Category Archive: The Dual Wielder

The Church Will Suffer, and I’m Okay with That

By Jaime Nava –

The United States feels like it’s in a tail spin, at least to me. More than likely, I think the next president will be a goon. Subjective morality has become the local truth which is no truth at all without absolute truth. Socialism is the glimmer in the eye of so many millennials now. We’re setting ourselves up for the same wall that Germany and Russia ran into. First, we’ll try to be great one last time only to get kicked in the nuts as a nation. Next, we’ll sulk and blame the old ways for all the troubles. Following that will be a leader who promises to send us to greatness. He’ll do this with total control because the people want him to have it. With each and every step, the church will be relegated to a room, then a corner, then finally kicked out.

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Post-Christian?

By Jaime Nava –

America has been considered a Christian nation for quite some time. It’s considered that because of the number of Christians who are here and the values they hold, not because everyone here is automatically converted. People have been saying for years that America is becoming or has become a post-Christian nation. What do they mean by that? Usually, it means that there are fewer people going to church in the US or that attendance is down. Those things are true. Attendance across all denominations is dropping.

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Confession and Confession

By Jaime Nava –

As a pastor and sinner, there’s an unspeakable privilege in the office I’m called to. God’s Word comes through my unclean lips. Each week, we commune on the body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine because the promise was spoken. The Words of Jesus echoed once again for sinners to hear, see, and taste forgiveness. To be able to place eternal life into people’s mouths is something I am certainly not worthy of. Despite that, here I am doing what the congregation called me to do. And I’m not alone. The people, those I shepherd for the Good Shepherd, go out into the world. They speak forgiveness to each other. They unlock the heavenly gifts of life by letting wrongs go.

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Culture of Grover

By Jaime Nava –

Do you know your short, fuzzy pal, Grover? He’s the blue monster from Sesame Street. When he is caped, he is also known as Super Grover and even Super Grover two-point-oh. Grover has a trait in all his appearances. You see, he thinks he knows something when in actuality, he doesn’t. For example, he wears a professor’s garb, calls himself professor Grover, and wants to tell you about one of nature’s wonders: mailboxes! No, trees! (He’s corrected by Cameron Diaz). In one episode, Grover is the Music Monster, and he breaks down crying because he has to admit that he knows nothing and that he’s a sham. He had been trying to lead everyone into thinking he was a musical expert. Grover is the self-deluded non-expert who makes claims that are true because he says they are. It is rare for Grover to repent.

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The VR Invasion

By Jaime Nava –

A couple years ago, Google introduced a piece of cardboard with a couple lenses. You had to cut the cardboard, insert the lenses, fold it together, and voila! You had virtual reality (VR). Well, you had to stick your phone into the headset as well. With the motion tracking and camera on the headset, Google provided a cheap way for people to experience virtual reality. The idea of a virtual reality headset made with something as cheap as cardboard seemed silly to a lot of people. In reality, it was an appetizer for the feast of VR to come.

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ET Buried to Be Forgotten

By Jaime Nava –

A couple years ago, archaeologists unearthed something unexpected in New Mexico. There was a legend of items buried within a landfill that had many hoping they were the ones to find it. It was in 2014 that the hunt for an urban legend proved fruitful. What was found? E.T. It wasn’t the actual Reese’s loving alien, but rather a video game that had been released in 1983. Some claim that it was one of the worst games ever made.

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The Church Market

By Jaime Nava –

Reading a fellow writer’s recent post got me thinking. There’s a lot of Christian denominations to choose from. I say Christian because God’s Word is presented in a Trinitarian way with Jesus Christ as dying for sins. So whether Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Revival-oriented (i.e. most non-denoms), or what have you, there are Christians present in those places because God’s Word doesn’t return void. The Jesus they preach is the same that Christendom has always preached: the God-man (100% both), who is the second person of the Three-In-One, died for our sins. Cool. Preach Jesus. Even so, denominations differ. Emphases are placed on different things. What’s the big deal? Let’s consider our American history.

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Work Hard, Play Harder

By Jaime Nava –

As a kid, I walked to school. I started with my mom in kindergarten and walked to school all the way to my senior year in high school. Once I got to school, the bell would ring and we’d get to work. Of course, as a kid, I just wanted to be done and go have fun. Recess and lunch were nice, but it was when school was out that the fun happened. And Summer. Oh sweet glorious summer. I’d burn my feet on the street going to the local market to buy twenty-five cent candy. I’d play until the street lights came on.

From an early age, I was taught that you work hard from nine to five. I was also taught that you play harder when you’re out.

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Christian Seder?

By Jaime Nava –

Jesus entered Jerusalem during the period of the Passover. This was a time for the Jews to recall God’s saving work recorded in Exodus. The Passover meal is recorded in Exodus 12. When Jesus was in the upper room with His disciples, He was taking the old meal, a shadow, and in its place gave a new meal: Himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The meal of the first Maundy (Holy) Thursday is one we partake of every week.

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Just Enough Fatalism

By Jaime Nava –

As Americans, fatalism is a four-letter word. Which of us would like to think that our life map is planned, and our stars set? No, instead we look to those well worn boot straps, take a deep breath, and pull. We’re the John Wayne, Rambo, Lightning McQueen that carves out our reality against all odds. Those same bootstraps can be found hewn to many churches across the US. There’s the bootstrap of age-segregated services, food banks, or all types of kitschy games people play during the church service. We’re ready to try all kinds of things to make sure we grow God’s church. There’s always a new strategy, a new form of leadership, or some new law to draw people to God’s place of grace.

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