Adam's Blog

My Husband Adam

2007-03-25T20:31:00.000-06:00

My name is Suzi Ketch. I am now Adam's widow. Adam went to be with the Lord on March 20th at 9:20 pm. My husband dealt with the difficulties of cancer and chemo for the last 6 years. He was a wonderful husband and an inspiration to many people. He will be greatly missed.

As I look back at the previous posts that my husband has posted I am reminded of how much he enjoyed sharing his love of knowledge with everyone he met. My husband loved the Lord and worked hard to live his life the way he felt God would want him to. If someone needed to talk to him he would stop whatever he was doing and he would listen intently. Making you feel like what you had to say was the most important thing in the world. He was always ready to share his experiences with people if he thought it would help them through their struggles. My husband was willing to give everything to help the people around him. I love him and he will be greatly missed.

Suzi

Fear

2006-05-22T09:12:00.000-05:00

It is funny how a little emotion can come to dominate what you do. In February of this year I was once again diagnosed with colon cancer. Though this time the cancer choose to take up residence in my liver and near a kidney (I know, why is it colon cancer if it is in the liver? Simply because all cancers are named, and treated, after the area of the body in which they originate.) Since then I have had run ins with several different aspects of fear.

The first bout with fear was when the doctor told me that the chemotherapy may not work quickly enough and it appeared that I had only six weeks to live. The end of one's life is an occasion for fear and I was no exception. The fear that really got me though was not for my existence. I knew then, as I know now, that I have lived my life in a way that honors what I value and my God. Knowing that, I was able to look at the ending of my earthly existence with a contentedness that made the personal fear less. No, the fear that really got me was the fear for my wife, my family and my friends. I knew that they would be most powerfully impacted by my absence. I even had a conversation with Suzi (my wife) where we discussed my feelings about her potentially remarrying. That was scary, knowing that I would be absent from the events of this life. I would miss my 10th anniversary, my 32nd birthday, Suzi's 30th, my niece's first day of school; it was the relationships that would be postponed that gave me pause and lead to a deep and powerful fear. The desire to wrap myself in the presence of those I love and care for has now taken on a new and more urgent sense. But that nagging fear that I may not be around for the special and mundane moments of life continues to gnaw at me despite any improvements I may make.

The second fear that occupies my thoughts is that the remainder of my life will be spent on chemo and with the accompanying pains, illness and misery that goes along with a harsh dose of these drugs. I have discovered that nothing is worse then waking up in the morning to find that your body is in rebellion against you. The fatigue and weakness take their toll on my view of myself as a man. Now I am the one forced to ask for help with the pickle jar and ask my wife to lend me her strength to accomplish tasks around the house. Being unable to physically do the mundane chores of the house because of weakness takes it toll psychologically as I begin to see myself as a victim. At 31 I am often reduced to asking for help in matters that any healthy 30-something could and would do without pausing to consider the effort versus the reward. This fear is hard to discuss because of the weakness it shows in me and in my present state and fails to even consider the feelings of being ill that are the staple of life on chemo.

The second fear feeds the third fear and gives it strength. Being young it is difficult to admit to weakness because there is a fear that it will be seen as a reason to dismiss you before your time. As I wrote the above paragraph I was fighting my fear that those in my church may read it and decide I am a liability and fire me, or my friends and family may see me as a waste of time and energy and abandon me. The fear that I will be tossed aside is real and perhaps the worst of the fears. This fear is not forgotten on good days, or when friends and family visit, no this fear always lingers in the back of the mind eating away at my resolve. Did I do enough today to earn my place? Have I offered enough to justify my continued employment? Doubts like this rest heavy on me. The frustrating thing is that this fear causes me to doubt friends, family, coworkers and those whom I consider my spiritual family, my church. Yet none of these groups or individuals have given me any cause to have this feeling or fear but it still nags at me. Every time I am too ill to get out of bed I wonder if today is the last day someone will put up with me. Each day I am below what I know to be par I fear that someone will cut me out of something in my life that helps to still give it meaning. Fear of being cut out of the things that give me a sense of accomplishment and value battles me everyday for control over my attitudes and actions. Do I need to overdue and push myself beyond what I know I can do to prove my worth or do I do just what I can and show my weakness. Fear wins too often, and this fear can only make me worse but the sad truth is this fear is so strong and wins so often that any mere moment I can beat it through pushing myself past it and only do what is good and healthy is, to me, a victory. A hollow seeming victory, but victory none-the-less.

Well those are the fears that I struggle with on a daily basis. In truth I hope no one reads this, but if you do please remember that I am only a man and have the weaknesses common to man and that I wrote this in part to simply allow myself to give vent to those things which work to dominate me. As for the other reasons, well not even I could tell you what they are but I trust that they will work together for good.

Is life pain?

2006-01-23T10:38:00.000-06:00

"Life is pain Highness, anyone who tells you different is selling something." These words are spoken by Wesley, disguised as the Dread Pirate Roberts, to the love of his life, Buttercup, in the film The Princess Bride. An unusual statement from a loved one to be sure but one that falls in with Wesley's current mood. Years before Wesley was taken prisoner by the previous Dread Pirate Roberts and assumed murdered by all who knew him. But now Buttercup was engaged to another man and Wesley needed to know if she had ever really loved him, so he rescues her as the Dread Pirate Roberts. The viewer sees Wesley's outburst as the heartbroken cry of the rejected lover and not as his true life philosophy, for as the film plays out Wesley builds upon his love for Buttercup instead of his expectation of pain. But Wesley's outburst does raise an important question, is life pain?

For the sick or handicapped it is our instant reaction to say yes. For ourselves when life does not go the way we desire our instinct is to say yes. When we suffer, when we weaken, when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we often lament that "life is pain". But I disagree. Though my life has had painful experiences and moments when the agony seemed overwhelming on both physical and emotional levels I am forced to say that none of those experiences were or are my life. Life may experience pain but the pain is simply an event in the life. Life is not pain. Wesley may claim it is because he is in the emotions of what he thinks is a betrayal but he has given his life as a sacrifice to true love, and there lies the real truth of what life is! Life, my life or your life, is completely about what we choose to live for, not what may happen to us. We have all been given an amazing gift to elect the meaning of our lives. The things and people we choose to love, the way we handle the pain that will drift in and out of our lives and the goals we set for ourselves determine what our life is, not some pain we have experienced.

So, am I selling something you may ask. The short answer is yes. I am selling life as we are meant to see it and live it. Free from the domination of our circumstances, free to be enjoyed and savored even when pain enters into it. If you don't believe me then look at the life of Christ. He experienced pain and suffering that he knew, from the moment of his birth was coming his way. Despite his complete awareness of what his fate was Jesus lived a life of love and mercy, he was never defined by the circumstances that awaited him but chose instead to embrace life and live as he desired. Life has pain yes, but life is not pain. Life is what you make of it, will you dwell on the uncontrollable or will you boldly face the future as one who chooses to live a life of freedom?

Still here

2005-10-03T12:49:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've been busy. Life gets that way from time to time. As a result I have not posted in quite a while. With my last semester of school rapidly out-pacing my ability to keep up and the temporary misplacement of my "give a hoot" I have been playing catchup and striving to find my balance. All in all I feel like I am running harder then ever with my classes and still slowing down. This is funny to me because both of my final semesters in high school and undergraduate work were very laid back and easy. I suppose that with seminary I have a much larger investment and have a greater concern that I actually learn and apply the knowledge I am being offered but it is still a strange sensation to be almost done and lost in the work.

So sorry I haven't been around so much, I hope to be back to post more often. But if it helps feel free to share how you might have had an experience where you fell behind, I know your story will help me!

God's Wrath?

2005-08-29T12:31:00.000-05:00

As I write, hurricane Katrina is unleashing her full force on the southern US and Christians throughout the country are ready to respond. For many this response will be to provide aid to those who are suffering. For some others it will be to actually go and help feed, clothe and support the people who have been hurt the most by this disaster. Yet another response is brewing in the Church coffee houses, fellowship halls, Sunday school classes and blogs across the country: the assigning of blame. Specifically the question of what New Orleans might have done to bring about God's wrath in such a profound way. Was it Mardi Gras, bourbon street, or their tolerance of it all? It is this response that I want to think about for a moment.

I have often wondered why Christians have continued to hold onto the myth that bad things only happen to bad people. Many of our pop culture theologies hold this view high and take it to the other side, claiming that only good things will happen to the Godly. You can hear these preachers and teachers claiming that if you just envision it, or tithe for it God is obligated to give it to you, no matter what "it" may be, bad stuff is only for the weak of faith. The Bible has much to say that is contrary to this, of course, but that is often ignored in favor of feel-goodism. For example Job is called "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1b) Yet in one day he loses his wealth, his servants, and his children. Job's wife has some advise for him after he is filled with physical illness: "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" Her view is that her husband must have done something wrong and his disasters and illness are the proof of this opinion to her mind. Later, Jobs friends come to him and say things like: "if you are pure and upright, even now he (God) will rouse himself on your behalf and restore you to your rightful place." (Job 8:6) In other words those around Job saw that he was in suffering and concluded that it must be his fault, that there must have been some sin he needed to confess so that God would forgive and restore him. But as the reader discovers in chapter 42 God is angry with those friends for their foolish words and he asks Job to pray for them. In this book the world behaves differently then we would expect it to. There is an acknowledgement that evil can occur to anyone, even those who are righteous. Evil is not seen in Job's life as a punishment for sin but as an event that he must learn to trust God in.

For an even better example of suffering entering the life of the righteous one need only look to the founding doctrines of the New Testament church! Jesus Christ the sinless Son of God is beaten, crucified and killed. Not just in this does Jesus face evil however, throughout his ministry Jesus is lied about, falsely accused and attacked. Yet not once did he sin. How can one look at the life of Christ and believe that evil can not fall on the righteous as well as the unrighteous?

Simple, it is easy to generalize. It is easier to find reasons, even false ones, where there seem to be none, then to say "I don't know". We like to feel in control and that we can do or act certain ways and that those actions will make us happy, prolong our life, etc. Fear of the unknown, unpredictable, parts of life still scare us. If we can find some reason for the destruction elsewhere we can feel safer here because we are not like that.

I can no longer live that way. It is not just that I live in tornado alley (a prime place for "weather events"), or that I have had cancer, it is instead a sense of how God desires me to react to those he created and gave his son for. I believe that I am to love others, no matter how hard they are to love, no matter if I failed to love them very well today, God wants me to be constantly about loving people. If I am spending my time deciding why they got hit with a storm, or any other disaster, I can not love them.

Besides, if I am loving others as Christ loves them I may be in store for some storms of my own!

You have got to be kidding me!

2005-08-10T09:40:00.000-05:00

Last night I was, as is my privilege as a man, flipping through the channels. This is still an enjoyable process because I do not have that digital cable lag time in flipping (of course I also have very few channels to flip through). As I was flipping I paused on one of the religious stations here in the metroplex and watched for a minute or so, until I could take it no more.

What upset me you ask. Was it the pleas for money? The playing on emotions instead of relying on God's Word? The reduction of God to a "joy vending machine" that the faithful can use at need and ignore the rest of their lives? No, no and no. Though each of these often earns a rant from me directed at the television (seriously...Just ask Suzi). This time however, something so ridiculous was occurring that I truly did not know how to react! I was flabbergasted and merely pointed at the screen, asking Suzi if she had heard what I had. Unfortunately she had. So if you think you are ready read on.

The man speaking was in the midst of lamenting the way America was going, specifically he was concerned with the way America was no longer a Christian nation. He said that the solution to America losing touch with it's Christian heritage was for you and I to join his Political Action Committee so that he and his associates could advocate for Christian legislation! His plan to turn America back to God is to legislate the USA. Not evangelism, not introducing unbelievers to Christ and cultivating the faith of new Christians, that is too radical. No, the way to turn America back to God is through the legislative branch. After all who can forget the words of Christ when he gave us the great commission: All authority in congress has been given to me, therefore go and pass laws that will cause men to honor me with their lips even when their hearts are far from me. Passing them through the legislative, executive and judicial branches; knowing they will be with you always if you pass a constitutional amendment.

Is this really were we are in America? Have we lost sight of our mission so badly that we will accept anything as long as it mentions God? In case his plan appeals to you let me remind you of the actual text of Matthew 28:18-20: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

If you are concerned that America is far from God, good! Now do something useful about it! Don't fall for this idea that if we pass the right laws the country will become a beacon of Christianity, instead put that passion and energy into the place God intended it it to go: evangelism! The way America, or any nation, becomes Christian is that the majority of the people are Christian. Not the laws are Christian or the ten commandments hang in every public building. Imagine for a moment the type of country that would exist if evangelism were winning the day. That country would not need Christian PACs, it would need more pews. That is the America I want to see, what about you?

Witnessing like Bono

2005-08-03T13:15:00.000-05:00

I remember back in high school a friend of mine showing me a CD entitled The Joshua Tree by U2. "They were almost a Christian band Adam, you'll like them." (I did, in fact, like them and thought that the song I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For was the most powerful song about the search for meaning in this world I had ever heard) But ever since Chris uttered that sentence to me I have been aware of a very intense debate about the true spiritual state of this band and more specifically it's front man, Bono.

Bono's liberal politics, occasional slips of the tongue and general rock star attitude sometimes obscure some of his other traits. He has been active in AIDS relief in Africa, been married 23 years (a great achievement in the Rock community) and openly claims to be a Christian. So the debate rages on, is Bono a Christian? For me, I need to look at the whole person and their beliefs. While the temptation is to judge someone based on their most recent or public action the truth is that is seldom who the person really is and so it is with Bono. Today I came across this blog on the World Magazine website that contained some of an interview from a new book about Bono. The most important section is copied below.

"...I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge," says Bono. "It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity."
Then the interviewer marvels, "The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that."
"The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death," replies Bono. "It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven."
The interviewer marvels some more: "That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has His rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?"
Bono comes back, "Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.' . . . So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was the Messiah or a complete nutcase. . . . The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched." (For the entire blog go to: http://www.worldmag.com/subscriber/displayarticle.cfm?id=10892)

Wow. That was a rock star folks! He was being interviewed for a book and spent some time witnessing to the reporter (and everyone who reads the book)!!!!!!!!! It is funny, if this were a teacher, lawyer, stockboy or mechanic we would rejoice about how he has put his faith out there like that, but will we rejoice for Bono? Will some in the Christian community continue to focus only on sin that God can, and does, forgive in Bono's life? Maybe. Why? I think it is because we have expectations for famous Christians that we don't even have for ourselves. We feel that they have been given a platform that is so great they are obligated to speak louder then anyone for God, possibly. Heck, that may even be true and the reason Bon is famous. After all, when was the last time you heard someone you met share Christ that simply and powerfully with you?

Yeah, me either.

Harry Potter under fire

2005-07-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

Before I begin let me confess up front, I have read and enjoyed the first five Harry Potter books. While I am confessing let me add that I have also read the following books that contain (and even at times promote) magic: The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King, The chronicles of Narnia, The Giving Tree (talking trees are magical), The Grimm Brothers Fairy Tales, Mother Goose, and numerous other books. In fact if you come to my home you will find well over 200 books of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Most of them I have enjoyed, some I have disliked and a few were brilliant. Now that you know were I stand let me share some of my thoughts about this new round of controversy over the latest Harry Potter book. (If you want to read a great essay on this book and the Christians response to it, check out this link: http://www.christiancounterculture.com/articles/Harry_potter.html)

My first thought is that Harry Potter isn't for everyone. There is the very real possibility that you have prayed about this issue and have come to the firm conviction that God does not want you to read these books, or to allow your children to read them. Fine. In fact, great! If God is convicting you then I can only applaud your dedication to stand by his commands in your life. But please do not make the mistake of assuming your personal conviction is a universal law of God. I am not assuming my freedom is a universal you must accept. So please, let us respect one another.

Second, Harry Potter is a fantasy, designed to be interesting and fun, it is not designed to be a representation of our universe. The rules are different in fantasy worlds, when I was a child I could fly in almost all of the fantasy worlds I created in my mind. But back here on Earth my powers of flight were suspended. Okay, Harry uses magic to fly a broomstick, but it doesn't work here in the real world. No matter what kind of occult issues someone gets into they will never soar through the sky on a broomstick. So is Rowling really writing a how-to for satanists? NO!!! It is a plot device, it allows a new and exciting sport to take place that pushes the plot forward. Claiming that Harry's magic is real occult teaching is similar to claiming that Star Trek physics can work to create warp travel here in the real world. Yes, the Bible does make it clear that Christians are not to be involved in the occult, but does Harry Potter equal real occult practice and beliefs? Certainly not! If the word magic is what gets you, then these books aren't for you. Of course neither are the Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings, to name just two. Harry Potter operates in a world were special powers exist, some of them are expressly evil and Harry and his friends are not allowed to use them while others are neutral and the use determines the morality (like a gun or car, both can cause harm). The morality is based on principles from the real world: don't harm others, be a good friend, sacrificial love defeats evil. Perhaps that is what one should take from these novels, the reinforcement of our morality in a pretend world.

Third, why can't we be friends? Seriously. Harry Potter is not an issue for division. If you think that I am wrong please take a moment to lovingly correct me, I will read it and I might learn something! But I truly do not understand what is inherently evil about fantasy.

Little Things

2005-07-13T14:17:00.000-05:00

Today the shuttle Discovery was supposed to launch and return the American space program's glory. However there was a problem. As I understand it one of the four sensors on one of the booster rockets failed to work. This sensor, like the other three, is designed to shut off the shuttles main engine after the tank has run out of fuel. According to the Associated Press if the engines shut down before or after the tank is emptied tragedy can occur. Because of the possibility that this one sensor could cause problems the entire mission has been postponed.

As I thought about this I found myself thinking about how this seemed an over reaction by NASA. After all there were three other sensors that appeared to be working, why stress over just one? The obvious answer, of course, is safety. The last thing that NASA wants is another accident with a shuttle. Because they are concerned with the lives of the astronauts and their public image they choose to delay in favor of safety.

As a Christian their decision got me thinking about how I interact with God. Do I place my faith totally in Him and delay my decisions if I am not 100% sure of His will? Unfortunately I must admit that there have been times when I have failed to make sure I was 100% with God and I experienced personal crashes because of it. Perhaps NASA has the right idea. Maybe I should spend more time with God so that He can show me the dangers I am tempted to overlook.

Camp, Continued

2005-06-26T15:49:00.000-05:00

Us before worship

Us at the work site

We are back from camp and have stories to tell!

First, the boys were treated to an exciting welcome, no AC! That's right, San Angelo in June with no air conditioning. The dorm that our boys were in was under construction (they were refurbishing the dorm) and the AC had set off the fire alarm because of the dust it stirred up. So the school administrators had turned off the AC until about 4 PM (we arrived at 11:50 AM). The good news is that our guys took it in stride kept their positive attitudes intact, thanks guys! Our room on the 10th floor did cool down and by Tuesday night we were doing okay.

Second, our camp this year included work at a mission site. We spent 5 hours every day outdoors painting the San Angelo Women's Shelter. The parking lot and play ground area are enclosed by a six foot wall and it was a bland sand color. We spent the week painting and coloring the wall, giving the children something new and fun to look at while they played. During this time we work with the youth from Brook Hollow Christian Church in Abilene, Texas. They helped to inspire some of the great designs we used on the wall!

Third, our camp featured the Student Life drama team All Things 2 All People. Not only did they provide great entertainment the dramas they used during worship really impacted me and our students. They used the drama to set up the sermon and to address the issue of the day. Through the drama the message was given a "real life" impact.

There is more to tell about camp but I want to allow our youth to tell you about it in their words, so I hope that they will stop by and add their comments. Be sure to ask them about camp and what it meant to them!

CAMP!!!!!!

2005-06-13T09:22:00.000-05:00

Next week we will leave for a new youth camp. For as long as I have been at Meadow Lane we have attended Riverbend, so I know that this may be an anxiety building moment for some of us. To help with that I wanted to share one of my camp experiences from when I was a teenager.

My senior year at camp was at Highland Lakes Baptist Encampment around Lake Travis in Central Texas. On the first night one of the younger campers from another Church thought he would play a prank on me. While I was asleep this young man began to paint my fingernails. Unfortunately for him I awoke part way through the process and instinctively rolled to grab whatever had my hand. Even more unfortunately I was on the top bunk, and fell on top of this young man. If you do not know me this may sound less frightening then it was. A 90+ lbs. Junior High boy was landed on by a 250+ lbs. High School senior. We were both lucky he was not seriously hurt.

But the story does not end there. I was embarrassed and took it out on that young man. I yelled and sent him out to find nail polish remover after I had made a good attempt to remove his dignity. Most of those around me laughed and enjoyed my ridicule of him and it made me feel better, until I noticed the look one of the youth from our Church was giving me. Mark was holding a bottle of rubbing alcohol and looking at me with a mixture of pity and disgust that shocked me into stopping in mid-sentence. I knew that the look was for me. It took a second for me to understand why he was looking at me that way, after all, I was the victim! As Mark walked over and handed me the rubbing alcohol to clean my painted nails he never took his eyes from mine and I knew that I had failed him. The amazing thing was that we were not very close, neither one of us really looked up to the other and we only spent time in the other's presence at Church. There was no reason for him to see my reaction as a personal failure against some ideal he had created for me and there was no reason for me to take that look so personally. Yet, I still had failed him. For the rest of the week I sought out this young man who painted my nails and tried to befriend him and be nice to him. He never really changed. The whole week he was still that annoying little boy that he began the week as, but the way Mark looked at me changed.

The last night of camp our Youth Minister asked us to share about the week. Mark raised his hand. He shared that he was disappointed with how I had handled a prank being played on me. But, he also shared that how I had behaved since then had shown him real growth and he was impressed with how I had changed. I was relieved! I had risen to the standard Mark had for me!

It was not until after camp that the whole situation began to really hit me. I had spent the week trying to live up to a standard that Mark had set for me (a good and right standard). But who was Mark? He was just another teenager. Did I work that hard to live up to the standard that Jesus Christ had set for me? How often did I spend time in prayer asking him to look at me and tell me what he saw? Had I ever looked into my Saviors eyes and seen pity and disgust at the sins I had committed and been compelled to change so that I would win his approval?

Mark helped me to realize that I looked at Jesus as a sort of forgiveness gumball machine, put my prayer in and out comes guilt-free forgiveness. I did not work hard at serving my Lord, I just enjoyed the benefits. I learned that if I was willing to work hard to win the approval of a man I should work even harder to show my Lord and Savior that I desire his approval as well. Mark's lesson was not on the agenda that week. It was not taught in any study or devotional time that I recall, but being at camp allowed me to gain this insight into my relationship with God. That is the amazing thing about getting away from the normal and intentionally seeking God and his wisdom, lessons can come from anywhere.

Have you had an experience like this at camp? Have you had a fun or funny experience at camp? Please share them so that we all can see how God works through camp to bring us closer to each other and to him!!!

Schools: Satan's Recruitment Center?

2005-06-01T10:09:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading an article that indicates that the Southern Baptist Convention will once again face a debate about whether or not we should remove all of our children from public schools (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44526). First let me say a few good things about this. It is great that the official resolution includes a praise of Christian teachers in the public schools (see the whole resolution at www.getthekidsout.org) . These teachers should be supported and encouraged. It is also good that these men are concerned about the faith of our youth. I concur that there are serious issues in our public schools that must be addressed. Some of these issues revolve around the treatment of faith in the public arena. I also believe that action must be taken to help Christian young people to take their faith seriously and to find ways to encourage them to not abandon it when they leave home. But, in the end, I find their lack of faith the most disturbing issue.

Now my concerns.

These men are about running from culture instead of trying to reclaim it. Let me make it clear that I do not feel that our children should be used as pawns in a game of spiritual warfare. If there is real spiritual danger for your child in their local school then do not hesitate to remove them, simply be prayerful about this decision and make sure you are not responding to hype. However, I also think that the time, energy and resources being put into trying to remove children from schools could be spent trying to claim these schools for Christ. If Christian parents were to overwhelm the public school system with support, volunteer hours and prayer the impact would be felt by the teachers, administrators and students. If the public schools saw that Christians wanted to help them to overcome some of the struggles they have then it is likely they would be more receptive to the issues that Christians want to address. It is always a shock to us to see what can come of loving others, perhaps we should try this approach with our public schools.

Further, the dogmatic assertion that there is no possible good in public schools and that all Christianity has been driven from them is what causes teachers to fear to share their faith, they think they are alone. This sort of "the sky is falling" drama would be funny if it were not so sad. By saying "WHEREAS, the public school system in America is against Christ in that it seeks to offer a thoroughly secular education" (see the resolution) these men are not allowing for the possibility of Christian influence inside of public schools. Unfortunately this statement speaks louder then their praise for Christian teachers in the school system. Do they consider those teachers traitors to Christ? Unsuspecting fools? Or perhaps naive do-gooders who are fighting a foolish war? By making this bold and exaggerated assertion the authors of this resolution are making it clear that they see no way to reform the public school system. They hold out no hope for the improvement of the lives of those Christian students who can not afford private schools or home schooling, by abandoning those students to this "anti-Christian organization" aren't they contributing to the loss of those young people? Instead would it not be better to find a way to address these concerns that would benefit all Christian students and, perhaps, even the non-Christian ones?

It is funny to me how much influence teachers are credited with in this debate. While it is a given that every teacher does have some level of influence in their student's lives it is still only short lived. You know, I just don't believe that someone you spend four to six hours with a week or 180 days with if you are in elementary school should or can compare to the daily influence and example of your family. The fault here does not lie with the secular alone, indeed it is hard to assign blame, but if you must then why not with those who fail to prepare their children for the influence of the secular and this world. Should we always pass the blame to others? Is it even possible that the influences of daily life could ever overcome true commitment? While it is true that after graduation many "Christian" students walk away from the church and their childhood faith, we must ask if the blame for this rests squarely on the shoulders of the people who teach math, band, P.E., science, history, etc.? NO! To even suggest it in that way sounds foolish. Perhaps the church and families should take a closer look at themselves and ask what they can do to help their children take their faith seriously. Do we model the spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study and time with God? Do our students see us live out our faith, making daily decisions based upon the teachings of Jesus and the Bible? If not, how can we better show them the importance of God in our own lives? Perhaps the real battle for our children is not in the public schools but in our churches and our homes.

Modern Worship?!

2005-05-10T13:37:00.000-05:00

As I'm writing this I am listening to my latest CD purchase Redemption Songs by Jars of Clay. The entire album, er, CD contains traditional hymns like I'll Fly Away, Nothing But the Blood, It is Well With My Soul, and On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand to name a few. But the thing that makes this CD different is that Jars of Clay has put each hymn text to a new tune. Personally I love this kind of music, especially when the new tune works itself around the more well known "classic" tune, it is inspiring and connects me to those Christians who have experienced this music before me. So this brings up the question of how much of the experience of the Church is changeable and how much is unchangeable?

Surely it can be seen that the message that Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead is unchangeable, but that only begs the question of what can be reinvented in the Church. Is the worship service unchangeable? Does this extend to type of music, style of worship, length of the service? Or is it possible that each congregation must work to find the way they can best express the unchanging truth of God to the changing community that they find themselves in. Is the way we express the Gospel locked into a mode that can not change?

The great thing about this CD is that it works. It makes the traditional modern and accessible to some who may never pickup a CD of the greatest hymns. While the tune the artists use to share the words of the song has been changed to appeal more to today's CD purchaser, the song itself is unchanged, and isn't that were the actual message is anyway?

Finals and final thoughts

2005-04-25T14:09:00.000-05:00

This week starts finals for me at school. I have until the middle of next week to finish all my papers, turn in late work, study and take tests. This week has been coming all semester long yet now that it is here it seems like it snuck up on me. There is now so much to do that I feel a little overwhelmed! The strange thing is I have been thinking about how this week is the very opposite of life. In real life you do not get to cram in the stuff you need to at the end. In fact everything that put off remains undone when your, um, done. This, of course, has started me thinking, if I knew that I only had until the middle of next week what would I do? Would my choices be the same? I know that for finals I will give up sleep, time with friends and family, favorite TV shows, reading for fun and all sorts of things just to get the work done. What do I need to do to get God's work done? What do you need to do to get God's work done?

Time to Stop?!?

2005-03-07T10:25:00.000-06:00

Okay, I admit it. I am busy. Youth minister, grad student (16 hours this semester) and husband all pull at my time. Homework piles up and papers need to be written. But so does Wednesday night's lesson. And who could forget spending time with Suzi? It seems like I spend my time running around like a slave to the work that I have all around me. What is worse is that I really do not allow myself time to re-create. Instead I run until I collapse and then veg-out staring at television or hearing the radio without really paying any attention to either. But I keep telling myself that if I do it just a little longer (till graduation in December) then I will have time. Time to manage myself better, time to re-create in quality recreation, and time to stop.

But that is the trick isn't it? How I handle my time now is how I will handle my time then. Running until I collapse will happen then as well, it just may focus in different directions instead of school. No doubt it will continue to be 11:30 PM before I get around to exercising, Midnight before I think about going to bed (though I've thought about sleeping all day). Shortcuts will be tempting and stress will mount just as high. Unless I learn to change how I handle the tasks I've been given. But how?

I think God tells us to slow down. We should meditate on his Word, not speed through it (Psalm 119:15, 97-104). We should have a Sabbath and regenerate our resources with a focus on God (Exodus 20:8-11). Our minds must be renewed and we must become different from the world (Romans 12:2). God is not pleased with my desire to rush through life. It is hard, but I am learning to slow down. When I do I can focus on balance in my life. God wants me to do my best and to honor him with my work, but I can not honor him if I am to busy to live like he intended. The path I am learning is one of planning, patience and preparation. God wants to see me learn to handle all three.

Do you feel that God offers advice on time management? How do you get through your day? Can you make it without a cup of coffee? Do you spend time in genuine recreation or do you just veg-out and crash? How do you make it through the day?

Change is good ???!?!?!?!?

2005-02-21T08:59:00.000-06:00

Well, that's it. I'm old! I don't mean chronologically (though 30 is only a few weeks away), I mean that I have finally reached that point where I want things to stop changing. Specifically the folks at Warner Brothers need to leave the Looney Toons alone! If you want edgy, fine. Do another Batman cartoon, don't go messing around with Bugs Bunny. The Looney Tunes crew should never be crime-fighters for more then one laugh laden short (um, forgot you don't know what a short is, it's a cartoon that lasts about five minutes instead of half an hour...trust me, it is good stuff!). Daffy Duck as an incompetent Superman wannabe, it was so funny thinking about it makes me laugh out loud! Mostly, though, it is the change that I fear. Yes fear. What if the new cartoon is better then the old? What if they never play the classics again? After all you can no longer watch them on ABC on Saturdays, you have to go to the Cartoon Network. Or worse, what if it is so bad that all anyone ever remembers of my beloved cartoons is what they were forced to be in 2005 just to accommodate some executive's idea of the future and no one even wants to hear about the glory of the past! No, I just won't risk it.

Change is scary, in our favorite entertainment and in our youth ministry. Do we avoid inviting friends, unsaved lost friends, because we are afraid of the reaction they will have to us? That the church will have to them? Do we hide behind our comfort levels in the Youth Room content in our place while we watch in fear others who may join. Hoping that they do not enter our special place? What can we do to reachout to those around us? Do we have to lose what is good about us to bring in a sense of the new?

Only time will tell us if Warner Brothers has made the right choice (in the mean time the DVD boxed set of originally Looney Tunes makes a great birthday gift to new thirty year olds...trust me ;D ). Their risk will either flop or be the next big money maker for the network. What would happen if our Youth Ministry took a risk like the WB? Could you lead it? Would we dare?

But it's on network TV!

2005-02-14T10:17:00.000-06:00

Last week I was watching one of the seemingly unending stream of Law and Order spin-offs when the plot suddenly hit me. The main characters of Law and Order SVU were lamenting the violence in a video game that a bad guy was using as the basis for his crimes (the game was clearly intended to look like Grand Theft Auto). Now if the shock there did not hit you it may be because you are not a fan of the show, but the graphic violence portrayed on the TV show often is more, well, graphic then the game's violence (the one in the show) that they were speaking against. In that moment I saw myself, and probably millions of others, thinking that violent games are bad while receiving that message from a violent show. So all of this got me thinking. When I was a child the worst show on TV was The Dukes of Hazzard (they disobeyed the law and disrespected authority) and the worst game was Pac-Man (he ate PILLS, someone might try to copy that). The world has become less innocent today as network TV involves graphic violence and near nudity and video games offer the same thing. So all of this leads me to some questions.

Does the media (TV, Games, and such) affect us? Can we have those images poured into our heads without there being an effect? How much time do you spend in TV and games like this? What do you think the Bible says about this? How about your friends?

Does Duff speak for you?

2005-01-31T15:12:00.000-06:00

No, not Homer Simpson's favorite brew but this quote from Hilary Duff:

"Because I don't take my clothes off and show everything I have doesn't mean that I'm not a grown-up...Certain artists my age who are going through this phase of not wanting a younger audience or not wanting people their age to like them or trying to get a more male-oriented audience will take their clothes off, but I also think that if they feel comfortable doing stuff like that, then more power to them."

Does taking your clothes off really serve as the only way to make yourself more adult? Do you feel that the only way women and girls can be taken seriously is if they have little covering their bodies? Is this a media issue? Or do the young women in your schools believe like Hilary Duff? Is Hilary's whatever you think attitude good or bad? Where do you stand? Do you think ladies should dress up or is less clothing really a sign of maturity?

Hello Brave New World

2005-01-17T15:45:00.000-06:00

I'm glad you found my blog. I was hoping that we could use this place to discuss things that concern you, things you are excited about and everything inbetween. To do that I was hoping that you could help me by suggesting some topics for us to talk about. This blog is open to comments and suggestions so don't be shy!

Since we don't have any of your thoughts yet I was wondering about something that we talked a few Sundays ago in SS.

The SciFi show Ghost Hunters where real life plumbers put down their monkey wrenches and search for proof of ghosts at night and on the weekend. After our discussion on ghosts I saw an ad for the show Medium which gives us a crime fighter who listens to the dead for advise on who did it. This all got me thinking about how we look at death and what we think about it. What are your views? Do you think either of these shows have it right? Is there another truth to life after death that TV hasn't covered?