My First Flame. Aw.

The following is an analysis of a comment someone left on the previous post, “Counseling Moments.” Blue – me, Black – commenter.

Friend, let me ask you a few questions. Clearly you know who I am, who Joy is, who Matt is, but who are you? Clearly you know us, the church we attend, Calvin Crest, et cetera, but how well do you really know us?This isn’t directed at you personally and isn’t intended to be a flame but it derives from observations of writings and behaviors by many who are familiar.

Ok, so it’s not directed to me personally… until you imply that I’m unqualified to counsel. Ok. Whom have you observed? What behaviors? Also, who are familiar, and with what are you familiar?

And, it’s funny that a Jr. Hi. girl has a crush on a movie figure??? Seems like a lot of devotion to the same sorts of things is represented by the amount of time building these blog shrines to music groups and movie actors and self and complimenting each other on what an icon they have built to their own thoughts!

Yes, it’s funny that a junior high girl has a crush on a movie star, she has to have some outlet for those kinds of feelings. This girl is hitting puberty, those feelings are normal. The boys her age aren’t like the beautiful movie stars she sees at the movies; it’s funny because the girls know it’s silly and don’t take this seriously. Yes, a lot of people are obsessed with pop culture, it is an effort to fill the gap in their lives that is only meant to be filled by Christ. Our society in general is selfish, so why are you surprised that non-Christian blogs are all about themselves?

Seems even more disturbing that the “theme” for the conference was a totally secular movie which the author said had no Christian emphasis to it. And possibly even more disturbing that the best(?) programming(?) ideas and attempts at humor revolve around “calls him a pansy” and “he can’t cut off the cardboard head the next day like he planned to”? And the recreational opportunity is playing with blowguns? Where is the leadership? What kind of discipleship is this? Where’s the witness in this?

The author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien, was a Christian who witnessed and aided in the salvation of C.S. Lewis, one of the most prolific and intelligent writers of our time. The Lord of the Rings has definite Christian themes, you can do your own research about it. Only the movie director, Peter Jackson, made the statement that it doesn‘t have Christian overtones. For more on this, go to www.boundless.org and read the article about Lord of the Rings. The statements Matt made were off the cuff, remarks that were meant only to gently tease some of the girls who were taking their picture with the cardboard.

As for the recreational activity, the kids are in junior high, for pete’s sake. They like active games and having fun, and one of the best ways to gain their trust (so when you do have a serious discussion later, they’ll trust you enough to let you minister to them) is to play games with them. We used PVC pipe and marshmallows to hit people who were running back and forth, kind of like a gauntlet. The leadership? Seeing as you probably weren’t there this weekend, the leaders did an excellent job taking care of the campers and ministering to them.

Discipleship and witness isn’t all about bible-beating. Junior highers need a way to relate, and drawing from the Lord of the Rings, talking about Aragorn’s purpose, helps them connect to God’s purpose in their lives. Witnessing is also about showing the junior highers how to have fun without drugs and sex like the media inundates them with. Witnessing is showing them the joy Christ gives, and how they can ask their questions of someone they trust.

Kinda glad I didn’t have any involvement with this activity, seems like a waste of time, waste of energy and waste of money for those paying the bills!

Tell me, is witnessing and planting seeds for Christ a waste of money? Perhaps if you had been part of the planning, we could have fixed some of the “grievous errors” we made.

C’mon Calvin Crest, we don’t need MTV inspired programming with MTV morals! “To serve as a witness to the love of Jesus Christ and guide persons to Him, so that they may live and grow as His disciples through the fellowship of the Church.” Is this how we try to achieve this?

Nothing that happened last weekend had anything to do with MTV. How does the Lord of the Rings movie have “MTV morals?” MTV morals seems oxymoronic. Reaching out to junior highers takes work, and when you find a connecting point, it’s the best feeling in the world, because you can show them Christ!

C’mon TUPC, we need Christ brought into the world not the world and all of its ideals masquerading as Christ!

Yes, the world tells us it has something to fill the hole in our lives. If you have problems with TUPC, why don’t you be proactive instead of just complaining? Show those of us in leadership where the problems lie. Help us out.

If this is our best program and best leaders and best witness, it’s no wonder our group and our church isn’t growing!

This “fact” is incorrect. Our youth group has grown more this past year than it has in quite a while. Our church as a whole is a different issue, it’s not growing as quickly, but it is still growing.

Counselor:A person who gives counsel; an adviser

This isn’t a babysitter of little kids, it’s the same term used for the Holy Spirit, not the stereotypical camp counselor who thinks this is Scout camp or Y camp and that the objective is to teach the kids every prank you know and every bad joke you’ve ever heard. This is an awesome responsibility that counselors have been given, not just a fun activity for the counselors.

I didn’t spend my weekend teaching them things like that. If you knew me well, you would know that I’m not that type of person. I would never laugh at anyone to their face if they were serious. No one deserves that, especially a young girl who is still insecure in herself. I know it’s a responsibility and I’d like to think —— asked me to counsel because he trusts me and knows that I would never take this responsibility lightly.

Come on, give it back to me, all of you youth group members, Calvin Crest alums and TUPC attenders!

Sounds like you want some feedback. You’ve got it. If you want to talk more about this, look me up in the phone directory or e-mail me, crazyredpresbie@juno.com.

~ by Liz on February 6, 2004.