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This morning I read an excellent article by Kevin DeYoung called “Safe Schools, gender-conformity, and common sense. “ It’s a response to the recent Michigan Department of Education release of a statement on safe learning environments for LGBT students, transgender students in particuar. What I loved about this article is he approached the cultural issue about transgender rights from a rational viewpoint instead of a Biblical one.

Now let me clarify there are definitely some Biblical problems with the transgender movement. At its core I believe the acceptance of other people becomes an idol or source of identity instead of God. Eventually this leads to an unhealthy fear of man so the slightest rejection or disagreement shatters your self-confidence, and complete acceptance is demanded.

Dr. Ed Welch explained how fear of man [1]affected his marriage saying “I needed love from her. I could finally take small amounts of rejection but I felt paralyzed if I didn’t get the love I needed from her. I needed unconditional love. If she didn’t think I was a great husband I would be crushed.” [2]

Whats interesting is Kevin DeYoung didn’t touch on approval of others becoming an idol, but instead respectfully pointed out weaknesses of the LGBT position.

1. By clarifying he agreed wiht their position that a LGBT student should be treated with respect, but disagreed with their belief the current school system was unsafe for students from that background (Transgender especially)
2. Pointing out the documentation included to prove this unsafe environment thesis was too small (two footnotes) one of which couldn’t be checked (from unpublished material) and the other footnote admitted this lack of safety impacting more than just LGBT students (includes discrimination regarding religion, race, and disability)
3. Asking why the Department of Educations statement takes power away from parent by saying engagement with parents about decisions students make will be done when “appropriate.” In other words the school decides when the parents learn information
4. He plays this decision out by asking what will happen when a transgender student who was male decides to play (and dominate) womens sports? And how both males and female using the same bathroom makes things safer.
5. Finally Kevin DeYoung suggests a second option by saying “Instead of making our schools a cultural battleground and a place for gender experimentation, we could simply handle these issues on “a case-by-case basis” (as the statement says at one point).

No matter what a persons opinion is regarding whether or not our schools are an unsafe environment one thing is very clear from this article…Kevin DeYoung did his homework.

In other words he did the hard work of not only reading the document but studying it, thinking through it, making sure he realised exactly what the LGBT statement was saying, and created a clear rational response.

This is so different than what I find myself doing.

When faced with a cultural challenge like the transgender movement or someone who disagrees with me my first thought is to write a Facebook post [3] that explains the Biblical view in a confrontational way. But 90% of the time this will just start another argument online, or have little affect at all on those who have the opposing view.

Contrast this with DeYoung’s article that knows his opponents view backward and forwards (probably more than most who feel schools are unsafe for transgenders) lovingly points out weaknesses, and proposes a better way of doing things.

Who do you think people will listen to more?

There will never be a day when Christians should stop being students of the Bible…however maybe its time for us to stop sharing ten-minute Facebook posts and become students of our culture as well.

[1]: worried more about other people think than God

[2]: when People are Big and God is small pg.13 par.1

[3]: that takes less than ten-minutes

Every once in a while God gives teachable moments in life, I experienced one of those this morning while preparing for a sermon in two-weeks. An iPad was in my lap and a notebook with some handwritten notes was sitting on the chair beside me. Partway through I laid the iPad down and picked up the notebook to check some references, then began trying to scroll down the piece of paper with two fingers as if it was a tablet 🙂

It only took a second to notice my mistake but it made me stop and wonder “is it possible I’m TOO connected?”

We live in a world where cutting edge technology is literally at our fingertips. With my phone in St. Vincent I’m able to text, email, send pictures, call, or face time/Skype with family and friends in the States for free if there’s wifi signal. It’s also used as my alarm clock, calendar, reminder, GPS, library (Kindle Books), news source, and even source of entertainment through Netflix.

In a broader sense tools like smartphones or tablets lead to a lifestyle that’s constantly connected or “plugged in” so there’s almost never a time someone cannot be reached with an email, text, or Facebook message. As a missionary being plugged in is a special blessing because it allows me to communicate with people in another Country instantly…yet its possible to become so dependent on electronics that being unplugged [1] scares us to death.

During my last two weeks in St. Vincent the missionaries who I’d been filling in for returned (I was VERY happy to see them!) so I moved out of their home into a nearby rental. There was only one problem, the rental didn’t have internet.

1. No Email
2. No Texting my parents
3. No Pandora (music)
4. No Netflix

At first I figured being without wi-fi wouldn’t be a problem, but after a few days boredom started to set in, and by day four things were getting desperate. I did survive my time there (barely) but it was a not so subtle reminder of just how much I depend on technology.

This morning the Lord reminded me again that I needed to unplug from time to time. This isn’t done by getting rid of internet like in my rental home, but creating moments in the day or special times during the week when all my electronics will be turned off.

Last week I went with my father to plant nine fruit trees at our home in West Virginia. While we were there I conducted an experiment by turning off all my technology (phone and tablet) till 6:00 other than checking my email first thing in the morning. I did make it till 5:00 (not quite the goal but proud of it anyways) and learned a few things about being unplugged.

1. It creates lots of silent moments [2]
2. Those moments allow me to process things slowly (one at a time)
3. If I listen closely in those silent moments God can be heard
4. And most importantly I didn’t miss anything

My greatest fear of being unplugged isn’t that someone can’t get a hold of me but the silence. Silence feels awkward or weird to me so I do everything in my power to fill it

1. By talking
2. Or listening to background music
3. And turning on the TV even if I’m not paying attention to it
4. But this morning the Lord made me stop and think about something

What if those moments of silence the unplugged life gives us is a blessing instead of a curse? What if God’s trying to speak to me but I’m too busy scrolling, swiping, liking, or tweeting I can’t hear him? What if the moments I spend quietly thinking accomplish more than my plugged in moments.

Those questions and others challenge me to become unplugged. This starts not with becoming reclusive and isolated, but shutting everything down and just taking a walk.

[1]: away from our electronics or wi-fi

[2]: I’m not listening to anything, or thinking about lots of things at the same time

This afternoon with my parents help I packed two large barrels full of items for my home in St. Vincent. Lord willing they will be delivered to a company next Monday or Tuesday, then arrive in SVG around two months later.

Packing those barrels brought a strange mixture of emotions since its at the same time an incredibly exciting, and absolutely terrifying experience.

Exciting because I’m already envisioning how the Lord will use my home for discipleship or youth meetings

And terrifying because I know this time it won’t just be for six-months

While all missionaries experience a certain amount of risk and sacrifice, short-term missions [1] with its clear ending point makes things a little bit easier. When challenges come (they always do) you can say to yourself “well just two more months and I’ll be going back.” Even if this isn’t expressed verbally in times of testing our subconscious mind will tell us “just hang on for ___________ weeks then you’ll be home.” This comes from the understanding few problems on the mission field can be fixed in six months.

Permanent ministry on the other hand lasts years instead of months which means you no longer have any excuses 🙂

One of my biggest challenges in Barrouallie is getting the children who come by my house or visit bible club to attend church services. Since this is a long-term problem [2] it takes a long-term solution of entering into a mentoring relationship with them. Of course these kinds of relationships are very slowly developed [3] and solidified over not months but years.

This doesn’t mean I don’t try to deal with this challenge of course. But the excitement of short-term solutions like Mr. John’s juice or “tablet time” will eventually fade.

What missions needs is people who are committed to a long-term solution:

1. People who will share God’s truth whether its appreciated or not
2. Who will confront sin when everyone else accepts it
3. Who gives of themselves sacrificially even if they don’t see results
4. Who will be there for people as they weep, rejoice, or suffer together
5. Who know what its like to experience rejection, and respond with forgiveness

The thing about long-term ministry is it isn’t fun or attract lots of attention like short-term missions work can. Its painful, frustrating, depressing, and not for the faint of heart [4]. Yet when you look at ministries that have truly impacted lives they almost always end up being ones that lasted for years.

As I send my barrels off to be shipped next week and take the first step towards long-term ministry in Barrouallie part of me will know theres no more excuses. But thats okay, because for change to truly take place, the challenges of missions must be faced head-on.

[1]: lasting one to six months

[2]: kids don’t just wake up one morning and decide to stop attending Church.

[3]: after six-months on the island I was getting to the place where I wanted to be relationally

[4]: there are good things of course, but long-term ministry does have a lot more challenges

Last Friday my brother and his wife Sarah invited their third child a girl named Noelle Ruth into the world. As I held her in my arms Saturday morning [1] an interesting thought went through my mind; Mr. Tickle Monster isn’t retiring any time soon.

“Mr. Tickle Monster” started as a way of entertaining my niece (and tickling her of course) when she was two years old. Today he is a favorite of both my niece and nephew and it’s pretty much gotten to the point where they care more about him than me [2]

Of course they are well aware Mr. Tickle Monster isn’t an actual person…after all its just my hand closing so that the thumb meets my other four fingers and it somewhat resembles a mouth. The reason they ask about him is pretty simple.

When Mr. Tickle Monster shows up they know something silly is about to happen.

Over the years Tickle Monster has created a number of routines that are sure to bring laughter. In fact I’ve used them so much my niece and nephew now ask for them by name.

1. Like falling asleep and snoring very loudly
2. Or acting as if he is deathly afraid of Mr. and Mrs. Fox (which my niece and nephew make with their hands)
3. Walking into the corner of the screen when I’m on FaceTime or Skype and act as if he isn’t even there
4. Eating imaginary food that he’s told isn’t spicy, only to learn that it was spicy and completely over-react
5. and stealing french fries [3]

The reason I love using him is because it creates what I call “controlled silliness.”

There are two common approaches to giving children a release or allowing them to be silly; you either don’t allow them to do it at all (no silliness whatsoever) or you allow all kids to be a silly as they want (which ends in chaos). Having Mr. Tickle monster helps because he comes and goes at specific times to give a brief period of silliness. Ideally this gives me control to choose where we can be silly and where we can’t. [4]

I truly believe ministry (particularly with children) needs these periods of “controlled silliness” that they can look forward to. As someone who works with kids I think a lot about how much children are asked to sit still or be quiet, and how little they are allowed to just be loud noisy kids. Obviously there are places where they need to be under control like school or church. However those must be paired with moments of silliness that can be turned off [5] ideally.

When I came to Barrouallie I knew that Mr. Tickle Monster wasn’t going to work because it wouldn’t look right, there is a variation of Tickle Monster that grabs their arm but he has since been retired in favour of “Mr. John’s Lashing Hat.”

This is basically a kangaroo leather hat that makes a pretty loud sound when you hit someone (usually doesn’t hurt) and I play chase large groups of children while hitting them with it. They always end up “stealing” the lashing hat at which point I sprint down the street but always somehow manage to fall down so that they can lash me with the hat.

As you can imagine this is a pretty loud game which is why I rarely wear that Australian hat. In most cases when I bring the hat to Bible club the kids know they’re going to have fun, and when the hat goes away they know silly times over. There is a big difference between saying silly times over and getting the kids calmed down of course, but it’s creating those fun moments and releasing energy that helps the kids pay attention later.

At our last Bible club in Barrouallie a few months ago we played lashing hat for an extended time then I purposely ran down the street and hid behind a wall. As some of the children came walking around the corner I suddenly jumped out and began flailing my hat around in the air which brought screams of delight while they ran back up the hill. That’s time that probably could have been spent teaching a verse or telling them a bible story but something tells me they will remember that moment of controlled silliness for a long time.

[1]: technically I only held her that one time which is fine because Uncles are there to entertain the other kids. I’m pretty sure the reason I was holding her that time was so we could get a picture of it 🙂

[2]: When I called my mother at their house last week they responded “hey Mr. Tickle monster!” and it took five-minutes after arriving at the hospital for them to ask where Mr. Tickle Monster was

[3]: surprisingly I’m always the one that eats them instead of him

[4]: when visiting the hospital for instance Mr. Tickle Monster definitely couldn’t come because he was far too loud

[5]: Mr. Tickle Monsters gone so we have to calm down now