Aaron Reddin onLife, Liberty, and Pursuit of Jesusness

Thanks to these two, I would like to announce that I am quitting Christianity, American-ity, Southern…whatever, and I will no longer divulge my gun ownership status. 

Anne gave me the guts.  Basil gave me the desire.  Anne told me it was ok, when Basil made me cry. 

I’ve wanted to return to Nashville, TN someday.  However, if this dude goes any farther than a 3 inch rope, it just won’t happen……I don’t even know if I will call myself American ever again.

All of the “professional” bloggers will tell you that you much find and accept your niche’.  Theirs, obviously, is just simply blogging.  Fine. 

They blog.  They blog about blogging.  They talk about blogging and to some extent they have full creative freedom when it comes to shaping the future of the culture of their blogging niche’. 

Their niche’ is sustainable as many of us who are not “professional” bloggers and whose blogs don’t generate enough revenue for us to quit our jobs will eat up their “wisdom” in hopes of building and bettering our non-professional blogs. 

You see many bloggers who have “made it” taking the time to write posts that will help the wannabe blogger.  I love that about the blogging community.  Most of those popular bloggers do not display an elitist attitude about their success. 

What does this look like in the other blogging niche’ communities though?  Are bloggers who have made it in other particular niche’s sharing their success with others who have a message they hope to spread?  Are they teaching others how to attract up-and-coming bloggers to that niche’? 

If you blog about something other than blogging, who is your go-to person to see how you can grow your niche’ and personal blog?  Or do you simply rely on the “professional bloggers”? 

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….

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!!

guess I should have had on a bowtie!!!

Wait…who writes these freakin’ titles?? This is a supposed to be a FAMILY show!!

Who ever thought it would be “trendy” to march to the beat of a different drum? After all, Jesus did it and it got Him killed. His disciples did it, only to find themselves brutally murdered as well.

Today’s generation is abandoning “Conservative Christianity” in droves.  Few were raised on the “left” if they were raised in church.  Most have been brought up under the rule of the “right”.  If they are willing to stick with Jesus after this upbringing, they are likely to find themselves going from right to left. 

If they came from the left and were pressured to try and perform for Jesus in the way that the right thought they should, they likely went/will go full circle, “Left Right Left”. 

I’ve tussled with my own faith, theology, and existence enough that I’ve found myself making this flip-flop several times in my “walk” (or march).

I have friends and family on both sides.  Up until lately I always loved how the lefty Christians weren’t frazzled by the righty tighties.  They would just roll their eyes and leave them be.  While the righty tighties would get red faced and bow up like a bulldog, the lefty loosies would just laugh and go on.  It was often entertaining at minimum. 

It saddens me to see the moderate to left side of the spectrum, start shifting into an issue driven militancy.  I thought this approach was specially reserved for the neo-conservative hyper-fundamentalist Christians. 

It seems (and maybe just to me) that the Church is on the brink of it’s very own civil war now.  People are forgetting about people.  Even in this age of cool kids who wear the term “social justice” on their sleeve, both sides seem to be driven by issues and not by the gospel (which is FOR people).  Whether it be issues with people, issues with each other, issues with ourselves, issues with Jesus, or issues with the world.  We are issue obsessed. 

For some stupid reason, we all think we are following the correct Jesus.  And if we were to be honest, we probably think He’s pissed at the other Christians. 

I’m pretty sure that Jesus was a radical, but not an issue obsessed militant asshole. 

How are we getting this so wrong (myself included)?

I’ve tried to spare you for a while now.  I’ve been trying not to blog about stuff like this because I really (really, really, really)want to get it all into my manuscript and work on getting that thing published! 

Anyway…..I’m so sick of commercial and glamorous Christianity.  I’m so sick of “professional Christianity”. 

I’m tired of pastors and preachers energetically pushing that Jesus heals marriages and that He will “heal” your finances….etc…etc….

Where is anyone being taught the Truth of the FREEDOM of the Gospel? 

Why are our churches filled with people who will gladly believe that God can restore their marriage, but the husband is stuck with that alcoholism till he dies?  Or the wife is never going to move fully past that addiction to oxy-contin….

Why are our churches filled with people who will gladly believe that all the INSANE things that God did in the Old Testament are 100% true, but when Jesus promised freedom, they believe it doesn’t apply to their seemingly inability to stop putting gram after gram of cocaine up their nose??  Why?? 

Why are our churches filled with people who will gladly believe it when they hear a testimony of God healing someone of cancer, but because of a plague of secular teachings they don’t think that their “disease” of addiction is on the list of things He can handle??

What? You know this is the kind of recliner Jesus would have!!

This weekend, as Christians, we celebrate the fact that Jesus isn’t dead.  That He is risen. 

Let’s celebrate the fact that He isn’t snoozing in his freakin’ recliner either!!  Either we believe what He says or we don’t!  He says that the same crazy stuff He was doing then, He is still doing!

Jesus said it best in Mark 12:24:  “…Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and  you don’t know the power of God.”

Pastors, preachers, teachers……this is a major problem today!  What are people really learning in our churches?  I propose that it’s not true freedom, nor is it the power of God. 

It’s got to stop.  Recovery has to be recovered in the Church.  Yeah, it’s nasty work and it’s far from popular or glamorous.  But are we in this for easy tasks and clean hands, or because we love the people around us?

I don’t know very many people who can tell you what manhood is, or what it is not.  That’s including grown “men”. 

The subsequent consequence is that since older men don’t have a grasp on manhood, they surely haven’t taught their sons or younger men how to do this thing called manhood.  From boyhood, through the teenage years, and into early adulthood men are left trying to figure out how to be one.  This is something I’ve blogged about a lot and am very passionate about.  A man should never have to teach himself how to be one. 

In a world where simple answers are thrown from every direction at the wandering souls, confusion is rampant.  Misguided men are everywhere.  Some realize it and some don’t.  Many spend their lives trying to learn how to simply be a man.  If a father is still trying to figure it out while raising a son, what do you think the son is going to learn from his father?

Men are basic.  We are simple.  For the most part, we are visual. 

Give me a map and I can get there.  Finally, we men have a map thanks to David Murrow.  I strongly recommend getting a copy and following it to the pinnacle of manhood. 

(This review was written in exchange for a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson, through http://booksneeze.com)

I gotta thank Rick Bezet for blasting the interwebs with this one today….

Click to see all the other posts that are a part of the

“A man should never have to teach himself _______” series.

Part of what brought this thought to me was a recent post by Pete Wilson, about how the majority of pastors have no friends.  You can see that post HERE. 

This seems to be a common issue for men.  My personal observation is that insecurity plays a large role in creating the issue.  I don’t know any men that deny the existence of some level of insecurity in their lives. 

The really jacked up part of this is that these insecurities are often revealed in the presence of other men.  Our problem is that we allow them to become a problem instead of a means of growing stronger. 

Iron sharpens iron.  That’s what the Bible says.  Meaning that men sharpen other men. 

When our insecurities are exposed by other men, we often shut down instead of allowing ourselves to actually be real about them with one another. 

I struggle in areas that some dudes don’t.  Some dudes struggle in areas that I don’t.  If all we do is shut down around each other, neither is getting sharpened.  Neither is growing. 

Let’s be real.  If we don’t welcome transparency then our insecurities can be paralyzing.  I don’t want to live in that, do you?

Nobody ever taught me how to “have friends” or how to “be a friend”.  That’s probably why I still have very few at my age.  I’ve learned the long and hard way just how crucial this is to my spiritual and mental health. 

If only someone had taught me this at a young age, I might have forged friendships that would have me sharpened well beyond the dull rock that I am today. 

Today I’m learning friendship.  It’s hard to admit that when I’m 28, I’m just now learning how to get and keep friends.  Real ones.  Not acquaintances or fluff builders.  But real life friends. 

A man should never have to teach himself how to be a real friend, and keep real friends!

This idea began last year as we found that many homeless would not come into shelters due to their geographic location. If they are near their work or resources it makes no sense to go to a shelter several miles away.

BUT, when asked if we provided them a free bicycle, would that decision change…..without hesitation the answer was yes.

This spring as many will be cleaning their garages and patios, there are THOUSANDS of bikes that will either get thrown out or just sit there for another wasted year. Why not donate it and give a homeless or even impoverished person a more effective mode of transportation?

I am currently seeking partners, sponsors, volunteers and other organizations that would like to get in on this magnificent effort with me.

If you would like to be a part in any way, please contact me at aaron@aaronreddin.com.

Confession:  I am angry.  I really am.  I am so angered by the culture and the hopelessness that is being pushed into and bred throughout the church in recovery groups.  I’m pissed.  There I said it. 

In having lunch yesterday with a local pastor, I learned a lot about what drives my passion on these topics. 

He is a pastor who doesn’t even try to pretend to be “Mr. Pastor”.  He knows that he doesn’t know everything.  That was so freakin’ refreshing to me.  But what boosted my respect for him through the roof was the fact that after YEARS in full-time church ministry, he is still hungry to learn how to practically minister to people who he can’t personally relate to.  That’s HUGE. 

Not many pastors will invite a big-mouth little pee-on like me to lunch, just so he can pick his brain to understand how he can minister to people “in recovery”. 

Ok, so on to the point.  I realized at some point in our discussion that a lot of what I have a problem with comes from the “faith placement” of the people in Christian recovery groups. 

Some of them get very defensive and even hostile if you even insinuate that God is greater than their group.  For some reason, they want God, but they don’t want to buy into his SUPREME power. 

Recovery groups are becoming idols.  You may disagree, and the comment section below is a great place to do so. 

If you are quick to defend your “group” over your “god” then you have a serious problem there.  That’s where I find a serious problem. 

Most groups have amazing literature.  Amazing processes.  Amazing love and acceptance.  Amazing support.  A truck load of great intentions.

The problem lies in the heart and culture which silently spreads the message that “Recovery Group > God”……

Click to see all the other posts that are a part of the

“A man should never have to teach himself _______” series.

This one has been rolling around in my head for quite some time now. I never was sure about putting it into this blog series. But, today it’s snowing outside so as I’m gearing up to do some writing today I thought I would just unload this thought.

People just don’t seem to know how to do “stuff” anymore. You could see a decrease in what some might call initiative, starting particularly with my generation. Kids were growing up on their own and never learned how to live life but by trial and error.

The generation behind me seems to be really lacking in the ability to just do things. It concerns me because sometimes they are literally clueless about critical things in their lives. Nobody has taught them “life”. Nobody is giving them sound advice; or, if they are it is not being listened to for some reason.

Simple things. Things like opening a checking account, getting a drivers license, applying for jobs, buying a vehicle, managing finances, cooking, booking a flight, and even IRONING A SHIRT!!!

How can you send your kid off to college without them knowing how to iron their stinkin’ shirt??

Where is the breakdown? Are parents not teaching kids what it means to have initiative? Are they not showing them how to simply maneuver through life?

Or, are the kids just not giving a rip? My bet is that they are being enabled and haven’t had anyone force them to learn anything outside of the classroom.

Let me go ahead and say that I am NOT a parent. I have no idea what it is like to BE a parent. No idea!! I have no problem admitting that.  If you are a parent and think that I’m out of bounds, by all means leave a comment and put me in check!!

But what I do know, is that teaching yourself how to get through life is hard. It will set you back many years. I know because a lot of what I have learned in life has been a result of teaching myself, or learning the hard way. Some of it because no one taught me, and some because I made horrible decisions. Don’t get me wrong, my parents love me and I have the most self-less mother on the planet!!  I would be dead or in the slammer without them.

However, a man should not be having to teach himself how to “just do things” when he is pushing thirty.   Dads, teach your sons how to be men!!  Teach them how the world works!  Then when they finally leave home, you won’t have to be dealing with all of their drama and garbage.  They will know how to “make things happen”!!

A man should never have to teach himself how to “make things happen”!! (especially ironing) ;)

This is a guest post from my friend Charlie Loften.  Here he gets gut level honest about the perspective that most pastors have when addictions are presented to them.  You can read more about Charlie at the end of the post.  Enjoy!!

One of the primary jobs of most pastors is counseling. I do a pretty good amount of counseling personally. Most of what I do is marriage and family counseling. I will talk to couples that need some help with their marriage or an issue that someone is having with one of their kids. I feel like God has gifted me in helping people who are struggling with family needs. God has given me insight into what makes marriages struggle and how they can succeed. However, there is one thing that can come up from time to time that makes me freeze and feel helpless. Someone will mention that they are/were an alcoholic or recovering drug addict.

“Well, uh, I don’t know how to help with that.” I feel like I am not equipped to help. This calls for specialists. Those are problems I don’t understand. I don’t know what to say or what to do. I can give helpful advice on changing “regular” behavior. I can tell people to start doing stuff or stop doing stuff. I can give spiritual advice on how to change, like praying, read God’s Word, learn to hear the Spirit speaking to you. But recovery problems are different, very different. Right?

Maybe recovery problems are different, but isn’t it really only a question of degree and severity? The same God that can restore a marriage can heal an addiction. The God that can get husbands and wives to stop yelling at each other and to love and respect each other is the same God that can help someone break an addiction and find freedom from crippling habits and hurts. While I do believe that people need extra help, including accountability and encouragement for those have been there, we (and by this I mean me) need to remember that the path to healing may be different, but the Healer is the same. God is the one that can and will bring healing and life to all of the struggles, pains and addictions that we have.

Charlie Loften is the pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Cabot, AR.  He is a man’s man, but he is also a wonderful family man.  He has a huge heart for encouraging people and leading his beautiful family with integrity. 

PLEASE take a moment and check out Charlie’s blog, and subscribe to it, comment on it, etc..  You can do that HERE.  You can also follow him on Twitter, he is @cloften.