tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041549.post109595576154735883..comments2023-10-06T06:38:16.077-05:00Comments on the little fights: Nathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09476174265551740950noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041549.post-1096041884001218472004-09-24T11:04:00.000-05:002004-09-24T11:04:00.000-05:00As a fellow youth pastor myself I am very disturbe...As a fellow youth pastor myself I am very disturbed by the thoughts expressed by this "youth worker". I would have to say that he does have a few good points about creating an emotional atmosphere in the hopes that people will give their lives to Christ. I have seen all too often the mass conversions from youth at camps, confrences, concerts only to see the mass exodus of those same young people two weeks later. I would also agree that we as Christians more often than not put on the "life is so great" face and the world cannot relate to it. We use the Christian "f-word" (fine) so often that it happens almost without thinking. I will be the first one to say that sometimes life sucks. There are times when everything is not going fine. When I get caught in my sin and am constantly reminded at how much I am in need of Christ. The saving grace is that we have one thing that the world does not have, the creator of the universe on our side. We can have joy in the midst of trials because we know that ultimatly He is in controll. The unfortunate part is that we do not do a good job of communicating this. There are however a number of things that disturb me about what he said aside form this. I can only pray that he will have a true experience with the living God and that through this he will be used to have a mighty impact on the lives of the young people he works with.xfevvhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13937425494980633427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7041549.post-1096037922431018272004-09-24T09:58:00.000-05:002004-09-24T09:58:00.000-05:00Ten years ago, my husband's parents and one of his...Ten years ago, my husband's parents and one of his sisters were killed in a car wreck. And then we went to church, and for a few weeks people were understanding of his grief. But soon enough, he was expected to tow the line, clap and smile and sing such drivel as "I'm so HAPPY today, yes I'm so HAPPY today..." etc. The "shiny happy Christians" almost killed him, spiritually, because it was all so seemingly fake and unreal. To deny the suffering in life, to deny the reality of pain and of grief, and even the reality of the need for a real ascetic struggle in the face of deeply rooted sinfulness is to replace an honest understanding of the human condition with something like "Ozzie and Harriet". And this is sinister, if you stop to think about it. When my jaded little mind thinks of evangelical protestantism, in all of its various forms, I tend to think of shopping malls, well fed, manicured and coiffed ladies leading Bible studies for us prosperous Americans, and it clashes with my memories of Haiti, and of other places and times and cultures, where the word's of Jesus: "Blessed are the poor" ring out with hope for those who are poor materially, and for those of us who recognize that we are poor in spirit. <br /><br />And to me, that was the weakest link, that sent me running: I needed a place where my poverty would be acknowleged, and faced, and dealt with ina sober and rational way, rather than swept under the rug and denied or only allowed to exist on an occasional emotional level around a campfire somewhere. <br /><br />Well, enough of my rambling....Alanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02169732072381476940noreply@blogger.com