God's Chisel....

   This video by the Skit Guys, God's Chisel is about 9 minutes long but worth a bookmark somewhere so you can go back and remind yourself what and Who's you are, and that is why i uploaded it. Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's Workmanship, (a Masterpiece of Grace) created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." What needs to be chiseled in our lives?

Caaaareful Now....

The CLEAN comic Tim Hawkins does a great comedy bit about Parents giving good parenting advice too late. Too see it, click play or copy the link below and click on Tim On Parenting.  http://www.timhawkins.net/video.php  In the clip, he laughs about good advice given too late - kids playing with bricks over a period of time, throwing, catching, playing with bricks and eventually someone hurts themselves with the brick and the parent says, "Carefuuul!" Ha, ha.Well at that point - it is too late, tears and blood flow, and MAYBE a lesson was learned. But the children were allowed to play with bricks and over time they became less intimidated by the potential force of brick on a noggin.

As we raise our three children - I am reminded that good advice is never too late, but wisdom states that good advice can be put to better use if listen and apply the knowledge before the mistake is made.Good advice is that before parents allow their children to hang out with other children they check seriously on the influences those children have. The same should be said of media. Those influences make connections in young brains that can set in motion thoughts and actions that are not welcome, and far less than holy.

Pornography use is on the rise - and I read an article recently that called pornography, "Liquid" because it seeps through the defenses that parents put up. If children aren't allowed to watch a certain movie at home, they might see it at a friends or relatives or even school. If they cannot listen to a certain music style or artist...just wait-cause it will be on the radio, a friends iPod, Mtv, or other public venue. Liquid influences are dangerous also because the Internet is now even hand held and there are very few filters that work on mobile devices - the dangers are realized by the telling statistic that 1 in 5 teens has sent a "sext", a wireless picture message including at least partial nudity. Without understanding the potential of the Internet - teens are shocked when they discover how far a picture sent out of commitment or "love" can go.
My example is simple - the readers of this blog come from of course the United States, but this is where it gets weird and a little scary. I am new to blogging and already I have some "readers" or "views" from Canada (4), Chile (2), United Kingdom (2), Malaysia (2), Turkey (2), Israel (2), India (1) and the Netherlands (1).

I know many young people that simply do not understand the vastness of the Internet - the good, the bad and the ugly. I started this blog because I needed a creative outlet - I never really thought it would turn into much.
Similarly, a teen takes a picture and sends it, (never thinking it would turn into much), and before they know it their reputation is damaged forever, and they have been deeply hurt. My advice in a liquid culture is to limit the use of mobile broadband till closer to college age or till they fully understand the risks and costs. Also keep computers in a public place with supervision and put time limits on browsing. Too many times, I have counseled a young person drowning in liquid porn before they realize they were in too deep.

Why I Only Watch The Game...

Over the years, you just learn some things. One thing i have learned is that church is not the place for the Super Bowl Commercials or the Halftime Show. Traditionally, I have a remote control and a chaperone or myself armed to change the channel at the breaks during the SuperBowl. For the Same reason, we host a Worship Service during Halftime to focus our attention on the Lord. Why? The information below is from a blog by Bill Johnson and the American Decency Association that updates me on what I don't want or need to see, so that I can protect others from the same. This is a line up of the written content of the 2011 Commercials that we missed at FBC Martin. Frankly, I'm glad we missed them. 

"-       Crude humor which results in a man getting hit in the privates – Check. (Pepsi Max ad)

-       Promotion of alcohol and excessive drinking – Check. (Budweiser ads)

-       Ads demeaning and sexually objectifying women  - Check. (GoDaddy.com, Teleflora, etc.)

-       Profanity-laced ad – Check. (Brisk ice tea)

-       Sick violence (i.e. catapulting a baby against a window, REALLY?!) – Check. (HomeAway.com)

-       Offending entire people groups with stereotypical depictions (GroupOn.com, Pepsi Max)

And so on. You get the idea. However, there was a commercial that FOX deemed so offensive it refused to air the ad. What was the ad that FOX didn’t want to touch with a ten foot pole? An innocuous ad that refers to the scripture John 3:16 and directs viewers to a website LookUp316.com.

The ad shows a group of fans watching a football game who notice that one of the players is wearing John 3:16 written in his eye-black. (A verse, by the way, that is as standard at American sporting events as the giant foam finger.) In the ad, one of fans says, “Hey, I’ve seen that before. What does it mean?” And another guy says, “I don’t know. Hey, I’ll look it up.” Cut to the site address on the screen for LookUp316.com. 

That’s the so-called “controversial” ad FOX refused to air. They’ll gladly take the $3 million per 30 second commercial to air truly offensive ads, but won’t take the money from a group promoting a truly inspirational message. 

However, FOX gladly took the money from Skechers shoes which ran an extremely salacious ad featuring a skimpily clad Kim Kardashian seemingly about to have sex with her workout trainer on the floor of a gym. The camera erotically pans her [...] body as she foregoes her trainer for [in favor of the] shoes.

And FOX had no qualms about airing the lewd ad for British-made Mini-Cooper cars. The catch-phrase of this ad was “Cram it in the Boot.” With a play on words and vulgar imagery, this ad made blatant reference to anal sex to the millions of viewers, both young and old, tuning in.  

These are the themes that FOX approves of for family viewing. But air an ad with a Christian message and you just might offend someone.  

FOX TV has long-proved it is no friend of the family with shows such as “Family Guy” and “American Dad” which offend moral sensibilities on a weekly basis. So it comes as no surprise that FOX continued that tradition of offending not only with the ads they chose – but also with one ad they refused to air.

John 3:16, "For God so loved THE WORLD, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish and have eternal life."  Being in the world, but not OF the world is watching the Game but not giving in to the sultry moral drift that even FOX TV - the self proclaimed Conservative TV has fallen for.

The Skin Gun - GOOD Stem Cell Research!

This is an amazing video hosted on the National Geographic site showing burn treatment for patients using their own [ADULT] stem cells harvested from their own skin.Severe burns treated and cured in less than a week.

Yet again, this is another victory for Adult Stem Cell Research, a field of research where there exists verified cures and treatments, further defeating the need for embryonic stem cell research and the destruction of human embryos. 

"Adult stem cell research has provided treatments and cures for patients suffering from over 70 diseases and conditions. Contrary to these successes, destructive embryonic stem cell research has yet to provide any successful treatments for patients." [Family.org article by Focus on the Family Analysts]

Gabi, Gabi!

As i type, i am listening to a South African spiritual called, "Gabi, Gabi" sung by 338 Youth in a Mass Choir called Youth Project in Jackson, TN. WOW! Not only did they all do a great job, but the whole choir together did a wonderful job of working together over the course of just under 48 hours of intense rehearsals and rest.
 One of our own church students named Jonathan was chosen to Narrate part of the Script and he is just one example from our church of being ready to serve when called upon, he had about 2 hours preparation before recording. What an attitude of service - one that speaks strongly that of the Attitude of Christ, the Servant Lord who resides in many of the teens at our church - others are coming to know Him on a daily basis.

My heart and mind are moved to write about MUSIC and what the Bible says about Praise. In a simple search of the NIV on Biblegateway.com - PRAISE turned up 363 instances from Genesis to Revelation. Not all are the same type of praise or the same references. What we know of Praise is that God intends it to be returned to Him. There isn't a way that we have to do it - Music speaks to each of us differently and we know that we can be moved to emotion by music, but these are associations that our brains teach us after repeated hearing of the type of music used for scary, cheerful, mournful, etc.
Psalm 102:18 says “Let this be written that a future generation, a people not yet created, may praise the Lord.”. This is true of the Bible and of Music which is why it is the Theme of Youth Project - a project of the Tn Baptist Convention Music Department. 
Music speaks to young people - but we owe it to our children and Youth of our churches to expose them to good music - not just the music they resonate with from the radio and culture. Now they are singing, "and we all bow down...He is the Light of the World & the King of the Cross...and we all bow down, and worship Jesus. You are the Love, the Unfailing Love of God" There is not a soul in the sanctuary that is not moved when 338 Youth sing of the Love of God. They aren't raising their hands and dancing - but they are no less moved - I have heard them talking about the songs they love from this weekend. Good music, music about our Lord gets in the Human System and uplifts the soul! I know of churches where the Youth Choirs have dwindled away and sometimes the students with the programs. I sit here on the back pew typing and my SOUL IS WORSHIPING! My heart is full of pride for the Youth of our Church and State - youth culture is not lost - they just need to be directed & PRAISE TO THE LORD is a great motivator for the soul - Young & Old! 
Psalm 150:6, "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD."
   Won't you Praise the LORD?


 

We SOO Need One of These Nearby!!!

 Check this out! Being a Youth Minister - something about Trampolines and Dodgeball still excite me!
Wonder if we can Lobby for one of these in NW Tennessee!?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_weekend/20110121/ts_yblog_weekend/trampoline-dodgeball

The Cuckleburr Downhill 2010

Over the Christmas Break I took my last week of vacation. This year, we raced Northeast ahead of a Snow Storm and a White Christ-mas! We arrived in Central Kentucky at my in-laws farm just hours ahead of the snow and woke up 12 hours later to a blanket of white and visions of high speed runs down the rolling hills on my daughters new sleds - OKAY, those were just MY thoughts! However, I have a good evidence that my daughters were thinking similar thoughts - although they didn't have decades of other races and other snows to fondly remember.

This year we were able to add to our 100-yard+ sledding runs; a 4 wheeler to bring us back up the hill - with our socks and scarfs filled with explosions of cuckleburrs and bits of grass from our graceful wipe outs at the bottom of the hill. I was still smiles; but my daughters? - not so much, once they discovered cuckleburrs much more personally on Day 3.

Where we were - 3.5 inches of snow and sit-in molded plastic sleds were our 2010 combination for hours of cool, icy fun. In the past, I have sledded inside a Samsonite Suitcase (Hard Vinyl, zero control, Very Fast on Ice), I have sledded on a Metal Runner Sled (ideal for icy conditions - able to sled down Ky Mountain Roads - been there, done that), I have used Cardboard Boxes (very nice if you raise the front and have something to hold onto - they work till soaked with water), I have accidentally sledded on my rumpous-maximus while snow skiing (I fell and had a yard sale of all my equipment and couldn't stop on a black diamond run) Needless to say - I have used it all and love the snow. We got to sled 3 days this past December and made bunches of memories with film, video and snapshots of the mind.

Standing atop the hill looking at all the scenery - I was caught that God uses all manner of ways to get the attention of people whom He loves. He uses Creation, He uses Children and People, He has used and still uses the Supernatural through Miracles, but all of those venues have been ignored or have been ignored by the ones He loved - So He sent HIS SON - JESUS to be the Banner of Love - the Billboard of the Blessing - the One that would get the attention of the world - and keep our attention in some form or other this time of year for over 2000 years. It's true, you know - even those who don't acknowledge Jesus as Lord, still give gifts to their loved ones in remembrance of the Worship and Gifts of those in the Stable Inn. The World puts up decorations of God's Declaration; many thousands including the star that shined on Bethlehem or an image of the Proclamation Angels atop their tree.

God will continue to use a variety of means to cast the Gospel Seed to the Nations. The real question you must answer is will you be one of those tools? This New Year - will you share Jesus? I will.