"Stand in the place where you live, now face north. Think about direction, wonder why you haven't before." -R.E.M.
Conference Blogging
All this week I’m in Grand Rapids, Michigan attending a pastor’s conference. It’s being put together by Mars Hill Bible Church, home of Rob Bell, and it’s called Poets, Prophets and Preachers: Recalling the Art of the Sermon.
I’m really looking forward to it. Preaching and teaching make up a big part of what I do at Milestone Church and I’ve definitely discovered something in the last twelve months: preaching 40-50 times a year is a challenging task. It’s difficult to stay fresh and continue to pump out edifying content to grow the saints while keeping it interesting and relevant week in and week out.
I’ve got a couple of weeks of sabbatical coming up at the end of July and the first of August. This conference comes at a perfect time and will hopefully serve to give me some food for thought heading into that period of rest, prayer, and planning for Milestone Church.
This week I’m going to do several “mini-blogs” about the conference and about my experience in processing the information. My friend David Calavan has also decided to come, so as we discuss and work through some of the material I’ll let those of you who are curious in on those discussions.
I think it’s going to be a good week.
It Started With "Rock Band"
Sadly, there’s no denying it: I’m getting older. Yes, I realize I’m only 27 and that, statistically speaking, I still have a lot of years ahead of me. But I’m constantly reminded that my time on this earth is gradually coming to a close: a student from the first youth group I pastored graduates from college, the Cosby Show is on Nick-At-Nite, and none of the teenagers at my church know who Zach Morris is.
But I’ve made a deal with myself and with my wife: I don’t want to ever stop learning and trying new things. I don’t want to be the old man who peaked at 25 or talks about the “glory days” of college and high school until he takes his last gasping breath of air. So in the past several years I’ve taught myself graphic design, web design, and Flash. I’ve learned (but certainly not mastered) Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. I’ve become a bit of an Apple Mac guru who can fix almost any software issue and many hardware issues. I’ve also continued to be a student of Scripture and I’ve increased my understanding of post-modern philosophy and ancient church practices. I’ve taken up video editing to a degree I never thought possible only 5 years ago, using Final Cut Studio and Adobe’s AfterEffects.
Believe me when I say I still have a long way to go in mastering these things; but I’m broadening my horizons and the joy has certainly been in the journey. I’m always open to trying new things.
About a year and a half ago, my wife and I purchased the video game Rock Band for the Xbox 360. It turned out to be a really fun party game and we enjoyed hours of playing it with friends in Chicago. And in the midst of all the fun, I noticed that I picked up the drums considerably faster than most people and really enjoyed the new challenge of hand-eye-foot-coordination.
So about 8 months ago, shortly after moving to Springfield, I bought an inexpensive electronic drum kit. Purists will say I should have purchased an acoustic set, but given that we lived in an apartment at the time it really wasn’t an option.
I admit I haven’t had as much time to play and practice as I’d have liked, but I’ve gotten considerably better in the time we’ve had it. In fact, I’d say playing the drums at the end of a stressful day has been a great way to blow off some steam and have fun while doing it.
Last week I had the opportunity to play with my dad and my brother at a Christian youth conference in Georgia called Wow Weekend. It was my first real time to play with a band and I think I did pretty well (though I’m certainly not 1/4 as good a drummer as Philip Ellis). It certainly didn’t hurt that we were playing on a $200,000 sound system; I could literally feel the bass drum in my bones when I played it (which of course made me want to play it as often as possible).
It was more fun than I’ve had in a while, and it was great seeing my family and my good friend Sharon.
I’ll keep practicing on my own and enjoy any chance to play that I get. I don’t have any real aspirations, but maybe someday I’ll play in a little garage band that also has no real aspirations. It really doesn’t matter: the joy is in the journey and the journey is full of joy.
You can check out more photos from the conference at my online photo gallery.
Fun With Wordle.net
This will probably be of absolutely zero value to most of you, but I’m trying to allow myself to occasionally just blog about things that I find interesting or amusing.
There is a website called Wordle.net that allows you to generate “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in your text and you can tweak the clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes.
Typically this may be referred to as a “toy” (in fact, that’s the exact terminology the fine folks at Wordle.net use to describe their site), but I feel like it could have some positive applications for writing sermons and essays.
For instance, if you were to drop your sermon text into Wordle and not see the word “Jesus” show up prominently, you might rethink your approach to that day’s topic.
Furthermore, if you were to drop in the text from a paper you were writing on country music and the phrase “Satan Is Your Father” were to come up as prominently featured, then you’d know you were on the right track to an accurate country music essay.
The above word cloud was generated from an essay on my website about the atonement called Christus Victor. Check Wordle.net out for yourself; it’s a fun but useful tool.
Why I Walked Away From Seminary, Pt. 2
I arrived at East Texas Baptist University in the fall of 2000. I remember not being entirely sure of how this whole college thing would work out. My parents had both started college, but neither had graduated and they seemed to be perfectly happy and quite intelligent. So I didn’t actually know if I was going to finish because I kind of assumed that at some point I would start traveling and preaching or leading worship; if college got in the way of that, I’d just quit.
Needless to say, entering into college with that kind of attitude doesn’t exactly lend itself toward putting your best foot forward in your studies.
But why did I need to worry about that anyway? After all, I was majoring in religion, a subject I practically already knew frontwards and backwards. Though I never would have said it out loud, I had grown up in church and been to Sunday School more times than I could have possibly kept track of. What on earth could my professors possibly teach me about the Bible that I didn’t already know?
And then I found out that angels may have had sex with humans.
That’s right: Genesis 6 threw me for a huge loop on my very first day of class. My Old Testament professor at ETBU was walking us through the syllabus and going over a rough outline of what we would be studying for the semester when he casually mentioned the passage.
“And in a few weeks we’ll look at the flood narrative,” he said, “which starts in Genesis 6 with the unusual prelude, ‘When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.’ We’ll be talking about what that means and the fact that many biblical scholars understand it to mean that angels intermarried with human women. If that is understood as true, it would be considered one of the evils that angered God to the point of destroying nearly every living thing on the earth.”
So imagine being little Mr. Know-It-All from Grand Saline, Texas. Mr. Future-Conference-Speaker. Mr. Sunday-School-Is-My-Middle-Name.
Now imagine having angel sex thrown in your face on your first day of college.
To an outsider, it would have seemed small and insignificant. An inconsequential fact mentioned merely in passing. An interesting bit of Bible trivia.
But it rocked me to the core. Because if I didn’t know about that...if something mentioned in the first five minutes of my first class while we were just looking over the syllabus was that alien to me...
...what else did I not know?
*part 3 will be posted on Monday
Why I Walked Away From Seminary, Pt. 1
We moved over 1,000 miles, we took on a huge financial burden, and we threw ourselves into our work with vigor and determination. Within two years I had a supremely healthy GPA and was well on my way to graduating.
And that’s when I walked away from seminary. This is the story of why.
But to understand it, you’ll have to have a little background.
A Tale of 2 “Josh Crain”s
At the age of 16, I walked down the aisle of Main Street Baptist Church and announced to my pastor and my church family that God had called me to “the ministry.” Looking back, I realize I didn’t know exactly what that meant. In fact, I probably assumed that I was either supposed to travel and lead worship or travel and preach. My father had done those things for years, and I suppose I could see myself preaching to thousands of teenagers at “Youth Evangelism Conferences.” After all, that’s where the “real ministry” happened.
To be honest, it wasn’t that much of a stretch. Because of the opportunities my father had been blessed with, I’d already been leading worship in front of thousands of people each summer. And in a little over a year from the time I walked that aisle at 16 I would have the opportunity to lead worship with my dad and brother at YouthLink 2000, an event held on New Year’s Day of 1999 where we would stand on stage in front of 25,000 students.
At the age of 18 I felt like I was living a double life. There was the “Josh Crain” who attended tiny Grand Saline High School in east Texas: generally respected and mostly well-liked, but certainly not the star athlete or the most popular kid in school.
Then there was the “Josh Crain” who got to stand in front of hundreds and thousands of students and play electric guitar, sign autographs, and have a ton of cute girls from youth camps try to get his phone number. No one from high school got to see that side, and I always wondered how weirded out they would have been to see that going on in the summers.
Thankfully my parents did a great job of not letting some silly “youth camp celebrity” go to my head and I was able to get through high school as a mostly humble, if not a little self-righteous, 18 years old kid.
And what does a self-righteous 18-year-old kid who’s called to “the ministry” do when high school ends? Well, I suppose he goes to a Christian college to prepare himself to preach to thousands of teenagers at Youth Evangelism Conferences.
*part 2 will be posted on Friday
Random Update
The church I pastor, Milestone, has been incredibly encouraging as of late. We had so many initial tasks to accomplish being a new church plant and so many hurdles to jump...but we finally feel like we’re on the other side of it. We have a worship pastor coming on board within the month, we’ve been heavily involved in missions and community projects, and we’ve almost finished up our church bylaws. We’ve had a few new families join us recently and we’ve absolutely fallen in love with them. We’re going to have a “relaunch” of sorts in the fall where we stress our missional objectives anew and focus on bringing more people into the fold through evangelism and community. It’s an exciting time in the life of our church.
I started a business a few months ago that’s taking off. I’ve been doing graphic design and website development on the side for several years, but decided to officially pursue that in order to supplement our income and keep the church from having to crank my salary up. I really enjoy doing it and it seemed like a natural fit; I’m pleased to announce that business has been picking up quite a bit in recent weeks and I’ve got several exciting projects I’m working on now. The business is called Authentic Studios, and unfortunately I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had the opportunity to finish up the company website.
Emily and I took a vacation in March. We hung out in St. Louis for about a week and had a great time. I love her more and more each day, so getting away for a while was a real treat and it had been way too long since we’d managed to do that. You can check out some photos of our trip in my online gallery at this link.
I recently returned from Oaxaca, Mexico. Milestone Church sent a few of our guys down there for a mission trip. There’s a LOT to say about that, but I’ll save it for a future post I hope to get around to someday soon. I guess we’ll see.
Emily just finished up her first semester of nursing school. She worked super hard and pulled in some great grades. I’m really proud of her! She’s got summer classes now, so we’re enjoying her time off before she starts again in about a week.
Finally, we’re probably about to buy a house. We’ve been thinking about it for a while: we love Springfield and we’re starting to feel very settled here. For the first time in our married lives we’re able to pay the bills without major stress, and it feels like the right time.
So that kind of sums up the last couple of months. We’ve had a lot going on, but life’s an adventure and we’re excited about where God is taking us.
Stripped
Last week my wife and I went downtown with some friends to grab some Mexican food and look at the art exhibits on display during the monthly Springfield Art Walk. I noticed one of the stores, Good Girl Art Gallery, had a few pieces that had been created by local exotic dancers. The pieces were interesting and fresh; they were honest and real.
And they made me start thinking about exotic dancers.
I’ve been living in Springfield for 9 months and I’m always surprised when I spot yet another strip club in town. For a city that has a mostly clean-cut, Bible-thumping reputation, Springfield has a thriving sex industry.
And I’ve heard plenty of stories about exotic dancers. One nurse told me that she helped an injured stripper a few months ago who kept referring to her boss as her “master.” She told me that the young woman seemed brainwashed and detached from reality.
And what’s the draw to this lifestyle? Typically it appears to be money, drugs, or both. The average exotic dancer makes between $30,000 and $60,000 a year. If they have a drug habit that needs to be fed, it’s not uncommon for club owners to help satisfy that craving as well.
Another nurse told me she was working in the Emergency Room one evening when an exotic dancer came in with her family. This family was bragging to anyone who would listen about how much money the girl was bringing in for them, even going so far as to show her portfolio to people.
As I began to think and talk about exotic dancers, a more clear picture of them began to emerge. Granted, it’s somewhat of a generalization, but many dancers are in it as a last resort. Many have low self-esteem and very little support system. Many of them have lived a hard life.
But they don’t need to be saved from stripping. They need to be saved from emptiness. They need Jesus.
The more I think about it, the more I wonder what Milestone Church can do to help exotic dancers in our area. I don’t think raiding the strip clubs or standing outside with picket signs are the answers. But I don’t know if there is any other church in town that’s willing to step down into the mire in order to help lift these girls out because it won’t be an easy or squeaky-clean task.
Maybe we’ve been called to get down in the dirt and show them Jesus.
God Loves the Ku Klux Klan, Part 2
After presenting us with his grand theology of hatred, Mustache stared my wife down as if she’d slapped his baby. He stepped a little closer to us and I was afraid things were about to get ugly.
And then, like a light piercing the darkness, like a cool breeze on a scorching summery night, like a splash of milk on a dry Frosted Flake...it happened.
The Klansmen seemed to part and from behind stepped their leader: Big Beard.
Now I can only assume that in the Ku Klux Klan, your leadership is represented by the size of the mop attached to your face. And Big Beard had quite the mop: course grey and white hair that flowed a solid six inches past his chin.
He resembled an evil Santa Clause.
Apparently Big Beard was tiring of our shenanigans and wanted us gone. He finished up the explanation of their grand theology of hatred where Mustache had left off, going on about the abomination of the “mud people” and how whites are the only true descendants of Adam. He ripped the Jews as the Satanic offspring of Eve and the Serpent (no, I’m not making that up).
Finally, after a loud and great ending to his theological ramblings, he looked at us awaiting a response.
And that was when I started laughing. Hard.
I couldn’t help it; everything he said was so absolutely insane that I didn’t even know where to start. I quickly rebutted some of his idiotic statements and dispensed a little Bible trivia I thought would irritate him:
- Having studied Genesis, I know that the meaning of “Adam” is quite uncertain. Most scholars believe its meaning is related to “ground” or “earth.” Some believe it means “to be red.” But even if we go with the second meaning, drawing the conclusion that it points to one’s ability to blush is an absolute fallacy: the premise doesn’t prove the conclusion. If we take it at it’s literal meaning, “to be red,” Adam would have to be a Native American or a Teletubby.
- Moses’ wife Zipporah was probably black since she was a Cushite.
- It’s extremely likely that the Ethiopian Eunich in Acts was black: a man who Philip leads to Christ and then baptizes.
- Jesus was a Jew. Seriously.
Well it was at this point that they all started talking so loud we really couldn’t understand what they were saying anymore.
So more giggling ensued on our part.
After a few more minutes of discussion (and by that, I mean them yelling at us), we decided that we’d accomplished exactly what we set out to accomplish. Emily, Carnes, and I turned around and left the angry mob of Klansmen alone with their “God Hates Fags” protest signs. They were flaming mad.
Ironic, eh?
Condoms and Sex Education: Why the Pope and Sarah Palin Have It Wrong
I’m the pastor of an evangelical church in southern Missouri, the “buckle of the Bible belt.” Based on stereotypes and clichés, I should have been cheering the Pope recently when he blasted the use of condoms as having any helpful part to play in the fight to stop HIV/AIDS:
“You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms,” Pope Benedict XVI told reporters last week. “On the contrary, it increases the problem.”
Similarly, by virtue of my church affiliation, I should have been excited about John McCain’s choice for a running mate since Sarah Palin was a fellow evangelical who opposed most sex education programs being taught in public schools:
“The explicit sex-ed programs (those teaching more than abstinence-only) will not find my support,” Palin said in answering a questionnaire from the conservative Eagle Forum during her 2006 gubernatorial race.
After all, as Bible-believing evangelicals we ought to rally behind our religious and political leaders who make strong moral stands based on the teachings of Scripture. If God is against sex outside of marriage then teaching anything else as a viable alternative is less than God’s ideal and we can’t let that happen. And if the Bible teaches that parents are to bear the responsibility of teaching their children morality, then we shouldn’t be allowing teachers to instruct our children in the scholarship of sex education within the confines of secular institutions.
Unless it’s irresponsible and morally objectionable to take those stands.
Can we consider the possibility that it may be?
God Loves the Ku Klux Klan, Part 1
It’s not every day that I get to have an argument with a member of the Ku Klux Klan. And yet I found myself doing just that in downtown Chicago, surrounded by curious onlookers, my wife, my good friend Josh Carnes, and a cluster of homosexuals. But maybe I should back up a little bit…
Since our recent move to Chicago we’ve had quite a few family members and close friends come up to see us and to experience the city for the first time (it really is incredible). Slowly but surely Emily and I have begun to plan out our official “Chicago Tour” for company when they only have a couple of days to spend with us. Currently we have the “Nice” tour (for people who have money and are willing to buy our tickets since we don’t—mainly our parents) and the “Cheap” tour (usually consists of four hot dogs and watching a Cubs game in our apartment—mainly utilized by our other friends).
I knew Josh Carnes would love the Field Museum, so we headed that way. It’s close to Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears and a massive parking garage where we left the car for the day. On our short walk over to the museum from the stadium we saw a group of eight men standing on the corner of the sidewalk and holding signs with loving messages such as, “God Hates Fags,” and “‘I Apologize to Sodom’ -God.”
Now I had heard about a “church” from Kansas that did this on a regular basis and even had a website devoted to spreading their propaganda. So, naturally, I wanted to chat with these men and see what organization they were with.
I looked at Josh Carnes and asked, “Hey…wanna go talk to them?”
“You know you’re not going to change their minds, man,” he said.
I laughed. “I know…I’m not trying to change their minds. I just want to go poke the bull.”
And so we did... Read More...
Vacation Time!
We’re excited about some time off and I’ll be posting pics and videos when we return. Hopefully this trip will be as much fun as our last big adventure.
Catch you guys in a week!
Houston...We Have Facelift
Joshcrain.com has had quite a few evolutions since I started it in 2005. With each shift we’ve added more features (or taken away useless ones), but the goal has always been the same: writing and discussion that isn’t afraid to celebrate, ponder, question, and rethink the Christian faith. Authenticity. Honesty.
In order to better facilitate that, we’ve eliminated the old forum. It hasn’t been used much since we were forced to lock it down due to constant spamming by online bots. We’re considering adding it back with a much sleeker version, but that will have to wait for some time.
There is a new Essay section that has much more in-depth articles than our blog entries could ever hope to accomplish. We’re starting with only four articles, but we’ll be adding more over time (though certainly not with the frequency of our blog posts).
And speaking of frequency...the blog hasn’t been updated lately due to the mountain of work that was involved in finishing up the website redesign. With that behind us blogging should be much more consistent.
Finally, our Podcast page actually has podcasts on it now. For too long it only contained a handful. It currently has 8, with several more to be uploaded later this week and then weekly after that.
Thanks for checking out the website refresh. I look forward to conversing with you guys in the coming weeks and months.
Sex is More Than a Muscle Spasm
It just so happens that he finds himself in a new location trying to make new friends. No longer surrounded by any safety net, he’s having to work out his salvation with “fear and trembling” while overcoming the adversity around him.
Lately he’s been getting hung up on the “lust” topic.
His friends want to know why lust is a bad thing; it feels natural and it “doesn’t hurt anybody.” They say “God designed us to be attracted in this way to girls,” and though my friend tries to bring the subject around to marriage, he’s struggling a bit and wants to have some clarification.
Here we go... Read More...
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