Amazing Play and Amazing Change

Read this in a newsletter, caught my eye so I thought I would post it.

A LESSON OF HOPE FROM THE SUPER BOWL  (by Michael Medved)

David Tyree of the New York Giants became an NFL hero with an amazing catch that clinched his team’s upset victory in the Super Bowl.

But Tyree doesn't see Super Bowl Sunday as the greatest day of his life--he gives that distinction to the time of a drug arrest in 2004. Busted with a half-pound of marijuana and locked in a rough stone cell, Tyree says he hit bottom after more than a decade of drug and alcohol abuse. Making a decisive commitment to Christian faith, he married the mother of his two illegitimate boys and they're now regular churchgoers who are expecting twin girls.

I don't know which is more amazing, that play or the change in his life.  Wait, I do.  No one can change the human heart....except for God!

Currently Watching Enchanted (Widescreen Edition) By Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Rachel Covey see related

What I Learned from a Fairy Tale

Beth and I went to see Enchanted yesterday (the first time we went to a movie since Harry Potter on her birthday!).  It was interesting, the idea of the two parallel universes, the fairy tale and the real world.  It made me think about how people view faith and life in a similar context.  That is, faith and the spiritual world is totally separated from the real world (and if it enters into the real world, it will get corrupted).  There is a naviety seen in faith that is laughable at times.  Instead of seeing them as two separate worlds, Scripture seems to point to them being part of the same universe.  How do we recapture that view?  I don't know...but I thought it was interesting.

Currently Reading Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation By Andrew Root see related

Dangers....

I haven't posted on this for a while which means my soul is in a dangerous state.  I have learned that I need to read and write in order for me to maintain good spiritual health, but yet I seem to ignore the advice of the doctor and put myself in a dangerous place.  So, I finally spent a few good hours of reading yesterday, actually two books--one on relational youth ministry and the other on ethics. I find it interesting that "practical theology" and "ministry" seems to be a different field than ethics.  It caused me to think about the ethics of a lot of the ministry practices in the church.  Do we really respect persons as persons?  Do we really seek to minister to people out of helping them or do we do so with our agenda?  Are most pastors actually idolators of the church (or kingdom builders of self)?  In particular, the idea of "hanging out with those who will help the mission" strikes me now not just counter the mission of Christ (against his practices) but also as a form of utilitarian ethics and viewing people not with dignity of life but as a means to an end.

The funniest thing I have been thinking about in regards to dangers is how we think the church is in danger of losing its place in the culture if we do not think like enterpreneurs and businessmen.  Has the church really lost its proper place ever?  Did Jesus say something about the gates of hell NOT overcoming the church.  Maybe I need to listen to Jesus more and businessmen less :)

Currently Watching House, M.D. - Season One By House see related

Why I care about theology

I was watching House the other night and they were doing the "throw around medical jargon that no one really understands" part of the show.  I had a realization at that moment--while a patient doesn't really give a rip about the name of the disease or disorder they have, they do care about what that means and how to treat it.  If you will, they care about it because it is not just a name or an idea, it is a reality.  The same thing is true of theology.  While we have theological terms, they are not just ideas, they are realities.  The Trinity is a reality.  The depravity of humanity is a real condition.  And these things have effects on life and how we are to treat them.  This is why we have a leadership class that covers theology; theology is the anatomy and physiology of the human soul.  There are a lot of technical ideas, etc. that are conveyed, and we convey them so we can make "care plans" of treatment for the human soul.  So, yes, we have big fancy words for theology, but we do the same thing in medicine.  No one complains about learning about medicine, why are we afraid about theology?  Perhaps it is because we are all the patients as well as the nurses and doctors.

I'm Back

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks.  There was the whole busy Christmas season with things at the church and trying to balance the obligations and expectations of two families.  And then there was the trip to Iowa.  And then preaching at NPC.  And then going to New Orleans for a week.  And now I am home and the grind begins, as I have youth group in less than 2 hours and I am mostly prepared :)  It was all really good, though.  I had fun preaching and got good feedback, including unexpected visits from two different great people from the past.  And then New Orleans was a great experience; I have a box full of illustrations now from that trip that I hope to be able to put into practice in my own life.  The biggest thing I realized was that God uses even my imperfections and sees them as being perfect, much like he sees us in Christ.

I also realized the tremendous need that still exists in New Orleans.  It has been a couple of years now...but it takes a long time to rebuild.  We think it should be done but it is not.  What that means for me, I don't exactly know--but it does have implications for ministry.

It's good to be home.