Sometimes I Fake It

January 29th, 2006

(Warning: this post rambles)

This may come as a shock to some of you, but some Sunday mornings I fake it. I fake wanting to be there, I fake wanting to talk to people, I fake my praises. Don’t hear me say that I dislike ministry because I love it, I can’t see myself doing anything else. Similarly, don’t hear me say I dislike Southside Baptist Church, because they’re like family to me. I’ve actually had a person ask me to consider coming and serving at another church as student minister but I turned them down because I love Southside so much. What I mean by “I fake it” is just that; I fake a good attitude.

Why did I fake it today? It all started seven days ago. This past week I worked Sunday through Thursday engaged in the usual pastoral duties: visiting, calling, writing cards, reading, reading, studying, studying, studying. Then Friday (which is usually my day off) I had a great, yet exhausting, time with the students at a local Fun Park for eight hours. Saturday offered no respite because I was in charge of a children’s ministry event, a “winter celebration,” and that was even more exhausting than the student event. So today, when I came to church I had had my fill of being around people. All I wanted was to stay in my office and read. Indeed, that’s just what I did up until the worship service started. I virtually closed myself off in my office until with one minute to spare I bolted down the hallway to the platform where I sit during the morning service.

I knew that if I went into that sanctuary with time to kill I’d get caught up in a conversation filled with pleasantries. The type of pleasantries that people who only speak to each other once a week engage in. This type of conversation, by the way, I have to prepare myself for. It EXHAUSTS me. Some people get energized when they spend time in situations like this. I, however, do not. After a bout of chatting and shaking 100+ hands in the matter of 30 minutes I have to retreat to my solitude like a recluse and recover.

I gave the morning announcements and the invocation prayer with the usual excitement in my voice, but it was faked. I sang all the worship songs as though I’d rather be doing nothing else, faked. After the service I shook hands and told people how good it was to see them, fake, fake. I was faking it all. What did I want most this morning? To be sleeping.

“Normal” people get to choose whether or not they go to church. If they have a cold, they don’t have to go. If they legitimately need to catch up on their sleep, they don’t have to go. But for me it’s not just church. I don’t go there just to lay my worship before the Lord. I go there to work. I go there to earn money. I go there to support my family. It’s my trade. 99% of the time I love my trade. I love it when “work” involves me taking a group of teens to Six Flags Over Georgia. I love it when “work” means I get to go to church and am paid to be there. But sometimes I wish I could just opt out of a Sunday here and there. Sometimes my heart’s just not in my work. In that way I suppose being a minister is just like any other vocation. There are days when you love to work and there are days when you have to work. I suppose I shouldn’t expect ministry to be any different.

In conclusion, I praise God that He’s given me the ability to work and the privilege to work for Him! Though, perhaps we should keep in mind that any job a Christian does he should do it as if working for the Lord. I wonder, does that mean we are to never dislike our work? I think not.

Why Parents Must Mind MySpace

January 29th, 2006

I’ve been saying this for months now, ever since I found out about MySpace.com. Finally MSNBC has put out a piece that deals with the inherent dangers teens face when they share personal information on their MySpace pages. This article was posted by MSNBC on Jan. 27th, 2006 and as of that date they report that,

In the last month, authorities have charged at least three men with sexually assaulting teenagers they found through MySpace.com and just this week police found a missing 15-year-old girl who investigators say was sexually assaulted by a 26-year-old man she met through the site.

The problem is that the vast majority of parents are basically worthless when it comes to keeping up on their children’s internet activities. I’m the minister to a youth group comprised primarily of girls so information like the above quote scares me to death. I don’t know what we as responsible adults can do about this danger besides educate the kids and their parents. Personally, I feel like my hands are tied. Realistically all I can do is spread the word to use extreme caution when sharing info online.

I have my price

January 19th, 2006

I’ve told my youth group this so I have no problem telling you, I’ll do almost anything for the right price. I say “almost” because I won’t do anything immoral or illegal for any amount of money. Examples of things I consider immoral would be self-mutilation, putting myself or others in harm’s way, etc. Otherwise, there’s nothing I won’t do for a certain amount of money. The amount of money, of course, varies based on the thing you want me to do. You want to see me eat brussel sprouts? $5. Eat a hissing cockroach alive? $100. You get the idea. It’s with this concept in mind that I will pose some questions to you, readers.

1) If you were given a choice that upon the flip of a coin you would either get $100,000,000 cash (if it’s tails) or die (if it’s heads) would you do it? Would you take the chance?

2) If you were to be given $100,000,000 in exchange for you leaving the country ALONE and could never return nor contact any family or friends in the U.S. again, would you take the money?

3) If someone offered you $100,000,000 in exchange for sensitive government information (pertaining to the country in which you reside, and assuming you knew something extremely sensitive like codes to nuclear missile silos) would you take the money and become a traitor?

You Look Good

January 17th, 2006

There are at least three aspects that a blogger needs to consider when creating and writing for his blog: design, content and functionality. We’ve read all about how a blog needs to be functional and how we shouldn’t “worry very much about the design of [our] blog. Image is a fakeout.“ Those things are very true. After all, who wants to read a blog that’s using a font/background that makes your eyes hurt? (That was a jab at all those teens who have ugly Myspace accounts.) And if I can’t figure out where I am or how to get around I’ll probably not come back to a site as often. Also, we must always keep in mind that it’s the content that keeps readers coming back for more. They’re not gonna come back to sit and look at your awesome header graphic you made in Photoshop (I speak to myself here as much as anyone.)

Still, according to new research the design of a blog or web site is actually vital to the site’s success. It’s been shown that potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds upon first seeing a site. That means that no matter how substantial your content is or how easily someone can navigate and use your site, if it’s not aesthetically pleasing chances are you’re not developing the readership you could.

Little Pianist

January 14th, 2006

Little Pianist

Thomas loves playing on the piano. We try to encourage his obvious love of music. For this shot he had already pulled himself up on the bench and began gently tapping away at the keys. He’s so intentional in how he “plays” the piano.