God or the Girl

This past Sunday was the final installment on a five part reality tv series called God or the Girl. Before it had came on a few weeks ago, I remember seeing the advertisements for it and some news agencies creating a stir about it. The premise of the show is 4 catholic men that are deciding on whether or not they want to go into the priesthood. They come from various backgrounds and what not. It is a show that is actually done very well, they focused on the delemas in making the decision to enter into the priesthood, how they feel about giving up different parts of their lives and what they could potentially receive as benefits.
If you want to watch this show, you can find it on A&E, and if you really desire to want to know what happens by watching it yourself, stop reading here.

So, as each of the 5 shows progressed, each of the guys came closer and closer to making their decision on what they are going to do. By the end of the 3rd show, one of the guys, Mike, had decided to not enter into the priesthood. He was offered a job as a school teacher and he desired to see with his relationship with his girlfriend would go. Joe had been dealing with whether or not to enter the priesthood for 10 years...10 years!!! I kept saying to the tv, and Erin agreed with me on this, and to Joe- "Crap or get off the pot!" Seriously, that's too long to be deciding to see if that's an option in your life. So, he decided not to go...he really didn't have a serious female connection, he thought that he did in Germany...but his ex didn't want to see him.
Dan was an interesting character and I was surprised by his decision. Dan had been given the challenge of making a cross and then carrying it for 22 miles from one church to another. His father (not biological, Catholic) said that he needed to do this out of obedience...so he did. The first 2 shows focused in on this and also his college ministry and the challenges that he faced there. One instance that they showed was when a "fundy" (fundamentalist...I'm going to be nice and not say anything more...) ripped him a part for being Catholic and pretty much said that 1.1 Billion Christians are going to hell...well, that's a fundy for ya! Anyhoo, he didn't fire back, he definitely took the high road there! Anyhoo, Dan played it up to make it sound that he was going to go into the priesthood, but he opted out. He said that his college ministry was where he felt at home. He and his ex-grilfriend, in the 6 months later part, got back together. So far, God 0, the girl 3.
Next was Steven. He struck me as a character not suited for the ministry. He was extremely timid. He also kept on braging on how he gave up is $80,000 a year job and his $400,000 house and all that...not a fan. But he gave up all that to be a missionary to U of Nebraska. (If you recall a blog from last fall, that's where Tommy Lee did his college thing for a term.) Anyhoo, he's challenged to go to Guatemala on a mission trip, he struggles with being there and not being able to do the ministry because of the language barrier. --One thing that he realized, and it is true with short term mission work, that the mission changes the person who went more than those being served.-- Anyhoo, Steven goes into the priesthood. That totally caught me off guard, he didn't seem like one who would have made it. It just goes to show that I'm not, thankfully, always right. -I wouldn't want that burden on my shoulders, of always being right.

Anyhoo, this show, both Erin and I thought this, would give most guys who are thinking of becoming priests or pastors the idea of what it means to struggle with that concept. It was a very enjoyable show. If I was in any of their shoes and had to make a choice between becoming a priest or choosing Erin...I would choose Erin...but, thanks be to God, that I can, in a sense, have the best of both worlds!

Holy...Week!!!

This week is probably the busiest week in all of the church year! Besides having Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, there's also the regular stuff that still goes on...Bible Studies, youth groups, and office hours. That all adds up to a tired Brett. (I promise that's the only time I'll speak in the third person here!)
There actually is reason to have this Bubba Gump picture here...it goes into a story for this past weekend.
So, I was out with Erin and her family this past Friday night. We went to a Japanese resturant, to one of those places where they cook the food right infront of you, the food was really good. At the end of our meal, the server came out with another one who had a gong. I'd seen this done before, they bring out the gong for those who are celebrating their birthdays. And then she asked who's birthday it was, Erin's dad said that it was mine!!! That was crazy! I was thinking to myself, my birthday isn't for another 4 months! And everyone, including Erin, was in on it! (Ah, who was there: Erin, her parents, her brother and his girlfriend, her aunt and uncle, and me) I was the only one left in the dark.
Then on Saturday, after my big evangelism project was over with...I'll get to that in a second...we (Erin, her brother, his girlfriend, and me) went to Daytona to do some shopping...more so for Erin and Carrie, than Mark or me. That was a fun time. Then we went over to Bubba Gumps, it's at the ocean walk in Daytona. (Obviously on the ocean.) And we had a little bit of a wait. And same scenario happened again as the previous night. We eat and then, after we are done, the server came out with a thing of ice cream. Except, this time was a little different...he said something about an anniversary! Then Erin's dad said that it was her's and my's first year anniversary! Oh my! It was really funny, I went along with it, but Erin was super embarassed...she was supposed to be in on it, she didn't think that she'd become part of it. They made us stand up and dance...I shook it, Erin didn't, she was so red! After that hoopla was over and we were on the way out, we had people congratulate us on one year of marriage! I could only laugh.

So my Easter Eggstravaganza was a success. (This is the project that we have to do for the seminary.) We had a carnival like atmosphere: games, food, prizes. We had it rather structured, and we were able to set it up so that the kids were to go to all the stations, in order to receive a surprise if they turned in their cards. One of the stations was the Easter story laid out in an evangelic style- which qualifies for being evangelism. We had about 100 children show up, not bad for a first time event. We had about 85 church volunteers all together, which is about 30% of the congregation, and the largest group of volunteers that this church has ever had for any one event. And they plan on doing this again next year, which is really cool!

Legos!

So, I love Legos. I played with them for the longest time growing up! (I thought that I should get that out and into the open.) So, I'm teaching a Bible study on the book of Judges. And since I love to incorporate technology into my studies, via powerpoint, I spent some time looking for pictures to use as part of my presentation. As I was doing my search, I came across something called "The Brick Testament." It is so sweet! It's also rather violent for Legos...but then again, we are talking about toys here! So, I decided that I'm going to utilize a few pictures from that website into my Bible study, the class really enjoyed having those pictures as something different to view.











The above pictures are from the book of Judges. The one on the left is of Tola, who saved Israel and led them for 23 years. (Judges 10:1-2) The one on the right is of Yahweh telling Israel that he's sick and tired of having to save them. (Judges 10:11-14)
This is probably one of my favorite tools to use now. Check it out:
http://www.thebricktestament.com/