Farewell...

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says,

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

Such is the case with blogging. And my season of blogging here at Spunky Jr. has come to a temporary halt. Many of you are probably not surprised by this decision. A lack of posting is always a good clue! The idea of leaving has been very hard, but I've thought and prayed about the right decision. I feel this is what God wants. So for the time being, I am taking a hiatus from Spunky Jr.

I could write out a list of things that I am busy with, but I'm going to keep it short and sweet. School and other projects eat a lot of my time, and I also maintain another co-blog - Beauty from the Heart. It's too much for me to handle and I've made the decision to break from this blog.

However (here comes the good news), I am not jumping out of the blog world completely. I will continue my work over at Beauty from the Heart. Right now, that's my blog home - and I share it with Lindsey and Hannah Beth. I will have posts up there at least once a week (we rotate each day). I will also be continuing to work at Regenerate Our Culture as well.

Lastly, I covet your prayers for this season in my life. I am entering my senior year of high school and preparing for life after that (whatever it may be). The road isn't always easy, but with Christ's help, I can run the race and fight the good fight. To God be the Glory!

Spunky Jr.

ROC

Well, Hannah finally left this morning. She's flying back home and I enjoyed my time with her very, very much. It's such a shame we live so far away from each other. I haven't had much time to blog this week, but there are a few things that I'd like to show ya'll (somehow I picked up part of that Texas accent).

Regenerate Our Culture came out with Issue 4 - and the theme is Prayer. There are many great articles on this subject, as well as an awesome article by Tim Sweetman on Justice Tom Parker. Brian Whalen (Zealous Endeavor) wrote an article I enjoyed on the purpose of nationwide prayer.

For the first time, ROC has also started accepting applications for writers!

This first round of applications will be reviewed carefully by our editing team and board members to select writers that display above average quality. Those accepted will become part of our writing team and will be expected to know our writers guidelines, deadlines and be able to get back to us in a short period of time.

I know that I'm a little late (better late than never though), but you can still submit your application but only for two more days - so act now!!

Guess who came to visit....

A special blogger friend came to visit this week!

Don't expect much blogging this week - I don't want to miss a minute with my friend!

Camera Happy...

Just yesterday, I "splurged" and bought a new digital camera...therefore, I am camera-happy and had to post some pictures! Unfortunately, my brothers (15 and 13) were not compliant when I shot most of these, so there are none of them...

Elaina (2)

Katie, Elaina and Elizabeth (10)

And last but not least, Me (Spunky Jr.) and Elaina

Persevering through it all

I have been going through some challenging times as of late, and sometimes it's hard to remember that God is there, He is sovereign and that He has the best interest for me. A few weeks back I posted about my spiritual desert.

After I wrote that post, I began to "climb out of" my poor spiritual state. It always seems as though when we get to a high spot in our lives, God says, "okay, you've mastered this, it's time to go beyond". Sometimes we're eager, willing and ready. Other times, we're worn out and tired. God has placed in front of me new challenges. I have tried faithfully to read my Bible since then and its been great to renew my mind and I continue to do so. However, I feel tired and worn. I feel like I'm trudging up a mountain and the top is miles and miles away. I want to be a deserter many times and go back to where it was easy.

Then I become like Thomas - a doubter. I let doubt set in and I start questioning God. Was this really the best for me? Am I really able to do this? What was I thinking when I signed up for this "job"?! Instead of thinking about other things, questions come flooding. Instead I should be asking myself things like, can I trust God to lead me through this? The answer is obvious because He went before me and endured the Cross. Because of this, I can take heart.

Hebrews 12:1 reminds us (emphasis added),

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

And in Proverbs 3:5-6,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

What would you read?

Many of my readers are of high school age or nearing college age. My mom, Spunky along with Carmon of Buried Treasure ask,

If you were in charge of the world, what book would you make all incoming freshmen read?

Aside from the Bible, I am curious what my late-high school/early college readers would read as a freshman. If you've already passed your freshman year, what did you have to read?

Around the 'sphere...

Kimi Harris of Nonconformist has an excellent post on friendships. Here's a peek:

What are friends for? They provide companionship and help fill lonely days. You have a good time with them. They make you laugh. They fulfill some of the desires in your heart. They accept you. They make up your "click", the place where you belong. But is that all that friends are for? The Bible doesn't focus very much on finding acceptance in our friends. But the Bible does give us a clear picture of what friends are for, and what to look for when making friends. Proverbs makes it clear that our friends can point us towards wisdom or drag us down.

This post blessed me in a lot of ways, and Kimi put into words what I too have been thinking. Make sure you read the rest of her awesome post!

NeoFascist? at Strangely Normal had a humorous post that caught my eye. It's 10 Reasons Why You Should Blog. It's quite funny, yet true! Make sure you read it....

Also...these next few days are going to be quite hectic because my sisters both have birthday parties. However, on Sunday something special is happening here at Spunky Enterprises...I would tell you now, but I've been sworn to secrecy!

An Addendum to Total Truth

Over the past few days, there has been a little controversy on my post, Total Truth. As always, I appreciate the great discussions that go around with these types of posts and I have learned a lot. Since then, Agent Tim has started a series of posts (part one and part two) that discuss my post, as well as this topic.

Please make sure you read my first post on Total Truth so that you fully understand the following.

Some people have perceived our remarks as taking Nancy Pearcey out of context. Agent Tim says in Part Two of his series:

I think what is happening here is simply this: an excellent discussion was started [right here at Spunky Jr.], but the catalyst for the discussion was taken out of context.

When I wrote this post (along with Katie) I did not have the slightest intent to take Nancy Pearcey's book out of context. Nor do I believe we did so. I love Total Truth and the things I have read. I'm not against Nancy Pearcey, nor am I against her book! I have learned a great deal since reading it. Rather, my intent was to read this passage and reflect on its meaning in light of biblical truth. This is a practice that I'm learning to apply to all my reading.

Catez of Allthings2All left the following comment,

You are looking at it from the point of view of what you watch, read etc. Pearcey is looking at it very evangelistically, as part of a process i.e. how do we relate to people? Do we say one dimensionally, "Your work is immoral", or do we say, "I don't agree with everything in your work but I see the gift you have in music, art, etc and would like to discuss the origin of that gift" - or something like that. Depends on the artform and the situation.

I would tend to agree with you here Catez, however, I will not subject myself to disgusting works and apply what you suggest by saying, "I don't agree with everything in your work but I see the gift you have in music, art, etc and would like to discuss the origin of that gift". I'm not going to compliment them on their "work of art" or their "writing" and then try and win them over to its origins.

Some may also assume that when reading, viewing or discussing these things will not have an impact on you. Hardly. The Bible says that bad company corrupts good morals. The same is true here. No matter how hard we try to distance ourselves from it, it can happen. In its application there is the potential degredation of our values.

Catez goes on to say,

Nancy Pearcey doesn't promote double standards. She is talking about how we communicate certain truths. You don't have to like the art, but it will contain something of the creativity that comes from the image of God in a person - creativity doesn't come from anywhere else. How the creativity is used is another matter. I think you may have missed Pearcey's point - she is talking about what we say to people. You are talking about what you personally appreciate.

Catez, I think we're talking about the same thing here, but with two different applications. This post was in regards to personal application of what I read/watch. Even still, I'm not sure I'd go this far to evangelize someone (but that's another post for another time). Some of you may be more willing to consider "works of art" and try and discuss them with others (for personal/evangelicalistic purposes). But I'm looking at this issue from a biblical standpoint.

I think my mom made an excellent point in her comment at Agent Tim's second post,

According to Nancy Pearcey, “Our first response to the great works of human culture-whether in art or technology or economic productivity—should be to celebrate them as reflections of God’s own creativity.”

So is she asking us to evaluate Elvis Presley this way?

In his God given smooth baritone voice, Elvis lures the listener into lust?

I’m sorry but that’s just not something I celebrate as God’s creativity. His talent is indeed from God but in its corrupted state, I don’t thing we are called to celebrate it. No matter what our cultural mandate is.

That was the point of my original post and why I closed with

I agree with Nancy Pearcey, that we need to focus on God's creativity but first we must make sure that the work is from God's hand.

I also mentioned Psalm 101:3 in my first post and I don't take that lightly regardless of how creative something is. Some people are willing to do things that I would consider "over the edge" and that's fine.

Veronika made a statement in the comments earlier that I would have to agree with,

We shouldn't be extremists, but I personally would prefer to be labeled as an extremist or legalist then as an indulger.

Now I guess I'll have no reason to wonder why I may come across to non-believers "as angry and scolding". It certainly isn't my intent to come across that way. Not at all . But if the alternative is the embrace the "creativity" of a talented sinner. I guess I'm okay with that.

Total Truth

I have been reading Nancy Pearcey's wonderful book, Total Truth. While there have been some great parts to the book, there have been a few aspects that I don't agree with. Recently, Katie Marie (a blog reader and friend) emailed me about a certain passage in the book. Unfortunately, Katie Marie doesn't own a blog (although I think she'd be great at it), so she and I have combined our thoughts into a joint post.

Katie and I have been discussing a particular paragraph on page 57 where Nancy states,

Artists are often the barometers of society, and by analyzing the world-views embedded in their works we can learn a great deal about how to address the modern mind more effectively. Yet many Christians critique culture one-dimensionally, from a moral perspective alone, and as a result they come across as negative and condeming. At a Christian college, I once took an English course from a professor whose idea of critiquing classic works of literature was to tabulate how many times the characters used bad language or engaged in illicit sexual relations. He seemed blind to the books' literary quality - whether or not they were good as literature. Nor did he teach us how to detect the worldviews expressed there. Similarly, a Christian radio personality recently wagged a stern finger at Elvis Presley for the immoral content of his songs, without ever asking whether his songs were good as music (which they certainly were), or raising other worldview questions, such as why popular culture has a powerful impact. When the only form of cultural commentary Christians offer is moral condemnation, no wonder we come across to non-believers as angry and scolding.

Our first response to the great works of human culture-whether in art or technology or economic productivity---should be to celebrate them as reflections of God’s own creativity.

Nancy tells us that we can and should appreciate and celebrate the value of creativity in the great works of human culture- often worldly movies, music, and paintings. While I’m not against appreciating creativity as a gift from God, I disagree with Nancy about our response and attitude to the "great works of human culture" when they contain things that are not pleasing to God. In regards to creativity, let us remember the fallen nature of man--the sin factor. Even man’s creativity is corrupted. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

In sin, man can use his ability of creativity in a very perverted, sick way. I’m sorry, but when such is the case our first response can not be that of "oh, lovely use of creativity there!" Wickedness is wickedness no matter how much creativity is presented. As Christians, we can not accept and study these things simply that we may "learn a great deal about how to address the modern mind more effectively". You could take a magazine that has one "great" article but the rest is all immoral and perverted. The Bible says in Psalm 101:3,

I will set no unclean thing before my eyes.

It doesn't matter the amount of creativity is in something or how many good parts to the movie or bad parts. A while back, my mom shared this story that makes my point perfectly clear,

His son wanted to watch an popular movie, it just had a few bad scenes. The son argued the show was good despite a few bad parts. That the good outweighed the bad. The father was not swayed with this argument. Instead, the following day he baked a pan of brownies for his son. Just as the son was about to bite into the delicious morsel the dad informed him that along with all the delicious chocolate and sugar he also mixed in a small portion of the doo doo from their golden retriever. The son quickly lost his appetitie for the brownie. But the dad assured him that there was just a little bit and the rest of the ingredients were very nutritious and outweighed the small portion that the dog contributed. The son quickly got the point.

While it is a little gross at first, this (true) story clearly makes my point. Just like that little bit of doo doo affected the whole pan of brownies, so does a little bit of immorality affect a book or a movie. We are not to wade through page after page or scene after scene of things that are wicked in God’s eyes in order to find their creativity and praise it. Instead, God also tells us what to do instead in Philippians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Are we focusing on immersing ourselves in that which is true, honest, just, pure, and lovely as we ought to?

I agree with Nancy Pearcey, that we need to focus on God's creativity but first we must make sure that the work is from God's hand.

Others blogging this:

• Agent Tim has posted his thoughts in Part One of a series.
• Catez at Allthings 2 All has an interview of Nancy Pearcey from a while back. It's interesting to read!

Related Tags: Nancy Pearcey, Total Truth, Culture, Worldviews, Literature, Books, Movies

Regenerate Our Culture...and other stuff

I hope everyone had a blessed Easter yesterday! The past couple of days have been hectic, so I haven't had much time to prepare anything, but I have a neat post coming sometime soon! Stay tuned...

Regenerate Our Culture - Online Magazine came out with Issue 3! While this issue is a bit smaller, there are still some excellent articles focusing on government including...

• Focusing On Our Government by Alex King
• Is Christian Involvement in Government Biblical? by David Ketter
• A Higher Lampstand by Brian Whalen
• Building A Leader by Jake Smith

David Peyton also has had an interesting series of posts on Garbage. Now don't let the title fool you (like it did me), but David had some interesting things to say that I'd encourage you to read. Read Part One and Part Two.

Happy Easter!

The Death

But he was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. ~Isaiah 53:5

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. ~Isaiah 53:7

The Burial

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb. ~Matthew 27:57-60

The Resurrection

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you." ~Matthew 28:1-7

May you all have a wonderful Easter celebrating the resurrection of our Lord!

My Spiritual Desert

Despite the tremendous amount of rain we've had in Michigan, I feel like I'm living through a drought - spiritually speaking. The land is parched and dry and I'm doing nothing to get out of it. I have no inspiration and no motivation (therefore, no blogging either). All I have the urge to do is sit around and moan and groan about my spiritual state.

It's funny. I know what I need to do to get back on the right track but I don't want to. Sure I still read my Bible and pray, but lately my prayers have been glazy and not what they should be. Each morning I read one or two chapters of something, but I feel I get nothing. And that's because right now, I'm a selfish Christian. I only want whatever is in it for me and not for God. My eyes are focused on my needs and NOT what God wants.

Coincidentally, I actually have learned something from my Bible reading (except I'm too selfish to see it). God has continually paraded scripture that tells me He's always there and that His love is never failing, even though I fail Him far too often. This morning I stumbled upon Psalm 107:8-9,

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

This scripture has started to put my focus back on God. This morning, I am going to spend some time in the Bible and pray. That is the only way I'll get out of my "spiritual desert" and back to where God wants me.

Instead of seeing a mirage ahead, I can actually see the end of the desert already.

Tim Challies on Worship

Boy did we have a lively discussion at my house last night. What was the catalyst? Tim Challies and his two posts this week on music. We're a musical family and if we're not playing it, we're talking about it. His articles have made me think a lot about the music I listen to. While I don't agree 100% with what Mr. Challies says, it is worth a read and very challenging.

An excerpt from Post One:

The most recent issue of Christianity Today features a short article by Chuck Colson entitled "Soothing Ourselves to Death" which, if you are so inclined, you could read by clicking here. Colson contends that "much of the music being written for the church today reflects an unfortunate trend--slipping across the line from worship to entertainment. Evangelicals are in danger of amusing ourselves to death, to borrow the title of the classic Neil Postman book.

And an excerpt from Post Two:

Until yesterday it had been quite a while since I had written about worship. I had forgotten what a difficult and even contentious issue it is within the church. I guess, at least to some extent, it has always been this way. The issue of music brings out both the best and the worst in Christians.

Mr. Challies also gives these 8 tests of true worship music:

The Message Test
The Purpose Test
The Association Test
The Memory Test
The Proper Emotions Test
The Understanding Test
The Music Test
The Excellence Test

You'll have to read the entire post to understand the test. I would encourage everyone to read both of these posts and come back here to let me know what your thoughts are. Like I stated above, I was very challenged and both articles have made me think about the music I listen to and worship to!

As interesting comments come in, I may add them to this post. If you blog about this, please let me know.

Related Tags: Tim Challies, Worship, Music, Christian

Accountability

Accountability: to answer for one’s conduct.

Does the idea of holding yourself accountable to God or someone else scare you? It does me. Yet, when my Grandma wanted to lose weight, an accountability system was a huge asset in meeting her goal. Accountability is something that we all have to come to grips with. I am by nature a fairly self-motivated person, but I still need prodding and I can let somethings slack. (Biology?) Next year I am going to graduate. I can motivate myself to finish, but that’s hard to do. It’s also hard to eat some humble pie and ask for accountability. In this case, my parents, particularly my mom, are keeping me accountable.

Being accountable isn't just an earthly matter. Ecclesiastes 3:15 says (emphasis added),

Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.

When Jesus returns, we're going to have to account for what we did here on earth. Every single action will be accounted for - the good and the bad.

Many questions circle my mind when I think of this. Did we do the best of our ability to serve God? Did I redeem the time? Did we spend our minutes studying to show ourselves approved unto God or did we spend a little too much time blogging? (This is a big problem for me too.) Did we spend time in God's Word and encouraging others? Or do we spend time talking others about the latest gadgets and gizmos? The list is endless...the way we spend our time will have to be accounted for.

I hate when people ask me if I've done what I'm supposed to. Just like I'm sure my grandma hated it when she stepped on the scale and it tipped in the wrong direction. But she was willing to humbly submit to that for a greater goal she wantedto accomplish. I want to learn to embrace accountablity to accomplish a greater good. In the process, I'll have to eat a little humble pie I'm sure.

Just remember, we're going to be accountable to God for our actions. It's better to get comfortable with it now than to wait 'till Heaven when all is said and done!

Related Tags: Bible, Accountability, Christianity

Need some encouragement?

Hannah Beth at Beauty from the Heart wrote an excellent post yesterday - Waiting for the Wedding.

Imagine that you are engaged to be married. You have met and fallen in love with the one who God has planned you for all along. You can hardly wait for the wedding day, but you have one problem. Your groom promised to bring the entire wedding party to your doorstep, but following old Jewish tradition, has refused to tell you the wedding date. It is a secret posessed only by him and his father. Every morning you wake up and question yourself, 'Is this the day of my marriage?' Each day you must prepare as though the wedding were just about to take place.

This may seem like a surreal situation, but it was reality for Jewish women during the time of Christ. After the initial betrothal, about twelve months would pass. Toward the end of the twelve months or soon after, the groom would arrive at the bride's home with the wedding party and the marriage ceremony could begin. The bride was never sure of the exact time that her husband-to-be was coming; she only knew that it was soon.

Yet this is also reality for us as followers of Christ. We are that bride. Our hearts should be completely turned toward our Savior that He is who we wake up thinking about and that our days are dedicated to the hope of His return.

I found this post very encouraging and I'd recommend that you read the rest....