Friday, July 11, 2008
“more serious topics...”
So I’m guessing most of you have heard of “Everyones Apostolic”? I was pretty excited when I discovered this networking site, mainly so that Apostolics can discuss “in house issues” via an “insider” forum, sparing us further cult labeling. It’s a refreshing thought to know that now such posts as “Typing in Tongues” don’t have to be shared on Everyone’s Connected or Everyone’s Ubuti or whatever it’s called now.
To be honest, I don’t really spend much time reading blogs (I know, hypocritical!), or catching up with friends online via networking sites. Today I received an EA friend request, so I logged in to accept it, and was pulled in by the forum heading “Topics More Serious in Nature”. In that forum was a discussion thread entitled “Apostolic Legs (in the house of God)”, in which the author proposed that skirts just below the bottom of the knee were not appropriate for church because they would cause men to be tempted to lust after women’s calves in the altar. Okay, gotta admit that I was slightly taken aback by the fact that this was a topic more serious in nature—you know, I guess I was setting the bar high when I expected to find topics like helping individuals deal with tragic loss, how to address restoration in a local assembly, things like that—but I digress.
Anyway, I get the poster’s point—we need to be aware that our actions have consequences which affect others, and, as God’s children, we should be sensitive to the struggles of others. I have to confess, however, that the dialogue for this post was quite amusing. The debate even turned woman against woman—in a thin vs. heavy-set debate. One male poster in particular offered a quite sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek response that was pretty funny, albeit I’m sure offensive to some.
Reply by ____ (name deleted) on July 7, 2008 at 7:32am
"I'm personally very attracted to thin women, regardless of how much of them is showing. I propose a new rule that says all Apostolic women should be significantly overweight. I believe this is the true path to Heaven. While many have already achieved this status with admirable success, many are still thin and hot. These women have even been known to show skin below the neck, style their hair, and wear radiant smiles. When they do this, it causes a lustful spirit of the world to rise up in my soul. If you are young, thin, sexy, and healthy, please do the church a favor: eat everything in site. Gain weight. It's the only way us men will ever be saved. It also has the collateral benefit of decreasing the world's population over time, because no man will want you. If you're not sure what to eat or what to do (or not do), just ask one of the fat women near you--I'm sure they'll be glad to share their daily habits."
Let me close by saying I’m not trying to be insensitive by sharing this post—I definitely know what it means to struggle with weight issues, so I certainly don’t want to poke fun at something that is hurtful for so many people. I simply thought the exchange that evolved from the original post was interesting—here’s a man saying, backhandedly, that men should be responsible for their own lustful thoughts, rather than blaming lust on a woman’s calves.
To be honest, I don’t really spend much time reading blogs (I know, hypocritical!), or catching up with friends online via networking sites. Today I received an EA friend request, so I logged in to accept it, and was pulled in by the forum heading “Topics More Serious in Nature”. In that forum was a discussion thread entitled “Apostolic Legs (in the house of God)”, in which the author proposed that skirts just below the bottom of the knee were not appropriate for church because they would cause men to be tempted to lust after women’s calves in the altar. Okay, gotta admit that I was slightly taken aback by the fact that this was a topic more serious in nature—you know, I guess I was setting the bar high when I expected to find topics like helping individuals deal with tragic loss, how to address restoration in a local assembly, things like that—but I digress.
Anyway, I get the poster’s point—we need to be aware that our actions have consequences which affect others, and, as God’s children, we should be sensitive to the struggles of others. I have to confess, however, that the dialogue for this post was quite amusing. The debate even turned woman against woman—in a thin vs. heavy-set debate. One male poster in particular offered a quite sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek response that was pretty funny, albeit I’m sure offensive to some.
Reply by ____ (name deleted) on July 7, 2008 at 7:32am
"I'm personally very attracted to thin women, regardless of how much of them is showing. I propose a new rule that says all Apostolic women should be significantly overweight. I believe this is the true path to Heaven. While many have already achieved this status with admirable success, many are still thin and hot. These women have even been known to show skin below the neck, style their hair, and wear radiant smiles. When they do this, it causes a lustful spirit of the world to rise up in my soul. If you are young, thin, sexy, and healthy, please do the church a favor: eat everything in site. Gain weight. It's the only way us men will ever be saved. It also has the collateral benefit of decreasing the world's population over time, because no man will want you. If you're not sure what to eat or what to do (or not do), just ask one of the fat women near you--I'm sure they'll be glad to share their daily habits."
Let me close by saying I’m not trying to be insensitive by sharing this post—I definitely know what it means to struggle with weight issues, so I certainly don’t want to poke fun at something that is hurtful for so many people. I simply thought the exchange that evolved from the original post was interesting—here’s a man saying, backhandedly, that men should be responsible for their own lustful thoughts, rather than blaming lust on a woman’s calves.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
the highs and the lows…
So, what do you do when, planting a new church, it’s the middle of July – and no one other than your core group shows up for Home Friendship Group? Do you just throw in the towel? Do I take it as a ‘sign from God’?Well, that isn’t what I was thinking. For me, on a night like this…you eat cake, have a prayer meeting with your wife, parents, and intern – and then eat some more cake!
Can’t wait for September to come – the summer blues will then come (hopefully) to a close. Thankfully, it isn’t just Lisa and me by ourselves on this Thursday evening – we don’t have to eat cake by ourselves anymore…. :)
mr
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail!
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Going to the chapel…
Tonight Mel and I had a wedding—he officiated, and I tried to hold things together. :O) You may be wondering about a Wednesday night wedding—it was the only time they could get the chapel. Speaking of the chapel, it was amazing. It was an outdoor, open portico chapel, and the view was unbelievable. There was even a nice breeze blowing, and with the shade, we didn’t sweat to death!The couple is connected to us through the bride—she teaches with me. It was a wonderful privilege for me to share with her in this most special day. She has suffered a lot of heartache, and was praying that God would send her a godly man, with whom she could serve Him. Throughout their pre-marital counseling with Mel, they both talked about how they wanted their relationship to be founded upon God’s principles. It was very fitting that Mel used Psalm 37:4: “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”
P.S. Note to self: Never a good idea to use a karaoke machine for a wedding ceremony.
P.P.S. Another note to self: If you’re singing, it’s also not a good idea to rely on the karaoke machine for words instead of memorizing the song yourself. Even worse when you rely on it for three songs!
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Quite the busy day….
So, today was unique and hectic day in that I had a meeting with several other chaplains for most of the morning as we spoke about cases, pastoral issues, and how our feelings influence our actions. I also visited several folks in the hospital in the afternoon, met my supervisor for an hour meeting about ways I can grow in my pastoral ministry, spent about 2 hours at the chiropractor, and then stopped on the way home to buy some fresh flowers for Lisa’s birthday today! (Thankfully, I had already ordered something from amazon.com and it had arrived on Saturday). So, that made it a busy day in itself.On another note, Lisa’s dad was very sick. In fact, he’s been sick for several days, so Lisa and her mom took him to the Emergency Room this morning. The doctors are still running tests on him (he is home at the moment, and we’ll have to take him back to the hospital in the next few days). He may have to have surgery in the near future, so we will continue to pray that God brings healing to him during this difficult time in his life.
Michael and Priscilla (Lisa’s brother and sister-in-law) flew back to North Carolina today, and they will sure be missed here – he spoke during our devotion on Sunday, played drums for us, and she was our greeter for service. It was nice to have time with our immediate family this Independence weekend. Also, I have a wedding sermon that I have to get together for tomorrow evening right after work, so I’m sure it will be a late night. The other day I shared with someone, “it would sure be nice to be bored for a few weeks.”
Let’s just say that it was quite the busy day…
mr
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail!
Monday, July 07, 2008
4th of July....
In this church plant, we’ve learned that highs and lows are an inevitable part of what we’re doing. For most churches, summer time hits your momentum pretty hard, and can be discouraging, but particularly for a young church. So, we can decide to ride out the rocky times by laying low, or embrace the fact that we won’t be able to plan things that work for everyone’s schedules, but plan anyway, hoping for the best.
This Fourth of July, we opted for the second choice and had a barbecue at our house, even though we knew over two thirds of our little church would be gone. I’m so glad we did! (The group shot from our event has most everyone minus Lisa, the photographer). We had a great time, and it was a wonderful opportunity to get to know some of our new-comers better, as well as making them feel more connected to the church. I’m thankful for the relationships that were forged that day, and I’m confident that as summer settles down, we’ll be able to make deeper connections with all our folks again.
This Fourth of July, we opted for the second choice and had a barbecue at our house, even though we knew over two thirds of our little church would be gone. I’m so glad we did! (The group shot from our event has most everyone minus Lisa, the photographer). We had a great time, and it was a wonderful opportunity to get to know some of our new-comers better, as well as making them feel more connected to the church. I’m thankful for the relationships that were forged that day, and I’m confident that as summer settles down, we’ll be able to make deeper connections with all our folks again.
