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We Lepers

Another great article in the USA TODAY about the Leper colony on the northern tip of Hawaii's Molokai Island. It is a small colony now of only 24 people but it once held hundreds who were exiled there. In fact over 8,000 people with the disease died on this remote peninsula. I read a book about this colony a couple of years ago and it was fascinating. One of the great stories of this place is about the catholic priest who went there to minister on the island. You can read his story HERE.This is a very cool part of the article.

"Damien born in Belgium as Joseph de Veuster, stayed and put no barriers between himself and the patients. he built homes, constructed a water system and imported cattle. He had no medical training, but he did have a medical book and a bag, and he made rounds washing and bandaging patients sores. he shared his pipe with patients and ate from the same bowl. Even before he contracted leprosy Damien began his sermons saying, "WE LEPERS".

"We Lepers" isn't that the truth. We are all broken, infected, lost and exiled without the love of Jesus and because of Damien's willingness to touch these broken people they came to know God's love and acceptance. To honor his work the catholic church is about to give him sainthood.

Damien was diagnosed with leprosy 12 years after he arrived in Kalaupapa and died four years later at the age of 49. He's the only health care worker in Hawaii who ever contracted leprosy.

Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant.

Follow the Rabbi

Caught this article in the USA Today today about David Wolpe who is a Jewish Rabbi in Beverly Hills. He has written a book, Why Faith Matters. He wrote it in response to many of the recent books written by atheists. Interestingly enough Rick Warren did the forward for the book. I haven't read the book but the article is great and here are some excerpts from the book.

"...In our time, from this tiny corner of the world, a fraction of a fraction of the known universe, clever men deduce that there is no God. Others among us, perhaps less clever but no less clear, feel certain that there is, and that our lives are immeasurably better for believing it... Faith is both an achievement and a gift: It is an achievement of seeking, questioning, yearning, reasoning, hoping, and it is a gift of God, who fashioned this world, whose goodness sustains it and whose teachings could save it if only we-believers and deniers both-would listen, would love."

"The deepest experience of God has never been in conquest but in compassion, community, holiness and humble goodness. Inside of every human being is a battle against the pettiness and malice that thread through our character. The battle is often lost but religion, at the very least, knows that it must be fought, and should be fought, each day of our lives."

Well said Rabbi!

Preaching is Weird

Sunday was such an interesting day. In the morning I preached in both of our services at church during our youth sunday and it was a blast. Good times, and I was so proud of our students and the leadership they provided in the service. Later that night I preached at IGNITION 2008 for over 700 students. So I preached for 2000+ people yesterday, crazy. I have done this many times before in fact my record for one day is over 3000 but it still amazes me that a person like me gets to do that. If you would have told me as say an 18yr old that I would stand and talk in front of that many people about God I would have told you that you were hitting the tequila too hard!

Preaching is weird to me. There you are standing in front of all these people telling them how to live life, and what God is looking for from us, all the while you are trying to figure it out just like they are and you know how screwed up you are. It is weird. It is a strange calling.

So how do I even get on the stage with any sense of integrity? Well, I do it because I believe everything I am saying from God's word is true and it doesn't matter how flawed I am as the messenger. That doesn't excuse my own sin but it does mean that the TRUTH is bigger than me. I also just try to be real, authentic and genuine about my failures and flaws. Now obviously I can't reveal my deepest darkest sins in front of thousands but I can preach from a place of authenticity and humbleness.

So preaching is weird, but I love it.

Don't Miss These Guys

You might have read some of my posts last month about the Echo Conference. The guys in the videos below did all of the program, funny stuff. There are multiple videos of them on YouTube so check them out. They are affectionately known as Johnny and Chachi.

A Generation of Alcoholics?

I believe that alcohol abuse is one of the number one threats to young adults and teens in this country. The increase in binge drinking amongst teens, college students and young adults is scary. It is sad for as a youth pastor to visit the facebook pages of many of my former students and find them drunk on a regular basis. I know that many will discount my concern for them and this generation and say it's just youthful behavior or the "That's just what you do" philosophy, but it has a different feel to me than simply that. I think it is destroying a generation, and leading too lots of problems later in life.

This post comes from Church Relevance, just more indicators that the problem is growing. Are we raising a generation of alcoholics or is it no worse than it has ever been?

The University of Texas at Austin spent four years studying the drinking habits of 2,200 college students. Using a smaller sample of students, they focused part of their study on how students celebrate their 21st birthday. Astonishingly, 98.7% of college students drank alcohol to celebrate their 21st birthday.

Side Effects of a 21st Birthday

78% had ill effects
54% got a hangover
44% had a blackout
39% did not know how they got home
34% threw up
26% suffered embarrassment
22% found out later that they had sex
22% got in a fight or argument
16% had to miss school, work, or another obligation on the next day

And it is not just binge drinking (defined as 4-5 drinks). Many students are pushing their physical limits to over 20 drinks, an excess that researchers feel is too gluttonous to be only labeled as binging.

Binge drinking sets a lower threshold than what we’re talking about. We’re saying this is more than four or five drinks. Here it’s people having 10 or 20 drinks. Obviously, binge is a bad thing, but it’s not capturing the high end of drinking we’re interested in characterizing here.

One of the things that really struck us is not only that they’re drinking a hell of a lot but about half of participants were drinking not only more on that night, but they’re drinking more than ever in their lifetime. They’re putting in their lifetime maximum number of drinks in that 24-hour period of their birthday celebration.
- Kenneth Sher :: Professor of Psychology :: University of Missouri

Studies show that between 12% to 34% of students consume 21+ drinks on their 21st birthday. If you minister to college students, realize that their drinking problems may be worse than you thought.

I would love to hear your opinions. In honor of this post the Jester's Pub is serving COKE and ICED TEA today.

Can't.....Look........AWAY..........HELP ME!

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it does. This is the ultimate CHEEZY CHRISTIAN CRAP! They are singing about renewing your mind, the problem is mine melted while watching this. Make sure you make it to 1:56 in the video. Just try you can do it.

Back to Sixteen

Today I got my PA driver's license for the second time in my life. The first was at the age of sixteen way back in 1985! I am getting old. As I was walking into the building, I passed by the exact spot where the instructor stepped into my dad's old brown ford pick-up truck looked at me and said, "Let's go son.". I remember how nervous I was, I remember hitting the curb when I parallel parked (should have been an automatic failure), and I remember hearing the words "You passed".

As I was waiting today to be called, there were a few teenagers there who were living those moments for the first time, full of anxious nerves and fears of not looking both ways. There were legendary stories when I was in high school of instructors failing you for sneezing and so taking your eyes off the road. All of these memories came flooding back to me today and made me remember once again of some of the huge moments our teens go through and the stress they hold.

I have been in youth ministry for 18 years now full-time and I think I often forget what it is like to be a teenager. All of the big moments that they face, the life-changing decisions they have to make, all done with not a whole lot of life experience. If I had to go back and do it all over again it would be a little scary. Yet, I see God's provision in my teen years, how he brought people and opportunities just when they needed to be in my life.

When you look back on high school do you recognize God's goodness? Do you see His hand in your life? What was High School like for you? What was your driver's test like? Did you fail the first time? How did you celebrate?

If you are in youth ministry take the time to celebrate moments like your students getting their driver's licensee because it is a big deal.

Go HERE if you want to be a Driving Instructor in the UK, probably pays better than youth ministry.

Tim Tebow is the Real Deal

This young man is inspiring, he is also the result of two good parents who never let football become Tim's God. I know students who know Tim and they would tell you that this Heisman Trophy winner is a man of God and he is the REAL DEAL!

Virgins Unite!

So did you catch the MTV VMA'S last night? I didn't, I used to watch it every year but it has dropped of my radar the last couple of years, maybe I am getting old. One interesting tidbit I caught on the news today was the whole Promise Ring thing between the host, Russell Brand, and the Jonas Brothers and Jordan Sparks. Here is some of it from People:

"Not everybody is laughing at Russell Brand at this year's Video Music Awards.

Jordin Sparks spoke out against the British comedian's jokes about the Jonas Brothers and their purity rings before introducing T.I.'s performance.

"I just have one thing to say about promise rings. It's not bad to wear a promise ring," Sparks, 18, told the crowd, off-the-cuff, "because not everybody – guy or girl – wants to be a slut."

The American Idol winner's comments were met by an audible cheer from the crowd.

During his opening monologue, Brand had poked fun at the Jonas Brothers, suggesting that they should be taking advantage of their celebrity to win dates. (Brand, himself, is a famous lothario in his native England.)

Sparks has long spoken publicly about holding onto her virginity. She, too, wears a purity ring.

Later, Brand returned to the stage to offer an apology of sorts.

"I didn't meant to take it lightly," the host said about purity rings. "I don't want to piss off teenage fans." Still, Brand, whose apology soon morphed into a series of off-color jokes, said, "Promise rings, I'm well up for it. [But] a bit of sex, it never hurt anybody."

Let me say that I am not big on having students sign promise pledges or wearing purity rings. Around 80% of the students who sign the promises break them by the time they marry, so instead of "True Love Waits" it's more like "True Love Waits a Little Longer." I am not against the whole ring thing, to each his own. I just don't think it is the most effective way to encourage students, but like I said, not against it either.

I do admire Jordan Sparks for speaking her mind and being bold about why she wears one, and how her faith has shaped that decision.

In a world where teen girls are taught to "Slut it Up", her stance is a breath of fresh air. You go Jordan!

Replaying the Fool

I got a couple of great responses to my post last week on being a Fool for Christ. My good friend Bill Cavanaugh shared the list of the things in his home office. Proof he refuses to grow up. Here is the awesome list:

Framed photographs of:

The Three Stooges
The Monkees
The Honeymooners
The Blues brothers
Michelle Pffifer
Dubdey Do-Right
Signed T-shirt of full cast of kids from Godspell
Back to the Future Deloreon Die-cast iron car (1st movie version)
Back to the future CD and specialty made book from 80’s (off E-bay)
Five Iron Frenzy 8” vinyl record (collectors- ebay)
Spiderman 2008 calendar
Poster of Ashley Tisdale (next to printer on wall—don’t ask)

Cast photos framed of:
Happy Days
Wonder years
Wings
Cheers
Brady Bunch
Clark W Griswold (1st Vacation movie)

Three Stooges statues (16” high each on bookshelf)
Pittsburgh Steeler german beer stein with flip top

Misc photos on wall of:
The Princess Bride
The Big Lebowski
Spamalot
Dog the Bounty hunter
Evel Kneivel
Ralphie (from A Christmas Story)

Numerous pictures of my kids, wife.
Cast Pictures (11”x14”) of last three years of Seneca musicals (Brianna was in all three)
Original ticket (framed) of farewell tour of The Ramones in Pittsburgh 1996
Signed Santa Claus ornament from former Youth Pastor Mark Helsel at a small award presentation to me

And now a CS Lewis quote.

I may be older, but I certainly refuse to grow up.

Bill

I tip my Jester's cap to you Bill. Stay forever young.

Also Len Evans sent me this picture from his office, sweet.