BLANK PAGES

Nearly nothing in this world is as hopeful and simultaneously soul-wrenching as beholding a blank page of paper. 

In one sense, a whole world of possibilities is availed to us in that spacious virginity- All manner of thought and ideation lay within reach if only we would grasp the opportunity. The greatest of artists, the most accomplished of scientists, and the most captivating of poets all begin with a blank page before them, and taking hold of the possibility they attained greatness. 

So blankness is hopeful, but in another sense, one must be struck with some sense of empowerment- some insight worth recording- Some beauty worth portraying- some goal worth achieving.

It is a trepidatious journey- to take a something as pure as a page and achieve something with it. What if no ideas lay in store? What if we sit staring ahead into the nothingness until all our hopes are whittled away with nothing more than the futile passage of time?

But this tension of creative possibility and idle failure is not restricted to just writers or artists and their given medium. We all stare ahead into this wide blankness of our future, and sure, some things are as certain for us, but other things, the optional things, the hopeful things, are crisp and white- awaiting us to take an idea and command the moment. 

Dear reader, do not look ahead and fail to create something with the possibilities within your future. Take hold of choice and will- your quill and ink, and paint something beautiful with this life: else we stare blankly into the abyss until time takes us. 

COME LORD, HEAL OUR SICKNESS

Come our Lord and heal our sickness,
Take away this curse of sin.
See us in your loving kindness,
Have compassion once again.
For your mercy is unbroken,
But this shattered earth were on
Makes us wonder if you're with us
Wonder if we'll see the dawn

Christ, we're told, has slain the darkness
Called us into glorious light
Made us living who were dying
Brought us out of endless night.
But can His victory truly triumph,
When our way seems dark and cold?
God lit our paths but never promised
our sojourn roads be paved with gold

Come our Lord, shine brightly in us
Cause our weary souls to sing
Song of joy, not lamentation
Songs of hope, not suffering
Come dear Lord, come swiftly lead us
Cause our broken hearts to praise
On the road through death's dominion
On the road to endless days

ON "SCREEN TIME"

Note:
A great majority of the thoughts and quotes contained in this post are taken from the chapter titled "Screen Time" in the book Adoptive Youth Ministry: Integrating Emerging Generations into the Family of Faith. The article is written by Craig Detweiler.


Concerning youth ministry, pop culture, and digital trends:

Whatever the reason for the students' pop cultural attachments, the roots of their fandom may be far more spiritual than we or they realize. In studying what they watch, we may uncover students' hopes and dreams and nightmares. By engaging in deep, empathetic listening, we may find points of connection for bible studies, sermons, and counseling situations. Pop culture burrows into teens' hearts and minds in ways that sermons or Sunday School may never touch. So I'd rather start from that soft, soulful space than try to work from my agenda to their passions. 

Detweiler argues for using the weight of pop culture thrust upon our youth to "help them find God amid the electronic inputs." He states that in the same way that youth might have a hard time unpacking the implications found in what they read in Scripture, they too might not have the tools to unpack narratival poetry found in the stories of our digital culture.

They know when they love a movie or a show, but they may not fully grasp why it pierces their heart or expresses their deepest longings. Seeing, they may not see. Reading, they may not understand. 


Concerning roles of pop culture and the inner motives of show watching:

Our pop cultural habits reflect our passions, interests, and needs. Our favorite shows offer something we need- from surrogate friends and a family to a laugh or a cry. When my children were young, Winnie the Pooh served as a calm, comforting friend.  In elementary school, The Suite Life of Zach and Cody offered a silly alternative to their constricting classrooms. In adolescence, Supernatural enable my daughter to deal with dark forces she couldn't always name or explain. It exposed her to the scary and wondrous reality of the ineffable. 

We turn to pop culture when we cant name our dilemmas. We may go to the movies as a way to buy time. It holds our demons at bay for a couple of hours.

Pop culture invites us to identify with a character. It is an opportunity to see ourselves in someone else's story- both our siblings in God's household and those whom we are called to love - and step into their struggles.

Pop culture often takes us places we haven't been. Film noir like Memento or The Dark Knight may take us to scary places we don't want to dwell in. Horror films like The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister offer a safe way to wrestle with literal demons. From fantasies like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter to science fiction like Star Wars and Star Trek, movies can open up vistas and possibilities  we have never imagine. It can expand our vision. 

Television traditionally offers comfort. Sitcoms like Cheers center on a bar where everybody knows your name. The formulaic nature of television formats offers up familiar feelings (and repetitive patterns), from the warmth of Modern Family to the procedures on Law & Order and CSI. As more channels compete for our fragmented attention, reality television often depends on outrageous personalities and behavior. It is a form of shock TV rooted in titillation. Television is increasingly taking us to disturbing places we haven't been, inviting us inside the mind of a serial killer like Dexter or meth dealers like Walt and Jessie on Breaking Bad.
He then suggests when youth ministers attempt to fit the new TV model of titillation and new sensation, they often fail to keep up:
Perhaps we need to recover the comforts and familiarity of beloved television shows; a safe space where everybody knows your name can be a great gift to harried teens. 

Many times Television shows actually raise character tension in their stories by subjecting them to wrestling through the huge questions of life. Detweiler brings up a case study from an episode of Glee whereby in the course of an episode the characters wrestle with a range of questions from Homosexuality and Religion to the Problem of Evil.

Why is it that such seemingly passing concerns of fictitious characters can strike so deeply into the hearts of their viewers. We could bring up questions such as "how can God be good and there still be suffering in the world" and discuss it in our bible study, but the reality of such weighty questions is often best understood and most tangibly held by our youth when it is experienced emphatically in the life of another. This is what I find to be the most redeeming quality of our youth: teens don't care for the abstract or the philosophical unless they have a concrete context for it. The difference between a mere discussion of the problem of evil (which often lacks engagement) versus having that same discussion in the context of a someone'smother being tested for cancer is monumental and holds a categorically different impact. The one may tout helpful knowledge, but the other invites understanding.

I don't believe Detweiler is in any way suggesting we refrain from biblical study. Rather I believe him to be challenging youth ministers to be able to help our youth bridge the gap between what they identify with in pop culture and what they are wrestling with in their own lives, as well as calling minsters to be the watchmen for the truth claims that are found in the everyday mundane of our teens and enable them to compare those claims to the truth in the narrative of scripture: to take all thoughts captive to Christ and walk in the midst of a confused and broken people.

THE CROSS UNFAILING

"There is no such thing as a perfect church."
"And even if you were to find one, upon entering into you have ruined the whole ordeal."

For the longest time, I had hoped upon these words of sobering realism. They served to soothe my qualms about the brokenness I experienced in my varied communities.
"Yes, quite right," I would say, "there is no such thing as the ideal church."
"All churches are flawed; no one is doing it right."
"I'm not alone here in my hopes of a better, yet unattainable, community. "

Bull.

Today I caught glimpse of Christ in the actions of another and found myself dumbstruck: and then despairing.

"How remarkable it is to see a christ-follower in action."
"How disheartening that it seems a rarity"

Should it be possible that we, who are charged with being the temple of the living God, can have excuse for the wretched manner in which we conduct ourselves? The sheer lack of active love extended to one another is enough to cause the strongest of pastor to concede our failings.
We can blame our insecurities, our selfishness... our sin for the lack of "real" christian community we see, but when it comes down to it, we have naught a real excuse for the lack of incarnational living we experience.

Its not "on" our sin. It's on you. It's on me.
We are not to walk around as recipients, but as givers.
We cannot afford to see ourselves as consumers in our churches.
We cannot afford to think pastors are the professionals.
We cannot contract out our roles as members of the church.

Today I dreamed of a church. A people consumed with love for their Father. A people who sought to worship Him wholly; not with songs or sacrifice, but with participation in his kingdom. A people disenchanted with their own interests.  A people who held each other up without concern of their own personal security, A people who could trust, and love, and truly be together. A people who saw each and all as brother, as sister. All as child of God. A people who buckled down and really attempted Christianity.

The writers of the New Testament sure seemed to think such a church was possible. I dare say they even saw it as a direct ramification of our new life in Christ.

Hebrews 10

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Ephesians 4

Therefore I, a prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Acts 2

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 4

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.


Romans 12

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.



So Bull.

ALLEGORY OF GROWTH

The only Christian growth found in the soils of social freedom is forgetfulness. It's true. Left to our own sense of cultural 'security' we fall like a crippled, bored, and war-less Rome. When we possess no fights to face, the concern of our energies go to fruitless endeavors; we concentrate on questions of church venue, style of worship, theologically correct wording, and we so easily escape the most important questions of Christianity:

Is it true?
Is it worth it?


It is not in fields of ease but trial where real fruit is grown. Thus, while the whole kingdom of God may be rightly seen as the broad stretched limbs of a mustard tree, we are portrayed as not a tree but as branches of a vine.
A vine that needs the realities of forthcoming winters to motivate its growth.
A vine that needs weeks of drought to spur it to set deep and searching roots.
A vine that needs regular pruning to encourage vigor and vitality.

After all, most vines bear the best fruit after pruning and hard winters.


I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. - John 15