I liked Lady Gaga better when she just danced.

And when she was the paparazzi. And even when she was kinda busy and couldn't talk on the telephone.

Okay, you know I don't normally write about current issues like this, but I have to get all my thoughts out about this crazy, talented, creative, powerful woman. Forbes magazine just named her most influential celebrity in the world. So we have to ask the obvious: What influence is she having on us?

If you keep up with pop culture at all, you know that Lady Gaga is getting really creepy lately. Random horns growing out of her body while she sings about being in love with Judas? Mmm, no thanks, I'm good.

This is just my personal opinion, but this girl has changed a lot since she first came on the scene, and it's gotten weirder, darker, and more infused with twisted spirituality. I was okay with Just Dance, and even Telephone. But I think it started going downhill with Bad Romance and that whole "era" - when "art" started becoming eery and non-human. And so now we're here and she's the most influential celebrity in the world with her new single telling us that we were born the way we are - whatever that may be at the moment.

At this point, Lady Gaga is mixing feel-good messages with twisted religion. The feel-good message in Born This Way is, obviously, accepting yourself; knowing that you don't need to change anything about yourself. However, the song literally says "No matter gay, straight or bi/Lesbian, transgendered life/… I'm on the right track, baby/I was born to be brave". Um, seriously? Talk about an era of tolerance. Obviously, blatant sin like that is not something to be accepted, etc. "Brave" does not mean living in sin. You are not "brave" just because you go against what's right.

But besides that, I just find it kind of twisted that Lady Gaga mentions Jesus in so many of her songs. But she's not blaspheming. She talks about praying, and serving Him, but the blatant truth is that you cannot serve two gods. Jesus said that you can't serve both God and money, and I think it applies to other things as well. You can't serve both God and your own fleshy desires.

Those are the problems. But I think the reality is, she's saying that:

1. You were made to be just the way you are, whether you're living in sin or not.
2. Yeah, of course I can serve Jesus and sleep with a bunch of people!

So, in the end, I liked Lady Gaga before she got really popular. When she..just danced.

It's good that I don't always get what I want.

Seriously. If I always got what I wanted, and didn't get what I didn't want, out of everyday life, I would never get anything done. I would never meet new people, never reach out to anyone else. I would never take any risks or be challenged in any way.

It's the same with little things in life as well as the big things. If you asked me at any given time if I wanted some ice cream, I would probably say yes. But, if I wanted ice cream all the time, and got it every single time I wanted it, I wouldn't be very healthy. On the other hand, 2 years ago, I didn't want to leave the church we were currently attending. We did though, and the new church is where I met my best friends. If I wasn't forced to do that, because I didn't want to, I would never have met these people who have blessed my life so much.

Life isn't always fair. We don't always get what we want, or what we feel we deserve. But God isn't as interested in what we want, as what we need. I need to not have ice cream everyday, and I needed to come to Calvary to meet these people. Because the thing is, we can't look very far beyond ourselves. But God can. He sees the huge, entire, complete picture, in which you and I are just a small part of. Whether God is interested in our wants or needs, He's definitely interested in our greater good, and sometimes that means giving us what we need, even if it's painful, rather than what we want.

NO ONE CARES.

Okay, well..people do care. They care about themselves. Most of them even care about you. But, when it comes to their image, or appearance, people are pretty selfish. It's kind of a crazy cycle: People are concerned with their own appearance because they're worried about what people think of them. At the same time, they're too worried about their own to really speculate on anyone else's. So um...doesn't that make the process kind of...counter-productive?

The point is, we as a society are too concerned about what we look like, and not enough on really who we are as people. Besides that, tailoring ourselves to what people think limits us, keeps us from taking chances, and sometimes keeps us from being who we really are.

I don't have an answer or a quick solution to fix this. But I think we should just remember that people are not as judgmental as we think they are. It's true: you really are your own worst critic. And as it turns out, God is the best critic. He's the truest. Maybe we should listen to him more.

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I value your opinion. Seriously. More than you know..and more than what's healthy. It's not just me, though....it's a problem people have been dealing with like since the beginning of time: worrying about what others think and altering themselves to fit those opinions. Some deal with it more than others, but I think everyone does it a little bit. Why else do girls wear makeup, guys act tough, and all of us exaggerate?

But the problem is, everyone has a different way of thinking. Everyone has their own perceptions. Besides that, people change their ideas and perceptions all the time. So how can we possibly please everyone?

..We can't. There is only one person who never changes, and that's God. His perceptions, ideas of what's good, ideas of what is beautiful, ideas of what is right...those never change. He's the one we should want to please. And if people don't agree with His ideals, they're not worth it anyway.

I know you've heard it before, but God's opinion is truly the only one that matters. It's impossible to please all your peers...but it IS possible to please God. He's given us a handbook on living for Him, and besides that, He loves us way more than anyone else ever could.

I have some bad news.

My friend, you have cancer. And so do I. And so does your neighbor and the cashier at Wal-mart and your second cousin and the guy on American Idol. Pretty soon, you're going to die. But nobody knows when. So until then, make the most of your life.

...That sounds pretty awful, doesn't it? Yeah. But it's true. We may not exactly have the conventional kind of cancer, but we do have a cancer called Just Being Human. Being human means we are all going to die eventually. Most people think that they have at least a couple decades to go...but seriously, you could die tomorrow. Somebody in the world is going to die tomorrow. And when that Somebody is about to die, what are they going to think about their lives? Who did they live it for? What did they do with it? Did they appreciate all that they had?

I know it sounds cliche, but it's true. Because you don't know if it's the end, live each day as if you were a cancer patient. If you actually had cancer, what would you do? Probably make a point to tell people you love them, thank them for what they've done for you, maybe make one last effort to tell people about Jesus. So why should it be any different?

Cancer or not, you could die any second. So live like you're dying: treasure the people around you, live each day for God, and take joy in the little things. Jesus came and died to give us life abundant. So live each day to the fullest.

Your Giant Meatball

The title of this post has a point, I swear.

One of my favorite movies is Horton Hears A Who...like the 2009/2008 version. And I can quote large portions of it. One of the lines, for example, is when Horton is talking to the Mayor, and the Mayor is like "Horton, I have to go, apparently there's some problem with the Giant Meatball in the Edible Parade." and Horton says "You take care of that Giant Meatball, sir, and leave the freaking out to me."

I freak out about a lot of things. Especially recently, with all this debate craziness, plus other stuff on the side. And so, when I'm talking to God, my talking involves a lot of "what if"s. "But God, what if this happens? What if things don't go the way I want? What if I don't say the right thing?" So I was thinking about that today, and I remembered Horton's wise words:

"You take care of that Giant Meatball, sir, and leave the freaking out to me."

Let's break it down: I sort of see the "Giant Meatball" as the silly little thing that you think is really big (hence the "giant"), but really isn't. In the end, it doesn't matter too much, and it's just silly. So you can take care of that, and go do whatever needs to be done with it. But then what? Let's look at what God says...

"Leave the freaking out to me."

You can take care of your Giant Meatball, but that's all you can do. Don't freak out about it. It won't help, trust me. Leave it up to God. He has a lot more capacity for it, and He can handle the "stress" a lot better than you can.

So, in the end, no matter what your personal Giant Meatball is, remember that number one, it's only a giant meatball. Yes, it's giant, but it's a meatball. It's not the end of the world, and it's not going to determine your entire life. And second of all...you can take care of whatever needs to be done with your meatball, but ultimately, you can't control what happens to it. Leave that to God. don't worry or stress about it...just give it to God. So, I say again...

You take care of your Giant Meatball, friend, and leave the freaking out to God.

Outside of Ordinary

I don't think there's such a thing as an ordinary person.

Have you ever seen a snowflake? I haven't, not that I remember, because I think there's a curse over Houston that says it can never snow here.

...but that's a different story.

Anyways, it's said that no two snowflakes are the same. Yet, unless you look closely at one...you would think they're all the same. I think it's the same case with people. People generally look at least something like each other...but when you look at who they are, they're all different. And when you really stop to think about it, is there anyone exactly like you?

A quote I recently heard that I loved is from Dr. Seuss..."There's no one you-er than you." When you stop and think about it, it's so true. There's no one better at being you, than...you. If you're looking for something that you're better at everyone else in, here's something. You're the best at being you!

I think God loves variety. He didn't have to create hundreds of tree species or thousands of different galaxies, but He did. In the same way, He didn't HAVE to create billions of people, all unique, all with their own special sets of talents and personality traits...but He did.

In the end, you're extraordinary. I've always been confused about that word, because it's like, doesn't "extraordinary" just mean "more ordinary"?

Um..no.

"Extraordinary", in my opinion, literally means outside of the ordinary. It's like in debate, when you say a plan is extra-topical. You're saying that the plan is outside of the resolution. So, I think extraordinary is being "outside" of ordinary.

So today, just take joy in being you. Because there is no one you-er than you!