Robby's Thoughts

Lent

2009-02-26T20:42:00.002-06:00

My Dad's side of the family is Catholic, so I grew up observing Lent. Each year my Dad would encourage my brother and I to give up something for Lent. I think that I gave up Skittles every year of Elementary School. We would even follow the rule that you cannot eat meat on Fridays, which meant that we usually ate cheese pizza instead of pepperoni. As I progressed through middle and high school, I became less consistent in my observance of Lent.

In college I remember observing it twice. One year I decided that I would give up pop. This is definitely a difficult challenge for someone who likes to drink Dr. Pepper on a daily basis. As that season of Lent progressed, I became less and less consistent in being faithful. After a week or so I decided that I would only drink Sprite because it was caffeine free. A couple weeks after that I began to drink diet soda. To be honest I do not remember if I was able to wait until Easter to drink a Dr. Pepper. The second time I remember giving up something for lent was when Megan and I decided to give up something together. In that particular year, we decided that we should give up kissing for Lent. While we had high ambitions, we struggled to hold up to the challenge. Let's just say Good Friday had a different meaning for us that year.

Even though I am no longer Catholic, I find myself feeling as though I should give something up every year. After spending time thinking about what I should give up this year, I decided to give up Facebook. My hope in doing this is that it will give me time to do other things. I think Facebook is a great tool, but often I find myself wasting a lot of time on it. So while it is probably a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things, I hope that over the next 40 days I can invest more in God as well as relationships with others. I think that is what Lent is about. It's not just giving something up for the sake of doing it. It's about letting God come in and work in your life. It's about transformation and awareness.

I really want this Lent to be different. I want it to have meaning. I think that the reason that so many people feel disconnected from God is because we as a society are not very faithful in practicing spiritual disciplines. I want Easter this year to have greater significance than it has in the past. I hope that in this season we can all receive with great joy the power of the resurrection.

The Pomegranate Phone

2009-02-24T20:16:00.002-06:00

A large number of my middle school students have an iphone. The other day I was thinking about if they become accustomed to that type of technology at this age, they will never be able to settle for anything less. Apple has successfuly created in 12 year olds the need to have a phone with an expensive data plan for the rest of their lives. Brilliant marketing.

The other crazy thing to think about is that at some point the iphone will seem uncool and outdated. As amazing as the iphone technology is, at some point it will no longer seem like a big deal. Check out the following link for the cool new phone. Could this be the future of cell phones? What's next?

http://www.pomegranatephone.com/

How Quickly the Months Go By...

2009-01-06T19:57:00.003-06:00

It has been two months since my last post. The funny thing is that during this lapse I have actually thought about blogging multiple times. I am not so sure why I have waited this long to post, but I actually have several things that I want to write about. Hopefully I will post several times in the coming days.

Stay tuned for my thoughts on Reality TV, Spiritual Disciplines, and much much more!

Post Election Thoughts

2008-11-06T21:54:00.003-06:00

I wanted to give a few of my post election thoughts. I think the thing that has saddened me the most about this year's election is the way that I have seen some people respond to the results. Tuesday night I was really disappointed as I saw some of the things my friends were putting up as their statuses on facebook. Here are just a few that I saw:

1. NAME is were all going to die because Obama will force us to marry into homosexuality

2. NAME isn't is weird how Obama and biden sounds ALOT lilke osama bin laddin?

3. Name is YES WE CAN!... let the antichrist lead us all to hell... (think im joking? read revalation).

There are definitely more, but I think these three prove my point. The negative statements continued to abound when I went to work the next day. As I saw the response of people who I know would call themselves Christians it left me wondering in what these individuals were placing their hope in.

As Christians, I believe, that we place our hope not in elected officials, but instead in Jesus Christ. John McCain or Barack Obama or George Bush or Hillary Clinton are not going to solve all of our problems. The way Jesus talked about the world changing is when individual Christians get off their butts and live out kingdom principles. It's not by electing people that agree with us. If we want change, we must be change.

A final caution I would give to anyone that wants to make statements of this nature is that they need to consider the words of Jesus. A pharisee came to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what is the greatest commandment?" Jesus responded by saying "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." He went on to say that the second was like it "Love your neighbor as yourself."

When comments of this nature are made an individual is not loving their neighbor as their selves. We Christians would do well to take this advice. John said that the world would know we are Christians by our love, not our evil, hateful, bigoted comments.

This post is probably a day or two late though because it seems as though a lot of the election hype has slown down and most people no longer care. This probably says even more about our commitment to things, but I will save that for another time.

Thinking About Church...

2008-10-29T21:06:00.003-05:00

I've got church on my mind for several reasons today. We started a unit on church today in one of the classes that I teach. We all sat in a circle and I had the students share their thoughts. I asked them what do you like or not like about church. I also asked if they thought their churches reflected what Jesus's vision of church would be. I then asked them what do they wish church was like. Finally, we talked about if when they went to church it seemed like God was even there.
Here are a few things that they said that stood out:
-Several students felt that they feel like sermons are directed to people much older than them
-Several student felt as though they are judged by the older people in their congregation
-A couple of students mentioned that they think church should be more than just a Sunday morning thing. They felt that God would want them to be more of a community. One student even said a church should be like a big extended family.
-At least 10 student feel as though they go to church every week and leave without it ever seeming like God is even there.

We will continue to talk through these issues in class, but it was interesting to get their initial observations. I am hopeful that they will get a vision for being the people of God that is much more than an hour one morning a week.

Another reason that I am thinking about church is that tonight my church had our annual State of the Church Dinner. Sounds official, huh? It was interesting to here the staff's vision for where they think the church should go. There was a lot of emphasis on impacting the community which is great. I love how many opportunities our church gives for people to serve. Of course there was talk about money for new youth facilities. I find it hard to strike a balance between doing things to "attract" and "excite" people and also staying true to the mission of God. I hate when it seems as though it takes cool facilities and programs to get people through the doors.

All the talk of church also makes me wonder if I could/will ever work in a church. Part of me thinks I would enjoy it, but at the same time I think it would maybe drive me crazy. The church is a beautiful mess! I hope that we can continue to understand what it means to faithfully be the church in this time and place in history.

Handyman

2008-10-24T21:53:00.006-05:00

Owning a home obviously comes with a lot of responsibility. Some of the responsibilities are a bit easier to handle than others. I have very little (ok not really any) handyman skills. I guess a lot of people learn how to do these types of things from their dads, but not me. My dad taught me how to make pizza but we skipped the lessons on changing tires, power tools, and other things of this nature.

Even though I don't have the handyman skills, I feel like I need to learn how to be able to do things around the house. I don't want to have to pay a butt load of money every time I need something little done. Over the past few days I have been trying to handle some plumbing issues at the house. I had a leaky shower faucet and what should have entailed replacing one washer ended up involving two busted valves and 7 trips to Home Depot and Robertson Plumbing in a 12 hour period.

I was finally able to take care of the issue today. There were certainly times over the past few days when I wished I would have hired someone else to come out and do it, but in the end I am glad I didn't. I got a deep sense of satisfaction from knowing that I had conquered the dripping shower head. I fixed it all by myself!

I think that often I am pretty hesitant to try new things. I generally do not like taking risks and avoid situations that I am not comfortable in. I saw this quote the other day by oil tycoon Boone Pickens he said, "Don't fall victim to what I call the ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome. You must be willing to fire.” I think I generally stay in aim-aim-aim mood. It felt good that in this situation I just fired. I didn't do everything right, but I was able to learn as I went a long.

I'm ready to fire more often.

I'm back?

2008-10-21T21:14:00.003-05:00

I say I am back with a question mark because I never know how long my blogging will last. Lately I have had the desire to do more writing, so that is why I have been lured back to the blog world.

A lot has happened in the past 10 months or so since my last post. This fall I started a Masters in Higher Education Administration at OSU Tulsa. For a long time I had been considering going to seminary, but as of late had not been very excited about it. I felt it was too big a commitment of time and money to do when I was not completely sure that pastoral ministry is what I am being called to do. I am excited to pursue this degree. After serving in various leadership positions at JBU, I always thought it would be great to work full-time on a college campus. The other good thing about the Higher Ed. degree is that I could use it to get a job at a seminary and take classes then. I am excited to see what happens. The other big thing is that Megan and I purchased a house. It's a great house that we both like a lot.

Hopefully I will have some posts of substance over the next few days. Welcome back blog world.

Mr. Escalade Man

2008-01-16T21:18:00.000-06:00

Today I was driving and got stopped at a red light where I was the first person in line. The road was the type of road that is two lanes when you stop at the light, but on the other side of the light merges into one lane. A Cadillac Escalade pulled up next to me at the light and at first I did not think much of it, but my thoughts of Mr. Escalade man quickly changed. When I looked over at him Mr. Escalade man mouthed the following words, "I am going to beat you."

I have had people pull up next to me rev their engine and then peel out on multiple occasions, but this was the first time I have ever seen a grown man do anything like this. Mr. Escalade man, I hope that wherever you are tonight that you feel really good about yourself because you did in fact beat me.

Blog Self-Conciousness

2008-01-14T21:13:00.000-06:00

I must admit that I am a bit self-conscious about this whole blogging thing. I think I feel this way for several different reasons...

1. It is a bit odd that people can come read this and never let me know that they did. This leads to number two...
2. Often I have no way of knowing what people think about what I have to say. Do they like it? Hate it? Not get it? Think I'm a crazy idiot? Sometimes blogging feels like your having a conversation with your self that other people are allowed to hear, but are not required to give feedback.
3. The third thing that makes me uncomfortable is the seemingly finality of a post. Once I click the "publish post" button, my thoughts are available for anyone who wants to read them. This is especially nerve wracking when writing about things of a theological nature. What if something I say is way off and completely heretical? Or what if I am challenged on a point that I make, but do not have adequate knowledge to respond.

I definitely feel that at times blogging takes me out of my comfort zone. I am trying to come up with a nice and neat conclusion for this post, but I cannot seem to come up with one. So long for now anonymous readers.

3 Words

2008-01-04T16:42:00.000-06:00

As Megan and I were driving back from STL on New Years Day I posed the question, "If you could choose 3 words that you would hope describe 2008 for you what would they be?" Here is what I came up with and why...

1. Blossom- By this I mean that I hope to figure out more this year about what I want to do long term. I know that I want to go to seminary, but what I will do with the degree is still unknown. I would also like to see this blog blossom over the year as well.

2. Charity- I use this word in two ways. The first is the idea of charity being Christian love. I would hope that I can say that I loved others well at the end of the year. By charity I also mean that I would like to become more generous both financially and with my time.

3. Deep- I want to develop deeper relationships with God, Megan, and others. I want my life to be deep rather than shallow.

Let's hope this is a blossoming, charity, deep filled year for me!

Holiday Update

2008-01-03T16:36:00.000-06:00

I suppose I could blame my posting hiatus on the busyness of the holiday season (which is partially true), but I definitely have had the opportunity to blog. I think I will give an update on my Christmas break and then get into posts with more substance in future posts.

1. The first big part of the break was the time Megan and I spent puppy sitting. Megan and her siblings decided to get her mom a dog for Christmas and we took care of her (the puppy) for a few days. Highlight: When the dog crapped all over the floor while Megan and I opened each other's presents Christmas morning...not quite how I envisioned Christmas morning, but exciting nonetheless.

2. Gifts. I have a couple of thoughts on gifts I received this year. First, I have been wondering how much money is spent a year on Christmas presents that the recipient will not like or ever use. While I appreciate the thought that someone had to get us a Hershey Kiss shaped fondue pot, the money probably could have been spent more productively. On the other hand, I did receive several very sweet presents. My three favorite were season 3 of the Office, a new golf bag, and a video camera.

3. Megan and I took a trip to Chicago for a couple of days. It was really nice to get to take a short trip with her and experience something new. If you have never been, Chicago is crazy and big. Everywhere you look is very tall buildings. I have seen pictures, but being there in person leaves a whole new impression. Chicago is also known for being a city that is great for shopping. As we shopped, I thought about all the money people were spending and I drew two conclusions. One, everyone there must have a lot of extra money to spend. Or two, all these people have a lot of credit card debt. I think I saw about a million girls sporting Uggh boots, Coach purses, and NorthFace jackets. Those don't come cheap!

Anyways, break has been nice. I am trying to get back into work mode again. Once again I take on the challenge of teaching the future leaders of our world!

Out of the Dark

2007-12-19T21:52:00.000-06:00

So I know it has been dark around here lately, but I have at least one good reason for the lack of postage over the last couple of weeks. As many of you know, we experienced significant power outages here in Tulsa last week because of an ice storm. Megan and I were luckier than most people. Our power was only out for 3 days, while there are some people I know who are now on day 9 of no power.

The three powerless days made me realize how dependent our society is on electricity. I brought my laptop to Panera one day last week and discovered there were about 50 or so other people that had the exact same idea. It is interesting to me how quickly people search for a place to "plug in" when the option is not available at home. I find myself always needing to be entertained. Rather than taking the advice of the Psalmist who wrote, "Be still and know that He is God", I seek to fill my schedule with things to do. All the electronic resources that we have at our disposal are great, but I think it is easy to become to dependent upon them. The lack of power made me realize how dependent I can really be.

I kind of see my days without power as a bit of a fast. It is a cool mystery to me that God would choose to speak to us when we deny ourselves of something we are used to. I know a lot of people want to hear from God, but find it difficult to hear his voice. I wonder if we would more consistently "fast" from some of our distractions in our lives that we would in fact hear from God more clearly.

There is my rambling for the night... Look for a future post on my thoughts after watching the movie "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry."

The Most Annoying Thing to Spend Money On

2007-12-03T20:56:00.001-06:00

Over the course of the past month or so, Megan and I have had to spend a little over $1000 on auto repair. For some reason I hate spending money on fixing our cars. Megan tries to comfort me by saying that we should be thankful that we have the money to fix the cars, which is a good point but it still irks me. It is really annoying to spend money on something I do not choose to spend it on.

What do you hate spending money on?

A Weekend With Dr. Ben Witherington

2007-12-02T20:36:00.000-06:00

This weekend Dr. Ben Witherington was in town to speak at my church. If you are not familiar with Witherington, he is considered to be one of the world's leading New Testament scholars. On Saturday he taught from 10:00-3:00 on issues related to the birth of Jesus. He showed several different chuncks of the movie The Nativity Story while at the same time weaving in insights about the story from Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. While I enjoyed his teachings, something else was the highlight of the afternoon for me. During the scene of the movie in which Mary gives birth to Jesus, I noticed an older man who was probably in his 80s that began to weep. Normally I would think it was somewhat cheesy for someone to cry during a film like this, but not this time. It was a very powerful moment for me because I began to think about how big of an impact Jesus must have had in him over the course of the life. It excites me to think of the richness and depth my relationship with the Lord could be by the time I reach that age.

With all the said, the best part of the weekend was getting to go to lunch with Dr. Witherington today. Megan and I are friends with our Senior Pastor's daugher and son-in-law. Wade (our pastor) knows of my interest in attending seminary, so he was kind enough to invite us to lunch with them. Our lunch conversation covered a variety of different topics. We talked about everything from sports to politics to his experiences on various TV programs.

At one point, I asked him what his opinion was of the Emerging Church. He actually had quite a few good things to say. The first person he brought up was Rob Bell. While he has some concerns about some of his theology, he is impressed with how creative he is in his teachings. He also likes the ecumenical nature of the Emerging Church is. One other thing that excites him about it is the youthful leadership. He seemed to have only a few major concerns. The first was a slip by some in biblical sexual ethics. Secondly, he worries about a lack of accountability for many of these churches. He thinks it is necessary for churches to have accountability beyond their own members. A final point of concern to him is the devaluing of orthodoxy by some. Other than Rob Bell we did not discuss specific individuals. One thing that we both agreed on is that the Emerging Church is something that can be very difficult to define.

Overall, it was an excellent weekend. If I end up choosing to attend Asbury for seminary, I am excited to take some classes from him.

Tell Better Stories

2007-11-26T20:41:00.000-06:00

One of the advantages of long car trips over the holidays is that it gives me the opportunity to catch up on podcasts. The one that I listen to most faithfully is the Mars Hill Bible Church weekly sermons. I must admit that I kind of have a man crush on their teaching pastor Rob Bell. While I really his sermons, I actually want to give some thoughts on a recent talk that Don Miller gave at the church. You can download the actual talk here.

In the talk Miller discusses viewing our lives as stories. He asks the question, "What type of story is your life telling?" I found this to be a very thought provoking question. He talked about the power that storytelling can have in our lives. Good books and movies can captivate our attention with their storylines. People love good stories.

Miller challenged the listeners to think about what type of story they are telling with their lives. He believes that one of the best evangelistic techniques a Christian can have is by telling a good story with their life. I think this is really true. We are usually take interest in people who are telling good stories with their lives. He says that one of the ways to tell if you are telling a good story with your life is to ask the question what dreams would die and what things would not happen if you were to die.

I found this talk to be extremely challenging. I think that so often I choose to settle into the easy uneventful story, rather than allowing my life to tell a great story. Even as I choose to do ministry full time, it seems really easy to fall into a life that is a simple and predictable story. I pray that I will continue to be challenged to think about how I can tell better stories with my life.

Happy Happy Birthday

2007-11-18T16:22:00.000-06:00

So today is my 24th birthday. I must admit 24 sounds a whole lot older than 23. I think part of it is because I have made the transition from early 20s to mid 20s. In honor of my 24th birthday, I have decided to make a list of 24 things I hope to do before I turn 25. Some of these will be more tangible than others...

1. Love my wife more.
2. Read more books.
3. Spend more time investing in the lives of my students.
4. Go skiing!
5. Improve the golf game.
6. Start doing more writing...whether that be blogging, articles, or something else.
7. Figure out the whole going to seminary thing.
8. Work out more consistently
9. Continue to be disciplined in saving money.
10. Have more opportunities to speak
11. Serve/volunteer somewhere on a consistent basis
12. Manage my time more effectively
13. Go to a STL Cardinals game.
14. Be more encouraging of others
15. Have a better understanding of who I am and what God is calling me to do.

Okay so 24 is a lot...I think the list will stop here for now.

Engaging The Soul of Youth Culture 1

2007-11-13T20:01:00.000-06:00

Mueller titles this chapter, "Reality Bytes: Snapshots of a Crying and Dying Culture." His goal in this chapter seems to display how off we can be about the culture of today's youth.

He states that we have caused many problems by our "inability or unwillingness to hear the nuances of their unique worldview and experience before attempting to answer their cries" (19). He goes on to say that because of our unwillingness to listen they have become a generation full of unmet needs that are "crying out to have their God-shaped emptiness filled" (23).

He goes on to note that people that do marketing have done a better job of speaking to today's kids than the church has done. The media has become the number 1 influence in kid's lives today and has been successful in "providing emerging generations with 'maps of reality' to guide them into adulthood" (27). He then says that, "popular culture give them purpose because it has listened to them" (27).

He points out that the problem with kids trying to fill their emptiness with various forms of media is that, "From a biblical perspective we know that unless media (or any other institution) points to redemption in Christ, it's only a rabbit chase" (28). He closes the chapter by emphasizing that if we want to provide spiritual wholeness, we must be willing to first listen.

A few of my own thoughts and a question:
1. Most adults do a terrible job of realizing the validity of what kids think and feel. Their place in life is often just viewed as a phase that will pass. If we continue to look at this stage of life as just a phase and not seek to meet the needs of each individual student, we will fail to connect with an entire generation. Many teens have been deeply wounded whether we want to realize it or not.
2. It is interesting that the church seems to fail to meet the God-shaped emptiness Mueller describes. I think often we seek to use the techniques of the media, but are not able to do it as well. This creates shallow empty experiences for the student. I hear many students who say that there is not much substance going on in their youth group. Plenty of fun, but the emptiness continues.
3. I think we have to teach kids how to think theologically about the media that is being presented to them. If we do not, it will continue to have quite a bit of control of their lives.

Q1: How do we expose older generations to the hurts of today's youth? How do we begin to allow them to see the validity of the pain teens can experience? Once this happens, we must be able to show how they can trust Jesus with these hurts.

Retreat Retreat

2007-11-12T21:11:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I helped plan and lead a retreat for the 7th grade boys and their dads at our school. They have always used the theme "Boot Camp" for the weekend. I am not one to get all pumped up about this type of imagery, but I never felt that it was over the top. The retreat was one of those things that I was not particularly excited about beforehand, but once there I really enjoyed it.

The highlight of the weekend for me was Sunday morning when I had the opportunity to lead a session with the dads that I called "Understanding Youth Culture." I began by discussing various aspects of youth culture hoping that the dads would begin to have a greater understanding of what is happening in their children's world. A lot of the information I used came from Walt Mueller's seminars at the NYWC. I really like what that man has to say.

After covering that material, I began to give advice on how they could better relate to their sons. Most importantly we discussed how to help adolescent faith grow. Most of the information for this portion I got from Chap Clark's book Disconnected: Parenting Teens in a MySpace World. I must admit that at times I felt somewhat awkward giving parenting tips when I myself am not a parent yet. I do not want to come across as being critical when I have yet to walk through their shoes. With that being said, I think I was able to present the material with humility and not come across as some inexperienced know it all.

After the session, several of the dads commented on how much they appreciated what I had to say. There were even a few dads who mentioned buying the book. It is encouraging to me to see parents that want to be involved in the spiritual mentoring and discipleship of their kids. I know I have not been doing youth ministry for long, but it is becoming more and more apparent the necessity of parents being involved in the lives of their children for spiritual growth to take place. May God grant wisdom to this generation's parents.

Overwhelmed

2007-11-07T21:40:00.000-06:00

The only bad thing about going to a conference like I did last weekend, is that often when you return you can feel behind. I most definitely feel behind right now. I have a stack of things that I should have already graded, but have not yet. At some point I would like to get ahead in lesson planning, but that has not happened yet either. Another big stresser is that this weekend I am helping lead a retreat for the 7th grade boys and their dads.

I also feel overwhelmed right now about trying to figure out the future. Meg and I are not sure about the right timing for us to move so that I can go to seminary. I seem to have a lot on my mind, but not much time to think about it.

I think I am realizing how very little I actually trust God. At the conference Chap Clark made the statement that any sin or problem that we are experiencing in our life has to do with our inability to trust God. For example, if an individual is worrying about something it is because they do not trust that God really has it under control. It is very rare that I put complete trust in God. I need to learn that I can trust in the promises of God.

These are my thoughts for the evening...

I'm back...

2007-11-06T20:34:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I attended the National Youth Workers Convention in St. Louis. Being there inspired me to take another shot at this whole blogging thing. I don't think anyone actually reads this thing, but it at least helps me organize my thoughts! Hopefully, I will get more into it this time...

I had a really good time at the conference and had the opportunity to attend some very interesting seminars. I especially enjoyed hearing Chap Clark, Duffy Robbins, and Walt Mueller. I will attempt to summarize some of the discussions in future blogs.

I just started reading Walt Meuler's book Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture. I plan on trying to summarize each chapter on this.

That's all for now...

My day at the PGA

2007-08-08T16:32:00.000-05:00

So on Monday I went to a practice round for the PGA championship. We got there at 7:00am right when the gates opened. I walked over to the first hole you see when you walk into Southern Hills, and lo and behold guess who was there....

Yup, Eldrick Tiger Woods. In fact I could have reached out and touched him if I wanted to get kicked out for the rest of the day. It was interesting seeing people follow him around all day.

I began to think about our society's obsession with celebrities. People buy magazines to get the latest information about celebrity love lives. We go crazy over Oprah, Tom Cruise, Tiger Woods, and many many more. I think this reflects our hunger for something bigger than ourselves. It excites us when we are able to interact with individuals that are larger than life.

It is interesting that we settle for these celebrities when we have the opportunity to be in relationship with the one who created the celebrities. I pray that more and more I and others would grasp that our need for transcendence can be satisfied in God.

Hmm

2007-07-23T16:35:00.000-05:00

I now have quite a bit of respect for people who are able to blog on a consistent basis. It is amazing how quickly time has gone by since my last post. I have not been particularly busy, so there really is no good excuse. I have been up to a few things though....

-I go back to work 3 weeks from today. The summer has gone by incredibly fast. I have been trying to do some work to get prepared for the upcoming year.

-Since my last post I have also caught the golf bug. I played twice in three days last week and absolutely loved it. The only unfortunate thing about it is that golf is an expensive hobby to carry out.

-I am almost done with the Jim Wallis books. It has been really good to think through issues related to faith and politics. I am somewhat embarassed by the lack of knowledge I have about anything political. I decided after last November's election I would never be uninformed going into an election again. I think that I have a responsibility to be politically informed.

I think that is all I have to say for now. I hope to write again soon.

Mark 2 Post 1

2007-07-11T14:47:00.000-05:00

Well I have began my attempt to read through the entire NT by starting in the book of Mark. I know it's not the first book, but it is what I chose!

I wanted to spend some time writing about one passage in particular. There are two things that really struck me about the passage. I think I will discuss one today and the other sometime in the next couple of days.

The passage is Luke 2:13-17. These verses tell the story of when Jesus asks Levi to follow him. Shortly after this, Jesus decides to eat dinner with Levi, his disciples, some tax collectors, and "sinners." The Pharisees get all fired up about who Jesus was eating his dinner with. The Pharisees ask why he is doing that. Jesus responds by saying: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Honestly, I think that many Christians today share the same thoughts as the Pharisees on this. It is really easy to squirm or question someone who chooses to spend a lot of time with "sinners." We use verses that talk about not being yoked with unbelievers as reasoning to avoid these situations or challenge those that do spend their time with "sinners."

When we debate about whether or not to spend time with "sinners" or non-Christians, we subtly can begin to become puffed up in our own self-righteousness.

Jesus says it is the sick that need the doctor. He came to call the sinners, not the righteous. What does this say about the type of attitude that we should have about ourselves and others? We to our sinners.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

2007-07-08T21:38:00.000-05:00

A few thoughts from the past weekend...

1. Another sign of how I am getting old: Megan and I went mattress shopping on Saturday. The mattress we had was 14 years old, so we figured it was about time for an upgrade. We found a good one and purchased it. I picked it up today, so it will get a test drive tonight!

2. We had a great weekend with some of our friends here in the apartment. It is exciting to have people to live life with. I am more convinced everyday that God created us to live in community. We need others desperately.

3. I have decided that I want to read the entire New Testament before school starts back up. I feel like that sometimes I spend a lot of time reading books, but not enough time reading the book. I hope the Lord will bring fresh insight as I read His Word.

Thanks for listening...

Widows in India

2007-07-05T16:26:00.000-05:00

I saw this story on the front page of CNN.com today:

http://http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/07/05/damon.india.widows/index.html

It is sad to think that something like this happens. I was especially shocked by the lack of care that family shows to one another. One of the good things about American culture is that generally speaking most Americans do a good job of taking care of members of their family. Of course there will be exceptions, but not many adult children would leave their elderly mother to fend for themselves.

The area in which I think we often fail is taking care of those that are not family members. It is really easy to stroll through life without feeling any responsibility to those are who in need. This cannot be!

In light of this story, I find the words of James to be especially challenging when he wrote: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

"Outreach" Ministry

2007-07-03T11:54:00.000-05:00

Our Sunday School class at Church is struggling through what it looks like for us to be involved in ministry/outreach/service etc. The struggle is not apathy towards service among the members of the class, rather it is not knowing where or how to serve. We want to be involved somewhere on a continual basis, but are finding it difficult to find a good fit.

Let me give an example. Last night myself and a couple other guys went to play basketball at the Salvatian Army facility here in Tulsa. We had been in contact with the man who runs the center and he had suggested this might be a good way for us to get involved. Upon arrival, I quickly realized that I was definitely in over my head as far as Basketball talent goes. I had no business being on the court with those guys! As we drove back across town we discussed whether or not this would be a good opportunity for our class. We came to the decision that it might not be the best fit for our class comprised of mainly white middle class people.

The more I think about it, the more uncomfortable I am using terms like "outreach" or "service projects." It seems that by doing this we are creating two different worlds. One world which think it's superior and has something to offer to the other world that is in great need of the first world's help. The reality of two worlds was especially apparent last night. The three of us were the only white people in the gym last night. If our whole class showed up it may do more harm than good. This two world type of thinking is not healthy. I do not think many of those guys would apreciate a group of white people who showed up to play ball as a service project.

I think problems arise when we as Christians view service as something we do. Often it is treated as though it is something to be checked off a Christian check list. Ultimately, service cannot just be something that we do it must be a reflection of who we are. Being a servant needs to be a part of our character. All of this gives me lots of questions about how the local church can carry out ministry. Many more questions that can be dealt with today!

I hope that our class can catch this vision. I hope we can follow the example of Jesus who was committed to serving others in everything that he did. Jesus did not do service, he was a servant.

Proverbs 29:18

2007-07-02T15:06:00.000-05:00

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Without a vision, the people will perish."

I have labored through many a meeting in which its purpose is centered on establishing a vision for the group. As an RA, we discussed our vision for the Residence Hall. When I was involved in Student Ministries in college, we discussed our vision for getting people involved in ministry. As a leader in my Sunday School Class, we have spent time discussing our vision for the class.

I have never enjoyed attending meetings of this nature. I have often thought that it was foolish to try and plan for the future when you do not know what lies ahead. Generally, I am the type of person who likes to figure things out as I go along. Where I end up is where I end up!

I think my view of this is beginning to change. I feel like I am struggling through a season of life in which I lack vision for where I am going. This lack of vision is taking place on many levels:

-For several years I have been planning on attending Seminary. I still have the desire to do so, but I struggle to know what I would want to do with the degree. I lack vision for where I will end up.

-Along with this, Megan and I are asking God to give us vision about what our niche in the Body of Christ will be.

-I lack vision for what to do with my time until school starts back up.

These are just a few of the ways in which I am experiencing this lacking feeling. Despite all of this, I feel like I am in a pretty good place. I am hopeful that the Lord will begin to make things clear.

May the Lord bless his people with a vision of how they are to follow Him.