there is a story about a young pastor who had been hired as the main pastor at a church in Kentucky. this was his first job as a pastor and was very eager to make a good impression on his new flock. he prepared long and hard and came up with an excellent sermon on the evils of smoking. his presentation was flawless, his timing perfect. Afterwards the head elder came to him and said, "Tread lightly my son. A third of the congregation raises tobacco." armed with this new information, the young pastor came upon a new topic for the next week's message and delivered a fire sermon on the evils of drinking! afterwards the same elder came to him and said, "Tread lightly my son. A third of the congregation works at a brewery." after some more consideration he came up with a new topic, and delivered a masterful message on the evils of gambling. soon the same elder came to him and said, "Tread lightly my son. a third of the congregation raises race horses." the next week the youn pastor delivered a firey sermon on the evils of fishing the territorial waters of another nation.
Well, that preacher has some tough choices ahead of him. It does raise an interesting question, though doesn't it? A pastor has to choose weekly what to share with his congregation. I'm sure that they must wrestle with questions like what do they need to hear right now, will some be offended, is it alright to offend on this or that topic, etc. What are the thought processes that go along with these decisions? Are some topics worth the possibility of being a bit offensive? Even though the Christian community may be split on the question of Harry Potter and movies about vampires, does one take a stand, and if so how strongly? Is it truly necessary to tackle the issue? Is the evidence compelling in either way? Will it bring people in to the church or drive them away? Are these even fair questions?
in all fairness, doesn't a pastor have an obligation to listen to the Holy Spirit? to choose messages not based on what might offend, or entice but what needs to be heard? if one can trust one's pastor one must needs trust the messages they deliver and try to find that nugget of truth the Spirit meant for you.
Pastors must walk a fine line, discerning what their flock needs irregardless of whether it's "offensive" or not. Majoring on the "majors" and minoring on the "minors" so to speak. Some avoid the question altogether and concentrate on only the positives of the Gospel. God is love, He gave His only begotten Son, etc. Others address the "tough" questions head on, unequivocally stating their opinions and letting the chips fall where they may.
What topics do you feel are "worth the risk?" And how far would you go to push your point?
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
What do I want to be when I grow up?
It seemed to sneak up on me. Quietly, stealthily, without my realizing it had been stalking me through the years just biding it's time. The question "What do I want to be when I grow up?" has been just waiting for the moment when it gets to jump out of the bushes, wave it's arms in the air and yell in my face, "HA! You ARE up! So, what are you going to be?!" And now, nearer to the end of my professional life than the beginning, I must, once again grapple with it. Like Jacob, grappling with the Angel in Genesis, and not willing to let go until he is blessed with a new name... or in my case, a new career.
What has prompted this life-changing consideration? My back hurts. You're probably saying "So what? So does mine." Many, perhaps most people as they advance in age suffer from acute (lasting for less than 3 months) back pain from muscles strained or from spasm-twisted vertebrae. But it's not just my back, portions of my legs and feet are also numb and/or tingling and my condition is chronic having lasted more than 3 months (like 15 years or so more). I believe the medical term is Cauda Equina Syndrome caused by intervertebral disc herniation between L4 and L5. Simply put, the discs between the vertebrae in one's back are like jelly donuts with the spinal column running through the hole in the center. As they age, the donut part of the disc weakens and sometimes allows the jelly to form a bulge. When this bulge occurs on the inside of the hole and impacts the spinal column, pain results and if left too long untreated, permanent nerve damage.
So, I cannot sit, stand, or lie down for extended periods but must shift my position many times throughout a normal day. Daily chores and other activities most people do without thinking, I can only do occassionally with periods of rest between. Bending, crouching, kneeling, etc. is difficult as well. Much of the work I have done in the past, Computer Support, Web Page Design, and Acting requires physical abilities I find at best difficult, at worst, debilitating. Perhaps there is another profession I can attempt, even at my age. This is my current quest: to find such a new career.
Of course it is in the "professional" realm that I am speaking. Many other questions in other areas of my life have been settled and I have, in due course, reaped the fruits (or consequences) of those choices. Questions such as:
Such questions guide us through the process that makes us the people we become. They form & shape our lives and personalities. Now I look forward to an opportunity to answer one of the most important of those life-questions... all over again.
If you have gone through a similar life-changing period of your life, perhaps you'd like to share what you went through, and possibly what helped you cope with the enormity of the task.
What has prompted this life-changing consideration? My back hurts. You're probably saying "So what? So does mine." Many, perhaps most people as they advance in age suffer from acute (lasting for less than 3 months) back pain from muscles strained or from spasm-twisted vertebrae. But it's not just my back, portions of my legs and feet are also numb and/or tingling and my condition is chronic having lasted more than 3 months (like 15 years or so more). I believe the medical term is Cauda Equina Syndrome caused by intervertebral disc herniation between L4 and L5. Simply put, the discs between the vertebrae in one's back are like jelly donuts with the spinal column running through the hole in the center. As they age, the donut part of the disc weakens and sometimes allows the jelly to form a bulge. When this bulge occurs on the inside of the hole and impacts the spinal column, pain results and if left too long untreated, permanent nerve damage.
So, I cannot sit, stand, or lie down for extended periods but must shift my position many times throughout a normal day. Daily chores and other activities most people do without thinking, I can only do occassionally with periods of rest between. Bending, crouching, kneeling, etc. is difficult as well. Much of the work I have done in the past, Computer Support, Web Page Design, and Acting requires physical abilities I find at best difficult, at worst, debilitating. Perhaps there is another profession I can attempt, even at my age. This is my current quest: to find such a new career.
Of course it is in the "professional" realm that I am speaking. Many other questions in other areas of my life have been settled and I have, in due course, reaped the fruits (or consequences) of those choices. Questions such as:
- "Whom shall I marry?"
- "How should I raise my kids?"
- "Should I wear Hawaiian shirts in Winter?"
Such questions guide us through the process that makes us the people we become. They form & shape our lives and personalities. Now I look forward to an opportunity to answer one of the most important of those life-questions... all over again.
If you have gone through a similar life-changing period of your life, perhaps you'd like to share what you went through, and possibly what helped you cope with the enormity of the task.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Lion and the Lamb
Christ is referred to as "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah" in Rev. 5:4 and he is called "The Lamb of God" by John in his Gospel, chapter 1, verse 29. Now, these two animals are about as far apart on just about any "animal scale" you care to imagine. So I guess this is saying that Jesus can be the Lion or the Lamb as the situation requires...
This makes me think of other extremes, the ones that influence our lives. When I wrote this, I was sitting in a hospital room with my 22 year-old daughter who was under going a several-days-long series of tests to see if they could better determine the cause of her seizures. Caryn has had night-related seizures since she was about 6. They've never been completely under control; not by drugs, not even by a Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) implanted in her chest. Because of this, the next thing to consider, unfortunately, could be brain surgery. Scary. Very... rock-like in appearance.
These are the times we want The Lion to come roaring out of the jungle & scare away all the things that scare us. So... where is this lion? When WE think we need him most, sometimes He's just not there. It's the most puzzling thing about Him; why sometimes when we pray we don't get the answer we expect. This life is full of things bigger than we are, things we can't control, accidents, illness, seizures, death; scary things. Things that seem to need a Lion to take care of them. But... where is this lion when these "rocks" fall in our laps?
If we are lucky, at some point we come to the conclusion that it is a fact that He's not always what we expect him to be, is he? Some of the disciples expected him to be the Lion of Judah and become King of Israel & drive out the Romans but instead he was the Lamb of God, sacrificed to restore us to right relationship with the Father. Nobody saw that coming, it wasn't what anyone thought was needed at the time but He saw from a different perspective. But how are we supposed to handle that? By Faith. Faith bridges the gap between what we see and what we need.
In Matt 7:9 the question is asked how many fathers would give their sons a stone if they ask for bread? It's a silly question, isn't it. Oh, we might slip a rock on to a child's plate and tell him it's bread just to see him try to chew it, but when push comes to shove and our kids need bread... they get bread. Now, I've seen some pretty rustic bread in my time. Dark brown, heavy, rough crusted, and hard to chew but wonderfully delicious bread. So I know that what can look like a rock, maybe even feel a bit like a rock can actually be life-giving bread.
When you have need in your life, when what you see is looking nothing like bread, stop. Take a deep breath and remember you don't see what the Father sees. Have Faith that He will not give you a rock.
This makes me think of other extremes, the ones that influence our lives. When I wrote this, I was sitting in a hospital room with my 22 year-old daughter who was under going a several-days-long series of tests to see if they could better determine the cause of her seizures. Caryn has had night-related seizures since she was about 6. They've never been completely under control; not by drugs, not even by a Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS) implanted in her chest. Because of this, the next thing to consider, unfortunately, could be brain surgery. Scary. Very... rock-like in appearance.
These are the times we want The Lion to come roaring out of the jungle & scare away all the things that scare us. So... where is this lion? When WE think we need him most, sometimes He's just not there. It's the most puzzling thing about Him; why sometimes when we pray we don't get the answer we expect. This life is full of things bigger than we are, things we can't control, accidents, illness, seizures, death; scary things. Things that seem to need a Lion to take care of them. But... where is this lion when these "rocks" fall in our laps?
If we are lucky, at some point we come to the conclusion that it is a fact that He's not always what we expect him to be, is he? Some of the disciples expected him to be the Lion of Judah and become King of Israel & drive out the Romans but instead he was the Lamb of God, sacrificed to restore us to right relationship with the Father. Nobody saw that coming, it wasn't what anyone thought was needed at the time but He saw from a different perspective. But how are we supposed to handle that? By Faith. Faith bridges the gap between what we see and what we need.
In Matt 7:9 the question is asked how many fathers would give their sons a stone if they ask for bread? It's a silly question, isn't it. Oh, we might slip a rock on to a child's plate and tell him it's bread just to see him try to chew it, but when push comes to shove and our kids need bread... they get bread. Now, I've seen some pretty rustic bread in my time. Dark brown, heavy, rough crusted, and hard to chew but wonderfully delicious bread. So I know that what can look like a rock, maybe even feel a bit like a rock can actually be life-giving bread.
When you have need in your life, when what you see is looking nothing like bread, stop. Take a deep breath and remember you don't see what the Father sees. Have Faith that He will not give you a rock.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Divorce. Whose Side Are YOU On?
Ok, here's a touchy subject. Divorce. With half of all marriages ending in divorce, I'm pretty sure that just about everyone reading this has been touched one way or another by someone's... or their own divorce. I'm not here to debate the legitimacy of it, or discuss the circumstances under which it's "ok" to divorce. Let's not even get into the idea that one side is "wrong" and the other is "right" 'cause we're all Human, and that means that, in all fairness chances are that neither side is totally "right" and neither is totally "wrong" either.
My purpose here to day is to start a dialog on an important, but not well discussed aspect of it. Whose side do you take? Family, friends, and unfortunately, children are often asked to chose one "camp" or the other. So, how does one make the choice? Do you listen carefully to each side's position? "She did to me..." "He did to me..." Then carefully weigh the evidence and try to come up with your own judgment of which side was "more wrong"?
Or perhaps you just pick the side you're most closely related to? "He's my brother, so ..." "But she's been my friend for ages..." Is that a better rule of thumb? I mean, "Blood is thicker than water" right? Isn't it true that if your sibling gets divorced, doesn't that mean that your sibling-in-law is now a "sibling-out-law"? No longer related to you at all? Years of relationship, parenting of nieces & nephews, none of that matters any longer?
I'm sure there are people out there that have gone through a divorce, be it a nasty or civil, that are saying "Yep. That's right. If they're not related to me any longer, they shouldn't be related to you!" But maybe some of you had to watch loved ones go through the experience and are now faced with the ... expectation? of having to choose sides that are saying, "But I still love both people." And that's the key, isn't it? People. Not "sides" but people. Hurting people.
So, now it's your turn... We all want to hear from you. You've gone through a divorce, or seen loved one go through it. What do you think? Do we all have to go through a divorce too? Do we all have to choose sides?
My purpose here to day is to start a dialog on an important, but not well discussed aspect of it. Whose side do you take? Family, friends, and unfortunately, children are often asked to chose one "camp" or the other. So, how does one make the choice? Do you listen carefully to each side's position? "She did
Or perhaps you just pick the side you're most closely related to? "He's my brother, so ..." "But she's been my friend for ages..." Is that a better rule of thumb? I mean, "Blood is thicker than water" right? Isn't it true that if your sibling gets divorced, doesn't that mean that your sibling-in-law is now a "sibling-out-law"? No longer related to you at all? Years of relationship, parenting of nieces & nephews, none of that matters any longer?
I'm sure there are people out there that have gone through a divorce, be it a nasty or civil, that are saying "Yep. That's right. If they're not related to me any longer, they shouldn't be related to you!" But maybe some of you had to watch loved ones go through the experience and are now faced with the ... expectation? of having to choose sides that are saying, "But I still love both people." And that's the key, isn't it? People. Not "sides" but people. Hurting people.
So, now it's your turn... We all want to hear from you. You've gone through a divorce, or seen loved one go through it. What do you think? Do we all have to go through a divorce too? Do we all have to choose sides?
Saturday, August 14, 2010
I Wish I Could Buy God a Watch...
I'm sure this is only true for me. None of you out there struggle with this like I do. My life has ... challenges. Financial, spiritual, physical, etc. but I have to say that God has been faithful. A number of times, we have met our landlords on the courthouse steps and was able to hand them a check for the rent as they were going inside to begin eviction proceedings. One might think "Wow, how cool God came through for you... AGAIN!" However, I am somewhat ashamed to admit that what went through the back of my mind just before rent money came in was "God didn't come through for me this time."
I'm sure we all have challenges we've gone through. Has God met them for you as he has for me? Then why do we not just thunder through life knowing God is going to come through for us, every time? If you are like me in this, you should know that we are in "good" company. The Children of Israel had just seen God change the mind of the most powerful man in the world with miraculous plagues & disasters and yet as they stood on the shore of the Red Sea and saw the Egyptian army approaching what did they do? They started yelling at Moses! They weren't singing God's praises because he was going to save them ... AGAIN! Even after the parting of the sea, did they have faith that God would feed them? No. After all God did for them, repeatedly saving them miraculously time after time they still wind up complaining, doubting, even replacing God with a golden cow.
I've thought a lot about this. I may have come to a conclusion that could explain some of this. It makes me feel better about it anyway... God doesn't own a watch.
He doesn't see time like we do. His perspective is beyond the minute to minute, hour by hour existence we must survive. To him, parting the red sea seconds before the first spear is thrown is no different than having everything printed out in an Itinerary weeks before the event. There are no surprises for God. To him it's as if everything has already happened. He can sit back and relax, 'cause it's all over for him. As we fuss & fret over some impending deadline, he can see that it's already been taken care of.
This is where the apologists & theologians will step in and talk about how the stress builds character & faith. I'm sure they're right. So what? That doesn't make things any easier for us, does it? Or does it?
Do YOU take comfort in knowing that God knows how things will turn out? I like to think I do, but I still go through the character-building, heart-pounding, stress routine just about every time. And just about every time I feel silly afterwards.
What about you? Do you sail through life, laughing at problems knowing God's got your back? Or do you fret & fuss every time life throws you a curve? Or, are you somewhere in the middle? I'd like to know...
I'm sure we all have challenges we've gone through. Has God met them for you as he has for me? Then why do we not just thunder through life knowing God is going to come through for us, every time? If you are like me in this, you should know that we are in "good" company. The Children of Israel had just seen God change the mind of the most powerful man in the world with miraculous plagues & disasters and yet as they stood on the shore of the Red Sea and saw the Egyptian army approaching what did they do? They started yelling at Moses! They weren't singing God's praises because he was going to save them ... AGAIN! Even after the parting of the sea, did they have faith that God would feed them? No. After all God did for them, repeatedly saving them miraculously time after time they still wind up complaining, doubting, even replacing God with a golden cow.
I've thought a lot about this. I may have come to a conclusion that could explain some of this. It makes me feel better about it anyway... God doesn't own a watch.
He doesn't see time like we do. His perspective is beyond the minute to minute, hour by hour existence we must survive. To him, parting the red sea seconds before the first spear is thrown is no different than having everything printed out in an Itinerary weeks before the event. There are no surprises for God. To him it's as if everything has already happened. He can sit back and relax, 'cause it's all over for him. As we fuss & fret over some impending deadline, he can see that it's already been taken care of.
This is where the apologists & theologians will step in and talk about how the stress builds character & faith. I'm sure they're right. So what? That doesn't make things any easier for us, does it? Or does it?
Do YOU take comfort in knowing that God knows how things will turn out? I like to think I do, but I still go through the character-building, heart-pounding, stress routine just about every time. And just about every time I feel silly afterwards.
What about you? Do you sail through life, laughing at problems knowing God's got your back? Or do you fret & fuss every time life throws you a curve? Or, are you somewhere in the middle? I'd like to know...
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Christians are becoming lazier every day.
Christians are lazy. There I said it. Most of us know it, few of us want to admit it out loud in church, and none of us really want to believe it's true of ourselves. But for the majority of Christians in America, I'm afraid it may very well be true and it's evidenced by a growing willingness to let others do our thinking for us. It seems more and more I hear things like "You have GOT to read So-n-so's book..." or "What's-his-name prophesied about..." or "Download Who-ya-call-um's sermon from the internet..." or "You should read Scott's blog about..." So, ok so that last one's not so bad but the rest begin to show a trend that is rather disturbing to me personally.
Of course as Christians we want to believe that all other Christians have the same sense of "Truth" that we do and no one has their own "axe to grind." We have this feeling like "But they're Christians too. Surely they won't try to tell us something that's not Biblically true." And "I trust him because I like the way he uses funny anecdotes, slick power point presentations, & never wears a tie." But the fact of the matter is that even in the best of circumstances it is possible that well-intentioned teachers could be teaching "logical Biblical extrapolation" instead of the simplicity of the Word.
Now before you jump to the bottom of this story & begin leaving me a message telling me how wrong I am, I ask you to read on; hear me out. I know that there are extraordinary Bible teachers out there, I've met many of them and my life has been impacted by them in many ways. I'm also sure you have a favorite teacher or two at your church (I know I do) and you may routinely listen to the head of a mega-church somewhere, or well-known radio or television expositor and there is nothing wrong with that. I know that they are not ultimately responsible for our "Christian Cholesterol Consumption" ... we are.
We have such full lives, don't we? We work our jobs, come home and play with our toys, watch our TV, spruce up our MySpaces, Facebooks, and MySpaceBooks (which may include planting our crops, managing our restaurants, and/or attempting to take over the world). It's not easy to make time to do mundane things such as read the Bible, is it? It takes time and effort and must be fit into our schedules around so many other "important" things. And why do it when so many others are obviously so much better at it than we are? Why not let them read the Bible, study what it says then feed it to us in watered down, sugary, milky little 20 minute sound bites? We have to go to church this Sunday anyway, don't we?
Sounds both reasonable and easy, doesn't it? The problem is that in order to sound relevant, or up-to-date it seems we can no longer stick to the "boring" simplicity of the Bible's message: love. We have to expound on the "old" ideas, illustrate with heart-touching stories, and extrapolate new ideas based on what logically makes sense. Like Paul warned Timothy in I Tim 1:4:
"Apparently some people have been introducing fantasy stories and fanciful family trees that digress into silliness instead of pulling the people back into the center, deepening faith and obedience."
-- The Message
Paul wanted Christians to know that "The whole point of what we're urging is simply love-love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God" (vs. 5). But how will we know that's what we're getting if we don't know enough of the Word for ourselves? If we must take someone else's word for it?
Since Paul's day we are meant to have teachers, preachers and the rest. They play an important role in our Christian lives and carry a great responsibility to share the Word of God with us and the World. But today is not like Paul's day when "The Word" referred to a scroll of the Torah locked away in a Synagogue to be read out loud once a week. Today, most Christians own at least 1 or more Bibles in a variety of versions and some even have a study reference or two from their Bible college days. I even have "The Message" on my cell phone. So, even though I listen to them, respect them, and even submit to some of them, I have less need of those teachers and preachers than the Christians of Paul's day did. I can, for the most part, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, determine what the Bible is telling me for myself.
So, having said all this you should know that I am in no way trying to encourage you to NOT read Christian books, listen to your favorite Bible teacher, or watch that tele-evangelist you love so much. What I AM encouraging you to do is read the passages of Scripture they quote to you and determine for yourself if it really supports the message they are bringing you.
We had some "Bible teachers" come through our church in years past teaching an all-day seminar on a somewhat... controversial subject. I decided to attend to see what they had to say. The first half of the all-day seminar was amazing! Life changing exposition of scriptures I'd hardly ever read and didn't fully understand. I followed, each verse closely, and eagerly listened to what they had to say and by the end of the morning some of what they said changed the way I pray to this day. Each point was clearly supported by scripture references.
At the mid-day break, they announced the upcoming topic, which was part of the controversial subject matter. I turned to my wife and said "Watch, the Bible references will dry up and they'll begin relying on anecdotal evidence." After about 20 minutes or so of the afternoon session, my wife turned to me with eyes wide and said, "You were right! I never realized..."
So the moral of this Blog is "Listen to teachers you trust but don't just take what they tell you as truth." We must all understand that just because someone says "As it says in Matthew 24..." that doesn't mean that's what it says. You are ultimately responsible for what you believe. Make sure you believe it because that's what it says in the Bible, not just because someone told you.
Of course as Christians we want to believe that all other Christians have the same sense of "Truth" that we do and no one has their own "axe to grind." We have this feeling like "But they're Christians too. Surely they won't try to tell us something that's not Biblically true." And "I trust him because I like the way he uses funny anecdotes, slick power point presentations, & never wears a tie." But the fact of the matter is that even in the best of circumstances it is possible that well-intentioned teachers could be teaching "logical Biblical extrapolation" instead of the simplicity of the Word.
Now before you jump to the bottom of this story & begin leaving me a message telling me how wrong I am, I ask you to read on; hear me out. I know that there are extraordinary Bible teachers out there, I've met many of them and my life has been impacted by them in many ways. I'm also sure you have a favorite teacher or two at your church (I know I do) and you may routinely listen to the head of a mega-church somewhere, or well-known radio or television expositor and there is nothing wrong with that. I know that they are not ultimately responsible for our "Christian Cholesterol Consumption" ... we are.
We have such full lives, don't we? We work our jobs, come home and play with our toys, watch our TV, spruce up our MySpaces, Facebooks, and MySpaceBooks (which may include planting our crops, managing our restaurants, and/or attempting to take over the world). It's not easy to make time to do mundane things such as read the Bible, is it? It takes time and effort and must be fit into our schedules around so many other "important" things. And why do it when so many others are obviously so much better at it than we are? Why not let them read the Bible, study what it says then feed it to us in watered down, sugary, milky little 20 minute sound bites? We have to go to church this Sunday anyway, don't we?
Sounds both reasonable and easy, doesn't it? The problem is that in order to sound relevant, or up-to-date it seems we can no longer stick to the "boring" simplicity of the Bible's message: love. We have to expound on the "old" ideas, illustrate with heart-touching stories, and extrapolate new ideas based on what logically makes sense. Like Paul warned Timothy in I Tim 1:4:
"Apparently some people have been introducing fantasy stories and fanciful family trees that digress into silliness instead of pulling the people back into the center, deepening faith and obedience."
-- The Message
Paul wanted Christians to know that "The whole point of what we're urging is simply love-love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God" (vs. 5). But how will we know that's what we're getting if we don't know enough of the Word for ourselves? If we must take someone else's word for it?
Since Paul's day we are meant to have teachers, preachers and the rest. They play an important role in our Christian lives and carry a great responsibility to share the Word of God with us and the World. But today is not like Paul's day when "The Word" referred to a scroll of the Torah locked away in a Synagogue to be read out loud once a week. Today, most Christians own at least 1 or more Bibles in a variety of versions and some even have a study reference or two from their Bible college days. I even have "The Message" on my cell phone. So, even though I listen to them, respect them, and even submit to some of them, I have less need of those teachers and preachers than the Christians of Paul's day did. I can, for the most part, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, determine what the Bible is telling me for myself.
So, having said all this you should know that I am in no way trying to encourage you to NOT read Christian books, listen to your favorite Bible teacher, or watch that tele-evangelist you love so much. What I AM encouraging you to do is read the passages of Scripture they quote to you and determine for yourself if it really supports the message they are bringing you.
We had some "Bible teachers" come through our church in years past teaching an all-day seminar on a somewhat... controversial subject. I decided to attend to see what they had to say. The first half of the all-day seminar was amazing! Life changing exposition of scriptures I'd hardly ever read and didn't fully understand. I followed, each verse closely, and eagerly listened to what they had to say and by the end of the morning some of what they said changed the way I pray to this day. Each point was clearly supported by scripture references.
At the mid-day break, they announced the upcoming topic, which was part of the controversial subject matter. I turned to my wife and said "Watch, the Bible references will dry up and they'll begin relying on anecdotal evidence." After about 20 minutes or so of the afternoon session, my wife turned to me with eyes wide and said, "You were right! I never realized..."
So the moral of this Blog is "Listen to teachers you trust but don't just take what they tell you as truth." We must all understand that just because someone says "As it says in Matthew 24..." that doesn't mean that's what it says. You are ultimately responsible for what you believe. Make sure you believe it because that's what it says in the Bible, not just because someone told you.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Rise of the Consumer?
Did anyone out there watch "The Happening" by M. Night Shyamalan? Anyone out there remember watching "The Happening" by M. Night Shyamalan? I'm pretty sure I did and I think the storyline went something like this.
By the way, I'd warn you that what I'm about to reveal could be considered a "spoiler" but if you haven't seen the film by now, you can pick one up used at Amazon.com for less than the price of a postage stamp. But the plot goes like this: the world's plants are pissed at us Humans and have had it with our constant mowing, harvesting, and just plain getting all emotional around them. As a means of self-defense they've finally learned how to emit a gas that makes people go crazy & indulge in self-destructive behaviors; which in this case means various methods of suicide.
Oddly enough, this seems to be eerily coming true today, but not with plants, with consumers. On a JetBlue flight, a passenger tries to retrieve her bag from at overhead compartment while the plane was still moving. An attendant asks the passenger to put the bag back in the compartment & return to her seat. The attendant gets verbally abused then clocked in the head by the overhead compartment door for his trouble. But when the attendant doesn't get an apology, he sort of goes crazy... overcome by this strange urge to self-destruct. He curses out the passenger, grabs a beer, pops open the emergency door and extends the inflatable slide & glides his way to the tarmac... and then into a jail cell with federal charges on his head.
The "oddly" does not stop there, however as public opinion seems to be siding with him. A large portion of the comments about this incident have been in support of the attendant's behavior. Which I find strange since most of them have presumably been passengers far more often than they've been attendants and should be more sympathetic to the plights of the passenger than those of the attendant. But they seem to be almost hypnotized by the attendant's self-destructive proclivities. They're even calling him a hero.
And the madness doesn't seem to be limited to the airline industry but has begun to spread to other businesses closer to home. I watched a video of a 25 year old woman punching a MacDonald's employee in the face because she was denied Chicken McNuggets. Apparently the woman was unaware that the juicy, tender chicken-like lumps of meat are not suitable for breakfast and therefore not available at the time she wanted them. Denied her fast-food choice, the customer goes berserk, jumps out of her car and assaults the drive-up window, breaking it with a beer bottle she pulled from her car (hmmm, think about that for a second). But the thing that surprises me the most is that the employee's response was to exhibit self-destructive behavior similar to that of the JetBlue flight attendant by approaching the crazed consumer essentially inviting more face punches.
Perhaps it is time for us all as consumers to reconsider our expectations despite the fact that beer was involved in BOTH incidents. When flying coach or business perhaps we shouldn't expect to be able to remove our bags from overhead compartments while the plane is still moving... or be allowed to smack the flight attendants around forcing them to grab a beer and incur federal felony charges. Perhaps we shouldn't expect MacDonald's to sell ALL the items on their menu at ALL hours of the day... or be allowed to smack the employees around with open containers of beer.
If there's any truth to Shaymalan's movie at all (and there really isn't), it would be this: we must stop this demanding & aggressive consumerist behavior before we drive ALL flight attendants, & fast-food employees mad and force them into self-destructive behaviors that will not only threaten their careers, but our ability to fly across the country, eating processed, breaded chicken chunks.
It's not too late. You can stop the madness. You can make a difference.
By the way, I'd warn you that what I'm about to reveal could be considered a "spoiler" but if you haven't seen the film by now, you can pick one up used at Amazon.com for less than the price of a postage stamp. But the plot goes like this: the world's plants are pissed at us Humans and have had it with our constant mowing, harvesting, and just plain getting all emotional around them. As a means of self-defense they've finally learned how to emit a gas that makes people go crazy & indulge in self-destructive behaviors; which in this case means various methods of suicide.
Oddly enough, this seems to be eerily coming true today, but not with plants, with consumers. On a JetBlue flight, a passenger tries to retrieve her bag from at overhead compartment while the plane was still moving. An attendant asks the passenger to put the bag back in the compartment & return to her seat. The attendant gets verbally abused then clocked in the head by the overhead compartment door for his trouble. But when the attendant doesn't get an apology, he sort of goes crazy... overcome by this strange urge to self-destruct. He curses out the passenger, grabs a beer, pops open the emergency door and extends the inflatable slide & glides his way to the tarmac... and then into a jail cell with federal charges on his head.
The "oddly" does not stop there, however as public opinion seems to be siding with him. A large portion of the comments about this incident have been in support of the attendant's behavior. Which I find strange since most of them have presumably been passengers far more often than they've been attendants and should be more sympathetic to the plights of the passenger than those of the attendant. But they seem to be almost hypnotized by the attendant's self-destructive proclivities. They're even calling him a hero.
And the madness doesn't seem to be limited to the airline industry but has begun to spread to other businesses closer to home. I watched a video of a 25 year old woman punching a MacDonald's employee in the face because she was denied Chicken McNuggets. Apparently the woman was unaware that the juicy, tender chicken-like lumps of meat are not suitable for breakfast and therefore not available at the time she wanted them. Denied her fast-food choice, the customer goes berserk, jumps out of her car and assaults the drive-up window, breaking it with a beer bottle she pulled from her car (hmmm, think about that for a second). But the thing that surprises me the most is that the employee's response was to exhibit self-destructive behavior similar to that of the JetBlue flight attendant by approaching the crazed consumer essentially inviting more face punches.
Perhaps it is time for us all as consumers to reconsider our expectations despite the fact that beer was involved in BOTH incidents. When flying coach or business perhaps we shouldn't expect to be able to remove our bags from overhead compartments while the plane is still moving... or be allowed to smack the flight attendants around forcing them to grab a beer and incur federal felony charges. Perhaps we shouldn't expect MacDonald's to sell ALL the items on their menu at ALL hours of the day... or be allowed to smack the employees around with open containers of beer.
If there's any truth to Shaymalan's movie at all (and there really isn't), it would be this: we must stop this demanding & aggressive consumerist behavior before we drive ALL flight attendants, & fast-food employees mad and force them into self-destructive behaviors that will not only threaten their careers, but our ability to fly across the country, eating processed, breaded chicken chunks.
It's not too late. You can stop the madness. You can make a difference.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Uganda 2010: It's not about me... well, maybe a little.
"May my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God"
I have been with World Vision through Master's Image Productions and now on my own for around 9 years or so. Getting kids sponsored is important to me. It makes me feel that I am doing something to help. When I was offered the trip to Uganda, I really didn't know what to expect.
When we pulled into the hotel in Entebbe, Uganda it was late night and my first few thoughts were "where do I plug in my iPhone?" and "how fast is the internet connection here?" and so forth. The next morning I ate breakfast of mostly pineapple, toast, and some mild sausage and although the coffee was wonderful for the most part I was unimpressed. I wandered the grounds, took some pictures, and sweated. Later we walked as a group to the Uganda Wildlife Museum. After the museum, my legs & back were beginning to protest.
Then we got on a long boat and headed out onto Lake Victoria, visited an island covered with these tiny lake flies and very little shade, saw some temporary fisherman's housing that looked like it had been used in Kevin Costner's "Waterworld" but all the while I was anxious to get back to my room so I could get back to the relative luxury of air conditioning and internet access. By now, I was beginning to feel a little sorry for myself. Having to put up with the heat, humidity, walking, unappealing food, slow internet, etc.
In the morning we were scheduled to take a short flight to Gulu, Uganda to visit the Children of War Rehabilitation Centre and some of World Vision's ADPs (Area Development Projects) there. When we arrived at the center we met the obviously caring & dedicated staff. We were told stories of the atrocities perpetrated on the people of Northern Uganda--especially the children--by a group of rebels know as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The rebels would enter a village, burn, pillage, and generally destroy everything. Then take the people into the jungle, some would escape, some would be let go, some were killed sometimes right in front of their children. Then most of the frightened & utterly powerless children would be taken. Over the last 20 years or so, approximately 60,000 children have been abducted by the LRA. World Vision has reintroduced around 14,000 of them.
Children, it seems, were useful to the rebels in a number of ways: as workers, for sex, and after indoctrination/brainwashing, as soldiers. As the rebels traveled from place to place, the children would be tied together in a long line making it impossible for them to escape. In the event of a gov't attack, the rebels would hide behind the tied up children, using them as shields. From time to time, during such an attack, the rebels would be killed or run away leaving the children behind. These "fortunate" children then fell into the hands of the army sometimes suffering the same sexual abuse from their "rescuers" as they did from their abductors.
In 1995 and in collaboration with the Ugandan Gov't, World Vision opened the Children of War Rehabilitation Centre where rescued children could be rehabilitated for reintegration into Ugandan society. Although many of these horribly traumatized children were unable to speak about their ordeals they were able to draw pictures about it. The pictures they drew of soldiers shooting children, or cutting off their heads were, to say the least, disturbing. Using the pictures, counseling, and interviews, World Vision staff began returning these children to their families or villages when possible or reintegrating them into Ugandan society.
To be honest, writing this is particularly difficult for me on a personal level. I listened to the staff, heard the triumphant stories of children enduring overwhelming loss, hardships, and wounds, and met some of the courageous children themselves. My own self-absorbed condition was thrown into sharp relief by the children's stories of overcoming hardship and loss.
We then drove out into the jungle and visited a group of people who are benefitting from World Vision's programs. They greeted us with music, dancing, and smiles. These people work harder than any I have ever met, and yet the joy of hope was evident in every handshake, every smile.
Throughout the trip, I became more and more ashamed of my own preoccupation with my personal comfort. I sat at the back of the van, trailed along behind the rest of the team, and wrestled with the changes I was going through. I came to dislike the person I was who arrived at the hotel complaining about food, heat, and poor internet access. Fortunately, after much soul searching, introspection, and repentance the person I was when I arrived in Uganda is not the person who returned home. Sometimes it IS about "me" if only just a little. And sometimes it's not what you bring home from a trip like this that counts... it's what you leave behind.
I have decided that I will open my child sponsorship appeal differently than I used to. I think I will begin it with...
May my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.
--Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision
As an actor, I perform one-man plays in churches across the United States. After a performance I invite the audience to consider child sponsorship through World Vision. I begin most every appeal with this prayer by Bob Pierce and as an actor, I am able to deliver the line with just the right vocal inflection and pitch to convey the sincerity & conviction I honestly feel. I believe in child sponsorship. I believe in World Vision.
I was invited by Chuck Neighbors and World Vision to go on a trip to Uganda in West Africa in mid-January, 2010. The trip was to show first-hand how World Vision is changing lives there through their child sponsorships. Imagine my surprise when what I saw there changed my life. This will be the first in a series of blogs on that trip and probably the hardest for me to write. Because while the trip was not about me, there were things about it that were about me and I want to start with those.
I have been with World Vision through Master's Image Productions and now on my own for around 9 years or so. Getting kids sponsored is important to me. It makes me feel that I am doing something to help. When I was offered the trip to Uganda, I really didn't know what to expect.
When we pulled into the hotel in Entebbe, Uganda it was late night and my first few thoughts were "where do I plug in my iPhone?" and "how fast is the internet connection here?" and so forth. The next morning I ate breakfast of mostly pineapple, toast, and some mild sausage and although the coffee was wonderful for the most part I was unimpressed. I wandered the grounds, took some pictures, and sweated. Later we walked as a group to the Uganda Wildlife Museum. After the museum, my legs & back were beginning to protest.
Then we got on a long boat and headed out onto Lake Victoria, visited an island covered with these tiny lake flies and very little shade, saw some temporary fisherman's housing that looked like it had been used in Kevin Costner's "Waterworld" but all the while I was anxious to get back to my room so I could get back to the relative luxury of air conditioning and internet access. By now, I was beginning to feel a little sorry for myself. Having to put up with the heat, humidity, walking, unappealing food, slow internet, etc.
In the morning we were scheduled to take a short flight to Gulu, Uganda to visit the Children of War Rehabilitation Centre and some of World Vision's ADPs (Area Development Projects) there. When we arrived at the center we met the obviously caring & dedicated staff. We were told stories of the atrocities perpetrated on the people of Northern Uganda--especially the children--by a group of rebels know as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The rebels would enter a village, burn, pillage, and generally destroy everything. Then take the people into the jungle, some would escape, some would be let go, some were killed sometimes right in front of their children. Then most of the frightened & utterly powerless children would be taken. Over the last 20 years or so, approximately 60,000 children have been abducted by the LRA. World Vision has reintroduced around 14,000 of them.
Children, it seems, were useful to the rebels in a number of ways: as workers, for sex, and after indoctrination/brainwashing, as soldiers. As the rebels traveled from place to place, the children would be tied together in a long line making it impossible for them to escape. In the event of a gov't attack, the rebels would hide behind the tied up children, using them as shields. From time to time, during such an attack, the rebels would be killed or run away leaving the children behind. These "fortunate" children then fell into the hands of the army sometimes suffering the same sexual abuse from their "rescuers" as they did from their abductors.
In 1995 and in collaboration with the Ugandan Gov't, World Vision opened the Children of War Rehabilitation Centre where rescued children could be rehabilitated for reintegration into Ugandan society. Although many of these horribly traumatized children were unable to speak about their ordeals they were able to draw pictures about it. The pictures they drew of soldiers shooting children, or cutting off their heads were, to say the least, disturbing. Using the pictures, counseling, and interviews, World Vision staff began returning these children to their families or villages when possible or reintegrating them into Ugandan society.
To be honest, writing this is particularly difficult for me on a personal level. I listened to the staff, heard the triumphant stories of children enduring overwhelming loss, hardships, and wounds, and met some of the courageous children themselves. My own self-absorbed condition was thrown into sharp relief by the children's stories of overcoming hardship and loss.
We then drove out into the jungle and visited a group of people who are benefitting from World Vision's programs. They greeted us with music, dancing, and smiles. These people work harder than any I have ever met, and yet the joy of hope was evident in every handshake, every smile.
Throughout the trip, I became more and more ashamed of my own preoccupation with my personal comfort. I sat at the back of the van, trailed along behind the rest of the team, and wrestled with the changes I was going through. I came to dislike the person I was who arrived at the hotel complaining about food, heat, and poor internet access. Fortunately, after much soul searching, introspection, and repentance the person I was when I arrived in Uganda is not the person who returned home. Sometimes it IS about "me" if only just a little. And sometimes it's not what you bring home from a trip like this that counts... it's what you leave behind.
I have decided that I will open my child sponsorship appeal differently than I used to. I think I will begin it with...
May my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.
If you want your life to be changed in ways you can't imagine, consider sponsoring a child through World Vision. Feel free to contact me at scott@scottbettis.com for more information or you may Sponsor Online.
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