Missing the Bus

We live in a culture that is ridiculously busy. We often talk about how much overtime we

have or how hard we work with pride in our voice and smugness in our demeanor. With this, we pass this “work ethic” onto our children and ultimately teach them to do as much as possible. Some pass this off as teaching their children a good “work ethic” when in truth, I fear that we are teaching our children that success is characterized by how busy a person can become.

 Education is a priority and eating your vegetables is a priority. Providing for your family is a priority. We teach our kids that team practices and games are a priority so as to teach them dedication. Where does God fit in all of this? I do not mention all of this in order to demonize sports or jobs, but to glorify the use of moderation and priority.

 In youth group, we have been talking about Authentic Faith: If you believe that God really is the Son of God and really died on the cross for your sins which separate you from Him, how could you NOT have an evident change in your life and be telling everyone you know this news? Many of our students had their eyes opened and began to question what their life reflected. This also sparked questions of my own faith and the curiosity of how adult congregants would react given this question.

The famed magician and professed atheist Penn Jilette has questioned the authenticity of the Christian faith by stating, “If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and you think it’s not worth telling someone about it, how much do you have to hate him to not proselytize (evangelize)? To believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell people? If you knew someone was going to get hit by a bus, would you not do everything you could to push them out of the way?” Amen Penn. This quote hit me like a ton of bricks. Especially as a parent. I love my kids more than life itself. I want them to succeed and I want to keep them safe. I want them to have a relationship with God, give their whole heart to God, and to grow up to teach their families the same. Where I falter is in wondering if I am giving my whole heart in showing them authentic faith. Am I placing priority on their spiritual health?

In all of the busyness, are we fitting God into the core values of our families or have we become so busy teaching our children to be busy? If I saw a bus headed in Noah or Elliot’s direction I would not simply yell out, “Hey, you might want to watch out for that bus.” I would lay my life down for my sons. I would do everything possible to get them to safety.

For my boys, I want to teach them to take the time to rest; that family devotional time is a priority. I want to instill that the time we take together to unplug and thank God for the blessings He has given is the most important part of our day. When Noah, my 12 year old, wakes in the morning for school, he does not have an option to not go to school unless he is sick. When he is sick, I take him to the doctor because I love him and want him healthy. When it is Sunday morning and it is time for church and Sunday night and time for youth group, Noah does not have the option to not go, nor will he or Elliot ever have this option, because I love them and I want people to sow into their life and teach them their wisdom when it comes to doing life with God as the lead.

 Though many may struggle to hear this message, call me a “helicopter parent,” it is one that I find so important to address for the sake of all parents. Are we truly instilling in our children that we believe in God the way that we say we do? That we believe God is the most important part of their life and for that, we would lay our life down to show them this kind of faith?

Scripture: 1 Kings 19:11-13

Why I'm Still Eating Oreos and Chick-Fil-A

A few weeks back, Oreo came out with a graphic of an Oreowith rainbow colored layers, representing that they supported gay marriage.Recently, Chick-Fil-A owner Dan Cathy has been in hot water for publiclyaddressing that his company supports the “biblical marriage unit” i.e. man andwoman. So as expected, many leftists began boycotting Oreo and many rightwingers vowed to never eat Chick-Fil-A again. Where do I stand? I’m off in thecorner, boycotting the boycots, and eating all the Oreos and Chicken sandwiches.

Believer or non-believer, most of you reading this blog livein the United States.

While the U.S.has it’s problems, there is a beauty in the amount of freedom that we have beenblessed with. We are free to speak our mind, to hold beliefs, or to not believein anything if we so choose. Freedom is a fantastic benefit of being anAmerican. What baffles me and irritates me to the core is that we can claim tobe a country that fights for our freedom of speech, freedom to hold certainvalues, and freedom to believe whatever we want, yet we often will attackwhoever doesn’t believe the way in which we want them to.

When Oreo came out with their rainbow graphic, some in theChristian world decided that it was not o.k. for this company to voice theirbeliefs, resulting in a lot of hateful statements and the boycotting ofOreo/Nabisco. I, however, did not see any problem with this statement. Theywere standing for what they believed and just stating what they value. They didnot come out and say that they were against “straight marriage” or that theywould no longer hire straight people at their company. Nor did they say thatthey would no longer be making Oreos for straight people (which would have beendevastating as Oreos are DELICIOUS).

When Dan Cathy stated this week that his company supportsthe “biblical representation of marriage,” the internet blew up with talk ofboycotts and the disgust of Cathy’s “hate and discrimination.” I made sure toread all of Dan Cathy’s interview and am not sure where he is beingdiscriminatory or hateful. His company, like Oreo/Nabisco, holds a value to betrue for them. At no time did they state that they would not serve, hire, oraccept homosexual people in their restaurants. In fact, Chick-Fil-A states, “The Chick-Fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treatevery person with honor, dignity, and respect—regardless of their belief, race,creed, sexual orientation or gender.” That sounds like a tradition anyone couldbe a part of and one that I personally can support. A policy of loving everyoneand treating them with the respect and dignity that everyone, Christian or not,deserves.

So we can condemn Oreo for making a bold statement and wecould condemn Dan Cathy for holding a value that is not popular. Or we can beblessed to live in a country where we can embrace our differences, be free tobelieve what we want, and still love the other side in the process. If lovingyour neighbor even though they don’t agree with you is not something you can geton board with, well, more Oreos and Chick-Fil-A for me.

If you are interested in more info on Oreo of Chick-Fil-A join the conversation on Facebook:

Facebook.com/chickfila
Facebook.com/chickfila
Facebook.com/Oreo

Fifty Shades of Magic Mike

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past six months, you have certainly had a conversation or heard a conversation or seen a facebook post concerning the Magic Mike/Fifty Shades of Grey fanaticism. What you may not have seen or heard is a post or conversation that is not ignoring the reality of this phenomenon.  Though I am positive I am going to take a lot of heat for this blog, I…. well, I will take one for the team. I am not sure which team this is as we have so far been a small and silent group. So here goes.

AM I THE ONLY ONE IGNORING THE FACT THAT FIFTY SHADES OF GREY IS GIRL PORN? I won’t apologize for yelling. That deserved some caps. I haven’t been able to go a day lately without hearing or seeing reference about Christian Grey, but in none of that have I seen a realistic comment about the nature of this literature. I am not talking about this from a minister’s perspective necessarily, (Though I am shocked at the number of Christian women on this bandwagon) but from the lense of someone who is in a happy and committed relationship.

I will be the first to admit that when I was single, I referred to Channing Tatum as Channing “Imsofreakinghott” Tatum and as a show of God’s good works. ( I was young and hilarious and single and let’s face it, he is attractive). While this may be a good point, how would you ladies react if you husband or boyfriend got tickets in advance, went on and on about, and planned to go see on opening night a movie about strippers? Maybe you’re cool with that. To each her own. I however would feel a little angry but more hurt emotionally and in my confidence.

If your husband or boyfriend came home with a book the equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey, read it, commented about it on facebook, talked about it, would you be ok with that? I would be again hurt and disgusted. There would be a lot of emotional issues going on in relationships if the coin was flipped.

So I ask you, if you are someone who has read or thought about reading this book, is it worth it? Is your significant other being truthful about how they feel about it? Have you thought about how it might make them feel even if they would never tell you? (I am shocked about how many parents are unknowingly letting their teens read this “Best Selling novel” and how many teenagers I know personally who are currently reading this series).

I surveyed a few men in committed relationships for this blog, and each one commented that they would feel like junk and a few who do feel inadequate because their girlfriend or wife has joined this craze. But the catch is few have talked to their significant other about it because they don’t want to seem “like a girl” or childish about caring.

I wrote a blog a few months back about the problem with porn in marriages. It seems that Fifty Shades has crept in, a pornographic work, disguised as a novel, and for that it is socially acceptable. For me, in my opinion, there is a lot of damage that this could do to relationships in the same way that internet porn has ruined many lives.

My challenge and point? Think twice before doing what everyone else is doing just because society says it is ok to take part. Think about your man or your future man. Everything is permissible but not all things are beneficial.

Ignorance is in the Eye of the Beholder

I am ultra frustrated today. I feel like I can't even concentrate on life. I don't know why I even log on Facebook. I love staying in touch with college friends, love that our lives can be connected. What I hate is that every other post lately is politically motivated or another post calling me ignorant because I believe in God. Let me unpack this for you so you understand and so I bury my urge to throw my computer off a balcony.

This is not a post about what I think about gay marriage. I will say that I think divorce is ruining the sanctity of marriage and maybe we should put a little attention on how we accept that as a church, but I digress. This is not about my opinion. But it is about the fact that I am entitled to one. As an American, as a human being, and even as a Christian, I am entitled to opinion. I am entitled to belief. Just as all who are a different religion or hold no spiritual belief at all, are entitled to an opinion. It is a beautiful thing. But I find myself being labeled ignorant by others and "judgemental" for holding any beliefs unless it is the one that is popular. What is ignorant is posting Bible verses from the old testament out of context to attack Christianity. (Jesus came to fulfill the law. So you are right, I'm not going to hell for eating shellfish or wearing two types of material. Thank you for educating me). What is judgemental is telling me I cannot have an opinion or a belief because it is not yours. What is ignorant is Christians posting hate fueled comments and using the Bible to  try and excuse it. What is judgemental is attacking others for holding a view you think is wrong. Whats ridiculous is taking scripture and using it to make it say what you want to say and not what it was meant for because you wish it was the popular view.

What is absolutely IGNORANT,IMMATURE, RIDICULOUS, is using Facebook to be a coward and tell anyone that they are not allowed to believe anything that you don't want them to. We were all made with the inherent desire to believe something. SO you have your belief, I will have mine. We can love one another, give to Caesar what is Caesar's and you and I can have an adult conversation in person if you are concerned that my belief is not correct.