Reasonable Rantings and Raving Wisdom

I'm Still Here

2009-10-09T14:36:00.002-05:00

It has been a whirlwind few weeks. Everything at Troy has started wonderfully and I am really enjoying it. Life has been super busy with starting at Troy, preparing for the wedding, doing on online grad class, and still getting things settled. However, all of it has been a wonderful blessing. I am wanting to get ahead in the youth ministry, but I feel like all the deadlines are hitting me in the backside. Of course I am used to working like this, it's just that usually it's my own procrastination that gets the deadline kicking my butt. This time its that I really haven't had enough to procrastinate. I operate better when I know the kick is coming I think :). Well, I do work well under deadline pressure, usually.

The difficult part about moving has been not being a regular in my niece's life. Truthfully, she doesn't like me that much right now, but she needs me. She is not in a good place. She is a teen with no boundaries with a mom that is trying to be friend and not parent at all. I'm very concerned for her, but I have done what I can do. She knows my home is always open to her, but please pray for her.

Wedding invitations are going out today! Well all the ones that we have addresses for. There is much to do, but I am so ready for that day to get here. Nancy is still looking into transferring, but there are no good positions open at any of the stores around at the moment. Distance sucks!

She will be in next weekend, and I can't wait. It's going to be a wonderful visit but go by way too quickly.

Update and Stuff

2009-09-17T14:05:00.003-05:00

it has been a crazy few weeks, but I am now 2 1/2 weeks at Troy and I am loving it! The kids, the families, and the leadership are great. This is a wonderful fit.

As far as the biggest loser competition, last I weighed a couple days ago I was at 318, which is over halfway to my goal. In Scott and I's competition, I won June, July, and overall. Scott won August. I'll have to get an after picture up soon. I finished August at 325, which was better than my summer goal of losing 30. And I feel worlds better, and all the changes I have made are sustainable. I am totally sexier than Matthew McConaughey now.

Nancy was here on Labor Day weekend to help set up the house, and it looks wonderful! Her touch made is more welcoming than I could in a thousand years. Today I got our new queen size bed together. We were given a frame, but it was a little rusted, so I sanded it, primed it, painted it, and today it was dry so now a mattress is on it. Now I just need to wait a few more months for my queen. In the meantime, I do have a roommate. Troy has a part-time worship minister who is going to school full-time. He is getting married in June, and searching for his own place, but it is much too big of a house to be in by myself. He is proving to be a great roommate.

So now I need to get all the books unpacked and get the home and work office set up, and work on the yard a lot (the house is on an acre lot). But all this will be done in time. It's amazing what I get done when I don't have TV to watch. There is still much to do, but much has been done, and I am really enjoying life right now, except for Nancy being in Texas, but I really really hope she can transfer next month.

written to the Cranberries-Wake up and Smell the Coffee (rated a 7)

Wedding Details

2009-08-19T17:58:00.006-05:00

My trip to Tyler was absolutely wonderful and we were able to get a lot of stuff done. We got our engagement photos, we registered, we figured out what hotel to put everybody in, we figured out all the wedding meals, we went to Nancy's hometown and I met her mom, aunt, and brother and sister-in-law, I got to meet everyone at the church she is attending. Most of all I got to spend some wonderful time with Nancy.

Here are the details:

We are registered at JC Penny and Wal-Mart. Clicking on the links will take you straight to our registries. You are welcome to get something similar (for example, we signed up for a KitchenAid mixer, but if I get a different mixer, I will still be happy), but when it comes to colors, please try to keep the same theme.

If you want to come to the wedding and will need lodging, you can get a discount rate of $59.00/night at the Tyler La Quinta Inn. Phone Number-903-561-2223. Tell them you are with the Spain/Whitt wedding. Please reserve your room before December 15. That price is good for any night December 29-31.

The wedding will be the afternoon of December 31 at Lakeview Church of the Nazarene in Tyler, TX. Hopefully we will get invitations out by early October so you have plenty of time to RSVP.

And now for your viewing pleasure:

I'm Moving to Troy

2009-08-19T17:34:00.002-05:00

I am going to be the new youth minister for the Troy Church of Christ in Troy, TN. I will start on Sept. 6. I am completely amazed at how everything turned out. This is one of those rare times where everything worked out exactly like I was hoping it would. My last Sunday at Parkway is going to be August 30. I will be able to move right into the job that I was hoping to have.

I am really excited to be able to work with Troy. They have some great kids, and I know most of them from doing some area-wide stuff. My predecessor Drew is one of my really good friends, and I am so blessed to follow in his shoes. Troy has a solid leadership, and an eldership that is has a solid vision and is community focused, and I'm coming into a healthy ministry. It's going to be a good fit. Plus they are bringing on a part-time worship minister, and I had a really good phone conversation with him yesterday. I think we are going to work well together. It's exciting to see what God will do. I will be able to really be a part of a ministry team, which is going to help me out tremendously. I work better when I am working with others on a common goal.

This is going to be a great place to put into place several things I have learned ministry wise, and its going to be a great place to start my own family. Troy has a parsonage (3 bedroom-2 bath) and its on an acre or two of land with a peach tree and a cherry tree. This is the first time I will be in the same town as the majority of my kids. In Cali they were all spread out, and I have been living in Martin, working in Fulton. Its wonderful both professionally and personally. Martin is 30 minutes away, so I will still be able to be there for Ashley, and my other nieces in Rutherford. In fact, I think being out of the house and being able to have her stay with me for weekends, or for a day, etc. will be great. Plus I will be more intentional in making time for her and using our time well.

Of course I am very excited, but the emotion I'm surprised by is that I am scared to. I'm in good company on that one. Moses and Gideon were scared when they were called to the very thing they were asking for. I realize how inadequate I am for the task, but then nobody is. God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called. I'm thinking of all this will require of me, and it is a little scary to start something new. At the same time, I have learned and grown so much over the past few years that I am ready to start much stronger than I have in the past.

I could not have asked for a better situation. The only thing that's gonna make it better is when Nancy will be able to join me here. Hopefully she will be able to transfer in October. I will be able to get her stuff out of storage and bring it to Troy the first week of September, and she will be here Labor Day weekend to help set up our house (I love the sound of that :). I am in a state of amazement right now because this is all beyond what I could ask or imagine.

I'm very thankful for my time at Parkway, and since I will still be close, I will get to stay in contact with everyone here. The only thing I'm concerned about is that the kids will not have a youth minister. They are welcome to anything that Troy does. Parkway has been very good to me, and they are going to give us a wedding shower my last Sunday (unfortunately Nancy will not be able to be here for it).

Beginnings and Endings

2009-08-12T10:46:00.002-05:00

This was my bulletin article from last week. I will give a trip recap by the end of the week.

This week I am on vacation and visiting my fiancé in Texas. Primarily we are hoping to solidify our wedding plans. We will be registering, visiting family, getting some pictures, and figuring out what our budget for our upcoming wedding (December 31st in Tyler, TX at Lakeview Church of the Nazarene). There is a lot of stress, but also a lot of joy in being able to plan this (honestly, she probably has more stress than I do). We are definitely looking forward to starting our life together. As we are getting everything planned, I started thinking about our wedding, this a lot of preparation for a once in a lifetime event. The wedding is just the beginning. It is our life together that will need to be the testimony of our loving Savior.

It seems in some of the most important things, there is a lot of emphasis put on the beginning. However, the real test is living out the commitments that we make. Lots of things can be started, but it is how they are finished that truly matters. Weddings are a great thing, but it is only the beginning. The testimony can be given by an older couple that has lived out “till death do you part.” Those that have had the misfortune and pain of a broken marriage can tell you the difficulty of picking up the pieces from a broken covenant and feeling like they didn’t reach the finish line. Baptisms are celebrated, and should be, but it is a life of faithful living that really matters. The baptism is only the beginning. The end of a covenant fulfilled usually does not carry the same celebration as the beginning. There are many who start the race, but not everyone finishes.

In the world of sports there is much made of the beginning of the season. But at the end there is only one team left standing. The others, for all the celebration and hopes, come up short of the goal. It is not in how a team starts, but how they finish that they are known and remembered for.

Paul understood this when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” A good marriage is not made by a good wedding, but by a faithfulness to God and each other. A good Christian is not made by the baptism, but by a life characterized by faith, hope, and love.

Paul is a testimony to a life of faith lived well. Later as he writes what is likely his last letter we have in Scripture, he tells Timothy “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7).” While Paul always looked to his conversion on the road to Damascus, it is this statement that shows he kept the covenant.

I am looking forward to our wedding and the celebration of love in Christ we have. But it is only the beginning. I must look ahead to learn how to be the best husband and father I can be. I want to be able to live in such a way that at the end of my life, I can say those same words of Paul and be able to hear those words from Jesus I so long to hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” It is the ending that really matters.

Justice

2009-08-12T10:43:00.001-05:00

One of the things closest to God’s heart is justice. Justice is a theme running throughout the Mosaic law, the prophets, Jesus’ own ministry, and “being justified” is a major theme in Paul’s writings. Something so important and so close to the heart of God needs to be emphasized and understood. As I started to look at how often justice, mercy, and righteousness are together in Scripture, it made me realize that these work together, they are not opposites.

Our American idea of justice is more influenced by our court system than by Scripture. We think of justice as synonymous with punishment. We mess up, we pay the price, and justice is accomplished. There are several examples in Scripture where God brings justice by punishment, both individual and entire nations. But this is only a way of accomplishing justice, it is not the same as justice. God’s idea of justice has much more to do with protecting the innocent.

The best definition I have heard of justice is “justice is to make things right.” To be justified is to be brought into a right relationship with God. God chose to do this not by punishing us, but by sending Himself in the flesh to become our sacrifice. Punishment happened, but our justice is accomplished by God’s mercy and grace.

I have heard many conversations about God having to balance his mercy and justice, or His love and holiness. This is a bunch of nonsense. God is not divided and He has to balance nothing. His justice and mercy work together. He is holy because He loves and He loves because He is holy. He can only be wrathful because He loves so much. Because He loves so much He wants justice, and He will often use mercy to accomplish it.

How is justice accomplished? It can be through punishment, but more often it is through mercy, grace, forgiveness, and love. Justice is accomplished when a relationship that has been destroyed is rebuilt. It takes whatever was wrong and makes it right.

I have noticed that most people want “justice” for the one who hurt them, but when they are the responsible party, they want “mercy.” What if we made decisions that accomplished both?

Making things right has nothing to do with letting people off the hook and ignoring wrong. That is neither justice nor mercy. If wrongdoing and sin is not acknowledged, than there is no way to make a relationship right. Being dismissive and rationalizing sin is far from the heart of God. Justice demands that wrong is dealt with. What mercy does is allows the one wrong to be restored a stronger person who has learned from what they have done.

As a church, we must be about justice. We need to be in the work of restoring what was wrong. We don’t punish wrong (that is the Lord’s job alone) but we work to redeem it (the greatest work our Lord does, and He invites us to share in it). It is not easy, or comfortable, but it is absolutely right. To ignore justice in our world is to ignore and make light of the very heart of God. We have been justified by grace. May we spread that message.

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

-written to "Black Like Sunday" by King's X

Wedding Planning

2009-08-04T18:23:00.002-05:00

I am on vacation this week in Tyler, TX. I got here yesterday and will be returning to Tennessee this next Thursday. I will be in Abilene on Thursday and Friday. Most of this week will be wedding planning.

The big day will be December 31 in Tyler at Lakeview Church of the Nazarene. Today I shopped around for hotel rooms, which was okay but it did tire me out. It was surprising to me what hotels discounted and which were priced ridiculously. I got a better rate with some of the nicer hotels. Of course, we've still got to figure out how many rooms and what which ones we are paying for and all that. Luckily, New Years is a slow hotel time in Tyler, so the holiday won't create a problem with reservations or pricing. Tomorrow we will get some engagement photos done and hopefully get all our registering done. We will be going to Wal-Mart and JC Penny. Saturday Nancy and I will go to Waurika, OK, her home town, and meet with some of her family. The other thing I really want to get done this week is find where we will do our tux rental.

I am really not stressed at all about wedding plans, but Nancy is. We talked yesterday about decorations with her sister, Jackie, and my response on that was if Nancy is happy, than I am happy. To me it is about celebrating our love with the Lord, each other, and our family and friends. If the relationships are there, than I am thrilled.

In fact we have a different definition of a "big" wedding. To me it means super fancy and expensive. To Nancy it means more than 20 people. By her definition it will be a big wedding, but mine it won't be.

If you are in Abilene, I hope to see you on my whirlwind trip.

Camp Week

2009-07-17T14:09:00.002-05:00

Sunday will start my favorite part of the summer. I absolutely love camp. It was at a camp in Cisco, Texas in 1993 where I first experienced the love of Christ in a real and powerful way. That week I knew for the first time in my life without a doubt that He loved me and that I had a role in His kingdom. It changed my life forever. In 1994 I went to the same camp session but at a different campground. It was Camp Pettijohn in Oklahoma. That summer I met this good friend named Nancy. Fifteen years later we are engaged. When they say you may meet your future spouse, they are telling the truth. I went to Pettijohn every summer because of the wonderful friends I had made. I was challenged and grew each year. Even though I lived in Tennessee, several of us from the Martin congregation found a way to go to camp in Oklahoma. When I was 17, I drove myself and my friend J.R. My mom let me because she knew how good it was for me and that was the only way I was gonna get there.
In California I was able to be a part of Sierra Bible Camp. It was a wonderful place to be, with God’s people surrounded by God’s beautiful mountains. The last summer I was there, when my nieces Ashley and Tara were able to join us, it even snowed on us for 30 minutes. That was a rare thing for a stormy cold front to move through in June. Usually it was in the 80s for camp if you were wondering. We were only 6,000 ft. up. But even that cold week hearts were warmed by the love Christ.
Now I am looking forward to Western Kentucky Youth Camp. Again, I am privileged to be a part of a great camp session. The directors and staff do a terrific job conducting a spiritually challenging and uplifting week filled with fun and faith building. For a week I have no worries, no concerns, and I just get to enjoy learning about Christ and hanging out with kids. I am dead tired at the end of the week, but it is completely worth it.
Camp is one of the most important faith building events that teens experience. It helped shape my faith in profound ways, and I have some of the best memories of my life from my camp experiences. I never remember the heat, or the fatigue, or the late nights trying to get kids to stop talking and sleep (actually, I sleep pretty well through that). Just ask teens from my youth groups about camp and they will have all kinds of funny, amusing, and uplifting stories. This year will be sentimental because it may be my last camp with the Parkway kids, and also because Nancy is going to be a counselor, and I haven’t been able to be at camp with her since our senior year of high school.
Please be in prayer for camp this week. Pray that God will move in our hearts and change us deeply and profoundly. Pray that it will be spiritually dangerous, because it will bring us to grow and move and take faith risks.

Yea, Camp!

The Exodus Pt. 4

2009-07-17T13:58:00.003-05:00

from the Demotivational Poster collection at

www.despair.com

Idolatry can be very subtle. Often times it is not putting something on the throne instead of the Lord, but it is finding a throne for other “important” things and asking God to share space. Israel almost never stopped serving Yahweh. Their problem was they served Yahweh, and Baal, and Asherah, and wealth, etc. Human nature wants to have something that is tangible, and is able to be seen. It is easier to believe in what we see, and more so it is easier to have some ounce of control over what is physical. Idolatry is putting ourselves in a position where we feel like we can have power over God. But there is nothing we see that will last. True reality is in the unseen, in the things that will survive long after this world has passed away. God does not want idols in anyone or anything’s likeness, not even Himself.

Exodus 32 illustrates this human desire powerfully. Moses has been up on Mount Sinai for quite awhile and the people are getting restless. It is a matter of weeks since the people agreed to enter into covenant with God, and that they would have no gods before Him, or make any idols. They just came out of Egypt, a powerful nation that had a god for everything. The people wanted gods that would go before them. They wanted something they could see, and understand, and probably have a sense of control. What they have seen is a God who is invisible, wonderful, powerful, unpredictable, holy, and probably just too big for their liking. They were afraid. Who is afraid of an idol?

Aaron acquiesces without much of a fight. However, Aaron is not going to abandon Yahweh, so he plays politician and gives the people what they want while proclaiming this new calf as God. He’s trying to please the people and not get in too much trouble with God. Then there is the prototypical politician answer when confronted by Moses.

“So I told them, 'Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.' Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!" (Ex. 32:24)

. He will not take responsibility for his place this sin, even blaming his actions on an uncontrolled miracle. Aaron is perhaps the worst in this whole scenario because he will not take sides. He is leading to please everybody instead standing for what he knows is right.
Idolatry is alive and well. In our lives, we can so quickly start trying to ask God to share space. We can use religion as a means to control instead of to serve. We can try to tame God and tell Him what He does and doesn’t do. God will not be contained. He will not share space. He will not be tamed. C.S. Lewis sums it up brilliantly in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe talking about Aslan,

“’Is he—quite safe?’…’Safe?’ said Mr. Beaver ‘Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.’"

Painting Pictures of Egypt

2009-07-07T17:42:00.003-05:00

How many of you have ever gotten frustrated reading about the exodus and seeing how ungrateful and impatient these awful Israelites are. They are whiners, unfaithful, hard of hearing, even harder-headed, obstinate, ornery, and forgetful. 45 days from the amazing miraculous exodus and the people are complaining about being hungry. Have they not learned? The Lord has done remarkable things, but they are afraid that he will not provide for their hunger. They even accuse Moses of leading them out to the desert to kill them,

In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the LORD's hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’

(Exodus 16:2-3). What a ridiculous group of people!

There’s only one problem I have with my criticism of the Israelites. I am just like them. God does something amazing in my life and everything is marvelous, but then a few weeks later I have forgotten what an amazing God I serve and I complain about my circumstances or difficulties doubting that God will come through again. 45 days doesn’t seem that long, but it can be a world of difference in our life circumstances and outlook. When things aren’t going like I want them to, I can glorify the past as if everything was perfect then. The Israelites quickly forgot all the oppression they cried out against and unaccurately remembered having life easy in Egypt.

I am amazed at how much of a reflection that the biblical culture is of our culture. Sometimes we stand back and criticize biblical characters, because we know the end of the story, but if we put ourselves in the same situation, we are the exact same way. We forget what the Lord has done in our lives and we only see the obstacle and difficulty in our way. With the manna, they were warned to not collect too much, but some didn’t listen. They collected too much afraid the Lord would only provide once. They learned by the smell the next morning how wrong they were. Those who listened had enough for their needs. The Lord will provide.

When things get tough or scary we can start painting pictures of Egypt as a culture and as a church. We will take the past and glorify it as if it was a terrific time where everything was wonderful. It’s never been wonderful. Life has always been a struggle. The truth is our memories are most often not accurate. I have noticed that people have always been sinful, its just that the popular and accepted sins change. We live in a more promiscuous culture and the divorce rate has skyrocketed in the last 40 years. But we seem to forget the government sanctioned racism in the first half of the 20th century. Sure the 50s were great, unless you were black. The sin we struggle with may change, but sin is still sin. Racism is not nearly as much of an issue with younger generations. The next generation will have their own strengths and weaknesses.

Regardless of what the past was like, we only have now. We absolutely need to learn from the past, but we cannot live there. God is still leading and taking care of us. He will provide and lead us to the promised land. It wasn’t in Egypt, and it isn’t in the desert, but we have to go through it to get there. The Lord will provide for our journey. The only glory days are ahead of us when we can be with the Father.

I borrowed the title of this post from a Sara Groves song which illustrates our human tendancies beautifully. We need to keep pressing on toward the goal. We are not there yet.

Painting Pictures of Egypt by Sara Groves (from the Conversations album)
I don’t want to leave here
I don’t want to stay
It feels like pinching to me
Either way
And the places I long for the most
Are the places where I’ve been
They are calling out to me
Like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith
It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
And the place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
And it wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

I've been painting pictures of Egypt,
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard,
And I wanna go back!
But the places that used to fit me,
Cannot hold the things I've learned
Those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned!

The past is so tangible
I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy
To discard
I was dying for some freedom
But now I hesitate to go
I am caught between the Promise
And the things I know

I've been painting pictures of Egypt,
Leaving out what it lacks
The future feels so hard,
And I wanna go back!
But the places that used to fit me,
Cannot hold the things I've learned
Those roads were closed off to me
While my back was turned!

If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
And if it comes too quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?

-written to the Khrusty Brothers, which is a Don Chaffer of Waterdeep side project. It is really starting to grow on me

Nancy Is Now My Lovely Fiancé

2009-07-01T20:44:00.009-05:00

I got engaged Saturday! :)

I knew I was going to back in January when we moved from friends to serious. I have had a few girls I was hoping would be the one, but now I really know the feeling people talk about when they just know. There is little anxiety aobut it. It is someone you can be totally honest with, and also somebody you can call on stuff, and be called on stuff. It is when everything you do is for that person, and you don't have to even think about it much. I do know that it takes work to keep this up, and I hope that I don't fall into selfish mode. But the way that Nancy loves me and loves others, it is a joy to lift her up. We do think about things differently (like all males and females) but we share the same goals. We complement each other in our strengths and lift each other up in our weaknesses. I am excited about our life together and the ministry we can share.

Here is the proposal story, then I will give some of the background:

I kept waffling between proposing for her birthday (today, July 1: happy 30th sweety. Oops, she didn't want me to say that) or at church camp. She is going to be a counselor at Western Kentucky Youth Camp where Parkway goes. I originally figured this would be more sentimental since we met at church camp (Camp Pettijohn in OK) in high school (and have been friends ever since). She was visiting June 26-29 and I knew we were gonna have a birthday party for her. So after going back and forth, I finally decided her birthday it will be. This is mostly due to coming up with a really good idea, which only happened after looking at proposal stories online and realizing they were almost all incredibly boring. I think better when the pressure is off. I already got the ring in May, and I just didn't want to wait till camp, besides it wasn't the same campground.

Saturday night we had a nice dinner with my family. I had apricot chicken, lemony green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, and a spinach cranberry salad. She helped to cook of course. We ate (it was all yummy) and then had the birthday pie that she made. After that I announced it was time for gifts. My family gave her their cards, and I went downstairs and brought up a big heavy box. It was loaded with all kinds of fun and good stuff, as well as three large rocks (real normal boring rocks, not diamonds.) When she opened it three happy birthday balloons popped out. Then she started rummaging through the newspaper and bubble wrap to find all types of assorted goodies. I had three really good smelling candles, some lotion, bubble bath, a teddy bear (to hug when I'm not around) and a pin saying "birthday girl." I also had some silly gifts like fart putty, bubbles, a voice warp toy, and a pen in the shape of a pig (yes, a pig pen). The best joke gift was a lollipop that said "30 sucks." Then under one of the rocks was an envelope which had written on the outside "open this and give it to Tim. This is an interactive gift." It was a song I had written her. I went and got my autoharp and put on my fingerpicks, and concealed the ring in my hand under the two fingers I was not picking with. Perhaps I will post the song in another post. The last line of the song I played was "Nancy I really love you" then set the harp down, accidently dropped the ring on the floor and picked it up quickly. She never noticed I dropped it :). Then I got down on one knee and said the last line of the song "Will you marry me?" She said yes without even seeming to have to think about it :). She was totally surprised that I did proposed this weekend, but she figured I was going to as I was playing the song. We did have my mom and sisters and their families there for an audience. Most of them knew it was going to happen.

What she didn't know until afterwards is how I knew what ring to get her and how I knew her ring size. In a conversation in January we were talking about things we liked and she mentioned her favorite gem was blue sapphire, and that she liked white gold or silver. She had no intention of hinting anything but I was paying attention. I found out the ring size when I visited for Valentine's Day (that post is here). She had to go to work so I was left at her sister's house. I went through her jewelry drawer and found a ring, took it to the mall, and got it sized. She never knew. I can be sneaky when I am up to good.

Here is the ring as best as we could get a photo of it. It is a blue sapphire surrounded by little sparkly diamonds in white gold and it is beautiful:

I am thrilled, and I can't wait till camp to see her again. Hopefully she will be able to get a teaching job and move to the area :).

I'm not kissing her cheek, I'm giving her a raspberry. Ok, I'm kissing it, I don't think she would have that smile if I gave her a raspberry.

P.S. I have a youth ministry job interview at Troy Church of Christ in Troy, TN on July 12th. This is unrelated, other than she might be out for the interview.

I Am the Biggest Loser in June

2009-07-01T20:28:00.002-05:00

I was pretty anxious about this competition because I really didn't know what to expect. I have modified my ideas about it over the month, and it has worked out. Today I weighed in at 345. That is much more than I expected. Here is what I am doing.

1) Eating less. I will decide how much to eat before. I have failed a few times, but even then I have eaten less than I normally would.

2) Be a Freegan. I learned this phrase from Shane Claiborne. I will eat any free food. So I have had my share of pizza and hot dogs, but with eating less, it has still worked out. In fact I have noticed that I tend to do well on weight loss with fattier foods. Maybe I am so use to them that my body is able to use it better. That's sad but it works.

3) Fill cravings. If I really want something that is not good for me, I get it, only a little bit. My craving is satisfied and I am still in control, instead of waiting and then indulging.

4) I decide if a food is worth it. I find I don't miss cookies or ice cream or anything fried potato. If I realize I don't really miss it, I keep it that way. If I really do like something, I limit myself. I was at a place with finger foods and peanut butter fudge was present. I love this. I had two small pieces (instead of 6 or 7). That was my sweet thing for the day and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

5) I'm walking. I like a good walk, and even on a hot day so I get a good sweat. It has become a wonderful prayer time for me. I can walk a long way and not feel tired. I have even ran the last block home. I still have a lot of work to do there.

6) I get fresh food and vegetables. I have fallen in love again with fruit. Almost all of it is good stuff. I never disliked veggies, I just liked junk food more. I don't think I feel that way. I try to stay as natural as possible with food. If I want a cookie at a pot luck, I go for the homemade because it is much more likely to have natural ingredients.

7) I eat breakfast. I used to never eat breakfast. Now it is cereal and fruit or yogurt or toast or a cream cheese bagel. It's easier to not overindulge in lunch.

8) Less meat. I try to do a somewhat vegetarian meal every day or every other day.

I am very pleasantly surprised by my weight loss, and I hope I can keep it up, but I estimate it will lessen in how much I lose. I do feel healthier, have more energy, and my back doesn't bother me after lifting something or bending over a few times. I hope Scott can give me some competition this month.

--posted to Alison Krauss-"A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection"

Changing Ministry

2009-06-25T16:42:00.004-05:00

This Sunday we announced that I will be stepping down at the youth minister in September due to the financial situation of the congregation. The reality is I am in a shrinking town and the church is shrinking with it and the congregation cannot afford two full-time ministers. I have known since the beginning of this year that this would have to be done, but the date was set a couple of weeks ago. It is not a decision that the elders or I wanted to make, but had to make.

Parkway has been very good to me. I will have been here three years this August. They have been supportive of my ministry, and I never felt like a “hired hand” but like a full member of the congregation with full love and support. I have made some wonderful friends and have thoroughly enjoyed working with my youth group. Not only has Parkway been good for my career, but it has been good for my life as a whole. I have been able to be there with and for my family, and I have been able to grow and love with a good church family. Being here has been an answer to prayer. God was with me in all my frustration in my youth ministry job search by giving me more than what I hoped for by allowing me to live with my family.

As for me, I will be looking for another ministry position in the area (youth or preaching). I am staying close to Martin so that I can be there for my nieces. I promised Ashley that I would be close until she graduated. If full time minstry doesn’t work out at this time, I will be working somewhere and still involved in ministry as much as I can be. If I am not ministering elsewhere, there is no reason for me to leave the congregation here. I do know I will take some time to visit some other congregations, but this is a good place to be and a place that I can still volunteer with.

I am blessed to be able to make my living doing what I love to do. I consider it a privilege to be able to do full-time ministry. But if I don’t have the opportunity at the moment, I will still be involved in the church and in the Lord’s work. I can do nothing else. It brings my heart joy. I told myself a when I started in ministry that if it ever became “just a job” than I needed to get out of it, fast. Times like this remind me how much I enjoy ministering, and that I would be doing this regardless.

Of course I don’t know what the future has in store, but I do know that God is the God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow, and that with every door that closes, it provides an opportunity for one to be opened. I know that the Lord will take care of me and regardless of the circumstances, it will work out to His glory, and I am excited to see what He has in store.

How to Manage Mexico with No Violence and Only One Swine "Flu"

2009-06-13T12:55:00.013-05:00

Thanks to all of you for your support and interest in the Mexico trip. We arrived home safe and sound on Saturday after a good week of work. I am so thankful for the opportunity and grateful for the new friends I made from Main St. Church of Christ in Springfield as well as Holmes Rd in Memphis, and Sitka in Milan, who joined us for the work. I also very much appreciate David for inviting me to go on the trip. It was hard work, and I returned physically tired, but spiritually and emotionally refreshed.

We left Friday morning, May 29 and got our trip adventure out of the way early when I had my luggage confiscated by a police officer, and a Springfield elder, Jim, ended up in the back of a police car. Perhaps I should explain. We met the Springfield group at the rest area south of Jackson, loaded our luggage and went on our way. The door the bus was not closed properly, and a few miles down the road, it came open. By the time we noticed it, we were about a mile from where it happened. We pulled over and I noticed that my suitcase was missing along with Mike's duffel bag. Someone who had seen it happen pulled up and offered to take someone to the weigh station just ahead to get help from the police. I was imagining my suitcase being hit by an 18 wheeler and scattering all over the road like in the Enter Sandman video. Shortly afterwards, a state trooper pulled up behind us and mentioned that he had seen someone picking up our bags. He wondered if they were with us, and in that conversation he noticed the vehicle drive by. He chased them down and confiscated our luggage from them. The ones in the vehicle said they were going to take it to Memphis (yeah right, I hope they knew a big boy, because I doubt my clothes would have fit them). Thankfully the bags returned a little scuffed up from their 70 mph highway dropoff, but fully intact and all there. Shortly after, another state trooper crossed the median with its lights on and pulls up with Jim in the back seat being returned to us. I wish we had a picture. All was well and we were able to get on our way, with no more traveling adventures.

Thanks to spending the first night of travel in Austin I was able to see Sarah & Joel (on their tenth anniversary). It was good visiting with them for a bit. Saturday we crossed the border and got to Monterrey about 7 PM. The hotel (Gran Ancira, built in 1912) we stayed at was wonderful and in a really nice area (I wish I had a good picture of the emaculate lobby) a few blocks from the Nuevo Leon capital building.
Sunday was our free day so after worship (our group at hotel) we walked on the river walk, ate, then Mike and I were going to go on the river walk boat, but they closed early, so went to the Museum of Mexican history which was pretty cool.

Here is the Main St. Springfield group minus Guy, Judy, and Stan who went on the river walk boat:

Monday we started on the worksite. The building we worked on is going to be two stories and about 90ft. x 120 ft. (I don't remember the exact specs, but that's close). It will be the largest building in Monterrey, but will be able to hold church gatherings for the whole city such as the Bible school graduation. Right now they have to rent a place. It is a new area of Monterrey, but it is building up quickly. Not only will there be lots of new homes, but the Mexican government in building a tunnel through the mountain, and it will pass right by this area.

When we got there, the right side of the building still needed to be blocked and cemented, but the left side had the second story concrete poured.

The work we did during the week was to finish putting blocks on the first level and start putting blocks for the second level floor which had been poured. We also took down all the framing for the second floor concrete. The first day I moved blocks, wood, and got nails out of the wood planks so they would be reused ( I really did not want to get on the scaffolding).

The second day we started with a block line (stand in a line and keep the blocks moving. When your swinging thrity pounds it doesn't feel as heavy.) The next two and a half days I learned how to lay block. Mike was my patient and gracious teacher.
When all was done, we had all the framing down and ready for the next group to put up, we had the right side of the building's blocks up and the cement poured, and we had 5 rows of blocks (minus a small section) layed on the second story. It was hot, but thankfully we had some wonderful ladies in our group which made sure we had lots of Gatorade and water. I was really sore Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, but by Thursday my body had adjusted. Temperature wise it was cooler than it usually was, but it was still hot. Wednesday was the warmest with a heat index over 100, but Thursday had a nice wind. Thanks to sunblock I did not burn, of course I didn't tan either, but then I don't do that even when I burn. Also, each day some women from the congregation fixed lunch so I had truly authentic Mexican. Tuesday I had some of the best tamales ever. It was delicious. Here is the cooking crew for one of the days:

What was so great was that we weren’t laying block, or pouring concrete. We weren’t even building the church building. We were building the church. That made all the tasks have a purpose and meaning. The church in Mexico was described like the Field of Dreams, when you build it, they will come. Working together on with a common purpose helps create community and build friendships quickly. I got on the bus with strangers, and arrived home with good friends. I can show pictures of the work, but I can't really show how great it was to work together with this group of people. It is a worthy work that I hope to be able to participate in again. Hopefully I will be going on the January trip.

On the way back we stayed in Greeneville, TX, which is only 80 miles from Tyler, so Nancy was able to come up and spend a couple of hours with me. I was glad she got to meet the group and that they all got to meet her. They seem to think that she is a keeper. It was a wonderful bonus to be able to see old friends and make some new ones.

As far as safety, so much of that is media overhype. We crossed at Columbia which does not have a city on either side of the border, and in Monterrey we stayed in groups and we were in a nice area. Oh yeah, the swine flu thing. We did have one couple come back with the swine "Flu." It was a ceramic pig that was named "Flu."

Time for a Bogus E-Mail Debunking

2009-06-13T12:29:00.004-05:00

I got this e-mail yesterday, and usually just role my eyes and delete them, but occasionally I just must respond. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual issue at hand, but the supporting evidence. If you take a view, please be honest with the facts. It's the reason you should take a view in the first place. I can respect people that I disagree with when I know they have thought about their position and have a reason for holding it. I don't respect people I even agree with when they use falsehoods to support their claim, or have massive egos about it and are unwilling to examine the other side. Seriously, I think I pay more attention to the attitude people hold an opinion with more than the actual opinion. I think that says more about character.

Here is the e-mail:

Interesting about Universal Health Care

The actress Natasha Richardson died after falling skiing in
> Canada . It took eight hours to drive her to a hospital. If
> Canada had our healthcare she might be alive today. We now
> have helicopters that would have gotten her to the hospital
> in 30 minutes. Obama wants to have our healthcare like
> Canada's and England's.
>
> In England anyone over 59 cannot receive heart repairs or
> stents or bypass because it is not covered as being too
> expensive and not needed.
>
> Looks like Obama is sure keeping his word ****CHANGES. We
> better have out funerals paid up, may be needing it sooner
> rather than later with no Dr's on our side to keep us
> healthy. What will this world be like in another 20 YEARS
> WHEN OUR KIDS ARE READY FOR RETIREMENT? SAD!!!
>
> Please do not let Obama sign senior death warrants
> Everybody that is on this mailing list is either a senior
> citizen, is getting close or knows somebody that is.
>
>
> Most of you know by now that the Senate version (at least)
> of the "stimulus" bill includes provisions for
> extensive rationing of health care for senior citizens..
> The author of this part of the bill, former senator and tax
> evader, Tom Daschle was credited today by Bloomberg with
> the following statement.
>
>
> Bloomberg: Daschle says "health-care reform will not
> be pain free. Seniors should be more accepting of the
> conditions that come with age instead of treating
> them."

>
> If this does not sufficiently raise your ire, just remember
> that Senators and Congressmen have their own healthcare plan
> that is first dollar or very low co-pay which they are
> guaranteed the remainder of their lives and are not subject
> to this new law if it passes.

>
> Please use the power of the Internet to get this message
> out. Talk it up at the grassroots level.... We have an
> election coming up in one year and nine months. We have
> the ability to address and reverse the dangerous direction
> the Obama administration and it allies have begun and in the
> interim, we can make their lives miserable. Lets do
> it!
>
> If you disagree, don't do anything

Well I disagreed with the whole tone and the blatant falsehoods in the e-mail, so I responded back:

I am not offering an opinion on health care, but I am on the veracity of this e-mail. This is full of scare tactics and worse is completely untrue. If someone is going to fight against a government policy they need to do it on informed merit, not ridiculous made up hullabaloo. It actually hurts the cause one is fighting for. There are many good reasons to be against state run health care and neither of these examples of why because they are both blatantly false.

Here is an excerpt from the Associated Press article regarding Natasha Richardson's death found at http://www.ajc.com/health/content/health/stories/2009/03/20/autopsy_Natasha_Richardson.html

Yves Coderre, director of operations at the emergency services company that sent paramedics to the Mont Tremblant resort, told The Globe and Mail newspaper that he reviewed the dispatch records and the first 911 call came at 12:43 p.m. Monday.

Coderre said medics arrived at the hill 17 minutes later. But the actress refused medical attention, he said, so ambulance staffers turned and left after spotting a sled taking the still-conscious actress away to the resort’s on-site clinic.

At 3 p.m., a second 911 call was made — this time from Richardson’s luxury hotel room — as her condition deteriorated. An ambulance arrived nine minutes later.

“She was conscious and they could talk to her,” Coderre said. “But she showed instability.”

The medics tended to her for a half-hour before transporting her to a hospital a 40-minute drive away.

Seriously, is this the best reason to be against state run health care? Because someone came up with a bogus story about Natasha Richardson's death and England's health care system (I could find nothing that backed up this, and considering England is a developed nation with free speech and a large population of 59 and over, I am lead to believe this is bunk).

The major problem in political discussion is that people will take a point of view and then use whatever they can to back it up. This is lazy and irresponsible. Look at the facts and reality of the situation, and come to a conclusion that is not either party sponsored, because the Republicans are right on some things and wrong on others, and that goes for the Democrats as well. Let truth pick a party instead of party pick your truth.

Secondly, the logical jump from using England's health care as an example to look to and jumping to it being an exact copy (if the whole age 59 thing is true) is extremely tenuous. Seriously, what politician would go for that in the US? Seriously!

I write this not as a political statement, because I don't know how I feel about state health care because it is a huge convoluted issue (as most issues in politics are, and both parties loudly spout overly simplistic answers that don't work), and using lies to support a point only hurts one's position. We are Christians and should be in the business of Truth at all costs, even if it makes us look at things differently, is unpopular, or even hurts our point of view.

May our opinions be informed by reality, not our reality informed by our opinions.

I'm tired of getting untrue political e-mails, especially ones that can be debunked in a 3 minute google search.

I will be glad to discuss this further with you, but I cannot take part in accepting lies and not calling them out when I see them.

In Christ,
Tim

Until we are willing to hold to the reality of a situation and stop demonizing the opposing side, and even acknowledge when the other side has a point, we will get no where. Demonizing others brings you closer to being a demon yourself. The Holocaust happened because a bunch of people believed the demonizing of the Jews, and who in the end were the demons?

P.S. As a sidenote, where are these Canadians that are so complaining about their health care system? All I hear is Americans talking about Canadians that hate it and come here for treatment. The Canadians I talk to (admittedly I haven't had many conversations about health care, but it has come up) really don't seem to mind it at all. The point is I hear Americans complain about Canadian health care, not Canadians.

The Biggest Loser

2009-05-26T15:18:00.005-05:00

Yesterday my friend Scott and I started our own biggest loser competition. It will be until the end of August. It is based on percentage of weight lost. I weighed in yesterday at 363 lbs. and Scott at 284. The biggest loser at the end of each month will get $20.00 and the total biggest loser for the summer will get $40.00, while the one who lost the least weight will have to do something incredibly embarrassing.

Scott proposed the contest, and I was glad he did, because I have been thinking about my weight, and issues with food, and my health in much more serious terms in the last few months. 363 is the most I have ever weighed in. I still "feel" healthy most of the time, but when I tax myself I tire out quickly and feel pain in the small of my back. My blood pressure in the last two years has also been creeping up to where it is now on the cusp of being past the high end of ok. The reality is I am glutonous and out of shape. I eat whatever I want to, and as much as I want, well beyond what I need. Part of what got me thinking is that I am 30, and if I want to double that and more, I have to get in shape. The other part is I have been confronted with the realities of the American food market and its influence on the rest of the world. Basically I am getting full, fat and happy for cheap while much of the world starves. This was the motivation I needed to do something about it.

Before:

My goal is eventually get down to 280, which is less than what I weighed when I graduated high school (290). I don't know what is plausible for this summer, but I would like to be down to at least 330. The changes I'm making are the two most important: eat less and healthier, and be more active.

I'm excited to see how it will turn out, because I have never attempted to lose weight. Looking at my diet, I really do believe that if I ate healthy (read a LOT more fresh fruits and vegetables and a LOT less prepared foods) it would make a drastic difference.

Scott is being nice about it and letting me include my Mexico trip (May 29-June 6) where I will be working hard in hot weather. I don't plan on going the Montezuma's Revenge route of weight loss however.

Hopefully After:

Moses, Pt. 2

2009-05-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

Moses is described as the most humble man on the earth in Number 12:3. I wonder what he was like before his desert experience. Forty years of lowly shepherding when coming from a position of royalty can have that effect. Even his initial rejection of God’s call for him to lead the Israelites is steeped in humility, but not the good kind. It is the prideful humility that says “I am nobody and don’t dare call me out to be somebody. I’m not good enough.” It is a prideful humility because it is focused on self, and not on others and certainly not on God. Who are you to be so bold as to tell God that you can’t do something that He says you can. God still tells Moses to obey, and he does. As you read, it is amazing how quickly Aaron drops out of the picture as the spokesperson and Moses is speaking for himself. Apparently, Moses had more ability than he thought. Truly, God had more ability with Moses than Moses thought He could.

It has been said that anything worth doing is not going to be easy to do. Any change is going to upset the status quo, even when the change is something great. Moses experienced the loneliness of leadership. He is commissioned by God, he is faithful to his call, and then he is abandoned by his people. They all want freedom, but they are not willing to pay a price for it. Pharaoh and the Israelites have the typical relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed. Moses is abandoned by both, and urged not to pursue freedom, because it is just too hard.

In Exodus 5, Moses and Aaron call for a time of festival in the desert. Pharaoh, not wanting to give up power, makes the burden on the people harsh. They now not only have to make their own brick, they have to gather their own straw, the same production in the same time with twice the amount of work. Pharaoh resorts to a power play. If the work is harder, everyone will be quiet. He calls all the Israelites “lazy!” It works. The people are distressed and they complain to Moses to just stop. Their attitude is “1at least it was better when he wasn’t around to get the Pharaoh angry.” The very people that are crying out for freedom and now asking Moses to stop crying out for it. They have joined Pharaoh’s side. It is often what happens to the oppressor. The only way to overcome is to look at the big picture and know there will be growing pains.

By standing up to Pharaoh, Moses not only makes it harder on his people, but he is then rejected by his people, angry at what they now have to do. But there is simply no other way. Those in power will fight to stay in power. The best tool they have at their discretion is intimidation and name-calling. Any good change where people decide to fight for their freedom will have to endure. Any change that is good in an organization will have to endure this stage. Moses starts his ministry by being rejected by everyone, except the Lord. The Lord tells him to keep going.

Anytime someone stands up for those that cannot fend for themselves, they will receive criticism. They will have to endure name-calling. They will have to look ahead to what is right and what is good in order to deal with what is the difficulty of now. The change is painful and hard, but it is worth it, and it is the only way to freedom.

Funny Quotes

2009-05-11T15:21:00.003-05:00

Said by a friend at lunch today when she was talking about people who have messed up lives:

Or like those men who will have two kids with three women.

So would that be like an antitwin? It would certainly make Ripley's Believe It or Not. This of course was followed by a "you know what I mean."

Moses, Pt. 1

2009-05-07T15:04:00.001-05:00

Have you ever had a burning in your heart as someone is speaking? The kind of burning that touches you deep and brings great excitement…and fear. The kind that you know this is how is should be, but it requires so much of you, you don’t think you can do it. But it is so close to your heart that failure at it would cripple you, and it would have seemed better just not to try. It’s when you know something has to be done, but you just don’t have the strength to do it. If so, you have more in common with the faith of Moses than you realize.

Moses had always wanted for his people to be out of Egyptian bondage. He even protected a slave who was being beaten by killing the oppressor. He thought it would be the start of something great, but no one else saw it that way. “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?'” (Acts 7:23-26). Moses realizes he is trouble so he runs. He leaves all the comforts of home, his people, his royalty, and becomes a nomad in the desert.

Moses seemed to lose it all, but thankfully his kindness earned him a family. He has a good father-in-law, Jethro, and a wife. He becomes a lowly shepherd (a profession detestible by the Egyptians according to Gen. 36:44), probably believing the life of a prince is far behind him. For forty years he is a shepherd, but then he encounters God.

God knows the heart of Moses, and He knows the pain that Moses has for the captivity and mistreatment of his fellow Israelites. He may have buried his hope of their freedom, but I’m sure it never went away. Then God calls him to the very thing that Moses so desires to do. God wants Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. But instead of excitement, Moses senses great fear. He is afraid of his hope and his desire. He is afraid of failure, for it happened before and he lost everything. Moses makes excuses.

Excuse #1-Who am I? This seems to be the most common question we all have. I am nobody special. I don’t need to call attention to myself, it would seem arrogant. I can’t do that, I don’t have the time or skill, etc. God’s response-“I will be with you.” I have heard it said that God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called.

Excuse #2-Who should I say sent them? Who are You? I’m nobody, but what if they believe that God is nobody? God responds by telling Moses his name, Yahweh-I AM Who I AM, or I Will Be Who I Will Be. It is God’s covenant name with Israel. It is the best way God can explain Himself to us it seems. He just is who He is.

Excuse #3-What if they don’t listen? God shows Moses that they will listen, eventually. Besides, people not listening is never an excuse to not talk about the Word of God. People not listening doesn’t absolve us of telling the truth.

Excuse #4-I’m not a good speaker. I don’t have the right skill. God’s response-I made your mouth, and I will teach you. Trust me, this is not about you.

Excuse #5-Send somebody else. I can’t do this. It is at this point that God gets angry, and will not let Moses out of it. Now he tells Moses to let Aaron be the speaker, but Moses doesn’t have another choice. It is rare indeed when God doesn’t let someone chose. Of course, Moses had chosen this, but he was just scared to do it.

Moses lets fear keep him from the very thing that he so wants done. He gives excuse after excuse (and they aren’t unreasonable questions) why he can’t do it. God doesn’t let Moses out of it. Moses was chosen, but

Yea, Nancy Visited

2009-05-04T15:45:00.004-05:00

Nancy was able to come to Tennessee this weekend, and I was so glad to get to spend time with her. She is wonderful.

There is a scary presedent being set when she visits though. Ridiculous weather. In January she was here the days after the ice storm. This time we get drenched with rain and flooding. I expect next time we will have tornadoes. My response is look at that other post from today and come anyway :). Besides, superstitions are bad luck.

It is wonderful to see her interact with my family and love my mom, siblings, and neices the way she does. She loves me, and loves me by how she loves them.

Nancy, I love you and I already miss you. I will see you again soon.

We're All Gonna Die!!!!! Eventually, from Something

2009-05-04T15:02:00.006-05:00

I am really annoyed at all the fear of swine flu. Now certainly, I feel bad for those that have been effected by it, but I feel worse for kids who have been fed needless fear.

Seriously, okay. The world: 6.5 billion people. People with confirmed cases of swine flu: 1085 cases (according to the World Health Organization.

Nancy received a text a few days ago that said millions have AIDS, but people complain about wearing a condom, but one thousand get the swine flu, and everybody is wearing a mask.

From the beginning looking at the numbers I was incensed at the irresponsibility of people making such a big deal of it, and even worse for parents and adults to overreact. Better safe than sorry is a pitiful excuse. If that is the truth, than don't dare drive children anywhere because the chances of a traffic fatality are thousands of times greater. Alabama wanted to be safe, so they shut down all sports activities. There is one likely case in Huntsville.

How many people will die from malaria? (1,000,000) from the regular flu? (83 children in the first half of 2008)

This is the sad state of 24 hour news networks that have to keep news constantly going and get advertising to gain a profit. They have figured out fear keeps people watching, so they will get more advertising money. What that means is the world isn't any more dangerous than it ever was, you just hear about everything bad that happens (unless it is to poor people who aren't pretty and especially if they happen to live in another country, those people don't matter because they won't bring in advertising revenue).

Side note: Good for Bill Gates releasing the mosquitoes to bring awareness for malaria.

Seriously this is why I get my news from the Daily Show. Is it slanted? Yes, but they don't pretend otherwise. They make no pretense about it. There excuse is that they are just entertainment and people scoff at that statement. Actually, they have a lot more integrity, because they are telling you they are entertainment while CNN, FOX, and MSNBC all pretend to be news. The way they report the swine flu proves there is little interest in the actual news.

Seriously, look at the numbers and quit letting fear and excitement dictate how you live. This whole thing does prove that it doesn't matter what is dangerous, it only matters what isn't known. The danger we know is much easier to dismiss than the potential danger we don't know.

So as Christians how should we deal with the hysteria? Trust God and go about your business. Don't let it change a thing. If you were going to Mexico, go. If you were visiting people in the hospital, go. Have we forgotten this life is not it? We have become afraid, and let fear stop our love. We forget what we have to look forward to.

Seriously, can we stop being dictated by an emotional culture of fear and look at the reality through the eyes of faith? We've got to work to conquer our fear, not give in.

The Power of Perspective

2009-04-28T17:12:00.000-05:00

One of the great mysteries in Genesis is how in the world Joseph turned out to be such a man of integrity and love. He had the deck stacked against him. First, he was from a “Jerry Springer” type family. Just look at his heritage: Isaac vs. Rebekah, Esau vs. Jacob, Jacob vs. Laban, Rachel vs. Leah, and on the dysfunctional family goes. He was his dad’s favorite, which also probably means he could get away with a few things. He received special gifts, and the only real mark we have on his character is that it looks like he was a bratty little brother bragging to his older siblings about how they would one day bow down to him. I can see this followed by a “ha ha” and a tongue sticking out. It just sounds like something a spoiled little brother would do (I know, I am one). It was enough to drive his brothers insane with jealousy so much that they wanted to kill him. Thanks to Rueben, they only sold him into slavery.

When Joseph leaves home, he grows up quickly and chooses to do the right thing regardless of the situation. He becomes the trusted servant of Potipher, only to be falsely accused of rape and thrown in jail. But instead of becoming bitter and angry, he continues to trust God and follow him. Eventually, the jail keeper trusts him to manage the jail. Later, Joseph is restored through interpreting the Pharoah’s dream and becomes the 2nd in command of the Pharaoh (and it seems he was first in all but title).

I wonder what went through Joseph’s mind when he saw his brothers after all those years when they came to Egypt to buy grain. He now has the power and position to exact revenge. Instead he tests them. He finds out about his family, and his little brother Benjamin. He doesn’t charge them for the grain (although the brothers thought it was a mistake to have the gold in their sacks). He wants to see how the brothers treat Benjamin. When they return and he plants the cup in the Ben’s sack, he really has a chance to see who his brothers have become. It is Judah, who years before wanted to kill Joseph, who is now willing to give up his own life for the sake of his father and for his brother. These men have changed. At this point, Joseph can no longer hold it together, reveals who he is, and weeps with them.

It was Joseph’s perspective that kept him from revenge, or even hatred and bitterness. He believed that God would use everything that happened for good, even when it didn’t look good. He tells his brothers, “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” (Gen. 45:5-7). Instead of getting revenge, Joseph saved his family. He was restored to a right relationship. It was all because Joseph trusted God and did the right thing even when that got him in severe trouble.

Looking back, you can see God’s hand working to prepare Joseph for leadership in Potipher’s house and in the jail. You can see his love for his brothers by taking care of them, and even providing for them. Joseph never lost his perspective of faith, that God would make all things work for good.

I’m sure as they caught up, Joseph said to his brothers at some point, “See, I told you you would bow down to me one day.” That’s just the kind of things brothers do, and I’m sure they had a good laugh about it.

Oh Baby, I Am Bound for Mexico

2009-04-24T14:56:00.003-05:00

I love mission trips. You get to be a part of something bigger and work with like minded (hopefully) people that you get to know on a deeper level.

I was asked a week ago if I would be interested in going to Mexico with a friend of mine who is the deacon at the other CofC in town, and I am almost always interested in good mission trips. Yesterday I got permission from my elders to go. We will be working to help build church buildings. From what I understand, in Mexico, meeting in a house or a park is looked at as a cult, so a church building is actually good for evangelism. I will be going May 29-June 6 to one of the many, many Mexican cities that is not experiencing the terrible drug cartel violence right now. Because of the violence, they have less going this year, and they needed to get enough to make the trip, and I was glad they asked me. Besides, its good research for a potential youth mission trip later.

Some people have asked if I am concerned about the violence, and no I'm not. We will not be going through any of the cities where the violence is happening. I compare it to being really worried in Martin about severe violence going on in Memphis. Yes, it is somewhat close, but not directly in it or effected by it. We will be crossing at a new border crossing about 30 miles west of Laredo, which doesn't go through any border towns. Besides, since when did safety become this all wonderful Christian tenit? No where in Scripture. Safety is not a promise given by the gospel at all, and I think it is far down the list of what is important to the Lord. Don't do anything stupid, but don't let fear dictate faith. Safety has become an idol to many. I am trying to learn how to ask the right question to know how to respond to a situation: What is good? What is right? I think too often we ask: What is safe? (more commonly the female question) What is comfortable? (more common the male question, and the one I am guilty of asking too often). I want my actions to be respond to what is right, not what is comfortable.

I am excited about the opportunity, and for experiencing another culture and getting to know some other believers.

-Written to Moby "I Like to Score" and Jeremy Camp "Stay"

Funny Quotes

2009-04-23T15:31:00.002-05:00

I was at a high school baseball game and I here a teenage girl behind me talking with her friends:

"I lie all the time. I exaggerate EVERYTHING!"

It's one of those statements that tickles the brain.

Awed by Beauty

2009-04-21T16:03:00.003-05:00

Have you ever been taken so aback by something so unexpectedly beautiful that you are left in awe? Speechless? In tears? Have you had those small tastes of heaven where everything is like it should be and the world is perfect? I can think of just a few times I have had an experience like that. The last one I remember was driving towards Denver, CO on I-70 through the Rocky Mountains when I rounded a corner and a bright rainbow crossed the highway ahead. It was the most vivid rainbow I have ever seen, and it looked like a bridge over the interstate connecting the sides of the canyon.

This past week I had one of those moments. The video is here.

I was logging off my e-mail and browsing the headlines when I saw one talking about a woman wowing with her beautiful voice. It was interesting enough for me to check out so I watched it on YouTube. I was completely taken by surprise. I was moved to tears. Here is a woman named Susan Boyle who is described as “frumpy” by the British press, maybe “homely” by us. To the world she is a loser. She is unemployed, has never been married, and admits to having never been kissed. She lives in the same house she grew up in with her cat. Her “type” is the punchline to too many disparaging jokes.

To her credit she is good natured and has doesn’t seem to take herself too seriously, which is good considering the crowd did not take her seriously at all. What does a 47 year-old single overweight gray-haired woman have to offer us after all? But through all the boos she is smiling, laughing, and confident, without ever seeming arrogant. Then she begins to sing. And sing she does. The jeers turn quickly to cheers as one of the best voices I have ever heard rings out. It turned the usually scowling Simon Cowell into a delighted school boy.

The deep emotion comes in watching the wowed judges admit that they were not expecting much, and they got more than they had ever bargained for. The tears come from watching Susan have the excitement of a child as she has finally been able to show the world the marvelous gift that she has.

Perhaps one of the strongest cases for the authorship of God and that we are made in His image is beauty. It makes no sense. It seems only humans are capable of being taken by beauty, and we are the only creatures capable of participating in the creation of beauty. Beauty brings us to a place of deep awe and reverence. It moves us in ways that will never be forgotten. It gives us just a small taste of what heaven will be like when we are with the Author of all beauty. And isn’t it like God to give some of the most heavenly musical pipes to an unknown simple woman from Scotland. Perhaps we miss His beauty too often because we are too ingrained in our expectations.

There is an irony to all this though. The same woman that people were jeering because of how she looked is the same one people are cheering because of how she can sing. We are still guilty of loving only because people can offer us something. Many people only see her as valuable because she can sing. We are still terribly shallow. Nothing about Susan’s voice changes her character or her heart.

For a few moments as Susan walked off stage it seemed like everything for a brief moment was right with the world. Everything was flipped upside down as the true underdog wowed us all. The humble woman was able to share her gift with the world, and it was received gladly. True beauty and talent was discovered and it made appearances into nothing. Praise be to God for moments like this, where we see the true beauty that transcends appearance and moves the heart.

Turning Thirty

2009-03-31T15:39:00.002-05:00

I have never made that big of a deal about birthdays, but this one feels just a little different. I turn thirty today. It’s not bad, or scary, but it is a sign that I really am every bit an adult whether I want to act like it or not. In your twenties you can still use the excuse that “I was young and stupid.” Now, that young part isn’t really an option anymore. Of course, being thirty may mean that I have to be taken just a little more seriously. As my uncle once said, “At thirty, you’re just old enough to start to know what you’re talking about.” I don’t feel any younger, or any older, and overall I still feel young, and more like a kid than an adult, but it really does seem like I am moving into a different era of my life.

I once heard Andy Rooney talk about how your brain is full by 30. You can keep taking stuff in, but by 30 you have to forget something in order to learn something new. I think I have started. I wonder if it is linked to snoring, because I have started doing that in the last month too. Seriously, ask our kids the difference between our retreat in January, and CYC in February. I’m still irritated about it. At thirty, I think I am in the infant stages of getting old. In the last year I have started snoring, for the first time in my life had to get hemmorhoid cream, I have started to have to take a few more breaks while driving, I have to be careful about what shoes I wear, I recently had my first case of heartburn (isolated so far, but I'm not too hopeful), and I have had to take allergy medicine. Grrr.

Truthfully, I am so blessed to be able to reflect positively on this day. I am doing what I love to do, and there is nothing about age 30 that makes me think I am too old for youth ministry. Am I out of touch with my youth group’s world? Maybe, but I was out of touch with my youth group’s world when I was in the youth group, so nothing is different there. I am able to work with a congregation that I love, and with wonderful kids and families. I have the advantage of continuing to gain wisdom with age, although I know I am closer to the beginning of that journey than the end. But I can truthfully say that I am so tremendously blessed beyond what I deserve, and the Lord has been good to me.

We live in a culture that values youth and has forgotten the importance of life experience. I am so thankful that the Lord’s church crosses generational lines. We need the wisdom of grey hair and a faithful life well lived, and I hope that I am on that road (but no gray hairs yet, or bald spots for that matter, but there is a thinning spot). For those of you who think that you do not have much to offer our youth, you do. They need your perspective, wisdom, love, and encouragement. I need it too. Never let your age make you think you can’t have an influence or make a difference. The Bible values age, and I hope that we do too.

I will leave you with a song that I heard a few years ago, and it has special significance to me today. I love the sentiment of it. It was written by Randy Stonehill in the early 90s:

Turning Thirty
I'VE GOT A HOUSE DOWN BY THE OCEAN
THE RENT IS NOT TOO HIGH
AND I LOVE TO WATCH THE SHIPS COME IN
AND HEAR THE SEAGULLS CRY
AND LATELY I'VE BEEN TAKING STOCK
OF ALL THAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH
OH TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY
FEELS FUNNY BUT IT'S TRUE
I'M TURNING THIRTY

NOW I'VE GOT A WIFE WHO REALLY LOVES ME
SHE MAKES MY LIFE SO SWEET
AND A LITTLE BABY DAUGHTER
WHO PLAYS GAMES AROUND MY FEET
AND MY WORLD IS VERY DIFFERENT
FROM LOST LAZY BACHELOR YEARS
BUT IF I HAD THE CHANCE TO GO BACK
I'D RATHER STAY RIGHT HERE
TURNING THIRTY

AND I HAVE FRIENDS WHO CARE ABOUT ME
THEY'RE THE BEST I'VE EVER HAD
AND THEY ALWAYS STOOD BEHIND ME
WHENEVER TIMES GOT BAD
AND I LOVE TO PLAY MY MUSIC
THOUGH THE ROAD CAN BE AT TRIAL
BUT EVERY TIME I WALK ON STAGE
IT'S WORTH EACH DUSTY MILE
TURNING THIRTY

WELL, NOW THIRTY AIN'T LIKE FIFTEEN
AND IT'S NOT LIKE TWENTY-FIVE
MY BACK'S A LITTLE STIFF
AND THERE'RE SOME LINES AROUND MY EYES
BUT I'VE STILL GOT MY ENERGY
AND I'VE GOT MOST OF MY HAIR
AND I'M NOT TOO OLD TO ROCK 'N ROLL
AND I'M NOT REALLY SCARED
OF TURNING THIRTY
I WROTE THIS SONG EIGHT YEARS AGO
MY, HOW TIME FLIES AND SO DO I

OH, THE NINETIES LOOK LIKE TOUGH TIMES
THE WORLD IS TURNING SOUR
SO I'LL KEEP ON SERVING JESUS
AND AWAIT THE FINAL HOUR
AND THOUGH I'VE OFTEN FAILED HIM
IN THESE THIRTY ROCKY YEARS
HIS MERCY BROUGHT ME THIS FAR
AND HIS LOVE HAS DRIED MY YEARS
I'M TURNING THIRTY
I'LL TREASURE THESE YEARS
I'M TURNING THIRTY
I'LL TREASURE THESE YEARS TURNING THIRTY

Perfect 10 Canary Albums

2009-03-10T16:47:00.001-05:00

My friend Scott did a list of his 25 favorite albums in lieu of the Facebook thing about 25 random things about yourself. That encouraged me to make a list of albums that I consider to be perfect 10's. These are my favorite albums in no particular order. If you think it is a lot, it only represents 3% of my music collection.

And then after posting them I had to edit it. I took some off that I really really like, but they are nothing revolutionary or particularly original. So I left those that are and have a special place in my heart too. There are many that I would consider 9 1/2, but putting those up too is just overkill. Ok, here is the final list that I have no doubt about.

27B-6-"Mijumaanja"-A tremendously talented local band that was just too good to be signed.
Andrew Osenga-"Photographs"
Andrew Peterson-"Behold the Lamb of God"-best Christmas album
Caedmon's Call-"Caedmon's Call"
Caedmon's Call-"Long Line of Leavers"
Counting Crows-"August and Everything After"
Damien Rice-"O"-best break-up album ever
Demetri Martin-"These Are Jokes"-my favorite comedian. I have heard this CD several times and I still crack up.
Derek Webb-"I See Things Upside Down"
Derek Webb-"Mockingbird"-On Derek: Usually I like songs that I can identify with. These two albums have the distinction of actually challenging the way I think about culture, faith, and politics.
Don Chaffer-"What You Don't Know"-Saddest album I've heard, but so beautiful
Extreme-"III Sides to Every Story"-perhaps more relevant now than when it was ignored in 1992 when it came out.
Fernando Ortega-"This Bright Hour"
Fleetwood Mac-"Rumours"
Genesis-"Invisible Touch"
Heart-"Dreamboat Annie"
Jars of Clay-"Jars of Clay"-paved the way for artists who are Christians to be who they are. They paved the way for a flood of great Christian artists with this album.
Jeff Buckley-"Grace"-I hated this guy when I first heard him, but oh the beauty, the messy beauty of his music.
John Mayer-"Room for Squares"
Jonathan Rundman-"Sound Theology"
King's X-"Ear Candy"
The Last of the Mohicans Original Soundtrack-without the soundtrack, this movie would have been boring.
Led Zeppelin-"Houses of the Holy"
Live-"Throwing Copper"-everything after this album is so generic, but this one is incredible.
Paul Simon-"Graceland"
Pearl Jam-"Vs."
Peter Gabriel-"So"
Pink Floyd-"The Dark Side of the Moon"
Rich Mullins-"A Liturgy, a Legacy, and a Ragamuffin Band"
Rush-"Moving Pictures"
Sara Groves-"The Other Side of Something"
Sixpence None the Richer-"Sixpence None the Richer"
Something Like Silas-"Divine Invitation"
Stephen Speaks-"No More Doubt"
Sufjan Stevens-"Greetings from Michigan"
Tears for Fears-"Raoul and the Kings of Spain"
They Might Be Giants-"Flood"
Toad the Wet Sprocket-"Coil"-this whole album is about overcoming addiction.
U2-"The Joshua Tree"-even though side 1 should have been side 2
Waterdeep-"Sink or Swim"
Waterdeep-"Everyone's Beautiful"
Waterdeep-"To Chase Away the Birds"
Waterdeep-"Whole 'Nother Deal"

One of the Best Prostitutes in All of Scripture

2009-03-10T16:03:00.003-05:00

Sometimes the Bible can catch you off guard. There are times where the stories it tells ought not be used in polite conversation. One time someone asked me the most explicit verse in Scripture. I told him Ezekiel 23:20 without hesitation. That whole chapter is pretty risqué. God is calling Israel a bunch of whores. Read through the Bible and you will find these random, bizarre R rated stories. While we may consider some things not for family discussion material, God will deal with all of life, all emotions, and He will not shy away from anything.

I remember reading through Genesis when I was in high school and coming across the story of Judah and Tamar in chapter 38. I was taken aback. This is in the Bible? It is a one chapter story that seems to have no bearing on any of the other events going on at the time. Joseph is introduced in chapter 37, and then there is this break for this story of bad sexual ethics, having nothing to do with Joseph, and then chapter 39 picks right back up with his story.

There is much to learn from Judah and Tamar. While Tamar may be the one that comes off looking bad, it is really Judah who is the culprit in the story. Tamar only did what she did out of desperation. When Judah’s older two sons were put to death for their evil, Judah seemed to hold it against Tamar. Er was evil, but it doesn’t say what he did. Onan was evil because he was selfish and would not give his brother an heir (oh the ways that verse has been misused). Shelah was the innocent brother who ended up coming out pretty well, going from youngest to oldest. However, the true thrust of the story is in Judah’s self-righteousness and exposure (puns intended).

Tamar was nothing in this society without any children. She was twice widowed and Judah was kind to provide for her until Shelah was old enough. But Judah was afraid of losing another son, and refused to give him to Tamar. Tamar was a smart, resourceful woman who had been wronged and was not going to live in disgrace because of Judah’s selfishness. She took advantage of Judah’s situation. Judah’s wife Shua had died, and after he was done mourning, he went out to tend to his flocks. Tamar knowing this and knowing how Judah was lonely, dressed up as a prostitute. Judah fell for it, took her not knowing who she was, and paid for her services. Tamar accepted a young goat as payment, but since there wasn’t one around at the moment, she accepted Judah’s staff, seal and cord as a promise. Tamar is a smart woman, so gets back home with these items and forgets the sheep. When Judah comes looking for her she is gone. Judah eventually gives up looking for her because it seems he is afraid of the embarrassment of going to a prostitute.

Fast forward a few months. Judah is told Tamar is pregnant. Judah is outraged! He wants her burned…until Tamar reveals who the father of the baby is. Judah exclaims, “She is more righteous than I.” In all this, Judah is still blessed. The twins Tamar has again gives Judah three sons.

This Scripture doesn’t comment on anyone’s behavior directly other than Er and Onan. Is what Tamar did right? No, but she was driven to it by Judah’s sin. She is the better one in the story. Judah’s outrage is interesting. Many times the people who are most judgmental about someone else’s sin are guilty of the same thing. It’s almost like they project on others what they dislike about themselves, trying to hide behind their outrage. Judah’s self-righteousness is sickening. But when he is caught, he does what he should, he repents. He acknowledges what he did wrong. Judah is disgraced and Tamar is able to come out of her disgrace by having sons. The Bible never hides the convoluted difficulty of living life.

Tamar is one of four women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew, and all of them have a sorted history. Rahab was a prostitute. Ruth was a Moabite, who pulled a little trick to get Boaz to marry her, and Bathsheba was an adulterous. But out of these sinful people comes the One who will redeem us of all sin. I’m thankful that God through His Word does not shy away from anyone’s sin and shortcomings. It shows that He can forgive us when we come to Him and He can bring great things out of our sinfulness. I thank God for stories like Judah and Tamar.

The Faith of Abraham

2009-02-24T16:07:00.003-06:00

Abraham is considered the Father of the Jewish nation, and the father of faith. Hebrews 11 spends more time on what Abraham did than any of the others faith heros. He is a tremendous example of faith.

However, Abraham had his faults. When told to leave his family, he still took Lot along. When visiting Egypt, he was so afraid that someone would kill him because of the the beauty of Sarah that he lied about his wife (he later did the same thing to King Abimelech) and made a profit of his lies, basically meaning he pimped out Sarah (that may be the reason it took so long to have a son, she was probably pretty mad about it...). He, with the advice of Sarah, tried to find his own way to accomplish God’s plan by marrying Hagar and having Ishmael. Then when Sarah became jealous, Abraham gave her up and sent her away, and it was the Lord that protected her.

Abraham had his strong points. He left his land not even knowing where he was going. He allowed Lot to have the decision on which land to choose for his own. When Lot was captured, he gathered his men and freed him, but he was unwilling to take the spoils of war because they were from Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham wanted no part of their evil. When he was blessed by Melchizedek, Abraham gave a 10th of all he owned. He pleaded for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah (there was just Lot). Abraham was a generous man.

Abraham had difficulty waiting, just like most of us, but the Lord was faithful and the son of promise, Isaac, finally arrived. This was the hope of Abraham and Sarah, and the promise of God fulfilled. Perhaps this event solidified his faith, because when Abraham is called to do one of the most ridiculous thing God called anyone to do, he obeyed.

The Lord had proven Himself to Abraham, and so when called upon to sacrifice his only son, as Genesis 22 describes it, he goes without hesitation. Hebrews tells us that Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham fully trusted. He went, and he believed the Lord would provide.

I don’t know the reasons God called Abraham to do such a bizarre thing. Perhaps Abraham started to love Isaac more than the Lord and needed to be reoriented. Maybe Abraham needed to know how strong his own faith was. But what struck me the most as I read this passage this week was the phrase “his only son.” God is calling Abraham to give up his only son. The father of faith is being called to do what God is going to do through Abraham’s line. Abraham learned to have the love and faith in God to give him all, even his own son. God has the love for us to give up His only Son for our sake. Abraham shared in the character of God in a profound way. As Abraham did not withhold his son Isaac, believing he could be risen from the dead, God did not withhold His only Son from us, and through resurrection, Jesus is alive and reigning. Abraham did by faith what only God Himself could have the love to do, give up everything for the sake of everyone, and through it we gain all.

Posted while listening to Hallal "Faithful"

What Glorifies God?

2009-02-18T16:21:00.002-06:00

This last Sunday in the high school class we studied the Sabbath healings in Luke (6:6-11, 13:10-17, and 14:1-6). Each time Jesus broke with what was considered the law to get to what was the real law. The law in Exodus 31 states that anyone who worked on the Sabbath must be put to death. Well, what is work exactly? It seems that the goal of the Sabbath was a day where you take a break from everyday chores, rest, spend time with family, and worship God. This required some planning ahead.

Over time, in the interest of not wanting to break the law, they built hedges around it. Hedges were things that were probably okay to do, but it might lead to breaking the law. Hedges can be a great thing that helps keep us from temptation. However, over time those hedges were mistaken for the actual law, so more hedges were built around the hedges, and over time, more hedges. The Pharisees and Sadducees were now following a tradition built around the law instead of the law itself. The hedges were fine, but a hedge that you build cannot be used to judge others. When those hedges become the standard by which all must abide, then you have added to the law and you unrighteously judge others. We must let the Bible speak for itself and not be scared where Christian freedom may take someone. If the Bible does not state, then don’t state it. If the Bible states it, than state it. We can be guilty of letting the wisdom of hedges become the foolishness of legalism.

In the Sabbath healing stories in Luke, the Pharisees were operating out of the hedges, so the question they were asking is, “What is it okay to do?” They just wanted to know what right and what was wrong in a very rigid sense. They wanted hard and fast rules for everything, and while there are some hard and fast rules for some things, there are not for everything. If sin is a cliff you can fall off, then they wanted to know where the cliff was and wanted to avoid it. Some ask this question to know where the cliff is so they can get as close to possible without going over. Jesus came asking a totally different question, “What glorifies God?” It is a completely different way to think about how to live and how to make decisions. Jesus by healing was going to that cliff and bringing people back from it. He knew that healing was glorifying God, and it was an emergency situation. He tore through the Pharisees’ hedge laws in order to uplift God’s true law.

In our personal lives we need to make hedges to protect ourselves from sin that we are tempted by, but we need to allow God’s law to be His law, and know that He is the judge. We need to live by asking the question, “What glorifies God?” This means that sometimes we build hedges where other people run in like fools because the culture, both secular and Christian say it’s okay. There are other times where we break down hedges even when Christian culture says not to, because by doing so we glorify God. Jesus did this all the time, not caring what offense it caused the religious elite.

We have freedom in Christ, and that can be a dangerous thing, but freedom by its nature means we can chose good or ill. The way to make decisions wisely is not to ask, “What is it okay to do?” or “What can we get away with?” but “What glorifies God?” It changes the entire way you think about life, faith, and how to love others.

Posted to Daniel Doss-The Beggar. Yes, the same one of the Daniel Doss band that I went to high school with, and is responsible for the hardest football hit that both of us may have had.

A Special Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T14:45:00.004-06:00

This weekend I had the very best Valentine's Day I have ever had. Now if you count my kindergarten girlfriend, I average one about every 10 years, because for me, if a relationship is not going to work, I'm not going to bother. Not to mention, I hate the whole dating scene where you have to sell yourself. As someone put it, you have to be an ambassador for yourself. I don't like to do anything that feels fake, and I'm not going to pretend that I am all that, because while I am a terrific catch, one of my strong points is I'm going to do my best to live honestly in all aspects of my life, both good and bad. I have some deep convictions that I will absolutely not compromise on regardless of what everyone else does. So one of the most important things to me if finding a woman who loves God more than she loves me. Well, all that was a very long introduction to my wonderful girlfriend Nancy Whitt.

(Thankfully my head is strategically covering up the Yankees emblem. Good point: she likes baseball. Bad point: Yankees fan. But that is balanced out by her preference for driving a stick shift. While Yankees fans are a dime a dozen, a woman who knows her clutch is hard to find. So I'll take it, even if the car she just bought is an automatic :)

She is wonderful, and here is why: She loves the Lord and so wants her faith to shine in everything that she does. She is not interested in religion, but in a true faith in God that directs and permeates every aspect of life. She has a great sense of humor, and a fun laugh. She is independent and strong. She knows she likes and doesn't like and will tell you, but at the same time she is easy going. She is intelligent and is a great conversationalist, and she loves me for who I am, both my good points and bad points. She lives honestly and doesn't hide her strengths or her weaknesses. She loves others, especially kids, and I love watching her encourage others. The way she loves others makes me love her more. She has a very big heart. She is one of my best friends. Plus, she is totally hott!!

Nancy and I have actually been friends for around 15 years since we met the summer of 1994 at Pettijohn Camp in Oklahoma for church camp, and we have stayed in contact over the years. We have known each other at our worst and at our best, and around Christmas time, it slapped me upside the head how much I absolutely cared for her. I could not ask for a better friend. As most of you know I am a total romantic idiot and it can take me awhile, but when it hit, it ran me over like an 18 wheeler. So I told her around Christmas just how much she meant to me.

She visited Tennessee January 29-Feb 2 (right after the ice storms) and got to see me in my everyday setting (well, the ice storm part is definitely not everyday). She made friends with my friends and family quickly (and yes, they all like her). It was so wonderful just to spend a few days with her. The only down side is we have, with the exception of one semester at ACU, never lived in the same area, but when you have spent so much time getting to know someone's heart, that is really not that big of a deal. When she visited, she was encouraging, friendly, and outgoing.

This past weekend I have been able to do something fun and wonderful, and I needed a mini-vacation, so Thursday I drove to Tyler, TX where she is now living, and with the help of Nancy's sister surprised her with dinner (chicken parmesan and my famous peanut butter brownie sundaes) flowers, and my presence. She walked into the house and when she saw me gave me the biggest smile and a great hug. She was totally surprised and she absolutely loved it. It was great spending the time with her and getting to know her in her setting. The more I talk with her and spend time with her, the more I love her. Friday she took a vacation day so could spend the time together. We watched a movie (Slumdog Millionaire) and then spent the afternoon with a joyful 6th grader that Nancy's sister takes care of when her mother is working. We went bowling and miniature golfing, and unfortunately Nancy beat me at both. No, I am way too competitive to let her win, but there will be a rematch. That evening we had TX barbecue at Spring Hill in Tyler (the brisket wasn't that great, but the company was wonderful) and just spent the evening talking, watching a movie, and enjoying being together. Saturday we had to depart until my vacation to TX in March.

Being in love is wonderful, and so weird. I like it, because I am in love with one of my best friends. I hate the whole concept of "earning love" and to do so is really not loving. With Nancy, I just get to love and be loved, and it is so freeing, and it makes doing things for her a complete joy. She kept telling me I didn't have to do this, and my response was "I know, that what makes it so much fun."

I have never been anti-Valentine's Day, but I have never really had one that meant a lot to me till this year. Thanks Nancy. I love you.

Ice Storms

2009-02-09T16:03:00.011-06:00

Many of you have heard of the ice storms that came through western Kentucky and the area. It was a wierd storm where it was above freezing where the clouds were dropping rain, but below freezing on the ground, so wherever the water landed it stayed. Here are some pictures from the storm. Truthfully, all the ice on the trees looked amazing, but it was incredibly destructive.

Martin was on the very southern part of the storm and we missed the worst of it. Our power went out for only 30 mintues. But driving north into Fulton, only 15 miles north, it looked like they got 3x what Martin did, and it gets worse as you go north. It looks like a regional tornado came through and took out the telephone poles and trees. Fulton was out for completely for 4 days, and places like Clinton and Hickman, small towns in western KY still only have spot power. We still have some church members who are without power 2 weeks after the storm.

About the only I have known to do is have lots of community service days were we pick up limbs. I think in the last week when you add up all the branches, I have personally moved about 3 full grown trees.

This is from an elderly member we have who had a couple big branches fall on his car port in Fulton. We were able to get his car out and it had a dented roof, but no window damage and no leaks.

We had a tree fall on our youth room so it is out of commission for awhile. This fortunately is the most damage I have seen to a building. Thankfully it is something that is a luxury and not a person's house. Now the tree is off it and it is tarped.

Please pray for this region, and particularly for the workers trying to restore power who are putting in long dangerous days. This week the weather has been in the 60s, which has helped crews work faster. There are still lots of wires down and a whole lot of clean up to do. It has been a good chance to do some outreach to the community and a way for my kids to find ways that they can help. I am glad that I am able to help in some way.

The Faith of Friends

2009-02-09T16:02:00.000-06:00

These are the kind of friends that you want. These men had a friend who was injured in an accident and there was one thing that they knew would heal him. So they got their friend and carried him to the place where they knew healing could take place. They got there and the crowd was so large there was no way to get in. But these friends know something about perseverance, and they were a little creative. They found a way to get their friend up on the roof and they dug a hole, and then found a way to lower their friend in to the only one they knew could heal him, Jesus.

Most men in his position were hated by the locals. They were the local law enforcement for the oppressive outsiders who had taken over the country. But this man was different. He truly cared for others, and even the community that he was sent to. He got to know the townspeople, and found any way he could to help. He built a new synagogue. He cared for his soldiers and even slaves like they were his own family. One day on of his slaves became desperately ill. This man loved all those in his household and would do whatever he could to take care of them. The local elders so loved this man that they would help him any way that they could. It was the Jewish elders that went to find Jesus, even bragging about how this Gentile Roman military officer deserved to have this done for him, if anyone ever deserved anything. While most people in this Centurion’s position were likely proud and power hungry, this man was humble. He believed that Jesus was the ultimate authority and knew all Jesus had to do was give the word, and it would be done. He understood real authority, not the one taken by power, but the kind earned through love and respect. Jesus marveled at his faith. The Son of God was impressed by this Centurion.

In both of these stories, found in Luke 5:17-26 and 7:1-10, it was the faith of friends that led to the healing of the ones who were sick. It was the friends who went out of their way and would accept nothing less than their paralyzed friend encountering Jesus. In the Centurion’s case, it was his servant who was sick, but it was a whole village effort to find Jesus and bring Him so He could heal this beloved servant.

Not only does our faith bring us to Christ, but through our faith others can find the healing that Christ brings. While the paralyzed friend received physical healing, he had his sins forgiven which brought the more important spiritual healing. In the Centurion’s town, there was an entire community that learned how to care for each other through his example of selfless humility. I hope that you have faithful friends, and I hope that your faith brings others into an encounter with Jesus.

The Lord Grieves

2009-02-04T18:36:00.001-06:00

This was my bulletin article for last week, and the previous post today was this week's article. I will soon have some pictures from the ice storms up for those that wish to gawk at those. Actually it was quite beautiful, and tremendously destructive, but more on that later.

“The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” (Genesis 6:6). This is profound Scripture that tells us about the nature of God. Our God is a God who hurts, who grieves, and who regrets.

We live in a culture that has somehow bought into the idea that this world is supposed to be perfect. Any pain and discomfort is seen as a tragedy. If something goes wrong, or if someone is in pain, our culture will look for a culprit or a scapegoat. We believe that we should not hurt or suffer.

God hurts. God suffers. God feels pain. We are made in His image, and that means we have emotions like His. God got to the point where people were so evil to each other that He couldn’t bear to let it go on. The creation that He loved and that he proclaimed as “very good” became a creation He regretted making. He wanted to just start all over. But he found one righteous man, Noah, and his family. He could not let them go. He would not destroy all, because there was still one man that loved Him.

God loves the same way. Instead of getting rid of the messes that life creates, God entered into our world. He hurt. He grieved. He got angry. He had compassion. He was tortured. He died. He did this because He loved His creation so much. He refused to let go of it completely. If you were the only sinner, He would have done it just for you. As Noah was one man who still loved God, our God is a God who will give Himself for just one person who He loves.

If God feels pain, and if He suffers, and if He endures the cross, who are we to think that we are above Him and should not encounter difficulty and struggle? We miss so much that God has for us to learn, and nothing worth doing ever comes without struggle and setback. Jesus wept. God in the flesh mourned.

When tough times come, God’s solution isn’t to take it away, but to be with us and help us through it. He identifies with our hurt and pain and He is there. He invites us to cry out to Him, sometimes even with our own doubts and accusing words. The kind of words we can only vent to someone who loves us and hurts and holds us when we just need to let it out. Read the Psalms. Many were written by people crying out to God and not even knowing if He was there to listen. But they had the faith to cry.

We have One to cry out to, to vent to, and to pray to. God understand disappointment and heartache even deeper than we can imagine. He experienced it when Jesus died. He experienced with His creation. The Lord grieves.

Love Your Neighbor as YOURSELF

2009-02-04T13:59:00.001-06:00

How do you talk to yourself? It is a question I have thought about recently and been reminded of how important self-talk is, mostly because I have been in a place where I have been talking bad about myself in recent months. What are the things you tell yourself when things don’t go right, or you messed something up, or life just gets stressful and throws us for a loop (as many in Western KY have experienced the last couple of weeks)?

You are the only one who knows what you think. Everyone else can only see what you do. The things you think probably aren’t too different from what everyone else thinks, meaning it is a common human struggle. Because we are so aware of all our own doubts and fears and the thoughts behind every action, we judge ourselves by that. Others can see none of that and can only see what you do.

The greatest commands are to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. Part of that command is to love yourself. I have heard some say they need to love themselves less and others more. They are afraid that this will lead to arrogance and selfishness. The opposite is true, instead of becoming selfish and doing whatever we want for ourselves, we learn to treat ourselves with the same respect that we show to others. I have noticed that I will talk to myself in ways that I would never talk about another person. It’s wrong to mistreat and talk bad about others, but for some reason it seems okay if we do that to ourselves.

I have to be very careful about how I think about myself. When I doubt myself, what inevitably happens is I become self conscious and concerned about how I am coming across or what others are thinking, and I project my own insecurities about myself onto that other person, and then start to believe that that other person must have a problem with me. The focus turns from others to myself and I can no longer see needs, hurts, ways to encourage, reasons to rejoice, and ways to reach out and love. I become obsessed with my own impression which is all imagined anyway, preconditioned by how I am thinking and talking to myself at the moment. When I am confident in God’s love, and I understand what He has done for me, then I am free to love others without being self conscious. It doesn’t matter because I have been accepted by Christ, and He tells me who I am.

To “love your neighbor as yourself” challenges not just how we think about others, but how we think about ourselves. It allows us to be humble because we become willing to receive love we do not deserve, and we love others not based on their own merit, but on God’s acceptance. The best definition of I have heard of humbleness is “not think less of ourselves, but to think of ourselves less.” Loving ourselves has the opposite effect of arrogance and self-consciousness. It opens us up to loving like God loves and keeps us from trashing ourselves and in turn, others. Think about what you tell yourself this week, and when negative thoughts creep in, remind yourself that you are a child of God who He has redeemed. He thinks so very much of you, and do not trash what the Lord loves so much.

I'm Still Here, I Promise

2009-01-23T15:45:00.003-06:00

Ok, so it has been two months since I have posted anything useful. So here is rundown of what has been going on.

I am done with my semester at Harding finally, got my extended paper done last week, and I am not taking any classes this spring because is a bit too crazy right now. At least I really enjoyed this last paper. It was about attitudes of Church of Christers towards the civil rights movement. I learned a lot, and it made MLK day really mean something to me this year.

We had our winter retreat on Jan 9-11 and it was incredible.

Fireproof is a 5 star movie.

I will make some posts in the next couple of weeks about all of this. I am telling you so I am accountable.

I am going skiing tomorrow in St. Louis. Well, I'm not skiing, because I can't do anything that requires balance when not on my feet. My skiing story would be a fun post too.

I have lots of stuff to get done today, so this is going to stay brief, but I will be posting more frequently now that I'm not comsumed with reading and writing for my classes.

Obama's inauguration speech was impressive. I hope that he can keep that spirit and not be a typical politician. I am hopeful and skeptical all at the same time, but he has started well.

It is a nice day and I need to wash my car, so that is where I am headed now.

Oh, and my girlfriend, Nancy Whitt, (who some of you know from ACU) is visiting next weekend. Woohoo. Yes, this is recent news.

Funny Quote

2008-12-23T23:14:00.002-06:00

This appeared on my g-mail account in the news and advertisement section:

Cleanliness becomes more important when godliness is unlikely."-P.J. O'Rourke

Hehe, thanks from a pack rat clutter fiend.

Have a merry Christmas everyone. Soon I will get back to making occasional updates and posts.

Personal Update

2008-11-10T16:22:00.004-06:00

It has been a crazy and tough couple of months. Right now I am putting off my grad school work which consists of writing a total of at least 63 pages of stuff for 4 papers, the last of which is due Dec. 7. Pretty much I have one week for each of them.

Over the last couple of months it seems I have been dealing with death and funerals. In early October within a week I went to a funeral for a 1 day old, a 32 year old, a 54 year old, and a 80+ year old. The 32 year old was tough because he was close to my age and died of congestive heart failure. His only surviving relative (well, that seems to give a crap at least) is his older brother Philip who has become a dear friend, and it has been really hard on him. It's almost like he lost a son. In the past couple of weeks I have another friend Nick who lost a grandparent, and then another friend Hailey who had a good friend of hers pass away suddenly at 28. She died of some type of heart condition but was in otherwise great health. Even though everyone dies, I am convinced it is not natural and is a curse of sin. We were made to be eternal and death shakes us so hard because it makes us deal with unnatural mortality. Death makes us crazy for awhile.

In the middle of all that I feel like all my time for my youth group has been taken up by grad school and funerals. Ashley is grounded for her grades (she hasn't been turning in homework, and I mean like ALL of it. Well, that has changed the last couple of weeks.) She has been working much harder at school now, and she is discovering how smart she is.

In other things my home computer died and I am...not really missing it. I knew it was on its way so I was able to move all my files to my back-up hard drive so I haven't lost any information. I can do everything I need to do at my office (although forget the movie reviews and music reviews for awhile, at least until after my semester is done. But go see Fireproof. Usually Christian cinema ends up being pretty cheesy, but this is a really good illustration of what it means to love as Christ loved and the characters and actors seem like real people, not Hollywood people, which irritates the fire out of some, but I like dealing with life as it is. I will do a review eventually.) Anyways, I have decided to pay for grad school as I go and pay off my debt, so a new cpu is well down the list. Unless you know someone who is getting rid of an old one that works fine, or is selling a laptop for really cheap than let me know. At this point I very much prefer a laptop. I have so little financial responsibilities, and it is time to pay crap off. I am trying to break through that thinking of what I need into what I want. I have much more than I need and will never have everything I want. I would rather not owe anybody anything so I could enjoy giving people anything. I don't know how much I agree with Dave Ramsey's view of money, but he is so right on the debt part I'm convinced.

Wednesday I took a vacation day to work on some grad school stuff and to go to Cape Girardeau, MO (about 2 hours from Martin) where I saw Waterdeep (just Don and Lori Chaffer) and Derek Webb in concert. It was outstanding and I helped load stuff for them after the show so I could talk with them. My two favorite artists playing together. Yes!! Sandra McCracken played with them to, and she is really growing on me. Waterdeep did a set, Sandra and Derek did a set, Derek did a set by himself, and they played together for several songs. Don and Lori make it a comedy show with their stage banter. They are going back to touring and I am happy.

I'm so glad the election is over. It took me a long time to decide who I was voting for, and I finally came to my conclusion a week before the election and early voted. I voted against all my Congressman running because they were for the socialist bail-out package, so any R's don't dare talk about Obama being a socialist, because R's are too only they give the money to those who have had and squandered others savings while running away with plenty, which is just as immoral as abortion and homosexuality, and the Lord spoke against stuff like that much more. Read Amos and then come talk to me. And yes, I know the D's voted for it too. So that's why I vote based on the person and care nothing for R's or D's or any other designation. I find more and more party has nothing to do with morality, character, or responsibility, fiscally or otherwise. I have serious issues with Obama and McCain on their moral stances (abortion for Obama but he does seem to be interested in the poor, which is a huge moral issue biblically, and McCain's policies seem not to do much there.) Being equal on the moral issues in my view (both have much to be desired) it came down to who they are. McCain seemed to really changed during his run. He went from a "maverick" to a Republican base panderer whose campaign was based on questioning who is the real Obama instead of giving much good tangeble information (okay, you changed John, so who is the real John McCain? What a stupid question.) He either changed to win the office, or listened to really bad advice and did not identify it as such. He seemed to return to good McCain for his concession speech. But I do not want another president who is going to not question bad advice, and stick with it when it is failing. Obama seemed to be more consistent through his whole campaign, and dealt with tough things with honesty and maturity. Basically I thought back to his Philadelphia speech on race. Obama has been saying a whole lot of something and it is not empty as some say it is. His acceptance speech was excellent, especially as he acknowledged the difficulty of the task and that there will be mountains to climb and missteps and that not everything will be able to be accomplished. I'm hoping he chooses a politically diverse cabinet.

There is a beautiful irony to a black family moving into the White House that was built by slaves. I was surprised by my emotional reaction to the moment where it seems racism has not the hold on society that it used to (well, at least against African Americans. I'm afraid that Hispanics are becoming the new racial punching bag.) I don't know if Obama will be a good President. I don't know much of anything of the future or what is best. I do know that I'm all about fical responsibility and that Republicans are not as much as they want to talk about it. Anyways, politics is awful and dirty and I'm glad its over, and I think I would have been fine with either one. I did like both candidates for a change. I'm also convinced that neither one will have much of an impact on my life.

On top of all that I feel like I have had almost no prayer life the last couple of months. I am letting everything else get in the way, and I can feel the disconnection. I can tell a tremendous difference in my spirit and how I see and respond to others when I am praying regularly and when I am not. If anything can be consistent in my very inconsistent life this has to be it. Let me know what I can pray for for all of you. It will remind me to stop and pray, and you will be the beneficiary. post or e-mail timspain@gmail.com

Funny Quote

2008-11-10T16:19:00.003-06:00

This was said by my niece Ashley on election night when I asked her who she would vote for:

"I don't get all that. It's all weird and grown-uppy stuff."

Actually, it seems most of politics is pretty childish. Anyways, it cracked me up. Then we had a really good conversation about what each candidate believed and what was said about them, and it went from there into a conversation about WWII. She was asking good questions.

Amos, Pt. 8

2008-11-10T16:18:00.000-06:00

The Lord disciplines those that He loves, but He absolutely loves to bless those that He loves. After all the preaching against Israel, the Lord reminds His people that He will restore them and bless them. They had gotten way off track, and misplaced their priorities, but the Lord’s anger is temporary. He will discipline and restore. He will remake His covenant with His people.

Read Amos 9:11-15. After all that is spoken against Israel, in a few short verses Amos tells them what it can be like when we follow the Lord. Amos alludes to the covenant the Lord made with Noah in Genesis 9. The land will be so fertile that people are still harvesting when its time to plant again. When the people are faithful, the land is good (Leviticus 26:1-13). Amos reminds them of this promise in Leviticus and uses the same language. In the Mosaic covenant, the health of the land is directly tied to the faithfulness of the people. Amos also talks about the Davidic covenant, where the Lord’s anointed will reign on the throne, and not just over Israel, but all nations.

Acts 15:16-18 quotes Amos 9:11-12. “Edom” is the same word as “Adam” which is understood to mean all people, and in Acts they use the word Gentiles, which is a good translation. Amos is talking about a time when all people will be ruled by the throne of David, and this came true in Christ. Amos even talks about the New Covenant.

Amos is a book we must pay attention to. After all, our society is not much different, and we must look at ourselves through the mirror of Amos. Humans have not changed in that time, and we are just as susceptible to greed, indifference, and self delusion. We don’t like to talk about it in our country or our churches, but how we conduct our business is a moral issue as strong as any sexual ethics. Amos makes us have to face that. It is immoral to run a business and rake in cash while paying good workers barely a living wage. In fact paying people well for a job will done will bless a business and its owners. It is simply giving credit where credit is due and using business to bless others. It is immoral to make money off the backs of the poor by taking advantage of their desperation or greed (greed has no social class) by running a payday loan store that charges ridiculous interest. Those are two ways that Amos is speaking directly to our business culture. It may not be how we think about things in our economy, but the Lord is tremendously more interested in our faithfulness and love for our neighbor than our economic system. The Lord is the same, and He is just as capable of being angry at His people when they are not living up to His standard and taking advantage of others. Yet there is always hope of restoration. If the Lord must destroy, He will rebuild stronger. He never abandons His people. But He will discipline them, because He loves them.

Amos, Pt. 7

2008-11-10T16:12:00.001-06:00

Read chapter 8:1-9:10. The camel’s back is broken but the straw keeps coming. This time justice is judgment of a society that has lost all sense of responsibility for each other and is filled with greed. They have become comfortable and have stopped trusting in God. Oh, they still are trusting in religion, but God has no part in it anymore. In fact the only thing they think about on the Sabbath is when it will be over so they can sell more and make more money. They have an empty religion. Amos, after not buying Amaziah’s threat, gets more aggressive in His preaching. The oracles against the nations is long forgotten. Who knows if anyone was listening at this point, and if so they were mad. Amos is messing with their money. It didn’t change much in the New Testament. When Jesus talked about money, people got mad. Paul had no threats from Gentiles, until he went to Ephesus and Demetrius realized that Paul’s preaching was bad for his business. Then Demetrius incited a riot. (Acts 19:23-34). It seems that we will talk all day against certain types of immorality, but greed gets a free ride, even though it was the sin that Jesus spoke against the most. Amos is reminding people that the Lord is going to take back the land, because it is His anyway, and the people have not been good stewards of it. The Lord has had enough.

Amos knows his Scripture well. Throughout chapter 8 he uses imagery from the exodus from Egypt, only now they are going back into captivity. Now instead of being led by a sun and pillar of fire, darkness will overcome. People will mourn like they are mourning for a son that has died. In the desert, all the food and drink were provided. Now no one will be able to find any. Instead of being led in the desert, they will now wonder aimlessly. The covenant they accepted they no longer follow. They are no longer the Lord’s people, they are money’s people.

In chapter 9 Amos evokes the imagery of Psalm 139. In the Psalm the Lord is the Protector who never leaves. Whether in the heavens or in Sheol, He is there. Now the Lord is telling Israel that they cannot get away from His wrath. They cannot flee to the heavens or down to Sheol because He will be there. Amos uses what was a Psalm of comfort and changes it to a Psalm of distress. The Lord has searched their hearts, and He has found wicked ways. Now the plight of Israel is wrapped up in Psalm 139:19-22 “If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.” Israel has become the enemy.

Yet in all His anger at the way that justice has been perverted, the Lord sends Amos to give warning. The Lord is waiting to relent. He is wanting to forgive. He wants everything to be made right. Exile is the Lord’s last resort. And even though the Lord promises awful things to those who have accepted His covenant and perverted it, He still has a heart of restoration. If He cared nothing for His people, He would not have sent the prophets, He would not be taking up the case of the widow and the orphan and those who cannot fend for themselves, and He would never have sent Himself through Jesus. The Lord’s desire is not to punish—it is justice. He will make things right.

Amos, Pt. 6

2008-10-23T12:11:00.001-05:00

Chapter 7:10-17 is the only narrative part of Amos. He is confronted by the king’s priest Amaziah who tells Amos to stop preaching there and go home. Amaziah is even building a case against Amos to the king, but in doing so mixed truth with fiction and put words in Amos’ mouth that he never said, “Jeroboam will die by the sword.” It is true Amos warned Israel that they were going into exile. When confronted, Amos appeals to his calling and even states this was not what his life was about, but he is following the Lord so he must preach. Amos sticks to the truth, and while he said nothing about Jeroboam dying by the sword, he does warn Amaziah that his children will, and that his wife will become a prostitute (after all, in this society if a woman has no husband or sons to take care of her, what else can she do?), and that Amaziah will die in a foreign land. Amos has no use for comforting people who are already living lives of extreme comfort and indifference to the plight of those around them. He is jarring them to attention, and all they want is for him to stop so they can return to their materialistic lives.
Amos motivation is not money or pats on the back or attention. He is preaching the truth in love by faith. Amos doesn’t want this to happen, after all this comes right after Amos is pleading with the Lord to relent. But Amos loves these people to much to not warn them and call them to repentance. Amaziah is motivated by preaching what the people want to hear and being a spokesperson for the king. Amos is motivated by his faith and love.

What kind of preaching do we want? Do we want to live our comfortable lives while we hear preaching we can agree with that rails against everyone else and tells us we’re okay, or do we respond to preachers like Amos that tells it like it is and calls God’s people to repentance. He will not let us languish in our comfort while a world is going to hell and our comfort is part of what’s taking them there.

We can preach all day against abortion, homosexuality, immorality, etc. and we ought to. But do we welcome preaching against greed, materialism and spiritual pride? Do we try to control a church by threatening to take away our contribution or ask a preacher to be fired because they aren’t preaching the “right” truth (right defined as preaching against others sins but leaving us comfortable)? It’s easy to preach against things that are “out there,” which Amos started his preaching by doing (chapters 1-2) but when someone steps on our toes and calls us to repentance for our own lives it requires change, which is difficult and uncomfortable. But in the church we are still sinners that are more affected by our “me” culture then we would like to admit. The big sin in Amos is materialism and injustice. We can fight for all the right things doctrinally while ignoring our own neighborhoods. Who cares if we are right if it is not leading to salvation, justice, and holy lives.

“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”-2 Timothy 4:3

Amos, Pt. 5

2008-10-15T00:25:00.000-05:00

First let me clear up something I was wrong on last week. I mentioned that idolatry was not a major issue at this time is Israel. Idolatry was always a major issue in Israel from Mount Sinai until after the exile. So yes, they were worshipping other gods, along with Yahweh. They were sure to get the temple worship right to Yahweh, but completely ignored Him in their ethics and business, all while worshipping other gods as well.

Now we move to Amos 5:1-6:9. You can hear the anger in the Lord’s words. He gave a nation His very heart and told them what He expected. They accepted the covenant to be His people. Now they have turned their backs on Him and are mistreating the poor and oppressed, while still pretending to love the Lord and believing they are pleasing Him by having the “proper” temple worship. The Lord is hurt and angry (and yes, the Lord does grieve.) This is a reminder that the Lord is a just God. Those who do evil will be punished. Those who are taken advantage of will be lifted up.

There is much discussion over the justice of God. Many people wonder how He can be a loving God and punish people, and even send them to hell. Yet, the same people that will not allow for the Lord to do that will be the one’s crying out for “justice” when someone wrongs them. We reflect in our treatment of each other the nature of dealing with sin against us and getting angry at injustice. When its us we want mercy, when it is others wronging us we want justice. At least the Lord is balanced. We don’t feel the hurt and anger nearly as strongly as the Lord. Justice demands that things are made right, and evil must be dealt with. To have a God who doesn’t do that means he is either a weak god or an indifferent god. Our God is neither. He is just and merciful, full of grace and full of wrath, and He will not apologize nor try to explain either. His character is one that wants to give grace and mercy, but He will grant those who do not choose to follow Him what they have always wanted, eternity apart from Him.

In Amos 6, the Lord has pleaded His case and Israel has gotten the guilty verdict. Now comes the sentencing, and those who are responsible for making money at the expense of the poor will be the most severely punished. This doesn’t mean the downtrodden are innocent, but it does mean that those who have are responsible for maintaining justice. That does not fit well with our society but it is still true. Those who have are responsible for maintaining justice. The “haves” are feasting and celebrating and ignoring others. The Lord is going to make things right.
In chapter 7, the sentencing continues. Amos is pleading with the Lord, and He relents twice. This is the Lord showing that He is doing this as a last resort. After all, He is sending Amos to declare their sin and giving them a chance to repent. After relenting twice, the Lord shows Amos a plumb line, which is used to see if vertical lines are straight. Israel is terribly crooked. The Lord is going to act, because He cannot let this go on. The Day of the Lord is coming, and things are going to be made right, and no one is going to enjoy it.

“When justice is bought and sold like weapons of war, the ones who always pay are the poorest of the poor.”-Derek Webb

Hey Everybody, Let's FREAK OUT!!!!

2008-10-08T01:52:00.006-05:00

In case you haven't heard, the stock market is down and we are all heading for a great depression, business is over as we know it, and we are all now terribly poor, and only the government can fix our lives.

Oh please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Time for a reality check. The dow is at 9400 something. That is the lowest its been in (drum roll please) 5 years!!!!! 5 years? That means that stocks are worth what they were 5 years ago.

(Wow, what a spike, I think that still covers inflation. I don't remember all those spikes going up being reported. In the same two week period, the market has gone up 400+ points two times that I know of.)

Then the government passes a 700 billion dollar bail out. Since when is it the governments job to give money to stupid rich people? But we can't live without our credit because then we can't buy a home or buy the new car we all neeeeeeeed (please read with a whine). And it was so important to hurry this legislation through, oh, but once it passed it will take a month before any of that money will go out. At least our government can still get a line of credit to over borrow so that we can all still have that same ability. I think the bill will have a terrible effect on Wall Street, because now all the businesses are looking to the government instead of innovating.

According to the news, as a middle class person I should be terribly poor and struggling because I do not have a new car, house, and giant screen TV. My life must suck!! But last I checked I am still being just as overly entertained by my 20" $89 TV and my used car runs just fine (and I should have got something cheaper). Oh, and I have a great family and wonderful friends and a good church. It makes up for my lack of designer clothes.

If you own a car, you are in the top 10% of the nations wealthiest people.

We are mad because we can't have everything we want and we forget that there is a natural ebb and flow to economies. The reason the 90s and 2000s have been so profitable is because a lot of people (me included) bought stuff with money we didn't have (I'm still working on having mine, meaning paying back all my debts).

The next president won't fix it, the government is not our Savior, and I'm not voting for anyone who voted for the package. I would rather have a Congressman I disagree with on a lot of things who isn't going to freak out or think that the government needs to "save" Wall Street from a 5 year low.

People are mad because with credit drying up they can't get a loan. Good!!! Maybe we shouldn't buy crap we can't afford. Maybe the banks will learn something that they will remember for 5 years before they start doing stupid loans for short term profits again.

Everytime the stock market have fallen 10% or more since 1970 10 times, and it was back up to its original value with in 2 years 9 of those times (Dave Ramsey stat).

When did the US get so codependent and scared?

Or maybe we are headed for a great depression and our government will implode. Welcome to the fall of Rome people. The Kingdom of God is still here, and regardless of what happens, I'm gonna be okay.

You think this fits into all those Amos posts somewhere? Banks getting rich (temporarily) by lending to people who can't afford it? Yes, people shouldn't borrow what they can't afford, but even more so banks shouldn't loan for luxeries what people can't afford. Almost anyone will take money that's available, especially irresponsible people. So then we bail out the rich sector so the poor will be okay? It just doesn't ever seem to work that way.

Amos Pt. 4

2008-10-08T01:48:00.001-05:00

Read Amos chapter 5. Amos moves from talking about the injustice that is done in Israel to what the Lord thinks about it and what He is going to do. It starts with a funeral song for Israel, and then an admonition to seek the Lord instead of religion. The Israelites are in a time where they are not worshipping other nation’s idols. They have become a rich country and trust that this shows the blessing of the Lord. Amos boldly states that their prosperity is going to be a curse, because they have stopped seeking justice. The haves are having more at the expense of the poor, and are depriving those who have no voice (because they have no money) of justice. Amos’ definition of justice is to protect the innocent and make things right. The people are taking advantage of the innocent and lining their pockets. While acknowledging God with the “proper” religious festivals, they deny Him in their treatment of others.

Many in Israel were looking forward to what they call the “Day of the Lord.” They saw the Day of the Lord as a time when the Lord would bless Israel, because after all, their prosperity must be a sign of the Lord being with them, right? Amos proclaims that the day of the Lord is coming, but it will not be good, because with the Lord will come His hand of justice, and its going to be very different from what they expect. Israel has become complacent, comfortable, and materialistic in their lives and their religion. "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:21-24). The Lord is rejecting their worship, because while they have the right forms, they are not living the right way.

When asked what the greatest command is, Jesus replied, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31). Everything we do in our family, work, worship, private and public lives must follow these two commands. We can have every form of worship correct, but if we are not loving our neighbor, it is of no value. In fact the Lord detests it. Our faith cannot be compartmentalized. It must be the foundation of all we do. If we come to worship to love God, fellowship, encourage, seek the Lord, learn, repent, and be edified so that we can bring His love to others then we are pleasing to the Lord. If we come to worship to check a list so that we can say we’ve done all the “right things” but then look down on, talk bad about, feel superior to, or mistreat others because of their race, class, nationality, age, sex, religion, etc. than our worship was in vain, and we and the Lord’s church would be better if we just stopped showing up. That’s a tough message, but in keeping with Amos. I hope we all wrestle with this passage, because it is a gut check, and the Lord has not changed what He is most interested in, which is justice, righteousness, love, and salvation. All things that Jesus lived out in His life, and calls us to as Christians. Proper worship is important, but is nothing if it is not built on a foundation of love for justice and righteousness. May they roll like a river through our churches and our lives.

Amos, Pt. 3

2008-10-02T17:52:00.001-05:00

Israel was God’s chosen nation. They made a covenant with the Lord and received His law. They were a blessed people. They had God’s protection, law, and covenant. They were a light to the nations and their God was legendary in the region. They were supposed to be a light to the nations. But Israel took all of this the wrong way. They believed they were a special nation, and that since the Lord had chosen them He would always protect them. They became spoiled children who believed they could do no wrong. Instead of understanding God as the one true God who created the heavens and the earth, made a covenant with Abraham, and who brought them out of Egypt, they started to think that they themselves were something special, so that’s why God must have chosen them. They forgot the promise made in Leviticus 26. They forgot they had a covenant to fulfill. Instead of realizing the great blessing they had and knowing what a gracious God they serve, they became arrogant and believed it was all about them. Perhaps the best illustration is the one about the difference between a cat and a dog. If you give a dog food, they will believe you are lord, but if you give a cat food, they believe they must be lord. Israel had become cat people, and understood their prosperity as the blessing of God.

Amos 3 shows Amos promising punishment from the Lord, and with much good reason. The Lord is a just God, and He will not overlook the sins of His own people. The Lord is setting a trap and roaring from Zion. The Lord is gracious to give them warning and a chance to repent. Although He mad a covenant with Israel, He is no respecter of persons. The Lord is furious when people are taken advantage of. But the people are looking at all the wealth they have and thinking, “No Amos, the Lord loves us. Look at all we have. We keep the law of God. We bring the sacrifices. We worship at Bethel. Leave us alone.”

Then Amos 4 reminds them they are not special. He calls the women of Israel a bunch of cows, who are so concerned with comfort and privilege that they demand their husbands keep bringing home the riches while having no concern for others. They have grown fat and lazy. Amos reminds them of the promises made in Leviticus 26, but the people will not listen. They are too rich and spoiled.

The church is God’s people who He has made a covenant with through Christ. But He has done that because He is a great and gracious God, not because we are special people worthy of redemption. I have heard people talk about the church with the attitude of “we have everything right, so the Lord truly loves and blesses us.” If that is our attitude we are right were Israel was when Amos preached. We are a people redeemed by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and even that faith is a gift. Being a Christian is a wonderful blessing and responsibility, but never an excuse for arrogance. “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' " (Luke 17:10).

Amos, Pt. 2

2008-09-17T16:04:00.002-05:00

Often times when we talk about family values and morality, we end up stopping the conversation at abortion and fornication in all of its various forms. But morality to the Lord runs much deeper. Jesus spent much more time talking about wealth and money then He did sexual issues. He was following in the footsteps of Amos.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21) Jesus taught. Paul’s problems preaching all come from the synagogue leaders— until Acts 19 when Paul preaching starts affecting Demetrius’ pocket. Now the Gentiles have an issue with Paul. When Amos starts preaching against Israel, he doesn’t start with sexual ethics, or worship attendance and incorrect forms of sacrifice, but with greed and mistreatment of the poor.

Amos is calling out for justice, and that means that the poor are taken care of, not taken advantage of: “This is what the LORD says: ‘For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor and upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed. Father and son use the same girl and so profane My Holy Name. They lie down beside every altar on garments taken in pledge. In the house of their god they drink wine taken as fines.’” (Amos 2:6-8). The Lord lambastes them for the rich making their money on the backs of the poor. They are enjoying the fine things in life by taking advantage of debtors. They are breaking the law by not giving back garments taken in pledge, as the law in Exodus 22:26-27 “If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it to him by sunset, because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.” This is a society where those who had took more, and those who did not have had even what they had taken from them.

Money made honestly and used with a generous heart devoted to the Lord is a spiritual blessing (Romans 12:8). However, wealth made by exploiting poor workers and by putting borrowers in impossible situations is detestable in God’s sight.

Have you ever thought about how much more expensive it costs to be poor? If you can’t afford your electric bill and it gets turned off, there is a fee for turning it back on. Because your credit is bad, you get charged ridiculous interest. To try to make ends meet you get money from a payday loan place and are charged over 100% interest. (Dave Ramsey points out that you only see those businesses in the poor parts of town). Amos has much to say about our society.

I know this has a potential to anger some people, well that is no different than what Amos did, or what Jesus faced when talking about wealth. But this is what Amos preached. We often think about justice as punishing the guilty, but God’s justice is about protecting the innocent who cannot defend for themselves. We cannot ignore this message. It is something we all must wrestle with in faith as individual Christians and as churches.

Amos, Pt. 1

2008-09-10T01:45:00.006-05:00

Here is the start of a bulletin article series I will be doing on Amos. This book is rich and challenging, and if I represent it right, offensive.

Amos is not a feel good preacher. He is a truth teller-no holds bar. He is a brilliant preacher. I have been doing some study in this often ignored book, and there are many things in it we need to take to heart.

Amos was a farmer from Judah sent to Israel to give a message. Israel at this time is under a wicked king (when did Israel ever have a good king?). He comes to Bethel, which is the Israelite place of worship. When Jeroboam split off the kingdom from Judah, he set Bethel up as a place of worship because he was afraid that all the people going to the temple at Jerusalem, would lose him the kingdom. Now Jeroboam II is on the throne, and Israel is enjoying great prosperity. Their enemies are weak, so Israel is able to control important trade routes, and have riches pouring into the country. It is into this that Amos speaks.

Amos 1 reminds the people that the Lord roars out of Zion. A not so subtle reminder as to where the temple of the Lord is. Then he gets Israel cheering. He attacks their neighbors. For three sins or even four, the Lord will not spare Damascus, Ashdod, Tyre, Edom, etc. Israel can cheer as they are reminded that the Lord will get their enemies. Notice the accusations. Not once does Amos attack them for not keeping the law. He is not in covenant with any of these nations. He goes after them for their mistreatment of each other. It is the same type of natural sin known by Gentiles that Paul discusses in Romans 1. Humanity has the imprint of God, and they are doing what they know is wrong. War crimes, slavery, injustice...all things that the Lord does not need to set up a covenant to condemn. He is upset at the nations for their mistreatment of his beloved, all those made in His image. Then the seventh nation had to get Israel really cheering. They had to like this preacher from the south. For three sins or even four He is going after Judah...and only now does the Lord introduce His law of the covenant. There we go. Great sermon Amos. A Judean coming to Israel and getting his own nation. The Lord is going to get these seven nations (the number seven is symbolic and not lost on the audience) Woohoo!

But Amos throws in an eighth nation. He then turns on Israel and does not let up until the end of chapter 9. I can imagine the smiles being wiped off the faces of the audience. They were celebrating in the destruction of others and feeling smug in where they were. After all, they were God's chosen nation. But the Lord choosing you does not give you immunity. In fact it increases responsibility.

There is a danger in listening to preaching that we think about others who need to hear the message. My guess is we have all been guilty of hearing a sermon and thinking, "so and so really needs to hear this." Then we celebrate in our minds how this would change and fix that person, and then we completely ignore the message for ourselves. We have an amazing capacity to rationalize and point fingers. We are in the same position as Israel. The message of Amos is not for others, it is for you and me. Israel believed that their prosperity was a sign of God's blessing, and they grew apathetic to God's law. The wealthy were making their riches on the backs of the poor. They heard Amos start to preach and rejoiced in the destruction and condemnation of others, but thought themselves ok. We can fall under the same trap. We can speak against the evils of this world, and even rejoice when people who we think deserve it seem to get punished. Yet we can sit back and think that as the church we are ok while we ignore the plight of those around us. Much as the Lord has a message for the nations that ignore Him, He also has a message for the church. As we look at Amos over the next few weeks, let us do some soul searching and prepare to hear a tough message that is very applicable to us.

How to Love Somebody You Can't Stand

2008-08-17T18:05:00.003-05:00

This is my bulletin article for the next couple of weeks. I think there is some good stuff here. Some of it (like the 7 things to do) are from that book, some of the commentary is my own ideas, and some of it is Milton's. Either way, I think it is useful stuff.

(12) Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (13)Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

(14) Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. (15) Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. (16) Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

(17) Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. (18) If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (19) Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. (20) On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." (21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This summer we have been studying Romans 12:12-21 with the aid of a booklet by Milton Jones called How to Love Somebody You Can’t Stand. I highly suggest it. Jones brings out some wonderful, simple points from the text that are so easy to learn and teach, but are very difficult to do. Sometimes we spend a lot of time talking about the parts of the Bible that are difficult to understand. What troubles me are the parts of the Bible that are easy to understand and difficult to do. It seems those are the things that are the most difficult to do and the most transforming when done. As G.K. Chesterton observed, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” Over the next few weeks we will look at the principles found in Romans 12.

Jones gives us 7 steps to follow to help us love people we can’t stand, and live up to the easily understandable instruction found in Romans 12:

#1-Manage your mouth—Bless and do not curse (12:14): One of the quickest things we resort to is to talk bad about people and gossip (slander is in 1 Corinthians 5 as a sin worthy of disfellowship). Even when someone wrongs us, we cannot go around slandering them and build up a “case” against them. We follow a Lord who when being terribly beaten and slandered said “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”

#2-Put yourself in the other person’s place and try to understand their feelings, thoughts, and position (12:15): Or as Stephen Covey put it in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Most of the time someone mistreats you or says something negative to you, it has nothing to do with you. The vast majority of the time it has something to do with the one who is being awful. Whether it is pain, impatience, unmet expectations and needs, or control issues, it probably has nothing to do with you, so avoid taking every affront personally. When someone does wrong, putting yourself in their shoes does not excuse the action, but it may help bring understanding so you can deal with them in a constructive way that leads to reconciliation and growth.

#3-Never, never, never take revenge (12:17-19): This is never left up for humans to do. We are too sinful and too limited in our thinking and understanding. This is the Lord’s job alone. We will be judged for what revenge we dish out. Also, we are not perfect in the matter, so any judgment we take out on others we must deal to ourselves, and we simply do not have the capacity to do that justly.

#4-Plan ahead to do something beautiful (12:17): Do not take revenge, but do not be a pacifist. Instead, do something good for the person who has wronged you. A pacifist does nothing and takes it, revenge deals evil for evil. God calls us to bless those who persecute us. That means we purposefully plan to be kind. Do not excuse sinful behavior but instead acknowledge the wrong and do good in return. Do they deserve it? No, but then if we got what we deserved we would all be dead and rotting in hell. I know that is crass but it is the reality. If the Lord gave us instant justice, we would die the second we sinned. But the Lord is patient and desires that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9), and we can help in that process by taking the attitude of Christ, who asked us to forgive as we have been forgiven, and forgive 7x70, and if you are counting, your wrong. If you harbor anger, resentment, and hold a grudge, you give the person who wronged complete power over your life because they will direct your steps in everything you do.

#5-Don’t just win the war-win the peace (12:18): That means we are not interested in just being right, but we work to heal the relationship. Some people will alienate and mistreat others in the name of being right by winning an argument, but will run over and hurt all kinds of people in the way. The Pharisees were interested in being right about the law, but Jesus was interested in people being right with God. The Pharisees used God’s law as a source of personal pride and judgment. Jesus used the law to show love and mercy, as it was intended. Jesus fought for peace, the Pharisees made war using God’s Word. No wonder Jesus was so upset; what was meant for peace and salvation was used to divide and condemn. We are not into winning arguments, we are into winning souls.

#6-Make room for God (12:18-19): You cannot change anybody. No one can make you do anything. These are two fundamental things we must understand. It is up to the Lord to change hearts, but it is up to us to love our enemies. We must take responsibility for our own behavior and not blame others. We also cannot try to manipulate, control, coerce, or intimidate others into a behavior we want them to display. To do that is to try to play God. Instead we must allow God to be God. Pray for the people you are in a bad relationship with. Love them and serve them anyway. Be kind to them. Let God work, and show by your life the mercy and grace you have received. Once again, this does not mean you accept and bypass wrong behavior. What it means is that you acknowledge it, refuse to take it, and be kind in return. This is not easy to do, but easy to understand. Only God can change hearts, so we need to let Him do His job, and be a support by being an example of following Christ.

#7-Bomb people with love (12:20)-Do the right thing, regardless. This takes a conscience chose, and it is proactive. It is living above reacting to what everyone else does. It says before hand “The Lord loves me and saved me when I was a sinner, and He died for you too. So I will show you the love that He showed to me.” It means that you do what is kind regardless of the other’s response. In doing so, you make it so difficult for them to hate you that it will drive them crazy. The best revenge is taking all the sting out of hatred. People will come to the Lord, ignore you, or turn their wrath to themselves or someone else in response. Or they will hurt you out of anger. That is what they did to Jesus, and we are called to take up our cross and follow. Besides, will mistreating others and taking revenge heal a relationship? Not at all. The Lord’s way will not heal everybody, but it is much more likely than taking things into your own hands and using the devil’s tools to try to accomplish the Lord’s work. Remember, live at peace with everyone so long as it depends on you. So do things that create peace and healing.

The whole of these suggestions is summed up in the last verse of Romans 12, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” If we live with that in the front of our minds and let it seep into our hearts, or relationships will be transformed, and our love for each other will increase. It is easy to understand, but difficult to do. Simple but hard. Yet it is rewarding for eternity. So live as Paul states in Philippians 2:1-5 “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being likeminded, having the same love, being one is spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”

Summer Is Like Pretty Much Over and Stuff and Other Random Things

2008-08-15T22:48:00.014-05:00

All my kids are back in school now. I was at Harding Grad School in Memphis all last week for American Restoration Movement. It was a great class, but I also love history, and the professor (Dr. Edward Robinson who teaches at ACU) brought up some really interesting stuff. He shed a lot of light on the issue of segregation in the church and the role the restoration played in the Civil War and its look at slavery. It started out ant-slavery, but unfortunately was converted to the culture in the Progressive Era. I am doing my paper on the events that led up to Dr. Carl Spain's (no relation, but I don't think I would mind if there was) ACU Lecture denouncing the sin of segregation in 1960, when all the Southern Church of Christ schools were still segregated. We still are terribly segregated in our churches. I will have more to comment on as I do more research. I will also have a comment on how I see race relations in our country now.

Camp was excellent as always. Plus with this being the second year at this camp, I came in knowing a lot more of the kids. I could go to camp almost every week, and I wish it was longer. It is so encouraging and invigorating for me. I think because it is one week out of the year where I have no worries and I am much less focused on myself. I really am terribly selfish, but I don't know that I am any more selfish than most.

In the meantime, the post summer blues I typically have has set in. But it is usually a time of Spiritual search, so despite the blues (which are mild, I'm not depressive at all) I have learned to welcome it as a time of search and growth. I can't really explain it, but it has been there the last few years. Summer is the mountain top, fall is the valley. That means its time to start climbing again.

Here are some pictures from the Houston mission trip. I wrote an article on the trip which I will edit for blogging purposes.

Here is the blown tire we had on the way between Nacogdoches and Lufkin, TX:

This is David snoozing in the chair, and what happens to people snoozing when Jake is around. Gotta love his wig:

Here is the birthday guacomole I made for Deena. She loves it and wanted it instead of a cake. I believe I have perfected my guac recipe, because this batch was incredible:

Here is the Sharpie tattoo that my friend Ezequiel drew me, along with his:

And here is one of the funniest signs I have ever seen. Unfortunately, it is from my phone and I haven't been able to make it bigger and readable, so look closely or get your magnifying glass. It was at the NASA Space Center in Webster, TX. I think they need to redesign it:

If you can't read it, the writing at the top says "NASA Tram Tour" and the writing on the black arrow says "Enter Here."

Over the next few weeks, I will have lots of new movie and music reviews, in case you care to have my opinion.

Camp Week

2008-07-12T23:08:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow I leave for summer camp at Western Kentucky Youth Camp. I love camp. Hopefully I will get some video of camp last year to post also, because I still haven't seen my footage of slip n slide bowling. Did I mention I love camp? Camp is one of the most faith formative experiences I had growing up. It really does change lives.

In the meantime, here are a couple of random things. First of all, a group of artists got together and started NoiseTrade. You can download albums by donating to the artist (they get 90% of it) or telling 3 friends about it. Feel free to use me for one of your friends. I highly suggest The Ringing Bell from Derek Webb, Throwing Punches in the Dark from Matthew Perryman Jones, Heart Attack Time Machine from Waterdeep, and The Khrusty Brothers self-titled (a Don Chaffer of Waterdeep side project). I love it because I get albums for cheap, and I am assured that the artist gets more than if I bought it at a store. As I was linking to it I noticed there was a Sixpence None the Richer album up there now. I will get that when I return from camp.

I also got this photo e-mailed to me, and I thought it was cool:

Now look at it from about 15 feet away. I am so easily entertained.

When I return, Houston pictures and a couple California pictures. I promise.

The Truth Is Not Contingent on Me

2008-07-02T21:53:00.003-05:00

Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

"What is truth?" Pilate asked. (John 18:37b-38a)

The Truth is not influenced by opinion. Lies do not change the truth. Truth is not changed with popularity. The Truth was the Truth before you were born. It will continue to be the Truth after you die. The Truth is neutral. It does not take sides. The Truth is much bigger than you. It cannot be on your side, you can only be on the side of Truth. Perspective does not limit or dismiss Truth, regardless of how much you see or understand. Truth by its nature is absolute, that is what makes it Truth. You can try to manipulate the Truth for your purposes, but it will ultimately win, every time. You must search for the Truth, but at the same time it will find you out. Truth is bigger than you. It will not be tamed to fit your purposes.

People will try to dismiss the Truth, call it relative, try to defend themselves with it, but Truth will not succumb to these attempts. What makes Truth Truth is that it is uninfluenced and does not change. What happened is what happened, no matter the spin put on it. What is fact is fact, no matter how good or bad it looks. Truth will never change because you are right, wrong, have a different opinion, are embarrassed by it, or disagree with it. Truth is a powerful thing, because it is always right. Many people spend their lives trying to make their own truth. This is a futile and ridiculous effort, because Truth is and always will be. It was true before you were born and will still be true after you die. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be Truth.

I am learning that no matter what life brings, it is better to hang onto the Truth. That means that sometimes it will not make me look good, because I have sinned, or done something embarrassing, or something stupid. But when I am on the side of Truth, it will defend me, uplift me, teach me, and vindicate me.

When people bring falsehood against you, or expose a true flaw, Truth is your ally. Because in the case of falsehood, it enables you to stand. Regardless of anybody else’s view or opinion, you can hold to it. If you mess up, you cannot recover until you admit the Truth, no matter how painful. But in this process healing takes place, and it is the only way to get back on the right track. There is a good reason the first step in AA is admitting that you have a problem. It is essential to recovery.

Perhaps you have heard this story (I took this from Hot Illustrations from Youth Specialties):

In an ancient village, a parable tells, all the people were blind. One day while walking on the road, six men from that village came upon a man riding an elephant. The six men, who had heard about elephants but had never been close to one, asked the rider to allow them to touch the great beast. They wanted to go back to their village to tell the other villagers what an elephant looked like.

The rider agreed and led each of the six men to a different part of the elephant. All the blind men touched and stroked the elephant until they were certain they knew what the animal looked like.

In great anticipation they returned to their village to report their experience. The villagers gathered around to hear about the elephant. The first man, who had felt the animal’s side, said, “An elephant is like a great thick wall.”

“Nonsense,” said the second man, who had felt the elephant’s tusk. “He is rather short, round, and smooth, but very sharp. I would compare an elephant not with a wall but with a spear!”

The third man, who had touched the ear, took exception. “It is nothing at all like a wall or a spear,” he said. “It is like a gigantic leaf made of thick wool carpet. It moves when you touch it.”

“I disagree,” said the fourth man, who had handled the trunk. “I can tell you that an elephant is like a giant snake.”

The fifth man shouted his disapproval. He had touched one of the elephant’s legs and concluded, “An elephant is round and thick, like a tree.”
The sixth man had been allowed to ride on the elephant’s back, and he protested, “Can none of you accurately describe an elephant? Clearly he is like a gigantic moving mountain!”

To this day, the men continue to argue, and no one in the village has any idea what an elephant looks like.

Here is the issue-regardless of the view of the blind men, the animal is still an elephant. People may see things differently. There may be validity in how they see things. But the Truth is too multifaceted to be fully understood. That is why it must continue to be searched out and investigated. You cannot find a piece of Truth and stop and defend it as all Truth. It’s too big and we are entirely too limited to understand it all. But you are capable of finding Truth? Absolutely. It is accessible It is there. What attitude do you have towards the Truth? Do you look and search for it? Or do you try to defend yourself in the name of Truth? What is your attitude towards Truth?

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

The Truth
by Derek Webb (from the Caedmon's Call album "Intimate Portrait")

I’ve been putting on and putting off too many people, and I’m getting old to live
Like an injured man, ailments and unfilled prescription
Like the nose on my face.
Like a broken boat, safety raft, love for the water
Well I just can’t decide to sink of swim it’s me or them should I save myself?
Or go back for the others…

Because maybe there’s no gray and I was wrong to tell them so
Then maybe all that I’ve to do was done a long time ago

Because there was life before my life
There was provision before my need
There was redemption for my sin
For the sake of the world, I thank the Lord
That the truth’s not contingent on me.

‘Cause I’ve been dressing up and dressing down for too many people
And I’m a little young to live
Like a troubled boy, a troubled soul, fish out of water
‘Cause we’re all just the same
We’re all just as good, and just as bad, and just as distracted by the corners of our eyes
As our father’s were and theirs before and all those before them
But still I glance around.

And with the way I stare you'd think I'd seen through a two by four.
And with the way I walk you’d think I’d never seen grace before.

Because there was life before my life
There was provision before my need
There was redemption for my sin
For the sake of the world, I thank the Lord
that the truth’s not contingent on me.

I’ve been putting up and putting down too many things I know nothing about
Well I’m jealous of, holding pride as tight as I can
Like she was my only daughter.

There was life before my life
There was provision before my need
There was redemption for my sin
for the sake of the world.
I thank the Lord
That the truth’s not contingent on me.

‘Cause the truth’s not contingent on me.

Nooma Videos/Dooma Videos

2008-06-26T22:22:00.008-05:00

I am back from Houston, and we had a great trip, but I will make a different post on that within the next month or year.

My friend and I have made another parody of Rob Bell's Nooma videos. Drew did an outstanding one last year, and we started getting some good ideas for some future ones. If you have not seen them, here are two videos you can watch illegally via YouTube. These are the ones we have parodied.

001 Rain

The next one is in two parts

003 Trees

I do like the Nooma videos. This is our attempt to make treat them more like we really think, taken to a ridiculous level of course. I hope you enjoy the satire.

Here is Drew's debut of the Dooma videos. It is a parody of Rain. I have linked to this before, but if you missed it, it is worth checking out. The music is provided by Iron & Wine-"Boy with a Coin" and The Charlie Daniels Band-"The Devil Went down to Georgia". It stars Drew, Buffy, Jude, and Jude's stunt double.

001 Pain

Here is the latest installment that unfortunately would not upload to my blogger for some reason. It stars Drew, Jude, Jude's stunt double, Buffy, me, and introducing Samuel as an example of how Drew treats his youth group, but with their parent's approval of course. The music is provided by Tyler Ramsey-"Chinese New Year".

You will have to link to Drew's blog to view it.

002 Fees

This video was used to introduce my Wednesday night summer class using the study "How to Love Someone You Can't Stand" by Milton Jones, which studies Romans 12:14-21.

I just read a quote from Rich Mullins (via "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne), "'Vengeance is Mine' says the Lord, and I'm just about my Father's business." Rich was joking of course.

We have ideas for several more.

I love Pesto & Blueberries

2008-06-26T22:08:00.003-05:00

Ahh, I write this after filling up on my favorite pasta sauce (when made properly) pesto. That means that I was able to get some fresh garden picked basil.

Today we had a service project. My youth group went out to the Vine and Branch Farm which has blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. We picked them for whoever wanted some. I haven't had a good blueberry since I lived in New Jersey, and I moved from there when I was 8. I love fresh blueberries. This evening my niece and I went back to get our own (5 1/2 lbs. for $16.50, which is far surperior to marker prices around here) and we had a chance to visit with the owners. I had met them and heard about the farm because a friend of mine married their daughter a month ago. They are very friendly. They showed me what other things they grow, and they have an herb garden. They gave me some fresh basil. I made pesto. It was outstanding. And I have 5 1/2 lbs. of fresh blueberries in the fridge. Yum. muffins, pancakes, cobbler, pie, and of course, just straight berries. I will go back in a couple weeks when the blackberries are blooming.

Pesto Recipe:

3 cups of loosely packed fresh basil leaves
3/4 c. extra virgin olive oil (get the good stuff, don't skimp on this)
1/4 c. pine nuts
3 garlic cloves
black pepper
1 t. salt

Blend all of that in a blender or food processor. It looks like a nasty green paste, or yoda poo.

But it is delicious.

After blended, add 1/2 c. fresh grated parmesan cheese

Serve over penne pasta.

I added some sun dried tomatoes over the top. It would also go great with roasted bell pepper or grilled chicken.

I am satisfied.

Mission Trip Time!! Yeah!

2008-06-13T18:42:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow 7 of us, including my sister and niece are headed to Impact Church of Christ in Houston, TX to help with their reading camp. Reading camp is basically a vacation Bible school but with an emphasis on tudoring 3-5 graders in their reading. The stuff this church does is amazing. The main reason I want to do this trip is I want to do a similar ministry in Fulton. Fulton is small, but a large percentage of the town is low income and educationally challenged.

We will be going down Hwy 59, so unfortuneately we will miss Waco and Austin.

I love mission trips.

I'm Suing the BAR When I Get Prostate Cancer from My Lack of Lycopene

2008-06-10T00:31:00.005-05:00

I went to a certain restaurant that I used to work at and saw this sign on the register. I grabbed a pen and decided to make it more accurate. For some reason they wouldn't let me hang it back up.

The whole thing doesn't show up, but hopefully clicking on it will bring up the whole thing.

The copy cut off "used" and "grandparents." I'm not sure if the grandparents line is accurate. The last line that was cut off mentioned "corn syrup, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, and transfats" which of course are still fine to sell despite their link to obesity and diabetes (not like I have cut them out of my diet).

I looked at the FDA website and since mid April, 145 people have reported cases of salmonella with 23 being hospitalized. 145? And they stop selling tomatoes nationwide? 40,000+ died in vehicle accidents last year. But they still sell cars. That means that in the time 145 got sick (much more have gotten cancer, flu, HIV, etc.) in the same time that approx. 6,700 died in car accidents.

But everyone is scared of tomatoes. It was much more likely I died in a car wreck on the way home than get salmonella.

Culture is stupid, and sue-happy-somebody-is-at-fault-for-everything-bad-life-deals-somebody-and-money-will-fix-it-lawyers are stupider.

Latest Round of Album Reviews Complete

2008-06-04T23:04:00.004-05:00

I now have my 40+ album reviews up. I had two 10's and three 9's. Of course, if I buy it, I usually expect it be a 7. Feel free to disagree, but this is my blog, so you have to endure my own ridiculous opinion.

I was wondering if any of you knew how I could archive my reviews so that I can store them where they are accessible, but not taking up all that sidebar space.

So enjoy, because I am presumptuous enough to think you will care and check out a bunch of people, half of which you have probably never heard of.

Okay, so at least check out the songs I have linked to.

Also, if someone can tell me how to put a player on my blog where maybe I can put those songs for your listening pleasure.

And may I add, popularity of an artist says nothing good or bad about them. Good music is good music, and bad music is bad music, no matter how much or little it sells.

-Posted while listening to The Frames song I downloaded from their website yesterday. The lead singer of that band is the main actor in Once, which is a great movie.

Album Review: Sound Theology

2008-06-04T22:41:00.001-05:00

This album had more smiles per song than any album I can remember listening to. I wanted to do this as a separate entry so I can give you some of his thoughtful and poignant lyrics.

The full name of the album is "Sound Theology: Perspectives on Faith and Rock & Roll from a Finnish-American Midwestern Generation X Lutheran at the Turn of the Century" It is a double disc with 52 tracks, one for each week on the liturgical calendar.

Jonathan is not a great singer, and the production on the album is a little rough. None of the songs on the album were recorded in a studio, but were mostly recorded on a 4 track in various places. I actually love of the roughness of it, but I really enjoy is that I can think of nothing I have that sounds like it even with the various styles he uses in his music, or addresses the same issues as his songs. Jonathan is an outstanding song writer, and it focuses on everyday struggles, thoughts, events, and situations with a refreshing and interesting perspective.

His songs address his respect for his faith heritage, but also show some of his questions and disagreements. The first song, "Church Directory" celebrates his own families' faith heritage. "We're Creating Monsters" discusses the selfishness of throwing tradition out the window without investigating what is good and what is not.

"creed and kyrie
they don't know how to say
take it over sixty minutes
you can't make 'em stay
we have an opportunity
to rise to the occasion
but we'd rather have capacity
than a congregation

so we dumb this down
dumb this down
we're creating monsters

He says in the liner notes, "I notice that some younger Christians are as intolerant of traditions as the elderly members are of guitar and drums."

He also is willing to look at the ridiculous Christian counter-culture we've created and how it feeds our materialism with the song "Xian Bookstore"

at the xian bookstore
there is product to be sold
so over there in China
there's some little 8-year-old
working in a factory and rarely going home
she's assembling plastic pencil cases
with the words to that "Footprints" poem

well, i wonder if the kids
who buy those Bible action playsets
ever stage a "cleansing of the temple"
re-enactment?
now no one knows for sure
but i think it's safe to say
if Jesus hadn't risen
he'd be rolling in his grave

Pretty hard hitting for a 52 second song. And Jonathan backs it up with his music by refusing to sign with a Christian label. He believes good art should stand on its own. In fact, all the press I could find on this album came from secular sources.

He addresses loving God completely and intellectually with "I Love You with All of My Mind" that warns against just having an emotional faith. My other favorite is the song "Easier" where he thinks about leaving his heritage, but comes to this conclusion:

i've never been bad at badness
so the good king came down from the castle
yeah grace is free but it ain't cheap
and it proves that faith is worth the hassle
it feels like a hassle but it's worth it

yeah, it would be so much easier
to leave this faith behind
but easy's often stupid and rarely wise
yeah, it would be so much easier
to go out on my own
but easy ain't no good when you're alone

In the midst of these songs he has some very enjoyable and clever songs such as "Carol of the Bells" about a girl in the bell choir he has a crush on, and "The Glasses' Song" that laments his bad eyesight. "Closed Out..." reflects on the pain of not being able to participate in communion at a church he was visiting. There are classic hymns, love songs, everyday life songs, etc.

While some of the connections to the liturgical calendar are clever, and some a bit stretched, it is still a very creative, fun, interesting, and poignant album.

I did find one song sample online in the list of a newspaper writers list of the top 10 best Christian songs (compiled by a secular Jew). This is the first song I heard from him and the reason I bought the album, which was originally downloadable from Paste Magazine's website. But alas, it is not there anymore. But it is here. Listen to "My Apology"

Track List:
(Disc 1)
1. Church Directory 2:28
2. Come Thou Long Expected Jesus 0:43
3. Workin' my Committee 3:33
4. Four Candles 2:22
5. Out Behind the Old Hotel 1:53
6. Cold, But I Don't Mind 3:33
7. Let Me Be Yours 2:19
8. Local Road 4:20
9. The Prophetstown Tornado 2:42
10. The Loneliness of Happiness 3:00
11. In Thee is Gladness 0:50
12. Find Your Way to Prague 3:18
13. Ashes 2:38
14. Cautious Springtime Blues 2:25
15. We're Creating Monsters 2:41
16. My Apology 3:44
17. Tired Tired Tired 2:26
18. Ah, Holy Jesus 0:39
19. A Farm in Minnesota 2:47
20. Forgiveness Waltz 3:59
21. Chopin's Heart 2:06
22. Xian Bookstore 0:53
23. A Little More Than Me 2:28
24. My Broken Heart is Miss (sic)You 3:36
25. Lord, Keep Us Steadfast In Your Word 1:23

(Disc 2)
1. I Love You With All of My Mind
2. Carol of the Bells
3. I Don't Want To Go To Hell
4. Failing Rockstar Attempt
5. Arise, My Soul, Arise!
6. Wide Awake
7. A Better Place
8. Easier
9. Dumb Summer
10. Minneapolis
11. If I Ever Get There
12. Waiting for the Rain
13. No Time To Breathe
14. Deadly Life
15. Oswiecim
16. I Want Jesus to Walk With Me
17. Closed Out...
18. You Don't Speak For Me
19. Are You Speaking Through the Radio?
20. The Glasses Song
21. The Stars Start to Take On That Same Old Shine
22. Row Out the Boat
23. Dance of the Confirmands
24. Bright Funeral
25. Godforsaken
26. Texas Kyrie
27. What Wondrous Love is This

-review was written to The Beatles 1. I won't rate it, because I like the Beatles, but their influence on the music I love is what makes me respect them so much.

Try Explaining This One to Your Elders

2008-05-28T23:21:00.009-05:00

I was going through reciepts to turn in, and I ran across this one. It took me a little bit of time to realize what I had bought. I was puzzled for about 10 seconds thinking, "How did this get in here? Well this will create some fun questioning."

Abbreviations gone wrong. Here is actually what I had bought.

I know I've been losing a bit of weight recently, but my cup size has not changed. That stands for adjustable brass padlock. The secretary (who is excellent!!) and I had a good laugh about it.

-Written while watching the Dave Ramsey show. I wonder how he feels about churches using credit cards?

By Faith?

2008-05-28T23:12:00.001-05:00

Noah was a drunk. Abraham was a liar. Isaac’s family was dysfunctional. Jacob was a cheat. Joseph was an ex-con. Moses was a murderer. Joshua lost control of his army. Rahab was a prostitute. Gideon and Barak were cowards. Samson was a womanizer. Jephthah was rash. David was an adulterer. Samuel was a terrible dad.

The Bible doesn’t hide the true nature of people. It is honest about people’s shortcomings, downfalls, and sinfulness. These names are the ones that are listed in Hebrews 11 in the hall of faith. For all their shortcomings and sinfulness, they are the ones that stand out for their faithfulness.

Faithfulness is not about how little we mess up, it is all about who we trust and follow. What put these people in the hall of faith is that when they fell, they repented, got up, and kept walking. They had doubts, but they kept trusting.

I am glad the Bible tells the stories as they happened. Honestly, if these men were painted with only positive brushstrokes, I don’t know that I would want to try being faithful, because I make way too many stupid mistakes. But when you read about Abraham, and realize that he pimped out his wife (read Genesis 12:10-20. That is exactly what he did, and made wealth from it.) because he was afraid of the Pharoah, it gives me hope that God’s forgiveness is true, and maybe the Lord will not abandon me for my mess ups.

The truth is these men and woman are known for their faith, because in the midst of everything, they followed bravely. It seems that those who risk greatly make the greatest mistakes and the greatest gains. Faith will allow big mistakes, but it will not allow comfort, apathy, self-righteousness, and idleness. The Lord can deal with our screw-ups, but He will not deal with our inaction.

In the Gospels, Jesus gets upset at the Pharisees because they reduced faith to self-righteousness and rules. He shows mercy to prostitutes, thieves, tax collectors, and all kinds of sinners who were willing to do what the heroes of faith did—repent, get up, and follow. The Lord doesn’t want religious people; He wants faithful people.

It’s not about where you are or where you’ve been. It’s about where you are going.

Noah rescued humanity. Abraham is the Father of faith. Isaac blessed his sons. Jacob wrestled with God. Joseph remained faithful despite constant false accusations. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. Joshua led the Israelites to take the Promised Land. Rahab helped the Israelites and saved herself, and is an ancestor of Jesus. Gideon and Barak lead a great victory over Israel’s enemies. Samson defeated the Philistines. Jephthah fulfilled his vow. David was an incredible king. Samuel brought the repentance of the whole nation. All by faith.

Advice for the Graduate

2008-05-20T15:16:00.004-05:00

I hope to have some Cali pics soon, and I will post on my trip, which was wonderfully refreshing. In the meantime, this was my bulletin article for this past week. My youth group has 5 high school graduates this year, and I am going to miss them. Feel free to pass than on to any graduates you know.

Congratulations! You have done something of tremendous importance. You have finished what you started. You have shown that you can persevere and complete the task at hand. The learning has just begun. In the next few years, you will change and grow. You will gain a stronger sense of who you are; your talents and gifts, likes and dislikes, and they will change some over the next few years. As you graduate and move on to the next stage of your life, here are some crucial things to learn and remember.

First, avoid the big distractions that keep you from your task. First distraction: partying. Drugs, alcohol, and promiscuity have derailed more potential than perhaps anything else. It is not worth giving up your faith, dreams, health, and self-worth for a few minutes of fun and euphoria. It will have a lasting effect. I haven’t ever heard anyone say, “I wish I partied more while I was in school.” I have heard many say they wish they had not. Second distraction: misplacing priorities. School will demand much of your time, and it should, but do not ever let it get in the way of your faith. Keep the Lord and His church a priority. I have seen too many that have put Christ on the back-burner for the sake of getting the grade, career, girl, guy, fraternity, sorority, etc. never to return, and then struggle wondering what life is all about anyway. He must be over all and in all. Without Him, none of it amounts to anything whatsoever no matter what the American dream might say. Your faith will be stretched, challenged, questioned, ridiculed, etc. This has the potential to grow your faith deep or destroy it. I hope your faith is challenged and stretched because that is how it grows, as long as you have some encouragement and mentoring along the way. It is essential to be an active part of the Lord’s body. If your faith is always challenged and never watered, it will shrivel up like a plant. Hold on for dear life and trust the Lord through the ride. Third distraction: Stupid parents (I have your attention now, don’t I?). Mark Twain once remarked that when he was 18, his dad was the stupidest man alive. In his mid-twenties, he was amazed at how much his dad had learned. Do yourself a favor, and start paying attention to your parent’s advice now. Let me put it this way, how many of you know less now than you did when you were 7? Has not your understanding of life increased since then? So why do teenagers believe that a 40 something will know less than a teenager? If you believe that your parents don’t understand, maybe it’s because they have learned that what they understood at 20 isn’t even worth remembering compared to the wisdom they have now. Swallow your pride and trust that maybe your parents do know something about life. After all, they were able to be there for you and encourage you to get to this point. Yes, your parents don't know everything, but they know a whole lot more than you do. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking your parents don’t know anything. Blog note-Regarding the stupid parents part, there are some unfortunate exceptions. I have known a few kids who had more wisdom and faith then their parents. Thankfully, that does not apply to any parents of my graduates.

Some of you may know what you want to do and some may not. It is likely this will change. That’s fine. It’s all part of learning and growing, discovering likes and dislikes. Here are my three principles of finding a good career (these ideas came out of my study of Ecclesiastes). 1) Make sure your career glorifies God. The question is not are you going to be doctor or lawyer or counselor, but what kind of doctor or lawyer or counselor are you going to be? If what you are doing is not glorifying God, do something else. Period. 2) Make sure you earn enough to take care of your responsibilities. If you love what you do, but you can’t make enough money to provide for your family, then you need to do something else until you can. Or more likely, you may need to simplify. You need to provide shelter and transportation, but that doesn’t mean you need a 20 bedroom house and a Hummer. Make sure you can take care of your family within your means. 3) Find something you enjoy. There is nothing so miserable as having to go to a job that you can’t stand. The best jobs are the ones that hardly feel like work, because you love what you do. (Just to clarify, no matter what job you have, there WILL be something about it you don’t like. There are no perfect jobs.) If you keep these three principles in this order, you will be doing well, whether that’s digging ditches or being CEO of a company. It doesn’t work if your reverse the order. And remember, there is no honest job that is beneath your dignity.

My last piece of advice is learn from mistakes. You will make them. Get up, learn, and keep going. Be sure to learn from other mistakes as well. The best lessons are the ones you don’t have to suffer through, besides you’ll make enough of your own mistakes anyway. Don’t insist on only learning through your own experience. For more on how to do this well, refer to the part about parents.

I am proud of all of our graduates. May you continue to be a blessing to others as you have been to me. May you grow mightily in wisdom and faith. May you be an encourager and example to others. May you live your life to the glory of God. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26).

Posted while listening to Sufjan Stevens sing "Come On! Feel the Illinoise: Pt. 1-The World's Columbian Exposition/Pt.2-Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream" on his Illinois album (rated at 9 1/2 canaries)

Since I Was Bragging on Him...

2008-04-27T19:45:00.003-05:00

I was looking at Andy Osenga's blog and he had a post of "When Will I Run" from the Dyersburg show. I love the Mark Knopfler vibe. It gives me goosebumps.

Seeing the Sacramartians

2008-04-23T21:37:00.004-05:00

Now that the paper is done, and all I have left is my final for my class, I am actually thinking ahead again (well, two weeks ahead is a lot for me). I was able to find tickets from Nashville to Sacramento non-stop each way on Southwest for $224.50, which is very nice, especially because I never found a good Southwest rate for this trip before. I miss my Cali friends. The only set thing I am doing is going to Yosemite, because I never went while I was there. It was close enough I always figured I could go anytime so I never went. I took a special trip down Pacific Coast Highway and Highway 49 from beginning to end, and I went to Sequoia, and Death Valley National Parks, but no Yosemite. Other than that, I am spending time with friends with no set schedule, which end up being the best vacations ever. After that, time for the fun summer youth minister biblically fun youth travel mission trip camp blitz.

But more on that later.

Term Papers and Concerts

2008-04-20T21:31:00.007-05:00

It has been a tremendously busy month. Last week and a half was completely devoted to doing my first real term paper. I learned very quickly this ain't undergrad. Of course, I really started getting serious about my research last week and I was going to write the whole thing Monday. Hehe, yeah right. I spent Monday starring a hole into my computer screen and writing nothing. I finally started writing on Tuesday and got done with my 15 pages on Friday. The whole paper was basically me writing through writer's block. So I turned in my term paper on Friday when it was due Tuesday. I can write long posts on whatever I'm thinking about at the moment like anything, but I don't like research writing. I might if I was passionate about the topic. Maybe I have finally learned to not wait until the last minute. This was the first time that didn't work for me. It took me about 2 hours per page when it was all over. The only sentences that came easy were the ones that I was highly encouraged by my proofreaders to take out. My subject was the structure of James, which I encourage you not to bother writing about. It brought no value to the text for me at all.

Oh, those editted sentences were as follows:

It jumps around so much it makes ADHD persons wish for some cohesive element so they could at least know where the next distraction was taking them. Yet on closer investigation, it is revealed that James does have a flow and thematic structure that was well understood in the time it was written. Some have thrown off any attempt to see a structure, and some have tried to squeeze the various aspects of the epistle into tidy outlines that work like jeans five sizes too small.

and a footnote at the end:

In writing this paper, I was mildly tempted to organize the information in the same style as James. But in the interest of readability, failure to originate good catchwords, and my own grade I decided against it.

I think it would be good for scholars to include things like this, because it really comes across like they are taking themselves way too seriously. And it is also apparent to me that I probably have some maturing to do.

So on to the study break concerts. In the last 3 weeks I have seen Caedmon's Call w/Derek Webb, Andrew Peterson w/Donald Miller, and Casting Crowns w/Leeland

I saw Caedmon's Call in Dyersburg, TN. Wow, I hadn't seen them since college, and Andy Osenga (formerly of the Normals)blew me away with his guitar playing. I had no idea he was that good! Derek opened with a solo show just playing a 12 string acoustic. Total they played for three hours of shear enjoyment. Afterwards, because I am now in the Guild (Caedmon's fan club) I got to hang out with Andy and Derek, and my niece, sister, and a great kid from my youth group got to go back too. They are great, funny guys. Derek told the story of how his song "Name" ended up on Grey's Anatomy playing while all these doctors were fornicating. Oh, for this reason Grey's Anatomy is the stupidest doctor show on TV.

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Last Saturday I was supposed to see Derek again in Memphis, but he was sick so Andrew Peterson (who is also an excellent song writer) filled in. It was only announced at the show, and at the end Andrew got a standing ovation. I think was one of about 5 people who had heard of him before the show. Really great considering most came to see Derek. I think was one of about 5 people who had heard of him before the show, but he impressed everyone. But the main reason I went was to see Donald Miller, my favorite author. He talked about the four things a story must have, and related that to how we should live. He introduced it saying, "If you watch a bad movie, you don't come out saying "Movies are terrible!' You say 'That movie was terrible.' So if someone tells you 'Life is meaningless,' then tell them, 'No, YOUR life is meaningless.'" He then went into the four necessary elements of a story are 1) A stong protagonist, 2) That is likeable, 3) and you can only know that by what they do, not what they think or say, and 4) Conflict that must be overcome. Then he asked the question, "So what kind of story are you writing with your life, because if you want a good story, these must be present." Point 3 and 4 stuck with me because I often think people just know I like them or care about them, but the story they are seeing is different than the one in my head if I don't do concrete things to show it. Point 4 stuck because I avoid conflict too often. But a good life is made by embraicing conflict and overcoming it. Seriously, tell me a good story without conflict. None of those quoted things are direct quotes except the for "Your life is meaningless." It is the gist of what I remember. I strongly suggest his books. They are great. (Through Painted Deserts, Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What [my favoirte], and To Own a Dragon: Reflections on Growing up without a Father).

Thursday I saw Casting Crowns in Murray, KY. They are a great live band, and a rarity. They have solid, challenging, honest lyrics that challenge the stale church with deep questions and observations, and they do so as a popular Christian mainstream band with talent. There are very few of those. Most of the popular stuff is pretty generic.

--Written while watching Ray Davies perform on Austin City Limits

Giving Up

2008-03-31T15:49:00.003-05:00

I decided to do something for Lent this year, and I am tremendously glad that I did. I realized back in January that my eating habits were terrible (not that they have ever been good), but it was starting to bother me, both spiritually and physically. For the first time in my life I can didn’t feel like I had the energy to do what I wanted to do. It was time to reassess.

I gave up eating at restaurants (I defined this as anything that is made the place where it is bought, and needs no preparation of any kind). I was anxious about it when I started, but once I got into it, it actually became fun, but mostly it helped me see what a compulsion I had developed. Anytime I was hungry, I would get something, and usually it was a something that is not healthy, and I would get too much and insist to myself that I must finish it.

Here is what resulted from my fast. I have lost 15 pounds since I started (without really trying anything in particular, other than I am now walking at least twice a week), I have a heavier wallet (well, same spending cash, but less debt, and ummm…ok, more CDs), I have learned some great recipes (if you want, I can post my manicotti Florentine, chicken salad, black bean and chicken enchiladas, Reuben sandwich recipes, all of which I found and developed during this time), my digestion is healthier (less gas and much more regular…and solid (yes I know, TMI)) and I am eating healthier since coming off the fast. I have learned that grabbing and a piece of fruit, or a PB&J or something simple will curb hunger just as well without overindulging. Now, things like frozen pizza have just lost their taste, and I am not craving fast food at all. When I eat, I am much more conscience of how much and I am stopping earlier. I may still have hunger, but that goes away in 10 minutes or so. I just need to let my brain catch up to my stomach. Now for lunch (today being my birthday was an exception) I just run to a store and pick up something and fix it in the church building kitchen.

Most of all is it has helped me find some control in an area of my life that I wouldn’t even acknowledge was way out of balance. All those things listed in the previous paragraph were side benefits, but what it did for my relationship with Christ has been great. It made me comes to terms with an overindulgent, gluttonous, and wasteful part of my life I was ignoring. In some ways I have recently felt like life is spinning out of control in so many areas. What the Lord taught me that they always have been, and now I have the wisdom to see it. Growth can be so disconcerting sometimes.

There is great benefit in giving up something for a time. Because there is a set date to go back to it, it is easier to hold to, but in that time, it is amazing how easy it is to do without some things we insist we need. While sacrificing something, looking back, I feel like I sacrificed nothing.

Next year I have already decided to give up TV. That is causing some anxiety, which means it is a good choice.

-posted while listening to this week's Car Talk

A Respectable Politician????? or Obama's Grandmama, but That Title Seems Disrepectful

2008-03-31T14:52:00.004-05:00

I usually avoid politics in this blog, not because I am uninterested, but because politics ticks me off generally. The way I cope is getting my news from the Daily Show and Colbert Report, and recently my brother introduced me to NPR’s Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me. These shows are just as honest and credible if not more than Fox News and CNN. And they are less sensational and much smarter. I mean that with no sarcasm. The problem with politics and politicians, besides that 99% of them ruin it for the good ones, is that so many of our national problems are so difficult and multi-faceted, and both parties are giving simple, ridiculous, and unworkable solutions to them without even acknowledging the shortcomings of the suggestions. Plus I have very frustrated with the religious right (which is neither) that tries to play church with politics expecting a nation of unbelievers to act as if they know the Lord. What is sad about it is that it seems many have given up on using the church to influence the community and taken up with trying to do it through politics. That’s not what the church is about.

That all brings me to what was a very impressive speech by Barack Obama a couple weeks ago. I have always thought that he was very charismatic, but charisma is only as good as what you do with it. I have no idea who I will vote for, and it may very well not be him, but regardless he definitely gained some respect from me. For the first time in my life (now 29 years today, woohoo!) I heard a presidential candidate be honest, straight-forward, and real and REASONABLE! He acknowledged that people are complicated and cannot be reduced to a few sound bites, and he did not sell out his friend for the sake of getting into an office. He also was very honest about issues of race from all sides.

One thing I appreciated in particular was what he said about his own white grandmother. I have no racist bone in my body. Racism makes no sense to me at all. But I like his grandmother I have looked at groups of black people and had that uneasiness:

I can no more disown him [Jeremiah Wright] than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother – a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.--Barack Obama

I have had to ask myself where it comes from and I do not like it about myself at all. But it is there, and I was thankful that he acknowledged it instead of swept it under the rug. I heard one political commentator said it was a faux pas. Bullcrap! It is the difficult truth we all must face about ourselves.

He made no personal attacks and only politicized the speech a few times here are there (much less than I expected). If this is the way that Obama will approach issues, he will have my vote, even if I do disagree with several of his stances. Many politicians that I have agreed with on a lot of things have made no difference, or worsened things by their hypocrisy or apathy. It matters much more what you stand for by how you live than by how you speak. I would love it if more politicians could be this honest about the realities of life, but then many of them would not have the charisma or articulation to pull it off. To me it matters less what you believe and much more how you believe it and what you do about it.

People on the extreme left and right are just like each other, they only change in the actual stances they hold, but Rush Limbaugh and Al Franken are just like each other, and both extremely irritating.

And that ends my political discussion for quite awhile.

Two Years Old and a Few Days

2008-03-19T18:19:00.004-05:00

I didn't even realize that I have now had my blog for over two years, and I have posted every month, which I wasn't sure I would do when I started it. I didn't even think I would keep it up. But I like blogging, if for anything I can enjoy the dillusion that people are interested and thinking about what I have to say.

Speaking of that, for you RSS readers, I now have critiques of movies and music on my sidebar. Especially those of you who like learning about new and obscure bands, I will have many reviews soon of some people you may not have ever heard of. In the last month I have gotten over 30 CDs (I paid full price for one of those, all the others were $7.00 or less, except for the Who box set, which was still very cheap.) I listen to them three times to make decide how I feel about them, so that may still be aways off.

Something that made me laugh, from my Stupidest things ever said calendar, taken from actual court testimony:

Attorney: So you saw that, didn't you?

Witness: Yes, I did.

Attorney: That was pretty far from you. How far can you see?

Witness: I can see the moon, how far is that?

I don't think that was stupid. I think that was a brilliant answer to that question.

--written my music on random, currently playing, "Faith My Eyes" by Caedmon's Call, which I will be able to see in April while they are in Dyersburg, and Derek Webb is playing a solo show also. I am stoked. Now playing: "Found in You" by Grammatrain.

Sigh, Template Change

2008-02-21T00:02:00.003-06:00

I really liked the look of my last template, but it makes all the sidebars run together and I can't figure out how to keep that from happening. So I figure this template will make it all look cleaner, and hence, more readable. Not that you need a template explanation, but it makes me feel better.

I hope they fix my old one and I can go back to it.

Movie and Music Ratings

2008-02-15T20:10:00.008-06:00

Movies are rated on a 5 star system (^ meaning 1/2 star). Here's what that means:

0 stars-Offensive waste of time. I wish I had that part of my life back. Terrible, disgusting message done well enough to have to take seriously. Also covers EGADS movies (Extremely Good Action, Dumb Story) Examples: Armageddon, The Graduate, Final Destination

1 star-Dismissive and unrememerable or badly done. I would give an example, but I can't think of any.

2 stars-Predictable and unoriginal. Says nothing about life, but is done decently or is fake. Ex: The Notebook, Balls of Fury, The Transformers. Most romantic comedies and action movies.

3 stars-Good movie. Good story done well. Ex. We Were Soldiers, Finding Neverland, Cast Away

4 stars-Great movie. Interesting and original, or a good story very well told. Ex. Spiderman, Radio

5 stars-Classic. Profound. I learn something from it, or from a comedy, I laughed so hard and will quote it all day. Ex. Braveheart, The Princess Bride, The Shawshank Redemption, Napolean Dynamite, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Mirror Has Two Faces

Reviews:

Accepted (**^)-About a kid who gets rejected from college so goes in with some friends to start one as a hoax. It catches on much more than he hoped. Has some really funny one liners, but it is way too slacker. It does ask some interesting questions about education, but I think those were unintended.

Across the Universe-(***^) Weird, trippy musical using Beatles songs. Very artistic

Ali (***^)-Well acted and interesting story. Ali was a good trash talker.

Balls of Fury (**) Nothing terrible, but nothing great either. I wasn't bored but I didn't laugh either

Batman (***) I hadn't seen the original till now. It's not as good as Batman Begins (****)

Beverly Hills Ninja (*^)-The worst of the Chris Farley movies. He plays off David Spade well, but can't carry much by himself. This was just not that memorable or funny.

Braveheart-(*****) Classic. Used several clips for my retreat and had forgotten how great the movie was

Bruce Almighty (***)-I remember liking this movie more. Overall, I like the theology of God in this movie. It can definitely create discussion on the nature and personality of God, and His interaction with humanity. I also liked that things don't start working for Bruce until he starts serving others. Of course in that mix it eliminates the awesomeness and fear that encountering God creates. The first time I noticed the theology I liked, the second time I noticed the theology I disliked.

Caddyshack (***)-Classic comedy that probably hits other people with laughter harder, but it is quite funny. And I watched it on TV so some of the worse parts were editted. The Baby Ruth pool scene makes me hurt, but several other comedies have made me laugh harder.

Children of Men (*^)-Convulted futuristic generic save the only pregnant woman movie. I tired of the machine gun fire. It was boring.

Clear and Present Danger (****^)-Action movie classic. It is smart, quick moving, and very interesting. The best of the Jack Ryan movies.

Cool Runnings (***)-The highly inaccurate story of the Olympic bobsled team. The inspiration pretty much stops after the fact that there was a Jamacan Olympic Bobsled team. Everything else is totally fiction, but at least it is enjoyable fiction.

Dan in Real Life (*****)-This movie has HEART! It is rare I am still thinking about a movie 3 days after seeing it. It investigates duty vs. good human desire, and feelings vs. responsibility. Not to mention it has some of the funniest lines delivered in an appropriate overly melodramtic way by a 15 year old girl. I laughed a lot and I had a tear come to my eye. I connected with it because it has real, likeable characters and I share much of the same struggles and thoughts as Dan. And the movie celebrates morality, family, and genuine romantic love

The Dark Knight (***^)-The Joker is absolutely creepy and is the best part about the movie. It is very dark, but worth seeing. It may be long, but I feel like you should take as long as you need to to tell a story. I did like Batman Begins better, but that may be because I wasn't expecting much. Of summer blockbuster superhero flicks though, I like Ironman better.

Eragon ()-This is simply one of the worst book adaptions I've seen. It took out many main characters, plot points, and storytelling. If I had not read the book, which I very much enjoyed, I would have had all kinds of questions. Awful.

Fireproof (*****)-Perhaps the best illustration of what it means to truly love. The movie is about a man who wants a divorce, but his dad convinces him to fight for his marriage. The transition he goes through is wonderful. This is a great ministry tool. It is well made but could use a bit of improvement, but this is a case of the story outshining even the delivery. It made me cry (definition: I had a tear in my eye) at four different times, but it never felt manipulated. I strongly suggest this movie.

Flags of Our Fathers (****)-It tells the story behind the photo of the American flag raising at Iwo Jima in WWII. It is told in 3 different time periods, and it is very interesting. It makes me want to read the book.

Flushed Away (**^)-About a pet rat from a rich family getting flushed into the sewer. It was ok. At this point I saw it a month ago, and I remember liking it mildly, but nothing else.

Galaxy Quest (****)-About an alien race who mistakes the TV show for reality and asks the crew to help. Having watched Star Trek: The Next Generation growing up, this movie to me was hilarious. Excellent heart felt spoof. If you like Star Trek, it is definitely a 4, if not it probably drops to a 3

The Godfather, Part II (*)-Here is where I really annoy movie buffs. The Godfather is classic cinema. It is very well acted, and well made. But the story sucks. It's all about people who redeem through vengence and believe they are God. And it has a sense of glorification about it. It is a disgusting story. Oscars be damned.

Gran Torino (****)-Clint Eastwood plays a grumpy old man who is still trying to live in the 50s. But he befriends his Hmong neighbors and watches out for them and protects them in a community that has become overrun with gangs. It is a story of redemption for all of the main characters.

Groundhog Day (***^)-About a man who keeps living the same day over and over. I thought I had seen this movie before, but don't remember any of it. Good enough to watch again, but not good enough to watch every Groundhog Day. It is amusing

Hancock (***)-About a lazy drunk superhero who can't do anything the right way. Everything good he does is overshadowed by the havoc he creates in the process. Critics didn't like it that much, but I'm not sure why. It is a good twist on the superhero movies, having one that doesn't really have an archnemesis, and that is likeable because he is pitiful. Has an unexpected twist, but an interesting one.

The Happening (**)-I like M. Night Shyamalan, but his last two movies have been duds. This one was interesting while I was watching it, but the more I think about it the stupider it gets. Plus, since when was a Jeep Wrangler airtight? Really. The social commentary falls flat. The Village (*****) is still my favorite from him

Horton Hears a Who (***^)-I didn't expect much from this movie. I was very pleasanly surprised. It was thouroughly enjoyable, but now I need to go back and read to book to check the accuracy. Don't mess with Dr. Seuss.

Hot Fuzz (****)-About a big time cop put in a small time city that wins for best communities in England. Oh but does he ever uncover a conspiracy when people keep dying in strange "accidents." This is a fun movie.

How to Eat Fried Worms (***)-I remember reading this book as a kid. It's a fun movie, harmless and kinda gross. Worth a family watch if it is on.

I, Robot (****)-I haven't read the book, and I doubt it was even trying to stay close to it. It investigates the theme of technology, humanity, safety, and freedom. The pacing of the movie was superb, and the storytelling by only telling us the same information as the main character keeps the mystery going. I hate when movies assume your an idiot or purposely mislead you. This did not do that.

In the Line of Fire (***^)-Good suspense movie about an old secret service agent who looks suspiciously like Clint Eastwood trying to protect the President from the evil John Malkovich. Well paced and interesting with good characterization. I'm glad I have seen Being John Malkovich (****) because his craziness made sense.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (***)-It is funny, campy, ridiculous, and just plain fun. Normally ridiculous action movies annoy me, but this one has so much fun and charm, and is tongue in cheek enough to be enjoyable and to overcome several holes in the plot. I need to rewatch the first 3 to see if they are as silly and fun. (I think I've only seen two of them).

Iron Man (****)-One of the best superhero movies I've seen. It is good all around. I particularly like that Iron Man, instead of just fighting injustice, has to work to undue his own influence. It adds a deeper element to his character.

Juno (****)-Good heartfelt story about a pregnant teenager trying to figure out what to do. It is well acted with excellent dialog. However, I do have a serious complaint against the movie: It made very light of her giving her baby up for adoption. Its like she had no connection to her child at all. Adoption is tough on the birth mother too. If it would have more honest about the difficulty of teenage pregnancy, other than the social aspect, it would have been 5 star.

The Last King of Scotland (****)-Tells the story of Idi Amin's terrifying rule of Uganda through the eyes of a Scottish doctor who becomes Amin's personal physician. This is a difficult watch, but it shows Amin for the meglomaniac he was. Governor Blagojovich needs to watch this, because he seems to have the same personality as Amin. I was seriously thinking that as I watched this movie. Thank God for democracy.

Les Miserables (***^)-This is the made for TV one made in 1978 starring Richard Jordan. This is the one I remember being so moved by when watching it in French class in high school. Unfortunately, the original was 160 min, but they only sell it in 120 min, so a lot of the story is cut out. It is more accurate than the recent theatrical release, but it is a much lesser quality of acting. I would like to get my hands on a full length copy. Once again, the power of this story is incredible.

Les Miserables (****^)-This is the one with Geoffrey Rush and Liam Neeson from 1998. This is an amazing story about a man who goes to prison for stealing bread, and learns from that how to become a crook. He later meets a bishop who changes his life, and he becomes a loving caring honest person. Contrasting is a guard who believes only in law and justice and has no room for mercy. The movie takes some liberties with the book, but it the story about redemption and justice is compelling and moving. I will use this in a retreat by contrasting living under grace and mercy vs. legalism. The only reason it is not 5 star is because I think they can make a better movie. I highly suggest watching this story.

Liar Liar (**)-About a promise breaking dad who keeps missing important things in his son's life. I liked it in junior high, but now Jim Carrey is so over the top that it is irritating. He is crazy, and everyone else is the straight man. It needs more balance, because it is a good idea for the story.

Mafia! (***)-One of the last of the good spoof movies, because it doesn't denegrate into sexual humor. I was amused. Two of the jokes had me rolling. Run, florist, run.

Man of the House (***)-About cheerleaders who witness a murder and must be put under witness protection. I only watched this because I saw part of it when some of my youth were watching it. I actually liked it even though it is silly and full of cheerleader stereotypes. Tommy Lee Jones makes this movie. Of course it may be because I wasn't expecting much, and it exceeded my expectations.

A Mighty Wind (*****)-My favorite in the Christopher Guest mockumentries (including This Is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, and Best in Show). The characters are hilarious and the music is really good. I laugh everytime Guest sings "Well" in "Eat at Joe's." Plus the movie has an autoharp. Classic comedy that gets funnier with each view.

Once (*****)-charming musical about a guy meeting a girl and making beautiful music, literally. The story is mostly told through the songs they record, and the music is outstanding. I think that when I watch it again, I will like it more. (I just watched it again a couple nights ago and liked it even better. It is now a 5 canary movie.)

Pride & Prejudice (***^)-Intelligent romantic comedy based on Jane Austen's book. The depth of the characters makes me think I need to watch it again and it may grow on me. Very well acted and it looks wonderful.

Prince Caspian (****)-The power of C.S. Lewis' story shines through, but it is not as good as "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" because they took a couple of annoying and unnecessary liberties with some major aspects of the story. However, it is still an engaging movie and I still found myself in awe at power of the story. If they kept to the book it would have been 5 canaries.

Rat Race (****)-A whole bunch of characters are put into a contest to be the first to find $2 million. The comedy of errors ensues, and they are over the top, but absolutely hilarious. The only downside is that it doesn't hold up to repeated viewings, but it had me cracking up.

The Ringer (***)-I don't like Johnny Knoxville at all, but this was suggested by a few youth ministers whose movie taste I respect. It is amusing, and heartwarming, and badly acted, but it does have some good laughs, and some heart.

Seven Pounds (***^)-This was a tough movie for me to figure out how I felt about it. It is intriging and asks if the means justifies the end. If I say too much it will give away the story. I am still struggling with what it is saying.

Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (**^)-Interesting modern day retelling. The symbolism was so in your face it was annoying at times, but the cultural reimagination was ok.

Shaun of the Dead (***)-About a couple slacker who must save his friends from a zombie invasion and win back his girlfriend in the process. This one suffered from high expectations. I had heard it was hilarious. I found it to be amusing, but not much laughing out loud. It is a fun movie, but nothing great.

Slumdog Millionaire (***)-This movie has a lot of Oscar buzz, and I can see some of the buzz, but I think it is overrated a bit. It is a good movie, and the shots of the slum side of Mumbai, India are well done, but it is a movie I probably just see the one time. It is about a kid from the slums that gets on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and knows the answers to the questions because of his life experience. They think he is cheating and he tells his story as they relate to the answers.

Spiderman 2 (****)-Very well done movie. I enjoyed it. I don't think I really need to say anything else about it because you have probably seen it already.

Syriana (***)-I wasn't in concentration mode, and I think I missed quite a bit to this movie, but even if I got it I don't think I'd be blown away (pun not intended?). Worth a watch if you like thinking political thrillers.

The Terminal (***)-Enjoyable movie, but a couple of glaring holes in the storyline, like a complete lack of a translator for 9 months, and the guy in charge of immigration at the airport was unbelieveably ridiculous. Going for this movie is it's heart, good acting, and enjoyable characters.

Tombstone (***)-About what went on with Wyatt Earp and company. I'm not a big Western fan, but I did enjoy this movie. I have no idea how inaccurate it is, besides I'm sure very.

Top Gun (***)-One of those 80s movies I missed. I'm sure the movie was a breakthru with the way they filmed the flights. Fairly generic plot well executed.

Training Day (****)-About a terrible crooked cop who lives by Machiavellian standards. He is training a new recruit who does not share his outlook. It is a tough movie and very violent, but it shows what that kind of lifestyle will get you, both good and bad.

Twilight (**^)-I wonder if I would have gotten it if I didn't have all the back story of the book. Not an awful adaptation, but not great either.

Two Brothers (*)-About tiger cubs who get separated and are put under the ownership of different people. They come together to fight and recognize each other and don't fight. I stopped watching after this point. It is a boring movie, and nothing to it beyond a cute factor.

Walk the Line (****)-About the same as Ali, except I like Johnny Cash's music much more than I like boxing. And I know one of the extras in this movie, and it has an autoharp.

Wall*E (****^)-Another great movie from Pixar. Michael Bay needs to look to Pixar to learn how to tell a story. In the first 30 minutes, there is no talking, yet it is interesting and it tells the whole back story without forcing any of it. This is a very mature, fun, and creative movie for all ages. Plus, I love the commentary on a comfortable, over-entertained culture.

We Were Soldiers (***) Typical war movie well told. Difficult but real

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (***^)-It had been a long time since I had seen this, and its enjoyable and groundbreaking. Worth checking out if you have forgotten about it.

X2: X-Men United (**)-The plot just seemed convoluted. I think they spent more time coming up with super powers and trying to fit those in. I really liked the first one, but this one needed more concentration on the story

Happy 70th Birthday Mom

2008-02-15T18:35:00.004-06:00

Ok, so this post is a couple weeks late, but my mom never reads my blog, and she got this tribute on her birthday, so there :P.

On Feb. 2 my mom celebrated her 70th birthday. It was a partial surprise party. She knew about the party and invited people who lived locally, but she did not know that she had some relatives coming in. Her brother and sister came from Nebraska and Texas, and my brother Carl and his wife came in from Texas. She was surprised each time one of them showed up. It was highly enjoyable.

It was so much fun throwing the party because my mom is very much a behind the scenes person, never out in front. She has never made a big deal of her birthday or any other holiday, so we decided to do it for her. 70 is a milestone because she is the first in her generation to reach it. Thankfully, she is still in good health.

"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." (1 Peter 3:1-4)

Every time I hear that passage I think of my mom, because she has lived it out, and here example and love is the biggest reason that all four of her children are Christians. She has that gentle and quiet spirit that has brought a steady consistant strength to our lives. My mom is patient, faithful, loving, forgiving, and wise. I am blessed to have her as a mother.

These are some things that my mom and dad have taught me that I am tremendously thankful for:

All people are equal-I grew up in a home that knew no racism or classism. It wasn't until I moved to Tennessee in third grade that I even knew there was such a thing.

A very secure marriage-The idea of divorce was never on our minds. I never felt insecure about my parent's relationship. My father (in the picture above) passed away when he was 69, and they had been married for 30 years. My parents fulfilled their marriage vow.

I always had a parent home-My mom was at home until I started school, and when she went back to work, my father retired, so he was there. I am so thankful for that now.

College educated parents-When they were growing up, most kids dropped out of school to work with their families. But both my parents graduated high school. My dad got an associates degree from Freed and my mom got a bachelors from Harding. Now all four of their children are college graduates.

A traveling family-Every summer all 6 of us would pile into the car and go somewhere. I remember at age 5 we took a 3 week trip out west. We saw the Grand Canyon, the Golden Gate bridge, the Pacific Ocean (which I thought was funny because despite living in New Jersey at the time, I saw that ocean before the Atlantic) and several other spots. We usually visited my dads family in Tennessee or my mom's in the midwest. I learned how to travel, how to know directions, and I got exposed very early to other cultures. That is what we used our money on as a family, and there was no better thing.

We did not have much money-I am very thankful for this now. We didn't have a lot of extras. It wasn't until we moved to TN in 87 that we had a dryer, microwave, dishwasher, and cable. Part of that time things were really tight, but I always had what I needed. And I had a family that loved me. It taught me the value of things, but also the inimportance of things. I am so glad I did not have everything I wanted.

They let me try new things-They supported me in any good activity I wanted to do. They let me decide who I was. They let me be outgoing and adventurous. They let me go on any church trip, whether it was up the road or to Texas, or to Costa Rica. Distance wasn't an issue. When I was 17, my mom let me drive my friend JR and myself to camp. If it was a good thing to do, she let me do it. She let me chose my own college without restrictions. She has never pressured me to be "near home." Her response when I was asking her about moving to California was "if your going for the gospel, you have my full support." She let me explore and grow and experience with the foundation of Christ she helped lay.

They were honest and hardworking-I can find no hypocrisy in my mom. She lives out what she says, and they worked for what they had. They lived honestly, not taking advantage of others, or talking bad about others (I cannot remember gossip in my home, that is another significant blessing).

We were always at church-If the doors were open we were there. Church was what was most important, and they modeled that for me.

There are also a few stories that I remember fondly:

One of the best compliments I ever recieved when I was younger (probably junior high) was driving home from church one day, my mom told me that I was elder material. She gave me a blessing. She believed I was going to make a difference in the kingdom. It didn't mean that much to me than, it means a lot to me now.

I remember her reading the Bible with me when I was learning to read. We had an NIV and we would read a heading each night. It taught me early to love and respect the Word.

I only ever remember getting in trouble for something I didn't do twice. But considering the things I got away with, I don't think I can be too bitter. The funniest one was that my oldest two siblings worked, and they would buy some goodies and put them on top of the fridge. It was forbidden for my sister Karen and I. A couple times Karen took some stuff and we both got in trouble. It was so unfair! But if I'm going to get in trouble, I might as well get the goodies. Sure enough, the one time I am stealing from the stash, my mom walks in and catches me read-handed.

This is odd, but I cannot think of any "mom sayings" my mom has. I can finish none of her sentences, which probably saved my behind on a couple of occasions, because I would have.

One time I had the grand idea that my parents should divide all the family money and give each of us the same amount to buy our own food and other things. Of course I wanted to buy junk food. Instead of telling me how ridiculous this idea was, she sat me down and we went over family finances for the whole evening. Once I saw how much everything cost, my only question was "How do we pay for it all?" I changed my mind on the allowance thing.

Truthfully, I can only think of twice where she really lost it, and many many more opportunities I provided for her where she could have. I will not go into details because it would embarrass her, and hurt her feelings. But on both occasions all I remember thinking was "What have I done to make my mom respond like that?" I knew I did something bad. But also on both occasions, my mom apologized to me. She didn't need to, because I deserved it, but she still did.

But the single most vivid teaching moment she gave me was this: In the summer of 94, my father passed away, and then shortly after, both of my sisters tell us that they are pregnant. Neither of them is married. I remember complaining to my mom is some kind of 15 year old self-righteous state that she should do something to really punish my sisters. This is not how our family does things after all. She looked at me and with kindness and firmness said, "You can't go back and change the past, you can only deal with what is. I'm going to love my daughters and I want to provide the best home I can for my grandchildren." Something in my heart opened that night. For the first time I really understood forgiveness and grace, and that God has the same for me. It was an epiphany moment like none other I have ever had. My mom taught me about the nature of God's love that night. A couple years later, both of my sisters gave their lives back to Christ, and my mom's example had much to do with that.

This is the last photo I can find that includes all 6 of us. I was in 6th grade at the time.

I will be able to get some from the party that shows us all now. Here's the last one I can find with all of us, we've sense added Macie.

And because most of you have never seen my dad, here is one of my parents a couple years before my father passed away.

It was a blast watching my mom for the party. She really enjoyed it, and it was great being able to make her feel special. She deserves even more.

Observations about King Saul's Leadership

2008-02-13T23:14:00.003-06:00

In our study of 1 Samuel getting ready for the Bible Bowl, there are several observations on King Saul that give us illustrations of the difficulties of leadership. Saul did not handle these difficulties well:

He was a reluctant leader (10:21-23)-When it came time to officially recognize Saul as king, he runs and hides. Saul knew the lot would fall on him, and he got scared. All of us want to be chosen or to do something great-until we are asked or commanded to. Gideon kept asking God for signs. Moses kept giving excuses at the burning bush. Barak would not fight against the Israelite enemies unless Deborah went with him. Jonah ran the other way because he hated the people the God was going to save. Yet God chose Saul. And in the case of all the others, God accomplished his will using the very people who were afraid. Sometimes we think we want leadership, but when the light is shining on us, it is a completely different story. Having some sense of fear is not entirely bad. It may mean we understand the scope of the responsibility. But do we react by stepping up and trusting the Lord who put us there, or do we run and hide and hope someone else will do it. Saul was scared of being the king, and he hid.

He was impatient (13:8-12)-Saul is to wait for Samuel to offer a sacrifice. But as Saul looked around, saw the Philistines assembling, his own people scattering, and Samuel nowhere in sight. Saul took things into his own hand and offered the sacrifice even though he had an express command to wait for Samuel. Saul led from fear, and that led to his impatience, which then led to his disobedience. Sure enough, just as he is finishing offering the sacrifice Samuel shows up. If you want the favor of the Lord, obey Him at all costs. The costs of obedience are much, much cheaper than the costs of disobedience in the long run. Saul focused on what was just around him, lost his trust in God, and took things into his own hands. Much like the 10 spies who forgot what the Lord had done and only saw large people that they felt like they could not defeat, Saul saw his own people scattering and forgot the Lord was still fighting for him.

He made rash decisions (14:24)-In the middle of a strenuous pursuit of the Philistines Saul makes his soldiers take the vow that they would not eat before evening and the enemies are gone. Now he has tired starving soldiers trying to fight. This falls under the category of stupid oaths. There is nothing to indicate that God would not have given the victory had Saul not made an oath, and the oath he made made it almost impossible to accomplish his goal. Saul is blamed for the sin when his men start eating raw meat. His own son Jonathan, who knew nothing of the vow, broke it and caused Israel to sin. When Jonathan’s life was threatened, the people basically said it was a stupid vow, and Saul released them from it.

He was afraid of the people (15:20-24)-It was Saul’s job to stand up and tell the people to follow the command of God and destroy everything. But some of the people took some of the spoil for themselves, and Saul let it happen. He even participated by keeping some of the spoils to sacrifice to the Lord. I get the impression that this is Saul’s excuse to cover for himself. Saul was more afraid of the people than he was of the Lord. Good leadership will stand up for what is right even when the people they are leading will not obey. Saul listened to the people and forgot the voice of God.

He was concerned about losing his position (chapters 18-31)-Even though God already told Saul that his family would not longer reign, Saul will stop at nothing to try to keep his position. He stopped leading and started protecting, and his kingdom fell apart because of it. David was already going to be the next king, but he was not trying to take it by force. Jonathan, his son, was fine with not being the king, but Saul would stop at nothing to keep his position. He tries to get David out of the picture several ways, but David always succeeds and this drives Saul even crazier. Saul’s life finally ends when he has his own armor bearer to take his life after Saul is injured in battle. Saul wasted his last years as king trying to take out a perceived threat on his position instead of leading and making the most of his kingship. When leaders protect instead of lead, they have forsaken their task.

It is challenging to me as a leader to see these, because I can have the same tendencies. I can listen too much to the people I’m serving and leading and stop listening to the Lord. I can become impatient and not wait on the Lord’s timing. We can all fall into these leadership traps. But as I said before, the cost of obedience to the Lord is much, much cheaper than the cost of disobedience. This list is challenging to me.

-Bulletin article for the 2-17

Wow, Tolkien Died 3 Months before He Was Born

2008-01-24T22:01:00.001-06:00

So said my niece Tara during her birthday party. The he actually referred to her dad, but I found the statement hilarious. So this is what has been going on lately:

Parkway just had its winter youth retreat, and it was excellent. Upcoming posts possible.

I have just discovered that I can add all those cool lists on the side, so I'm indulging myself and adding them.

I am taking Advanced Intro to the New Testament this semester, that is resposible for two of the books on the sidebar. I am also doing my practicum, so this is my first semester to attempt 6 hours.

Now all my spare time is going towards planning my mom's 70th birthday party celebration. She has never made a big deal about her birthday, so we are doing it for her. She will get her own post.

NCYM was incredible and just what I needed. I was challenged and motivated.

I'm sure I have some uninteresting things I could add, but I'll stop now.

Beauty Distortion

2008-01-24T21:45:00.001-06:00

This says more in one minute than I could possibly put into words.

Show this to preteens and teens. Show this to women who struggle with their body image. What we see in magazines and on movies is not real.

Women, if only you could see yourselves as most men do. Work on being a person of strong character. Strong character and confidence are very attractive, beyond what any physical characteristics can do.

"Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart."-1 Samuel 16:7

Some Random Stuff

2007-12-30T01:30:00.002-06:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and that you have a great New Year. Here is a collection of random stuff that I find funny or interesting.

1st: This is a great Hannukah song. It's called "How Do You Spell Channukkahh?" by the LeeVees. I think its great. Apparently it is a group of Jewish artists who decided they needed some more Channukkah songs.

2nd: This picture is hilarious. It looks like Herman Munster as a kid:

3rd: Today some friends and I dubbed things that are funny because they are shocking and awkward as "shock and awk" which itself sounds pretty funny.

4th: I find the Chuck Norris facts hilarious. I have my own but I can't post it to the website.

"Chuck Norris plays no instruments. He simply roundhouse kicks the air and the wind resistance creates a symphony. The friction from Chuck Norris making a symphony is soley responsible for global warming."

5th: This Wednesday I am going to NCYM (National Conference of Youth Ministries) in Atlanta. I love this conference.

6th: I will need your support in this. I have decided to participate in Lent this year. For Lent I will not eat out. I am curious to see what this does for my bank account, my health, and my cooking creativity. It will be a difficult but wonderful exercise.

7th: Keep after me to post my Ecclesiastes posts. I haven't done it and I'm still preaching through the book. Continue to come up with movies and songs that fit the theme. An updated list coming soon, and an ambience for each chapter.

8th: Myspace sucks. I now have a Facebook page. I will not check it very often, but more than myspace. If you are on it, look me up.

Thanks for blogging. I love keeping up with everybody. Thanks for your input. An even if I don't comment, if I'm linked to you, I keep up with what you are doing.

Right to Privacy

2007-12-12T16:21:00.001-06:00

Americans have touted for awhile this unalienable right to privacy, which by the way is not in the Constitution. At its worst this right has been used as the justification for abortion. It is so skewed in some states that girl under 18 must get parent’s permission to get an ear piercing, but can prevent parents from knowing that she is getting an abortion. It is her right to privacy.

But there is a deeper evil subtlety in this right to privacy; what it does to our relationships. It can be seen from a cultural perspective. How many of you know your neighbors? How many of you have fences around your property? Robert Frost is often quoted for saying, “Good fences make good neighbors,” but in the context of the poem Mending Wall, it is his neighbor talking, and he goes on to ask, “Before I built a wall I'd ask to know/What I was walling in or walling out,/And to whom I was like to give offence.” Robert is lamenting the need for fences between people.

The average American house in the 1940s was 1200 square feet, but now it is over 2000. In the same time, the average family has grown smaller, and the divorce rate has skyrocketed. Why do we need all this space? In our own families, we want our privacy, where we can watch what we want to watch, listen to what we want to listen to, and play what we want to play without disturbance. Even in our vehicles, there will be a movie playing, or each person is listening to their own I-Pod, or on the cell texting. Youth group van trips used to be a great bonding experience. I hear many youth ministers lamenting how this has changed, and I have noticed it too. I was at a ministers meeting yesterday, and someone made the observation about video games that “kids used to play with each other, now they play beside each other.” We live increasingly private lives, and while it is what we want, it is killing our souls. Nowhere in Scripture are we promised privacy.

We were made to be in relationship and in community. That is one important aspect in God’s wisdom to give us the church. It is a place where we can come together with people from all walks of life who share the most important part of their life: faith in Jesus Christ. The cross destroys all worldly manner of judging and evaluating what is important. It is in this community where we are to confess to one another. We are asked to choose righteousness, healing, vulnerability, and community over privacy. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) It is in confession, and not just repentance, that healing can happen. Confession is a community event.

When we choose to stay in privacy, and shut ourselves off from each other in order to entertain ourselves, we kill our very souls. We ignore the deep need for intimacy that God placed in us, the deep desire that we all have to be fully known and fully loved. We ignore the deep needs of our heart that can only be met in God’s community. Then we wonder why we struggle with depression and loneliness, and we feel like strangers in our own houses.

I have had my own experience in this lately. We just upgraded to digital cable and high speed internet. I got a DVR, which I love, because I can watch all those shows I like and miss. Except I have watched more TV in the past 3 months than I probably did the entire first part of the year. Sure, I haven't missed an episode of House or Austin City Limits, and Mythbusters is interesting, but it can do nothing for my soul. I have watched TV instead of played games with my family, or visited or called a friend, or prayed and studied. My habits must change, or I must get rid of my DVR. My heart is too precious to let me entertainment myself into apathy.

Privacy lives in darkness and breeds sin. Fellowship is the single greatest way to avoid temptation. As one teacher put it, when talking about lustful thoughts, "Fellowship equals freedom from lust." Why do we need privacy anyway? If we are honest, the majority of time it is so we can live out our sinful desires without fear of discovery. Privacy is so we can hide our pain, sin, hurts, and live in darkness afraid.

It is up to you to take the step and reach out. You must cultivate relationships. You can’t wait for someone else to do it. Trust the Lord and take some risks. Choose your right to be known over your right to privacy. You will likely find that you are not alone in your struggles, and that when you bring your deeds into the light, God’s grace will shine through them and His glory will show, not your own brokenness.

Lonely Nation by Switchfoot
She turns like the ocean
She tells no emotion
She's been gunning down the fight

She's just reminiscing
Blood, sweat, and one thing's missing
She's been breaking up inside, inside

Singing without tongues
Screaming without lungs
I want more than my lonely nation
I want more than my lonely nation
Desperate we are young
Seperate we are one
I want more than my desperation
I Want more than my lonely nation

We are the target market
We set the corporate target
We are slaves of what we want
We're just not amused
And we're just used to bad news
We are slaves of what we want

Singing without tongues
Screaming without lungs
I want more than my lonely nation
I want more than my lonely nation
Desperate we are young
Seperate we are one
I want more than my desperation
I Want more than my lonely nation

Lonely, lonely

Don't leave me hollow
I'm tired
Don't leave me hollow
I'm tired of feeling low
Of feeling hollow
I'm tired of feeling low
Of feeling hollow

Singing without tongues
Screaming without lungs
Want more than my desperation
I want more than my lonely nation
Desperate we are young
Separate we are one
I want more than my lonely nation

Fearing God, Pt. 3

2007-12-08T21:31:00.002-06:00

To fear God is to know that He is in charge, that He is sovereign. It is to let allow God to lead us, and for us to buy into what He is doing, instead of trying to get God to buy into what we are doing. It is to completely give up ourselves to Him.

God is the ultimate Father, and like any Father, He disciplines His children (Hebrews 12). A good Father is someone who is respected. He takes much more interest in the direction and the good of the child than the child’s comfort or even feelings. Jesus had no problem hurting people’s feelings and telling them what they didn’t want to here, in fact He was pretty good at it. God is interested in our righteousness and faithfulness, not our level of comfort.

To fear God is to love and respect Him. It is to know that we are important and loved and secure, but at the same time, we aren’t going to get away with anything. In the Old Testament, prophets talked about the Day of the Lord. It was a day where the Lord would make things right by lifting up the oppressed and bringing down the proud and wicked. It was almost like the prophets were giving the “just wait till your dad gets home” speech. Any kid who has had the threat knows the fear with it, and probably comes from a family with very loving parents.

Of course in all of this, God continually reminds us in Scripture that He is not to be messed with or manipulated. There is the story of Uzziah in 2 Samuel 6:6-7. There is the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. And there are many examples of God showing that He will not put up with people who claim to follow Him and then disrespect Him. I will not try to explain or justify the seeming cruelty of these stories. God is judge, and I will not try to speak for Him or defend Him.

We need to have a sense of awe and mystery about our God. The fear is not terror, it is reverence. It is knowing that His love burns with a passionate furry for us, which is why it is such a big deal when we hurt ourselves and others with sin. A love that strong must be respected, and it creates fear, for we cannot understand it. We only need to be afraid of God when we try to put ourselves in His position. But if we accept His discipline, we will fall on His grace and mercy, and find that He has cushioned the blow of our own mistakes.

--posted while listening to a podcast of Patrick Mead called "Bling: A Generous People"

Memphis and Harding Trip Pictures

2007-11-24T19:41:00.002-06:00

Here are a couple of very interesting pictures from our college tour trip to Harding.

What did these cows do? This was on the back of a semi. There are lots of good mottos for eating beef. This is not one of them.

I missed a turn in Paragould, AR on the way back, and it was fortunate, because I have now been to Goobertown, AR. Now I only need to go to Toad Suck State Park (yea, that's an Arkansas state park).

These next pictures are from the Memphis trip that Ashley and I took as part of her birthday present. We went to the Memphis Zoo, the Gibson Guitar Factory, the Rock N Soul museum (no photography allowed), had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe on Beale Street while we got out of the rain, and then we noticed that the Memphis Grizzlies had a preseason game at the FedEx Forum, so we got cheap seats and enjoyed the game. Everything but the zoo is right off of Beale Street. It was a great trip.

Meerkats at the zoo. We saw lots of stuff, but this was the best picture.

This is an early stage of a Gibson guitar. The tour was great. In the Memphis plant they make semi-hollow electric guitars, like the Les Paul that Slash plays, and Lucille that BB King plays. Guitar Hero made this more fun, because I could identify some of the guitars as they were being made.

Beautiful Ashley outside of the FexEx Forum

The view at the game. No one was there, so we got to move to the front of the upper deck, from $5.00 seats to $40.00 seats. The second is the picture of us that was supposed to have the scoreboard in the background. Instead it cuts off my forehead and you can't see much else.

Written while listening to a Podcast of Randy Harris.

Fearing God, Pt. 2

2007-11-19T16:01:00.001-06:00

We can be guilty of not fearing God enough, of dismissing His law or making Him into our own likeness. God is sovereign. Any investigation of Scripture will show a God who will not heed by the limitations, understandings, and demands of humanity.

I have seen many examples of people invoking God’s Name to defend their own comfortable life, or their political beliefs, or their oppression of others. We have used God to “protect our way of life.” Many have tried to take the timeless, eternal, and apolitical Kingdom of God and make it into an earthly kingdom. I have heard many times in conversations where people have tied the welfare of our nation into the health of the Lord’s church. I realize it is almost never intentional, but the Lord’s church will outlast any nation, government, political party, economic system, etc. During Jesus’ ministry, most of the misunderstandings He had with people was their expectation of the Messiah setting up an earthly kingdom. Again and again Jesus reminded them that His kingdom was not of this world. May we not fall into the same trap now, believing that the Lord’s church is tied to the prosperity of our country. To do that is to not fear the power of God. His Kingdom is bigger and much farther reaching.

I had a conversation with a friend who was involved in an adulterous affair. Her response to God’s teaching on marriage and adultery was in a nutshell, “This is okay, because now I am happy, and God wants me to be happy.” Absolute garbage! God wants us to be faithful. Happiness is not in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. To dismiss God’s law, the One who made us and understands us the best, the One who is holy and perfect, in the name of our momentary pleasure is idolatry. This person dismissed the law of the Lord for a temporary feeling. She had lost her fear of God.

God is big and can take care of Himself. He will not fall with human criticism or unbelief. His church will endure forever and overrun the gates of hell. He has conquered through the resurrection. This is a God who is worthy of our reverence and awe. If we do not fear Him in this sense, we do not yet know Him well enough. We must be shaped into the image of Christ. God is not to be trifled with, or manipulated to support a nationalistic belief, or a personal philosophy, or a comfortable way of life.

“Most of us are not really approaching the subject in order to find out what Christianity says: We are approaching it in the hope of finding support from Christianity for the views of our own party. We are looking for an ally where we are offered either a Master or a Judge.”-C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity

Fearing God, Pt. 1

2007-11-05T23:51:00.001-06:00

I’ve been in a couple of conversations recently about what it means to fear God. We fear God too much, and not enough. This week will be about fearing God too much.

We can fear God too much when we have the view that God is waiting for us to mess up so He can put the hammer down on us. We can be like the wicked lazy servant in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) who is so afraid of losing money, that he does nothing with it except bury it. We can be so afraid of God’s wrath, that we would rather do nothing than mess up. We become like the servant who will not risk in faith because of fear. The master even accepts the wicked servant’s charge and judges the servant accordingly.

I can think of times where someone was going through a tough situation, and I was afraid of encouraging them. My thoughts would go something like, “What if they misunderstand me? What if I say something stupid? What if I just get in the way?”, etc. My fear prevented my encouragement in situations where it probably would have been appreciated. I was more concerned about the possible reaction someone might have towards me instead of offering loving support to someone who needed it. I now know that for what it is: selfishness. I’m was so concerned about how they would react to me instead of offering the love, encouragement, and support they needed. My own fear of being taken the wrong way prevented me from doing what was right.

We can fear falling into sin so much and God’s wrath so much that we cease to live right. Instead of showing a sinner the way of the cross, we degrade her and avoid her in the name of purity so that we do not fall into the same sin, forgetting that the One inside us is stronger than the one in the world. Fear prevents us showing God’s love. Jesus was accused of being a glutton and drunkard, not because He did those things, but because He chose to love and spend time and preach the gospel to those who did.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18

Fearing God does not mean being afraid of the security of our salvation, or being so afraid of doing the wrong thing that we do nothing. Faith is a risk, and weakness is strength in the Lord. We can’t live with the attitude of “If saved, barely saved.” If we are saved, we are completely saved by God’s grace. We are completely loved by God. His love drives out our fear.

Dooma Video

2007-11-01T23:23:00.001-05:00

My friend Drew is youth minister. He made a hilarious parody of the Rob Bell Nooma videos. I enjoyed the social satire. View the Dooma Video here.

I'm So Sexy

2007-11-01T23:08:00.001-05:00

There is a website that you can make yourself look like great art here.

Hehe, I love stupid pictures of myself. I am now on high speed. I have to find stupid ways to use it. Many more pictures to come now that it uploads very quickly.

I wish I would have taken a picture of my haircut yesterday. The barber started cutting the front, and for a bit I had a mullet. I almost considered keeping it for Halloween. The barber told me I could come back tomorrow and he would finish it. But even for me that was too much. I'm not mullet material.

Today starts no shave November. The goatee disappeared yesterday. The beard starts today. I kept my soul patch just because.

My Poem about Pocket Lint

2007-11-01T22:58:00.001-05:00

I wrote this back in high school my sophomore year, and a recent conversation brought it to memory. I have no idea why I still have it memorized, but here it is:

My Almost but Not Completely Unfull Pocket

I was talking to a friend
Had a craving for food
So I said
"Wait a second, dude."

Headed for a stand
That sold hot dogs and beer
But in the way was a band
As the crowd started to cheer

I felt in my pocket
No change went "clank"
So I figured, "Why not?"
I'll go rob a bank"

The bank had been robbed
Just two minutes before
It'd be okay
If I go rob a store

I got to the store
It was owned by a cop
So I dropped my idea
About stealing some pop

Headed back to the game
Thought I might have a mint
I felt nothing in my pocket
But a big piece of lint

"Best piece I've ever seen!"
I thought to myself
So I went home
And put it on my shelf

Everybody could see it
It was out on display
So I went to bed
What a wonderful day!

--Written while watching The Daily Show. This post, not the poem. I wrote the poem before The Daily Show was on.

Correction

2007-10-19T15:27:00.001-05:00

The post "Anatomy of Sin" is supposed to be titled "Anatomy of Losing" which makes more sense for the post. Maybe one day I'll start proofreading my stuff better. But it was bugging me, so I corrected it.

-posted to "All These Things" by TJ McCloud of Stephen Speaks fame

Golden Leaves, Big Curves, Rivers, and Ribs

2007-10-16T16:10:00.001-05:00

Ahh, the recap of my vacation week. It was split into two parts. I spent the first weekend going to the UTM student center retreat. It was great. I wasn't responsible for a thing. Then I spent Monday spent the next two days in Martin, mostly because I had a funeral to go to Tuesday. But that also let me be in town for a weekly Bible study I have been leading for a family. We are studying through John. I love studying with hungry people who are just learning Scripture. It brings out the excitement and power of words that I have grown too used to and comfortable with. The book of John is amazing.

Wednesday morning (okay, more like afternoon) I left for my personal getaway retreat. It was tremendously relaxing. All the things that I was thinking about before starting seemed to melt away, in a good way. It was a trip of praise and thanksgiving as I simply enjoyed God and His creation. I started by following KY-80 from beginning to end. It starts in Columbia, KY at the Mississippi River and goes all the way to Virginia. I took a little excursion up into West Virginia since I was close. I drove to almost daylight just enjoying the shadows of the mountains and being off main roads. That also meant it was very curvy, and I loved it. But I would not have wanted to ride with me, I would have scared myself. (At no time did I come close to losing any kind of control of the vehicle. It's great at cornering.) I found a little road in that went over a mountain, pulled off the road, put my seat down, and slept. Apparently I am crazy for doing this so I've been told, but it is much safer doing this on a back forest road where no one travels than staying at a campground. The next day I took a very pretty back way (virginia hwy 42), then the interstate to the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway. That drive was incredible. I stopped a few times and followed some trails, looked out over the Shenendoah Valley through the fog, and just enjoyed the cool weather. Some of the leaves had started to change, and one of the most amazing things was driving under a tree branch as golden leaves would float down towards the road, reflecting the sun. It was like slow motion as I would drive through them and they would scatter, or as in one case fall through the sun roof.

I followed the parkway into North Carolina, than had to hightail it to Georgia to meet up with my friends Brian and Joy. They were staying with her parents in Ellijay, Georgia. So the rest of the trip was interstate (blech).

Ellijay was tremendously relaxing. Joy's parents are very encouraging, wonderful, hospitable people, and they are wonderful cooks. The first morning I woke up with a very sore right shoulder. Apparently, I gave overused my arm shifting gears. I figured my knee would hurt, but it was my arm. It felt like I spent the previous day throwing medicine balls. I guess I haven't adjusted to that 6th gear yet. Anyways while I was there, they took great care of me.

In the afternoons Brian and I would drive around the area just admiring the beauty. One day we went up Cashes Valley (4x4 highly advisable, considering the creeks you have to ford) in their 4x4. The unfortunate part is much of the area has been built on, and where there was a beautiful little river we wanted to wade in, all around were no trespassing signs. Grr. But in that valley was a beautiful old graveyard by where the smallest church of Christ building used to be (burned down a few years ago, arson suspected). I find old hillside graveyards peaceful. That night we feasted on some very tasty ribs, brushetta, slaw, and some other things. I'm not a big fan of ribs, but these were great!

The next day Brian and I drove around the countryside, and found a river we could tresspass, and enjoyed wading through it, sitting of rocks feeling the cold water on our feet. We stopped a couple of nice places, and I got a local favorite, boiled peanuts, and some type of cider made from a local fruit, which I can't remember what it was called.

Saturday I was avoiding leaving, because I just do that. So we played a game of hand and foot, and I got entirely too competitive, but that will be in the next post. Needless to say, after a great relaxing week trip, I left the house feeling rather stupid for my competitiveness, especially after they had been so gracious to me. What a way to leave a great experience with a bad taste in my mouth. All I could think of on the drive home was my attitude.

I have a couple of other trips to tell you about since then, but I will wait for pictures.

Thanks for sending me your prayer requests. I carried then with me, as well as those in my youth group. I don't pray for others enough. Thanks for encouraging me to do so by sharing what is going on with you.

-posted to "Home" by Switchfoot. I have all my music on random, so I'm not keeping track of what's been played, because you wouldn't care anyway. Now "Anymore" by Smalltown Poets is playing.

The Anatomy of Losing

2007-10-16T15:47:00.002-05:00

I have had a couple of bad experiences with losing recently. (And one of them I won.) I’m not the world’s worst loser, but I’m not the world’s best either. I have a competitive streak. I'm better than I used to be, but I still have some growing to do. I now longer scream at my partner for a stupid spades play and throw my cards at them. I have mellowed, but I still have some work to do.

The first experience was a card game called hand and foot. I was playing with some friends who play by a few different rules than I do. It was coming down to the end of the game, and I argued about how some points should be counted. My “Mr. Rulebook” (as I am known among some other card playing friends) came out. I was technically right, and I argued my point. But the reason I was arguing was that they were close to going out with enough points, and I wanted to win (they played to 10,000 pts.). I told them they weren’t following their own rules. Than I mentioned they need to be consistent. They said they have always played that way. I ignored the comment on consistency, too busy trying to win the argument. I won the point. They played it my way, very graciously. My team came back and won the next round. But my little debate deflated the whole game. As I thought about it later, I realized I was so busy trying to be right, by manipulating the rules in my favor, that I ceased being loving and friendly and having fun, and robbed others of their fun as well. I won the game, but left feeling like a loser.

The second experience was two Sundays ago. I do not like the Yankees, I never have. I was born in New Jersey rooting for the Mets. I’m allowed to extremely dislike the other New York team. I no longer care for the Mets, but the Yankees dislike has stayed. Now I am a Cubs fan (heart for the underdog, would help explain the Yankee dislike also) but if I was honest, I have more passion routing against those Yankees than for the Cubs. (The Cubs losing their series was disappointing, the Yankees winning one game was infuriating.) A longtime friend of mine, who is a Yankees fan, called during the game. I was fine until the Yankees went ahead. I was miserable when they won the game. I have learned enough to not say much when I am in a bad mood. I end up having to do a lot of apologizing if I do. I didn’t say much, and what I did say was not in the best tone. I did hold my tongue mostly. But my attitude stunk. I had to apologize.

I say all this knowing I am not the only competitive one reading this who passionately roots for my team and likes to win. What is amazing is how much my whole mood can live or die by cards I am dealt in an inconsequential game of chance or by some men I don’t know who wear the wrong uniform. For me, the sting of defeat lasts much longer than the joy of winning.

In my teen years, I remember several incidents involving a series of Super Bowls. The three teams I couldn't stand were the Redskins, 49ers, and Cowboys. Guess who won the Super Bowl 5 straight years in a row. Why did I dislike these teams? They beat the teams I liked, they were favored, and everyone else was rooting for them. One year at a church Super Bowl party, as the Cowboys were spanking the Bills, (the game with the Beebe-Lett fumble for you sports fans) I started ripping into others in my youth group saying some absolutely nasty things about them. A couple years later, the Niners were sticking it to the Chargers. My mom walked by and asked how the game was going. I screamed at her. I don't remember what I said, but my tone of voice was just slightly inappropriate, and I'm sure my words more so. The next year I had learned enough that when I was at a youth group Super Bowl party and the Cowboys were beating the Steelers, I left silently, peeled out of the driveway, and drove home aggressively (thankfully it wasn't that far), and probably punched some poor innocent boxes in the basement when I got there. At least no person had to endure my wrath. The next year when it was the Patriots and Packers, it was a relief. I liked both of the teams. I really didn't care who won. But did I celebrate the victory? No, it was kind of "whatever" for me. I didn't feel the victory. I didn't go around giving undo compliments to people. If my team wins, it only means that everything is as it should be, and I don't celebrate much (exception, 2004 Red Sox, because they overcame almost impossible odds. I only like the Red Sox because of the Yankees, and despite being a Cardinals, routed for the Red Sox in the World Series because I wanted the Yankees fans to have to shut up.)

Losing hurts, but why am I so affected by the "wrong team" winning? When my team loses, it reminds me of all the broken places in my own life where defeat reigns. What losing did in those years was remind me of every dissappointment in my life. I was terrible at athletics, I was not very popular (especially in junior high, high school was better), I felt like a loser compared to so many others. Watching the underdog lose was like watching my own life get run over by those who I thought had it all. Losing seems to draw that out, so the loss is not just a team, it's me. If the "Evil Empire" wins, for some reason my heart connects that to all the injustice, hurt, pain, and difficulty I see in the world, and in myself. I feel that somehow the Yankees are responsible for the Holocaust, Darfur, world hunger, and my lack of a dating life. I know that it's ridiculous, but it is really how I felt. Any place in my life that is not as I would like it to be rises up like a beast, and I feel like a threatened animal and I can take that out on others with hurtful words. Then I walk around for a few days still in a bad mood because of what happened on a field somewhere.

Men especially, if we are honest, is that not true of most of us? What else would explain why there is more domestic violence reported on Super Bowl Sunday than any other day of the year?

I no longer carry around defeat for more than a few minutes (or hours in extreme cases), and I have learned to remind myself of the complete unimportance of sporting events on the outcome of my life. I have learned to turn off the TV if that monster starts roaring in my chest. Sports can’t solve hunger, or racism, or immorality, or bring the gospel to anyone. To live and die by a team winning or losing is to make that an idol. May we learn to feel the pain of real injustice in this world that we can act on instead of the contrived injustice we feel as a result of over glorified athletes playing a game we have no control over.

I still love watching sports, but I have learned that if I really care about the outcome, to watch it alone. For some reason I enjoy it better that way, no one to lash out at if my team is losing, no one to rub it into if my team is winning. I still love playing games, and I may be an annoying rulebook at times, but with the exception of the above story, I will use it against myself as much as for myself. I just want the game to be played right and fair. Although, I will still play to win regardless of the score. Some find that annoying. I find quitting annoying.

-posted to Sanctitatis" by Future of Forestry

P.S. Oh, this year I like the Cowboys and I'm routing for them, but only because Romo is on my fantasy football team. Is that not ridiculous or what? Next year I'll dislike them again.

Lining Up Sin

2007-09-20T15:02:00.002-05:00

This was my bulletin article for this week, thought I would share it:

“How far can you go and still be okay?” I have been asked this question many times when talking to teens about dating relationships. Kids want to know what is acceptable and what isn’t. When does a romantic activity pass from acceptable to sinful? What can I get away with and still be okay? Where is the line? There’s only one problem with this, it’s a bad question. My response is always, “If your concerned about the line, your already going in the wrong direction.” Purity is not about not doing certain activities. It encompasses the whole direction that you take. Purity is all about where your heart is focused. If your heart is focused on how far you can go without sinning, your heart is already sinning. You’ve taken your focus off Christ to play in the devil’s backyard. Purity in Christ is not a place, it is a direction.

But there is a deeper undercurrent here. Do we live lives that are focused on purity and holiness in Christ, or do we focus on sin and trying to avoid it, just being sin managers? The Pharisees and scribes were into sin management. They had drawn lines to distinguish what was sinful and not. Don’t dare cross that line. They were watching you. Jesus came with a direction. His response to people stuck in sin was to meet them where they were and tell them, “Follow me.” He didn’t give them a line to avoid, He gave them a direction to go. No matter where you are on the “sin line,” you can always walk towards Jesus.

Starring at “the line” will only bring temptation. It’s impossible to not think about something your thinking about. For example, don’t think about cookies. There, are you successfully not thinking about cookies? So it is with sin. To stare at sinful activity and wonder how close you can get is to already invite temptation, sin, and separation from Christ, because we are no longer looking His direction, instead focusing on what we are trying to avoid.

If we are focused on Christ, we have no worry about the line, because even if we are on the wrong side, we are walking the right direction. We don’t stop when we’ve crossed to the right side. In fact we often finds lines we’ve crossed we didn’t even know about. We keep following as He leads us into His righteousness. The only line that matters is walking the straight and narrow one to Christ. To wonder where any other line is is to get off course.

A side note: I remember previewing a video for teens about sexual purity that used the phrase over and over “stay pure until you are married.” Please don’t say that. What a terrible statement. It implies that sexuality is impure. To have a sexual relationship in marriage IS sexual purity. I would offer the phrase “stay chaste until you are married” or something of that sort. The video went on to give the reasons to stay pure were to avoid diseases and pregnancy. I love when we take scare tactics. "Don't have sex or your weiner will fall off."* I think Christ has more in mind when He calls us to sexual purity. I didn’t show the video.

*That sentence was not in my bulletin article.

Update Time

2007-09-19T23:22:00.001-05:00

It has been a good fall so far. Next week I will be on vacation, which will consist of going on a UTM fall retreat and then heading to the Appalachian mountains for a few days for a personal retreat (hopefully with a close friend of mine feeling much of the same things I am). I would go visiting, but I really feel God calling me to prayer. I need to listen. I need to praise. I need to change. There has been so many things that have been challenging me lately, and it's like I'm really being called to something deeper. I need to changed my comfortableness, fear and indifference for courage and love. I need to be broken. Not that anything is going bad, it's not. I just see some places that I so quickly buy into shallowness and superficiality. I want to learn to speak to deeper needs and not give easy answers to things. I want to be more perceptive. I need to be less selfish and more encouraging. I live and love too much on the surface afraid to go deeper. As C.S. Lewis says I am far too easily satisfied with much less than the Lord has for me. I follow the call of lovers so much less wild. I sell God short on the promises He has for me. I need to reorient and refocus.

So this is what I've been thinking about the last month or so. I want to teach my kids to live and grow in faith, not religion.

But through it all I can see that God is doing a good work in me. I pray that He is doing the same in my family and in my youth group.

Jason, I hope you read this. I tried to use the e-mail address I had for you but it didn't work. Please e-mail me at timspain@gmail.com. I'd love to catch up with you.

Let me know if there is anything I need to pray for. And not just surface things, the deep things of the heart. E-mail me or post. I am interested in your spiritual well-being. Mike Cope mentioned in a sermon one time that if you listen to our prayers it seems the most pressing thing in our lives, nation, and church is that our second cousin is sick. I appreciate the sentiment. There are deeper things going on than physical discomfort. There are bigger issues than health. Of course as I say that, I have a mom in my congregation that is going through breast cancer. I will be praying for that too.

Wiinegade

2007-08-29T23:22:00.001-05:00

I found a good mp3 upload site. Here is the radio intro and my deliciously bad a capella version of our Renegade parody we used for the South Dakota trip. The basic story is we set up Zaccheus to be a tax collector obsessed with Nintendo Wii. This song is like a montage where he is driving and thinking about the emptiness in his life, and he know he needs to change.

I hope you endured it. Heheh. Oh, that's my friend Garrett, who recorded it for me, doing the introduction.

Living in the Lifeboat, Pt. 2

2007-08-29T18:19:00.002-05:00

The kids in Wednesday class had no problem with the lifeboat activity, they jumped right in and they were pretty much in agreement. There are some interesting observations to be made from this. 15 people on the boat and they could take 9. This is who they decided to keep: the doctor, Orlando Pace (a pro-bowl offensive tackle for the St. Louis Rams), a youth minister, a factory worker, a farmer, a structural engineer, a boy scout with ADHD, and themselves. Everyone of them had 7 or 8 votes out of 8. From there it was a tie between a cowboy cheerleader (only the males voted for her) and a boy named Pete, whose story was told in the previous class. He was the reject in his school that everyone made fun of. He was poor and had bad hygiene, but he picked up 4 on the sympathy vote.

This is who was left behind: a welfare mother, Paris Hilton, a teacher with multiple sclerosis, Fabio, and a Down Syndrome child. I asked specifically about the last one, and they all assured me they would not leave [three members of our congregation with Downs Syndrome, and all three very loving and caring]. Relationships do matter. But once there ceases being a relationship, we start to think of what value they have based on what they can offer in productivity. If I put their names down specifically, they would have voted from them in an instant, but they thought of someone who they don’t know and have no relationship with. Is this tough to hear? Absolutely, but if we are honest we all make these kind of assessments. I am no different. I hesitate to put all this information down because it is a sensitive topic. But the reality is we all struggle with valuing people based on what we think they can give to society by being a productive citizen verses what we are called to which is selflessly loving others and seeing their value through the eyes of Christ. I’m somewhat surprised the youth minister got all those votes, because honestly, if I were stranded on a desert island, I’m not really sure what I could offer other than good theology and a few jokes. I’m not sure I would be the most useful at all. They connected youth minister to me, who they have a relationship with, instead of some great youth minister somewhere else that they don’t know. Relationships matter greatly, and it influences how we see the lifeboat.

But a relationship with Christ should have the lifeboat mentality sinking. Society does not give people value! It only takes them and uses them for their own means. Once you stop being productive you are thrown aside. Christ is where identity and value must come from. For from Him we learn love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as well as wisdom and understanding. You never outlive your usefulness to the Lord or to His kingdom. But He asks us to die to ourselves, so that we can be free and live outside of the lifeboat mentality.

Two songs by Derek Webb that illustrate this point:

"What Is Not Love" on I See Things Upside Down

What looks like failure is success
And what looks like poverty is riches
When what is true looks more like a knife
It looks like you’re killing me
But you’re saving my life

But I give myself to what looks like love
And I sell myself for what feels like love
And I pay to get what is not love
And all just because I see things upside down

What looks like weakness can do anything
And what looks like foolishness is understanding
When what is powerful has not come to fight
It looks like you’re going to war
But you lay down your life

But I give myself to what looks like love
And I sell myself for what feels like love
And I pay to get what is not love
And all just because I see things upside down

What looks like torture is a time to rejoice
What sounds like thunder is a comforting voice
When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
And I say I don’t know you
But You say it’s finished
When what is beautiful looks broken and crushed
And I say I don’t know you
But you say it’s finished

"Love Is Not Against the Law" on Mockingbird

Politics or love
Can make you blind or make you see
Make you a slave or make you free
But only one does it all
And it’s giving up your life
For the ones you hate the most
It’s giving them your gown
When they’ve taken your clothes
It’s learning to admit
When you’ve had a hand in setting them up
In knocking them down

Love is not against the law
Love is not against the law

Are we defending life
When we just pick and choose
Lives acceptable to lose
And which ones to defend
‘Cause you cannot choose your friends
But you choose your enemies
And what if they were one
One and the same
Could you find a way
To love them both the same
To give them your name

Love is not against the law
Love is not against the law
Love, love, love love

Funny Quotes

2007-08-22T00:11:00.001-05:00

On the phone with my friend Drew talking about where we were going to eat lunch for our meeting Thursday.

Me-Where are we going to eat?

Drew-I don't know, some place that has food.

Me-Some place that has food? I think I'm going to open my own restaurant. It will be called Fast Food. We will have menus with prayer requests. We won't have any food there, but you can get your spiritual fill. Just make sure no one sees you enter or leave.

-Still listening to Paste sampler. Now playing "Bad Graces"Diego Sandrin

Living in the Lifeboat

2007-08-22T00:06:00.003-05:00

This is my bulletin article post for this week. Many of the ideas are fleshed out of Don Miller's book Searching for God Knows What which I highly, highly recommend. And pretty much most of the ideas I got from that book. I don't think I would have thought of this stuff. But it was profound enough to share and add a little personal perspective to.

Have any of you ever played a game in school called Lifeboat? I remember playing this in my sophomore high school English class. The premise is that your boat is sinking, and there is only space for a few people on the emergency raft. It is our task to figure out who we are going to take with us. Obviously we would want to save ourselves, right? In the game there must be some people left behind. The list usually has some smart, successful people, some people we would consider a drain on society, and average Joes. A line up might be like this: a doctor, a mother on welfare, a factory worker, an engineer, a minister, a famous actress, a basketball player, a person with Down’s Syndrome, a lawyer, and a fast food worker. You can take six people. It was called an exercise in value’s clarification. However, looking at that list you can tell it is much more insidious than that. It determines who has societal value and who is expendable. I did not realize this when I played it in high school. I only remember arguing with my agnostic friend about why I was going to include the minister.

In the book “Searching for God Knows What” author Donald Miller draws out the meaning behind this terrible game. So many times we live as if we are trying to convince others that we need to be on the lifeboat, because if we were rejected, we would die. I find this to be a highly insightful look at human behavior. So we live trying to find approval by the right groups so that we can be validated. I guarantee you this scenario is played out everyday in our school systems. Kids live and die emotionally by who they get approval from, and some will go to terrible extremes to try to find this approval. Why? Because they are trying to secure themselves on the lifeboat. And look at what can find a place on the lifeboat: if you can play a guitar, if you are pretty, if you are smart, if you are rich, if you can dunk a basketball, if you are right. How many times will we sacrifice important relationships to be right about things that are trivial, like sports teams, or music choice, or who drives the better car? Those are things that society values. Those are things that can keep us safe on the lifeboat. It explains so much about how atrocious humanity can be to each other. If your race is a majority on the lifeboat, it makes sense to find some reason another race is inferior. It protects your position on the boat, and in fact your whole life. Racism makes no sense apart from this worldview.

But then there is Jesus. Everything He taught goes against the lifeboat mentality. He spent His time with society’s outcasts and brought redemption and forgiveness. In the Old Testament, several verses remind us that the Lord looks out for the orphan and the widow. Matthew 25:31-46 reminds us that what we do with “the least of these” is what we have done to Jesus. If our salvation and identity is secure in Christ, then who needs the lifeboat? There is infinite room in God’s kingdom. We have to stop comparing ourselves with others and trying to one up each other on everything. Jesus refused to buy into the lifeboat system, and it ticked off the Pharisees who believed they had the best position. Religion is a major way we try to secure our position on the lifeboat. How dare we reduce God’s love to such arrogance. God’s love is too big. Jesus even tells us how to avoid the lifeboat mentality. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matt. 16:24-25) Go down with the ship. It is really what Jesus is asking us to do. Is that not a vivid image of what baptism is? It’s rejecting the lifeboat and dying in the water, only to be raised again without the trappings of the lifeboat mentality. We are dead to the world which means that we can walk with Jesus in faith across the water like Peter did, trusting in Him, and loving others not because we need to be validated, but because Christ validated that person on the cross, no matter what society says.

We are going to do the Lifeboat activity in my Wednesday class tonight. I’m curious to see how it turns out. I hope it becomes a vivid illustration about how we think about people. I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

-Posted while listening to Paste Magazine Sampler 35 currently playing "Get to Love" by The Old Ceremony.

One Year Anniversary

2007-08-20T23:23:00.001-05:00

Today is the one year anniversary of being at Parkway Church of Christ, and it has been a great year. I have been blessed to be there. I hope to be able to be there at least until Ashley graduates, which would be a few more years.

Does anyone know how to put an mp3 (not as background music, but playable in a blog post) in a blog post? I want to post my deliciously terrible a capella version of "Wiinegade" that I did for our South Dakota trip. It's a parody of "Renegade" by Styx. I so just want to share it with all of you.

Camp was great. I love camp. And I will have some great video from camp. I will just say human bowling ball and bullriding. I will be making my youtube debut, and it's funny. So hopefully I will get the video soon. Hehe

Now that my youth ministry summer is over, hopefully I will post have to catch up on my posts. I'm hopefully going to post my Ecclesiastes posts that will include a song title for each chapter. Thanks for all your suggestions. A couple of others that have come up are "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas, "You Gotta Serve Somebody" by Bob Dylan and "Happy Is a Yuppie Word" by Switchfoot. If you have any other ideas for songs or movies let me know. I also would like to summarize my sermon on a Biblical view of singleness that I was able to preach for a summer youth series. I also still need to post some South Dakota pictures but I am on dial up and it takes forever to upload them, so I haven't yet.

I am also taking an online course (only one) with Harding, and the reason I am only taking one and it is online is because I am planning on going to Ireland in September with my friend Kim (those who know her know who I am talking about) because she has been invited by their Parliament to talk to them about human sex trafficking. She has invited my to go with her with is a tremendous privilege, especially since Ireland is one of the top places I would like to visit.

--written while watching the Angels take the lead from the Yankees. Yes!!!!!!!

Camp Week

2007-07-14T23:08:00.001-05:00

Despite my last post, things are going quite well. And as much as a minor rejections (and this one was minor) aren't fun, I would rather have those moments and have someone that peaks my interest enough to go after. It does my heart some good. I have debated whether I should delete the post, but I think I will look at it later and laugh. Sometimes it is good to let your emotions go with no censorship. And it did allow me to calm down and sleep.

Cool things: Last night I took Ashley to see Nickel Creek and Glen Phillips (formerly of Toad the Wet Sprocket, and an amazing song writer) in Paducah. The show was incredible, and Chris Thile brought a whole new level to mandolin playing. Glen and Nickel Creek also did several songs together. It was one of the best concerts I have been to.

This week is my first summer camp with my Parkway youth group. Ashley, Tara, and Elizabeth are going, so I'm looking forward to spending some good time with them. I love church camp and I missed out on it last year. I'm excited.

I will post some South Dakota pictures when I get back. Also, here is the mp3 of the parody I did of Renegade by Styx. It's called Wiinegade. In our skit we gave Zaccheus the VeggieTales treatment and made him obssessed with the Nintendo Wii. The song is deliciously bad. I will post that as well.

Order of the Phoenix is again a very well made Harry Potter movie. I am looking forward to the book.

I am preaching a lesson on singleness for a summer sermon series on the family and a church near here. If you missed it, here and here is what I wrote about it last year. I will be using some from that, and Lauren Winner did a book called Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity. She is an outstanding author.

So that is what is going on with me. Have a good week and while I am enjoying camp.

The Single Person's Obligatory "Love Stinks!" Rant

2007-07-14T00:42:00.000-05:00

This is a "I'm ticked off and I have to vent steam so I can go to bed" post.

News Flash: Women really want shallow guys!

Why do I say this in anger venting steam and lump them all together? Because it makes me feel better at the moment and it's my blog so I can do that!

So here's the story that pretty much explains my whole dating (ok, nondating) life.

There is this woman that I happen to really like, and for very good reason. She has a deep faith that has sustained her through some difficult times. She is intelligent, interesting, and funny. She has a deep love for others. She actually thinks about world events, culture, and politics from a well-rounded Christian perspective (that means not religious right but actually reasonable). And she lives out her faith, willing to go wherever for the sake of the gospel.

This is the kind of woman that will catch my attention, but it's pretty difficult to see these things at a glance.

By the way, she is physically attractive, but even if she wasn't, the above things would have me sold.

But she doesn't live in the immediate vicinity, and since I am a hopeless romantic, I really don't care. I figure out a way I can see her, willing to take the time and money that takes. Why? Because of those above things which are difficult to find in a captivating personality.

I don't let her know I would take the trip just out to see her, but I would be in the area, and I ask her for a date. To get to this point, I have to be mighty impressed with you. My heart is not a fishhook that I just throw to anybody.

But this is the part that makes me want to scream. Because I have taken some time to actually look past the outer beauty to see the person inside. Because I refuse to manipulate and control and because I actually spend time trying to get to know how she thinks about things. Because I would rather spend my time serving God and being responsible and being a surrogate dad and have a life that doesn't revolve around finding hot chicks, because I try to be respectful of women, this is the response I get.

"Sorry, I think of you more as a big brother."

This is not the first time I have gotten this response. Time to just throw my heart out there and make quick judgments and hope that after its been trampled some girl will find it and heal it back or something.

It doesn't help that I have all these responses from married people like "your going to make a great husband and dad." or "I wish my sister had met you before that jerk." Yes, I have gotten those statements on more than one occasion. They are nice compliments, and I do enjoy them. Then there's the "your so good at such and such, why aren't you married yet?" which isn't so helpful.

So I love her for who she is, and it surprised me when I first realized I liked her. And I do what I usually do and tried to talk myself out of it. I couldn't. Usually I can. But I am relegated to big brother status because I actually took time to find out what she is all about and became friends in the process.

Love stinks! And women are really stupid sometimes.

And I being fair? Yes and no, and definitely no with that last comment. But she is too good for me to pass up. And while I may not be manipulative, I can be very persevering.

I hope she doesn't read this, but I don't think she's checked my blog, and if she does, well, at least you know what I see in you.

And let me add ladies, that living life by faith is about the most adventurous and interesting and unboring life you can have. So that takes care of the danger element if you see me as too mellow.

But the desire for finding a good woman and raising a good family is too strong to be called to life long singleness. I've wrestled with this. And at the moment I'm kind of ticked off at God from giving me this unfulfilled desire but that is something I will have to take up with Him, then be left beaten and humbled because He is God and I am not, and following and trusting Him anyway because He is still amazingly good to me and who else can I trust to provide?

I think there are many actually hurtful things that she could have said that would not have cut as deeply as the big brother thing.

Ok, I feel better now so maybe I can sleep. Perhaps I'll dream of women who think that having a friendship will actually be attractive and important to a romantic relationship.

More Ecclesiastical Songs

2007-07-04T14:26:00.001-05:00

Here are three more songs that work for Ecclesiastes

Meant to Live-Switchfoot
Sad Face-The Choir
This Too Shall Be Made Right-Derek Webb

Sarah, I haven't heard Nicole's song about it. It may be from her first album which I don't have, or it is by another title and I'm forgetting about it.

Got back from South Dakota on Saturday, and it was a good trip. Pictures will be posted soon. There was a group from Colorado there too which I found out about a week before the trip, and they were a good fun group so it made the mission trip that much more enjoyable.

Have a good Independence Day.

written while watching the Giants and Reds game.

Ecclesiastical Help

2007-06-16T13:24:00.000-05:00

I'm preaching a series and teaching my youth class from Ecclesiastes. It is one of my favorite books and I find it uplifting, because it cuts through all the crap of our culture of fear where we have to concentrate on everything as if it is a catastrophe that will take us all out. It's always been that way.

Anyways, I make some posts on each chapter eventually, but right now I am getting ready for my 3rd annual South Dakota mission trip. This time our skits are live action and contain a nice parody for "Renegade" by Styx that has Zaccheus thinking about his life before he meets Jesus.

Here is what I need help with. I am trying to think of songs and movies that carry the same idea as the book of Ecclesiastes. If you can think of any that are straight from the book, or are about finding meaning, or are even just questioning what life is about, or even take Ecclesiastes out of context, than let me know

Here are the songs:

Meaningless-Sixpence None the Richer
Turn! Turn! Turn!-The Byrds
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For-U2
What's This Life For-Creed
We Didn't Start the Fire-Billy Joel
Blowin' in the Wind-Peter, Paul, and Mary
Tripping Billies-Dave Matthews Band
Youth of a Nation-P.O.D.

Here are the movies:

Citizen Kane
Mosquito Coast
The Villiage
The Truman Show
About a Boy
Leaving Las Vegas
Living Out Loud
American Beauty

If you can think of any more, please let me know. I am trying to title every lesson after a song or movie. If you think it may be a stretch, go ahead and suggest it. You might help lead to some good ideas. I know there are a whole lot more out there. Jeff, I know you will have some great song suggestions.

Some Thoughts on Death

2007-06-12T16:48:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Cecil and I were teaching a class together and we watched a video about dealing with death and loss (Rob Bell's Nooma video #12 "Matthew"). Unfortunately it is an experience that everyone must go through at some point in their lives. Next week will be the 13th anniversary of my father’s death, and I miss him on a completely different level now then I did as a 15 year old learning how to face life without my dad.

My father, Robert, moved from West Tennessee to New Jersey in the late 50s so that we could work as a vocational missionary. He worked for the post office while helping to establish a congregation. It wasn’t until the early 60s that my mom moved there to do the same thing after graduating college. It was there they met, married, and started raising four children, of which I am the youngest. When my dad retired from the post office, he wanted to move home, so we moved to West Tennessee.

I say all that to give you some background on who I am, but mostly to tell you the conversations that I missed being able to have with my dad. He moved to New Jersey without knowing anyone, but with a heart for ministry. After I graduated, I moved to Sacramento, California knowing no one but with a heart for ministry. I wonder how my dad handled some of the difficulties of a faith move like this: the insecurity, the loneliness, the doubt, the excitement, the joy of making new friends and learning, watching God provide in amazing ways, learning what it means to live by faith. In some of the difficult moments I wish that could have talked to my dad about how he handled different situations, how he handled the struggles of being in a new place, talking about victories where we see God working in our ministries and in our lives. I wish I would have been able to know my dad on that level, when we could share common experience, and he could give me the wisdom that he learned. I miss him, but I am thankful for the time that I had him.

Many of you have experienced death. Death of a parent, friend, sibling, child. Yet it is the fate of everyone who lives to die. Why is it so difficult when we know it is the destiny of everyone? I think there is something deep within us that knows death is unnatural and our souls cry out. Death was a punishment for sin. It was not meant to be in the beginning. It touches us all and we feel it’s cold chilly blast deep in our hearts. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has set eternity in our hearts. But death is so mortal, so finite, so...wrong. It was not what we were originally created for.

In the video, the speaker reminded us to grieve, just let it out. Grieve unashamedly and just let it come as it does. Hearts will heal, but they will never be the same. There are no easy answers to death, and I’m not going to offer any with this post. I do believe that it is as much a mercy as a punishment, because how terrible would it be to forever live in a sinful, messed up world. But there is something in us that knows this is not how it is supposed to be. But God went through it. Jesus died. He rose. Death is not the final verdict. I have hope. In the midst of loss I have hope. Jesus wept. Jesus rose.