Free Hug day

This year at CIY's summer conference they gave us a somewhat cheesy, almost cliche challenge. They made Thursday of that week "Free Hug Day." Now, Thursday was also extended rec day, so it would mean carrying that challenge off of the CIY campus.

My first reaction was that it would be alot like the welcome time at church on Sundays, when everyone gives (in this case a hug, but in most churches a handshake) to other people out of a felt obligation. But I was pleasantly surprised. Not only was it very well accepted on campus, but also off campus. We took the kids to a local mall, and saw several other groups there, and saw alot of "Free Hugs" signs and random hugs being given. We even had some of our students give a Marine recruiter a hug....now THAT was funny!

But what really jumped out at me the most is the impact it seemed to have on people. Now granted, for anyone that was there when it was made as a challenge they understood why they were getting hugs, but for the people not there, it was something out of the ordinary for them. The catalyst for the challenge was something that the speaker had seen a friend do in a big city. He stood on a street corner with a big "Free Hugs" sign and a cooler of bottle water, and just wanted to see the reaction he got. It was video taped, so we were able to see the reactions as well, and he got everything from handshakes, to quasi-hugs to all out bear hugs, and lots of reactions. The idea was that we live in a very "hands off" culture in America. Especially guys! And just a random hug is, for most people, out of the ordinary. Now, I grew up in a "hugger" kind of family. Most of my relatives are Irish and German, and hugging is just a natural part of us, but I have been told several times, by different people, that I give off a "hands off" kind of, I don't know, vibe? I was surprised the first time I heard that because it was not something I was aware of, and it was not something that was intentional. I did know that alot of people are uncomfortable with hugs and so I changed my way of reacting to people to accomodate that, but I hadn't realized it had gotten to a point where i was giving off the same "vibe" that had caused me to change in the first place. But there is just something about a hug...a genuine one, not a forced or awkward one, that can instantly change your mood. I think alot of it has to do with the lack of touch kind of culture we live in. And that was evident as I watched the students on their "free hug" mission in the mall. The people that accepted the hugs...their faces lit up...even if it was just to laugh at the randomness of it, it brightened their day.

Anyway, all this to say, maybe we need to have more "Free Hugs Days" and less "Hands off" days! If you're one of the people who has gotten the "hands off" vibe from me, I apologize, and it was not intended. If you give me a hug, I will not bite, lol.

Creation Museum

So, this past Friday I played hookie from the office and accepted the offer from a student to go with him and his mom to the newly opened Creation Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio, run by the Answers in Genesis organization (www.answersingenesis.com). This blog will be my response to that trip, so if you're not interested in hearing about it, then you should probably stop reading now, lol.

Ok, the museum costs $19.95 per adult, which I have to admit I thought was a pretty steep price for a museum, but I also thought it'd be an interesting experience. They gave us a coupon when we got there, so it was a few bucks cheaper, but I would suggest that if you're going to go, go in a group and get whatever group discount they offer. Besides, that'll give you alot of people to talk about the exhibits with (I had a great time talking with Henry about them, but I know some people don't want to spend an entire day with just one person....for all I know Henry might've felt that way, lol.). Anyway...

It is very obvious from the moment you get on the grounds there that they are big dinosaur fans. And that theme stays consistent throughout the museum. They even have a dinosaur in the Garden of Eden....not sure yet what I think about that, but that's a whole different subject. They do have a pretty cool theater in the front of the museum that shows a movie about the debate between Evolution and Creation. I'll be honest, I thought they could've done a better job with it as far as my opinion goes, but I understand that they are targeting a wide audience and blah blah blah.....anyway, the film was pretty good, but I guess I was wanting more.

The biggest problem I had right away was that the way the museum is set up causes there to be alot of traffic jams and long lines. I guess this could be at least in part contributed to the fact that it only opened the doors in May (I think) and that there is still alot of excitement that has caused the heavy traffic, but I'm used to museums that are laid out more widely so that it accomodates the traffic a little better.

The exhibits were all well done, but again I was hit with the feeling of wanting more. I LOVE archaeology and that sort of stuff, and there have been some amazing archaeological finds that I think would've been a great addition to this museum. That being said, there really aren't any "artifacts" per say in the museum, so if you're looking for that, you will have the same feeling I had. Also, the general theme is about creation, but they have exhibits about several other parts of the Bible as well. Some of which they do a good job of relating to the creation account, others they could've done a better job of.

All in all, I think the museum is alright. I knew alot of the stuff they were presenting, and that was a bittersweet thing. On the one hand it left less for me to "discover" and learn (which are things that I want to do in a museum), but it also gave me insight into answers to questions I was asked throughout the day, so that was cool.

Here would be my suggestion/advice to anyone remotely interested in the museum....go see it. Don't be cheap, shell out the $20 and go see it for yourself. Whether you agree or disagree with the conclusions they've made, give yourself the opportunity to do so. Go with a learner's spirit, so that if there happens to be something you could learn there you're not closed off to the possibility. However, realize that they do not have archaeological finds displayed at the museum (at least not at this point), so don't go only looking for that.

I found myself disagreeing and/or questioning several of their conclusions, but I won't go into those in detail here. Just as an example...everything being vegetarian/herbivore before "the Fall".....not sure about that one. The relationship between the dinosaurs and Adam and Eve, etc. Just some of the things that created questions for me....but, afterall, isn't that the most fun part of learning?

If anyone goes, I'd be interested to hear your opinions of it!

Taking off your "mask"

This year at CIY was filled with alot of great discussions and sermons, but one of the best ones, to me, was talking about the "masks" that we wear everyday. In our D-Group time on Tuesday we were all given a plastic mask that we were told we could decorate however we wanted to. We brought glitter, glue, markers, feathers, sequins, colored cotton balls, ribbon, construction paper....well, you get the picture. All of the kids put time and effort into creating their mask not knowing what it would be used for.

That evening, the speaker talked about the masks we put on everyday to hide ourselves from others. The mask could be the way you act around your friends so that you're "accepted" by them or so they think you're "cool;" or the jokes you tell or laugh at so that everyone thinks you are just like them. The things and the behavior that we hide behind so that others will accept us, or so we don't have to put our real selves out there and risk being hurt. It was a powerful thought. I had never really considered it in the same way they put it. But we all have a mask that we hide behind. Now, since this IS the internet and I'm not one to spill all of my life and thought out into cyber space I won't go into all of the masks that I've worn (and still wear some of them). But I could whole-heartedly relate to one of the masks that the conference director admitted to wearing. Sarcasm. Now, I know for any of you who know me it'll be hard to imagine me being sarcastic....oops, darn it, I did it again, lol. Seriously though, I have used sarcasm for as long as I can remember. But it is a mask that I use to hide behind from time to time.

We all have them. We all hide behind them. And the first thing we need to do is to identify them. At CIY we were challenged to do that. And then we were challenged to go a bit further. During the evening worship time we were challenged to remove our masks...for good. They had trash cans around the room and we were challenged to remove the masks and throw them away...and to not only do it as a figurative thing for the illustration, but to do it literally in our lives. They then took the masks and made them into a hand on a stage, representing Christ's hands that were pierced on the cross. The point was that Christ doesn't want our masks, he wants us. And that he loves and accepts us without the masks, and wants to help us take them off and leave them off.

What masks are you wearing? Do you trust Christ enough to give them up to Him?

Taking pics of your youth group in a mall is a sign of terrorism?

Yes, I know that the subject of this post probably sounds funny and confusing, but stay with me for a second and I'll explain. On Thursday of conference we have extended rec time. We took our group about 30 minutes away from campus to the Hamilton Place Mall outside of Chattanooga. It's a fairly large mall, and it gives the kids time to roam around, buy stuff if they want, etc.

Well, towards the end of our visit to the mall we decided to get a group picture of us on the second floor of the mall...with the pic being taken from the food court on the first floor. We didn't expect the response we would get from mall security. A security guard came up to Damon (one of our chaperones) and told him that he was going to have to stop taking pictures. When he asked why, he was told it was because of new procedures since 9/11 and concerns over terrorists taking pictures of public places that could be targets of attacks. So...Damon, a man in his 50's (sorry Damon), taking a picture of a bunch of high school kids in his church's youth group, in a mall, apparently sends up red flags of terrorism! Such a huge threat to national security we've become! Those darn youth groups! LOL. Ok, so I'm probably being a little bit too sarcastic about it, but hey this really struck me as funny. I guess overly cautious is better than not cautious enough, but really...this was kind of ridiculous. Oh well, it made for a good laugh, and a good story!

Who let the dogs out.....?

Warning: The following blog will probably offend and/or upset extreme animal lovers, so if that's you, don't read it!

So...as I said before, this year's CIY was "interesting." The following is probably one of the most memorable CIY moments I can think of. It was sometime in the middle of the week, I want to say Wednesday, but I can't remember for sure. We had just finished "His Time" and were heading over to the snack cart to get drinks, etc before heading back to our dorms. It was about 11pm. We saw the cop cars sitting in front of the auditorium, but had no clue what was going on and didn't really pay much attention to it. As we were standing in line though, we saw a dog running towards one of the cops, and at that point noticed that the cop had his pistol out and the dog wasn't playing...it was attacking! A few seconds later the cops were hurriedly and angrily rushing everyone away and into buildings and within a few minutes CIY was on lock-down.

It wasn't until the next morning that we found out what had happened. It seems that two pitbulls (one black, one tan) had come onto campus, for whatever reason. They went up to one group and a girl tried to take a picture, the dog apparently doesn't think of itself as being photogenic and attacked the girl. Another kid (from another group) tried to scare off the dog when it came over to his group, but apparently he wasn't aware that pitbulls don't get intimidated easily, and the dog bit him on the back of his leg. A nearby youth minister from Minnesota, who saw what was going on, came over and proceeded to punch the dog in the mouth, and then give it a swift kick. About that time, Lee University security came on the scene. Now this next part I am not making up. He said the security guy actually tried to calm the dog down with the finger move from Crocodile Dundee! If you don't know what I'm talking about, ask someone who's a fan of the movie, or watch the movie, lol. Anyway, that OBVIOUSLY didn't work, and the police were called. When they showed up, the dog wasn't too happy with them and tried MANY times to attack them. They couldn't do a whole lot because there were hundreds of kids around, so they had to worry about what the kids would see, and of course for the kids' safety.

All in all, the dog was punched, kicked, hit with a flashlight (the big Mag-Lite kind), maced, and finally shot in the mouth! Amazingly....it still kept coming! The bullet apparently went right through the mouth and didn't kill the dog. The other dog got away and had not been caught last I heard.

So it was an interesting night to say the least! Gotta love CIY! Oh, and the 2 bit by the dog are perfectly OK.

CIY...."ONES"

So...another year of CIY has come and gone, and I must echo the words of Phillip Truesdell in saying that this was one of the most "interesting" summer conferences I've been to. The next several blogs (notes if you're reading this on facebook) are going to be about the things that happened at conference this year. If you weren't there, I'm sorry you missed it, it really was a great theme this year, and I know God did alot of moving in people. As always, CIY put together a great week designed to draw students closer to God and, for some, to introduce them to Him for the first time. I would have liked to have had some different speakers (no offense, but they just weren't the best this year), but I know God can move in people's lives even without, and sometimes in spite of, the best speakers. I guess my only real complaint from the week would be that our D-Group location was horrible! We were put in a hallway that was still being used by Lee University for classes and offices, etc, so we had alot of foot traffic and noise in our area, and no one seemed to care that we were trying to have a lesson. Oh well, you can't always get everything, right? Well....look for the next couple of blogs to hear about some of our funnier stories from CIY, so those of you who didn't go can laugh with us, and those of you that went can laugh again as you reminisce! lol

Jesus bring the rain..

I was very impressed by a new song I've heard recently. If you know me well you know that while I enjoy listening to the music of a song, I enjoy even more listening to the lyrics. The song is called "Jesus bring the rain" by MercyMe (the same band that sang the hugely popular "I can only imagine"). The reason the song impressed me is because the lyrics of the song is a prayer to God. The person in the song is amazed because he has been asked how he can continue to praise God even though things in life don't seem to be going so well. It sounds very much like the story of Job from the Bible. But the response is what really caught me:

"Maybe since my life was changed, long before these rainy days,
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm; But instead, I draw closer through these times
So I pray....Bring me joy, bring me peace. Bring the chance to be free.
Bring me anything that brings You glory. And I know there'll
be days when this life brings me pain, But if that's what it takes to
praise You: Jesus, bring the rain
I am yours regardless of the clouds that may loom above because, you are much greater than my pain. You who made a way for me, suffering your destiny, so tell me whats a little rain?"

For anyone who knows me well enough to know my past, knows that life hasn't always been easy. I didn't get the easiest path to get to where I am. But what really struck me about this song was that the guy in the song doesn't have everything going "the way it should" in his life either, but his response is, "if this is what will bring you glory God, then I'm ready for it, bring on the rain!" WOW! What a prayer! I'd like to be able to pray that prayer. To be able to look at whatever is going bad in life at the time and just use it to bring God glory.