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The Super Bowl has been over for 2 days, and yet Twitter is still filled with 4 things relating to the event: Aaron Rodgers, 400 fans who missed the game because their seats were considered unsafe, Christina Aguilera’s botched version of the Star-Spangled Banner, and the Black Eyed Peas’ halftime show.

As for quick thoughts on the first three:

Aaron Rodgers: Spectacular

The NFL’s handling of the seat situation: Inexcusable

Christina Aguilera’s performance: Horrendous (Not necessarily because she messed up the words, but because she included so many runs that I almost forgot what she was singing)

That leads me to the fourth element: The Black Eyed Peas.

Despite the grand entrance, the pyro, the razzle dazzle, the cameos from Slash and Usher, the costumes from Tron, and dancers with boxes on their heads, most of the Twitter world and blogosphere felt the performance fell short of expectations and came up a bit flat.

I’ll be the first to admit that the performance was anything but spectacular. The audio was mediocre at best, the BEPs just stood in place most of the performance like a Southern Gospel quartet (you’ll never hear that comparison again), the vocals (especially Fergie) were atrocious, and the performances by Slash and Usher were forgettable.

So while the grand spectacle was not up to standard for a typical Super Bowl Halftime performance, I’ve noticed the disappointment for some has gone beyond the failed audio and flat vocals. It seems as though some have been disappointed that “nothing shocking happened.”

Ever since the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” in 2004, the NFL has tried to tame its Halftime show by bringing in artists like Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Prince, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and The Who. Although these are all reputable and notable artists, none presented the threat that became apparent when MTV controlled the Halftime show in 2004.

However, this year was different. Bridgestone went out on a limb and booked the Black Eyed Peas. Even before we knew who would play in the Super Bowl, speculation was already mounting as to what crazy and shocking acts would come from their performance. In fact, on Bodog, an online gambling site, fans could even bet on what Fergie would wear for the performance, providing options that were modest, semi-modest, and not modest at all.

After 30 minutes of watching mediocre talent, many of us were left with a thought of “That’s it?” We were expecting more, both in talent and in shock value. With the exception of Fergie’s outfit, many were pleased that the Black Eyed Peas kept things somewhat PG/PG-13 despite all the weirdness that surrounded the performance.

However, while some were pleased with the tameness, others were disappointed that the BEP’s didn’t push things far enough. They wanted shock value. They wanted Monday morning water cooler material. They wanted something that would make the FCC blush. But they didn’t get it, and they were disappointed.

Our country has reached a point where very little shocks us. We’ve become so desensitized to sex, media, abuse, and a myriad of things that we no longer want normal or tame. Rather, we seek the things that push the limits and “shock” us in a new way. We want our senses to be stimulated in new ways and we want to push the envelope until the uncomfortable becomes perfectly acceptable.

And as that never ending search continues, our culture will continue to search for what is shocking, and only be disappointed when we realize it no longer is.

[Photo source: http://bit.ly/hvGMVy]

I was recently studying John 1:35-42. This passage takes place very early on in the Jesus’ adult ministry. In fact, this was the moment when He began calling “the 12.”

As I read, I could not get past verses 35-37: “The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as He walked by and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus (John 1:35-37, ESV).

That last statement stuck in my mind for the next few days. We know from Scripture that John the Baptist was a great man. He was a righteous man. He even had disciples that followed him. Yet when his disciples saw Jesus, they left John the Baptist to follow Jesus.

You would think this would be a huge blow to John the Baptist’s ego. Men who had been following him left and followed Christ. But nowhere in Scripture do we find John bitter, jealous, or angry. We see quite the opposite. In fact, in John 1:27, John the Baptist said he was not even worthy to untie the strap of Jesus’ sandal. He had a humble spirit. John knew Jesus was greater. John knew Jesus deserved worship and adoration. John knew Jesus should be followed.

Sadly, there’s a growing trend within many churches that is moving away from the mindset of John the Baptist and moving toward something that is self-centered and ego driven: the emergence of “rock star pastors.”

Some of today’s pastors have developed a philosophy of ministry that is based on, “How cool can I be and how popular can I get?” In our celebrity-driven culture, they’ve bought into the lie that success is determined by how popular you are, who you rub shoulders with, how much money you can bring in, and how many people know your name.

Some of these men have traded strong doctrinal teaching, humility, and a Christ-based ministry for private jets, $200 designer jeans, mansions, and “informative messages” that are more prone to use pop culture references and shock value over Scripture.

And by following the “everything in the name of cool” philosophy rooted in self-promotion, they’ve essentially created followers of themselves, not followers of Christ.

Pastors are God’s messengers. They proclaim God’s truth. They point people to Christ much like John the Baptist did. They help create disciples of Jesus while also trying to follow in Christ’s footsteps themselves.

Today’s “rock star pastors” are missing the mark when it comes to pastoring, preaching, and discipleship. The people they mentor are looking more like them than Christ.

It’s hard to stay humble. It’s hard not to let it bother us when someone leaves our church for another, or even when someone quits coming to our Sunday School class in favor or something else. But when our priorities shift, and we begin creating followings of us rather than followers of Jesus, we’ve completely missed the point.

When our ego replaces God as the fuel of our ministry, our “ministry” becomes nothing more than a show. The rock star within us cries out to be liked, loved…and maybe even worshiped.

We can’t create followers of ourselves. We must create followers of Christ. Like John the Baptist, we must point people to Jesus and proclaim Him as the only way, truth, and life.

Without Him, we’re just lonely “rock stars.”

Church is boring.

Yes, I said it.

Church is boring.

There, I said it again.

Do you remember when church used to be fun? I loved hanging out with our youth group when I was a teenager. Whether it was playing paintball, delivering Christmas gifts, studying the Bible, or even painting the walls, I loved it (with the exception of sweeping dirt off the parking lots in Georgia). It was fun. Honestly, I think we could have scheduled an event to pick ticks off each other and I would have had a good time.

So what happened? Why is church boring?

Maybe church hasn’t changed. Maybe I’ve changed. Maybe the attitude I once had as a teenager has disappeared. Was it the events that made church fun? Not really. Was it the opportunity to hang out with my friends that made church fun? Not completely.

Maybe the attitude that immature 17-year-old me had needs to replace the attitude that 26-year-old me has. 17-year-old me realized the church wasn’t about me. I was there for something other than myself. I was there for Someone other than myself.

26-year-old me is bored with church. 26-year-old me wonders what the church is doing for me. How is the church serving my needs? When will the church center around 26-year-old me and cater to my needs?

17-year-old me got it. 26-year-old me is still struggling to find it.

Church hasn’t changed. I’ve changed.

And that’s why church is now boring.

[Photo Source: http://bit.ly/gmpUi6]

I wish I was making this up.

When I saw the commercial, I thought it couldn’t be real. It had to be some “fake” advertisement that would run on The Soup or some other show that takes shots at pop culture, right? Wrong.

The show: Bridalplasty. Its aim: A reality show where 12 engaged women compete to win a dream wedding and plastic surgery, with the emphasis being more on the plastic surgery than the actual wedding.

Here’s how the show/game is played: The winner of each week’s challenge gets one plastic surgery procedure from her wish list. The winner of the competition gets a wedding of her dreams and multiple plastic surgery from her wish list. (If this sounds similar to Fox’s 2004 show, The Swan, it should. The same doctor who performed the surgeries on The Swan is the doctor behind the surgeries on Bridalplasty.)

On the flip side, the groom does not even get to see his bride until the wedding day, where she reveals her new look.

Yes, this is real.

Engaged women are actually competing to win plastic surgery. No, not Lasik eye surgery. Not surgery to repair broken bones. Surgery to enhance features that are otherwise working properly.

And how is E! marketing this show? With this promo: “Every bride wants to look her best on her wedding day but for the women competing on E!’s new series, Bridalplasty, only perfection will do.”

It’s not a surprise that I find this disgusting, insulting, and degrading. The message it sends is vain and self-serving. Think about the end of the promo line again: “Only perfection will do.” It’s not talking about intellectual perfection. It’s not talking about personality perfection. It’s not even talking about natural physical perfection. Its definition of “perfection” is an unnatural alteration performed by a surgeon to create or enhance something.

Although ratings were low for the premiere episode, it still brought in over 900,000 viewers. Viewers were fed the lie that perfection comes in physical appearance; being who God made you to be in never “enough.”

Some writers weighed in on the show. Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald said:

The show feeds “the idea that a woman’s worth is based on attaining the perfect physique by any means.”

Chris Spargo of Hollywood Life commented:

Bridalplasty’s “whining blonds” are “almost all in perfect shape” yet they still feel compelled to obliterate their “minor imperfections.”

Again, I wish I was making this up.

Unfortunately, it’s all too true. We have a show featuring attractive women in near perfect shape, who already have a significant other, competing to win plastic surgery procedures.

Or maybe we should call it what it really is: A pseudo-reality show featuring women with low self-esteem, competing to win plastic surgery that will give them the false hope of attaining emotional and physical perfection.

I have to ask, why would anyone go on this show? Even more, why would someone who is engaged go on this show? The only answer I can find is that these women must be so insecure and dislike themselves so much that they’re looking to find fulfillment wherever they can. Obviously these already-attractive women haven’t found fulfillment in themselves. They obviously haven’t found it in their fiances. What they don’t see is that they won’t find it in their surgeries either. When the show is over and the cameras are turned off, these women may see a different person in the mirror, but they’ll still dislike the person they see on the inside.

If you are the parent of a teenage girl or if you are a young woman yourself, think about the message this show is sending to females everywhere. This show feeds into the lie that physical appearance is everything. It doesn’t matter who you are on the inside as long as you are beautiful on the outside.

The real reality is that what you look like on the outside pales in comparison to who you are on the inside. Unfortunately, so many people refuse to believe that. They are willing to sacrifice their character, money, and even safety in hopes of “feeling” like a new person. It saddens me that there are hundreds of thousands of women around the world who are willing to waste money on changing the exterior, because they know fixing the inside will hurt even more than the surgery.

I wish I was making this up.

Sadly, this has become a “reality.”

It’s hard to believe, but the 2010 D6 Conference has already come and gone. Last week over 1900 people gathered in Dallas, Texas to learn and discuss how to build faith at home.

If you were one of those 1900+ people, I would love to hear your thoughts on the conference, both good and bad. What did you take away from the conference? What speakers really moved you and encouraged you in both your ministry and personal life? What things do you wish were different? Are there any speakers/experts on family ministry that you wish would have been there that weren’t?

Leave any comments you have. I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

Does today’s church believe in absolute truth? Does today’s church even know what absolute truth is?

There’s no doubt that the culture around us is on a downward spiral as far as morality is concerned. What worries me is that many within the church today can’t discern truth well enough to know where and if that downward spiral is taking place. The problem with deception is that it usually starts out small. Anyone can spot a blatant lie from a long ways away, at least you would hope so. However, when truth becomes blurry and lies begin to blend with truth, the result is a concoction that appears desirable yet actually is deadly.

In order to see this, all you have to do is look at modern media. Eat Pray Love, a movie starring Julia Roberts, is currently at the box office. Here’s what a reviewer at PluggedInOnline.com had to say about the movie and the main character, Liz:

Like so many before her, Liz has turned her back on a godly religious conviction and morality, and sought a less challenging spiritual system instead. A system that requires only vaguely sending “light and love” to others rather than buckling down and fighting for a covenant relationship’s survival and growth when things are emotionally difficult. A system that encourages sweetly masked self-indulgence over real self-sacrifice, and salvation without real repentance. Instead of God and His majesty, Ms. Gilbert wants cheap grace to help her get through her needlessly miserable days.

While people may be quick to discount this as only a “movie” or “mere entertainment,” the reality is many women have taken her advice and have attempted to find “themselves” through the same means as the character in the book/film. While there may be elements to the story that are uplifting, encouraging, and positive, there are also elements to the story that are self-indulgent and potentially dangerous. Is today’s society, especially today’s church, able to filter the good from the bad?

While some have blended elements of truth with elements other sources, many have attempted to ignore truth altogether and present sinful behavior as desirable. Take a TV show like Pretty Little Liars for example. The show has been rising in fame, most notable among teenage girls. It actually won the 2010 Teen Choice Award for “Choice Summer TV Show.” Teen show. Award winner. On ABC Family. Should be an acceptable show for teenage girls to watch, right? Not quite. The show has included storylines involving the main female characters “experimenting” with lesbianism. While some may say that they’re just portraying life how it actually is, I would beg to differ. I don’t believe that’s where we are yet. (Sadly, the keyword might be “yet”) Rather, I think that is where the producers and writers want to take our culture. They know they have influence. They know they have ratings. They know they can spread their agenda and people will listen.

Sadly, talk to any youth pastor in this country and there’s a good chance he’ll tell you that many of his teens are influenced by shows and movies like the ones I mentioned above. They get hooked in with the drama, scandals, sex, and provocativeness, and they sit through the agendas, propaganda, and blatant messages that the writers attempt to get across. Before too long, they believe THAT is reality and see nothing wrong with the sinful acts presented on TV because they look quite desirable and fun. To be honest, I think young adults fall into this same trap too.

What influence do these shows, movies, books, music, etc have on us? The truth is we can’t solely watch only for entertainment value because what we watch becomes part of us. It begins to shape our worldview. Don’t believe me? Then why do we get defensive when someone badmouths a show we watch or even objectively disagrees with what the show promotes and endorses?

To be honest, it almost seems like we’ll defend our favorite (trashy) TV show before we’ll defend the truth of Scripture. Sometimes we’ll defend our favorite TV show OVER the truth of Scripture.

My concern is that either we don’t know how to discern truth, or we’re refusing to because it would force us to change our guilty pleasures.

Sadly, I think truth is dying in many churches today. We may say we believe in the truth of Scripture, but in no way do we allow that same Scripture to direct our lives and shape who we are.

It used to be that we had teenagers in the church who had no sense of right or wrong. Now those teenagers have become parents and their skewed view of truth is what is helping shape the lives of their children.

When we don’t have a firm understanding of truth and what we believe and why we believe it, we will be influenced by anything and everything. Every new idea, fad, lifestyle, and “religious idea” will intrigue us. When discernment takes a backseat to intrigue and entertainment, we turn our backs on the truth in which we claim to believe.

If you have been involved with youth ministry for any length of time, I’m sure you’re familiar with the name Walt Mueller. Walt Mueller is the founder and President of CPYU, the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding. Last Friday he was in a serious bike accident. The following message is from an email from CPYU:

The evidence seems to be growing but now it’s hit a very weird point. Several months ago, reports came out from divorce lawyers that said Facebook was to blame for failed marriages. In a nutshell, spouses were reuniting with old flames, becoming too acquainted with friends of the opposite sex, or meeting new potential partners through Facebook. According to an article in USA Today, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says 81% of its members have used or faced evidence from Facebook, MySpace,Twitter and other social networking sites, including YouTube and LinkedIn, over the last five years.

As sad as that is, it’s probably not too shocking. However, the news has continued to get weird. According to an article from Lindsay Robertson of Yahoo! Movies, some women have nearly destroyed their marriages by neglecting their spouses in favor of Twilight-related activities.

It gets weirder. As if that wasn’t enough, apparently FarmVille and World of Warcraft are now to blame for ruined marriages. Men and women are neglecting their spouse and their children in favor of taking care of a virtual farm of fake animals and crops, or fighting mythological creatures in quests on the computer.

While it’s easy to point the finger at Facebook, Twilight, FarmVille, and World of Warcraft, I think we would be pointing the finger in the wrong direction if we passed the blame off on them. While all of those things take up our time and attention, ultimately WE are the ones who choose to spend time on those things. WE choose to get on Facebook. WE choose who we talk to, flirt with, meet up with, and pursue a relationship with. WE choose to spend all day on Twilight message boards. WE choose to give lunch to a virtual cow rather than make lunch for our own children.

When we pass the blame onto a web site or book or game, we’re ultimately removing responsibility from ourselves and placing it on some “thing.”

The truth of the matter is divorce happens because a person or both people fail to live up to their responsibility as a husband or wife. It’s not the fault of Facebook or FarmVille. Those things can be vehicles which help get us off track, but ultimately the responsibility falls on us.

That is why it is so important to have a marriage that is grounded in Christ. If anything else is the basis of our relationship or marriage, we’re building it on a weak foundation.

Via: Online MBA

For the last couple of years, I have been part of Mocha Club, an organization that exists to fund relief and development projects in Africa. They work in five main project areas: Clean Water, Education, Child Mothers + Women At Risk, Orphan Care + Vulnerable Children, and HIV/AIDS + Healthcare.

The premise is very simple: Every month Mocha Club receives $7 from your bank account–the price of 2 mochas. That money is then used to make a huge difference in Africa.

How much can $7.00 do? $7 can feed person for a month. $7 can educate 2 children for a school term. $7 can save 1 person’s life from malaria. $7 can provide clean water to 7 Africans for a year.

My team, Won’t Stay Silent, has been supporting a Clean Water initiative. There are 300 million people in Africa who do not have access to clean drinking water. Mocha Club’s clean water solutions are freeing individuals from this devastating situation by providing water that is safe and free of disease. Through our giving, we are helping building wells in the Sudan for refugees of the Darfur genocide, who are often forced to live in wilderness areas where they have to drink muddy water, if they are able to find any water at all…

Due to the lack of clean water, diseases run rampant. Each new well is designed to serve 500 people, but our experience on the ground in these remote, insecure areas, is that they end up serving more than 1,000 people.

Once again, the premise is very simple: You only have to give $7.00 a month. In fact, once you sign up, there’s nothing else you have to do. The money is withdrawn from your bank account each month, and I can almost guarantee that you will never miss that money or even notice it’s gone.

$7.00 doesn’t sound like much, but as you read above, it makes a huge difference. Plus, when people working together, incredible things happen. Our group, Won’t Stay Silent, was started in September 2008. Since that time, our group has combined to donate over $1000.00.

If you’re interested in finding out more information, click on the following link, one of the Mocha Club pictures, or send me an email at david.jones@randallhouse.com. Click here to access Mocha Club