In a post from a few days ago I mentioned courage. I got to thinking more about that and I remembered this experience.

Four years ago I went to Church Camp at Gulf Shores, Mississippi. On the third day they had us do this excersize.

We all met in the worship center and the camp pastor gave us these instructions. We would have 30 minutes to find the underground church. All of the youth leaders and sponsors would be outside. Some of them knew the location of the church, and others were spies. Some didn't know anything. The camp staff were to be the police. If they suspected you were a christian, you could be thrown in jail and then executed for your beliefs.

He told us that and then kicked us out of the building.

I remember that when we started, it seemed like more of a cheesy game. I was a freshman and thought I knew what everything was and how everything worked. I was sure I'd find the church.

So me and some of my youth group kind of teamed up. We went around asking sponsors if they knew where the "fish market" was, or if they could help us be "fishers of men".

We finally found someone who told us to look for a place to serve. Me in all my infinite wisdom decided the best place was where we checked in. Because we helped serve eachother by bringing in eachother's luggage. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

As we were walking up there, one of the guards brought out a prisoner. He made the prisoner kneel down. Then he asked the prisoner if he believed in God. The prisoner said yes. The guard "killed" him with his broom-stick gun.

That's when it became more real for me.

So I got my group to hurry up to the front.

When we got there, there was a man standing in the back of a truck quoting scriptures. I just knew I had found the church. We were all given a little mark (a black dot) on our hands and told that the police could no longer catch us. I was pumped. I led my group to go out and get as many people as we could to come join our church.

After awhile, the horn blew and we all went back to the sanctuary.

When we got in, the pastor asked if everyone who had a black dot on their hand to stand up. Out of about 1,000 people 600 people stood up. He looked at us and told us that we were all fools and had joined a cult church.

The guy in the back of that truck was quoting scripture, but out of context and he had changed it. I felt stupid. I had been in church my whole life, yet here I was joining a cult church at church camp.

Then he asked all of those who had found the real church to stand up. About 40 people stood up. He told us all that the real church was at the tennis courts. A good place to serve.

Then he asked all of those who had left the church to go tell others where the real church was to remain standing. No one sat down.

Then he asked how many were executed for trying to tell everyone about the church. Half of them remained standing.

Next he had a kid come on stage, the kid told us about how he was arrested first. He was brought out on the hill at broom-stick gun point. He was mad to kneel down in the grass. The camp councilor put the broom stick to his head and asked if he believed in christ.

The kid said no.

There were some people there at church camp who were afriad to admit they knew christ when a broomstick was pointed at their head.

It was a real wake-up call to me. I needed to know the scripture better. I wanted to be able to leave the safety of the church and face persecution to bring others to christ. I wanted to have the faith it took to look down the barrel of a gun and say, "I am a Christian."

Evangalism...

Evangalism, I get chills every time I hear that word. I mean I just get this picture of old people wearing suits and telling you that 'Your a sinner and your gunna go to hell unless you repent of your sinful ways this instant!" But this isn't really what evangalism is about. Evangalism is just some fancy Christian lingo for witnessing. Now what exactly is witnessing? Simply put witnessing is sharing the good news of Christ. Now there are many ways of doing that that don't necessarily involve preaching at giant rallies for God or throwing Bible tracts in people faces. The easiest way to witness is just to live your life for God every day. Actions speak a thousand words. You can talk the Christian talk, but if you do not walk the Christian walk, your a lame duck. What impresses people most is your first reaction to a situation. Here's my little story.

I was in eighth grade in Mr. Garth's Pre Ap History class, first period. When all of a sudden Mrs. Ray came running down the hall (her hair was in this wimply bee-hive and it was flopping from side to side). She stuck her face in the room looked at Mr. Garth and said "Come out here now." He did. Next thing I know he cam trotting back in the room, turned on the TV and said "This is history in the making." I saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center live. I will never forget what happened next. Rebecca Rusek turned around to the girl behind her and said "Let's pray."

Now I was raised in a Christian home and went to church my whole life. I gave my life over to Christ when I was ten. I thought I was a pretty good christian kid. You know never stole, told big lies, or killed anybody. When Rebecca did that it was a wakeup call and it still is today. What is my reaction going to be next time I see something terrible? Will i react in a way that reflects my love of Christ in a way that will show Christ to those around me? My answer is that I hope so, but it's a struggle for me everyday.

School Prayer

I was reading some blogs and a friend of mine was talking about school prayer. It got me thinking. Here are my thoughts.

Last year I had to write a research paper of school prayer (you can read it here). I had always assumed though, that all prayer was banned from schools. That's not the case. Manidated prayers, prayers people were forced to say, were banned. Not prayer in general.

But this got me thinking though. When we, as christians, say that we want prayer in school, are we saying we want prayer in general or just christian prayers to be allowed?

I say prayer in general.

I may not like it but if I want the right to pray to my God, then I must respect my Hindu friend's right to pray to her gods. I had never thought of it like that.

We as christians demand the right for us to pray, yet we condem other prayers. That's not love. To me, that's oppression.

You see, for me, it's all about choice. In John 3:16 it says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

It says whoever (or whosoever). It didn't say, "Allen Arrington will believe in me and have eternal life." I had to make that choice. Here's the kicker though... God loves everyone. Even those who do not choose him. I am supposed to be like God, so therefore I must love everyone even if I do not agree with their choices.

It's not tolerance I'm talking about, it's love.

So next time you get in a tizzy over school prayer, I just want you to think. Are you campeigning for prayer or christian prayer.

So when my friend is talking about, "why can we not pray over the loud speaker?" that's why. We can't expect the right for us, and not expect the right for them.

That's why I am personally against a planned public school prayer. But I am all for praying at school, whether it's on your own or in a group.

Pray on!

C-C-C-C-Courage...

Last night for our youth worship service, instead of having the normal sermon-ish type setting, we had a discussion. What we really ended up focusing on was courage to talk about Christ in school and why it's so hard to do that.

It was a really neat discussion, and I was surprised at how we approached it. This morning when I was headin' over to Leal's (if you live in Waco then you know that that is the best place in the world to get a breakfast burrito) a song came on...

What are we sneaking around for?
Who are we trying to please?

Shrugging off sin, apologizing

like we're spreading some kind of disease.

That really got me thinking. I know that through my own personal highschool experience, I did almost try to hide the fact that I was a christian. I was proud to be a christian, but I was scared to bring the subject up around my friends. I didn't hang out with the "partiers", the "druggies",and the "drinkers" because of the fact that I was a christian. But I was afraid to bring up that subject around my real friends, the people that I cared about.

Why did I do that? Why was it so hard for me to bring up the subject of My God and My Savior?

I honestly can't answer that question, and I know that I missed some great opportunities to share Christ with people because of my lack of courage.

The song continues on like this (you may recognize this part if you didn't remember that last section)...

I'm saying, "No way. No way."

I'm not ashamed to let you know

I want this light in me to show.

I'm not ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ.

I like how it says that "I'm saying, 'No Way!'"

I am not going to be afraid any more. I have nothing to fear anyways. Fear is mortal, but God is immortal. Fear is physical, but God isn't physical. I have nothing to fear because I have God on my side, and I know that everything that happens, happens to glorify his name.

For those of you who are still in highschool, this could possibly be your single biggest ministry opportunity. Don't have regrets because you were just a little to timid to share Christ with your friends. Say "No way. Not anymore. I'm not ashamed to speak the name of my Jesus Christ."

What are we thinking?

Today in church we had two couples decide to join our congregation. After they were introduced to the church, our Minister of Music asked someone to pray for us. A lady in the back shouted out, "We forgot to vote on them!"

What are we thinking?

What are we doing voting on members of our church?

Since when can we decide who gets to be a part of our church?

Are we not supposed to be a church of God?

Didn't God tell us to love all people (Lev 19:18)?

Wasn't Jesus all about sharing with everybody?

What are we thinking?

I know that it's in our church's bi-laws that we are to vote on new members... but again I ask why?

Why can't we just affirm them in their decision, or better yet, welcome them into our family?

What are we thinking?

My Jesus

I'm so sick of the whimpy pictures of Jesus standing on a hill with his arms wide open and the children skipping around him and singing and playing tag.

That's not who or what Jesus was. And to portay him like that is a fantasy we have engrossed ourselves in because the real Jesus was scary.

Let me tell you about my Jesus.

My Jesus doesn't wear a clean white robe, his robes were dirty and torn from walking down hard dirty roads.

My Jesus doesn't have clean brushed hair, his hair is nappy and has lice and hasn't been washed in weeks.

My Jesus doesn't hang around on hill tops with his arms wide open, he walks down the ally's helping the blind, touching the lepers, talking with the sinners and prostitutes.

My Jesus doesn't have a nice beard, his beard is nappy and has old stale bread crumbs in it.

My Jesus doesn't have deep dark loving cute brown eyes, he has hard blue eyes that are crazy and defiant of the old teachings and the hypocratic teachers of law and religion.

My Jesus doesn't preach at people, he talks with them.

My Jesus wasn't sent to die for my sins, he chose to.

Lady in the Water...

When you consider a modern day fairy tale, no matter how twisted, ideal descriptions include "enchanting," "engaging," and "magical." They do not include "silly," "ridiculous," and "laughable." Unfortunately, in the case of Lady in the Water, the latter group of adjectives is the one that applies. This is the biggest misfire of M. Night Shyamalan's career, including his pre-Sixth Sense movies. In addition to being dull and uninvolving, the film fails to draw in the viewer sufficiently to facilitate suspension of disbelief, which allows the plot to resemble a rejected Ed Wood screenplay. For those who though Shyamalan was stretching and not playing fair in The Village, you ain't seen nothing yet.
-A Film Review by James Berardinelli

I say poop on you Mr. James Berardinelli!

Lady in the Water was a great movie.

The movie was not about some silly fairy tale though. LIke every single M. Night Shyamalan movie, there was much more to the plot that just the action. His movies involve deep twists and themes. Lady in the Water was no exception.

I don't want to ruin the movie for those of you who haven't seen it yet, but don't just look at the surface movie. Go in to that theater searching for meaning behind the story, look for parallels and symbols to every day life. If all you see is some silly story, then you only saw a movie, you didn't watch it.

Shymalan is a creative genius, and as is the case with most other geniuses, generally misunderstood.

This is my new list of favorate M. Night Shymalan movies in order, with the reasons that I like them...
1) The Sixth Sense - what a awesome twist at the end
2)Unbreakable - The theme of deep balance in the universe
3)The Village - Yet another great twist
4)Lady in the Water - The themes of everybodies purpose and of healing
5)Signs - yet again, the theme of no coincidences

If you don't like any of M. Night's movies, I strongly suggest that you go back and re-watch the movies again, but this time actually think about it as you watch it.

On turning 18

Yesterday was my 18th birthday (applause here). Thank you, thank you. But I must say that it really wasn't all that different from any other day.

I don't really know what I was expecting really, I mean I didn't think that on my 18th birthday I would all of a sudden by endowed with great wisdom. I didn't expect a card in the mail from the government saying "Congratulations, you have reached adulthood!". But I guess that I was expecting something, even though I'm not sure what it was.

Maybe I was expecting more respect, but then I realized everyone whom I care about respecting me already does. Or maybe I was expecting to be treated more like an adult, but again, everyone whom I care about treating me like an adult already does (for the most part).

But as of yesterday I can vote, buy lottery tickets, and use tobacco, but there is no election right now, I don't wanna waste my money on the lotto, and I simply deplore tobacco. So as of yesterday I can do nothing remarkable that I couldn't do two days ago.

I don't mean to sound pessimistic, I mean I really did have an awesome day. I got to spend all day at church with my friends and some family. I got to play around with a ton of little kids at VBS. I got to go to Mr. Snow (the best snow-cones in Waco). I got see my girlfriend. It really was a great birthday.

So here I am, three days older than two days ago, but now I'm 18.

Christian Creed

Today in my car I was listening to K-LOVE and the song "Creed" came on. It really is an awesome song and it is just so deep in meaning. As I was listening to the words I just couldn't help but think that this really should be our creed...

I believe in God the Father
Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

Wow! "I believe that what I believe is what makes me what I am" that is such a powerful statement. I believe in Christ and that is what makes me what I am, a Christian, a little Christ, a Follower of the Way.

I believe that He who suffered was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell and on the third day, rose again
He ascended into Heaven where He sits at God's mighty right hand
I believe that He's returning
To judge the quick and the dead of the sons of men

"I did not make it, not is is making me" Another awesome statement. This belief is continuing to make me. It is constantly changing me and molding me into an even better Christian.

I believe in God the Father
Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord
I believe in the Holy Spirit
One Holy Church
The communion of Saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never ends

"It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man" This was not something made by men to control men... no. It is God-breathed. It is heavenly inspired. It is the TRUTH.

What an awesome song!

The Cross

Today in my car I was listening to the local christian radio station and this lady came on and said, "I just love it when people wear the cross around their neck. It's like they should be wearing a guillotine or a gas-chamber around their neck instead because the cross was the ultimate form of torture."

I was shocked. I guess I had never really thought about the actual meaning behind the cross. I mean I've always known that the cross was a mode of execution used by the Romans. It's just that since Christ died on the cross for us; we as christians have taken the cross and changed it's meaning to freedom and salvation through christ.

But what did the cross actually symbolize?

The gas-chamber comment really brought it home for me. I live in Texas where we send the most peolple out of any other state to the gas-chamber. It's the ultimate punishment for any crime. It's death. When you get sent to the gas-chamber, you have done something so haneous, so brutal, that we as society think we are better off with you dead.

We've all sinned. We've all committed haneous acts when we deliberately disobey God. We earn death. We earn the worst possible punishment. Yet Christ said, "No". He stepped in front of me and took my place in the gas-chamber. He payed my debt to God.

That's what the cross means. It's not just this structure in your churches sanctuary. It's not just this token on your necklace. The cross means we've been judged guilty, but Jesus payed it all for me.

That's my cross.

Time to Brag

Yesterday my family and I went to go pick up my brother from String Camp.

For those of you who didn’t know it, my little brother plays the viola (a bigger, beefier violin instrument). He had chosen to go to String Camp so he could be with his buds and also get some more exposure to the strings.

The whole week they practice alone and together as an orchestra, they take lessons on theory and conducting and lit, and they get to have good old fashioned fun. Every year though, they have a concert on the last night.

I love the concert. It’s the only part of orchestra that a musically ignorant soul, such as I, can truly enjoy. Orchestral music is beautiful. I love it. (If you are curious about classical music but don’t know what to listen to I recommend listening to the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack.)

This will be Mikey’s 5th year in Orchestra. I remember when he first started… all he played was”Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. Oh I got so sick of that stinkin’ song! But now he’s gotten so good. It’s really a joy to listen to him play now.

For the concert, the last piece his orchestra played was “Symphony No. 8-Finale” by Dvorak. That is one of Mikey’s favorite pieces to play, and he was so scared that they were going to mess it up because they had rushed it every time they practiced it all week long.

They nailed it! It was amazing. Definitely one of the best performances he’s ever done.

So Mikey, I tip my hat to you.

Good job little bro!

Time for a Change

I was talking with my dad earlier today about our bathroom. He's been repainting it and I told him that it looked good.

He responded, "The thing about paint though is that you can put as much plaster, you can put as much paint over it, and there can still be rotten wood underneath."

That really hit me. This last week at camp our speaker, James Darby, emphasized that we need a change of heart.

One of the verses that he referenced was Matthew 15:18-19, "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander."

Our church needs a change of heart. For those of you who don't go to my church there have been some very real problems. No one person is to blame. Yet because of these problems our church is now divided, our church is now without a pastor, our church is now without a Minister of Education, our church is sick and dieing.

I'm afraid that now, as we have a shift in leadership, instead of trying to resolve those problems; we'll just slap a new coat of paint over it and call it done. That's not going to fix it though. If we don't try to fix the rot in our hearts, we'll decay and die as a church.

In Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus is hungry. He approaches a fig tree for food, but it was barren. He cursed the tree and it withered and it died.

Our church is that tree. We are called to bear fruit, to live for Christ. How can we do that if our hearts aren't right? How can we even attempt to imitate Christ in all that we do, if we don't reside in him?

Our tree isn't producing, and it's because we've allowed hate into our hearts. It's because we've become obsessed with power. It's because we've lost sight of God.

It's time for a change. We can't slap any more paint over it. Now is the time for us to change.

My question to you is this, are you willing to change?

Coincidence, I think not

“A coincidence is when God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous.” -Anonymous

I want to share a little secret with you… there is no such thing as a coincidence. They simply don’t exist.

Every person I meet, every place I go, every action I take impacts other people.

Imagine this blob of clay. Now imagine that you are this blob lf clay. Now as you’re floating along, God is molding you. He’s shaping you into what he wants you to be. Now imagine that as your floating along and being formed, you bump into another blob of clay. When you collide, you leave an impression on that blob. You make an impact on that blob. And when you collide, you also change course, if ever so slightly. Now God is still molding you, but you’re left with this little impression from your collision. That’s because that blob has impacted your life in some way.

After 18 years of me floating around and being formed by God, I’m left with tons of little impressions from those people whom I’ve met. They’ve impacted my life. Some more than others, but each has left a distinct mark. Also with every little impression, my course changed just a tad. These impacts have helped determine the course of my life.

That’s how God works. He planned for me to impact somebody just as he planned for them to impact me.

The question becomes though, what kind of an impression are you leaving? Is it Godly? Is it worldly? Is it loving? Is it hatred?

God planned for me to meet every person that I’ve met. I can only hope that they can see God in me. I know I’ve left bad impressions before, I’m not perfect. But now that I can see that this is one way in which God uses me, I try to make a Godly impression every time.

There’s no such thing as coincidence.

It’s not a coincidence that you’re reading this right now. It’s not a coincidence that you are where you are. God wants you there.

From now on though, I challenge you to think of this every time you meet someone. You’re meeting them for a reason. Leave a Godly impact.

Pace Yourself

Yesterday I decided I wanted to go running. I hadn't just gone running in awhile and I figured I might as well since I had time. So I went out to the mountain Bike course at MCC.

Now I've walked the Black Diamond one before, but this time I decided I'd jog it out. It's about 2 miles, and I can run two miles. I thought it'd be a piece of cake.

So I started out at a nice jog. Just kind of cruisin'. I had gone probably a tenth of a mile when I got to the first big hill.

Now this hill is incredibly steep. You know in cartoon when they have the mountain, and the path zig-zags up it at like a 45 degree angle, that's what this hill is like. So I started up the hill. I'm pumpin' my legs, keepin' on my toes. Pretty soon my legs start to burn; I mean fire. I had made it up the second little incline (there are four) and I had to stop. My legs just couldn't take it.

So I decided I'd give it up and go home.

I was walkin' down when I thought, "I can make it up that hill." So when I got to the bottom I tried it again. This time though, I didn't do it at a sprint. I took my time. I paced myself. I got to the top.

It was beautiful.

I just stood there listening to the silence and looking around at the trees. That's when it hit me.

This is what it's always like the week after camp. We get so pumped up for God, we get to passionate; that when we get back home we take everything at a sprint. We just charge the world like we're ready to take on hell with a water pistol. Then we get burnt out. Whether its our friends makin' fun of us, or ignoring us. Whether its family issues. It just doesn't seem to matter, we always lose steam and get burnt out before we get to the top, before we crest the hill.

This is my word of encouragement for you. Don't let yourself get burnt out these next few weeks, don't lose all the ground you made with God in your life last week. Take your time. Take little steps. Start a 5 minutes quiet time in the morning. Start a little prayer list of your own to help you keep track of what you need to be praying for. Get a friend who you can trust, and create an accountability partner.

Don't lose your passion for Christ just because you burn yourself out this week. Pace yourself. Nurture that passion, and watch it grow. These first few weeks will be hard, but the reward will be amazing.

After I crested that hill, I just walked the rest of the path. It was so beautiful. It was hard for me to believe that I almost missed out on all of that just because I tried to sprint up that hill instead of pacing myself.

Don't miss out.

Racquetball

So today was the first day for the Summer II semester at MCC. Since it is the summer and I don't feel like doing a massive amount of work, I decided I'd take Racquetball.

Racquetball really looks like a neat sport. I mean your in a giant room with two small tennis racquets, and your hitting this hard rubber ball all over the place. The balls zooming around bouncing off the ceiling, walls, and floor. The odds of you getting hit by the ball at least a dozen times a game is huge. What could be more fun right?

But anyways, so I showed up at the racquetball courts and only two other students were there, and I of course was the only one who was dressed ready to play. So it turns out that there are only six people enrolled and there need to be ten people for the class to make. So my racquetball class might not make.

Sad day, I know.

Well I really hope the class makes because racquetball does look fun. But odds are this kid won't be learning racquetball this summer...

God Camp

Wow!

That's all I really have to say. This past week was A-mazing. There is no doubt in my mind that God planned for me to be there this past week. Even though the leadership at the camp was horrible, and the weather was less than perfect... God worked miracles. We took 16 youths to camp and had a total of 7 decisions to follow Christ and 2 calls to the Ministry.

Wow!

I was one of those called. I have been searching for God's direction for my life for a little over a year now, and I came to this camp wanting to find God's will for my life. God answers prayers. Thursday night, the Justin Cofield Band (Wow!) sand one song called "Send Me". The chorus goes like this...

Send me

I will go

I will give everything to make You known

My joy, You complete

In all I do may You be seen

Send me

Wow!

When those words came on the screen, I just couldn't help it; I knelt down and prayed for God's guidance and will. I prayed that he would affirm a call to the ministry that I had been feeling for some time. The nest song we sang was "You Explode" (see quote of the week).

Wow!

All day friday that was all I could think about. "Send me, I will go.... You explode across the sky... I will give everything to make you known... You explode across my mind... In all I do may You be seen... You explode across my life... Send me."

Wow!

Friday night when James Darby asked all of those who had felt God's call to the ministry this past week to stand; I was humbled to stand not only with one of friends and brothers in Christ, but with 30-40 other young adults whom God is planning awesome things for.

Wow!

What a week! Thank you so much for your prayers. God is good!

Church Camp

Church Camp. What an amazing time. Not just the fun and the friends, but the passion and the joy and the love. That is what it is all about. I pray for God’s leadership and guidance at camp. I pray that He can take those chosen persons whom He has picked, and can let His message funnel through them and into us. I pray that this message becomes a passion for us, and that God can take this Passion and turn it into a desire. I pray that God can take this desire and turn it into a discipleship. And I pray that God can turn this discipleship into a life-long witness for us. Please pray for us.

I can’t wait for Church Camp.