Smog Blog 2

Hello SMOG. This is Issue 2 (or II for any Romans out there) of the SMOG BLOG!


I believe it is important for us as Men of God to understand exactly what we do while we are at church. Okay so essentially if you go to any normal church in the United States this is what happens: First the Lights are turned down real low. I love this part. This is where the intimacy with God begins! Okay so lights are low, CHECK.
Nextly, The drummer goes click* click* click* and the guitar comes in. Oh how I love the sound of the guitar! Especially the acoustic. It spells out love for Jesus in just four easy chords doesn't it?
Then, multiple girls and maybe a guy or two on stage begin to sing praises to God using words like, "Love, Amazing Beauty, Prince of Peace, Passionate, Glory, Heart, Joy etc.

Trust me, I am singing along right with them. I am feeling the Holy Spirit impact me like I have never felt him before. Then momentarily I open my eyes and glance around the room...only to find 95 percent of the other guys have their hands in their pockets and they look so ridgid, and...nervous.
I simply shrug this off and go back into my deep one on one with the Lord, and later as the message begins I spend a second or two wondering what the heck is going on in those other guys lives that they can't praise God. "Must be some evil kind of sin... I bet they smoke pot.

Okay so that was mildly exaggerated, but now lets do something we have never done before and go into the mind of the average man who didn't grow up in Church and went on occasion with his Grandma on Holidays.

*Lights go down* Ummm what the heck is going on?... Why did the lights just turn off in here.

* Click Click Click* Okay at least they have drums that's pretty cool, I can make it through this. I hope to God that he has a double bass solo. That would be flippin awesome.

*Girls begin singing* ... This is weird. I feel like I am at one of my little sister's sleepovers and they are doing some serious rendition of Justin Beiber's "Baby"

*Love, Amazing Beauty, Prince of Peace, Passionate, Glory, Heart, Joy etc* The lights are down, I got a bunch of girls on stage singing about all of these words that are comletely...not me... I mean I don't even tell my Mom I love her much less some Dude. Don't get me wrong, Jesus is pretty cool and stuff but this is EXTREMEY WEIRD.... And that one dude over there keeps on smiling at the ceiling then looking at me. I bet he thinks I smoke weed...


I say all of that to say this SMOG. It is not completely natural for us to be so expressive and intimate with God. In fact it is the very opposite. That is why so many Men around you at church seem uncomfortable. The church is doing something that is completely against their inherent nature. So we as Men of God, who understand intimacy, MUST show and explain to the other guys around us exactly why we do what we do. It is natural for the men in a traditional church setting to feel uncomfortable because we are doing something so unmanly. Wearing out hearts on our sleeves and rushing to God, and repenting openly and................This is the Kicker........are you ready?.........
LAYING DOWN OUR PRIDE!
It is very hard for us as men to do. But once we are free from the bondage of pride we will more openly show our love for God, and he will continue to show us his love in response! So next time you look across a room during worship and you are wondering why that guy next to you isn't engaging, why don't you turn you head back to God and quit judging him, because he is in a process of laying down something that is natural so that he may receive an unnatural Love.