Walking In Wisdom

As many of you know i had my trial of the year (I  would only hope) this winter with the cancer scare. What an ordeal but what a blessing to experience God's strength through the strom. Now I have all of our pastors facing trials. Jerry Lingenfelter's new born Ty is under going open heart surgery on Friday to repair a defect they saw prenatal. Then Brett Lovern's wife is suffering during her pregnancy and will be giving birth seven weeks early today or tomorrow. PAstor Chris Hornberger's son was mugged last week and his nose was broken - tomorrow he will under go surgery to repair the nose. And Nate Newell has been trying to selll his home in Chicago for 9 months and its been delayed a number of times. The only thought I had was that I went through what I experienced to be able to coach, comfort and sympathize to these dear guys. Good thing this week is a week of prayer!

Sorry my faithful blogging audience -- but i took a coupe of days off to recharge the batteries at Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago. I was attending "Harvest University" which is their pastor's conference for HArvest Pastors and Pastors of what they call "affliated churches" -- that would be NewSong.  It was a real treat to be with 500 ministry leaders and sit under the teaching of James MacDonald the pastor of Harvest. He preached twice from the book of Acts and both hit me between the eyes, as James knows how to do. I also sat in on 10 different pastoral workshops such as evangelism, student ministries, preaching, etc. It was all good. I am getting really excited about James speaking at NewSong's tenth anniversary celebration in September. I just know it will be an incredible night. Save the date - Friday September 26th at Lampeter-Strasburg HS Fine Arts center. Just 1300 seats so when ticket are made available -- you better get them!

Recently a church member sent me this news release about a woman at Yale who used the "morning after drug" to abort her baby. But read the article and tell whether or not we are sloughing toward Gommorrah....

 

Martine Powers
Staff Reporter
Published Thursday, April 17, 2008

Art major Aliza Shvarts '08 wants to make a statement.

Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself "as often as possible" while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.

The goal in creating the art exhibition, Shvarts said, was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body. But her project has already provoked more than just debate, inciting, for instance, outcry at a forum for fellow senior art majors held last week. And when told about Shvarts' project, students on both ends of the abortion debate have expressed shock . saying the project does everything from violate moral code to trivialize abortion.

But Shvarts insists her concept was not designed for "shock value."

"I hope it inspires some sort of discourse," Shvarts said. "Sure, some people will be upset with the message and will not agree with it, but it's not the intention of the piece to scandalize anyone."

The "fabricators," or donors, of the sperm were not paid for their services, but Shvarts required them to periodically take tests for sexually transmitted diseases. She said she was not concerned about any medical effects the forced miscarriages may have had on her body. The abortifacient drugs she took were legal and herbal, she said, and she did not feel the need to consult a doctor about her repeated miscarriages.

Shvarts declined to specify the number of sperm donors she used, as well as the number of times she inseminated herself.

Art major Juan Castillo '08 said that although he was intrigued by the creativity and beauty of her senior project, not everyone was as thrilled as he was by the concept and the means by which she attained the result.

"I really loved the idea of this project, but a lot other people didn't," Castillo said. "I think that most people were very resistant to thinking about what the project was really about. [The senior-art-project forum] stopped being a conversation on the work itself."

Although Shvarts said she does not remember the class being quite as hostile as Castillo described, she said she believes it is the nature of her piece to "provoke inquiry."

"I believe strongly that art should be a medium for politics and ideologies, not just a commodity," Shvarts said. "I think that I'm creating a project that lives up to the standard of what art is supposed to be."

The display of Schvarts' project will feature a large cube suspended from the ceiling of a room in the gallery of Green Hall. Schvarts will wrap hundreds of feet of plastic sheeting around this cube; lined between layers of the sheeting will be the blood from Schvarts' self-induced miscarriages mixed with Vaseline in order to prevent the blood from drying and to extend the blood throughout the plastic sheeting.

Schvarts will then project recorded videos onto the four sides of the cube. These videos, captured on a VHS camcorder, will show her experiencing miscarriages in her bathrooom tub, she said. Similar videos will be projected onto the walls of the room.

School of Art lecturer Pia Lindman, Schvarts' senior-project advisor, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Few people outside of Yale's undergraduate art department have heard about Shvarts' exhibition. Members of two campus abortion-activist groups . Choose Life at Yale, a pro-life group, and the Reproductive Rights Action League of Yale, a pro-choice group . said they were not previously aware of Schvarts' project.

Alice Buttrick '10, an officer of RALY, said the group was in no way involved with the art exhibition and had no official opinion on the matter.

Sara Rahman '09 said, in her opinion, Shvarts is abusing her constitutional right to do what she chooses with her body.

"[Shvarts' exhibit] turns what is a serious decision for women into an absurdism," Rahman said. "It discounts the gravity of the situation that is abortion."

CLAY member Jonathan Serrato '09 said he does not think CLAY has an official response to Schvarts' exhibition. But personally, Serrato said he found the concept of the senior art project "surprising" and unethical.

"I feel that she's manipulating life for the benefit of her art, and I definitely don't support it," Serrato said. "I think it's morally wrong."

Shvarts emphasized that she is not ashamed of her exhibition, and she has become increasingly comfortable discussing her miscarriage experiences with her peers.

"It was a private and personal endeavor, but also a transparent one for the most part," Shvarts said. "This isn't something I've been hiding."

The official reception for the Undergraduate Senior Art Show will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 25. The exhibition will be on public display from April 22 to May 1. The art exhibition is set to premiere alongside the projects of other art seniors this Tuesday, April 22 at the gallery of Holcombe T. Green Jr. Hall on Chapel Street.

If i did not believe that God has me where I need to be ministry wise....I would go back to being a youth pastor. Understanding the spiritual development and generationally unique chalenges facing teenagers is both crucial and tauting. This weekend we interview a potential pastor of next generation ministries. We did not want a guy who would play games with the kids and then tag on a devotion. Nor did we want a post modern/emergent guru who wants to introduce our kids to all kinds of untested and weird practices that they call spiritual formation. I just want to find a pastor who loves KIDS that is first and foremost. Understands their unigue challenges and then gets them into the Bible to find the answers for the questions (they are not even sure they know the questions?) they are struggling with.

When I was a youth guy....I had four objectives with students, realizing that I had them for 4-6 years then they were gone and what i did could set a course for their lifetime...

1. Love Christ

2. Love their Parents

3. Love the church

4. Love the Bible

Now is that so hard.....

I love politics - always have and probably always will. But this year's election has me so bound up in knots. Not in fear who will win and who will be calling the shots in DC - ultimately God calls the shots everywhere. But this year more then ever you get such "double speak" -- forked-tongues when it comes to the candidates positions on issues and what they just spew out and then a day or two later make excuses for what they said or issue a veil apologies with the notion... "I did not really mean that."

I guess as a believer i have greater hope and expectation on those who would be in leadership. yet when dealing with non-believers and dealing in the forum of "public opinion" you will never get the right answer.  i was looking at a recent blog and Martin DeHaan from RBC wrote a great article on what we are looking for the difference between a poltician and prophectic voice. he wrote...

Yesterday our pastors met with the guys from Crossway Church. What a great group of fellow shepherds. They love the Lord, the gospel, the ministry --- have a completely hillarious time of sharing. Not to mention a fantastic steak lunch!!!  One of the greatest qualities in these guys is their notieable, expressive grace, humility and authetic complements. We were overwhelmed. After a great time of fellowship, they even opened up their book closet and said everyone take a book or resource -- what is ours is yours. This is a very uncommon thing around pastors -- what a joy.  Next time we meet at NewSong -- i can't wait!

I started this week giving you some insights from my experience at golf school. I have more...

4. Only when i affect my subconscience does real change happen. I thought at one point i was sitting in one of my counseling sessions. My instructor told me that being told the right way to swing will only enlighten your conscience thought -- you will still go out and make a wrong shot. However, after applying and practicing and do it over and over -- you can "retrain" (or we in Bibleland might say "renew") the mind! Wow is that incredible. That is why leaving a sunday sermon and immediately finding a away to do what you hear is so important. I once heard it take doing something "once a day for a week; once a week for a month, once a month for a year....to change a habit!"

5.Data, data, data....forget about your feeling! Again i felt like i was sitting in NewSong. So many golfers will say that "everyone has there own feel of the game, their own rhythm, their own way....NON SENSE!  Pelz is a scienctist -- he worked for NASA. He has researched and documented all his finding. The man hired people to perch themselves up in a tree and count the number of footprints made on a green by a foursome during 18 holes of golf - 400,000! Even in golf where it might seem "style matters" -- it doesn't only the data you can determine. Even when it comes to yourself - we need data - he suggests that you go to a range and hit each club a number of times and write down how far each shot goes....thsi way you KNOW how far each club will actually go without guessing.  I think in Christianity we like the "deo imagino" - the Imagination of God - the mysterious aspect of our faith.  yet John tells us in 1 John 5 - "these things are written that you can KNOW....data! Living the Christian life is not guess work - it is a walk of faith, faith based on the Word of god.

6. You usually spend most of oouor prep time on that which we don't need to do.... This was the most fascinating. Pelz points out that in a normal round of golf - 25% of the shots are with your drivers or longer shots. 45% is on puttiing. Why is this important? Think of the last time that you told some time to practice golf -- not play a game -- what did you do - go to the driving range -- take out your drive and club the ball for an hour and then right before going out on the course you spent 5 minutes putting. Crazy right? the  part of the game that you do the most gets the least amount of your attention. So it is with the Christian life.....what aspect of the Christian life do you need to work on - for me it is evangelism. What kind of time do you and I spend on the aspect of our faith Game that we need to work on the most -- my guess if it is like me -- it gets little bit of my time!

7. You either change or improve...or you are wasting your time. Pelz is big on feedback. Like in putting, every time you putt you should hold your finish till the ball stops rolling. Why? you will see where it lands and then look at your putter's position and whammo you know what you did wrong! If not you will never correct what you just did wrong!  If you don't correct what is wrong -- why are you wasting your time!!!  What a great point. As christians, if we are going to small groups, Bible studies, worship and classes, but not evaluating, not getting feedback and not looking at what went wrong -- you are wasting your time and the time of those serving and ministering to you!!

Thats all for know...check back in a few days!

I know you are thinking that I lost my mind -- how can you get spiritual lessons from golf school? I know this is a justification for missing church yesterday? Take it easy you legalistic readers. I spent some time reflecting this morning about this whole experience. I told someone that these three days was the best conference experience I have ever had -- including Bible and pastoral conferences. the reason is because there was visible, evidenced changed in me by the end of the three days. It is not too often that you can say that. So i was thinking - what other applied lessons can i see in the Pelz school that relate to my faith, the church, spirituality and disciplemaking. well here you go....

1. The instructors taught with authority. From day one they told us that golf is not about "how it feels" or "that you can try different ways" or "that every person has their own feel for the shot" -- non sense! They said this is the way you do it -- do it! i like that -- I think we sometimes approach Christianity that first way... let's just try different things till it works, or everyone has their own way of living out Christ or every person is different there fore there is no standard! in the book of Judges they had that problem - moral relativism..."everyone did what was right in their own eyes" - you see what happens to them!

2. Practice is the only way to perfect -- and no one is perfect! The fact is no one is always perfect in golf...Praise the Lord! That was encouraging. BUT to move towards perfection, you must practice. Practice is what Christians don't like to do. They what immediate results - perfection! But if we will be disciplined, diligent and keep doing the same thing over and over -- in the game -- when it counts -- we will do the right thing!

3. You must start with evaluation and end with evaluation to determine improvement. That was a tremendous aspect of the school -- they video taped us immediately and evaluated how BAD our swing was and what we needed to improve. Lets face it friends -- the video did not lie. But then at the end of three days, they video taped us again...you know what I saw -- improvement. Know look we don't have video tape of every day. But we can start our day evaluating ourselves and then reflect at the end of a day. Better sit down each week with a friend and discuss where you are at and then a week later, review what you discussed last week and see how you improved. I have been teaching a men's class this year and EVERY lass we start with a test or quiz...it gives us all in a fun way a way to evaluate am I learning!

4. Club Pros are hireling -- we need teachers who are determined to see you improve. I heard a funny story by one of the instructors this week. When I was a club pro and someone would come to him and say that they needed to putt better, he knew that he had to have her see a better putt in 30 minutes. Now the fact is putting takes months and years of practice to improve. But he knew if she did not improve, she would not come back for n hour lesson and she would tell all her golfing buddy or lunch dates how wonderful he was....thus increasing his revenue! The fact is as John 10 tells us -- he was a hireling - ut to make money! He did care for the "sheep" -- he wanted to shear them! However when you are with golf instructors who yes get paid, but are their for you to improve and learn and they will be evaluated by your progress -- then you are being cared for by a shepherd/teacher. I think we have too many hirelings caring for the flock and not enough shepherds and the best way to figure it out -- see if the sheep are progressing in their walk with Christ! Listen I have seven more....I will get to them tomorrow. Right now its off to the golf (store) -- after hitting 1,000 balls in three days - I am ready for physical therapy!

I have just regressed back into my childhood. One of the memorable parts of my childhood was going to camp. This week my son Alex and I are attending "golf camp" in Florida. Back in the fall, some dear friends offered to send Alex and I to one of the world's best "short game' golf school - Dave Pelz Golf School.Pelz is a true golf guru -- he is not a great golfer, nor has he ever played on the tour -- the fact is he was a NASA scienctist who took his research background into the world of golf. The net result was figuring out how to systematically teach how to shave 10-15 strokes off your game. After the first day -- I am a believer. The four teaching pros are fantastic. The system works. But what is really fub is that for the 16 adults enrolled -- we are being pressed, humilitated, challenged and messed with and we paid for this abuse!! Its like camp for kids!!! Great experience -- tons of illustrations on how to help people grow in their faith and develop their "game" as a devoted Christian! Its been a tremendous time!