This is going to be one of the most amazing summers of my life. For the first time ministry is my job, not only my passion. I get to wear shorts and a t-shirt to work everyday, and my job description basically boils down to hanging out and sharing the love of Christ with kids. This summer I'll be interning with Hannah Guroff and Ian Maravalli under my old youth pastor and good friend Ben Kendrew.
I'm really excited to be able to come back home and invest in the students from my old church. So far, my times interacting with the youth of our church have been a blast, and i cant wait to hang out and watch them grow this summer back home, as well as the Chicago, Bigstuf, and Surf City trips. Working in youth ministry is going to be a whole new set of challenges and joys and I'm very greatful for the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of the MLUPC youth.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Sexual Harassment and the Workplace
So I had to come in early to work today to sit through a two hour seminar on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.
Oh my where do I begin.
To start with, this means that I sat and listened to a lawyer explain common sense to me….for two whole hours. And so as I sat there and listened to the thirty plus situations that we were walked through all I could think about was how broken our world really is, and how we place these complex legalistic systems over that brokenness that cover up the real issue at hand.
It was kinda depressing, tell the truth. A group of the most brilliant physicists, mathematicians, engineers, and programmers (honestly these guys have Phd’s) in the entire world were eagerly asking questions so basic, so fundamental to everything I’ve ever known that at times I wanted to laugh….as if they were joking.
It seemed that the entire time we were sitting in that room, we were basically being told what we can and cannot do when it comes to interacting with our coworkers. With an emphases on what we cannot do. And I was not as surprised as I should have been that almost every question coming from the audience involved how close to the line we could get without being deemed “in the RED” by a "Reasonable Observer".
So the company policy on harassment is 3 pages, single spaced, but it can basically be summed up with this sentence:
“An integral part of this policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to applicants and employees regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, veteran status, or disability or any other status or people group protected by applicable federal, state or local law”
Look at that for a minute. It took the lawyer 10 minutes to unpack what ” any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law” meant. Basically it means that governments have the power to determine how “any other status or people group” is defined. The lawyer explained that in Pennsylvania, homosexuals are not defined as a “people group” but how in Philadelphia county they are. In the same manner, in Michigan fat people and short people are considered “people groups” and in North Carolina this classification also applies to tobacco users. PA law also defines people over 40 to be in a people group generally referred to as “old”. Which means that if I offend anyone in any of those specific people groups in any of those specific jurisdictions I could be “terminated and/or sued” and I would almost certainly lose the case.
But doesn’t God call is higher? Aren’t we accountable to a higher court? Why does it matter if I call someone fat in Michigan instead of Ohio? The problem is that I don’t view them as a child of God. How messed up and off aim can our legal system get?
I was fascinated at how these brilliant minds tried to wrap their minds around how to “avoid the red” instead of how to pursue the green. Not once in the entire lecture were we told what we should be doing instead. Not once did I hear that instead of NOT ostracizing and degrading our coworkers for being a part of a specific ethnic group, or country, or age bracket that we should value and cherish what their background brings to the workplace, that instead of NOT pressuring our coworkers to sleep with us, or looking at pornography on company computers, or treating clients to strip clubs, or making “sexual jokes or use of sexually explicit or offensive language; gender or sex-based pranks” that we were to value, respect, and love the men and women in our lives, thanking God for the blessing of even meeting them, and to viewing sex as a divine gift that God has given to us in the holiness of marriage to paint a picture of heaven.
How did we get here? We're completly missing the point. In John 15, does Jesus say, “This is my command: Don’t Sin” NOOOO! He says, “Love each other”. And really if you think about it, my three page “Equal Employment Opportunity Policy” can really be summed up (and drastically improved) in those three words as well.
Oh my where do I begin.
To start with, this means that I sat and listened to a lawyer explain common sense to me….for two whole hours. And so as I sat there and listened to the thirty plus situations that we were walked through all I could think about was how broken our world really is, and how we place these complex legalistic systems over that brokenness that cover up the real issue at hand.
It was kinda depressing, tell the truth. A group of the most brilliant physicists, mathematicians, engineers, and programmers (honestly these guys have Phd’s) in the entire world were eagerly asking questions so basic, so fundamental to everything I’ve ever known that at times I wanted to laugh….as if they were joking.
It seemed that the entire time we were sitting in that room, we were basically being told what we can and cannot do when it comes to interacting with our coworkers. With an emphases on what we cannot do. And I was not as surprised as I should have been that almost every question coming from the audience involved how close to the line we could get without being deemed “in the RED” by a "Reasonable Observer".
So the company policy on harassment is 3 pages, single spaced, but it can basically be summed up with this sentence:
“An integral part of this policy is to provide equal employment opportunity to applicants and employees regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, veteran status, or disability or any other status or people group protected by applicable federal, state or local law”
Look at that for a minute. It took the lawyer 10 minutes to unpack what ” any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law” meant. Basically it means that governments have the power to determine how “any other status or people group” is defined. The lawyer explained that in Pennsylvania, homosexuals are not defined as a “people group” but how in Philadelphia county they are. In the same manner, in Michigan fat people and short people are considered “people groups” and in North Carolina this classification also applies to tobacco users. PA law also defines people over 40 to be in a people group generally referred to as “old”. Which means that if I offend anyone in any of those specific people groups in any of those specific jurisdictions I could be “terminated and/or sued” and I would almost certainly lose the case.
But doesn’t God call is higher? Aren’t we accountable to a higher court? Why does it matter if I call someone fat in Michigan instead of Ohio? The problem is that I don’t view them as a child of God. How messed up and off aim can our legal system get?
I was fascinated at how these brilliant minds tried to wrap their minds around how to “avoid the red” instead of how to pursue the green. Not once in the entire lecture were we told what we should be doing instead. Not once did I hear that instead of NOT ostracizing and degrading our coworkers for being a part of a specific ethnic group, or country, or age bracket that we should value and cherish what their background brings to the workplace, that instead of NOT pressuring our coworkers to sleep with us, or looking at pornography on company computers, or treating clients to strip clubs, or making “sexual jokes or use of sexually explicit or offensive language; gender or sex-based pranks” that we were to value, respect, and love the men and women in our lives, thanking God for the blessing of even meeting them, and to viewing sex as a divine gift that God has given to us in the holiness of marriage to paint a picture of heaven.
How did we get here? We're completly missing the point. In John 15, does Jesus say, “This is my command: Don’t Sin” NOOOO! He says, “Love each other”. And really if you think about it, my three page “Equal Employment Opportunity Policy” can really be summed up (and drastically improved) in those three words as well.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
“Its Been a While since I could……..Blog”
1)The Four Loves--------------C.S. Lewis
2) Blue Like Jazz----------------Don Miller
3) The Grand Weaver-----------
4) Jesus Among Other Gods---
5) Mere Christianity-------------C.S.
6) The Screwtape Letters--------C.S.
So yeah, not the broadest scope of authors, but I’ve really been meaning to dive into what these giants have written. So hopefully more on these in the weeks to come.
But yeah- I’m back in Pgh, so call me up
Follow up
So the last blog was a bit intense to say the least. But i figured I'd follow it up.
I'm not sure if spiritual warfare wasn't in my life before this last year or so, but I really have come to be more aware of it in the last few months. Never before has it seemed to be at the magnitude of life and death, but I recently was talking with a campus minister, Isaac, who showed me that the spiritual warfare we find ourselves in has ALWAYS been and always will be a matter between life and death. Its just at this point that I have become more aware of it.
Kinda makes ya a little uneasy doesn't it? Like a veil being lifted over your eyes.
But God continues to carry us through! It is rough at times. And our anger is justified before God- because He's angry with it too. In fact, I'm pretty sure he loves it when we work through our struggles with him, when we mourn the evil of this world, when we wrestle through it with him, when we lay it down at his feet, when we allow him heal the pain. Yeah- I'm pretty sure that brings a smile to his face.
I'm not sure if spiritual warfare wasn't in my life before this last year or so, but I really have come to be more aware of it in the last few months. Never before has it seemed to be at the magnitude of life and death, but I recently was talking with a campus minister, Isaac, who showed me that the spiritual warfare we find ourselves in has ALWAYS been and always will be a matter between life and death. Its just at this point that I have become more aware of it.
Kinda makes ya a little uneasy doesn't it? Like a veil being lifted over your eyes.
But God continues to carry us through! It is rough at times. And our anger is justified before God- because He's angry with it too. In fact, I'm pretty sure he loves it when we work through our struggles with him, when we mourn the evil of this world, when we wrestle through it with him, when we lay it down at his feet, when we allow him heal the pain. Yeah- I'm pretty sure that brings a smile to his face.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
The Battle For Pritchard
Be in prayer for my building because were in the midst of the most intense spiritual warfare I’ve ever witnessed. In the past year, there have been 5 separate cases where people have died- the last three have directly involved my dorm, Pritchard Hall.
You all know about last April- we’re all still working through that. The Shootings at NIU brought flashbacks for everyone. The anniversary is just around the corner too.
In November we had a kid commit suicide when he jumped off the 7th floor of Pritchard
Last Wednesday my roommate Josh’s Mom died after a long battle with cancer
And last night a car hit a bunch of our friends walking to the parking lot. Zack managed to dodge, Dave and Chris got clipped, Dan’s leg was broken and was surgically repaired last night, and Cristine died on the scene. All of these folks have been on the fringe of IV for a while. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be in prayer for Christiane's family. Also pray for Zack and Dan who are both blaming themselves for not being able to protect her. Zack has been having a really rough semester, and this just adds to his trouble. Dan had been dating Christiane for well over a year.
The Devil is not happy with what God is doing in this building.
Pray
Thursday, January 24, 2008
"The Essence of Leadership is Reproduction"
Someone famous once uttered these words.
So it got me thinking- how can I foster / mentor / encourage / build up Christian leaders?
Any thoughts?
More to come I'm sure......
So it got me thinking- how can I foster / mentor / encourage / build up Christian leaders?
Any thoughts?
More to come I'm sure......
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Dude- Where'd the Dudes Go?
So I’m sitting in church the other day….and I’m wondering what happened to the guys. Unfortunately in the minds of most guys my age, the word “Sunday” is synonymous with the word “Football” and the phrase “Sunday morning” might as well be replaced with “WTF?”.
Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that if you don’t have young men in your church, your church is dying. It’s something that frustrates the heck out of me at times, and is one aspect of the church I feel called to develop. The Church is crying for Christian guys with initiative, leadership ability, and intimate relationships with the Father to lead it.
CRYING.
The result has (more often) been that ministries / callings have not been fulfilled, or that Christian women have had to spearhead these efforts. Don’t get me wrong, there are awesome Christian women out there passionately serving God in millions of ways, and in no way can the Church be led without their guidance. I am incredibly thankful for their service and they inspire me every day, but the sad truth is that many Christian women are forced to fill roles that they shouldn’t need to because the guys simply cant step up. The problem isnt that women are leading people to Christ- its that guys aren't.
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that if you don’t have young men in your church, your church is dying. It’s something that frustrates the heck out of me at times, and is one aspect of the church I feel called to develop. The Church is crying for Christian guys with initiative, leadership ability, and intimate relationships with the Father to lead it.
CRYING.
The result has (more often) been that ministries / callings have not been fulfilled, or that Christian women have had to spearhead these efforts. Don’t get me wrong, there are awesome Christian women out there passionately serving God in millions of ways, and in no way can the Church be led without their guidance. I am incredibly thankful for their service and they inspire me every day, but the sad truth is that many Christian women are forced to fill roles that they shouldn’t need to because the guys simply cant step up. The problem isnt that women are leading people to Christ- its that guys aren't.
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
True Dat
"Being listened to is so close to being loved that most people cannot tell the difference." -David Oxberg
Monday, January 07, 2008
Searching for God Knows What
Dude break has been great mainly because I’ve gotten the rare opportunity to read. I love reading- more than TV & Sports and DEFINATLY more than video games. Maybe that means I’m growing up, maybe I’m an old man. Good books have got to be the best presents ever- and at the rate I’m going I’ll have enough from Christmas to get me through the year. Mainly a lot of awesome Christian thinkers like Don Miller, C.S. Lewis, and Ravi Zacharias. So since I got all these books I figure it’s a shame to read them and not share/discuss/debate what I’ve seen. I know there are quite a few Christian thinkers out there so if you agree or disagree or care at all- please respond or write your own thoughts on your blog because if nothing else, God loves it when we talk about him.
I just finished Searching for God Knows What. Pretty stinkin good. One thing that stood out for me (among many many….which I’ll expand on later) was this. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves:
When I meet a non-Christian do I spend more time & energy trying to reconcile Christianity to them or pointing them to Jesus?
This got me thinking quite a bit. I mean- at least half of the non-Christians I’ve met were driven away because the church has hurt them in the past, and I often find myself being placed in a position where I’m forced to be a reconciler. Usually it takes a few months for many at school to realize that these Christian folks are real people who genuinely care and (gasp!) love them. Many times its loveless contact evangelism, fire and brimstone, and checksheet Christianity clean up work and I often catch myself focusing more on how we’ve twisted the Good News rather than the message of Christ itself.
Crafty little devil isn’t he….
And so I turn into another bitter cynic off in the corner- just what the church needs. At times I find that many of us love to point at the faults of the church without taking any ownership or getting our hands dirty to bring about Godly change. Instead we turn to bitterness- we cross our arms & pout like 4 year olds.
Hebrews 12: 14-15 is awesome here:
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
See? Not only do we “cause trouble” and “defile many” by harboring this bitterness, but perhaps more importantly- we fail to see God and his blessings and are blinded to His purpose for our lives.
I just finished Searching for God Knows What. Pretty stinkin good. One thing that stood out for me (among many many….which I’ll expand on later) was this. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves:
When I meet a non-Christian do I spend more time & energy trying to reconcile Christianity to them or pointing them to Jesus?
This got me thinking quite a bit. I mean- at least half of the non-Christians I’ve met were driven away because the church has hurt them in the past, and I often find myself being placed in a position where I’m forced to be a reconciler. Usually it takes a few months for many at school to realize that these Christian folks are real people who genuinely care and (gasp!) love them. Many times its loveless contact evangelism, fire and brimstone, and checksheet Christianity clean up work and I often catch myself focusing more on how we’ve twisted the Good News rather than the message of Christ itself.
Crafty little devil isn’t he….
And so I turn into another bitter cynic off in the corner- just what the church needs. At times I find that many of us love to point at the faults of the church without taking any ownership or getting our hands dirty to bring about Godly change. Instead we turn to bitterness- we cross our arms & pout like 4 year olds.
Hebrews 12: 14-15 is awesome here:
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
See? Not only do we “cause trouble” and “defile many” by harboring this bitterness, but perhaps more importantly- we fail to see God and his blessings and are blinded to His purpose for our lives.
WHOA!
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