Theology Evolved?

I read a book once called "Who You Are When No One's Looking" by Bill Hybels... It is a book on Character. About being real, to yourself, and to others.

I post a decent amount of stuff on this blog, but not about what is going on with me I think.

So here is the deal...

I am going to be real about myself to you guys. I am going to post 3 real things I think I need improving on, and three things I think I do pretty good.

So...

Improvements:

1) I bite my nails... I know kinda ridiculous, but I think it is a stupid habit and I need to kick it.

2) I try and get into every conversation within a 10 foot radius of me. It isn't my business so I shouldn't try to mind it.

3) I rush people, I try and put everybody on my timer, and the world does not revolve around me.

Things I do pretty good:

1) I will be your friend, not your acquaintance, your friend, I will care and I will bend over backwards to help you if I think I can.

2) I read really fast, I love it because I retain it too. So you want me to go over something you wrote, I can read it and get back to you quickly.

3) I have a big picture mentality 98% of the time. Occasionally I fall into my own microcosm but not often. I try and get everything to happen together.

So there you go a little bit about me.


And the other big reason I wrote this, I need prayer.

I want to be in full time ministry, ministering to young people... I want to be a Youth Pastor. But I need it to be full time. My mentality runs along the lines of once you get me past halfway I am all the way. I can do 3/4 I go straight to full.

So please, be praying that God will open the doors for Karina and I to minister to the youth somewhere full-time.

okay not really, but how about a quote from the author of this blog.

"Whenever a church legislates rules/morality bylaws that are not clearly biblically-supported, they reinforce the spiritual celebrity paradigm." -- Zach Tanksley (me)

Your thoughts?

"I say the future needs artists who are called to the church who love the church and who are in churches who know how to love and lead them." -- Rich Kirkpatrick

I heard this today, and it speaks to everything that I am. I love it because I am an artist. I adhere to it because I do love the church. And I pursue it as I pursue vocational ministry, because I want to lead the church in love.

I was speaking with my buddy Matt "Supermatt" Anderson (who does some awesome psalms studies) and I was relating a crazy daydream I had while showering about a half hour ago, and i felt it blogworthy.

You see, God has put it hardcore on my heart to get back on the path he started me out on and start looking for a Youth Ministry position somewhere in the US. And as I was in the shower I thought about how much I like playing World of Warcraft (WoW), its my fun little escape despite my iBook's sluggish state, and how much I think there needs to be a balance of that with good ole fashioned outdoor sports.

So in this crazy little daydream, I was a youth pastor of a smallish church, and one of my students played WoW as well, and in order to better connect with that student I played a character and helped him out, and in return he would come out and play Ultimate Frisbee (UF) with some other guys in the youth group. It was a fun arrangement.

At UF, he eventually got a couple guys interested in playing WoW, and so I would meet with all fo them online and help out. Well needlesss to say, both our WoW and UF groups got pretty big, and in my day dream in WoW we formed a guild devoted to helping other people out, and being kind, and generous with what we had. And we gained quite the reputation and eventually we were honored by Blizzard, the makers of WoW for promoting a healthy WoW playing environment,a nd for showing a balanced way of life too.

The dream ended before my hooped for thoughts of kids coming to Christ through WoW though.... but I bet it happened.

So yah, my crazy little day dream.

I love my fiance Karina very much, as a matter of fact on March 1st, I get to start calling her my wife. This is extreeeeeeeemly exciting. Notice the extra e's... indicates intensity.

I was thinking about the many reasons I don't deserve her, which are to numerous to list. And I was also thinking of the ways she is absolutely the perfect counterpart to me. Because let's face it, I am a very insecure guy a lot of the time. I am unsure, and not always quick to make decisions, or sometimes get panicky about decisions I did make.

Karina supports me, and is quick to point out the strengths of good decisions that I have made, and also is willing to help me learn from poor decisions I have also made. That honesty is amazing to me.

Karina pushes me to lead even when I feel tentative about taking the reins on things, she believes in me even when I don't.

She loves me despite my sins of the past, and my blunders of today, knowing that I will screw up in the future from time to time too.

And in whatever I do, she does more than just give me a kiss on the cheek and a hug wishing me luck, she wants to be a part of it! She wants to stand by my side, encourage and give ideas.

Of all the people in the world who deserve a shout out, she is on the top of that list.

I love you baby,

Zach

I am Educating as a Youth Pastor:

“…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…” 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)

“…preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” 2 Timothy 4:2 (NASB)

This is an extreme important calling to me. Too many times I have reflected upon my bible classes in college or conversations with non-Christians who had real questions about the bible and realized how ill prepared I was in knowing the bible as something more than a collection of stories with morals. Historical context, language, cause and effect relationships, all of these were lost on me.

My hope is that through a Sunday morning or intense midweek bible study I can get the youth to understand why knowing the bible is important and showing them the intricacies that help the bible make sense.

As far as knowing why the bible is important, is because it is the single volume of literature on which we profess our faith, so to have a surface level understanding just does not cut it. If you are a professing fan of any given sports team, a devout fan who wants to show it, you know what is going on with the team: the history of it, the staff, potential trades, players, etc. Often times Christians have knowledge of their hobbies than the core part of their identity. It is important that we do not just send them out with a paper-thin knowledge, but rather a knowledge that covers much more and encourages a desire to know more.

I do not approach this naively, I know that there will be those who do not really care about the deeper aspects, and Christianity is just a cover, a façade, or something their parents made them do. I was one of those at one time. But what I do know is that I can try to do my best to educate, to be open to questions and to be a friend who cares to teach the students.