self-image

Man, i think i've been humbled this week. I've been asked to speak on the topic of the "idol of body-image," and i realized that i don't know much at all about that. I'm speaking on Thursday and that's coming up, so does anyone have any ideas?? I know this is lame to ask on a blog, but all i've got are some statistics about dissatisfaction with physical appearance and Psalm 139 and some great stuff about our bodies being a temple of the Holy Spirit. 80% of women are satisfied with their physical appearance, so i know it is a huge problem, but can someone help me understand how the idol affects someone? I mean, why is is such a problem, why is it so hard to get rid of...that kins of thing. Thanks in advance!

Idolatry

What exactly is idolatry? This is a question that came up at a Vision Team meeting last night. We thought about it as far as scritpure goes, and what it really looks like to worship something other than God. How many images and idols do we make for ourselves as American Christians?
I am speaking on idolatry, specifically the idol of body image next week in Platteville, and need some more thought on this. How infected are we with idolatry? Owen and Spurgeon and Comfort will go so far as to say even having a crucifix or picture of Jesus is idolatry. I propose that almost anything can become an idol, whether it be our bodies or seeking approval/affection of other people or video games or television, many things can and do become idols for us. So I wonder how much idolatry the typical American Christian is enslaved to. Any thoughts?

Does God Care?

Here's a question i've found most helpful in the past few years, and am having a great time with it now. "Do you think God cares about this?" IV at UWSP is sponsoring a fundraising drive to help "The Thailand Project," which aims to put an end to child sex trafficking in Thailand. Many people these days think that Christians are mostly self-absorbed and close-minded and thinking about their own affairs (which is understandable when i think about the best-selling Christian books and Christian TV programs...). Anyway, people seem to be taken aback when i ask if they think God cares about child sex trafficking or the AIDS crisis or the environment or their souls. Their answers are often something like "I'm sure God cares, but I don't think most of His 'followers' do."
Maybe they're misinformed, but maybe they have a good point. Anyway, i think here in Stevens Point environmental issues take a front seat, even more than humanity issues. So i think i'm going to work on caring for the environment here some more, maybe get some students on board. I can't think of a better way to build some relationships and begin sharing the gospel than that. We should care for God's creation and be good stewards, especially since so many around these parts enjoy it.

it's cold

I love winter, but for the first time in my life i'm getting sick of it. It all started on our wedding day, when it snowed so much that about 70 people who thought they would be there couldn't make it, and the ones who did make it had to stay at camp since the roads were closed. Joanna and i made it a little ways down the road and stayed at a very interesting hotel for the night. Then i had a trip to St. Louis, and was meeting up with people in Madison. It was snowing badly and took me 4 hours to get to Madison. On the way back up from St Louis there was ice and fog, and a 50 car pile-up near Madison. That was a long trip. Travel over Christmas was awful. We had to leave a day early to stay ahead of a storm to get to my parents house, but still drove through snow to get there. Then we drove through a storm to get to Joanna's family's place, and had to stay a day late because of a snow storm and still drove through snow to get home. Perhaps the worst was a few weeks ago driving down to Chicago for training. Ice and snow made for a bad combination, and there were 40 accidents between Stevens Point and the state line on I-39. That was a bad 8 hour drive to Chicago. I'm sick of driving in the snow.
I'm also sick of the -30 degree wind chills. The air temp hasn't been above zero again for a few days here. That makes it difficult to get outside, and i'm not happy being inside all the time. My cabin fever is better this week though, thanks to being able to take the canoe out on Friday. It was above zero, and there was a little bit of open water below the dam. I realized that there was a lot of current, and a lot of big ice chunks floating down the river to dodge. I figured that since i was married now i should not die, so i just paddled in a big circle and went back home. It sure helped though. I never thought i'd say this, but i'm ready for summer now.

Timothy

I didn't want to put a new post up because there was so much coming from the last one. So i decided to post something related to what people were commenting on the past few days here.
1 Timothy 4:12 states "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." Now this verse gets used often in various kinds of youth ministry (including campus ministry) in some interesting ways. Keeping in mind that Timothy had been taught good doctrine and instructed in the ways of Christian living for probably about 15 years (some of that teaching by the apostle Paul, no less!), and he was surely not younger than 35 years of age when Paul wrote this letter to him, in what ways can this verse be useful in my work with students? I am convinced it should be used, but i want to use it properly. What does it really say about being in leadership? I am looking forward to having knowledge bestowed upon me. Thanks in advance!

comments on a controversial issue

I'm assuming that Kyle was giving us a link to someone's notes on InterVarsity heading up some Catholic/Prostetant reconciliation work. IV has become more involved with Catholicism over the past few years, and there are books and articles written by IV about the topic. My friend, Scott Bessenecker, is working a lot with the Catholic/Protestant reconciliation initiatives despite his reasoning against much of the Catholic faith. I don't quite understand the reasons behind why we are straining toward a goal of reconciliation, but would like to have some healthy dialogue about it here. I got to attend a seminar by the writers of the articles linked to earlier in the post, and came away a little more confused than when i went in. It seemed a little too experiential to me, as in the reasons why the person converted to Catholicism were basically because it felt good even though they still don't understand Catholic apologetics, and the reason one of them likes Catholicism even though they left the Catholic Church is because of an experience he had in mass. Seriously, we've got to have a better reason for this than an emotional or pragmatic one. I think there are better reasons out there, but i'm looking forward to some blogage on this!