So recently (by recently I mean about 4 seconds ago) I found some of my old blog posts. These were from the beginning of the blog crazy - when even big names like Jon Acuff, Mark Batterson, Kevin Watson, or a personal favorite Tulsa youth pastor Jay, or fellow United Methodist pastor Jeremy Smith, who discusses all things SyFy and faith on the same blog. Before these guys were even thinking about blogging - there I was. Okay, so that might not be true - even in the slightest. Nevertheless, I digress.
I found a posting that listed my Senior will. Did you guys do those? You bequeath things to underclassmen (if there is a pc term for this I can't find it). I gave some LifeSaver mints to a couple of girls - I was a huge mints guy "back in the day". Unfortunately I can't find the link anymore - of course that was 10 years ago now. Anyhow, I continued to rant on and on about mints and how some kid that I had met that night had never heard of Zack Morris. For me that is a tragedy - in fact - I still consider that a tragedy. Six years later you know what the real tragedy is? I can't remember sharing faith with any of them. People would attempt to console me by saying "You're fine, you were a kid! You didn't know then what you know now." Foolishness! If I do not share, who will? What if I was the only opportunity? I'm not usually one for evangelistic messages or Jesus juked postings but today, I have to. Is it worse to raise up a generation who does not know Zack Morris or one who does not know Jesus? Irish philosopher Edmund Burke in his book Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents (1770): "When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." This is usually where the quote will be attributed to him "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Unfortunately, he probably did not say this - however the concept is still a good one. The same can be said of faith. All that is necessary for the triumph of sin is that Christians do nothing.
Many of you are thinking that I'm being ridiculous - I wish I could say that I was nuts. I wish that I could say that this could never happen. But we have biblical evidence that an entire generation can grow up and not know the things of the past generation. It happens to the nation of Israel. How can you raise up children who do not know who God is? By not sharing with them what God has done for you. By telling them that you saw God part the Red Sea and you walked on the ocean floor - way before there was scuba gear. By bottling it up - keeping it a secret because someone might call you "crazy" or you don't have a story that starts with - when God parted the Red Sea. But you do - what you are today - you were not yesterday and you will not be what you are today - tomorrow. I'm sure that I could have summed this up in a word or two, but why? It's much more fun this way - what I'm trying to say is "SHARE" always be ready to give an account for the hope that is in you. So, how do you raise up a generation that doesn't know Christ? The same way you raise one that doesn't know Zack Morris - you hide your DVD collection.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Hi, come on in, step into our narthex.
I read a considerable amount of blogs. From pastors to friends I cover the whole gambit of knowledge. Recently I stumbled upon Sticky Sheep basically this blog has "changed my life". I realize that I might over use this term for it to really mean something - but I discovered a post on "churchy" words and that got me thinkin'. My favorite church word of all time is narthex. A narthex is defined as a vestibule leading to the nave of a church. A nave is defined as the hub of a wheel. Narthex is also defined as the portico of an ancient church. A portico is the entrance to a church. Why they couldn't have just said entrance we may never know. But this brings me to my point. Why do we use words that "outside people" don't understand? Isn't the point of a church to bring others to it? If they feel like outsiders because we use words like narthex when we really mean the entrance what are they going to feel when we use words like seeker or lost when we really mean they need to "get Jesus". Even that - what does it mean to "get Jesus" what is salvation in normal words? I don't know how to describe it...any thoughts?
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