Stuff Christians Like

There is a great blog call Stuff Christians Like.
You will want to make this part of your daily routine.
Here are a few great ones:

#154 Breaking Up After the Retreat

Next to unpacking, dumping your boyfriend or girlfriend is our favorite thing to do after a church retreat. We can't help it. The retreat speaker always tells us on Saturday night, "If there's anything you need to lay down before the cross tonight, to give up to God, come down and do it. Don't wait, this is your chance." And you are the first thing we think of. So we decide with our retreat friends that we are going to do it. This relationship is over. And then on Sunday afternoon when we get back, we call you and have the following conversation:

Girl:"The retreat was good, it gave me a lot to think about."

Guy: "Really? Like what?"

Girl: "Well, I think you and I have grown apart."

Guy:"You've been gone for 44 hours and were 119 miles away, what do you mean?"

Girl: "God just really laid it on my heart that I should focus on him and not this relationship."

Guy: "God told you to dump me?"

And so forth. The moral of this story is that if your girlfriend or boyfriend is going on a retreat, you better go too. Unless it's an all girl's retreat. And mission trips are even worse. Your girlfriend is going to start seeing Mark, that awkward but kind of cute guy, in a whole new light during that mission trip. It's a light called, "Look at Mark feed hungry children in Africa while my boyfriend plays Xbox back in Ohio."

Don't say I didn't warn you.

#137 Holding Retreats in Locations that Could Double as a Horror Movies
It's possible that all your church retreats were held in lovely fields of flowers. After making friendship bracelets with your best friends you had a big tickle fight with baby deer and bunny rabbits before eating smores around the amber glow of a bonfire.

My retreats were different.

Especially the ones that were held at Cape Cod Sea Camps. During the fall this otherwise full camp, pressed hard against the ocean, was empty. And we must have received a good deal on it, because for a few years running that was where my youth group went. Until the whole "demon possession" thing.

Walt Mueller was the guest speaker and in typical Saturday night retreat fashion, he had told us to go off alone to think about what we had heard that night. I wasn't thrilled. Cape Cod Sea Camps is a series of concrete bunker type buildings hidden in the dunes and sea scrubbed forests of New England. Steps from any door you are swallowed by darkness and ocean air and sand.

After a few minutes in solitary thought, we were supposed to return to the basement entrance of the building we were meeting in. When I came back there was a single candle lit in the middle of a circle of chairs. (I need to post about youth group "special effects.") When we all finally came back we realized that someone was missing. That's when we started hearing the screaming. It got louder and louder and louder, slowly circling the building. Youth leaders scattered like my grandma at the opening scene of the movie American Beauty.

In the only window in the basement I saw Karen, a dog groomer by day, lean back and slap a girl in the forehead. She passed out. They drove her home. We all went and had ice cream and pretended nothing had happened.

Turns out it was a nervous breakdown. She was fine. We talk about it to this day. And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you had the field of flowers experience, but I have to believe that somewhere down the road your youth minister saved the church some money by booking your retreat in the most terrifying place in your state.

Interpreting the Bible

Tony Jones is one of the headliners in the emergent movement and this book is his take on why we need to rethink traditional Christianity. This is not a critique of the book but just some thoughts about one section.

Over the last two years I have become increasingly interested in how we interpret the Bible and why we do it that way. The difference between all the different churches is the philosophy or method of interpreting the Bible. Two people can read the same scriptures and come up with completely different views because they interpret the Bible differently.

Jones says three things impact our theology: it is local, conversational, and temporary. It is local in that we have a limited world view and where we live, where we went to school, and our life will bleed over into our view of scripture. If you are raised to see things as black and white then this will impact how you see scripture. If you were raised to be conscious of the social injustice in the world then this too will bleed over into your view of scripture. We know people who changed their theology on divorce when a family member or close friend got divorced.

Second, it is conversational. The books I read, the people I discuss scripture with, the relationships I have all impact my theology. Every one of us has a friend who makes us think about things differently or read a book that shaped your belief or understanding of something.

Third, it is temporary. When we look at the last 2,000 years we see a number of methods and philosophies of interpreting the Bible and we find some to laugh at, cry at, and celebrate. Jones' encourages and humble hermeneutic or a "don't think that you have the absolute right answer" hermeneutic. You may be right but history may prove you a fool.

One of the things that I appreciate about with the emergent movement is that they profess a humble hermeneutic and believe that we should be well read and talk to people of all backgrounds to help us understand the Bible better. I have been with many people where Bible discussions centered on proving why their interpretation of scripture was right and others were wrong. They refused to listen to others or to consider that they could be wrong. Some worry that this is a slippery slope that leads into relativism, and if taken to the extreme it could. But I believe we need to listen and be willing to learn from people who have opposite view points and try to discover how they came to that conclusion and to think could they be right and I'm the one who is wrong. This isn't relativism but being humble in thinking that I don't have all the answers or the market on truth.

I can't help but to think about Origen and Augustine who believed that parables should be interpreted allegorically. This view dominated the Biblical world for 1800 years. Today we laugh at Augustine's interpretations of parables. His most famous interpretation is that of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37). The man represented Adam; Jerusalem, the heavenly city from which he fell; Jericho, the moon as a symbol for our mortality; the thieves were the devil and his angels who stole his immortality; the priest and the Levite were the Old Testament Law that could save no one; the animal represented the incarnation of Christ; the Samaritan was Jesus himself who bound up his wounds by dying on Calvary; the inn was the church; the inn keeper was the apostle Paul; two denarii, the two commandments of love or the promise of this life and the one to come.

History shows us that over the centuries our philosophy of interpreting scriptures changes and who knows that in the year 2250 people may be laughing, crying, or celebrating us. I am a strong believer that we need to look at scripture from all angles, discuss it with as many people as we can, and pray that God will lead us to truth. I also must be humble in knowing I could be wrong no matter how strongly I believe that I am right.

Graduation Songs 2008

Here is a list of songs that we have played at for our Graduation Videos. Love to see you comment on ones you have used.

Anyway (Martina McBride)

Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson)

Dare You to Move (Switchfoot)

Dream Big (Ryan Shupe)

Extraordinary (Mandy Moore)

Good Riddance (Green Day)

Graduation (Vitamin C)

I Hope You Dance (Lee Ann Womack)

I’m Not Gonna Cry (Corey Smith)

In This Diary (Atari’s)

It’s My Life (Bon Jovi)

It’s the End of the World as We Know It (REM)

Meant to Live (Switchfoot)

My Wish (Rascal Flats)

Photograph (Nickleback)

These Are Special Times (Christina Aguleria)

These Are the Days (10,000 Maniacs)

Unwritten (Natasha Bedingfield)

Wherever You Are (Bon Jovi)

Whenever You Remember (Carrie Underwood)

Yesterday (Boys II Men)

Religion Influences Self Esteem

And who is the most important influence when it comes to how teens feel about themselves? Not mom or dad, not even their friends....it's their boyfriend or girlfriend (if they have one). Interestingly, religion comes second:

- Your girlfriend/boyfriend (84%)

- Your religion (82%)

- Your friends (79%)

- Your parents (74%)

- Your teacher(s) (72%)

- TV shows you watch (51%)

- Celebrities (e.g. actors, athletes, musicians) (49%)

- Magazines you read (38%)

- Advertising you see (on TV or elsewhere) (33%)

- Other kids in school (31%)

You can go to YPulse to read all the results from the survey.

The Art of Handling Complaints

I came across this training video to help you know how to handle complaints. I would love to see comments about how this can apply to student ministry in dealing with student, parent, and leadership complaints.

Hey Baby Let's Go to Vegas

I have been waiting for the movie 21 to come out at theaters ever since I heard they were making a movie about the MIT Blackjack team. The movie is good but only took a handful of truths (the students were from MIT and there is an art of math to winning) and Hollywood took over. The History Channel did a documentary on the real MIT teams and it is amazing to see how these gifted students worked.

While watching anything I try to look for spiritual cross overs and this story is loaded with them. They had a series of rules and charts to guide them in playing the game. If they followed the rules they had a great chance at winning but if not they would loose big. They were also told three principles to help them. #1 Never get caught up in the emotion of the casino. While playing the game it is easy to get caught up in the emotion and excitement of winning, people crowding around you, and the whole atmosphere. They knew what to do and when to do it, but if they ever let their emotions get the best of them they would make poor decisions. How many times have we let our emotions get the best of us and we end up making poor decisions. We get angry and say things we know we shouldn't. We buy something we know we don't need or can afford. We make a rash choice and regret it later. We agree to something only to regret it later. We do something that violates our values or ethics because we just got swept up in our emotions. Jesus rode into Jerusalem with the crowds shouting Hosanna and then a few days later the crowds cry crucify him. I am sure many just got swept away in the emotion of the moment and later realized what they did.

The second thing is to never give into the temptations around them. They were not allowed to drink, party, etc. They had to remain focused at all times. They couldn't give into the temptation to make more money and not follow the charts and the rules. It is hard not to fall into temptation. We may want to discount the truth, take shortcuts that cost us in the end, not work at some relationships, and the list goes on and on. Temptation is a reality for all of us, including Jesus, but if we give in (and we will) it can be devastating.

The last thing they were told is to never trust themselves over the system. These guys were the best and brightest. They were MIT students and many were straight A students. It would be east to think that they could know what to do and forget the rules. Paul tells us to be careful and not become too prideful because our temptations are the same as other people and they fell so why do we think we will be the exception (1 Cor. 10:12-13)? We have to be careful not to think that we can do things that we have seen lead to others demise because we have some special gift, knowledge, or ability. It is easy to think that just because others got addicted to pornography, had an affair while counseling, burned out, over scheduled, didn't spend time with their family, etc.. but we want. We know better, have some skill that they didn't.

Did you know that if you bet a $1,000 on every NFL football game and only picked the favorite that you could make $60,000 a year? This has been true for 18 of the last 22 seasons. You know why Vegas always wins. People get caught up in the emotion of picking their team and loose. The temptation to pick the underdog and beat the odds to make great amounts of money cost them. Someone always believes they know something Vegas doesn't and their pride or arrogance causes them to lose.

The first MIT Blackjack team made 1 million dollars and they also lost 1 million dollars. The second team made 4 million dollars. Everyone else goes to Vegas and looses because they can't play by rules. Many people in ministry and in life lose because we forget these same three simple rules: Don't let your emotions control you, Don't give into temptation to make unwise choices, and Don't get prideful thinking you are the exception.

Musical at the Mall

I would have loved to have been in the mall where this happened.

Changing the World

I am currently reading The New Christians (Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier). On page 17, Tony Jones writes, “The church that doesn’t challenge its members to face the core ethical issues that confront them every day at work is the church that has abdicated its responsibility.”

This statement has been playing a match of ping pong in my head as I have been having a constant back in forth. There are many ethical issues and I don’t know that I have addressed them with my students and the church. Prejudice is very real and exists in our world. We are prejudice based on race, education, finances, schools, religion, and the list could keep going. What is our responsibility to help the poor, the homeless, those with addictions, and who are abused and hurting?

I have always felt guilty about doing mission trips that help us confront many of these issues only to return home and return to the status quo. We may go to the inner city only to return home and not talk to another person of color and every stereotype that was broke down is quickly rebuilt. We may go to Latin America only to return and never ask the question, what is our responsibility to help Latinos in our own community? I love mission trips so don’t get me wrong, but how do we merge the lessons we learned on these trips with our everyday life and make the church confront these issues.

Jesus constantly confronted the ethical issues of the day. He made his disciples work through them. I think about the lesson of Jesus and the Samaritan woman. He challenged his disciples to see beyond race, gender, and morality and to see a child of God. Later on Peter would be challenged by God to accept Gentiles and then he would challenge the church to do the same.

So how do we challenge our students and churches to face the core ethical issues that confront us everyday in our county, city, schools, and circle of friends? What do we do when our students, parents, leadership, etc push back and reject it? Looking forward to reading your comments.

Desperate

This is a great video by the Skit Guys. It is a spoof of E-Harmony.

Leadership

In 1 Samuel 8:5 the nation of Israel comes to Samuel and ask for a king to rule them so they can be like all the other nations. In the past when I have read this I have always seen this as a passage that warns of the dangers of wanting to be accepted and trying to fit in to the point of compromising and dismissing God. This is true because God does see this action the nation rejecting him. But have you ever looked and saw why the nation of Israel rejected God and wanted a king?

If you go back to 1 Samuel 2 you find that the priest Eli was ruling Israel. Eli son were terrible. They had no respect for the Lord (2:12-13). They treated the Lord’s offerings with contempt (2:17). They seduced the young women who worked at the tabernacle (2:22). Eli, the spiritual leader of the people, did not discipline his sons (3:13). Because of this God has them all die on the same day.

Samuel becomes the ruler and is a great man of God. The people respected him and knew that God was working in and through him. As Samuel was getting older and knew that he could no longer serve as the ruler of the people he appointed his sons to be the next leaders of the nation. The problem is that his sons were not godly men. They were not like their father, for they were greedy for money. They accepted bribes and perverted justice (8:3). The people of Israel knew this and they come to Samuel and tell him they do not want to be lead by his sons because they are ungodly and terrible leaders. It was at this point that they asked for a king to be like all the other nations. Samuel is upset over this and he goes to seek God’s counsel and God tells him the rebellion is against God not Samuel.

I think there are three lessons we can learn from this story. First is that when we want to be like everyone else and not trust in the system that God has put in place we have rejected God and not a failed system. When we rebel against elders, doctrine, the church we are rebelling against God. The people, doctrine, and church may be flawed, even corrupt, but there is a way to correct this and not rebel and want to be like everyone else around us.

The second thing is that bad leaders cause people to rebel. The people didn’t rebel against Samuel they rebelled when his sons were going to take over the leadership. They probably remembered the days of Eli and his sons and didn’t want that type of leadership. Why not be like the other nations when your only alternative is corrupt leaders. Samuel made a terrible choice of placing his sons as the next leaders. He basically helped the people choose to rebel against God.

The third lesson is when do we go to God for counsel? The Bible doesn’t say that Samuel asked God who should be the next leader of Israel instead he put his corrupt sons in power and when it backfired he went to God. Could the outcome have been different id Samuel went to God first and asked who should follow him as the leader of Israel?

If you are in a position of leadership this is a passage that should speak volumes to you. Who are you placing in leadership positions (Bible class teachers, leadership roles, camp staff, etc)? Are these people drawing people closer to God or do they push people away from God? When the people see the leaders do they see a contrast between them and the people of the world? We need to be careful who we place in positions of leadership. We also need to evaluate our own life. Are we causing people to want to follow God or are we pushing them away from God? When people see me do they see love, grace, mercy, acceptance, truth, integrity, and have a deep passion for God, or do they see someone who is judgmental, cliquish, and likes God? Finally when do you pray to God? When you need to make a decision or after you made one? Do we ask God to show us they way and give us guidance or do we ask God to bless the decisions we already made and to correct the bad ones? What if Samuel went to God first? I doubt God would have told him to put his sons in power. The nation wanted to be like everyone else but there was no difference between corrupt priest and corrupt kings. What choices are giving the people we lead?