I-268 SHOUTS!

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What are I268SHOUTS?
It is a Twitter feed you can send RIGHT TO YOUR CELL PHONE!! No more missing last minute changes to location or meeting times. No more wondering if there's some fellowship/hangout you missed the announcement for. No more missing special events and opportunities because you "didn't get that memo."

This Twitter account will feed ONLY information and last-minute changes in ministry events and opportunities. Just log in to your Twitter account and choose to receive these updates to your cell, and you will never wonder again!! Get REAL-TIME updates on I268 ministry stuff!!

Why didn't we think of this sooner?

Study Suggestions?

Have a suggestion for a study subject or set of material for this new school year? Post your input here!

The Legacy of Michael Jackson

The first thing that happened after I saw TMZ reported that Michael Jackson died yesterday was worry about my good friend Molly, away at camp, separated from the world, not knowing that one of her pop culture faves had suddenly passed away. I texted her about it, and we held out hope that it was misreported until a legitimate news site confirmed the death. At about 6:00pm EDT, CNN, the AP and other news outlets confirmed the death like they were calling a state in a Presidential election.

The second thing that happened was Twitter. I twittered (tweeted) my shock, as did Becca and many others. What disturbed me, though, was how on the right side of the Twitter page is the trending topics, and how Michael Jackson shot up to the top of the list. But it wasn't Michael Jackson, it was "Micheal Jackson." Here is a guy who has been famous for in excess of 40 years. In a society where we know at least 15 people named "Michael" in each of our extended families, and enough thousands of Twitter users misspelled his name to put "Micheal Jackson" at the top of trending topics. How does that happen?

I grew up at the height of Michael's popularity. I was 5 years old when "Billie Jean" was released. The first Michael Jackson song I heard wasn't actually a Michael Jackson, but "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Eat It," the classic parody of "Beat It." I soon caught into the Michael Jackson craze, unsuccessfully attempting to Moonwalk, kick my leg out while shooting my arm up into the air and screaming. I could never imitate the moves. But I tried, as did everyone else.

Ronald Reagan deserves a tremendous amount of credit for standing against the oppression of communism, not backing down and eventually forcing the system to crack under its faulty foundations. Reagan's belief that Western values of freedom, exposed to the people oppressed in communist nations, would dismantle these regimes. Let no doubt enter your mind about the role that the popular culture of America also played into this. Watch the videos of Michael Jackson concerts abroad, where thousands upon thousands of young people fell over themselves to catch a glimpse of Jackson as he passed by. Or in concert, when girls (and boys) would faint during a climactic moment in a song. To many of the oppressed, Michael Jackson WAS America. He was the expression of freedom. He gave them a taste of what it could be to live in liberty.

In the mid to late 80s, the celebrity charity structure took off: Farm Aid, Live Aid, USA for Africa, benefits for the environment, against apartheid, saving the whales, etc. To the average person, much of this was brow-beating from the rich entertainers telling us we need to be better people in a "do-as-I-say" mold. Which is why "Man In the Mirror" is my second favorite Michael song. To change the world, you have to start looking at what you can do and not expect others to do it for you. I may be alone in this, but I consider it to be a great conservative anthem. If you see a "kid in the street without enough to eat," don't walk by and hope someone does something about it. Don't expect government to fix anything. Don't think that you can just talk about the problem. You have to step forward. Plus, the song is catchy as all get-out and features the awesomeness that is "shamone."

Michael Jackson melded group choreography into his songs so expertly that it has become cliche in pop music. He helped transformed the music video. "Thriller" would not be the same without the long-form John Landis-directed short film, in what probably should have been a silly "Monster Mash" Halloween song but instead became iconic for the zombie dance, and of course Vincent Price's rap to conclude the song with Michael's werewolf eyes as the final shot, shocking his girlfriend. I could go on and on about how his videos helped tell the story of the song and set the standard for all performers to come or how he used technology such as CGI morphing technology in the "Black or White" video almost before anyone else and now it is commonplace.

You can't ignore the negative stuff: the molestation charges, the plastic surgery, the weird outfits and behavior. Naming your kid "Blanket." And there's a trend that I've read to identify him as simply "eccentric." There's so much more than that at play to simply say that he was eccentric.

So I'm sad that Michael Jackson has died. I am sad for his children who will not have their father. I'm sad for his friends and family--the ones who truly cared about him. But I am glad that he left a significant legacy for us. This is not Kurt Cobain or James Dean, dying before his fans could grasp at the notion of unfulfilled potential. Michael Jackson accomplished great things over a long period of time. We benefit from it.

By the way, "I Want You Back" is the greatest pop song of all time. I won't accept arguments. Watch a clip of the Jackson 5 on The Ed Sullivan Show and you'll see why he was destined for greatness.

It's All For the Children

I had not watched an episode of "Jon & Kate + 8" prior to last night's earth-shattering episode that "changed everything." I knew a little bit about the young family, parents in their early 30s, having a set of twins, then sextuplets. I know that they were the vanguard of a variety of shows, "18 and Counting" being another, giving viewers a window into the lives of such large families. I knew the kids were precocious and cute; I knew that the wife had the reputation of a bossy nag sort, and that the husband spent a good amount of time staring blankly into the camera.

I also know that organizations like Focus On the Family brought Kate Gosselin along to speak on marriage and parenting. At some level, my interest was piqued based on this knowledge--how would a high profile marriage of two formerly regular people, self-identifying as Christian, handle a storm when they know the world is watching?

Unfortunately, like half of all marriages whether they are ever on TV, they chose to begin the process of ending the marriage in divorce. In their interviews, they called it "separation" which has legal significance, but in their context, I'm not sure if they were making a distinction.

Throughout the episode, both Jon and Kate emphatically stated that their children were their primary concern: they are separating because its better for the kids if they don't fight in front of the kids; they are continuing the show because it provides the kids with the best opportunities" and on and on. I found the whole episode to be unfortunately self-indulgent to their own whims and fancies. Jon declared that he was proud of himself for finally sticking up for himself to Kate's perceived dictatorship. What is there to be proud about that sticking up for himself is separating himself?

Admittedly, in a show like this, there is editing, so it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions from something manufactured. I drew some anyway:

1. Pastor Todd was 100% correct in his sermon from a few weeks ago that you risk damaging the proper intimacy in the husband-wife relationship when you invite outsides "under the chuppah" or into the marriage bed. Jon and Kate did not or could not communicate with each other. I have no doubt that being in front of the cameras, confessing and speaking the American viewing public about their personal lives severely damaged their ability to communicate with each other. What is real? What is show? At a certain point, you lose your identity and become who you are portrayed to be. Communication would have eliminated about 99% of the trouble these two seem to have as problems with their marriage. I would love if they took the opportunity to seek counseling from someone with the worldview of a Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, who authored "Love and Respect" or go through the series itself.
   
2. There is hope for this marriage. I know the ominous "Epilogue of Doom" said that they have filed for divorce, but nothing is inevitable. This was not a relationship created by television under a house of cards. The first 7 years were without cameras. I have hope for their reconciliation. I also had hoped that they would decide to end the TV show, but contractual issues may have prevented that. TLC and lawyers may have told them that if they quit the show, they would lose tremendously, from the house to resources to maybe a lawsuit against them that would have just added to the marital stress. I don't know. But I think that getting out of the spotlight would help this family. But when you watched the final scenes where they went to the restaurant and sat together, you can see that there is something to work with there.

Paul, in Ephesians, says that marriage between a man and woman is a representation of Christ and His church. In the Old Testament, God allows His chosen people Israel, to be separated from Him for periods of time (such as the exile), but He never divorces from His people. So if Jon and Kate were to simply have separated (without all the court filings) for a time to intentionally work towards coming back together, it would not, in my opinion, be a totally bad thing. But when separation is treated as the first thing you do before you sign the divorce decree, that is wrong.

Christ makes a very strong stand against divorce in the Gospels. We, the church, who are forgiven for our adulterous and rebellious natures by our faithful Bridegroom MUST treat our own marriages with the same seriousness and grace. When marriages within the church can better reflect the glory of Christ, the world will take notice.

UPDATE (2:30 pm): TMZ and other websites are reporting that Kate Gosselin is the one who initiated the divorce proceedings yesterday. Details are vague on why she took this particular step when she took it, but I think it is in direct contradiction to scripture that she has initiated the divorce proceedings and am very disappointed.

Crazy Love Returns!

So, by popular demand, we are going to restart Francis Chan's "Crazy Love" for the summer Tuesday night Bible study!

If you can't make Sunday mornings (work, etc.) this would be a great opportunity to be involved with some fellowship and study for the summertime! If you would like a book, you can order them through Christian Book.com (or any other number of stores), but at CB it's currently running for around $8 and some change.

We will be starting Chapter 1 this coming Tuesday (the 16th), so try to come having read it. If you don't get a chance to, at least stop by the book's site and watch the videos that correspond to that week at www.crazylovebook.com.

The study is at Ben and Becca's house on Tuesdays at 7:30. Visit the website for directions.

We hope you'll get involved!

In the future: The American Underground Church?

I honestly can't see this governmental intrusion on religious liberty ultimately succeeding, but its a window into the "what if"

San Diego County has apparently issued a zoning violation to a pastor who was holding a home group Bible study without a special zoning or use permit. What is interesting is that upholding this violation would mean that groups could only meet at church buildings or other approved designated locations. Our church and many others have been moving away from meeting AT the church building into homes, connecting with the community around us. Christians in San Diego County would have to meet in much smaller groups or not at all outside of church.

The attorney in the article raises good questions about non-approved meetings in homes for any number of events, and I think that reasonable people will prevail on this issue.

But if they don't? What if Christians had to start meeting in secret outside of church? Would we respond like the Chinese underground church and take joy in this new suffering for the sake of the gospel?

What would you do if Stafford told us that we could no longer meet in homes for Bible studies?

So according to CBN's news channel, many of Notre Dame's seniors will not attend graduation this Sunday because of a controversial decision from it's leadership over the guest speaker. Watch this short video the students made and post your thoughts:

Read the full story here: http://blogs.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2009/05/12/notre-dame-seniors-say-no-to-graduation.aspx

It's my birthday!

I graduated from Virginia Tech 8 years ago today. It was a Saturday then, and it was an objectively beautiful day. When I woke up, I knew two things. I was going to get my degree, and I was going to meet my girlfriend's father. I had no idea how the second one was going to go.

Basically, I knew of this girl in my Russian history class my sophomore year. I knew her name from roll call, but aside from that, nothing. I saw her again in another class I took. My junior year, I took a class called Political Theory. The class was semi-interesting, as I got to read Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, as well as Augustine, the Bible, and other works. She was in this class. We became friendly. She hung out at my fraternity parties on occasion. The summer rolled around, and I figured I wouldn't bump into her again. Tech is a large campus. Fall semester of my senior year, a friend and I were walking out of our Constitutional Law class, and she was standing there--she hid the cigarette she was smoking, and we chatted. Her sorority was planning their big fundraising event, and she was the coach for our fraternity. I was the president of my fraternity, so I told her to call me later and we could set up a time for her to come to a chapter meeting and tell us about it. We had a Greek Relations chairman who should have handled it, but a) she didn't know that, and b) I needed her number somehow.

I called her back, and we talked for several hours. We started dating. Several weeks into our dating, she mentioned to me that she used to go to church, had stopped, but wanted to get back into it. I mentioned that my buddy Dom went to a church and played guitar in a band. "NL something" I said. "NLCF" she confirmed--that was the church she used to go to. I agreed to go to church with her. I called my buddy Dom and asked him about the band and when church was. He said he stopped playing, but he was involved in different roles there.

That first Sunday was the first Sunday I had attended church for other than Christmas or Easter since the 5th grade. I remember worrying about what to wear. Shirt and tie? (I wore a polo shirt and khaki pants--WAAAY overdressed). The first song we sang was Charlie Hall's "Salvation." It was amazing to see unchained worship. People clapped their hands. People were holding their arms out like Leo DiCaprio in Titanic. One guy was jumping up and down in the front row. I was staring. Then the pastor walked out to preach. A balding dude with glasses named Jim. Said he was preaching on the Book of Philippians. I used to live in the Philippines, but this was not the same thing. He said that in order to understand what this guy Paul was writing about in the book, we had to understand where he wrote the book from. He described Rome in 60AD, and the history major in me was hooked in. Then he started talking about the things that keep us from truly living free, the bondage that we do to ourselves. I didn't really understand a lot of it, but I knew I wanted to hear more. I went back to church week after week.

Admittedly, my lifestyle hadn't changed dramatically, but it didn't matter what I did on Saturday night, or where I ended up sleeping--if I was in Blacksburg, I went to NLCF on Sunday morning.

I was also getting tired of college. I intended to go to school for another year, getting majors in Political Science and Philosophy on top of my history degree--make myself really attractive for law schools. But a pre-law advisor told me that if I wanted to go, I just needed to go--save money on tuition and take the LSAT and begin the next chapter. Sound advice. I took it. I took the LSAT. I did pretty good without studying.

At the same time, my girlfriend's dad discovered that I was half-Asian, and according to her and e-mails that I read between them, she was forbidden to date me. They quoted some Old Testament scriptures about not intermarrying with other peoples, she quoted back some New Testament verses about neither being Greek nor Jew, etc. They responded with "Honor your father and mother" and if you don't, find out another way to pay tuition and drive around. We decided to lie. She told her parents we broke up.

We kept dating. Over break, I went to Richmond and hung out with her at friend's houses. She came up to Stafford to visit. We went to a friend's house in Maryland for New Year's. We went to Florida on spring break. I don't know if her parents really knew, but we didn't think they did. At least I didn't.

As school was winding down, we were both ready to graduate and go to law school. I had been accepted to a few schools, but I chose George Mason University--it had recently jumped into the top tier of schools, and the admissions dean was really nice and gave me a really good vibe about the school. We knew we had to figure out the situation with her parents. We couldn't go on lying forever.

We hatched up a plan. On the afternoon of graduation the College of Arts and Sciences would hold a reception. She would attend with her parents, I with mine. We would bump into each other and boom--meet the parents, everything goes swell.

On graduation day, I decided to eat lunch at Homeplace, aka, the greatest food on earth. The problem is, the restaurant is in the valley a good 45 minutes from campus. My grandma, aunt and cousin all flew in, and so we had a wonderful time. We tried to get to the reception. We were late. We decided to go anyway, just in case, and walking down the street away from said reception was girlfriend with her parents. From the moment I saw them, I was no longer me. I called out her name and crossed the street. I introduced myself to them. My family slowly joined me. We had a brief, but amicable, interaction. They left, as did we. We drove back to my room at the fraternity house where I was going to get some change of clothes for the evening. She called me and between tears told me that her dad had just realized who I was and that we had permission to date. The catch was, he wanted to meet me. I told my family, who all knew what was going on, and they graciously allowed me to go over to her house. I spent a couple hours with her family. They asked me a bunch of questions about me--about my faith--which, truth be told, I didn't have a lot of answers for. I had been attending church, but I wasn't a Christian.

Her dad took me aside, and he told me why he prevented us from dating. He told me that God can sometimes make a fool out of the wisest of men, and that when our families met, he had no concept of race or nationality. He said that God blinded him so that he could truly see. I had no idea what to think.

I drove up to my parents' hotel in Roanoke, thinking about God the whole time. My family ordered pizza and were playing games, but I just kept thinking about God. Did He really do that? Did he really perform a miracle on my behalf? I called my buddy Dom, who had just graduated himself. I told him the short version of what happened (Dom also knew what was going on). I told Dom that I wanted to follow God if he would do this for me. Dom told me to do the ABC prayer. I didn't know what that was, and I was embarrassed to admit it. He guided me through a short prayer of confession and repentance and told me I was saved. I didn't know what to think. I was happy, confused, all at the same time.

I had certainly been living in some serious sin during that whole period. I had participated in a fairly grandiose lie. I have no illusions that God in any way condoned those acts through the miracle. But what I do know is that He knew I needed SOMETHING to push me over the edge to recognizing my need for Him. Where Thomas had seen the miracles, but he needed to touch Christ's wounds and come face-to-face with the reality, I think I just needed to believe in the supernatural.

God has a way of working out the consequences of sin. Whether it was for the lying, or the immorality, our relationship didn't last through the first semester of law school. We spoke one time since then, the spring of 2002 when she told me that her grandfather had died. I appreciated her telling me. I saw her at the bar exam. She's married, she's got a kid.

After breaking up, in the wake of my depressed state of an unexpected and unwanted breakup, I joined a small group called Higher Ground. I soon found out what it meant to follow Christ. I met the best friends you could ever hope to gain. Best of all, I met Becca. And now I'm married, and I've got a kid.

God's purposes are perfect. I thought I went to Tech because it was the only school I was accepted to. Except that God brought me to Tech so that I would begin the journey of meeting Him face-to-face, on a wonderful Saturday afternoon exactly 8 years ago.

What a week off

The blog took a vacation, but only because it was such a hectic work week. By the time I got home, I really couldn't stand to sit in front of the computer anymore.

Some really exciting things happened in the past week, though, that really deserved some attention.

• Nats game, meeting a pro player. Is it safe to consider a guy I rode on a metro train and stood at metro stops with for an hour or two my new best friend? I think so. I think I spoke two words to him as his time was occupied mainly by crazy Cardinals fan Peter Petrelli, a friend of my sister's. Anyway, kudos to my sister for scoring the tickets through my new BFF Bardo.
  
  
• Caps game. Went with Micah to Game 1 of the Caps/Pens series a week ago Saturday. Awesome experience. I've been to several Caps games through the last 15 years, but never saw anything like the sea of Red, the mohawks, the great videos. Let's not forget that the seats were amazing.
  
  I am not in the camp of you give "x" and God gives "X" in return. However, I do believe that God does sometimes provide tangible demonstrations of reward. These tickets were a great example. My friend CapsfreakStacie called Becca on Friday night and told her about these tickets that her boss purchased and wondered if we wanted to go. She told me that they were pretty expensive, and I hesitated because we try to be smart with our spending dollars and this would be an investment. But, when would I get a chance to go to a game like this again, so we decided to get the tickets. Then Becca said she couldn't go, and I needed to find someone to take this second ticket. I went to my brother and dad first, but my brother, being the only Caps fan I know who would rather get text updates of a game while he's at work than go to the game bailed, and my dad said he wasn't feeling well enough. Then CapsfreakStacie texted me and said that her boss would prefer that a total stranger not get the ticket, so could I think of anyone at the church to go.
  
  Here's where it gets sticky. I called my buddy Todd first. He's somewhat involved with church. He said that he had soccer games for the kids, and he was actually planning family night at the Potomac Nats game, so he couldn't go. I told him that I actually wasn't inviting him anyway, thanks for nothing.* Then I made a huge mistake. I had the impression that I had a limited time to find a second person for these tickets or they were bye-bye. So I called three people and basically left it up to first-come, first-serve. I called Eric, our church-planting buddy in Pittsburgh. I half-jokingly said he should drive down and watch the Pens' annihilation in person. Then I called Zac. Left him a message. I also called Micah. Left him a message. Then I waited. Nothing. I felt like hours were going by, although it may have been minutes. I called Becca back and said, you should re-arrange your work schedule and just go to this game. She said ok. Problem solved.
  
  Then Zac called. Disaster averted, he couldn't make it. Some time later, I looked at my phone, and I had 7 missed calls and 2 voice mails. Uh oh. First message "This is Micah. If you still have that ticket, I'd love to go." This became craptastic. Second message was from Becca, as were 6 of the 7 missed calls. She said that she forgot that she had Toluca Road rehearsals and there was no way to get out of that. I felt like Jack Bauer. Everytime a new crisis arose, I met the evil square in the face and things worked out. I called Micah back, told him that everything was great, the ticket was his.
  
  Then, Eric called. Told me that he'd love to drive down for the game. DAGGER. I sheepishly called him back and told him what happened. He told me that it was cool and probably for the best that he watch the game in the friendly Pittsburgh confines. He turned out to be correct. The Pens were crushed (although the series is turning out to be a different story).
  
  Ben, when are you getting to the part where you talk about God and blessings and relate this to church in a way other than name-dropping people who work at churches?
  
  So Micah and I go to the game, and its great. We were on TV constantly, so if anyone out there recorded the game and can screengrab, I'd love to get that from you. Anyway, I texted CapsfreakStacie and asked her how much I owed her boss for the tickets, and he said nothing. As in zero. As in zip. As in free. He said to Stacie that he wanted to be able to bless people who have been a blessing to others, and he just hoped we had a good time. Well, we did. And we are humbled and grateful.
  
  I certainly don't get paid to serve in the ministries I'm involved in. In fact, it seems like the more I put in, the more God asks to give. Time for prayer, preparation, communication, administration, study, thinking, planning...it can be extremely taxing mentally, physically and spiritually. But the reward is a closer relationship with Christ, not just for those in I-268, but for me and my family. It is an aweome feeling though, to receive a gift like this and know that it was from God through this generous individual. It motivates me to continue to serve, to continue to grow because it is not a fruitless pursuit.

*Said response was merely for entertainment purposes and did not actually occur in real time.

Should see more blogging and twittering from me today and this week. See ya.

Nice Try

Remember the episode of Seinfeld (its 2009, and the show ended 10 years ago--of course you do) when Jerry's dentist converts to Judaism and starts telling Jewish jokes? Jerry sees a Catholic priest to tell him about how he "converted for the jokes," and the priest remarks "and this offends you as a Jew." And Jerry replies, "No, it offends me as a comedian."

I'm not offended by the Jesus vs. Mohammad online game as a Christian, although maybe I should be...I'm offended as a person with taste. This could be the worst idea since the Jump To Conclusions Mat hit the scene.

In the game "Faith Fighter," caricatures of Jesus, the Prophet Muhammad, Buddha, God and the Hindu god Ganesh fight each other against a backdrop of burning buildings.

God attacks with bolts of lighting and pillars of fire while the turbaned Muhammad can summon a burning black meteorite.

SERIOUSLY?!?!

"This was meant to be a game against intolerance and against the one-way Islamophobic satire of the Danish Muhammad cartoons," Molleindustria said in an e-mail message. "So if a respectable organization didn't understand the irony and the message, we failed."

Yes, you failed. Miserably. Combat intolerance by killing another faith's deity/high priest figure! [sarcastic clap] Bravo.

Huge Deal Tonight

1. American Idol. We're in the Top 5, people. They're singing "Rat Pack" standards a/k/a songs Frank Sinatra has sung. Now, maybe someone will do a Sammy Davis or Dean Martin number, but The Chairman was so prolific, there's no need to go outside his playlist. Although I'm hoping that we hear a song from one of the two other guys nobody remembers.
   
2. Dancing With the Stars. Its elimination night, and championship favorite Bachelor Melissa hurt her ribs, didn't compete, got by far the lowest scores and could be gone. Did the audience votes save her?????? DUH DUH DUHHHHH.
3. GAME 7. There's just no other way around it. The game is gonna be awesome. The Caps have made a huge comeback to tie up the series. The winner moves on. They are on fire. I'll be in a deacon meeting. Boo. (Just in general boo to these meetings being on weeknights)

Oh yeah, and Bible Study.

Haha, just kidding. Studying the Bible is the number 1 priority. That's why God invented DVR. Chapter 2 of Crazy Love. Should be great. Becca will be leading since I'll be in that previously mentioned meeting.

PS: This blog needs more followers. Go to your friend's computers and make them follow us. Then put pictures of people they dislike as their background. Laugh Riot. Trust me.

Because Controversy is fun: More Pageant Reactions

Soooooooo...who knew that gay marriage was such a hot button issue?

US Magazine, which is apparently the New York Times of gossip magazines, used all of its massive investigative journalistic resources and managed to gather tweets from the top celebrity Christians in Hollywood, and guess what? All Christian chicks except Miss California support gay marriage!!

Except that its Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Heidi Montag. Not exactly the Murderer's Row of Christian doctrine, if you ask me. Let's look at this one at a time, shall we?

Britney. Would anyone expect her to feel any differently? One, I thought she went Khabbalah, and two, if you look at my good friend Molly's blog about going to her show--its one huge pride festival WITH Perez Hilton, who is at the heart of this controversy anyway.

Heidi Montag. I know what you believers out there are thinking:

No! Not Heidi Montag! My entire faith system is crumbling to its core! What am I going to do?

Which you might then follow up by saying, well, as much as this hurts me, I could see this coming. I mean, she hangs out with homosexuals all the time on Project Runway.

Which I would then have to say...no, that's Heidi KLUM.

So who is Heidi Montag?

Good question. Turns out, she's this chick (P.S., I couldn't really find a decent--by which I mean non-bikini or skimpy clothed-- picture of the girl to link to. Just beware if you Google her) on The Hills. And, she's one of the most disliked people on planet earth. She's famous for not really being famous but acting like she's really famous. She's got this guy Spencer she's allegedly marrying for love (not publicity), and she's so Christian that in one thing I read about her she said that when she and Spencer sleep together in the same bed, she'll put a pillow in between them so as to protect her purity. She also allegedly supported John McCain last fall, but has recently been photographed wearing Obama gear. She is the most blatant and actually says she supports gay marriage.

Here's my point. When she's in your top 3 Christian twitter responders supporting gay marriage, you're grasping. Plus, it seems like this might actually be one of those reverse psychology moves by anti-gay marriage groups. "I'm on the same side of this issue with HER? I might have to re-evaluate a few things here."

Now Miley. She's a sweet girl. I admit, I enjoy the Hannah Montana television program. But I don't even read her comments as supporting gay "marriage" but rather voicing support for gay PEOPLE.

"Jesus loves you AND your partner and wants you to know how much He cares!" Cyrus said. "Like I said, everyone deserves to be happy."

Later, she added, "I am a Christian and I love you - gay or not - BECAUSE you are no different than anyone else! We are all God's children."

These comments don't sound too terribly different than how my good friend Molly suggested Christians should respond to the question of gay marriage, trying to build bridges, rather than amplify a divide. And not to mention its obvious those tweets were 100% written by her publicist.

In all seriousness, it is really important to know that God does in fact love us, and it doesn't matter who we are or where we've been. He has laid out before us the choice between life and death. True life can only be found in the hope that Jesus Christ is God Incarnate, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, but was crucified on a Roman cross as the penalty for the sins committed by you and by me, that he died, was buried, but rose from the grave in victory over sin and death. None of us are perfect. None of us can meet God's law, whether we are heterosexual or homosexual. We're all in need of saving. Only Jesus makes a way for us. And it is THAT love and being in a relationship with Him that is what is of great importance.

Tithing the Athlete Way

ESPN's Sunday morning "60 minutes-style" program Outside the Lines recently did a piece called Televangelists and Athletes. [To watch the video, you have to click on the link, go to the video section and click on "OTL: Televangelists and Athletes"]

This piece really deals in two different issues. 1) Tithing. 2)Prosperity Gospel.

When boxer Evander Holyfield is asked if he had to choose between tithing and paying his house mortgage, Holyfield says he'll always tithe first, to the bewilderment of the interviewer. The interviewer misses the point. When you receive income, the firstfruits should go to the tithe. I believe that means to your local church body.

That's basically the end of where I agree with the people interviewed in this story. The prosperity gospel is clearly anti-Biblical.

Jesus himself says in John 16:33: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

In this world you will have trouble. Not "may." Not "will, except for when..." Not "you will have trouble. But take heart! With enough money..." Not "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have wealth." There are dozens more examples in which Christ, or Paul, or someone else points to perseverance in the midst of trial and suffering, joy in spite of pain, as commonplace for the believer.

It is sad to see that these preachers go after the rich, but also that the rich are attracted to this false teaching. Why do you think that is?

These people have exchanged God's standard of what it means to have an abundant life for man's standard. Watch Francis Chan's Just Stop and Think video. He makes a pretty clear case for how standards work. Don't elevate a human standard and put God in a box.

This piece should also teach Christians not to place celebrity Christians on pedestals. It was cool this past football season as Kurt Warner's Arizona Cardinals made it to the Super Bowl and in every interview Warner praised God and gave all credit to Christ. He's being doing that since he came on the scene in 1999 and had one of the most improbable careers in NFL history. Christians have lifted Warner up as one of the prime examples of a Christian in the public eye. Warner, nor any other person, whether its Kirk Cameron, or a preacher like Creflo Dollar or Louie Giglio...or you or me, we're all sinners in need of God's grace. We can't make too big of a deal about celebrity Christians. Continue to make God famous.

What were your reactions to the video?

Beauty Pageants and the Marriage Question

Most of you had to have heard by now that Carrie Prejean, Miss California, lost the Miss USA pageant in what seems to be large part her answer to a question from gossip blogger Perez Hilton's question on gay marriage.

Here's Carrie's answer to the question whether she believed in gay marriage:

"We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

Carrie is being destroyed in California for taking this position. First, let's be honest about one thing. Hollywood's mantra is "Free speech is only free if you agree with me." Clearly, had she said "anyone should be able to marry anyone they want--love is love" she may still not have become Miss USA, but she certainly wouldn't be treated in such a vicious manner today. In fact, nobody would even know who she was.

The hypocrisy of the whole thing is glaring. Another quotation from the article:

"Every year, tens of thousands of dollars are donated for the pageant and its prizes," explained a source close to Moakler’s team. "Already she (Moakler) has had to deal with very upset companies, because they gave so much to Carrie, and think she betrayed them. People in California, more so than most states, are particularly passionate about overturning Prop 8 --especially those in the pageant/beauty world."

Here's the worst quotation of them all, from Keith Lewis, a business partner of Miss California pageant director Shanna Moakler

Keith Lewis released a statement to FOXnews.com Monday morning condemning Prejean and saying that "religious beliefs have no politics in the Miss California family."

THEN DON'T ASK THAT KIND OF QUESTION. The absolute arrogance of these people, to think that everyone thinks like them, is appalling to me. I know Prop 8 is a big deal in California. There is a very visible and vocal opposition to it. But as the article stated, the Prop DID PASS by a majority of California voters in November. You can argue its rightness, but to sit back and not anticipate that a pageant contestant might share a belief like this, is either total arrogance or ignorance. Maybe the beauty pageant should stop pretending it is some high-minded "scholarship" contest and stop asking these kinds of questions. Ask those silly "if you had one wish, what would you wish for" questions where all the girls get to say "world peace" and we're done with pretending that we care about their opinions.

But if one girl happens to have an opinion that isn't party line, BEWARE. You will be humiliated and destroyed.

Now, I'll give Lewis some credit. He backed off his initial comments and made a quite diplomatic statement:

"I am proud of Carrie Prejean’s beauty and placement at the 2009 MISS USA pageant," Lewis said in a statement issued later on Monday. "I support Carrie’s right to express her personal beliefs even if they do not coincide with my own. I believe the subject of gay marriage deserves a great deal more conversation in order to heal the divide it has created."

Now, Carrie HAD to know the environment she was getting into. I haven't really seen if she's playing the victim card, or if she's changing her position as a result of this. If she knew that she might receive this backlash and made her response as she did anyway, kudos to her for standing up for what she believed in.

Here's a separate, but related, issue to consider regarding these pageants.

It is wonderful that this girl stood up for her beliefs as it relates to marriage. Is there any hypocrisy on her end for appearing in this pageant, considering that a third of it is a bikini contest? Is this a fair criticism of her from a Christian view? Am I being prudish and "puritanical"? I know that I struggle with lust temptation and while I'd like to be able to say that I can observe a bikini-clad female and observe the form for the beauty of God's handiwork the way I'd look at a sunset, its just not the same thing. So is she causing me, a brother in Christ, to stumble? Or is the responsibility on me, as the person who has the issue with the sin, knowing that the pageant has a bikini component, to avoid looking at her?

I'm not so sure its clear cut. On the surface level, my immediate reaction is, don't participate in the glorified bikini contest, hold yourself to a higher standard. There's also a part of me that says, do you leave the pageants wholly to the nonbeliever as long as there's a bikini portion? Also, what's different in parading around in a bikini and parading around in an evening gown? They're both about looking at the physical qualities of the female, just different amounts of covering.

So thoughts on the response to marriage question and thoughts on the participation in the beauty pageant in general.

Have an Idea?

Have an idea for a subject you would like to study with I-268?
Do you know of a curriculum we could use for a study?
Do you have any suggestions for outings/activities/trips?

Post your comments!

Good Friday

According to the Bible, about this time 1,970 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth died by crucifixion outside of Jerusalem on Golgotha by order of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate at the urging of the Sanhedrin, among others in the crowds gathered for the Passover.

Matthew 27:45-54 (NIV):

⁴⁵From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. ⁴⁶About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi,^c]">[c] lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"^d]">[d]

⁴⁷When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."

⁴⁸Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

⁵⁰And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

⁵¹At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. ⁵²The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son^e]">[e] of God!

And in His death, burial and resurrection, we can be justified before a holy almighty God.

Thank You for the cross. Thank You for the cross. Thank You for the cross, my friend.

Off to that 100-sided die in the sky

According to the Fox News website, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons has died.

This guy is definitely on the nerd Mount Rushmore. Not because he was a nerd necessarily, but because the kind of person he spawned. I include Star Trek-creator Gene Roddenberry on this list.

I can speak to this being an epic nerd myself. I played Dungeons & Dragons in middle school. I still own a copy of the Dungeon Master's Guide, which is probably in my parents' basement. And, I, as anyone who attended a Gathering service I preached at knows, attended a Star Trek convention in San Antonio when I was in 9th grade.

Godspeed, Dungeons & Dragons guy.

Yay! Sudan

Harvesters Reaching the Nations is a wonderful ministry operating in Yei, South Sudan. Among other things, they run an orphanage and school that is child-by-child transforming the country. MABC is blessed to have a relationship with them, and will be sending a team this November to help do some construction on the grounds, as well as assist in other areas.

Three of our very own, Mary, Molly and Stacy, have been selected to be a part of this team. We are so proud of you guys! Obviously when kingdom work is being done, the devil attempts to thwart those plans through deception, discouragement and other roadblocks. Be lifting them up in prayer on a DAILY BASIS, for our other good friends Kate and Steve, as well as the rest of the team. It is never too early to cover this trip and mission in earnest prayer.

In Case You Missed It--04/07 Home Group

So for those of you who missed Tuesday night's study, here's what you missed:

1. American Idol. I'll get in to more details in a future "What I Watch," but in short, I was a fan of the Lambert last night. Everyone was lame in picking songs from the year they were born. I sat on iTunes and looked at the iTunes Essentials for each year, and there was so much goodness to be sung, (3 of the Top 8 born in 1985 and NO ONE sang "We Are the World"??? WHAT?!?!)* yet no one took advantage of it. I've been pulling for Danny Gokey the whole time, but he sang "Stand By Me." Sorry, guy, just because someone did a cover in 1980 doesn't mean you get to sing it. Anyway, Lambert sang some song I'd never heard of, but it was really good. The last note was way off, but overall, I was definitely loving it. The first song he's sung, including his audition, that I did not hate.

2. CrazyLove. We will begin going through Francis Chan's book CrazyLove for the next 3 months. You can buy your own copy, which is available wherever books are sold, or I can do a mass order. Let me know if you want a copy. Francis is the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA, and my Asian American hero. You really DO NOT want to miss being a part of this study.

3. Washington Capitals. I was watching the end of the game, no one else really was. If Stacie V. were there, she'd have gotten angry because she DVRs games and watches them all a day later. I don't get that, but whatever, she's been to more games than me this year and even shared the gospel with Center Nick Backstrom--so who am i?

4. Forgiveness. It was turning out to be a relatively light night spiritually, but towards the end, I made an off-hand comment about an event that occurred in the ministry about 4 years ago, and it touched off a very important revelation and a discussion about the necessity to forgive. It was a powerful time to pray for a friend and speak truth into their life. I was blown away by the power of the Holy Spirit to ordain the events of the evening to lead to that moment so naturally. I truly believe that healing will come from this. Even though I'm being intentionally vague, allow the Spirit to prompt you in joining in with this prayer for this situation.

So there you go. You gotta come to Home Group. Don't make me post anymore of these!

*That was a joke. "We Are the World" is good for the unintentional comedy of the video only. The greatest superstars in music of that day-Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Bono, Bob Dylan...and there's actor Dan Akroyd in the back row.

What I Watch (Part 1 of a series)

Television is great. There is very little that beats crashing on your coach, in a comfy chair, on your bed, and just simply losing yourself in a 30 minute or 1 hour show.

When we talk about our childhoods, we get about, what, five seconds, before the conversation settles on our favorite cartoons? "Thundercats!" "Transformers!" "Gem!" (Hey--let's be honest. EVERYONE my age watched Gem). Noah, my 2-year-old, can count to 15 and recite his alphabet. He can sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and the chorus to "Your Grace is Enough." Why? Because I'm a great parent, that's why. OR, he watches Sesame Street and VeggieTales.

But too much TV will rot your brain! You'll be an overweight, isolated dope with no social skills!

Look, if you're the kind of person who does nothing but watch TV, refuses to socialize and conduct any physical activity, I'm not ready to blame the TV for your condition.

The advent of High Definition TV has made things EVEN better. I remember a few years ago, my dad bought a flat screen HDTV, and then ordered HD Cable just in time for that year's Super Bowl (I think it was the Patriots-Eagles). It was a life-changing revolution. I can't even watch regular digital broadcasts anymore. Its better to watch a game on TV than go live, and you save money and your sanity. Call me a snob.

So, here's what I watch: Dancing With the Stars.

Its so much more than just a girl show. Its more than just reality TV. Anyone whose dancing resembles mine wishes they could dance. This show has marginal celebrities (always a plus), fantastic professionals, and real competition. You get to see athleticism, grace, artistry. Women clearly dig guys who can dance, as exhibited by the season after season love that guys like Derek, Mark and Maks receive, and what "celebrity" Gilles Marini is getting this season.

Unlike Idol, where the judges play only a persuasive role in the elimination of contestants, the DWTS judges actually score performances which have a 50% contribution to a personal's overall ranking. There's the democracy of fan voting, but the reality of limited votes--hoardes of 12-year-olds can't keep a sub-par performer much past their time the way that Idol voters can keep a Sanjaya around. A voter must choose how to cast their votes.

There's also a wonderfully Biblical quality to ballroom dancing. The male is to lead his female partner; however, without a suitable helper, even the most technically gifted male will fall. The ultimate purpose of the dance, so far as I can tell, is to show off the female, so the male's leading is simply in sacrifice to the uplifting (sometimes literally) of the female, to show her off as prized and desired. The female, in turn, follows the male's lead, providing that honor and respect.

When it's all said and done, I love pretending that I know how to separate good dancing from bad, that I can predict the judges' scoring, and I love to pick a star and cheer them on to the end. I'm cheering for bullrider Ty Murray, but he has no realistic shot. My second choice is Melissa, the girl who got dumped by the most recent Bachelor.

So guys out there, don't be scurred. Its ok to like Dancing.

The NEW new blog!!!! (More exclamation points means more fun)

Okay, so I have no idea what happened with the other blog site. Becca could post to it, but I could not after the first day. I attempted to contact Google about it, but I never received any answers. Their Help message boards did nothing.

So rather than continuing to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait--its the interweb! Make a new blog! Call it something else! Use letters instead of numbers. It's genius!

So hopefully Google lets me have this one longer than one day. I promise I won't make veiled references to my dislike of certain American Idol contestants (which is the reason I think they shut me out in the first place. The dark side of the force is strong!)

I look forward to chatting up life, the universe and everything with you.