As I sit here to type this, the window nearby is open. I hear the neighbors arriving home: a car door slams and an overly loud sigh can be heard as our neighbor “George” walks towards the back deck. He pulls his 8 year old son out of the car and begins yelling at him. He lets out several rants and raves about his job (the latest of a long line), slaps his kid on the backside for good measure. He leaves bawling George Jr. sitting on the cement, while letting out his growing assortment of animals. He curses at them, kicks them as they go out to play on the cement, meowing and barking.
Apparently, George had a bad day.
One animal jumps on his other son as George lights up a cigarette. The four old, in self defense, pushes the dog away and screams. George immediately slaps the boy across the face in anger: “Don’t you dare hurt the dog!” More screaming. More yelling. More fighting. More anger. More… mayhem.
Scenes like this remind me of the broken world we live in. For everything beautiful and right and true, there’s a thousand dirty and broken and evil things. We see people trying to create ‘artistic’ organizations to bring cultural beauty in impoverished countries. There’s nothing wrong with making the world “beautiful” in a general sense… but what does it do for souls and the people’s condition? Why do they paint buildings when it will peel off and blow away- when people inside the building die of AIDS? Why do they plant flowers that need watering when the only water available is 40 miles away in a swamp? Why do these well-meaning folks do so much- only to do nothing?
We can’t very well do much ourselves, for we’re just as broken as they… but we do have a different power than others.
The power of Christ.
My family reaches out to the neighbors by lending them things, taking their kids to the park, letting their kids come over and eat dinner with us, and simply by modeling Christianity in our speech, actions, and attitudes. Surprisingly, I’ve seen we’ve had some effect. The eldest daughter doesn’t act up verbally and be tough around us like she does her dad and mom. It’s not just politeness. She enjoys our company, and has learned the best way to be loved is to love. Of course, her family life may not have changed. But it’s a start. And it’s ministry of the best kind. It’s our part of redemption.
By that, I do not mean we have to earn our redemption by works. But why else has Christ let us continue on this world? Why doesn’t he immediately allow Christians to die? We’re supposed to be his hands and feet to the broken. He lets us bring help. And we get to spread the news while we’re at it. We’re part of the grand thing called redemption by simply obeying.
Are you willing to let him use you? He can fix your brokenness; all you have to do is stop being prideful. Don’t try to see or do things your way. Just obey. Then go. Do.
How often do we think ‘September thoughts’? “Since the school year is starting, I will do ____” or “I can have 30 weeks to study ____ a little bit more.” It’s easy to think we can let our schedules and circumstances determine our life; to help our future along. It’s like living on autopilot: letting social life, full calendars, games, appointments, and homework become our purpose for living. And for us college women and beyond, it’s easy to think housework and college and chores is all that’s worth living for.
These activities are all worthy and many are necessary to living. Chores need to be completed. Homework must be finished. Doctors need to be seen. Teeth need to be filled. It’s life.
But, when we start to look to our calendars to determine what’s next, our lives are set to live on autopilot. And when a huge change comes (like graduation, for example), we aren’t sure what we’re supposed to do. We feel lost, like our social life has been stripped away; we feel like we have no reason to exist: like we have no purpose… like God has taken everything we liked to do away!
I confess I used to live on autopilot. Looking to the next thing on the list to determine what I should do. It is how we young single women start to feel discontent when we’re 18 or 21 or 30 and not married- or even seeing anyone. We’re too used to everything coming at us in an orderly fashion, being in control of our lives. When things like a job, marriage, or college don’t come our way, the discontentment sets in.
In reality, God is not taking anything away from us. WE are living without purpose.
“Our hearts are restless, Lord, until they rest in You.” Saint Augustine
So often, we’re caught up in living life to simply live life, we forget what we’re here for. We were made for God, not the next big thing! It is only when we live for God do we genuinely begin live vibrantly, wholly, and fully.
In our generation, we’re told to “dream big” all the time. We’re told to set goals and make plans.
Dreams are dreams, plans are plans, and goals are goals. We rarely see them accomplished- and if we do, they’re little things that don’t matter.
Because we’re too lazy to see thethem though.
Sure, we all have aspirations (like ‘become a lawyer’ or ‘get married’ or ‘write a book’) and dreams (such as ‘see the world’ or ‘meet the president’ or ‘live in Ireland’) and we all have plans (like ‘get diploma’ ‘hunt for a more fun job’ ‘have a party’ ‘go to Kings Island’).
How often are we seeing our goals through? It seems to me we’re told to dream big, but nobody really gives us a direction. Average adults sit back let us ramble through life, giving us vague advice. There’s nothing wrong with job hunting, and I love King’s Island. But how often do we see the big things getting done? Not often. We spend too much time in the small stuff. It’s good to live life with a metanarrative-ish plan, but… look at your calendar. How many of the things coming up in the next week really count for something? Will you remember what you did ten years from now? What could you be doing instead? It’s neccessary to get your haircut, or get your car’s oil changed; but do you really need to go out for coffee to “unwind”? How about shopping with the girls? Biking with the guys? What really matters?
So, my short challenge to you is to DO big. Don’t walk a tightrope or bungee jump off the Willis Tower, make an impact. Start a blog, write a book (and be sure to back it up someplace,189 pages of a devotional book I was writing and 78 pages of communism articles I was working on disappeared forever with a virus! Just warning you! BACK IT UP ON A DISC!), go on a missions trip, or teach a class. Mentor someone instead of being mentored for once. You will find you like it! Hey, if you’re a man and like speaking, try preaching when your pastor is on vacation this summer.
What are some “BIG” things you have done? What are some major things you’d like to do? How are you going to get there? I’d love to hear your thoughts, and you may inspire some other friendly folks along the way.
Hyperpatriarchy is a type of demanding fatherhood and husband-hood ( ) that requires nothing less than exact obedience all the time- even on minute issues. Hyperpatriarchs like to dictate what his daughters and wife wear, what they do, and where they go. They like to be in complete control and have the final say. They often ignore what their family has to say and go with what they want.
Reading an independent-fundamental-Baptist-Reformed local magazine for women that somehow ended up on my desk; I was shocked at the articles on submitting to your husband/father. Some quotes from this magazine:
“You must let a man be man. (nothing wrong with that) If you interfere with any situation, even if it is sin, better to leave him alone for fear of ruining his testimony.” (Sounds faintly of Muslim honor and strongly of letting someone live knowingly in sin)
“When a woman shares her opinion, she is sharing the true heart within her. This nasty heart in manipulative and wants to see her husband’s ruin. Better to keep her mouth shut.” (So women cannot share opinions wit their husbands???)
“Your husband did not have to marry you. Do not complain about his strictness in keeping you in when he goes out. Being married is enough for him, why push him to do something you want when it is his turn to have fun?” (It’s the woman’s fault he’s angry/disinterested in her?)
I agree with being thankful for what we have, letting men be men, and that the human heart is sick. But when a woman has no say whatsoever, has to live in fear for her husband’s spiritual well being (because she can’t call him out on sin); and has to avoid dealing with even petty problems… that’s hyperpatriarchy.
I was accused once of being a victim of hyperpatriarchy. I bought a lovely maxi-dress recently at a store called Forever 21. I tried to wear it to church the next Sunday; and dad ended up telling me he didn’t like the cut. It emphasized the wrong parts of my body, and he didn’t want that at all. (“Not even a hint” as I like to put it) I really wanted to wear the dress, but obeyed. At church, my friend asked if I was wearing the dress I’d bought. I said “No” and explained the situation. She shook her head and said “That’s no way to live. Your dad is a total hyperpatriarch…”
Let’s take a look at Biblical patriarchy:
Christ is masculine. God is masculine. God so loved the world…HE… gave HIS SON. God is also the ruler of everything, but a gentle one at that. He doesn’t want harm to come to us, but sometimes obedience can cause suffering in some way from others. God is not a cruel taskmaster. He very nature is love. Christ is love. The man of the house represents Christ. Both man and woman are made in God’s image and are both called to exercise dominion over the earth. They share an equal worth as persons before God in creation and redemption. The man is also the image and glory of God in terms of authority, while the woman is the glory of man. (Gen. 1:27-28; 1 Cor. 11:3,7; Eph. 5:28; 1 Pet. 3:7) God has also ordained gender roles. Adam already had headship over Eve before sin entered the world. (Gen. 2:18)
God has placed authority of fathers and husbands to be useful and good in direction family. There is a limit on a man’s power. He must be in the Lord. When a man is outside of God’s will or word, he is not leading well. When in sin, there is hardship for the man to lead. The same goes for a woman when she will not submit. A man’s authority should be exercised with grace and love as a servant, priest, and leader; following the example of Jesus Christ. Leadership is a stewardship from God. (Mal. 3:17; Ps. 103:13; Col. 3:21; 1 Pet. 3:7) A man should also be subject to the laws of the government. (Romans 13) The man and wife, (and hence kids) should also submit to each other and respect opinions, tastes, and views, as long as they are of the word.
The woman is called to be keeper at home- meaning she is to run the household in domestic affairs: cooking, cleaning, teaching kids (primarily- I want my husband to be fully committed to teaching our kids at home and pray he would want to take part in that); basically becoming more like a Proverbs 31 woman every day. This doesn’t mean she can’t “have a job” it simply means her #1 priority should be home. My mom is really a Proverbs 31 woman! My mom and I have a business of sorts- every Tuesday we make 14 dozen cookies and my dad sells them at work. It’s extra income. It’s “working willingly with our hands”. My mom gets up early to start the laundry and she often stays up late to finish things. She is known for her artistic ability (especially working on VBS decorations, where she happens to be right now), her cooking, her get up and go spirit. People at church talk about her highly. She is frugal with our money, so much so, we have surplus of things. That frugality leads us to never do without (we are the thrift store junkies, but we have the nicest, largest, CHEAPEST wardrobes around, I’d say) I could go on, but you probably get the point. She is very submissive to Dad, her hubby, whom she’s been married to for over 20 years. Aww…
*ahem*
Father/husbands should oversee the family well; and do so biblically, gently, and firmly. He must also realize that everyone has an opinion, and his opinion may not line up the wife’s or kids’.
Now, back to the story I was telling about the dress. If my dad would have said “I don’t like that pattern on you, it looks outdated…” It would have been a matter of personal preference, and hyper-patriarchy if he told me to obey immediately without protest. But since he directly said “I don’t like the cut of the top part and how it draws attention to your bust,” I knew right away what exactly was wrong- and that it wasn’t right. Since my dad noticed something I’d overlooked completely, I figured the other guys at church would probably notice, too. I didn’t want to “accidentally” ”entice” a dude when I knew I shouldn’t be even wearing something enticing. And, since the Bible tells us women to be modest and cover up what should be covered ,-and I knew I shouldn’t cause any brother in Christ to lose sight of Christ if I could help it- I decided to do what I knew was right. I changed my outfit.
So, was my dad a hyperpatriarch or a biblical patriarch?
You can’t expect to submit to your husband one day if you can’t submit to your dad now. It’s not always going to be that BIG thing. It will more than likely be a small thing.
Life gets busy. Just when I thought graduation would be the end of my social life, I find myself loaded with projects and tasks, visits and meetings. It makes me grouchy, some days, because I’m getting sort-of ”plum-tuckered” out.
I didn’t want to go to church last night, but I’m glad I did. We had an interesting discussion on personal convictions and Romans 14-15.
After the study, we all split up into self-organized spontaneous groups. I noticed a elderly lady looking around the room. No one was sitting near her, people were praying with their friends. After prompting my mom to go sit by her, we went over and introduced ourselves. We ended up having a lovely discussion with Mrs. Powell, who must’ve been in her eighties! She talked of her growing up grandchildren, and her middle aged son, their missions work and then asked us what we were doing lately. My mom mentioned how busy we were with my graduation party. With her faltering voice, she shook a finger in my face and said “Enjoy it… it only comes once!” Shortly thereafter, her equally elderly husband came out and sat behind her. You could totally tell they were still in love! I was tickled pink when Mrs. Powell mentioned she was engaged to three other men at various point in life, broke it off each time and ended with ‘him’ (as she jerked a thumb at her man) for the last 65 years. Aww!! She patted my knee and said in a mischievous voice: “When you start courtin’ watch out!”
When I’m 80 something, I want to be alive and kickin’ like her!
In the midst of a busy point of life, I was reminded by someone far older than me that a successful life cannot be measured by friends, money, or status. Enjoy the experience. Make the most of every opportunity. It only happens once…
It reminds me of Ecclesiastes 1:10:
Is there a thing of which it is said,
“See, this is new”?
It has been already
in the ages before us.
We need to find wisdom from ages before us. So, look to people from ages before us! We have some catchin’ up to do as young folks.
And then onto 14:
I have seen everything that is done under the sun,
and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Life is nothing new. But, by the time 50 comes around, people realize there’s more to life then money. Then they wish they’d known that earlier in life. They were chasing after something that didn’t matter for half their life.
That’s why this blog is called Echoes in the Wind. I’ve seen all the chasing after the wind. Okay, maybe not all of it, I’m 15 days shy of being ten and eight years. But I’ve seen people wasting their young years on a lot of things that don’t matter. Music. Money. Clothes. Fiction not worth reading. Boyfriends.
Echoes come back to you.
Echoes haunt you, reminding you of what’s happened. Perhaps telling you of what could be.
Echoes will come back to you, and continue to, unless you stop making a ruckus. There can be good ‘ruckuses’ and bad ‘ruckuses.’
Echoes warn other people far behind.
Echoes can come from people on mountains. We’re all said to be climbing up a mountain toward God. Not sure if I like that analogy, but it’ll do.
This blog’s original intent was to stretch and encourage and tell younger girls of what I’ve learned in life. To make you think. To make you want something better. To let God use my talent of writing and creating to inspire you on your journey up a mountain.
Life should be simple. Don’t make “it’s complicated” your life’s motto.
Life is not about frivolity. Clothes don’t make the man. Neither does your color of nail poish.
Life is not a show. Don’t pretend. Be REAL (the link will tell you the wrong definition of real)
Life has ideas. Be familiar with them. Know them. Study them.
Life should be colorful. Be vibrant. Don’t be dull.
Life should focus on serving. Look around for needs. Attend to them. Act like youaloneknow about a need.
Life should be ultimately about God, and the pursuit of Him.
Now, I’m not blogging to just younger girls anymore. I’m blogging to peers, older young women, friends, young men, married and single adults, and other random people who join for fun or for laughs .
Many people who are tired of chasing after the wind.
Adapted transcript of the session “Amusing Ourselves to Death” by John Stonestreet: I’ve had to trim away quite a bit of this talk, but I’ve done my best to keep the important parts in, and to not add too much of my own explanation. This is from a CD we bought from Midwest Homeschool Convention. (My notes and two cents will be in parantheses with LN at the beginning for Laura’s Note) Here we go… (You may need to read this in sections…)
My name is John Stonestreet. I’m the executive director of Summit Ministries.
What I am about to tell you is profound. Bookmark it, write it down, keep it in mind, this is huge. Ready?
It is a sin to be dumb.
Now, that’s not to say the only option is to be brilliant- but we are to love God with our hearts, souls, and our MINDS. I think the one thing culturally that keeps us from loving God well with our brains and thinking well about the world is entertainment.
Let me frame this: I think Christians do a lousy job of understanding culture, and culture does a lousy job of understanding Christians.
I live in Colorado Springs, and there is a megachurch there called New Life Church. It’s well-known, but for a lot of the wrong reasons. Their first pastor had a huge moral downfall, it made national news, and the whole church was in turmoil, and a lot of other bad things happened. A new pastor took over, and he did a wonderful job of keeping the church out of the spotlight, shooing away cameras, and not doing interviews, and their church was back on the right track. A lot of people who were really hurt came back, and those who’d stayed were counseled, and the church went on as before.
Well, a few months later, another incident happened. A young man who used to work for YWAM was still deeply hurt by his Christian experience at this church and decided to open fire on the church on Sunday morning. He was armed to the hilt, ready to take out several hundred people, and he entered right as the 11 o’clock service was releasing and heading down the hallway. He shot several people before a security guard took him down. I was driving around town doing errands that afternoon and the radio was on a preacher, and the announcer cut in saying “Breaking News! There’s been a shooting at New Life Church.” So, I tuned in right away and listened as they had the man who saw the first shooting in the parking lot- and had called into the station to tell everyone about it. The lady who was announcing asked “Was Mass still going on when the shooting took place?” (Now, if you know anything about New Life Church it’s charismatic in its angle on things. They don’t do Mass). So this reporter was asking him “Was Mass still going on when the shooting took place?” and the guy said, “Huh?” She asked him again and he said “Huh?” Seven times this went back and forth. What makes this conversation interesting is that it’s taking place in Colorado Springs, CO -like the “mecca” of evangelicalism. We have 300 non-profit/for profit evangelical organizations within that town and suburbs alone. Focus on the Family, Ellerslie, Summit, Compassion International… it’s like if you want to be a true Christian, you have to make a pilgrimage there once in your lifetime and go down the Wit’s End slide. (haha)
So this lady is a reporter there, and she has no idea that this huge, popular mega church is not one that takes Mass, and the guy who attends the church doesn’t know enough about catholics and other secular “religions” to know what Mass even is!
This is what is going on today- Christians don’t know enough to understand their world! If we are not going to be deceived and if we are going to champion the cause of Christ we need to… not be dumb.
Here’s a model:
God has given us a text- and this text sets our agenda. It tells us what to believe, why to believe, what to do next, the metanarrative of the world (big story), and how to live- the contours of reality. The hard part is, though, this scripture, this agenda, this guidebook has to be lived in context. The context of our times and the context of when it was written are different. I’m not sure what you thought this morning when you looked outside, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t say “Oh no, the Philistines are coming- what am I going to do?” If the Philistines were encamped around your house, you’d be able to look at the Bible and say “Sweet! We know what to do!!!”
See what I mean?
What do we see today in the paper? Challenges about abortion, euthanasia, ethics wars, and things like that. There’s nothing about ‘abortion’ in the scripture. There’s nothing about ‘stem cells’ in the scripture. There’s nothing about ‘keep your ethics just so’ in the scriptures. There’s nothing about ‘Lady Gaga’ in the scripture- well I don’t think she’s a lady… but that’s beside the point. Our context gives us questions that drive us back to the text. One is foundational- and it’s not our context. We should find principles in our Bibles that will help us live in a modern world.
There are three questions that can help us understand the world better:
What’s going on- really?
Now, I want to mention that Christians often ask the wrong form of this question: “What’s going on?” and leave it at that. Then we have a tendency to respond in a panicked manner:
“What’s going on?”
“Muslims are going to take over the world.”
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
Well, the world is largely Islamic, but that’s not because they are killing and such anymore, it’s because of the death of Western Civilization because we are not having babies anymore. What’s going on is the growth of Islam, what’s going on REALLY is we’re not having babies. Cultures don’t get murdered, cultures commit suicide. What’s going on REALLY? We’re committing suicide with our values and lifestyle.
“What’s going on?”
“Harry Potter”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
~
“What’s going on?”
“Twilight.”
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
~
“What’s going on?”
“Justin Bieber”
“Really big AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”
What’s going on really is that after 150 years of secularism, the idea that there’s no God, there’s nothing to value; people are actually now wanting meaning and something to worship and value and praise so much they are turning to the wrong things. That’s why Harry Potter and Twilight were so popular for so long. What’s next? What’s next? Who knows? I don’t know. But I do know that we can change things.
It presents a crisis for the Christian: bad ideas to face and overcome. It’s time for Christians to re-enter the cultural conversation. It’s time we had something right to say for once instead of being the awkward kid who never has something to say. We need to start speaking up and saying the right things. Ask the right questions.
The second question is:
Why is it going on, really?
We typically ask lame questions:
“What’s going on?”
“Girls don’t wear enough clothes.”
Why’s it going on?”
“Oh, they just want to be immodest.”
No! No!
Why is that going on REALLY?
Girls are not wearing enough clothes because they are convinced that their value is directly tied to what they look like. They don’t care or even KNOW that their value comes from being made in the image of God. One the most important things that dads can do for their daughters is to help them learn where their value really comes from.
Instead of being reactionary, be thoughtful. Be teaching. Greg Koukl says there are two problems with Christians today. We’re thoughtless and shrill. We need to be thoughtful and winsome. Not winsome as in cute and charming, but winsome as in winning people to Christ- in a kind, appealing way. We shouldn’t have to change our message- because that isn’t an option, but we should have to make ourselves more open to people. We can do that so much easier if we aren’t being shrill as in pushy and forceful. We can’t stop thinking. Ever.
Then the third question is:
What is this culture doing to me? Or, more aptly stated: What is this culture MAKING me?
The greatest example of this is from the life of William Wilberforce. He raised up all these new questions in the parliament of England during his life. “What’s a human being?” “What’s an African?” He reformed a whole culture through education, advertising, and so many other things.
So why are we performing exegesis (stepping back and asking questions) on entertainment? Hey, listen to this: It’s the number one force that shapes the culture! Entertainment is EVERYWHERE! Let me say that again: entertainment is EVERYWHERE! There’s no other force that even comes close to entertainment that shapes what we know and what we think about and how we think about it. In other countries, heroes make history. In our country they make CD’s and touchdowns. Every culture has had entertainment; we don’t not have entertainment. Do you get that?
We are so focused on entertainment that we walk into Wal-Mart and we notice right away when the TVs are off; then we wonder why they aren’t on! We’re like “Dude, turn the game on!” Or if you’re in the store and the music isn’t on you wonder if there’s a problem with their music system. Or you think “It’s too quiet. Let me whip out my iPod or I’m out of here.” Our culture is just so used to entertainment we’re not realizing it. We stop thinking.
Every culture has had entertainment. The Romans like to feed Christians to lions and it was a big thing because it only happened once a month. We have noise and images and funny stuff flying at us 24/7/365. It’s huge.
Michael Medford makes the astute statement: “There is no culture in America other than popular culture.”
Courtney Love “I feel like I have a duty. I, as an architect have a need to impose my worldview on the culture.” I’m just surprised that Courtney Love knew the word “worldview”.
Youth culture is a very modern invention. MTV has re-vamped the idea of youth. In almost all cultures, kids go from being kids to being adults. Some became adults while still being kids! Think of the pygmies! Here in the West, we go from kids to…
adolescence.
I do not believe in adolescence. (LN- Neither do I, really- we’re capable of doing adult things, but we CHOOSE the fun things, immature things, etc. Back to the lecture…)
Adolescence wasn’t coined until the 40’s. We used to have dances in the community where all the adults came and danced, and the kids came and danced like adults. Then, time went on and the kids danced and the adults sat around the edges of the room. Pretty soon we had adults not coming at all and these disillusioned “teens” coming by themselves in their own cars; later that night our parents came into early stages of existence, twenty years later we came and eventually we had this new idea of “youth culture”.
Of course, the idea of 13 to 18 year olds being adolescents isn’t new. Actually, adolescence has been re-defined by the Academy of Science as a stage lasting from 11 to 30. It’s all because of entertainment: because people realized if they could market to 13 to 18 year olds, they could market to 11 and 20 year olds too. If 20 year olds liked the products, why stop when they turned 21? 22? Eventually we had all these adults acting like kids because of what they liked, how they were living, and who they associated with. We suddenly have all these immature adults hanging around because no one has told them how to act. They’ve spent so much time in front of the screens that when they end up getting sick of the noise and leaving the screens after 21 years in front of them, they don’t know what to do. They can’t relate to anyone. So they turn to the wrong things again.
We have all these people in front of video games and phones and we say “Oh kids will be kids…” We’re talking about 15 and 16 year olds! In other countries, they would have been fighting battles by now. They would be married. They would be managing large crops. I don’t know if you realized this or not, but a few years back, when we went after that Somali pirate ship, the captured captain was 16 years old. Not to say we should be raising our younger adults to be pirates, but I’d say that’s way cooler than playing Halo all day. Can’t you see what these countries are aspiring to? They are aiming for a higher standard. They are raising what they think are leaders. (LN- Right, Uncle John! Our leaders march in bands that make music for… football games. Our leaders stand up against…bullying. Not to say that bullies are a good thing, but at the end of the day, does it matter that someone’s “self esteem” (which is a lie) or feelings or ego got hurt? We’re all a bunch of ninnies! “I’m bigger than you. – BOO!” “aaaaaahhhh!!! run away!” Toughen up!)
A quote to ponder: First art will imitate life, life then life will imitate art, then life will find it’s very meaning from the arts.
Don’t miss this progression. It’s huge. We saw this with the history of television. When the television first came out, there were news shows, then the entertainment shows. News and entertainment. The there was news about entertainment. We still have some of that. But now, it’s mostly entertaining news. Haven’t you noticed how the news is sold to you? It’s not “Tonight we’re going to have a really deep discussion of global foreign policy on the war in Iraq.” It’s “TO-night on FOX NEWS…. The war in Iraq (cue dramatic music)… will we SURVIVE? Duh-duh-duuuuh! (explosions, gun fire) POW! POW! (Melancholy scream: ‘aaaahhhhh!!!!’) See? Everything is SENSATIONAL-ized. Why? Because you have something hot in your little hands! What is that? The CLICKER! (ooh, aaah) And the first moment it’s quiet for you, you have to turn the channel. Everything has to be entertaining.
One big problem we face today is “how are we [and our children] going to find the truth?” Have you ever watched CNN and FOX at the same time? Flipping back and forth it’s like watching two different planets living their own life! There is a different good guy and bad guy and stories are different- one channel withholds facts, one gives too many, it’s insane!
If all you get out of life is what you see on TV, you will be dumb. You WILL be dumb.
It is a sin to be dumb.
Let’s get into the how. We’ve looked at the what shapes culture, we need to talk about how it shapes culture.
The first way is that it’s loaded with ideas. We live in the age of information, which is the age of ideas. Ideas have consequences. CS Lewis said that the most dangerous ideas in a society aren’t the ones that are being argued. They are the ones that are being assumed. Entertainment assumes ideas. There are so many examples of this. Entertainment is differing on the definition of the good guys and the bad guys. The Ocean’s Eleven movies. (Funny quote worth including following the bracket… —>) How many of you have seen those movies? Okay, you big bunch of sinners. By the end of the movie, who are you cheering for? Who are the good guys in Ocean’s 11? Men trying to rob a casino. Talk about bending a person’s perception of good and evil. Let me repeat this: The GOOD guys are robbing casinos. The BAD guys are the cops and others trying to stop them! Do you see the problem with this?
Sometimes the ideas we get in movies are obvious. For example, the Star Wars movies. The whole movies show people that are controlled by a “force”. Clearly New Age thinking. If you think the force is God, think again and read some books about yoga, Buddhism, New Age, and Wicca. Or the Golden Compass- the problem with the world is religion. But sometimes the ideas are more subtle. The creator of South Park said he wanted to offend as many people as possible. That just seems stupid. It is. But get this, if everything is being made fun of, what is sacred? Nothing!
Desperate Housewives …which I hope nobody here watches… the idea is that there is a beautiful neighborhood, it looks good and everyone seems good, but once you get inside, nothing is good at all. The housewives live such boring, dreadful lives, the husbands could care less, and the kids are falling apart. This show was designed and writted by… two gay men who wanted to destroy the idea of a happy traditional family.
Let’s talk about one more example, it runs a little bit deeper. It’s from the movie “The Notebook”. Sometimes when I get done speaking, people like to come up and talk to me about the sessions. I really like that. Sometimes, I see the look on their face as they’re coming up to talk to me and I think “I don’t want to talk to them.” Well, I was speaking in a teacher’s conference in the Carolinas, and I made a sarcastic comment (because I have the spiritual gift of sarcasm- no no, I’m kidding…) about The Notebook. So I get done speaking and these ladies come up to me and I’m thinking “I don’t want to talk to them!” Eventually they caught up to me and one lady said “What’s wrong with The Notebook?” and I said “What do you mean?” and she replied: “You said it was a horrible picture of love and it is really a beautiful picture of love.” If you don’t know anything about the movie The Notebook, it goes like this: (LN- I’ve never seen it, myself, but have heard PLENTY about it)
There’s an older woman who has Alzheimer’s, and she’s in a rest home, and her husband comes to see her everyday. She can’t remember her life, who he is, who she is, so when her husband comes to visit her, he brings this notebook he’s written in over time about their life. He reads the notebook and by the end of the story, she remembers him again and they have a sweet, fond moment together, and they end up dying in each other’s arms. Yes, that’s a beautiful picture of love…but what happens in between is what is not a good depiction of love.
You see, in summer, there were these two teenagers who saw each other, as teenagers are want to do. They fall in love, the mean dad breaks them up, and eventually the girl ends up getting engaged to another guy. She hasn’t forgotten this other guy, and they end up sleeping together. They have a strong feeling of passion for each other. She breaks off the engagement and runs back into bed with this other guy, and after 50 years, that passion is still there and it hasn’t gone away… just like real life.
The battle for your heart and mind is the battle over definitions. We need to ask “What do you mean by that?” What do you mean by love? Get definitions! Entertainment in this case assumed a definition of love. Love is supposedly a strong feeling of passion that never goes away… Do the feelings go away sometimes? Yes!
Look what happens with divorce! Sometimes married couples don’t know how to deal because they have this idea of love being a strong feeling of passion that’s not supposed to go away…
Love is a commitment. Passion is a bonus. Don’t let your feelings determine the truth; when your feelings determine truth you’re in big trouble.
We have these new definitions for love. Like the oxy-moron “same sex marriage is going to ruin America”. Same-sex marriage is a sign that the country IS ruined. Same-sex marriage isn’t redefining love and marriage. We redefined those when we instated no fault divorce!
The Notebook not only gave you a bad definition of love, it assaulted the right definition of love. “If you have a strong feeling of passion for someone else, you can break commitments to someone else.”
——–If you would like to break and return later, you can stop here——–
What happened on 9/11 was a new era of television starting to depict life and reality in radical Islam. They were fighting against the enemy- which was Christianity, capitalism, etc. etc… Clearly, that is a worldview. Just as much as that reflects a worldview, something as “harmless” as “party music” can show a worldview. Something, more specifically, trivial as an album cover can reflect a worldview.
This picture (below) is from a controversial rap and hip hop artist called the coup.
This group depicts the WTC blowing up, the right guy has the button, the guy on the left is orchestrating it all, and they both look very satisfied and happy. This was scheduled to be released in November of 2001. They had decided on album art in the spring of that year. Of course, in September, we had the Islamic attacks on America, flying planes into the building; and the coup changed their album art shortly after that because they thought it would be bad taste. Not before the event happened; it became bad taste after the event happened. Later that month, they were on a TV show, and the interviewer asked “Why that picture? Why the World Trade Center?” And the reply was “Because I am a Communist. I am out to destroy capitalism.” Isn’t it strange and startling to hear that communism’s idea of destroying the West is the same as radical Islam’s? (LN- Isn’t it also startling to realize this guy is a communist trying to become rich and famous off a free market by selling and marketing the CD?!! Destroying capitalism by selling CD’s!! Missed an economics lesson…)
There was a Summit student who went home from the 12 day camp and decided to veg-out and relax by watching a movie. So he went, and all the time he was thinking to himself “Wait a minute, that’s Secular Humanism!” “Hey, how do they know that’s true?” “They can’t think like that, that’s not logical!” It ruined his movie- but he learned an important lesson that he could never turn his brain off during any kind of entertainment! He wrote to us saying that he made the choice to never turn his brain off and he is happy for that choice because he is stronger and his brain is stronger. His faith is stronger. He asks himself “What are they saying?” “What are they saying?”
The interesting thing about entertainment and why it’s so big in our culture, it actually changes us. All these images and sounds are coming at us so fast that we don’t think.
We live in a generation that has ideas coming at us ALL THE TIME! King Solomon said “There’s nothing new under the sun”. That’s true. The difference in your generation is that all the old ideas are coming at you ALL THE TIME, ALL AT ONCE, completely repackaged and completely decontextualized. It’s never quiet anymore. So it’s always noisy. You have the clicker and when it’s quiet you get uncomfortable. If this is true of your life, you need to take a fast. I don’t mean fast as in “I’m fasting from music, I’m just listening to Christian music.” No! Just take a fast from all music for awhile. I dare you to get in the car and don’t turn on the radio. (Huh? Gasp! Ahh! No way!) So all these ideas are coming at you , but now you are fooled into thinking about and caring about things that don’t matter. We feel distracted about things that really matter, wishing they weren’t bugging us. We’re stymied. We’re stupid!
If you went up to a random person on the street and asked them “Who’s your senator?” they’d never be able to give you a tangible answer! “Name a supreme court justice.” Huh? Huh? “Who went off of American Idol last night?” Rattle rattle rattle rattle they go!
When we know more about a TV show than our government we’re dumb!
Have you ever noticed that the airport terminals have the seats set around TVs? They just expect you to stare the screen all day. Well, it was between the holidays back in the year they had the tsunami, and I was in theCincinnatiAirport, and nobody was watching the TVs any more. The death toll had just reached the hundred thousands, and it was like 9/11 all over again. Everyone was getting sick of the news being repeated over and over; and they just had enough. Enough! They didn’t want to hear it anymore. So, I was at this little shop, and behind the cashier there was a huge flat screen TV that had the news on it, and nobody was watching it, and the cashier didn’t say much to the lady in front of me, and the lady wasn’t looking up… then all the TVs in the air port suddenly broke in: BREAKING NEWS! Immediately everyone looked up and was paying rapt attention to these screens. Breaking news! Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston have broken up. And suddenly all across the airport people are mumbling stuff like “Oh I thought they’d last forever!” and everyone is crowding around the TVs! “This is horrible!” The lady at the cashier is now in a deep conversation! Listen, it’s sad that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston broke up. Mm- nah, you know I actually don’t care. It’s not worth my time to think about. What happens when you put the death of hundreds of thousands of people at the same level as a celebrity couple who haven’t done half as much as some- or most- or all of those Indonesians? What impression does that give of America? Of people in general?
One of the most devastating things about people who get addicted to entertainment is that you stop thinking about what’s important. Let me ask you a question. Think about it: There are two levels we need to address: consumers (most of us) and the other level, the producers. Listen current and future producers: if you’re listening (reading!) to this, you’re probably feeling pretty beat up, attacked. I am not against art, not against entertainment if it’s for the glory of God. We don’t need Christian entertainment, we need Christian people who will use the arts in the right way to win people to Christ. We don’t need “Christian entertainment”- because entertainment makes us silly. Christian entertainment makes us silly Christians. You get the difference? You get what I’m saying? It’s triviality I’m against (me, too, Uncle John!). We need you to make movies that show the solid values being played out in life. We need you to make movies that share the gospel. We need you to act in a Christ-like matter. We need you to write songs. We need you to write definite Christian songs that don’t leave people guessing “are they talking about God or their girlfriend?” We need you to encourage through the arts. Entertainment ahs neutered the rightful power art should have. Plato said “let me write the music for a nation and I care not who makes it’s laws.” We are OWNED by trivial entertainment!
The guy who predicted all this happening is dead. He has the best Christian book on entertainment, and he wasn’t even Christian. His book, however, is truer and bolder than any other Christian book on entertainment could ever be. He answers all the questions in a right matter: What’s going on, really? Why is it going on, really? He’s a guy named Neil Postman. His book is called “Amusing Ourselves To Death”- the book title I borrowed for the lecture title. The introduction is worth the price of the book. (I agree! It is an amazing book! Of course, you probably think “Laura’s such a nerd…” I may be, but make yourself read this book!). It goes as follows:
We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares.
But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another – slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.
What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions”. In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.
This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.”
That’s a homerun. Entertainment can make us very, very silly. You see, in our rightful attempt to mend entertainment, we replace it with “Christian enetertainment”. That seems to be the number one strategy. Don’t be against everything: “I’m against Christian entertainment.” Be against replacing entertainment with Christian entertainment. That does nothing. It misses the real problem. We need to be for something. It’s part of being winsome. Don’t use negatives. Say “I’m for…” not “I don’t do…”. Ever wonder why Christianity isn’t working for most people? We’re shrill. Anyway, back to the subject.
One of our Summit speakers says it this way: “If you’re still buying books from the front of the Christian book store, stop.” That’s the hard way of saying something that is deep. That is saying there is a difference between good books and bad books. (LN: Also, ignorant or lazy people don’t like looking for good books, so they buy whatever looks good out front!). There are bad songs and good songs. There is a difference. But we tend to draw lines and say “everything on this side of the line is good and everything on this side of the line is bad.” The problem is, not everything on this side of the line is going to be good, and not everything on that side of the line is bad! Life is never a line that you do or do not cross. It’s like couples who ask “How far is too far with my partner?” If you’re asking the question, you’re already crossing the line- or about to. It’s in your head, hinting at going over! Purity is not a line. Purity is a direction. It’s a mindset. If you want to participate in music and movies, don’t give us Christian replacements for what’s already there. Don’t feed and pay the stars salaries! Popular isn’t always good. Christians should not be copying culture, Christians should lead culture. This is how it used to be. Most of the founders of modern science were rooted in the Christian faith. Early musicians were from the faith. Our problem now is we’re off in a corner creating a sub-culture hoping to keep entertainment safe while not addressing the actual problem! We’re really creating more of a problem! It’s like putting a band-aid on a leper’s spot and telling him it’ll be okay now!
That is not a Biblical worldview.
Safety is not an option. Christians can be safe, but choosing to be safe and run away is not biblical! We need to come out of hiding and champion the martyrs and heroes of the faith. We can’t cower in a corner and hope that everything will be okay. We need to know why we believe what we believe and show that to the next generation through art. Stop throwing out Sunday School answers ‘Cause the Bible said so…’ and actually prove your beliefs are right. Show that to others through songs and movies. Tell people why you aren’t watching a certain movie. Don’t say “Oh, my mom and dad told me not to, I can’t go with you to see the movie…” Give them some hope and make them think with every word you say!
This is why what’s happening in the popular Christian music scene is so devastating. It’s not contributing to the world at all. It’s safe. It’s cool. It’s fun. It’s not dangerous. It’s trying to stay over on one side of the line. Eminem is popular, let’s make a Christian Eminem. Let’s have a Christian Britney Spears if she’s popular, just make sure she’s a virgin and a good girl. I’m still anxiously waiting to see what the Christian Lady Gaga’s going to look like. That’s going to be embarrassing. Think of all the triviality. Think of all the Christian boy bands. It’s a big game of copycat. What about Romans 12:2? Are we really renewing our minds? Are we seriously trying to be set-apart from the world? No!
Back to the boy bands issue: Why do people, meaning adolescent girls, like boy bands so much? Why are they so compelling? It’s because their music is so deep and rich and beautiful, right? (LN- haha, I honestly don’t think the Jonas brothers or NSYNC or Justin Bieber would be selling music if their faces were never revealed!). It’s because their dance is so excellent and choreographed and they are all on beat, right? It’s because their lyrics are so meaningful and it makes you think about life and the future and God and the world in a whole new way, right? NO! NO! Why do they like boy bands? Bluntly put, it’s because they’re HOT. I was talking about this to a group of students and I mentioned a “Christian” boy band and a girl said “Ooh, I like that group!” so I asked her: “Do you like them because their lyrics are so deep and meaningful?” “No, well, no, but I” “Why do you like them?” “They’re hot!”
There is no category of Christian hotness.
There was a teacher at the university I used to teach at before I came to Summit, and she used to drone on about the danger of Christian romance novels. She was particularly hard on her students about romance novels; they were a wrong view of reality, and this is what she said, not what I said. By the way, she coined the term Jeanette Okey Dokey. J (LN- The name which I use frequently when old ladies at church try to get me to read that trash). She said: “[Romance novels] are like pornography for women. Men go to porn for the visual stuff. Women go to books for emotional stuff. For the relationship they wish they had with their husbands.” She then gave this quote that blew me away. It applies to music and books and movies, and all other entertainment. Here is the quote: The difference between a good book and a bad book is that a good book takes you deeper into life and a bad book distracts you from life.”
Distraction. Escapism. We often use entertainment to distract from reality. Ever watch a group of students walk down the hall and they all have their headphones in? Are they all trying to hang out with each other? No, they’re obviously in their own little world. They aren’t talking to each other. Entertainment can steal our ability to have real lives and real relationships with other people. I’m not talking about the nudity, cuss words, and raunchiness of the movies and ads. These things are important to consider. I want to ask this question. It’s the most important question: Are we amusing ourselves literally to death? Are we so addicted to entertainment that we can no longer tell the difference between what’s important and what’s not. What reality is and what’s not.
Celebrity-ism. Psalm 135. David here gives us almost 15 reasons why we should praise God above and rather than idols. Then he says “The idols of a nation are silver and gold and made by the hands of men. They have mouths that can’t speak eyes that can’t see, ears that can’t hear…: we know that. We get that! We know it’s weird to see someone go up to block of wood, carve out an ear and start to talk to it. We know things like this video are not generally accepted. This is an actual video of a group in North Carolina. This is not a joke.
Of course, things today like to challenge normal and change our perceptions.
Yet, to know stuff like that is weird and not normal is actually not what David’s final point is! Verse 18 says: They that make them (the idols) are like unto them: so is every one that trusts in them.
We become what we worship. We’re a culture that worships celebrities and stars. We all want to be a celebrity. I read the newspaper. Six or seven years ago when we went into Iraq, there was a cover story the next day or so with Johnny Depp. Does Johnny Depp get security briefings from the Pentagon every morning? If politicians had something to say about the war, then they’d at least have something worth listening to. That’s because they are informed. Why do we care about what the pirate has to say about Iraq? He’s famous! We’ve made fame equal and synonymous with knowledge and intelligence.
A culture that worships celebrities and cares about what they say is choosing style over substance. We want to look good instead of being good. You think this hasn’t crept into the church? We have Christian celebrities. It ought to appall us. It happens especially in music. We want to worship acting like the people we see in Christian music videos, jumping up and down with our hands in their air, trilling some notes a certain way because it’s cool…
Is it all about the Savior? Or is it all about the students up there leading the worship and how great they copy the real singers who performed the song? Just because a kid can play the guitar doesn’t mean he should lead worship. We give leaders a free pass and act like they don’t need theology. As long as they act and look cool, they can get up there. A lot of times, on Sunday morning, we sing heresy. We sing things that aren’t true. Jesus, I never let you go. I just let you go, if not, I will let you go in five minutes when that attractive person walks by. We should be singing things like “Jesus never lets me go.” We tend to make songs all about us. That’s wrong. We should sing about HIS glory. Not how well we’re doing. We’re not doing so well anymore. The music becomes a performance in church. A façade. Everything is okay, we’re doing good. We’re acting just like our favorite band. The problem is not the bad worldviews out there, the problem is the bad worldviews in here.
Addiction
We want more and more and more. We know longer know when to stop. A simple task like tuning off the TV becomes so hard in our generation. A lot of people come up to me after sessions I teach and tell me “You’re a really good speaker” and I try to do my best and point them to Christ. I hate it when people tell me “That was enjoyable.” “That was entertaining.” And walk away. I might as well have people throwing tomatoes in my face. If I didn’t make you think, then I’ve just wasted my time. I also hate it when kids come out of church and I ask them “Was that a good sermon?” and they say “That was boring.” I ask them “Was it a good sermon?” again, because boring doesn’t mean bad. It might have been really good. Of course, I believe it’s a sin to be boring and teach the Bible. But what I mean really is that the problem is often not with the speaker, but the receiver. But what really irks me as a speaker is that, some people are absolutely convinced that unless you are entertaining as a speaker, you have no value. You need to know how to receive information, even if it’s boring you to death. The truth cannot be hindered by boredom.
How much time is too much time in front of the screen?
Well, it depends on the person. If you’re going into an IT position, you will have to spend hours in front of computers. It all depends on the person. We want that line that says 4 hours. 30 minutes. 3 hours. The question is: how are you thinking and interacting with other people? How am I functioning? I think the question is the same as it has been for every Christian: How can I live faithfully to the gospel in my cultural context? To stay away from the world is wrong. It’s not an option. John 17- the greatest prayer in the Bible (not the prayer of Jabez, by the way)- Jesus prays “Don’t take them out of the world, take them out of the way of the evil one.” Acts 17, God says he determined the exact times and cultures we should live. Trust me, I’d rather raise my kids 80 years ago. I would. But God, in His sovereignty chose to place me and them in this culture and not another. Ever wonder why? Acts 17 clearly states we live here and now where we are for a reason. We have all this equipment now to work with and all these people to share the gospel with. The problem with this culture is not pleasure, it’s the problem we’re far too easily pleased. I’m part of the weirdest summer conference in America. Our motto is “What we’re teaching is major, deep theological stuff, and if you’re not getting it, you’re too short, grow up and we’re going to help you do that. It’s a place called Summit. It’s place where students come in and they sit for 7 to 8 hours a day from day one just listening to the world’s great speakers and theologians. They’re hearing things on economics, history, politics, culture, entertainment, and faith. We don’t tell them what to think, we tell them how to think. If they don’t like it at first, by Wednesday, they love it.
They can’t get enough, they follow speakers around just wanting to ask them questions, and they call on us later at night wanting to know even more. By Wednesday, they call home and say “Mom, Dad, send me more money, I already spent all of mine a bunch of really good books.” It’s really bizarre. I bring this up to say, that when young adults see a higher level, they want to reach up or jump up or climb up and get to that level any way and as fast as they can. It’s painful at first, but once the desire is there, they can’t stop thinking, learning, or grasping for better, higher things. They actually want knowledge, and that’s why we’re the weirdest summer camp. We offer fun stuff in the afternoons, but hey, most of the students there are wondering how long it is until the evening sessions, because they want more. We turn these entertainment addicted teens into learning hungry beasts! I’m not saying this to make Summit look like a place above all other places, but I’m saying this to tell you: they don’t just want a higher level. They yearn for it. They sit doww on Sunday night, when the sessions begin, and look at this 2 or 3 inch notebook in front of them and see how much time they’ll spend in class, and think ‘oh boy!’ By the end of the week, they don’t want to go home because everyone back there at school or at youth group is still at the lower level and they don’t want to spend time thinking about things that don’t matter.
Our place is weird because people who come actually want to grow up and mature in their knowledge and faith, and they do it beautifully in just two weeks. We believe in redemption on a cultural level. If we can pull this off with our kids, we can pull this off with our culture. It’s how we engage the culture. It’s how we ask questions. The best thing, the culture that’s amused to death is a VACUUM for leadership. This means, you don’t have to be popular to be a leader. You don’t have to be the best to be a leader. In a culture of followers, people like to follow leaders. When a leader rises up, you’ll have some kind of following. Don’t teach morals. Teach reality. Don’t teach them how to behave, teach them how to live.
~~Little Paragraphs and Deep Thoughts, Big Facts and Scrawly Notes That Churn ’Round In My Noggin~~
“Legalism is merely the futile attempt to do in our own strength what the Spirit of God means to accomplish on our own behalf.” ~ Leslie Ludy Set Apart Femininity
The form in which ideas are expressed affects what those ideas will be. (The MEDIUM is the METAPHOR) ~ Neil Postman Amusing Ourselves To Death
If you asked 2o good men today what they though was the highest of the virtues, 19 of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christains of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philosophical importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not of primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian view of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. ~ CS Lewis, The Weight of Glory
It is a sin to be dumb! ~ John Stonestreet- Summit lecture
A real woman is a woman who recognizes that she has been exquisitely and perfectly created by a loving God for a unique purpose. Out of geniune gratitude, awe and a desire to please her Maker, a real woman joyfully embraces her femininity and submits every aspect of her identy to God’s original and unique design for her…Unlike feminists, we know God’s design for women. This gives us the upper hand. Will we use it? ~ Elizabeth Botkin So Much More
America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within. ~ Josef Stalin (from the opening of the documentary, Agenda) And what’s happening in our world???
The flood of rampant homosexuality will not ruin a nation. Why? Because rampant homosexuality is a sign that the nation is already ruined! ~ John Stonstreet Summit lecture
Godly womanhood, the very plance sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other type of woman: beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women, career women, talented women, divorced women. But seldom do we hear of godly women- or of a godly man either, for that matter. We believe women come nearer to fulfilling their God-given funtion in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife, than to be Miss America. It is a greater acheivement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realms of morals to be old fashioned, than to be ultra modern, The world has enough womee who know how to be smart. It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs women who are pure. We need women, and men too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct. ~ Peter Marshall
When God’s Spirit is given His rightful place in a young woman’s life, He transforms her personality to reflect His beauty… He can overtake any kind of personality. . .You decrease, so that He might increase…~ Leslie Ludy The Lost Art of True Beauty (This book was a great book for me. I tend towards shy, and for the first time, I realized I could go outside of myself- types are just types… but I recently went to http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp to take a personality test anyway. The test revealed my weaknesses and strengths. I am an INTJ – Which type are you?)
The Baha’i faith believes in one God, but there are many ways to seek/experience God. Minimize theological differences and work together for harmony of faiths, freeing slaves and seeking justice. Affirmative action. Socail Justice. Service to humanity is highest goal. Baha’i believes in one God in one person- unitarian theism- it’s roots are in Islam, but they also accept YAH, Jesus, and Brahma as the same person- these are just other names. ~Len Woods (Is the new Zach Hunter “Be the Change” movement founded in Baha’i? Whether he knows it or not, unknowingly, yes. The affirmative action movement is combining various religions to do things in God’s name. Is there a way to do hard things the wrong way? Yes! Baha’i followers will be among those to whom God will say “Depart… I never knew you…” Pluralism is one of the worst of the false worldviews).
To understand reality is not the same as to know about outward event. The best informed man is not necessarily the wisest. The wise man will seek to acquire the best knowledge- to recognize the significance in the factual is wisdom. ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (He is a good writer, and I like his “Cost of Discipleship”, though his theology on salvation was messed up…)
“We live in a dictatorship of relativism… what people say and do becomes normal, but not right.” ~Scott Klusendorf.
“Waiting for Godot is the Humanist’s dream. It’s about two guys waiting for a friend who never comes. Notice what the friend’s name is… GODot.” John Stonestreet on Beckett plays. (Seriously, look them up. They are hopeless)
“For I seek not to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order I can understand, study, and learn. “
Ideas have history, they come from somewhere. Ideas have feet, they will go somewhere. Ideas have consequences: they will do something to you or for you. Doc Noebel
If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out it has no meaning. Just as if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would have no meaning. ~ CS Lewis
In the world it is called Tolerance, but in hell it is called Despair. The sin that believes in nothing cares for nothing, seeks to know nothing, interferes with nothing, enjoys nothing, hates nothing, finds purpose in nothing, lives for nothing, remains for nothing, and has nothing for which it will live for or die. ~Dorothy Sayers (Sounds like Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World- a place so hedonist and so limited by… love)
This so-called tolerance is nothing but a huge indifference. ~Alexis de Tocqueville
“We are all part of one. Intellect is error…” ~Bhagwhan Shree Rajneesh - (Haha If we are all part of ‘one’, how did we get away from that oneness into many religions? Just asking, Mr. Rajneesh)
Sloppy language makes sloppy thought possible. ~Michael Bauman
Be the first you, not the second me. Education is learning to think, indoctrination is teaching you how to think. ~Michael Bauman.
The probability of life originating from an accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a print shop. ~ Edwin Conklin
He that knows nothing will believe anything.
If God wants to use you, he wants to use the real you. Not the person you want to be. God doesn’t use imaginary people. He wants you to be who He made you. Christians should not feel guilty by this… they are fogiven. What we feel is conviction. Rowan Gillson (IPS)
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Read as many books as you can- I often wander the aisles of the library and pull of non-fiction books, take them home, and read them completely. You’ll never know how much you can know until you start to learn.
People won’t like the fact you are going to live at home until you marry.
Fact.
Expect their disapproval, but don’t be discouraged by it.
Prepare answers!
There’s a passel of myths swirling around the church community and abroad, tricking people into thinking our time at home is a time of… laziness. Unless a stay at home daughter is making no contributions to the family household whatsoever, this daughter is not wasting her time at all. People at church grill me almost every week because, well, I’m weird. And weird (to them) means sheltered, narrow-minded, stupid, and maybe even lazy. Some of the questions I’m asked are:
“Don’t you want to have a life?” “Do you feel like your parents are forcing this on you?” “What about college? Do you mean you aren’t going away?” “Maybe you’re just afraid of the real world.” “Why not move out and get an apartment when you’re graduated?” “What if you’re dad and mom die?” “Maybe your parents are making you do this because they know you’re not ready and are naïve?” “How can you say you like living at home?” “Don’t you want to learn life skills?” “You won’t know what’s new in technology and in the culture if you’re not in it!” “What? You’re graduated/graduating?” “What about socialization?!”
I’d like to attempt to destroy these myths and give you an idea of how to go about answering similar questions that may be asked of you.
“Don’t you want to have a life?”
I usually laugh, because I find this question forthright and hilarious. I ask them to define “life” and what “life” entails. Remember: the battle over ideas is a battle over the definition of words- when words lose their meaning, people lose their lives (and debates). Life, to them, is a fun-filled, outing based, social time where a girl spends her single time growing socially, shirking her duties at home. “Life” means that I should not be ‘stuck’ inside a house all day. “Life” is all about me!
Life, in God’s definition is serving others, learning all I can before some guy steals me from my mom and dad , and getting a grasp on reality: LIFE is not about FUN, is not FAIR, or is of things FRIVOLOUS, nor is it based on crammed social agendas! My mom told me recently that life is not about the next great thing to look forward to: it’s about looking forward to the next thing God tells you to do. How true.
“Do you feel like your parents are forcing you to do this?”
Not at all. My dad is really one who says “Whatever you do is fine, honey,” in most situations. He would not force me to do anything- unless it is something that I would benefit from, like sticking out a class at a co-op, or when I was younger eating all my veggies. My mom likesloves to see me carry out my convictions and obey the Holy Spirit. She is full of guidance, and is definitely one of my best friends; but I came to discover the idea of Stay at Home Daughterhood by myself, through reading.
After being at home for so long, they assume your parents have an attachment problem and will not let you go! You can help this by one verbal move; but it is hard to make someone change their mind about you.
Simply speak of your commitments as your own. Don’t say “My dad wants me to wear skirts.” “My mom doesn’t want me to go to this activity.” Make your commitments your own. “I prefer skirts, they are more modest.” “That activity would not benefit me.” This will erase the idea of “bondage” into parents passing on convictions, or a ”teach them to your children” outlook, or even “indoctrination”. Proving the commitments are accepted and fine by your book doesn’t make your parents look like captors.
Suggested resource list-(do in order )
1. Read: So Much More by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin
Listen to the CD by these girls: Strength and Dignity for Daughters
Watch: Return of The Daughters
2. Joyfully at Home by Jasmine Baucham (I really like this book, I apparently have a lot in common with Jasmine, so it really really hit home for me)
I, again, ask those who are leaving book-long comments meant to stir up rabble rousers for the convention to S-T-O-P.
This is our family’s final year @ Midwest Homeschool Convention (unless they invite Ken Ham next year and allow AiG to display in the exhibition hall…). I’m excited to be going (though bittersweet, because of the grim events happening concerning AiG). I will be posting pictures and notes over the weekend, so be sure to check back!
God Bless You, Ken Ham: You Are A Hero Of The Faith
Last night, I hopped on Midwest Homeschool Convention’s open Facebook page to see if the parking voucher was up. Instead of seeing comments about how Midwest was being slow about putting up the parking voucher (they’ve said ‘later this week’ for a few weeks now); I found hundreds of comments from people saying things about being furious with Midwest dis-invinting Ken Ham.
Surprised, I scrolled down until I found a statement the organization made. It basically said that Ken Ham was dis-invited from the convention for speaking out against Peter Enns’ and BioLogos’ teaching- which believes in theistic evolution. Theistic evolution means that God used evolution to create the world; therefore making Genesis irrelevant and full of errors. At the previous two conventions held by Great Homeschool Organizations, Ken Ham specifically spoke on who taught what and what curriculum was not in favor of a young earth/six literal day creation: and how to defend Creation against the curriculum. Well, Peter Enns was speaking at the convention, too; talking about his views on the beginning of the world.
Somehow, Ken Ham’s naming of Peter Enns wrong view got around, and the Convention managersdis-invited him from speaking at Cincinnati and Philly; their last two conventions. Also, they told him that AIG would not be allowed to exhibit in the vendor hall this year- or ever again simply because of Ken Ham’s remark.
So, the uproar? Ken Ham named a name of a false teacher.
Naming names is completely Biblical:
I can conclude from the stance Great Homeschool Convention is taking that Christians are supposed to shut up, sit down and be tolerant. Tolerate those who don’t tolerate you. This organization obviously can’t tolerate Ken Ham’s intolerance. (Anything wrong with that sentence?)
1 Timothy 1:18-20 Paul tells Timothy to ward off false teachers and then names two names. Nothing wrong with a warning, right?
2 Timothy 2:14-17 Tells us that we must guard against teachers who subvert hearers. (Subvert means to undermine or destroy). After that, he charges us to “study to show thyself approved unto God”. Certainly theistic evolution is not God-approved.
Titus 1:10-12 There are many vain talkers and deceivers even they of our circumsion whose mouths must be stopped… subverting whole houses teaching things they ought not… one of themselves (of the faith) even a prophet saying “The Cretians are liars and evil beasts…” This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke the false teacher sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.
Naming names is Biblical, and in fact is used to help the false teacher get back on the right track, as in Titus.
However, Great Homeschool Convnetions says:
“Because this is an education forum, we do not propose to “filter” everything–allowing you to see or hear only what “we” have approved. We believe that you, as parent educators, are very capable of judging and making intelligent decisions for yourself and for your family.”
They are indeed censoring Ken Ham! They are filtering his right to free speech and defending the gospel.
Secondly, their open Facebook had several hundred comments on it last night: varying from “I will not be attending.” to “I’m thinking of contacting BBB.” Now, they have begun censoring their page and deleting comments ‘for’ Ken Ham.
If you are going this year, consider stopping by the Creation Museum; or wear a button that says “I support AiG/Ken Ham.” If you have an AiG t-shirt: wear it.
Let’s let the emotions run high as we outpour our deepest desires and disappointments in front of the group. Let’s be honest and open and vulnerable to everyone so they can feel and understand our pain. Let’s tell everyone how we got into such a state, and how sorry we feel for ourselves. Let’s rant and rave about the bratty kids we babysit, the goofy husbands we married, and the other annoyances we find so hard to cope with. Let’s share how being a Christian is SOOOOOO hard and not at all like the lovely life you had before you converted. Let’s talk about our defeated feeling and share tips about how to deal with our pride being hurt. LET’S COMPLAIN TIL WE TURN BLUE!!!
And go home feeling… worse than ever, our problems not solved; yet comforted in the fact someone listened to us.
Just let others see through your skin to the real you! It’s okay to cry as long it helps your group “purify” themselves of their guiltiness of not measuring up. It’s okay to drone on to make your point- as long as they see the real you!!! Let’s discuss what that new Christianologist (‘Christian’ psychologist) said about our mind and emotions. It’s okay to veg out and indulge, find time for yourself every day. It’s certainly alright to feel defeated.
THAT’S NORMAL!
If you’ve ever been to a Bible study, youth group girl’s meeting, or a special seminar, you’ll hear that sort of message that “tickles the ears” and leaves you even more bitter and frustrated than before. The idea of being transparent and open and honest for the sake of bragging, complaining, and feeling good is not at all Biblical. God does not command us to tell everyone about ourselves. We should, according to Ephesians, chapter 4- a)speak things that administer grace to the hearers b) speak that which is edifying c) say what we say with love d) speak nothing corrupt. Corrupt here is from the Greek word “sapros” not meaning “dirty” or “bad” as the dictionary says: sapros means not useful, very worthless, not powerful, or even hollow. The idea of being open and honest is a good one, but very easily damaged by selfish motives and Satan.
When we talk about how our defeat is pulling us down, it may make us seem holier and pious. How Christians began to equate weakness and defeat to spiritual maturity, I have no idea. Christians should not be the ones walking around crying “Woe is me, I have a tinful of problems.” The following is what I wrote in my journal after one experience of a complain fest disguised as a “youth group discussion time”.
The only thing we studied tonight was narcissism, communication; perhaps even how to justify bitterness at God… I think… that a Christian shouldn’t plan these meetings because they lead to deeper self-worship. “Making time for yourself” isn’t what Christ would ask us to do. I can’t recall Him ever complaining he had no time for himself or that he needed to spend some hours relaxing and getting in touch with His thoughts and desires. As Christians, I also think…we are mirrors. When people look at us and talk to us, the reflection they see should be Jesus. We shan’t talk of all our problems- rather about how God is working through the problems. We shan’t talk about who annoys us- only how we can minister and pray for them. We shan’t gossip, we should keep our mouths shut. The heathen and pagans should see our actions as victory- living evidences that there is a God. A Christian that mumbles about defeat and wants to make time for herself is not a witness.
Christians- triumph! We can’t do anything, including getting the victory over trials, unless we pray. Life would be a bunch of complaining and selfishness if we didn’t live for Him. Stop living like He doesn’t exist: surrender your entire self to Him: your body, your mind, your actions, your thoughts, your words.
Maybe leave that Bible study, too.
And start your own- with the purpose of growing, not griping.
Hi! I'm Lauralea- an ambidextrous uber-joyful Christian who apparently blogs. I enjoy reading, the 40's, deep thinking, drinking mochas and worldview study.
A Word of Warning…
In four years of blogging, one's view of life is molded and shaped by God's Spirit and much learning. Please note that I no longer agree with everything, or advocate some ministries I spoke of in my first years of blogging. Thanks for understanding!
-- Lauralea--
) that requires nothing less than exact obedience all the time- even on minute issues. Hyperpatriarchs like to dictate what his daughters and wife wear, what they do, and where they go. They like to be in complete control and have the final say. They often ignore what their family has to say and go with what they want.
