staples

yeah - ever see or read about those silly home repair accidents and wonder - WHAT KIND OF IDIOT does that?

Alright, alright, there was no trip to the ER or anything.... But I did manage to get so excited to use my staple gun for the 2nd time since I bought it, I forgot it's one of those reverse grip kind, held it the wrong direction and shot the staple through my own finger instead of it's intended home on the back of a photo frame.

good glory. Apparently I'm that kind of idiot.

what was i thinking.

And they let me take kids to workcamp??

ugh. Perhaps a little TLC from Dr John Dorian will make me feel better. At least I'll be laughing - at someone other than me.

sore

Even before I knew about Jesus or where I stood with God, even before that one year in high school when Dad flippantly asked me if I knew why we celebrated Christmas... Mom and I would watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special.

My whole life I just thought Linus talked funny - but the King James version of the Bible really says - sore Afraid.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. LUKE 2:8-9

go figure. i was sorely mistaken.

Consideration?

So maybe I'm the slowest person on the planet... However it's probably because I've been "off" and home for too many consecutive hours and I'm getting cabin fever.

Recently it's really started to bug me that tv is interrupted by commercials every 10 minutes now and no longer at the quarter hour. Is it really that much more expensive to air shows on tv?

And something else that's annoying... at the end of shows - a lot, not all, of them no longer say, "Closed Captions provided by..." and cut to commercial. Rather, they tend to say, "Closed Captioning and other considerations provided by..." (i told you it was cabin fever)

Is it really a consideration if you are doing something you should have been doing all along? Not everyone is hearing, not everyone is seeing. Is it being "considerate" to follow codes and specs to make buildings wheelchair accessible? Or is just what you're supposed to do?

Just a thought that's been spinning around in my head and making me agitated...

sigh. the virgin movie, version 2.0

This is the abridged version of a previous entry - shortened as not to appear in google searches of what other people might be looking up. I just don't want to deal with anymore not nice anonymous comments from people obviously not in my youth ministry or the Youth Ministry Web Ring.

Short version:
I kind of hate to give this movie more attention. But I felt I needed to see what the heck everyone was talking about. NOT THAT MUCH. I mean for real, it wasn't that funny.

There are a lot of us in the world, and particularly in my line of work, waiting until we get married. I was concerned about what this movie might have to say. The main character, Andy, has kept up with a lot of childhood hobbies in lieu of becoming sexually active... And the movie starts with him being slightly freakish and ends with him becoming more and more normal as his friends from work all deal with the consequences of their choices and sexual behaviors. See, for Andy, it just never happened. He got older and more nervous and more wierded out and it just never happened. Andy appears to not have made this a choice in his lifestyle... but some people CHOOSE to wait... that's all I was trying to say.

Andy only decides to make his confession after he has totally freaked out his girlfriend and ends up in a bike accident in the middle of the highway. He comes to this epiphany that he's always thought maybe something was wrong with him... and now he realizes he was just waiting for her. Then, surprisingly to me, they still don't sleep together until they get married. I thought it was an interesting choice and even a quasi-redemption for having sat through the rest of this really long movie littered with foul language.

So then I included a few links that I'll still put in this entry...

Pam Stenzel

xxxchurch.com

Lakita Garth

And I will still encourage anyone to read and think about the questions posed regarding the film here. This particular reviewer raises some great points.

I saw this film and composed the original version of this blog in the wake of two Christian friends getting married right before Christmas. It was beautiful. Something about that kind of wedding just makes the world seem not so crazy. For a few hours you get to see what it's supposed to be like, and it gives you hope.

Happy Holidays??!!??

I was in the car with my 'rents on the way to Grandma's house when my StepDad got on a rant. And he had this crazy idea that if people want/have to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas - as not to offend anyone - then everyone who doesn't believe in Jesus should have to work on Christmas Day b/c they don't have anything to celebrate. Why should they be off and every store be closed? Trust me, that was the abridged version. So then today I was blog scrolling and found this... HA HA HA.

For My Conservative Friends:
Here's wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

ANDFor My Liberal Friends:
"Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2006, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. And without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee. By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform a

Changed for Good

Okay, so maybe you don't know the song from "Wicked." The show is coming to Pittsburgh in a month, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to see it or not...but I would love it if I got the chance. Basically, it's the story of the Wicked Witch before Dorothy and her house land on top of her. She and Glenda (the good witch) were roommates at Wizardry School - they were even friends. And at one point they sing -

"Who can say
if I've been Changed for the better? ...
because I knew you......
I have been changed for good."

I've been coming back to this soundtrack over and over... it's really good music and a great story about how things are not always black and white when it comes to who is good and who is bad, especially since Elphaba (the "wicked" witch) is actually green - ha ha.

But yeah, so my kids introduced me to the music and I've been listening and relistening and chewing on this idea - that we don't always change people or get changed by people for the better - but each person that does come into and shares in our lives changes us indefinitly.

I'm staying with my parents for Christmas - and I have to wait for my car to get out of the shop to go back home to Pittsburgh tomorrow... and I decided to check out the Youth Ministry WebRing.... just browse around and read some other folks thoughts.... and I found this blog entry.

And of course it got me to thinking. I got me to thinking about a girl from the summer camp I used to work with. Actually, she was my friend's camper, then she was my camper, then she was an assistant counselor when I was on administrative staff a gillion years later... Point being, I watched her grow up. She totally changed friends towards the end of her high school years, and ended up being in the worst possible place at the worst possible time. She leaned forward at a party and took a bullet intended for someone else. It was tragic. It was hard. And oddly enough, I was just talking about it with a friend before Christmas.

So today I was reading this guy's blog... and he's talking about losing a student and trying to figure out how she got away from their ministry. Did she reject them or did they not persue her hard enough? Was the invitation clear and she said no thanks? Or was the invitation cloudy and she passed because it didn't make sense? Was it her or them? There is SO much that we will never know.

BUT the writer mentions an opportunity he had to speak with her and hear about her life two weeks before her death. What a blessing. She may not have been around the Youth Group for a while - but she still took the time to talk with him about her life. She could have pretended not to see him and walked on by... I certainly have kids that do that to me when I'm at the high school. But she didn't do that. She stopped and chatted. And I have had kids do that with me as well. Do I miss them in the ministry setting of our Youth Group Meetings or Sunday School class? Of course! But I'm still joyful that to see them outside of our church walls. And I'm always blessed by their hugs and short anecdotes of where life has them these days. There are kids that don't ever become what we wanted them to be - but it doesn't mean we didn't have any impact on their lives at all. We can change them for good without changing them for the "better." That's the whole thing with tending the garden. We can do great things and still witness no growth... growth is not our job. Tending and Caring for is.

In the middle of all we know about how her life changed - we can not know about her relationship with God. We don't know the desires and cries of her heart. We don't know the conversations she had with God when she lay in bed at night. We don't know about those last few moments of life and what was clear to her in those moments. We don't know what she absorbed and beleived to be true from her time in the Youth Ministry. We have no idea what she clung to from her one on one times with different adults in the ministry either. That can make us sad or angry. Or it can give us hope because we know that God is bigger and more full of grace and mercy than we could ever imagine.

There is a lot I don't know about my camper. And I was sad. And I was hopeful. And I was angry for a bit because I asked God for a specific sign and he did not answer me. Much like the writer of that blog.

In time I truly came to believe that God did not answer me on purpose. Of course - it is God after all, and I think he does everything for a reason. I know there are times he says yes, and times he says no, and times he wants us to wait. And usually when I think he didn't answer at all - He did answer, just not on my terms or the way I was expecting. But perhaps, when it comes to people passing away there are things we need to not know. There are questions we must not have answered as not to get to cocky with where we are or arrogant in our knowledge. We need to be reminded that He is God and we are not. He is the sustainer of life and we are just instruments of His peace.

That off my chest, I need to make some calls about my car. And I need to get to Old Navy before they sell clear out of all those great PJ pants.

Peace Y'all.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas.

dance, white boy, dance

This is better than the Chinese Backstreet Boys everyone keeps telling me are so hilarious. Okay - they did make me chuckle. But this guy made me giggle. Silly Air Force Academy boy.

Trust me. And go right here.

Narnia

Very very short.

Ok, ok, so I never read the Narnia books, but I've been reading a lot about the Narnia books recently. I was sent an invite to see a sneak peek - aka drive an hour to see the trailor. (GRR) And then I was sent an invitation to see the movie for free with a local group of youth workers. I'm thinking, Alright. I'll go for free. It might even make up for that hour drive. Maybe.

For a free movie - IT ROCKED. Sure, there were a few parts where I thought, man, they could have done that a little better. BUT... I was startled a few times, I flinched more than once, I was actually mesmorized by some of the special effects, and I didn't cry but I think I mustered a few tears (not too hard for me).

So, yeah, it's at least worth the price of a matinee ticket... check it out. I'll wait til later to talk about all the Jesus correlations. I don't want to ruin the story for anyone unfamiliar.

Countdown

~ not only did I figure it out,
but i figured out how to customize them too...
oh yeah!

Witch is in the Title

This was my December Church Newsletter article written in mid-November...

From the Christian Education Office

I am certain by now that you've seen the ads for the new Harry Potter movie and for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Knowing full well that both would hit the theatres very soon - I wanted to share some thoughts, readings, and converstions on the topic.

Scripture tells us clearly to have NOTHING to do with magic - and yet so many of us will see both films. "But the Chronicles of Narnia are written by C.S. Lewis!" "But Harry Potter doesn't cast real spells." "Witches aren't real." Well, I went to a sneak peek of the Narnia film and the question arose, "If Christians are making such a fuss about Harry Potter, how can we endorse a film that clearly has the word Witch in the title?" hmmmm. Even Lord of the Rings (also written by a Christian) has magic and wizards and spells in it. So what is the difference? Well, I did a lot of reading on the subject.

One of the more convincing articles I found suggests that while both series (Potter and Narnia) are about British children encountering fantasy worlds, with admirable characters and good fighting evil, one writer believes the "difference between the two hinges on the concept of authority. From a Christian perspective, authority and supernatural power are linked." In Harry Potter magical power is inherited or learned. There is no higher power but there are equal antagonistic and unaccountable wizards (Dumbledore and Voldemort). This idea sort of divorces power from authority. In Narnia, Aslan the Lion is the creator and ruler or Narinia. Good powers are bestowed in accordance to his will and evil power is seized or conjured and used selfishly.

I honestly don't think it's even a fair comparison. Tolkein and Lewis knew what they were doing when they each wrote their series. They were both Christians. They would meet together and talk about the imagery and the allegories they were writing. J.K. Rowling wasn't trying to allude to the Bible. She wasn't making any attempt to lead people to Christ or teach them about God. She wrote a children's fantasy. That doesn't excuse her for intriguing kids with the idea of witchcraft - but that wasn't her point either; Her intention was not that kids would read about Harry and seriously consider the religion of Wicca.

There's this story in Acts where Paul is preaching in Greece and refers to their idol to the unknown god. He uses that idol to tell them He knows who that God is and introduces them to Christ. He quotes some of their very own pagan poets to get his message across. I love that story. Paul was being a cross cultural missionary. What if we could find ways to use Harry Potter to convey Biblical messages and even Jesus?

I was hugely challenged with 2 questions almost a year ago. If something isn't bearing a "Christian" label does that make it untrue? And if something is bearing a "Christian" label does that make it true? We can tell our kids to run from Harry Potter and hide their eyes. (Not that they would, but we could.) OR perhaps we can teach them to see bits of truth in something that was never intended to glorify God. Maybe Harry Potter is a springboard for discussion. It can certainly start discussions about witchcraft. But it can start discussion about discerning good and evil, or discussions about fears, or desires, or belonging, or being called to something amazing but not knowing our destiny just yet. And maybe, just maybe, if we are equipped ourselves, those discussions can lead us to the Word. THE Truth.

I know that witchcraft is real. I do. And I know it's bad. But I'm still probably going to watch the Wizard of Oz the next time it's on. And I really want to see Wicked when the show comes to town. And as long as I know people are reading and watching Harry Potter - I'll probably be keeping abreast of the situation. Will you?

Have a very Merry CHRISTmas!