Aaron Reddin onLife, Liberty, and Pursuit of Jesusness

This is one of the many reasons that I can’t stand to hear the claim that undocumented immigrants are a “drain” on our society….

These are actual businesses here in Little Rock.  I have no words…..maybe you do….they did…

Many of you have been amazing in your response to my plea for help for my 17 year old cousin, Mikey.  Mikey had brain surgery two days ago.  For more info on his situation, click HERE. 

I wanted to update you on his condition.  He is doing well!  We got word yesterday that he had begun to get up and do a little walking.  This is so exciting because well, as you know brain surgery is not something you really take lightly.

He seems to be feeling ok though.  One of his other cousins texted him to ask how he felt, and his response?  “I feel like I just had brain surgery!”  Well, we know he’s ok because that sounds just like Mikey!! 

They are scheduled to be home from Los Angeles on the 10th.  I will post updates as I get them. 

There is a benefit dinner this Sunday in Plainview, AR for them.  They never expected this HUGE financial burden so if you would like to help them out please email me by clicking HERE.   Thanks everyone!!

You may have caught some of these blog posts about my 17 year old cousin, Mikey, who found out that he has a mass in the center of his brain. Being the goofball that Mikey is, he has named the mass “Wilson” after the volleyball from Tom Hanks’ Castaway.

Well, after many bouts with seizures and being misdiagnosed several times, Mikey is in Los Angeles awaiting brain surgery tomorrow morning. 

With a mass in the center of his brain, he has made his way to L.A. to see a Dr. Shahinian at the Skull Base Institute.  ( <—click that link!!)

You can imagine the cost of both parents having to take off work for a few weeks, flying to L.A., the hotel cost, having to eat every meal out in Los Angeles….etc…

The financial burden this has brought on my aunt and uncle is tremendous!  There will be a benefit dinner in Plainview, AR this Sunday to try and help them with this situation. 

The response that you all gave when I initially asked for prayer for him was completely overwhelming!  But now they are even more overwhelmed. 

Will you please join in prayer for them, and please do anything you can to help this family meet all their financial commitments while also incurring tremendous costs for this whole process? 

I’m asking all my friends, family, and internet homies to help.  You can help a couple different ways. 

1.  Paypal:  you may give through paypal to make it easy for yourself.  The funds will go into my paypal account, and I will be putting it into their “relief funds” this Sunday.  Please give here:

2.  You may mail a check to my PO box and the same thing will happen.  I will take the received help to their home this Sunday.  Please send your check to:

Shon & Carla Reddin

C/O Aaron Reddin

PO Box 250061

Little Rock, AR 72225

I can’t tell you how much your help, love, prayer, and generosity are going to impact this family. 

PLEASE help spread the word of this need by clicking the “share” button on Facebook, ReTweeting it on Twitter, and any other way that you have to share this need with others. 

You all are amazing, and I will keep you posted on Mikey’s condition here on the blog.   Thank you!!

This post is going to be somewhat of a finger-painting. Reason being that I’m going to give you a quick update/apology and then I’m going to get into the post. Contain your excitement.

Real quick….

I’ve been mad and bitter, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry to my friends and my family.  I’ve been bitter with God and it quickly sucked the life out of me.  Thanks to a swift kick in the spiritual groin from Charlie Loften last week, I’m stepping out of my pitty party and getting my crap together. 

Bobby Hamilton at NLC once said that bitterness is like drinking poison, and then waiting for the other person to die.  I finally understand how true that is. 

So let’s move forward and not let this junk continue. 

One of the things that Charlie really got in my face about was basic.  He simply said, “Do you believe that Jesus is the answer that everyone needs?  That He alone is the hope that people need?”

Pretty simple question, right?  Either you do or you don’t. 

In that simplicity I found something much more complex.  We (me) spend entirely too much time dwelling on what Jesus was.  We look at Jesus as if He existed at one point, and we want to know what He was like then. 

We talk about Jesus as if He never got up from His death-bed.  No wonder our faith is so weak at times.  No wonder the Christian recovery community is buying into the BS that tells them they are going to have to deal with their addictions for the rest of their lives. 

If Jesus was, then we have nothing.  What is critical for us to figure out is what Jesus is. 

The more we preach, teach, write, or view Jesus from the perspective of what He was, the further we are removing ourselves and others from actually understanding who He is and what He is doing, and can do in our very lives. 

I feel like I’ve been taken back to Christian Kindergarten with this.  But, what a revelation it’s been for me. 

I don’t want to spend my time chasing what Jesus was, because if He was then He isn’t. 

You wouldn’t go spend your money on Enron stock today would you? 

I want to spend my time chasing what Jesus is, because that’s what He was and will be….

Really, what makes you think that your name on a sign in the grass is going to prove to me that you deserve my vote?  Not a thing!  I don’t give a crap what your name is or what you are running for….

And your little bumper stickers that you’ve tagged onto them claiming “Pro-Life” and crap like that really aren’t going to get you my vote either.  Instead of telling us where you “stand” on the issues that are basically your only platform, try telling us something about YOU and what makes you worthy of having your name on the side of the freakin’ road. 

Where does all this crap go when it’s over??

There, I said it. 

Two men.  Both have a need.  Both are searching for a way to meet that need. 

One of the men has resources, but is looking to either increase or maintain those resources.

One of the men has nothing.  He likely wouldn’t know where to start, if a “starting point” were even available, to begin to obtain his own resources.  Maybe he’s crazy.  Maybe he’s lazy.  I don’t know.  And neither do you. 

Both men realize that the quickest and most beneficial method of obtaining said resources is to get help from others.  Both men realize where to go to find the most “others”. 

An intersection.

One man goes to each car with a rubber boot.  That’s right, a rubber boot.  People roll the windows down and fill that sucker up with cash!  And they’re happy to do so.  They smile big and hurry to get him some money before their light turns green.  The world seems right.  The man got what he wanted, and the people are happy that they got to be at that intersection to help.   I mean, firefighters need more money don’t they?  I mean, don’t all of their funds come from private donors and such?  Oh….

The other man is lucky if he isn’t arrested.  And when I say “lucky”, I mean he lives in paranoia and has to watch over his shoulder about once per second.  No smiles for him.  He doesn’t even have a rubber boot!  Who does he think he is?? 

He doesn’t come to your window unless you tell him to.  But most of the people at his intersection won’t even tell him to have a nice day.  He is ignored.  Made fun of.  Dehumanized.  And likely either arrested, or told by police to go away. 

His need does not get met.  And all those people leave that intersection never thinking twice about the fact that this man has nothing.  Never mind the reasons why because only he and God know. 

I’ve seen the police here in Little Rock run people off over and over and over.  Even arrest them. 

Because they panhandled.  Because they asked for help.  Because they’re homeless. 

Nobody minds if a firefighter stands on the corners begging for change.  They celebrate it! 

But when it’s a homeless man, the standard is changed.  Is that OK? 

I’m not saying that I condone panhandling.  That’s a post for another day.  But I do have to ask why one can do it and be celebrated, and the other is treated like a piece of trash and forced to leave the area. 

What are your thoughts?  Even if I just pissed you off, leave me a comment and tell me what you think.  You won’t hurt my feelings. 

There is a reason that John Locke began planting the seeds of a wall dividing government and religion. Well, I’m sure there are many reasons. Those reasonings evidently had a large impact on Thomas Jefferson as he gave the concept a giant boost.

Not only is it a safeguard for religious rights, and a protection thereof, but it also protects the government by restricting it’s influence on something that it has no business influencing.

Separation of church and state. Today, I believe that only 50% of it is practiced and effective. I use the term “effective” VERY loosely.

Christians and churches will fight tooth and nail to make sure that the government stays out of their religious business. But they have no problem pushing religion into the government. That is the 50% that is messed up.

Where is the proper balance?

You see, I can’t stand when Christians spend all of their time and money trying to legislate morality. I think Jesus made it very clear what he wants us concentrating our time and resources on. I never saw where legislation was a part of that. He taught a better way, but never forced His desire (or law) on any one’s life. Why do Christians think they have a right to force their “morals” into legislation?

Here in Arkansas, we just had a judge declare that “Act 1″ was illegal. Act 1 was an underhanded attempt by “Christians” to keep homosexuals from adopting kids who had no home/family. Though they couldn’t come right out and say that, it’s no secret that this was their MO.

They sought out to keep “unmarried people who live together” from adopting children. An attempt to legislate their “moral agenda”. Almost every gay person that I know would provide more love for those kids than these so called “Christians”. God forbid they find a home with individuals to love them.

This is not a homosexuality debate. I’m not getting into all that crap here. I’m simply going after the point that if the government is going to be held to staying out of the Church’s business, then the Church needs to remember it’s place and stay out of the government’s business.

The really comical thing about all of this is that it’s generally the ultra-conservative Christians who do this junk.  The same ones who fight to minimize government, are the same ones who fight to create more and more “moral” legislation. 

Since the “separation of church and state” is not working so well in this aspect, I propose that we switch it around and call it the “separation of state and church” to see if this will help Christians remember their place. Maybe even help them remember their instructions from that Jesus guy. Remember Him? Anyone?

One day you think you are right where God wants you……and then…..

You have to go and get a real job!  Yep, it had to happen.  I had to find a job.  I’ll spare you all the crazy details, but basically I lost my job in ministry because of a medical procedure.  After not working for the last 4 months the time had came to go make the bacon! 

I started today at the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.  I’ll be working extremely early morning hours, which I love and am actually excited about.  I’ll be working as a District Sales & Circulation Manager here in Little Rock.  From what I understand, I’ll have a district around Chenal Valley which is nice since that’s where we live. 

It’s nothing that will send me into shock because a few years ago I did the same thing for the Log Cabin in Conway. 

So, I’ll be ending my work day about the time most people are starting theirs.  And then?  That’s right, writing!!  Not only will this give me plenty of “alone time” to work on the manuscript, but it will provide more income so that I can self publish it if I have too!  ;)  That’s a joke!  (I hope)  I don’t want to have to do that! 

Anyway, everyone has been asking so I thought I would let you know what I was up to.  I’m in training this week, so my online presence will be greatly diminished.  That’s why I’m also asking for some guest blog posts over the next week or two. 

God provides!  He does CRAZY things to provide sometimes and He blows my freakin’ mind every single day!  So when I get in a routine, look out!!  I’ll be back!  Better than ever!!

I’ve wanted to put this post together for a long stinkin’ time.  Finally, here you have it. 

I believe this is the most underrated band and album of the last decade. 

These songs are real life.  When I had only been clean for a short amount of time, these songs were more than helpful to me.  They were “instrumental” in my recovery process. 

I hope they can help you feel alive, wherever you’re at right now.  You don’t have to stay on the recovery-coaster for the rest of your life.  Assess, and rebuild. 

Self Worth:  I knew I had to learn how to love and respect myself.  I knew I was better than myself.  That may not make much sense at first glance.  But what was “me” wasn’t what I knew that I could be.  Colors helped me to gain awareness of who I was, and who I could be.

Making Amends: This is a song that I made my mother listen to a long time after I had gotten clean. I still carried all my guilt, years later. I didn’t know how to tell her what I was feeling, so I let this song do it for me.

Ready to Quit: When things were overwhelmingly hard and I thought I was ready to dive head first off the top of the recovery roller coaster:

Closure: For everyone that held me back, pushed me down, or never gave me a chance, this one was for them. Sometimes I still listen to it when I want to try and prove a point to them. Then I remember that I don’t have to. I’ve already done it!

I’ve posted a lot lately about our efforts to get my friend Mark off the streets and into a residential treatment program.  Yesterday our efforts paid off!! 

We drove to Memphis on Wednesday to get Mark to his orientation meeting.  We stayed the night and got him officially checked into the rehab program on Thursday, his 32nd birthday. 

When Lane turned and gave him his birthday cake he said, “This is the best birthday I’ve ever had!”

That made it all worthwhile right there. 

After getting everything ready we pigged out on some b-day cake and made our way toward the building.  Of course I had to have a picture of Me and Marky Mark on our “historic” day! 

Mark is a huge lover of music and I promised him that I would find a way to get him an iPod or CD player so that he could keep on rockin’.  If you can help with that, please let me know! 

Also, please continue to pray for Mark.  Pray that God would radically assault Mark with his life changing power!!

In the midst of my adventures today, I came across the most mesmerizing thing ever.  I couldn’t pass on sharing this awesomeness with you! 

It’s a loaf of bread hanging in a tree!!!  (you’re welcome!)

First things first.  I’m not one who generally posts goofy looking cartoon pictures on his blog.  But the one you will see here just gave me the warm fuzzies so you’re stuck with having to see it…

For the 6 1/2 of you that follow this blog, you know that I’ve been trying to get a friend of mine off the streets and into a residential recovery program. 

There have been more hoops to jump through than my uneducated brain can count…..

Alas, we had a plan of action to depart Little Rock tomorrow and take him to a program in Memphis.  But…..he has now disappeared. 

I called to talk to him last night and get all the details ready for tomorrow, and they couldn’t find him where he’s been staying.  They were to have him call me as soon as they found him.  My phone never rang. 

This morning I found out that he had not returned yesterday.  I’m pissed.  I’m frustrated.  But I can’t let it go.  I won’t sit by and watch him continue to self destruct.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an enabler and never will be. 

You see, tough love isn’t just saying “screw them”.  Even though that’s what I feel like in my head.  Part of me just wants to wash my hands and be done. 

So as I began to just seek a little bit of the mind of Christ this morning and process what actions I would take or not take, this piece of scripture is all that my brain would churn up:

So Jesus told them this story:  “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.  When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’  In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” Luke 15:3-7 NLT

This is always the debate when it comes to addictions….

“Let them hit rock bottom”

While I won’t argue that statement, because I think it is commonly necessary as a rule, I will say that sometimes there are people who you have to go after.  There are people that wander off, even though they know better.  They are the “one”. 

What I have to remind myself today as I go hunt my illusive friend down is that:

1.  It’s not my place to question his thoughts.

2.  It’s not my place to question his actions. 

3.  It’s not my place to make comparisons between the “one” and the “ninety-nine”. 

4.  It’s not my place to let my emotions and feelings of frustration keep me from intervening.

5.  It is my place to trust the “ninety-nine” to take care of themselves for a little while, as I leave them to go search for the “one” and bring him back. 

6.  It is my place to find him. 

Please join me in prayer today that I would not let my human emotions and frustrations to interfere with finding and returning the “one”. 

God, I need your help.  Sometimes people make me want to quit.  Sometimes the “one” frustrates me to the point that I want to just say “screw them”, and just chill in the comfort and calm of the “ninety-nine”.  That would be so much easier.  But I can’t. 

So, I need your strength and grace today as I go looking for the “one”.  Please direct my steps and empower me to act out of love and obedience. 

Please assist me by grabbing hold of Mark’s heart and mind, and stopping him in his tracks.  Thank you for always coming after us when we wander off.  Where would we be if you didn’t? 

In the good name of Jesus