After Further Review...

Thought a lot more about "The Hunger Games" on my way home from Tim Hawkins tonight. Great concert, by the way.

Michael and I had a great time dialoguing about the different themes in the movie - sacrifice, entertainment no matter the cost, and the value (or lack of value) of human life. It was fascinating what the movie (and the stories) communicated about what's actually important, even when you don't want it to be, or it's not in your best interests for it to be.

I've got many of the images stuck in my head. It's not just that teens were killing each other. Those kinds of scenes are negative whatever the age. It's wondering what I would be like in their place. How would I respond? What would I have done differently than any of the participants... or even of those in the background - the mentor, the sponsors, etc.

I'm not coming up with anything deep or profound here. I'm just going over these things in my mind and seeing what comes out of these ruminations.

Now, to bed, then to ruminate on God and His Awesomeness tomorrow, as well as what it means to be in community.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:S Wallace St,Moses Lake,United States

"Focus on Michael" Day

Well, it didn't start that way. I started with a meeting with Matthew's coach at 9:00am at Starbucks. That's not a bad way to start the day. I'm going to be the asst. coach for Matthew's baseball team this year. I am so looking forward to not only working with Matthew, but also with Steve, his coach. I worked with him last year when he was Benjamin's coach, and he's great to work with. It looks like we're going to be the Athletics this year. Oh well.

So that was a great meeting with Steve. I'm excited about it. Then there was the Men in Christ Brunch at GHC. Mmmmm... bacon. Yes, it was technically for the BLT sandwiches, but there was plenty, so I even brought some home for the boys who didn't go. Ben and Matthew and I had a good time, as there were plenty of boys their age there.

Still, a majority of the day was about Michael. Michael gets extra credit for seeing "The Hunger Games." I read enough about the movie to concern me, so I decided to go see the matinee with him. While there were certainly some intense scenes, it was, overall a fantastic movie. I highly recommend it, but, as many other reviewers have said, it's not for younger teens, and I'm glad I went with Michael in order to discuss it with him afterwards. Of course now I've got to read the books.

And now tonight we are at Tim Hawkins. Michael paid his own way into the theater for the movie, while I bought my ticket and the snacks. For this concert though, he's "taking" me. He's the one who paid the extra $20 for me to go. He didn't have to. There were others going he could have rode with. So I am very thankful that my son wanted to hang with me here.

So, since he's paid for me to be here, I think I'm going to get off this and spend some more time with him. Hopefully I can make it up to the other three in other ways as next week progresses. Still, I'm thankful to have been able to spend some quality time with Michael - talking, laughing, and simply being quiet together thinking and day dreaming... well, I didn't dream much, as they frown on that while driving. I'm looking forward to a great road trip home.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Calvary Chapel Tri-Cities

This isn't how it ends! It won't end this way.

Last night Shari and I spent an enjoyable evening watching Little House on the Prairie with the boys (Season 2). After putting the boys to bed, we watched Numb3rs. Then we turned on "Flashpoint." It's a new police drama that takes place in Toronto, Ontario, based on an actual police unit. It's sort of a SWAT team meets psychology and hostage negotiators. This was an intense movie that you need to watch to understand the rest of this post. One of the founding members of the SRU comes back to commit suicide in the police briefing room... right after he relives an old case where he feels responsible for the death of a 10 year old boy. I would encourage you to watch this. (though the verdict's still out as to whether Shari and I will make this a weekly show to watch). This is a quote from how the show ends. (Slight spoiler alert here, but probably nothing surprising.)

"This isn't about Jeremy... Jeremy's just who you always think about. I get it... Everytime I look through a scope, I see a kid run across, I see a spray of blood... You know what else I see, Danny. All the calls we didn't get to in time. The mothers that we couldn't talk down. A kid who thought it would be fun to pull a gun on a cop. You're not the only one who sees ghosts, Danny. I gotta tell you, I don't know where to put 'em anymore, either... You taught me everything I know. You made me who I am, Danny. You can't tell me that this is how it ends. You can't. Give me that gun."

As I watched the end of this show, trying not to cry from the emotion of the moment, my thoughts went to my own siblings in law enforcement/military. I suspect they've seen some horrendous things. I wonder what ghosts are in their past - buddies they couldn't save, kids in Iraq they watched die, or buddies whose families were torn apart. I don't know. I'm only speculating, as they've never shared those ghosts with me, and I don't think I blame them, as I'm quite certain I wouldn't understand. And my point is not to make light of, or put my battles on the same plain as theirs. They're not. But those ghosts got me thinking of our ghosts, and our battles.

As pastors and youth workers, Shari and I do have ghosts of our own, and Ed's quote at the end haunts me. We have the kids who turned their backs on God, no matter how well we discipled and spoke truth into their lives. We have the kids who ended up in jail, though we tried to speak life to them. We even have 1 or 2 that committed suicide themselves. And through it all, we prayed diligently for these kids. Not just "dinner prayers", but time spent on our knees for them.

Then there are the pastors and youth pastors we know who are no longer in the ministry, or no longer married, or who abandoned their kids in order to care for other peoples' kids/families. These may not be as emotionally as heavy as watching somebody die in front of you, or something equally horrendous, but, for those of us who carry eternity in our hearts and the souls of people on our shoulders, they have their own weight.

So I started thinking about all these battles, and recognizing that, in a spiritual sense (which I'm well aware of being extremely different the they physical, yet no less hard on the emotions and psyche) Shari and I are in battles that drain us, too, battles that we don't always seem to win. All pastors are in those battles. Ed's comment haunts me, especially as even now my thoughts go to my first youth pastor, and his 2 divorces, and what ever happened to his kids. It makes me want to scream at him, (and I almost did once, when he introduced some of us to his second wife/fiance at the time), "You taught me everything I know. You made me who I am, Danny. You can't tell me that this is how it ends." I don't believe it is... yet statistics tell me otherwise. I went googling, and found two studies that are relatively recent, with one less than three years old. One is a joint study by the Fuller Institute and the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development. The other is by Maranatha Life. Both of these not only have their own information, but also have culled studies by such organizations as Barna, Focus on the Family, and Campus Crusade for Christ. Both had a great cross section, and, when coupled with the other research they quote and refer to, it doesn't bode well for pastors any more than the stats for police, firemen, or military. Here are some quotes from the more current one.

* Eight hundred eight (808 or 77%) of the pastors we surveyed felt they did not have a good marriage!
* Eight hundred two (802 or 71%) of pastors stated they were burned out, and they battle depression beyond fatigue on a weekly and even a daily basis.
* Three hundred ninety-nine (399 or 38%) of pastors said they were divorced or currently in a divorce process.
* Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout, or contention in their churches.
* Eighty percent of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first five years.
* Seventy percent of pastors constantly fight depression.
* Almost forty percent polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.

No matter what you believe about God and the importance of pastors, these stats are horrendous for any profession (I'm thinking rescue workers have as bad or worse, but I don't know). "You can't tell me that this is how it ends. You can't." I'm convinced it doesn't have to. Here are some ways I'm choosing to combat these stats - to fight the enemy of my soul who is looking to destroy my marriage, the students I serve, my personal children, and my very heart and soul.

1) I make time to be with God beyond preparing messages. This week hasn't been good for that, but generally I make that time. My relationship with God has got to come first, or I have nothing to give to students.
2) I've got to put my family above the kids I serve, including the amount of time I spend with them. That means that I must make time to just be - to play - with my wife and kids. This week has been difficult to make that happen. Unfortunately, so has the past two-plus years. I can't compromise on this one. I must make a way.
3) I continue to pursue relationships with men outside of the church leadership, and outside of church. I'm building relationships with youth pastors, older men, and just plain guys I connect with. All this for emotional stability, as well as accountability.
4) I must encourage the church leadership to think about how they can care for their pastors rather than... well, not. I don't know how to do this last one. But, at the end of the article these stats are given in, the author says something similar.

" ...hey church, take care of and respect your pastor!"

These are some ideas. I have others. The two articles I read had some great ones. I would encourage you to check them out. They're amazing. They can be depressing. But, I say, "It doesn't have to end this way." For my family, I refuse to let it. I will fight the good fight. I will finish the race. I will depend on the strength of the Lord as He fights for me.

Real Old School

When I was in elementary school, we watched this series of films. I loved it then. It's old science now, as much information has been learned since it was made (which was in the 1950's), but it's still a fun trip down memory lane to just watch it.

I got them embedded, but I couldn't get them to not play automatically (you'll notice I also took down my music). So, you'll have to check them out at the web sites. Sorry for the inconvenience. Here's one on the sun, and here's one on DNA.

Each of the videos is over 50 min. long, so you may not want to sit and watch it just for fun, but then again, maybe you might. I did. Shari wouldn't let me, but I wanted to.

A Big Thanks to Joel over at "On the Other Foot" for bringing these old videos out for us. He's got a great one about our freedoms in this country that's still applicable today.

Fireproof

I have seen a ton of Christian movies over the years. By Christian movies, I mean movies with a)a decidedly Christian message, and b)made by Christians in some way shape or form. I can literally count on one hand the number of films that were well done in all ways - cinematography, storyline, acting, etc. That is to say, those were films that could compare favorably to any average Hollywood fare in those arenas. "The End of the Spear" and "The Passion" are two of the best. However, I can now add, "Fireproof" to that list without any hesitation. Thanks to our pastor and The Garden of Read'n (which purchased 1000 so that the local theater agreed to show the movie), Shari and I went and saw the movie last night (our first date in at least a month), and enjoyed it tremendously without feeling guilty because it was so poorly filmed, or had such cheesy acting, or anything of that nature.

Some of the highlights for us included the way the writers mixed humor with the seriousness of the topics involved. The interaction with the neighbors after a few of the fights had us in stitches. The writers covered the topics (marriage, selfishness, internet porn, idolatry, and the Gospel, to name a few) with grace, mixing all those topics in so well that they felt natural instead of forced in because we want to shove as much sin and Jesus stuff in as possible. The characters were real. The Godly men and women admitted to and struggled with their own issues, even as they talked about how they were fighting to overcome them, or had in the past. Those who were the antagonists of the show weren't demonized, and there wasn't some amazing, miraculous, unrealistic situation that converted/fixed them. The set-ups for themes and situations later weren't overdone or focused on so strongly that they felt staged. There weren't easy answers, and, like real life, the characters didn't see all the stuff we saw, so they made choices not knowing the outcome we knew would happen.

I don't want to make it sound like some perfect movie that will cause all viewers to get saved, all film critics to shout, "Oscar," or all marriages to get fixed. There were weak moments. There were some scenes where it felt like the actors were acting instead of being in character (if you understand what I'm saying). There were a few situations that felt a little forced and "preachy." However, I'd stack this movie up against any average movie Hollywood has to offer, and I think it could hold its own.

In the end, though, it was the message - and how it was communicated - that really made the movie amazing. This man was willing to fight for his marriage, even when he was losing. The tag line for the movie (used in an amazing way by Kirk Cameron's character) is, "Never leave your partner behind." I still get something in my gut just thinking about it. It's a movie that men will like because it's about fighting for something bigger than ourselves, and dealing with those things as men, not with our emotions. Women will love this movie because it's well balanced with emotional moments, and helping women deal with their emotions, and weed through the valid and not so valid ones. Neither the husband nor the wife are portrayed as the total villain, or the total victim. We see both sides of the pain, including the struggle of trying to fight when your heart isn't in it, keeping us from making excuses.

I don't care whether you've got a great marriage or it's struggling, or you aren't married at all. This is a must see movie. Check it out, and let me know what you think. If you have to wait until it comes out on DVD, then encourage your church to give a screening of it. I'm hoping to show it to our students before the school year's out.