What Will You Sing Tonight? . . . .

I love talking to youth workers about kids. What I don't like hearing are the seemingly endless stream of stories about churched kids. You know, the ones who have seen, heard, and done it all over and over and over again. Churched kids from Christian homes can be the most apathetic when it comes to understanding, engaging, and appreciating the great drama of redemption that is unfolding in them and around them. I know. I was one of those kids. Familiarity didn't breed contempt. It bred a "ho-hum" attitude.

I might still be one of those kids if it hadn't been for God's great gift to me of hurt, brokenness, and pain. My suffering hasn't been great. But it's been enough to show me how helpless I am in and of myself. Suffering is like an axe in the hands of God which He uses to chop away at the legs of the idols we worship known as "me," "myself," and "I." The brokenness I've experienced has been enough to show me how great and wonderful it is that the Creator of the universe became flesh and blood and - as Eugene Peterson says in The Message - "moved into the neighborhood." When life beats us down and leaves us looking and feeling like an old sea captain who's been thrown around over the years. . . well. . . that's a good thing. . . if we allow it all to force us to drop our arms to our sides and look to God saying, "Okay. . . I've got nothing." God wants us weak. I increasingly believe that this is what prepares us to see and understand and embrace what's great about Christmas.

Tonight at 10pm, my family will worship with other members of our congregation in celebration of the Incarnation. This will be my 54th Christmas. I will sing and hear songs that are way too familiar. And if I'm not careful, I will entertain the ghost of my Christmas's past by engaging in a sentimental reflection that is more about family memories than it is about thinking carefully and deeply about what it is that we sing and celebrate. I'm not sure what deep and great songs of the faith we will sing tonight. In year's past I have been blessed to focus on certain lines in certain carols that have come to have very personal meaning for me. Perhaps we'll sing some of these. . .

". . . He will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food."
-"Let All Mortal Flesh"

". . . come to earth to taste our sadness, He whose glories knew no end."
-"Come Thou Long Expected Jesus"

". . . the hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight."
-"O Little Town of Bethlehem"

". . . pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel."
-"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

And my favorite. . .

". . . He comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found."
-"Joy To The World"

What will you be singing tonight? Do you have a favorite line?

I trust you will have a blessed Christmas filled with a deep knowledge of what God has done for us in Christ. . . and the resulting wonder and awe.

Don't be one of those kids.

To Give or To Get? . . . .

The other day I was driving down the highway with the 24-hour Christmas station putting out a steady menu of nostalgic old favorites so familiar that I hum or sing-along without really paying attention. Every now and then a new Christmas tune would be thrown in. My unfamiliarity would make me listen. One such tune that's been out for about six years is Ashanti's "Hey Santa." I focused on the song's lyrics and couldn't help but wonder, "Wow! Is this what we've become?"



Ashanti voices the collective request of a culture wrapped up in a Christmas built around wonder, joy, and hope placed in salvation by stuff, rather than salvation from sin. . . . including the sin of belief in salvation by stuff. She sings, "Hey Santa, can you bring me something good?. . . Hey Santa, can you bring me something nice? . . . something new? . . . Like a diamond bracelet or a diamond ring? How about a shiny new, baby blue convertible? . . . Hey Santa, can you bring me everything?"

In Acts 20:35 the Apostle Paul quotes the Savior whose birth we celebrate in a couple of days: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." I heard that lesson from parents, pastors, Sunday School teachers, and others while I was growing up. But I wonder if I got it. Do you feel the tug of war this time of year?

A couple of years ago a large local family taught me a wonderful lesson about Christmas. For a good many years they had been supporting the work of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding financially. Around this time of year, we always step up our fundraising efforts so that we can begin the next year on a strong note. We received a letter from the family informing us that instead of giving gifts to each other, they would pool the cash they normally spent on those gifts and send it all to CPYU. Enclosed was a check that just about took my breath away. What they had done was humbling. Sadly, it was also unusual and out-of-the-box in today's world. They had challenged me deeply and blessed CPYU greatly.

I've been thinking about all this over the last few weeks as we're in the midst of our end-of-the-year fund-raising initiative here at CPYU. The economy has been difficult on us all - individuals, families, and non-profit ministries alike. Here at CPYU,we're praying that we end on a strong note so that we can plow ahead as the new year begins.

The generosity of this family has combined with the call of Jesus and our current economy to spark a challenge I'd like to pass on to you. While you most likely have most or your gift-shopping completed, it's not too late to prayerfully consider a sacrificial gift to the Lord's work in your local community above and beyond your giving to your church. Hey, we're always excited to receive your support here at CPYU and I know that many of you who follow my blog are already supporters. But can I encourage you to also consider a gift to someone on this list I came up with the other day? Here are some possibilities to think about. . .

Your local Rescue Mission - These organizations provide physical, emotional, and spiritual support to the forgotten members of your community who so easily fall through the cracks.

The Salvation Army - I can't say enough about this organization. They are the Lord's hands and feet to so many people in so many different ways. You've been passing the bell ringers for weeks now. Why not make one last trip to the store for the sole purpose of sticking a sizable gift into the slot?

Your local Youth Center - We've got them all over the place here in Central Pennsylvania. I am continually blown away by the committed adults who are giving their lives to see that kids who have experienced extreme brokenness and don't normally darken the door of the church have the opportunity hear the Gospel,receive love, and find a place to belong.

A Seminary - Sometimes we forget how needy students and their institutions really are. The fingerprint of the Bible-believing seminary I attended is all over everything we do here at CPYU. Those seminaries that equip students to know and teach the truth without compromise are worthy of our support. . . particularly in today's culture.

A Child Relief Organization - Countless children around the globe are surviving and thriving thanks to the sponsorship of individuals like you and me who sponsor kids through organizations like Compassion International, World Vision, Food for the Hungry, etc. Lisa and I have seen firsthand how child sponsorship through Compassion International transforms individuals, families, and communities. This is something every individual, family, and church youth group should be doing.

Missionaries - ask your church about the missionaries your congregation supports. Find out who among them has the greatest needs. Because of the current economy, many missionaries are very, very close to having to return home due to lack of support. It doesn't need to be that way.

A local Crisis Pregnancy Center - I can't say enough about these organizations. These are usually staffed by a group of very dedicated Christian women who minister deeply to other women and girls who find themselves in great need.

Your Church's Youth Ministry - I know very, very few youth pastors and youth ministry volunteers who couldn't use more in the way of financial resources for their ministry. Budgets are being cut left and right. Again, it doesn't have to be that way.

A local Christian Counseling Center - I have served on the board of one of these organizations locally. If you don't use their services, you most likely don't know how valuable they are. Out of sight, out of mind. But the waiting lists are very, very long. The services are increasingly needed in the midst of our broken and hurting world. Most are over-extended and need more help.

A local Women's Shelter - Again, these ministries are staffed by highly dedicated people who minister to very needy people. . . and they do so with very little in the way of resources. Domestic violence and sexual abuse are on the rise. Sadly, this is what some might call a "growth industry." They need our help.

The other day a friend at Compassion International sent me a copy of an unusual prayer book entitled God Is No Stranger. The book is filled with the prayers of Haitian believers. The prayers have been written and prayed by very, very poor people who are very, very rich in the Lord. Perhaps this little prayer I found in the book can offset the skewed Christmas message of "Hey Santa":

Jesus,
You are our garage.
You give us cool shade.
Make us last longer for service.
Only then do we have value.

Deconstructing Tiger. . .

A few weeks have passed since the Tiger Woods we all knew was eclipsed in our collective consciousness by the Tiger Woods who is. I'm not a golf fan. I don't watch it on TV. I find it boring. I don't play it. . . except once in a blue moon. And then, I'm not really playing as much as I am trying. To be honest, the price of golf balls and the fact that I go through about a dozen-and-a-half per round makes the game unaffordable. All that to say, my knowledge of Tiger Woods is that he's a good golfer and a cultural icon.

Still, I've spent portions of the last three weeks trying to figure out what the Tiger Woods story tells us about ourselves. I don't claim to have any kind of solid grip on this thing, but there are some thoughts that have been rattling around inside this head of mine since the media reports broke about Tiger's wife using a golf club for something other than the game it was intended for.

To me this story has been like a double-edged sword. Both sides are equally sharp and dangerous. On the one side is the edge that's all about our ridiculous obsession with celebrity. . . a celebrity obsession that manifests itself in both our following and our becoming. We adore the rich and famous, setting them up for worship much like the biblical sacred cow. Yes, we were created to worship. The only problem is that we consistently get the object of our worship wrong. . . over and over and over again. In this case, it was a man we thought to be perfect. In addition, our media-saturated world of reality TV and YouTube have made it all the more possible for us to indulge and pursue our ridiculous celebrity fantasies where we take center stage while the whole world watches and worships us as we worship ourselves.

The other side of the double-edged sword is all about denial. What we deny is the fact that we really are rotten to the core. In my faith tradition we call it "depravity." We're broken. Messed up. Fallen. And, we can't get up. . . at least not on our own. At first, the world saw Tiger as a good guy. Now, the world sees Tiger as a good guy who messed up. The reality is that Tiger's a messed-up guy - just like the rest of us - who did a good job at indulging and then covering up his messed-upness. Until now.

With Christmas just a few days away it might be good to reflect theologically on Tiger Woods and what the story tells us about ourselves. . . and Christmas. You see, what we celebrate (which has by and large been forgotten in today's consumer culture) is the coming of the God-Man Jesus Christ into the world to do what we cannot do for ourselves for the simple reason that we're so rotten to the core that we need God to initiate the picking-up. And pragmatically speaking, when I realize God has done that, why in the world would I want to worship anything or anyone else? As Timothy Keller says in his wonderful new book Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters, it is through a living encounter with the one true God that we can have hope and life.

So, maybe we shouldn't be surprised by what's come out about Tiger Woods. Shouldn't we have known all along that he has feet of clay? And shouldn't we know that our feet are made of the same stuff? And shouldn't we avoid the temptation to excuse his and our own immoral behavior with something like, "After all, he's (I'm) only human?"

Following Tiger Woods over the last few weeks forced me to think about some words of warning Gordon MacDonald wrote after the truth about Ted Haggard was told a few years ago (MacDonald, by the way, had the truth told about him several years before): "I have come to believe that there is a deeper person in many of us who is not unlike an assassin. This deeper person can be the the source of attitudes and behaviors we normally stand against in our conscious being. But it seeks to destroy us and masses energies that - unrestrained - tempt us to do the very things we 'believe against.' If you have been burned as deeply as I (and my loved ones) have, you never live a day without remembering that there is something within that, left unguarded, will go on the rampage. Wallace Hamilton once wrote, 'Within each of us there is a herd of wild horses all wanting to run loose.'"

The Apostle Paul said it this way in Romans 7 - "I know that nothing good lives in me. . . I want to do what is right, but I can't. . . Oh what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is Jesus Christ our Lord."

We desperately need perspective on Tiger, on life, on ourselves, and on Christmas. What a joy to know that the Savior has come!

Pop Culture. . . A Sign Of Life. . .

Every now and then I find something positive in pop culture that's worth passing along to our CPYU constituency. This morning I found one of those things while doing some writing for the upcoming January/February edition of Simply Youth Culture that we producing in partnership with our good friends at Simply Youth Ministry.

We're including one of our unique CPYU 3D media reviews in every edition of Simply Youth Culture. Our 3D media evaluation paradigm is something we want to see taught to every child, teen, and adult. A few years ago we produced our How To Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart: 3(D)Media Evaluation Guide for youth workers to use with their kids as they teach them how to think Christianly and biblically about media by funnelling everything they see and hear through the three-step Discover, Discern, Decide process. (By the way, the guides - along with everything else in our resource center - are 15% off this month).

For this edition of Simply Youth Culture I decided to find something positive to review. I ran across a wonderful new video from Travis McCoy that premiered last week on MTV. The catchy and upbeat "One At A Time" delivers a straight-on challenge to kids, encouraging them to get involved and make a difference in their world. McCoy - the lead vocalist for Gym Class Heroes - is also an ambassador for MTV's Staying Alive Foundation, a group that promotes and funds grassroots HIV and AIDS prevention efforts globally.

While you and I might not agree with the presuppositions the Staying Alive Foundation holds regarding sexuality and sexual ethics, there's no arguing with the song's challenge to step up, see the world's need, make a difference, and address issues one person at a time. As McCoy walks through the South African landscape issuing this challenge in the video, you can't help but think about Jesus and His heart for the poor. In a world where too many Christians erroneously equate the Gospel with personal salvation and personal salvation alone, it's time we start to think more seriously about the implications of the Gospel in relation to how we function in a world where all things groan and cry out for redemption. Are we called to simply hold on until the end and Heaven becomes real for us? Or, are we called to serve as Kingdom ambassadors obsessed with bringing Heaven into every nook and cranny of the earth? The answer is all too clear. Yet, for some reason, we ignore it.

Travis McCoy's "One At A Time" is worth watching and talking about. It's a great springboard for discussions about what it means to seek justice for the poor, sick, and oppressed.

Travis McCoy - New Music - More Music Videos

Sara Groves. . . .

Last night my daughter Caitlin and I shared a wonderful evening out featuring a meal and a concert. Sara Groves and her ensemble were in town to play at the Hershey Free Church (thanks to Bob Sproul and his crew there for making this happen) as a stop on their "O Holy Night" Christmas tour.

I'm not sure how to put into words what the evening meant to me. Maybe the best word I could use is "refreshing." It was nice to slow down and be with Caitlin. And, it was nice to be able to spend time with my daughter listening together to someone who has great talent and who recognizes the source of that talent.

I've never met Sara Groves. I have, however, listened to lots of her music. I didn't realize it until it was over, but last night was one of those nights that reminds you of the way it's supposed to be, along with who the people who represent the way it's supposed to be are supposed to be.

Sara Groves defers to her Maker. She doesn't want to get in the way. It's obvious. She just does what she's called to do with great passion and excellence.

Sara Groves is humble. She doesn't get in the way. Perhaps the most significant moment of the evening came near the end when she thanked the audience for being there. She broke down while thanking God for the opportunity to write and sing. Then, she confessed that she's aware of the fact that the hook could appear to pull her off stage at any time. The way she said it was deeply sincere. She doesn't want to be a celebrity. She simply wants to be faithful and obedient. Why don't more Christian celebrities seek the place outside of the spotlight?

Sara Groves is a mom and a wife. She treasures both callings.

Sara Groves is studious. . . and she gets it. Her understanding of the theology of the incarnation is deep, yet simply stated. She makes it understandable to others. Last night, she made it new again for me.

Sara Groves is plain. No fancy make-up. No fancy clothes. No pretentious attitude. It was like sitting in the living room and listening to your sister play and sing.

Sara Groves - for all the aforementioned reasons and more - is worth listening to.

This morning, my mind is focused on things it might not otherwise be aware of or thinking about two weeks before Christmas. Thank you, Sara Groves, for being a messenger who doesn't get in the way.

Columbine Reality. . . .

Last week I finally got around to a book that's been sitting on the pile for quite some time. I wanted to read Dave Cullen's Columbine before the 10th anniversary year of the watershed school massacre came to an end. Riveting reading, it was difficult to put down. Considered the nation's foremost authority on those who perpetrated the event now known by the simple one-word name of the school, Cullen has spent ten years investigating every nook and cranny of what happened in Littleton before, during, and after April 20, 1999.

I remember where I was when I first heard the news. I was in the car driving from speaking to an English class at Lancaster Bible College, heading a few miles south to speak to some at-risk students in an after-school program at Lancaster City's McCaskey High School. An initial radio report had informed me that there had a been a school shooting in Colorado and a few kids had been injured. By the time I got back in my car a couple of hours later, a more grim story was unfolding fast. I was up all night glued to the TV. Since then - in fact before the bodies were removed from the school - Columbine reality and myth have been woven together in a mix that's allowed the truth to get muddied by chaotic confusion, trauma-fueled desire, misinformation, hasty assumptions, false conclusions, irresponsibility, and lies.

Yesterday, after finishing Cullen's book, I ran across this quote attributed to John F. Kennedy: "Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." Timely. The age of rapid information has combined with our desire for easy answers, our lack of good research, our need for Evangelical heroes, and our bent towards believing what we want to believe to cloud the truth about Columbine. And this bad habit is not only limited to the Columbine massacre. We do it all the time. And Evangelicals - a group I'm a part of that values truth and integrity - is usually no different. Mainstream media, viewers worldwide, Columbine families, and my own Christian culture jumped to some hasty conclusions. Then along comes Dave Cullen, shedding light on the facts and thereby illuminating the truth about Columbine in some undeniable ways. Granted, Cullen doesn't know everything and he has the advantage of post-dust-settlement hindsight. But he's helped us know more than we've ever known before.



Cullen's desire is to tell the truth and to get his readers to learn from Columbine. . . . about the mind and motivation of the school shooter, about the best way to respond, about the way we handle grief, about the need to forgive, and about how to find the truth in the midst of absolute chaos. Like so many others, I was quick to believe reports of a Trench Coat Mafia, jock-targeted killings, revenge on bullies, anti-Christian sentiments, a unified police response, violence born out of disengaged parenting, and modern-day martyrdom. Very little of this was true. Dave Cullen took me on an eye-opening journey into Columbine's before, during, and after.

More than anything else, Dave Cullen's Columbine reminded me to carefully seek, find, and consider the facts in an effort to be a person of integrity. Because we say we value truth, we need to value truth. . . even if it means having to suffer the discomfort of doing an about-face on long-held assumptions and opinions that we'd like to be true.

The "Old Guy's" Necessary Questions. . . .

Sometimes the passage of time brings the clarity that you were erroneously convinced you once had. Thinking, learning, listening, praying, and experiencing combine in a mix that makes the murky waters you once believed and defended as crystal clear, to be seen for what they were. . . murky. And then, clarity comes. I think that what this is called is "wisdom."

I remember some conversations I had with my dad around 25 years ago. I was a fresh-out-of-seminary young know-it-all who was on a mission to challenge the status quo of our church culture - a church he pastored with great insight, skill, and faithfulness. Specifically, I was questioning a variety of issues related to worship. To be fair to my 25-years-ago-self, my motivation was to see the kids I had been charged to minister to in the church embrace the corporate worship experience in more meaningful ways. And to be honest about my 25-years-ago-self, I allowed my youthful idealism and pragmatism to serve as blinders that kept me from seeing the bigger picture and all the related questions that needed to be asked. My recollection is that my dad patiently listened to my concerns, offered some thoughts and pertinent questions in response, and then remained quiet in the hope that eventually my perspective would be informed by something more than my idealism and pragmatism. I remember getting a bit frustrated as other churches I knew were making adjustments that swelled the ranks and made kids happy. Those were the front-end days of making big changes in church. Since then, Evangelicals have turned this type of thinking and doing into an art.

In hindsight, I appreciate my dad's patience. Watching culture, studying marketing techniques and how they're used to manipulate young (and old) people, studying the Scriptures, and thinking theologically about cultural accommodation(thanks to a multitude of older and wiser folks who have committed their thoughts to writing)have all combined to lead to a gradual yet monumental shift in my thinking that I would have said wasn't even possible. Still, here I am.

If my present-day 53-year-old self could somehow travel back in time to sit across the table from my 29-year-old self, I'd work hard to convince the younger version of me to ask the right questions and to think deeply about the answers before pursuing matters of style over matters of substance. I would ask myself, "Do you really think the things you want to have happen will wind up bringing results that are marked by spiritual maturity?"


I was reminded of all this the other day when I was catching up on my magazine reading. While leafing through the November issue of Christianity Today, I ran across a column by one of my favorite writers, Philip Yancey. I was surprised (and saddened) to learn that the November column was going to Yancey's last for CT. He actually started writing "The Back Page" back when I was a seminary student in 1983. In fitting fashion, Yancey used this last installment to make some observations on the evangelical movement that he and CT have been a part of for so long. The entire article - "Oh Evangelicos!" - is worth reading. Since it's Saturday night as I write this, perhaps it's worth reading before you take your seat in worship tomorrow morning, or at a Saturday evening service tonight. With apologies to Philip Yancey, I appreciate the wisdom he's passed on to us younger folks as an older guy who's done some pretty serious thinking on his many trips around the block. In particular, I like the questions. . . the necessary questions. . . he asks in these few paragraphs.

"While staid churches change slowly, evangelicals tend to be light on their feet, adapting quickly to cultural trends.

The Jesus movement, the house-church movement, seeker-friendly churches, emergent churches—evangelicals have spawned all of these. In their wake, worship bands have replaced organs and choirs, PowerPoint slides and movie clips now enliven sermons, and espresso bars keep congregants awake. If a technique doesn't work, find one that does.

Although I admire the innovation, I would caution that mimicking cultural trends has a downside. At a recent youth workers conference I attended, worship meant a DJ playing techno music at jet-engine volume while a sweaty audience crowded the stage, jumping up and down while shouting spiritual one-liners. At the risk of sounding old-fashioned, I couldn't help questioning the depth of worship. Seminaries now recommend 15-minute sermons in light of shorter attention spans. Publishers want slimmer books, with simpler words and concepts. Will we soon have a 140-character Twitter gospel?

Perhaps we should present an alternative to the prevailing culture rather than simply adopt it. What would a church look like that created space for quietness, that bucked the celebrity trend and unplugged from surrounding media, that actively resisted consumerist culture? What would worship look like if it were directed more toward God than toward our entertainment preferences?"

This weekend I had the privilege of spending time with a bright and energizing group of United Methodist youth workers and some of their best and brightest kids in Louisville, KY. As we chatted back and forth about what it means to do ministry as cross-cultural missionaries in today's world, I had the sense that these kids want to go deep. I'm hoping and praying that they'll embrace substance, and then make style subservient to that substance. . . not vice versa. I'm hoping they channel the wonderful blessings of their youthful idealism into asking and thinking long and hard about the right questions. More than anything else, I hope and pray that they are faithful to the unchanging Gospel and the power that exists in the simple, straightforward preaching of God's Word. I hope that they don't fall into the market-driven trap of thinking that just because a messenger is gray up top, he or she has nothing to say that anyone who isn't gray up top would ever want or be able to hear.

If this keeps up, we're doing nothing other than making sure that style trumps substance. And when that happens, we have to think twice about what kingdom we're really promoting.

The Lie of Christmas. . . .

It's getting crazy around here. . . . Christmas crazy. I look around and see - as Dave Matthews sings - "ants marching." It's the craziness of the Christmas rush. Why? Rather than ponder this anew, I thought I would pass on something I wrote several years ago about what is at the root of all this craziness. . . .


I believed it would change my life. Even though I began my impatient wait for its arrival sometime in September, it usually arrived in our mailbox at 1162 Beverly Road a few weeks before Thanksgiving. Its shiny full-color pages consumed my thoughts and attention for weeks. I ignored the first two-thirds of the book. Those pages were covered with boring pictures of clothing, tools, artificial Christmas trees, and a potpourri of boxed holiday fruits, candies and nuts. For me, “glory land” was contained in the back third of the book - those pages that quickly became tattered and worn from the constant perusal by me and my two very wishful younger brothers. The back third was where we would spend our time drooling over page after page of the latest in games and toys.

If you were a child in the 60's or 70's, my story is probably similar to yours. I would sit with that book for hours, using my signature colored pen (keyed for my parents as “Green = Walt”) to circle anything and everything that I’d like to find under the family tree on Christmas morning. During my younger years, I wielded my pen with reckless abandon. As I got older, I would sit under my covers with a flashlight and the catalog, secretly breaking curfew while ranking my material desires numerically and calculating prices while wondering just what “Santa” might be able to afford that year. The fruit of my labors was a neatly written and ranked list to pass on to my parents.


And if you had siblings, the Sears and Roebuck Christmas Catalog - a.k.a. “The Wish Book” - was the source of numerous family fights. The fights weren’t just over who got to study the book and when, but why three selfish kids from the same family couldn't circle the same item with their respective colored pens. If my brothers wouldn’t comply when I tried to pull rank based on seniority, I would hijack their pen(s) and alter their wish list by going to the first two-thirds of the book and secretly circling an itchy shirt or some other article of clothing that - if it appeared under the tree - would ruin their Christmas and force them to feign a disappointed “thanks” on the big morning.

Then came the night before the day that would change my life. If there ever was a time when my mind was totally sidetracked during a worship service, it had to be Christmas Eve. All I could think about - besides “when are we going to sing the last hymn?”- was toys, toys, and more toys. I can still remember the excitement of getting home, ripping off my Sunday clothes, and slipping on my pajamas. We’d stay up later than usual running the HO trains, sipping on non-alcoholic eggnog, eating my Aunt’s famous Christmas cookies, snarfing down chocolates from a Whitman’s Sampler, and chewing on a piece of one of the many fruitcakes bestowed upon my pastor-father from his grateful parishioners. But the only thing in our house thicker than those fruitcakes was the excitement of those three little boys.

Bed time arrived - which was only a signal for us to take our excitement and move it from a vertical to a horizontal position. There were never any sugar plums dancing in my bedded head on Christmas Eve. Instead, my eyes remained as wide as saucers for what seemed like an eternity. And when sleep finally came, my anxious conscious thoughts of what I’d find under the tree soon yielded to unconscious dreams of the same stuff. Those wishful thoughts and dreams that had consumed me for weeks could be summed up in one thought: “Tomorrow morning, my life will be complete.”

At my house, we were usually up long before the sun on Christmas morning. It was my mom’s responsibility to repeatedly tell us to “Wait at the top of the stairs!” while my dad took what seemed like forever to set up his 8mm movie camera while shouting “Not yet!” over and over in response to our endless impatient shouts of “CAN WE COME DOWN NOW?”. When the words “Okay, now” were finally spoken, we began our trek down the steps to the living room. The descent was always somewhat hairy as the three of us were blinded by the moose antler-sized rack of heat radiating spotlights on top of my dad’s movie camera. But once we reached the bottom of the steps and our eyes adjusted, we beheld the promised land right there under the Christmas tree.

Just as I remember those excited feelings of pre-Christmas anticipation, I also remember the empty and disappointed emotions I felt in the minutes and days after all the wrapping paper had been ripped off and thrown away. Don’t get me wrong - I was happy - but only for awhile. Some of the stuff under the tree just didn’t look or work like it had in the Sears Catalog or on the television commercial. Other gifts broke. And it wasn’t long before the novelty wore off and everything wound up in the back of my closet or bottom of my toybox. I had believed, in my childhood naivete, that all that stuff under the tree would somehow make me feel better, make me happy, and make me complete. It was nothing but a lie. But stupid me. . . each and every year it was the same thing as my yearning for completeness, peace, and satisfaction led me to buy into the great “lie of Christmas” one more time.

Even though I know better, I sometimes still find myself unknowingly falling back into those same old patterns. You think I would have learned by now. Maybe it’s not the stuff that appears under the Christmas tree. We don’t even get a Sears Christmas catalog anymore. Now it’s any of a number of attractive lies floating around the cultural air we all breath that are full of nothing but empty promises. Yes, the “lie of Christmas” lives on strong in our culture year-round.

Saint Anselm prayed about the “lie of Christmas” about a thousand years before I was born: “Lord, give me what you have made me want,” he prayed. “I praise and thank you for the desire that you have inspired; perfect what you have begun, and grant me what you have made me long for.” Anselm knew that the longings and desires we all experience originate in God and can only be filled by Him. He had discovered the only truth that can satisfy the hunger we all try to fill with the lie.

Six hundred years later, the French philosopher Blaise Pascal pondered the same thing: “What else does this longing and helplessness proclaim, but that there was once in each person a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? We try to fill this in vain with everything around us, seeking in things that are not there the help we cannot find in those that are there. Yet none can change things, because this infinite abyss can only be filled with something that is infinite and unchanging - in other words, by God himself. God alone is our true good.”

The gnawing desire to fill Pascal’s “God-shaped vacuum” isn’t limited to kids at Christmas. It’s a daily battle for all people, of all ages, in all places in today’s culture. On a trip to Barnes & Noble, the cover of an issue of Men’s Journal caught my eye. This “10th Anniversary Special” edition of the magazine promised readers the same thing I longed for at Christmas. Inside I found “the list of a lifetime - the sixty things every man must do at least once.” The article promised male readers that by experiencing everything on this definitive list, you’d wind up living a life that’s fulfilled, peaceful, and complete. In fact, “it could be the last to-do list you’ll ever need.” After reading through the list, I realized I’m only batting a measly and less-than-manly .150 and therefore, pretty far off from experiencing complete fulfillment. The nine listed things I’ve done in my lifetime include owning a dog, watching your child arrive (truly amazing!), riding a motorcycle, acting like a kid (something some say I’m pretty consistent and good at!), building something, and planting a tree. Apparently I’ll be a miserable and unfulfilled failure until I do the 51 other things on the list including living like a king (renting a $6500 a night suite in a Hong Kong hotel), reveling in the “raw sensuality” of Rio’s Carnival, wrestling a bear, climbing Kilimanjaro, and experiencing sex with two women at once. Yes, the great “lie of Christmas” lives on in today’s culture. We believe we can fill the gnawing hunger with anything and everything but the one right thing. What a lie!

Without a doubt, the greatest inheritance we can pass on to the kids we know and love is the truth about the lie. Not only that the “lie of Christmas” is a lie, but that the “truth of Christmas” is the truth. My parents passed on that truth in many ways. But as I think back on my memories of childhood Christmas’s past, it was their Christmas lists that told the truth so clearly. Every year, when I would take a break from my selfishness to ask them what they wanted for Christmas, the answer was always the same - “We don’t need anything.” Then, when Christmas morning would arrive, I would feel bad for them as they opened boxes of socks, sweaters, tools, kitchenware, and itchy shirts - all stuff from the first two-thirds of the wish book. Much to my surprise, they were never disappointed. Why? Because they had already been satisfied by the truth of Christmas. . . . they had embraced the gift of the baby whose Birthday we were celebrating. Sure, my parents thought Christmas gifts were nice and they appreciated every one of them. But the hole in their souls had already been filled. Because they didn’t want anything, I quickly learned they already had everything.

Shortly after Blaise Pascal died, someone found a piece of paper sewn into the lining of his jacket. Pascal had placed it there as a constant reminder of what the “truth of Christmas” had meant to him when he first believed and experienced it. On the paper were recorded the words he had written when the God-shaped vacuum of his life had been filled by the baby Jesus: “From about half past ten in the evening to about half an hour after midnight. Fire. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. Not the God of philosophers and scholars. Absolute Certainty. Beyond reasons. Joy. Peace. Forgetfulness of the world and everything but God. The world has not known thee, but I have known thee. Joy! Joy! Joy! Tears of Joy!”

The old man Simeon waited in great expectation for the arrival of the promised Messiah. He knew what it was he longed for. The Holy Spirit had shown him that before he died, he would see the baby Jesus. Eight days after Christ’s birth, Simeon held “the truth of Christmas” in his arms and praised God with these words: “God, you can now release your servant; release me in peace as you promised. With my eyes I’ve seen your salvation.”

While the “lie of Christmas” lives on strong, it can’t compare to the life-changing power of what Christmas is really about. This truth of Christmas is the very thing - the only thing - that answers our deepest of longings and fills the most empty of lives! Perhaps as you gather around the tree this Christmas you’ll make it your prayer that the kids you know and our culture-at-large would behold the same “glory land” that filled Simeon’s eyes and countless hearts since the day God became man.

Seeking The Orgasmic Now. . . .

Yesterday we sat with some beloved friends in a local Chinese joint eating lunch and talking about - among other things - the state of the church. They were visiting from out-of-town and had just spent the morning worshipping with us at our church. Because I'm a culture-watcher whose travels take him to churches that span the style and substance spectrum, I'm forced to think about these things far more than I'd like to or would ever choose to. But I've learned that thinking about these things is necessary and unavoidable. Far more than we know or imagine hangs in the balance, and if we don't understand that fact now, we'll be leaving it to church history to offer a balanced analysis of our times. . . particularly the mistakes we're making.

Our mealtime conversation began with "what did you think of our worship service?" and continued with some stimulating dialogue about what people look for in a church, and whether or not that's unbalanced or misdirected.


I appreciated the conversation because our friends are extremely thoughtful, and because of some reading I had done earlier in the week. On Thanksgiving I had finished Michael Horton's latest book, The Gospel-Driven Life: Being Good News People in a Bad News World. I blogged earlier this year about Horton's previous book, Christless Christianity. Horton is a deep-thinking theologian and cultural critic who has a great knack for forcing us to ask the questions we need to be asking. Sadly, I'm not sure he's going to get the hearing that he should.

In The Gospel-Driven Life, Horton talks about how we've lost our capacity to wait for things. We want everything quickly in the here and now. He says this has impacted us negatively as individuals, as churches, and as a culture. Because convenience takes precedence over quality, we have sacrificed much in terms of depth and growth. For example, "it takes time to make a good bottle of wine and the better reds may not reach their maturity for years." This bent has found its way into the way that we perceive and live out our Christian life. It has also found its way into how we choose and evaluate corporate worship. . . and even our churches.

Horton says we live in an "exuberant cult of the immediate experience." Perhaps his most eye-opening and accurate assessment of our allegiances, preferences, and commitments is that "every moment must be orgasmic." He says "we are terrified of being bored." How true. I see it in my own life and in the lives of those I know the best.

Here are some related thoughts from Horton's book that I found to be very challenging. As you read them, think about your church, yourself, and your kids. . . .

"Let's face it: a traditional Christian service of public invocation, Bible reading, prayers, preaching, and sacraments is not ordinarily fun. 'It's like watching corn grow,' as they say. There is no excuse for pastors to be so aloof, lax, or distracted from their congregation that there is no connection. Nevertheless, on an average month of Sundays, every believer should find church a little boring. I find marriage a little boring. And raising four children. And going to work every day. I am even bored by travel, although as a boy I went through the 'I want to be a pilot' phase. It's old hat now.

If we all made our decisions based on how highly it scored today on the fun meter, we would never commit ourselves to relationships and processes that take a long time to see any results. Our culture is falling apart over this one. The result is that we demand cargo ships full of meaningful, life-altering, transformative, explosive, and unique experiences every day and are losing our appreciation for the role that a child's smile has in the grand scheme of things. Every date night has to be the Love Boat, every family vacation must fill albums worth of memories, and church can't be church; it has to be a 'worship experience' that alters one's cell structure every time. . . .

Imagine what would happen if we determined what we would learn, teach, or endure on the basis of what William James called 'its cash-value in experiential terms.' Children would not learn the alphabet, the multiplication tables, primary colors, or the basic grammar of the Christian faith. School would be recess all day: filled with games and free play. There would be no great food, friendships, marriages, families, buildings, farms, athletes, or concerts. Ironically, the pursuit of instant gratification and perpetual amusement creates its own self-enclosed world of boredom. Spoiled children (of whatever age) are never satisfied.

The younger generations today have seen it all. They have been to every theme park, have every gadget, and know every band. The expression on a lot of their faces tells it all: 'Been there, done that, got the shirt.' And they are consummately bored. Now growing numbers of them us they are especially bored with the 'contemporary worship experience.' Our fear of God must become greater than our fear of boredom. Making disciples, like making crafts, great works of art, fine wine, a memorable dinner, and raising children, takes a long time. It is like watching corn grow and that's exactly what we are: a harvest whose first fruits have already been raised and exalted. . . .

Like a good parent, God knows that if we had all the cotton candy we wanted, we would not only be sick but would miss out on the dinner he has prepared. . . .

We try to pull God down from heaven or bring Christ up from the dead by our feverish activity, assimilating God's story to the cult of immediate gratification. As with all forms of nihilism, this illness can be remedied only by rebuilding our connection to a significant beginning and future destiny, with our present moment as part of a pilgrimage instead of a frantic zig-zagging from each exciting attraction at the carnival of death disguising itself as life."

I encourage you to read The Gospel-Driven Life. You can download and read Chapter 1 here.

2:20 and Thanksgiving. . . .

Twelve days ago I issued this challenge to our blog visitors: Let's give glory, honor, and thanks to the God who has given us all things by getting 20 more Compassion children sponsored by Thanksgiving. I want to remind you all of that challenge.

I'm asking you to pass the challenge on to your family as you gather around your Thanksgiving table in less than 48 hours. Here are three things I'd like you to share:

First, as you fill your plates, ask the folks around the table to guess this year's average cost for a Thanksgiving meal for 10 people. It's $42.91. Then, let them know that it costs less than the price of this one meal - $38 - to sponsor a Compassion child for one month!

Second, as you finish your meal, gather your family around the computer and watch this moving little 2 minute and 20 second clip from Compassion.



Third, prayerfully consider pooling your resources to sponsor a Compassion child. If you decide to sponsor a child, click here and then choose the child you'd like to sponsor.

I have seen firsthand what child sponsorship does in the life of a child and his/her family. It is transforming in ways that you cannot even begin to imagine. I know I couldn't imagine it until I saw it for myself. I believe in the work and ministry of Compassion International. I am grateful to God for their work in His world.

Do What Just Feels Right. . . .

Youth culture is a map and a mirror. It is both directive and reflective. We watch it to see where it's sending us and our kids. We watch it to see where we are. We monitor, deconstruct, and exegete it to know how to bring the map of the Biblical world and life view to bear on the realities that exist. A world that's not the way it's supposed to be keeps heading in that direction. We're in desperate need of being straightened out, fixed, and made new. That's why we listen and watch carefully.

Looking for a cultural map and mirror to ponder and talk about over the next month or so? Here's one worth engaging.

"You 86 the rules. You do what just feels right. . . "

Levi, Playgirl, and Youth Culture. . . .

My buddy Andy Brazelton from Simply Youth Ministry has been in town visiting us at CPYU for the last couple of days. Since this is his first-time here in Central Pennsylvania and the Lancaster County area, he's got lots of questions about the unique and sometimes unusual culture. It doesn't help that Andy grew up in Southern California - a culture that's just a little bit different from ours here.

When Andy arrived at the office yesterday we stood together in the parking lot. We talked about things like our unique local smells (could be pig farm or it could be chocolate. . . depending on which way the wind is blowing), our local food, how green it is, and the Amish. It wasn't long before the conversation turned to our local celebrities and their now-familiar and empty house that we could see just a few hundred feet from where we were standing. Andy asked about what the madness was like in our neighborhood before Jon and Kate (I don't even have to mention their last names anymore and you know who they are!) up and moved a year ago this weekend. Andy was surprised when I mentioned that there really was no "madness" related to gawkers and paparazzi a year ago.

Think about that for a second. The craziness, fame, spin, tabloid obsession, and personality makeovers the pair are locked in is really only a few months old! As Andy and I were talking, I realized that we are living in some pretty unique times. Theologically speaking, our fallen nature is fed and nurtured by a rapidly changing culture that not only worships celebrities, but allows and encourages anyone who so desires to pursue the creation of a personal brand and celebrity-status through the use (or more accurately "the abuse")of developing technologies. Don't believe it? Just consider exhibit A: the family of "Balloon Boy," who by the way, live in Andy's SoCal neighborhood!(Imagine that. . . . two guys from different sides of the country standing in a parking lot. . . talking about the famous people they live near. That's how common achieving fame is now).


All of this got me thinking about our current publicity-seeking self-made opportunity-grabbing celebrity-aspiring culture that's growing like a cancer and effecting our kids. It also got me thinking about the young celebrity dujour who's all over the news and most likely will be for a least a few weeks during his fifteen-plus minutes of fame. His name is Levi Johnston. He's a nineteen-year-old teenager we first met during the summer of 2008. He was thrown into the spotlight because he was the boyfriend of Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol. Soon after the unknown Palin was thrust into the spotlight, it was announced that Bristol was pregnant to Johnston.

Think about what's happened in the 14 short months since. There's a baby and Levi is out of the Palin family picture. But that doesn't mean he isn't in pictures. All this week the media's been pumping out info on Johnston's photo spread in the upcoming January edition of Playgirl magazine. What it appears Johnston is pursuing more than anything else is celebrity, fame, and fortune. Sadly, a host of people will buy into it and fall "in love" with Levi.

It will be interesting and sad to see how this already-sad story continues to play out. It offers what I think is a clear peek into where youth culture is and where it's headed. It tells us about what our culture and our kids value in life. It tells us just what "image" our kids desire to be conformed to. It also tells us just how difficult it's getting to lead kids to an understanding of the image to which they should aspire to conformity. Those of us who love and minister to kids long for them to go in one direction, while almost everything else in life pushes them 180 degrees in the opposite direction. What was once seen as vice is now pursued and embraced as virtue. I think if we were given the opportunity to stand outside of our culture and see it for what it really is, we'd see just how pathetic we've become.

The NIV translation of the Bible tells us in Acts 17 that when Paul walked into Athens and laid eyes on the landscape covered with idols, he was "greatly distressed." I'm afraid that our kids are living in the midst of stuff that leaves them "greatly impressed." Let's hope and pray that even though we live in the same landscape, we won't lose our ability to see things for what they really are. We have to. . . . for the sake of our kids. Like Paul, our distress should motivate us to serve as signposts pointing to the cross. . . the only source of transformed hearts and lives.

The Before and After Thanksgiving. . . .

Even though I've discovered it's sometimes incredibly painful, I want to keep being an "after" guy. I look at the "befores" of my life and I'm not happy they were ever there. I'm grateful for the transformational interventions that have exposed my "beforeness" and led me into the "afters." I'm equally aware that my "now" is filled with "befores" that must become "afters." In the realm of theology, this is called "sanctification."

For me, Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate the work of salvation and growth God is doing in my life and in His world. It's a time to thank God for the instruments he uses to expose my "befores" and lead me to the "afters." Usually these instruments are people.

This year I want to give honor and glory to God by inviting each of you to jump into something with me that will allow you to not only express your gratitude to the King for what He's doing in your life, but will allow you to become a person who triggers an amazing before to after transformation in a life desperately in need of such.

Here's the challenge: You and I have been given much in terms of material blessing. In reality, it's been entrusted to us rather than given. The God who's entrusted it to us commands us to use it to further His Kingdom and His glory. Sharing the wealth with those who have none is one way to make that happen. Because of that, I want to encourage you to give thanks by committing to monthly sponsorship of a Compassion child. When Lisa and I traveled to Rwanda and Kenya with Compassion earlier this year, we were blown away by what a simple drop-in-the-bucket gift of $38 a month will do to take a child - and his/her entire family! - from before into after.


I snapped loads of pictures of kids while we were there. The "before" kids rarely smiled, weren't getting an education, hadn't had the opportunity to hear about Jesus and grow in the faith, struggled to live, and were generally locked in a level of poverty marked by extreme lack of health and well being.

What struck us most about the "after" kids who are being sponsored by individuals and families here in the U.S. through Compassion International is that they are happy, are getting an education, are hearing about Jesus, are eating, are getting medical attention, and are pursuing dreams that will release them from poverty and into self-sufficiency for the rest of their lives.
Our sponsored child, Ibrahim, lives in some of the worst conditions I've ever seen but is one of the happiest and most satisfied human beings I've ever met. We asked numerous kids, "Tell me about your sponsor." In each and every instance, the child ran to grab a well-worn photo of their sponsor to proudly share with us. Then, the smiling child would proudly tell us the name and hometown of their sponsor. You can't even begin to imagine what it means to these kids.

Because I'm passionate about Compassion and convinced of the deep needs they are meeting in young lives globally, I'm endeavoring to rally the troops in the hope that at least 20 of you will step up by Thanksgiving to commit to child sponsorship through Compassion. If you are willing to do so, simply click here (or use the Compassion banner on the left side of this page) and you can start the process of choosing the child you'd like to see transformed from a "before" to an "after."

Child sponsorship triggers at least three things. . .

First, God is glorified. His heart is for the poor and He longs for those of us who have been given much to care for those who have been given little or nothing.

Second, a child and his/her family will be radically transformed - RADICALLY TRANSFORMED - from "before" to "after." I've seen it, and it's amazing.

And third, something will happen to you. The "before" to "after" transformation that will take place in you and your family as you engage in sponsorship is incredible. God will instill in you a heart for His world and bring you great joy. I've experienced it, and it's amazing.

Again, my goal is 20 kids sponsored by Thanksgiving. I'll keep you posted on our progress. If you're already a Compassion child sponsor, why not take a few minutes to comment below by sharing what sponsorship has meant to you. And if you're a person who decides to sponsor a Compassion child and join us in meeting the goal, would you leave a simple comment below by telling us why you're taking this step to change a life?

Thanks for considering this request!

Home Run. . . Keller! . . .

Since the release of his bestseller The Reason For God, Tim Keller has been on my list of "be sure to recommend and read everything he writes" list of authors. There are lots of books in the world and lots of people writing books. Because there are so many choices that your head can begin to spin, I've tried to be a responsible and picky filter as a service to those who trust my reading recommendations. In other words, I don't want to recommend just anything. I want people to come back to me and say "thanks for the recommendation. . . what else should I be reading?"

Yesterday, I finished Keller's latest little, easily read, yet meaty new book, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters. Keller hits it so far out of the park in this one that I'm going to watch the replay (read it again). . . and perhaps again. Because there's so much idolatry in me, there's so much in this book that I've got to ponder, digest, and take to heart. Reading Counterfeit Gods is like eating at Fogo de Chao - the Gauchos just keep coming and piling the feast of meat on your plate!

This is a meaty feast I need to eat. How easily I believe that the things that don't really matter really matter. I am prone to pursue. . . over and over and over again. . . created things rather than the Creator. The only One who can satisfy my deepest cravings is the One who made. While I can enjoy the things He's made, they can never fulfill.

Knowing what I know about Tim Keller, the Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, I don't think he'd be comfortable with my referring to Counterfeit Gods as a "home run." He's not concerned with putting on a show. He's more concerned with communicating a view of life that reflects the true nature of things as revealed in the Scriptures. His desire is to see his Redeemer - not himself - glorified. So, maybe I should just say that this is a book that's got the potential to rock your world, shake up your life, and change your priorities. . . not because it's written by Tim Keller, but because it reflects the deep truths of God's Word about God's rightful place in our sinful and fallen lives.



That said, let me whet your appetite with a couple of quotes from the book:

"The idol of success cannot be just expelled, it must be replaced. The human heart's desire for a particular valuable object may be conquered, but its need to have some such object is unconquerable. How can we beat our heart's fixation on doing 'some great thing' in order to heal ourselves of our sense of inadequacy, in order to give our lives meaning? Only when we see what Jesus, our great Suffering Servant, has done for us will we finally understand why God's salvation does not require us to do 'some great thing.' We don't have to do it, because Jesus has."

"When we are completely immersed in a society of people who consider a particular idolatrous attachment normal, it becomes almost impossible to discern it for what it is."

"Is there any hope? Yes, if we begin to realize that idols cannot simply be removed. They must be replaced. If you only try to uproot them, they grow back; but they can be supplanted. By what? By God himself, of course. But by God we do not mean a general belief in His existence. Most people have that, yet their souls are riddled with idols. What we need is a living encounter with God."

"It is impossible to understand your heart or your culture if you do not discern the counterfeit gods that influence them."

"There is no way to challenge idols without doing cultural criticism, and there is no way to do cultural criticism without discerning and challenging idols."

That's just a taste of some really, really good stuff.

13 Hours of Musical Ecstasy. . . .

I experienced a wonderful and long overdue musical convergence this weekend. Sitting on either side of my Saturday night sleep were two musical moments that initially might sound like something from opposite ends of the musical spectrum, but were actually quite similar. It's not coincidence that they both took place within the confines of the New England-style meeting house that we call the sanctuary at my church.

Saturday night I stepped out of my musical box to attend a hip-hop concert at my church. I've listened to my share of rappers over the years and I've got loads of their CDs on my shelves. Those albums have sat there unmoved and collecting dust from the moment I finished dissecting them as a part of a research project. The style's just not my cup-of-tea. Which makes what happened Saturday night on the front-end of my weekend's musical nexus even more interesting.


Hip-hop artist Shai Linne was performing. . . and it was good. Shai blew me away and brought great joy to my heart as he rapped the lyrics to his song "Greatest Story Ever Told." I was reminded once again how God is not only the author of an unfolding drama that is absolutely amazing, but that He's written me into the story. I stop to think about that far too infrequently. Here's the words Shai Linne shared and a link to a clip of the song:

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Greatest Story Ever Told
written by s. linne

Verse 1
Alright check it: let’s go back in time, brethren
Divine lessons always keep your mind guessing
The glory of the Triune God’s what I’m stressing
The origin of humankind was fine- blessings
Were plenteous- God is amazingly generous
Crazy benefits in a state of innocence
God told the man what he could taste was limited
Not long after came our nemesis in Genesis
He scammed well, man fell, damned to hell
The whole human race- he represented it
Fooled by the serpent, man through his work
Woman through birth- even the earth ruled by the curses
But instead of a wake immediately
God said her Seed would be the One to crush the head of the snake
Yo, wait what’s this? Whoa, a gracious gift!
In Jehovah’s faithfulness He clothed their nakedness
This was so they would know their Savior’s kiss
And bliss- but first, many growing pains exist
Suffering in the worst form, ugly deeds
Eve’s firstborn seed made his brother bleed
Indeed things got progressively worse
Every section of the earth's been affected by the curse
And though God’s judgments against sin were gory
Praise the Lord! It’s not the end of the story

Chorus:
It's the greatest story ever told
A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold
The greatest story ever told
Restoring all that the enemy stole
The greatest story ever told
The glory of Christ is the goal, behold
The greatest story ever told
It's the greatest...

Verse 2
Next scene: man’s sin was extreme
God gets steamed, man gets creamed
The Lord is so Holy that He drowned them in the water
Fire in the valley of slaughter- Sodom and Gomorrah
But at the same time, He’s so gracious and patient
That from one man He created a whole nation
Eventually enslaved by the mentally depraved
They cried out to the only One with the strength that He could save
He brought them out with signs and wonders- satisfied their hunger
Then He appeared on Mount Sinai in thunder
Where He laid down the law for God-ruled government
Commonly referred to as the Mosaic covenant
Sin’s imputed- so for man to know he’s unrighteous
God instituted animal sacrifices
This was to show our constant need for atonement
And when it came to sin, the Lord would never condone it
And when His people disobeyed and went astray
He raised up prophets and kings to lead them in the way
But they would get foul with their idolatry- wet and wild
Prophecy- send them into exile
To take their punishment like a grown man
Then with His own hand He placed them back in their homeland
And while in their forefather’s land they dwelt
They awaited the arrival of Emmanuel

Chorus:
It's the greatest story ever told
A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold
The greatest story ever told
Restoring all that the enemy stole
The greatest story ever told
The glory of Christ is the goal, behold
The greatest story ever told
It's the greatest...

Verse 3
After 400 silent years filled with sighs and tears
In Bethlehem the Messiah appears
God in the flesh- Second Person of the Trinity
At thirty begins His earthly ministry
Baffling cats with accurate, exact facts
And back to back miraculous acts
A stumbling block to the self righteous
But the humbled- His flock, said “There’s no one else like this”
He came from heaven to awake the numb
Demonstrated His power over nature, son
A foretaste of the Kingdom and the age to come
But the reason He came was to pay the sum
For the depths of our wickedness, our wretched sinfulness
Bless His magnificence- He’s perfect and innocent
Yet He was wrecked and His death- He predicted it
Next He was stretched, paid a debt that was infinite
He said that He finished it- resurrected so the elect
would be the recipients of its benefits
Through faith and penitence we get to be intimate
His grace is heaven sent, it never diminishes
Now the Holy Spirit indwelling is the evidence
for heaven's future residents who truly represent
Jesus, the Author, Producer, Director and
Star of a story that will never, ever end!

Chorus:
The greatest story ever told
A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold
The greatest story ever told
Restoring all that the enemy stole
The greatest story ever told
The glory of Christ is the goal, behold
The greatest story ever told
It's the greatest...


After a night of rest, I returned to the same sanctuary for worship. Our congregation stood together mid-service and with accompaniment from a blaring pipe organ, we joined together to sing William Cowper's famous hymn - "God Moves in a Mysterious Way" - penned in 1774. A man who had suffered great heartache and disappointment in his life, Cowper had also been miraculously invited by God into His story, a reality that sustained him during his ongoing struggles with manic depression. Cowper, a famous poet, found hymn writing to be therapeutic. As the story behind the hymn goes Cowper was out walking in the fields on a January day in 1773 when he was overcome by a great fear that he was soon going to fall into a major episode of depression. He went home, sat down, and penned the hymn. Not long after, he fell into a severe depression that lasted several months.

I don't know about you, but knowing the back story on this hymn that has already ministered to be deeply takes the hymn, my understanding of my Heavenly Father, and my spirit to new heights. Here's what Cowper wrote:

God Moves in a Mysterious Way
by William Cowper

1. God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

2. Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

3. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

4. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

5. His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

6. Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

Today, I am grateful to God for the gift of music, and for the inspiration and talents he's given to people who can take us deeper into the very, very real things of life.

Devil Music? . . . .

Last Saturday I sat in on a very interesting group during the Open Source afternoon at the National Youthworkers' Convention in Cincinnati. One of the participants had suggested a discussion on "Teens and Media" that caught my attention. I wandered over and found the group. I listened intently as they knocked around ideas for dealing with issues of music and media with kids. While I was only in the group for a short period of time, I came away with a sense that we're all over the place on this issue. No consensus. . . either theologically or pragmatically.

Not surprising. Since I got involved in youth ministry back in the late 70s, this has been one of the most hotly debated issues. . . consistently. Back then, it was solely about music. Video games - or more accurately game (singular) - did exist, but I don't remember anyone raising any ethical or moral concerns about PONG. A sizable group of entrepreneurial types made a nice living traveling from church to church trumpeting the evils of rock and roll music, sometimes convincing easily convinced people that there were loads of hidden messages that could be heard when the music was played in reverse. . . . something my turntable (remember those?) and 8-track player (I'm sure you don't or don't want to remember those!) could never do anyway.

Here's the deal: it's a fact that our kids are growing up in a media-saturated world. Not only that, but the saturation gets greater and greater every day with the development of new technologies and delivery platforms competing for time and allegiance. It's a fact that kids are spending an increased amount of time with media. It's a fact that parents and other adults are largely clueless and/or uninvolved when it comes to helping kids wade through this stuff. It's a fact that the greatest power of music and media is it's power to shape young lives. . . .which will eventually become shaped old lives. It's a fact that the messages are getting edgier and edgier. PONG is no more! And, it's a fact that those who are Christ followers need to think seriously and theologically about the proper way to integrate their faith into all of life. . . including their use of media outlets and messages. Wow.

A couple of weeks ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a couple of reports that pound all of this stuff home in some compelling ways. First, there's the AAP's Policy Statement on Media Violence. There's also their Policy Statement - Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and Youth. Both reports serve as a wake-up call and rallying cry for greater involvement in this area of our kids' lives. To not do so, according to the reports, would be a gross oversight that will only contribute to the continued decline in the well being of our kids. You need to read them both.

After reading the reports I decided that it's important to remind you all of a few things. . .

1. This is serious stuff that we can't ignore. Media shapes and molds kids.

2. Because parents and other adults aren't doing what they should be doing in this area, pediatricians are being advised to understand and monitor the role of media in the lives of their young patients, even to the point of asking some very, very specific questions about media use. Read the recommendations in the reports.

3. The AAP issues a strong call to media literacy efforts among parents, schools, and communities "to educate children to be media literate as a means of protecting them against deleterious health effects of media exposure." This is the stuff that CPYU has been talking about for years. Not only that, but we've worked very hard to develop some practical tools for use in fostering thoughtful media consumption habits (media literacy) in kids. We've put together two guides - How to Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart: A 3(D) Guide to Making Responsible Media Choices that's a faith-based tool, and a similar non-sectarian tool we called Minding Your Media: A 3(D) Guide to Making Responsible Media Choices. The former teaches kids to evaluate everything they see and hear from a Christian/Biblical perspective. The latter does so based on timeless standards of character and virtue. We encourage youth workers and educators to use these tools regularly with their kids.

Just last week I took a look at this engaging video from the band Muse. Their song "Uprising" is hot right now. . . .

Muse - Rock The Deuce - MTV Shows

And, just last week we posted this review of "Uprising," a review based on our viewing of "Uprising" as seen through the filter of our media evaluation guide, How to Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart: A 3(D) Guide to Making Responsible Media Choices. If you haven't downloaded our piece on "Uprising" already, I encourage you to do so. You can download it here. Again, I can't emphasize enough how important it is to do this type of stuff with your kids on a regular basis.

Because the need is great, we need to answer the need. We've been collectively silent and/or so divided on this that we've wound up doing little or nothing to help our kids. Now, the medical community is speaking up - and they should - in an effort to pick up a ball that's been dropped by the family and church.

Dear Youthworker. . . . About YS. . . . And Thanks Doug!

There are two voices in this blog today. . . .

Walt:I’ve now had a little more than a week to process, discuss, and try to sort out what I think about the big changes announced last week at Youth Specialties, an organization (or more accurately, a group of people) I’ve grown to know and love over the course of the last thirty years.

YS was there for me when I was serving in the local church as a youth pastor. I was always excited about traveling with my team of volunteers to one-day resource seminars, conventions, and other events. The overwhelming majority of youth ministry resources that populate my shelves bear one of the many different YS logos. In recent years, it was my friends at YS who have done more to encourage me and promote CPYU than anyone else. They’ve also given me more opportunities than anyone else to train and serve youth workers – year after year – at the NYWC.

For those of us who have been around YS for a long time, Marko’s termination is one in a long line of changes that have taken place relatively recently. First, Wayne Rice moved on. Then, Yac died. Last January, my good buddy Tic and a host of YS staffers were terminated. And now, another big change. Each of us has to respond to news that no doubt makes us emotional. My initial response was to text Marko last week, tell him that I was praying for him, and to thank him again for the role he and YS have played in encouraging and supporting CPYU.

Just as I’ve been blessed to have YS (the people) as a friend, I’ve been doubly blessed by the friendships I’ve made with countless others through YS. One of my closest and most respected-friends is Doug Fields. Doug’s a part of a trusted group of close buddies who I can always rely on for wisdom and perspective. Throughout the last week, Doug has served in this function in his normal, balanced, and well-reasoned manner. Doug’s said a lot of good things that he has graciously committed to writing because. . . . well. . . . I think they are things we all need to think about and hear in order to gain perspective as we wander around in a cloud of dust that - believe or not – is settling and will settle. I asked Doug to jot down his thoughts. Doug’s words echo my own thoughts, and since he says it all better than I can, I yield several inches of blogging space to my esteemed colleague from California, Doug. . . .


Doug: I’ve had several people ask me what I think of Marko being fired from YS and if I think YS will survive.

Well, I’ve been around long enough to know there are two sides to every story and I’ve not been privy to both sides. So, if working in the church has taught me anything, I’ve learned that it’s wise to be slow to judge, criticize and jump to conclusions. The thoughts below are limited to gut-level observations and intended to be my way of answering all the emails that I’ve gotten from friends in youth ministry who want to know what I think about the “hostile-takeover”. Here you go, here’s what I’m currently thinking:

1. I love the fact that fellow youth workers are rallying behind Marko.
He is definitely worthy of thanks, praise and support for all he has done in being a leader in youth ministry while at YS. He is one of us and “one of us” seems to have been wounded and regardless of the other side’s point of view, I love the comradery and defensiveness for Marko! I’m honored to be part of a “team” that gets angered when one of us is hurt. And, let’s be honest, Marko has been a GOOD one of us--raising the bar in YM, cheering on youth workers, challenging us to think, being a champion of junior high, etc...

2. Personally, I am heartbroken that Marko was fired in a corporate-type of way.
The way Marko described the firing to me seemed brutal (you’re done, over, clean out your desk, hand over your phone, give us your computer, etc…). I know that is how the corporate world works, but I’ve worked in the church since I was 18 years old and it just seems so heartless to me. I told Marko I was sad for that to happen to him—I would have hated to have gone thru that experience.

3.I DON’T believe Zondervan is the evil empire that some within the youth ministry world is accusing them to be.
The moment YS was sold to Zondervan (4ish years ago), a new reality was born. Zondervan is a FOR PROFIT company that trades on the NYSE. They are accountable to shareholders and Zondervan (and YS) lives under the pressure of high financial performance. They MUST turn a profit. Zondervan wasn't out to kill, quench or damage YS...they bought the company from Karla Yaconelli with the belief that they could make it a better and more profitable ministry. They had no reason to want it destroyed, they invested millions in the hope that it would thrive. They had to cut their losses--their financial model was dependant on large events with paying customers. In the church-world, when tithes go down, conference budgets are cut.

4. I’m sad that YS probably won’t ever be “my-YS” again
YS is a rich part of my youth ministry legacy. When I was a young youth worker, Wayne Rice, Mike Yaconelli and Tic Long were youth ministry demi-gods and they took a big risk in giving me a platform to teach at their conventions and write books. They saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself and kept cheering me on and inviting me to do more. I brought an “in-the-trenches” element to YS that they appreciated and my ministry platform expanded. I am very grateful to the legacy of YS!

But, for me, “my-YS” was YS infused with the spirit of Yaconelli. Mike provided the resounding DNA that surfaced louder than the other leaders. YS was Yaconelli-breathed. It was his baby! Mike didn’t want to lose money with YS, but it wasn’t about the money for him--it was about the mission, the message and the audience. When Mike tragically died, “my-YS” died. Though my long-term, dear friend Tic was still there to help Marko lead the way, it just always felt a little different to me without Mike’s presence. Not bad different, just different-different.

I write all that because I know the loss of Marko will be the loss of “my-YS” for many younger youth workers. I totally get it. It feels weird when you identify so strongly with a personality and they’re no longer leading it. I understand if your YS isn’t the same again.

5. Karla Yaconelli did what I’d want Cathy Fields to do if I died.
Karla was an incredible support and cheerleader to Mike when he was running YS. She sacrificed a ton of her husband as he traveled throughout the year speaking and building the ministry of YS. She’s a remarkable woman! This last week I’ve heard people say that she should never have sold YS to Zondervan because that was the impetus for all these events. In this case, “shouldn’t have” is simply birthed from ignorance. Karla didn’t want to run YS…she wasn’t wired for those types of responsibilities. Karla did the right thing and sold to the right company—Zondervan had a 20+ year relationship with YS and it was a natural partner! Her intention was that Mike’s legacy would continue thru Zondervan’s reach and she would be able to survive and move on with the assets from Mike’s hard work. If I died, I would never expect or want Cathy to continue to try to run Simply Youth Ministry in my absence if it wasn’t in her heart. I would want her to do what was best for the future of her and our kids…the same thing that Mike wanted for Karla.

6. Youth Ministry organizations will come and go.
Everything will have its season and run its course. Over the landscape of youth ministry, the powerhouses will fade away and new influencers will arrive. This happens with resource companies and it happens with churches… it’s the cycle of life. Twenty five years ago church leaders flocked to the Crystal Cathedral, then ten years ago they flooded Willow Creek and Saddleback…now, they race to North Point and LifeChurch.tv. Churches, ministries and organizations come and go—the YMCA was once the most powerful youth ministry presence of its time…now, many YMCA’s are ghost towns. I’m happy that Simply Youth Ministry continues to grow, but there will be day when people say, “What was the name of that guy who had that internet company and did conferences with Group?”

7. Marko is bigger than this knock-down.
I haven’t done life as intimately with Marko as I have with Yaconelli and Tic…but, I know him well enough to know that his identity is stronger in Jesus than in being the president of YS. Sure this move stings…and yes it’s not what he planned…but he will still love and serve Jesus in spite of this move. What we know to be true about his character in good times will only be enhanced during this difficult time.

8. Youth ministry will still happen.
Whether it’s Marko, or Yaconelli or Tic or anyone else who has taught, challenged, led and encouraged us…we go on. Youth ministry continues. Teenagers need caring adults to love them, believe in them, and point them to Jesus. With or without YS…youth ministry continues—that’s the way to honor a leader, a legacy…and our Lord Jesus.


Walt: While I’m grateful for Doug’s perspective, I know that it means nothing unless I act on it. I’m constantly reminding my kids of their need to fill their wells with the “This I know’s” (the richness of the perspective of God’s Word) and then acting on those things when the going gets rough and you don’t always see things clearly. I’m convinced that if we don’t live that way, we might wind up doing some things we wish we hadn’t done when we find ourselves walking through muddled stuff that is blurry, confusing, and emotional. Doug, you’ve given me some “this I know’s” to add to my own this week.

Which lead me to this weekend in Cincinnati. . . . the second of this year’s YS National Youthworker’s Conventions. My goal this weekend will be the same as it always is when I head off to a NYWC: I intend to embrace the privilege of the invitation I’ve been given by YS to honor and glorify God through serving and training youth workers. As always, I’m excited about being a part of this great event.

For those of you who will be in Cincy. . . or even in Atlanta in a few weeks. . . .let me go out on a limb and issue a bold challenge. Even though Marko is no longer a part of it, there’s still a YS, a YS staff, and a NYWC that is being run by a YS staff that is passionate about Jesus and passionate about youth workers. This reality is the true legacy of Wayne, Yac, Tic, and Marko. It’s my hope that we’ll come together to honor that legacy by honoring the passion of each of these guys for Jesus and youth workers through bringing honor and glory to God in our worship (24/7), our care and love for the YS staff, and our commitment to encourage and equip each other.