Judges that give Two Thumbs Off

I'm going through Judges with the youth group and came across a really rough story that gave me a pretty strong warning.  Judges is a tough book to study and go through because it was a time when everyone, including most of God's people, had turned away from God and were living in tremendous sin.  The time period is summed up at the end of Judges with its final verse.

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.  (Judges 21:25)

Imagine a world where nobody cared what God or anyone else thought.  Imagine a place where everyone did whatever they wanted and whatever they thought was right.  People took what they wanted and only looked out for themselves.  This is the time of the judges.

Theology Tuesday: Passive or Agressive?

Turn the Other Cheek?  

Its one of the most quoted verses in the entire Bible.  But what does it look like in real life?  Should Christians never stand up for themselves?  Should we allow others to harm us and take advantage of us?  Should we let people cut us in line, cheat off of us at school, and bully us?  Is it ever OK for a Christian to fight back with words or fists?  Must we always be pushovers?  What does the Bible say about this?

Feature Friday: Second Thoughts on Kony 2012

So last week, I shared my thoughts on Kony 2012.  There was something I overlooked that I would like to address.  In addition, very shortly after I shared my thoughts, I found out about some really unfortunate events that I also want to speak to.  So, here are my second thoughts on Kony 2012.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, click the link above to read my first article.

Feature Friday: Kony 2012

In terms of going viral, the Kony 2012 video might as well be the Bubonic Plague.  In about two weeks, this video has been viewed over 70 million times!

The video that's all over the internet was put out by the Invisible Children with the express purpose of exposing the horrible war crimes of Joseph Kony with the goal of causing the American people to make so much noise about it that it forces our politicians to stay involved in stopping him.  If you have not seen the video, I highly encourage you to watch it in its entirety.  You'll have to set aside 30 minutes of your time, but it is worth it.

What Goes Around Comes Around

I've been studying the life of Jacob again as I'm teaching the kids at church about him.  What has been striking me this time is the way Jacob's sins are visited back upon him.  Check this out...

Responding to "7 Guys Jump Asian Man" on Youtube

My Facebook newsfeed blew up today and last night with a Youtube video showing what looks like 7 high school boys jumping a Chinese boy.  Comments were mostly directed against the attackers saying things like, "I hope they get whats coming to them in prison" and "They deserve to burn for this."  It was absolutely brutal to watch and for this reason I won't link it here and don't recommend you watch it.  To think that people would actually treat someone like this is heart-wrenching.  My prayers go out to that poor kid.  This video has prompted so many different kinds of responses though, that I'd like to weigh in a bit and give my thoughts on how a Christian should respond to such a terrible thing.
 
Angry

People might expect a pastor to say the Bible says anger is a bad thing.  Let me say the opposite.  In this case, you should be angry.  For so many reasons.  You should be angry that an image bearer of God was violently attacked.  You should be angry that he was attacked for no good reason.  You should be angry that an innocent person was beaten.  You should be angry that seven people thought that ganging up on one person was not unfair or wrong.  You should be angry for the racism behind this as some of the attackers mock the Chinese kid for not speaking English.  You should be very angry about this.

10 Years Since 9/11

I was a freshman in high school.  I left the locker room with my gym shirt and tight gym shorts on.  Why do they always make them too small?  I lined up with the rest of my class and we were cracking jokes about something or other when Coach Murry walked in.  He seemed a little shocked about something and with a shake of his head and a half grin he said, “Did you hear what happened?”  We all shook our heads no.  “Some idiot crashed a small plane into the Pentagon.”

Well that’s strange I thought.  We finished up PE and I thought nothing of it.  But by the look on my algebra teacher’s face when I walked into my next classroom, I could tell something was really wrong.  She turned on the TV and we watched in horror as smoke poured out of the towers on live television.