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Archive - February, 2009

Why Not Skip Church?

February 27, 2009 in Questions with 2 Comments

Editor’s Note: This article is apart of content that was published from 2005-2010 under the direction of Jason Wenell. In March 2012 Darrell and Allison Vesterfelt became the new owners of Prodigal Magazine. Check out the new vision and direction of the publication.

I’m sure you’ve encountered someone, somewhere who’s told you, “I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.” Maybe you’ve even said it yourself. Regardless, it’s not true. You can be saved without going to church, but you can’t be a Christian, and believe me, there is a difference between being saved and being a Christian! Being saved means you are going to heaven, but being a Christian means you follow Christ here and now.

So why would someone make this statement? Typically—and I know from personal experience—it’s just an excuse that disguises the real reason a “Christian” isn’t attending church. Whether it is laziness, busyness, back-sliddenness, or ignorance, there is no Biblical foundation for it. In fact, just the opposite is true. There are a ton of exhortations that urge us to go.

Let’s start with the fourth commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God” (Ex. 20: 8-10). While it is true that one of the meanings of the Hebrew word for Sabbath is “rest,” there are several other meanings that often get ignored. One of those is “celebrate.” This commandment could actually be translated as the seventh day is a celebration to the Lord. So, once a week, we’re commanded to go to a party in God’s honor.

The skeptic is probably saying, “yeah, but I don’t have to go to church to celebrate God.” While this is true, I would counter with this question: how many times have you been invited to a party in someone’s honor, and you declined saying, “I’ll just celebrate that person by myself at home”? It’s a ridiculous notion! You go to the party and celebrate with everyone else.

The exodus and the giving of the Ten Commandments are often considered the birth of the Old Testament Church, when God set His people apart for Himself. If we jump ahead to the birth of the New Testament Church, we can draw a similar conclusion regarding church attendance. In Acts 2:42, we read, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

This is the model for the modern church. Teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer are all wrapped up in what should happen each week in a Biblically-based church service. Teaching happens, obviously, during the sermon or homily. Fellowship—the Greek word implies intimacy—happens when Christians establish relationships with each other. Breaking of bread can be interpreted as sharing meals together or participating in communion (The Lord’s Supper). Since sharing meals together is probably included in the fellowship aspect of the model, I lean toward the interpretation that this is referring specifically to participating in communion. Lastly, prayer better play a huge role in your church or it’s not a real church!

Having made all those points, once again, the skeptic might say that these things can be done at home as well as at church. True dat! What happens in a church building should supplement what happens the other six days of the week, not supplant or replace them. Remember, the Sabbath is a celebration, and the best way to celebrate God is to live a lifestyle that builds toward the weekly event.

Think about when you were younger and you went to see your favorite band in concert. You found out they were coming to town, and you couldn’t wait. You got excited, you played all their CDs constantly, and when the day finally came, it was like Christmas! That’s what church is supposed to be like each week. If your favorite band—mere humans—can get this kind of devotion from you, then why not God?!

If that argument doesn’t convince you, then I’ll add that it’s absolutely impossible to develop intimacy with other Christians without meeting and getting to know them. Since church services are chock full of Christians, why not go there to meet them? It’s similar to an online dating service, which is a community of people gathered together for the purpose of meeting other like-minded individuals.

David often mentions his love for church, and in most of his letters, Paul exhorts the believers to continue to gather together to worship and fellowship, but I won’t go through all of these examples. Instead, I’ll finish with this: Jesus told His disciples, “if you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15), so let’s back up to the ten commandments again and look at commandment number two. God said, “you shall have no other Gods before me” (Ex. 20: 3). Now examine your real reason(s) for not attending church, and I’m sure you’ll discover that it’s nothing more than placing something other than God above Him.

Toilet Water vs. Drinking Water

February 24, 2009 in Uncategorized with 2 Comments

Editor’s Note: This article is apart of content that was published from 2005-2010 under the direction of Jason Wenell. In March 2012 Darrell and Allison Vesterfelt became the new owners of Prodigal Magazine. Check out the new vision and direction of the publication.

There are many things in this world that cause me to ask God “Why?” As I have done more research on the water epedimic in the world, I am continuously annoyed by the way we live here in America. After learning more and more about Living Water International, our partner ministry for OneMillionWitnesses.com, the pictures and stories continue to haunt me. They haunt me when I go the bathroom and see the crystal clean water, they haunt me when I reach for a bottled water or hear people complain about our tap water. They haunt me when people won’t even take a swim in the lake if it has a tint of green. People are dying. People are dying from dirty water, when it it flowing right under their feet. Please do what you can. Conserve water. Below are a few links of organizations that are fighting the water epidemic. Post your ideas for conserving water in the comments.

Blood Water Mission

Charity: Water

Living Water International

LifeStraw

Think Outside the Bottle

Bikinis, speedos and absolute truth

February 22, 2009 in Women with 12 Comments

Editor’s Note: This article is apart of content that was published from 2005-2010 under the direction of Jason Wenell. In March 2012 Darrell and Allison Vesterfelt became the new owners of Prodigal Magazine. Check out the new vision and direction of the publication.

We’ve all seen the posting on the door to our favorite McDonalds or the neighborhood gas station, but have we stopped to rationalize the need for the seemingly innocent placard? Health concerns and FDA requirements aside, there is another reason that most establishments display this certain message: as a male, I’ve always grown up being told it was inappropriate to be shirtless in the general public. According to socially accepted thinking, it is morally wrong for a person to walk around town without a shirt on.

But wait, what about when one goes to the beach or the pool? Is it also inappropriate to go shirtless in those places? Modern thinking in both Christian and mainstream cultures would say no. Do you see the paradox that is created? I am a firm believer in absolute truth, as is the modern day church. By that same thinking — that is, what is right or wrong in one situation is unilaterally right or wrong, respectively, regardless the situation — is it inappropriate for a man to appear shirtless in public regardless of location or activity? If it is wrong in one situation, such as walking the dog, then it is equally wrong in the other, such as a day at the beach or sunbathing at the neighborhood pool.

I realize that so far i have only addressed the male population, but i will turn my attention to the female population shortly. Please bear with me until then.

Take a walk through a beach town. For sake of argument, let’s use Virginia Beach, VA. All along the boardwalk there are a number of seaside restaurants and bars and other fine establishments. It is a common sight for male beachgoers wearing nothing but a pair of flip-flops and board-shorts or — heaven-forbid-for-the-sake-of-my-mental-sanity — a Speedo. What says the general public of this phenomenon? Nothing. Why? Because it is socially accepted in ALL circles of mainstream thought, both Christian and secular. If it is universally morally wrong for any male to appear in public without a shirt on, then is it not true that for a male to appear shirtless at the beach or at a dining facility at the beach, he would also be transgressing? According to popular thought — and again, this is according to both Christian and secular schools of thought — that action is not wrong as long as it is performed in certain places on the map.

I realize men have not been in the spotlight too often on account of immodesty, but as a man myself, I felt it more relevant so I began with the men — but now to tackle the larger issues of modesty and its situational ethics.

Now it’s the women’s turn.

Go to the beach or the pool and observe the women. Not sexually or in any way that would cause you to lust after them, but observe with unbiased and open eyes. Here’s what you will realize: women’s bathing suits are nothing more than socially accepted lingerie. Granted, they may be made of different materials and cut slightly different, but all in all they are the same. They cover the same amount of skin and they serve — in part — the same purpose. Growing up, all boys and girls are taught it is inappropriate to be in public in their underwear. That is a universally accepted ideal for the most part. If that is true, how then have we deceived ourselves in thinking that its acceptable for our women to appear at the pool or the beach in a bathing suit that is the same cut, style, color and everything else as their bras and panties? Where do we draw the line? Is it because silk cannot get wet and spandex can that we’ve created this disconnect? Or is it that somewhere along the line we’ve tricked ourselves into believing that one is wrong and one is right?
Speaking of spandex, what about sports-bras? Most people have no problem with women working out in spandex shorts and a tight and form fitting sports bra. What happens when the material of the short shorts becomes denim and the top becomes a cotton t-shirt? She is branded a “whore” and thrown out on the street corner — untouched and unloved on account of the scarlet letter tattooed on her forehead. The material of the clothing should not matter, but rather the amount of skin that is covered and the intentions behind it. If the spandex shorts and sports bra cover the same amount of skin as the tight jeans and t-shirt, then how dare we overlook the action on the one hand and judge with fire and brimstone on the other! If her intention is truly not to seduce but rather because she enjoys wearing tighter-fitting clothing, then who are we to pass judgment? It all comes back down to absolute truth vs. situational ethics.
Here’s the disconnect in our society: we’ve made these rules, often un-written ones, about decency and morality and right and wrong, yet we follow them only when its convenient for us to do so. We impose this spiritual truths, such as women should dress modestly (1 Timothy 2:9), yet we completely bypass these values when we like. Now either our conclusions about modesty and decency are wrong, or our culture needs to undergo a radical and dramatic change of heart.
I believe in absolute truth, and that absolute truth says right is right and wrong is wrong. We need to stop making that absolute truth an off-and-on when-we-feel-like-it absolute truth and make it stand up to its name.
And remember, shirt and shoes are required — but for some reason pants are not important.

9 practical tips to control porn addiction

February 19, 2009 in Devotion with 15 Comments

Editor’s Note: This article is apart of content that was published from 2005-2010 under the direction of Jason Wenell. In March 2012 Darrell and Allison Vesterfelt became the new owners of Prodigal Magazine. Check out the new vision and direction of the publication.

My struggles with the Internet are no small task, as my job requires constant attention to it.

I do not need to tell you about the barrage of temptations in cyberspace. Advertising, even on innocuous sites can be risqué to disgustingly perverted. Internet, as a logical entity, enticed me. I could spend days online without stop, and not even noticing it. The Internet is easy, but it is not right. After waking up to this, I took up Job’s covenant. “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.” Job 31:1

But, how am I to grow these hedges? Could I just cut back here and there? Trim at the edges, till it is completely gone? Would reducing the time and content over time, work?

For me, and those whom I talked about this, gradual cutbacks did not work. I always found excuses to extend my time, to expand my searching and not get into the real world. Cyberspace is easy.

There was just one other solution left. Cold turkey. I mean flesh frozen, instant, absolute zero.

I knew I would have issues, slips and annoyances. What I did not want to do is permit myself leeway on the goal from the start. I knew that the closer I am to God, the less of a chance I have to stumble or fail.

Let me remind myself, that the Internet is a tool, that the LORD has given us. It is just like fire. We can cook and warm ourselves, or damage and kill with it. Our choices what makes the difference.

So, here is a list of things I did to help my on my journey. This is a non-exhaustive list, but my starting point. All of them can be done with little to no financial outlay.

No private screen – Location, location, location. If you are blessed to have a family, move all the screens to a location, where general traffic can see what you are surfing. There are few technical excuses why this cannot be done. By moving it into a public and visible area, it helps with temptation. On days when I am alone, I take my laptop and work in a cafe, or public library. I would hate to be caught in public, and I get kicked out when the place closes.

Limit usage – I could spend hours, nay, days on the computer, forget about food, my family and friends, unable to hear the telephone, and even bodily functions became a distracting annoyance. Unless you are in the business of working with computers, there is no reason for anyone to stare at a computer screen for more than a few hours a day. Set a drop dead time on the computer. Better filtering software packages also provide time limit enforcements. I always thought I was an owl, spending nights after nights on the computer. Turns out I can get up at 6 in the morning, and can fall asleep by 10 at night. I try not to touch the computer on weekends, holidays or vacation.

Filtering software – There are dozens of these packages available, some even free. None are perfect, but they block most inappropriate sites, advertisements and track various Internet activities. I also use advertising blockers, and have redundant solutions. The combination of things should reduce not just inappropriate material but speed up my regular surfing, and reduce my security risks. Look for a filtering software which sends periodic e-mail reports or provides a portal to accountability partners.

Limit chat – Chat programs and sites, specially group chat programs are dangerous territory for men. There is little control who else is on that chat. There is little control over what is said. There is little control on the validity of the content. Anonymity tends to push the boundaries, pretending to protect our lies. Limit this activity to get that grocery list from your wife, or address for the Saturday potluck church party.

Avoid spam – I know it is very hard not to get spam. I am not talking about blocking it, or filtering it, although that is very important for many reasons. What is crucial, is not to follow up or look through them. Those subject titles are often made to tantalize you. Just like Joseph from Potiphar’s wife, we need to run as fast as possible. Delete them.

Addiction - Addiction to the Internet, Internet pornography, online gaming, chats and alike is not a figment of our imagination. Check, and double check yourself. Am I spending too much time on the Internet, whatever the excuse is? Am I bored when I am not on the ‘net? Am I behaving differently online, than in the real world? Go outside. Ask family members about you. What do they say? If you are obsessed, you need help. Meet people face to face. Enjoy life amongst your brethren.

Cell phone parental control – yes, some vendors can do it. Most of us have moved on to Internet enabled telephones. Whatever you call your gadget, remember that there are filtering solutions for these devices and need to be enabled.

TV – I … got rid of mine, for now at least. That might be a bit extreme to most, so I suggest the following – do set that parental control, and set it PG-13. Order Netflix. I became a big fan of Netflix since I have no TV, and my kids demand some entertainment when we are shut-in. I can stream some great classics, and order DVDs, yet control the content with extreme prejudice.

Entrust your brothers – Have your brothers in Christ receive your filtering software or accountability report. Becoming accountable to them is an annoyance at first, but the fruit of the relationships grown from it worth it. Knowing that I can discuss my struggles and not be denigrated is freeing. My layman suggestion is that your accountability partner is a male, and not a family member.

As I said before, this is not an exhaustive list, and a perfect solution for everyone. It is a template to think about, and to review. You don’t have to be an addict or have an obsession to follow a prudent path.

Need a Church logo, sermon art or design materials? Use Crowdspring.

February 17, 2009 in Websites with 1 Comment

Editor’s Note: This article is apart of content that was published from 2005-2010 under the direction of Jason Wenell. In March 2012 Darrell and Allison Vesterfelt became the new owners of Prodigal Magazine. Check out the new vision and direction of the publication.

Crowdspring.com

Why try to find the exactly the right designer for your logo, letterhead, or web design, when a mob of designers are waiting at your beck and call to design a concept for you. Crowdspring.com makes the design process easy and painless. How does it work?

1. Post your creative project – simply submit the concept for your new company, brand, event, or organization. Upload images and documents to give the designers more info about your needs. Finally, choose an award amount and deadline.

2. Watch the world submit ideas – Once posted, creatives will submit actual designs to your project, not just proposals or bids. In fact, projects average 70 entries per project.

3. Choose the one you like – As the entries come in, you’ll be able to review, sort, rate, give feedback and collaborate with creatives until you find ‘the one’.

Helpful tips – From my experience, make sure you browse other projects before posting your own so that you know what kind of info to present the designers. It is also helpful to post links to logos or designs on other sites that you fancy. Finally, make sure to invite crowdsource designers you like to submit ideas for your project. Take a look at projects that were recently awarded and use the messaging tool in the system to invite them to your contest.

Best Feature:

The ranking and comment system is very powerful and allows you to guide the designers through the process. Comment frequently to make sure you provide the artist with feedback that will allow them to tweak their designs to come up with the perfect concept for your project.