Reset Video

Here is the video from this past weekend's Reset sermon. These students have such a way of challenging us! Thanks guys! Great video!


Special thanks to Jeff Fritz for the awesome filming/editing! Awesome!

I talk about sex a lot

Let me start by saying that I like people with conviction. You know, people with gall who say something and then stand by what they say. It seems to me that this is a fading quality in our world. It used to mean something for two people to have an agreement and if a person was trust-worthy then a certain respect was rendered to them.

I know that for my best friend, and me, we learned that if you give a person your word, then you meant it. Word was bond sort of deal. That said, what is happening with so many that lose the virtue of conviction?

Let me clarify. I just read an article that has me kind of peeved.

Too many times in our society today, it’s far easier to just change your opinion than it is to speak up for what you believe. I’m sure many people find it easier to fold to the pressure stated and just conform rather than stand up for their own convictions. You know cower and drink the Kool-aid with everyone else instead of have a voice.

I’ll set it up for you. I teach middle school students, 7th & 8th grade to be exact. I teach students all kinds of things from the perspective of the scripture. I read, interpret and speak based upon what the Word says. I work hard to connect the bible to real, everyday life. The bible happens to say a lot about everyday life and the decisions we make. I happen to believe it is the all inspired Word of God, without error. With this in mind, I speak to my students about a lot of topics and talk about the teachings of Jesus and about how God has weighed in on many subjects. One topic I speak frequently on is that of virginity or abstinence, saving sex until marriage. I think it’s a timely topic and I certainly think students are interested in knowing about it, and to some people’s surprise, they even want to know what God says about it.

Well the article I read just spoke about how celebrity teens ought not set themselves up for failure. They ought not call themselves virgins or tell that they are practicing abstinence, because they might fail and that would give them no room in the public eye to move. The only option if they fail is an image in free fall. You can read the article here. I just have to say this is the most stupid, anemic, puny and weakest advise I have ever heard from a so-called teen adviser. The actual quote from the article is here: Stars who speak out about their virginity pledges may be setting themselves up for failure, says Jill Zimmerman Rutledge, author of teen self-help books "Picture Perfect" and "Dealing with the Stuff that Makes Life Tough."

Pardon me while I rant! I’m not sure I understand you Jill! Are you on drugs? Let me explain. I ask if you are on drugs because this is obviously a crazy question to ask a professional like yourself. You wouldn’t be on drugs. In fact, you would even be against drugs. You might even go as far as telling people or even teens to, “Say no too drugs,” because they’re bad for you. However, Ms. Rutledge, we don’t want to set people up for failure, so maybe we shouldn’t tell people we don’t do drugs. They’re may not be any other room but failure if we call ourselves drug-free, then end up using. After all, we are still building our own identities here, so we need to leave room for mistakes.

I don’t get the logic behind “mums the word.” Why can’t people just mean what they say? I admire the celebrity teen that calls himself or herself a virgin and then follows through with it. I even agree that if they voice their abstinence, they may feel the pressure of the public eye watching them, but so what? Christians that follow Christ, make that decision everyday. They choose to state their convictions and live by them. It takes real risk and there are weighty matters at stake.

I talk about sex a lot to students. I teach students all the time that waiting until heterosexual marriage was God’s plan for sex and any thing outside of that is sin. I didn’t make the rule, God did. If we don’t like it, fine, complain. But complain to God about it. Let him know how he created this thing called sex that our culture worships with every commercial and then complain about how you can’t have enough of it. Tell Him about how we need more sex. Explain to Him your better idea of sex outside marriage, preferably at a young age, perhaps even junior high, in order to have more years of sex. Let Him know how you think it’s okay for kids to experiment, kind of “learn the ropes.” Be sure you explain to Him how it’s probably not going to take an emotional toll on that individual later in life, because you understand things from a better perspective. Include the part about how He doesn’t understand all the pressure that a teen is under too.

I’m pretty sure most people would agree that marriage seals a certain vow, a genuine vow to give oneself sexually only to their spouse. Why is it so accepted now that people have sex with whomever until that marriage day? I mean, sex outside of marriage is still unfaithful sex, even if it happened years before you were married. I want students to know that God created and guarded sex. He protected it for their benefit. Why would we sell students short and tell them not to state their convictions for fear they may fail. We wouldn’t do this in any other arena. We don’t tell students to keep college a secret in case they fail. We don’t tell students to keep their job a secret in case they lose it. We don’t tell students to not ever baby-sit, incase they make a mistake at it. However, when it comes to the subject of sex, we think that we might as well give in now, cause everyone fails. Well, I think God protected it for a reason. Mainly, because something so powerful as sex could cause a lot of good or bad- if left to the whims of hormones.

I mean, I’ve never heard an adult talk about all the “mistakes” they wish they would have made in high school. Only the ones they wish they hadn’t made.

I’m just crazy enough to believe some students really can see what God created and why he protected it with marriage. Those students may just be the ones calling themselves virgins.

Thoughts on America's Dream

Currently pondering the following:

I think in mature Christian circles (those self-identifying as “close to Christ” or “Christ-centered,”)most would agree to the following statement:

"The American Dream is not biblical."

Now for me, I know I have taught students that the American Dream is not necessarily God’s plan for their lives. By it, I don’t mean that God can’t give them wealth. I simply mean that God’s plan transcends American culture and is in fact possibly adverse to the American Dream. Of course, I don’t mean that God always works a certain way; I mean that the principal behind the Scripture is not always in line with America’s idea of a dream, i.e., happiness.

Now this brings me to my point. Happiness. Most Americans are born and then ingrained with the notion to pursue happiness. I reference the United States Declaration of Independence, “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
It has just dawned on me that pursuing happiness may not be biblical. In fact, the more I think about it, it resonates in me that it is in fact the incorrect thing to pursue. Hold on, I’m not yet finished. My point is pursuing happiness is not correct. Biblical counsel seems to command us to pursue differently. I think pursuing goodness is a much more worthy and biblical pursuit.

I find the following:
Romans 15:14
I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
2 Peter 1:4-6
4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

It seems to me that if happiness was paramount, then we should be adding goodness to our pursuit of happiness. However, in verse 5 of 2 Peter 1, we are instructed to add goodness to our faith. This makes faith our vehicle to pursue goodness.

My fear is that I use my faith to pursue happiness way more often than the pursuit of goodness.

Bottom-line:
Pursuing Happiness is singular and internal.
Pursuing Goodness is plural and external.

Therefore, how do you feel about this quote from Marva Dawn:

“To be middle class is to have more than your share of the world’s resources.”

Scary thought: Is the American dream simply to be middle class? I’m curious as to how much energy I put into attaining or maintaining my middle class-ness.