stevenbush.org

the thing i don’t necessarily like about the political season is that you get to hear alot of opinions…alot…including your own(which can be annoying at times). everyone seems to have an opinion about certain policies, beliefs, agendas…etc. and one opinion i have been hearing lately is over the discussion of things like universal health care. one opinion i hear (mainly from evangelical Christians because that’s all i’m really around these days) is this: ‘ this is America…people can work hard…get a job that pays good…and they can get their own insurance’. ‘if we went to universal health care…the overall coverage & quality would go down…i’m not sure i want to sacrifice that’ ‘this is america…this is how things are done’.

(before everyone slams me with your political opinions…please know that this is not a blog on universal health care) my whole reason for writing this post is for us to think about our paradigms and our way of thinking when it comes to things such as UHC (universal health care). the people i have heard talk like this are mostly middle to upper class white americans. granted…they might not have always been as afluent as they are now, and they have probably worked long & hard to get to where they are at(i’m not discrediting that). however, these are people that seem to have always been living life on the good side of the coin. but what i do wonder is this…’would we be singing a different tune when it comes to things such as UHC if we lived life on the other side of the coin?’

in society there will always be have’s and have nots. it’s not possible for everyone to be on top as Capitalism promotes (another issue for another post). is it morally & ethically right for the have’s to fight to keep their superior programs & coverages…when the have nots go without? is it morally & ethically wrong especially for Christians to think this way? christians, according to Christ’s teachings, should be putting their neighbor before themselves at all times…or at least doing unto them what we do to ourselves. what saddens me is to think that we look past all of that for the sake of capitalism & the fact that this is America…it’s how things have always been done.

before calling me a socialist or whatever else you’re thinking…think about life on the other side. what if you were a have not? would you be singing the same song? i think it’s an honest question to ask. i’m not trying to fight for or againt UHC. i’m asking you to evaluate where you are at on the American Social ladder…and then place yourself on the other side of that coin. how would life be for you? and how would you view these issues?

these are some promo photos that i did for my friend matt setliffe. he’s the main reason i got to go to africa. he’s now working for innovative missions. they are the organization that i went with to ethiopia. he’s also an itinerant speaker that preaches all over the country. be sure and check out his blog.

everyday i leave the pipe shop these guys are out in the back alley taking a smoke break. they are some of the nicest, funniest guys on the square. they’ve been working at the city cafe for years. they always ask me to take their pictures…here’s a few while on their smoke break. have i ever said how much i love the smell of cigarettes? i know i’m weird…but i just love the way they smell.

i love riding the public transportation system here in murfreesboro aka ROVER. today i had to drop off the van at the ford shop, and the bus stop is right by the shop. as i was pulling into the shop i saw the bus go by, and knew that i had 15 minutes before it came back by. so i filled out the paperwork and hustled over to the stop. 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, minutes passed by and no bus. then i looked the other way and saw the bus coming on the other side of the road where i had originally seen it. i get on the bus and ask the lady if they changed their routes and she said yes. they only come by here every 30 minutes instead of 15. Awesome!! it was good times though. i had Glen Hansard playing on the ipod and just stood there enjoying the crisp morning air. as i was standing there waiting i couldn’t help but watch all of the people pass by me and give me that look of, ‘that poor guy has no car…he’s waiting on the bus in the freezing cold…should i ask him if he needs a ride?…no, don’t make eye contact’. it was awesome to see people watch me standing there for the bus. i wish i had lit my pipe up…it might have kept my hands a little warmer than the gloves i have with the fingers cut off of them.

i wish i lived closer to the rover. i would use it anytime i needed to go somewhere. i’d just use the car when i went to nashville or when the bus wasn’t running. i have gone all over this town today for $3.00. that’s pretty incredible. not to mention…i’ve met some really cool people on the routes today. i’d love to live in a town with a mass transit system like Chicago. that would be incredible. i’m just doing some work now at the starbucks, and i’ve got my alarm set to remind me of the 4:45pm bus that i need to catch. good times…good times.

do you have public transit where you live? do you use it? any interesting stories?

i’ve gotten a few comments & emails from people telling me about their involvement with Compassion. I’d love to open this comment section up to all of the readers(the lurkers that never comment) of this blog to tell about their story with Compassion. I’d love to hear about your sponsored child, where they’re from, something special they’ve written to you in a letter, and anything else you’d like to share about them. I’d also love to hear how your involvement with Compassion has changed your outlook on the world. How has working with Compassion changed your life? thanks for taking the time to share with us.

most of you that read this know that SPUR58 has teamed up with Compassion International. we get the privilege of speaking on behalf of Compassion and what they are doing for nearly 1 million children around the world. we are currently on the Student Life Tour, and this is a video of my Compassion Presentation. Nick (master of all things video on the tour) graciously burned me a copy of my talk. i consider it an honor to speak for Compassion, and I am humbled to know that God is using SPUR & our experience in Peru to make people aware of what Compassion does. In the last two weeks there have been 160 kids saved from poverty. praise God for those people that have decided to make a difference in the life of a child. you too can bring hope to a child. visit www.compassion.com and sponsor a child today.

feel free to share this video…help us spread the word about COMPASSION

i have to brag on my ‘home town’ just a bit. we were in Houston this weekend for the Student Life Tour, and it turned out to be a great stop on the tour. there was just a cool feeling in the room. it’s always good to be back home around my wonderful mom & dad, my friends, and all of the Tex-Mex you can handle. it was a great time of catching up with everyone that i haven’t seen in quite a while.

Houston really impressed me when it came to saving kids from poverty. There were 80 kids sponsored through Compassion yesterday on the tour stop! WOW! 80 more kids that have now been connected with a sponsor…80 more kids who will get a chance for education…80 more kids who will get a chance for health care…80 more kids who will get to simply eat. Thanks Houston for stepping up and making that small sacrifice needed to make a huge impact in the life of a child. You too can bring hope to a child. Click the banner below and become a sponsor today. Help change the life of one child.

there have been some great responses to my last post titled ‘converts or transfers’. alot of you either from experience or general observation have come to the conclusion that most growth in the mega-churches of America has come from people transferring from another church. the money spent on being relevant to lost people…actually attraced other believers from other congregations.

aaron & i were talking today about some of the big churches in America that are known for doing all they can to get people in the door. we came to the conclusion…and i want to believe that it’s true. i want to believe that the rockstar pastor that i spoke of in the first post really has a genuine desire to see new people come to the Lord…they don’t want to take sheep from another shepherds flock. they really do think that what they are doing is what it takes to reach the people they are trying to reach. whether or not we agree on the amount of money spent on such outreach & relevancy…is beside the point. we still have to have love & respect for the pastor & staff that are trying all that they can to see people come to the Lord.

maybe it’s not the churches fault that so many people are transferring to the newest thing…and forsaking their church for the newer brighter shiny one. maybe it’s the transferrers themselves that are the problem. maybe it’s the consumeristic type believer that is always looking for the next great thing that is the real problem here. maybe it’s the person or family that treats & sees the church as something that is there for them…instead of viewing the church as something that they are there for. it all comes back to a self-indulgent, self-centered, me driven type of people. i guess they don’t call it the ipod for nothing. it’s an i, me, my centered culture. you always hear people talking about what they can get from the church…you never hear many people saying what they can give to the church.

maybe i should retitle my blog to ‘converts or consumers’? your thoughts?

the more & more i work in big, rich, fancy churches…the more i wonder about the thousands of people that go there. i wonder what the statistics really tell us about the effectiveness of our millions spent on outreach & relevancy. i would like to know if the majority of new members to these super-mega churches are new converts…or just church transfers. have the numbers risen by the thousands because we’re reaching the lost? or are our numbers going up because we’ve marketed ourselves better than the church down the street…we’ve got the cooler lights & videos…we’ve got the rockstar pastor…and we’ve got the best rock-worship leader out there…and as a result the members of said church down the street are now members of our church?

converts or transfers? anybody have any real statistics on this? if the answer is transfers…then i begin to wonder if the millions we spend on getting people in the door is a complete waste. if new people aren’t being reached…then we’re basically taking or luring members from another church because we have cooler stuff. i think we’re doing ourselves & that other church a severe injustice. your thoughts?

my wife has been reading Martin Luther King’s Autobiography, and it’s been rocking her world. I read the first 5 pages, and i was hooked. I threatened to steal it from her and finish reading it myself…it’s that GOOD. the man is a hero, and i can’t wait to learn more about him, his family, his love, and his faith.

she posted a very thought provoking quote by king that ended with this statement…“A religion that ends with the individual, ends.” i encourage you to take a look at her blog…MLK’s quote…and join the conversation over there.