Hipsters & Heaven

Only hipsters are going to heaven.

No joke.

Let me explain...

I have a handful of friends who I consider hipsters. Often I find myself tending toward lifestyle preferences that one could say fall within the realm of hipster behavior. Things such as: being an avid thrifter, listening to relatively unknown music, having an atypical style of dress and living life free-spirited.

But what is actually at the heart of a hipster?

Going to public high school in the middle of one of the most culturally diverse cities in America (Bling-Bling Silver Spring, Maryland) has helped me in understanding the core of hipster philosophy: live life outside of the mainstream, be as counter-cultural as possible.

It is this heart of hipster philosophy I resonate with and applaud the most, for it is the key fitted for our heavenly homes.

You see, this holy grail of all hipsters—being completely free from cultural conformity, living life outside of the mainstream and fully embracing one’s individuality—is a hopeless endeavor outside of the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was and is the only true hipster. He is the very essence and end point of every hipster’s aims and ideals.

Follow this:

“The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one [Satan]” (1 John 5:19), and absolutely everyone has conformed to his philosophy and agenda.

The sway of Satan is that we are born conformed to his ways. In the heart of every human ever born is a default bent to conform to the core principle of this world: self and selfishness…the desire to get one’s own way at the expense of everyone else’s. Poor, rich, big, small, white, black, American or Asian, all of us are equally influenced and affected by this world wide human culture.

The only one to ever break this mainstream mold—living a life in perfect counter-conformity to this principle—was Jesus! His life completely countered the principle of selfishness, for He lived a life of complete selflessness, or, love.

Jesus announced: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

Just before His death He declared: “the ruler of this world [Satan] is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30).

No self-interest, force, coercion, manipulation, deception, scare-tactics, swords, guns or atomic-bombs were used in the establishment of His kingdom.

Only love.

When betrayed into the hands of His enemies, Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples who still struggled with understanding what it meant to be a true hipster, picked up his sword and sliced off the ear of one of Jesus’ captors. After doing an on the spot surgery, Jesus gave Peter a key lesson about His counter-cultural kingdom: “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:52-53)

It’s not that Jesus didn’t have the resources to escape, but that He had no reason to escape. His entire reason of living was to be an anti-conformist. Instead of striking with the sword (or twelve thousand of His super angels), He simply submitted. Rather than fighting evil with evil, He repaid taking by giving. Speaking of His life, Jesus said, “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself” (John 10:18).

Jesus sealed and solidified His hipster legacy by living life outside of this world’s mainstream miasma of selfishness and coercion, paving the pathway to purity of heart. He showed us that none need be "conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2).

If you live in the mainstream of this world, living life for self, I’ve got bad news for you: “the world is passing away” (1 John 2:17).

But, if you live life as a true hipster, following and copying Jesus, I’ve got good news for you: heaven is your home.

Matt, Me, & God.

Matt always carried himself with an extra edge.

He knew how to make the girls giggle, throw a football the farthest, he always made getting into trouble look worth it…basically, Matt just knew how to be cooler than everyone else. The kind of guy with amazing talents, but more often than not, used them to bring attention to himself.

I met Matt at Mt. Aetna Camp when I was only a day camper in my single digits. Although a couple years older than me, our weeks at camp often overlapped. As the years progressed, more towards the weeks of our tween and teen camp experiences, our friendship really began flourishing. We shared friends, basketball, cabins and even a bed once (long story).

I could go on for pages writing stories involving Matt: when he got kicked out of camp, how we both tried winning over the same girl (he won), when he and Joe snuck over to the girls village and bombarded them with water balloons, or when we got arrested together and had to take a fire safety class!

But there is one story about Matt and me that matters the most.

You see, although Matt and I became close friends spending time at camp, our lifestyles, activities and goals during the remaining 51 weeks of the year were much different. Matt was a self-proclaimed “bad boy”, and me…well, let’s just say I didn’t attract as much trouble. The gulf increasingly grew between the directions our lives were headed. We both felt increasingly uncomfortable around each other because of the growing differences between our beliefs, behaviors, morals and life philosophies.

And that is when I began to pray.

It took well over two years of consistent praying…a few major life disappointments, a broken leg and a broken heart that led Matt on May 6, 2014 to post on Facebook: “I think it’s time I really hand this life over to the Lord…I need something to believe in.”

And that is when my prayer was answered.

I called Matt and asked him how things were going. I referenced his recent post and asked if he was interested in getting to know God more. Although hesitant at first, Matt and I began studying the Bible together over the course of the next year. The changes I began to see in Matt’s life were amazing. I got to watch the power of God’s word free him from selfishness. Like a wedge, it started removing many of the poisonous choices, thinking and behaviors that once bounded him.

Matt decided he wanted to see if it were possible to work at camp with me that summer. And miracle beyond all miracles I had the absolute privilege of performing my first baptism, baptizing Matthew Taylor on July 4, 2015 on the Sabbath of Matt’s first week as a Mt. Aetna Camp counselor! A few weeks later we went on to be co-counselors, and won honor cabin of the week.

Matt’s story and mine had now officially come full circle. As camp counselors we were now ministering to campers who were the same age we were when we first met!

A new born baby in Christ, choosing to live a life independent from his past history of sin and selfishness, now operating on new principles of love and the burden of sharing with others the gospel which had so recently transformed his life, Matt was now looking for ideas for what to do next with his life. At first unbeknownst to Matt, with the help of friends, family, and others who had only heard of his story, we raised over $5,000 of donations and scholarships to completely cover Matt to go to SALT (a discipleship training program on the campus of Southern Adventist University) for that upcoming fall semester!

Matt graduated from the program in December 2015, and has spent time back at home working. Matt is back at Mt. Aetna this summer using the skills and experience he has acquired over the past year to minister as a camp counselor for a second year.

Today, July 4, 2016, I write this blog post to celebrate Matt’s one year spiritual birth day! By God’s amazing grace, the day where he publicly proclaimed his independence from sin, choosing to walk in the freedom of His law of love!

The "this" in Jesus' gospel.

If you are a Christian the term “gospel” should be at least mildly familiar to you.

It’s just, you know, like the most important thing to us in the universe. Jesus gave a commission to all His followers that they should “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). In fact, not only is giving the gospel to the world to be the modus operandi of every Christian, it’s actually the very thing that must happen before Jesus returns! “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

Pretty serious stuff this gospel business is, ehy?

Now, let’s zoom in and take a closer look at the gospel Jesus says will be preached in all the world. Let’s notice the curious adjective Jesus uses to describe gospel. He says, “this gospel.” By using the word “this” Jesus is directing us to take a look at the direct context of His statement. So, let’s now look at the preceding verses to look for some clues.

“Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:11-13).

The context of Jesus’ “this gospel” which is preached to all the world:

1.      False prophets who deceive many

Simply put, a prophet is someone who speaks on behalf of God. So Jesus is saying that there will be a time where lots of people are claiming to speak on behalf of God but are actually just giving people their own opinions, theories and traditions in place of what God actually says.

2.      Many disregarding God’s law of love

Paul tells us that “love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). So then, you can’t keep the law without love as the motivator, and “we love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Therefore, people will not be appreciating the love of God which empowers them to keep His law, thus leading them deeper into sin, selfishness and lawlessness.

3.      A few who endure

In contrast with the many who lose sight of God’s love and law, there is a smaller group who endure. Endure what? They endure the vast spread apostasy of those false representatives of Christ whose teachings deceive the majority into a state of lovelessness and law breaking. This smaller group obviously must be enduring by keeping themselves, by faith, in the love of God which is empowering them to keep His law in the midst of the many who disregard it.

4.      Practicing what they preach

Whatever the specific content of the message is that is preached, those who are preaching it are living it out in their lives. For Jesus didn’t say that it will just be preached, but that it will be preached “as a witness.” They are those who endure, clinging by faith to God’s love and law, which leads to them being saved at Jesus’ return.

Now watch this.

The book of Revelation is devoted almost entirely to end-time events, but, interestingly enough, there is only one reference to the term “gospel” in the entire book. It is found in Revelation 14:6 where there is depicted an angel (or messenger, “angel” literally means “messenger”) who preaches the “everlasting gospel” to the entire world. Next, two following messages are given which warn the world about false worship and teachings. Then is presented a group of saints who practice patient endurance, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Lastly, there is displayed Jesus’ great end-time reaping of those on the Earth.

This is basically an exact repeat and enlargement of Jesus’ teaching about “this gospel” being preached in all the world. Seriously, check it out! That would mean whatever the contents of these messages are, it would be the most precious, important and applicable truth for every professed Christian to be looking into, studying, practicing and proclaiming to the world!

If you study the contents of the everlasting gospel as summarized in Revelation 14, I guarantee you will walk away with a clearer purpose and direction in your Christian experience. You will understand much more clearly what you are called to practice and proclaim to prepare both yourself and the world for Jesus’ soon return.

Check back for a future post where we will look to further unfold the specifics of the gospel these three angels be preachin’ :)

My not so cute cuticles.

I bite my fingers.

No, not the nails, much worse...the cuticles.

I have a cuticle tinkering habit.

Now, if you don't know what cuticles are, you're about to find out! Your cuticles are the soft and supple skin tissue that immediately surround your fingernail. They're like a fancy frame God gave us for our nails! Go ahead, take a look at yours. Yours are pretty nice, aren't they? Cute little cuticles you have!

But mine, not so much.

I was thinking of posting a picture of them here for your viewing displeasure, but decided against it...you're welcome.

The history:

I began biting my nails sometime during my middle school years, a habit I picked up from my older sister (thanks Joy!). I would try stopping, but you know the drill...quit for a day or so, then back to the biting. It was a habit, a gross one.

Though, in my latter years of high school, while hanging out with a group of friends, one female friend of mine (whom I happened to have a crush on) noticed my dilapidated fingernails and shouted out a shriek of disgust. Well, that was the last fingernail-to-teeth day I had. The habit was basically dropped that very moment cold veggie-turkey.

Once I rediscovered the usefulness of longer than zero-centimeter fingernails, there was no going back. I could finally enjoy the use of scratch & sniff stickers, key chain rings and peeling my own oranges! But alas, thus began the slow but certain transition to my cuticles. You see, with usable nails came the temptation to tinker with and pick at my cuticles. I would pick at my innocent cuticles until they would spring forth hangnails, and thus my teeth became my fingers' best (worst?) friend again.

The harm:

It has turned into quite the psychological battle. Basically, I will subconsciously manipulate my neighboring cuticles with my fingernails. Then, when I notice all the hangnail variations, in come my teeth to try and fix the contrived problems. But here is the real problem: thinking I can fix the hangnails with my teeth or by tinkering with my nails...I just make the problem bigger and worse!

I go on these cuticle tinkering binges, then pretend I can fix the issue with my teeth...but rip goes the hangnail even deeper...shredded skin ensues, bleeding begins, scabs form... *gehhh*, no need for further visuals!

I know all I need to do is bring in the handy-dandy fingernail clipper to take care of those pesky self-contrived hangnails, leave them alone, stop trying to fix it my way, and let time do the healing. I keep trying to fix something that only an instrument outside of myself can, and so keep interrupting the natural healing process.

The analogy:

I fickle with my cuticles, create a problem that could have been avoided in the first place, then add exponentially to the problem by trying to fix it with my own resources.

This cuticle issue, I have been realizing, is a microcosm of some bigger problems I wrestle with.

There are things that, although broken by me, cannot be fixed by my meddling. Somethings that, although I wish could be restored today, need to be left alone well past tomorrow. There is a point where sincerity can become sin and our best intention, presumption. These things need God's nail-clippers to save the day and us to just get out the way.

The help:

The great denial of self and cross carrying that Jesus speaks of (Luke 9:23) has been demanding more and more attention in my life lately. I've been realizing that my own aspirations, as sincere as they may be, need to be constantly surrendered to Him. These are lessons I've known of, but still need to visit daily. My goal is growth, maturity, and a relational discipline that reflects the character of Jesus—agape love.

I praise God it's not our mistakes (or successes) that define us, but the direction of our lives, the Person we place our eyes on, the everyday realization of our sinfulness and His goodness which leads us to deeper repentance, a surrendering of the will, and a humbling of ourselves before our Creator.

I've got problems, but I thank God that if I surrender, He will do the fixing and place me back onto the path of maturity and growth. It's about time I surrender my tinkering tendencies, and trust Him with all my heart (Proverbs 3:5, 6).

"Our plans are not always God’s plans. He may see that it is best for us and for His cause to refuse our very best intentions, as He did in the case of David. But of one thing we may be assured, He will bless and use in the advancement of His cause those who sincerely devote themselves and all they have to His glory. If He sees it best not to grant their desires He will counterbalance the refusal by giving them tokens of His love and entrusting to them another service. 

In His loving care and interest for us, often He who understands us better than we understand ourselves refuses to permit us selfishly to seek the gratification of our own ambition. He does not permit us to pass by the homely but sacred duties that lie next us. Often these duties afford the very training essential to prepare us for a higher work. Often our plans fail that God’s plans for us may succeed. 

We are never called upon to make a real sacrifice for God. Many things He asks us to yield to Him, but in doing this we are but giving up that which hinders us in the heavenward way. Even when called upon to surrender those things which
in themselves are good, we may be sure that God is thus working out for us some higher good. 

In the future life the mysteries that here have annoyed and disappointed us will be made plain. We shall see that our seemingly unanswered prayers and disappointed hopes have been among our greatest blessings. 

We are to look upon every duty, however humble, as sacred because it is a part of God’s service. Our daily prayer should be, 'Lord, help me to do my best. Teach me how to do better work. Give me energy and cheerfulness. Help me to bring into my service the loving ministry of the Saviour.'"

—The Ministry of Healing p. 473-474

Hi, my real name is Joseph, surprise!

Joseph Aron Crews.

Yup, that's the full thing.

The trouble began back in elementary school with those uninitiated substitute teachers. 

Kelly? Present.
Tyler? Here.
Hyden? Hi!
Joseph? ... Joseph?? ... is Joseph Crews here?

My classmates would curiously and confusingly look around the classroom. Sheepishly I would raise my voice, "Here." All eyes would shoot at me. "Joseph is my first name, but I go by Aron, my middle name." My secret would be out, my true identity revealed!

But was it my true identity? 

My parents explained to me early on why they chose to name me Joseph but call me Aron. I was named after my grandfather, Joseph Archie Crews, keeping the same first name and initials (JAC). But they felt I was just more of an Aron than a Joseph (I think so too), so they decided to call me by my middle name.

Aron is another story in and of itself.

The quick version: they liked the name Aaron, but wanted to save my hand the energy of having to write the extra letter. So they dropped the extra A to preserve me the extra calorie it would take to write it out. Also, they took into consideration the economical and environmental advantages of using less ink/lead in my signature. What amazingly deep thinkers my parents were! So considerate of their new son's writing future and my economical usage of writing instruments!

Cool story, right? Almost as cool as the real one.

The quick true version: my mother's name is Sharon, drop the Sh- and voila, there I am...Aron! I like to tell people I came out of my mother in more than one way.

Now back to this Joseph business.

My grandfather passed away when I was only two years old. Although I heard great things about him, I just didn't know him, and his name (Joseph) didn't carry any special meaning to me. It always just seemed like more of a hassle carrying around this first name which I never went by. I even seriously considered changing my name while in high school. I toyed with: Aron Blake Crews. Blake was the high school I graduated from, of which I greatly regarded. And besides, my initials would be ABC, how cool is that! I still think about it sometimes...

But now that I'm through with school, hold a job and have all this adult stuff with my name on it, it seems the work it would take to change it now just seems like more of a hassle than keeping it! Besides, I've gotten used to it, and I kind of like explaining the story (hence the blog post). The only people who think I'm Joseph is the government, those ignorant substitute teachers, and, in short, anyone who reads my name on a list but who doesn't actually know me personally.

Which leads me to my point: a name is important, it holds our identities in only a breath. There are lots of people who think my name is Joseph, when in reality, if they really knew me, would call me Aron. So too there are lots of people who may even know to call me Aron, but may miss who I really am by a mile. Maybe they identify me by my friends, the church I represent, the clothes I wear, the car I drive, the food I eat, etc. Maybe they only know me by a mistake I've made, or a success I've attained.

What does it really take to know me? Do you need to be my parent? my sibling? my counselor? my bestest-ever-BFF? my wife? Who really knows me? Do I even know me?

God knows me...and that's what matters.

I am "known by God" (Galatians 4:9). Before I was even born, He declares, "I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:5). He knows me so well that one day soon He will hand me "a white stone, and on the stone a new name written" which no one will know except me (Revelation 2:17). And that name, whatever it is, will be the name I love, the name I cherish, the identity I embrace. Who cares about those substitute teachers, the economical spelling of Aron, or those who might misjudge me! What matters is my constant striving to know Him just as He knows me (1 Corinthians 13:12).

It's all about knowing God, knowing that He knows us, and believing what He has done for us through Christ :)

"We are not to be anxious about what Christ and God think of us, but about what God thinks of Christ, our Substitute." (2SM 33)