Different Becomes Normal

When we were in the Woodstock days, we were freaks and proud of it. We used the term for everything someone could be passionate about. Acid freaks, clean freaks, camping freaks, money freaks, whatever. It was cool to be freaky, and the freakier you were, the cooler you were. We actually had a philosophy behind our bent toward “different.” We wanted to empathize with the downtrodden, and all this seemed like a good wholesome thing to do. We wanted to Walk a Mile in My Shoes. However, I don’t think anyone dreamed we would plumb the depths of weirdness that we have come to today.

I saw a cartoon once that had a flapper, a hippie, and a spiked punk standing next to a little kid who looked up at his dad and said, “Do I have to be weirder than the generation before me?” This sparked an article that I recently wrote, and I have included some excerpts.

Definition of Different

To be different is to be not the same, or distinctly separate from something else. In today’s culture, the “something else” is what people think is normal. So, each child grows up trying to be not the same as whatever normal is. The more unlike normal you are, the “cooler” you get. However, when “normal” changes, so does different, and so does “cool.”

Ways to be Different

You can be different in a good way or a bad way. You can be better than normal or worse than normal. The trouble is, most people think the only way to be different is to be stranger than what used to be. Long, weird hair, freaky makeup, and bad language are the ways to achieve “cool.” This has been going on for generations. What young people did to be different in the 1920’s became normal in the 1960’s. So, kids in the 1960’s had to be more different than their parents were. Then, what was different in the 1960’s became normal in the 2000’s. So, kids now have to be even more different than their “different” parents were before them. Do you see where this is going? How weird do we need to get?

When Normal becomes Different

Here are the facts. Normal is the average of the majority. When more and more people try to act “different,” they become the majority. Their many ways to be cool suddenly become the average… they are the ones who are normal. So now what do you do?

When sloppy clothes, spiked hair, hats on backwards, tattoos and bad language become normal, there is only one thing you can do. According to the definition of different, you have to change. You have to be unlike that. If you want to be different, you need to be normal.

Definition of Normal

Being normal means to conform to a standard. This is not a bad thing. It is standard to drive on one side of the road. What if everyone zig zagged back and forth down the highway? In order to avoid wrecks, everyone must drive “normally.”

People used to say it takes courage to stand up and be different. But these days, different is what everybody is doing, and if you don’t, they may not like you. So guess what? It takes courage to not be different, to not go along with the crowd. And if the crowd is not doing the right things, they will suffer for it, and you do not want to suffer with them. Also, people look up to those who stand for what is right and good. So, do you really want to be different? Be normal, and you will definitely stand out… you will definitely be different!

Do you think the Christian life is boring? Restrained? No fun?

A young man told me a story about his walk on the wild side. He wanted a taste of the “fun life” and the “good times.” He joined in with his buddies going to the bars, eating at Hooters, hitting the strip clubs. He adopted the cussing and the crude jokes. Everything was fun and games and great adventure.

One Sunday, he drove by two guys his age who had just come out of church. They were wearing blazers and ties, and he said to himself, “That looks so boring. I’m glad I don’t have to live like that.”

More beer, more running around, more lewd jokes, and the effects began to take hold. The glamour wore off, the headaches weren’t so fun, and his relationships began to suffer.

As he drove by a church with a crowd of people outside, he remembered the two young men in ties and suddenly realized, “Boring doesn’t look so bad right now. As a matter of fact, I think I would like to be bored again, but I don’t know if I can do it.”

In From Woodstock to Eternity, Dustin Morgan encounters the same dilemma.

“Oh, I don’t know, Sis. I really don’t want power to live a wholesome life free from sin. I’d have to give up girls, pour out all my booze, throw away my pot, and say ‘aw shucks’, and ‘gosh darn it.’ I’ll be honest. I don’t think I’m ready for that right now.”

“It’s not a matter of you giving it up. God will give you a desire to give it up, and then He will take it away from you when you ask Him.”

“Well, that’s even worse. I don’t want God messing with my mind to get me to stop wanting to do all the things I want to do right now. If I ask Jesus into my heart, I’m opening myself up to a mental overhaul that I never signed up for in the first place. No, like I said, I’m happy for you both, but I’m enjoying life too much now to change things.”

“You didn’t seem to enjoy the part about going to jail for ten years.”

“Touché, you got me. No, that part I don’t like, for sure.”

As circumstances pressed Dustin from all sides, he eventually came to the same conclusion… “This is not working… I need to be delivered. I need to be free to be bored.”

Do you think you’re having a good time? Don’t want to give it up? Ask yourself this… Where has pride, partying and petticoats gotten you so far? Jesus can  take away your desire for the old life… sometimes by making it so unbearable you just want to quit. But you can’t quit.

The good news is, Jesus can make you quit. He can take away your desire for the wild side and make you feel elated that you are bored. Then you can go on and make something of yourself. Just ask Him… He will give you what you need.

If you like this blog, please click the comment balloon at the upper right of this page and leave a comment. I would like to hear from you. JDC

3 Ways We Become Obligated to the Flesh

1. Driven by a lust for pleasure or relief from pain:

Can’t eat just one? That desire for one more bite of chocolate, one more Lays potato chip,
or one more drink is the work of a physical craving. To the extent that we yield to these cravings, we fall into bondage – we are obligated to carry it out. If we overcome these cravings, we gain the victory (as I put away my box of Milk Duds). The matter is not so frivolous if it entails committing a grievous sin. When this happens, it is a war between the carnal nature and the spiritual man.

How do you get free?  Quote Scripture

Romans 8:12-13 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors–not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

In Christ, you are no longer a debtor – no longer obligated to live according to the flesh…

2. Driven by peer pressure:

The whole gang may insist that you wear your hat backwards, but you don’t have to. However, they will most likely try to make you feel obligated. It is so easy to fall for social acceptance, that it can turn into a bondage you cannot shake. How do you overcome this? If you don’t do what they say, you will be an outcast. Put on an eternal perspective. Jesus said that when we are reviled in this life, we will be rewarded in the next.

How do you get free? See yourself as a citizen of heaven and a stranger on this planet… and quote Scripture

Matthew 5:11-12 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven,”

In Christ, you are no longer obligated to follow the crowd.

3. Driven by pride:

You’ve got to prove yourself. You have worked hard to gain a reputation as the best, the baddest, the this-est and the that-est. So you have to do this thing to maintain your status. Nobody bosses you around… nobody tells you what to do. Guess what? Your need for status now has you in bondage, and it is telling you what to do.

How do you get free? Determine to be humble, and trust God to give you His status.

1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 

In Christ, you are no longer obligated to be the Macho Man… Be the Christ Man!

Switches Open Doors

The “Gateway Theory” predicts that, if you experiment with an innocent looking vice, you will move on to deeper levels of pleasure and gratification that will eventually result in bondage to activities you never dreamed of when you first started out. The classic example of this would be the idea that if you take one hit of marijuana, you will end up addicted to heroin. Of course, the same reasoning would apply that if you drink one beer,  you will become an alcoholic.

While this may sound like a “scare tactic” to some, and totally unreasonable, there is a

Right Wrong Switch

very real underlying danger. It doesn’t reside in the first joint, or the first beer, but in the SWITCH you have to flip to make that first choice.

“They didn’t go directly to it, but whatever switch they had to flip in their soul the first time they tried marijuana, or LSD, opened the door to experimenting with other actions that were off limits. That “switch” had broken down their moral boundaries and loosened their bonds, but not for a good thing. They had proudly proclaimed freedom for themselves, to do whatever they wanted, but their new found freedom had only run them headlong into captivity.”

Excerpt: From Woodstock To Eternity

When we are presented with a temptation to try something forbidden, it is just like having a switch placed in front of us with the essence of our lives hanging in the balance, depending on what we do with it. If you’ve never smoked a joint, and you flip the switch to try one, it’s not the joint that will lead you deeper into bondage, it’s the broken moral boundary that will now make it easier to try other things.

Jesus called this switch a gate…

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”   Matthew 7:13-14

To add insult to injury, Satan will cast a deception that this new, broken boundary… this broad way… is “freedom.” But watch out… his freedom only leads to captivity and destruction.

For more on True Freedom, see my post, “The Cadet and the Water Fountain”

The Secret Language of D-Day

Everything about World War II is full of superlatives.  There is nothing about the planning, logistics, espionage and execution of World War II that is not amazing to the

French Underground

point of being incomprehensible.  The courage and fortitude of the troops was so heroic that they all command our honor and respect.  No wonder they keep using the War as a a topic for movies that never grows old.

One little known aspect of the War, and D-Day in particular is the work of the

underground networks.  British and American  groups worked with the French to assist in gathering information as well as sabotage.  In the movie, The Longest Day, a resistance group is huddled together around a radio, waiting for a BBC broadcast.  There are certain phrases that carry hidden messages within.  An advance notice of the

BBC messages

impending invasion came at 9:00 PM, June 1, 1944

“Les sanglots longs des violins de l’automne”  (The long sobs of the violins of autumn)

This meant the invasion would happen soon, within the next few weeks.  The second half of the message came at 8:15 PM on the night of June 5.  The invasion would begin within the next 48 hours

“Blessent mon coeur d’une angueur montone”  (Wound my heart with a monotonous

Ike and troops

langour)

One final announcement,  “Jon has a long moustache.”  and the word was “GO!”

Victory in Europe May 7, 1945

The longer it goes, the more we forget.  It was 71 years ago today that American troops

Happy VE Day

came home after a war that killed hundreds of millions of people.  We fought back against world domination, unspeakable cruelty and death camps.

Coming Home

For great information on VE Day, click “coming home”.

VE Day Crowd

Here are some pictures from that day I hope will spark your gratitude for the freedom that The Greatest Generation won for us.

Memorial Day is here!!

Memorial Day, like all military holidays, is special to me.  As a former draft dodger and war protester in the Vietnam days, I have come to my senses long ago.  Deep inside, I knew the valor of those who enlisted, or were drafted and put into combat situations.  I guess you could say I have been trying to make up for it ever since by raising my seven children with a love for the military and American forces in general.

In From Woodstock To Eternity, Dustin Morgan reflects on his foolish dallying with the anti war movement.

When the anti-war fervor subsided, and people started respecting the troops again, all these deferments didn’t seem so “honorable” anymore.  From that time on, Morgan carried the reminder of his foolish ideas with him.  He regretted not going into the service when so many of his friends paid the ultimate price.  It made him angry when he saw the news clips of demonstrators spitting on returning troops.  He even felt guilty for getting a high lottery number. 

He can’t fix the past, but he tries to pay some of it back by supporting the troops and raising his kids to love the military and the victories they have won to keep us free.  He knows that whenever the veterans are asked to stand at a public event, he cannot stand up with them.  All he can do is look at them with admiration and clap.

I came to realize long ago that insisting on peace at all times, for every circumstance, and at all cost would only result in suffering a huge loss.  You cannot stop bullies and aggressors with a doctrine of peace.  You will only end up being conquered by them.  Peace is the opposite of aggression, and the only way to avoid being conquered is to conquer.

This became so evident in the victories of World War II.  There is no question that the peace America won, with the Allies, was better than German occupation and death camps.  The atomic bomb not only save millions of Japanese and American lives (from an invasion of Japan), but it brought about peace in a region that suffered under Japanese atrocities.

Almost all veterans who had suffered through years of battle against the Japanese were extremely relieved when the atomic bomb ended the war.  As usual, it is only people far removed by distance or time who pass judgment and wag their fingers at the morality of using it on a city.  They refuse to acknowledge the facts and the consequences, because they don’t fit in with their view of the world.  What everybody wanted most was the headline on August 14, 1945.

All praise and honor to our veterans, and especially to those who died for our country.  We owe you our deepest gratitude!!

V-E Day:  Victory in Europe May 8, 1945

VE Day Crowd