Over the years I've encountered several metaphors for sin and how it separates us from God. Here are two common ones.

Sin is a giant chasm that separates us from God.
Sin is a giant wall that separates us from God.

These metaphors are usually accompanied by commentary about how "God can't handle sin," or how "God just can't be in the same room as sin." While I understand the language of separation when talking about sin, I'm finding these metaphors really unhelpful because they limit God, and inevitably make sin the stronger force. I don't think any of us want to say that, but these metaphors imply that. As if to say that sin is something you could use to ward off God, or that sin is God's Kryptonite. I think what we really want to be saying is that sin cannot handle God, or that sin couldn't bear to be in the same room as God, etc.

In light of that, help me to think of some new metaphors that would speak of the separation caused by sin but still have a robust theology of God's dominion. What metaphor would you use?

Labels: Theology, Youth Ministry

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This is a rant I've stored up in my heart long enough that it finally had to come out.

What - is - the - deal... with everyone saying "mepersonally?"

We both know you're not a robot, or a gorilla. It's redundant and it just sounds dumb. So I'll confess, if you say it, I'm probably judging you for it.

Labels: Funny, Life

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(The raft in the middle of the lake, with tent readied for the night. above)

Sunday night at 7:30pm I stepped onto land. For the previous three days I had been residing on a 16'x16' raft with four other friends. Only weeks before our team, who has been praying about and planning for our upcoming trip to Malawi, came up with the idea of doing a big attention-getting fundraiser that would allow our local community to have an impact on and be a blessing to the community of Sakata, Malawi where we will be working.

There are several ways that this money will go directly to the Malawian people to be of assistance. Mosquito nets to help prevent contracting Malaria, building fish ponds for communities to be a sustainable food source as well as a source of income, and building a mission center and repairing a preschool. We were really hoping that we could somehow raise four or five thousand dollars in our efforts. The community's response was mind-blowing! We were so moved by the generosity of passersby, children and people who drove to Allentown just to donate after finding out about our cause from the media. Three kids came up to the booth and emptied their piggy-banks so that kids in Malawi will have a better chance to live. At the time of this post we have raised over $16,000!!!

Life on the raft was, well it was hot. We were fortunate enough to have a large shade canopy above our heads for the duration of our time on the raft. The sun was out for the majority of our time on the lake and we applied copious ammounts of sunscreen in response. We had many many visitors canoe out to us to talk, bring a meal to us, share a meal with us, play some card games or spend some time fishing. We were a floating hospitality barge for the large part of the three days.

But there was plenty of time to enjoy each others company as well. Of the five of us, four are confirmed for the trip to Africa. Our time on the raft together was an invaluable introduction to each other and how our personalities gel. Spending three uninterrupted days together will really tell you a lot about a person, and back on land I have so much more respect and admiration for my teammates. I am humbled by their passion for serving Christ. I am relieved that we are a group that prides itself on laughing at ourselves. I was also moved by a rather deep and controversial discussion we had on the raft about war and following Jesus where teammates with a radically different position than mine were able to have a friendly debate and never for a moment feel as though it would change our friendship or damage how we view each other.

Before the raft I was excited and anxious about going to Malawi and was looking forward to getting to know my teammates a bit better. Now I feel as though these people are family and I am grateful that we will be going on this mission together.

Labels: Life, Travel

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Tonight Kara and I went out to dinner and saw M. Night Shyamalan's new film - the Happening. I've been a big fan of Shyamalan's writing from day one. But I've tended to be drawn towards his less "successful" films. Unbreakable? Awesome! Lady in the Water? Loved it. The Sixth Sense? Yeah, that was alright. For some reason Shyamalan's skill at pulling off the twist ending has been like crack for audiences. They just want more. It's unfortunate, but he has quickly become typecast as the guy who does twist endings. And then he went out and made a wildly intelligent film like Lady in the Water and people were pissed! The same can be said for The Happening, people will not like this film and not because it's not a good film, but because it's not a "good Shyamalan film." Can we just judge him on the quality of his writing and not on whether or not he's still in the tiny box we found him in... 9 years ago!?!

If you take this film for what it is - a modern day paranoia suspense film - you can begin to appreciate it. If you just want to see the Sixth Sense again, then just go watch that film again. In fact, stay home, and keep watching it over and over again and stop going to Shyamalan movies and talking during them about how different they are than the Sixth Sense! Yes, dudes one row behind me, I'm talking to you!

[spoilers ahead!!!] The Happening is a paranoia film. Suspense from something so commonplace, so ordinary that it is inescapable. Ever see a little Hitchcock gem called The Birds? Suspense films don't have to be about insane serial killers, aliens from outer space, or ghosts... some of the most adrenaline inducing suspense films find their villans in the ordinary. And what could be more ordinary, what could be more inescapable than plants!? Or is it the plants? We don't know. Could it be? It seems like it might be. The questions about who or what is causing "the event" are nerve wracking. And then what happens to you once you are "infected" or whatever... you loose your survival instinct. In fact it is reversed! The thought that a chemical in the air could cause you to turn on yourself and willfully find a way to end your own life... now that's terror. And if that chemical came from some kind of a plant... well you'd have a hard time finding a safe place.

Why would plants do that? It's not even possible is it? "Whatever it was, it was some kind of act of nature and we'll never be able to explain it." I love that line. There's no need to explain what and why and how "the event" happened. First, because the characters in the film don't really know. They make some guesses, some hypothesis, but no one really knows. So we are left to wonder ourselves. And sure, in the midst of the suspense we might just stop to think about our impact on the environment. But if I was a little kid and I saw this film... I'd have a new "boogey man" to worry about...

the tree in my back yard...

the grass on my lawn...

the hanging plant in the hallway!!!

Labels: Film

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Dear Friends and Family,

As some of you know, I will be joining a team from our church on a two-week mission trip to Malawi, Africa to provide assistance to poor and needy people in that country. Our goal is to develop a long-term partnership between the Allentown community (where I am a youth pastor) and a village/community in Malawi, where we would focus on comprehensive, sustainable development in an effort to raise the village out of poverty. I'm reaching out to my friends, family and blog readers to see if you would be willing to help support our efforts.

The Need: Malawi is located in the southeast quadrant of Africa, and is a country of breath-taking beauty, and back-breaking poverty. Malawi is considered to be one of the four poorest countries in the world, with unemployment estimated at 60% or more, nearly half the population surviving on less than $1/day, and more than 65% of the population living below the poverty line. The statistics about medical conditions are hard to fathom: the average life expectancy in Malawi is less than 40 years old, more than 13% of the children do not make it to the age of 5, and with HIV/AIDS rampant, there are a staggering number of orphans and child-led households. Throughout Africa, 3,000 people die from malaria every day (one every 30 seconds). These severe medical issues combined with the malnutrition and food insecurity caused by the severe economic conditions make it extremely difficult for Malawians to pull themselves out of poverty on their own.

Our Vision: As I mentioned, our vision is to partner with and adopt a village in Malawi and provide broad-based assistance designed to enable the village to lift itself out of poverty. We will be partnering with the Development Office of the Presbyterian Church in Malawi, and with them have identified a rural village an hour outside of the city of Blantyre, near the town of Zomba, which is currently not receiving outside assistance. Our intentions are to provide a variety of forms of aid, including (1) constructing a simple building as a mission center that will serve a preschool/feeding center for the youngest and most vulnerable orphans in the community and a training center for agricultural and other programs to enhance the food supply for the village; (2) purchasing and distributing mosquito nets to help prevent the spread of malaria, which is especially prevalent in the region; (3) providing funding for fertilizer and seed to enhance next year’s harvest, (4) purchasing needed materials and supplies for orphanages and the preschool; and (5) establishing programs for providing sustainable sources of food, such as the construction of fish ponds and providing livestock that will reproduce.

How You Can Help: I've agreed to the crazy idea of joining a couple of other members of the team in spending up to 72 hours on a raft in the middle of the Allentown Lake, as a way to raise awareness of and interest in the plight of those we seek to help. We are asking people to support our efforts by making a pledge to sponsor our time on the raft. Each of us has agreed to spend an hour on the raft for every $10 we individually raise, up to 72 hours. So, if I'm able to raise $720 or more, I will have to spend the full 72 hours on the raft. 100% of the funds raised will go directly to providing assistance to the people of Malawi. We have a competition amongst ourselves to see who can raise the most pledges (and thus be stuck on the raft for the longest!). The following gives you an idea of what your pledge would buy:

Item/Cost

Buy mosquito net/$10
Stock pond with fish to support 1 family/$10
Stock pond with fish to support 5 families/$50
Construct 20m x 10m fish pond/$200
Materials needed to build mission center/$4,000

If you feel moved to sponsor some of my time on the raft and make a pledge, or otherwise support our efforts, please let me know -- we will be launching the raft on the evening of Thursday, June 26. You can either give me the funds or a check (made out to "Allentown Presbyterian Church" with the notation "Africa mission" in the memo section) directly to me, or you can send it to me at home (101 Farber Rd 7B, Princeton, NJ 08540). I've never used the blog as a format to raise money before, but doing whatever I can to help our brothers and sisters in Malawi is something that I feel very passionate about. Any support you can provide -- even if it's only your thoughts and prayers for a safe and fruitful trip -- will be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or want to learn more about our vision, please don't hesitate to ask.

For a peek into life in Malawi, be sure to check out the blog where our pastor and his family have been writing about their experiences during their year in Malawi at apcmalawi.blogspot.com.

Sincerely yours,

Charlie Lyons-Pardue

Labels: Discipleship, Life, Travel

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