Hugo and the Platypus: A Mad-Lib

On Wednesday nights in youth I am teaching on the minor prophets.  Tonight I was in the book of Jonah.  Since every student knows the story of Jonah so well, I decided to make it into a mad-lib.  I cheated a bit for the purpose of having it make sense.  (Instead of just a noun I would ask for a mode of transportation for example.)    It turned out very fun.  Feel free to use this for your own youth group, all I ask is if you do, post it in the comments so we can all enjoy.  Without further ado, here is how mine turned out: 1. Name: ___Hugo____________

2. Place: ___Tokyo_____________

3. Verb: ____Eat_____________

4. Mode of Transport:___wheelchair____________

5. Adjective: _____unique_____________

6. Place: _____Wal-mart______________

7. Adjective: __Fluffy_______________

8. Disaster: ____Ice Age_____________

9. Noun: _____Ramen_____________

10. Animal: ___Platypus______________

11. P T verb: ___Picked______________

12. Noun: ____Fleas________________

13. Adverb: ____Extremely________________

14. Verb: _____Drive________________

15. Verb: _____Roll________________

This is the story of a man named (1)___Hugo__.   (1)____Hugo___ was very close to God, in fact, he could (3)___Eat____ to God directly.  One day God said, "(1)___Hugo_, go to (2)__Tokyo__."  But he was (5)___unique__ and didn't want to go to (2) ___Tokyo__.  So instead, he got on board a (4)___wheelchair_ bound for (6)___Wal-mart__.

Once (1)__Hugo__ began his journey, he became even more (7)__Fluffy__ because God caused a (8)__Ice Age___.  The (8)__Ice Age___ was so bad that those around him were frightened and decided to kick him off his (4)____wheelchair__ and into a (9)__Ramen____.  Once in the (9)__Ramen___ God caused a(n) (10)__Platypus__ to attack him.  After a bit of a struggle, the (10)___Platypus___ swallowed (1)___Hugo__.

From inside the belly of the (10)___Platypus____. He (11)___Picked__ and asked God to show him (12)___Fleas____.

God made the (10)___Platypus__ vomit (1)___Hugo____ up.  He landed on the ground (13)__Extremely__, and went directly to (2)___Tokyo___.  To preach this message, "(14)____Drive____ or you will (15)____Roll___."

Improving Cooperative Program Giving

Yesterday I promised that I would write about how my church, as small as it is, gives so generously to the Cooperative Program. Here is a bit of context before I begin.  LaGrange Park Baptist Church is a small church.  We average less than 100 in Sunday school.  We are in an association of 100 churches.  In our association, there are a couple of churches that are literally 10 times our size .  Last year we led the NSRBA in giving to Annie Armstrong and were close to the top in Lottie Moon giving.  We give 11% of all undesignated gifts to the CP.  (I just realized that this entire paragraph would be gibberish if a non-Southern-Baptist read it.)

What is the key to this giving?  I believe it begins with our pastor.  All preachers say they are committed to missions, but our pastor demonstrates it.  His home plays host to missionaries when a home is needed.  One of his children served as a US/C-2 missionary, another was a NAMB employee for a number of years.  He regularly participates in short-term missions and makes no secret of the fact that he hopes to be able to do mission work after retirement. His view is that if you are not willing to go on missions, the least you can do is to give.

As in all churches, our WMU does a wonderful job of keeping prayer for missions in the forefront.  We have adopted a people group and regularly hear updates about them.

Yesterday I said that one of the reasons I believe mission giving has fragmented in many churches is that the vision of accomplishing smaller tasks is easier to see.  How can you motivate people to give to a Lottie Moon goal that last year was $170 million?  By putting a reachable church goal before the people.  Our church goal is posted all over the church.  In the sanctuary we chart our progress toward that goal.

Probably the most important factor in our church is the fact that we let people know the good their money does.  We show the promotional videos, we participate in mission studies, and we read the missionary moments produced by the mission boards.  Whenever missionaries are available they speak in our church.  There have been at least 10 missionary speakers in our church over the last 4 years. (More if you count military chaplains.)

As for the 11% we give to the CP.  We make it known what a gift to our church does.  This may again come back to the pastor, but his view is that if we ask our people to tithe, the least the church can do is to tithe.  (We also give 5% of our undesignated offerings to the NSRBA.)  When, a few years ago, the state convention introduced their 3 years to add 1% initiative, we just added one percent on the next budget.

People in our church know how the cooperative program works.  They may not have percentages memorized, but they certainly understand the concepts.  They know what their giving does.  And that I believe is the key.

Any of you from my church feel free to chime in and tell me what I left out.

Cooperative Program?

Before I get to the actual point of this post I need to be clear about something.  I do not intend this as a polemic.  I am not writing to unite myself with any movement or to denigrate any movement.  I am merely writing about a trend I see that I am not quite certain how I feel about.  Also, I hinted at my feelings on this topic with a post at Christmas. In 1925 the Southern Baptist Convention put in place the cooperative program (CP).  This simple and brilliant concept has allowed us to become the greatest mission sending organization on the world with about 11,000 Southern Baptist missionaries.  It has made the Southern Baptist Convention the third largest relief organization in the US.  It funds 6 theological seminaries providing solid conservative theological education, and it funds countless other ministries done through state Baptist conventions.

The beauty of the cooperative program is that we can do so much more as a group of cooperating churches than any of us can do alone.  Who has not heard the story of an independent Baptist missionary who had to leave the field and find new funding after his sponsoring church split or simply changed leadership?

Are there problems with the CP?  Sure.  Alvin Reid said it well in his blog:

The Cooperative Program still matters. But simply giving because one is "supposed to" has passed. Momentum is gaining for real accountability and much more effective stewardship. I meet no one who wants to take away from the support of missionaries or the training of ministers. But I meet plenty who say something like these words from one of the brightest young men I know: "In the Conservative Resurgence, many pastors and churches expressed frustration when their giving supported liberal professors in our schools. Now, many I know have the same frustration over giving to a bureaucracy that wastes precious money that could be more focused on the gospel." I remember as a young minister thinking that if the average person in the pew knew some things being taught in our colleges and seminaries, they would want a revolution. Recently, one of the most recognized leaders of our time commented that if the average Southern Baptist knew how every penny of their money was being spent, they too would want a revolution. The category has changed, but the sentiment of dissent is the same.

I agree with the need for much better stewardship of the funds.  I'm especially talking to you, BSCNC.  Only 37 cents of every dollar goes out of the state.  Really; is that the best you can do?  I would strongly support a motion to move the BSCNC to a 50/50 split.  I would even consider making that motion from the floor if I had the proper help and encouragement.  (Sorry, I got a little distracted there)

Churchill famously said "democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried."  This is very much how I feel about the CP.  Even though there are some problems, it is the best method of funding missions.

Having said all of that, there is a trend I have noticed in the last few years.  This trend is the fragmentation of giving.  I see it most in new church plants, but it can be seen in other places as well.  Most new church plants have missions giving at the forefront of their plans.  However, it seems that very often this giving is in the form of specific projects.  Some have goals of planting a certain number of other churches, some say that they will accomplish some project in a place where the gospel is not known, or they will build church buildings in places where believers need the financial support.  All these are things that the CP does, but these will be done through some avenue specific to the particular project.

I know that churches have to have other mission projects besides just the CP.  Recently I attended a meeting in which we talked about a specific ministry project in Bihar India.  This project is part of a partnership with NC Baptist Men and the Transforming India Movement.  I believe in this ministry and will be proud to support it.  I think it likely that our VBS offering will go to this ministry.  (Hopefully our VBS students will be able to drill a well in Bihar.)

Does this make me a hypocrite?  Again, I know that churches have to have other mission projects besides just the CP.  Virtually all local ministries fit this category.  The problem is when they are done as a replacement to the CP.  I am not even saying that these other projects are not worthy or good, but when they replace CP giving we all become less effective.  Why does this fragmentation make us less effective?  Because regardless of where missions funds go, there will be a need for administration.  The more fragmented the giving becomes, the more administration is needed.

One of the things I learned from Baptist history is that one of the reasons our Southern Baptist ancestors separated themselves was a rejection of the mission society model.  The society model was inefficient and overly fragmented.  I do not know why our churches would willingly return to this.

I have one theory on the cause.  I believe it is an easier vision to cast to say, let's raise $5,000 to provide 2 clean-water wells in India, than to say let's give $5,000 to the LMCO when it's unclear exactly what that money will do.  People wonder when Lottie will ever be paid off.  The goal in this type of giving is less clear and more nebulous.  There is no denying that people work harder toward a goal that is reachable.  (Tomorrow I will write about how my church, as small as it is, gives so generously to the CP)

I support church planting but I believe we can plant more churches through the CP.

I support missions giving but I believe we can support more missionaries through the CP.

I would like to hear from some of you whose churches practice this.  Do you think I am wrong?  Is my theory about vision wrong?  Am I just too old-school and beholden to the cooperative program because of how cheap my M.Div was?

Knowing God's Will

As a youth minister I get the opportunity to influence young people at times in their lives when they are on the cusp of great change.  For a high school senior, life is a time of change. If you can, put yourself in the shoes of a HS senior.  Soon, you will accomplish the thing you have spent 12 years working on.  Most likely it is the only thing you've ever worked on for years.  You only have a vague sense of direction in life.  You want to go to college, but you are not sure where or why.

Now put yourself in the shoes of a  HS senior who is also a Christian.  You are in the same predicament, but you desire to honor God with your choices.  You have questions like where should I go to college?  How do I pay for it? What about the military or some sort of missions work?  All these questions are valid and important.  In fact they are the most important questions at this stage of your life.

Currently I am reading a fascinating book called Predictably Irrational.  It is about how all of us act in ways that are actually not to our benefit.  Chapter 8 details the way that we want to hang on to options and not let doors of opportunity close.  We always seem to think the opportunity is better somewhere else, or at least, we want to keep lots of options open in case the one we select doesn't work out as we hope.   This problem plagues Christians as well, but once we hear the voice of God it is wrong to hold on to those other choices.

The question I hope to answer is; how can I know the will of God?  If you'll hang on through a very long post, I'll answer it the way I would for one of my students.

The first thing to realize is that God does, in fact, have a plan for your life.  I will let that statement stand on its own.  God cares about everyone and how everyone spends the gifts He has given.

Sometimes determining God's will is easy.  It takes nearly no effort from us.  Here are a few examples of times in which knowing His will is simple.

• Go to church or go fishing
• Witness to my co-worker or keep my mouth shut
• Lose money or cheat someone for gain
• Speed or leave for work earlier

What makes these instances so easy to determine the will of God?  And how dare I try to tell you what God wants for your life?

These were easy for one of 2 reasons.  Either they are clearly stated in the Bible or they are based on biblical principles.  We can know what is God's will because the Bible is His word to us, it teaches us His principles, and He cannot act in any way contrary to His Word.

I hope that point is simple enough.  God always acts in accordance to His word.

We all know that in other situations in life it is not so easy to determine His plan for us.  Changing jobs, moving, and where to go to college are all in this category.  There is nothing in the Bible commanding us to go to Mid-Continent University or to go into youth ministry.

So, when you find yourself in one of these situations, how do you figure out His will?

First, have regular Bible study and prayer time.  Also, have some time when you can be quiet and hear God's voice.  Second, seek out godly advice.  Respect the wisdom of those more mature in Christ than yourself.  Weigh this advice  heavily against the advice you may get from non-Christians and immature Christians.  Third, examine your situation.  If the circumstances prevent one choice and you honestly are seeking God's will, let that be a sign.  I am not one to always look for a sign, but if a college rejects your application or a seller rejects your best offer, it is fair to say that it wasn't God's will for you to attend that school or buy that home.  Finally, make sure your decision is in agreement with the Bible.  God is not calling you to get divorced to go on the mission field.

What if after doing all this, you still don't know God's will? Now things are trickier, this is where learning to hear God's voice comes into play.  Many Christians don't know how to hear Him, though if you follow the previous instructions most likely you can.  Here is what's left.  You may just feel led to one choice, in some way you cannot describe, one option seems more correct than the others.  This is probably the voice of God.  (That is how I would describe my call to summer missions)  The other thing is this; listen for that thought that you are certain didn't come from yourself.  Let's look at Matt 16:13-20.  In this story, Peter speaks, and Jesus tells him that the words are not his own, but they came from the Father.  This is the best way I know how to relate this experience. If the thought that comes in would have never been your own, this is likely the voice of God.  (An example of this would be conviction for a sin that is hidden even from yourself.)

One final question; what happens if I go through all that and still don't know? That is why we have faith.  Sometimes we just have to make a decision and live with the consequences.

Thanks for hanging in through a very long post.  I hope it was helpful

A New Type of Scavenger Hunt

Last weekend I tried out a new type of scavenger hunt.  Because of the technology we used, it would not have been possible a few years ago.  I thought I would share the details of it here on my blog for others to copy and improve upon.  Why would I simply give away my hard work?  Because many others have been generous to me in this way.  All I ask is that if you try this and successfully improve upon it in some way, leave a comment and tell us how you made it work better. I will call it the reverse bingo scavenger hunt.  Here is how it works.

First I went around town and took pictures of both public places and homes of church members.  If those things were obscure enough, then I left them as they were.  In other cases I cropped the context out of the pics.  For example, in one case I took a picture of a lake behind an apartment complex, that is completely beautiful and completely public, but there's no reason to assume that anyone in my youth group had ever seen it.  That photo I left intact.  But then I took a picture of just one panel of a window in a nearby school, or the back side of a sign, leaving very little contextual clues surrounding it.  Then I assembled the photos into a bingo board.  Here it is:

The reason I am calling it reverse bingo is because in normal bingo each player has a different board and everyone has the same numbers to cover it.  In this case there is only one board and the teams get their pieces separately.

I gave the teams a 10 second look at the board.  Then I provided them a handout with all the pictures printed on it, but not in any order.  I also gave them a sealed copy of the bingo board with instructions not to open it.  The sealed board was only to be opened when the teams were notified.  (My plan was to allow them to open it after 1.5 hours, or if it was obvious that no team was going to get a bingo.)

Now you see the challenge.  The teams knew how to get the pieces, but not where they fit on the board, only I knew that.

Here's where the technology comes in.  Each team had a camera phone, and the email address of a flickr account and a twitpic account.  Their instructions were to take the same picture with one of the team members in it, then they send the pictures to the 2 addresses.  I would place a chip on their board as soon as I received it, and the first team to get a bingo was the winner.

The weak link was definitely with the phones and photo services.  Flickr worked perfectly.  However, twitpic was not up to the task; it only received the updates from one team.  (My hope was that twitpic would get the photos and twhirl would alert me when they arrived.  That plan was an epic fail) Another team had to switch to a new phone, because I was not receiving any updates from them.  After a couple of adjustments however, I was receiving photos from all teams.  Then it was jut a matter of covering the right square.  As soon as a team got a bingo I texted out bingo and they returned to the church.

Our church is in an urban environment and no picture was more than 6 miles from the starting point.  It took only abuot an hour to complete.

Technology and the Church (part 2)

I said that today's post would discuss some specific ways you or your church can use technology to enhance your ministry.  But since I have already written about RSS and Twitter, you can just go back and read those posts.  I will focus today on your church website. So here's the question - Is your church website important?

The answer is yes and no.

Yes it is important, because it demonstrates to both your church members and prospective members that you are not complete luddites.  Why on earth would people assume that the church is made up of luddites?  Let's have a look at David Kinnaman's unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters.  This book is written around a survey of the unchurched and their views of the church.

Number 6 on the list is that the church is out of touch with reality. Now, we know this not to be true, every member of every church lives in the real world.  We have the same struggles and difficulties as everyone else.  We just have our faith to carry us through these difficulties.   But the fact is, everything has a website.  Every book, movie, elementary school, hospital and teenager has a website.  If a church does not have one, they are somehow disconnected from the reality of the world.

Number 4 on the list is that the church is old-fashioned.  Read the previous paragraph.  What better way to prove the old-fashionedness of your church than to be stuck in an era before the internet.

I said that the answer to this question was yes and no, so let's briefly deal with the no.  In reality, no website is going to bring hordes of people to your church.  The lack of a website will certainly turn people off, but even the greatest church website ever will not bring people to your church.

Interested people will visit your website and they will want to learn as much about you as possible.  I personally believe that they would rather visit your website and learn about you anonymously than to be visited on Tuesday night as part of church visitation.

So what must any good church website include?

Who we are What we believe Info on Church programs Directions Staff information Current Information

By far, the most important of these is current info. Having a badly out of date church website may be worse than not having a church website.

Feel free to tell me in the comments how wrong I am. That your church is awesome without a website, or that the church website is directly responsible for doubling your church size.

Technology and the Church (part 1)

Yesterday I spoke at the NSRBA pastor's conference.  For years I have been attending that meeting, but I usually stay quiet.  Most of those men have been pastoring longer than I have been alive, so I often feel unqualified to contribute. I always thought that when I had something to contribute, I would.  Back in December I realized that I did have something to add to the conversation in that room, so I asked to speak. I taught on technology and the church.  It was very well received, and since it's already written, I thought I'd post about it here on my blog.  That concept works for Ed Stetzer, why not for me?

We'll begin with a video. You've probably seen it before, it's been posted on many a blog.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8]

To me, largely a product of the information age, this video is a bit frightening.  But I think it illustrates the neeed for the church to embrace technology.  We are already losing ground in the culture wars, and without tech, soon we will find we are fighting a war on different terms.  (Mennonites and Amish likely live fulfilled lives and people admire them to some degree, but they are not evangelizing the world.)

What is Technology? It's hard to define, but I'd call it the use of engineering to interact with our world differently.  For almost everyone there is a certain era of technology beyond which they never advance.  Some folks never get beyond movable type, invented by Gutenberg.  (Though I'll admit, I've never heard anyone say, "Scrolls were good enough for Isaiah, they are good enough for me.") Some maybe never advance past the television.  Even though they are no longer made, some people may be stuck on the VCR even though the DVR is superior in every way.  And many preachers especially never got past the wireless phone.

Why does technology matter to the church? Well for one thing because it is changing the way the youngest generation interacts with the world.  According to neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, our brains are literally being rewired.  I think I can demonstrate the way technology has changed your life with just a short quiz.  When is the last time you memorized a phone number?  I literally only know one phone number today that I didn't know when I was 15 years old.  When you are searching for a Bible pasage, how often do you use a software or internet Bible instead of your concordance?  I wrote a blog post about this quite a long time ago I call the phenomenon, the death of remembering stuff.

If it's afecting me, in my 30s, what about the millennial generation?

Is the digital divide equal to the generation gap? What I am asking in this question is; is the inability for one generation to relate to other generatons caused by, or even equal to, the differences in the way we use technology.  Barna published a recent study that highlights the digital divide and the generation gap.  The younger you are, the more central tech is to your life.  The moral of the study is that the digital divide doesn't cause the generation gap, but it highlights it.

Is the technological takeover wrong? In short I would say that the technology is morally neutral.  Surely there is a moral component to the utter dependance upon tech to communicate and function, but the technology itself is neutral.

Can't we just call the younger generations stupid and get on with our lives? Certainly you can, but you might as well be telling them to go to hell.  Jesus died for kids who only know how to talk through a cell phone, just like he died for fogies who think putting hymn lyrics on a screen was thought up by Satan.

If you are of a certain generation and simply cannot understand the mind of millennials, maybe you should view them as a people group to be reached.

Tomorrow in part two, I will address some specific ways your church can use technology.

Using twitter for church

Monday I am speaking to the NSRBA minster's meeting.  I have been attending those meetings for 4 years, but usually keep my mouth shut.  I finally feel like I have something to contribute so I asked to speak.  I am speaking about technology and how churches can use the internet, and other technology to enhance and simplify their ministries.   One of the technologies I plan to speak about is Twitter.  I know that some of my readers are tired of hearing me talk about it, but I want to run my thoughts by my blog before I talk about it at the minster's meting.  I would appreciate your feedback.

It is my belief that for most people in a church, the pastor is a bit of an unknown.  This phenomenon has two causes.  One is that people view the pastor as some sort of superman, not at all like them, with the same struggles and sins.  The other is that in many churches the pastor changes so often that the people don't get a chance to know him.  This goes both ways, because many pastors change churches often enough that they don't develop deep friendships within the church body.

What does this have to do with Twitter?  I believe that Twitter is a great tool for fellowship  (or community, if you prefer cool-church language;.)  Why is Twitter great for fellowship?  Because it allows people to see into your life, combine it with a camera phone and it enhances this.

One of the great things about Twtter is that you can keep up with a multitude of people at once and it takes almost no effort on your part.  For example, I have a  friend whom I haven't seen in almost 3 years, that I follow on twitter and I feel like I know as much about what goes on with him now as I did when we were riding to school together once a week.

If you are on Facebook you understand the power of the status update to keep you informed about people.  Twitter is like the status report on steroids.

I follow about 50 people and I have absolutely no trouble keeping up with that number.  I'm sure that somewhere around 200 people the ability to feel like you have a grip on everybody fails, but with some sort of client and just reading regularly it is easy to keep up with many people.

Recently, our church has even created a Twitter page.  It contains announcements, web links and prayer requests.  A very different use than a personal feed but still valid.

If you just want to test out Twitter and are not sure you are ready to commit and begin doing so yourself, you can simply subscribe to the RSS feed of any account.

Do you find Twitter to be a useful tool for fellowship?

Why I Observe Lent

You don't have to know much about me at all to know that I am not a Catholic. I am an ordained Southern Baptist Minster, but for the last few years I have been in the practice of observing Lent. For the benefit of my uninformed protestant readers, Lent is a 40 day fast leading up to ressurrection day.  (Remember my ban on the word Easter?)  Actually according to this wikipedia article it is 46 days.  Why is it 40 days?  Because it recalls the 40 days of fasting that Jesus endured in the desert prior to his temptation.

As a protestant, I observe Lent  because, for the most part, western Christians have abandoned the fast all together.  I fast periodically from food for a day, but not with regularity, and Lent is the only prolonged fast I participate in.  I do not believe that it earns me more of God's favor, or that more grace comes to me as I participate in the fast.  But I do believe that it is worth the effort.

Many people have written well on the spiritual discipline of fasting, (I particularly reccommend Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life and The Spirit of the Disciplines) so I won't waste your time here.  I will say however, that I use the time and pain that occurs in in a fast to remind me to pray and to meditate on God.  For example, if I am fasting for revival I use the hunger pains as a reminder to ask God to bring revival to my life and to my church.

In the case of a prolonged fast like Lent, I use the desire to participate in the forbidden activity as a reminder that suffering is a part of the Christian life.  This is made more important because of the fact that I live in the US, where we have true religious freedom.

I have narrowed down my Lenten choices to 3.

1. Give up Facebook - Mostly because of Scrabble, and lately the geography challenge, I have a mild addiction to Facebook.  This would not be easy for me
2. Give up sugar - I will still allow myself a Mello Yello each day, but otherwise, no sugar.  This means no pancakes at the Baptist Men's breakfast, no fruity Pebbles, no ice cream, etc.  This also would not be easy for me
3. Commit to ride my exercise bike every day - This one is pretty self explanatory.  My only real problem with this option is that it is not a fast.  I certainly will not be able to read my Bible as I ride, and it therefore unlikely to bring me closer to God and His will for me.

Which do you think I should do?

[polldaddy poll=1396425]

This year Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent) is February 25th.  I'm putting up this poll for your input before fat Tuesday so I can gorge on sugar or Facebook or non exercise tomorrow.

Help me help you

This weekend is our annual Senior Adult banquet. For the past few years we have played "Battle of the Generations" Here's how it works: We ask our youth questions that the senior adults would find easy and we ask our senior adults questions that the youth would find easy and see which group wins. (It's always the seniors)

This year I am officially out of creativity.  So I would like your help.  Here's how we will do this -  You submit questions that fit the above description to the comments.  If I use your question in my game, I will email you the finished product. You supply the creativity, I'll supply my powerpoint skillz.

Here are some sample questions from the past few years to give you an idea what I'm looking for:

Questions for seniors -

Master Chief is the main character in... a. A popular TV show b. A popular video game c. A popular movie

Identify Master Chief

Which of these people is not the star of their own reality show?

Youth Questions -

Marshall Matt Dillon is the main character in... a. A popular movie b. A popular television show c. A popular comic book

Identify Marshall Matt Dillon

Which of these did not have a sidekick?

Southern Baptists and December Giving

This is December, Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) time if you are a Southern Baptist. Most charitable organizations use December as their main giving time, and consequently, there are are also hundreds of other great giving options this time of year.  Here is a very short list.

• Advent Conspiracy
• Operation Christmas Child
• Angel Trees form the Salvation Army and Prison Fellowship
• 50000 shoes
• Of course the Salvation Army bell ringers and the Red Kettle

These are all excellent ways to give, but if I'm honest, I feel a pang of guilt when I give extra to these because I KNOW the good the Lottie Moon does.  As a Christian I believe in meeting the physical needs of people, but I also know that my number one duty as a Christian is spreading the gospel.  The LMCO will meet the physical needs of people around the world, and it will be used to get the Gospel to those not yet reached.  I know at least 2 of our international missionaries and I know that the money is not wasted.  I also know that the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering needs the money to keep the gospel going around the world.  (Especially in light of the dwindling dollar)

I am very curious, my fellow Southern Baptists, do you feel guilty giving to these other causes, do you not feel like Lottie is that important.  Here is a poll.  Vote, voice your opinion in the comments, then send other Southern Baptists to this link.  I want a lot of votes because I'm genuinely curious if I'm a freak for feeling the way I do.

[polldaddy poll=1138670]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMDidl0WPMg]

My Missionary Summer pt. 1

This is missions week on my blog in honor of the week of prayer for international missions.  So I am telling the story of my summer as a student missionary.  I realize that my experience is not with international missions, but it was significant for me and was way out of the Southeast.  Enjoy part 1. I typically refer to the summer of 1995 as my missionary summer.  I was 20 years old in my sophomore year of college and in October of 1994 I had dedicated my life to God in a new way.  It was the first time I ever told God that I would allow Him to be the most important thing in my life.  It was not the beginning of my Christian walk, but it was an extremely important time, and an anniversary I always remember.  It was also my first year away from home.  (I took my first year of classes at Hopkinsville Community College)

After giving God priority, I began to feel His call to spend that first summer as a missionary.  However, at that time I didn't know how to hear His voice and I didn't know what He really wanted.  I can look back now and say He was clearly calling me to give that summer to Him in missions, but at the time I was genuinely torn.

Here's how my decision making process went.  I thought God may be calling me, but I didn't know.  So I decided to simply fill out the application to be a summer missionary, and if I was accepted I would take that as a "yes."  I filled out the form.  It was the pre digital camera days, so I took a picture in a photo booth.  (It was easily a bad enough picture to get a no from the application committee.)  I mailed it in.  I knew I didn't want to do foreign missions at that time, but my thought was if I'm going to go somewhere away from home I might as well go as far as I can.  So I checked Pacific Northwest on the "where would you like to go" box in my application, and left it in God's hands.  (I really struggled with whether or not to put Alaska)

I got an acceptance letter telling me I was headed to the Southwest Washington Baptist association, (DOM Ted Cotton) which is part of the Northwest Baptist Convention.

Then I had to figure out a way to tell my parents what I as planning.  This was 13 years ago so I don't remember exactly, but I do remember my mom being all for it, although nervous.  Dad told me, "I kinda figured you would do something like that."  I wondered why, but he suspected it because of my involvement with the BSU, and the experience of an extended family member.

That went much better than expected.  And so, with no objections from anyone, I made preparations to spend my summer in Washington and Oregon.  I obviously had no idea what to expect.  I got instructions on how to book my flight to Portland and was ready to leave at the first of June.

The flight to Portland was my second ever flight, and it was by myself.  I was obviously nervous about many things, flying, how to pack enough clothes for 10 weeks, what am I getting myself into, what if I'm miserable?  10 weeks seemed like a long time.

Tomorrow, in part 2, I will write about how I actually spent the summer, some of the adventures, what my thoughts were then, and how it changed me.

IMB Commissioning Service

Monday night at the 2008 BSCNC featured a commissioning service for 31 IMB missionaries.  It began with march in the flags of many countries lined the aisle ways as the missionaries worked their way on stage.  Then it concluded with a message from Dr. Tom Elliff.

By far, the best part of the commissioning service was the the time of testimony from the missionaries themselves.  There were 31 appointees.  They ranged in age from their 20s to their 60s and they all had different stories.  They were literally headed to every part of the globe.  Some were called as children in GA meetings, some in college, and some as they were retiring.  Single, newlyweds, widows and grandparents.  It was very inspiring.

My prayer every day is that I will go wherever God wants me to go, Alaska to Africa, as long as I know it is god who has called.  I have a very clear sense of calling, but that commissioning service allowed me to see something I already knew, there is nothing super-Christian about missionaries.  they have simply been called, and said yes.  I have a couple of friends that are missionaries and I admire them for their willingness.

This video of missionaries from West Africa demonstrates this point very well.  Enjoy it, and be willing to be God's vessel wherever he calls you.  He may want to send you to Indonesia, but he also may want to send you to the choir, the nursery, or the nursing home.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsO8BYXzkxo]

Missions Week on my Blog

This week is the week of Prayer for international Missions and the beginning of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering emphasis.  In honor of that, I will also make it missions week on my blog. Here is what to expect. Monday: I will have a short post about the IMB commissioning service I attended at the BSCNC

Tuesday: Part one of the story of my missionary summer, 1995.

Wednesday: Part two of that story

Thursday: A poll and a question about Southern Baptist giving that I am extremely curious about

Friday: Best web junk (no need to mess with a formula that works)

Happy Thanksgiving

I decided to use my November church newsletter article as a Thanksgiving day post. It's a little preachy, so you don't have to read it, but if you want to, here it is: Today we celebrate Thanksgiving.  A holiday that is created for the sole purpose of giving thanks to God for all the blessings that we have. Most of us do very well to say "thank you" to God during this time of year.  However, thanksgiving goes further than merely saying "thank you" to God for what we have.  If we say the words yet behave in an ungrateful manner, we are, in fact, ungrateful.

So what does this mean practically?  If we thank God for giving us the money we have, but refuse to give Him control of it, we are not actually thankful for it.  We have demonstrated that we believe that we somehow deserve what we have and therefore can do with it as we please.  If we thank Him for health or a good mind but squander those things living for ourselves, we are not thankful.  Or, if we say we are thankful for our salvation but never tell others about it we are not thankful.  Witnessing is a key component of obedience with our testimony.

We live our beliefs.  In other words, the things we do are because of what we believe.   James 1:17 says that every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights. If this is true, it should affect the way we live.  We show thanks to God by our obedience.  Would you want your child to say "thank you" regularly but disrespect what he or she has been given?  If he always thought he deserved more, or she always took for granted your gifts, you would be disappointed and you would rightly feel disrespected.  When we treat God this way, we do the same.  Please allow this day to be a reminder that our Heavenly Father deserves both our gratitude and our obedience.

Big News at the BSCNC

Earlier today I twittered that I think I'm voting to split our convention.  Here is why. Actually, I think I’ll start with a bit of background for those of my readers who have no idea what I’m talking about.

The Southern Baptist Convention underwent a theological shift during the 1970s through mid-1990s. Before this period, the convention was headed in the same direction as the mainline protestant denominations. This theological shift took place over the inerrancy of scripture, although it manifest itself in many different ways. Let me say that differently. On the 1970’s the SBC leadership was strongly leaning away from a view of scripture as inerrant. During this period, conservatives, those who would say that the Bible is true in all that it declares, began an effort to return the convention to its roots. They were ultimately successful, and today the Southern Baptist Convention is a thoroughly conservative denomination. And I, for one, am grateful to those who were involved in that process. At the end of this process, many theological moderates left the SBC and formed their own convention, known as the CBF.

This same battle took place in the vast majority of state conventions as well. However, for a variety of reasons, it had differing success in different places. In Virginia, Texas, and Missouri, the conventions actually split and the conservatives left to form their own state conventions. North Carolina has been able to remain united partially because of giving plans.

What are giving plans? In 1925, Southern Baptists developed the Cooperative Program. (CP) The CP is simply a method of sharing in mission work by pooling money from the 42,000 SBC churches. Each church sends a portion of its gifts to its respective state convention, the conventions in turn, use a portion for missions and ministry and send a portion to the SBC for missions and ministry. This combined amount makes the SBC able to send some 12,000 missionaries around the world, operate 6 seminaries, and do more than I can list in this paragraph.

Within North Carolina there were churches along the theological spectrum that wanted to contribute to state missions but not to SBC missions. Some want to send part of their money to the SBC and part to the CBF. Giving plans were created in order to facilitate the desires of everyone, and they essentially created confusion.

So today, the last item of business was to get rid of all of the giving plans and replace them with a single plan which had options. A church could still designate funds to the CBF, or it could exclude the SBC, but it was all done under one plan. It was essentially the same thing, but done in a much less convoluted way.

Sorry about that lengthy background passage, here is the news of the day:

When the motion was presented, messenger Matt Williamson, pastor of Oak Forest Baptist in Fletcher (ht - Biblical Recorder for that info) immediately asked it be amended to exclude the CBF. (Actually there was some confusion, but that was the point of his ammendment) That means that if the amendment passed, there is no way for a church to give to the CBF through the BSCNC. In other words, CBF churches would be effectively shut out of the state convention. If they still wish to give to both CBF and BSCNC they would have to write two checks. No big deal it sounds like, but they would now have to go out of their way to support the state convention and the CBF. It would be a formal severing. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of discussion both for and against the amendment.

What did I do? My heart was definitely with the amendment, but I had a fear that it the amendment passed, the unified giving plan would fail and we would be exactly in the same place as we began; a largely divided convention with a horrible system of giving.

Someone finally called the question and it came time to vote. We took two sight-votes (raise your ballots and see if any side clearly wins), but it was obviously very close. So we cast ballots. The amendment passed four-hundred sixty-something to three-hundred-something. Less than 1,000 total. If anyone had suspected that would occur there would have been many more messengers.

Oh yeah; What did I do? I voted for the amendment.

After the amendment passed, the motion to move to one, CBF-less giving plan passed overwhelmingly.

I don’t want to get into prophecy, but this seems to have been the death-knell of the CBF in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Here is the Baptist Press story about the convention

BSCNC Tuesday

Brace yourself for the world's boringest blog post Today everything at the convention went so smooth it is unbelievable.  We were an hour ahead during the morning sesion.  There was no more than one nominee for any officer position, there was no discussion on any piece of business and there was no miscellaneous business. 

We were out for our lunch break at 11:00

After lunch the session was just as smooth.  We got out 15 minutes early.  It is truly amazing, I've never seen a group of baptists get together and have no discussion on anything.  There were breakout sessions in the afternoon, one at 3:15 and one at 4:15.

I attended the session led by Mark Dever on the future of the church.  I'll try to sum up a 45 minute lecture in 2 sentences.  Here goes... The church is going to lose the culture war.  The church will survive by being distinct from the culture.  It's probably unfair to do that, and horrendously oversimplified, but I saved you a trip to Greensboro.

Then I attended a listening session for the proposed changes to the giving plans.  I have always been opposed to the giving plans in North Carolina.  (Which allow the churches to taylor the way they give to the BSCNC.  Even if they exclude the SBC altogether.)  But I was inclined to not support the unified giving plan going in because it is still pretty customizable, and you can still exclude the SBC.  But the committee that put together the new giving plan put my mind to rest.  They spoke with passion and respect for one another.  And it seemed truly bathed in prayer.  I will vote yes tomorrow.

I skipped the final evening session, and am writing this post as it is going on. 

Tomorrow will not be nearly as smooth.  We have a biannual budget to vote on, and the giving plan.  there will definitely be discussion.

Thanks for reading.

October is Pastor Appreciation Month

Adam did a post like this yesterday, and I am nothing if not unoriginal, so here goes. I appreciate my pastor.

I have been on staff at LaGrange for nearly 4 years, and Pastor Weeks has been a wonderful pastor to me.  I have had the opportunity to get to know him both personally and obviously as my co-worker and boss.  I could not ask for more from a pastor or a friend.

I can be quite critical and rarely point out what I appreciate in others which is why I am taking this opportunity to express my appreciation even though he will likely never see it.

He loves the Bible and the church.  He does his best to communicate God's message to us weekly.  And any member of our church with a need can count on his prayers and a visit.

More than any other pastor I have ever had, he is dedicated to missions.  He wants to see the Gospel spread throughout the world.  He tells us all if we are not willing to Go then we should give, and we should all pray.  There is a reason that a church in the bottom half our association by size leads in giving to Annie Armstrong, and is in the top few of giving to Lottie Moon.

Thanks for allowing me to ramp & rave :-)

Classic Blog Post - Still My Favorite Post Ever

One year ago today I was stricken with a very odd (but scary at the time) affliction.  I wrote a blog post about it on myspace (this was before I even considered this awesome wordpress blog), and I decided to repost it today on the anniversary of the event.  I only did a minimal amount of editing to correct the gross errors from before.  I was entertained as I reread it, and my regular readers probably will be too.  For many of you it will even be new.  Tomorrow I'll give an update on what It is like a full year later.

The Adventures of Jeremy in the Emergency Room: The world’s longest blog post

Prologue:  How I got to the ER

On Tuesday October 9^th 2007 I developed a headache while crappie fishing with Jack Pate. It seemed like a sinus headache at the time. I took Advil cold & sinus like always, but it didn't go away. I also rode my exercise bike that night, because I've been doing that a lot lately, trying to drop a few lb's since I've never been fatter. The headache never went away. Wednesday I still had it.  I worked out like crazy hoping that would make the headache go away, it didn't help. Then on Wednesday night after church I helped this guy move, making for even more exercise. I made a comment about my head hurting and Jack said, "You were complaining about that yesterday." I told him that it is exactly the same headache. On Thursday, I was beginning to get concerned about having the exact same headache for 3 days. Plus, it was worse on Thursday. It is completely localized behind my right ear. Thursday I took a variety of medicines and drank a lot of Mello Yello for the caffeine and tried to sleep it away.  (Really I was just sleeping to try to hide from the hurting of my head.) The headache is not that severe, but it is relentless. It's there when I go to bed and when I wake up. Sometimes it throbs and sometimes it is dull. I made up my mind that if I woke up with it on Friday, I would go the doctor.

I don't have a regular doctor so on Friday morning I went to the express care of the Cape Fear Valley Hospital. It opens at noon I was there at 10 till, and was the second one to sign in. I thought I had a sinus infection and that he would give me antibiotics and help me feel better soon, but the PA who saw me said that there was nothing wrong with me, he gave me a shot of Tordol and a prescription for Fioricet and treated me as if I had migraines. He asked me if I was under stress I said no, he continued his course of migraine treatment anyway. He also scheduled me for a head CT on Thursday.

This is the first time I began to freak out a little. I truly considered every horrible possibility, from brain tumor to aneurysm. In case you wondered, I am still fully confident in my salvation in Christ. Even though I seriously considered death I was only reassured of my belief in Him and not the slightest bit afraid of my slightly less hypothetical impending death. Being hypothetically disabled was much more disconcerting.

Part One:  Why I went to the ER

The headache medicine that the PA gave me didn't help at all. It made me throw up, but didn't help with the headache. When I kept it down it made me extremely tired. But I was going to just tough it out until my CT on Thursday. Well things changed on Sunday morning. I got up early to make pancakes for the Baptist Men's Breakfast, and at breakfast I noticed that my mouth was weak. It felt like my eggs were going to fall right out as I chewed. By 1 pm I noticed that I couldn't smile fully. The right side of my mouth wouldn't raise all the way. I took a nap, went back to church and taught DT. The youth laughed at my inability to whistle. At the conclusion of church, the pastor named me as a prayer request, and a group of ladies prayed over me as soon as we dismissed. I truly felt loved and ministered to. That feeling was only beginning. After church I was watching TV and playing with my new X-box (an awesome gift I got for pastor appreciation month) and took a break to go to the bathroom. I smiled at myself in the mirror and noticed that my mouth was worse. This was the most nervous I'd been. So I took a picture of myself, sent it to Mom over yahoo messenger, and asked her should I go the the emergency room, cause I can only smile like this. (Just as a quick aside, can you imagine what this would have been like 10 years ago before digital cameras or instant messengers. The internet is awesome sometimes.) This is the pic I took. Mom said to call her, she said I should go the the ER because, "Your face shouldn't be drooping."

Part Two:  The Trip and the Waiting Room

I went through a mental list of who should take me to the ER, because I knew I shouldn't drive myself. I decided on Frank Acevedo. Frank is new to our church and will be here for about a year. He was the best candidate because he lives close and his family is back in Tennessee. He said he'd be here in 10 minutes. I got myself ready loaded my pockets with the prescriptions and my phone charger and stuff, and was just about ready when he arrived. On the way to the hospital I called Mom, Granny, Jarred, Pastor Weeks and Brent Highfil. Dad was in Mexico so I didn't even attempt to call him.

When I arrived at the hospital, I went to the check-in desk and told them, "I've have had a headache since Tuesday, and when I smile I look like this." They wrote down "facial drooping." Me and Frank took what seemed like the last 2 seats in the waiting room, and began the long wait. About 20 minutes later, the Pastor arrived and he stayed there nearly all night as well. I was called into the preliminary diagnosis room, and answered a bunch of questions. They took my blood pressure, weighed me, (I reeealy have to lose a lot of weight) <--update-->(I still really need to lose a lot of weight) <--update--> and asked me a bunch of questions. One of the questions they asked was rate your pain on a scale from 1 to 10. All I could think of was this. (The line comes at the 2 minute mark) Which is so funny you have to watch it…now before you continue reading this. What are you waiting for, go ahead watch it. (I just didn't want to get attacked by the guys from the femur ward.) They sent me back to the chairs. We arrived at about 9:45, and slowly watched the room empty out. At 1:15 or so they called me back. Apparently 3½ hours is not all that long to wait at the emergency room. If it had been a stroke, who knows what would have happened.

Part Three: The Exam

They called me back and told me to put on the hospital gown. It was the first time in my life that I've worn one of those. I asked the nurse if I could go to the bathroom before I changed, and she told me to pee in a cup if I was going, "just in case." It's always awkward peeing in a cup, you don't know how much to put in the cup and you don't really have enough hands for the whole operation to go smoothly. But I came out of the bathroom with a cup of pee and changed into the gown with no back in it.

Then came the IV. The IV nurse stabbed the crap out of my left hand, then moved on to my right forearm. She was able to get one syringe of blood, then she moved to my left arm. The left arm hurt the most, but the right arm is much more bruised. She never did get an acceptable stab in, just as another nurse was about to give it a shot, I was moved. A girl was coming in and needed my room for an exam. She was writhing and crying in her bed, I was glad to give her the room. I didn't really want to walk down the hall with my backside hanging out, so they wrapped another gown around me like a cape and I walked down the hall following a nurse who had all my clothes in a yellow bag. They moved me to a trauma room and hooked me to all the machines.

Part Four:  My Diagnosis and Relief

A trauma room is exactly what you think of when you think of an emergency room. It is a large room with 3 "rooms" sort-of separated by a curtain. I was in trauma 2. First I'll talk about the diagnosis, then the fun part. Relatively quickly, remember I had been there for four hours already, the doctor came in and saw me. He looked in my ears and then asked me the same questions I'd already answered a hundred times, squeeze his fingers, when did it start, then he said smile, wrinkle your forehead. Then the words I was dying to hear. "You have Bell's Palsy. you haven't had a stroke or anything. We will get a CT to make sure everything is normal, but it will probably go away in a about two weeks. It is probably caused by the ear infection which seems to be pretty severe."

This was an incredible relief. If you have actually been reading this massive article you remember me saying in the prologue that I had considered everything horrible. Now I knew that the headache was actually an earache, and not my brain leaking out. At this point I could relax and enjoy the rest of my experience in the trauma room of the Cape Fear Valley Hospital. They took me next door for a CT, I nearly fell asleep during this part, laying down in a quiet room. But it only lasted about 10 minutes, and was kind of jerky once the machine kicked in. Apparently my CT was fine. You can read about the last part in part 6. Shortly after the head CT the pastor got to go home. Frank stayed around and drove me home.

Part Five:  Now Things Get Entertaining

This is the part you have all been waiting for. The trauma room is much more like ER the show than I ever expected. My roommates in trauma 1 & 3 consisted of a lady who had stabbed herself…wait for it...twice, and a man who accidentally shot himself.

First lets talk about Ms. Stabsalot. She was moaning periodically from the time I arrived. Then she would holler for a nurse and ask, "When will I get my pain meds?" The nurse would tell her that the film had to come back. Then at one point she decided that she wasn't going to get satisfaction. So she unplugged all her cables, wrapped up in her bed sheets like a dress and walked out of the room. She was quickly herded in by a nurse and told she couldn't leave because she was a psych patient. She decided then to only go to the bathroom, and came back to her bed, and returned to periodic moaning.

Then in comes Shooter in a wheelchair in real true pain, and clearly in shock. As the doctors questioned him they asked him his name, which I will leave out, and then they asked him where he was when it happened, (less than a mile from my house btw) and how he got shot. He said he dropped his gun (a .22 by the way, does that even count as packing heat?) and it went off. He also said he got rid of the gun, but he gave up his boys that he was with real quick. He was shot in the forearm. The police unwrapped it, and then the nurse pulled the curtain so that I couldn't see what was happening. I could still tell what was happening though because you can hear right through a curtain. They had some difficulty getting him to stay in the bed, and he was repeatedly saying, "I just want this out of me." The nurses wanted him to hold still so that they could give him an IV, pain meds and get an x-ray. They needed to see how the bullet was placed in his arm. As soon as he got the medicine he was a whole different guy, calm and cooperative. The doctor took the bullet out right there in the room.

When Ms. Stabsalot heard this she moaned really loud a few times, hoping to outmoan the shooter. Then the doctor started ripping into her. She said, "I've been waiting hours to get some pain meds and he just rolls right in and gets it."

"He's been shot," said the Dr.

She replied, "But I've been stabbed"

"You stabbed yourself," is the reply.

"So what, I've still been stabbed! Maybe I should have stabbed myself 3 times."

"You are a psych patient and I can't give you pain meds because they might interfere with your other symptoms. We are taking you to a mental institution for a better diagnosis."

This part of the night was truly entertaining and since I was not longer freaking out I just enjoyed the show.

Part Six:  Checking Out and Going Home

The doctor said the CT looked fine, he referred me to a neurologist for an MRI "just in case" and gave me antibiotics, antivirals, a roll of tape, instructions on using eye cream and taping my eye shut for bed, and a vicodin, to ease the pain of the earache and help me sleep. Here is me all taped up and ready for bed.

Went to the 24 hour CVS there near the hospital and filled all the scrips. Just as I was walking in the door of the house my alarm was going off, because I had to get up early the morning before. I took the first round of all the pills, ate some peanut butter on toast, took a shower, (but the vicodin was working good by then and I was staggering) taped up my eye and went to bed. Esau spent the first night of his life in the house alone, and seemed to survive it fine. I slept till about 10:30.

Epilogue:  Thank You

First of all let me say, when you are single and live 600 or more miles from where your family is, things like this could be extra scary. Then let me say thank you to my church. A major purpose of the church should be fellowship, and fellowship is more than eating together. Fellowship is having genuine concern for others. My church was awesome. I received prayer, and ministry galore. People have volunteered to drive me while I can't see and feed me. For all of you I say. Thank You! You have made it clear that everyone who loves me is not 600 miles away.

Finally, if you have read this whole manifesto-length blog post you deserve congratulations. You should at least comment it so I know I didn't totally waste my time. Also thank you to all the people who prayed for me and ministered to me through this ordeal.

Just in case you are wondering, this post is 2651 words.

More thoughts on Atheism

Last week I wrote a blog post about atheism, and it drew a couple of comments that got me to thinking.  Before I go on I'll restate the paragraph that brought about the comments and than the comments that began this thought process.  Here's the paragraph:

atheism always seems to have one of 2 causes at the core. First, the vast majority of atheists do not know how to deal with the presence of evil.  In other words, they cannot reconcile the existence of suffering in the world with the existence of a loving God.  (If anyone actually wants to read it, I can write a couple of posts addressing this problem.)  Secondly, the desire to be in control of one’s own life.  In other words the childish attitude that,”nobody can tell me what to do” extends even as far as to an all-powerful God.  And I again remind you of the words of Ivan from The Brothers Karamazov, if there is no god there is no morality.  (Somebody in Sunday School taught me this second one a while back and I’ve noticed it as a trend ever since.)

Here are the comments that came as a result of that paragraph. This one was first:

I’m sorry, but as an atheist I have to tell you that both of your reasons why people become atheists do not, at least, apply to me.

I’m an atheist because of the lack of evidence for the claims made by religions and religious people.

That’s it.

This one followed and agreed:

Neither of the reasons you give for atheists being atheists apply to me. It’s simply the lack of evidence for the existence of any Gods.

These comments coupled with the fact that almost everybody on the planet believes in a god in some form got me to thinking.   So today I would like to suggest to my readers that it seems to me the onus of proving a position falls to them.

What I mean by that is that virtually everyone on the planet, believes in some god, because God has made himself known.  I am not arguing for Christianity here, merely simple theism. (Theism is the belief in a god who is involved in His creation.)  People seeing creation from the very, very minute to the vastness of space realize that there must be something greater than us.  And science or naturalism, or whatever worlview you view the world through other than theism will never answer the most basic of questions.  Where did all the stuff come from?

There are those who are firm atheists.  They do not believe in any god, and do not see evidence for Him in creation, or beauty, or consiousness, or detail, but those people are a small minority.  And to me it seems that rather than them feeling the need to be convinced of the existence of God, they need to be convinced of his non-existence. To put it another way, they should not see a lack of evidence for God as a sufficient condition to doubt His existence.  They should need a preponderance of evidence of His non-existence to arrive at that position.  Let me try and say that a third, less-convoluted way.  Belief in God should be the default system of belief, with only overriding proof to change that position.  (I actually believe that this is the position of most and their "proof" is the existence of evil.  See the first paragraph.)

I don't want to be antagonistic or disrespectful of my commentors.  I am grateful for their comments and that they read my post.  But their comments got me thinking and I wanted to share those thoughts with my readers.

I leave you with this thought.  There are virtually no rural atheists.  Why?  Because in the country at night you can see 10 times as many stars as you can in the city.  Rural people are simply confronted by the vastness of space on a greater scale.   Every time I go back home I am astounded by the stars in the sky as I drive from place to place.  I urge you, if you are from a large city visit the country and be amazed.

---Update---

*****Please read before you Comment*****

This post has drawn a few comments already.  Please before you comment understand that I am NOT arguing the existence of God based on His popularity. In fact, in this post I am not arguing the existence of God at all.  (The best arguments are very old and have been dealt with for a long time.  See Anselm's Proslogion, Aquinas's Five Ways, or even the Kalam argument)  I am merely begging the question - Why should the burden of proof not be with the atheists?  I beg the question because the prima facie position for most people when they look at the universe is that God exists.  If you want to argue for the existence or non-existence of God there are about a million places on the web to do that.  I don't want that in my comments section.  I would let it go on, but I am very concerned about the tone of the comments received so far.

Here's what I will moderate out of my comments-

• Insulting the intelligence of anyone for either belief or disbelief
• Insulting people who live in rural areas
• making the point that popularity does not equal truth

Please do not do those things.  But feel free to tell me why the burden of proof belongs to the first blush position of the theists.