dancing, an analysis

You are correct in pointing out my generalizations, Mr. Quiring. But I can say with confidence that most would like to have dancing and are disappointed that it is not allowed at Banquet (in fact, if you find a student who doesn't want dancing and is totally against it, let me know). Perhaps I should change the adjective from "most" to "many" when it comes to ballroom dancing (thought even that is being generous). As Suzanne put it, she just wants to be allowed to step rhythmically, which is essentially what dancing is.

Now please allow me to point out some generalizations in your argument, and in that of the faculty. You assume that dancing is all about romance and relationships and intimacy. Since when was that the case? Dancing, by definition, is an activity, traditionally between a male and a female, but ONLY because the females have different parts from the males. In other words, it wouldn't make sense to have two guys dancing together, simply because their parts are the same and would therefore clash. Dancing can be and often is an activity shared by two lovers, but certainly not always. Just because I take someone to a dance doesn't mean I intend to have a relationship with them in a romantic sense of the word.

Now, don't get me wrong. I TOTALLY AGREE that we teens spend way too much time and attachment to intimate relationships, which damage us emotionally before we're ready for it maturely. It's an obsession, I agree. But I don't think that dancing is necessarily a manifestation of that. I also don't think that it's all bad, certainly there's nothing wrong with having a boyfriend or girlfriend at our age, but it may not be the wisest use of time. There are many relationships (which I will not name, but which should be obvious) at our school which are healthy and pure and uplifting to each partner.

The main point here is this: we just want to dance for fun. We want to enjoy ourselves, and get into the rythm, perhaps. We don't want Banquet to turn into some kind of profane orgy; rather, we want to enjoy a popular activity with our friends. This may put more pressure on guys for find a female partner, but what's the matter with that? It's all in good fun.

It's easy to get the wrong impression from observing other school dances, but let's also consider the fact that other schools are much more liberal and aren't full of God-loving teachers and students who are striving to do better. I think what angers most people is that we're not even given a chance. It's just assumed that we'll get all "sexual" even though we may just want to have a dance for the fun of it.

So in conclusion to this argument, I'd like to say that we deserve, if nothing else, a chance to prove ourselves. I feel like this is the sloppiest argument I've ever put together, but I hope I'm getting the point across. I appreciate the faculty's concern for our spiritual health and their desire for us not to fall into temptation, but I do think that they are taking it a bit far on this one. I hope you'll seriously consider my proposal.

p.s. The title was a gross exaggeration on my part, which I stated at the start of my previous post.

dancing...from the darkest circle of hell? or harmless fun?

Forgive the title. It's a bit exaggerated.

But really. What's the deal with dancing? Why is it not allowed? Everyone complains about it, yet no one gives a reason as to why it's not allowed. Most would settle for "ballroom" dancing, but even that isn't allowed. Any particular reason? Mr. Quiring, I guess this post is directed more specifically at you, since you're in touch with the Faculty's thinking. Why is dancing not allowed at Banquet?

campaign results

In case you don't know already, here are the elected officials in next year's student council.

Meg Luth: President
John Mark Harrell: Vice President
Katelyn Curtis: Secretary
Janice Lee: Treasurer
Ben Trim: Chaplain
Thomas John Guardino: Co-Chaplain/Worship Leader
Karina Tin, Cherith Welling: Senior Reps
Chloe Brisbane, Jackie Shee: Junior Reps
Tatiana Chicas, Sarah Nolasco: Sophomore Reps

At last, we have results. I've been anxious to know what this list would look like for over a month, and overall I'm pleased (except for a couple "odds and ends"). If it were up to me, Matt would be President and I Vice President, but Meg is a fine candidate as well. Matt has taken it well, which I am very glad for. He and I will still talk politics from time to time, I'm sure:)

To be completely honest, I didn't think I would win. I worked late nights all weeks getting my campaign ready, and brainstorming for new poster ideas (Chris and Matt both helped me with that), but I figured the cookies and all the little trinkets and q-tips and whatever else was being handed around would surely defeat me. I guess I have none to thank but God for putting me in this position. He's got me there for a reason, therefore I will fully and wholeheartedly take on the task. I will always strive to serve you well as the student body Vice President. Feel free to give me any ideas or opinions about how we can improve school!! That's what I'm all about.

As a sidenote, I'm looking into starting a school newsletter next year, edited and created by the students, for the students. Most schools have something like that, and it's a pretty big deal. Contact me via email (johnmark@harrell.net) if writing, drawing cartoons, or interviewing are things that at all interest you.

Lauren Winner audio

This is Lauren Winner (her article featured below) talking about her book, Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity at an open forum at City Church. Thought you might enjoy it. She's a very straighforward, explicit speaker. Enjoy:)

P.S. Chris, I guess you don't have to listen to this, though you may enjoy some of her witty observations.

article about SEX!!!

So I stumbled across a great article today and thought I'd paste it on here:
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NYTimes

May 19, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Saving Grace

By LAUREN F. WINNER
Durham, N.C.

THE recent Harvard study that found teenagers' virginity pledges to be ineffective should come as a surprise to no one. Several studies had already come to that conclusion. If we are truly to help our teenagers adopt the countercultural sexual ethic of abstinence until marriage, Christians concerned about the rampant premarital sex in our communities need to rethink, rather than simply defend, young people's abstinence pledges.

It is awfully easy for Christians to blame our community's sexual sins on the mores of post-sexual revolution America — to criticize Abercrombie & Fitch catalogs, to natter on about how "Grey's Anatomy" portrays sexual behavior that doesn't square with Christianity.

But perhaps it's more important that we reconsider how we talk about sex in the church. For although the church devotes an immense amount of energy to teaching about sexuality — just go to the Christian inspiration section of your nearest Barnes & Noble and compare the number of books about chastity to books that challenge, say, consumerism — many Christians still "struggle with" (in that euphemistic evangelical phrase) premarital sex, adultery and pornography.

So why is the church's approach to teaching chastity falling short? Consider the popular "True Love Waits" virginity pledge: "Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate and my future children to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship."

This pledge and others like it are well meaning but deeply flawed. For starters, there's something disturbing about the assumption that teenagers are passively waiting for their future mates and children, when the New Testament is quite clear that some Christians are called to lifelong celibacy. (Paul, for example, did not have a mate or children, and Dan Brown's fantasies notwithstanding, Jesus's only bride was the church.) Chastity is not merely about passive waiting; it is about actively conforming our bodies to the arc of the Gospel and receiving the Holy Spirit right now.

Pledgers promise to control intense bodily desires simply by exercising their wills. But Christian ethics recognizes that the broken, twisted will can do nothing without rehabilitation by God's grace. Perhaps the centrality of grace is recognized best not in a pledge but in a prayer that names chastity as a gift and beseeches God for the grace to receive it.

The pledges are also cast in highly individualistic terms: I promise that I won't do this or that. As the Methodist bishop William Willimon once wrote: "Decisions are fine. But decisions that are not reinforced and reformed by the community tend to be short-lived."

During our first year of marriage, my husband and I lived in a small apartment inside a church. On Tuesdays, Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon met downstairs. As I got to know some of the regulars, I began to wonder if there wasn't something the church could learn from the 12-step groups in our midst.

After all, what are 12-step groups but communities of people expecting transformation? People show up because they want to change, and they know that making a promise by themselves — I will stop drinking — won't cut it. Alcoholics Anonymous explicitly recognizes that transformation works best when a community comes alongside you and participates in your transformation.

Christians, like 12-step group attendees, are people who are committed to becoming, to use the Apostle Paul's phrase, new creatures. Living sexual lives that comport with the Gospel is one part of that.

Perhaps pledges for chastity need to be made not only by the individual teenager. Perhaps we also need pledges made by the teenager's whole Christian community: we pledge to support you in this difficult, countercultural choice; we pledge that the church is a place where you can lay bare your brokenness and sin, where you don't have to dissemble; we pledge to cheer you on when chastity seems unbearably difficult, and we pledge to speak God's forgiveness to you if you falter. No retooled pledge will guarantee teenagers' chastity, but words of grace and communal commitment are perhaps a firmer basis for sexual ethics than simple assertions that true love waits.
--------------------

Lauren Winner is a great author who's works include Girl Meets God, Mudhouse Sabbath, and most recently, Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity.

She came to our church for an open forum and did a really great job, and what she talked about was similar to her above article. She's very insightful and is a smart, funny person.

message from tuber

This was in response to Mr. Q's response to Danielle's Myspace post by Tuber:

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well, im not much of a speaker, but yeah. Ive noticed that most christians, mostly children, more adults, dont know why they do the christian things that they do. I have friends here at this school in japan that claim to be christians, but dont go to the weekly sunday school.

There are also people that arent christians, but are sent here just because their parents told them to. Im not saying that thats a bad thing, since we can lead them to christ, but there are people(at least one that i know) that claim theyre going to be a pastor, to spread the words of the bible, of course, but mainly because they(he) thinks the pastors nowaday are teaching falsely. They(He) believes that smoking, and drinking is not a bad thing at all. Now the Bible doesnt directly say not to smoke or to drink(says dont get drunk), but the Bible definitely says that your body is the tabernacle of the holy spirit, and that you are not to do things that would uncleanse it.

sorry bouts the english skills. i havent had a lot of chances to speak it for nearly an year.

well, live fun,

TUBER

P.S. coming this winter if I can find a part-time job for the summer.

P.S.S. looking for someone to take me in for the few days im gonna be in SF when i do come!!(moms moving to NY)
----------

Don't know if I agree with everything he says, but I'm not going to start an argument. It's good to hear from him. I thought you guys would enjoy it.

pray for me please

We're missing $500 from our Valentines' Day grams. It came to our attention because somehow Mrs. Akers wrote a $300 check instead of a $3 check. Rachelle went to Mrs. Angie to collect the money from our account to reimburse her, and found that the amount had not been deposited.

Rachelle called me about it after school. According to her, she gave me the money after the fundraiser, and I had said that I would take it Mrs. Angie that Friday when she was in her office. I vaguely remember this, and also remember being disappointed because she wasn't in her office that day, and I couldn't deliver to her, as planned. The question remains: where is the money now?

It's not at my house, I've done several intensive sweeps and organizations of all my things the past few months, and I would have probably taken notice of an envelope with $500. Samantha, our treasurer, does not have the money.

I thought that perhaps Samantha had it and had not deposited it, but that theory proved false (Samantha is our class treasurer).

The fact is, it's my fault that the money is missing (or so it seems, at this point), and if I can't find the money, it'll have to come out of my pocket. For some reason though, the distant recesses of my mind are telling me to check my locker at school, which makes sense because I may have decided to put it there until I could deliver it, but in my absent-mindedness forgotten all about it. This is not only embarrassing for me but involves huge repercussions and consequences. Please pray that I find that money, or that I discover who has it or what was done with it. As class representative, it would be my responsibility whether I had misplaced it or not.

It's really not fair to anyone (including myself) that the money is missing. We worked very hard for that money, and to lose it because of my carelessness is truly a disgrace.

May God in his mercy solve this problem quickly and painlessly.

new comment settings

just FYI:

I've changed my preferences so that you have to enter "word verification" in order to comment on my posts. I've had serious problems with spam, and today my inbox was flooded with no less than 25 "Anonymous" comments, and with 6 more every ten minutes. Sorry to have to do that, I really would rather not, but as you can tell it's quite ridiculous to have to put up with so much spam.

Anyone can comment still, but you have to do the whole "type the word/characters that you see below" thing.

I found this article on Apple Insider to be very helpful in giving some interesting information on the new Macbook.

http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1750

danielle's blog post

Okay imagine this. There is a place where every single person walks around with these beautiful smiles and big innocent eyes, and the younger ones look up to the older ones and the older ones look at them lovingly and give them advice. The older ones correct, encourage, and discipline, and everyone says "oh how sweet. this person is beautiful and sweet and perfect." But it's all a lie. Precious few can see that these people with the beautiful smiles and innocent eyes are wearing masks. They are cleverly crafted, but if one looks close enough one can see the seam. Underneath is a person just as broken and deceitful as the rest of us. They are no better than we are and yet they play an intricate game merely to convince us that they are. But they are the cheats, the liars, the easy, the addicted, and the hypocrites. BIG FAT HYPOCRITES. and yet not one person sees it. They can stand up in front of everyone and proclaim how wonderful God is yet they are lying to us. They are lying to themselves. They are lying to God. And all they are doing is helping the younger ones build their own masks. And the few who can see this eventually realize that others can see it too and they aren't so few afterall. So why does the charade go on? Is it so frickin hard to show who you are? What are you so afraid of? It just makes me want to scream in frustration!!!! Why were we created so differently only to strive to be the same, to convince others that we are so different than we really are? The masks we wear are the burdens we bear and these masks only make the wearer seem the fool, and everyone but he can tell. So take off the masks, and be vulnerable for once. Everyone just wants to be loved no matter what they say, yet how can you be truly loved if you wont let people see you, flaws and all? No one asked for perfection, just honesty. Haha, so about this place? Welcome to Alma Heights.
--------

A bold statement by Danielle. Comments? I have my own opinion, but I'll post that after I see what you guys are thinking. What do you think, and why?

public campaign website release

Our campaign pages are now public. The url (which will redirect you to the actual page) is bothforyou.blogspot.com.

concert follow-up, flea market

The concert two nights ago was pretty good. Certainly not the best concert I've been to (it probably ranks in the lower region, for that matter). Hem, the opener, had a long session, and then came back when she received an encore. Don't get me wrong, Hem's got a great sound, but unfortunately her voice is, as Simon would say, very "one-dimensional." The stuff she sings is beautiful, but it all sounds the same. By the time she was finished we were all well prepared to see Over the Rhine.

She was amazing. Her voice is utterly phenomenal. I enjoyed every minute of that part. She sang many familiar songs, though unfortunately she didn't sing "Who Will Guard the Door" (the song featured on my podcast), which I was waiting expectantly for. She sang some other familiar tunes that were equally good as well, which was completely fine.

Overall, OK concert.


Today is the Flea Market at our school, and I'll be there from 8-4pm. Pray that the weather will be in our favor, and that our milkshake idea doesn't turn out to be a complete disaster. We got plenty of enthusiasm from students this time around though, which is definitely encouraging. This year has been very difficult for me. Hardly any of our stuff has been approved, and if so it is with great reluctance. Or, we'll get it approved and no one ever tells us about it. We've been more aggressive with our ideas lately, so we have a greater amount of fundraising now than before, but I wish it had been this way all year.

concert tonight

I'm going to an Over the Rhine concert at the Great American tonight...my dad surprised me as a sort of pre-birthday gift. He and I are going, since we're pretty much her only fans in my family.

She's a great singer, and is JMix-worthy, since "Who Will Guard the Door" is featured in my first podcast episode (or one of the earlier ones). It's a great song, but she's got a bunch of other stuff worth checking out.

Her opener will be Hem, another really great artist who I am familiar with. It's a double-whammy. I'll recap later.

pictures we took today

Let's just say we got..er...excited in Biology class...

http://web.mac.com/fredharrell/iWeb/sensesay/funnypics.html

My favorite is the one of Mr. Q with the antlers. I was literally crying with laughter when we took it. My stomach is still sore from taking all those pictures. I guess you had to be a part of it to really laugh, but you may still enjoy them.

stadium arcadium

In case you're not a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, their latest album, Stadium Arcadium, was officially released in North America today.

One word describes this album: Awesome.

At a glance: Immediately noticeable is RHCP's unique sound. They've truly poured their heart and soul into this album, and have a whopping 28-song, two-disc set to prove it. My immediate assumption to this massive production of tracks in only 5 years (since their last studio album release, By the Way) was that they would all sound forced and extremely similar. Luckily, this band is one of the few that manages to become popular, but is successful in maintaining their originality and creative talent. Each song is unique and detailed, and their style is uncompromised throughout the entire album. It's far too much to take in at once, I haven't even listened to the whole thing yet; but from what I have heard so far, this exciting release is definitely worth a glance if you aren't familiar with their music.

This has been my first official album review, even though it's vague, scattered, and extremely inadequate. For a detailed summary of this album, check out Wikipedia's article.

itunes link | band website

banquet pics

Check out some banquet pics for viewing/copying by clicking the link below:

http://web.mac.com/fredharrell/iWeb/sensesay/Banquet.html

**Note the shameless plug:)

denominations

This is an issue that has been prodding my heart and mind lately. What are denominations? Are they a good thing or a bad thing, or a bit of both? We discussed this in Bible class, but I don't feel like it was properly addressed, since we had to move on with the lesson (similar to when we discussed predestination, but I've beaten that argument to death on this blog).

Pastor Troy likes to neutralize, almost in Hippy fashion, when he discusses issues in the church. He stands in the middle and says, "That's weird, but they love God, so there must be some good in it" referring to both sides. I respect that about him. He's open-minded to different viewpoints (though he may perhaps never develop or at least share an opinion of his own). Then again, our class is a denominational melting pot, with everything from Catholics to crazy Calvinist Presbyterians:P, so everying he says is very general and non-offensive, and he only barely skims the surface of controversial issues. But I would probably be doing the same in his position, and he's doing extremely well for a class that's full of so many opinions.

But I'm going to go ahead and share my opinion, since we're outside of class.

"Denomination" has always sounded an off-key note in my mind. The meaning of the word isn't too menacing, it is simply the term for the classification. A raw "denomination" is something that has been classified because of a certain defining characteristic. Christians have always disagreed about certain things, and we can see disagreement from even the early days of the Christian church. Thus, we may be able to classify Christians by their belief systems (infant baptism, arminianism, post-millenialism, individualism, feminism, criticism, and whatever other "isms" you can think of). But is this a cause for divide? One might say, "Yes, because different people have different preferences, and it's best that they gather with a body of believers who share their preference." Still another might add, "Denominations are a gift from God, because they are full of believers with differing spiritual gifts. Though they share different beliefs and worship seperately, they have unique talents that God has given them that give them the right to separate if needed. The Bible talks about Christ's body: Jesus is the head, and the Church has many different parts to it. Thus, we have many different 'parts', or 'denominations.'" Fair enough.

I'd still disagree. In class, Pastor Troy used the story of Luther as an example of the first "denominational divide", and a good and necessary one at that. First, I would like to note that Martin Luther never wanted to leave the Catholic church. He fought with all he could to bring reform within the church without dividing himself from it. He loved the Church. The false teachers and "pharisees" of the day excommunicated him, and he had no choice but to continue despite the division. I would also say that Martin Luther's split was not the "first denomination", but the rediscovery of the gospel itself. In short, the Catholic church at the time did not teach the gospel of grace and therefore was not part of Christ's body (they've come a long way since then). So even the start of Protestantism was not a denominational split, but a new beginning. Since then, leaders used this split as license to create their own splits within the Church. This is where the trouble began.

Rather than live in brotherly love and respect each other's differences and worship under the unified banner of the gospel, people felt it necessary to completely break off and start their own "club." This brought about extreme intolerance and pride among the denominations, which still exists today. This also brought confusion and lack of accountability, for as long as there was no one could disagree with them, they head in whatever direction they wanted to, which further contrasted them from each other. Those outside of the body (the unbelievers) were and are confused over these divides, and don't know who to trust or where to begin. Instead of what we all have in common, denominations love to boast their superiority to the others and list reasons why their denomination is the one to join. Let's face it, we're all guilty of pride in our churches and denominations (myself included). And pride is so easy to have when we are different from others (as can be seen with all things: gender, race, sports teams, social class, etc).

Though a denomination may cater to the preferences of the individual, it causes division in Christ's body. Sure, the arms may have a different job from the legs, but this doesn't mean the arms have to separate themselves in order to do their task. Different tasks, ONE body. ONE God. ONE faith. ONE gospel. What we must realize is that all Christian denominations have much more in common than what they disagree on, and the things they agree on are by far much more important than what they disagree on. We have to stop seeing the Church as a list of items on a restaurant menu, and more like ONE hamburger that has different components, like lettuce and tomatoe and ketchup and mustard and cheese and a patty and onions and pickles and two buns.

Many denominational splits have resulted in disaster. The Pentecostals (some, but not all), The Jehovah's Witnesses (or the Watchtower Society), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Christian Science, and even Islam are some examples of splits that have been caused for the wrong reasons or started for the "right reasons" and morphed into something that did not teach the historic Christian gospel. Clearly, motivation of the heart is not a basis for validation of Christianity if it teaches a different gospel.

So what's my opinion? I believe that Denominations are the grevious result of Satan's attempts to fragment the imperfect, earthly Church. The Church will never fully be restored until Jesus returns to do so. Denominational divide may or may not be something that is abolished when he comes to fulfill his promise (since that issue may be solved before that appointed time). But until then, we as Christians must pray that God will heal his Church and cease the divisions, and that we can come together and focus on building bridges, and not walls. We must, in all things, pray and strive for the unity of Christ's body.

Saw this on Gizmodo and thought it was cool badness. I just hope this doesn't make the actual product a disappointment.