'tis the season

Hello all. Just wanted to let you know that I created an Amazon.com Wish List at the request of my family. Although, if you are not related to me, you can still buy me stuff. I added the link to the sidebar over here --------------------->

blogging

So I haven't posted much lately.

Have you noticed?

I have. I think about it every once in a while. I say to myself, "Self, you need to write something on your blog."

Then I reply, "But I don't feel like it. I don't know what to say."

And then my mind wanders in another direction.

So here is my attempt at returning to the world of blogging. You know, it's kinda ironic. I have been blogging for about a year now. It started as mostly a place to communicate information about our youth ministry...but also a way to communicate with my friends and family around the country. More than that, I wanted an outlet. I love to write. This was my chance to write about whatever I felt like writing about. I never felt like I had a large audience reading. To be honest, it didn't matter to me if the whole world was reading or just my wife. I just wanted an outlet. It's who I am. I process life verbally. I like to talk through my thoughts. I've gotta get it out...regardless of whether or not anyone is listening.

Well, since August 29th blew through my life, I have had lots of readers and lots to write about. For some reason, though, I haven't felt like writing.

Maybe it's because I'm really busy. Maybe I need a little bit more time before I can start to reflect on all that has happened. Maybe it is just the way I am emotionally responding to this whole thing.

I don't know what it is...but I have decided I'm gonna just write anyway. We'll see where this takes us.

Let's start with the most important relationship in my life...the one I have with God Himself.

I have been in this awkward place where God seems to be close by and far away at the same time. I firmly believe that my entire life was leading to this moment and this storm. God led Crystal and I back to New Orleans for this. God is active and involved. Ministry is more meaningful and real than ever. This is why I do what I do. This is it. This is the opportunity that you dream about when you are preparing for a lifetime of full-time ministry.

Yet at the same time, God seems so far away. I feel like I am spiritually and emotionally spent. If I had to get up in front of a youth group tomorrow night and deliver a message from God's Word...I don't know what I would say. To be totally honest, all of the Bible and Theology that I have studied for the past decade seems so trivial right now. It's like I have spent my entire Christian life talking about the weather and nothing more. Everything I have known about prayer and Scripture doesn't seem to work any more. I don't know what to say to God. I feel like we are an old married couple...and one morning I rolled over and looked at the person sleeping next to me and said to myself, "we have been married for twenty years and yet I feel like I don't know you."

Not to say that I am having some sort of crisis of faith or anything. I know that God is real and that I am his child. I guess it's like my life has turned the page and I find myself reading a different story. I keep flipping back and forth and examining the words on the printed page and I scratch my head.

What happened?

I don't know, but I think I have a clearer picture than I did when I started typing.

Thanksgiving Youth Group

So, we normally would cancel youth group the week of Thanksgiving because teenagers are too busy spending time with their family that lives elsewhere to spend an evening with their peers that they see all the time. Well, that just isn't the case this year, is it? We are going to get together at my house on Wednesday night at 6:30. Call me if you need directions or if you just want to let me know you are coming (which would be nice to know).

quiz on theological worldview

Click here for a online quiz on your theological worldview. I was surprised to see it nailed me pretty squarely. Anyway, my results:

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 82%

Emergent/Postmodern 75%

Reformed Evangelical 68%

Neo orthodox 64%

Fundamentalist 61%

Roman Catholic 43%

Charismatic/Pentecostal 36%

Classical Liberal 36%

Modern Liberal 14%

What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

more retreat info

Here some more details on the retreat this weekend (Nov 19-21):

• The cost of the retreat is $25. You can bring the money with you on Saturday morning. That price includes the cost of a retreat t-shirt (yay!). Also, bring a couple of bucks for a meal on the road on the way home.
• We are not going up on Friday. Most of the group couldn't come up until Saturday morning...and we would get there after dark anyway.
• We are all meeting at the church on Saturday morning at 6am.
• Please be conservative in packing. Only bring what is necessary. Remember, we are camping. There is no need to bring hairdryers, curlers and whatever other hair supplies that Craig normally brings to make himself so pretty. (In fact, I'm not even gonna pack my makeup. What a sacrifice.)
• You do need to bring a sleeping bag, a flashlight, and a modest bathing suit. (Of course, it's also a good idea to bring some clean underwear and deoderant.)
• As usual, leave your CD/MP3 players at home.
• You can go home either Sunday or Monday...depending on your school and family schedule. The Sunday return will probably arrive at church in the early evening (5-7pm). The Monday crew will probably arrive in the late afternoon (3-5pm).
• If you are planning on going and haven't talked to either Doug or Clay in the last couple of days, please call me to confirm. My cell is 504-975-7570.

I hope you all can go. I am really looking forward to getting together with everyone for a couple of days.

out of town protestors

Unfortunately, that nasty word, "racism" has been flung to and fro in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In the days after the storm, some national politicians and celebrities got in front of TV cameras and yelled and screamed and pointed out the skin color of many of the evacuees that emergency workers were struggling to rescue from our flooded city.

Now, a bunch of out of town protesters have decided to come in and yell at people in Gretna. They have brought this ugly accusation of racism back to the surface just when we thought it was buried for good.

Did you happen to notice the lack of local leaders shouting that word?

Both New Orleans' mayor Ray Nagin and Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard lost it after the storm. They both were highly irate at the slow progress of the rescue efforts. They both were emotional. They both lost their cool on national televison.

But neither of them uttered the term racism. Did you notice that?

Now, I must admit, I hesitate to open my mouth on this issue. I am a church leader, not a politician. I am a white, middle-class church leader who could afford to evacuate my family.

But, you know what? I am a New Orleanian....through and through...I love this city...I'd like to think I know my city and my people pretty well.

and I think I have a good idea why neither Nagin nor Broussard nor any major local politician cried racism.

It's just simply a false claim.

Maybe if this happened to some other city. A city that doesn't have the rich, cultural heritage that New Orleans has. A city that doesn't build it's identity and personality on the shoulders of it's diversity. Maybe if this had happened to that city, the claims of racism would be valid...but not here. Your words betray your ignorance of our city and our culture.

No offense, but if you want to help our city, then quit talking and start working. I have a long list of homes that need to be gutted. Put on some rubber boots, some gloves and a facemask. Grab a wheelbarrow, a crow bar and a flat shovel. Come to 3712 Herschel St in Algiers. I'll give you the opportunity to help out.

Otherwise, go home.

New Orleanians need help. All of us. Katrina didn't discriminate when she flooded our homes. So help us rebuild together and stop trying to divide us.

my MTV

Now this is cool. The boys and girls over at Relevant Magazine have recently unveiled their own online TV channel. It is mostly music videos. Now, this isn't your typical "Christian" music video channel. It focuses on music that speaks to us on a deeper level...regardless of whether it's considered "Christian" or not. It ranges from Coldplay to Relient K...from Kanye West to John Reuben. That is my kinda MTV.

Here is the direct link to the pop-up player.