Twas the Day before Christmas

First I want to wish all my readers a Merry Christmas! I pray that God keeps you safe as you travel and as you eat to much. May God turn all those cookies and pies to carrots and spinach on the way down. Merry Christmas.

The saying "reason for the season" is almost as popular as Merry Christmas this time of the year. Okay maybe not but it is still a popular saying. We remember that we celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus Christ. It was the day that He voluntarily left the great halls in Heaven to come to a shabby and lowly earth to live among us. We remember that He was born in a little manger with nothing but animals watching. We remember that Christmas is a time of Love and Peace because Christ came to save the world that night.

But we cannot simply remember His birth, we have to also remember His death. The reason He was born was to die so that we may live. We remember baby Jesus as this cute and cuddly baby, we also have to think of His blood that would be shed for our sin. The beating and humiliation that He faced for each of us. Not only is Jesus Christ the reason for the season but the season was for a reason, He was born to die.

So as you are unwrapping presents that are under your tree, do not forget the ultimate present that Christ gave us on the tree on Calvary. He died so that we can have abundant life. So as you remember how Christ came to save the world, remember He did it for you and for me. It is our sin that caused Him to be born in a manger and it was our sin that caused Him to die on the cross. And for that I am forever thankful.

Have a great Christmas! May God Bless every single one of you!

Tyler


Extra: Here is a little Christmas cheer. I love Christmas music and this might be the best one out there! This is  video made me laugh so hard. I just wanted to pass it along to you guys. Please enjoy.

What is even the point?

If you are anything like me you have found yourself of Facebook wondering, "What is the point of Facebook?" There have been many times that I have opened Facebook and while scrolling down through my news feed filled with pictures, memes, and advertisements and wondered why Facebook even exists. Maybe you are with me?

 I've taken the last week or two really pay attention to how my friends are using Facebook. With the exception of yesterday's explosion of support and hate for Phil Robertson, very few people are actually posting "status updates." When I first joined Facebook it was to keep up with what my friends (real world people that I actually knew) were doing. It was truly only a social network. It was private and I could post status updates and know exactly who saw them. Now days I'm not even sure who all sees my updates.

One of my many pet peeves with Facebook is that anyone can join and many people have 2, 3, 4 or more personal pages. When I first signed up you either had to have school email address ending in .edu, or you had to be invited by someone already on Facebook that could prove you were really part of your school. Then it expanded to include jobs. Then it grew more and made you pick the "community" you were a part of. And now all it asks for is an email address which you can get as many as you want for free.

So what is the true purpose of Facebook? Facebook claims the site is to "reinforce pre-existing social connections, not build large groups of new ones." I do not believe that getting 50 game invites from my friends is reinforcing any social connections. It is also hard to further develop relationships through Facebook when I am not sure who all is seeing my posts. If I share a story or thought on somebody's "timeline," if their privacy isn't set like mine anybody in the world can see that post. For this reason Facebook has become very shallow because people do not want to put anything on Facebook that describes who you are.


Speaking of Facebook being shallow, I mentioned the lack of "status updates." This does not mean there is a lack of posting happening on Facebook. Probably 60-70% of my news feed is people that have shared pictures that have no point. Pictures that say "Share if you love your daughter" or "If you love Jesus share this picture, if you don't you will go to hell." The cat pictures and catchy quotes are funny, but a "social network" is not the place for them. If you want to post your favorite recipes or quotes that describe your life, go to Pintrest it is the perfect place for that. Facebook has been around since 2004, and it is weird to say it has potential to be really good, but it will never get there.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are people who post a status update every 20 minutes. They are those people who if they do not post it to Facebook then it never happened. Yes I want to know what is going on in your life, but a play by play is not what I want. Facebook has also turned into a political platform. People sharing pictures and websites that slam the government or other organizations. Take this issue with Phil Robertson, yes I agree that A&E are wrong for asking him to leave and I agree that Phil is in the right by standing on what he believes, but Facebook isn't the place for me to share every article or picture I see about it. Sure share one good article and let it be. Trust me by "occupying Facebook" nothing is going to happen because Facebook has become such a joke.

I know I sound like a grinch, but Facebook is a place where I try to stay in contact with friends I graduated with, people I went to college with, and the people that live in Lead Hill. It is an awesome way to send a message to my students. It is a great way to advertise an event or get together we are having, but I hate to see all that get lost because people are abusing Facebook. I am friends with people for a purpose and it is not to see you sharing pictures and quotes and recipes all the time. I am friends with you so that I can "reinforce" my pre-existing relationship with you. I plea for you today is that we reevaluate the purpose of Facebook. I know that my small circle cannot change Facebook but if I start using it for it's intended purpose I know at least the people who are friends with me will be happier.

And in case you have not figured it out by now, this is why I think Twitter is greater than Facebook. Have a blessed day!

God Bless,
Tyler

Teach them to take a stand!

So with the explosion from the media on Phil Robertson's comments to GQ Magazine, I thought I would weigh in with my two sense and try to see what it means to us who live as Bible believing Christians in small towns. You don't have to agree with me, but just like Phil, this is what I believe and I am sticking to it.

I searched around for the article that is causing all this hoopla, and I have come to find out that is an interview that will be released in January in an issue of GQ. All the commotion is over a few selected excerpts released by the magazine on Wednesday. Before I even talk about my thoughts on his comments and how they have been received I want to take a minute or two to reflect on the importance of context. These are just excerpts from the big picture. Anytime you take a paragraph out of the bigger picture you can make it say anything you want it to, and that is what has happened here in most of the media. I found this article on the E! website that tries to give the bigger picture (but since the entire interview hasn't been released it still falls short).

Okay, now to the meat of the controversy. In case you are still unfamiliar with what happened, after the excerpt from the interview was released by GQ the media exploded with criticism of Phil and A&E put him on a indefinite suspension from their show Duck Dynasty. As a teacher to the students, this troubles me the most. I am constantly telling the students to not be afraid to stand up for what they believe. I constantly encourage them to tell their atheist, non-christian, and un-churched friends what sin is, that sin leads to death, and Christ is the only way for life. They are seeing how people who are not ashamed of Christ are being treated. Another example of this is one of my heroes, Tim Tebow. Tebow is a football player who is very outspoken on his faith. He is so unashamed that he prays in public before games. The public made a mockery out of this by creating "Tebowing." Also, because he used to put Bible verses on his eye black there is now a rule that you cannot have any words on eye black.

I have had issues with TV shows and the media over the last few years. Me and my wife both agree that outside of a few select programs, TV has become junk. Duck Dynasty was a show that I encouraged people to watch because it was a family that was not ashamed of their Christian faith. They answered questions based on what the bible says. They repeated showed the importance of going to church and having a relationship with Christ. Duck Dynasty has changed the few that Christians must wear suits and be boring. They have truly embodied what living your life with Christ is all about. There is no better example out there to reach people, especially in our town, who hunt every chance they get. And now media has messed it all up again.

I think the biggest issue I have with this is the other stuff they allow on TV. The borderline pornography on what seems like every TV show. The emphasis on gay couples. The emphasis on people having sex outside of marriage. The emphasis that drinking and getting drunk is fine. And the one that troubles me the most is the emphasis that we must be tolerant with what everybody else believes. The idea that we can co-exist is to me one of the most dangerous ideas. I think that our country has been bullied by the "minority" groups. Media knows they will get slammed if they have anti-gay comments, so they promote homosexuality. People have got the thought that the Christian groups are not going to cause an uproar like the homosexual community will. We need to teach our students to not back down from what they believe. When asked their stance on an issue to give their honest opinion not just what they think the other person wants to hear. We have become people who are "people-pleasers" more than telling people what they do not want to hear. God did not call us to be "people-pleasers," He called us to share the Gospel and many times it is not the truth people want.

I think it is time that more people took a stand like Phil Robertson did. I do not think we should do it to try and change the world for ourselves, I think we should take a stand because the Bible tells us to. In 1 Cor 16:13-14 Paul tells the Corinthians to "stand firm in the faith." But he says to do it out of love. We cannot be ashamed of the Gospel or what we believe.

I just hope students who see how Phil has been slandered and treated by the general public do not get discouraged from taking a stand for Christ. My challenge is to all parents, leaders, and everyone is to make sure your students understand that taking a stand is a good thing. Never back down from the gospel no matter what, Christ is still on his throne. The day will come when you will be rewarded for your faith. Always remember Luke 12:8-12. Profess God before men, and He will profess you in heaven.