The Bo Singer Mancake

Hey all- i thought you'd enjoy these video clips from Winter Trip. Watch the top one first, then watch the bottom one.

Summer 09

Howdy. Here's the two big events that we're doing this summer. All details are not finalized, but the dates and locations are set!

Creation Festival. We're heading back to Mt. Union, PA for 4 days of camping, music, and realizing that God has given us a good creation. Cost is $40 (this will cover food and gas and all camping stuff- we get into the festival free), and we'll be leaving Wednesday, June 24th, and returning Sunday, June 28th.


Mission Trip. We are doing a Road Trip this year! We leave Carlisle on Thursday, July 9th. The 10th and 11th will be spent in Detroit. On the 12th we will travel to Chicago to work on the 13th and 14th. On the 15th we will travel to St. Louis to work on the 16th, and on the 17th we will come home. Cost has not been established yet, but we will get that information out as soon as possible.

We'll be doing some other local events throughout the summer, but those are the two multi-day events that we're doing.

ESV Study Bible

Hey guys- I think I've posted on this study bible before, but I wanted to again draw your attention to a great resource if you are considering purchasing a new study bible. The English Standard Version (ESV) is a beautiful, literal, easy-to-understand translation, and the ESV Study Bible has set a new standard in study bibles. Here's a link to the Crossway website, where you can view all current and future editions of the study bible.

Also, David Porter runs a blog called "Boomer In The Pew," and he's giving away a calfskin leather edition of the ESVSB. You can check out his blog and register to win the gold-standard ESVSB here.

A debate over ABC Family values

Warning: following the link to this story will display a photo of a teen girl bearing her midriff, presumably one of the characters of the show discussed in the piece.

I'd love to hear your feedback after reading the article:
Is this an attempt by Disney to sexualize the teenage life, or are they simply providing families an opportunity to watch these shows together and discuss the issues that the show raises?
Are they doing both?
Do you watch any of the shows mentioned in this story?
Are your children watching these shows?

"Disney says shows like "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" are in sync with many families' reality. Critics say such programs don't on a channel with the word "family" in its name.

Continue reading here...

Mom and dad's tobacco use influences teens' smoking

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adolescents whose parents smoke are more likely to pick up the habit themselves, new research confirms.

The effect was particularly strong if young people were exposed to a parent's tobacco use before their teen years, Dr. Stephen E. Gilman of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and his colleagues found. But they also found that in children of ex-smokers "that risk goes away if parents quit," Gilman explained in an interview.

Continue reading here...

Music linked to teen sex habits

This issue cannot be overstated. Our theme for this year's winter retreat was "Live Love," as we examined what living the Christian life is supposed to look like. We discovered, both in John's gospel and in his first letter, that the life of a Christian should be marked by love. As John says,

"Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling (I John 2:9-10). "

"By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother (3:10)."

"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death (3:14)."

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loves us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us (4:7-12)."

Succinctly, John summarizes the biblical definition of love in 1 John 3:16-18: "By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees His brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

In deed (action) and in truth. That is how the biblical authors presented love. We took time while in Gatlinburg to contrast this definition of love with the contemporary definition of love, primarily with how love is presented in the hip-hop culture. In modern hip-hop music/lyrics, love is presented as emotions, feelings, romance, and sex, with no reference to commitment or sacrifice. In one of his songs Lil' Wayne, this year's premier hip-hop artist, tells a girl that he "loves" that she better not get too comfortable in their relationship, and that if she stops doing what he wants he'll kick her out and find another woman to "love." So much for sacrifice. So much for truth.

I strongly encouraged the students to critically evaluate their music's message, and the story below explains why:

"Listening to music with degrading sexual lyrics could prompt teenagers to start having sex at an earlier age, a US study suggests.

Researchers from Pittsburgh University quizzed 711 teenagers about their sex lives and music listening habits.

They found those who regularly listened to music with explicit and aggressive sexual phrases were twice as likely to be having sex."

Continue reading here...

Eerie Pictures of Leningrad- Then and Now

These haunting, hybrid images of past and present St Petersburg – formerly known as Leningrad – are the works of Sergei Larenkov. After studying old images of the city, Larenkov visited the same spots, capturing them on film. He then digitally superimposed the old image over new, producing these eerie and thought-provoking shots using remakable photoshop technique.

See the pictures here.

Children's Six Hour Screen Day

More than one in three children told researchers the possession they could least live without was their computer.

The overall time spent in front of screens by five to 16-year-olds in Britain was nearly six hours a day.

The survey by the Childwise research agency found that YouTube was the most used website, followed by various social networking sites.

The survey of 1,800 children, taken last autumn, found they were spending 2.7 hours per day watching television, 1.5 hours on the internet and 1.3 hours on games consoles.

Continue reading here...

Under the Influence

From Chuck Colson:

Approximately $60 billion is spent every year on television advertising. That’s $200 for every man, woman, and child. It is spent in the hopes that by seeing something on television, people will think or act in some desired fashion.

Judging by the reaction to a new study on television’s effect on our kids, that $60 billion might better be used as kindling.

The study by the Rand Corporation followed 2,000 kids between the ages of 12 and 17 for three years. It asked them about “their television viewing habits and sexual behavior.” The shows they reported watching were analyzed “to determine the frequency and type of sexual content the adolescents were exposed to during their TV viewing.”

The researchers found that adolescents with “high levels of exposure” to television shows containing “sexual content” were twice as likely to be “involved in a pregnancy” as those with less exposure.

Continue reading here...

Satanic Anger

Jonathan Dodson has written a lengthy blog post about the sinfulness of anger, and I'm going to cut and paste them onto here over the next several days. I encourage you to prayerfully consider what he has written, asking God to reveal the pockets of anger that might be hiding in your heart, knowing that sin confessed to God becomes sin forgiven by God.

"My second year of marriage was a mess.

I had bottled up discontent from a lack of emotional intimacy with my wife from the first year. In immaturity and a gross lack of understanding, I exploded in episodes of anger. Shouting, name-calling, and T-shirt ripping. Yeah, I would grab the collar of my t-shirt with two hands and pull down in angst, ripping the shirt in two. My wife had no idea she was marrying the Incredible Hulk when she said "I do."

And here is the weird thing; I wasn't even an "angry person" before I got married.

Garden Variety Anger

You don't have to be an "angry person" to have a problem with anger. There's an anger of the garden variety that's often expressed through complaining, grumpiness, a cutting remark, sulking self-pity, and turbulent frustration.

Take commonplace complaints about the weather. Complaints about the excessive heat or cold can either be a form of small talk or a form of unbelief in God's good providence. We don't typically think of complaining as anger, but when framed with the providence of God we are pressed to consider our motives.

Subtle complaining characterizes our culture. According to one statistic, most people in America are exposed to some 3,000 advertisements a day, most of which appeal to a lifestyle grounded in self-comfort. It comes as no surprise, then, that when our comfort is overturned ... we complain. If someone cuts us off in traffic, we curse under our breath and complain for the next five miles. If a fast-food attendant is slow in taking our order, they are subjected to our cutting remarks. If work or school becomes demanding, we wallow in self-pity, a weak form of anger.

Under the surface of all the "happy shiny people" called Christians lurks an enemy of our soul — sinful anger."

Have you been tortured today?

A 79-year-old woman who was imprisoned in China for her Christian faith has told a human rights agency that she was tortured by her guards. Shuang Shuying says they forced her to drink her own urine and stand naked in a mosquito-infested prison yard.

Shuang Shuying, who has just been released, has written a letter describing her torture and thanking all who prayed for her during her two years behind bars. The letter was sent to a partner of Release International, which serves persecuted Christians worldwide.

“Release International has long been campaigning for the release of Shuang Shuying,” says CEO Andy Dipper. “We're glad she is finally free, but are appalled at the abuse she was made to suffer."

Continue reading here...

Pro-Abortion Activists Renew Attacks on Pregnancy Resource Centers

Don't be deceived- the anti-life activists (that's my new nickname for the pro-choice crowd) are not sitting back in their reclining chairs following Barrack Obama's presidential victory. No no, they have an aggressive agenda to push and they are specifically attacking Community Pregnancy Centers:

"Feminists who gathered for a conference last week in Washington, D.C., said President Barack Obama’s pro-abortion mandate is likely to unite the pro-life movement like it did during Bill Clinton’s two terms as president. Panelists said that meant there is a need to renew efforts to discredit the pro-life movement, including defeating legislation that would support pregnancy resource centers."

Continue reading here...

Winter Trip Details

Hello everybody. I've had a few parents asking about the finer details of our upcoming Winter Trip, and I realized that I haven't put any of this information out there yet except for mentioning it at our Wednesday and Sunday services. I keep forgetting that many of the students who are going with us this year have never gone on this trip with us before and I have erroneously assumed that everyone knows the gist of the weekend plans. I apologize for this- I hope I didn't freak anybody out by appearing to be keeping the details hush hush. Anyway, here's the scoop:

1. We're leaving Friday, February 13th, at 7am, and we will be returning at approximately 7pm on Monday, February 16th.
2. We are taking 2 church vans, a Trailblazer, and an Expedition, all driven by adult chaperones.
3. The address of the chalet that we are staying at is 260 Ruth Lane, Seveirville, TN and the phone number at the cabin is 865-908-0063.
4. Dustin's cell phone number is 513-464-2325 and his wife Rachel's cell number is 937-232-6832.
5. There are 6 adult chaperones going on this trip: Dustin and Rachel Knoedler, Jared and Lacey Seaborn, and Nathan and Rachel Lambes.

Also, final payment and Medical Release Forms are due this Sunday, February 8th. If you do not have a Medical Release Form you can download one here below the calendar. If you do not have the packing list, you can download that here.

If you have any further questions please contact the church office at 937-746-4248, Dustin on his cell at 513-464-2325, or Dustin via email at dustin@hillcrestbaptistchurch.org.

Christ our Savior

I am beginning to prepare for a sermon that I'm preaching soon, and I've come across something that I wanted to share with you. I hope you read it prayerfully, as the following was penned as a prayer to God our Savior. I also hope this warms your heart towards God and points you to the redemption that is only found in Jesus our Savior.

Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
cast off that I might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend,
surrendered to hell’s worst that I might attain heaven’s best,
stripped that I might be clothed,
wounded that I might be healed,
athirst that I might drink,
tormented that I might be comforted,
made a shame that I might inherit glory,
entered darkness that I might have eternal light.

My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,
groaned that I might have endless song,
endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
bore a thorned crown that I might have a glory-diadem,
bowed his head that I might uplift mine,
experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,
closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,
expired that I might for ever live.

You can purchase Valley of Vision, a collection of puritan prayers in which this prayer is found. They have it in both a leather and paperback edition.