Out of the grumblings of a Grinch, an idea was born.
A couple of years ago, my much more attractive and infinitely more intelligent wife was having one of those days that most of us occasionally have at Christmas. We were getting ready for church, and she was just feeling "Grinchy" that day. The money we waste, the outfits we wear, the barrage of Christmas music starting around Halloween...
Then, out of this, came some complaints about Advent. No, Tracy wasn't complaining about Advent itself or the celebration of it in general. Specifically, she complained about the candles. Yes, the candles! Why do we use those goofy purple and pink things? What's the point of that? Why can't we do something different?
Clearly, her heart, for that one day, was two sizes too small.
It's a good thing for us that God, through the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, can take our worst and turn it into something good.
From that day on, Tracy and I have worked on some new ideas for Advent. No, this is not the Christian version of Festivus. Nothing in our idea involves an aluminum pole or the Airing of Grievances. And it's not that anything is particularly wrong with the current advent celebrations.
But why not change up the colors a little? Why not use some different names for the candles? Why not "freshen" our perspective on the coming of Christ?
The problem is that ideas come easy. Following through on them is a little more difficult.
Over the last two years, I've mentioned our original idea several times. Tracy always rolls her eyes and says, "Yeah, right!" But I'm not letting this one go. This is something that will be good spiritually for us, and hopefully for others. It may take us years, but I want to finish with a fresh look at the Advent season. (Ironically, it's usually Tracy who is pushing ME, so we are in unchartered territory right now).
We made a little progress this year, but still have a long way to go.
As it stands, we have the candles of patience, obedience, and reconciliation to go along with the candle of the outcast and the Christ candle. The colors are light green, yellow/gold, light blue, and purple. The Christ candle is white, but it is shorter than the other candles. This represents that Christ lowered Himself to our level in order to offer us God's grace and truth.
That's what we have so far. We are still working on it, and hope to have the project completed by next Christmas. Do you have any thoughts or ideas to add to the project? Leave us a message and let us know what you think!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Why Theology Matters
There is a terrific little pizza/wings place in downtown Greer that I love to frequent (Wild Aces if you want to check it out). This is amazing, since I spent most of my young life avoiding downtown Greer, or what was left of it, at all costs. But the Greer "Renaissance" is worth a look if you haven't seen it, as it is a smaller, more easily accessible and genteel version of Greenville.
Most of the people at the restaurant know me, and know that I am a minister. I stopped by to pick up some food for the fam last week, and had to sit around waiting for my order to be completed. In the span of about 30 minutes, I encountered three employees who were very happy to engage in conversation.
The first was a cook who was taking a break, and ask me what I thought about the TULIP principle. You can find an explanation of that principle at this blog--a pretty decent summary. We were trying to figure out the acronym and what it really means for all of us who are believers in Jesus Christ.
The next guy started up a discussion about the "True Love Waits" concept and why it didn't/doesn't work. (For the record, I took a lot of flak 20 years ago for telling people that it wouldn't work). We discussed people who had signed "The Pledge" and engaged in every imaginable sexual activity other than intercourse. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
Before I finally got my food, I talked with a former "PK" like myself (that's "Preacher's Kid" if you missed it). We talked about the difficulties of growing up in that world, and how hard it is at times to realize that you are a Christian who disagrees with some of your Christian upbringing.
This is all within thirty minutes of ordering a few pizzas and a plate of garlic parmesan wings.
It's amazing. I walk into a restaurant to order some carry-out, and I end up having three deep and meaningful theological conversations. I go to church on Sunday morning, and the deepest conversation involves the scores from Clemson and Carolina games. (Or, for a few of us, Furman and Wofford games).
In one form or another, I've served in the ministry for 23 years. In all of that time, I am fascinated by the fact that some of my deepest theological conversations occur far outside the walls of the church. In the church, we tend to think that we have it all figured out. We have the keys to the kingdom, the theological answers that people need but have yet to find. And when you have all the answers, there really is not a lot of need for discussion.
Outside of the church is a far different story. It's amazing the conversations that get started when you are willing to admit to people that you are a minister. People will suddenly open up with all kinds of questions, problems, and ideas that they would never share with anyone else. But inside the church walls, people cover their true identity and hide their questions/doubts like they are a part of Al Capone's vault.
This is why our study of scripture and theology matter.
It is something of a sad statement that we are not more open within the Body of Christ that is the church. But even still, we have to keep our thoughts and theology sharp, because plenty of people out there are willing to ask questions. The challenge for us is to be open and honest and willing to take on those challenges when they come.
Contrary to what we often hear in Christian circles, the world is not completely hostile to Christ. They are simply hostile to a Christianity that is uninformed and unwilling to answer questions.
Most of the people at the restaurant know me, and know that I am a minister. I stopped by to pick up some food for the fam last week, and had to sit around waiting for my order to be completed. In the span of about 30 minutes, I encountered three employees who were very happy to engage in conversation.
The first was a cook who was taking a break, and ask me what I thought about the TULIP principle. You can find an explanation of that principle at this blog--a pretty decent summary. We were trying to figure out the acronym and what it really means for all of us who are believers in Jesus Christ.
The next guy started up a discussion about the "True Love Waits" concept and why it didn't/doesn't work. (For the record, I took a lot of flak 20 years ago for telling people that it wouldn't work). We discussed people who had signed "The Pledge" and engaged in every imaginable sexual activity other than intercourse. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
Before I finally got my food, I talked with a former "PK" like myself (that's "Preacher's Kid" if you missed it). We talked about the difficulties of growing up in that world, and how hard it is at times to realize that you are a Christian who disagrees with some of your Christian upbringing.
This is all within thirty minutes of ordering a few pizzas and a plate of garlic parmesan wings.
It's amazing. I walk into a restaurant to order some carry-out, and I end up having three deep and meaningful theological conversations. I go to church on Sunday morning, and the deepest conversation involves the scores from Clemson and Carolina games. (Or, for a few of us, Furman and Wofford games).
In one form or another, I've served in the ministry for 23 years. In all of that time, I am fascinated by the fact that some of my deepest theological conversations occur far outside the walls of the church. In the church, we tend to think that we have it all figured out. We have the keys to the kingdom, the theological answers that people need but have yet to find. And when you have all the answers, there really is not a lot of need for discussion.
Outside of the church is a far different story. It's amazing the conversations that get started when you are willing to admit to people that you are a minister. People will suddenly open up with all kinds of questions, problems, and ideas that they would never share with anyone else. But inside the church walls, people cover their true identity and hide their questions/doubts like they are a part of Al Capone's vault.
This is why our study of scripture and theology matter.
It is something of a sad statement that we are not more open within the Body of Christ that is the church. But even still, we have to keep our thoughts and theology sharp, because plenty of people out there are willing to ask questions. The challenge for us is to be open and honest and willing to take on those challenges when they come.
Contrary to what we often hear in Christian circles, the world is not completely hostile to Christ. They are simply hostile to a Christianity that is uninformed and unwilling to answer questions.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Update: Food Scavenger Hunt
The last time that the Youth Food Pantry opened, the team ran out of food before 10 am.
After Sunday night's Food Scavenger Hunt, there is very little chance that will happen at the next pantry on Nov. 5.
After working for several weeks, the youth brought in 3,013 food items to fill up the pantry. Amazing Grace, led by Samantha McMillin, was the top team with over 2,000 cans collected and over 4400 points for their team. Sam had plenty of help from Adeline LeMaster, Charles Ashmore, Melanie Terry, Matthew Jones, Melanie Pressley, Ben Zeigler, Hannah Stancil, and Ryan Herbst. Also participating last night were Paige Herbst, Brady Trout, Rachel Moore, and Sarah Stone. Thanks to Becky Finch, Joey McMillin, and Kim McMillin for all their hard work with this event.
It was great to have this group of students and parents working on this event. This really puts the pantry in good shape to maintain over the next few months. If we can keep a steady "stream" of goods coming week to week, it should keep the pantry going for a while.
But imagine this: If 3000+ cans were collected with about 15 people, what could we do with 25 or 30?
It is never too late for you to be a part of this ministry. During a tough economic "crunch," there is certainly no shortage of people in need. Jump into action and do what you can to keep collecting donations!
The pantry will open twice in the month of November. The college students have agreed to handle things on Nov. 5, while the youth will work again on Nov. 19.
After Sunday night's Food Scavenger Hunt, there is very little chance that will happen at the next pantry on Nov. 5.
After working for several weeks, the youth brought in 3,013 food items to fill up the pantry. Amazing Grace, led by Samantha McMillin, was the top team with over 2,000 cans collected and over 4400 points for their team. Sam had plenty of help from Adeline LeMaster, Charles Ashmore, Melanie Terry, Matthew Jones, Melanie Pressley, Ben Zeigler, Hannah Stancil, and Ryan Herbst. Also participating last night were Paige Herbst, Brady Trout, Rachel Moore, and Sarah Stone. Thanks to Becky Finch, Joey McMillin, and Kim McMillin for all their hard work with this event.
It was great to have this group of students and parents working on this event. This really puts the pantry in good shape to maintain over the next few months. If we can keep a steady "stream" of goods coming week to week, it should keep the pantry going for a while.
But imagine this: If 3000+ cans were collected with about 15 people, what could we do with 25 or 30?
It is never too late for you to be a part of this ministry. During a tough economic "crunch," there is certainly no shortage of people in need. Jump into action and do what you can to keep collecting donations!
The pantry will open twice in the month of November. The college students have agreed to handle things on Nov. 5, while the youth will work again on Nov. 19.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
4:12 Ministry: Who We Are
This is the new site for news, articles, information and updates about the youth and young adult ministries at Inman First Baptist. This site will soon link directly from the church website, www.ifbc.net.
In addition to information about youth and young adult activities, we will also be publishing articles about the church, culture, Christianity and religion in general. Hopefully, these articles will offer Biblical insight into ways that we can live out our faith in a postmodern world.
Over the next few weeks, we will be upgrading the appearance of the site and hope to include pictures as well as promotional ads for our events. Subscribe to us in order to get all the latest updates!
In addition to information about youth and young adult activities, we will also be publishing articles about the church, culture, Christianity and religion in general. Hopefully, these articles will offer Biblical insight into ways that we can live out our faith in a postmodern world.
Over the next few weeks, we will be upgrading the appearance of the site and hope to include pictures as well as promotional ads for our events. Subscribe to us in order to get all the latest updates!
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