuck is not a Christian. In fact, he might be considered by some as the polar opposite of a Christian (or at least his lifestyle). He talks at length in this book about the pros of doing drugs and shares pretty intimate details about his sex life (pre-marital of course). But all of this is beside the point and fairly irrelevant. What Chuck is better at than anyone I have read is creatively talking about life in a manner that is both profound and simple. Which is why I like using him as a basis to talk about life and our relationship with God. All this to say, we all can learn something from Chuck, regardless of his lifestyle. But I digress.

On another side note, these entries are going to be a bit longer than my typical 500 word maximum. This is chiefly due to the quotation of his book, and, of course, this unprecedented second digression. But I digress, again.

[Mary Beth, a waitress in a NC Crackle Barrell, asks this question to Chuck.] “Now – obviously – dreams don’t last 100 years. Dreams last like 20 minutes. So that means we are somehow able to understand an accelerated passage of time while we dream…My question is this: Are we only able to understand this because of books and movies and television? Because the difference between real time and dream time seems like something that would be impossible to understand organically.”
-Killing Yourself to Live (Page 70)

This is truly a glorious momment in this book, just like the passage in Sheldon Vanhausen’s “A Severe Mercy” where C.S. Lewis explains that the way we know there is a God, is because we know there is eternity. And the way we know there is eternity, is because we are not satisfied with this concept that we call time.

Time is unnatural to all of us. We know this because we make comments like, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Or “Didn’t Johnny grow up fast.” And thanks to Mary Beth, “how can we transcend time in dreams?” Yet, despite its unnaturalness, time is a constant. As Lewis puts it, people asking a question about time, is like a fish asking a question about the wetness of water. Except here is the punch line. We weren’t designed to live in time. Nor shall we be constrained to time after our life on this earth is over.

We are all like people who were once rich and now bankrupt, but yet still have the notion of how “life is suppose to be” back when they were rich. There is something deep inside all of us that tells us that something is seriously wrong with this concept we accept as time, and it is this concept that makes me believe that my final resting place will not be in a dream but in eternity.

The other night, Stephen Colbert did an amazing piece on explaining the difference between "big government & small government" by an illustrative example using Godzilla and Lassie. It didn't take long to for one to realize what he really was explaining was the difference between Republicans and Democrats. Furthermore, it then became apparent that Stephen was really comparing Christians vs. Non-Christians. If you didn't see it, check it out here. The basic point: mentioning Jesus = small government; doing Jesus = big government.

I know I have mentioned the 11-o'clock time slot of Comedy Central a lot in the past couple of blogs. I promise, this blog will not become the Daily Show/Colbert Report Blog. But I digress.

Before I continue, I should further "clarify" or define Stephen's terminology. Basically, what Stephen calls "Mentioning Jesus" should be understood as theology actualized into real life (or maybe more simply put, "what I believe in is important to my everyday life"). What he calls "Doing Jesus" should be understood as practical theology determining how I act in life (or maybe more simply put, "you can't just talk the talk, but walk the walk how Jesus walked").

Here is what I think most people don't understand. Both are equally important. Christians have a tendency to forget about "Doing Jesus," while non-Christians have a tendency to think "only Doing Jesus" is what is important (you know, “as long as I am a good person, I'll be ok”). The fun in life (and in faith) is figuring out how to live both equally day in and day out. Whether in school, politics, work, or at home. Life is to be lived consistently with both aspects in mind.

God doesn't control us on strings as if we are puppets. He gives us free will, thus we must decide if we are going to be people who mention Jesus, do Jesus, or both!

P.S. Yes I understand that the term "doing Jesus" can be quite humorous, hence the reason I left it in there. And yes, I support "doing Jesus" whether married or single. Remember, this blog is suppose to be light-hearted (even if it tries to get a point across).

I was watching The Daily Show the other night, as I am a huge fan of him and Colbert. In the middle of his interview with Juliet Eilperin, John Stewart said the most interesting thing: "This country is run by extremists because moderates have sh#* to do." Don't believe me: watch it here. Now, don't get all caught up on the swearing, and think about it for a second.

On a side note, I am pretty sure I am the only moderate left. Everyone likes to claim to be a "moderate" or "independent," but I run into very few people who actually are. Take John Stewart for example. He, like most Americans, would claim to be a moderate. Yet, you look at where he stands on most issues and he is clearly a liberal. It goes the same way for conservatives. Thus leading me to believe I am the only one. And if you don't believe me that I am one, check out my post on homosexual civil union while understanding that I am a "conservative Christian." But I digress.

The statement raised by Stewart is an interesting one. Is this country really just filled with moderates that are so busy they allow their lives to be run by extremists? Their is something about that statement that just doesn't sit well and I am not exactly sure why. I think it is because Americans don't just let other people do anything with their lives. We are not a culture that just passively sits back and says, "alright, do what you will with my life and the life of my family." We are all control-freaks.

No, if anything, this country is run by extremists because extremism is the only successful method of getting anyone behind you regarding an issue (and I dare you to disagree with me John Stewart given the whole premise of your show). I think we all (John Stewart included) need to step back and look at all issues with a fair and balanced (I know, I hate the fact FoxNews trademarked that) perspective that recognizes that all people are valued and important in the sight of God.

Either way, I guess I have written long enough on this. I should probably stop writing, because I claim to be a moderate, and I have to go do my sh#*.

In 2004, Angelina Jolie was named the sexiest woman alive by Esquire magazine. At the time, I thought, “that's an odd pick.” Don't get me wrong. Angelina is attractive and hot and all, but honestly, the sexiest. I can think of others who in my opinion are sexier. However, I have to say, after watching her interview on Anderson Cooper 360° last night, the picture to the left has to be the sexiest picture of her I have ever seen, and quite possibly the sexiest picture of anyone I have ever seen.

Now I should state that I am a sucker for simplicity. Take college for example. The sexiest part of college, in my mind, were all the girls roaming around in their pajamas. This is not to say that I don't appreciate well dressed occasions, however, I usually find "cute" sexier than "hot" and "simplicity" sexier than "done-up." So this statement about Angelina isn’t just a “noble” relation of good works equaling sexiness (I am not that good of a Christian). I actually do find this picture above to be sexy. But I digress.

To see someone so attractive and wealthy, with literally endless possibilities in ways to spend that money and fame, choose to make poverty an issues closest to her heart is inspiring. When all of her other celebrity cohorts are spending their money on Botox and plastic surgery so they can be the scoop of Esquire's pointless designations or E!'s countless "sexiest people countdowns," Angelina has taken her sexiness and turned it into one of the most noble works on the planet: taking care of the poor, especially children.

I have to say the coolest thing about Angelina is that she both talks the talk and walks the walk - which is rare in Hollywood (and the world). She is as loud as anyone out there about poverty. But she also gives up 1/3 of her income, adopted two children, and travels to countless countries all in the name of poverty. Having both of those elements makes me respect Angelina more than just about any celebrity or well-known political figure in the entire world.

So Esquire, you got it wrong this year by naming Jessica Biel the new sexiest woman alive. That title still goes to Angelina, and this picture is the proof.

I have come to realize something over the past year. Most of my work is spent producing a faith-based, talk radio show. And it is this production that I have come to realize that secular music is more Godly than Christian music.

Before I begin, I should apologize to the great Bryan Taylor as I have to admit, 4 years later, that you my friend, are right. Bryan and I had a discussion at the start of my sophomore year about this, to which I vehemently defended Christian music as the only God-honoring music around. To that, I say I am wrong and I am sorry. But I digress.

Here's what I have come to realize. God is a God of real life. Pick any passage you want out of the Bible (not Psalms) and you will see that God is a God that reveals his glory through real life human situations. Sometimes these stories are triumphant (i.e. Joseph). Sometimes they are tragic (i.e. the Rape of Tamar). But they are always real.

Now you are saying to yourself what does this have to do with music. And here’s my point: Christian music doesn’t sing about anything real. Have you heard a song out of the Christian music industry about divorce? How about true pain? How about romance? Or intimacy? Now their are exceptions of course. Jeremy Camp, Casting Crowns, and Justin McRoberts are phenomenal at writing music that is about the struggle we call life. However, they are the exception in that industry, not the rule.

On our radio show, we talk about a lot about God. But it doesn't sound like everything else you hear out their from Dobson or Robertson or Buchanan because what we talk about is where real life and faith come together. When I go to produce music for the rejoins, I am disappointed to find that 90% of the time I turn to secular music, as it is a better fit for real life. And since God is a God of real life, than I have to say His music should reflect that.