Author: revkevjr

I just finished reading the National Bestseller The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. On September 18, 2007 Randy delivered a lecture entitled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” as part of the Last Lecture Series at Carnegie Mellon University. The idea of the lecture series is for various people to deliver a lecture that would encapsulate what they would want their legacy to be should this be their last lecture. Randy Pausch’s last lecture became an overnight Internet sensation because for all intents and purposes, it was literally Randy’s last lecture. Just prior to his lecture, Randy had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and would eventually pass away on July 25, 2008.

The book is incredibly inspiring, and will leave you with a deeper sense of what is truly important in life, a stronger love for your family, and an optimism about life. It goes beyond the lecture itself and gives you a window into the heart and thought process that under girded the lecture. I highly recommend it!

I just read an article passed on to me by a friend called, “The Conservative Christian Case for Supporting Obama.” Author Rob J makes some really good points that all Christians would do well to consider, but also some that are obviously quite debatable based on a person’s worldview and philosophy. I also found it interesting how he talks about Republicans talking badly about certain people and then turns around and pretty much slams others himself, most notably Sarah Palin. (Did I just slam him for slamming people? It never stops. lol!)

I am not trying to defend the author’s positions, so if you want to argue or debate, do so directly with the author on his page, not mine. If you want to share your thoughts on it here, that’s fine, but please understand that I offer the article not to agree but simply to help people see how some in the Christian community (yes, they’re Christians!) arrived at a decision to support Barack Obama. You may (and many surely will) totally disagree, but at least it will give you a glimpse into the rationale (albeit not necessarily the rationale of all who voted as such) of some in the Christian community. Remember, while we may disagree on issues, we must have a basic respect for individuals, so if you decide to debate the author, please do so with that as your guiding principle.

http://opinionstreams.com/blog/?p=65

Even after being in youth ministry for over 12 years, over 7 full-time, I am still learning. I just finished a book I have been chipping away at for about a year: Starting Right: Thinking Theologically about Youth Ministry. It’s obviously more of a text book, but it was a refreshing reminder of why I do what I do. I was encouraged that what we are doing in our youth ministry in terms of our philosophy of ministry and our commitment to God’s purposes is right on track.

Yesterday I took for of my students and hit the road headed to Herkimer, NY where I spoke at a youth sleep-in at New Life Church. During the ride up the boys and I spent lots of time talking and laughing. We also spent quite a bit of time in prayer – for our trip, for the students we were going to minister to, and for some of our friends back home. The theme of the lock-in was Infuse, so I spoke about being infused with the Holy Spirit on Friday night and being infused with love on Saturday morning. It was really great and we had some good altar ministry on Friday evening. I so enjoyed getting to be with my friends Joe & Joann Jansen – long-time friends and the pastors at New Life, and two of their three kids – Josh & Jenelle. Josh was my intern this past summer, so it was good to re-connect with him. He also spoke during the night. It was a fun weekend for me also in terms of being able to spend some quality time with David, Ren, Matt, and Brendon. I love those kinds of mentoring/ministry times, and I hope that they were able to learn as much from our time together as I did.

Found this excellent article on the blog of my good friend Dr. Jerry Graham. I’ll point to his blog which points to the original article and all will benefit. lol http://thecoachingpair.com/blog/what-if-your-guy-lost/

Tonight (actually last night now) I preached a message to my youth group entitled “A Christian Response to the Election.” I proposed four things that are clearly taught in the Bible that should mark the response of Christ-followers.

1. Prayer FOR (not against) our leaders. While we can pray against issues of injustice, God commands us to pray FOR individuals (even and perhaps especially our enemies). (I Timothy 2:1-7)
2. Love. We can believe and do all the right things, but if we don’t do them the right way in the right spirit, it’s all meaningless. (John 14:34-35; I Corinthians 13)
3. Right Living. The loudest statement we should be making is not primarily with our mouths but with our actions. “Preach the gospel always; if necessary use words” (St. Francis of Assisi). Paul make it clear that prayer should lead to right living. When we are living rightly, our lives will be marked by a quiet peace, godliness, and respect. (I Timothy 2:1-7)
4. Trust. Whether your theology leads you to believe God puts people in office or simply allows them to be put there by the choice of the people, no one is in any place of authority outside of the oversight of God. Ultimately it is God who is in control, not a person. (Romans 13:1-2)

May these mark the lives of Jesus-followers as we seek to be salt and light in our world. Amen.

I am so thrilled that a simple status update sparked such an interesting dialogue on my Facebook page. One young lady e-mailed me with some confusion about my congratulations to Barack Obama. Here’s my response which might be helpful in clarifying.

Barack Obama won a hard-fought election, so I think our nation should congratulate him just as we would have if John McCain would have won. Congratulations have nothing to do with agreeing with someone or even meaning that one supported him. Agree with him or not, he won, he is to be congratulated. The race is over, so it’s time to set personal differences aside and work on getting America on the right track. What he needs now is our support (not necissarily of his ideas, I might add) and prayer.

We can and should voice our concerns about his philosophies and policies if they violate God’s Word or our convictions. However, the spirit in which this is done is SO IMPORTANT! Someone I know well was making some very hateful and mean-spirited comments. I spoke up and told this young man that I was offended and thought his comments were grievous to God. How can we say we follow a Jesus of love and spew filth and hatred out of our mouths. Jesus was very clear that He was about a revolution of love. I Corinthians 13 says we can do all the right things, and I’ll add, think we believe all the right things, but if we have not love, our beliefs and actions are meaningless. What does such hatred add to anything? Right things must be done the right way.

After a long, hard-fought battle, I extend my congratulations to President Elect Barack Obama. I am so thrilled about the racial breakthrough that his election means to our country. I have been praying for such a breakthrough in this regard for a long time. I am also committed to praying for him as he leads our country. I challenge all who read this to do the same. Pray FOR him. May God fill him with the grace, wisdom, and strength that he will need. May he pursue that which is right and good and beautiful. May the Lord also grant him comfort as he mourns the sad passing of his grandmother just a day before this historic day.