Wait, I got carried away there for a moment - you know what I mean.

For real though, this feels right and I am excited to get to work with Chris Wilson and to learn from his experience and share mine as well.

I recently finished “Birds of Prey” by Wilbur Smith. Smith is one of those writers that creates a world that speaks to the heart of every man. Honor, courage, chivalry, passion, humility, trust; these are just a few of the traits that his characters portray, but most of all there is this underlying bond of love between the men that is only forged through trials and tribulations that are overcome together.

While reading “Birds of Prey” I couldn’t help but see traits of Christ in the many characters within the book.  The father/son reltionship that the main characters Francis and Hal Courtney possessed is undeniably one of the best analogies of how our relationship with Christ should be.  The love Hal possesses for his father is so great that he is desperate to please him. It made me wonder why I am not desperate to please Christ? 

Smith’s characters are easy to love, they are warriors, masculine men of honor, strength, determination - these are the kinds of attributes that are easy for a man to get behind. But Christ did his battles behind the scenes. He spoke softly and was humble. He came to serve, not to be served and in the end he was crucified like a lamb led to the slaughter. At the end of Gladiator we cheered Maximus. He went down with a fight. At the end of the Passion of the Christ, we cried our eyes out, but I think in reality we should have been cheering.

Christ is atually the ultimate warrior. He took on sin and death on the Cross - and he won. He redeemed us from the law and with carefully executed maneuvers he saved all of humanity by killing only one man - himself. People, that’s baller!

In the end of The Passion of the Christ they should have played glorious music and showed Jesus in regal glory riding triumphantly on a magnificent white horse. I can see a sword in his hand raised as he rides on top of Golgatha where he was crucified and with one single wack of his sword he would slice the cross in half. If that had happened, the crowed would have cheered this greatest of victories.

The problem with my version of Christ’s grand finale is that it would not have been Christ-like, but it is the type of ending we all desire.

I’ve decided to rethink the image of who Christ is in my mind. I realized that I’ve often mistaken his poise and kindness as almost weak. I remember reading passages growing up and being frustrated with Christ’s willingness to just let them kill him, spit on him, abuse him. But what strength, my word, my impossilbe self-control he must have had not to look back at them for just one second and give them a hateful stare or to even scream out the words, “I’m doing this for you!” And then to just shed his chains and storm off in a huff.

I’m surprised that it took a book by Wilbur Smith to wake me up to this reality, but I am grateful for it. I’ve never really looked at Christ as a warrior with a sword blazing and arms and limbs flying all over the place, bodies stacking up in his wake - but I will now.

Being a Christian my entire life I really only had everyone else’s testimony to go on. I’ve lived a pretty clean life without a past filled with sexual debauchery or a drug addiction. I’ve had my share of problems, but most of them have been manageable and all along I had God as a security blanket. For me I needed some time away from God to fully appreciate him and what serving him really means.

Slowly but surely I’ve been putting my feet on the right track. Reading, listening, praying, seeking… It’s different because I’ve never lost my love or passion for Christ, He’s always been my all in all, but my relationship, how I spent time with him, how I related to him and served him… well, these were all things that I did based on what I’ve been taught by a myriad of people throughout my life. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized how much a relationship with Christ isn’t about cussing, drinking or not drinking, or necessarily following a list of right or wrongs. It’s much more simple than that. It’s about love and that simple act of spending time with someone that you cherish and delight in. When love comes first, then you want nothing more than to do whatever you can to please that person and it comes easily, not begrudgingly. And the great thing is that the relationship goes both ways where in the past my relationship felt one-sided. I was making these sacrifices, but where was God?

Perhaps it’s just part of growing up, part of having the experience of success and opportunity and realizing that money and possessions are empty. Relationships that aren’t founded on Christ are exhausting and dry. Investing time in things of this world is futile and although material possessions are sometimes necessary there must always be a balance of what I truly need and what I just want.

I’d like to be a man of God who has integrity and serves people no matter where they are at in their lives. Christian or Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Gay, Straight, Democrat, Republic, Black, White, Brown - we are all in this together and Christ is in it with us.

I remember the first time I met Cody. His brother Travis introduced us and I immediately saw something special in him. He was like this lump of coal that was ready to be transformed into a diamond. He was very shy and I remember when I first started hanging out with him I remembered being annoyed because he didn’t talk much. Over the years we’ve grown so close that he, without even realizing it, had become like Prozac or Wellbutrin to me. Spending time with Cody is therapeutic time. He’s married now so I’ve had to start actually taking Prozac and Wellbutrin because I don’t get to see him as much as I would like. I’m like a parent whose child has grown up and started a job and a life of their own. I’m proud of him, but I miss him and the times when we use to sing while he played the guitar. Or when I would come home from work and he’d be lying on my couch watching TV.

Jonathan was just the opposite. From the moment we met we clicked. His personality is just like mine. We like cars and good food and martial arts movies. We have similar taste in clothes and when we are together we can have a good time having a deep conversation or just laughing at joke after joke after joke. Over the years I’ve got to watch him grow and make mistakes and extremely smart decisions.

Jonathan and Eddo in Austin - Cody is taking the picture. (2005)

It was in April of 1998 that I became a Denton Bible Hangar Leader. Close to 400 High School students and around 40 of us leaders and we had something extremely special - we had each other and the one thing that united all of us - God. For six years this group of kids was my life. I was in college and I didn’t take Wednesday night classes because that would mean I would miss “Heirborne”. Heirborne was the time when all of the students would come to the Hangar for church service. There would be great music and skits. Sometimes there was volleyball or barnswinging after. Upstairs there was a Slush Puppy machine. We would go on ski trips and to concerts. Sundays were packed with 2 church services and then Bible Study. It was an insanely busy time, but it was the best time of my life.

During that time I got to meet some of the best young men and women who are still my friends today. Cody, Dumas, Nathan, Josh, and Josh are my brothers, my friends and my teachers. Over the years I have been grateful and humbled to get to be part of their lives.

Cody and Dumas and Nathan are all married now. Nathan has a little boy on the way. They’ve grown up to be these amazing young men that I am very proud of. Josh and Josh are doing great as well, not married yet, but they are both still so young they have plenty of time for that.

When I graduated from High School we all talked about a 10 year reunion, but in reality who cares about High School reunions? What did you really accomplish in High School? For me my ten year reunion would be now, 10 years after I started to do something with my life that really mattered. 10 years of pouring into some young men and watching them do well. That is something I can always be proud of.

And Cody if you are reading this… Happy Birthday. I love you.  Thanks for so many good times. I hope to have many more.

Eddo: If Houston had needed a ride to the airport at 5 a.m. I would have told him to call Max… Eddo doesn’t wake up before 6 AM for anyone but Jesus and so far he hasn’t needed a ride to the airport…

Being a Christian can be exhausting - that is if you follow what everyone else has to say instead of following you heart.

I pulled back from Church and from the Bible, but I don’t feel that I ever pulled away from God. I still prayed. I still knew he was there, he was and is still my rock and my foundation, but I just wasn’t “feelin” the routine and the rigidity and often times the condemnation that comes with being a Christian.

The Bible says, “There is therefore, now no condemnation, for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

I decided that God doesn’t want me to be guilted into reading his word. I don’t spend time with my best friends out of guilt, I spend time with them because I enjoy their company and because I love them. I don’t do nice things for people so that I can get something in return, so I shouldn’t serve Christ because of what I can get.

So I decided to stop going to church for a while and see what God would do in my life. I enjoyed my Sundays off where I didn’t have to get dressed up and then go through the motions of smiling and making small talk.

I stepped back and re-evaluated why I was going to church. Why?

To be spiritually fed?
For Fellowship?
To be seen?
To make friends?
To meet my mate?
Because I am supposed to?
Because it’s what I’ve always done?
To worship?
To serve?

At one time or another all of the above reasons were true and I think part of the reason I stopped going was because Church started to feel like this machine that I thought I could hop into and it would solve all my problems.

The simple reality of life is that it is always going to be hard and you are always going to have problems. The Church is not a hospital for Christians, it is more like Boy Scouts of America where you learn to survive in this wilderness.

What I would like for my church to be is a place of refuge where I can go if I am hurting and perhaps maybe even get some long-term care. I remember when I needed to see a therapist and Denton Bible had outsourced that part of their ministry to a local Christian counselor. I had to pay $65 so that a therapist could tell me, incorrectly, that I had a pride issue. That was the basis of all my problems and many Christians problems for that matter. I was then given a worksheet to take home and work through before I came back for a second session. I never went back.

So today I went to church because it is Easter Sunday. Yesterday I had decided not to go. My parents hadn’t really planned anything for us to do as a family. I didn’t have anyone to go to church with and Easter Sunday just seems like a time when you should be going to church with at least some friends. I ended up going alone and enjoying myself immensely. I was going for me and because I wanted to spend time with Christ on this most important of days.

I went to Irving Bible Church and I love IBC because there is this feeling of refuge and warmth and love. I love it’s simplicity and the pastor Andy McQuitty who I got to spend a weekend with in Florida on a Song of Solomon trip. It was great to hear the wonderful praise and worship and to be in an environment where people were coming together to make a change not only in their own lives, but in the communities around them.

They gave a brief talk on www.waterisbasic.org and how they are changing the lives of Africans in Sudan by providing wells. This program has raised over 450,000 dollars so far and is providing fresh clean water to villages all around. It is a simple way to show the love of Jesus and that delights me.

Lately, I’ve been missing my Bible. I’ve missed hearing the truth of God’s word and it’s purifying quality that nourishes the soul. Christ died on the cross and then rose again after 3 days, but I feel like for the past few months I’ve been dead and now I’ve been resurrected.

I applied for this internal position 3 weeks ago and when I finally got a call from my new boss saying that I got the job I felt like Simon Cowell had just told me that I was going to Hollywood. You see, this is the first time in my entire IT career that I feel like I have had an actual job that I could be proud of. Silly? Maybe. My former bosses would have told you that my previous roles were extremely important to the function of TI and I believe that they were, they just weren’t important to me. Where you work, what you choose to do with your life is like choosing a mate. You spend 40 hours a week there, often times much more than that and so shouldn’t you care about your work? Shouldn’t you look forward to going into the office? Shouldn’t you be proud of what you do?

I look around this world and I see people who have settled for “okay” instead of working for “Great”. We take the easy way out, we don’t buck the system, we are afraid to take risks. I’m at a point in my life where I can afford to take a few risks. I’ve accomplished so much more than I ever thought I was capable of and it has given me confidence to do so much more.

I plan to bust my arse in this new role to make my new boss proud. I am excited to be doing something that will be challenging and different from anything that I’ve ever done before. I thank God everyday for the small things in my life. I am grateful, each and every day for my house and my job and even my Honda Pilot. Those are material things and some may say they don’t matter, but for me there are some things in life that are foundational and allow you to build a life that allows you the opportunity to truly make a difference in this world. Sure, I could struggle and live meagerly, but God said in John 10:10 “I have come that you might have life and have it to the full” and so I decided to take him up on that offer.

What are you doing with your life?

Next door to Iravat is a large Asian market that is relatively new. It is clean and smells only mildly fishy (most Asian markets reek to high heaven of fish and other decaying animals). As we were about to walk in the door this Asian man stops us, “Can I ask you a question, it’s important.” I paused and so did Jes. Roger told us later that he would not have stopped if we hadn’t. “Do you mind telling me if you are religious and if so what religion are you?” I immediately piped up, “We’re Christians.” Assuming this was just an evangelist trying to reach Asian people I was delighted to see someone doing the Lord’s work. He then asked several other questions and in my mind I was thinking, “Okay, we said we were Christians now leave us alone or get to the point.”

I began to notice something blue in his arm and it looked like a book of Mormon with a large Asian symbol.  Then I noticed his badge said, “Elder Woo”. Ugh. A MORMON I thought with annoyance. Time and time again I have had mormon’s pop up in my life. Once when we were little a very popular girl named Becky befriended my sister and started pulling her in to the Mormon “faith”.  Later one day we had a couple of Mormon’s show up on our doorstep and after about an hour of talking in circles the only thing that I think we accomplished was wasting an hour of our lives.

Years have gone by and I haven’t really been around many Mormons, however, I read Dooce religiously and I see the affect that the Mormon religion has had on her life. It has not been a positive one. Religion, in any form, can be very oppressive. Christianity has often times been turned into a religion and there have been times that as a Christian I have felt oppressed, but this is not the will of God and if you truly study the Bible it says, “There is therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

With Christianity there are no requirements other than faith in Jesus Christ and the belief that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. If you don’t believe that the Bible is true then you have no foundation for your faith and if you have no foundation then what do you have?

Roger surprised me with his patience and his intellectual and theological approach to Elder Woo’s probing questions. “From what I understand your teachings don’t teach the Trinity and that Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are all the same… your faith teaches you that Jesus and Satan are bothers…” Back and forth they went and I said a prayer for Roger that he would have wisdom but in my mind I couldn’t help but have doubt. Doubt that Elder Woo was going to change his mind in just one night. For Mormons their faith is a way of life and I’d be willing to bet that Elder Woo was getting ready to take his 2 year stint as a Mormon missionary. It’s both admirable and despicable at the same time.

The Bible talks about wolves in sheeps clothing and I believe that Mormon’s are wolves. Elder Woo was very genuine and when he spoke of his love for Jesus Christ I felt that he was more than sincere, however, how can you love Jesus Christ, read the Bible, interpret it’s teachings and still believe in the book of Mormon? Joseph Smith was only 14 or 15 years old when he supposedly received this inspired word of God that was an additional testament of Jesus Christ. Is the Bible not complete? How can this be? Doesn’t the book of Revelation say not to add or take away from the Bible?

I’m not a theologian, but I’ve read enough and seen enough to know that Mormonism is a trap and a lie. People like Heather Armstrong, who have left the Mormon church, not only seem to abhor Mormonism and everything that it stands for, but religion in general. It is worse for a person to be duped for a long time and to be in bondage to a set of rules than for them to have had no experience with religion at all.

But Christianity is different and unfortunately, Christians haven’t always made it seem that way. The church has often misrepresented Christ and instead of dealing with sin with love, it has used the truth as a cruel and blunt instrument beating people over the head with morality to the point that they want nothing to do with Christ.

Jesus is love, he loves us no matter our race, sexual orientation, or addiction. He loves us because we are his children.

After Thursday night I had a new respect for Roger. He dealt with Elder Woo with love when I wanted to react out of emotion and anger for all the lives that Mormonism has ruined.  Roger was kind and patient and perhaps planted seeds that my one day change Andrew Woo’s life where I would have probably been insensitive and harsh and perhaps even a little condescending.

Everyone, no matter what their beliefs, deserves to be treated with respect and like a human. I forget that sometimes. I get arrogant, I’m not forgiving. I’ve been working on that this year… Be more forgiving.

An interesting excerpt from a www.exmormon.org

Recovery from Mormonism

A site for those who are

Questioning their faith in the Mormon Church

And for those who need support

As they transition their lives to

a normal life.

We are not affiliated with any religion

and we do not advocate any religion

The email marketing is another form of advertising, however nowadays the most common is the pay per click advertising. The domain names also play an important role in making your website popular among people and they should be simple and memorable.

One thing about this first movie is that it just isn’t all that appealing. There are a lot of weird things, like “the Gobless” or “the Gobblers?” who are stealing kids and trying to separate them from their demons. Being separated from your demon puts you in a state of “Indecision”. I just didn’t get it.

With a little tweaking this movie could have been another Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings, except there isn’t anything redeeming about this movie. The little girl is sassy and rebellious, Nicole Kidman, while beautiful is frigid and frightening and while there was a part of me that wanted to like the movie and believe that all this information written about it was just a bunch of hype, but it’s not. 

When I was younger my parents were fond of saying things like, “That is just a tool of the Devil”. I used to roll my eyes at them, they seemed so backward and like such Bible thumpers sometimes. Now that I am older I see it so clearly now. This movie, certain television shows and even some music is nothing more than a clever way to desensitize people to the truth.

I’m an optimistic person by nature. I see the good in people and in the world, but lately, I see more and more of the bad. So much sin is just accepted and sometimes even applauded.  Standing up for what is moral and right is now dangerous. If you want to be ridiculed, just take a stand for morality and truth. There is a world of people out there who laugh at the idea of God and absolutes. For those people I fear that they live in fairytale land where there is no evil, no God, no right and wrong. Culture and government decide what is and isn’t morale.  For their sakes I hope they open up their eyes. Take a look at the world around them, Google a few choice words on the internet and see the seedy underbelly of this world that is supposedly making progress.  Race and gender and sexuality no longer seem to be hot buttons, instead, what I see as the greater issue is tolerance and indifference. Like STD’s we treat the symptons, we spend millions on a cure instead of elminating the root of the problem.

I like to believe that the world is still filled with hope and love and that for a while longer these virtues will continue to shine bright in an ever-darkening world.

Merry Christmas.

As you know I just bought a house and this weekend I am painting the interior of that house, but what you might not know is that I started a new business. I recently registered eddierenz.com and I do creative and technical consulting. What that really boils down to is in house computer support, small business networking and computer support, web design, wedding, birthday, anniversary, funeral slideshows/DVD’s and digital photo journals and archiving. Whew. What a mouthful. What is more is that I have a business partner in the works who is wonderfully connected and is great with public relations.  Our main focus right now is the digital photo archiving.

Why digital photo archiving? Because everyone has old photos that are stored in the attic, on a shelf, in a closet and who really wants to flip through scads of dusty scrapbooks and albums? What is more, if you want to create your own slideshow wouldn’t it be nice if all your old photos were already scanned and categorized and stored digitally? What about storing them online and then creating a webspace for family and friends to catalogue all of their photos and that way everyone can share and see without the hassle of having to drive to grandma’s house in Tinbuctu in order to see pictures of your great grandparents.

Also, when it comes time to do a funeral slideshow no one wants to deal with the issue at the time of the funeral, so why not do one before? It sounds morbid, but in reality it is just a nice addition to your will. Music - check. Casket - check. Slideshow - check. It’s not a service you would normally think about, but there are scads of terminally ill people who would probably like to put together something for their families to remember them by. That is what this business is all about.

I’m actually doing a huge photo project right now that is archiving over 1500 photos, a slideshow, and a destination presentation. Then I have another client that wants me to do all of their wedding photos and honeymoon postcards and memorabilia. We also scan and save old documents, articles and anything else that you would like to preserve in case of flooding or fire.

So the new house will be painted tomorrow and then I have to go to IKEA to furnish my office with some simple desks and chairs. I already got a business phone, cards, website, and next week I am going to open a business account. It’s really hard to believe that things are coming together so nicely. God keeps blessing me and blessing me.

So if you are interested in any of the above services, let me know. The website www.eddierenz.com is still under construction, but there is a services page with some of the stuff that I’ve done in the past - one of my favorite online photo journals is Nikki and Jeremy Johnson’s Wedding - www.postednote.com/wedding.htm