GO KU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Revenge
This weekend I am preaching in church on Romans 12:17-21. It's kicking my butt! I want revenge in some way, shape or form on those who hurt me. But this passage commands me to not only lay aside all thoughts of needing revenge, but it calls me to love. To love so much that those who have wronged me are convicted of their need for Jesus and repent. That's a lot of love, and most days I probably don't do that real well. But that is the greatness of Jesus and his love, it can do that.
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"[d]says the Lord. 20On the contrary:
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
"If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."[e] 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Totally Wired
I just finished "Totally Wired" by Anastasia Goodstein. It's purpose is to educate people about how teens are using the internet. Lots of basics, explanations of social networks, IM, technology use in schools, and so on. Now, I'm sure this book would have been awesome if I was scared of computers, but since I'm not, this book told me a lot of things I mostly already knew. So all in all, a book I would only recommend to those who are fearful of computers and how dangerous they are, or to parents who see their kids on the internet all the time, but have no idea what they are doing. If you just want to know everything about youth culture, check out Anastasia's blog, which as a youth pastor is a must read every day.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Guitar Strings...GRRR!
On Saturday, in preparation for leading worship yesterday at church, I decided to change the strings on my guitar. For those who don't know about changing guitar strings, when you put on a new set, they take a little while to "settle in" and stay in tune. After changing my strings I played for a while and things seemed to be in good shape. The next morning at practice some minor re-tuning was needed but no big deal. Then service came.On the first song my 'b' string seemed to be a bit out of tune, so I re-tuned it and went on my way. But after each song it was more and more out of tune. I tried to play only low strings or adjust the fret or two during the song, but mostly it just sounded terrible. By the next to last song my 'b' string was dropping a minor third (down to G# or as bad as it could possibly make my guitar sound) after just a few strums. One of the women helping sing that morning stepped up to the mic and said something to the effect of it being good that God hears the praise of our heart, out of tune guitars and all.
After finishing, I went and removed the string and put it right back on. Problem solved (although I still don't know how the first time I put the string on things went so badly). Just a good reminder of what is important as I lead worship times and youth group things. Our hearts have to be offering all of ourselves to God.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Teens Need Adults!
I know, I know, I've gone post crazy! Two in a day!
I just read a blog post over on YPulse about the dangers of growing up in the suburbs. Basically, the thought is that suburban kids have higher rates of drug and alcohol use than inner city kids. Here is Anastasia's conclusion:
The article points to the need for more adult interaction with teens -- I don't think this has to be just parents, but what cities often offer that suburbs don't is a bigger sense of community and less isolation. My sense is that teens who live in cities do interact more with adults than the kids getting wasted on the golf courses....
I hope our youth group here in Lander is a place that is providing opportunities for those relationships between students and adults. I know relationships with adults had a huge impact on the choices I made as a teen. Just a good reminder of the importance of building relationships over making things that are flashy or cool just for the sake of being flashy or cool.
I just read a blog post over on YPulse about the dangers of growing up in the suburbs. Basically, the thought is that suburban kids have higher rates of drug and alcohol use than inner city kids. Here is Anastasia's conclusion:
The article points to the need for more adult interaction with teens -- I don't think this has to be just parents, but what cities often offer that suburbs don't is a bigger sense of community and less isolation. My sense is that teens who live in cities do interact more with adults than the kids getting wasted on the golf courses....
I hope our youth group here in Lander is a place that is providing opportunities for those relationships between students and adults. I know relationships with adults had a huge impact on the choices I made as a teen. Just a good reminder of the importance of building relationships over making things that are flashy or cool just for the sake of being flashy or cool.
Utah Symphony Orchestra
Last night Shiloh and I went and heard the Utah Symphony Orchestra here in town. It was a nice evening out and the music was excellent. But as always, something much funnier happened during the performance (otherwise, why blog about it?)
Sitting in the row in front of us was a family with four kids. Their girl, maybe 9 or 10, thought the first half of the evening was the worst thing she ever had been to in her entire life. First, she tapped one of her brothers on the shoulder and pretended to yawn to show how boring this all was. Then came my favorite part of her act. She used her right hand to form a gun and put it up to her head and took the shot. Now that is all well and good, but she used her left hand on the other side of her head to show her brain blowing out every time she pulled the trigger. Occasionally she also would add sound effects. "pow" "bam" and other explosion related noises. Hilarious! She spent the second half of the night pretending that she was the conductor, which was mostly a distraction from hearing the orchestra play Beethoven's 7th Symphony which they did in amazing fashion. Also, the conductor had incredibly bouncy hair, my wife and the high school girls sitting behind us all said so. And best of all, it was a night out with my wife!
Sitting in the row in front of us was a family with four kids. Their girl, maybe 9 or 10, thought the first half of the evening was the worst thing she ever had been to in her entire life. First, she tapped one of her brothers on the shoulder and pretended to yawn to show how boring this all was. Then came my favorite part of her act. She used her right hand to form a gun and put it up to her head and took the shot. Now that is all well and good, but she used her left hand on the other side of her head to show her brain blowing out every time she pulled the trigger. Occasionally she also would add sound effects. "pow" "bam" and other explosion related noises. Hilarious! She spent the second half of the night pretending that she was the conductor, which was mostly a distraction from hearing the orchestra play Beethoven's 7th Symphony which they did in amazing fashion. Also, the conductor had incredibly bouncy hair, my wife and the high school girls sitting behind us all said so. And best of all, it was a night out with my wife!
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