Predators & Porn

I was invited last night to travel to Red Deer & deliver a speak on porn.

Porn is a topic that catches & keeps peoples attention while at the same time causing them to squirm. It's an issue not spoken of enough in the church yet it is has a huge hold in the lives of church people, including pastors.

Each time I talk about porn is an opportunity to speak to internet safety. I have three young kids of my own & a parent can never be too safe. Worse still is to be naive in thinking "my kids don't have a clue about porn". Stats say that 9 in 10 kids 8-16 years old have experienced porn at least once usually by accident while doing homework.

Here are some resources to check out:

Resources, stats, help - xxxchurch.com
Free accountability software - x3watch
Inexpensive filter - safe eyes
Addiction help - pureonline
For Parents - safe families

No Dr. Pepper for Slash

Rolling Stone says, "While we all wait endlessly for Axl Rose to release the long-delayed Chinese Democracy, the makers of Dr. Pepper are being proactive. The soft drink announced they will provide a free can of the soda to everyone in the U.S. if the album drops this year. “It took a little patience for us to perfect Dr Pepper’s special mix of 23ingredients, so we completely understand and empathize with Axl’s [quest] for the perfect album,” said a Dr. Pepper spokesperson."

And here, "Axl Rose has responded to Dr. Pepper’s offer to give everyone (except Slash and guitarist Buckethead) a free can of soda if Guns n’ Roses finally release the long-awaited Chinese Democracy this year. In a press release, Rose says, “We are surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr. Pepper with our album Chinese Democracy, as for us, this came totally out of the blue. If there is any involvement with this promotion by our record company or others, we are unaware of such at this time. And as some of Buckethead’s performances are on our album, I’ll share my Dr. Pepper with him.” Slash will still have to buy a can, apparently. Still, we don’t think we’ll be hearing Democracy anytime soon, unless Gn’R goes all Raconteurs on us."

Anne Rice

Jamie recently had opportunity to interview Anne Rice on his blog:

Jamie: From your years of living outside of the church, especially given the genres you most commonly wrote, I am sure you have faced your fair share of "critique" at the hands of Christians. what advice can you give Christians about how we can better love our neighbours outside the church?

Anne: Loving our neighbors and our enemies is the core of the Sermon on the Mount, the core of Christianity and I think we have to approach our critics, both Christian and atheist, with immense patience. We have to demonstrate that we are Christians by being people who know how to love. Love trumps judgment. Our Lord will do the judging. Satan does the accusing.

We have to regain our credibility as people who know how to love in the name of the Lord. And some times our worst test comes from another Christian. Again, we must forgive, and love, and reach out to all. I think many people despise us because they don't think we follow the commands of our founder. They don't think we love others. This is tragic. To love all is one of the hardest things we have to learn how to do. And we must never give up trying. Christ's most radical demand is that we love all in His name.

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Redemption

There is hope.

I know I'm a better parent than my parents were to me. My saying that is not disrespectful arrogance. I expect my kids to take the parenting they've received from me and be a better parent than I was to them. Take the helpful while leaving the not so helpful.

Beating a child is never acceptable. I don't care if that is how you were parented; I don't care if that's all you know from your experience as a child; I don't care if that was the generation you came from (and you use the excuse that it was more acceptable). It's not acceptable in any generation, in any culture, in any situation to beat a child.

Someone has to be man or woman enough to say, regardless of how I was parented, how my child acts, or what my experience has been or whether or not my generation/culture deems it acceptable - it is not acceptable to me & I will not abuse my child(ren) in that way.

Be man or woman enough to end the violence!

TGFS

easter atonement theologies

thursday

is for friends,

honestly. OK, honestly betraying, honestly bad praying, honestly

take, eat,

this is my body

(atonement in community)

friday,

is for Passover,

liberation rescues us

crossing seascape, crossing sandscape

Kingdom coming

(atonement as liberator)

saturday

is for pain,

honestly. In, Darfur and in child abuse, God why have you

abandoned me, him, them

gone God

while innocents die

(atonement as crucified God)

Thank God for Sunday - Resurrection, new life & an invitation to partner in God's redemption strategy!

More than Personal Salvation

Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who's there

~ Depeche Mode

Remade recently by Johnny Cash & Marilyn Manson, Personal Jesus is a song originally by Depeche Mode. However, the thought process is one that dates back to the 19th century when revivalists like Charles Finney, D.L. Moody & Charles Fuller introduced the mercy seat, altar call & the invitation to accept a personal saviour.

Though I believe I recognize something of the intent, I see two issues with the invitation to accept a personal saviour:

1) Short sighting God's eternal purposes for humanity. Surely God has greater plans for humanity than just redeeming/saving individuals. Add to this the pressure of the eschaton and you miss out on the beauty of friendship & journeying together with someone respective of God's timing. Potential friends become potential kingdom projects and that's wrong. Have we forgotten to befriend someone for sheer companionship & enjoyment?

The first plays into the second:

2) Stunting the expansion of Jesus' Kingdom through individualistic ritual. If we focus on Jesus as a personal saviour we miss out on the deeper meaning of relationship as exemplified between Father & Son; and also, Father, Son & adopted sons & daughters (you & me). Salvation is meant to be an enjoyed corporate relationship among friends who share in Jesus life together while inviting others into that community!

I'm not saying Jesus doesn't want to redeem people. Nor am I saying evangelism is unimportant. Jesus does want to redeem & evangelism is important. However, God has so much more planned for the redeemed and it includes what He died for in the here & now! As well, when we focus on Jesus instead of evangelism, our methods & outlook will more accurately resemble the early church instead of stale religious obligation.

Cockburn

To be held in the heart of a friend is to be a king ~Bruce Cockburn

A great lyric.

I'm thinking of Leslie today & I feel like a king.

I hope you are held in the heart of a friend.

Think fondly & thankfully of those who love you today.

Mr. Deity

Thoughts

I've so many thoughts running through my head right now:

• Why is the message of salvation so much more readily received than Jesus message? I think because many in the church believes the message of salvation only cost Jesus something - not us. The message of Jesus Himself costs both Himself and us. There is no passivity. We join Jesus in His redeeming work - hard work. We'd rather have the salvation message and look for the blessings the church promises because we are now in. It's all about the cost & somewhere along the way we've cheapened Jesus story & sacrifice. We've misplaced the invitation.
• I feel Jesus speaking into my life - ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.
• Report cards today. I reminded each of my kids that it's not about the marks - I love 'em period. The marks were good just the same!
  
• I hope the Flyers don't botch this one up - they have to make the playoffs - please!
• My thoughts are with friends tonight after coffee this afternoon & sad news of relational difficulties.
• Porn - such a shame - youth deserve a chance.
• Shared some of my story today. Didn't realize how wounded I still am. I received some encouraging words. It sucks to have been the one to rip the bandage off - that's never fun. Maybe someday I'll throw up my account of how it all went down.
• Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution - still one of the greats.
• Mmmm, delicious cookie!
  

Ghaflah

I'm told that the greatest sin in the Muslim faith is:

Ghaflah (غفلة)
heedlessness, forgetfulness of God, indifference

That is quite honorable for them; shameful for me.

How often do I forget God?

How often do I not pay Him heed?

How often do I appear to live indifferently to the presence of God?

This may not be something that the onlooker may notice but God & I do. Today, this one hit me between the eyes.

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

(Romans 12:1-2 The Message)

Dan in Real Life

Great movie!
One of the best I've seen in a while.

Trivia

Easter Sunday is March 23rd

Why is Easter so early this year?

Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). The dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22nd) but that is pretty rare.

Here are the interesting facts.

This year is the earliest Easter most of us will ever see in our lifetime!

Only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!) And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:

1. The next time Easter will be this early (March 23rd) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!)

2. The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22nd will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22nd was 1818. So,no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

~Source Unknown

Home

Shifts

I've been asked to contribute to a discussion regarding youth ministry (more specifically addressing why youth are leaving the church & our denomination).

I've also been asked prior to the discussion to submit my vision for youth ministry. Below you will find some thoughts. I welcome your thoughts, additions and questions for clarification.

You can go here to fill out a survey that will help us along.

A Possible Vision for Youth Ministry:

1) A shift from youth pastor as church babysitter & social co-ordinator to missionary (from “in here” focused to “out there” focused).

2) A shift from short term bandage solutions to long term process (journey) requiring study of immediate context & culture as well as much prayer.

3) A shift from ‘I am an island’ mentality to embrace the larger movement of Jesus, transcending religious & denominational barriers and doctrinal differences (why reinvent – get on board with where Jesus’ Spirit is moving).

4) A shift in the way we measure success recognizing both the culture and the church are working against us. The culture because it believes church is for church people. The church because there may be less programs at the church for youth & the youth pastor may be spending less time at the church (this doesn’t go over well with some parents and church staff). Prepare for a lengthy process. (long term disciple making vs. short term attendance at programs/events with little or no fruit to show for it)

5) A shift from the youth pastor as the lone evangelist to teaching & equipping students to be missionaries too.

6) A shift from stale curriculum to cultural investigation & relevance.

7) A shift from the average 18 month life span as a youth pastor to longer stays that see a group of kids through Jr. High and/or High school.

8) A shift from large group focus to the few. From more, more, more (events, programs, kids getting saved) to scale things back to the few.

9) A shift from teaching using words to teaching by example. Inviting the youth into your home, running errands with you, etc. Letting them see how you live and how Jesus plays out in your real life.

10) A shift from the church and youth pastor as responsible for spiritual formation of youth to a greater emphasis & focus on home, family and parents/guardians as foremost responsible for spiritual formation of their youth with the church as a supplement.

I realize this is sketchy and I’m prepared to clarify any of these shifts for those inquiring. If nothing else, they represent good starting points for discussion.

That said, I don’t believe the mission of the church & subsequently youth ministry will ever be accomplished by just adding to the present structure. We need to scale things back to a foundation and begin again.

Organic

“An organic church is simply a church that is born out of spiritual life instead of constructed by human institutions and held together by religious programs. Organic churches are characterized by Spirit-led, open-participatory meetings and non-hierarchical leadership. This is in stark contrast to a clergy-led, institution driven church.” ~Frank Viola

The Black Crowes

Pagan Christianity?

Picked up a new book today. Visit Frank Viola's site here.

The teaser:

Have you ever wondered why we Christians do what we do for church every Sunday morning? Why do we "dress up" for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do we have pews, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? This volume reveals the startling truth: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is not rooted in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles.

Now, go get the book!

Who Cares

Mike made a post about hearing Stephen Lewis & David Suzuki speak in Vancouver this past weekend.

In another post he says:

I'm tired of Stephen Lewis caring more about God's Children than do the People of God.

I'm tired of David Suzuki caring more about God's Creation than do the People of God.

Here was my comment:

I don't think it really matters where the caring comes from as long as there is care. Now ask me is it a shame that those who claim to be believers aren't modeling this care - definitely. I believe that's what God's judgment is reserved for - those who know better & have the means but don't care enough to act.

Here's a little more on my comment:

Instead of getting down on the lack of motivation by Christians to act Christian, why not celebrate the good no matter where or by whom it is expressed or what their beliefs are.

If 11 years of full time ministry have taught me anything it is run where God is moving, even if it means moving away from so called believers who should know better & act better but don't get it. Too much energy & emotion (supposedly all in the name of Jesus) has been expended trying to convince the crowd and they just will not (and likely may never) get it. If God is moving your spirit to some kind of action, I suggest you get on board with what He's doing - no matter its origin.

Post Secret

Skid Row

I pulled into the Delta to pick up Dave, who I hadn't seen in many, many years, and I notice these long haired guys hanging around a couple of limos. I say to Dave, "Are these guys a band?" He responds, "Yeah, Skid Row."

I took a look across the group - no Baz. Skid Row without Sebastian Bach simply is a group of long haired guys catching a limo to the airport.

So back to Dave Woodland...Leslie & I had breakfast with him on Friday morning. We hadn't seen him in about 15 years.

Dave & his wife Gloria were our camp directors & bosses way back in 1989 when Leslie & I started dating. Though it was just one summer together, they meant a lot to us & still do - good people.

Fergalicious

I'm Fergalicious (so delicious)

My body stay vicious

I be up in the gym just working on my fitness

Ironically I was hearing this song as I was reading these Rob Bell words:

You don't have to give yourself away to earn a man's love. You're better than that. You're already loved.

When you give too much of yourself away to quickly, when you show too much skin, you're not being true to yourself. When you dress to show us everything, then in some sense we have all shared in it, or at least been exposed to it. There is a mystery to you, infinite depth and endless complexity.

As the woman says in Song of Songs, "My own vineyard is mine to give." In the ancient Near East, a vineyard was a euphemism for sexuality. She is saying that she doesn't give herself to just anyone. She is fully in control of herself, and she is not cheap and she is not easy.

Your strength is a beautiful thing. And when you live in it, when you carry yourself with the honor and dignity that are yours, it forces the men around you to relate to you on more than just a flesh level.

You are worth dying for.

Being sexy is less about being so comfortable in your skin that you flaunt it in the face of others & more about loving the you that God loves and created.

Monster Jam

An afternoon out with the fam - a good time had by all!