me, a airplane, and a MORMON!!!

Becca and I just went to Mexico for vacation. It was beautiful and we had a great time of rest and refueling. On our return flight home, I walked down the aisle of our plane, took my seat, and quickly noticed the gentleman to my right was fully dressed in BYU gear. Suddenly everything that I have ever heard or thought came rushing to my head about the Mormons...proxy baptism, the temple, and yes, of course, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir ;)

As we begin to taxi down the runway I asked the gentleman if he was a scout or coach from BYU. His response was no, but he had just taken His daughter their for college.

Long story short........The man was an Apostle in the Mormon Church (a big deal in the Mormon faith....similar to an Assistant DS for all of you Wesleyans and Methodists). For the next three hours we discussed the in's and out's of the Mormon faith. Everything from the starts of the faith with Joesph Smith to Christ return and the different levels of Heaven.

But hears is the question within it all......................

When asked about salvation he clearly started that his salvation comes from believing through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He believes in living a fully "holy" life. Honestly, he gave the exact answer any of us would give if we were asked how we have salvation. Scripture clearly states that salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8).....So does having terrible doctrine such has...proxy baptism, believing Joesph Smith and the Book of Mormon are true Canon, and other doctrines of the Mormon Church mean that they are not saved.

Remember....they truly believe and accept Jesus Christ as the ONLY way to salvation.

What do you think....Can "bad" doctrine take or keep you from salvation???

Perceptions

This story has already been reported and blogged about elsewhere but I wanted to share it anyway...

It comes out of the hype surrounding race for the White House. Unfortunately this may be another example of Christians adding to the perception problems facing the Church today. A former pastor and weatherman (?) who now works for James Dobson's organization Focus on the Family, is praying for rain. This in itself wouldn't raise many eyebrows. It's his motivation that is causing a stir. He is praying specifically for rain on the evening that Barack Obama is planning to speak at the Democratic National Convention. His political agenda does not line up with Sen Obama's, so he's encouraging people to pray that God would send torrential downpours 2 minutes before Obama takes the stage.



Is this why we have prayer? And whatever happened to loving and praying for our enemies? My hope is that non-followers of Jesus don't confuse this man's message with the message of Christ. My hope is also that we'd be living lives worthy of the calling we've received so that those close to us would see more accurately what "Christlikeness" looks like in our world today.

Thoughts?

Jesus is my Homeboy

I recently read a quote by Gary Haugen. He posed the question, "Are Jesus and I interested in the same things?" Thinking about that I took it a step further and thought, "Are Jesus and I interested in the same people?" Looking at the people I interact with daily makes me wonder if I'm intentionally interacting with the people Christ would be seeking out were he here in the flesh. I don't think I am. Actually just two days ago we had to stop in Gary, Indiana on the way home from a Cubs game. And I got uncomfortable at the gas station. Just because of the conditions and the people around me, I'm embarrassed to say. Overwhelmed with insecurity and fear, not love and compassion.

I've been coming to the realization that our good news is a social gospel, impossible to practice without the personal interaction of the least, the last and the lost. Looking at the past 14 months of ministry here I think I've done a good job of leading our students in their personal walks with Christ, guiding them in the discipleship process. However, I'm afraid I may have placed too much emphasis on personal growth and not enough on loving outwardly. It's a struggle.

Above is a picture I found on another favorite blog, The Plow. Maybe just a little reminder of the large scope of who Christ came to save.

Was this at your church pudge?

Yikes. Have fun explaining the huge tire mark 6 feet high on the wall to the trustees.

In other news...this post is my first attempt to begin posting more regularly on this site again. Cross your fingers.

Mass Confusion SHALL NEVER DIE!

On behalf of Mass Confusion I would like to interject as a life long fan, these vicious comments displayed on the video are poor descriptions of such talent. The band is brilliant and has brought much spiritual peace to my soul and many others. As many of us know the three "rockers" who make up Mass Confusion: Tom I have a butt chin Chamberlin Jr. (vox), Dan ...I gave myself an enema by myself...Van Dyne (lead guitarist), and Joel you like Kara, "no I don't" yes you do, "shut-up guys"...(stomp, stomp, stomp) slam the door to Sawyer House Stone (drummer) have parted ways, but their "fine" music has brought them back. They are currently working on their second album titled, Why the Hell Did We Call This Band Mass Confusion? EP, which will hit the stores October 34st 2009. Due to the great amount of pre-orders already...12, the band will only be releasing the CD in select stores: 7 Elevens, IWU bookstore (thanks Joel), Franks "We buy any old, boring, CD for 1/2 price and re-sale for 1/4 of the price" bargain barn, can purchase them on the IWU Choral tour next summer (thanks Dan), and Starbucks @ Aspen Grove located in Littleton Colorado (thanks Tom). This CD is hot and will go quick. The new hit single, "It was definitely a Friday night" is topping the charts. With all of this said I would appreciate your apologies and respect for the entire band as they have proved themselves to be one of the best bands to ever live. This is for you Mass Confusion! Live On!

mass confusion

Below you'll find a video of Becky and I (& Joe Vitiello) making strawberry jam from some berries she got at a local u-pick place. I made an interesting impromptu comment, re: that one-hit wonder band led by our own Thomas Chamberlin. I thought it was worth sharing ... (no offense Tom)

MISSING a student!!!!!

Last night started really well! We had a great service. The students were engaged and I had several of them tell me that they really "got it" tonight. So that was very encouraging :)

But that's were the night went south.

At about 7:15 someone asks, "Where is Grant at?"
I responded with the casual, "I don't know, try outside."

About 2o minutes later the student informs me that they have looked outside, in both buildings, in all the bathrooms, and Grant is nowhere to be found.

At this point I am mildly conserned. So the student and I go on a hunt for Grant.

20 more minutes pass by and we still cannot find Grant. We had looked everywhere!!! I was so consecnerd that we even tried to get a hold of his parents to see if they had pick him up (Grant always rides home with Justin).

Almost an hour has passed by now and all of a sudden Grant walks out of our other building which has wireless internet.

Why does wireless internet matter? I'm glad you asked...

Grant had just spent the last HOUR, taking a crap, playing his PSP on the wireless internet in the other building....LOL

Needless to say, I'm glad I still have my job and I'm thankful for that.

So next time you can't find one of your student check the stall, because they are probably taking a dump, playing their PSP on your wireless!!!

-I LOVE YOUTH MINISTRY :)