My conversations with a Friend, Pt. 1

I have recently begun conversation with a friend about homosexuality and the beliefs both of us hold.  I will be posting most of our conversations on my blog for all to see, so here are our first couple of conversations:

Jonathan:

Glad to hear from you.  I'm also glad that we're able to do this.  First and foremost, I want to be your friend, wether we come to any conclusions or not.  So, let me tell you a little about myself:  I am a 28 year old Baptist Music minister, living in Camden Arkansas, that's very Southern Arkansas.  I have a wife a a two year old daughter.  I am the oldest of 5 children.  My parents are recently divorced. I am currently going to Seminary to get my masters of divinity degree, and after that I hope to pursue a doctorate of ministry degree.  I hate to cut this letter short, but one of the ladies in our church had a tree fall in her yard this morning, and I need to go over there and help clean it up.  Would you please tell me a little about yourself.  Talk to youlater.

Tony

Hey. I'm glad we were able to do this. I do hope we're able to learn more from each other.  As for your response time, that was fine. I was unable to get to a computer yesterday so I hadn't noticed.  And no problem with your wife reading. I give a preemptive hello, if she happens to read what I type now.  As to what to do now, I confess, I'm not sure. I suppose I could give you the floor. You may ask anything you're want to know more about or, if you wish to know more about me, anything you want to know more about me. Also, you can say anything ideas you wish to express and we can start our discussion with those. Up to you. I hope we'll both be able to gain more experience from this.

Jonathan

Coolness

There was a question about pastors and coolness on another blog this morning and this is how I chose to answer

My wife and I were fortunate to grow up in churches with incredible pastors.  I have great respect for both of these men.  I also have the privelege of serving now under a great interim pastor.  I don't think anyone would consider any of these men, "cool" but we're not called to be "cool" are we?  We are called to be what God wants us to be.  I don't fault the mortorcycle pastor if that's who God wants him to be, but coolness only lasts for so long.  People grow weary of coolness, and they want to see the measure of the man.  The minister who follows God and has a strong daily walk with Him will affect and change more lives for Christ than someone who is just "cooler" than the next person.  Personally, I want to live my life for Christ and use the gifts and talents god has blessed me with and if that makes me cool, great, but if it doesn't, oh well. 

My Armor

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world…”

This passage in Ephesians has become my favorite over the past couple of years.  I like to begin my day reading these verses, and every day I am reminded of at least two things.

1)      I have to put on my armor so that I may take my stand against the devil.  I can’t put on my parents’ armor, or my grandparents, or anyone else’s.  God has made armor especially for me.  I remember in the Old Testament, King Saul tried to give David his armor, but it didn’t fit.  We have to have our own armor.  No one else’s armor will protect us against the particular arrows the devil will shoot at us.

2)      Our battle is not against each other.  We are fighting against Satan and one of his favorite weapons is to get us to thinking that our battle is with each other.  We need to concentrate on taking our stand against Satan, not against each other.  If we continue to let him divert our attention he will continue to turn us against each other.

Let’s put on our armor and take our stand against the one we’re really fighting against.  The past can’t fight for us and the future is not guaranteed.  We have to take our stand now.

A Dad Moment

I had a dad moment last night.  Well, that's what I'm calling it.  We are having Vacation Bible School at our church, and during the closing portion of the night, all the kids gather together in the fellowship hall and play and dance around for a little while before going home.  My daughter is just fascinated by balloons and there were several floating around last night.  She grabbed one and began running around with it, hollering "I go i, translated that means, "I've got it."  Taryn dropped the balloon and a little black girl picked it up and started running with it, and Taryn let loose with laughter and started chasing her.  This went on for about 5 minutes, the two of them just laughing and playing as if they were the only two people in the room.

I wish I could see the world through my daughter's eyes.  Racism and prejudice are still alive and well in South Arkansas.  In fact, the most segregated portions of our week occur on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings.  My daughter's innocence shows me how God intended us to relate.  She didn't care what color that little girl was.  She didn't care what anyone would think about her and who she was playing with.  She just wanted that darn balloon.  She pursued her goal with reckless abandon.

Maybe this is what Jesus had in mind when he said in Matthew 19:14, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these."  The little children saw the world as Jesus wants us to see the world.  They see the world with no presuppositions, no prejudices, and no thought that anything but good is in the world.  Then we have to go and pass on our foibles and our nonsense to them.  In short, Jesus was telling the adults at that gathering to leave the children alone and let the Master teach them. 

We should be careful to leave our children alone and let the Master teach them.  We pass along so much to our children, so surely there are some hang ups that we can leave out of the inheritance?

What would you change about the way your parents raised you?

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!