First, the trip was sobering.  The pictures and videos on the internet and television don’t truly depict the utter destruction that a tornado can bring about.  We worked at two houses, removing un-burnable debris and piling everything that would burn on top of the foundations.  Later, we looked at the Google Street View of these two homes, and literally things were unrecognizable.  In the picture, the grass was green, trees were blooming, and houses were intact and looked fairly nice.  What I was sorting through was discolored, smelled, torn, littered with glass and shingle, and dead.  The families that lived in these homes survived, but I cannot see how.

Second, the work was rewarding.  As I was sorting through the rubble, I knew that what I was doing was of help to these two families.  They couldn’t do it themselves, or else it would have already been done.  There were plenty of homes that had already been repaired and rebuilt by the time we got there.  These people needed us.  We also primed two wooden sheds that were built for two families who had their homes either damaged or lost entirely.  They were just 8′x12′ structures and cost a total of $600, but I could tell that the people they were built for felt blessed to have them.

Third, the stories of survival were amazing.  The second family whose shed we painted hid in the back of a bread truck that they had buried 15 years ago.  The tornado took every home on their street, but the bread truck stayed in the ground.  They are currently living in trailers provided by FEMA.  They may have lost everything, but they swore that God was with them as the EF-4 tornado placed a bullseye on them.

However, their story wasn’t as amazing as Miss Grace’s.  Like everyone else she knew that tornado producing storms were on their way.  So, she had been watching out her kitchen window all day hoping that nothing would happen close to her.  However, she saw the sky essentially disappear as the same tornado bared down on here home.  Instead of running and hiding, however, Miss Grace went out on her back porch and prayed with the authority of Christ over Satan that the tornado would lit before it came to her home.  As the power lines 150 yards away were ripped out of the ground, she decided it was a good time to step inside.  As the tornado got closer, her deceased parents trailer was dragged through her back yard, the windows in her home shattered, and the air conditioner in her bedroom fell out of the window.  She said that she wasn’t scared, but screamed out of frustration.  She had nothing to fear because God was on her side.  Then, miraculously, the tornado lifted and went over her house and her neighbors’ homes.  Her carport and outbuilding were taken, but she was left unharmed.  She had prayed to God for deliverance, and God had provided.

Fourth, the prosperity gospel, American dream, and desire for stuff cannot relate to a tornado’s destruction.  You may know that I don’t like anyone who says that in order to be blessed with health, wealth or some other gain, they need to give more money.  I don’t like the American dream, because the American dream is anti-gospel at its core.  I don’t like it when people desire stuff more than they desire the propagation and proclamation of the Gospel.  But I fall into the same trap as everyone else.  I want stuff–nice stuff.  I want a nice, safe home, with a nice TV, a great kitchen, a giant library, an in-ground swimming pool, and plenty of grass so that I can plant a garden and justify buying a riding mower.  I want to drive a nice car–not a Mazda, but a Mercedes, or something like it.

Tornadoes don’t care what you have, and if you wasted thousands of dollars on stuff, they will rip it out and off of the ground and throw it all over the neighborhood.  The words of Jesus in Luke 12 come to mind: ³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Investing our money in God and the mission of God–that is what a tornado cannot destroy.  You don’t need home owners insurance on your salvation or for the salvation of others.  Why buy the 50-inch TV when you  could give Best Buy $500 dollars less and by the 40-inch TV that isn’t Sony but is rather some brand that no one has ever heard of?  Then, give that $500 to the Church.  The same principle applies with every purchase in life.  Does that mean we can have nothing in life that is nice? No, it just means that where you place your money is where your heart truly is.

That’s just some of my thoughts from this trip.  I am going to post some pictures later (there will be more on Facebook), hopefully with some before and after shots.

As for some humor on the trip, we noticed that if you change one letter, Fort Payne becomes Fart Payne.  Also, as the title of this blog states, You can’t burn water.

I would have given up cable, but we’ve been without that for about a year now. I would have given up the cell phone, but we don’t have a land-line. I would have given up the internet, but we don’t have cable, and March Madness is about to start and Spring Training is in full gear right now. I think I would die. I would have given up blogging, but I don’t think I do that enough to make it a legitimate project.

So, I have given up Facebook. For four weeks. Let the detoxification begin. At a time when Facebook is used by more people than the toilet, I am going to become a hermit and refuse to log on. Facebook started when I was in college, around 2005. In the past 5 and a half years, there have been about 50 days when I haven’t logged on to Facebook. I think we can call it an addiction. I haven’t been spending as much time on Facebook recently, because I’ve been buried in books, but you get the point.

I get on Facebook when I wake up, and it is typically one of the last things I check before I go to bed. I get addicted to the news feed. If I go 7 hours without checking it, I’ll scroll through all the updates in the news feed until I get to the ones I had seen before. I’m addicted to ESPNU College Town. I thought I’d never fall for the Facebook games, but I guess no one is that great. If you haven’t eventually you will. They are mind-numbing and distract one from the normal cares in life, like eating lunch. In effect, I’m breaking a norm, a habit, a sickness.

Maybe I’ll just spend that time on other websites. Maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll blog more, maybe (and probably) I won’t. Maybe I’ll actually get done all my work for school. Maybe I’ll still have to pull 3 all-nighters to get the work done. Regardless, I won’t be wasting time soothing my need for pseudo-friendships with people I have never talked to or haven’t talked to for about 6 years.

Wish me luck. Pray that I don’t go through withdrawal.

Here is a Tim Keller interview. He dialogues about his new book, The King’s Cross, and talks about being a ‘celebrity pastor’ in New York City.

On the flipside, a John Dominic Crossan interview. Here we have a brief biography of Crossan, and an explanation of what he does and what he believes.

Its pretty interesting that as soon as one of the popular orthodox Christians writes a book taking a pro-biblical stance on the life of Jesus, that CNN tries to pump an article about one of the leaders of the Historical Jesus camp, which is very anti-Jesus having any truly divine qualities.  Too bad this isn’t a huge story on the front page, or else I would say that there was a real connection to it.  But I think that there is in some way.

Gaddhafi has lost his mind. Its official, the man needs to be put in a psych-ward.  No, your people don’t love you.  Quite the contrary is obvious when you have to use the military to push back (bomb, kill, murder) civilians.  There’s two things that I hope come out of all the disruption in the Middle East and North Africe.  First, that Christians would be given more freedom to move and to evangelize, and second, that the prices of oil would either drop or stay the same, and that the citizens of these countries would benefit from all of the profits their governments make, instead of just the rulers and their friends.

Spring Training games have started. Awesome.  I love Vlad Guerrero already.

I don’t really have a link to this, as I find that most of the articles on the combine on NFL.com and ESPN.com produce really vague stories about athletes I don’t care about, but Noel Devine, Jock Sanders, Chris Neild, and JT Thomas, formerly of the WVU Mountaineers, did fairly well in the bench press, and Sanders did well in other wide receiver drills.  Too bad I think the combine is ridiculous and unnecessary.  That’s what pro-days are for.  Most schools have them.  Have a combine for the small schools that don’t have multiple athletes able to participate at the current combine.

Charlie Sheen is coked out. I guess having suitcases full of cocaine will do that to you.  You don’t deserve a $1 million raise Mr. Sheen, and no, you aren’t such a talent that people can’t figure out.  CBS did not get you addicted to cocaine.  You did.  Clean yourself up, you look terrible.  You aren’t the “Wild Thing” anymore.  Get over it.

And finally, the Redskins released Clinton Portis.  This was overdue by about 2-3 years.  Never should have traded Champ Bailey and a 2nd round pick for this guy.  Bailey is still a really good player.

The main item for Obama was the job industry.  Americans need to lead innovation, revamp education from top to bottom, and improve the infrastructure of the country if we want to succeed.  I think its hard to disagree with the President on these points.  I don’t really know how much true innovation is going on in the United States, but the state of education in this country is alarming.  The experts in the fields of math, physics, chemistry, and other fields are not teachers, but rather those that teach these courses in high schools have gotten a degree in how to teach a certain age group.  Once given a job, many times they learn the subject matter on the fly.  They are not paid enough.  Yes, they do not work in the summer, but they teach the future of America.  If education is to become better teachers must be paid more, schools must be given more funding, and parents must discipline their children in the art of studying, rather than in the art of sports and video games.

Obama then attacked the state of our country’s infrastructure.  Needless to say, the gas-line explosions, erupting water mains and collapsing bridges of the past several years show that the things that were built decades ago are not going to last forever.  So these things need replaced.  This will create jobs.

Of course these three items were obvious choices for ways to improve the country, but will anything actually change?  The past two presidents promised the very same things, but nothing really changed, because congress didn’t actually make the changes.  I thought the most ironic thing that the President said was during his opening statements when he said that those on congress should not be battling for votes over the next year, because an election isn’t happening next year.  Yet, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate will fight and bicker and complain over the next two years, not to make change for the greater good of the country, but because they are looking out for their jobs and their donors.

Conclusion–same old, same old.

I’m still married.  Bethany hasn’t figured it out yet that she married down, and I married up.  So, mission accomplished.

I’m out of shape.  I didn’t legitimately go for a run all year, and except for a few trips to the gym, I didn’t lift any iron.  Basically, I could get beat up by a grandma right now (no offense to you grandmas out there.  You just aren’t known for beating up 25-year-old men).

I read a lot of books.  Seminary requires it, much to my demise, as I read with the comprehension and speed of a second grader.

I am still a student at RTS-O.  For some reason, God has kept me there, even though I lack in so many ways.

I forgot to blog.  I blame it on the books.

I came under the care of the Central Florida Presbytery.  I don’t think I or they understand what we have gotten ourselves into here.

My grandmother, Cathleen Bergen passed away, as did my best-friend from childhood’s dad.  You are missed.

I worked at Chick-fil-A too much.

We moved down the street, again.

Another year passed without me getting into a major accident involving my car, body, or well-being.  4 years ago I was the conductor for the train to Smashville, with stops in Pain City and Sinus Infection Park.

And thanks to Netflix, I watched waaaaaaaaaaaay to many movies and TV shows. About 1298342 of them.

Of course, Thanks for reading!

Sorry for the inconsistency.

So here’s my explanation.  I was simply burned out.  Not burned out from blogging, but burnt out from everything.  School, reading, traveling, thinking, working–going to bed at 1 or 2 in the morning nearly every night just to get up 5 hours later to start everything over again.  My grandmother passed away in March, adding to the already too much traveling.  I’m easily addicted to just watching TV and staring at Facebook and the endless sports articles that appear on ESPN and in newspapers all over the US.  When you do that during the semester, well, lets just say if I had dedicated my time differently, I wouldn’t have had to go to bed so late every night.  And maybe I would have gotten slightly better grades on top of all of that.

So, what have I done since May 20th?  Well, we cut the cable, I started working more, I didn’t take any classes, meaning I have been able to read what I want.  I started spending real quality time with my wife, something we hadn’t been able to do as much since we got married.  For the most part, I’ve been able to reboot.  I feel refreshed and energized now.

The other part of why I was so burnt out, is that I wasn’t really able to maintain my relationship with God all that well while all that stuff was going on.  So, that’s just not a good combination.  But I’ve started to realize something today, due to a book I have spent the entire summer reading–the biography of Deitrich Bonhoeffer wonderfully written by Eric Metaxas.

Bonhoeffer was a pastor-theologian who lived during the WWII era in Germany.  He is probably one of the better examples of a devout Christian over the last 100 years.  He was martyred near the end of the war for being a part of the plot to kill Hitler.  Three months after he was killed, the Allies rescued the concentration camp where he had been imprisoned.

The big question is: Why did he take part in several attempts to murder a madman?  Well, you would too if you had been in his same position, knowing what he knew and being the person that he was.  (I can’t give away too much, as this isn’t exactly a review of the book that I’m not quite finished.)

What have I realized, you ask? Well, being a Christian, a pastor, a teacher, or theologian isn’t just about what one knows.  A big reason I felt like seminary was a necessity (not just in order to be trained as a pastor) was because I felt like I needed to know a certain amount of theology in order to be a better Christian, or someone who could actually be an example for an entire church, not to mention my family.  That may be true on some levels, but it is not the only thing.

The thing that I have finally come to understand through reading about Bonhoeffer is that no matter how many books you read ABOUT the Bible, this doesn’t replace the simple act of reading the Bible itself.  Over my lifetime, that has been one of my biggest daily struggles, and I think many other Christians fail at this practice as well.

Metaxas describes Bonhoeffer throughout the book as someone who did everything in light of God’s Word.  He lived it, breathed it, thought it, and acted upon it.  That is the lifestyle that led Bonhoeffer to be who he was.

Do I do that? Do you do that?  Does the Christian church in today’s world do that anymore?  Bonhoeffer was right in saying that we have ventured into a “religionless Christianity”–a Christianity that is more concerned with just getting to heaven (how awesome that day will be) rather than living as a God-fearing and God-honoring people in this present world.  That would be a people that read their Bibles every day; a people that prayed every day; a people that worshiped God alone every day; a people that served others every day.

Many Christians, including myself, aren’t like that anymore.  We just go to church, go to a Bible study every once in a while, hang out with other mediocre Christians, and volunteer to do something once a month.

From here on out, I am going to strive to not be that kind of Christian anymore.  That kind of Christianity doesn’t win souls to Christ, but only lets them slip by the wayside.

In contrast to the doubts of many, I am going to start writing again soon.  i think I got a little burnt out after last semester and also since January school and many other areas of life have been pretty hectic.  Once I get caught up on a my readings for class you’ll start to see more posts.  For now, check out my wife’s new little business that she has started, and feel free to make any and all orders!  She loves making cards and I need lunch money.

Anyways, the Mountaineers football team beat the #9 Pittsburgh Panthers in the 102nd Backyard Brawl.  Though the consequences weren’t as great, it was good to see these seniors get some retribution on this team after the 2007 WVU loss (also my final home game as a student).  Some of you may know my dislike for the coaching staff, but if this game turns it around for Stewart and crew, then great.  I hope a man of his integrity could get the chance to be the head coach of a perennial top ten team.  But I don’t want to see my Mountaineers fall from that level just because of bad coaching decisions (clock management and play calling) and an inability to recruit and start the most talented players possible.  Stew’s a great man, no doubt, but he and the rest of the offensive staff changed too many things too quickly.  To those that think this win vaults us back up to the top, Rutgers still has a great chance to beat us this weekend.

The basketball team, however, I have no reservations about.  Last year, most players in the starting lineup were still learning how to play basketball.  This year, Truck Bryant, Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones look stellar.  They know what coach Bob Huggins wants out of them.  Even though Ebanks hasn’t started yet this season, a starting lineup of Truck, DaSean Butler, Devin Ebanks, Kevin Jones and Wellington Smith is very likely going forward.  Casey Mitchell, a juco transfer from the Miami area, is a skilled shooter and will provide a boost off the bench, and Joe Mazulla allows the team to have two great point guards on the court at once, and at least one at all times.  Butler’s versatility is also amazing.  He is easily a first or second team All American this year if he continues on like he currently is.

In winning the 76 Classic to start the season, I think they have showed themselves better than their No. 8 ranking, but the voters will understand better once this team gets into the Big East schedule.  They have at least 8 players that are starting lineup-worthy.  I see big things for this team this season, especially when they get Deniz Kilicili back from his ridiculous 20-game suspension.

Thanksgiving was a great time.  Got to see my family, eat great food, and spend a half-day out in the woods letting the deer walk by as I slept in my chair.  The plane rides allowed me to study Greek and get some reading done, and it was just relaxing and fulfilling to spend a relaxing weekend with my wife.  I’m excited for our trip to Charleston, WV for Bethany’s cousin’s wedding and an early Christmas, and then for New Years weekend when my sister and brother-in-law come in for the weekend.

Before that, though, the road ahead with school is looking a little daunting with the paper deadline approaching and finals week looming.  Not really looking forward to the long nights ahead.

In class today, we were talking about how church for most people has become a place that one chooses because it best fits them, not because that church is what they need.  In a big city like Orlando, someone can basically visit churches with a shopping list of “must-haves” and find a church that meets all those requirements.  I don’t really have an issue with this, other than with people who “church hop” all over the place because they are too picky about everything.

My issue, which was shared by others in my class, is that when one church fits into the shopping cart of so many people that it grows and grows and grows, and even though this church has good preaching and good outreach and good worship, how can that church discipline its members? Now, if you don’t understand what that is, here is my brief definition:

Church discipline is needed when a member of that church, whether pastor or Easter attendee, falls into a state or season of desiring sin.  This discipline is to be administered by those in the church according to the Scriptures in Matthew 18:15-20.

I would hope that most believers think that the discipline of individual members of a church is necessary at times (due to our sinful state), but with a church so big, I imagine that there can be plenty of members living in a carnal manner, with no one there to really discipline them and bring them back into the fold.

I experienced this when I was in college and went to a church of about 3500.  I went in to church, sat with some friends, left, and went about my way until next Sunday.  There wasn’t really any effort by the church, other than programs that I had to motivate myself to join, to come alongside me and walk beside me, and I think this was because there were just so many people that went there that most just had their circle of friends and didn’t venture outside of that circle.

At smaller churches, this problem is eliminated.  but those smaller churches apparently aren’t reaching the lost quite as successfully as the big mega-churches are (or they at least aren’t as good at convincing believers to switch churches).  So where does accountability in mega-churches come in to play?  Can that church be such a community where each individual member in that church can be disciplined for their sin, if needed?

My initial answer to that question is no, but I would like to hear your answer as well.

Sunday morning, we went with my Aunt and Uncle to North Point Community Church, where Andy Stanley is senior pastor.  We were lucky to catch him on the first week of a new sermon series, titled An Unexpected Christmas.  I had never been to a church of this size before, and I figure most people haven’t, so I wanted to share my experience with the rest of the world (or at least with those of you who actually spend your 15 minutes of free time to read this).

We pulled up into a lot that wasn’t actually on campus.  A shuttle bus runs from this lot to the church, which was only a 5-8 minute walk away.  It was raining, windy and cold, and we barely missed the bus, so we just ended up walking.  Upon seeing the building, I was pretty amazed.  The place is huge.  An estimated 12,500 regularly attend over 3 services.

We get into the building, and as people are stashing their umbrellas outside the doors, I wonder if they will ever find the right one.  We are a couple minutes late, and the band is already on stage getting ready to start the service.  We sit down, and are told by the worship leader that we will only be singing one song that morning, and that we should make the most of it.  The music starts.

It basically feels like I am at a concert and not at a church service.  I don’t have a problem with the volume, but there are about 4 cameramen (2 stationary in the back and 2 mobile walking around the stage) filming this one song set.  The 2 screens display amazing quality video, and the lighting effects bounce displays off the crowd and the back walls and ceiling.

Its actually quite distracting.  As the song ends, a married couple (that was ironically at the wedding the night before) is baptized, and the worship leader ends the first portion of the service in prayer.  Those two events don’t actually happen in the room I am in.  Instead, they are few into the room I am in live from the main worship room.  I’m guessing that when North Point built their main campus building, they didn’t see their attendance exceeding the space they had designated in that main worship hall.

At the end of the prayer, a skit starts.  Well, not exactly a skit, but a movie.  If I could find a link to this video, I would provide it.  But let’s just say that the people involved in this “skit” aren’t exactly amateurs.  The skit is funny, and ends at a good point.  A screen spanning nearly the entire length of the stage scrolls down, and Andy Stanley appears on stage.  Both stages are decorated exactly the same, which I’m guessing is to take away any distraction that might be had.

Andy’s sermon is phenomenal.  He speaks on the “guest list” that Jesus has invited to celebrate Christmas, and the main text is the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew.  The main point is that Jesus did not come to save the righteous, but rather the sinners.  When the sermon becomes available on iTunes or whatever, you should listen.

At the end of Andy’s sermon, he dismisses the assembly.  I have my relatives give us a tour of the building, and the outer size does not do the building justice.  The kids Sunday school areas are just about as awesome as they could be, and there are plenty of Christmas decorations already up.  The resource centers are very nice and contain books, cds, coffee and several other items.  We are given a free welcome pack and sermon CD by a volunteer, and then we wait for the shuttle to take us back to the car.

Overall, it was a good experience.  There are a few things that I have to be critical about, however.  The worship music is made into a show, and I’m someone that is pretty lax when it comes to that.  My personal worshiping experience was distracted from God, and I was more in awe of/annoyed by the things going on around me.  Also, the fact that there was only 1 song was also disappointing.  I understand that time was needed for the baptism and for the movie/skit, but accommodations should be made in order for God’s people to worship Him in song.

As for the rest of the service, I had no issues, other than I didn’t know which video screen I should look at while Andy was speaking.  There were two screens on either side on the main screen, and I noticed myself switching between each one and not being able to focus on just one.

As far as the rest of the church and its decorations, I didn’t really have that much of a problem, except that there was no resource that I could find that showed who the other pastors of the church are.  I cannot find anything online either, other than the main campus has 101 full- and part-time employees.  I know thats a lot of web space to dedicate to 100+ people, but I think it is necessary for visitors and members to know who is leading their church.  Of the other mega-churches that I checked out last night on the internet, most have at least some staff-bios available.  I imagine more information is made available in membership classes, but it just bugs me that I can’t find out that information now.

Other than that, great church, great sermon.  Their programs are very good and the teaching at the church is solid.  North Point and its three campuses in the North Georgia region are doing great things for God’s kingdom, and I hope that they continue to grow.