These videos tell an amazing story of Ben Breedlove’s life. There isn’t much more to say except watch this this two part video.

Part 1

Part 2

It also tells an amazing story of his death. Ben Breedlove died this past Christmas, 2011, just one week after posting these videos on YouTube. To me, it seemed as if he knew there was another place for him; a better place, and that he was as ready as any 18 year old kid can be. What an amazing and courageous young man.

Ben, you’re my hero.

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Admit it. You’ve prayed more this week haven’t you? Give more tithe last Sunday? Indulged on chocolate this week? Called your mother/grandmother/siblings? Cleaned incriminating evidence off your computer? Put off work until next week?

No? Oh, well then, me either. That would be crazy, right?

So, you probably have seen the news or billboard or heard people talking about Judgement Day/Rapture/End of the World/We’re All Going to Die this week. If not, here’s an article for your reading pleasure. In short, Harold Camping, the President of Family Radio and the guy who predicted Judgement Day for sometime in 1994, has said that now that date is 2011. In fact, it’s May 21, 2011 at 6pm (all time zones). I guess if New Zealand is safe in roughly 9 1/2 hours, then we should be okay. From what I gather, it starts there–an earthquake or something–and makes it way around the world so that it hits each place around 6pm local time. Like I said, I think I’ll just turn on the news around 11pm Pacific Time and if all is well in New Zealand, I’ll sleep soundly.

No, of course I don’t think the world will end tomorrow. Why? Because of this:

(Jesus speaking) “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

-Mark 13:32

But all the same, I would love to take a big nation-wide poll of the above things. Are people praying more and repenting more this week? Was church attendance last week higher than normal? I think, even for me, in the back of my head, even though I’m confident in my faith and believe that Judgement Day isn’t happening tomorrow, there’s that small little voice of, What If? I mean, if so, I think it’ll just happen to be that day and not because Harold Camping was able to figure it out. Even so, I have a place in heaven, so I guess I don’t need to worry either way.

People think he’s crazy. People also probably though Noah was crazy for building an Ark. I can’t say 100% that I would have been totally on the Noah boat (literally). We have a tendency to laugh at people who get messages from God. I mean, unless it’s us or someone we know. Small messages seem to be okay, but big ones seem to make us call them crazy. I don’t think Mr. Camping has said he got a message from God though. I think he just thinks he’s smart enough to have figured God’s plan for Judgement Day out. You know, the one that Jesus himself said He didn’t even know, only God?

Then there is the fact that I have to answer questions from my teens like, “Ms. Melissa? Am I going to die on Saturday?” No, you’re not. At least not because of the world ending and I hope not for any other reason. And in the extremely unlikely case that it is Judgement Day, you’re not going to die. You’re going to be in heaven if you know Jesus, and I think you do. At least that that’s generally what I said. I’m pretty sure if he (the teen) throws in an extra few prayers this week, as he likely has, it won’t hurt anything. But why do we have to scare people into heaven? Fear is a terrible motivator. It works, but it’s terrible for getting people to do things for the right reasons. Sure, we should fear God, but out of reverence and not because of some man going around fear-mongering.

Either way, rapture or not, I’m going to be in heaven on Saturday. I’ll be at AT&T Park watching the Giants game. That’s about as close as you can get to heaven in the meantime.

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I’ve been getting a bit frustrated with some comments and judgement being  thrown out in the wake of the announcement of the death of Osama bin Laden. I’ve seen a lot of posts from the Christian (and non-Christian) community about it not being right that we are celebrating the death of an individual. There are a ton of Bible verses both ways that people have thrown out. I won’t do that now. Let me be clear off the bat though: I don’t believe death should ever be celebrated.

However, I say that with one caveat. I will not be made to feel guilty for feeling some joy in the demise of evil. Osama bin Laden did many evil acts. His organization killed thousands of innocent people. His organization intended to kill thousands more and probably killed more and did more evil than we even know about. His organization was a terrorist organization and Osama bin Laden was a terrorist.

So, let me first say that I believe most Americans who were happy, were simply happy at seeing justice in an unjust world. I believe that people celebrating in the street was a small portion and not representative of our country, but I also think that for the majority of them, I do not believe they were wrong in what they did. Does that mean I would have  been there? Probably not. But most of the chants were chants of being proud of our country. USA! USA! and singing the National Anthem are not vindictive kind of chants. From what I saw, a lot of people there were young, taking part in a historic moment–a moment at which it is easy to get caught up in the moment. I would imagine in New York there were more people in the crowds that were impacted directly by the September 11 Attacks. They again, were celebrating at some sense of justice that they had been waiting on. You may call it revenge, but when evil is stopped, I call it justice.

Did Osama have to be killed? Maybe, maybe not. But you and I both know that if he was ever caught, that was the only way it was going down. He would not be taken alive. His men crashed planes into the Twin Towers taking their own lives. Do you think he’s going to sit in a US prison or elsewhere in captivity for one second? If he was captured and placed somewhere it would give his followers even more motivation to attack (though I understand we are in danger of that now). Wherever he would have been held would have been a target. Officers who guarded him would have been in danger. Other inmates held there would have been in danger. When we embarked on this mission to capture Osama bin Laden “dead or alive” nearly 10 years ago, the entire world knew that there would be no “or alive” if he was ever caught. And at that moment, I heard not one single person complain.

Does his death even matter now? Probably not too much, but I can tell you that Al-Qaeda will be different, and hopefully weaker without him. Yes, they will be pissed off. There will likely be a new leader to arise, but leaders like Osama don’t come along everyday. Not everyone can be Osama, Hitler, Stalin, so personally, I’d rather take my chances on the next leader not being quiet as powerful.

I’ve head people compare the cheering in the streets those that happened in Pakistan after 9/11 and all I can say is, REALLY? It is not alike. Not in the least bit. Why? Well, here’s the thing. Pakistan was cheering at the deaths of thousands of innocent people. We were not at war with Pakistan. We may not have been friendly, but there was no reason for them to feel a sense of justice at the deaths of our people. Our thousands of people. The cheering in the streets last night was different because for one, Osama bin Laden was not innocent. There also wasn’t thousands of people killed last night (perhaps during the war on terror, but not last night). And most importantly, I’ll reiterate that  I think most people were celebrating that justice was done. That couldn’t be said legitimately by the cheering in Pakistan 10 years ago. However, I will say one more thing about that: Just like the people celebrating last night was a very small representation of the American people, I think that what we saw in Pakistan those years ago was probably a similarly small representation of the Pakistan people.

I am proud of our county, of our military, of the Navy SEALS that courageously and successfully carried out this mission. I am happy that there is a sense of justice. I am sad that Osama bin Laden chose to live a life pursuing evil and that he died before he saw the light (as far as anyone knows), however, I will not feel guilty in celebrating justice. Osama bin Laden, unfortunately for him, suffered the consequences of his actions on this earth, and ultimately will be judged by  the only Judge that matters. Sometimes the consequences of our actions are death. You may not rejoice in his death, but for those impacted by 9/11 directly (and trust me, the majority of you are not and as much as you may think you get it, you don’t–and neither do I), allow them to have that short moment without getting a guilt trip. Allow them that one night to pretend this brings some closure. They’ll deal with it later. They may say they are celebrating death, but I do not think they are. They are celebrating a small sense of closure and justice. We are all human. Allow them to be for a short moment.

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[This was a sermon I did at church I think last spring sometime. It was while writing this that I actually came across the book called Prodigal God by Timothy Keller, but I just got around to reading it last month. It's a really good book--definitely worth a read. At any rate, it was good to see I wasn't totally off track with my thinking here either.]

When I was about 11 years old I decided to run away from home. See, I just had this terrible life. My parents had the nerve to make me do chores like wash the dishes. I had to share my video games with my little brother. But the worst offense, the one that pushed me over was that was I had to go on vacation every summer to Florida for one whole month! Can you imagine how terrible that would be? Disney World, Universal Studios, SeaWorld, Key West, Everglades, Daytona Beach, Miami. It was terrible. The only people I had to talk to for an entire month was my family! I got pretty good at making new friends quickly, but it was just torture. And of course, as fair skinned as I am, I’d always burn the first day of vacation, peel and then look like a freak the remainder of the trip.

So that was it. I had enough and I set off on a hot July day to leave home. I packed up some clothes and money and headed down the road. I made it about as far as the others side of the gate from my house…after all, it was pretty hot out, and I’ve already told you–I burn easily. I decided I could probably tolerate life with my family a little longer.

Probably all of us as children (and maybe as adults) have wanted to run away from home at some point. You didn’t like the rules or the chores or you just thought you could do better on your own. You didn’t need no stinkin’ family.

Well, that’s basically the story of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). It’s one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. Sometimes it’s called The Lost Son, but whatever you call it, it’s probably a familiar story and most of us can relate to it on some levels, which is why Jesus used it. He knew that it’s something that most everyone can relate to in some way.

Many times we see ourselves in one of the two brothers. The rebellious one who comes home seeking forgiveness, or the loyal, obedient, but full of jealousy one because he just doesn’t “get” it. Or perhaps we’re like the unconditionally loving and forgiving Father.

But rather than just being one of the characters, they all have qualities that I think God desires to see in us.

Let’s start with the Prodigal son. He went out and wasted away the money his father gave him–money his father didn’t have to give him. He worried his family and just royally messed up. He did some idiotic things. But in his time of desperation, he humbled himself and went home with this tail between his legs and his head lowered. He didn’t have high expectations, but he recognized his father’s love for him. Now, we could go a bit deeper than that, but for now, let’s just look at the fact that he returned home, admitting he messed up. And that’s what God wants from us. A humble spirit, confessing our sin and asking for forgiveness.

Then there is the jealous brother. He just didn’t understand unconditional love and he was a little a lot self-righteous. But despite him failing to see the big picture and the bad rep he gets for this, he does have some qualities to be desired. He was loyal, faithful and obedient–perhaps not for all the right reasons, but he was still obedient. Guess what? God wants those same things from us. Yes, He wants them as an act of love in a real relationship with Him, but He wants them all the same and wants us to be assured of His love, which this brother wasn’t.

Obviously the father represents God in this story. Unconditionally loving, forgiving and waiting on us to return to Him. And unconditional love and forgiveness toward others are qualities He expects of us as well–not just of Himself. But let’s look at what else we can learn from the father.

I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to understanding things, so I pulled out the dictionary and looked up the word “Prodigal”. Prodigal is defined as a “wasteful expenditure or something given or done in abundance”. Recklessly extravagant. An unneeded expense. The son was indeed prodigal. He was recklessly extravagant and he lost everything. But there is another character in this story that was also recklessly extravagant. The father was also a prodigal. Think about it. The culture of the time, and maybe even our own time, would say the father owed nothing to the son. He didn’t have to forgive him. In fact, the fact that he did probably caused quiet a stir in the town. Now God tells us we have to forgive. But this father didn’t just forgive his son, did he? He didn’t say, welcome home, you’re forgiven, now go out there and help your brother in the fields. That would have been okay, right? As long as his heart was in it, that’s all that required of us, right? But he didn’t just stop there. He lavished his son. He threw a feast and killed the fattened calf. He did things that were recklessly extravagant and perhaps even a little wasteful, but chose anyway to show his son his abundant love. In verse 20 it says he ran to greet his son. He was watching and waiting for him.

When God sent His son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, so that we could receive forgiveness, wasn’t that a little reckless? Couldn’t God have just given us another way–a way a little less painful for His Son and for Himself. A way that didn’t require Jesus to die a painful death on a cross? I mean, He IS God, right? He can make all the rules He wants. But God’s love for us is anything but basic. It’s extravagant. Jesus’ death on the cross was extravagant. The world that was created for us is extravagant. God doesn’t just dole out love as a means to an end. He drowns us in it and grants it to us unconditionally. Even when we don’t deserve it. Especially when we don’t deserve it. And He wants us to love Him–and others–in the same fashion. John 15:12 says: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” As He loved us…extravagantly.

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I just finished reading Love Wins (affiliate link) by Rob Bell. I’m going to have to come back to posting my thoughts, but I will say this.

I am better for having read this book.

There were some undeniably brilliant truths in this book and he touched on many things that I think give a lot of Christians, and probably even more so, non-Christians a feeling of unease. Maybe they are supposed to makes us feel that way, but he starts the dialog all the same in a culture that, quiet frankly, isn’t generally open to questions.

There were some things that left my scratching my head and going, “what about when the Bible says this? We can’t ignore that.” Those things will require more research and probing by me and it could be that I just flat out disagree with what he says.

Most importantly though, this book challenged me to step outside of what I “knew” and make sure I really understand my faith. I’m not saying I was or wasn’t swayed by this book. I’m just saying it is a challenging book if you allow it to be and go into reading it with the attitude of wanting to understand what he’s saying rather than disproving it.

More later hopefully.

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I’ve been watching this video constantly over the past couple of weeks. It’s not been by choice as much as by chance. As I’ve been browsing my Facebook feed, I’ve noticed this video posted by several different teenagers that I know. The song, which is embedded below, is “Perfect” by Pink. This is the radio version. The explicit version is called “F@ckin’ Pefect” and uses that word in the song a few times. Whichever your poison, both versions have the same message: Don’t ever feel like you’re less than perfect. It’s a song about making bad decisions, screwing up, being mistreated, misunderstood and just not measuring up to other people’s or even your own expectations. The song is good, it’s catchy, and minus the language, and even despite it, it sends a good message to teenagers (or any of the rest of us) in a world that mostly tells us we’re not good enough.

I’ve personally been thinking about this issue a lot because I work with teenagers. Those teenagers, like most teenagers, are self-conscious and have different insecurities. Some have more than others, but they all have them. I have to constantly remind myself about that too. I’ve been fortunate to establish a close relationship with most of the teens over the past several years. My particular style of leading them is to treat them as adults and as much equal as appropriate. We make decision together. I don’t sugar coat things. I explain things to them as the rational beings that they are, or at least that they want to be. I have an amazing amount of respect for them. The thing is, I rarely tell them that. I sometimes forget that they are actually 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17.

Hearing this song, and seeing how much these teenagers relate to it, is a good reminder for me to continually focus on this. I think as adults, and particularly in ministry, we have to be careful about making others feel like they have more expectations to live up to. Yes, I want the teens to have spiritual and character growth, but my job is to encourage them and guide them down the right path when they stray, but not judge. I think we also do this as Christians a lot as well, we tell people what they “should” be doing (and it may well be things they should be doing) rather than helping them overcome the reasons they aren’t. We reinforce everything the world tells them, that they aren’t good enough. Yes, we may teach and throw out Jeremiah 1:5 that says, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations” (NLT), or Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (NLT). We tell people that they’re perfect because “God don’t make no junk.” But I wonder how much we actually show people this?

I’m guilty of it. I don’t consider myself overly critical, but I remind myself that teenagers are overly sensitive. We all probably are, so I’ve made it my goal to remind myself to not only tell people but actually show them how perfect they really are.

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