Many of you who read this see me pretty regularly, especially during the school year. And many of you have at some point ridden in my blue Buick Century that used to belong to my grandparents. I know you all love that car, as if it were part of your own family. So I am sad to announce to you that there is sickness in that family. Or at least more serious sickness than the normal windows/radio/air conditioner not working. Yesterday I was running an errand to the City Park here in Manhattan when I noticed that my speedometer was having a little too much fun. Usually my speedometer is very self-controlled and honest. We have a good relationship. But apparently it had drunk a few too many Red Bulls yesterday morning, because it was jumping all over the place, one second telling me I was going 40 mph, and the next claiming that I had put the car in park. Then today, the rest of my car decided to follow suit by alternating between propelling me down the road and then slowing down while the engine whirs. Every time I've started it up today, I've wondered if I'm going to get where I want to go. So far so good, but the day isn't over yet.
All of that has nothing to do with anything. Here's something that does have something to do with something: Far too often, we don't appreciate the little things in life. Now that's not an original thought at all. We all hear it all the time. But normally when I hear someone say such a thing, I think of stopping to smell a flower, sitting in a chair listening to Mozart, and writing a poem about the sunshine. And it all sounds so pansy-ish to me. I mean, seriously, I have no desire to do any of those things. The small things are for dweebs. I'm a grown man, and I don't really care about roses or Mozart or the sunshine.
But what I've realized is that, no matter who a person might be, they have "small things" in their life that make existence more enjoyable. For you, maybe they are roses and Mozart and sunshine. Or maybe it's pumping The Classic Crime in the car on the way to IHOP at midnight. Maybe it's sitting in a dorm room tossing a ball back and forth with a couple guys just to pass the time. Maybe it's sitting in Panera and observing the couples who seem like they're on their first date while you listen in on their lame conversations and take relief in the fact that you're not the only socially awkward person in the world.
I spend so much time and energy wigging out about the big things, or at least what I think are the big things. It's like I always feel like some cosmic weight has been placed on me, and it's my obligation to the universe to stress out about it. And the only result is that I walk around freaking out about all kinds of things, many of which I can't even do anything about in the first place. That's all pretty unnecessary, I think. Yeah, we can't just run away from some of the heftier issues in life, but neither should we obsess over many of them. Going crazy about stuff usually isn't a fruitful endeavor. That's why the small things are important. Life should be enjoyed. Life is humorous, and stuff is worth laughing at. Even bad stuff. We've got to be able to step back from crappy experiences at times and laugh at ourselves and laugh at how unfortunate things are.
One "small thing" that many people have told me they really like is to buy dinner for their best friend with the initials DJH. You could try that too.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Just One Reason That Reality TV is Dumb
In no way am I someone who's "in" with pop culture or current events. I don't follow the latest styles (I even wear denim shorts sometimes). My phone still flips open. I only have an iPod Nano. And normally, when something happens in culture, I don't find out about if for several weeks, if at all. Even so, for a pretty long while I've been noticing all sorts of things about the status of the couple from "Jon & Kate Plus 8." This is the show on TLC where this couple has about a million babies and they go to Disneyland and throw birthday parties and all sorts of fun things for the amusement of the television audience. I've actually even seen a couple episodes. But evidently, all wasn't well in the household, and the magazine headlines at the grocery store register were sure to let me know how Jon was seen at a baseball game with another woman and how Kate is on a diet to impress some new guy or whatever. But of course, we all know such magazines aren't trustworthy, so I figured this was something that would blow over in a few days.
Yesterday as I was surfing through the channels in the afternoon, I noticed at the bottom of the screen on TLC that there was to be a special episode of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" in which the couple would make a big announcement. I didn't watch the episode, but the headlines on MSN today informed me that the big announcement is that the couple is getting a divorce but that they're still going to do the show.
That was the big event. That's the announcement. That's the episode that TLC worked so hard to promote and make sure everyone watched. That's what weeks of magazine headlines pointed to.
What a sad, disheartening commentary on our society. This is an actual family, an actual marriage. And its implosion is used to sell advertisements. I obviously know nothing about the details or what led to this, but it's just sad. Another marriage crumbles, and no one is really even bothered. Heck, we celebrate it. A marriage fails, and America watches with interest. And Satan probably watches us with a little bit of a smile.
Yesterday as I was surfing through the channels in the afternoon, I noticed at the bottom of the screen on TLC that there was to be a special episode of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" in which the couple would make a big announcement. I didn't watch the episode, but the headlines on MSN today informed me that the big announcement is that the couple is getting a divorce but that they're still going to do the show.
That was the big event. That's the announcement. That's the episode that TLC worked so hard to promote and make sure everyone watched. That's what weeks of magazine headlines pointed to.
What a sad, disheartening commentary on our society. This is an actual family, an actual marriage. And its implosion is used to sell advertisements. I obviously know nothing about the details or what led to this, but it's just sad. Another marriage crumbles, and no one is really even bothered. Heck, we celebrate it. A marriage fails, and America watches with interest. And Satan probably watches us with a little bit of a smile.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Leave Room For Jesus
It's a tricksy thing for kids who want to date someone from their church youth group. If a teen is going to date anyone, though, someone from their youth group probably isn't a bad choice. You know that they're hopefully fond of Jesus, and you get to see them a lot and go on all the youth group trips and everything together. But it also makes your relationship like a reality TV show in that all the other kids in the youth group get to watch every step of the way. Everyone knows when things are bad and when things are good and everything in between, and they're also there to make keep things in check. Whenever a couple gets a little cozy in the church van on a trip, someone is bound to yell out, "Leave room for Jesus!" Some people find this exclamation annoying. I always thought it was fairly humorous. Probably because I've rarely been in a relationship.
I went to Jr. High church camp this last week. I'm going to be honest, it was a little rough for me. I love middle school kids and I think they're a lot of fun and can be really funny, and I think ministry to them is important, but I don't know if I'm wired for it quite as much as I am high school ministry. It's just much more difficult for me to feel like I'm relating to them. They don't carry on normal conversations, but run around in little packs yelling "Football....YEAH!" in people's faces. They would rather throw rocks at ants than participate in a discussion of that evening's sermon. And they interpret the statement "Alright guys, it's time to be quiet and go to sleep" as "Hey guys, you should all start yelling a bunch of silly voices for the next 20 minutes."
So it was somewhat of a rough week for me. I had a lot of fun, but I was definitely ready to go home come Friday. And at a number of times throughout the week, I thought, "This is pointless. They kids don't have any interest in anything related to Jesus, and nothing I say is getting through to them. All they're going to get from this week is the memory of sugar rushes and bug bites."
And, as usual when I have a bad attitude about things, God let me know that I'm really stupid. I was certain that the camp was going to prove fruitless. And then on Thursday night God did his thing. My family group was having our discussion time that evening, and we were asking kids what had impacted them from the week and what they were going to change when they get home and all that, and it was all pretty typical until one of the guys, obviously being very broken, said that he had found Jesus that night. Long story short, three of the kids in my group decided to be baptized. And it had absolutely nothing to do with me. I was a pretty crappy group leader. Luckily for those kids, the two other people that I led with did an awesome job pouring into them, and God was apparently working on their hearts during the week.
Every once in a while, I need a reminder that I'm not really in control. I think I am. Heck, I'm going to be a senior in Bible college. I know how to plan events and I know which discussion questions to ask and I know how to format devos and all of that. So I think that I can make life-change happen. But the truth of it is that all of my puny efforts are pathetic in themselves. It's not like a math formula, where worship song + funny story + Bible verse + object lesson = transformation. Actually, I guess if you were going to format how it really is, it would be much simpler looking: Jesus' work = transformation.
So I guess it's important for us to realize that we don't have to worry about everything when it comes to ministry. Our job is to bring what we have and let God take care of the rest. Not that we have a right to slack off and not do the best that we can. But even our best efforts are still insufficient. But thankfully, God fills in the gaps where we're lacking. He takes our meager offerings and does something incredible. And he took a week that I thought was a waste of time and changes lives. So as we minister, it's probably a good idea to leave a little room for Jesus.
Tomorrow would have been my grandmother's 80th birthday. She was one of the most genuine, kindest, most giving, and most humble people I have ever known. If you know someone like that, you should thank God and then thank them.
Happy summer.
I went to Jr. High church camp this last week. I'm going to be honest, it was a little rough for me. I love middle school kids and I think they're a lot of fun and can be really funny, and I think ministry to them is important, but I don't know if I'm wired for it quite as much as I am high school ministry. It's just much more difficult for me to feel like I'm relating to them. They don't carry on normal conversations, but run around in little packs yelling "Football....YEAH!" in people's faces. They would rather throw rocks at ants than participate in a discussion of that evening's sermon. And they interpret the statement "Alright guys, it's time to be quiet and go to sleep" as "Hey guys, you should all start yelling a bunch of silly voices for the next 20 minutes."
So it was somewhat of a rough week for me. I had a lot of fun, but I was definitely ready to go home come Friday. And at a number of times throughout the week, I thought, "This is pointless. They kids don't have any interest in anything related to Jesus, and nothing I say is getting through to them. All they're going to get from this week is the memory of sugar rushes and bug bites."
And, as usual when I have a bad attitude about things, God let me know that I'm really stupid. I was certain that the camp was going to prove fruitless. And then on Thursday night God did his thing. My family group was having our discussion time that evening, and we were asking kids what had impacted them from the week and what they were going to change when they get home and all that, and it was all pretty typical until one of the guys, obviously being very broken, said that he had found Jesus that night. Long story short, three of the kids in my group decided to be baptized. And it had absolutely nothing to do with me. I was a pretty crappy group leader. Luckily for those kids, the two other people that I led with did an awesome job pouring into them, and God was apparently working on their hearts during the week.
Every once in a while, I need a reminder that I'm not really in control. I think I am. Heck, I'm going to be a senior in Bible college. I know how to plan events and I know which discussion questions to ask and I know how to format devos and all of that. So I think that I can make life-change happen. But the truth of it is that all of my puny efforts are pathetic in themselves. It's not like a math formula, where worship song + funny story + Bible verse + object lesson = transformation. Actually, I guess if you were going to format how it really is, it would be much simpler looking: Jesus' work = transformation.
So I guess it's important for us to realize that we don't have to worry about everything when it comes to ministry. Our job is to bring what we have and let God take care of the rest. Not that we have a right to slack off and not do the best that we can. But even our best efforts are still insufficient. But thankfully, God fills in the gaps where we're lacking. He takes our meager offerings and does something incredible. And he took a week that I thought was a waste of time and changes lives. So as we minister, it's probably a good idea to leave a little room for Jesus.
Tomorrow would have been my grandmother's 80th birthday. She was one of the most genuine, kindest, most giving, and most humble people I have ever known. If you know someone like that, you should thank God and then thank them.
Happy summer.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
We're All Sinking
It's my day off! And to celebrate, I decided to leave Manhattan behind for the day and make an exodus back to the promised land of Topeka. Upon my arrival, however, I was subjected to even crueler slavery as I helped with the deck my parents are building behind our house. (Actually, I didn't help very much. I'm not very skillful with a drill.) On my drive down I-70 today, I was thinking about what I wanted to write, and I thought a little about how my blog posts tend to fall into three categories. First, there are those posts that don't really have much to do with anything but are aimed at generating a slight chuckle, so that people will tell me, "Oh David, you're post on the Bystander Effect was so funny! You're definitely going to have a hot wife with a humor like that!" Second, there are those posts where I objectively think about whatever topic and write something in a more analytical way. Third, at times I type up emotionally-driven musings that sort of run in circles until I feel like I've gotten it off my chest. I'm somewhat of a closet emo, I think. How embarrassing.
I was at high school camp at King Solomon this week, and it went great. It's my home camp, so I always love to get to go back (and I'll be there for two more weeks this summer, so....hooray.) But yeah, it was a great week, my family group was awesome, and fun was had by all. Especially by the 300 mosquitoes that feasted on my flesh. One song that we sang a lot during the worship services this week was "How He Loves" (which should be playing right now if you have your sound on. Listen to it. It's good). The song is really simple but has some really cool metaphors in talking about just how much God loves us.
God's love doesn't make sense. Perfect, unconditional love exists in so few places, and cheap, flippant love takes it's place in so much of the world. We have a God who loves us fully. Whose love is beyond our mental grasp. Who loves us regardless of our pasts, our faults, and our obnoxious habits. Who, even as we backstab him and blaspheme him and ignore him, continues to love us. Who loves even those who want absolutely nothing to do with him. It's more fantastic than I can get my poor mind around. But even though I don't totally understand it, I can cognitively accept the fact of God's perfect love.
Often, the bigger problem is that it's so hard to feel God's love. One day of camp, we talked about truth, and we discussed how even when we know it a truth, it can be a greater obstacle to accept that true. God's love is true, but it's a pretty hard truth to swallow at times. When we feel heart-broken and hurt and lonely, it's hard to accept that God's love is near. When we feel sinful and dirty and unworthy, it's hard to accept that God's love is unconditional. When we feel proud and independent and self-sufficient, it's hard to accept that God's love is needed. Sure, in my head I can think, "God loves me," but what do I do when that love feels so distant? When I can't sense it working into my life? I think the psalmists felt similarly at times:
"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?" Psalm 13:1-2
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent." Psalm 22:1-2
"I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted." Psalm 77:1-2
You might notice that all of these examples come at the very beginning of the psalm. I think that's probably because by the end of each one, the writer is praising God for his love and mercy, recognizing that the truth of God's love doesn't depend on whether or not we feel it at the moment. I especially like Psalm 13:5-6, where even after complaining that God has forgotten him, David writes, "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me."
I'm not totally sure how to do that. It's crazy how David is able to feel so dejected but still remain so faithful and confident in God's provision. I have a great deal to learn when it comes to that. I guess what needs to be accepted is that God's love is true. And it's also true that at times things suck and it's difficult to see that love or to feel like it's enough. But that doesn't make the truth of God's love any less true. The ability to be confident in that love in the midst of crappy circumstances is what carries us through. That's sort of what faith is. Holding onto what is unseen/unfelt.
It's probably good to ask how we can better emulate God's love in the here and now. My family group at camp talked about how, as Christians, we're to be like the moon. The moon doesn't generate it's own light, but only reflects the light of the sun. Similarly, we need to be reflections of the character of God to the world and to one another, and reflecting God's love is a huge piece of that. There's an interesting truth about love. Love is never about the lover, but only about the object of the love. Selflessness and love are joined together. When Christ came, he emptied himself, surrendered himself, and became nothing. Even as both his heart and body ached, he put others before himself. That's the kind of love we need to show. When I feel hurt and broken, I'm still need to consider myself healthily unimportant. I'm to love God and love others first. To love always and unconditionally. That's what God does for us.
Unrelated topic change: Maybe there's been a time in your life when you experienced something really crappy, but when you go to bed you have a dream about that same crappy experience happening. So when you wake up, you at first think, "Whew, it was only a dream." But then you realize that it's something that actually happened, and it's really, really unfortunate. It's quite the bummer when our problems follow us into the solace of sleep. Maybe I need to eat more pizza and pork rinds before I go to bed, so that I have crazy dreams about flying purple toaster ovens or something. That sounds way more fun.
I was at high school camp at King Solomon this week, and it went great. It's my home camp, so I always love to get to go back (and I'll be there for two more weeks this summer, so....hooray.) But yeah, it was a great week, my family group was awesome, and fun was had by all. Especially by the 300 mosquitoes that feasted on my flesh. One song that we sang a lot during the worship services this week was "How He Loves" (which should be playing right now if you have your sound on. Listen to it. It's good). The song is really simple but has some really cool metaphors in talking about just how much God loves us.
God's love doesn't make sense. Perfect, unconditional love exists in so few places, and cheap, flippant love takes it's place in so much of the world. We have a God who loves us fully. Whose love is beyond our mental grasp. Who loves us regardless of our pasts, our faults, and our obnoxious habits. Who, even as we backstab him and blaspheme him and ignore him, continues to love us. Who loves even those who want absolutely nothing to do with him. It's more fantastic than I can get my poor mind around. But even though I don't totally understand it, I can cognitively accept the fact of God's perfect love.
Often, the bigger problem is that it's so hard to feel God's love. One day of camp, we talked about truth, and we discussed how even when we know it a truth, it can be a greater obstacle to accept that true. God's love is true, but it's a pretty hard truth to swallow at times. When we feel heart-broken and hurt and lonely, it's hard to accept that God's love is near. When we feel sinful and dirty and unworthy, it's hard to accept that God's love is unconditional. When we feel proud and independent and self-sufficient, it's hard to accept that God's love is needed. Sure, in my head I can think, "God loves me," but what do I do when that love feels so distant? When I can't sense it working into my life? I think the psalmists felt similarly at times:
"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?" Psalm 13:1-2
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent." Psalm 22:1-2
"I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted." Psalm 77:1-2
You might notice that all of these examples come at the very beginning of the psalm. I think that's probably because by the end of each one, the writer is praising God for his love and mercy, recognizing that the truth of God's love doesn't depend on whether or not we feel it at the moment. I especially like Psalm 13:5-6, where even after complaining that God has forgotten him, David writes, "But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me."
I'm not totally sure how to do that. It's crazy how David is able to feel so dejected but still remain so faithful and confident in God's provision. I have a great deal to learn when it comes to that. I guess what needs to be accepted is that God's love is true. And it's also true that at times things suck and it's difficult to see that love or to feel like it's enough. But that doesn't make the truth of God's love any less true. The ability to be confident in that love in the midst of crappy circumstances is what carries us through. That's sort of what faith is. Holding onto what is unseen/unfelt.
It's probably good to ask how we can better emulate God's love in the here and now. My family group at camp talked about how, as Christians, we're to be like the moon. The moon doesn't generate it's own light, but only reflects the light of the sun. Similarly, we need to be reflections of the character of God to the world and to one another, and reflecting God's love is a huge piece of that. There's an interesting truth about love. Love is never about the lover, but only about the object of the love. Selflessness and love are joined together. When Christ came, he emptied himself, surrendered himself, and became nothing. Even as both his heart and body ached, he put others before himself. That's the kind of love we need to show. When I feel hurt and broken, I'm still need to consider myself healthily unimportant. I'm to love God and love others first. To love always and unconditionally. That's what God does for us.
Unrelated topic change: Maybe there's been a time in your life when you experienced something really crappy, but when you go to bed you have a dream about that same crappy experience happening. So when you wake up, you at first think, "Whew, it was only a dream." But then you realize that it's something that actually happened, and it's really, really unfortunate. It's quite the bummer when our problems follow us into the solace of sleep. Maybe I need to eat more pizza and pork rinds before I go to bed, so that I have crazy dreams about flying purple toaster ovens or something. That sounds way more fun.
Friday, May 29, 2009
In Focus
I've been a youth ministry intern for four days now. And I don't have a burning desire to drop out of ministry, so I think that's a good sign. Things have actually been going really well, and I've already learned a lot of things (including how to use a caulking gun and a laminating maching). The rest of the staff at the church is awesome, and the few students that I've already gotten to meet seem really cool. The family I'm staying with is very nice, and the wife made some delicious brownies last night that I've been munching on periodically. They don't have wireless internet at their house, however, so I've made it a nightly practice to go to the Panera down the street to check facebook and write this post. I feel so classy hanging out at an overpriced sandwich shop. But all I get is a large soda. I guess I'm a bit of a poser.
I went to the optometrist over winter break to get my eyes examined. Over time, I had begun to realize that I couldn't recognize people very well from far away or see all that well when I was driving. And once I tried to play basketball outside when it was starting to get dark, and I took a pass right in the face because I never even saw the ball. So I decided it was time to get a new prescription for my glasses. During the exam, the doctor had me cover my left eye and read the chart with my old glasses still on, and I could read the bottom line pretty well. Then I covered my right eye, and I could only read the third biggest line. So now I have a left lens that is about twice as thick as the right. So I hope chicks dig guys with inch-thick panes of glass in front of their eyeballs.
This story has no purpose except to introduce the topic of focus. (I feel like I always start things with something like, "Lately I've been thinking about...." So might as well mix it up a little bit). Typically, people want a sense of focus in their lives. They want to be aiming at something, not fluttering around aimlessly like a blind hummingbird. But of course we don't just have one focus in life. We focus on many different things at different times. Sometimes we focus on God, sometimes we focus on our friends, sometimes we focus on our jobs, sometimes we focus on school, and on and on. So our lives in effect become a grouping of different compartments, and we intermittently dip into the various compartment, focusing our time and energy in a specific area for a period of time.
All the while, we're looking for some sense of balance, which is a pretty difficult task. The more compartments we have in our lives, the harder it is to keep them balanced. How do we handle friends, ministries, girlfriends, school, sports, and God? Of course things get out of whack. It's too much for us to handle. So then we finally recognize that all these different areas in our lives are out of balance. We start failing classes, so we say, "I just need to take some time and really focus on school." We realize that our girlfriends think we're jerks, so we say, "I really need to focus on her for a while." We stop sensing God's leading, so we dust off our Bibles and say, "I'm going to focus on God." Of course when we focus on one area, all of the others fall by the wayside a little bit. It's like looking through the scope of a sniper rifle (something I've never done, but I can imagine what it's like). When you're looking through the scope, you're entirely focused on what's in the minuscule field of vision, and you don't really care about what's outside the scope until someone walks right up beside you and clocks you in the head.
Maybe our whole scheme is somewhat flawed. Is life really meant to be viewed as a collection of varying spheres of life, all vying for our attention, time, and energy? I think if we're going to live a meaningful, well-balanced, less jumbled life, our focus needs only to be on our relationship with God. That relationship should not be one of many different areas on which we focus. It should be THE focus. Nothing else really matters comparatively. ALL of our time, ALL of our energy, ALL of our resources need to be centered on how we can know God more intimately, serve him more faithfully, and worship him more honorably.
That doesn't mean that we stop caring about our friends, family, schoolwork, girlfriends, ministries, or whatever else. Rather, our attention to these things flows out of our focus on Christ. No part of life is divorced from our relationship with God. Life isn't like a tackle box with its numerous little compartments for lures. Even if our "God compartment" is proportionally larger than all the other compartments, it's not enough. Rather, life is more like a casserole, where the pan is our relationship with God and everything else is mixed together within it. This makes everything better. Ministries are obviously more effective when they're powered by a thriving relationship with God. Marriages are stronger. Friendships are deeper.
Sometimes, it may be necessary to put a little added focus toward something. If a marriage is having problems, pull back from other things and fix that. If school is going poorly, play less XBox and read your textbooks. But nothing should detract from our relationships with God, because only that relationship makes the rest of life worthwhile.
In November 2007, the sound on my computer randomly stopped working. I tried everything I could to try to figure out the problem, but to no avail. Not wanting to spend money to get it professionally looked at, I just lived with it. So whenever someone messaged me and said, "Hey, check out this Youtube video," I had to reply, "I can't. No sound." Then today while at the church office, I heard the strangest thing. Noise was coming from my speakers. So 18 months after a random breakdown, my sound system experienced a random start-up. Craziest thing since the lice healing.
I went to the optometrist over winter break to get my eyes examined. Over time, I had begun to realize that I couldn't recognize people very well from far away or see all that well when I was driving. And once I tried to play basketball outside when it was starting to get dark, and I took a pass right in the face because I never even saw the ball. So I decided it was time to get a new prescription for my glasses. During the exam, the doctor had me cover my left eye and read the chart with my old glasses still on, and I could read the bottom line pretty well. Then I covered my right eye, and I could only read the third biggest line. So now I have a left lens that is about twice as thick as the right. So I hope chicks dig guys with inch-thick panes of glass in front of their eyeballs.
This story has no purpose except to introduce the topic of focus. (I feel like I always start things with something like, "Lately I've been thinking about...." So might as well mix it up a little bit). Typically, people want a sense of focus in their lives. They want to be aiming at something, not fluttering around aimlessly like a blind hummingbird. But of course we don't just have one focus in life. We focus on many different things at different times. Sometimes we focus on God, sometimes we focus on our friends, sometimes we focus on our jobs, sometimes we focus on school, and on and on. So our lives in effect become a grouping of different compartments, and we intermittently dip into the various compartment, focusing our time and energy in a specific area for a period of time.
All the while, we're looking for some sense of balance, which is a pretty difficult task. The more compartments we have in our lives, the harder it is to keep them balanced. How do we handle friends, ministries, girlfriends, school, sports, and God? Of course things get out of whack. It's too much for us to handle. So then we finally recognize that all these different areas in our lives are out of balance. We start failing classes, so we say, "I just need to take some time and really focus on school." We realize that our girlfriends think we're jerks, so we say, "I really need to focus on her for a while." We stop sensing God's leading, so we dust off our Bibles and say, "I'm going to focus on God." Of course when we focus on one area, all of the others fall by the wayside a little bit. It's like looking through the scope of a sniper rifle (something I've never done, but I can imagine what it's like). When you're looking through the scope, you're entirely focused on what's in the minuscule field of vision, and you don't really care about what's outside the scope until someone walks right up beside you and clocks you in the head.
Maybe our whole scheme is somewhat flawed. Is life really meant to be viewed as a collection of varying spheres of life, all vying for our attention, time, and energy? I think if we're going to live a meaningful, well-balanced, less jumbled life, our focus needs only to be on our relationship with God. That relationship should not be one of many different areas on which we focus. It should be THE focus. Nothing else really matters comparatively. ALL of our time, ALL of our energy, ALL of our resources need to be centered on how we can know God more intimately, serve him more faithfully, and worship him more honorably.
That doesn't mean that we stop caring about our friends, family, schoolwork, girlfriends, ministries, or whatever else. Rather, our attention to these things flows out of our focus on Christ. No part of life is divorced from our relationship with God. Life isn't like a tackle box with its numerous little compartments for lures. Even if our "God compartment" is proportionally larger than all the other compartments, it's not enough. Rather, life is more like a casserole, where the pan is our relationship with God and everything else is mixed together within it. This makes everything better. Ministries are obviously more effective when they're powered by a thriving relationship with God. Marriages are stronger. Friendships are deeper.
Sometimes, it may be necessary to put a little added focus toward something. If a marriage is having problems, pull back from other things and fix that. If school is going poorly, play less XBox and read your textbooks. But nothing should detract from our relationships with God, because only that relationship makes the rest of life worthwhile.
In November 2007, the sound on my computer randomly stopped working. I tried everything I could to try to figure out the problem, but to no avail. Not wanting to spend money to get it professionally looked at, I just lived with it. So whenever someone messaged me and said, "Hey, check out this Youtube video," I had to reply, "I can't. No sound." Then today while at the church office, I heard the strangest thing. Noise was coming from my speakers. So 18 months after a random breakdown, my sound system experienced a random start-up. Craziest thing since the lice healing.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Americolatry
It's Memorial Day weekend! And that means several things. It means that the Indianapolis 500 was this afternoon. It means that a lot of pools open up for the summer. It means that a lot of people will be having a cookout to celebrate the season. And it means that at church today, we had the obligatory annual singing of "America" and "America the Beautiful."
I'm not a big fan of singing songs like this at church. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a little out of place to stand as a congregation and belt out verses like, "My native country thee/Land of the noble free/Thy name I love/I love thy rocks and rills/Thy woods and templed hills/My heart with rapture thrills/Like that above." Who am I supposed to be singing this to? I normally assume that worship at church is directed toward God, so is it really the place to sing praise choruses to the United States? (Granted, the fourth verse of "America" does talk quite a bit about God, but we didn't get to that one this morning.)
Way too often in our churches, I think we place God and America on twin pedestals. Sure, no one will say that, but it's shown in our actions and attitudes sometimes. After all, a good Christian is also a good American, right? We're meant to "serve God and country." But shouldn't one of those outweigh the other? People act like patriotism is a fruit of the Spirit, but I don't remember it being wedged between kindness and goodness.
For many, "Christian" and "American" have become synonymous terms. That doesn't seem accurate at all. I don't that that happening to be born in South Dakota makes a person an automatic follower of Christ. Heck, I don't even know that I would call America a Christian nation. Americans are some of the most materialistic, greedy, pluralistic people that I know of. We have fantastic religious freedom, and America is a great place for people to hear about Jesus, but it's also a great place for them to hear about how they don't need God or that they can be their own god. But maybe that's just how things are now. At least we have solid, Christian roots to lean back on, right? The Constitution and Declaration of Independence are basically canonical right? Even that may be a little debatable. Sure, some of the founding fathers were incredible men of faith, but it was hardly universal. Thomas Jefferson wasn't too fond of the notion that Jesus was divine and rose from the dead, so he produced an edited version of the gospels that left that stuff out. So before we promote all of the founding fathers to sainthood, maybe we should rethink things a little bit.
Don't get me wrong. I love the United States. I feel incredibly blessed to live here, and I'm indebted to those who have fought and sacrificed to give me the freedom that I enjoy. I'm not all that well-traveled, but I have been to a few places, and it makes me even thankful for what I have in America. I've got resources and safety and liberties that most people in the world do not. I hope that God uses America to do great things in the world. But at the same time, I recognize that God is bigger than my country. The church is bigger than my country. My ultimate task in life is not to be a flag-waving patriot. It's to act like Jesus and work for his kingdom.
I can't imagine that there's many veterans that read my blog. But if you're out there, I truly do salute you, and I have a great amount of gratitude for you. I'm all about sitting comfortably on my couch at home, so I can't really imagine what it's like to be out there defending the freedom of others. I hope you all have a splendid Memorial Day and that you eat lots of hot dogs and play plenty of lawn games. On Tuesday, I'm off to Manhattan to start my summer internship, so please be praying for that, and for all the other people out there that are doing internships and missions trips.
I went to the Narnia exhibit in Kansas City yesterday. I really wanted to try to steal C.S. Lewis' pipe.
I'm not a big fan of singing songs like this at church. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a little out of place to stand as a congregation and belt out verses like, "My native country thee/Land of the noble free/Thy name I love/I love thy rocks and rills/Thy woods and templed hills/My heart with rapture thrills/Like that above." Who am I supposed to be singing this to? I normally assume that worship at church is directed toward God, so is it really the place to sing praise choruses to the United States? (Granted, the fourth verse of "America" does talk quite a bit about God, but we didn't get to that one this morning.)
Way too often in our churches, I think we place God and America on twin pedestals. Sure, no one will say that, but it's shown in our actions and attitudes sometimes. After all, a good Christian is also a good American, right? We're meant to "serve God and country." But shouldn't one of those outweigh the other? People act like patriotism is a fruit of the Spirit, but I don't remember it being wedged between kindness and goodness.
For many, "Christian" and "American" have become synonymous terms. That doesn't seem accurate at all. I don't that that happening to be born in South Dakota makes a person an automatic follower of Christ. Heck, I don't even know that I would call America a Christian nation. Americans are some of the most materialistic, greedy, pluralistic people that I know of. We have fantastic religious freedom, and America is a great place for people to hear about Jesus, but it's also a great place for them to hear about how they don't need God or that they can be their own god. But maybe that's just how things are now. At least we have solid, Christian roots to lean back on, right? The Constitution and Declaration of Independence are basically canonical right? Even that may be a little debatable. Sure, some of the founding fathers were incredible men of faith, but it was hardly universal. Thomas Jefferson wasn't too fond of the notion that Jesus was divine and rose from the dead, so he produced an edited version of the gospels that left that stuff out. So before we promote all of the founding fathers to sainthood, maybe we should rethink things a little bit.
Don't get me wrong. I love the United States. I feel incredibly blessed to live here, and I'm indebted to those who have fought and sacrificed to give me the freedom that I enjoy. I'm not all that well-traveled, but I have been to a few places, and it makes me even thankful for what I have in America. I've got resources and safety and liberties that most people in the world do not. I hope that God uses America to do great things in the world. But at the same time, I recognize that God is bigger than my country. The church is bigger than my country. My ultimate task in life is not to be a flag-waving patriot. It's to act like Jesus and work for his kingdom.
I can't imagine that there's many veterans that read my blog. But if you're out there, I truly do salute you, and I have a great amount of gratitude for you. I'm all about sitting comfortably on my couch at home, so I can't really imagine what it's like to be out there defending the freedom of others. I hope you all have a splendid Memorial Day and that you eat lots of hot dogs and play plenty of lawn games. On Tuesday, I'm off to Manhattan to start my summer internship, so please be praying for that, and for all the other people out there that are doing internships and missions trips.
I went to the Narnia exhibit in Kansas City yesterday. I really wanted to try to steal C.S. Lewis' pipe.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
I Think I'm Older
I'm back home in Topeka now, sipping at a Mountain Dew, eating the Nutty Bars that Charlie forgot in our dorm room, and watching reruns of the Cosby Show. In other words, summer is already in full swing. For those that don't know, I'll be bumming around T-Town for the next week before I start a youth ministry internship at University Christian Church in Manhattan (Kansas, not New York. I'm not hardcore enough for that.) I'm really pumped about the internship and will covet any prayers you feel like sending God's way for me.
I don't really remember going to school this semester. I mean, obviously I was there, but I have no clue how it went so fast. It feels like I was in Honduras yesterday, but that was two months ago. But at the same time, this semester has seemed like a long one. It had to have been ages ago since Charlie, Ryan, and I watched all five Planet of the Apes movies on the projector, but it was just in January. So the semester has been both long and short. I'm not an expert in science, but I thought time was supposed to progress somewhat linearly, but the last four months have felt like more of a zig-zag.
I miss freshman year sometimes. It was so simple. I remember thinking at that time, "Man, college is so much crazier than high school." But I now realize that it really wasn't all that crazy. Sure, I was busy, but somehow I still had time to watch a couple episodes of Smallville pretty much every night, and I played a lot of basketball and ate pizza and took naps. That kind of time didn't exist this semester. After every semester, I think, "Man, that semester was out of control. I can't imagine it getting worse than that." But then the next semester is always just more out of control than the last one, and every year I realize that I have less of a grip on things.
When I handed in my Life of Christ final on Friday morning, I put a stamp on my junior year at Ozark. That means that I'm now a senior. (Technically, since I'm getting a five-year degree, I'm a "middler." Semantics.) Truth be told, I really have no business being a college senior. One would think that by this time, I would have my act together at least a little bit. But what I'm sadly realizing is that I haven't really matured much since high school. I still like ska. I still wear denim shorts. I can't cook anything that isn't microwavable. That's not maturity. A mature person is one that has an apartment and a job and pays bills and wears ties. I don't do any of those things.
But maybe that vision of maturity is skewed. I've seen people who are "independent" and look like they know what's going on. But then they still think it's cool to go get trashed on the weekend. They think the brand on their clothing tags is worth racking up debt. They backstab their friends and coworkers and whoever else in order to get ahead. And I don't think that's what maturity looks like, either.
When it comes down to it, I think that true maturity is found in true wisdom. Wisdom is knowing the right thing to do and then doing it. It's not about being "out on your own." It's not putting yourself over the rules because you're "an adult" now. It's about not being an idiot. It's about allowing yourself to be molded into Christ's image. It's about treating people respectfully, handling situations discerningly, and thinking reasonably.
So maybe maturity is something more than seemingly having life figured out. In the meantime, it's probably okay that I live in a dorm and have meals prepared for me. Might as well take advantage of it while I can, right? You're only young once. So I'll sleep in till noon, eat cereal for dinner, and watch youtube videos for hours on end. I can be older tomorrow.
I don't really remember going to school this semester. I mean, obviously I was there, but I have no clue how it went so fast. It feels like I was in Honduras yesterday, but that was two months ago. But at the same time, this semester has seemed like a long one. It had to have been ages ago since Charlie, Ryan, and I watched all five Planet of the Apes movies on the projector, but it was just in January. So the semester has been both long and short. I'm not an expert in science, but I thought time was supposed to progress somewhat linearly, but the last four months have felt like more of a zig-zag.
I miss freshman year sometimes. It was so simple. I remember thinking at that time, "Man, college is so much crazier than high school." But I now realize that it really wasn't all that crazy. Sure, I was busy, but somehow I still had time to watch a couple episodes of Smallville pretty much every night, and I played a lot of basketball and ate pizza and took naps. That kind of time didn't exist this semester. After every semester, I think, "Man, that semester was out of control. I can't imagine it getting worse than that." But then the next semester is always just more out of control than the last one, and every year I realize that I have less of a grip on things.
When I handed in my Life of Christ final on Friday morning, I put a stamp on my junior year at Ozark. That means that I'm now a senior. (Technically, since I'm getting a five-year degree, I'm a "middler." Semantics.) Truth be told, I really have no business being a college senior. One would think that by this time, I would have my act together at least a little bit. But what I'm sadly realizing is that I haven't really matured much since high school. I still like ska. I still wear denim shorts. I can't cook anything that isn't microwavable. That's not maturity. A mature person is one that has an apartment and a job and pays bills and wears ties. I don't do any of those things.
But maybe that vision of maturity is skewed. I've seen people who are "independent" and look like they know what's going on. But then they still think it's cool to go get trashed on the weekend. They think the brand on their clothing tags is worth racking up debt. They backstab their friends and coworkers and whoever else in order to get ahead. And I don't think that's what maturity looks like, either.
When it comes down to it, I think that true maturity is found in true wisdom. Wisdom is knowing the right thing to do and then doing it. It's not about being "out on your own." It's not putting yourself over the rules because you're "an adult" now. It's about not being an idiot. It's about allowing yourself to be molded into Christ's image. It's about treating people respectfully, handling situations discerningly, and thinking reasonably.
So maybe maturity is something more than seemingly having life figured out. In the meantime, it's probably okay that I live in a dorm and have meals prepared for me. Might as well take advantage of it while I can, right? You're only young once. So I'll sleep in till noon, eat cereal for dinner, and watch youtube videos for hours on end. I can be older tomorrow.
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