I really like this article about the structure of the NAMB. Though I think he could have moderated his tone a bit. For those of us of a certain age. This video rules
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.860420&w=425&h=350&fv=key%3D076041c13b]
And again, if you are of a certain age, this comic is brilliant
In the last 3 months I have repeatedly had conversations with my (conservative) Christian friends about tattoos. For many of my friends tattoos are absolutely morally indefensible. I, however, do not share their convictions. The purpose of this post is to explain my position. I’ll start with putting my biases on the table. I have no tattoos, but many people I know well have them. I don’t understand them on any level. Fashion and style trends change, but tattoos don’t. I've never seen a tattoo that I thought was attractive. Nor have I ever seen a tattoo that I thought enhanced the looks of the tattooee. I have, however, seen tattoos that I think are really neat.
So here is the question at hand; are tattoos morally right or wrong? It is my position that they are morally neutral. In fact, I can envision a scenario in which not having a tattoo would be wrong. Imagine if you will, a mission scenario in which to have an audience with those God has called you to minister to, you must get a tattoo. Let’s say it marks you as an adult and therefore worthy of respect. If you refuse it, you also refuse to be an effective witness and are disobedient to God’s call. Is this not a situation where getting a tattoo is morally proper?
When students in my youth group ask if it is wrong to get a tattoo (which they rarely do anymore) I always ask them why they want it. It may come as a surprise to you that most teenagers haven’t thought this question through fully. Most of the time they answer that they want one because tattoos are “cool.” They rarely attach any morality to it whatsoever. My answer to them is why do you want the tattoo? If it is so guys will look at your body, it’s wrong. If it’s so that you can rebel and say, “Nobody can tell me what to do.” It’s wrong. If it is because you just have a couple of hundred bucks in your pocket and can’t figure out what to do with it, it’s a really bad idea. You think this kid is gonna regret this? Otherwise, I say it is something you need to really think through, not just say “Tattoos are cool. I need one.” (I would actually say this chart is pretty accurate (be warned – it has swears.))
I believe that most people are opposed to tattoos are really opposed for cultural reasons. They associate them with certain immoral types of people. However that is no longer the case. My survey from yesterday was interesting. For one thing [and off the subject], from my comments I would have guessed that more women than men read my blog, but more men voted. I was hoping to show that more than half of 20-35 year-olds are tattooed and that more women than men have them. My very unscientific survey didn’t reveal that. It did show that tattoos are more common for women than men, which is anecdotally my experience as well. This study from Pew research says that about 40% of that age group is tattooed. Even though that number is lower than I expected, it is still enough to make my point. Tattoos are not just for bikers and prisoners anymore, and getting one does not say you want to associate with them.
Whenever I say to my friends that their view of tattoos is an issue of preference and not necessarily one of morality they invariably quote Leviticus 19:28 to me. I then am forced to ask them why there is no fence on their roof, if they like bacon, what about their jacket, are mules sinful, or where is their beard. Christ came to fulfill the law and we are no longer bound to it. We have no need to be ceremonially clean for the temple because we have the great high priest. (This may bring up another post altogether - why do we follow some OT laws but not others? If you think it’s necessary for me to answer that in a post, let me know in the comments. I’ll answer that as well.)
As always feel to tell me why I’m stupid in the comments.
Would you just take a second to actually answer this one-question survey. I am going to use the answer to assist me with tomorrow's blog post. I promise you will not be spammed all you have to do is chose an answer and click vote. Please take the 2 seconds necessary. [polldaddy poll=1867698] [polldaddy poll=1867710]
No need to comment but feel free if you have something to say.
Apparently this has become an annual post for me, but it is important enough to be said regularly. Yesterday was youth Sunday at LaGrange Park Baptist Church. The one Sunday a year where our youth are in charge of every aspect of the church day. They teach the adult Sunday School classes and then lead in worship.
I spend my life in ministry working with students. Working with students can be a very frustrating undertaking at times. Sometimes it seem like all I ever do is say "put your chair on the floor" about a hundred times a week. But at other times I am so proud of them I can hardly express it. We have a small youth group, but each of them was willing to serve in some capacity yesterday. I am proud of them for their willingness. Also I am proud of them for listening to God's voice in their lives.
If you follow my twitter feed you know that we videotaped a skit for use in yesterday's worship service. It is hilarious in its badness, but I still want to share it with my blog readers. The acting is not bad, they did fine, but the editing is funny. Feel free to laugh and consider that the battery on our camera was dying toward the end of the shoot, so we didn't get multiple takes. (The students didn't want the video put up on Youtube so I uploaded it to myspace where it's not fully public. Hopefully it will embed successfully)
[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.859328&w=425&h=350&fv=m%3D61776164%26type%3Dvideo%26a%3D0]
Also, yesterday marked the second time ever that I filled the pulpit. If you are a fan of the word "uh" or "umm" then I did a great job. I'm putting it here so you can hear it if you are interested. It is also available on our church website.
[audio=http://lagrangeparkbc.org/audio/08.09.09.mp3] Jeremy Mathis - Youth Sunday 09
First up is this news story about a girl suing her college's job placement office I think this is the key paragraph:
She suggested that Monroe's Office of Career Advancement shows preferential treatment to students with excellent grades. "They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement
Then there is this sad story (with an impressive piccture) about a grass carp killed by raw nuts. In this article I learned that carp live into their 30s (unless they eat too many nuts).
A very entertaining list of reporters in really bad weather
What do yall think...fake right?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwh4ZaxHIA]
While on the road on my vacation I listened to the unabridged version of Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins. I chose it because I remember all the times John C. Dvorak recommended it on TWIT. Here is my review. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is the autobiography of John Perkins. It tells of how he spent the 1970s and 80s as a self-proclaimed "Economic Hitman". He recounts what led him to his position and then his years of service to the Main consulting company in Boston. He contends that his position for these many years was to go into third-world countries (only if they have natural resources to exploit) and recommend them for large loans from the world bank for infrastructure improvements. The condition on the loans is that American companies (especially those contracted by Main) be hired to do the work. In this way, the countries become indebted to the U.S. even though all the money has gone into the hands of American companies. This system, he contends, makes the few in power of these countries rich, further impoverishes the rest of the populace and enslaves the nation to the American “corporatocracy”. This tale of corruption was disturbing though not entirely shocking. The shocking part is his claim that he knew full-well what he was guilty of yet he continued to do it for years.
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man was very interesting. It never dragged along, and considering the nature of the subject it could have been very boring. However. it was entertaining throughout.
It seemed credible as well. Although it definitely has the feel of a book that could be made up. The best way to describe it would be that it seems over-embellished in many parts. (Is over-embellished redundant?)
It gave insight into the financial doings of the world bank and large corporations. There is nothing in the book that would be a complete shock to any American. It is just the audacity with which Perkins claims these corporations are willing to exploit developing nations.
Though it was interesting and even insightful, Confessions suffers from some major shortcomings.
I will go into first-person on this review to discuss the first criticism. At one point, Perkins makes an attack on Nate Saint and the missionary organization he was affiliated with. This attack was unfair, unsubstantiated and honestly tainted the way I listened to the rest of the book. Read Through Gates of Splendor for the real story of Nate Saint and his companions. That is a book I could not give a higher recommendation to.
A second criticism of Confessions is that it was lacking a moral. Perkins more or less blamed his own self-admitted muted conscience on his upbringing. He said that it twisted him, and that love of money allowed him to take the job. However, he really never says that what he did was openly wrong or immoral. Though if pressed, he would probably admit that he was wrong.
A third criticism is that the book toward the end became a polemic against the Republican Party and oil companies. He praised the Carter administration, then accused Reagan of being concerned mostly about the interests of the “corporatocracy”. The harshest criticism was saved for George H.W. Bush whom he claimed was a leader in the corruption. He even attacks George W. Bush, but interestingly enough makes no mention whatsoever of the Clinton administration. This sort of gives away his agenda.
The final and most severe criticism is that Perkins offered absolutely no solutions. He claims that the world is corrupt at this very deep level but doesn’t seem to think it fixable. In fact, he says he sold his startup energy company to Ashland Oil. Ultimately the book projects a sense of hopelessness.
In conclusion, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is very interesting and it does stir up thoughts about the morality of corporations and the concerns of people in developing countries, maybe even thoughts about how to save the world. But it suffers from some major shortcomings that make it a book I cannot recommend.
Here are my finalists: [polldaddy poll=1844627]
Vote please
First up is this video that all youth ministers should enjoy. Some of it is so accurate and hilarious. I very much enjoyed this video [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKI63tWSFyg]
Secondly, this video from this morning's minister's meeting at my association. Be sure and watch the songs at the beginning. The guy on guitar is amazing. He pretty much tears the guitar up. The audio is pretty bad, but I think you'll get the idea.
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Each month I like to save up the more entertaining things that bring people to my blog. I just copy and paste them here with no editing. The stuff in parentheses is my commentary
I know last week's most popular video, the dancing wedding party was fun But about 30 seconds in I remember saying to myself this is definitely not a Baptist church. I guess this reporter was thinking the same thing. Here's an interesting story about how few churches would allow this kind of thing. A second interesting thing from that video which now has about 13 million views, is how it shot the song "Forever" up the sales charts (#4 on iTunes) even though the song is a couple of years old. Just think, if the publishers had issued a takedown, like they normally would they would have lost all that money.
By far the best video I've seen this week. This is fun
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDx-mQqzYNw]
You may have noticed that I have been blogging less lately. It's because I've been busy. Since traditional-calendar students got out of school for the summer, we have been very busy.
June 15-19 was Teen College. Teen College is a week of Bible study and activities that I have been doing since I was a student. I have continued it ever since I have been in Youth ministry. This year we had lessons about following God's directions, from salvation and repentance to using the gifts He has blessed us with. Our activities this year were:
The day after Teen College ended I left for the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville. The way I went was pretty stupid. I flew to Nashville and borrowed a car in Hoptown. then I stayed in Lexington for the convention in Louisville. I'll not be doing such a ridiculous thing again.
The week after the SBC was a normal week for me. Although it involved getting ready for camp.
The week of July 6-11 we went to youth camp. We went to centrifuge/m-fuge at North Greenville University. It was a great week. The students enjoyed it and at least some of them were revived.
Came back from Camp on Saturday and began VBS on Sunday. It was a good week of VBS, attendance for the youth class was excellent, Lifeway did a particularly good job with this year's lessons and for the first time in a couple of years one of my students came to faith in Christ. That's why I do ministry. It is hard to describe the feeling that comes with that after such a long drought. I actually felt somewhat vindicated since I feel that salvations are a sign that God has in some way endorsed my ministry.
Then, last week was my vacation and I had a great trip. I went home to Kentucky where virtually my entire family lives. And everyone's garden was coming in.
And that's how I spent my summer vacation
A while back I wrote an open letter to the CGR task force. Here is another written on a different topic. I agree with it completely. This is scary but still seems pretty awesome
This is the perfect example of why I like onesentence.com
I do not view this as a rickroll, but it does involve Rick Astley
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN75im_us4k]
United Breaks Guitars by Dave Carroll [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo]
the first sequel
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg]
Writing a rant is fun. And the most fun way to write a rant is as a letter to the object of your rant. So I present to you, my rant against fire ants. I hope you enjoy. Dear Fire Ants
Get out of my life!
There are so many things to not like about you.
It takes absolutely no provocation whatsoever to make you bite. Just because you are walking across my foot doesn’t mean you need to bite my foot. Other insects can crawl across me without biting, what is your problem? It’s not like you are drinking blood or have some real reason for the attack. In fact, the attack merely gets you killed because upon being bitten anyone will smash you. You are very small, fire ants. Trust me when I tell you biting me or anyone else does nothing to protect you or your nest from destruction. On many occasions it merely points out your location while simultaneously angering your victim.
When you bite it hurts like crazy so you get killed, but even 2 minutes after being smashed into a stain, the bite still hurts just as bad as when you first did it. What sort of special evil is that? It’s the reason why people hate you.
You have stolen my footwear options. It's impossible to wear sandals whenever you are around. If you take a notion to bite my tennis shoes then that’s your problem, but if you bite my bare feet, now it’s a problem for both of us. So I elect to just not wear sandals.
There is also no more itchy bite that the one from you. As soon as the stinging sensation ends, it starts itching. Then after a couple of days the bite becomes a disgusting, puss-filled mound of itch. It’s completely gross. I imagine it’s what leprosy looks like. Why would you want to do this to people?
Also, there are way too many of you. How can you be so ubiquitous in the south? I ceded my back yard to you a long time ago, there are more mounds back there that I can count, but now you want the front as well. It's not happening. I'll break out every kind of poison I can find to keep you confined to the back. You are not welcome there.
You work way too fast. Between occasions of mowing the yard you build at least a dozen mounds. Slow down, it should be obvious that you are going to get everything. So what’s the rush?
It doesn’t help that poison is futile. Most every kind of poison that promises to destroy you only moves you a few feet. You’ve been poisoned, why won’t you just die?
In conclusion, GET OUT OF MY LIFE, fire ants. I hope you all get fly eggs in your head and become zombies, you deserve it.
Here's a good link for youth minsters This graph is brilliant and funny
People are obnoxious. But seriously, I "admire" whoever "wrote" on this "sign"
I'm actually surprised this story made it into the news. The famous gay penguins are not gay
This is very clever
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUawhjxLS2I]
I have written a couple of posts about how I recently have had the first year of my ministry (all in small churches) when none of my students came to Christ even though I have been faithful with the gospel. Well, that drought is over. Just thought I'd praise God here on my blog for that and say that He is always faithful. w00t!
Also, here's my current favorite song. It's called "You Know My Name" by Detour 180 (I'd link to it on amazon but I live in NC and they canceled my associates account so I refuse to link there)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJbw4kfu32I]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jBKKV2V8eU]
I have just returned from Centrifuge/M-fuge at North Greenville University. And in fact as a youth minister, I regularly attend multi-day events. For me there is youth camp, conferences (like Strength to Stand in January), mission trips, and retreats. These events are a normal part of every youth ministry I know of, and to some degree they are regular to the life of all American evangelicals. For the church at large there are often revival meetings and mission trips as well. There is a phenomenon that is common to all these events. We often call these events "retreats" because at them we retreat or escape from our normal lives. We back away from many of our relationships (with school friends, coworkers, etc.), and remove ourselves from the media that saturates our lives. At the same time as we retreat, we spend much more time in worship and Bible study.
In fact, for many American Christians it may be the only time we really study our Bibles. All of this exposure to God that is foreign to us causes us to hear His voice. And Christians generally want to please God so we make commitments and experience what I believe is genuine revival.
But then something happens
We go home.
And we return to the same environment that kept us from God before. We experience the same frustrations at work and school, the same ungodly friends, the same media, music, and images. I bet you have been there - What happens next?
Sadly, the newfound commitment fades.
I should say again that I believe the revival we all experience during these retreat experiences is genuine. But if it is genuine why does it not last?
It doesn't last because we return to our normal lives.
So how do we prevent this seemingly inevitable decline? We prevent it by continuing in the things that brought about the revival in the first place. Spend time daily with the Lord. Have your quiet time, study the Bible, pray, and meditate on the Scriptures. If escaping from the media is a big factor for you, be sure to replace that media with something. Listen to Christian music rather than whatever you were listening to before. Maybe cut out Desperate Housewives, or Friends or whatever drags your thoughts away from holiness. Attend church regularly. For most all evangelicals there are multiple times per week to worship. While at church, worship God properly, in spirit and in truth. If you attend church with the wrong attitude or in an unworshipful spirit, you will not benefit. The Scriptures make it clear that God cannot stand false worship.
I really believe the key to keeping the fire that kindles during these events is that simple. Keep the commitments you make to God, have regular quiet time and spend time in the fellowship of the saints and corporate worship.
Not that long ago I read Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely. It was completely fascinating. This TED talk is just a taste of the book. I promise it is worth your time
[ted id=487]
This topic has been written about before by people with actual readership, but I want to make my voice known because I have had this conversation with a few pastors, and we are basically all in agreement. To the Great Commission Resurgence task force –
First of all, I realize that you are not charged with making the entire SBC become more great commission oriented. In fact due to the structure of our denomination, churches are not subject to anything that you actually declare. I also know that if there is to be a great commission resurgence in our denomination, it must be brought about by individuals in individual churches.
Next, I am praying for you. and Dr. Hunt. I hope that God directs your committee to truly affect the kingdom with your decisions. I hope that the convention in Orlando is as amenable toward your work as the Louisville convention was toward your appointment.
As I understand it, you are charged with evaluating our convention structure with the goal of determining whether or not we are optimally organized to carry out the great commission. I am on board with whatever you may choose to do. If you explain your position I would be willing to hear reasons for combining our mission organizations (although I believe it’s not a particularly good idea), or for renaming our convention, or for any number of other suggestions I just haven’t thought of yet. I truly hope that state conventions, local associations and churches are agreeable with whatever recommendations that the annual convention in Orlando passes.
There is one exception to my previous paragraph. I will never be able to consider currently non-cooperative program missions giving as cooperative program giving. Planting a church, co-sponsoring a church plant, sending an individual missionary, or digging a well in Bihar India are all great things and need to be done, but those things should never be considered cooperative program dollars because they are not cooperative. I cannot even think of another way to say that. The SBC is, by and large, a convention of small churches. The cooperative program is the only way that our small churches can have the sending power that we have. If we allow other giving to count as CP giving then we take the “cooperative” (and the strength) out of the cooperative program. In that case we might as well be independent Baptists.
Also, designated money is not cooperative program money. If money is given with the purpose of doing an end-around of the executive committee or leaving out a seminary or one of our agencies, then it is not cooperative program money. The reason for the efficiency of the IMB and NAMB is the coordination of all our agencies, Lifeway and Guidestone included. Maybe you will determine that the sending organizations are not efficient. Imagine how much worse it would be if everyone designated their offerings.
For simplicity, let me summarize my position. I support the work of the GCR task force and will prayerfully consider any recommendation you make. However, I will not be able to support considering independent mission giving to be cooperative program giving.
I welcome any comments. However, I am currently at M-fuge so it may take me a few days to get them moderated.