I just don’t understand

I am very apprehensive about writing this post. My reasoning is not to offend or anger but merely an attempt for me to digest what is going on in my head.

I pose this question. Why have we made teenagers think that their sexuality is something they need to have figured out by their teens years?

That might make zero sense but hear me out. I feel like we have two paradigms here. One saying that you have to find who you are and that’s who you are going to be for the rest of your life. And another saying you have to do it as soon as possible!

I don’t feel like I’m totally out of touch with this subject. I work with teens every week and see the pressure they face. The bullying, hate, betrayal, and hurt they go through.

I just don’t understand. Why  we as a society are forcing these kids to be gay, straight, or whatever? I remember when I was 14 and in school. I’m sure there were kids in my school that were gay, there were also kids that were straight. (And I grew up in Texas!) No one that I can ever remember made a big deal out of either. When did this shift happen where all of a sudden these kids (because they are just kids!) have to defend themselves for a lifestyle choice at 14?

I just don’t get it. These kids (gay or straight) need to be loved. They need to be shown that at 14 things don’t make sense. Shoot, at 29 things don’t even make sense! Kids need to be shown that bullying isn’t cool and isn’t right.

In the end you have to see where this is heading. My posts rarely don’t include something Biblical. This post will be no different. We desperately need to show the love of Christ to the bully as well as the kid being bullied. That’s all I got, that’s the only answer I can find for all of this.

This is the reason I am so thankful to be a part of a ministry that says, come in and be loved. Let’s talk about life and lets find a better way to do it. Let’s not force decisions that are going to affect our lives at 14 alone.

Be Blessed

Higgins

*Edit I don’t claim to be an expert on anything. I write for that exact purpose. These are my thoughts unedited as the pour out of my head. Disagree or agree with me that’s ok. This is just one man’s view of the world around him.  

So long sweet summer…

Every have one of those days...no weeks...no summers, where things just don't go your way? But, before you think this is some kind of 'whoa is me post' i should clarify that most of this feeling is my doing.

Now, i had no idea that i was going to held up at gun point, lose my job, and attend counseling each week for ptsd. That i really had no way of controlling. Nor could i control the way that i was treated at gamestop because of what happened.

There were however elements of the summer that i was able to control. Yet when it came down to it i let my desire for what i wanted to happen over ride what God wanted to happen for my summer. Whether you believe it or not I do think that God has some sort of plan for my life. Unfortunately i think that this summer i wanted what i wanted for my summer instead.

The entire summer was not a total waste. During July i was able to teach an amazing group of kids from Spain. During my time with them i was reminded by how much i love teaching. Which i needed a reminder of.

I also got to go to Washington DC for the first time with some really great friends. I love being able to surround myself with all that history. I was also able to spend some time (not as much as i would have liked) with a friend that I met while i was teaching in Japan 3 years ago.

As i sit here and write this i am finding it extremely hard to say that i had a bad summer. If anything it was not what i wanted it to be...but turns out that might not be so much of a bad thing after all.

This Crazy World.

I know that we live in crazy times. People are under ridiculous amounts of stress from work, families, and life. Everywhere you turn there is something else popping up and making life just a little worse.

Then you find yourself in South Carolina buying a fake ipad in a McDonald's parking lot. That is if you are Ashley McDowell. You see Ashley was approached by two men (one even had gold teeth supposedly) in the parking lot of her local McDonald’s and was asked if she wanted to buy an Ipad.

Now, I don’t know Ashley nor do I feel OK with calling her stupid. But I can say this. If someone offers to sell you anything in any parking lot odds are it’s stolen, fake, or someone is going to kill you. Common sense will tell you this.

My problem isn’t that she was duped into to buying a fake ipad for 180 bucks. My problem is that now the police are trying to find the men that sold her the ‘ipad’ (which was nothing more than a piece of wood painted black with stickers on it).

Why didn’t they just lock up Ashley? Clearly she is more a threat to society then these two men are. OK, OK, I know that she probably thought she was getting a ‘sweet deal!’ But, honestly when are we going to start punishing the stupid? Next thing you know McDonalds will get sued because someone doesn’t realize their coffee is hot…oh wait!

Higgins

Actual Photo!

New Design

I have updated my blog with a new design. I liked the old one but sometimes you just need to change things up. Not everything is best is left unchanged.

Also, I will start this new design off right tomorrow with a new post. I really wanted to do something last week with music but things fell through. Which oddly enough has been a running theme this summer.

So with that, stay safe out there. This hurricane has left my area but it's just moving up the coast.

Higgins

New Blog Series

Starting tomorrow I will be starting a new blog series. I will be updating each day with a different band that I am listening to or just really like.

Monday I will be starting out with…in my opinion…one of the greatest bands, Mae. I don’t care if you disagree. Get a blog and do your own stupid blog posts on the crappy music you listen to!

Each day I will inform you on why I listen to them, what songs are, what I feel are their best, an so on. I will also include videos for you to check out so your blogging experience will be complete.  

Check ya later!

-Higgins

It takes a village…

I really don’t like the phrase, “It takes a village”. There are no particular reasons why but I feel that in church ministry it fits perfectly. Let me explain.

A church that functions in a way where everyone is involved with the growth of the church, is acting in the way the church should. I will through in a disclaimer here that there are many other functions but I would like to focus on growth here for a second.

If your sole purpose in going to church is to mingle, hang out, socialize, or even just meet new people then you are going to a social club and not a church.

Think about it this way. If you really enjoy your church, you are truly feeling blessed, and you are growing you are going to want to share that experience with others. Thus, leading you to invite people to share in the same thing that you are sharing in.

It’s no different than going to see a really good movie. You head to the theatre with your friends to see a film and afterwards you are all over twitter and Facebook ranting about how good the movie was. You want your friends to share that same feeling you did while you where at the movies.

Why aren’t we like that in church? Often times I hear people complain that the choir isn’t big enough, or not enough kids come to the youth group…WELL…Change it!

These things don’t just happen on their own! Create an environment that you want to share with others.

So yes, it does take a village. It takes an congregation to get behind someone with good ideas, support them, and tell their friends about it.

Otherwise…we should just close down the church and start hanging out at Denny’s…

Jonah Part 3

¹Once again the LORD told Jonah ²to go to that great city of Nineveh and preach his message of doom.

³Jonah obeyed the LORD and went to Nineveh. The city was so big that it took three days just to walk through it. ⁴After walking for a day, Jonah warned the people, "Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed!"

⁵They believed God's message and set a time when they would go without eating to show their sorrow. Then everyone in the city, no matter who they were, dressed in sackcloth.

⁶When the king of Nineveh heard what was happening, he also dressed in sackcloth; he left the royal palace and sat in dust. ^{[a] 7-9}Then he and his officials sent out an order for everyone in the city to obey. It said: None of you or your animals may eat or drink a thing. Each of you must wear sackcloth, and you must even put sackcloth on your animals.

   You must also pray to the LORD God with all your heart and stop being sinful and cruel. Maybe God will change his mind and have mercy on us, so we won't be destroyed.

¹⁰When God saw that the people had stopped doing evil things, he had pity and did not destroy them as he had planned.

 

The third chapter of Jonah starts out exactly like the first. There is a command from God to deliver a message to the people of Nineveh. Thankfully, this time, Jonah listed to God's command and make the long journey to Nineveh.

Now the text doesn't say anything about this but Jonah had about a three day journey to Nineveh after the fish threw him up. I wonder what Jonah thought about while on his trip. His mind had to have been racing about the huge mistake he had just made. He also must have been thinking about how amazingly gracious God was by giving him a second chance.

Either way, Jonah made it to Nineveh and instantly began speaking to crowds of people. He warned them of the fact that God was going to destroy the city in forty days because of their evilness. When the people heard this they immediately changed their ways. They began fasting and mourning. Even the king stepped down and told the entire city that not even the animals where to eat.

This had to come as a surprise to Jonah. After all his disobedience and refusal of God, these people which God was going to destroy, turned and repented.

For me I see this as a sign of hope. Earlier this week I wrote that we often believe that our way is better than God's way. We think get the idea in our mind that we somehow know more than God and that we know what is best for our lives. Often this is because we foresee the outcome has something to be feared.

We forget that God sees things for start to finish. Where as we can only perceive the here and now. We let our past failures dictate our future. God saw that the people of Nineveh would be receptive to His message through Jonah. Jonah could only see the sinfulness of the people and what he though would be their response to him. Tomorrow I will talk about how Jonah responds to the people's faithfulness...you might be surprised.