Yesterday I was invited to join a guys’ night out. The Crockett, Walt and Long men/boys went to Lake Herrington to fish, swim, tube, eat hot dogs and smores and celebrate David Walt’s eighth birthday. The evening was topped off with an Indiana Jones movie which did not keep me from going to sleep. We returned home today about 1 pm. I really enjoyed being along. The kids were great and had a wonderful time. We had good conversations and I appreciated getting to know Fred Long and J.D. Walt.
There is ultimately no justification for a private piety that doesn’t work out in actual mission, just as there is no justification for people who use their activism in the social, cultural, or political sphere as a screen to prevent them from facing the challenges within their own lives – the challenge, that is of God’s kingdom, of Jesus’s lordship, and of the Spirit’s empowering. If the gospel is not transforming you, how do you know it will transform anything else?
N.T. Wright – Surprised by Hope
We returned from our week at Spring Mill Bible Camp on Saturday. I have not posted for a while on this blog. There are a few things that I’ve been mulling and thought I would put together a post.
First, I’ve been reading N. T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope. He certainly challenges my thinking about Jesus’ resurrection, Easter, the Christian’s resurrection, heaven, salvation and numerous other related subjects. I really feel like I need to spend some quality time in study with other believer’s to sort through his arguments and conclusions. If you are looking for a challenging but encouraging and profitable read, Surprised by Hope is a good candidate.
Our time at SMBC was good. We worked hard at cooking and cleaning. It was good to be with old friends, and a some young friends. The kids were well-behaved as far as I could tell. One thing that I observed that I had not noticed before was the eating habits of the campers. Perhaps there was nothing unusual about that group and I’m just out of touch. Because we were preparing the meals and at serving time I was able to observe each camper as they filled their plates. Based on my completely un-scientific observations, I came to some conclusions. 1) A large percentage of the kids do not eat balanced meals and their bodies reflect their eating habits. 2) The were several girls (I did not observe any boys) that were not eating or eating so little that it wouldn’t matter. This was especially alarming.
I concluded that observing the eating habits of a youth group is a way their spiritual health can be evaluated. The core issue of dysfunctional eating is spiritual. Correspondingly the ultimate solution to the problem is spiritual. It will not suffice to threaten, plead, heap guilt, scare, reason with them. The problem for me is that I am mostly equipped to threaten, plead, heap guilt, scare, reason. As I thought about how I might help one particular girl should the opportunity arise, I was at a loss as to how to even start. As I have continued to think about the issue, I am more convinced than ever that spiritual health comes not through educating and moralizing, but through relationship with Jesus and sharing that relationship with others. I would not suggest that education and information are unimportant but they will only bear fruit in the context of Christ formed relationships.