Living the Lie

I've gotten a lot of inquisitions as to why I am no longer on Facebook. If you haven't read my blog post below on "branding" (called "I'm Awesome") I recommend you start there. It will give you a foundational understanding as to what I'm trying to protect against. It's the facade we all build so we can hide behind at some level, and I don't want to be a part of it. If you're going to be my "friend" I want you to know as much about the real me as possible. The good... and the bad. But, with Facebook, that wasn't the case. I was using it. I was using it to project this false reality about myself. Pictures of the good times, the best quotes (which I never say), or positive highlights from my life, but none of the problems, the hurt, rejection, or loss that comes - not with being Dan Bowling or with being a man- but with being a human being. I do believe, and its not my fault, that I have the best life in the world. That's right, I said it, but I say it humbly because I know it's all grace. I could have been born as an AIDS struck child in a third world country, longing to find my next meal. Also- I believe there's a high probability I'd be better off as that person, but that's a topic for another time. But, I'm me; I was born my father's son, this is my life and I get to do some of the greatest things anyone could dream. Heck, I've had books written about my life, but the things that make it on Facebook aren't the whole truth. Its only 1/2 the picture. I'm sure it's's the same for you. We're Branding, and we're using Facebook as our main medium.

So What? Well, we live in a world where truth is sometimes defined by what you believe and everyone has a right to their own belief. I feel like most people's view on this world is made up on these same 1/2 truths. We live in a society where commercials and movies force feed the lie that to be happy is to be made much of, and no matter how much you're hurting to slap a smile on your face and project that you have it together. Well, I know the truth. You don't have it together and neither do I. One of the biggest problems is that most people don't even realize they don't have it together. People spend most of their lives forgetting, running, or disengaging from the truth. We've all been rejected, let down, and hurt. That's the full truth.

Are you the type of person who fears free time? Does a whole day with nothing to do scare you? It used to for me. I didn't know what to do with my free time in college, so I'd find away to occupy my time by drinking, drugs, or trouble. Do you do the same thing? Run from free time because if you're not busy you might start thinking about why bad things happen or experience some level of guilt for the life you lead. Isn't that terrifyingly odd? We only have a moment of time left, we are all going to die, and no one knows when, yet we don't know what to do with our free time. Most people are simply running, right into their graves. However, the problem is in our hearts and wherever we run, we take our hearts with us. Most of us have soaked in the lie that having pretty things around us will make us feel beautiful, but everyone seems confused about are the right things to call pretty.

I used to believe that the way or truth of life was making stories, accumulating assets, conquer women's hearts, and working towards winning at everything. That's what every commercial, ad, magazine, movie, and friend I had told me. These were hard wired into me and what I believed was the truth about how to be a man. I'm learning now that being a man isn't about any of these things, it's more about being able to serve, love, and lead- but that's a blog for another time.

I never stopped to think about why I'm really here or what life is all about. I was too caught up in running from yesterday or trying to prove myself today. Most of the people I know are quite the same. Some don't realize it, other's don't want to, but most of us are living a life that is, at a foundational level, about solely trying to prove ourselves.

Ok, so I'm rambling. Here's my point. Most of what most people believe isn't based on any substantial truth. Its idea they got from a movie or an ad that was trying to sell them something, or from someone's Facebook page. For a lot of people still drinking, sleeping, and smoking their lives away, truth is something they made up to help themselves cope with the life they're living. They believe they are legitimated in their actions because their friends are doing the same things. Well, your friends are doing what you're doing because they're just as confused as you- that's probably why you're friends... I look around and see a world that's living a lie. I know, because I lived it with them. I don't want to participate in the facade or the lie and I don't want you to either. Isn't it odd that you've never stopped to figure out why you're alive? Especially considering you're going to die? I mean, no one gets out of here alive...

I charge you to stop and ask yourself a few questions:

1. Have you found anything that givers you lasting satisfaction? I'm not talking about a joyful feeling after a date (well, some dates) or buying a new car. I'm talking about a sense of fulfillment and peace that never leaves you, not matter the circumstances. I'm taking about a foundational truth that the death of a loved one or a major let down cannot begin to affect. Have you found that?

2. Is there anything in this world that doesn't have a purpose? From maggots, to trees, to grass, to viruses, everything that lives was designed to have a purpose. Do you think you're somehow different- just here randomly... by accident?

3. If there is a God do you think He's implemented a foundational design or truth on how life should be lived or what life is for, a truth that would lead to fulfillment, hope, and peace? If there's a God, do you think He could possibly have some good advice on how we should be livin it?

I started asking myself these questions a few years back when I realized that I had more than any other human being I knew, yet it was never enough. I started asking about why the heck I am here? Did I just randomly get born and then I'll die and its all some big mistake caused by nothing? Really, tell me, other than a God who created you, how the heck did you get here and what's the meaning of your life? I got so upset and confused because nothing made much sense when I started asking the question WHY?? Every "truth" I got from the world about why I was here or in response to the deep desires of my heart had zero depth to them. When I started asking the big questions, all I found were little answers. I realized that the things I was living for didn't matter, didn't last, wouldn't fulfill, and, in the end- simply weren't true. I was running a rat race, when I started to win, I realized I was still just a rat.

Then, in my search I came across the worlds of a man who claimed He was God.

Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Whoa. What? That's got to be either pure insanity or pure truth. Was he lying too? I had to know if Jesus was telling the truth or if He was lying like most everything else in this wold. I mean really, Jesus said some crazy stuff. He's either crazy or He's telling the truth.

So… I investigated. There's thousands of history books written on Jesus where you can look to see if he lived. I saw hundreds of quotes from people like Napoleon who said:
"I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him."

I noticed the several hundred references to Jesus in the Old testament, and I talked to many people who claimed to know Him. I thought about how odd it is that no one knows where His grave site is, which we tend to know about every major historical figure. But, most importantly, I began to think about Jesus' words of "I am the way, the truth, and the life." What if He was telling the truth? Jesus became the unavoidable issue in my life, because if He's telling the truth and I miss it...I'm screwed. Forever.

I don't want you to go through what I had to go through to factually prove to yourself that Jesus wasn't lying. You don't have to do research. You just have to ask Him if He's real. Ask Him if He'll come into your life. I laugh at so called atheists who talk about how God isn't real, but have never asked God to come into their lives. That's like telling me I don't have any milk in my refrigerator, but without ever looking (I have tons of milk by the way).

Anyway, don't keep living the lie that you've been living. You don't have to build a facade or keep searching for happiness. It's not a pursuit or a belief, its a relationship. If you stop and spend even a small amount of time in reflection you'll realize there's something wrong with this world and it's leading to a lot of negative things. Nothing in this world works correctly if it's not used how it was created -- Do you know that you were created for God? Inquire to Him. Or, you can keep trying everything else and stop back in 40 years after your search ends with nothing but paper money, rusted cars, multiple mortgages, and an empty heart.

God is real. He is alive, active, and wants to participate in your life. I tell you this because its the only thing that matters.

Invite Him in and see the way, the truth, and the life.

"You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. Psalm 16:11