What is Our Motivation for Making a Difference in the World?

We are coming to the end of our summer blitz at the FUMC youth ministry. We have had two major mission camps and one church camp. Sunday morning during Sunday School, we talked about two types of mission projects. Hypothetically we said that we were going to do the exact same good deed for two different people. The first person would be grateful and excited about the work we were doing and the second could care less and would show very little interest in what we were there to do. So we made a chart with each job on one side and asked the students to tell how they would feel. So here is what we decided.

Should Christians Be Patriotic?

I know this post is late since America's 234th birthday was 4 days ago. But I've been seeing blog posts here and there (like this one and this one ) questioning patriotism. People also question whether or not it is right for us to sing patriotic hymns in church services and to celebrate our freedom. And maybe the overall climate of our country and our Christianity is changing. Maybe it's because many of us would rather riot in the streets over a soccer game than peacefully cheer for our team at a baseball game? Maybe it's because we would rather get our theology from U2 and Bruce Springsteen rather than those who have been more up front about their faith, rather than putting it under the guise of pop culture. Maybe we've become so politically correct that we are not being good global citizens if we think we live in the greatest country on earth?

Faith or Fake-What Does Our Faith Look Like to the World?

The other day I put my foot in my mouth in a pretty big way. It was the first day of church camp and I was sitting at the dinner table with a group of counselors and I noticed one lady had a very pretty ring on her finger. I made the comment, "That's a pretty ring" to which she replied, "Oh, it's fake. My real one is at home, but I didn't want anything to happen to it, so I got this one at Walmart before I left. See how it's turning my finger green?" Anyway, it was a funny moment as everyone at the table quickly found out what a horrible eye I had for jewelry. But what I thought after it happened was that the ring did exactly what it was made to do. That cheap immitation ring passed off as the real thing to the untrained eye.

I grew up in the age of Christian propoganda. I remember growing up and seeing shirts that read "Don't get caught dead without Jesus!" or spoofs of popular commercials like Reeborn instead of Reebok, or "Life is short, pray hard." And we had (still do have) Christian bumper stickers, music, movies, jewelry, stationery, books, and even breath mints. And for a long time I thought that these were the marks of a true Christian. I mean, what Christ-professing individual wouldn't want to advertise his or her faith in the most poignant, and fashionable way possible? But the older I have gotten I've not been as eager to literally wear my faith on my sleeve, despite the fact that it's a multi-million dollar industry. Because I know how I act sometimes and that I do things that wouldn't make my God proud--I mean, we all do. (Now, as a side note, I do have a closet full of free t-shirts that I've received from going to youth ministry events over the last 15 years). But would I wear a shirt that professed that I was a "bible-totin', scripture-quotin', devil-bashin'....(you get the idea)...believer, and proud of it?" Probably not. You see, it's not that I am not that way in the victory Christ has given me, but I am still very much aware of my humanity. I am a sinner saved by grace. And so while I may walk through life as a child of the King, I must remember that to the rest of the world, I am still that same sinner saved by grace. Honestly, I think it is narcissistic to think that people want to know how spiritual we are.

Galatians 5 says that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That's a pretty steep list. I hope that I can try to be more like God in my heart rather than just promoting him on the outside with all of my Christian paraphernalia. It's my hope and prayer that we all reflect God with our attitudes and actions even more than we reflect him with our t-shirts and bumper stickers.

Hats Off to Freedom in Worship (And My Friend Russell)

My friend Russell Martin just posted one of my favorite blog posts I've read in a long time about the issue of kids wearing their hats in worship at church camp and the bad taste it leaves with a student when he is reprimanded, or corrected at the beginning of a service for wearing a hat. I really encourage you to read his post. As he was asking for our thoughts on the issue, mine were more than I could contain in a comment, so I am commenting in the form of a blog post of my own.

Russell makes the following quote in his post, "The biggest change in my life happened when I stopped doing the good things I was doing because that was what I was “supposed to do” as a Christian, and started doing some of the same things because I wanted to please God." I can really relate to this because I had the same change of heart in my own life.

The Scripture I discovered a long time ago was in I Corinthians 8 regarding food sacrificed to idols. The Apostle Paul was dealing with a church that was located in a pretty godless city-Corinth. Corinth was a port city and was a "what happens in Corinth stays in Corinth" kind of place. There were many temples to pagan deities, many offering encounters with temple prostitutes as an act of worship to the fertility gods. Many foods offered in the local markets were foods that had been offered to many of these pagan deities and then sold in the streets after the worship services were over. Paul is giving the Corinthian believers freedom to eat these foods as long as brothers and sisters of weaker conscience or who are less mature in their faith are not witness to this. In other words, if it causes someone to think you are sinning by eating it, don't do it. Your witness is more important than your personal freedom.

I grew up learning that we didn't pray with our hats on and that we didn't wear hats in church. Wearing a hat in the house was not a big deal like it was when my parents were younger. But it stands to reason that as culture has changed since my childhood, the issue of hats in worship is often lost on younger believers but may still be a bigger issue to those of my generation and older.

I think Paul's advice about food used in idol worship applies here. I think for a mature believer who is aware that wearing a hat in a worship service may be a distraction, he should remove his hat rather than practicing his freedom in worship. But to the 7th grader at camp who is pouring out his heart in meaningful worship with his head tucked beneath his Texas Rangers ball cap, who are we to interrupt his communion with God so we can force him to remove his hat? I think we are grieving the Spirit to make the student feel uncomfortable (and hinder his worship of God) over what is really not that big of a deal.

I've had some great worship experiences indoors and out with a hat on. I've had some great prayer times indoors and out both hatted and sans hat. But when I am with my youth group, I always try to set the example of removing my hat during worship times because I know there are people that will be distracted by it and if I don't set that example for the students, then they may become a distraction later for someone else. But I think it is equally absurd to teach them a legalistic mentality that if they worship or pray with their hat on that somehow their prayers never make it past the bill of the cap.

Establishing Boundaries with Technology

I don't remember how many years ago it was that I was introduced to social media. After email, Instant Messaging was the first thing I guess that was considered social media. I can remember thinking, "You mean, my friends can know when I'm online and they can type things to me right then?" This blew my mind. Then I was introduced to a thing called Myspace, then Facebook, then Twitter, and who knows what's next.

Tales From A Jesus Theme Park-A Different Kind of Faith

Last month, my wife Cindy and I got a chance to go to Orlando for a ministry conference. While we were at the hotel for 3 nights with the conference, we didn't want to let a trip to Orlando go to waste, so we decided to go out a day early and take in some of the city.

Where is God When We are Hurting?

Yesterday, I capped off an amazing afternoon in a horrible fashion. I came home to find our 13-year old Dachshund, Scooter lying dead at the end of our neighbor's driveway. The little guy who never wandered from the house had gotten too far from home and I assume was hit by some idiot teenager who thought it would be cool to run over my dog. This really brought to the surface some things I had been mulling on for the last few weeks about life's pain and victory and their relationships to God.

A couple of weeks ago I was visiting with my cousin about how sometimes it seems like God strings us along. He had a successful career as a construction foreman for a very large homebuilder in one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. When the housing market fell out a couple of years ago, he was laid off and has spent the majority of his recent months trying to begin a new career, which finally happened a few weeks ago. He asked me how I was doing, and I said I was "feasting on the riches of his grace," a line from the hymn "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest Name I Know." You see, for the last year, my wife and I had been battling health problems, and financial problems but a few weeks prior, we had a breakthrough and God opened up a door for Cindy to use her talents, abilities, and life story, to share the love of Christ to women in crisis pregnancies and to be able to get paid for it. In the wave of highs and lows that life brings, we were riding the crest of a big one.

But yesterday, when I saw our "little man" lying in the road, it all came crashing down. And I remembered my conversation with Ken. We discussed why God seems to come through in his time, not ours. What we realized is that God designed us for a relationship with Him. He is a relational God, even in relationship with himself between Father, Son, and Spirit. He extends that relationship to us. When life is fine and dandy, our human nature kicks in and while we may give lip service to our dependence on God, often times we are not truly dependent on him, because we feel like we are self sustaining. But it is in our times of tremendous need, and deep pain, that we remember there is one greater than us who loved us enough to die for us.

Philippians 4:6-7 is one of my favorite passages. This passage says that we shouldn't be anxious about anything, but through prayer, we should present our requests to God with thanksgiving. Then the peace that passes all understanding will guard our hearts. That means when we depend on God, he gives us peace that we can't understand. That is the peace I have today in spite of my hurt. Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall." I Peter 5:7 also says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." Since God included this in the Old and New Testaments, maybe he was trying to tell us something.

I don't know where you are today. But if you are hurting, just know that God loves you. He hurts when you hurt. And the only thing he wants more than to make your hurt go away is for you to grow closer to him through the hurt. That's why redemption is better than healing. When Jesus healed the 10 men with leprosy in Luke 17, all of them were healed. But only one used that experience to draw closer to God. Ten were healed, but only one was redeemed. Remember that when we hurt, it's not always about healing, but about redemption.

What I Did See at a Pro-Life Conference

I blogged a few days ago about my experience at a ministry conference put on by Heartbeat International. Heartbeat is an international organization that provides materials, resources, and support to pregnancy help centers all over the US and elsewhere. The blog discussed things I did not find at this conference that might surprise some people who weren't there. But I didn't only want to focus on the things I didn't see, but I also wanted to share some of the great things I did see at this conference. Here they are.

1. Catholics and Evangelicals working side-by-side. While everyone there was representing their respective pregnancy centers, these were all people of faith who attend their own churches and whose centers are supported by local churches. The overwhelming majority of attendees were Roman Catholic or Southern Baptist/evangelical. I was a little suprised to see that I did not meet many people who were of mainline denominations (Episcopal, Methodist, etc.), and maybe this is for political reasons. I realize the issue of women's rights is a politically divisive issue.

2. People who had been through the heartbreak of abortion and/or unplanned pregnancy and were now serving in this wonderful ministry. I suppose I expected that a lot of people there would be people who had never been through some of the major issues presented at the conference. It was comforting to know how many people in the pro-life movement were not just "goody-two-shoes" Christians who had never been through unplanned pregnancies, but these were people who had been in the very shoes of the clients they are trying to reach. Whether it was before an abortion or after, God showed them the value of human life at all stages and gave them a passion to communicate that with others.

3. Story after story of God's amazing grace. Whether it was women who had experienced personal miracles or God's overwhelming blessing poured out on a pregnancy help center, it was clear that God has been doing a work in these people and their organizations.

4. Bristol Palin is a working mother. The famous daughter of America's most well-known former vice presidential candidate was one of the speakers at the conference. Of course her pregnancy could not have come at a more inconvenient time for her or her family-during the presidential campaign- yet she chose to keep her son, Tripp. She shared with the group that she works 40 hours a week at a medical clinic in Anchorage while going to school part time. If you've seen the overwhelming success her mother has had as an author and speaker, you know she could have easily lived off her mother's success. I found it admirable that she (and her family) has chosen to deal with the responsibilities of raising a child.

5. Proof that Christians working together can accomplish great things. The conference was basically a huge network of Christian publishers, inspirational speakers, experts in fund-raising, technology-media experts, adoption specialists, medical professionals, and pregnancy center staff members, board members, directors and volunteers. All of these people were coming together under the banner of Christ. The theme of the conference was "Better Together." We as Christians are better together. This conference was Ephesians 4:10-12 in action.

What I Didn't See at a Pro-Life Ministry Conference

This week, my wife and I got to attend a ministry conference put on by Heartbeat International, an organization that helps pregnancy help centers like the one my wife works for with networking and resources. The mission of these centers is to help women with unplanned pregnancies by providing them with information, support, and resources and helping them to either choose to parent their children or place them with an adoptive family. This was my first time at a conference of this nature. And since our country's political climate is more polarized than ever, I've heard lots of rhetoric demonizing people with conservative values (i.e. pro-life) as radicals and extremists.

Should Our Lives Line Up With Scripture, or Vice Versa?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is not a political blog. But there have been some recent events in our government that make for some great fodder for discussion. The main event of which I am speaking is the ping-pong match that has come from the debates of what to do with terror suspects, including how they should be tried and whether or not they should have legal rights and even where the trials should take place. In March of 2010, as discussion arose about the trial of 9-11 terror suspectKhalid Shaikh Mohammed, Attorney General Eric Holder originally wanted the accused terrorist, who was on trial for an act of war, to be tried in a civilian court in, of all places, downtown Manhattan, NY, just blocks from Ground Zero. It has been the policy of the Obama administration to read Miranda rights ("You have the right to remain silent...) to any and all criminals, regardless of the nature of their crime. No less than two months after the March discussions of where to have the trial of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, stating that KSM should be tried in a civilian court, Attorney General Eric Holder is now saying thatMiranda rights should be withheld from U.S. citizens who are suspected of terrorism. This stance escalated from the recent failed Times Square bombing attempt by Faisal Shahzad, who is a US citizen and reportedly was trained by the Taliban in Pakistan. To read about the constitutionality ofMiranda rights, click here.

This post is not to debate our government's policies on Miranda rights, terror suspects, or anything else. But it is a clear case where in one instance, someone wishes to change the policies laid out in the Constitution to benefit what they are feeling at the time. As most Americans, I believe our Constitution is a great document. It's made our country the strongest power in the world for the last 200 years. That being said, the Constitution was not developed to be changed on a whim because that's how someone feels that day. But the greatness of the US Constitution pales in comparison to the Bible. While the Constitution is great, it's not the divine inspired Word of God.

As I watched this situation play out in the news, I thought of how we interpret the Bible. While the Bible is full of difficult sayings, ideas, and cultural nuances that seem foreign to 21st century Americans, it is truth. And that truth is absolute. But I'm afraid in our interpretation of it, we try to make the Bible match our lifestyle, rather than making our lifestyle match the Bible. And yes, two Christians can read the same Bible, interpret it completely different ways, and come out with two different viewpoints. As I've discussed politics in Christian circles, I've always said that our faith should influence our politics rather than our politics influence our faith. In Psalm 119, the writer tells the reader that there is security in following the laws of God. It is my hope and prayer that we strive to line our lives up with Scripture, rather than making Scripture line up with our lives.