Controversy with Santa

OK, first let me start off saying I know this is a touchy subject and some people get really offended and some people really don't care, but I want to share my opinion soley because I like to see what peoples thoughts are and how they feel on the issue. The older I get the more I honestly dont like the thought of Santa, not as a fun Christmas story or who the real guy was that started the whole thing, But! With Santa becoming something that so many parents make about there own personal joy than the moral issue it becomes after something we taught as truth now becomes a lie. I have a problem with Parents or people in General starting a belief in a child all the while knowing that several years after they start that belief they know they will tell that Child that the belief is not actually real! It's not a matter of me being anti Santa that's not it at all, to me Santa is just like a Disney character's it's just a fun experience, imagination and harmless fun. But the problem is that many people get offended when there child learns about Santa not being real and then the parents get angry with whomever it happened with, if not themselves and then wondered why they had to spoil all the fun or upset the child. Was that not something that was going to happen anyway. No matter who tells the child, parent, kid at school because of some conversation, or other means, the fact that the child was told it was real then told otherwise no matter how you word it there will be some type of let down. Anger, trust issues, etc, whatever, it is because we have to create this image and make it exciting that of course there will be problems when the child learns otherwise. My stance is that people cant get upset if what they are teaching knowing it is not true spoils a child's experience when they find out from whomever, even if it was not the intended person to find out from. It's not the truth either way so it's going to hurt either way. Secondly I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, I feel as though us as Americans, myself included, often get to caught up in the commercialized and industry image of Christmas. We put a created image and idea ahead of the original purpose, Jesus then family. Alot of people say well why would you want to spoil the kids fun. I think that's a funny statement because you already know one day you will have to anyway. They cant be 50 yrs old still thinking there is a Santa we would think something is wrong with that person, but we don't think something is wrong to tell a child there is a Santa and make them believe that it is truth. We want to make Christmas exciting so we create something that eventually disappoints, we put it first then make the very thing that Christmas came from second. If Christ stays first there will never be a moment where you have to say it's not real. Plus, Jesus came for all of us not only good little boys and girls. Again I think Santa is a fun part of Christmas as long as it's not first, or taught as a truth and made out to be a manipulation tool to get a child acting good or bad. I don't want to teach my child that lying is wrong then give them a great example of how to, and then make it ok. Again these are my personal beliefs. I have some friends that feel this way some don't. For me personally, I remember using it as ammunition against my parents when I was little. Then they would tell me something and say it was the truth and I would bring the whole you lied to me about Santa deal. Now this only lasted for a little while while I was little but it's the fact that for me that's what it created. Some kids don't get this way some do, but I just don't understand putting yourself in a situation where you have to explain your way out of it. And then parents get upset when there kids get upset. Parents or people say I would never do anything to hurt my child or so in so. But we create something that we know will eventually hurt them. In the long run I think people spend way to much time fighting and arguing about something that's not even real and there on the shelf is Jesus saying I started this whole thing. If I was the center it would not be an issue. It's just funny to me how something so innocent and seemingly good can and has been made an idol, really and truly that's what it has become. How much more is Santa talked about than Jesus in your own home. Is it just a religious thing, or is He your center. Is Jesus a religious tag mark that we as people can associate with or do we really Follow Him, Love Him, Obey Him. I don't want to sell short on Christ to much is getting His place already. The world replaces the very name that Started Christmas with holidays. Making it's king Santa. Now Christ is forbidden and Santa is glorified. It burdens me!

Changing my Standards

Simple Thought

Either we are Content are we Covet, Paul said with little or much I am fine. I believe it's because He knew Jesus was the only thing that never Changes, He could rely on Christ with a lot or little! Regardless of what we face we should Be Content with the Everlasting rather than Covet the temporary!

The Next Generation

This picture is of two things, 1.) Our core leadership class of High school students and 2.) The unfinished space for kids ministry at Healing Place Church.
I've been thinking about this photo for a few days now, the next generation, and how the church would look if there was no investment in the future. There is a passage of scripture in Mathew 19:13-15 where Jesus is talking to the disciples about little children and how we can learn from them, children believe with there whole hearts and we must believe like them if we want to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. I believe as we get older there is a tendency to let time steal our dreams, get more complacent, and look for comfort. But there is something about kids, they want to play in the rain, get muddy, take risk's, go after it with everything inside of them. When I look at this photo I think of how beautiful this combination is, the youth who are on fire, and the older who are full of wisdom and knowledge. When the church has an investment in the two without putting them in separate categories amazing things can happen. The youth should learn for the previous generation all that they can so the can make that fire useful. And the previous generation should remember there former passion so that the flame can burn even more now, and use that wisdom to help those coming up. When you see a room like this it cannot be done without both sides. The torch has to be passed, the children of future generations must know about Jesus and grow up in His ways. And the only way to do it is to take that fire and combine it with understanding and you can build some amazing things that God will use for His glory!

The Passing of my Best Friend

Jordan Gautreau
by Barton Pickens on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 4:15pm

"In these past few days I've thought over and over again about how I would tell the world about you Jordan. But many times I would try to express to them my words, and I would only speak tears. Like so many others there are many things I could say, so many stories I could share. You are my best friend, and you know all my struggles and fears, and yet you stood with me despite them. I want to tell them this story, it's one I 'll never forget, and one I believe you would want the world to know, now that you are home. About a year ago Jordan called me up and asked me if I wanted to go and see a movie with Him. It was such a funny thing because he had not even told me what the movie was before he began saying, now if you don't want to see it I totally understand. I was laughing because the majority of the time when Jordan and I saw movies together it was just me and Him by ourselves and it was a chick flick, haha. Yes, we watched chick flicks quite often, and when you go to the movies together to see them sometimes it can be quite awkward. I remember Jordan pulling up to my house so we could ride out to the theater together, now this is where it gets good. I walk out wearing a pair of dirty old military boots, jeans I had not washed in a few weeks and a Marine Corp sweater with a fresh military haircut. As Jordan gets out of His car He has on a pair of black chuck Taylor's, gray skinny jeans, a white dress shirt with a silver vest over it, a scarf around His neck, the black hat he always wears, and of course His mountain beard. It was such a funny sight the two of us going to see a chick flick. As we got to the Movies we started thinking how could we slip in unnoticed. Maybe we should go in a few minutes apart, ok txt me what row your on that way i can just come in and sit down, ok, that will work. As we figured out our strategy we realized how cheesy we sounded and decided to just man up and go in together. We had done this before no big deal. After grabbing some snacks we headed in! I have to say as soon as we came around the corner we were the only two dudes in a packed house full of girls, and we ended up sitting right in the middle of them all! You could not have written it any better how funny that was. As the movie went on we laughed all throughout the show, and louder than anyone else. After all was said and done we went back to my house to hang out and eat, talk about life, why the guy should have gotten the girl, and just enjoyed each others company. And this is the memory I want to share. Jordan after a few moments into our conversation looked over at me and simply said, I appreciate you! I know these are not your type of movies but you still go anyway just to hang out with me. I will never forget that. Not only did Jordan live a relentless life for Jesus fully committed to the cause of Christ but he valued those around Him, always telling others how much they meant to Him, showing others how much Jesus valued them through His life and words. I know that Jordan would have been shocked by the number of people that came to His service. He would never think that or say that he impacted that many lives and many more that were unable to come. They all came because Jordan valued them through His service, and we were all impacted. The story He would want me to share with you would be to tell others how important they are to you. Let them know you value them and appreciate them, tell them how much you love them. It is so short the time we have, and let us learn from such a great example like Jordan how to value others. How to show them they matter and that Jesus loves them. I believe this is what He would want told. Jordan, there is so much I want to tell you right now and so much I wish i could say, but I want you to know more than anything how much I appreciate you, and Love you, and miss you. And look forward to the day when we can share our brotherhood once again."

www.jordanslegacy.com

Encounter Yourself

The word Encounter is such a unique word, some of the definitions mean to come face to face, or to confront an enemy, or a conflict with an opposing force. When thinking about this word with yourself it carries a much greater weight to it. The Bible talks about us being two separate people, the Spirit, and the Flesh, but often I think Christians forget we are a soul with a body not a body with a soul. We war so often with these two persons. There is apart of us that See's a child being picked on we want to go and defend them, and the other side of us says oh what will people say or do if I stand up for that child. There is apart of us that says I'm so tired of the same old addictions and I want to be free but another side of us that tries so hard to pull us right back into the same pain we are sick and tired of. Many people will try to put some type of scientific reason or intellectual answer to why this is or justifications other than the what the Bible says but no one can deny these impulses or internal urges. I often find it funny when Parent's wont curse around Children but do so in there absence, as if self admitting that what they are doing is wrong but as they get older truth for them is not truth for the child. Truth cannot be relative or it is not absolute. Encountering Yourself means taking a hard look at what we are in comparison to what Jesus wants us to be. Do we really follow Jesus, or do we really lead ourselves. There are a couple of things that I have been thinking about when it comes to Encountering ourselves. 1. A Big mirror and a small mirror. The Word says what Good does it do for a man to look at a mirror seeing what needs to be fixed and then walks away forgetting to fix anything. I know for myself I often take a small mirror, that way I can only see a little bit, I'm able to move it to the areas that I want to work on and I have control of. I don't have to look at the rest. But I know God wants a big mirror, so we can examine our whole self. We cant avoid the big picture or what we try to hide. We constantly try to achieve and excel so we wont confront the void and emptiness inside, we spend so much time trying cover our mistakes and seem perfect because we don't want people to know that we don't have it all together and that we are tired from trying to always be perfect. We try to always be funny because we want to be the center of attention because we don't want others to know we feel alone and depressed. Encountering ourselves is often a messy ordeal, but Jesus gives us one of the greatest examples of encountering our self than any other. When Jesus goes to the garden in the last hours of His life it's an amazing story of how we Encounter ourselves. 2. Jesus was faced with the greatest decision of His life, do I give up my life like God is asking me or do I go with my flesh and turn away. Often when we face difficult situations no where near the cost of death why do we bail out and run, Jesus could have but instead He decided to obey the Father and face His flesh, and literally crucify it. His word says we are to crucify our flesh daily so that are flesh will not live but Christ will. We are to confront our enemy and war with our flesh, Face it, encounter it and like Jesus say not our will but Father yours be done. Not our will but but Father yours. When we want to be mean not our will but Father yours, let us show Love. When we want to Gossip, Father not our will but Yours let us speak positive and encouraging words. When our flesh man wants to take control Kill it let Gods spirit have control. Not our will but Father yours be done. Encounter yourself! And find out who's will has control the flesh or our spirit. And keep in your mind always the example of Christ. Father not my will but yours be done!!!!

Honor Goes Down

Honor Goes Down

We tend to send honor up.

We turn Ps into VIPs, rooms into greenrooms, and Americans into idols.

But here's the paradigm shift with Jesus.

He sent honor down.

Those who were last became first, those who had least gave most, and those in the lowest seats got promoted.

I saw this on another guys blog It really smoked me , I'll defiantly be chewing on this for awhile.