I spent the weekend hanging out with around forty kids aged 11-13. Some people wouldn't do that if you promised them money. While I don't generally spend my weekends with them, I do usually find myself purposely surrounded by them on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings and various other times when I get the chance. This past weekend just happened to be the Middle School retreat and one of my favorites of the year. I've been involved with these weekends and kids like this for eleven years. The difference between those other years and this one was the fact that for the first time since I started serving in Student Ministry I went on the retreat without the other guys that usually attend as chaperones.
Life happens, things change, and through various circumstances I became the youngest male chaperone not leading worship. I've spent the last several years comfortably in the middle of that age range, not the oldest but not the youngest, usually separated by a year or two in both margins. It was an odd experience. Most of the time I still find it troubling that I'm an adult. Given the choice I'm going to defer to an older person when things come up, here's the problem with that, I'm almost twenty-nine, and I also happen to have served in the student ministry for Middle School at Bayside for longer than most of the other folks, even those older than myself, so I tend to know how things work down to the tiniest detail.
Alas, this post isn't about length of service or how strange it was not having my normal cadre of fellows there to laugh with, occasionally mess with the kids, or just share in what God was doing. Instead it's about the lack of males my age involved in Student Ministry. When I was in Middle School and High School I can remember their being a pretty big group of guys that were there to hang out with us at Church and invest in us. Most of them were just young college students but a few of them were older. They could have been doing anything else but they chose to spend time with teenagers. I don't know many people that want to do that.
I stood in front of our students just two weeks ago and told them that I used to despise having to be in a room with kids their age. It wasn't an exaggeration. Most of my high school years I would skip church on Wednesday nights when I knew beforehand the middle school students would be with us. The girls were too giggly, the boys too loud and obnoxious, now I willingly and gladly submit myself to groups of girls that giggle and boys that can't sit still or stay silent for more than three or four minutes. I am proof that where God wants you to serve isn't always where you think it should be, and it isn't always where you will want to be. Ultimately He changed my heart in a huge way for the generations below me.
I've told them many times they are growing up in a world far different than it was when I was their age. Their faith sets them farther apart from the norm than mine did at thirteen. Now Christianity is synonymous with bigotry and to disagree with the world means they are branded as narrow-minded. Sharing Jesus with their friends or their school comes with an inherent risk of trouble from various organizations that makes me marvel at their bravery, they've got far more courage than I did in middle school.
But, as times change, I get older and a little wiser, I realize the importance of my sitting in a room full of smelly (I had my first run in with their particular odor this weekend which is far stranger than you can imagine), loud, easily distracted, trying teenagers. Many of them come from homes where they have little to no male influence. Suicide is one of the top killers of teenagers (this quite frankly chills me to the bone) There are boys that have no idea how to be a young man because it's never been modeled for them, much less any inkling of what it means to be a teenage boy that follows Jesus. I'm not perfect, and I constantly try and make sure these students don't make the same mistakes I did, especially when it comes to letting fear keep them from being obedient to God, still if I'm suppose to make disciples I don't have to go halfway around the world, I've got a group of ten boys that need to be taught, poured into, and loved just as much as anyone else, maybe a little more so.
I had plenty of young men pour into me as I grew up in the Student Ministry and then older men as I joined the College Ministry, but I found myself wondering just where those young men were now. Has it become too hard to deal with teenagers? Is an hour a week that hard to find? Millennial's are all about making change but I can assure you that anyone would be hard pressed to find a way to more positively change the future than to invest in the generations after us.
More than anything else I suppose this is a call to young men to step up and lead. Take a chance. Make a difference. We can't drop the ball on this one, too much is at stake.
Monday, October 29, 2018
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Beauty in Madness
"You know, say what you will about the ravages of sports in this corporate age where overpaid athletes expect prima donna treatment, but there's still something som unifying about sporting in it's purest form, when athletes rise above themselves and touch greatness, and in doing so remind us all that we all have greatness inside of us."-Marvin McFadden
Baseball is America's game.
Soccer is the beautiful game.
Football is the South's game.
But as far as I'm concerned Basketball is the best game.
For a few weeks in March and the beginning of April every year the world watches as madness ensues on the hardwood. There are some teams that are almost always a lock, your powerhouses for which playing in the Big Dance is as normal as tying their shoes. It's always nice to see them showing why they are in the tournament. But, one of the best things about the tournament is the Cinderella's, Your tiny schools whom you rarely hear of until they suddenly pull off a David and Goliath upset of one of those powerhouse schools.
This year two of them rocked the tournament;Loyola Chicago and UMBC. The former made it all the way to the final four, the latter gave us one of the biggest upsets in tournament history as they upset No 1 Virginia as a 16 seed to send them to the second round where they would find defeat at the hands of Kansas State.
So why beauty in the madness? Simple, it's a game, and in the end it doesn't matter but for a few brief weeks these young men are given the chance to show the world that statistics and odds are no match for heart. I know it sounds cheesy but you can't tell me that Virginia, a member of the ACC one of the toughest conferences in basketball loses to a team few people have heard of on talent alone. Not that UMBC isn't a solid team but attitude, and heart matter in this game. It's why you root for the underdog!
They walk out on the court and they give everything they have in representation of their schools. Yes, we can argue about how much money those schools make from athletes who don't see a dime, but still these young men do what they do for a love of a game. It's why we have professional sports in the first place. Some are given an incredible talent and they leverage it even as they age. Others will play as long as they can and then shift to a 9 to 5 job. We find ourselves invested for hours as these games play out, even when we aren't watching our teams play.
It's a beautiful thing when we can come together to watch young men rise above the expectations placed on them to cut down nets. When the underdog shows that he's got plenty of bite and refuses to go down without a fight. For those brief moments we aren't divided by politics or religion or what have you, we are united in a singular focus, the love of a game.
There is beauty in the madness of March. You don't have to look hard to find it. It's there in the eyes of a freshmen whom no one knows yet but will because he's about to make his mark. It's there in the senior whose playing his final game ever. It's there in a coach whose life has brought him to this point. It's there in the face of a fan as they see their team cut down nets and hoist a trophy above their heads.
For all the upsets and busted brackets, the heartache, and elation, it is beauty amongst madness. Every game, every moment, young men doing what they love, playing a game, fighting with everything they have and as the world watches they become legends.
Baseball is America's game.
Soccer is the beautiful game.
Football is the South's game.
But as far as I'm concerned Basketball is the best game.
For a few weeks in March and the beginning of April every year the world watches as madness ensues on the hardwood. There are some teams that are almost always a lock, your powerhouses for which playing in the Big Dance is as normal as tying their shoes. It's always nice to see them showing why they are in the tournament. But, one of the best things about the tournament is the Cinderella's, Your tiny schools whom you rarely hear of until they suddenly pull off a David and Goliath upset of one of those powerhouse schools.
This year two of them rocked the tournament;Loyola Chicago and UMBC. The former made it all the way to the final four, the latter gave us one of the biggest upsets in tournament history as they upset No 1 Virginia as a 16 seed to send them to the second round where they would find defeat at the hands of Kansas State.
So why beauty in the madness? Simple, it's a game, and in the end it doesn't matter but for a few brief weeks these young men are given the chance to show the world that statistics and odds are no match for heart. I know it sounds cheesy but you can't tell me that Virginia, a member of the ACC one of the toughest conferences in basketball loses to a team few people have heard of on talent alone. Not that UMBC isn't a solid team but attitude, and heart matter in this game. It's why you root for the underdog!
They walk out on the court and they give everything they have in representation of their schools. Yes, we can argue about how much money those schools make from athletes who don't see a dime, but still these young men do what they do for a love of a game. It's why we have professional sports in the first place. Some are given an incredible talent and they leverage it even as they age. Others will play as long as they can and then shift to a 9 to 5 job. We find ourselves invested for hours as these games play out, even when we aren't watching our teams play.
It's a beautiful thing when we can come together to watch young men rise above the expectations placed on them to cut down nets. When the underdog shows that he's got plenty of bite and refuses to go down without a fight. For those brief moments we aren't divided by politics or religion or what have you, we are united in a singular focus, the love of a game.
There is beauty in the madness of March. You don't have to look hard to find it. It's there in the eyes of a freshmen whom no one knows yet but will because he's about to make his mark. It's there in the senior whose playing his final game ever. It's there in a coach whose life has brought him to this point. It's there in the face of a fan as they see their team cut down nets and hoist a trophy above their heads.
For all the upsets and busted brackets, the heartache, and elation, it is beauty amongst madness. Every game, every moment, young men doing what they love, playing a game, fighting with everything they have and as the world watches they become legends.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
The Dark Side of the Olympic Winter Games
I'll be the first to admit that I enjoy the athletic side of the Olympics. These people have spent so much time mastering their sport and put on a show for the world as they represent their countries. That being said my favorite part is the parade of nations. I watch the opening ceremony (London 2012 is still my favorite) mostly to see the parade of nations. The main reason for that is this side of Heaven this is the closest to seeing what Heaven will look like I will get. A large sum of the Earth is represented during the games but in Heaven every nation, tribe, and tongue will be represented and that is a beautiful thing.
This year as I watched the parade of nations I saw it through a slightly different lens. Friday night I watched people represent nations where followers of Christ are persecuted because of their beliefs. There has been a lot of talk about North Korea during this years games but it has been sickeningly sweet talk that doesn't match what the world actually knows about North Korea. I'm all for peace talks but North Korea has been on the top of the watchlist as the worst place to be a Christian for a long time. It isn't a nice place. You don't go and vacation there. It isn't like hopping on a plane and visiting Europe or Australia. Following Christ in North Korea isn't a game. A Bible Belt doesn't exist so you aren't merely associated with Christianity because of where you live. If you align yourself with Jesus and identify as someone who follows Him you will pay for it, likely with your life. But the church is still flourishing there.
Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa, it also happens to be an incredibly dangerous place to live. Just three years ago the country was sanctioned by the UN for crimes against humanity and in 2009 they had sanctions placed on them for their involvement with Islamist extremist in Ethiopia (a country they border and gained their independence from in 1993 after a thirty year war). BBC actually lists Christianity as a major religion for them. Guess what the other is, Islam. I'll assume you are smart enough to figure out which is preferred and which is persecuted against. There has been a large chunk of the population flee the area and take their chances of finding a new life across the Sahara. Yet if you look at the happy, smiling faces of the athletes on Friday night you'd never know just how dangerous a life lived their can be.
India sent a delegation of two athletes. Only hours ago it was reported that a pastor had been hung inside his own church by Hindu extremist. A country that is largely Hindu doesn't look kindly on those who refuse to bring temple sacrifices to Krishna. It happens to be number 11 on the World Watch list of the most dangerous places to be follow Christ.
I could tell you about Iran whose place atop the World Watch list sits at number ten. Most would think it would be higher because they live in the Middle East, but it is a rather high number for a place in the Middle East, Afghanistan sits a two. They aren't a country you'd identity with Christianity and of fifty spots they hit at ten, but you'd be surprised to see that there are other places that land much lower on the watch list despite not being what many consider a hotbed of Islam. (Interestingly enough the delegation sent to the Winter Games is under Islamic State of Iran according to the NOC).
There are 92 nations represented among the athletes at this years winter games. Among those 92 countries 13 of them are on the World Watch List. That means 11% of the nations represented at the games are places in which followers of Christ are known to be persecuted on a large scale. That makes my stomach turn. We've got brothers and sisters there that escape our minds because we don't see them but we see people from the places they are dying in because they can compete well in a sport. I'm not discrediting the talent these athletes possess at all. They deserve to be able to showcase what they can do and represent their homes. What is horrible is that so much is done to represent these places as safe and happy when that is not the case. All is not what it seems, North Korea should show us that.
So I ask of you reading this, this year when you watch the games pray for our brothers and sisters whose lives are at stake because they live where Christ isn't named as God and to do so means harm and possibly death. We are commanded to pray for our brothers and sisters, they need it. We cannot sit in the safest country in the world to be a Christian and remain silent as fellow Christians suffer because they don't live here.
The full World Watch List can be found here:World Watch List
This year as I watched the parade of nations I saw it through a slightly different lens. Friday night I watched people represent nations where followers of Christ are persecuted because of their beliefs. There has been a lot of talk about North Korea during this years games but it has been sickeningly sweet talk that doesn't match what the world actually knows about North Korea. I'm all for peace talks but North Korea has been on the top of the watchlist as the worst place to be a Christian for a long time. It isn't a nice place. You don't go and vacation there. It isn't like hopping on a plane and visiting Europe or Australia. Following Christ in North Korea isn't a game. A Bible Belt doesn't exist so you aren't merely associated with Christianity because of where you live. If you align yourself with Jesus and identify as someone who follows Him you will pay for it, likely with your life. But the church is still flourishing there.
Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa, it also happens to be an incredibly dangerous place to live. Just three years ago the country was sanctioned by the UN for crimes against humanity and in 2009 they had sanctions placed on them for their involvement with Islamist extremist in Ethiopia (a country they border and gained their independence from in 1993 after a thirty year war). BBC actually lists Christianity as a major religion for them. Guess what the other is, Islam. I'll assume you are smart enough to figure out which is preferred and which is persecuted against. There has been a large chunk of the population flee the area and take their chances of finding a new life across the Sahara. Yet if you look at the happy, smiling faces of the athletes on Friday night you'd never know just how dangerous a life lived their can be.
India sent a delegation of two athletes. Only hours ago it was reported that a pastor had been hung inside his own church by Hindu extremist. A country that is largely Hindu doesn't look kindly on those who refuse to bring temple sacrifices to Krishna. It happens to be number 11 on the World Watch list of the most dangerous places to be follow Christ.
I could tell you about Iran whose place atop the World Watch list sits at number ten. Most would think it would be higher because they live in the Middle East, but it is a rather high number for a place in the Middle East, Afghanistan sits a two. They aren't a country you'd identity with Christianity and of fifty spots they hit at ten, but you'd be surprised to see that there are other places that land much lower on the watch list despite not being what many consider a hotbed of Islam. (Interestingly enough the delegation sent to the Winter Games is under Islamic State of Iran according to the NOC).
There are 92 nations represented among the athletes at this years winter games. Among those 92 countries 13 of them are on the World Watch List. That means 11% of the nations represented at the games are places in which followers of Christ are known to be persecuted on a large scale. That makes my stomach turn. We've got brothers and sisters there that escape our minds because we don't see them but we see people from the places they are dying in because they can compete well in a sport. I'm not discrediting the talent these athletes possess at all. They deserve to be able to showcase what they can do and represent their homes. What is horrible is that so much is done to represent these places as safe and happy when that is not the case. All is not what it seems, North Korea should show us that.
So I ask of you reading this, this year when you watch the games pray for our brothers and sisters whose lives are at stake because they live where Christ isn't named as God and to do so means harm and possibly death. We are commanded to pray for our brothers and sisters, they need it. We cannot sit in the safest country in the world to be a Christian and remain silent as fellow Christians suffer because they don't live here.
The full World Watch List can be found here:World Watch List
Sunday, February 4, 2018
#MeToo,Nassar, Truth, Consequence.
I do not write or speak without a long chunk of time between the time my thoughts occur and the time it hits a screen or becomes sound waves. Speaking without thinking isn't a skill of mine, if anything I'm often told I'm too quiet, or not vocal enough. But that is just who I am. Thinking on my feet is fine for simple decisions, but a weighty matter of any sort be it Bible Study or the latest event that alters the lives of those around the world at a large level takes time. This is no different. In fact what you are about to read is probably one of the longest thought out blog post I've ever written. Part of that is because it is a topic that needs to be addressed with the utmost sensitivity and partly because I don't want to throw out words that could harm those whom have been touched by it in any shape, form, or fashion.
Most of my newsfeed for the past two or three weeks has been centered on Larry Nassar. Should you have no idea who that is he was a team doctor for the USA Olympic Gymnastics team as well as at Michigan State. I use the past tense because he was accused of sexual abuse by more than 150 women and girls. He's been sentenced to between 40-175 years in prison for his crimes. Information is still coming to light on his web of abuse over the past two decades. But this post isn't about him. He doesn't deserve anymore attention. I'll let the media handle that one.
Here's the thing, he isn't the first high profile person to commit these atrocities. 2017 saw several high profile men accused of actions of sexual harassment and abuse. The #MeToo movement was created to allow victims of sexual harassment and abuse to tell the world that they were victims. Women all over the world spoke up, some of them for the first time about painful histories. I've got a problem with that. I've got a problem with the fact that a hundred and fifty women had to sit on a stand and tell the world what was done to them. That problem is the fact that it shouldn't have happened. They should be able to speak up and have those around them believe them. It should never have escalated to the point that it carried on for twenty years so more and more women and young girls could be harmed.
I understand that such an accusation is serious and one made out of spite that is untrue can do irreparable harm to the reputation of the one being accused. What I don't understand is how do we become so jaded that we don't believe our children,wives, and friends when they say someone has hurt them? We tell our children that if anyone hurts them they need to tell an adult! How do we get to the point that they are either too scared to tell us or when they tell us we blow it off? How does someone who this is repeatedly called against continue to work with young ladies and women and nothing be done? It completely baffles me. It also makes me sick to my stomach.
Status and station cannot trump truth. Sure jumping to conclusions is a horrible thing to do but it is far better to err on the side of caution. I think if such things had been done and not swept under the rug there would be far fewer victims of Mr.Nassar and other predators like him. We as people should be open arms to those who are hurting, not judgmental doubters who won't entertain the notion that such things happen, because they do. There is plenty of evil in the world and the only way to fight it is with the hope and love of Christ. But we can't do that if we aren't willing to believe the hurting.
So to all those who sat on a stand and modeled a bravery that few will ever touch I apologize. You live in a place that never should have doubted you. To all those who were brave enough to tell the world #MeToo I hope we move forward to a time where you don't have to tell the world to get closure.
Most of my newsfeed for the past two or three weeks has been centered on Larry Nassar. Should you have no idea who that is he was a team doctor for the USA Olympic Gymnastics team as well as at Michigan State. I use the past tense because he was accused of sexual abuse by more than 150 women and girls. He's been sentenced to between 40-175 years in prison for his crimes. Information is still coming to light on his web of abuse over the past two decades. But this post isn't about him. He doesn't deserve anymore attention. I'll let the media handle that one.
Here's the thing, he isn't the first high profile person to commit these atrocities. 2017 saw several high profile men accused of actions of sexual harassment and abuse. The #MeToo movement was created to allow victims of sexual harassment and abuse to tell the world that they were victims. Women all over the world spoke up, some of them for the first time about painful histories. I've got a problem with that. I've got a problem with the fact that a hundred and fifty women had to sit on a stand and tell the world what was done to them. That problem is the fact that it shouldn't have happened. They should be able to speak up and have those around them believe them. It should never have escalated to the point that it carried on for twenty years so more and more women and young girls could be harmed.
I understand that such an accusation is serious and one made out of spite that is untrue can do irreparable harm to the reputation of the one being accused. What I don't understand is how do we become so jaded that we don't believe our children,wives, and friends when they say someone has hurt them? We tell our children that if anyone hurts them they need to tell an adult! How do we get to the point that they are either too scared to tell us or when they tell us we blow it off? How does someone who this is repeatedly called against continue to work with young ladies and women and nothing be done? It completely baffles me. It also makes me sick to my stomach.
Status and station cannot trump truth. Sure jumping to conclusions is a horrible thing to do but it is far better to err on the side of caution. I think if such things had been done and not swept under the rug there would be far fewer victims of Mr.Nassar and other predators like him. We as people should be open arms to those who are hurting, not judgmental doubters who won't entertain the notion that such things happen, because they do. There is plenty of evil in the world and the only way to fight it is with the hope and love of Christ. But we can't do that if we aren't willing to believe the hurting.
So to all those who sat on a stand and modeled a bravery that few will ever touch I apologize. You live in a place that never should have doubted you. To all those who were brave enough to tell the world #MeToo I hope we move forward to a time where you don't have to tell the world to get closure.
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