Let's Talk About (More Than Just) Sex Baby

The Youth Pastor (and interim Head Pastor) at our church began a series this week with the Sr. High youth about dating. He had some really good material to work with and i will have to get a copy of his notes. They cover many of the same concepts and topics i would have covered but with a little bit of a better structure. When he was speaking it reminded me of some things... some cultural & church views that seem to be focused on at the expense of others. So i wanted to touch a little bit on some issues that i think most people, pastors as well as lay people tend to miss or forget.

One thing for instance is the concept of physical intimacy. It seems like whenever pastors or churches talk about dating and relationships we tend to focus on the unhealthy nature of physical intimacy. Sex, to be more precise. This is a hot topic in the Christian world. Sex outside of marriage is condemned in the Bible. It is rejected and it's clear why. Scientific research and other types of research back up how unhealthy it is to have numerous sexual partners on both the individual, the community, and the church. This is all very important, but sometimes we tend to get so focused on the sexual issues that we miss many of the others.

We as human beings are comprised of numerous interconnected "parts" (for lack of a better word right now "facets" may be better). We are physical (see, smell, hear, touch, & taste). We are emotional (happy, sad, upset, angry, excited, etc). We are cognitive (thought processes, plans, vision, ideas, concepts), and we are spiritual (our connection to God and what is around us that is beyond what fits into our ability to perceive otherwise). Every one of these facets is connected to one another. Something that affects one of these facets, one of these parts, affects the others. When someone is physically sick, it effects them emotionally, cognitively, as well as spiritually. The reality is that that physical sickness may only be a symptom of a problem in one of the other areas. At the same time, when we are involved in unhealthy behavior, sin, we hurt ourselves in every area of our lives.

Thus every facet of our being is affected by healthy as well as unhealthy relationships. When we go beyond what we are designed for and attempt to break the mold... the borders and limitations of what is designed to keep us in,whole, and complete... it doesn't just affect us in one area, it affects us in all areas and that's something we as a church tend to miss... to be continued...

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Worship & Prayer

There is so much about prayer that i don't understand at times. Then there are other times that pieces begin to fit together that didn't fit before. For instance the connection between prayer and worship. Years ago when i was in high school Scott Laird, the worship leader at my church, made a comment about how they were connected. He mentioned how many times when we worship God we are attracted to the worship by the beat, the rhythm, and the tune. However we speak the words even when we don't pay attention to what those words are saying. Part of Scott's point was that we need to pay attention to the words of what we are singing to make sure that what we are saying is correct and Biblical. The other point that he made is that when we sing something, just because we aren't paying attention doesn't mean that God isn't. He takes it seriously and will act on what we say. There are times when things come up in our lives that we are dumbfounded about. We have no idea what's going on, but when we ask God about it saying that we never wanted this, He reminds us that we most certainly did. When we sang that we were laying it all down, or that we are giving it all to Him, or that we want more of Him, even though we may have seen it more as just a song, He sees it just as it is. A message to Him. A prayer. A promise. When we sing something, there is so much more to it than just a song, and we fail to see that many times.

This past weekend i was thinking about worship and music and the structure of that worship. I was thinking about the structure of the a worship song. The main focus / basis / core / center of the worship is in the chorus. It defines the direction and movement of the whole song. Meanwhile, the verses work off of the chorus to define it more and give it substance and definition. The chorus acts as the trunk of the tree and the verses are the branches. The verses expand / expound as the chorus leads.

As i was thinking about that structure of worship as well as the parallel between worship and prayer, i realized that in the struggles that i have with praying, that structure may be a big benefit. If instead of jumping from one thing to another in my prayer i can have one focus that i start with and then define and expound upon it in "verses". Thereby my attention is less likely to drift into completely off areas. I am more likely to stay on task and focused, and the prayer itself becomes more... (i can't think of the right way to finish this) complete, purposeful, structured, beneficial...

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Something so Simple!

It's a funny thing about prayer. My undergraduate work was in Bible and Youth Ministry. While i was in Bible college i got myself into this habit of getting up an extra hour and a half to two and a half hours early to pray. Most everyone else was still asleep, but i was up in the prayer room studying, praying, and worshiping. Going to bed early and a well needed nap were necessary at the time in order to make it happen, but they were doable. Since then i have not been as faithful. I still get up early to try to spend the time, but it's not nearly as much.

I'm not trying to toot my own horn or to say that i'm this great guy or anything because i'm not. What i do want to do is that when i say what i'm going to say i want it to be clear the impact of this. I have a very difficult time praying. I struggle with it in so many ways it's difficult to imagine it as anything but a struggle. I can't stay awake. When i am awake i have such a hard time staying focused i may as well not be praying. When i am in public in front of people i can pray in ways i could only wish that i could in private. You would think (at least i know i would think) that after 15 years of (usually) daily prayer, praise, and Bible reading and 3 years of Bible college, that someone would be able to at least pray. Yet for me, day in and day out it is the most difficult things that i do in the day.

It's difficult because, if i pray out loud i'm likely to wake up the girls. If i pray quietly i get distracted and lose focus. If i kneel down to pray i fall asleep. If i sit everything else going on in my head distracts me. If i stand up everything around me distracts me. It's like i'm fighting a battle with the wind, and the wind keeps winning. Yet this should not be such a struggle. You would think that something so simple as prayer would be... well simple! So much for that idea.

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Feeding the Child, Not the Adult

How much are Jr. High youth able to handle? Do we give them credit where credit is due? We have been working on a series with the Jr. High youth that talks about what God is like. Each week we look at another facet of God's personality and the kinds of things He is or does. For instance we talked about how God is an inventor, a rescue worker, a servant, etc. Each week we do different activities that focus on what this means and that it is important to do these kinds of things ourselves.

The further we go into the series the more i realize how little substance there is in it. For instance this week i am leading and the for the topic there are two verses used for support. Neither verse is even considered in context, and one of them is actually taken almost completely out of context. It seems like the series is dumbed down to it's simplest possible elements and then bottle fed to someone who has been bottle fed all their lives. To me, it's no wonder Jr. High youth don't practice what they learn, they've heard the same thing for 11 years. It goes in one ear and out the other.

Quite honestly, i think that this is not just a problem in the Sunday School series we are using right now. I think that this is just an example of how we (as a nation and society) view our youth. They have the ability to do and be so much, but they are not challenged. They are relegated to the title of kid. Looked on and treated as kids, they are expected to act that way and as a result, they do. Meanwhile their untapped potential exceeds the bounds of our imagination. So what do we do now?

Rush Hour Prime Time

Our (western, first world country) world is in such a rush. People running here and there. A thousand things have to get done in the day, and when the day is done there are a hundred other things that we want to do. We plunge onto the couch to watch tv. We sit down at the computer to read and surf the net. We IM each other to stay in touch. Everything is about staying busy doing things.

That's not to say that doing things is necessarily a bad thing. The issue isn't so much that the things that we do are not so good so much as that we are currently in a society and mentality in which we have surrounded ourselves with so much that we need to do that we don't even have the time to sit back and think. Our lives and society are in such a state of motion that we can't be at rest. Even when we are at rest we are actively doing something. There have been times when just about every one of us have come home from work or whatever has been going on and just sat down in front of the TV and mindlessly watched TV. It was not because there was necessarily something that we want to see, but because we wanted something to do and TV was better than nothing.

Many times we would rather watch nothing worth watching or keep busy doing unnecessary tasks rather than be alone with our thoughts. It's easier to fill our heads with pointless, unhealthy, and sometimes destructive views than to stop and pay attention to what's going in our own heads. At times for me that is a good thing. I can't always trust where my mind will go if i let it wander. At the same time i tend to miss out on so much when i'm completely focused on things and everyday life. It is my alone time, my time just focused and meditating on God and His word that brings peace and much needed rest. It is during the quiet times and the times that i'm not doing a hundred things at once that i can focus on God and what He has to tell me. It's at these times that God speaks and i get a completely new view of what is significant and important.

I think that that's why our world is so focused on keeping busy. The enemy knows that when we are too busy being busy we don't have time to reflect on God or our own issues. We become tired, we can't stay focused, we become overwhelmed, and the cycle repeats itself.

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"As Long as it Doesn't Hurt Anyone Else..."

One of the problems that comes with our focus on and demand for individuality, self-reliance, and independence is that every decision that we makes affects not only us, but everyone around us. We are not an island in and of ourselves. We are not self-sustaining nor are we simply self-affecting. It's easy for us to look at our lives and our world and try to convince ourselves that we are only responsible for our own actions. Our mentality becomes one in which it doesn't matter that i do what i know is not right it only affects me. As long as it isn't hurting anyone else i can do what i want.

This is a concept that really frustrates me and gets me upset. It very much reminds me of the the Beatles song "All You Need is Love". That song practically became a motto for a generation. It's a beautiful concept that brings lots of warm fuzzies. People applied it to their lives, their marriages, how they raised their kids, etc. In the end living by that motto and mentality destroys us. Love is a whole lot more complex than an emotional reaction. Love (the way our world sees it) in itself does not and can not sustain anything. Our love fails, and when our lives are built on this concept, they collapse as well.

The same concept is true of this mentality of being able to do what we want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. It is becoming the motto of a generation, unfortunately it is even more destructive than the last. The reality is that there is nothing that we do that does not affect those around us. Everything that we do affects and defines us. Our hidden thoughts and actions are the seeds of our lives. A person who in their alone time sits down and looks at inappropriate pictures and watches raunchy videos is going to have a very difficult time having a healthy relationship. As is a person who sits and reads books and watches tv shows and movies in which the relationships are scripted to draw out our emotional reactions and have no real resemblance to what a healthy relationship should or does look like. These things develop in us views and mentalities of who we are, who others are, and what a relationship is that in turn create cracks and weak areas in us which ultimately destroy us our relationships and those around us. Yet the view is that as long is it is not hurting anyone else, it's all right.

I think that what surprises me the most (or maybe it doesn't) is that there are people out there that actually believe this concept. It doesn't take a philosopher or a theologian to recognize the problems with this view. All it takes is a 12 year old with two minutes of dwelling on it to to put more holes in it than swiss cheese. Yet time and time again we either knowingly ignore the holes to our own destruction, or we don't even take the two minutes needed to recognize that there is a problem with the very philosophy and foundation that our lives are based on. Then somehow we are either surprised that our lives are falling apart, or we think that that is the way it is supposed to be.

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Independence, Self-Reliance, & Individuality

One of the hallmarks of our society is the mentality of independence, self-reliance, and individuality. The focus is on standing out and being yourself. "Be faithful to yourself" It's what we are taught in school. It's what we see in life. It's a major focus in our society. Make what is around you fit your personality and style. Is there necessarily anything wrong with these concepts? Yes and No. For instance, our society embraces the ideas, concepts, and values of independence, self-reliance, and individuality. What's wrong with these concepts? The problem is that they come at the cost of family, community, dependence, and cooperation. They instill in us the values of pride & self-centeredness, inability to rely on or trust others, and a focus on success at the cost of everything else. Is that really the kind of life and lifestyle that we want? Is that what we want bred into ourselves, our society, and our children? Unfortunately, too often that is where we are and what we are teaching and learning.

Everything that we learn and do is based off of not learning and doing something else. We continually have to make choices in our lives and every decision that we make affects our lives. Everything we do comes at a cost. The cost can be that of other choices. The cost can be that of having to live with the consequences of our own decisions. Or the cost can be that of having to learn to survive dealing with decisions that are out of our control. Something that we, as a society, are often none too pleased with.

What is the Cost of Technology?

There are so many things that we have lost with the advance of technology in our modern and post-modern age. So many things that are key to our success and survival. Our views and mentalities have changed, and as a result we are slowly losing parts of ourselves. There is so much of who we are that is linked to the past. Yet the past is being discarded in the face of the future.

So many times technology embraces the new at the cost of the proven. How many people's lives are easier as a result of the advances in technology? It seems to me that instead of our lives becoming better, technology has simply made our lives faster. Instead of it giving us more free time, technology has required us to get more done. It has made it so that we invest more in doing and less in becoming.

"When we sacrifice on the alter of technology we gain productivity but it comes at a price. What is that price, and is it worth it?"

What do you think?

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Where is This Train Going?

"Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Proverbs 22:6

How are we training our children? What do we want our children to become? It's funny, because many times we send our kids off to school to be raised and trained by other people. We may see them in the evening when they come home from school and we get home from work, and at that point we as adults are usually too tired from the day to interact with them in a healthy way. Many times our weekends are spent getting things done that need to get done around the house while our kids are doing their own thing. So how are we training them? They learn from us what they see us doing. If we are too focused on our own problems and issues, that is what they will see as the right way of handling things. If we spend all of our time working on take home from our jobs what does that teach them? Who and what are we training our children to become and at what cost to them? How are we training our children and what exactly are they learning from us?

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Vision to ... a Jumbled Mess

There are so many things that can be done. There are so many things that need to be done. There is so much work that my mind gets lost just thinking about what is needed to even start (not that it's difficult for my mind to get lost or anything). The obvious starting point is with myself and my own family, but what next. My wife and i are getting more involved with the youth group in our church, and that's a good start. If we want to change the world, it starts with the youth. Also, one of the things that i want to do is to write a book. I have started this many times, but cannot come up with a set vision and direction for that book. Right now it's all a jumble of facts, concepts, and images. It's easy to lose focus on what the reality is and where we need to go, but that is key to success. If we don't understand the endpoint we can't reach that endpoint. In order to bring about change on a large scale it requires the involvement of many people working together. One person cannot do it alone. So refining & spreading the vision is a key to external change. Of course that also requires understanding your own vision. After all, how can we explain what we don't necessarily understand ourselves? So what are some of the keys to this change? Well since the problem is that youth are not trained to be and act like adults, than that needs to be a starting point as well. Boy, my mind is a jumbled mess. Everything here is valid and valuable, but without direction and action, it is nothing more than a jumbled mess.

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Vision to Reality - Facing the Giant

So now what? This is the difficult part. I see and for the most part understand the problem. That's the easy part. It's what to do next that is the difficult part. The problem exists on so many levels in our society that it is nigh impossible to tackle it all. It deals with institutions and views that are ingrained into our society and that have been a part of this culture and environment for over a century. How do you break the backbone of a century's old view and mentality that pervades an entire culture, society, and world? How do you tackle something that is so far encompassing that it invades us in every area that we live? It is defined in how we work, what we do in our "spare" time, how we live, how & what we eat, what we teach our kids, how our kids learn, our own expectations, what we see and invades our home. How does one even pretend to tackle this problem without being destroyed by it?

There are individuals, families, and even entire communities that have seen these problems for a long time and instead of fighting it have separated themselves from the problem and the society that it pervades. At times they have become outsiders looking in critically and rejecting our society as a whole, or they just don't even care and would rather be their own entity and allow the rest of society slowly destroy itself while they go on living their own lives. I can understand it, and in a way it is a very awe inspiring view to see the battle against the onslaught of outside forces. However, it does so little to actually create the change that needs to occur.

So how do you fight a battle that is so much larger than yourself that you can't even see & comprehend the vastness of it? How do you fell a giant that encompasses a planet in the face of a people that doesn't even recognize that the giant exists, that may only see a finger or toe of the giant and attempts to fight only that part, or that don't even understand that the giant is a problem? The answer is that one person alone can't... but then we never really are alone, are we?
II Kings 6:1-23 especially vs. 16 "And he answered, Do not fear, for those with us are more than those with them."

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Redefining the Vision

It's nice to not be feeling miserable all the time. Now i just need to get past the complete exhaustion phase and the massively stressed out one. Anyways, that's neither here nor there.
I think it's time to reiterate and refine my vision, and to look at what i am doing and needing to do to bring that vision to fruition.

What is my vision? My vision is to have youth and young adults prepared for adulthood, trained to be adults and able to handle healthy relationships with their peers and those of the opposite sex. To mature and grow in their relationship with God as well as to become leaders and successful as people.
So, what does that mean? That's a good question. I'm glad that you asked. It means.............. Um, could you repeat the question please? Oh, yeah. What it means is that we need to prepare youth to be adults. Instead of just expecting that one day youth will be adults and will act like adults when they mature enough, we need to be helping them prepare and grow into adulthood. Unless youth are trained and expected to act like adults, chances are they are not going to.
Where has this vision come from? Our society has created this idea, this concept, that youth are kids and not adults. They are not supposed to act like or become adults until they are at least 21. The time between 17 or 18 and 21 is the ramp up stage in which they put their childish ways behind them and prepare for the real world. Prior to that is the adolescent stage in which youth rebel against authority and begin to become their own person. Adolescence is a troublesome time in which youth begin to "find themselves" and define who they are by standing against authority. The problem that i see is that these are modern and very unhealthy concepts. Traditionally, prior to the industrial revolution and the modern educational system, children were raised to become adults. When they were young, children were expected to help out and be involved where they could. As they grew they were given more and more responsibility until they were around the age of puberty (much older than puberty hits now, usually around 15-18). At that time they went through a rite of passage and became adults. As adults they were expected to act like adults, and to be able to provide and take care of a family. Which, with some help from family and the community, they could do since they spent their lives training and preparing for it. Now, however, even after 12+ years of "formal" education and many times 4 years of post high-school education, young adults still don't know how to be adults and take care of and provide for their families.
So, what now? That's a good question that i don't have enough time to get into right now. Check back tomorrow when i want to deal with plans, purposes, and steps to take.

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Great Expectations

So, how do we develop growth and maturity in young adults? How do we nurture it and encourage it? I don't think that there is an easy answer to these questions. It's like asking a salesman how to sell something to someone. You could ask 100 different salesmen and get 100 different answers. Ultimately the core of the issue is that when a young person is encouraged to act immaturely, chances are, they will. It's like trying to teach a 3-year old how to behave. If you model, encourage, and reward good behavior, chances are you will have children that have good behavior.

When a young adult see another person acting like a mature, responsible adult putting what's best ahead of what they necessarily want, chances are they will learn from that. If a young adult sees themself as the only person that they know acting the right way, they will be more likely to become frustrated and discouraged and more likely to give up on the process. One of the key things to remember is that if a young adult is expected to act like an adult and treated like an adult they will be more willing to be that way. However if they don't know what that looks like, expectations won't mean a thing.

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What does it take?

What does it take for a person, a group of people to grow and mature? When i look at our youth today i can see that many times a young adult can act mature and grow to become a healthy adult in an environment that is less than healthy. In these situations there are a couple of things that build this support, 1) people that stand in the gap, 2) their willingness to be that mature person, and 3) their relationship to God.

It is important when attempting to develop change that there is something or someone standing beside or behind this person. No one can really grow and mature alone. If we don't see or know what it means to grow and be a part of something bigger than ourselves chances are, we may not. And, we can't reach bigger and higher than ourselves without help from other people. Just as we need to be a strength and support to others. A lone tree standing against the wind will not stand for long or very well when the winds get rough. When there is a group of trees standing together, the wind cannot blow them down so easily.

If someone is not willing to be that strong person, that mature person, chances are pretty good that they aren't going to become that person. That's not to say that an unwilling person isn't going to or can't become a strong, healthy, and mature person, but chances are until they see the need to change, they are not going to change. The need and desire for change can come from within or without. Circumstances and situations can lead the change. They can be the spark that lights the fire and gets the blaze going. It can also be the fan that helps and encourages the flame to spread. However, what is really needed is the desire and need to change coming from within. A spark from outside is not going to do much with the fuel that's inside. A group of people can push, pull, and drag a person into position of maturity, but it's not going to mean much if they are an unwilling protagonist.

Lastly, and by far the most important, is our need and search for God. When our plans are, well exactly that, our plans, they only get a part of the picture. When our source is much larger than ourselves, and we tap into that source, our plans are a part of His plans and become more than we can ever imagine. If we are relying on our own imagination and ideas we are limiting our potential. God is the source of all creativity, maturity, and strength. He gives it to us when we have nothing to give. He is the source and the great director. Ultimately it is His masterpiece and we are only the work and progress.

Something to keep in mind. All three of these things are not required. A single person can do a great deal on their own. An unwilling host can become the source of great change. And God does not necessarily need us to recognize Him for Him to work through us. All three of these things together have to potential to produce maturity, growth, and much needed change.

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Frustrations and Distractions

It's so easy to get distracted in who we are that we lose focus on who God is and who He wants us to be. It's easy to get caught up in the things that are frustrating and distracting, the things that suck our attention and we lose focus on the things that really need our attention. It becomes, "what will make me feel better?", "what do i want?", or even "what am i supposed to do?" rather than, "Who are You God, and what are you looking for?". The only way to really know God, and to know the plan for our lives is to get to know Him. Spend time with Him reading the word, praying, seeking to understand Him. He reveals Himself to those who diligently seek Him, and to those called according to His purpose. So what are we doing to know Him more?

What is Faithfulness?

So what is so special about faithfulness? I have been really mulling this over in my mind for the last few days or so. I have come to realize that faithfulness is something existent in all people. Everyone is faithful to something or someone. Even those of us that we would call unfaithful are faithful to something; whether it be our emotional desires at the time, our selfish wants, or what our best friend wants, we are faithful to something. The question then becomes, what or who are we faithful to? Are we faithful to ourselves? Are we faithful to our feelings? Are we faithful to our friends? Are we faithful to God? Who or what are we faithful to?

I think in working with the young adults and the lesson for this week i will be focusing on helping them to 1) identify examples of faithfulness & unfaithfulness, 2) understand what fruit and faithfulness really are, 4) understand where fruit comes from and how it comes to be and 3) apply it. What ways are we faithful? How do we become faithful to the right things? What are three things that i can do today to be more faithful to the right things?

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Help & Hindurance

I have been working on a lesson for the Jr. High youth this past week. I am finding that curriculum's over all to me tend to be more limiting than necessarily helpful. They have some good ideas for games and such, but when it comes to the lesson, especially in this one we are using right now, it tends to be a little simple minded and milk minded rather than meat minded. It's the kind of lesson i would expect from or for a pre-school and elementary level youth, or for someone who is brand new as a Christian. Not necessarily what is appropriate or best for those in the stages of becoming young adults.

The lesson that i was given for this week talks about the part of the fruit of the Spirit that is faithfulness. As soon as i was assigned to this topic, in my mind i put some ideas together as to what i wanted to touch on. When i read the lesson in the book my reaction was that half of the youth could do this lesson from years of experience in Sunday School. It's a simple concept, Christ is faithful. He is faithful to us as evidenced by scripture. Don't get me wrong. It is a very true and real concept, but at this stage in their life, the youth should be working on applying and bringing these concepts into fruition not just learning that Christ is faithful. If anything, at this age the young adults should already know how to do this and be teaching others to do the same. Yet the core of this lesson is; Christ is faithful, so what does that mean to you?

I guess that this bugs me because it simply reinforces this concept that Jr. High youth are nothing more than bigger kids. Sure they act like little kids quite a bit, but they have so much untapped potential that with a little bit of hard work and effort, they could easily become spiritual powerhouses... well, maybe not necessarily "easily" since becoming a spiritual powerhouse is far from easy, but you get my drift. If they are not trained at a young age to become powerhouses, chances are they may not reach that potential. I guess that this kind of thing just really frustrates me because i see it as being more of a hindrance than a help.

The Other Side

I think i'm beginning to understand things on a completely different level. I don't really like my job a whole lot. I basically work the job to pay the bills and have the insurance so that i can come home, spend some time with my family, work with the youth, etc. Last night, however, i began to see a little better how the other side lives. All my life i have spent in a Christian environment. My family growing up was involved in the church. I was always involved in the church. That continued on into my high-school and college years. There was a time that i rebelled and "turned away" from God, but i knew better. I knew that that was not going to work. My relationship and connection to God were too strong for a time of rebellion to really stick. It's like when you get really mad at the best friend you have had for years. You argue, you fight, but you are too heavily invested in each other that a stupid fight really can't destroy what you have built over the decades. So i have done the party scene, and the drama, and everything related to that before.

Last night however opened my eyes a little bit more. My work had a big celebration. We had reached a significant milestone that had taken a great deal of work and dedication by most everyone to achieve. So with a limited budget the management team put together a celebration. There was karaoke, hor d' ovures (i don't know how to spell it), and a pay bar. So my wife and i went. I'm never really that comfortable at these kinds of parties, but it was a chance to get away without the little ones which is nice sometimes. So the festivities began. Most everyone was drinking, hanging out and talking, and either singing or making a fool of themselves, or just watching it all.

I began to realize, "This is their life". So many of my co-workers work so that they can pay the bills and on the weekend get together with other coworkers and/or friends, go out to the bar and do exactly what everyone was doing last night. Get drunk, make fools of themselves, and complain about something or other. Others, instead of drinking, spend their weekends watching sports, getting lost in movies, whatever. This is the highlight of their week! There is no passion. There is no purpose. There is no direction or real desire... other than getting their weekend fix. It's no wonder everyone is always so miserable. Couple relationships have no solid foundation as a result they fall apart on a whim. Work, well work is just work. Depression is rampant. A big part of it is that for my coworkers, there is no real purpose other than to simply escape on the weekends. Where there is no vision the people perish. Where there is no purpose, there is no hope. There is only depression, escapism, and/or addiction.

I think i'm starting to understand a little bit better...

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What is in a Name?

It's amazing looking at the names of God. God has so many names that we don't consider at times. Each of His names have a reason, have a story, and have power. For example:
JHWH-Rapha’ (Raphah) – “The God that Heals You” Exodus 15:22-27

The Israelite people had just left Egypt where they had seen God work and do some amazing things there. God had taken one of the most powerful nations in the world, and in a matter of days had brought it to it's knees. Pharaoh went from laughing at the idea of the Israelites simply going out to worship, to begging them to leave permenantly. God had put into place each of the 10 plagues at their appropriate times. Everything from the Nile river becoming blood and overrun with frogs, to boils on the body, to the death of every firstborn male. The God of the Israelite people "I Am" / JHWH brought out of their slavery and bondage. One of the first stops that they make takes them to Marah where the waters were bitter. There the people complained / murmured. So God healed the bitter waters with a tree. When He did this, God made a promise to the people. If they sought Him and His will, listening to Him and keeping His instructions, they would not have any of the diseases that had been placed on the Egyptians... because He is the Lord our healer.

Every single one of God's names has a reason, a story, and a power both for the Israelite people as well as for you and me;

JHWH-Elyon (‘elyown) – The Lord Most High - Psalm 7:17 ; Psalm 47:2

El-Elohim-JHWH – Lord God of gods - Joshua 22:22

JHWH-Hossenu – The Lord out Maker - Psalm 95:6

JHWH-Roi – the Lord My Shepherd - Psalm 23:1

JHWH-Tsebahoth (Sabaoth) – “The Lord of Hosts” - I Samuel 1:3

JHWH-Shalom – “The Lord our peace”, or “the Lord send peace” - Judges 6:24

JHWH-Mekaddishkem – “The God that Sanctifies You” - Exodus 31:13

JHWH-Nissi – “The Lord our Banner” - Exodus 17:8-16

JHWH-Rapha’ (Raphah) – “The God that Heals You” - Exodus 15:22-27

JHWH-Jirah – “The Lord will Provide” - Genesis 22:1-19

El-Roi – “The God Who Sees” (…Who i Have Seen”) - Genesis 16:1-15

Image from Bert Werk used under cc license.

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!

Why is it that we assume that teenagers are supposed to be immature and make stupid decisions? I know that i caught myself doing it yesterday. I was at work and i was talking with someone about their teenaged grandson. From what this lady was saying, it sounded like her grandson was making very wise decisions about his relationships, dating, and girls. The more i listened to her talking about him the more this teenager / young man reminded me of myself at that age. She asked my take on his situation as if she couldn't understand how he, as a teenager, could be making wise decisions. While talking to her i realized that i was almost as surprised as she was that her grandson was acting this way. He seemed to have a pretty clear head on his shoulders. The decisions that he was making were well thought out, based on experience and logic, and meant present self-sacrifice in order to complete a future goal. I was actually quite impressed, but it was funny because she was worried about him, that he was making wise decisions, and if that was healthy.

So that brings me back to my initial question. Why do we assume that teenagers are supposed to be immature and make stupid decisions? Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old(er) he will not depart from it. When someone is raised to make wise decisions financially, with regards to friends, in their educational and social endeavors, etc. that will undoubtedly follow them. Chances are they will end up making stupid mistakes from time to time, but that doesn't mean that a teenager is not capable of making wise decisions on a regular basis.

The other day i was talking with a couple that is around my and my wife's same age who are making some decisions that may not be the wisest. In this one area they are starting to seriously hurt themselves and may be needlessly putting themselves in a very treacherous position... again. It's almost like they are not considering the long term consequences to their action but rather making the decision based on what they want and could get now. I thought that that was supposedly an "adolescent" mentality. It's interesting because many of the youth of my generation were raised with the mentality that it was alright for them to make stupid decisions because they were teenagers, they were going to make wrong decisions, and so it was OK. Now 10 - 20 years later so many people of my generation are doing exactly the same thing. Shouldn't we have moved beyond that "phase"? Why is it still occurring? Simple, we (my generation) were raised to think that we were supposed to act this way and that it is OK, so now we still are!

When youth are raised to think that being a kid is all about fun without consideration for how what they do affects themselves and others, in the long run or the present, they tend to grow up to be immature adults making foolish decisions.

When i was my father's son,
Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
He also taught me, and said to me:
"Let your heart retain my words;
Keep my commandments, and live.
Get wisdom! Get Understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
Love her, and she will keep you.
Wisdom is the principle thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding. - Proverbs 4:3-7

Image from mark_twells used under cc license.