Yearly Archives: 2005

A Wedding of Post-Moderns

Two years ago, I attended a Youth Specialties Conference in Indianapolis with about six others from my church. At one point, they had a contest to see who, among the hundreds of people attending, had the most combination of tattoos and piercings. We may have been one of the smaller churches represented, but we know our youth culture. Tony, one of our college students, won. I think he had 13 total. I don’t remember how it breaks down between piercings and tattoos. Tony did us proud.

Tony and MarciaTony heads up our concert ministry. Every month, 80-140 teens and young adults crowd into our downstairs fellowship hall for a concert with 3-5 bands of the hard-core variety. Lots of screaming, little comprehension of lyrics. If there, indeed, are lyrics. Pam and I attend most of the concerts. It’s a fascinating crowd. There is swearing and smoking and the F-word splattered on black T-shirts and adornments that smell occultish. A few months ago, someone peed on a children’s Bible in the church. I’m glad these types of people come to our church. And we have Tony to thank for that.

Tony grew up with no church background. None. He was exposed to Christians through Christian concerts like the ones we do. However, he became a Christian pretty much on his own. It was a case of God reaching down, directly to Tony, and grabbing hold of him. One night in the privacy of his own apartment (having had to leave home while still in high school, I believe), Tony accepted Christ. Nobody told him how to do it, what to pray, or anything else. Just him and God. How much purer can you get?

On New Year’s Day, Tony and Marcia were married. They met at Taylor University-Fort Wayne, and have been dating for the past year or so. A great match. Marcia’s upbringing was more traditional than Tony’s–a Christian family, and she did the cheerleader thing. Some might say Tony “corrupted” her, though it wouldn’t be her parents. Or me. They just fit well together.

The wedding was held at my church, Anchor. I was surprised that Tony and the four groomsmen wore tuxedos, that the gals wore regular wedding gowns, and that Marcia’s wedding dress was traditional and gorgeous. But they also, all of them, wore Converse tennis shoes. A nice touch.

At the reception afterwards, they served vegan cake and regular cake. Both Tony and Marcia are vegan. And they’re both skinny as can be. I suspect that, though God doesn’t disapprove of eating meat, their diet is more honoring to God and a better stewardship of his temple than the fatty intake of most of the rest of us. Pam likes chocolate cake, but the only chocolate was vegan. I brought her a piece, but didn’t tell her. She remarked that the icing was hard. Well, it was hard on my vanilla non-vegan cake, too.

For the dance–yes, people danced in our United Brethren church–Tony and Marcia chose disco music. Another nice touch. It lent a somewhat bizarre atmosphere to the reception.

Tony and Marcia love the Lord. I wish the best for their marriage. Many Christians would consider them (or at least Tony) a little “out there.” But I’m a huge fan. Tony is one of the most evangelistic persons in our congregation, and he’s made a difference in people’s lives. May that continue and thrive.

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2004 – A Most Eventful Year

I think 2004 was the most eventful year the world has seen since 1968.<

That year, 1968, is somewhat legendary. There’s even a book about all the things that happened in 1968. Consider: the Tet Offensive, Nixon is elected, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy are assassinated, North Korea seizes the Pueblo, the Mexico City Summer Olympics (Bob Beamon, John Carlos and Tommie Smith, Dick Fosbury), the Grenoble Winter Olympics (Peggy Fleming, Jean-Claude Killy), the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, the USSR invades Czechoslovakia, the turbulent Democratic convention in Chicago, Jackie Kennedy marries Aristotle Onassis, Tigers beat the Cardinals, movie ratings system begins, Apollo 8 orbits the moon for the first time, and the Paris Peace Talks begin. It’s hard to top that.

But 2004 was no slouch. Here’s my list of major, or notorious, events in 2004 (in no particular order).

  • The US Presidential election, and the discussion of moral values.
  • Reagan dies.
  • The Red Sox win.
  • The Madrid train bombings.
  • Dan Rather leaves amid controversy.
  • The Passion of the Christ movie and controversies.
  • Terrorists take over a Russian school.
  • Three hurricanes hit Florida.
  • The Summer Olympics‚ÄîMichael Phelps, Paul Hamm, the USA men’s hoopsters.
  • The Pistons-Pacers brawl.
  • Gay marriage legalized in Massachusetts.
  • The Abu Ghraib scandal in Iraq.
  • Goodbye Yasser Arafat. We promise not to miss you.
  • The world horrified by the beheadings in Iraq.
  • The Janet Jackson Super Bowl flap.
  • Pat Tillman killed in action.
  • Billy Graham’s last crusade (probably).
  • The controversy over Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” movie.
  • “The Return of the King” wins a record number of Oscars, including every one for which it was nominated.
  • Martha Stewart goes to jail, Scott Peterson is convicted, Kobe and O’Reilly settle out of court.
  • And finally, the monster disaster of our lifetime: the tsunami. That was the real capper.

That’s a pretty impressive list. It at least gives 1968 a good run for the money as the most eventful year of my lifetime. And I haven’t even mentioned Britney’s two weddings and Julia’s twins.

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