Amusing Ourselves To Death

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.

Must…have….CELL PHONE!!!! Must… TEXT!!!!! Must…be… ENTERTAINED!!

“If I don’t have my cell phone, I’m totally bored… and feel like I am going through withdrawal!!!”

~ quote from a friend of mine (who doesn’t read my “boring” blog)

“Katie’s” quote about sums it up. If most people don’t have their cell phone attached to their thumbs or ears, they feel disconnected.

Let me start out by saying that texting is not wrong: it’s HOW OFTEN you text is the problem. There is a young woman in my church who used to brag about her phone bill: ‘I sent over 30,000 texts last month!’ Seriously, this girl had a problem! She could NOT put her phone down, even in church services, I could hear her behind me… click click click click click click.  I only text if I need to- or for emergencies. As for the “fun” texting, I rarely do that.  I only give out my number when I absolutely have to. I spend more time taking pictures on my Tracfone and playing Sudoku… when I have to wait for something. If I don’t have a book.

Some tips:

Don’t sign up for a plan that has “unlimited” texts. This only increases the temptation.  I have a ‘slider’ Tracfone that has limited minutes and web access for emergencies. It has a camera (nice to have when Herbie’s batteries go dead…)- but I am not constantly on it, fiddling with it or taking pictures of myself- in fact I haven’t touched the thing in about a week. One nice thing that it does is vibrate loudly and turn itself on when there is severe weather heading our way… nobody else’s phone does that!

Don’t get the type of phone that has a keyboard!

If you really have a problem with addiction- ”Ooooh, she hasn’t texted me in an hour, do you think I should call her and see if she’s mad at me now???”- have your parents check your cell phone in and out at night. You could inforce a rule on yourself… The ”No phone in your room” rule, if you have a problem with your parents reading your messages.

Cell phones have actually been proven to have radiation at a high level when you have three ‘bars’ or less.

Obey your parents’ wishes- and commands. Put the phone away when you are told!

Make meal times media free. One of my friends actually texts her parents when she wants something passed to her. It made me feel left out and unwelcome as a guest. Besides, her mom was sitting less than 10 inches away from her at the small table.

Try not to text or call when there are others in the room- and especially when they are speaking. To you. This includes friends (yes, even if you have to suffer through boring conversation…); sermons (hey, your pastor worked hard on that sermon- and that’s one of the most important ways God can get your attention); lectures (yes, even if it’s a homeschool conference and your mom/chaperone says you can’t walk out on a boring session!). It is disappointing to see people so enslaved to this literal “magic box” that they can’t give anything else their attention.

Seth Franco, a former Harlem Globetrotter, came to speak my brother’s basketball celebration a few months ago. During the delightful performance, I kept laughing as a mom in front of me Googled things on her phone as he talked. She kept Googling what he was talking about, the weather, and some other things… including Facebook! Here is this perfectfully funny, entertaining, smart man; and she has to be entertained by a digital screen. Too much entertainment and nothing will delight you anymore. There will be no surprises left in life!

The other day, a friend let me use her iPhone, and after a few minutes, I gave it back to her, thinking: I’m glad I don’t have one of those things! I could picture myself sitting in my bedroom with my own iPhone, lost in oblivion as time flew by… playing Space Burger. Aaaaahhh! I don’t want to waste my time like that! It’s almost sad!

The easier it is to entertain you, the more you will want entertainment. When people end up turning to little screens for their kicks, it makes me wonder what’s next… for a little humor, I thought this classic video would bring to light the stupidity of it all!

 

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Isn’t that charming? I’d have to say, it pictures the mindless consumer well!

Now, for another great article from Ligonier Ministries: (again, note that I don’t agree with the ministry’s  theology on the end times, women, doctrine, among other things)

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/ligonier-national-pre-conference-albert-mohler/

Please read this article! It will definitely benefit you!

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Next up, an adapted transcript of the session “Amusing Ourselves To Death” by John Stonestreet (believe me, it’s good!)

Stay At Home Daughter

Part One

  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 likes loves 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)

Watch: Dominion Oriented Daughters (Geoffrey Botkin)

~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~

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!

Pressure to Be Attached

People call me crazy. People also call me stupid. Let me explain:

A smattering of guys have, at one time or another, confessed their undying, hormone related affection for me. I don’t want any of it. It’s distracting, and once these young men started hinting blatantly at liking me, the friendship hurled went downhill. I still have a good friendship with one, but it is because of being careful. I don’t reply to flirtatious comments, look at him when he sighs loudly, or tell him if I like him back. For the most part, he understands. I think. I spend a lot of time praying about “Alexander” but he is not the foremost of my thoughts. People usually tell me to go after him, because after all, I’m nearly of marriageable age, and of course, they only want me to be “happy.” When I say that I’m happy without a boyfriend or the prospect of getting one, most pat me on the arm and say I’m deceiving myself and someday that will change. Ha. Far from it, folks.

Marriage is a beautiful thing, and I sure would like to be married sometime in my life. But God has given me a greater desire, a desire stronger than having a husby or a bunch of kids. That desire I have is from Him and for Him. God’s will takes over any thought I may have over Sir Charming the Gallant. If only more girls would stop playing the dating game and learn that contentment in Christ is the key to life!

“Who is this?” asked an old man of a 20-something woman.

“This is my boyfriend… Charles” the girl declared proudly.

It was amazing how much was said in those few words. This girl had been involved in my youth group for several years, all the while encouraging us not to seek after a guy but follow after the Lord. She should have led by example. While declaring she was not looking for a relationship, she started a singles group, researched ‘singles explosions’, and went to every event she could find where available men were. After three years, her search was successful. She has a boyfriend, and she talks of him all the time. Her identity is not in who she is in Christ, it’s who she is with her boy. You see, the young lady equates being fulfilled and human with being attached. Not so! What makes us human (profoundly human) is the Gospel! It makes us see our enormous need for help…and makes us become fulfilled after we’ve let Jesus fill that need. The Gospel is enough to satisfy. Stop living like it isn’t.

Those who “date around” want to have a great marriage someday, that’s unanimous! But, when it comes down to who they date, the standard is set quite low. Over the years, missionary dating has become popular at my church. It started with one couple, then it snowballed. Another couple started, and another, and then, this aforementioned girl found herself an unbelieving boy. The first relationship that started it all sadly ended when they found the “converted” girlfriend was fooling around at college.

It seems that dating is like a snowball. It starts out with a faithful Christian girl and a guy. She is serious about her walk with God, and every day is like a mountaintop experience. They date, get involved, and break up. The girl blames God for her problems, and starts look for another guy. The cycle repeats with several more guys, adding baggage, making the process of “backsliding” go faster. Things gain momentum. The snowball builds up more ‘junk’ and keeps rolling… downhill… faster and faster… until crash! The whole thing blows up in her face and her life is at the bottom of the hill. In order to get back to the top, she must get serious and start depending on God again for everything! Only then can she have a deep relationship with God and get back on the victorious mountaintop.

The reason for unbalanced relationships is the preset standard (or the lack thereof). Most people have no standard or even the slightest idea what they’d like to see in Prince Charming. As young women, we shouldn’t swoon over what our dear Johnny should look like. We should be praying for his character, his strength, and his spiritual well-being!

As I looked into qualities of husbands, I found absolutely no standard of any sort out on the Internet. Not even a bare minimum or a few requirement ideas. Sure, every girl is different, but there’s the need to set a standard and a few expectations to get her thinking about the kind of man she’ll marry someday.

Hence the big surprise. (No, it’s not that I’m getting married, but thanks anyway to those who asked!!) It’s a list of potential qualities that you should think about. This isn’t final gospel, and I’m only a weak, finite human, so it’s not a law to follow. Rather, this is a list to get you thinking. Take ideas from this list and start building your own. Tell me about some of the qualities you came up with on your own!

Check it out- The List  

This list will only be up for the week of Valentine’s… (February 14th-February 19th)

Pressure to Give Up

Discouragement. What an awful word! It’s not a very easy word to have embodied in real life.

Why do we get discouraged?

Because we’re not seeing results as we’d like to see them.

Maybe you began a weight loss program for the year, and have only lost two pounds so far. Or you decided to memorize a Bible chapter a week, and are stuck on the third verse of the first chapter! Or maybe you lead a Sunday school class, and the kids ignore what you’re saying and aren’t learning anything.

If you’re like me, you like to see results, tangible evidence that what you’re doing – or having done- is working. You want to know you’re reaching others, doing things right, and affecting others. Press on!

It seems God likes to show His power in other ways in my life. Instead of letting me see ahead, he takes it one step at a time. Some of my friends needed to raise money for something, and they sent prayer letters, and got an enormous response. I didn’t send a letter, and there was no way I could get that kind of money. It was discouraging, and I wanted to give up right there. But, a few weeks later, a certain amount of money, exactly what I needed, came in the mail from none other than the IRS.

Awhile ago, I felt like closing the blog. You see, I know a lot of people read the blog because of my hit numbers everyday. But, very few of you ever comment. I felt really discouraged at the time, I so began to wonder: maybe I’m writing what has already been written, and, maybe I’m just entertainment for a bunch of liberal’s liberals. I like to see results, to know what’s in people’s heads, and I still don’t know why most of you don’t leave feedback! But in any case, I learned to overcome that hurdle by accepting the fact I get the numbers. I learned to be content with just that.

That’s a huge, difficult lesson to learn. Sometimes our discouragement comes when we refuse to accept any progress as good. I used to get 5 visitors a day when I first started! I praised God for the number of people subscribed and left it at that. So, praise God you’ve lost those two pounds. That’s two pounds closer to your goal! Shrug off the fact you’re struggling to memorize. That’s okay. That’s a few more verses than you knew before. You’d be surprised that those kids at Sunday school might have learned something after this long. It happens to me a lot at my study group. Occasionally I’ll get told by a girl that a lesson (a lesson 45 weeks ago) really stuck with her!

But what if something really is a lost cause?

Don’t hold onto something that wants to run away. After reading the book Already Gone, I began noticing kids at church who fit the description in that book perfectly. It happened when I was fill-in teaching Jr. Church. We talked about helping others, and encouraging others. We made cards for a lady who had had surgery, and took turns praying for her. But, when a young boy’s turn came, he refused to pray. “I HATE God, I don’t like being here. It’s stupid.” Most of the kids were shocked, as was I. How do you respond when you feel like a failure?! Sometimes, kids really are a lost cause. The only thing you can do about it is pray. When your ministry that once went well falls off the edge, pray. When you lose hope that your mother will ever get better, pray. When the bill comes that you can’t pay, pray. When you feel so lonesome and guilty, pray. Prayer is the weapon of the church.

The valley of discouragement will come, but God will always be faithful. He provide you with the most wonderful hope! He will lead you through these uncertain and discouraging times when you feel like a failure to make you realize it’s not all about you. Remember what God did for you! He saved you from hell- you did not save yourself. When you run the race with perseverance, it’s not for lost cause. Anything done truly for Him is going to receive a reward- maybe not now, but very soon. I can’t wait for heaven! (not that I would kill myself just to go early…) But, I can’t wait to see all of the people affected by the ripple effect of any ministry I’ve been involved in. To know that some people may be in heaven because of simple obedience to God through times when I wanted to give up, oh! That’s wonderful feeling. No results now? Expect them later!

Pressure To Be “Smart” and “Successful”

A good education [through books, documentary, magazines, sermons, teachers, elders, and the like] provokes thought.

The teachers don’t think for you.

They don’t shove watered down indoctrination down your throat.

They let you do the thinking.

They let you decide for yourself what conclusion makes sense.

If you’re not asking good questions, you’re not thinking. If you’re not thinking, you’re not getting educated.

It’s that simple.

Colleges really don’t care if you exit their campus  with knowledge. They want your money and your heart sitting obediently in their laps. Universities divide and conquer by belittling, student “organizations” and the coveted A… which is only placed on the papers that spit back what your professor told you.

Colleges are out to indoctrinate you- they aren’t big promoters of free thinking and speech. Look at all the colleges that have hate speech codes! The college campus is a dictatorship of relativism, a horrible dominion or atheism, with a whatever floats your boat, goes. {exception: Christianity} You won’t find the dean very sympathetic to your complaints of low grades on biology papers. They won’t tolerate your ‘intolerance’ (which, by the way,  is intolerance).

The University was once a pinnacle point to be if you wanted to become a thinker… a free thinker… but now, they are places for liberals to produce minions,  the young to learn Communist doctrine, and a haven evolution studies.  If you think about the whole open-minded, tolerant issue, they are the ones that are narrow minded and intolerant!

Because we hold college so high on our list of great things to do, success becomes synonymous with a piece of parchment with words that mean “Sue Public is educated.”

Let me tell you about some people who didn’t attend university, but became great leaders, thinkers, and speakers. Some of these people have character that is amiable, people I’d like to be like…

Abraham Lincoln~ Even though he started the whole tax thing, the admirable Mr. Lincoln’s fight against slavery and steadfast faith in God is what got him to the Civil War Presidency.  Not a degree. President Lincoln was a first rate speech giver, though quiet and thoughtful by nature.  This man self taught himself trigonometry and algebra, and simply read books to become a lawyer. That’s thinking.

Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin~ Homeschooled authors of So Much More, co-stars of Return of the Daughters and Homeschool Dropouts did not attend college.

Andrew Jackson~  This US president was homeschooled and taught himself law, made it to congress, and was a judge.

Ben Franklin ~ A little eccentric in his style, Ben Franklin never went to school! His mother and father taught him, later on he learned through discussion with the people in his city.

Christopher Columbus~ Be thankful that this guy had the initiative to studiy maps and geography, figures and languages, because without that, he might not ever had made it the “Indies”. Perhaps we would be European? Though he didn’t discover America, as the fable tells us, he did discover the fact of another continent.

Henry Ford~ He didn’t invent the car, but he did invent the assembly line. This man who grew up just miles from my house didn’t even think to go to college, and studied human actions and time saving qualities until he came up with the assembly line!

Joyce C Hall~ Started Hallmark Cards after spending his time working odd jobs to supplement the family’s income. His faith in God propelled him to step out in faith selling cards… and eventually he started the business. He never went to college, but studied some business on the side

Rachael Ray ~ Though she annoys me to kingdom come, it is amazing that she never went to college, attended culinary school, or took a formal cooking class. She taught herself.

Sarah Mally~ Founded Bright Lights, a discipleship group for girls; leads Strong in the Lord Conferences; and wrote a book. Never went to college, and the same with her brother and sister, whom she wrote another book with.

Thomas Edison~  This guy was homeschooled, and worked on the railroad at age 12. Studied subjects that interested him, which developed into the invention of the movie camera, lightbulb, and others.

There are so many more degree-less people out there who are just as smart (or smarter) than those with degrees!

Going off to college is actually not Biblical. Sure, young adults back in the day went to a group learning session or two a week, but it didn’t require them learning away from home and living at the school. They came and went and weren’t required to believe everything that their teachers did. The teachers were elders who were wise, skilled, and old: with lots of experience behind them. This is the best kind of teaching! If they wanted to learn specifics, they did live with a relaitve or dear friend who knew a lot about the subject at hand.  Don’t leave your father’s house to go live in a place full of deceivers and mockers. Why should a Christian girl purposely immerse herself with these kind of people?

There are alternatives to going to live on a college campus. Here are some things that help you gain knowledge the right way!

1. College Plus ~ a system that I am planning to do once I graduate this spring. This is an online course through Thomas Edison State and Bryan Colleges. Using CLEP tests and distance learning, you stay at home and work through your own pace. I’ve heard of some people who get their degree by age 15, 16 or before they graduate! When I first heard that, I was shocked, thinking “But they are too young!”

That is the wrong kind of thinking. Just because you’re 18 it doesn’t make you magically ready for higher learning! That is the Darwinian view that “young can’t understand because they haven’t evolved…so we need different levels- segregated by knowledge…” or the Communist view of “divide and weaken, then conquer…” (This is why churches have 5th grade Sunday school, 4th grade Sunday school… break up the family, weaken the church) Age doesn’t equal smarts!

2. Ask to have an elder, wise person to write down things that they wished they’d known at your age. This is very helpful. There are a lot of older ladies at my church who randomly give me great (and I mean GREAT) advice! Our church has a mentoring ministry for older to teach the younger. Though I think parents should teach the topics, I think it’s nice for those who have families who won’t teach their kids. Some topics our church covers are: canning, sewing/mending, knitting/crocheting, mechanics, gardening, cooking/baking, home repair, etc.

3. Start a home journal with recipes, ideas for cleaning and design, notes to self in the future… focus on your home!

4. Do an internship! I’ve applied to go intern with the Mally family in Cedar Rapids IA this summer. If I am accepted, (which I am praying fervently that I am!!), I will gain experience in running a business, organizing conferences, leading ministry effectively and efficiently, and other little things like sharpening my initiative (living away from parent’s reminders to do my laundry, haha), improving budgeting, and smart grocery shopping. I will be living away from home, but it is with a very strong Christian family who will support what my parents have taught me and strengthen my walk with God, not tear down or mock. This is ideal! I have several friends who are going to internships this summer. A few are going to intern at the Michigan capitol as assistants to state house reps, one is going to the Associated Press for a photography course, one is going to work with a designer, one is going to live at his friend’s farm and learn farming all summer, and another is going to a local photography business and still living with his parents. There are so many internship opportunities out there, and the best news is, many of them are free or of little cost!

5. Read. Read. Read some more. Read again and again and again. Don’t’ just read anything. Read something that’s got something profitable in it. Then read it again. And again. Until you know the book so well you could explain the whole gist of it to another person. I re-read all of my hundreds of books at least three times through the whole year. (If I get accepted for that internship, I may haul a bunch out with me) I am always carrying a good book around with me. I started a book blog for that purpose:

6. Community college- You stay at home and attend classes during the day or evening. Most of the graduates from my church attend a community college, and it works well. The only downside is, you may have a prof who thinks you’re stupid because your faith. Since you are near to your parents and church, you’ll be able to go home and discuss possible rebuttals – easy!

7. Ellerslie School of Honor ~ This is like a Christian college without being a real college. There is no writing, math, or geography or whatever else ‘real colleges’ teach. Eric and Leslie Ludy teach you about living the Christian life and remaining set apart- it lasts for an entire semseter. I’d like to go here someday!

8. Summit Semester/Oxford ~ Study in Oxford or in CO, but this is a more academic semester for serious student who want to think. I know a couple people who’ve done this, and they said they started out asking a couple of questions every day- and left asking hundreds every day. It really got them thinking! Plus, the teachers often won’t give you straight answers, they direct you to a pile of books to bring yourself to a conclusion.

9. Rivendell Sanctuary~ This is relatively new, so you may want to check out their website. This is a basics course, and there are opportunities to study abroad. I’ve heard it’s like Summit Semester… only in Minnesota (no mountains?! oh man…)

10 Attend a lot of conferences throughout the year. Homeschooling conferences usually don’t care if you’re a graduate, and you can learn a lot about teaching kids just by sitting in on some of the parent’s sessions. I’ve always loved going to conferences, and this year, I’m going to Midwest Homeschool Convention in Cincy.

11. Other online courses, like Vision Forum’s occasional writing courses. I didn’t participate in Mrs. Morecraft’s writing course, but I heard it was excellent!

12. DVDs~ Order as many DVD documentaries as you can, watch them all and take notes. Start with Answers in Genesis, then check out Vision Forum

13. CD’s Order as many CDs as you can. Tomorrow’s Forefathers has several great ones, as does Vision Forum. Listen to sermons and lectures online (a favorite pastime, I’ve learned so much!)

14. Read three or four different translations of the Bible together. See which one is most correct. The NIV Bible is actually no different than the Jehovah’s Witness Bible. The NIV just has footnotes. ESV, NKJV, KJV, and God’s Word Translation are good to compare. Write down the differences and see what changes have been made. You’ll never know when you’ll need to argue against some faulty idea.

15. Take advantage of any class your church may offer. Bible study? Attend it if you can! Nutrition or cooking? Go! Women’s prayer and fellowship? Give it a try! Don’t grow weary in going, even you think you may not learn anything. If possible, start a singles women group and discuss the book Sacred Singleness. Encourage others to overcome their false view of marriage and singleness, and serve together in your community. Make a quilt and send it to a missionary in Sudan or another refugee-filled place. I remember doing this with some friends before I knew what Sudan Christians were facing. Do something that counts!

There are a lot more options out there!

Read… and you will be educated…

Pressure to Conform {short and hopefully sweet}

There’s a pressure that is so bad, it may destroy your life.

It uses the lie “You look/dothings/sound weird, so change! Fast!” to get around.

It comes as a whisper from the devil that we are too conservative. Too old fashioned. Too awkward. Too too!

It’s pressure to conform, and this pressure is a lie.

I’m thankful to have a great group of friends who don’t pressure me to be like them, and I try not to pressure them to be like me. But, some groups of friends, like some I’ve had in the past, tell you to your face you must be weird not to think like they do. That you’re so wrong being the way you are… so…why not change?

1. Because it’s not wrong to be a different person and have a different personality than li’l Eva over there.

2. Because God commands us to be different from the world. Don’t be different to be different. Be different to glorify God.

But what about influence?

Influence is a whole other thing. Influence is something that can be good, and can be used to bring glory to God. Influence is not pressure, but an example to follow. Of course, this example can be good or bad, but influence is largely a positive thing.

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Today, I watched this video today, and it really impacted me. It kind of goes along with conforming and influence, ministry and church.

I highly HIGHLY recommend you watch it, please take the time! You will not be sorry you watched it. 

Please, if you do nothing else this week, watch this video.

(Okay, I really want you to watch this! Get your tail over there! No pressure )

Pressure To Be The Best

In front of you is a roomful of ballerinas- stretching, whispering, warming-up their legs.  Through large picture windows by the barre, you can see snowflakes falling. Soft piano music floats from surrounding speakers in every corner of the room. Suddenly, the teacher calls the girls to come center floor to learn a combination of steps.One girl doesn’t seem to “get” the combination- and struggles whilst performing it.

“Bring the toe to the back of the knee…”  “Keep your face interested and your chin up!” “Don’t give up before you try…”

The teacher calls out correction after correction, manually poking and prodding that one girl. Frustrated- the combination has ended – the girl moves to the back to practice the combination by herself. Things don’t improve when the star student does the combo without so much as a thought, lightly bouncing around the studio.

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You may have guessed by now that the frustrated dancer was me. Though I’m not the worst in the class  , I always struggle with trying to be best. Since it is my senior year, I have even more pressure than ever to be best- simply because it’s my ‘last chance’.

But, I’m realizing this pressure is mostly in my head! Nobody is physically putting this pressure on me, telling me specifically that I have to be on top. Sure, my teacher would like me to improve, but she’s not requiring me to be the best in class.

The same goes for all of you! Many times, the pressure to be the best at {activity} is all in your head!

Does God require you to be the best?

Now, think about that.

The answer is no.

We ARE required to give our best to the Lord, but saying he requires us to be the best is really saying:

“God only uses the best”

“He only loves the best”

God doesn’t require us to be the best person in the world, room, town, or closet . But, he does want us to develop our talents to reach their best potential. If that potential reaches only halfway as the next person you know, then God has reasons for that. Nevertheless, you have reached your personal best!

One of my friends has a mom that is very pressuring. This friend is always always ALWAYS complaining about how her mom grounds her for not winning this, getting that grade, or receiving such and such an award. Her mom expects nothing but the best- and sometimes that isn’t enough.

If your parents are the type who pressure you to do well in everything, that is good. Some pressure is healthy. But, the line has to be drawn when your parents are the type who pressure you t be best in everything.  Explain in a letter how you feel, stating a solution you may have, and asking for better goals and expectations. It appears that some parents never got “such and such”- and they only want you to experience something they never did. But, when parents treat you as robots and think you can be controlled by a flick of a lever- you need to tell them you goals may be different. You should tell them, kindly, that you are human. It is impossible for most of us to be the best at everything we do. We are all going to fail, and the sooner you (and your parents) realize this, the happier everyone will be.

If – after many humble attempts to change your parents’ thinking, and petitioning them to set better expectations- they still believe you should outdo everybody else; talk with your pastor. Arrange for your youth pastor’s wife to call your mom and talk with her. Ask friends to pray with you after school. There is hope for you. Don’t give up- and don’t become discouraged! Press on, and you will get God’s blessing; maybe not now, but most definitely later.

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One of the worst parts about this time of year is the mood. It hits me hard. I dislike winter boredom. It is sad to step outside on a 17 degree day and think “Ahh, this is warm.” After all, the high was 9 the day before such a jump deserves a comment! To think the real, 65 degree – shorts weather is only… 200 some days away!!! {insert groan of anguish here}

Ahh, in the meantime, I’ll bundle up in my woolly and pyjamas and watch the funny people on Weather Channel down south mow and hoe snow. (Slow down on ice, buy a shovel, and invest in a coat- is it that hard?)

Have a good week!

And the winner is…

…media!

Thank you to all who voted on the poll! I will include the other choices in my postings soon. (Interviews, guys, worldviews, etc)

Don’t worry. This post will not be as serious or long as the Communism one below.

What’s the point of media? Is it there to educate you?

 Outside of newspapers, I highly doubt it.

 Is it neutral, covering all sides of the story?

Nope. Media is not completely neutral. It’s there to make a point.

Media is entertainment. Entertainment is…

…basically good?

…basically evil?

…utterly hopeless?

…okay for some, but not for others?

Fill in the blank as you wish, you can do that, it’s open-ended!

My point of view, you ask?

The movie, music, and television industry is silly and there to amuse you.

Amuse. Let’s take that word back to it’s Latin roots. Do you know the word atheist? ‘A’ means ‘no’ and theist means ‘god.’  Well, in amuse, ‘a’ still means no, and ‘muse’ means to think.

Aah…

If media’s purpose is to amuse, it’s goal is to make you not think. By not thinking yourself, they think FOR you! Of course, the producers know this, so they make their message strong, yet subtle… so you don’t think.

Consider this disturbing quote:

Bob Pittman, owner of MTV

“The strongest appeal you can make is emotionally. If you can get the kids’ emotions going, make them forget their logic, you’ve got them. At MTV, we don’t shoot for the 14-year olds, we own them.” 

Hmm. That ain’t neutrality. Logic is thinking. MTV wants to make you forget to think.

Entertainment is not in and of itself evil. It depends on HOW you use it.

So we need Christian entertainment?

Not exactly.

If entertainment is silly-

Christian entertainment will make us silly Christians.

Is it Right To…?

Two guy-related questions asked by my friends, girls in bible studies, and Bright Lights girls in the group I had. These are not rules to follow, simply guidelines and thoughts I’ve learned from my Bible studies. They have come up again and again in the last year, so I thought I would share them.

Is it right for me to relate to guys better than girls?

I think being able to communicate with guys easily is a gift. Some girls totally shun the opposite sex when they are teenagers, making it seem like they are snobby. Others go overboard and throw themselves at young men. It’s all about finding balance. I don’t think it’s wrong for a girl to be good at communicating with guys, provided what she shares with him is not too deep or personal. She should not manipulate in any situation. I don’t think it’s right that a girl “relates” to a guy more than she does her gender. Maybe that’s their term for communicating, but relating really means they get along with and understand guys more than girls. I’ve been learning more about feminine mystique, and how a girl should not be extremely close with young men. It asks for trouble, especially if the girl is not the reserved type. There should always be an air of mystery about us: it’s what makes the young man fall in love with us, pursue us, and eventually ask us to marry them. Without mystery, all the info about a girl is out in the open, nothing is a secret, and it’s easier for a guy to use her in the wrong way. It’s not fleeing temptation: it’s diving head first into the sin pool.

Relating to young men is fine, but we should try to understand and hang out with girls before guys.

A young girl asked me this very good question (below) that made stop and think. I actually had to give her an answer a few days later: it’s a toughy.

Is it okay to wear guy’s clothes- even sweatshirts?

I have been seen wearing my brother’s old, outgrown shorts, t-shirts, and hoodies on occasion. They are so comfy! Something about guy hoodies is magical: they’re roomy, soft, floppy and cuddly, and usually have a winning sports team’s name plastered on the front. Why do girls’ hoodies have to say Aero or AE and only Aero and AE and be stiff and formfitting?

Now onto the real answer:

I guess the answer to this question is by conviction. You should also ask yourself why you’re wearing the clothes. Is it because of rebellion against your feminine design? Are you just trying to keep warm? Are you wearing a boy (spacebar, spacebar) friend’s hoodie as a form of flirtation (manipulation)? There is a verse in the Bible that warns against men dressing like women and vice versa. It’s found in Deuteronomy 22:5-

The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.

Some people think pants are men’s clothing, and should wear dresses all the time. I think if that’s a lady’s conviction, then she should obey it and wear skirts. But, if a rule of skirts is forced on a girl, that’s not obedience to the Holy Spirit. It’s obedience to man.

And think about this: in the Bible time, everyone wore robes. In traditional China,  ladies wear pants and guys wear skirts. Culture may have a lot to do with what we wear. In parts of South America, the mode of dress are  gauchos. Plain pants and skirts are non-existent. So, you can’t say that culture is not an issue with the skirt-wearing issue. It is! Skirts are the very feminine dress in our culture. If it’s your conviction to wear them, that’s great!

There is nothing ‘Biblical’ about wearing skirts. They are modest and usually do not show off our legs and backsides.

That’s why I personally believe it’s by conviction.

Is it right to ride with a guy or vice versa- even if it’s a short distance?

If you know that this young man is completely and firmly trustworthy and responsible (and a great driver), then it should be okay.

But most of the time, guys aren’t the honorable, mature people we want them to be. In that situation, it’s best to have his sister or a friend to ride with you. This works well, there is accountabilty, and you get from point a to point b.

As for giving guys a ride, it’s best to see what your parents think. Every guy is different- and your parents know them better than I do.