Green Couch (Of the Ninja Variety)

Hey there my blogisto's and blogista's! I have a few thoughts I want to blog about, but can't seem to put them into words very well. I thought you would enjoy this though. I bought a couch on Craigslist 4 years ago for $20 and decided to sell it, on Craigslist, for the same amount I purchased it for 4 years ago. I succeed. Proving once and for all that my green pleather couch is recession proof. No depreciation on this one!

Here is the actual post that I put up. I'm still waiting on my "Best of Craigslist" Nomination. I'm sure it's on it's way.
PS: I sold it in 24 hours. BOOM!
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Green Couch (Of the Ninja Variety) - $20

This couch is a green, pleather, swanky, highly Ninja friendly couch that is also hypo-allergenic. This couch has seen some of the fiercest Ninja Warriors on the planet in it's day. How would I know that you ask? Uh, because I myself am a class 4 Ninja Warrior. "WHAT?!" You might exclaim while wondering aloud how this could be possible. I am sure like many other mere mortals, you probably believe the lie that Ninja Warriors can only achieve a class 3. Well, you are mistaken my moistened bottomed applejon. I know this, because I stated, I am a class 4 Ninja Warrior.

So, this couch. I know you already want it. It's awesome. It will sexy up your pad by at least 57%. Plus, if you play your cards right, I will even throw in a can of corn for you to consume as you sit on this majestic warrior throne. "Why would you willingly part with such an epic piece of Ninja lore?" You ask. Well, this Ninja just got married and as it turns out, my NON-Ninja wife very much prefers her Ninja Thrones to be in the color of blue. So I bought a blue one that looks just like it.

To be totally real, you will probably show up and demand to give me $25 because of it's stunning beauty and delectable nature. I however will refuse such an offer. Probably. Then I will change my mind and accept to keep you on your toes.

In review: The Couch has a few dings and nicks. It's not perfect, as it is very comfortable (Ninja speak for worn in) and is a tiny bit damaged in one corner. I have provided photos of the damaged areas but lets be honest here. The couch is $20 and it's on the first floor right by my front door. Easy to buy. Easy to move. Not easy to find another Ninja Warrior Throne.

My name is Josh. Email me and I'll get right back to you. Promise.

Church is Gay

Only 15% of US churches are reproducing. This is not a good thing. In fact it's kinda gay.

Hear my logic on this one:
Many churches spend a lot of time raising a ruckus about homosexuality.While, this blog post is not intended to frame my views for you on homosexuality, I will be throwing the term around rather losely, so if you are easily offended, now is a good time to quit reading this.This is meant as an object lesson on growth.

In many of these churches you will hear that being gay is unnatural, it's weird, that homosexuals can’t reproduce, and therefor being gay is just not right. Here is my point. For the most part, Church is gay. Well, 85% of Churches, statistically speaking, are gay. How are Churches gay you ask? Well, most Churches don't reproduce.  

Many Christians will rant about how wrong homosexuality is, but 85% of our churches are not reproducing them selves and that seems, according to a common argument, gay.

 How is this ok? Do we think it was Christs plan to save a few Christians and then have them only hang out with each other and make no attempted to love people that are different than them? How is that not gay? The Church is dying because we are not, as the kingdom of Christ, reproducing ourselves. Each church individually is gaining weight, but not reproducing! The church must stop carrying the attitude that they can be self-absorbed and only focus on existing churchs, or the church will continue to decline.

If a dude were to only hang out with other dudes, talk about how wrong women were, have house parties for only dude friends, and never interacted with the other sex, people might start to question their sexuality a bit. Why do we treat the Church and Christians differently in that line of thought? Why is it often ok for Christians to only hang with other Christians, talk about how horrible non-Christ followers are, have parties for only their "Christian" friends, and refuse hang out with people that are not already Christians? That just seems to be hypocritical a little bit. While it is not wrong to hang out with only Christians, its probably not what Christ had in mind when he died for all mankind. I think the news of Christ is to be lived, shared, and gifted. 

Have you noticed that churches often hang out with other churches and focus on their relationship with existing churches, rather than investing time and resources in new growth? This must stop. As a Big “C” Church, we must devote energy toward growing not just individually, but locationally as well. If the Church does not put a greater emphasis on growing itself, it will continue to die off. I'm not saying it's WRONG for a church to not plant new churches, nor am I saying it is WRONG for a Christian to hang out with other Christians. I AM saying that if things do not shift some of these habits, we will severely limit the potential and ability of  the gospel of Christ to be spread to people that need to hear it. 

Please note: I love my Church and I love my Christ following friends, but my heart aches for the millions that don't know the love of Christ and that are living far from God because they have never experienced life in Christ. I want them to have a brighter future. Please also note that I love your Church too. God's kingdom is way bigger than me or a church, it's a movement. This post is not meant to criticize, just to inspire us to reach higher. Whatever your church is called to do, do it well!

Thanks for your time.

The Hand Off (Guest post from Joshua Orebaugh)

Hey there Party People,This week you get a real treat! A guest post by an amazing fellow named Josh, not me, but probably cooler. This guy is an amazing musician, a great conversationalist, friend, leader, visionary, creative thinker, artist, and all around great fellow. The following are his thoughts. You should read them.                                                                                                                                                                                     --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      For all who do not know me, my name is Josh Orebaugh. For all of you who already do know me, please disregard the previous sentence in hopes that I have not lost your reading interests due to saying something you might have already known. Keep with me here.

     I am an easy going twenty-four year old man whose life seems to be non-stop, hopping from one event, person, or priority to the next. I am not saying that I do not have “free” time, I just often fill it with other opportunities, or obligations. Even in this small, but ever growing city called Wichita, I have been able to have a consistently busy life similar to those in the bustling streets of New York City or Los Angeles. Who would’ve ever thought?

     Here’s the deal, I have been blessed with a great opportunity to be an investor with a terrific organization of people. A group of people that have been investing in me, allowing me to turn around and invest in others. Because of these people, I have grown as a leader and want to encourage others to do the same. That is why I am writing this. I know what you are thinking, “Okay, here comes the sales pitch.”--- No! That’s not my goal at all, please keep reading. I promise that I am not selling anything, but rather sharing my thoughts.

     See, I care about other people and enjoy hearing life stories! Even more than that, I enjoy being a part of someone’s life and taking the time to share, laugh, and live life with them. But as of lately, I cannot help notice something wrong in my approach to new friendships. Something that has been bothering me, and I hope it will bother you as well.

     I call it “The Hand Off.” 


     Something that I have been guilty of for years, but am just now realizing is a problem. Here’s an example.

     I feel that I naturally want to be associated in a conversation, but only if the topics are within the boundaries of my knowledge, or expertise. I find myself having an insincere desire to learn unless it will benefit me, and really only me. I’ll still learn about another person, but I will not concentrate so much on the details of who they are. I just gather enough facts to be able to tell myself that “I now know them.” I’ll even go as far as introducing another person who understands the topic of discussion relating to the “newbie“, in hopes that I can eventually step away.

     Now I know what you are thinking. “Did he just do what I think he just did?” Yep! The Hand Off.
*(I am not a jerk, and that this does not happen all the time)

     We all can probably look back in our lives, or even in our past week and see that we do this quite often without thinking about it. We are not intentional with meeting people for where they are at, or who they are. Instead, we just want to meet others like ourselves. We have a tendency to push away sincerity when we only stay within the boundaries of what we know. And if you are like me, that is not very much.

     Let’s dare to step out and start approaching others who might not share our likes, dislikes, educational background, work ethic, skills, up-bringing, addictions (healthy or non healthy), tastes, and
interests.

     I dare you to learn about others with sincerity. Allow relationships to build, and lives to be changed.


In Christ, Josh Orebaugh

When the NFL Sounds Like Love

I was sitting in Bartelli's Pizzeria the other day trying to have a conversation. I say "Trying" because I seemed to be the only one talking. The dude I was attempted to converse with was not all that interested in picking up much of a dialogue.

“So how is your day going?”

“Ok”

“What do you do for a living?”

“Work at Sprint”

“Where do you live?”

“Southside”

This may not be exact, but is pretty darn close. I tried and tried to get this fellow to follow me into a conversation so I could talk to him about this Church we are planting here. He just was not interested. I found this odd, because he had met us at Bartelli’s specifically to TALK ABOUT THE CHURCH!

I was baffled for a bit until I spotted something. I mentioned the Kansas City Chiefs and he looked excited. I began asking him about the upcoming football season and if he was a fan. About 30 mins later, I had learned he goes to KC every year and watches them play at Arrowhead stadium. We had talked about their draft picks, their new Offensive Line, the recent acquisition of Steve Breaston, and lots more. We had an awesome conversation but not one mention of the Church came up. At the end of the conversation, he stated, “Whenever you start having weekly services, I’ll come check it out.”

I learned a lesson just then. God’s love sounds like the Kansas City Chiefs to some people. It sounds like baking to others. To some people it may even sound like bicycling, car restoring, house painting, music making, or flying. Caring about what people care about, is the key. People are attracted to people, not organizations. My father always told me, “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.”

People don’t want to know your 5 year plan, how your small groups work, or if you have an awesome kids program. They want to know that you care about them. So talk to people about what matters to them. Talk about football. Because the NFL can sound like love to some people.

A few weeks after that meeting I was lamenting that there was a family there that night that I had not had a chance to tell about what our church plant was all about. Someone close to that family stopped me and stated that the family had told them that they were impressed that we really wanted to know about THEM more than we wanted to tell them about what we were doing and that they really liked that. That family is now part of our team.

Here is the lesson I learned. Our world is hurting and needs something. What they need is for people that claim the name of Christ to love them like Christ loved them, to care about them, and take interest in THEIR lives. Churches are built one relationship at a time. Who can you talk to this week and let them know that you care about them?

Speak Somalian: Part 2 of 2

My father always told me, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." Well said dad. What leads us as Christians believe we can show the world Christ without even trying to understand what language they speak?

I can hear the retorts already. "We should lift up the cross and it will draw them in!" "Don't sink to the world’s level, pull them up to ours!" "We must be in the world but not of the world". To all these, I would say, "Yeah. That’s all true." However, how much time did Jesus spend in a Church building? Paul? Peter? From what I recall, Jesus spent a lot of time with whores, thieves, drunks, demon possessed, and liars. I distinctly remember Him saying, "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Now, I don't want to be that guy that constantly reads scripture to you, but doggonit! There is some freakin' awesome stuff in there!

My thought process has gone something like this: If I don't try to reach the world with the culture they are in, how will I reach them? Paul used sports metaphors, and fighting terms to relate to his people. At times, Jesus used parables that were so culturally relevant at the time, I struggle to understand why they were significant at all! This is because He understood the people he wanted to help. He let them know he understood what life looked like for them. 

One could use hyperbole to insinuate that I am saying we should be just like the world. I am not saying that. I am saying that if the world sees us as a group of people that looks down on them, or is so far removed from the culture they embrace that we can't even understand how they communicate with each other, we have failed.

Let’s get back to loving our neighbors, being good to those that despitefully (spell check just informed me that this is no longer a word, so I typed it in word, and word told me that it was a word! Take THAT blog spell check!) use us, and start realizing that we are the church. Each of us. Let’s take the church to the people that need us. Maybe we should be so accessible that Pharisees fear us and the sinners seek us. (as a side not, lets also not forget that we too are sinners and have been redeemed by an AWESOME God)

Speak Somalian: Part 1 of 2

So yesterday found me in a very remote corner of our world. I was driving along a road (if you want to call it that, really more of a Path-of-least-resistance) in Eastern Ethiopia, traveling to a remote village called Mikal (not the real name of the place, but the Army is kinda protective of information you see). I was there to meet some of the leadership of this village and I intended to speak to them about some Medical Missions being done in their area. 

The conversation was short and non script, but after he was gone and the medical people began doing the type of medical stuff they do, I began to mingle with some of the locals.  Two men walked up to me and began speaking a language that to the casual passer-by may have sounded like a man choking on a chicken bone. Having lived in Eastern Africa for the last year, I quickly identified the language as Somalian and began to address them in their native language. 

I promptly stated, "Sabah WaHanaksan! Iskaa Wooran?" (this means something like, "A peaceful morning to you! How are you?") Now, these two men reacted as if they had just seen a host of men dressed like Santa Clause singing Bon Jovi songs with a horde of Leprichans. They quickly responded, "Fian! Iskaa Wooran?" I told them I was well and asked them each what their name was and told them I was glad to meet them. I also told them my name was Josh. I did all of this in what must have been the most pathetic attempt at Somalian they had ever heard.

At this point I had exhausted my entire Somalian vocabulary. I used about 4 sentences and had learned very little about either of them. However, after this short conversation they quickly walked over to a nearby group and I could hear them excitedly telling all the other villagers,"This guy speaks Somalian!" or something to that effect. I watched as a ripple of joy and excitement rippled through the small group of villagers. By the time I left that village, the all realized I could only use the 4 sentences I had already used. None of them seemed to care or tire of hearing me speak those same words. When I left, Mohamed and Ali (the original two men) told me we were friends and they wanted to see me in their village again one day.

Now lets not get this twisted. 4 sentences hardly count as mastering a language. My limited usage of the Somali language was meager at best but it's impact was significant. You see, those men were far less excited about the medical workers being in their village than they seemed to be about me trying to speak their language. They didn't even mind that I didn't know any more than 4 sentences. They were just geeked out of their minds that I had taken the time to TRY to learn. They were stoked that I cared enough about them that I wanted to know how to talk with them.

I think the rest of the world is the same way. I believe that people want to know you care enough about them to TRY to understand them. I also feel that in this regard, the Church (I'm referring again to all those that claim Jesus Christ as their Lord) has been failing miserably. I can see that we have stopped TRYING.