truth B told

NEW SITE ADDRESS> NEW NAME> NEW LOOK. 

Yep, after 13 solid months of blogging from Blogger, I have moved to the Xanga community.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO READ AT:
http://www.xanga.com/donotfeartruth

Come over for a visit!

-Travis

Is this good or bad?

NEW YORK, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Christian t-shirts are a more popular choice among young adults than either NBA-themed or Abercrombie & Fitch logo tees, according to a new nationwide survey by Internet retailer DATOmana.

419 adults aged 18 - 34 from across the country were surveyed about their tastes in tees. When presented with a variety of t-shirts, including an Abercrombie & Fitch logo tee, a NBA-licensed tee and a Christian tee, 40 percent chose the religious tee, versus 16 percent for the NBA tee and 30 percent for the Abercrombie tee.

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I'm not sure what to think. Sometimes I hate Christian t-shirts, other times they seem ok.

Today I got gas as a local gas station. Next to me was a nice new red pick-up truck with the confederate flag on the back window. Next to him was a Pepsi truck, with an African-American man unloading soda into the station.

It bothered me.

I didn't take the opportunity to talk to either man. But I wondered what their thoughts were as they sat next to each other in the parking lot.

I may be wrong...and correct me if I am...but the confederate flag is a symbol of the Old South which embraced slavery. Why promote slavery. Why wave a flag of racism?

Unfortunately racism is still a part of our culture....on both sides of the hue. We've come a long way in the last 50 years, but we still have a ways to go. And promoting the confederate flag won't help the cause.

By the way, i have to wonder why people who love the confederate flag are not flying the American flag. Is their love of the Old South greater than their patriotism for our nation.

Anyway, symbols....more powerful than you think.

Time has been flying away this past week. Let's review a few highlights and thoughts:

IYCM's Momentum Convention was this past weekend. Everything was good. Our students seemed to really love it. God worked in some great ways. I saw some of our unchurched students experience God in a whole new way. You could tell God was speaking to them throughout the weekend. Our leader-type students were challengeed to keep going strong in their faith. All was good. Funniest moment: In the hotel where we were staying their was some kid (not from our group!) in the hot tub in the moring when we were eating breakfast. You could watch him though a big window. He had soap bubbles all over his body.....he was wearing jeans....and he was pretending to be taking a bath. Then, he would turn around and look at the window....and act totally suprised by the onlookers....cover up his body with his arms and fad this incredible startled look on his face....very funny. One more funny moment: A guy named Justin from our group bought a belt buckle that looked like the bright digital info sign at Dairy Queen....he could progam messages on it, and it would scroll in bright red lights on his belt buckle.

The Pipeline room is remodelled. We kicked it into high gear last week and finished up the room. We have a cool multi-level stage, lighting and nice room set-up for the Pipeline. It's very versitile....so themes will be fun this Fall/Winter. Thanks to EVERYONE who pitched in and helped out on it. You guys ROCK.....Jenny, Aaron, Ashley, Joe, Joy, Pastor.

We had a Hip-Hop show at the Pipeline. It's another first at our church. We brought in a rapper for the Pipeline. The only time we came close to that is when Blake Leitch rapped in the subway of East Boston (all alumni please laugh). Prodigal did a great job with our students, and it was a blast. Kudos to Skylar, Bernard and Kacie for stepping out and dancing for the fun of it. I think I learned a new move!

I finished my Bono book last night. A few quick thoughts: 1) He is definately a Christian and making a big difference in people's lives. 2) We have to quit catagorizing people by labels...i.e. "Bono isn't a Christian, he plays secular music." And we need to realize we all have some faults. Bono says a few vocabulary words I would never say, but he cares for people in ways I will never care for them. We all have our faults. 3) We need to see people the same way God does. God cares deeply about thousands of Africans dying everyday, do we? 4) If Bono can bring God up any many of his conversations, why can't we? 5) Most Christians probably won't read this book because it's not sold in Christian bookstores. But if they gave it a chance, (and could get past a few bad words) they would be deeply challenged to follow God and Love People.

On Oct. 17 I posted about our church's smallgroup doing yard work at the home/shop of a local biker gang guy who was now in a nursing home because of a bad accident. If you missed the post, scroll down and read it before reading the rest of this.

Ok, to catch you up to speed, the man passed away last week. He got pretty sick all of a sudden and then passed away. The family was devastated.

Since I met the son and daughter while cleaning up their parents' place, (and the grand daughter occasionally attends the Pipeline) I decided to go the to visitation and make a contact with the family.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the funeral home, there were about 100 Harley Davison bikes in the lot, on the road, and lined up in the drive. Nearly all the bikers--dresses in their leather, bandanas, vests, and denim--stood in the funeral home parking lot as if it was a tailgate party to an Oakland Raider's game. (I think the funeral home set out extra trash bags for the beer bottles.)

It was quite the site. I wondered through the crowd to get into the funeral home to meet the family. They remembered me as the youth pastor who helped clean up dad's place. They introduced me to friends as the guy from the church who helped them out. Everything was very positive...and thankful and appreciative.

We talked for a brief moment, I told them I was sorry for their loss, and them made my way to the door after looking at some pictures.

As I left (in the only mini-van in the lot) I had a few thoughts:

• There was a great sense of community that surpasses the typical American church. The clusters of friends talking outside, laughing, crying, drinking...it was community. Tight community.
• This biker leader who passed away was highly loved and respected by his friends. He had invested years of memories with many of these people. The pictures showed how much he was around people, and loved to have fun. He was a social magnet. An influencer.
• There was pride in wearing the biker wear that day. It was if everyone put on their biker best for this event. People like to identify with other people.
• The majority of people who attended this funeral wouldn't just walk into any ordinary church. The church would have to be creative, flexible, and more open minded to reach out to them and show them love, acceptance, and belonging. Relevance is extremely important.
• Most people there had to deal with some type of emotions regarding death. No matter how they live, what they do, what they ride, what they wear, how they talk, and how tough they are...they still have to face the reality of death. We all do. Death is not optional. We all face it. It leaves many with questions, some fears, some anger, some sorrow, some celebration. But for everyone, it's a reality we face. Everyone faces eternity.

All the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in Mattoon gathered this morning for a Red Ribbon week assembly. (A Drugs/Alcohol, and Tobacco deal.) Their speaker: yours truly. It actually went really well. A lot of excitement in the air. Lots of crowd participation, and they got serious and listened during the moments they needed to.

I guess all that mixed together means the school assembly went well. In Christian evangelical circles, we don't know how to judge effectiveness unless a bunch of hands go up in the air at the end of a sermon.

Today, no hands...just a bunch of listening ears.

It seems weird to stand in front of close to a thousand students and not share "the Gospel." But the message was about healthy choices, consequences of bad decisions, helping others who are in need, and knowing you were made with a purpose...and not to mess your life up in the process. I guess that is a great starter for pointing people in the right direction.

I think we (typical Christians) feel like we haven't done our "Great Commission" duty unless we've shared the "Roman's Road to Salvation"verses with everyone. But in today's culture, I believe the Road to Romans begins with trust, love, respect, care and friendship. After you travel down those streets, then you can turn right onto Romans.

Anyway, a lot of students heard about making good choices and were encouraged not to get involved in bad ones. And now they know my face and can come talk to me when they get a chance.

Did I preach today at the Middle School, nope. Did I communicate God's message? I think so. It just gets packaged in a little different vehicle. And sometimes that vehicle takes a little while to grab the heart and soul of the listener.

So, today...no hands, just ears. Tomorrow....we'll see what happens. I simply ask God to stir curiosity of Him in their hearts.

...and then we better be ready to talk when the questions start coming.