Doctor Who and Death

If you have never seen the show Doctor Who then what is wrong with you? I will admit I have only recently discovered this sci-fi masterpiece but I am usually on the slow end of things like this. One of the basic ideas of the show is that The Doctor (A Time Lord) does not ever actually die but rather he regenerates in to a new Doctor. At first glance this would seem like a pretty awesome way to keep on going. When this is first reintroduced in the latest series on the BBC it is presented in a very positive light however this perspective changes by the end of season 4.

In the interest of protecting those of you who have never seen the show I will not go in to any specific details but during David Tennant's run as The Doctor we begin to see more and more times in which the show wrestles with the negative side of regeneration. One of the key moments in this discussion comes when the Doctor descrives this process as essentially death because each new Doctor is truly someone new with different perspectives and character. In the final moments as the Doctor David Tennant says that he does not want to do it. Essentially The Doctor does not want to die, he fears death. The "man" who can travel through time and space fears death. The man who always seems to be able to save the world or universe fears death.

I think one of the reasons the show spent so much time dealing with this idea is that it is the one thing all of humanity must wrestle with. It does not matter if your are first world or third world you must wrestle with your own demise. All of man kind must somehow find a way to come to grips with death and what happens after death. While I fully understand that I do not know it all when it comes to life after death, I do believe that I have some pretty good ideas about what is to come.

First, there will be an afterlife for everyone. All of us have a soul and that soul will continue on once this body dies. Second, not all souls are treated the same in the afterlife. Third, how a soul is treated in the afterlife is a direct result of the decisions made while the soul was a part of a physical body. Fourth, while all of your decisions can impact your soul in the after life only one decision is necessary to change from spending an eternity of torment in to one of joy and happiness. The decision to follow Jesus is the only way to make this change. It is only way to truly be able to face death with something other than fear.

It is to you how you want to face death. Do you want to be like The Doctor and face it with fear? Or do you want to be able to face death with peace and yes even joy? The choice is yours.

Uno Mas!

Since October of 1996 I have spent a significant portion of my life around college students. This time has been in 3 different states with two generations of people (Gen Xers and Millennials). Over the years I continued to be amazed at how much some things just do not seem to change.

Tonight Angie and I had the privilege of working with the USF BCM and their summer kickoff. It was an amazing time. For me it was this strange mix of coming back to the place where it all began while also starting something new. I found myself again gravitating towards the sand volleyball court to play just one more game or one more serve. I also found myself thinking about all of the people that were at the BCM when I was their as a student. I thought about all the work and effort that so many people put in to events just like the one we were at tonight. I also found myself longing for some of those deep personal relationships that I shared those amazing people. Yet in the midst of all of the reminiscing I found myself getting to know new students. Each one there for their own reasons with their own set of burdens, dreams and ideas.

Tonight was an amazing night for me. I had a great time being on campus again and being around so many wonderful students. I have no idea how God wants to use me and my family on this campus but I am looking forward to watch him doing some amazing things at USF.

Life Lessons from Doctor Who

I have always been drawn to sci-fi shows and british TV which is why it is so odd that it took me so long to start watching Doctor Who. If you have never seen the show it is a bit hard to explain but the basic premise is that you have a Time Lord (The Doctor) who travels thru space and time in a constant search for adventure. Along the way of course he runs in to all sorts of bad guys and good guys all the while dealing with his own personal issues.

Lately, I have been watching the 9th incarnation of the Doctor which started in 2005. It took me a few shows to really get in to it but I was determined to see why so many of my nerdy/geeky friend liked this show. I now find myself in this position of wanting to watch this show whenever possible. As I have watched more and more of the show I have started to see some valuable life lessons. Tonight's thoughts come from Season 2, Episode 11:Love and Monsters.

At the end of the show the main character (Elton) for this particular episode talks about how when you are a child you taught to grow up, get a job, and have kids. This is the basic pattern for each of us to live. He goes on to say that life is much darker than this and it is also much brighter than this. As I heard him say this it struck me as to how true that thought really is. Life is full of deeply dark moments and events. Their are times in life when it seems impossible for us to go on. Sadly many people get so trapped in this darkness that they either kill themselves or become reclusive. These moments are tough and they are the ones that challenge everything that we believe in. It is in these moments that we learn so much about ourselves, our friends and our family. For those of us who come through these moments we come out of them stronger than we were before. We come out the other side of these times with a greater appreciation of the beauty and joy that surrounds us in this world. It is from these moments that we begin to see the second part of Elton's words about life.

There is amazing moments of joy and happiness in life. There are times in life when everything seems to be just a little bit brighter as if the world has been sprinkled with glitter. It is these moments that so many of us look back on during those dark days to give us hope for a better tomorrow. It is these moments that we look forward to because we know that they will give us rest. These moments help to reassure us that all of this craziness is worth it. They provide us with concrete proof that things can and do go right. These are amazing moments and when we are in them we never want them to end.

In the past few months I have experienced both ends of this spectrum. In fact, this weekend alone I experienced amazing highs and incredible lows. I experienced such a range of emotions from anger to joy and everything in between. Through it all though I recognize that I wouldn't trade any of it for the world because it is the experience that is life. God has blessed us with the experience of life. There is no need to for us to experience life but He made the decision to bless us with it. He desires for us to experience life so that we can better appreciate who He is and how much He loves us.

I am not sure which end of the spectrum that you are currently working through but in a sense it does not matter because he each part of the spectrum is a part of experiencing life. I hope that you are able to experience your life well today.

The Battle

As someone who works with teenagers I fully understand the need and necessity to make a concerted effort to reach the school campus. I realize that teenagers are simply going to show up at church just because you are having a lock-in or other fun activity. I also realize that if a school culture is going to change it is going to take students sharing their story and God's story with other students. When they begin to share what they know then things will begin to change at their school. I believe that most church members would agree with this concept when it comes to the Youth but I doubt many would agree that this is the kind of approach that we need to reach the children (elementary school age). My response to them would be why not?

Why is that we see teenagers as these great agents for spreading the Gospel at school but we think that children are not capable of doing such things? Is the Holy Spirit not as strong in children as He is in adults or teens? Does God withhold His great power and might from children yet 'magically' start giving it out to someone when they turn 13? Do we think that somehow children are not smart enough to tell the Gospel?

I think that if we as a church were truly doing things right then our children would want to be telling others in their school about God and Jesus. I think that is were doing things the right way then not only would they want to be doing but that we would be finding ways and resources to help them accomplish that. We would be finding and developing things like a kid's version of The LifeBook for them to give away.

In the end I believe that as a church we need to give more credit to our children. We need to stop seeing them as the church of tomorrow and see them as the church of today.

Students to Pray for

Sandwich

Sam

Scott

Ellen

Shanon

Kristin

Lauren

Monica

Laura

Jacque

Kate

Plano

Solange

Paige

Ally

Brittany

Alexa

Cody

Anne Marie

Kayla

Jackie

Jasmine

West Aurora

Alex

Graeme

Aidan

Josue

Owen

Allison

Chris

Nathan

Montee

Jacob

Healing and Strength

The more I travel down this road of getting health and in shape the more I realize the deep connection between God and physical strength. It appears that while we know of many believers who suffer physically we also see in Scripture that when we follow God He provides the very strength for our bones. Proverbs 3:7-8 speaks to this.

"Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones."

The basic idea from this passage is that when we seek the wisdom and guidance of God then he will provide the physical strength that we need to follow Him. I do not know where you are in your journey with God but do not allow the fear of what may come to stop you from following after Him. He will provide you with the strength you need to make it through whatever comes your way.

God and Health

A number of years a local tv station wanted to determine who had the best fried chicken in the area. For judges they figured who better than some local ministers. While on the one hand this TV segment was funny, as I look back it was also kind of sad. Why is that when it comes to judging a food contest that a local minister would be at the top of the list? Why do so many Christians have such close associations with eating? Why do Southern Baptist in particular have so many jokes about eating?

I am the first one to say that I have not always eaten like I should or take care of my body the way that I should. In the past though when I have looked to change this it had more to do with what I had learned in school or in society about how I should look or what I should be doing. Over the last year or so I have begin to truly see the spiritual component of exercise and good health.

Over the last year I have been running with my oldest. In fact, this past summer he ran his first two 5ks. As our practice runs would get longer I started to see in him much of the same attitude I had about wanting to stop or not work as hard as I could during practice. I did not want him to fall in to the same traps and failures I had fallen in to so I had to find a way to break this cycle and what I found was God. I told Aiden that when we go for a run that there are always three of us and that when a run gets tough that we need to remember that God is there to help us. This thinking lead me to realize that I needed to do whatever I could to make sure that God was always a part of my exercising. One of the things this meant for me was play Christian music when I was doing my other exercise routines. It also meant not doing some because they were too closely related to the spiritual roots of yoga.

In the end I have not been as consistent with my exercise as I would have like but I am also in some of the best overall shape of my life. While I was working overnights I was able to have energy through out my night despite my goofy sleep schedule. I am better able to wrestle and play with my kids. I hope that in years to come that exercise will become such a habit in me and my family that it is just what we do. It is my hope that we will find new a creative ways to honor our bodies as the temple of God.

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well." 3 John 1:2