First Feast 9:07 PM

I know there is probably some blurb in the blogger book against too much baby boy brogging. Stockton, however, hasn't gotten enough Threat Level love.

Recently, we introduced six month old Stockton to solid food. It is basically a rice cereal mixed with milk, and has the consistency of oatmeal. It certainly didn't look like it was on Zaxby's Club level of delicious, but the baby boy tore into it like it had a side of crinkle-cut fries. This gets filed under "s" - for "show future girlfriend."

A Word From My Baby Boy 1:53 AM

No one told me that fatherhood would be hilarious; that my son would be so adept at making me laugh at and love on him. Here's the roly-poly-baby-boy telling his beautiful mom and I something hilarious. Next time we make a video, we'll be sure to turn more lights on :).

Why I am NOT voting for Barack Obama 7:46 PM

In order to have polite conversation, there are two general rules to follow. First, do not talk about religion. Second, do not talk about politics. Unfortunately, 1605B North Mill Court includes a minister and a political organizer. Thus, 75% of conversations revolve around the aforementioned impolite discourse. (In case you are wondering, the other portion of conversation belongs to Stockton (20% and growing) and the Utah Jazz (5%)) With the Kentucky Democratic Primary coming up tomorrow, our living room has resounded with the responsibilities of citzenry and the merits of Barack and Hillary.

As you can imagine, the independent woman (throw your hands up at me!) Dana was previously enamored with Hillary Clinton, especially after reading her autobiography. More recently, She-Ra has gravitated towards Obama, given his background in grassroots organizing, essentially what Dana does now. But after weighing the options, watching the cool YouTube videos, and listening to Barack's sizzle over Hillary's steak, I have come to an important conclusion that distills down to one inconvenient truth.

I will not be voting for Barack Obama tomorrow. The reason is simple.

Barack Obama found time to campaign in virtually every state that mattered (Florida and Michigan did not)up to this point. Obama found time, in the middle of a busy congressional season to visit California, New Hampshire, and every place in-between. Yet in this season of high stakes, with the nomination virtually decided, Obama outlined Oregon instead of blessing the bluegrass. Hillary, on the other hand, spent yesterday in Bowling Green and put up with an interview from the po-dunk news team.

All other things being equal between Barack and Hillary, Hillary, through her visit yesterday and the implicit affirmation of Kentucky therein, earned my vote.

Call it whatever you wish. Call it little man's disease or some unhealthy hang-up with my home state. But Hillary succeeded where Barack failed in Kentucky. Not in the politics of hope, but in the politics of persons.

An Open Letter to Jesus 2:43 AM

I wrote this a long time ago. Let me know what you think.

An Open Letter to Jesus

Your bride does not shave her legs.
Her armpits sweat and stink
She lies
lies in wait with baited trap

She searches with bloodshot eyes
feasts on bitterness
and swallows whole tears

But your blood painted love for her
Your agony spoke vows
If she was worth Your death
how much more mine now?

Time Out 5:28 PM

The Bowling Green community is reeling from the untimely death of Corry Tucker, a junior at Bowling Green High School who took his own life. A parent suggested I post what an e-mail that I sent following the tragedy. I know there are websites with much more in-depth information regarding suicide and coping with the aftermath, but here it is anyway.

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Dear Parents and Friends,

By now you, and certainly your son or daughter, have probably heard the tragic news from Bowling Green High School. Sometime between last night and this morning, a junior student took his own life. This may give rise to a series of questions from your son or daughter today or the next couple of days. Please know that the most important thing you can do as a parent or significant adult is provide an outlet for those questions. You don't necessarily have to always the "correct" answer as much as you need to be a presence for them to speak to and receive love from. As they confront their own mortality and process through this suicide, the greatest truth you can convey to them is not found in an encyclopedia but rather in your love, and God's all-surpassing love for them. You may also find the following suicide-coping related links helpful.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/108725/how_to_help_your_teen_deal_with_a_friends.html
http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/suicide.html
http://www.teentouch.org/coping_suicide.asp

Your son or daughter may also ask the following questions (with potential starting points):
Did God will this to happen?

God is a loving God whose heart breaks at sin and brokenness, including suicide. Our free will choices sometimes result in brokenness. God did not will this to happen and hurts that it did happen.

Does a person who committed suicide automatically go to hell?

It would be wrong to assume that one wrong decision causes God to overlook a lifetime of correct decisions.

Why did he do this?

We could speculate all day why this young man decided to take his own life. Ultimately, we do not know and in order to respect the privacy of the family, we may not know. That doesn't change the fact that a young man's life was tragically lost today.

Should I have seen warning signs?

While suicide can be something that is premeditated over the course of time, it can also be something that is done spontaneously in a moment of depair or sadness. There may have been warning signs, but looking back and trying to parse out particulars is not helpful. The ultimate question behind this question is, "Is this my fault?". The answer is of course, no.

What should I do if I or one of my friends is having suicidal thoughts?

Ultimately, there is nothing worth taking your life for. God created you in an act of love and desires life for you. If you or a friend are having suicidal thoughts, you should immediately speak to your parents or another significant adult (pastor, teacher, counselor, coach, etc.) Nothing NOTHING is worth killing yourself over, not even the really cute girl.

Praying for you,
jb

Call for Creativity 10:15 PM

There are people who read this blog that have more creativity in their left eyelid than I have in my entire body. So let's make some magic happen together...

My ministry team and I are in the process of doing a full scale evaluation of the ministry that we do. Long story short, we do some some spectacular things together and are looking at doing some even more high quality things. Part of that includes giving our weekly gathering a name beyond...wait for it...youth group. So put on your thinking cap (remember that from elementary school? Gold star if you do!) and join me in a blainstorm (blog + brainstorm = blainstorm).

By the way, "180", "Frontline", and "YOOTH GROOP" will not be considered.

"No Video Games for a Whole Weekend" 1:36 PM

Squirmy Stockton continues to grow, move, jump, scoot, slobber, slam, kick, and babble at Dana and I (videos to come). Let's hope we never have to have this conversation...

Slices of Orange 10:02 PM

Francis Chan, Donald Miller, Chap Clark, and I (and about 4000 other people) spent Monday through Wednesday in Atlanta, Georgia. There, we processed student ministry, culture, post-modernism, the church, and quality graphics attached to all these things. Here are some of the quality quick-hitters of last week. (By the way, my book is on sale in the lobby.) Not sure I necessarily agree with all of these, but these are the words that stoked my imagination.

(paraphrase) “I can take six talented people and start a tremendous church or put together a tremendous worship service. The question is, did the Holy Spirit show up, or did I market that well? Was it the Holy Spirit, or talented people working together?” – Francis Chan

“I’m tired of blackjack Christianity. You know, where we sit around at the same table but we’re so focused on the dealer that we never talk to each other.” – Francis Chan

“Don’t be fooled by the sheen of safety that so many of our parents wear. Don’t think about people in the context that you see them in.” – Chap Clark

“Parents are scared that they have lost the ability to understand the world. This creates a reaction of overt defensiveness, disrespect, and a critique of the world that teenagers are living in.” – Chap Clark

“You can’t raise G rated kids in an R rated world.” - Chap Clark

“If you care, you will suffer.” – Chap Clark

“Who is discipling our kids?” – Chap Clark

“A leader speaks order into the chaos.” – Donald Miller

“If there is no one available to speak to our kids during pivotal moments, they will lose faith.” – Andy Stanley

“If you’re not teachable, you have to learn everything the hard way.” – Andy Stanley

“I don’t want to have a testimony how God healed my marriage; I want to have a good marriage.” – Andy Stanley

“If we don’t keep our families together, we have become part of the problem of culture.” – Andy Stanley

There were a few more, but I will leave it at that for now, lest you get blog fatigue. Let me know what you think. I am particularly struck by Andy Stanley’s words on marriage (middle quote) and Francis Chan’s talented people vs. the Holy spirit dichotomy.