Kid's Camp/Birth Control

So maybe "birth control" is a little harsh. I actually had a really good time at Children's camp this last week. I did get to have a healthy taste of what parenting will be like. Andrew, or any of my married friends reading this, I can give you some pointers. Most of them I learned through personal failures, luckily though, they weren't my kids. I might actually write a post strictly on how bad a job I did from time to time on said camp. Although, right now, I'm going to focus on what may have been the funniest moment in all of my camp life.

To set the scene you need to understand that there were 9, first through fifth graders jammed into our room. Myself and Marcus, the other counselor, had been up for about 3 days and the kids weren't quiet any of that time. Well, after the downpour for the day, did I mention it rained everyday? Because, it did, it rained all the time. Oddly enough, it was a blessing as that area had been in a drought for quite a long time.

Right, so there we are half mad from sleep deprivation, dripping, and cold from the rain. On top of that we were tucked into a space with 9 little arrows. All of this to set the mood and scene for what was one of the best and most hilarious cabin devotionals we had all week.

It all began like normal, because normal meant I had no idea what was going on. On the fly I was asked if I wanted to do the devotional for the night, feeling super spiritual I said, "Sure." The next thing I know I'm talking about God keeping his promises by helping a very old woman in the bible, I think Sarah, have a baby. Perhaps it was my delivery, but octogenarians giving birth didn't seem to peak the interest of third graders. So, I picked up the theme of prayer and ran with it.

I asked the kids if they wanted to pray about anything. No lie, these kids ate up the opportunity to lift up legit, non-vain, prayer requests. Of course they came from the mouth of babes so they were tempered with natural immaturity, but to me that made them all the more sweet. A boy asking for God to protect his family from Satan, because his mom broke her toe. The little guy who just wanted us to pray for his grandma with the broken hip. These kids were all so not focused on themselves, which was an alarming change since the whole week had been focused on them. I was a bit taken back, at some point Marcus told me he got teary-eyed listening to them voice very personal needs.

Until one kid prayed for us to be protected while we were at camp. That just sparked the imaginations of every one of those boys. All of the sudden there were ax murderers and werewolves in the woods. In their minds, at any moment the wind could carry a tree right on top of us. But, one guy shouted out, "Bears! Bears could attack us!" Everyone lost it, and I had to try and pull back together what had been a very touching moment. All the while the little boy sitting next to me was saying, "You know what's scary? You, you, you know what's scary?"

As soon as things died down I looked at the kid sitting next to me to see what he was trying to say, and just as thing got completely quiet he blurted out, "BEARS WITH MACHINE GUNS!" I don't know if it's as funny when you read it. In fact I know it can't be as funny. I kid you not after I got the group to pray, which wound up being just as lovely as the period before the NRA Bear Scare, Marcus and I went back outside to work on moving stuff and died laughing the rest of the night.

Genuinely though, it's hard to really grasp Christ's affinity for children until you are a parent or spend time teaching them. There is something special about their faith. I always had trouble with the idea of a child like faith. It rang of an immature faith or a thoughtless faith, but these kids were more like, "Duh, why wouldn't we be Christian." They saw the joy of serving God. They could trust easily, because all they knew was trusting in someone. It was nice, I really learned something from them, something that I don't think I can easily put down in words. Go spend some time with little kids, I think it's worth it.

Some night I might try to type up the story about the kid who did "Funny Voices" at the Talent Show. I literally fell on the ground laughing.

Pope B, Bringing The Heat!

I absolutely love the fact that the Pope isn't pulling any punches. Some of you may have heard about the recent edict he approved of that says the Catholic church is the only true church.

Way to go big guy! Pope Benedict, spitting in the face of Vatican II, tightens up his belt and let's all us protestants know that we have no means of salvation. BOOM! This guy has moxie! What does he base all of this on? Nothing other than Catholic doctrine. No matter how much Holy Scripture disagrees with that doctrine. What a pair of big, brass, infallible ones on this guy.

Here's what I love the most. He sees the differences. I firmly believe that he's incorrect, but he isn't willing to look at all the world religions and say that they are streams or spokes in a wheel. For that, I have to applaud him. Maybe this will stir up the debate between Catholics and Protestants?

Right now, I am in the middle of Vodie Baucham's book "The Ever Loving Truth" and he's dealing with the Post-Christian culture and touching on Post Modernism. I like that the Pope isn't Post Modern. He's wrong, but he's sure there is absolute truth, which I like. I'd like to see a little bit of that fire burning in Protestants, but tempered with love.

Wouldn't it be nice if the great big body of Christ actually got together and said, "Hey. . .Christ said He was the only way to know God. I bet He meant it." Then we all figured out the ramifications of our Saviors statements and acted on them. The scary realization of Christ making exclusive statements of His lordship would spur us on to evangelism, hopefully.

I'm not trying to make Christ sound like he's exclusive to a certain group. I firmly believe there is a flock, or a number, of chosen individuals who will be saved. But, I don't know who those people are and they were chosen completely outside of their own merit. What I am trying to say is this, He is exclusively The Savior. Why should we mince words?

John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Let's step it up, Protestants. We're kind of getting shown up by the Pope. This is not a matter of personal truth, it's a matter of eternal signifigance. Let's stop going where the breeze leads and start standing up for what scripture teaches.

Thanks,

Chris

Post Mission Trip Post

This is going to be short. **I was wrong - 7/21/07**

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to New Mexico in which I was allowed to work with the Church Rock Chapter of the Navajo tribe in Gallup. We, my church, went to lead Vacation Bible School for the local Native Americans. It was a spectacle. Oddly enough, my good friend Andrew posted about VBS the day we started doing it. Check it out, here.

I believe there was a total of 4 individuals who professed their faith in Christ. My girlfriend was involved with one of them. A little girl who was precious. Also, we saw a grown man who is a father of 3 come to know Christ. Please be in prayer for all the people of Gallup in the Navajo Nation. There is a deep thirst for living water.

I got a chance to spend time with lots of young teens to young adults. I learned that Dodge ball is universal, but only slightly less so than the Gospel. I kid you not, Danelle and myself could have everyone really excited and then lose them but, never with Dodge ball. That's what makes this last little note so special.

I had absolutely no control over the crowd in New Mexico. They would literally walk away from me while I was talking to them. They would purposefully ignore my requests, to the point that it was almost ridiculous. Until the Dodge balls came out. Three of the nights I got a really good chance to meet with the whole group, the other night's timing was off. It was there, sitting in the circle in the middle of the basketball gym that The Gospel really showed itself to be transcendent.

I spoke about repentance and faith. I used some simple analogies that I got from The Way of The Master. They never ignored me. They were engaged and no one left out of apathy or boredom. Each night I went back to my hotel room more and more amazed by Scriptures ability to cut straight to the heart of each person there.

I don't know if any of the Navajo in my group professed Christ as their personal Savior. If they did, I hope to see them next year, teaching God's word to a lost people group. If no one did then I just thank God that I was allowed to plant seeds that someone else can harvest. Either way, I drew closer to God because of the preaching of His word.

If you've never taught God's word, you must! There is no quicker way to sure up your faith than to teach what Holy Scripture says to be true. I recommend praying for the missionaries in New Mexico, they are not without persecution from the Navajo themselves. Finally, please, read Scripture and teach it, share what you are learning. It will make your faith grow deeper.

Pray for the Navajo to raise up leaders who will lead their families in a Christ like way.

Thanks,
Chris

Is it too late to make fun of The Secret?

I'm getting on a video kick. I figured out how to do it and now I can't stop. This internet thing could catch on. If only the kids were using it. . .

Either way, this video satires The Secret and just about sums up all the wackiness. I've got some points, maybe just one, to make after you watch the video. So watch the video, it's funny. A quick warning don't bother with checking out the link. It's some website that is actually using this video to try and promote "The Secret". I guess even bad publicity is good publicity, eh?



If any of the 2 to 3 people who read this blog are ascribed to The Secret, get the heck out of it. Seriously, It's Oprah we're talking about here. She can't even ascribe to the faith she claims to follow. Why jump on board her bonus faith?

The other thing about The Secret is that it's not mutually exclusive. Other groups are claiming it under different names. In fact that's not even it's real name. Go hit Google up for info on the Law of Attraction. It even makes its way back to Buddha. The basic idea is that, "Like attracts like, and opposites repel opposites, in the world of thought." This from one of the earliest articles on the topic.

Wikipedia, because I don't like research, states three major principles in the Law of Attraction.

1. Know what one wants and ask the universe for it. (The "universe" is mentioned broadly, stating that it can be anything from a god to an unknown source of energy or even more realistically, bologna)
   
2. Feel and behave as if the object of one's desire is on its way. (Remember, you're speaking directly to a nebulous, illusory, non-corporeal fallacy!)
   
3. Be open to receiving it. (Be careful, if the "universe" is a mean Genie that bag of money might just fall from the sky and kill you.) *Emphasis mine*

So who else is using The Law of Attraction? That would be the Theological blunder that is the Prosperity Gospel. You might know it as, "Word of Faith" or even "Name It And Claim It Theology." Let's take a few seconds and apply the three principles of The Law of Attraction to The Prosperity Gospel.

1. Know what one wants and ask the universe for it. (In this case god would take the place of the more nebulous Universe. Here's the first problem, the assumption that prayer is for you to change the heart of God. Here's a great article on what prayer is and isn't. Tell me where you see, "Prayer is a place to beg for stuff")
2. Feel and Behave as if the object of one's desire is on the way. (Normally this is done in line with something called a "Seed Offering". The idea is that if God's gonna fix you financially the least you can do is give him a little bit up front. It's a twisting of scripture. They take the idea of reaping what you sow to a preposterous extreme. The promise of course is that the "seed" will grow. Of course it doesn't, unless you count it's growth in the crooks bank account.)
3. Be open to receiving it. (This is where the Prosperity Gospel, see Exhibit A, takes the hard turn towards heresy. Your action defines the arrival of the object. Here the often brought up complaint that, "My car ain't here yet", can be heard. To which the often vomited response is vomited, "You just aren't believing enough!" Again, this is a mockery of Biblical prayer and a blasphemous treatment of faith.)

So, by looking at the basic ideas of two false faiths we see just how much they have in common. Mind you, this is basically all opinion. I may have even used the scripture out of context. If I did and you catch it, let me know. None the less. The Secret is nothing new. It's the same thing that every religion, outside of true Biblical Christianity, teaches. It says that if you believe hard enough, act good enough, love strong enough, or at least do all those a little more than you do bad things, then good things will come to you.

The Bible teaches that it is by grace we are saved and by grace we are afforded all things. The natural difference there is that nothing rests on the shoulders of man. No amount of positive thought could ever attract enough positive energy to make up for the offenses of our sin. So, don't be fooled by Oprah or any other Jezebel who tries to feed you false doctrine. We are redeemed by the Christ's propitiation for our sins. So, just like Mya Rudolph's Oprah impersonation, shout Christ and His gospel with all of your might, proclaiming His glory where ever you go.