Feb
8
Back from Belize
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Belize was great. I’m finally digging out from being gone for four days. Right now I’m wishing that life had a pause button so that I could catch my breath. But I know our God gives us exactly enough time to do what he wants us to do. So this list of highlights will serve as my mission report.
- The lady at the airline desk who thought Belize was a city in Brazil
- Sitting next to a woman who thought I was absolutely insane to believe that the Bible spoke of only one way to God
- Participating in a new members class of 20 women and children
- Learning how to say “What are you doing?” in Creole–it sounded something like, “Da widi gowan”
- Getting bear hugged 20 times over the course of the weekend by Ernest–a gregarious seminary student
- Spending the weekend catching up with an old seminary friend
- Catching tropical fish off of the second biggest reef in the world using a hand line while listening to our guide talk about the benefits of smoking pot
- Sharing the gospel with said guide
- Lecturing for six hours on 1 and 2 Peter–Peter’s letters have to be some of my favorite material in the whole Bible
- Hearing that Hallie was at home with four children sick with an upper respiratory infection
- Coming down with a said respiratory infection 48 hours into the trip
- Teaching a Sunday School class on the person and work of Jesus Christ
- Almost missing my connection in Atlanta after spending 20 minutes on the runway
- Hearing the flight attendant announce the Giants’ victory when we landed in Jackson
- Finding out they didn’t have the type of rental car I had rented and being given a Ford Mustang convertible instead
- Being humbled by the Christ exalting work of God in missions
- Seeing Hallie and children again after missing them terribly for four days
It really was a great trip. These highlights don’t do it justice. If you have read this far, pray for Belize and all those who are ministering the gospel there. Pray especially that God would raise up a generation of pastors to shepherd the sheep of Jesus in that country.
Oct
2
Halo 3 and the Gospel?
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When I was a youth minister I had a thriving Halo 2 ministry. My students saw to it that I gradually progressed from, “What does this button do?” to, “Yeah, I hit your warthog with a sticky!” I have to admit that it wasn’t all horrible. As far as bonding with students goes it was a great past-time.
As I played the game more and delved into some of the single player levels I discovered some implicit biblical themes. The enemy aliens are called The Covenant. They tend to occupy planets through their circular space craft, thus Halo(s). Their leaders are sometimes referred to as Prophets. Then you have the humans who are headed up by a super commando, Master Chief, who is part man and part superhuman battle-suit.
I figured that Halo was just another Matrix knock off, a product of a Christianized culture, picking up Christian themes haphazardly like stepping in bubble gum on the pavement. There didn’t seem to be enough intentionality behind the imagery to necessarily assume the writers/producers/creators of the game were trying to make any pro or anti Christian statement.
Well, I’m no longer a youth minister. I don’t play Halo. My skills are back to “What does this button do?” However, I have followed with some interest the release of Halo 3, the next installment of Master Chief vs The Covenant.
Since I don’t own Halo 3 much less a game system much less a television, my interest has been largely fueled by watching the Halo 3 trailers on youtube. They are told as if war veterans from the Halo 3 war were years later standing in a war museum providing interviews on their experiences in that particular battle.
What fascinated me was the overtly Messianic themes applied to Master Chief. Like I said, I have not played the game nor do I intend to. I’m not even that knowledgeable of the story line. However, what I do know about is the gospel. I know similarities to the gospel story when I see them.
Each commercial has the war veterans relaying two major themes. First, they were outnumbered, out gunned, and outmaneuvered. They were on the brink of the destruction. It is at this point that the interviewer asks some sort of, “How did you find courage to continue on?” Each answers with what I found to be the second major theme, “I knew Master Chief was there and still alive.” Then, one of the particular trailers ends with one veteran saying, “I was nearby when Master Chief armed his grenade.” It is followed by the image of Master Chief being held limp and apparently lifeless by a large Covenant Alien. The camera pans to his hand and shows him switch on a grenade. What you see unfold is a Messianic hero who conquers his enemies just at the point at which he has apparently been defeated in death. Each commercial ends with the word, “Believe”. Gospel parallels anyone?
I don’t mean to say by this that Halo 3 is a Christian video game or even a good video game. Nor do I mean to say that the gospel parallels are close enough to clearly explain what Jesus did on the cross. What I do mean to say is this is yet another example of what JRR Tolkien used to call “the one story.” There is one story, a meta-narrative woven into the hearts of all men and women. This one story is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the warp of redemptive history. Everyone knows the world is broken. It is so broken it feels like war everyday. Everyone has hopes of a Messiah and knows that they are not he. Maybe their Messiah is drink, intimacy, ambition, success, or other vice. But every once in a while that Messiah-longing breaks into fiction and you can catch glimpses of a human heart longing for freedom from sin, longing for victory over a broken world, longing for Jesus. They may only be glimpses and snatches of story line. But they are there.
Halo 3 is a reminder to me that the world does indeed long for and need a Master Chief. The travesty of Halo 3 is that it tells thousands of gamers that they can be their own Master Chief and overcome through skilled game play. The world desperately needs the real thing. The world desperately needs Jesus. Can’t you see it?
—
I’ve included the video embeds for you to view through the link below.
Jun
22
Belated Blogging
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It has been awhile since I blogged over here at The Sweet Dropper. I apologize for my absence. To tell you the truth, I don’t have anything particularly interesting to say. So I decided to include two things from my week past. The first is a picture of Charlie, now almost three weeks old. The second is a quote by J. C. Ryle from our book study this past Tuesday morning. I hope you enjoy both.
“You often feel that your whole life is one great arrear, and that every day is either a blank or a blot. But know now, that Jesus can see some beauty in everything that you do from a conscientious desire to please Him. His eye can discern the excellence in the least thing which is a fruit of His own Spirit. He can pick out the grains of gold from amid the dross of your performances, and sift the wheat from amid the chaff in all your doings. Your tears are all put into His bottle. Your endeavors to do good to others, however feeble, are written in his book of remembrance. The least cup of cold water given in His name shall not lose its reward. He does not forget your work and labor of love, however little the world may regard it.”
Apr
12
Twin Lakes Fellowship
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Joe and I have been at the annual conference of the Twin Lakes Fellowship. As always, it has been a great blessing and encouragement–and I really enjoy receiving free books and CDs. If you want to see the conference through the eyes of a Canadian Baptist brother who attended, you can check out Tim Challies’ blog of TLF.
Mar
27
Facebook for my student?
Filed Under Christian Living, Family, Uncategorized, Youth Ministry | 1 Comment
Parents ask me semi-regularly whether or not they should let their children have a facebook page. In the end this is a decision that parents need to make not based on what other families are doing but rather as what is the best option for their own students. I offer the following remarks as an aid for you to make the best decision for your children.
- The history of facebook. For an excellent overview of facebook, you can take a look at this wikipedia entry.
- It is no small thing. You probably know from your child’s incessant nagging that facebook is not an insignificant fad amongst high-school and college aged students. The current numbers read like this:
- # of Users: 18 million
- # of Page Views Per Month: 30 billion
- # of Pictures Hosted: Over 1 billion
- # of Facebook employees: 200
- Approximate 2006 Revenue: $50 million
- The advent of social networking services provides child predators ample opportunities to contact children they would not have been able to contact without the aid of the Internet. It is important to note that facebook, as a specific on-line social networking service, has several options for their users to choose from in terms of how information about them is shared. Any parent with a child on facebook should review the privacy options available and particularly should review what privacy options their child have enabled on their account. You cannot be too careful. Personal information such as addresses and phone numbers should not be shared outside of your child’s immediate network of friends or not at all. Remember that facebook is designed, in part, to create relationships between people who have not met in person and may never meet in person.
- Facebook is fun. The number of hours that students spend on facebook don’t lie. It is downright fun. You can post silly pictures of yourself. You can talk to friends you haven’t seen in years. You can share inside jokes with your good buddy. You can encourage someone after a sports win or cheer someone up after a bad grade on a test. We, as a nation, and students as a demographic, obviously are not at a loss for something to say. Facebook provides a venue for you to say whatever you want.
- Give facebook a testdrive. Facebook is organized into networks which may be designated by school, job, or geography. Anyone can get a facebook page. If you are a parent, and curious, why not start a facebook page of your own? You can try it out. You can look at all the bells and whistles. Who knows, you may like it. And if you don’t like it, you can always delete your account.
- Two Major Warnings. In addition to the obvious threat of on-line predators, you should be concerned about the following to issues on facebook.
- A lightning rod for sin. Facebook can serve to polarize thoughts in your children that you would rather them not have encouraged. Often, a student will post something derogatory about another student, a teacher, or parents in general. That post then serves as a lightening rod for further derogatory comments. On-line bulletin boards, forums, social networking services, and blogs can serve to enhance sinful attitudes toward others and authority.
- A potty mouth has a potty keyboard. Facebook is only as clean as the members page that you are on. General filth, especially in language, can and does abound on facebook. This is another reason to beware what your student is posting and where they are going.
- There is no such thing as privacy. Personally (and theologically) I don’t believe in privacy for children. If you’re child is going to have a facebook, a myspace, a cell phone, etc, then you should know who they are contacting. Know your child’s facebook password and keep up with their usage. Make spot checks when they are on the computer. If you insist on knowing where they are when they are at a friends house on Friday night, you should insist on knowing where they are on-line.
- You’re child will probably eventually have one. If trends continue, facebook and sites like it will be around for a good long while. If you decide to allow your student to have a facebook site, see it as an opportunity to teach them on-line etiquette, godly conversation, and how to protect themselves from on-line predators and identity fraud. Apparently, these are lessons they will need to learn eventually. Better they learn them from you than their freshman roommate.
- Out of the heart the facebook speaks. As a former youth minister, I’ve seen some really good facebook pages and some very disappointing facebook pages. Students have impressed me and surprised me. What is the determining factor? The determining factor is what is in a student’s heart. They will write about and comment in line with their relationship to Jesus Christ. Plain and simple, facebook will reveal sides of your child you haven’t seen. This may be very encouraging to you or very discouraging to you. But certainly, either way, it should be an opportunity for more conversation with your student and more prayer with your God.
These are just some suggestions. Maybe you were wondering if I had a facebook page. I do. I keep up with college friends. I find out who is getting married and which couples are having babies. It has helped me keep up with former students from my youth ministry who have gone off to college.
Remember though, in the end it is your decision. You have to make it for your student and then you have to take parental responsibility over your decision. Pray about it. Gather all the facts. Talk to parents whose children already have facebook pages. And in all things labor to the glory of God.
Jan
12
Joy
Filed Under Christian Living, Holiness, Puritans, Thomas Boston, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
One of the more prevalent critiques of Christianity is that it is simply drab and boring. In preparing for my Sunday School lesson on Westminster Shorter Catechism question 36, I ran across this Thomas Boston quote, on the subject of Christian joy.
Most groundless is the prejudice against religion, that it is a melancholy thing (Proverbs 3:17, ‘Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.’) None have such reason to rejoice as the believer has. If the poor wretched and condemned creature has more ground to rejoice than he that is pardoned and enriched with his prince’s favor, then the wicked has as much ground to rejoice as the believer who is justified by grace. Oh! if the ungodly saw their state, they would never rejoice; and if the godly saw theirs, they would never despond.