Hope for Renewal Winter Newsletter 2016

Why I Love Zombies

Tonight I was lurking around on Facebook and came across a friend's page and noticed something. Under his "Religious Views" he has put "I love Jesus but I drink a little"

I'm not a drinker and the last time I was even close to being inebreated was not even in this century, in fact it wasn't even in this country. But I guess that I could put something similiar under my "Religious Views."

I love Jesus, but I'm a fan of zombies.

When I was around ten, I watched my first zombie flick. It was the original zombie movie: Night of the Living Dead. I was exposed for the first time to hordes of the undead and have been hooked, shambling and moaning for more ever since.

I am a zombie purist though. George Romero has seen to that. Zombies need to be slow. They need to be dumb. They need to be only focused on one thing: BRAINS!

They also need not to be the focal point of the story. I believe that zombie fare-good zombie fare, is focused on the characters. It is that reason why I am so drawn to this genre.

The struggle in this type of fiction is not with the undead, but with the living. The reader, the viewer get to observe this struggle. In the face of a post apocoliptic world the true character of the participants shines through. We see their true prejudices, fears, and values unmasked by the horror around them. We see them forced to either abandon the moral constructs of our society or try to translate them into a world of the undead. Does pure survival win out or does humanity keep its composure?

In those Romero works the zombies become part of the background. They are ever constant, ever advancing, always right around the edges of the story. The undead are always threatening, just one bite away from ending the human race completely.

They are much like us as humans. Completely consuming everything around them, never being satisfied.

We also seem to never be satisfied. We consume all that is around us. This infection spreads as well. This ongoing consumption is something that is looked highly upon, something revered. We want more, more, and even more.

And much like a Romero masterpiece, in the face of all of this around us, do we lose our own morality? Do we let our own prejudices overtake us, do we abondon our beliefs and become part of the shambling swarm?

Our humanity is something that we should hold tightly.

As we continue heed the Greatest Commandment I hope we do not lose sight of who our neighbors truly are. Instead of "consuming" maybe we need to be "consumed" by the Grace that is given so freely.

That would be an infection that would truly be worth spreading.

Thought for the day: Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm. (Pubilius Syrus)

Filipino Food!!!

In an attempt to try and ensure that the Filipino dishes that I grew up with can be experienced by my children, and as part of an international food tasting at our local library, I learned how to cook Pansit---just the way mom did it! Here's the recipe for anyone who's interested!

Ingredients
1/4 cup cooking oil (your choice)
2-3 cloves of garlic
8oz of rice stick
soy sauce
1/2 a head of cabbage, shredded
carrots, shavings work best
precooked meat of your choosing (i used chicken this time, but someday soon I'm gonna throw some shrimp in this bad boy!)

Soak the rice stick in warm water for about ten minutes.

Pull the rice stick apart, shredding it fairly well. Drain water.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and saute the garlic, cabbage, carrots, and meat. For the garlic, I used a garlic press, or you can chop them. (I prefer the garlic press)



As you saute, add a quarter cup of water and shake on a good amount of soy sauce. Continue stirring and continue to saute for about five minutes.



Add the rice stick, and mix it all up. Add a little more soy sauce if you prefer.




Add some lemon juice to your liking and enjoy!



It is a great meal and if I can cook it, then you can too!

Them's Good Odds

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.”

This quote is from my favorite philosopher, Blaise Pascal.

Not only was Mr. Pascal a philosopher, he was a mathematician. He saw his faith as not only something that connected with him on a personal level, but also on a logical level. This "logical" explanation is summed up in the above quote, also known as "Pascal's Wager."

It's very logical. If we could boil down faith to a bet, then belief has the most benefit. If we believe and ultimately there is nothing to believe in, then we've lost nothing. If we don't believe, and we end up facing God, then we've lost it all.
Pascal (and I agree) believed that the benefits of living a life focused on Christ, regardless of His existence, greatly outweighed the consequences of not living such a life.

The logic is pretty indisputable.

So why is it so hard to win people over to Christ?

Honestly, I think that many of us aren't willing to take the risk to reach out. Fear, anxiety, acceptance...all these things contribute to us not sharing this logic with friends, family, and acquaintances. Ministry is a gamble and the stakes are pretty high.

As I look forward to this coming year, I see all the risks involved. But also with those risks are opportunities. Sure there is anxiety and nervousness, but pushing past that I'm filled with anticipation as to what God will do.

It is that thought that has always motivated me in youth ministry. Working with teenagers is risky business. It's easy to get discouraged. It's easy to begin thinking, "is this really worth it?"

The wager still makes sense though. It IS worth it, every day. In the past nine years God has shown me that on more than one occasion. And as Kelly and I look to this coming year and look at stepping down as Youth Directors, I know we can both look back and say that with much conviction.

How about you? Are you willing to roll the dice this coming year? Are you willing to go all in with your faith and allowing it to take you places you've never thought possible? As 2011 begins, I hope and pray that you are willing to take some risks. There are plenty of opportunities, and I'm not only talking about serving the students involved in our programs.

I challenge you to find that one place where you can put some risk into your life concerning your faith. It's a pretty sure bet that you'll be better for it.

Making the right choices

I'm entering into a new phase of my life.

For the longest time, I've had what I like to call "Career ADHD." My resume is voluminous to say the least. I have had a hard time really finding what it is I want to be when I grow up.

And now, here I am at 33 years old and I once again am making preparations to continue on my merry-go-round of experiences. I'm going back to school.

I've been feeling the pushing and prodding for some time now, and this past fall I finally made the decision to take the plunge and enter graduate school. I will be returning to my alma mater, Slippery Rock University, and will study special education.

The past few months have been an education all in itself for me as I have investigated all that I need to do to enter back into the student world. I've had to reteach myself about financial aid, teacher certification, and taking tests.

One of the requirements for acceptance into the Special Ed. program is taking the Miller Analogies Test.

I have not taken a standardized test since I took my SATs when I was junior in high school. I defintely felt ill prepared for this exam and began to hit the interwebs in search of sample tests and strategies.

Luckily, this test is a multiple choice test, but the questions are pretty hard. It all deals with analogies and being able to know your vocabulary and how things are related. The framers of this test are tricky too, they start off easy and as the test goes on, it gets progressively harder. Many times, answers are so close that you really have no clear choice.

This is when the strategies come into play.

The trick is to narrow down your choices. Each question has four multiple choice answers. Usually you can eliminate two choices right away. That leaves two possible answers and a 50% chance is better than a 25% chance.

The logic is undeniable, but sometimes it just doesn't feel right.

Teenagers live in this world everyday. They have choices to make. The have decisions and sometimes they need to determine the logic and differentiate that from the emotions. It's hard.

It requires us to make that connection between the logic and the emotion and to feel comfortable in that decision. We try to do that in youth ministry and sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.

How can we give these teenagers more success? We need to apply the strategy and give them better odds. We need to help them eliminate some of those choices that they could make, by giving them Jesus. We need to invest some energy and time into them, and show them how to make the connection between heart and mind.

Will they always make the right choice? No. But 50% is better than 25%...

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom,
and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--
he will be blessed in what he does. James 1:25

Empty Threats and Broken Promises

I have some dreams in this life.

1. I want to own my own daycare.
It's just always something that I've wanted to do. I want the challenge of entrepeneurship. I want to create something amazing. I want to make a difference in our community.

2. I want to write a song.
Again, I'm motivated by the chance to create something. It will have to be an acoustic piece. I think I could do the lyrics, it's just the whole melody, chord progression, rhythm thing. I don't know...I'll figure it out.

3. I want to start a metal band and name it Nicodemus.
I've just always loved that name and metal is just straight up awesome.

4. I want to write a parenting book and title it Empty Threats and Broken Promises.


In dealing with children these many years and now being a parent for the past eleven, I think I have something to say about this subject and this title is the best.

It encapsulates a lot of how parenting is done.

Don't do this. Don't do that or...

...or what? So many parents lack the intestinal fortitude to follow through. They want the quick and easy way out.

Unfortunately, parenting is about making the hard choices. I'm not saying that I'm perfect at this either. I make my share of empty threats, but through the years, I've learned to say less and follow through with more.

Boundaries are important. Our ability to set limits and to stand firm by them dictate a lot of our discipline of our children. Working with juvenile delinquents has taught me that.

They youth that I work with test those limits on a daily basis. They want to know where the line is and when staff is consistent, the youth react positively. They feel secure and they feel safe in the environment and the structure allows them to succeed greatly.

I'm not saying that we become prison guards with our kids, but what I am saying is that by providing structure, by providing consistent boundaries of behavior we give our children the best opportunity to succeed and thrive.

Soften the boundaries and chaos could ensue.

So next time you draw a line in the sand, make sure that you are ready to defend it at all costs.