The past couple weeks, there have been some super sweet
little things that made my days brighter!
Free Dr Pepper T shirt at P Terry's. Bittersweet, as I was super excited to get my free T shirt, but am really sad about the end of the Dublin Dr Pepper era.
2. New Toms! It was definitely time- these were a totally different colors and I was rockin an awesome hole by my big toe. Thanks Brittany!
3. A visit with sweet friend.
I was so glad I got to make a surprise trip to Madisonville for Dallas's birthday!
4. Family style roommate dinner at Carino's (yum!)
and the completion of our 20 week Bible study.
5. GIRL SCOUT COOKIES!
I've only eaten two boxes so far.
These are my faves!
6. Awesome students who honor Christ in their extracurriculars
by praying with their teammates
being good sports
and always speaking encouragement
It has been an honor to go support them in their competitions!
I've had no less than thirty friends on Facebook post this video this past week.
It definitely has some poetic and legitimate points about God's grace and being an authentic Christ follower.
But the theology is a bit off, and without a discerning spirit, it's very easy to let some beautiful truths mingle with half truths, misleading phrases and blatant lies.
We watched it and discussed this video in Sunday School this week because I wanted to be sure that my students were thinking for themselves. I want them to listen to a sermon, a study, or a video claiming truth about Jesus and be able to test it against the scripture they know in their hearts.
My biggest concerns with this particular video were
1) the claim that Jesus came to abolish religion and hated religion, and
2) the inappropriate use of "It is finished" at the end of the video.
First, the poem's thesis is that Jesus and religion are two
completely separate and opposing entities.
Now, it is a matter of semantics, depending on your perception of the word religion.
And I really think that what Bethke means is self righteousness, or legalism. But that's not what religion means, although there may be negative connotations associated with the word religion itself. Depending on the dictionary you use, religion means something like: an organized set of beliefs concerning a higher power, or organized worship.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophet; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill." Matthew 5:17
Christianity is a religion, one that is centered on Jesus. So I don't think He hates that (although people who follow Christ still sin, and He does hate sin.)
In fact, James 1:27 says "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. "
And as much as it's easy to call out the church on everywhere it screws up, the church is there when natural disasters strike to help feed, clothe and rebuild communities; the church has helped raise awareness and crazy amounts of money to end human trafficking; the church has begun a nationwide trend in adoption that is NOT a last resort for families who can't have children, but rather an outpouring of love for children who need families.
That is pure, undefiled religion.
As far as the ending, the final verse of the poem says, "So for religion, no I hate it. In fact I literally resent it. Because when Jesus said, "It is finished" I believe that He meant it.
Now if we refer to the fact that Bethke probably means legalism or self righteousness in place of that word religion, that line is understood. However, when he quotes Jesus, it can be misleading to the reader. It makes it sound like Jesus was saying that religion is finished, when in fact it was Jesus' sacrifice. It was the power of sin that was finished. It was God's separation from man, and salvation through keeping the law that was finished. And using that quote out of context to serve the purpose of the poem is just not good, y'all.
I definitely appreciate the passion behind Jefferson Bethke's poem. His words aim to call a culture of church goers to be Christ followers I know that a lot of older, wiser, more educated people have put in their two cents on the theology of this poem/video, but I thought that it was important to emphasize that we need to be examining whatever we put in our minds carefully.
And because we are to represent Jesus in everything we do (Col 3:17), let's make sure that we know who Jesus is so that we can represent the true Christ, and not what we want Him to be or what's trendy in the young Christian subculture.
I'd love to hear your thoughts if you've seen the video or if you're so over this discussion already, how are you careful to distinguish the true Christ from what's trendy at the time?
here are 21 memories that are also reasons I love you.
Remember that time when we were really young and we decided to play pinata with the empty one in your room and a baseball bat while one person held the pinata out with their arm and the other swung the bat? Thanks for holding the pinata ;)
Remember when we colored ourselves with highlighters and danced under your black light to Avril Lavigne? We were too cool.
Remember when we went to the optometrist for the first time and I was absolutely mortified that I had to get glasses, but you bought fake ones at Claire's and we both had them?
Remember when you refused to read Harry Potter unless it was read aloud, so we took turns reading to each other every single night?
Remember when we were sitting in the hammock in the backyard talking about really serious life and death stuff and the hammock just broke and we fell to the ground? And so then we couldn't stop laughing?
Remember when we went to Disney World with youth choir and didn't want to wear the ugly shirts so we wore tank tops instead and got tans?
Remember that time we were on vacation and our parents got lost looking for a putt putt golf course and dad got really frustrated and told us to just be quiet in the backseat but it just made us laugh even harder? And then we made videos on our phones about it and anytime we'd play them it would make us laugh even more?
Remember when we were working with dad and we thought one of his clients was legitimately a witch? We watched way too much tv...
Remember when we were at Wolf Creek State Park with Granny Alice and I pants-ed you in your bikini? Lol yeah... sorry about that.
Remember on that same visit when Granny Alice took us to the Indian Reservation for the day as a surprise? And when you figured out where we were going you started crying? Haha.
Remember when we were going to film our own TV show called Girl Talk at our house? And we even recorded the intro with a Britney Spears' song in the background?
Remember how you used to not like children at all? And now you can't help but play with them and watch them protectively everywhere we go? And you served as a summer children's intern and work with infants now??
Remember when I was literally sick with anxiety and sadness over a breakup and you held me on the bathroom floor until I was all cried out? Thank you so much for that.
Remember when we moved your bed to the living room of our apartment and shared it for two weeks and watched Grey's Anatomy and played Wii Play every night? That was fun :)
Remember that time we had a really long drive and so every time we got to a new town we'd sing a different Kelly Clarkson song?
Remember when we got separated in church because one of our doodles made us laugh really loud in the middle of the sermon? Sometimes I'm more lenient on my students because of that memory.
Remember when you tried the crepes I made, even though you're super picky?? It made me really happy.
Remember when we used to make up random dances at the house during the summer? So we went through all the "cool" cassette tapes we could find? I think that included the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and Sounds of the 70's.
Remember all those times you've called me out on my sin? And even when I'd get defensive or mad, you were generally always right.
Remember that time we were going to be Tinkerbell and Peter Pan for Halloween in high school? But I couldn't find an appropriate dress for Tinkerbell? So you dressed up like Peter Pan anyway and you were super cute? Yeah, I remember that.
Remember all those times you were supportive when it seemed like nobody else was? I still have voicemails saved on my phone from youth trips where I didn't think I could handle it or from fights where I knew I'd screwed up a relationship, where you spoke truth and love to me.
(Emma Pillsbury from Glee and a white trash pageant mom)
