Hey, guys!  Stephen here!  It's been a long time since either Scott or I updated (more than two months!), so I figured I'd give the limited readership a heads-up on some fun stuff!

Firstly, let me just thank everyone who came out to the lock-in on Friday night!  I had an absolute blast and I hope you did too!

A couple of media things for you:

Scott and I - in all of our head-shaven glory - at the Roller Cave Friday night.  If you didn't go, then you just don't know, do you?

Actually, as many of you know, Scott lost a bet to Jim Sanders about the outcome of the NCAA Championship and, as a result, had to shave his head.  And then he jumped me and paid Jason Wiese so he wouldn't be the only baldie...   For the many of you who took pictures and video, e-mail Scott and I the files so we can get them up here and map the process from full-headed to skin-headed!

 I'll be posting some more pics from the lock-in possibly later in the week (including several pics of every sleeping person I could aim a camera at).  If you have some more that you'd like to see here, send 'em my way and I'll set it up!

Thx (1138)!

~ S.

"Ashes, ashes... we all fall down..."

Okay, I know... it's a line from an old nursery rhyme (and one about the bubonic plague - there's a factoid you can use to impress all your friends), but it does have a certain amount of significance for today.  You see, today is Ash Wednesday.

"What is Ash Wednesday?" I can already hear you asking from across space and time.  And, in my mind, it's a legitimate question.  The Church of the Nazarene and, in fact, many other Protestant denominations don't normally make it a point to hold an observance for Ash Wednesday... or any other holidays on the Christian calendar for that matter.  The only reason I knew what it was as a teenager was because I had seen it on a calendar as a child and had been curious enough to ask my mother about it.  Seriously, that's the only reason...

...but some of you may not have been that curious.  Others of you might think you have an idea.  Some might just not care.

But I think you should.

Ash Wednesday is, according to the Christian calendar, the first day of Lent, a period which encompasses the forty-six days preceding Easter.  It is often celebrated by believers gathering together and participating in a ceremony which involves placing ashes on one's forehead in the form of a cross, along with the traditional utterance: "Remember, man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return."  (Or, for those of you who speak Latin: Memento homo, quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.)  During the period of Lent, these believers will then practice many forms of penitence, including fasting, abstinence, and repentance.

Why ashes?  In Biblical times, particularly in the Old Testament, placing ashes on one's forehead was a symbol of mourning and sorrow.  There are several references to putting ashes or dust on one's forehead, particularly when pairing with the donning of sackcloth.  Both of these gestures were ones of mourning.  In 2 Samuel, after being abused by her own brother, Tamar - a daughter of David - tore her robes and covered her head with ashes.  When Esther's uncle Mordecai discovered Haman's plot to obliterate the Jewish people, he put on ashes and refused to wear anything but sackcloth.  Even the prophet Daniel mourns with ashes and sackcloth for the sake of the nation of Israel.

So, we wear ashes on Ash Wednesday in mourning.  But what are we mourning?  Ash Wednesday is a time of repentance, a time where we can come to God as we are and ask forgiveness for our wrongdoing.  Should we do it only on Ash Wednesday?  To quote the apostle Paul, "By no means!"  However, it is good for us to seek forgiveness and to strive for repentance.

The ashes also remind us that we are temporal - that is, merely temporary creatures.  "Just passing through," as it were.  "Remember, man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return."  We do not have forever.  We are temporary and fallible and fallen.  We are just dust.  What can make the dust to rise from the ground and walk about?  Only God.  So, the ashes serve as a reminder that, without God, we are nothing.  "For in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

What is God to us?  Is He everything?  Is He only a part of the whole?  Are we truly living like we are dependant upon Him for our every breath?  These are good questions to ask ourselves on Ash Wednesday.

As I mentioned above, Ash Wednesday is usually accompanied by a form of sacrifice.  Many Catholics abstain from meat on Fridays.  You'll notice the Filet O'Fish sandwiches at McDonald's always go on sale during Lent for this very reason (they're 2 for $3 now).  I have heard of people who have given up listening to music or abstaining from chocolate or desserts for the Lenten season.  A movie that came out a few years ago depicted a young man who decided to abstain from desires of the flesh.  As for myself, I have decided to give up meat in general and, for all intents and purposes, become a vegetarian for the next 46 days.  (I do not say this to make myself sound more pious than I am, but in an effort for you to help keep me accountable.)

God calls His disciples to sacrifice.  There was not one man that Jesus called to follow Him who was not required to leave something behind or to change some part of his life.  Should you sacrifice something this Lenten season?  That is ultimately a question between you and God, but if you feel Him leading you that way, I would definitely recommend you give it a try.

The question logically follows: "What should I give up for Lent?"  Again, this is a question that is between you and God, but generally it needs to be something that gets in the way of your relationship with God or something that can often be a distraction.  It can be something that you've noticed you just spend too much time doing (like video games or TV) or something that takes time away from time you could be spending in the Word or in prayer.  Or it could be something that you just enjoy quite a bit - something that you want to sacrifice as a way of letting God know just how much He means to you in your life.  No matter your reasons, allow Him to reveal to you what it is He would have you sacrifice for Him.

So, there you have it - Stephen's brief history of Ash Wednesday.  If you have any more questions about Ash Wednesday or the season of Lent, feel free to come to Scott or myself.  I know we'd be happy to answer any questions we can for you.

Thanks for reading, and God bless you!

Snowglobe

So, yeah...it totally looks like one of those snowglobes outside.  You know, those things that have little scenes on the inside (houses, etc.) that you turn upside down and shake and then turn them back up and it looks like its snowing in perfect rhythm?  Anyways, as you all know by now, the snow is totally bursting from the sky, which leads us to the question...when are we going sledding?!  Well, I was just out on the roads and it's pretty slick out there, and there are no signs of the snow slowing down anytime soon.  So, in light of that (we don't want anyone sliding off the road), we're going to go ahead and plan for sledding on THIS THURSDAY, at Paul Ruster Park in Warren Township beginning at 3:30-4pm and going until, well, until we're done.  So, help us get the word out, invite your friends, and get your sled waxed. 

See you Thursday!

Scott

Paul Ruster Park: 11300 Prospect St., Indianapolis, IN, 46239.  Click below for mapquest map. 

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&addtohistory=&address=11300%20Prospect%20St&city=Indianapolis&state=IN&zipcode=46239%2d9622&country=US&geodiff=1

The Christmas Story According to John

Hey, guys... Stephen here.  The following are some thoughts about the impending Christmas holiday and, hopefully, a different perspective on the Christmas story we all know so well.  Enjoy!

______________________________________________

*PRELUDE*
Solomon is credited with saying that "there is nothing new under the sun."  I definitely believe that that's true.  I'm also a believer in giving credit where it is due.  That having been said, the following thoughts are not exclusively mine.  Rather, they were passed on to me about a year ago by a man I greatly respect and admire - my old high school (Aumiller might say 'learning experience') principal, Mr. Brian Hudson.  I definitely wouldn't be the thinker I am today were it not for his insights.
~ S.

When I say "the Christmas story," I'm sure your mind goes to a certain set of 'stock' images.  Mary and Joseph.  A manger.  The infant Messiah cooing softly on a bed of hay.  Livestock.  Shepherds.  Angels.  A star.  Magi (or 'wisemen,' if you will).  Basically, the kinda stuff you'd see in the new film, The Nativity Story (photo above).  If I were to ask you which book of the Bible contains the Christmas story, you would, without hesitation, most likely say, "Luke 2!" or a few of you might even point out that the bit with the wisemen is actually in the gospel of Matthew.

How many of you would even mention the gospel of John?

"What?" you would most likely retort.  "Stephen, you're crazy!  There's no Christmas story in John!  The only thing at the beginning of John is that cryptic mumbo-jumbo about 'the Word' and all that..."

And therein, my friends, lies John's account of the Christmas story.  Go ahead... read it for yourself...

Taken from BibleGateway.com:
     John 1:1-14
          1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. 6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Read the above passage carefully.  There's a ton of imagery in there.  Let's start with the word "Word".  In the original Greek, the word is logos, which is where we get the word 'logic' and the suffix '-ology'.  There are several definitions that might be subsitituted here, but one of the ones that I like best is 'reason'.  Reason is a lot like logic and, in the ancient Greek culture, Reason (not the big 'R') was practically a deity unto itself.  Is it any wonder, then, why John uses this word to personify Jesus?  The intended audience was most likely Greek and possibly knowledgable of the influences of people like the Sophists or of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.  Identifying Jesus with Reason was a pretty smart move.  That's not even to talk about the use of light and darkness that actually weaves all the way through the book of John and the salvific message inherent in verses 12 and 13.  I'll let you work that out for yourselves.

What I really wanna focus on is verse 14, which is easily the crux of John's Christmas story.  The aforementioned teacher, Mr. Hudson, once told me that there were eight words that essentially summed up the entire message of the Scriptures.  Understandably, it's easy to be reticent about such a claim, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to be true.  The first four words are actually the first four words in all of Scripture - "In the beginning God".  The message here (and, I feel, the message of the entire Old Testament) is that there is a God - a loving, but just God who has always been.  He is not one of many or one of pantheon... he is God.  That's it.

The second four words are found in the passage above: "The Word became flesh."  In theological circles, this "Word became flesh" stuff is called the incarnation.  It means the way in which God emptied Himself, coming to earth in the form of Man in order to redeem His creation.  The Dictionary.com definition is thus: "the doctrine that the second person of the Trinity assumed human form in the person of Jesus Christ and is completely both God and man."

The identification of the Word as being both 'God' and 'with God' and the idea of that same Word becoming flesh support the doctrine of Christ as both God and Man.  This 'Word' is obviously Christ... and the first chapter of John's gospel is all about Christ's coming to dwell (literally, tabernacle or 'live temporarily') among us!

What is the reason we celebrate Christmas?  You obviously respond with "the birth of Christ"... and John's gospel is all about that!  It doesn't concentrate so much on the specifics of that birth... but deals with the heart of the issue.  Why did Christ come?  Who is this Christ?  John answers all these questions in the first chapter of his gospel, thus preparing his audience for this person called Messiah.

This Christmas, when you begin to think on the reason for your celebration, contemplate the first fourteen verses of John and the Christmas story found therein.  Hopefully, this offers you a new perspective (or, at the very least, refreshes said perspective) this Christmas season.

Have a blessed Christmas, everyone!  God bless!

Scott and Stephen are youth ministers at Indianapolis First Church of the Nazarene.  One night, after a Wednesday youth meeting (Scott leads the high school Water's Edge, while Stephen leads the middle school Oasis), they got to talking: "Wouldn't it be cool if the two of us shared a blog?  That way, whenever we felt like posting something, we could.  And if we didn't, we didn't have to?"

They agreed that it would, in fact, be cool... and thus, the S.S. Blog (a.k.a. Scott & Stephen's Weblog) was born!

Stop back for the goings-on at Indy First or to see what these two intrepid so-and-sos are reading, watching, listening to, and thinking about!  You'll be glad you did!