A New Advent for a New Testament

At the end of the Old Testament the Messenger of the Lord says this:

[malachi 3:1]

"See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you desire—see, He is coming," says the LORD of Hosts.

This is God’s word.

And with that God's people entered a season of advent. Of expectantly waiting and preparing for the Lord's coming. That season of advent lasted for over 500 years. And then, out of nowhere (or to be more precise, out of Nazareth) almost undetected by everyone the Lord came…

[Luke 2:1-14]

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered. This first registration took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So everyone went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and she wrapped Him snugly in cloth and laid Him in a feeding trough—because there was no room for them at the inn. In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Don't be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David. This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger." Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!

This is God’s word.

Immanuel. God with us. Christmas. Nowell. Whatever you call it, one thing is certain. The advent was finally over.

Now we today refer to "advent" as the brief period of time in which we expectantly wait and prepare to celebrate Jesus' first coming, his birth.

But as you celebrate the season of remembrance we call advent I hope you consider the advent season we live in TODAY. Not a season of the year, but moment in history we find ourselves when we “Advent” or expectantly wait and prepare for the Immanuel to come, For Jesus’ second coming.

I hope this Christmas season reminds us all that our advent is not just about celebrating an important historical event that happened thousands of years ago. But that it is also about expectantly waiting and preparing for the second coming of the Christ. Are you treating others as if you expect Jesus' return? Are you preparing yourself and others today for that return? I want to encourage us all to not let advent fade as December passed, the leaves return, and summer comes around but rather live in a perpetual state of advent, of expectation, of hope, and of preparation for a Savior's return.

National Collegiate Week promoting racial unity. Ironic? I can't decide.

I'm personally challenged with reaching specific people-groups without further isolating them at the same time. I'm sure I'm not alone in struggling with that balance. For instance, National Collegiate Week is all about recognizing that college students are a unique group within society and as such should be addressed, trained, outreached to, and even perhaps allowed to worship separately in their own environment. Many churches have worship services intended specifically for unique peoples (young adults, traditional-music-lovers, cowboys, whatever).

Yet on the other hand we talk about the necessity of a racially diverse congregation as if race were a "special case" of people-groups that should be integrated together while most other people-groups are being more and more divided and segmented.

The irony for me is that an incredibly segregated group of people (college students) are being challenged to desegregate by race ("the college students we are segregating from the rest of the church need to be desegregating among themselves, racially-speaking").

Revelation repeatedly speaks of unity between every tribe and language and people and nation. The more I reflect on those passages and on current Christian culture the more I like the push for racial diversity and become more and more uncertain about efforts to further segment (and essentially define ourselves) based on anything other than our mere Christianity.

Are we being intentional to worship among a racially diverse peoples yet at the same time trying to segment ourselves based on other, equally trivial, preferences and demographics such as age or worship styles? It sounds inconsistent at best and hypocritical at worst.

I know there are issues with this attitude such as, "So do I speak Korean to a bunch of Anglo-Saxons and do I speak 'modern' to a bunch of 'postmoderns'?" and I get that. Jesus, Paul, and others seemed to know their audiences very well and interact with them accordingly. However, they interacted with children, elderly, Samaritan, Jew, gentile, women, men, shepherds, and kings. They accepted everyone. They interacted with everyone. They worshipped with everyone. I'm not sure that "demographic-based" churches or churches that segment themselves along these demographic lines are mimicking this all-inclusive attitude. Seems very much a "separate but equal" mentality.

That said, I totally understand and appreciate the very difficult challenge college ministers have of balancing between relevant ministry and segmented ministry.

Video Games are Enabling our Sons

Boys I know are busy. Busy racing cars through a crowded city. Busy fighting oppressors and leading men into battle. Busy playing in the championship football game ... all on a quiet summer afternoon. I'm speaking of video games, of course, and the 'gamers' who love them. As much real-life work as boys face these days, what is it about video games that occupy so much of their attention? Whatever it is, this draw seems to only be increasing as these boys mature into men. Why is it that this draw toward the "virtual world" is increasingly spilling over into manhood? What needs are they going to a controller or keyboard to fulfill that we as parents might be able to meet more effectively?

Video games are becoming an incredible distraction for youth and young men everywhere we look. At a recent child dedication service at a sister church of mine the pastor challenged dads not only to put their families' priorities above watching football games but also above playing video games. Ten years ago that pastor wouldn't have mentioned video games. It would seem that as children become youth and youth become men that instead of growing out of it, the draw toward video games is becoming stronger and stronger. What do these artificial worlds have to offer that these boys and men are not finding in the physical world of their families, friends, and eventually co-workers and neighbors?

In the past, the needs of boys have been met by their schools, the church, and largely by the family. Today, video games are meeting more and more of these needs. By examining the draw boys have toward video games we can get a glimpse of what our boys' need. By knowing those needs, we and be better prepared to meet those needs as a parent.

Among the youth and men I have observed who play video games, the primary draw is that those games are an ENABLER. They enable the participants in ways they do not feel enabled in the physical world, whether in their families or among their friends or even co-workers. Here are seven ways that boys are enabled by either the video games they play or otherwise by the people God has placed in their lives:

Seven ENABLERs:

E-ngaging Relationships

Online game play is inherently a very connected technology. Internestingly enough though, gamers are typically very far removed from each other physically, talking to strangers and friends in a very disconnnected way. This disconnected aspect enables gamers an incredible amount of freedom to be transparent and open with each other while playing. Compare this ability to have authentic, honest communication with the masks they may feel forced to wear in the "real world" and you get a good idea why gamers can feel closer to those "disconnected" online players than they do to people they see day-to-day in the real world. The irony is that while no one is better positioned to love your boys than their parents, we all as parents often times make it extremely difficult for our sons to approach us with hard questions, failures, or advice.

N-ew and exciting

All too often the "real world" can get routine and dull if we aren't careful. In a virtual world you can constantly be reinventing yourself with little or no consequences. Wanna save the world? Go for it! Wanna race, bare-knuckled, through the crowded streets of a major city? Just reboot and you're off! The video game industry is unbelievably talented at providing gamers with new experiences. What can your family learn from this? One way is to habitually ask yourself, "What are some creative things you can do in order to keep things fresh and exciting?" Those in the gaming industry wake up every day having to answer this question all over again. Perhaps we as parents can learn a lot from this practice.

A-ccomplishment

How often do our boys feel they have accomplished something of value in this world? Today's boys have been given a "lazy pass" by far too many adults. We expect little, we avoid giving them control and empowering to even fail sometimes. We don't want them to embarrass us or hurt any of "our stuff". What are some things we as parents can do to instill a sense of accomplishment in "real world" terms? Give them responsibility. Give them a highly-visible task that has an impact if they fail. Raise the stakes and set the expectation that accomplishing the task is important but that failure is tolorated (although failure may come at a cost). "Failing" at a video game comes with zero consequences and likewise, the accomplishments gamers can attain are just as hollow and meaningless. Be prepared to handle their real-world failures, which inevitably will come sooner or later as they struggle to accomplish something of significance. They'll be surprised how satisfying actually accomplishing something of real importance makes them feel. In what ways can we push them out of their comfort zone in order to be challenged and to grow? Here's one example: Don't merely make your son mow the lawn. Instead let him design the entire landscaping. Give him a budget. Tell him you'll throw in so many hours of your own time. Make him plan out a design within budget, managing the personnel helping him accomplish the task (aka, the time you are volunteering), and see what happens. Help him only so far as he's budgeted for you to help. You might even choose to pay him a salary as well, perhaps basing part of the payment on the quality of his end product (a base salary plus a bonus).

B-elonging

Online play is often times about building alliances and developing into a team. What conscience effort can we make to further instill a sense of belonging in our families? Playing games (yes, even video games sometimes) with your family, planning trips, family-night-outtings, and weekend getaways all help foster a sense of belonging. Keep in mind that the main goal is merely to build family unity and love. Sometimes it's easy to get frustrated when events you plan don't panout the way you'd plan. Be flexible with your plan in order to keep the goal in mind: "Unity and Belonging"! Also, please don't under-estimate family dinners (or breakfasts if that fits your family's lifestyle better). If you can't make it happen during the week very often, do what you can and make it a required family activity (Saturday lunch, Sunday dinner, etc). (unpaid family chores is a great way to build a sense of belonging also)

L-eadership

What efforts can we take to offer real and meaningful leadership opportunities to our boys? In a virtual world they can be kings and lead a group of warriors into battle. They can coach a team to a championship. The risks aren't high because if they fail they just... "reboot". Are you as a parent able to risk delegating significant responsibilities to your children in the hopes of providing them with real leadership opportunites within our homes? Boy Scouts is a great opportunity as well but even with Scouting, parents have to be careful not to "do it for them". Truly let them lead and also be willing to accept them when they fail. So many boys have grown accustom to the "lazy pass" mentioned before that throwing it away sounds intimidating and a lot of work to them. The book, Do Hard Things by teenagers Alex and Brett Harris is a great resource for boys that challenges all teens to do hard things, like leading!

E-mpowerment

Online players are empowered to race cars, fight oppressors, compete in the big game, play in the sun on a rainy day or go snow skiing in the middle of the summer. What are some ways we as parents can empower our children to do things they otherwise might only dream about (or act out online, as the case may be)? If your son is athletically-inclined, encourage him to try new sports (team sports, extreme sports, etc). If your son is more social, encourage him to throw a party at your home. Empower him to make up a nonsensical reason or theme for the party. If you son is introspective then empower him to join or start a book club or chess club. The point is to empower him to succeed at the things he enjoys doing and you may even learn a new hobby or two in the process!

R-elease

What healthy ways do you offer your boys to "let off steam"? How can you develop a home life with more of an atmosphere in which boys can have some way to release stress and anxiety? When they are stressed out are you willing to listen intently, offering understanding more than advice and instruction? Do your other children love your son enough to lend an ear without tattling? Playing sports together is a great way to let off steam too and also builds on some other enablers listed above. In fact, any exercise together can help let off stress (bike riding, walking, hiking, swimming).

Better than any video game

Now is the time to begin providing and modeling a home life that provides your children with more than video games ever could. It takes intentionality and lots of effort on our parts, but the effort is well worth it.