Should we encourage students to see “The Passion”

January 30, 2004 @ 2:21 pm by Pressed

Today I received an e-mail for the second time dealing with an article written by Doug Fields. The basic premise of the article is, “Do you encourage students to see ‘The Passion’ or avoid it because it’s ‘R’ rated?”

I have yet to see The Passion of the Christ but I have heard reports from several people who have. It seems like everyone in the world has seen this movie already and I am somehow in the dark. But from what I gather it seems like it will be an amazing movie. So what’s the problem? Well, unfortunately it is rated R.

Is it possible that youth workers will get into some hot water over taking their youth to see an ‘R’ rated movie? After being strong proponents of purity and encouraging teenagers to make wise decisions about what movies they watch, music they listen to and so on do we give them mixed signals by saying, “but it is ok to watch this one rated ‘R’ movie.”

Of course the movie is rated ‘R’ because of violence. Really it comes down to whether we should avoid the movie because of the rating or encourage it with “caution and intelligence.” I am certain that this movie will cause students to see the passion of Christ in a whole new light and it may even lead some to a first time commitment to Christ, so I personally lean towards promoting it with caution.

Here is what Doug had to say, “Let’s be honest, the Cross was violent! Crucifixion was a brutal form of execution. When Jesus died for my sins, the nails were real, his flesh broke, and the blood fell. This incredible (and violent) act paid the price that I couldn’t pay. After seeing the violence that Jesus may have suffered, I want to know him more, I want to be a more committed follower of Jesus, I want people to know what Jesus did. Because of this, I personally believe it’s worth the risk of taking some heat by promoting this movie.”

Whether you are a youth leader, a school teacher, or you just work with teenagers and you are planning on taking them to see this movie or you want to encourage them to see it, Doug gives a few ideas that may be helpful for you. These are things that he is going to do with his group:

1. Write to parents and encourage them to take their kids to see this.

2. Contact our local movie theatre and see if we can rent it out for a private screening for our teenagers and their friends.

3. Purchase large quantities of the Gospel of John so non-churched students can further investigate Jesus.

4. Create discussion opportunities following each screening.

5. Show the trailer to our leadership students and begin brainstorming how they might want to bring their friends to the movie when it opens February 25th (Ash Wednesday).

6. Create a handout for our regular students: 10 ways to get your friends to see this movie.

7. Start talking about the movie to our students to create a little pre-view hype. Honestly, I think the R-rating will work to that advantage for students to be interested in seeing it.

What do you think? Should we promote it? Should we get these teenagers to watch it? Or should we avoid it? It’s your turn to speak in the comments below!

Pressed

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What’s love got to do with it?

January 29, 2004 @ 10:13 pm by Pressed

Love. Such a difficult thing to define, discuss, and grasp. The western world puts a huge emphasis on falling ‘in love.’ Some people that I have talked to even go so far as to say that “greater love cannot come after marriage.” Basically saying that when you marry someone it is because you are ‘in love’ which is the greatest love, and so the concept of love coming after the marriage is ludicrous to them. They stress love as the reason for commitment and would define love as more of a feeling and emotion than anything else.

What is the problem with that? If love is an emotion or feeling then that means emotion is the basis for marriage. Feelings and emotions change like the wind, and go up and down like a roller coaster depending on your mood. Which means your marriage will fluctuate and change as often as your emotion does.

The Hebrew idea of marriage is different. Their emphasis is on commitment over a feeling. They are committed to stay true to the relationship regardless of the fluctuating passion or emotion. The Hebrew idea is that commitment comes first and out of that comes passion and intimacy, thus you have a stable relationship.

I agree that our culture emphasizes passion and emotion over commitment. Most of our society today lives under the principal “if it feels good do it.” Our feelings and emotions are beginning to become more important than our intelligence, reason and morals.

Is love a feeling and emotion like the western culture believes? Or, is love a commitment? If it is neither of these things, then what is love? Without telling you what I think, I would like to hear what you think! Let me know in the comments.

Pressed

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Children in Worship - should they be allowed?

January 28, 2004 @ 10:18 am by Pressed

While reading the book Christian Worship by Franklin M. Segler I came across a chapter dealing with children in worship services. If nothing else this chapter has brought to my attention a few concerns about how churches handle children in worship.

There are a large number of churches that have what is called Children’s Church on Sunday mornings. More often than not this is not in addition to, but instead of the regular worship service. The children actually go to a separate room to have their own service away from the adults. I began to ask myself the question, what purpose does this actually serve? Does it have a positive or negative effect on our children? I would like to clarify that I am talking about older children, around 1st grade and up. The ultimate question that I am dealing with is whether or not it is better for children to be in the worship service with adults or for them to be in their own service apart from everyone else.

In order to fully understand this I would have to ask each individual church what their purpose for children’s church is. For instance if the purpose of children’s church is an attempt to separate the children from the worship service for the convenience of the adults then I would have to say that it is a horrible practice and a mistake. However, if a church has this program in order to help the children grow spiritually in worship and in a relationship with God then we should consider the question of which one actually helps the child grow more, regular worship service or children’s church.

I believe that worship should be something that everyone experiences in a church, whether they are children, teenagers, or adults. Could it be that our worship services are designed to facilitate the thinking of adults only ultimately neglecting the needs of both children and teens? Shouldn’t our worship services be designed specifically to lead the “family” in worship and not the individual? Yet it seems as if we are splitting the family up by pulling children out, segregating the youth (offering nothing for them) and speaking only to the adults. Sunday school is an age graded program designed specifically to reach certain age groups. Corporate worship should be designed to reach all age groups as we all come together for celebration and worship. Should worship ever be an exclusive act? If not then shouldn’t we be doing all that we can to ensure our worship services represent and reach at least some aspect of all of its members, children, youth, young adults, median adults, and older adults?

Children’s Church – The bad side:

When we separate children from the rest of the congregation they are aware that they are in “pseudo-church” while “real church” is going on somewhere else. They recognize that the service they are in is not actually “church” and they are in no way learning how to act in a worship service.

It is a known fact that children learn by example. In fact they learn more by example than they do by hearing words, therefore, in the corporate worship services the children will be learning by watching what everyone else does. As their parents sing, take notes, and participate in the service the children are in the process of learning. Watching baptisms, the Lord’s supper, drama’s, things on the screen, these are all visual aspects of the service that will invoke learning in the child. They will learn not only how to act but how to worship even if the content of worship is not fully understood. I dare say this is something they do not often get in children’s church. However the negative side to this is that if a parent talks of the importance of worship and then doesn’t sing hymns the lesson is lost, unfortunately we face the risk of bad examples.

Children are more likely to perceive their world through their senses than adults. Hearing, seeing, touching, smelling, tasting could all invoke a learning experience in a child. The simple act of holding a hymnal or pointing to the words as you sing together as a family could be a powerful learning experience.

Children’s church does place children in an environment where they are with other children. It allows the teacher to design everything specifically for them to help them to learn. Wait a minute! That sounds just like Sunday school. Except for the fact that it is a large class with more kids, more distraction, and a larger need for control. In corporate worship the children are with their parents, and not necessarily in a large group distracting each other.

My other concern deals with the family. As a church, if you say that one of your values is the family and yet you never do anything to help the family or bring them together then I am not sure if the family is really a value that you hold dear. It may be a false assumption! If you separate the family in Sunday school, corporate worship, and Wednesday nights, and if you never have a time where the family is actually together then how can you say you support strong families? Are we not separating them instead? Even during meals you find that children set with children, youth set with youth, and adults set with adults, which represents exactly how they are segregated at every other service the church offers.

Children’s Church – The good side:

As I said before, children’s church does offer an environment where kids can be together with some of their own age group. They can interact, ask question, and have some fun at the same time. It is certainly a time that they can have a meaningful bible study and experience growth.

Children’s church can also help to aid the kids in specific learning capacities. You can teach them about aspects of the worship service, things that we celebrate and do. Though they won’t see it in action and they do not get to participate in it as they would in “big church” they will have some knowledge of it. Just remember, kids learn more by example than they do by hearing it! You can teach them about hymns, baptism, the Lords supper, and other aspects of the service. You can show them videos and do things to hit all of their senses in order that they may learn. There are things you can do outside of the worship service that are certainly beneficial.

There are other times when the needs of children would be best served in a separate worship service as well. If your church has a large amount of children who come without their parents with no previous worship participation experience then it would be better to have them in children’s church. But you could gradually get them into the regular worship service by enlisting adults to serve as church parents.

My Conclusion:

It seems to me like all of the benefits that children get with children’s church could be given to them through Sunday school or other times that children meet together, but the stuff they are missing in the corporate worship service cannot be replaced! It would be better for them to be in worship and experience children’s church at a separate time than for them to completely miss the service and then suddenly when they are in 6th grade be forced into corporate worship with not much previous experience.

There are many different ways that we can reach children in a worship service. Giving out children worship packets, having things in the bulletin specifically for them or things on the screen. You could have children join the service every other week or have them come in for the worship and dismiss before the message. There are several different ways to do this. We have the ability to design our services in such a way that reaches everyone instead of designing them for adults only and boring everyone else to death. I certainly do not hold all of the answers and I would like your opinion on the subject as well. I would however like to see our churches today teaching our children family values by actually letting them be with their family. An inconvenience? Maybe. An experience that could change their life forever? Certainly. Is it worth it? Defiantly!

Should children be in corporate worship? I say yes. Others say no. What do you say?

Pressed

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Are we really free?

January 27, 2004 @ 8:40 pm by Pressed

Welcome to another Blogger Idol. Last week the theme was The 80’s. This week the theme is freedom:

Are we in any sense free if God exercises providential control over all events? I venture to say that the answer depends on what is meant by the word free. I think everyone would agree that we are in some sense free in our choices that we make, however the term “free” is subject to many misunderstandings and mis-interpretations.

If man is by nature evil and by nature does evil (Psalm 53:3b “…there is no one who does good, not even one.”) then how can man do any evil outside of his own nature? If then it is the nature that leads man to do evil is man’s choice to do evil actually a free choice or a choice that is a slave to sin? How then can a man who is a slave to sin do good works unless he is helped by grace? And if man is helped by the grace of God to do good works, how then was his choice to do them completely on his own free will? Our choices and decisions are always under some form of control and thus are not “free” as most people would define the word free.

The statement “free will” immediately brings to my mind the thought that if man is completely free then he is the master of himself uncontrolled by God who is supposed to be in control of all things. Calvin explains it better than I ever could: “But how few men are there, I ask, who when they hear free will attributed to man do not immediately conceive him to be master of both his own mind and will, able of his own power to turn himself toward either good or evil.” – John Calvin

Even if we had the complete freedom to turn ourselves toward good or evil we could never actually turn ourselves toward good because of our fallen sinful nature. If God gives us complete freedom to choose Him without intervening or changing our nature in any way then we could never choose him. Why? Because we inherently choose evil. We are slaves to the sinful nature and therefore it takes Godly intervention, providence, and grace to bring men to righteousness and so our ability to choose God is not actually free. I honestly have a difficult time agreeing with the idea that people who are not saved have the ability to do good (outside of any selfish ambition or vain conceit). It seems to me that the scripture teaches that without the Holy Spirit we don’t have the ability to do good, nor do we have the ability to understand the true meaning of scripture itself. Paul says that he wants to do good but he cannot carry it out, in Romans 7:18. He cannot carry it out because of what he says in 7:14, “…I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.” Isaiah says that all of our attempts at righteousness are like “filthy rags.” We are unable to do good without some help from the divine.

I think a major problem is that people throw the term “free will” around without properly defining what it means. When the question is asked do we have free will it is important to be clear as to what is meant by that phrase. According to Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, “Scripture nowhere says that we are ‘free’ in the sense of being outside of God’s control or of being able to make decisions that are not caused by anything. (This is the sense in which many people seem to assume we must be free.) Nor does it say we are ‘free’ in the sense of being able to do right on our own apart from God’s power. But we are nonetheless free in the greatest sense that any creature of God could be free–we make willing choices, choices that have real effects. We are aware of no restraints on our will from God when we make decisions. We must insist that we have the power of willing choice; otherwise we will fall into the error of fatalism or determinism and thus conclude that our choices do not matter, or that we cannot really make willing choices. On the other hand, the kind of freedom that is demanded by those who deny God’s providential control of all things, a freedom to be outside of God’s sustaining and controlling activity, would be impossible if Jesus Christ is indeed ‘continually carrying along things by his word of power.’ If this is true, then to be outside of that providential control would simply be not to exist! An absolute “freedom,” totally free of God’s control, is simply not possible in a world providentially sustained and directed by God himself.”

I am convinced that people have a false understanding of what it means to be free. Many believe that they have complete and total freedom and their choices are not influenced by anything outside of themselves. That however is a false assumption. I do not believe absolute freedom can exist for a human. I see no Biblical evidence of that. In fact God’s Word says that all things are providentially sustained and directed by God himself therefore an absolute freedom completely free of God’s control is simply not possible.

I do not like to use the statement ‘free will’ simply because it is highly mis-leading and creates confusion. We have to make a distinction here between a free will and a choice. I believe God gives us the ability to choose but he does not give us free will. If you have a free will (uncontrolled by any outside forces) then you should have the ability to fly if you so choose! The problem is if you get up on your roof and jump off your free will is defeated by the law of gravity. You will fall every time. Why? Because you are not free, you are controlled by laws and boundaries. It wasn’t your decision. We are not free, it is simply an illusion. It is not actually a matter of being free or not being free, but it is a matter of being able to choose. God gives us the ability to make choices inside His own boundaries that he has set for us.

We get to make real choices that have real consequences. I can eat, drink, drive a car, take a vacation, go hunting, play games, and many other things. I have the ability to make those choices, but I am not free. Even the choices I can make are controlled by other things… for instance I eat because I am hungry, drink because I am thirsty, hunt because I enjoy it, and it is the different experiences, emotions, and circumstances in life that compel me to make choices. Completely free? Nope.

Now that we have made the distinction between free will and the ability to choose, we need to also make a distinction between freedom and independence. We are not independent or autonomous creatures. We are completely dependant upon other things outside of ourselves. We need air to breath, food to survive, and the providential hand of God to exist. We live completely and totally dependant upon other things and therefore we do not experience this type of freedom (independence) either.

I certainly do not claim to have all the answers, but as always I am in the constant pursuit of truth. The Bible most certainly talks about Sovereignty, Predestination, Election, and all of these other issues. They are real things that God wanted us to be aware of and to ignore them or to pass them off as unimportant is an abuse of scripture. Picking and choosing what to believe and skipping over the things that may be difficult or hard to understand is not the way to handle the word of truth that God has entrusted us with. So I seek to try and understand them to the best of my ability. However, I also agree that if we are constantly squabbling about such issues and it causes us to forsake our other God given responsibilities such as loving God, loving people, and making disciples, then we are certainly in the wrong. So which should we do? Should we spend our time drawing closer to God, helping people, and reaching them for Christ or should we spend our time engulfed in the entirety of the word of God seeking its truth? My friends we must do both! I dare say that the study of the word of God and the time spent in seeking to understand it fully results in a greater understanding, a greater love, and a greater relationship with the very God it speaks of! The more we love God the more we will love people. The more we love people the more we will reach them with the very word of God. God has given us a resource and a power far greater than anything else we could find and it would be a shame if we passed it off as just few simple guidelines of how to live. Jesus should be our life not just our favorite pass time.

The bible says to question everything and hold on to the good. We should not believe every single thing that we hear, but we should question it all, put it to the test against scripture, and what we find to be truth we hold onto. Put the idea of freedom and free will to the test of the scriptures and see what you find.

Pressed

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A New Look! Again.

@ 9:43 am by Pressed

Once again Avoiding Evil has had a complete overhaul. I have been trying to find something that I am happy with… and as you can see it keeps changing… hopefully I can stick with this one for awhile. Thanks to Christopher for working on it… I think this design has a little fun and excitement to it and lots of color, unlike the last design that was just grey. Let me know what you think in the comments below:

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