So much for my promise to blog more now that I'm on vacation-it seems my mind has stepped down into lower energy state and I haven't been having deep philosophical discussions with anyone. It's been a fairly slow news cycle as well these past few weeks with some of the stories reflecting on the big stories of 2005-the Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the death of the Pope and the election of his successor to name just a few.
For me personally, 2005 has gone by so quickly. A year ago I was acting as the High School director while we were without a Youth Pastor. We were "snowed out" of our winter camp last January and had to reschedule to the following month. Spring was just a blur and Summer was filled with sicknesses and camps. Fall gave way to Winter and the Holiday season. I wasn't as nearly prepared for Christmas as I wanted to be or expected to be with a week off before. I got some great gifts but the best one was from my sister and her fiance.They decided to donate a barnyard full of animals through World Vision instead of buying gifts. Totally cool!
So as the year ends, it's been a pretty good year, although time seems to be moving more swiftly as I get older. More on this later.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
On Being a Middle Aged Youth Worker
One of my friends emailed me this link, Internetmonk authored this piece on being middle aged. While it is written from a man's perspective and some of doesn't really apply to my life -he was a little too morose about getting old , his comments about being a 40-something youth worker are on target. I especially liked the line about being at the top of his game preaching but faced with an audience that wants to hear the 23 year old with a guitar and one sermon.
It is kinda frustrating that teenagers do not appreciate the middle aged person's life experience and instead prefer whoever is "new", as if the novelty of their words imparts the greater wisdom. This view was even shared by a twenty-something youth pastor I knew. In his book, I was too old to work with students at 31 years of age; when I was 35, he insisted I had "nothing" to offer them. (He later changed his tune when he himself crossed the magic age of 30). Regardless, I don't pay attention to those pronouncements. I may not jump into a game of Bombardment anymore but I have so much more to offer than that. The students who want the superficial stuff aren't going to come talk to me anyway (although they are quite shocked to discover that I do know about their culture), the ones that are serious about their faith do come around. Still, it is amusing when they first try to get an answer out of the young, "cool" worker who then refers the student to me anyway.
I guess my perspective on the whole issue comes from the fact that I work with youth, not to serve them, but to serve Christ. Sure, I'd like to have a twenty-something body again and go sledding down the hill next month at Winter Camp but let me keep the forty-something mind.
It is kinda frustrating that teenagers do not appreciate the middle aged person's life experience and instead prefer whoever is "new", as if the novelty of their words imparts the greater wisdom. This view was even shared by a twenty-something youth pastor I knew. In his book, I was too old to work with students at 31 years of age; when I was 35, he insisted I had "nothing" to offer them. (He later changed his tune when he himself crossed the magic age of 30). Regardless, I don't pay attention to those pronouncements. I may not jump into a game of Bombardment anymore but I have so much more to offer than that. The students who want the superficial stuff aren't going to come talk to me anyway (although they are quite shocked to discover that I do know about their culture), the ones that are serious about their faith do come around. Still, it is amusing when they first try to get an answer out of the young, "cool" worker who then refers the student to me anyway.
I guess my perspective on the whole issue comes from the fact that I work with youth, not to serve them, but to serve Christ. Sure, I'd like to have a twenty-something body again and go sledding down the hill next month at Winter Camp but let me keep the forty-something mind.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
My Busy Week
Oh my! I have not had the opportunity to blog here for a week because I've had just too many things going on.
For one, I was gearing toward a big presentation at work, what we call a conceptual design review, where I had to prepare approximately 70 Powerpoint charts to be shown in front of a group of 20 or so of my technical peers. This had me working some late hours this past week and made me miss most of youth group last night. For those of you still in school, compare it to writing a 10 page paper or studying for finals.
Second, I did the unthinkable - I went shopping at the mall to get something new to wear at Laura's Baccalaureate Dinner and her Graduation from Talbot. I also had to make a run to the Guitar Center to pick up some supplies for the Worship Band.
There's a lot of stuff going on at church with Christmas coming in eleven days.
The good news is that tomorrow is my last day of work for 2005 and eventhough I have a lot to get done before I leave after lunch, I'm looking forward to more than 2 weeks off.
Perhaps I'll blog more during vacation -it will give me more time to rant.
For one, I was gearing toward a big presentation at work, what we call a conceptual design review, where I had to prepare approximately 70 Powerpoint charts to be shown in front of a group of 20 or so of my technical peers. This had me working some late hours this past week and made me miss most of youth group last night. For those of you still in school, compare it to writing a 10 page paper or studying for finals.
Second, I did the unthinkable - I went shopping at the mall to get something new to wear at Laura's Baccalaureate Dinner and her Graduation from Talbot. I also had to make a run to the Guitar Center to pick up some supplies for the Worship Band.
There's a lot of stuff going on at church with Christmas coming in eleven days.
The good news is that tomorrow is my last day of work for 2005 and eventhough I have a lot to get done before I leave after lunch, I'm looking forward to more than 2 weeks off.
Perhaps I'll blog more during vacation -it will give me more time to rant.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Cancelling Christmas and Other Rants
Christianity Today's Weblog reports on certain Megachurches cancelling their Sunday services that fall on Christmas Day this year. See the link to the articleshere. The reason given by these churches is that they want to allow their attenders to spend the Christmas holiday at home with their family rather than having to come out to a worship service at the church campus. My ABE forum buddies have been having their own rant on this one. Mostly the arguments against have centered around the megachurches' capitulation to our self-centered culture, the improper exaltation of family over the corporate worship of the Christ of Christmas. While I agree with some of these objections, my own rant has more to do with the annoying practice my church has of trying to combine the December 25th Sunday Service into one big celebration.
Quoting from my post there:
"All this togetherness by combining services is overrated in my book. It's also pretending (to any visitors) to be a church you're not the other 51 weeks of the year.
First, you have all the additional traffic caused by the twice a year C&E crowd that you try to shoehorn into one facility with the regulars from x number of different services. You end up setting up chairs in the aisles, standing or turning people away. Faithful Central Bible Church can do it, but then again they own the Great Western Forum (where the Lakers used to play). (In my church, that's potentially 500+ people into a facility that seats 400+.)
Second, for those of us with separate services with different styles in each service, you have a choice as worship planner of making the combined service a reflection of only one of the styles or of trying to mix the different styles together. Do really think that someone who's in love with choir, organ and traditional carols wants to hear the rock band play a City on a Hill "It's Christmas" number? Or vice versa? The previous combined services have the old folks plugging their ears (or walking out) while the band played at its normal sound level. If you try to blend the two, every last choir and musical group feels the need to present a number (or two), so we get the bell choir, the traditional choir, the children's choir, Sister So-and-so singing a solo (badly, sometimes), Brother Not-so-Talented playing his instrument that he hasn't touched all year trying to fit in with the band. Yikes!
Third, some people don't quite get the word that you're not having the same number of services you usually have at the times normally advertised. We get all kinds of people showing up at regular 1st service time, looking puzzled and confused when you tell them that for this week, the service is 45 minutes later. Same holds true for the people who show up with the combined service almost over thinking they're right on time for second service. Do you think those people are motivated to come back to your church the following week? This is not exactly the best foot forward to present to people who might just be open, by virtue of the season and the coming New Year, to giving church attendance(and possibly following Jesus) a try.
Some folks in my church just love the idea, particularly the ones that think that the only reason the Contemporary style worshippers don't attend the more traditional service is that they haven't yet tried it. The Staff and the CE workers like it because it's less work -one service to prepare for, no Sunday School. All this may be easier on the Pastor (only having to preach once) and some members may like the scrunched in feel (I don't). But remind me why this would be a good idea again?"
Quoting from my post there:
"All this togetherness by combining services is overrated in my book. It's also pretending (to any visitors) to be a church you're not the other 51 weeks of the year.
First, you have all the additional traffic caused by the twice a year C&E crowd that you try to shoehorn into one facility with the regulars from x number of different services. You end up setting up chairs in the aisles, standing or turning people away. Faithful Central Bible Church can do it, but then again they own the Great Western Forum (where the Lakers used to play). (In my church, that's potentially 500+ people into a facility that seats 400+.)
Second, for those of us with separate services with different styles in each service, you have a choice as worship planner of making the combined service a reflection of only one of the styles or of trying to mix the different styles together. Do really think that someone who's in love with choir, organ and traditional carols wants to hear the rock band play a City on a Hill "It's Christmas" number? Or vice versa? The previous combined services have the old folks plugging their ears (or walking out) while the band played at its normal sound level. If you try to blend the two, every last choir and musical group feels the need to present a number (or two), so we get the bell choir, the traditional choir, the children's choir, Sister So-and-so singing a solo (badly, sometimes), Brother Not-so-Talented playing his instrument that he hasn't touched all year trying to fit in with the band. Yikes!
Third, some people don't quite get the word that you're not having the same number of services you usually have at the times normally advertised. We get all kinds of people showing up at regular 1st service time, looking puzzled and confused when you tell them that for this week, the service is 45 minutes later. Same holds true for the people who show up with the combined service almost over thinking they're right on time for second service. Do you think those people are motivated to come back to your church the following week? This is not exactly the best foot forward to present to people who might just be open, by virtue of the season and the coming New Year, to giving church attendance(and possibly following Jesus) a try.
Some folks in my church just love the idea, particularly the ones that think that the only reason the Contemporary style worshippers don't attend the more traditional service is that they haven't yet tried it. The Staff and the CE workers like it because it's less work -one service to prepare for, no Sunday School. All this may be easier on the Pastor (only having to preach once) and some members may like the scrunched in feel (I don't). But remind me why this would be a good idea again?"
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Still More On The Journey From Hierarchicalism to Biblical Egalitarianism
One question that has been asked is what has your journey to egalitarianism meant to you in your ministry. The answer is complex because while I am doing more (teaching & leading High School students in Youth Ministry) than I would otherwise do with my hierarchical beliefs still intact, my home church has not yet adopted a leadership model that would provide equal opportunities for women.
Although my denomination (ABCUSA) has ordained women for more than 100 years and encouraged the full partipation of women in church life, my church has not embraced either practice in its 91 year history. The women who served in my church fifty years ago, in some ways, had more meaningful opportunities to serve. The church in those days operated with a dual board system - deacons and trustees, in which very powerful women led as trustees. They were referred to as Mother So-and-so and their word was law to men and women alike. For some reason unknown to me, the church, a few years later, switched to a single board of Deacons overseeing a system of committees which included a committee of Deaconesses. In the 60's and 70's, this Deaconess Committee were derisively called "The Cupcake Committee" due to their main duty of serving food at church socials. During the mid 80's, the Deaconesses began to move away from food service at socials to having more of an emphasis on their "hands on" ministry - counseling those who made decisions, ministering to the bereaved and the shut-in.
With the call of a Senior Pastor who identified himself as an egalitarian, women who desired an expanded role for themselves were hopeful that church polity would change. Unfortunately, a few powerful men expressed forceful opposition to even discussing the Biblical arguments (one particular "gentleman" stood up during a service where the pastor was teaching on the subject and shook his Bible at the pastor) and the will to "rock the boat" was lost. A subsequent attempt (by a committee I was on) to rewrite the Church Constitution and replace the Deacon/Committee structure with a co-ed ministry team, was single handedly crushed by one Deacon who was extremely opposed to women in minstry. When the pastor's wife was hired (with her PhD with Christian Education emphasis) to head the Christian Education Ministry she was called the Director. Eventhough her two predecessors were both called "pastor" and were ordained, neither option was even considered for her.
In the eight years since that pastor moved on and a new pastor came, the church has not made any more progress towards egalitarianism. Although during the 18 month interim, I was, as the Deaconess Chair, added to the Executive Committee (Senior Pastor, Deacon Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary) and allowed to attend Deacon meetings, my successor found such meetings "tiresome" and did not insist on continuing in those additional roles when the new Senior Pastor arrived. He readily admits that this is not "his issue" and would much prefer a Board of Elders making all the decisions anyway, moving away from strong congregational polity. Those on the present Deacon Board who have a strong opinion on the subject all seem to hold to a "traditional view" and would not allow woman as deacons, let alone elders. Their opinions seem ill-informed; most could not themselves point to any Scripture as prohibiting women from certain roles.
A few years ago, I queried one of my friends whose husband is a deacon, how the Board would react to my roommate's receiving her Masters of Divinity degree (which, BTW, she gets next week) knowing that 1) of all the staff, only the Senior Pastor himself would equal her training 2) every previous MDiv at our church has been, within the year after receiving the degree, been recommended to the region's ordination council. My friend's answer was that the Board will do nothing even if asked. She was certain of this because her husband was on the Board and they (she and her husband) did not believe in women pastors or their ordination. Their basis for this belief was their life-long experience in churches that had taught that as well.
Some might inquire as to why I'd remain in a non-egalitarian church. Well, for one reason, the grass isn't greener somewhere else. Many other churches in my area, including ones like mine with national pro-women policies, hold the same/similiar views on women as my own church home. Others have worship practices or doctrines I'd have a hard time adjusting to as a life-long Baptist. Still another reason is that I hold out hope for an eventual changing of the mind in my church; even staunch complementarians such as those my roommate encounters at Talbot, have softened their rhetoric on their position, allowing for the need to hear the voice of both genders. Against that though, is the re-emergence of traditional thought amongst the younger generations, but that's like playing "Bop the Prarie Dog" at Chuck E. Cheese's -you just have to whack it down when the thought pops up (although in the love of Jesus). I guess the final reason, is that for all its warts, my church is my home and God has not moved me anywhere else.
As I've stated before, I'm gonna do what God wants me to do and if He wants me to do something, nothing really can stand in my way. I truly believe that there will be a time when restricting women in ministry will be a ridiculous as restricting people in ministry due to race is now. One hundred years ago that restriction was not yet consigned to the "dust heap of history" as it is now. It's why I can wait.
Although my denomination (ABCUSA) has ordained women for more than 100 years and encouraged the full partipation of women in church life, my church has not embraced either practice in its 91 year history. The women who served in my church fifty years ago, in some ways, had more meaningful opportunities to serve. The church in those days operated with a dual board system - deacons and trustees, in which very powerful women led as trustees. They were referred to as Mother So-and-so and their word was law to men and women alike. For some reason unknown to me, the church, a few years later, switched to a single board of Deacons overseeing a system of committees which included a committee of Deaconesses. In the 60's and 70's, this Deaconess Committee were derisively called "The Cupcake Committee" due to their main duty of serving food at church socials. During the mid 80's, the Deaconesses began to move away from food service at socials to having more of an emphasis on their "hands on" ministry - counseling those who made decisions, ministering to the bereaved and the shut-in.
With the call of a Senior Pastor who identified himself as an egalitarian, women who desired an expanded role for themselves were hopeful that church polity would change. Unfortunately, a few powerful men expressed forceful opposition to even discussing the Biblical arguments (one particular "gentleman" stood up during a service where the pastor was teaching on the subject and shook his Bible at the pastor) and the will to "rock the boat" was lost. A subsequent attempt (by a committee I was on) to rewrite the Church Constitution and replace the Deacon/Committee structure with a co-ed ministry team, was single handedly crushed by one Deacon who was extremely opposed to women in minstry. When the pastor's wife was hired (with her PhD with Christian Education emphasis) to head the Christian Education Ministry she was called the Director. Eventhough her two predecessors were both called "pastor" and were ordained, neither option was even considered for her.
In the eight years since that pastor moved on and a new pastor came, the church has not made any more progress towards egalitarianism. Although during the 18 month interim, I was, as the Deaconess Chair, added to the Executive Committee (Senior Pastor, Deacon Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary) and allowed to attend Deacon meetings, my successor found such meetings "tiresome" and did not insist on continuing in those additional roles when the new Senior Pastor arrived. He readily admits that this is not "his issue" and would much prefer a Board of Elders making all the decisions anyway, moving away from strong congregational polity. Those on the present Deacon Board who have a strong opinion on the subject all seem to hold to a "traditional view" and would not allow woman as deacons, let alone elders. Their opinions seem ill-informed; most could not themselves point to any Scripture as prohibiting women from certain roles.
A few years ago, I queried one of my friends whose husband is a deacon, how the Board would react to my roommate's receiving her Masters of Divinity degree (which, BTW, she gets next week) knowing that 1) of all the staff, only the Senior Pastor himself would equal her training 2) every previous MDiv at our church has been, within the year after receiving the degree, been recommended to the region's ordination council. My friend's answer was that the Board will do nothing even if asked. She was certain of this because her husband was on the Board and they (she and her husband) did not believe in women pastors or their ordination. Their basis for this belief was their life-long experience in churches that had taught that as well.
Some might inquire as to why I'd remain in a non-egalitarian church. Well, for one reason, the grass isn't greener somewhere else. Many other churches in my area, including ones like mine with national pro-women policies, hold the same/similiar views on women as my own church home. Others have worship practices or doctrines I'd have a hard time adjusting to as a life-long Baptist. Still another reason is that I hold out hope for an eventual changing of the mind in my church; even staunch complementarians such as those my roommate encounters at Talbot, have softened their rhetoric on their position, allowing for the need to hear the voice of both genders. Against that though, is the re-emergence of traditional thought amongst the younger generations, but that's like playing "Bop the Prarie Dog" at Chuck E. Cheese's -you just have to whack it down when the thought pops up (although in the love of Jesus). I guess the final reason, is that for all its warts, my church is my home and God has not moved me anywhere else.
As I've stated before, I'm gonna do what God wants me to do and if He wants me to do something, nothing really can stand in my way. I truly believe that there will be a time when restricting women in ministry will be a ridiculous as restricting people in ministry due to race is now. One hundred years ago that restriction was not yet consigned to the "dust heap of history" as it is now. It's why I can wait.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
More On The Journey From Hierarchicalism to Biblical Egalitarianism
On The View From Her blog one of the posters asked me the question "what's the driving force behind the evangelical egalitarian movement?"
My Answer: "While I do not consider myself a spokeswoman for the entire evangelical egalitarian movement, I can answer briefly what drives me. God has called me to use my callings and gifts for His kingdom in the most effective way possible."
I cited my earlier post here about having to stand before God and give an account of my use of the "talent" entrusted to me by the Master.
What this means, as far as my ministry is concerned, is that I believe I am not limited to serving only in those roles traditionally considered "acceptable" for women - teaching children or other women, helping in the nursery or kitchen, writing notes of encouragement, visiting the sick, stuffing church bulletins, or polishing church furniture.
A traditionalist might ask why I wouldn't be content to perform any of the aforementioned tasks, but the simple reason you will rarely see me doing any of these is that I'm lousy at them. Not one of these activities is something that I have enjoyed doing or shown much gifting in.
Although I do believe that I have the gift of teaching, I never had much patience for teaching small children (eventhough I did it for about 4 years) and many of the women I have ministered with over the years have accused me of being too "intimidating" to have a credible small group or one-on-one ministry to women. The "intimidation" factor stems from my choice of career path and technological knowledge (engineering), my marital status (never-married single), my lack of having children and the fact that I am definitely not your average "foo-foo" gal- all of which leads to a lack of common ground with them and hence, "intimidation." I have instead been better off teaching High School and College students who do not expect me to be like them and are intimidated by an adult authority figure anyway. I prefer to work in groups with men at church because it's what I do all day at work anyway; I understand and speak their language (I often say that I'm truly bilingual -I speak both "man" and "woman" language).
So you see, if I were limited to so-called "women's work", I'd have very little to do for God's kingdom. I have seen women with gifts of preaching, gifts of exhortation, prophecy, the gift to pastor, to be an evangelist and they have used those gifts to edify both men AND women. Yet, we do not interpret God's Word by our experience and it must not contradict what God has already spoken.
To me the evidence that God intended women to remain on the sidelines in supporting roles while men did all the heavy lifting in the kingdom of God was not as compelling as the evidence for our working together, side by side as men and women. The Scriptures that seem to restrict women from certain roles can be argued as not being applicable beyond their specific cultural context by exegetes as faithful to the authority of God's Word as those opposed. We are told in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. Women are commended in the Bible for prophesying, teaching men (Priscilla teaching Apollos),and leading (Phoebe, Deborah). The Holy Spirit does not distribute gifts based on gender, but as He wills for purpose and glory of God.
To the man who asked me I said, "As a man you should be concerned with this subject[of Women in Ministry], because if you are wrong in holding a more restrictive role for women, you might be hindering the work of Christ. In any case, you should be fully convinced in your own mind of your position by the best evidence available and not merely influenced by preconceived notions of what 'you've always heard' about the role of women."
I invite every serious follower of Christ to accept this challenge, not necessarily to believe what I have said, but to study it for yourself and decide.
My Answer: "While I do not consider myself a spokeswoman for the entire evangelical egalitarian movement, I can answer briefly what drives me. God has called me to use my callings and gifts for His kingdom in the most effective way possible."
I cited my earlier post here about having to stand before God and give an account of my use of the "talent" entrusted to me by the Master.
What this means, as far as my ministry is concerned, is that I believe I am not limited to serving only in those roles traditionally considered "acceptable" for women - teaching children or other women, helping in the nursery or kitchen, writing notes of encouragement, visiting the sick, stuffing church bulletins, or polishing church furniture.
A traditionalist might ask why I wouldn't be content to perform any of the aforementioned tasks, but the simple reason you will rarely see me doing any of these is that I'm lousy at them. Not one of these activities is something that I have enjoyed doing or shown much gifting in.
Although I do believe that I have the gift of teaching, I never had much patience for teaching small children (eventhough I did it for about 4 years) and many of the women I have ministered with over the years have accused me of being too "intimidating" to have a credible small group or one-on-one ministry to women. The "intimidation" factor stems from my choice of career path and technological knowledge (engineering), my marital status (never-married single), my lack of having children and the fact that I am definitely not your average "foo-foo" gal- all of which leads to a lack of common ground with them and hence, "intimidation." I have instead been better off teaching High School and College students who do not expect me to be like them and are intimidated by an adult authority figure anyway. I prefer to work in groups with men at church because it's what I do all day at work anyway; I understand and speak their language (I often say that I'm truly bilingual -I speak both "man" and "woman" language).
So you see, if I were limited to so-called "women's work", I'd have very little to do for God's kingdom. I have seen women with gifts of preaching, gifts of exhortation, prophecy, the gift to pastor, to be an evangelist and they have used those gifts to edify both men AND women. Yet, we do not interpret God's Word by our experience and it must not contradict what God has already spoken.
To me the evidence that God intended women to remain on the sidelines in supporting roles while men did all the heavy lifting in the kingdom of God was not as compelling as the evidence for our working together, side by side as men and women. The Scriptures that seem to restrict women from certain roles can be argued as not being applicable beyond their specific cultural context by exegetes as faithful to the authority of God's Word as those opposed. We are told in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. Women are commended in the Bible for prophesying, teaching men (Priscilla teaching Apollos),and leading (Phoebe, Deborah). The Holy Spirit does not distribute gifts based on gender, but as He wills for purpose and glory of God.
To the man who asked me I said, "As a man you should be concerned with this subject[of Women in Ministry], because if you are wrong in holding a more restrictive role for women, you might be hindering the work of Christ. In any case, you should be fully convinced in your own mind of your position by the best evidence available and not merely influenced by preconceived notions of what 'you've always heard' about the role of women."
I invite every serious follower of Christ to accept this challenge, not necessarily to believe what I have said, but to study it for yourself and decide.
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Women in Ministry: The Journey From Hierarchicalism to Biblical Egalitarianism
Perhaps as a disclaimer on this subject of Women in Ministry, I should inform my readers that I was once a hierarchicalist (not even a Complementarian, as some Traditionalists prefer to be and are more accurately described) in my views as youngster. I had been highly influenced by my High School/College Pastor who had been a devotee of John MacArthur. The view was that women were not to minister to any male over the age of 12, not to teach, not to lead. As a young adult in my mid -twenties, I sought to have an overseas missionary stripped of her support by our church because she'd had the audacity to be ordained by my denomination and was then a Reverend. (Fortunately, I calmed down when they explained to me that it was so she could better serve the people "over there")
At first, I rebelled against the notion of a restriction; afterall, I had been a student leader and led worship in Junior High(everybody played in guitar and led worship in the group). In High School, all that stopped for all the girls even before we had that particular youth pastor. It didn't bother me too much, but then again I wasn't all that interested in following Jesus, anyway. When I finally did return to a serious commitment to Christ my Junior year in college, I wasn't quite concerned with ministry beyond my female peers, high school girls or small children. Eventhough I was studying engineering at CSULB, I was very much open to the idea of being a missionary with Campus Crusade or getting married and having kids.
My College/Singles Pastor's successor held nearly equally restrictive views on women in ministry so those ideas were reinforced in me even more. As the Lord changed my plans from both missionary work AND marriage (long story for another time and place), I began to move into my engineering career and into those "allowable" roles for me within the church. Around that same time, we had a change in our Senior Pastorate. One of my dear friends and mentor served on the search committee and had warned me that the candidate had "liberal views on women in ministry". "Aha", I thought, "I will skewer him."
I remember pointing my little finger at him during the "meet the Senior Pastor Candidate Q&A" and asking how he could be such a heretic to hold that women could be pastors. He challenged me to read "the other side" that was held by men and women who believed in biblical authority as much as I claimed to. If you know me at all, this was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. A half dozen books later (books by Catherine Clark Kroeger, Rebecca Groothius, Alvera Mickelsen, Craig Keener, to name a few) and I was strongly egalitarian.
Although there were many persuasive biblical arguments on both sides, one of the most spiritually compelling for me at the time was found in Kari Torjesen Malcom's "Women At The Crossroads". Ms. Malcom, who grew up as a missionary in a foreign country, posited the idea, quoting Fredrik Franson, founder of The Evangelical Alliance Mission, that it was to Satan's advantage and perhaps even his strategy to convince two-thirds of the converted world in the church of Jesus Christ (the women) to be "exclude[d]...from participation in the Lord's service through evangelization. The loss for God's cause is so great that it can hardly be described." Such a waste not to utilize their (& our)spiritual giftedness to the utmost out of a fear of potentially disobeying the Lord's intended order for the church.
I looked at this situation in light of Jesus' parable of the talents, where the harshest rebuke was reserved for the wicked servant who, instead of risking his talent in an investment for his master, buried it in the ground. His "excuse" for not doing anything was basically "I didn't want to do anything that would get you mad at me if I made a wrong choice"; that didn't fly with the master at all.
If people who are honestly committed to following Jesus and faithfully upholding His Word can both, in good conscience, disagree, then I will take the risk, doing as much as I feel called and gifted to do by His grace. If when I stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and find that I have overstepped the role He assigned to me, I will accept that my deeds for Him will burn as wood, hay and stubble. I shudder to think of the disapproval for me and others who haven't been all we could be if I am correct, though. It's kind of a "Here I stand, I can do no other' position.
Since then of course, I have read even more on the subject that reinforces my "conversion"; yet, I think like everything else we believe, there are those moments when we decide to stake out a position and little can be done to move us out of it. If I had adopted my position by ignoring biblical authority , as some who promote practicing homosexual clergy are intent to do, I would be in grave peril and would fear the very idea of posting my thoughts.
At first, I rebelled against the notion of a restriction; afterall, I had been a student leader and led worship in Junior High(everybody played in guitar and led worship in the group). In High School, all that stopped for all the girls even before we had that particular youth pastor. It didn't bother me too much, but then again I wasn't all that interested in following Jesus, anyway. When I finally did return to a serious commitment to Christ my Junior year in college, I wasn't quite concerned with ministry beyond my female peers, high school girls or small children. Eventhough I was studying engineering at CSULB, I was very much open to the idea of being a missionary with Campus Crusade or getting married and having kids.
My College/Singles Pastor's successor held nearly equally restrictive views on women in ministry so those ideas were reinforced in me even more. As the Lord changed my plans from both missionary work AND marriage (long story for another time and place), I began to move into my engineering career and into those "allowable" roles for me within the church. Around that same time, we had a change in our Senior Pastorate. One of my dear friends and mentor served on the search committee and had warned me that the candidate had "liberal views on women in ministry". "Aha", I thought, "I will skewer him."
I remember pointing my little finger at him during the "meet the Senior Pastor Candidate Q&A" and asking how he could be such a heretic to hold that women could be pastors. He challenged me to read "the other side" that was held by men and women who believed in biblical authority as much as I claimed to. If you know me at all, this was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. A half dozen books later (books by Catherine Clark Kroeger, Rebecca Groothius, Alvera Mickelsen, Craig Keener, to name a few) and I was strongly egalitarian.
Although there were many persuasive biblical arguments on both sides, one of the most spiritually compelling for me at the time was found in Kari Torjesen Malcom's "Women At The Crossroads". Ms. Malcom, who grew up as a missionary in a foreign country, posited the idea, quoting Fredrik Franson, founder of The Evangelical Alliance Mission, that it was to Satan's advantage and perhaps even his strategy to convince two-thirds of the converted world in the church of Jesus Christ (the women) to be "exclude[d]...from participation in the Lord's service through evangelization. The loss for God's cause is so great that it can hardly be described." Such a waste not to utilize their (& our)spiritual giftedness to the utmost out of a fear of potentially disobeying the Lord's intended order for the church.
I looked at this situation in light of Jesus' parable of the talents, where the harshest rebuke was reserved for the wicked servant who, instead of risking his talent in an investment for his master, buried it in the ground. His "excuse" for not doing anything was basically "I didn't want to do anything that would get you mad at me if I made a wrong choice"; that didn't fly with the master at all.
If people who are honestly committed to following Jesus and faithfully upholding His Word can both, in good conscience, disagree, then I will take the risk, doing as much as I feel called and gifted to do by His grace. If when I stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and find that I have overstepped the role He assigned to me, I will accept that my deeds for Him will burn as wood, hay and stubble. I shudder to think of the disapproval for me and others who haven't been all we could be if I am correct, though. It's kind of a "Here I stand, I can do no other' position.
Since then of course, I have read even more on the subject that reinforces my "conversion"; yet, I think like everything else we believe, there are those moments when we decide to stake out a position and little can be done to move us out of it. If I had adopted my position by ignoring biblical authority , as some who promote practicing homosexual clergy are intent to do, I would be in grave peril and would fear the very idea of posting my thoughts.
Friday, November 25, 2005
Reflections of a Single Parent
The following is an excerpt from a friend's email to me. With her permission I have published it here as she does not yet have her own blog.
"It's amazing through all of the disappointment of my failed marriage, to this day I struggle to find where my former husband was any kind of a leader, provider or protector of our family, but I simply can't. Divorce recovery takes a long time and I hope some day I will be able to help our growing community of single parent families. If I try to do that now I would simply be taking away time from [my daughter] and that is not an option. Alas, my heart is the right place for knowing there is a ministry for me to help, but my young daughter absolutely comes first. I love that my priority is in the right place and in the meatime I will be out there getting better educated on the subject.
What is amazing throughout the last several years is that regardless of those moments of self-pity (sorry), I always came back to the fact that Jesus Christ is the leader, protector and provider of my family, He loves me more than I imagine, and He is the best most compassionate friend when I confess my struggles to Him.
I read the site connections as well about how singles are viewed as temptations or threats. While I agree that is an ugly reality for singles, I'm not sure that includes single mothers. Single mothers seem to be kept socially at a long arm's length because their needs are so great and they are viewed as burdens, and I don't believe the same prejudices are held for single fathers. Social conversations with single moms after church are often short and sugar-coated so [my child] doesn't come across as a burden, and not lose the little amount of socialization she gets. Beyond that, there is no denying [that with]the demands of {my daughter's} day, marrieds and [those with] extended families are better able to manage .
I remember an email I got a few months ago from our Brownie Troop leader regarding a mandatory parent meeting at 8:30 on a Thursday night and the message read "only one parent need attend". Ooh, shamefully I did not take the high road in my reply: "Since I AM the only parent, 8:30PM is out of the question". This is the same mom that gave me grief last year and said that she works too (2 days a week).I have a long way to go! I don't mind my walk alone with Jesus Christ, it's actually a sweet place to be because He is the most wonderful constant in my life.
I have been subject of strange behavior and conversations lately, though. It's been three years and I have finally, quietly let my coworkers [be]aware of the situation. I wish I hadn't said anything but the interjections here and there about my spouse, when there is none, were getting old. One of the guys means well but cannot keep his mouth shut and since he has spurted out some weird comments. Another guy, who was my boss at [my former company] and didn't realize the situation, went on a rant about how he was offered an opportunity to consider managing an estimating department out in [another site, going] on and on about how the entire department was nothing but single mothers and what a hassle that would be. There are a lot of demands on single mothers and I'm sorry that our status implies we too are a such a hassle! No matter what our status is, there are perceptions far and wide. You really didn't need that raise or promotion - you don't have a family to support!
The director of education [of my church] finally replied this week and said my note made her think again about how to reach single parent families and singles in general in our congregation. Whatever happens, it won't happen over night..."
"It's amazing through all of the disappointment of my failed marriage, to this day I struggle to find where my former husband was any kind of a leader, provider or protector of our family, but I simply can't. Divorce recovery takes a long time and I hope some day I will be able to help our growing community of single parent families. If I try to do that now I would simply be taking away time from [my daughter] and that is not an option. Alas, my heart is the right place for knowing there is a ministry for me to help, but my young daughter absolutely comes first. I love that my priority is in the right place and in the meatime I will be out there getting better educated on the subject.
What is amazing throughout the last several years is that regardless of those moments of self-pity (sorry), I always came back to the fact that Jesus Christ is the leader, protector and provider of my family, He loves me more than I imagine, and He is the best most compassionate friend when I confess my struggles to Him.
I read the site connections as well about how singles are viewed as temptations or threats. While I agree that is an ugly reality for singles, I'm not sure that includes single mothers. Single mothers seem to be kept socially at a long arm's length because their needs are so great and they are viewed as burdens, and I don't believe the same prejudices are held for single fathers. Social conversations with single moms after church are often short and sugar-coated so [my child] doesn't come across as a burden, and not lose the little amount of socialization she gets. Beyond that, there is no denying [that with]the demands of {my daughter's} day, marrieds and [those with] extended families are better able to manage .
I remember an email I got a few months ago from our Brownie Troop leader regarding a mandatory parent meeting at 8:30 on a Thursday night and the message read "only one parent need attend". Ooh, shamefully I did not take the high road in my reply: "Since I AM the only parent, 8:30PM is out of the question". This is the same mom that gave me grief last year and said that she works too (2 days a week).I have a long way to go! I don't mind my walk alone with Jesus Christ, it's actually a sweet place to be because He is the most wonderful constant in my life.
I have been subject of strange behavior and conversations lately, though. It's been three years and I have finally, quietly let my coworkers [be]aware of the situation. I wish I hadn't said anything but the interjections here and there about my spouse, when there is none, were getting old. One of the guys means well but cannot keep his mouth shut and since he has spurted out some weird comments. Another guy, who was my boss at [my former company] and didn't realize the situation, went on a rant about how he was offered an opportunity to consider managing an estimating department out in [another site, going] on and on about how the entire department was nothing but single mothers and what a hassle that would be. There are a lot of demands on single mothers and I'm sorry that our status implies we too are a such a hassle! No matter what our status is, there are perceptions far and wide. You really didn't need that raise or promotion - you don't have a family to support!
The director of education [of my church] finally replied this week and said my note made her think again about how to reach single parent families and singles in general in our congregation. Whatever happens, it won't happen over night..."
Thursday, November 24, 2005
The Search for Me
Recently, I challenged one of my young friends who is a denizen of the My Space form of blogging to try to find my own My Space site. I established a fairly anonymous one to better observe my high school students's postings (see my comments on a previous post - Blogging for God? as to why.) I have told my students that I do this as a means to remind them that they never know who might be reading their sites and "would you feel comfortable knowing your Sunday School teacher is?"
Anyway, the challenge expanded to also discover my Xanga site (which I use to communicate with a missionary friend) and this one. Should she find all three, I am to reward her with her favorite Starbucks beverage. So far, it has provided a worthy challenge for her, so we shall see.
One reason that is difficult for her at all is that I do not use my last name anywhere within the blogs. I do this for various reasons -the nature of my work and the culture of my company, the fact that I am a single woman. I also have a unique last name that less than 100 people in the USA share. When I had some outstanding blessings enter my life last year, my name was "splashed" over the national television, print and internet media. This led to numerous letters, phone calls and e-mails from folks who had easily found me knowing only my name and city, people I did not know from Adam, deciding that I needed to share my blessings with them. Despite Andy Warhol's claim that people only get 15 minutes of fame, my identity is still out there to be Googled and found for years to come.
So dear friends in the blogworld, now you know more about the mysterious Ann.
Anyway, the challenge expanded to also discover my Xanga site (which I use to communicate with a missionary friend) and this one. Should she find all three, I am to reward her with her favorite Starbucks beverage. So far, it has provided a worthy challenge for her, so we shall see.
One reason that is difficult for her at all is that I do not use my last name anywhere within the blogs. I do this for various reasons -the nature of my work and the culture of my company, the fact that I am a single woman. I also have a unique last name that less than 100 people in the USA share. When I had some outstanding blessings enter my life last year, my name was "splashed" over the national television, print and internet media. This led to numerous letters, phone calls and e-mails from folks who had easily found me knowing only my name and city, people I did not know from Adam, deciding that I needed to share my blessings with them. Despite Andy Warhol's claim that people only get 15 minutes of fame, my identity is still out there to be Googled and found for years to come.
So dear friends in the blogworld, now you know more about the mysterious Ann.
Monday, November 21, 2005
Thanksgiving
Yesterday, our first service worship leader Mark, was relating how Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday because it was the only one of the major religious holidays (Christmas and Easter being the other two) that hadn't been completely hijacked by crass secular materialism. There is no corresponding Santa Claus or Easter Bunny figure for the holiday and even the most non-religious person will, prior to indulging in the gluttonous feast, offer some words of "thanks". (to Whom? is the real question)
I do love Thanksgiving as well, but perhaps for a slightly different reason. Yes, I love the pure ectasy of eating turkey with all the trimmings and the pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top, but I also love the best sense of family that came with the holiday. Some of my fondest memories of childhood are of Thanksgivings long ago.
For more than half of my life, Thanksgiving meant putting extra leaves in the dining table either at my Grandmother's or in later years, our house. It meant the heavenly smells of my Grandmother's baking cornbread and biscuits in the days preceding so that she could make her cornbread stuffing. It meant walking around the Antelope Valley (where my grandparents lived) in the cold, crispy autumn air. But it also meant the odd assortment of relatives and guests that would arrive for this splendid feast - sometimes it was my mom's relatives, but mostly it was just my immediate family and the grandparents.
When the celebration moved to our house in Torrance, the place settings became more numerous, as my dad's sister and paternal grandmother where added along with friends, boyfriends, girlfriends and other "orphaned" souls. I remember the first year that both my grandmothers were in the kitchen at the same time and how Grandma (paternal GM) was quizzing/challenging Grandmother (maternal GM) on all the whats and wherefores of her giblet gravy.
After my mother became sick, my younger sister assumed the mantle (still with deference to Grandmother's leadership) of cooking the Thanksgiving meal until she got married. With my mom gone and Grandmother in a nursing home with dementia, we lost our tradition for a while - even going to Grandma's or my dad's sister's was definitely not the same -until my sister divorced and subsequently bought her own home. She then again began hosting "The Big Meal", thinking nothing of inviting 20+ guests. She invites friends and friends of friends, family members and their family members that are no relation to us. It is different but she always pays homage to Thanksgivings of the past, sometimes intentionally by announcing that she's using Grandmother's recipe for stuffing or gravy. To the "real" family though there is a much more subtle reminder of our childhood Thanksgivings, Susie's dining room table and chairs were Grandmother's, the very one that we would put the extra leaves on Thanksgiving for all those years.
I do love Thanksgiving as well, but perhaps for a slightly different reason. Yes, I love the pure ectasy of eating turkey with all the trimmings and the pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top, but I also love the best sense of family that came with the holiday. Some of my fondest memories of childhood are of Thanksgivings long ago.
For more than half of my life, Thanksgiving meant putting extra leaves in the dining table either at my Grandmother's or in later years, our house. It meant the heavenly smells of my Grandmother's baking cornbread and biscuits in the days preceding so that she could make her cornbread stuffing. It meant walking around the Antelope Valley (where my grandparents lived) in the cold, crispy autumn air. But it also meant the odd assortment of relatives and guests that would arrive for this splendid feast - sometimes it was my mom's relatives, but mostly it was just my immediate family and the grandparents.
When the celebration moved to our house in Torrance, the place settings became more numerous, as my dad's sister and paternal grandmother where added along with friends, boyfriends, girlfriends and other "orphaned" souls. I remember the first year that both my grandmothers were in the kitchen at the same time and how Grandma (paternal GM) was quizzing/challenging Grandmother (maternal GM) on all the whats and wherefores of her giblet gravy.
After my mother became sick, my younger sister assumed the mantle (still with deference to Grandmother's leadership) of cooking the Thanksgiving meal until she got married. With my mom gone and Grandmother in a nursing home with dementia, we lost our tradition for a while - even going to Grandma's or my dad's sister's was definitely not the same -until my sister divorced and subsequently bought her own home. She then again began hosting "The Big Meal", thinking nothing of inviting 20+ guests. She invites friends and friends of friends, family members and their family members that are no relation to us. It is different but she always pays homage to Thanksgivings of the past, sometimes intentionally by announcing that she's using Grandmother's recipe for stuffing or gravy. To the "real" family though there is a much more subtle reminder of our childhood Thanksgivings, Susie's dining room table and chairs were Grandmother's, the very one that we would put the extra leaves on Thanksgiving for all those years.
Saturday, November 19, 2005
A Bit of Personal Good News
Forgive me for this piece of vanity.
This week, my boss calls me in to let me know I've received a promotion and a raise. In company lingo, I am now a level 5!!! Eventhough my salary is still a ways behind most of my peers, I feel much better knowing that management made an effort to rectify my situation. (Others have attributed "my situation" to my gender or the fact that I have never jumped from job to job.) Whatever the cause, it was a little frustrating knowing I was performing the same job as a "5" but for 20% less than he (most of all them are "hes" in my line of work) is making.
And for those that thought I should be glad to "suffer" because I am a single Christian woman and afterall, "you're a single woman -you don't need as much as a married man supporting a family"(Believe me I've heard that, but if the company practiced that openly, it would have serious legal consequences -that sort of practice is against the law.), here's a thought- my male Christian co-workers aren't paid less than their peers. As for my suffering in silence as a Christian, I have mostly been silent, complaining once a year to my boss when he hands my "better than average percentage raise" which I know dollar-wise is still less than what the guy with the larger base salary got with his average percent boost. The gap between us worker bees just got bigger.
The EETimes has published their annual salary survey if you're curious, BUT I would warn those paid by non-profit organizations not to look. Although I have never met an engineer in the profession for the money (you're better off going to B school if that's what motivates you), EE salary is a direct reflection of how valued you are by your company. We are often seen as expensive pieces of equipment to be moved around as needed - the company tells those in our management as much. To be of lesser value is a very bad thing -why not replace you with a "newer" model if you need to be cheap?
This week, my boss calls me in to let me know I've received a promotion and a raise. In company lingo, I am now a level 5!!! Eventhough my salary is still a ways behind most of my peers, I feel much better knowing that management made an effort to rectify my situation. (Others have attributed "my situation" to my gender or the fact that I have never jumped from job to job.) Whatever the cause, it was a little frustrating knowing I was performing the same job as a "5" but for 20% less than he (most of all them are "hes" in my line of work) is making.
And for those that thought I should be glad to "suffer" because I am a single Christian woman and afterall, "you're a single woman -you don't need as much as a married man supporting a family"(Believe me I've heard that, but if the company practiced that openly, it would have serious legal consequences -that sort of practice is against the law.), here's a thought- my male Christian co-workers aren't paid less than their peers. As for my suffering in silence as a Christian, I have mostly been silent, complaining once a year to my boss when he hands my "better than average percentage raise" which I know dollar-wise is still less than what the guy with the larger base salary got with his average percent boost. The gap between us worker bees just got bigger.
The EETimes has published their annual salary survey if you're curious, BUT I would warn those paid by non-profit organizations not to look. Although I have never met an engineer in the profession for the money (you're better off going to B school if that's what motivates you), EE salary is a direct reflection of how valued you are by your company. We are often seen as expensive pieces of equipment to be moved around as needed - the company tells those in our management as much. To be of lesser value is a very bad thing -why not replace you with a "newer" model if you need to be cheap?
More On The Church & Singleness
I had a second response to yet another person's rant but I deleted the e-mail. This gal had abandonded the Church (for her this was the Roman Catholic Church) as it had "nothing to offer singles" and was dominated by out-of-touch male priests.
I empathized with her, although I am not Roman Catholic but pointed out that some of her difficulties were not caused by adherence to Scriptural teaching, but to cultural ideas. My previous blog description of the de-facto ostracization of singles by marrieds in the church is not sanctioned by the Biblical text and is in fact contrary to the way Christ would have us treat one another.
Besides the fact that the RCC elevates marriage to one of her Holy Sacraments and the Church offering holy orders for the religious Catholic single, it has no room for the divorced Catholic since re-marriage within the Church without an annulment is verboten. Obviously Catholic Singles ministry is limited to the never married or widowed single.
The Protestants do not have the same theology for a celebate priesthood, a sacramental marriage conveying sanctifying grace or an anathema for the divorcee.Yet being an Evangelical all my life has not led me to believe that we treat singles much better.
What can't we see that our unquestioning embrace of offensive Christian traditions causes unbelievers to turn away from the very place they need the most? I'm not talking about the Gospel or Jesus, non-Christians should be offended by the Cross. I'm talking about non-Christian singles being turned off by the Church's idolatry of marriage.
We seem to forget that we serve the Single Man from Nazareth.
I empathized with her, although I am not Roman Catholic but pointed out that some of her difficulties were not caused by adherence to Scriptural teaching, but to cultural ideas. My previous blog description of the de-facto ostracization of singles by marrieds in the church is not sanctioned by the Biblical text and is in fact contrary to the way Christ would have us treat one another.
Besides the fact that the RCC elevates marriage to one of her Holy Sacraments and the Church offering holy orders for the religious Catholic single, it has no room for the divorced Catholic since re-marriage within the Church without an annulment is verboten. Obviously Catholic Singles ministry is limited to the never married or widowed single.
The Protestants do not have the same theology for a celebate priesthood, a sacramental marriage conveying sanctifying grace or an anathema for the divorcee.Yet being an Evangelical all my life has not led me to believe that we treat singles much better.
What can't we see that our unquestioning embrace of offensive Christian traditions causes unbelievers to turn away from the very place they need the most? I'm not talking about the Gospel or Jesus, non-Christians should be offended by the Cross. I'm talking about non-Christian singles being turned off by the Church's idolatry of marriage.
We seem to forget that we serve the Single Man from Nazareth.
Friday, November 18, 2005
The Church & Single Adults
I have a friend who recently was "ranting" on the sorry way that the Church reaches out to singles particularly single parents. This is my response:
I hear you… the Church as a whole is quite poor in how they minister to singles in general, single parents in particular. The difficulty arises in that they elevate the two parent family beyond what is intended in the New Testament church. Marriage is preferred to singleness (although Paul states that singleness is the preferred condition for those serving the Lord) and couples are "pushed" into marriages before either partner is ready because they don't want to be labelled "old maids". Once the couple gets married, the church busybodies want to know when they are going to have children- childless couples are looked down upon in the same manner as singles as "an aberration" in the Church family. Unfortunately, our society as a whole has created hyper-sexualized "adults" who are emotionally still adolescents at age 25, who in turn get married (in the Church, the only biblically acceptable outlet for sexuality) and have kids. No wonder, the divorce rate for evangelical Christians mirrors the rate for the unchurched. Regardless of the number of single parents actually in the church, the numbers in our community are exploding.
That being said, because the Church has this over-idealized vision of family, anyone not conforming to this ideal is forced to fend for themselves. Divorced persons, particularly women, tend to lose not only the financial stability of marriage, but also the support network of friendships and Church relationships (small groups, Sunday School classes, fellowship groups which might be geared for couples). Related to that is near certainty that the economic loss related to the divorce settlement forces one or both parties to relocate out of their church community area to a more affordable one. This causes the Church to view divorcees as transients in the church community.
Ministry to single parents must by necessity be intentional and incorporational into the larger body. The trends of the last thirty years has been to carve out specialized ministries to singles as an answer to perceived "felt" needs; this has led to a "ghettoization" of singles/single parents away from the church body as a whole. My feeling is that while it is good to offer additional assistance (parenting helps, support groups, divorce recovery, financial training), segregating singles away from marrieds is neither healthy nor good for the Body of Christ. Ideally, loving brothers and sisters would come alongside the newly single and their family -men acting as "big brothers" to fatherless sons and daughters. I am also of a mind that those who lead ministries must have a particular passion for the group they are ministering to/with rather than filling a "slot".
I commend you for wanting to do something about it (when you have time) but realize that very few outside your own circumstances will even see the need as you do because of the reasons I've mentioned -that may include your education director. I would recommend that you begin praying to find some like-minded folks with whom you could start to build a ministry at your church. Don't just look for other single parents, but also perhaps some married people that have a heart for reaching out in this way. After you have established a core group of quality potential leaders (5-8), begin networking within the congregation to find those who would like to be a part of it. Advertise in your bulletin or newsletter. Above all, fight the notion that divorced people need to have their "own" exclusive ministry, separate from the rest of the body -it should be a subset, not an appendage to the congregation. Churches that reach out with the goal of making everyone a part of their community in this way are the ones that are healthy and growing.
I hear you… the Church as a whole is quite poor in how they minister to singles in general, single parents in particular. The difficulty arises in that they elevate the two parent family beyond what is intended in the New Testament church. Marriage is preferred to singleness (although Paul states that singleness is the preferred condition for those serving the Lord) and couples are "pushed" into marriages before either partner is ready because they don't want to be labelled "old maids". Once the couple gets married, the church busybodies want to know when they are going to have children- childless couples are looked down upon in the same manner as singles as "an aberration" in the Church family. Unfortunately, our society as a whole has created hyper-sexualized "adults" who are emotionally still adolescents at age 25, who in turn get married (in the Church, the only biblically acceptable outlet for sexuality) and have kids. No wonder, the divorce rate for evangelical Christians mirrors the rate for the unchurched. Regardless of the number of single parents actually in the church, the numbers in our community are exploding.
That being said, because the Church has this over-idealized vision of family, anyone not conforming to this ideal is forced to fend for themselves. Divorced persons, particularly women, tend to lose not only the financial stability of marriage, but also the support network of friendships and Church relationships (small groups, Sunday School classes, fellowship groups which might be geared for couples). Related to that is near certainty that the economic loss related to the divorce settlement forces one or both parties to relocate out of their church community area to a more affordable one. This causes the Church to view divorcees as transients in the church community.
Ministry to single parents must by necessity be intentional and incorporational into the larger body. The trends of the last thirty years has been to carve out specialized ministries to singles as an answer to perceived "felt" needs; this has led to a "ghettoization" of singles/single parents away from the church body as a whole. My feeling is that while it is good to offer additional assistance (parenting helps, support groups, divorce recovery, financial training), segregating singles away from marrieds is neither healthy nor good for the Body of Christ. Ideally, loving brothers and sisters would come alongside the newly single and their family -men acting as "big brothers" to fatherless sons and daughters. I am also of a mind that those who lead ministries must have a particular passion for the group they are ministering to/with rather than filling a "slot".
I commend you for wanting to do something about it (when you have time) but realize that very few outside your own circumstances will even see the need as you do because of the reasons I've mentioned -that may include your education director. I would recommend that you begin praying to find some like-minded folks with whom you could start to build a ministry at your church. Don't just look for other single parents, but also perhaps some married people that have a heart for reaching out in this way. After you have established a core group of quality potential leaders (5-8), begin networking within the congregation to find those who would like to be a part of it. Advertise in your bulletin or newsletter. Above all, fight the notion that divorced people need to have their "own" exclusive ministry, separate from the rest of the body -it should be a subset, not an appendage to the congregation. Churches that reach out with the goal of making everyone a part of their community in this way are the ones that are healthy and growing.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Gus
I have a cat named Gus (actually it's short for Augustus, as in Augustus Caesar). Gus is a 15 year old Ginger Tabby - Laura has a picture of him posted on her blog. Poor Gus hasn't been feeling too well lately, the doctor says his liver function is off ; he thinks it is Cholagiohepatitis (a liver infection) so right now he's on two kinds of anti-biotics and Prednasone. He's back home after a stay at the animal hospital where they attempted to find out what all was wrong with him. X-rays didn't show anything but the doc's concerned that he might have an intestinal tumor. I'm hestitant to have the doctor do too much more as that might require surgery on the old boy and there is not much we would do anyway for a kitty of such an advanced age. His brother Julius (died 7 years ago from kidney failure) was treated very aggressively for his Lymphoma when he was diagnosed at age 2. Of course Julius was young and had health insurance so the chemo treatments were not extraordinary care - the biggest hassle was taking him down to the OC for treatment. A dear lady (now in heaven herself) prayed for my kitty to be healed of cancer and he was. What that taught me was that no concern is too small to bring before the Lord and He cares about the things that concern us.
So if you feel like praying for my furry friend Gus, go for it.
So if you feel like praying for my furry friend Gus, go for it.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
A Critique on Modern Feminism
A friend forwarded a copy of Maureen Dowd's column "What's a Modern Girl to Do?" and asked for comments.
The following is my response:
As usual, MoDo can certainly describe the symptoms of the disease, but she can never quite get at its root cause.
The feminist movement's greatest flaw was not that they wanted to have it all or even be just like men, but that they wanted to have all these things and more stripped of traditional morality.
In rejecting Judeo-Christian mores as an artifact of patriarchy, they also jettisoned its demand for virtue, loyalty, fidelity and chastity.
The modern feminists embraced "sexual liberation" with the Pill and abortion on demand as the means to true freedom and fulfillment. Some said you didn't need a man at all for sexual satisfaction and embraced lesbianism as the means to their fulfillment. You don't even need a man in your life to get pregnant; just go down to the sperm bank and make a withdrawl. The lie of "Sex and The City", Cosmo, Playboy/Playgirl is that you can go from one meaningless sexual encounter to another without consequences. Sure, maybe these gals don't get an STD or have an unplanned pregnancy, but in treating and then trading sex as a commidity, they have helped to stigmatize women as sex objects. In rejecting the notion that men and women are "image-bearers" of a Holy Creator, humans are reduced to mere animals, subjected to their evolutionary cravings. When you don't have a Transcendent Being defining who you are, you are left confused and rudderless. How does a man know who is supposed to be, how is he to treat and care for a woman (and his children) if we are each just a law unto ourselves, the mere product of our DNA?
It's why people look to books for guidance such as the ones mentioned in this article, "How to Get A Man", "The Rules". People look to something outside themselves to tell them how to think and behave because if we don't get it right, we'll have a crummy life on this planet.
To get at the root cause, we must look at the original purpose that God put man and woman in this world. He placed them here to fill, subdue and rule the world together- both the male and the female, both equally made in the image of God. It was the entrance of sin into the world that upset the design. The curse on man to have to work for a living in "painful toil" all the days of his life, while to the woman, He gave pain in childbearing. To them both, He gave marital turmoil, "Your desire will be for your husband (literally to be the one in control, including sexually) and he will [try] to rule over you." [italics and emphasis, mine]
As a Christian, I believe that Christ came to remove the effects of the Curse and that He shows us a more excellent way to live as men and women in relationship with one another. We are to "consider the needs of others as more important than our own", we are to practice mutual submission to one another out of respect for Christ. We are to reflect the Fruit of the Spirit -love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If we were to practice these things and not give into our selfish wants and desires thould be no "battle of the sexes", no sexism, no hedonistic lifestyles. Men would know who they are and not feel threatened by more successful wives. Women would know that their husbands would not be replacing them with younger, Maxim type models because inner beauty would be more highly prized than outer beauty.
My suggestions are not advocating a Theocracy where the women suddenly become second class citizens; true feminism, especially as advocated in the 19th century, was often led by very godly women who sought to have society reflect their biblical egalitarian principles and was only later hijacked by the godless hedonists of the latter 20th century. Unfortunately, all society now reaps the so-called benefits sown by the Friedans, Steinems and Helen Gurley Browns of that generation.
The following is my response:
As usual, MoDo can certainly describe the symptoms of the disease, but she can never quite get at its root cause.
The feminist movement's greatest flaw was not that they wanted to have it all or even be just like men, but that they wanted to have all these things and more stripped of traditional morality.
In rejecting Judeo-Christian mores as an artifact of patriarchy, they also jettisoned its demand for virtue, loyalty, fidelity and chastity.
The modern feminists embraced "sexual liberation" with the Pill and abortion on demand as the means to true freedom and fulfillment. Some said you didn't need a man at all for sexual satisfaction and embraced lesbianism as the means to their fulfillment. You don't even need a man in your life to get pregnant; just go down to the sperm bank and make a withdrawl. The lie of "Sex and The City", Cosmo, Playboy/Playgirl is that you can go from one meaningless sexual encounter to another without consequences. Sure, maybe these gals don't get an STD or have an unplanned pregnancy, but in treating and then trading sex as a commidity, they have helped to stigmatize women as sex objects. In rejecting the notion that men and women are "image-bearers" of a Holy Creator, humans are reduced to mere animals, subjected to their evolutionary cravings. When you don't have a Transcendent Being defining who you are, you are left confused and rudderless. How does a man know who is supposed to be, how is he to treat and care for a woman (and his children) if we are each just a law unto ourselves, the mere product of our DNA?
It's why people look to books for guidance such as the ones mentioned in this article, "How to Get A Man", "The Rules". People look to something outside themselves to tell them how to think and behave because if we don't get it right, we'll have a crummy life on this planet.
To get at the root cause, we must look at the original purpose that God put man and woman in this world. He placed them here to fill, subdue and rule the world together- both the male and the female, both equally made in the image of God. It was the entrance of sin into the world that upset the design. The curse on man to have to work for a living in "painful toil" all the days of his life, while to the woman, He gave pain in childbearing. To them both, He gave marital turmoil, "Your desire will be for your husband (literally to be the one in control, including sexually) and he will [try] to rule over you." [italics and emphasis, mine]
As a Christian, I believe that Christ came to remove the effects of the Curse and that He shows us a more excellent way to live as men and women in relationship with one another. We are to "consider the needs of others as more important than our own", we are to practice mutual submission to one another out of respect for Christ. We are to reflect the Fruit of the Spirit -love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If we were to practice these things and not give into our selfish wants and desires thould be no "battle of the sexes", no sexism, no hedonistic lifestyles. Men would know who they are and not feel threatened by more successful wives. Women would know that their husbands would not be replacing them with younger, Maxim type models because inner beauty would be more highly prized than outer beauty.
My suggestions are not advocating a Theocracy where the women suddenly become second class citizens; true feminism, especially as advocated in the 19th century, was often led by very godly women who sought to have society reflect their biblical egalitarian principles and was only later hijacked by the godless hedonists of the latter 20th century. Unfortunately, all society now reaps the so-called benefits sown by the Friedans, Steinems and Helen Gurley Browns of that generation.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sick Again
So now I have a cold. This year has not been a good one health-wise. In January I came down with the flu and would've been sick longer had it not been for the Tamiflu medicine. I've missed days due to my back, my ears (tinitus), my lungs (bronchitis), my head (migraines). While some of these are more prevalent due to the fact I'm becoming older, I keep thinking that one day I will be fairly free from exposure to cold germs. Afterall, I've been experiencing headcolds for 45 years, you'd think I finally run into one I've had before and therefore resist it with my hardwon immunity. But wait, there are thousands upon thousands of variations on the common cold so maybe this will apply when I'm 200 years old (NOT!).
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Deutschland Ueber Alles! (Or Me as a Country)
This link came from Laura's blog. And to think I was just telling someone yesterday that my personality is so German. I don't know about that Green Party stuff -I'd be more at home in the CDP.
You're Germany!
You have a really ugly past, one that defies description.
This gives you tremendous guilt, but you've coped with it and flourished
into an awfully good person, considering. You've finally made peace with
yourself, in so many ways, and you've been able to build on that for a bright
and capable future. You've become so enlightened that you're probably
a member of the Green Party, or at least listen to their demands.
Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid
The Ant & The Grasshopper
My officemate sent the following to me, I think it illustrates quite well the victicrat mentality that seeks to rule this country :
OLD VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green"
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome."
Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share."
Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act," retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.
Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.
The ant loses the case.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Vote Republican
OLD VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!
MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green"
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome."
Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share."
Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act," retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.
Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.
The ant loses the case.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Vote Republican
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Random Musings
- This month has seemed to go on forever-maybe it's because I'm looking forward to the two weeks off at Christmas.
- I told the High School girls in my small group that I had read their "My Spaces" blogs - you should've seen the look on their faces. Priceless.
- Still reading Ann Coulter's book "Treason", finished her book "Slander", still to go "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Really Must)". Bought them all on the cheap at Costco.
- Went to the Sea Empress Restaurant for Dim Sum today. Yummmm!
- Contributed to the Member Forum on the ABE website for the first time, I'm getting braver in the blogosphere.
- Time to go to bed, I have an early meeting (8:30 am is early for me, don't laugh).
- I told the High School girls in my small group that I had read their "My Spaces" blogs - you should've seen the look on their faces. Priceless.
- Still reading Ann Coulter's book "Treason", finished her book "Slander", still to go "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Really Must)". Bought them all on the cheap at Costco.
- Went to the Sea Empress Restaurant for Dim Sum today. Yummmm!
- Contributed to the Member Forum on the ABE website for the first time, I'm getting braver in the blogosphere.
- Time to go to bed, I have an early meeting (8:30 am is early for me, don't laugh).
Saturday, October 22, 2005
The Face We Have
Abraham Lincoln once said that you’re not responsible for the face you’re born with, but your face at fifty is all your fault. Every once in a while you run into someone that illustrates this truism. Laura has remarked that our Congresswoman Maxine Waters is a perfect example of Lincoln's comment. Although Waters' website shows a smiling, relaxed countenance, I have seen her press conferences on TV where she more resembles a snarling dog, with her bitter, paranoid ramblings (she proudly asserted, and still does that the CIA sold crack in Los Angeles and that the minority rioters in 1992 were practicing "civil disobedience" when they burned and looted their own neighborhoods. BTW, I should know - I live there and the folks running down the street were not carrying "essentials" from the liquor store. They looked a lot like they were stocking up for a huge party with their fifths of whiskey.) Anyway, she seems to carry so much rage at all her perceived injustices that the angry look has frozen permanently on her face. Perhaps she is proud that her face bears the marks of her suffering and if that is all that has caused it, I will comment no further as I have now discovered a better example of Lincoln's statement.
Recently, I shared an elevator with a woman I worked with about 18 years ago. I don't rightly know this woman's exact age, although I can estimate it as close to my own (+/- 3 years) based on conversation during the time we worked in the same building. She was then, pretty and petite, but with a mouth on her like a longshoreman (sorry longshoremen). You could hear her halfway down the hall, swearing at some guy that had crossed her. Because she had such an outspoken manner, everyone was aware that she liked to party. She was hard-drinking and hard-smoking; she often stood in the pouring rain to get that one last drag on her cigarette before she'd have to come back into the building. Someone had mentioned to me a few years ago that she had gone through a number of marriages/relationships since I first knew her.
Anyway, when she got on the elevator last week, I almost thought that she had been crying -her eyes seemed red and puffy, her face crinkled with lines (what they call the tracks of the tears). On further observation, I realized she hadn't been crying at all, but that her face bore instead the imprint of a very hard life. It was very sad that this once pretty woman had been disfigured by stress. Furthermore, she had tried to cover up the lines and such with make-up techniques that seemed to have been learned at the Tammy Faye School of Cosmetology.
I say all this, not to mock the poor woman, she is afterall, a person made in the image of God whom He loves dearly ( as is true for Ms. Waters), but it reminded me of an important lesson found in Proverbs 31: "She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs with no fear of the future. ... Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised." (NLT)
When we adorn ourselves with strength and dignity, with "inner beauty" as Paul writes about, we will have an ageless quality that will not need to be hidden by make-up or re-arranged by the plastic surgeon.
Recently, I shared an elevator with a woman I worked with about 18 years ago. I don't rightly know this woman's exact age, although I can estimate it as close to my own (+/- 3 years) based on conversation during the time we worked in the same building. She was then, pretty and petite, but with a mouth on her like a longshoreman (sorry longshoremen). You could hear her halfway down the hall, swearing at some guy that had crossed her. Because she had such an outspoken manner, everyone was aware that she liked to party. She was hard-drinking and hard-smoking; she often stood in the pouring rain to get that one last drag on her cigarette before she'd have to come back into the building. Someone had mentioned to me a few years ago that she had gone through a number of marriages/relationships since I first knew her.
Anyway, when she got on the elevator last week, I almost thought that she had been crying -her eyes seemed red and puffy, her face crinkled with lines (what they call the tracks of the tears). On further observation, I realized she hadn't been crying at all, but that her face bore instead the imprint of a very hard life. It was very sad that this once pretty woman had been disfigured by stress. Furthermore, she had tried to cover up the lines and such with make-up techniques that seemed to have been learned at the Tammy Faye School of Cosmetology.
I say all this, not to mock the poor woman, she is afterall, a person made in the image of God whom He loves dearly ( as is true for Ms. Waters), but it reminded me of an important lesson found in Proverbs 31: "She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs with no fear of the future. ... Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised." (NLT)
When we adorn ourselves with strength and dignity, with "inner beauty" as Paul writes about, we will have an ageless quality that will not need to be hidden by make-up or re-arranged by the plastic surgeon.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Tithing
I had a very interesting conversation today with a co-worker on the subject of tithing. He was describing a capital fundraising drive taking place at his church. It seems the pastor of this fellowship is pressuring the congregation to "step up" their giving to sacrificial levels (we're talking 20% type) and to record your pledges so that the leadership will "know" that this is happening. There seems to be guilt trip associated with the whole process along with "some name it and claim it" theology - give until it hurts and the Lord will bless you back financially.
While the people of God in the Old Testament did bring tithes totaling 23% in some cases, a model for New Testament churches was found in 2 Corinthians 9:7-9, "You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, 'Godly people give generously to the poor.Their good deeds will never be forgotten.'" (NLT) . The focus here was first deciding how much and then doing it cheerfully, from the heart. Unfortunately, this pastor seemed to be encouraging people to go into debt or neglect family responsibilities so that they would have the $3M needed for his plans. If that is not a recipe to drive folks out, I don't know what is. Instead, God calls us to be good stewards of the time, talent and treasure He loans us. In reality, everything we have belongs to Him and we should not hoard it. When, one day, we stand before Him, we want to be able to give a good accounting of how we invested all of that for His kingdom.
How sad that the pastor of that church would have to resort to such tactics to bring in the bacon.
TFB has it faults, but one thing I can truly say, we do not have to go to those lengths to have our needs met. Our pastoral staff and church leadership have no clue as to who gives what. When we have needs, we say so and God directs His people to meet those needs. Churches that try strong-arm fundraising techniques are what cause non-believers to think that we are all about the money. This is so not Jesus.
While the people of God in the Old Testament did bring tithes totaling 23% in some cases, a model for New Testament churches was found in 2 Corinthians 9:7-9, "You must each make up your own mind as to how much you should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, 'Godly people give generously to the poor.Their good deeds will never be forgotten.'" (NLT) . The focus here was first deciding how much and then doing it cheerfully, from the heart. Unfortunately, this pastor seemed to be encouraging people to go into debt or neglect family responsibilities so that they would have the $3M needed for his plans. If that is not a recipe to drive folks out, I don't know what is. Instead, God calls us to be good stewards of the time, talent and treasure He loans us. In reality, everything we have belongs to Him and we should not hoard it. When, one day, we stand before Him, we want to be able to give a good accounting of how we invested all of that for His kingdom.
How sad that the pastor of that church would have to resort to such tactics to bring in the bacon.
TFB has it faults, but one thing I can truly say, we do not have to go to those lengths to have our needs met. Our pastoral staff and church leadership have no clue as to who gives what. When we have needs, we say so and God directs His people to meet those needs. Churches that try strong-arm fundraising techniques are what cause non-believers to think that we are all about the money. This is so not Jesus.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Blogging for God?
Last week, my roommate Laura attended the GODBLOGCON held at Biola University. (You can visit her blog for more info about the conference). It got me thinking about all the blogs that are out there, particularly the ones I enjoy reading regularly -the ones I link to through Laura's site, my political blogs and online columns I have bookmarked, friends' blogs where I discover what is going on in their lives. I was recently showing someone how they could blog as a means of connecting with others of like interests. All of those things are good; potentially, it makes the blogger into a journalist. The blogosphere is not dependent on the mainstream media in order to get out whatever message the blogger is trying to communicate. There is no editor you have to get approval from prior to publishing. However, some of the messages that are going out need some self-editing. In this I refer to the disturbing blogs I see on the Xanga and MySpace sites. Mind you, I am perfectly content to stay here and blog on Blogger; unfortunately in order to communicate with some of my students, I must enter their world there. What I have seen is distressing, particularly among students claiming to be Christians with "F'ing this", "S... that", "she's a B..." There's pictures of things I care not to describe and an embracing of worldly things that would certainly bring shame to the average believer (laura says no, adults are caught up in the world just as severely as teenagers, their vices are just different.)
While I need to ponder this further, I will make one observation: whether or not they intend to, their blogs that identify the bloggers as "Christians" while simultaneously embracing the hedonistic culture, are in a sense "blogging for God." It's just a very bad testimony for Him.
While I need to ponder this further, I will make one observation: whether or not they intend to, their blogs that identify the bloggers as "Christians" while simultaneously embracing the hedonistic culture, are in a sense "blogging for God." It's just a very bad testimony for Him.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
What Kind Of American English Do I Speak?
Your Linguistic Profile: |
55% General American English |
20% Upper Midwestern |
15% Yankee |
10% Dixie |
0% Midwestern |
Very interesting since I am a third generation southern Californian. My maternal grandparents were both from the Southwest -although my grandmother was born in Oklahoma territory before migrating as a small child to Texas then New Mexico. My grandfather was born in territory of eastern New Mexico, his dialect was similar to a Texas dialect.
My paternal great-grandparents were German (3) and Norwegian(1) and did not teach their children their native tongues after immigrating to the Los Angeles area over 100 years ago. I don't understand where the Yankee or Upper Midwestern liguistic profile comes from in my background unless that is how the Californian dialect was formed.
THS Homecoming
Last Night I went to the Torrance High School Homecoming Football game - my first homecoming game in 27 years. Although THS lost to PV 22-28 when they allowed the clock to run out with the ball on the one yard line, I had a marvelous time. It wasn't the game itself that so pleasant, but the fact that I was able to reconnect with some High School friends that I hadn't seen since graduation.So many years have passed and yet, deep down inside, the same young girls that left THS for a big, bright future were still there, with a lot more gray hair and a heck of a lot of wisdom gained from our lives since then. It seemed like a lifetime ago and mostly it was -I was the only one of the lot that hadn't married or had children. As I was quickly reminded, many of the classmates our age have grown or nearly grown children. The students on the playing field, the cheerleaders on the track could easily be our own.
It was interesting to note how much the students and the trappings of the Homecoming celebration have changed since we were there. The band was much smaller and the cheer squad (or whatever they call themselves now) much larger than what we experienced in our day. At the game, there were no differentiation among Varsity, JV and Songleaders, the Mascots were cartoon-like and there were no drill teamers, majorettes or small flags.The crowd was somewhat small for what was once considered the most important football game of the year. Despite the "differences", there was a moment when I felt like I was seventeen again -thinking about classes,teachers and students, wondering what the future would hold for us.
Twenty seven years from now, I will be 72, Lord willing, old by anyone's estimation. Perhaps then I will attend the homecoming game and marvel how things have changed again. But then there will be a whole new generation comparing that day to the homecoming game of 2005 -the band will be different and so will the cheersquad. They will say, "Remember how they drove the HC queen in her fluffy white dress and all her court in those classic 'Stangs." It will be fun and amusing.
It was interesting to note how much the students and the trappings of the Homecoming celebration have changed since we were there. The band was much smaller and the cheer squad (or whatever they call themselves now) much larger than what we experienced in our day. At the game, there were no differentiation among Varsity, JV and Songleaders, the Mascots were cartoon-like and there were no drill teamers, majorettes or small flags.The crowd was somewhat small for what was once considered the most important football game of the year. Despite the "differences", there was a moment when I felt like I was seventeen again -thinking about classes,teachers and students, wondering what the future would hold for us.
Twenty seven years from now, I will be 72, Lord willing, old by anyone's estimation. Perhaps then I will attend the homecoming game and marvel how things have changed again. But then there will be a whole new generation comparing that day to the homecoming game of 2005 -the band will be different and so will the cheersquad. They will say, "Remember how they drove the HC queen in her fluffy white dress and all her court in those classic 'Stangs." It will be fun and amusing.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Brain Pattern
| Your Brain's Pattern |
 Structured and organized, you have a knack for thinking clearly. You are very logical - and you don't let your thoughts get polluted with emotions. And while your thoughts are pretty serious, they're anything from boring. It's minds like yours that have built the great cities of the world! |
Another interesting test I got from Laura. The shapes reminded me of the anechoic chamber at work. As always, the nerd in me wins out.
Friday, October 07, 2005
ABCPSW Withdrawing from the ABCUSA
One of the more interesting news items has been that of our region -the American Baptist Churches of the Pacific Southwest beginning to separate from the "Mother Ship", also know as the ABCUSA over the issue of Biblical Authority with respect to homosexuality. In simplistic terms the ABCUSA, despite having an official policy condemning homosexual practice as contrary to Christian teaching, has permitted openly homosexual individuals to serve in leadership positions and allowed "welcoming and affirming" (AWAB) pro-homosexual churches to remain in cooperating relationship with the denomination despite their having been "kicked out" of their regions for their practices.
The deeper issue is not the pro-gay side versus anti-gay, but rather a sharp difference on biblical authority. The folks in the PSW see the national board as rejecting the ultimate authority of God's Word and replacing it with (substituting) "soul competency" and local autonomy.
For some in-depth analysis of the issues involved, I direct you to my former pastor, Dr. Dennis McFadden's blog.
The deeper issue is not the pro-gay side versus anti-gay, but rather a sharp difference on biblical authority. The folks in the PSW see the national board as rejecting the ultimate authority of God's Word and replacing it with (substituting) "soul competency" and local autonomy.
For some in-depth analysis of the issues involved, I direct you to my former pastor, Dr. Dennis McFadden's blog.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
What is Supernatural?
Some recent comments to me have appeared to imply that I do not believe in the supernatural or that I am a skeptic concerning the power of God. Those "jabs" at my expense I find offensive and are untrue. Often in ministry we get very excited when things go our way and rightfully we want to give God the credit that is His due. However when things don't go our way, we have a tendency to blame Satan and his demons as the cause of our failure. I have seen both the power of God and demonic forces at work, yet it has not been demons that have caused 90% of our TFB High School students to abandon the faith. Their quest for fleshly pleasure and worldly approbation have claimed by far the majority of those that have bailed. This why the Bible warns us against the world, the flesh and the devil -the world is conforming us constantly unless we are being transformed, our flesh is seeking its own way and warring against our spiritual nature, while the devil prowls about like a roaring lion , seeking to devour weak Christians.
In the MTV generation, the world system is much more nefarious than Satan himself. He sits back and laughs that we focus so much on his works when the world, all the world lovers, and lovers of self do his work for him. Although he is a powerful fallen angel, he is not omnipotent and has already been defeated by the blood of Christ.
Praying against Satan is insufficient if we ignore the other two sources (world and flesh) that work to cripple faith. If we want something to pray about, let's pray that Jesus breaks people's attachment to things that entangle us and keep us from fixing our eyes on Jesus(Hebrews 12:1,2).
Here's my view on the subject:The word "supernatural" refers to "anything relating to a deity", so anything relating to God is by nature, supernatural. A miracle is an "extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs" or "an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment". Miracles are not births of babies or finding good parking places (as wonderful as those things can be) and are instead things like blind men seeing, Jesus walking on water, feeding 5000, parting of Red Sea and are very rare (by definition). To call births of babies and finding great parking places miracles "cheapens actual miracles- it degrades the definition" (this is from a statement made by Laura). I do not deny miracles, I suggest only that they are quite rare.
While miracles are supernatural (something done by God), not everything done by God is a miracle. Exercising one's spiritual gifts is supernatural, but if it happens regularly (normal part of one's Christian experience) it is not necessarily miraculous. The things God is doing in our ministries are often supernatural as well, but, as I was sharing with some co-workers, it is no longer necessary now(as I had prayed for years in the past to see one) for me to see a actual miracle in order to have faith. In fact, seeing a miracle would not create faith because faith is the evidence of things unseen. Jesus (John chapter2) sees people following Him because He performs miracles. The passage says , "But Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew what people were really like. No one needed to tell him about human nature."
Let's be careful not to see demons under every rock or a miracle in every sunset. Instead, let us have faith in the Creator and Sustainer of all things who has crushed Satan's head under His heel, fixing our eyes on Him instead of the world system.
In the MTV generation, the world system is much more nefarious than Satan himself. He sits back and laughs that we focus so much on his works when the world, all the world lovers, and lovers of self do his work for him. Although he is a powerful fallen angel, he is not omnipotent and has already been defeated by the blood of Christ.
Praying against Satan is insufficient if we ignore the other two sources (world and flesh) that work to cripple faith. If we want something to pray about, let's pray that Jesus breaks people's attachment to things that entangle us and keep us from fixing our eyes on Jesus(Hebrews 12:1,2).
Here's my view on the subject:The word "supernatural" refers to "anything relating to a deity", so anything relating to God is by nature, supernatural. A miracle is an "extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs" or "an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment". Miracles are not births of babies or finding good parking places (as wonderful as those things can be) and are instead things like blind men seeing, Jesus walking on water, feeding 5000, parting of Red Sea and are very rare (by definition). To call births of babies and finding great parking places miracles "cheapens actual miracles- it degrades the definition" (this is from a statement made by Laura). I do not deny miracles, I suggest only that they are quite rare.
While miracles are supernatural (something done by God), not everything done by God is a miracle. Exercising one's spiritual gifts is supernatural, but if it happens regularly (normal part of one's Christian experience) it is not necessarily miraculous. The things God is doing in our ministries are often supernatural as well, but, as I was sharing with some co-workers, it is no longer necessary now(as I had prayed for years in the past to see one) for me to see a actual miracle in order to have faith. In fact, seeing a miracle would not create faith because faith is the evidence of things unseen. Jesus (John chapter2) sees people following Him because He performs miracles. The passage says , "But Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew what people were really like. No one needed to tell him about human nature."
Let's be careful not to see demons under every rock or a miracle in every sunset. Instead, let us have faith in the Creator and Sustainer of all things who has crushed Satan's head under His heel, fixing our eyes on Him instead of the world system.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
More On Prayer
These are some recent thoughts on prayer.
On placing an emphasis on prayer as the "number one priority" in the believers' life:
We are to "pray without ceasing" but that is the outflow of our growing
relationship with our loving God. In a marriage relationship, it would
be silly for a husband to say, "My number one Priority in my marriage is
to talk to my wife." If he never listened and only talked, she might soon
leave him. He instead needs to love her by getting to know her better,
listening, spending time, praising her, doing the things that make her happy. This holds true with our relationship with Christ -it is a reciprocal, loving
relationship.
Sunday, Pastor Charlie played a clip from Bruce Almighty where Bruce goes to heaven and meets God. God asks Bruce to pray and Bruce starts out using "church language" (thees and thous). God stops him and tells Bruce to tell Him what is really on his heart. Bruce tells God from his heart that he wants his girl to truly find happiness and the love of a man who will love her the way she truly deserves to be loved. God's reply? "Now, that's a prayer."
Our public prayer life is not some sort of test of spirituality or fitness to be a worker in His kingdom. The most bizarre prayer I ever heard was from a former Associate Pastor praying on cable TV, "Thy throne, Oh God is so great and powerful that should all the armies of the world should assail against Thee , Oh God, it should have as much effect as the faint mist on the distant Rock of Gilbraltar." While the prayer was true, it did not reflect the way the man normally spoke or lived.
We should not boast about how much we pray in private either -most modern Christians cannot even compete in terms of time spent in prayerwith those giants of the faith that prayed for hours and hours before they began their day (James was called "Old Camel Knees" from praying so much). We also do not often practice the accompaning spiritual discipline of fasting either. When we broadcast to others our private prayer practices (except to encourage the people for whom we are praying), there is far too much temptation to judge, "Ooh she's praying", or "tsk, tsk, she's not" -it's all that "don't do your deeds before men" thing. Jesus tells us not to.
Paul, when he does pray for believers, lists "knowing and comprehending the Lord Jesus Christ and His love" as being the most important thing that he desires for them. (Eph 1 & 3.) Using the words of Jesus Himself in John 15, we are to "abide (or remain) in Him and His love". Only when we are first abiding in Him can we "ask whatever we wish and it will be given you."
Jesus further explains that abiding means obeying His word.
In Acts 2:42 the disciples were" devoted to the Apostles' TEACHING,
FELLOWSHIP, BREAKING OF BREAD, AND PRAYER." (prayer is listed 4th).
On "prayer is powerful, it is our weapon against Satan..." :
In "our battle against spiritual forces" we are told repeatedly to "stand firm" in the power of God. Prayer is not listed as part of the armor of God, but once fully outfitted ,we are to pray in the Spirit with alertness at all times for the saints. The only offensive weapon listed is the Sword, the Word of God. In fact, we are told merely "to resist the devil and he will flee"; Jesus resisted Satan's temptation by THE WORD OF GOD.
There seem to be many people in evangelical circles who appear to me to be taking a somewhat "magical" view of prayer as if somehow the frequency, content or fervency was what made prayer effective. In a recent conversation with a friend. we talked about prayers resembling more of an "incantation" rather than actual pouring out to God of our heart's desires.
The power of prayer rests in Who we are talking with, not in the act itself. (this is what separates Christianity from Shamanism and other false religions; let us certainly not adopt their view of prayer.) We have a conversation with an all-powerful God. We cut off that conversation when we are not "being transformed by the renewing of our minds, not being conformed to image of the Son." It is then we are powerless and no amount of prayer, unless it is confessional, can change that.
Bottom line:
Prayer is a conversation, not a monologue that is a reflection of a healthy relationship with our God. Prayer is not powerful words, but words with a powerful God. Abiding with Him and becoming like Him should be the things that gets our priority.
On placing an emphasis on prayer as the "number one priority" in the believers' life:
We are to "pray without ceasing" but that is the outflow of our growing
relationship with our loving God. In a marriage relationship, it would
be silly for a husband to say, "My number one Priority in my marriage is
to talk to my wife." If he never listened and only talked, she might soon
leave him. He instead needs to love her by getting to know her better,
listening, spending time, praising her, doing the things that make her happy. This holds true with our relationship with Christ -it is a reciprocal, loving
relationship.
Sunday, Pastor Charlie played a clip from Bruce Almighty where Bruce goes to heaven and meets God. God asks Bruce to pray and Bruce starts out using "church language" (thees and thous). God stops him and tells Bruce to tell Him what is really on his heart. Bruce tells God from his heart that he wants his girl to truly find happiness and the love of a man who will love her the way she truly deserves to be loved. God's reply? "Now, that's a prayer."
Our public prayer life is not some sort of test of spirituality or fitness to be a worker in His kingdom. The most bizarre prayer I ever heard was from a former Associate Pastor praying on cable TV, "Thy throne, Oh God is so great and powerful that should all the armies of the world should assail against Thee , Oh God, it should have as much effect as the faint mist on the distant Rock of Gilbraltar." While the prayer was true, it did not reflect the way the man normally spoke or lived.
We should not boast about how much we pray in private either -most modern Christians cannot even compete in terms of time spent in prayerwith those giants of the faith that prayed for hours and hours before they began their day (James was called "Old Camel Knees" from praying so much). We also do not often practice the accompaning spiritual discipline of fasting either. When we broadcast to others our private prayer practices (except to encourage the people for whom we are praying), there is far too much temptation to judge, "Ooh she's praying", or "tsk, tsk, she's not" -it's all that "don't do your deeds before men" thing. Jesus tells us not to.
Paul, when he does pray for believers, lists "knowing and comprehending the Lord Jesus Christ and His love" as being the most important thing that he desires for them. (Eph 1 & 3.) Using the words of Jesus Himself in John 15, we are to "abide (or remain) in Him and His love". Only when we are first abiding in Him can we "ask whatever we wish and it will be given you."
Jesus further explains that abiding means obeying His word.
In Acts 2:42 the disciples were" devoted to the Apostles' TEACHING,
FELLOWSHIP, BREAKING OF BREAD, AND PRAYER." (prayer is listed 4th).
On "prayer is powerful, it is our weapon against Satan..." :
In "our battle against spiritual forces" we are told repeatedly to "stand firm" in the power of God. Prayer is not listed as part of the armor of God, but once fully outfitted ,we are to pray in the Spirit with alertness at all times for the saints. The only offensive weapon listed is the Sword, the Word of God. In fact, we are told merely "to resist the devil and he will flee"; Jesus resisted Satan's temptation by THE WORD OF GOD.
There seem to be many people in evangelical circles who appear to me to be taking a somewhat "magical" view of prayer as if somehow the frequency, content or fervency was what made prayer effective. In a recent conversation with a friend. we talked about prayers resembling more of an "incantation" rather than actual pouring out to God of our heart's desires.
The power of prayer rests in Who we are talking with, not in the act itself. (this is what separates Christianity from Shamanism and other false religions; let us certainly not adopt their view of prayer.) We have a conversation with an all-powerful God. We cut off that conversation when we are not "being transformed by the renewing of our minds, not being conformed to image of the Son." It is then we are powerless and no amount of prayer, unless it is confessional, can change that.
Bottom line:
Prayer is a conversation, not a monologue that is a reflection of a healthy relationship with our God. Prayer is not powerful words, but words with a powerful God. Abiding with Him and becoming like Him should be the things that gets our priority.
Monday, September 26, 2005
On being 45
Yesterday (September 25th), was my 45th birthday. Yes, that right, on that day in 1960 I entered the world just before 2am on a bright Sunday morning. (There has been much contemplation on which 2am I was actually born. In those days, the switch from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time occured at 2am, the last Sunday of September. So was it 1:50 am PDT or 1:50 am PST? My mother, now deceased, was too busy to notice. It's a good thing I don't believe in Astrology -those star charting folks would have a devil [who I think is most happy when people believe in that nonsense instead of the Creator of the stars, BTW] of a time trying to figure it out.)
As always, I contemplate whether or not I have fulfilled the promise of that new life begun 5 decades ago. However, that promise was not made to my parents, nor even was it made directly to me. Instead, have I lived my life these 45 years in a way that honors the One who "created my inmost being, [who] knit me together in my mother's womb..., made me in the secret place... When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, [Whose] eyes saw my unformed body."
Often, I have disappointed Him, other times I have delighted Him. But, God willing, should I live another 45 years on this earth, I pray that the moments of delight outweigh His disappointments.
As always, I contemplate whether or not I have fulfilled the promise of that new life begun 5 decades ago. However, that promise was not made to my parents, nor even was it made directly to me. Instead, have I lived my life these 45 years in a way that honors the One who "created my inmost being, [who] knit me together in my mother's womb..., made me in the secret place... When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, [Whose] eyes saw my unformed body."
Often, I have disappointed Him, other times I have delighted Him. But, God willing, should I live another 45 years on this earth, I pray that the moments of delight outweigh His disappointments.
Friday, September 23, 2005
Thoughts on Prayer
After a recent gathering of the youth staff, I have been pondering the sort of praying that I've been experiencing lately in corporate settings. One thing that one of my friends observed is that we spend too much time praying for God to show Himself powerful or to move over people with His Spirit. Perhaps we should instead be praying for people to see God as powerful or to see His movement in the lives of others. I feel the need to pray that students lives be completely broken, that their love of the world and the things of the world be utterly shattered.
I realize that, in my own life, the most powerful prayers were ones that sought a change from my own sin-infested mindset to an alignment with God's heart and mind.
I know that the Holy Spirit is there interceding and praying the right prayers for us even when we are so clueless, but it seems like a waste of breath to pray for things that have already been made available to us like His love, His power, His gifts if we would just open our stubborn, disobedient eyes. It's kinda like my cat screaming at me for food after I already put it in his dish. Hello, Kitty? Look at your bowl.
I realize that, in my own life, the most powerful prayers were ones that sought a change from my own sin-infested mindset to an alignment with God's heart and mind.
I know that the Holy Spirit is there interceding and praying the right prayers for us even when we are so clueless, but it seems like a waste of breath to pray for things that have already been made available to us like His love, His power, His gifts if we would just open our stubborn, disobedient eyes. It's kinda like my cat screaming at me for food after I already put it in his dish. Hello, Kitty? Look at your bowl.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Approaching Autumn
Well, here it is, another summer gone and the crisp air of fall -wait, I live in SoCal, fall air is not very crisp when you compare our autumns with say, New England's. Today we had a freak rainstorm with both lightning and thunder. It was so odd to hear the rain beating down on the skylight in my room early this morning. Late Septembers are usually hot and dry, perfect for brushfires or as my father and brother prefer it, for harvesting Lima Beans. I talked to my brother today and the rain wasn't too much to ruin the dry limas. All the rain we received in January was going to produce a bumper crop, so even if they lost a few to the weather, it would still be huge for them. It's amazing how much the weather affects our lives and yet we have so little control over it. Whether it brings devastion like Katrina or the gentle rain that waters crops at the right time, we don't know if and when these things will occur. One person prays for rain while another for sunshine, one wants relief from the heat, another tires of the cold.
Matthew 5:45 says, "...He [God] gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too." (NLT)
Like the other things in my life, I just need to trust that He knows exactly what is best. The weather and everything else I experience in this world has a purpose for being the way that it is.
Matthew 5:45 says, "...He [God] gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too." (NLT)
Like the other things in my life, I just need to trust that He knows exactly what is best. The weather and everything else I experience in this world has a purpose for being the way that it is.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
What I've Been Up To.
Holy smoke, it's been over two months since I last posted. So many things have happened - I spent an amazing week at Junior Camp (see Link) but picked up a nasty cough that's still with me nearly a month later. Came home exhausted only to have a 39 year old friend die suddenly from no apparent cause. Worked a few days before going to High School Camp at Alpine the following week where I saw even more amazing things wrought by the hand of God. I had just enough health and energy to last for that week. The next day after I got home, I was even more sick with a cough that turned to bronchititis at least (probably more likely pneumonia). The Doctor just said to stay home and rest, no antibiotics for me. Here I am, a week after visiting the dr., not much better but remaining hopeful that I will again be well in time for the next adventure.
My life has been filled with incredible highs and lows lately. More to come I'm sure...
My life has been filled with incredible highs and lows lately. More to come I'm sure...
Thursday, June 16, 2005
My Theological Worldview
 | This fits me fairly well. Another test challenge from Laura . She comes out more Wesleyian than I do. You scored as Reformed Evangelical. You are a Reformed Evangelical. You take the Bible very seriously because it is God's Word. You most likely hold to TULIP and are sceptical about the possibilities of universal atonement or resistible grace. The most important thing the Church can do is make sure people hear how they can go to heaven when they die.
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
I am Karl Barth (or so the test says)
 | You scored as Karl Barth. The daddy of 20th Century theology. You perceive liberal theology to be a disaster and so you insist that the revelation of Christ, not human experience, should be the starting point for all theology.
Which theologian are you? created with QuizFarm.com |
Thursday, June 09, 2005
June Musings
June has always been one of my favorite months. Whether it is because it brings back memories of school letting out or because I usually take a week of vacation during June, it has a sense of freedom and rest that I don't quite experience the other 11 months of the year. It really doesn't have much to do with the weather; SoCal is infamous for its June Gloom -LNAEMLC (late night and early morning low clouds) that burns off by noon. I haven't experienced a summer vacation off from school since I graduated from college 21 years ago so it's not like the school memory is all that fresh, yet the thought of staying outside and playing until after 8pm with the sun still there shining brings bliss to my mind.
I took a week off last week to do work around the house and except for my weekend camping with the church, didn't make it outside much. I think that's why it has been so hard to come back to work this week -I didn't get the play I usually experience when I go to high school camp the last week of June (my HS camp counseling experience is postponed until August, TUSD doesn't get out in time for our kids to go to Thousand Pines this year; we had to find another camp instead.)
I took a week off last week to do work around the house and except for my weekend camping with the church, didn't make it outside much. I think that's why it has been so hard to come back to work this week -I didn't get the play I usually experience when I go to high school camp the last week of June (my HS camp counseling experience is postponed until August, TUSD doesn't get out in time for our kids to go to Thousand Pines this year; we had to find another camp instead.)
Friday, May 27, 2005
More Village Sim
Already more than 130 villagers have lived on my little island, half of them are still alive and working. Most that have died lived to ripe old ages of 70-80. Unfortunately, I have maxed out my population so any new births are just replacements for the old folks as they die.
They have completed 11 out of the 12 challenges set before them, although two of the challenges grate against my own Christian worldview. They took time to carve an idol and then there was the birth of the "Golden Child". The Golden Child is perpetually a child of 5 and has magical powers. The magical powers allowed the child to remove a boulder to an artifact cave that the entire village had been trying to move since the beginning.
Besides the mindless escapism of running my own world, it does get me to think about the parallels to our real world. It is definitely demotivating to hardwork when all your physical needs are abundantly supplied and you are limited by the size of your community. Now that nearly all the challenges are gone, the villagers stand around doing nothing but eating, procreating and burying the dead. Even their religious practice is empty and meaningless since they replace worship of the true God with worship of a rock they themselves have labored to carve. How much is this like our own society. How dreary.
They have completed 11 out of the 12 challenges set before them, although two of the challenges grate against my own Christian worldview. They took time to carve an idol and then there was the birth of the "Golden Child". The Golden Child is perpetually a child of 5 and has magical powers. The magical powers allowed the child to remove a boulder to an artifact cave that the entire village had been trying to move since the beginning.
Besides the mindless escapism of running my own world, it does get me to think about the parallels to our real world. It is definitely demotivating to hardwork when all your physical needs are abundantly supplied and you are limited by the size of your community. Now that nearly all the challenges are gone, the villagers stand around doing nothing but eating, procreating and burying the dead. Even their religious practice is empty and meaningless since they replace worship of the true God with worship of a rock they themselves have labored to carve. How much is this like our own society. How dreary.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Worldview Test
 | I took Laura's challenge to visit this spot and take the test. The first time I took it, I was tied as a Cultural Creative and Fundamentalist. (Laura says I'm a tweener). You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.
What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com |
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Village Sim
Recently, I bought a game for my Palm Tungsten called Village Sim. You start with these six villagers on a desert island. My job is to make sure they have food, shelter and health. I have to train them to achieve these necessary survival skills, otherwise they will die. They have definite lifespans too-the original six are long dead and buried along with their first two children; in order to sustain the village, you must "encourage" them to reproduce.
Sometimes they eagerly take to the tasks I want them to perform such as farming and building, other tasks such as doctoring the sick I have to drag them to do it. Children under 14 and nursing mothers with children under 2 do nothing but play and rest. The elderly (over 60) move very slowly.
Unfortunately, some of the able-bodied villagers are slackers which endangers the welfare of the entire community. Right now, I've grown the population to 44 with eighteen children, two nursing mothers, and 6 elderly folks. this is a great burden on the food production since there is more eating than farming/fishing. It will be okay as soon as some of the children are old enough to work and the mothers are freed up again, yet it is hard to keep the able-bodied adults focused on the tasks at hand.
As "god" of my little island, I find it frustrating that I cannot get my people to lay aside their selfish desires without my continual intervention into the process. Eventhough I can see the perspective of the entire island in the now, I am limited in my knowledge of the dangers and perils which lie ahead.
Compare this to our world and our God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He knows not only what is happening now in the big picture with His billions of little people, but also what will happen in the future. No wonder He wants us to trust Him completely and has entered into our world as one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. He is very patient with His villagers, some who are very evil. I don't have to contend with evil and yet I do not have the patience for 44.
He loves and cares for each one; I'm caught up in the raw numbers -units of food, tech points, ages.
Be very glad I am not God and neither is any of us villagers as well.
Sometimes they eagerly take to the tasks I want them to perform such as farming and building, other tasks such as doctoring the sick I have to drag them to do it. Children under 14 and nursing mothers with children under 2 do nothing but play and rest. The elderly (over 60) move very slowly.
Unfortunately, some of the able-bodied villagers are slackers which endangers the welfare of the entire community. Right now, I've grown the population to 44 with eighteen children, two nursing mothers, and 6 elderly folks. this is a great burden on the food production since there is more eating than farming/fishing. It will be okay as soon as some of the children are old enough to work and the mothers are freed up again, yet it is hard to keep the able-bodied adults focused on the tasks at hand.
As "god" of my little island, I find it frustrating that I cannot get my people to lay aside their selfish desires without my continual intervention into the process. Eventhough I can see the perspective of the entire island in the now, I am limited in my knowledge of the dangers and perils which lie ahead.
Compare this to our world and our God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. He knows not only what is happening now in the big picture with His billions of little people, but also what will happen in the future. No wonder He wants us to trust Him completely and has entered into our world as one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. He is very patient with His villagers, some who are very evil. I don't have to contend with evil and yet I do not have the patience for 44.
He loves and cares for each one; I'm caught up in the raw numbers -units of food, tech points, ages.
Be very glad I am not God and neither is any of us villagers as well.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Oh no, I've been discovered
My roommate found me ( I accidently deleted her comments, BTW).
See what I mean about seeing how this thing would work -it's been almost three weeks since my last entry. It's not like I have oodles of time to sit around blogging. I'd much rather read than write anyway.
See what I mean about seeing how this thing would work -it's been almost three weeks since my last entry. It's not like I have oodles of time to sit around blogging. I'd much rather read than write anyway.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
New Blog
This is new for me. My roommate has been bugging me for years to get my own blog (but we won't tell her just yet about it.) We'll see how it turns out.
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