Here's what's going on! It's sticky and will remain at the top of this page until otherwise noted!

- The Shrimp Pimp

- Your Demise

- Awesome

- Mute

- Thor

- Homs

- Doug Funny

- Agent Nine

- Raven Haired One

- Smurfette

As each agent is eliminated, their name will be revealed.  

A quick note to remember - if you don't make a kill by Wednesday,  October 15th at 12:00 noon, you will be automatically eliminated.... Just a reminder.

Why We Can’t End Poverty

Written by: Tim Glenn

I realize that what I’m about to post isn’t going to be very popular. But I’m willing to post it because I hope it will start a healthy discussion.

Here it is: Over the past few years, I’ve heard this phrase come up literally dozens of times at missions conferences, ministry events, churches, on blogs, etc. The dicussion turns to poverty and inevitably someone says “this is the generation that can end poverty.”

I don’t know if I believe that. In fact, I’m not totally sure Christians are called to end poverty. Before you go looking for handy throwing stones, allow me to explain:

First, let me say that I do believe there are enough resources in our world to take care of everyone. There’s enough food. Enough water. Enough materials for shelter and clothing. But to make sure everyone gets their fair share, it would mean an end to greed and corruption. It would mean a massive shift in human nature. I don’t think this generation, or any other, can accomplish that.

Secondly, I don’t know of any scripture that says we are called to rid the world of poverty. We are called to fight injustice. We are called to be a voice for the voiceless, look after the orphan and the widow. But I don’t know of any verse that says we are expected to rid the world of poverty.

And third, I wonder if saying that we can end poverty is contradictory to what Jesus told us:

“The poor you will always have with you…” –Mark 14:7 (NIV)

Granted, a lot of people misuse that quote. They use it as an argument against doing anything about poverty: “We’ll always have poverty, so it’s fruitless to try to fight it.” That’s not the point I’m making here. What many don’t know is that Jesus was actually quoting a passage from Deuteronomy. That original scripture goes on to tell us what we’re supposed to do about poverty:

“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” –Deuteronomy 15:11 (NIV)

Notice that the command is not to “end poverty” but to give. To share. And when a command is given, obedience is what’s expected. I don’t think we’re called to end poverty. I do think we’re called to be obedient to God’s command. It’s about taking care of those who are less fortunate. I think it’s about making sure that no child ever starves to death for lack of food, or dies from a preventable disease. It’s about making sure no one has to drink unsafe water. It’s about making sure everyone has a chance at life.

I think God allows poverty so that His glory may be shown … through His people doing His work … obeying that command.

My boss reminded me of the old ad campaign, McGruff the Crime Dog. Remember his famous catch-phrase? “Take a bite out of crime.” Not END crime … but take a bite out of it. I think we can take a bite out of poverty. I think we can stop some of the injustices. I’m just not sure we can end it.

Okay. Now you may grab your stones.

Last year, my college had a big end-of-the-year party with a hypnotist, vendors, bands, food, and games. One of the vendors was a Christian clothing company, and their booth was set up right next to my Campus Crusade group’s table, so, at some point during the day, a friend and I wandered over to their table. The guy who owned the company was a young, seemingly cool guy with tattoos and a backwards hat – the kind of guy who looks just alt rock enough to be “Seeker friendly.”

So my friend and I started talking to the guy while we looked at some of the tee shirts he was selling. We had been visiting with him for a few minutes when my friend picked up one of the shirts, a black tee with a screen print of a gas mask on the front and a logo on the back, and asked the guy what the gas mask symbolized.

“I kind of had the idea of how, like, Jesus is like a gas mask that we put on to filter out all of the crap that’s in the world,” he explained.

Personally, I was shocked. Not because Gas Mask guy is anyone special, and certainly not because his view is unique or different. I was shocked only because of the absolutely ordinary opinion he held. It's an opinion of Jesus that we all run into, and some of us hold, for better or for worse.

I kind of feel sorry for the Gas Mask guy. For me, it seems as if his Jesus is awfully small. It seems to me that if all Jesus is good for is just to be our gas mask, then Jesus isn’t really worth very much.

And yet Gas Mask guy can probably back up his position with verses. And let’s face it, Gas Mask guy isn’t all wrong, he’s just missing huge chunks of the story. And, really, it seems to me like he’s really missing out on what makes Jesus so great – The fact that, in encountering the risen Christ, we begin a journey on a path of becoming one with Jesus. It seems to me like he’s too busy worrying about heaven and hell and the evil in the world to see the underlying beauty of the whole thing – the fact that it’s really not about heaven or hell at all; instead it’s about God coming into the world to reunite us to Him.

I guess I really feel sorry for Gas Mask guy because it seems to me like he’s just trying to escape the world. Like Jesus is just there to protect him from the world while he’s here and to be his ticket into heaven when he needs to get there.

For me, when Jesus says in John’s gospel that he is the Way, he doesn’t mean that he’s our ticket into heaven. For me, he’s saying that he is so much more than just a gas mask to put on. He’s so much more than just a bridge to walk over on my way to heaven. He’s so much more than just a means to health and wealth. Jesus is the Way. His teachings and his life create a Way, a path in which to walk, and a guiding companion for that path. But even more than that, Jesus is God. Jesus is the God who was willing to come down into a broken mess in order to restore that mess back to the way God intended.

And so I think that’s really the problem with Gas Mask guy’s idea of Jesus. He’s got Jesus, but it’s Jesus by the numbers. And that’s one thing that God always has tried to keep us away from. I feel like God’s real message for us, the message of the Gospel, is that religious pills don’t work. That God wants something other than right theology or religious practices or sacrifices or being moral. God wants to love us, and for us to love him back. God wants to reunite creation with Himself, and, ultimately, I think that’s what Gas Mask Guy is really missing out on – God’s mission of reunifying everything to Him.

Wikipedia describes a pocket knife as this -

"A pocket knife is a folding knife with a blade that fits inside the handle and that is small enough to fit in a pocket. Blades are typically no larger than 3 to 5 in. (8 to 13 cm) in length. Pocket knives are very versatile tools, and may be used for anything from opening an envelope, to cutting twine, to slicing an apple."

I know some guys why don't carry a knife on them.  When I asked them why they don't pack a pocketknife, their answers varied from person to person.  "I can't have one in class," one person told me.  Bah, it is totally legal to carry a folding pocket knife with a blade under 5 inches (which is pretty freaking huge) anywhere on the MSC campus.  Another person told me, "I can't afford one.  New knives are expensive."  Another lame excuse.  Your knife doesn't have to be new; on the contrary, a knife with history (like one given by a dad or grandad) is so much cooler than a new one. 

I know one thing for sure - nothing is less manly than asking to use another guy's knife.  Guys should carry their own blade - here are 20 reasons why.

These first 8 reasons come from the Art of Manliness blog - a great resource for learning about being a man in the 21st century.  Notes added by me will be in italics.

1. Opening a box.
2. Cutting rope, tags, and string (or anything else... cutting is what knives do best)
   
3. Cutting an apple. I love eating an apple that I’ve cut with my pocket knife, slice by slice. You feel like a bad ass doing it. You hold the apple in your non-dominant hand and then make a slice with the knife using your dominant hand. After you make the slice, pinch it between your thumb and knife blade. Bring the blade to your mouth and deposit the apple slice. (I agree here - nothing is much cooler than eating an apple with your knife)
4. Opening a letter. Sure, you could use your finger, but using a knife is just more manly.
5. Weapon. Not the most effective, but it’s better than nothing.  (Maybe not as good as a 52" Scottish claymore, but if I were facing off against a grizzly bear, I'd rather my knife than nothing.) 
6. Camping. How else will you sharpen the point of a stick in preparation for stabbing your prey? And by prey I mean hot dog.
7. You never know when you’re going to have to MacGyver your way out of a crisis. Be prepared.
8. You need something to clench in your teeth when swinging from a rope.  (Pirates!  ARRRGGG!)
9. (These next 7 reasons are all new!  Enjoy!)  Check out Genesis 22:1-14.  Abraham needed a knife - imagine if he had to go over and borrow one before leaving.  That would have been tough to explain to your neighbor.
10. One word - Rambo.  You try digging a bullet out of your leg with a stick.
11. How else can you whittle the head of a wizard out of a piece of wood in a boring afternoon?
12. Without owning a knife, you can't learn to properly sharpen a knife.  Knowing how to properly sharpen a pocket knife is the basis for sharpening any other hand tool (chisels, hand planes, broad swords, etc.)
13. It's useful for gutting your first deer, antelope or moose kill when out hunting.  Try doing THAT with a stick.
14. You could tie it to the end of a long stick to use as a hunting spear, just in case you ever get lost in the woods a couple hundred miles from civilization and need to survive, ala Survivorman.
15. Last, but not least - the ladies think they're cool.  Given a choice between a two guys of near equal attractiveness, one of which is using his knife to do something listed above and the other is not, it's proven that 9 out of 11 times a lady will chose to talk to the guy with the knife.  Knives symbolize danger in the woman's mind - it's attractive.  Just be careful to watch out for the lady that carries a knife too, especially if it's bigger than yours.  She could be psycho, or awesome, or both.

From Strong's Concordance:

"Compassion - σπλαγχνίζομαι; splagchnizomai - Pronounciation= splänkh-nē'-zo-mī - to be moved as to one's bowels, hence to be moved with compassion, have compassion (for the bowels were thought to be the seat of love and pity)"

It made me laugh to learn that in biblical times, compassion was most closely related to a tummy ache. However, the idea that something could move you so much that it, well, "moved" you is interesting.  I don't know that I've felt any symptoms of this sort of compassion before, but I know that I have felt sympathy with other's sufferings.

I've never had my things washed away in a tsunami or cyclone.  I've never lost everything I've had to a fire.  Really, my life has been pretty much devoid of all catastrophic things.  Hence my lack of empathy.  I've never been there, I don't understand the feeling the way that other people do.  For instance, my wife is about to have a baby.  She keeps having contractions and trying to explain how they feel to me.  "They're kinda like having a really bad back ache (I can empathize), but the pain is all over your abdomen (no idea what she means)."  Without actually carrying a child myself, I really can't empathize. 

What I can do is sympathize.  I don't like seeing her in pain.  I get her hot packs for her aches and bring her drinks when she's too hot.  I don't know what she's feeling exactly, but I don't like it.  The same goes for victims of major disasters.  Just because I haven't experienced it, it doesn't mean that I can't or don't care.  I can feel sorry for those who lost their homes and lives in Hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in China.  I can send money to the Red Cross.  I really can be moved to the point of emotional pain by the pain that others feel.

This is the embodiement of Compassion.  Being so sympathetic to someone's pain that it drives you to do something about it.  This is why we start Compassionate tonight.  There is pain in the world, and Jesus calls us to do something about it.  "He saw the multitudes and was moved with compassion..."

7PM tonight in the New Buisness Building, Room 110.

So what is a TD anyway?  I'm not talking about Touch Downs or Total Domination, but about Thursday Dinners.  These free meals come with a bunch of people to hang out with, a place to sit, and a short devotional about something spiritual.  I know, I know, you're asking, "But why, oh great writer of the blog, should I, a lonely college student, come to eat at the Christ Center at 5pm on Thursday nights when I can get my meals in the Cafeteria?"  Well, reader, I am glad you theoretically asked. 

Firstly, it's a well proven fact that eating food keeps you alive longer.  Even more than that, it's well known that not paying anything for afore mentioned food will cost less than actually paying for the food.  Furthermore, eating within community makes aforementioned "free meal" even better, because according to the "theory of the ice cube tray," spending time with cool people makes you cooler.  Plus, cafeteria food has been determined to cause serious boredom, mostly due to the repetitous servings of "breaded meat-like cutlets" with "Masked potato-substance" and "Gravy-flavored semi-liquids."  Basically, it's a great chance to not eat there, just to break up the monotany of it all.

So come and enjoy tonight.  I believe spaghetti will be served, hot and ready, at 5pm.  There should be some sides and drinks as well, along with a bunch of super cool people to hang out with and get to know.  Just watch out for Z, he's a downer....

SeRFS stands for Safe Rides for Students.  It has existed since 2001 as a service that ChallengeMSC provides to all students at Mesa State.  If any student needs a ride on Friday or Saturday nights, we're here for them, no questions asked.  There is never any charge to get a ride from SeRFS, but drivers do gratefully accept tips to help offset the costs of donating their own gas.   

Why would anyone ever want to drive people who have had too much to drink around?  Wikipedia does a great job of describing what being a "SeRF" is:

"The rationale is that a serf "works for all," while a knight or baron "fights for all" and a churchman "prays for all;" thus everyone has his place. The serf works harder than the others, and was the worst fed and paid, but at least he had his place."

The term actually comes from the feudal system - Serfs were the bottom of the barrel, so to say, just one step above slaves.  But, they served an important purpose.  Without Serfs, the Barons, Knights, Kings, Dukes, etc. wouldn't eat, wouldn't have places to live, and would live in the squalor of their own filth.  Serfs were the unnoticed gears that kept the monarchy running.

In much the same way, SeRFS has been providing these Safe Rides for seven years, making sure that over 15,000 people that were not capable of driving themselves safely made it home without problems.  They give up their own time and money to serve others, and most people don't even notice the hard work they do. 

Before SeRFS began running on the weekends, the rate of student-aged DUI's was up, as were the number of sexual assaults and violent crimes in the areas that parties occur.  Once the idea caught on, all of these statistics began to taper off.  SeRFS was and is still making a difference on the Mesa State Campus.

So, next time you or someone you know is thinking of hopping in their car and driving home when they shouldn't be, remember that there are students out there who care enough to be the DD - even if it means not getting to go out themselves.

Call them anytime between 9 and 2 on Friday or Saturday: 257-9797.  It may be the best call you make all weekend.
 

 Once, long ago, men knew how to be men.  There were no "gender neutral" bathrooms, and there wasn't a question of who went out and killed dinner with a spear.  Things have changed.  There are lots of single fathers who have to do take care of the kids, and there ARE gender neutral bathrooms, and most men haven't ever killed any animal, unless you can count the cat that you accidentally hit with your Ford Taurus.  And you can't eat that (or your shouldn't at least.)

Now, these things don't necessarily define manhood, but they are a lot closer than TPS reports and cooking mac and cheese.  Many men have lost their concept of manhood.  During the time of college men set up who they are going to be for the rest of their lives, so this is the time that it's important to lock in their concept of what it is to be a man.

At Manday, we look at the real Jesus as our example of who we want to be.  Not the nice, boring Jesus that you see paintings of up on people mantle, but the dangerous, subversive, loving, protecting, strong Jesus that He really was.  Niceness is killing men, binding them to do the easy thing all the time, to give up on ever being a leader and to shun responsibility, and denying them the greater reward that comes with hardship. 

At Manday, we work to break these bonds and free men to be who God created them to be.  We live by four principles; 1. Accept responsibilty, 2. Lead courageously, 3. Reject passivity, and 4. Seek the greater reward.  We also laud the doing of anything cool - whether it be building a fire with sticks, throwing hatchets, knowing how to sharpen and use a broadsword, or watching too much Monday night football. 

So men, harken unto the calling that God has given.  Come, be a part of something bigger than yourself, learn how to fend off a zombie attack and share the wisdom of using the I formation!  Manday calls.  Clear your schedules.  Do something you've never tried before.  Live.

The Great and Illustrious History of Christian Challenge at MSC -

Christian Challenge was started here about 60 years ago, in the early fifties.  It flipped through the hands of various directors over time until 1980 rolled around, and a young man by the name of Darrin Crow took up the challenge given to him by his director, Chip.  Darrin has been leading Christian Challenge ever since (except for a short sabbatical once), teaching students about how God loves them and how He wants them to be a part in changing the world.

ChallengeMSC (aka Christian Challenge) exists to lead students to a deeper understanding of Christ through our five passions - Worship, Teaching, Leadership, Prayer and Evangelism.  These are the basis of everything we do at ChallengeMSC.  It is our goal to bring students to a level of spiritual maturity by the time that they finish school that they will have a strong grasp on their faith as they leave the relative security of the college campus and face the "real world."  They will know the why's and how's behind being strong in their beliefs in a world full of doubt and hostility against what they believe.

We have a bunch of weekly events that help us to reach this goal; everything from some awesome Men's and Women's groups and free food to both large and small groups and one-on-one discipleship.   We do have four full-timeish ministers on campus - the man, the myth, the legend Darrin Crow, the sports guru and general helper-outer guy Zach King, our resident geeky computery come-up-with-amazing-ideas guy Kevin Young, and our new addition, the amazing and talented Vicki Tucker, who is heading up our women's ministry.

So feel free to check back here occaisionaly, and see what is going on with ChallengeMSC.  On the top of the page there are links to info about all the directors (except Vicki... but we're working on it) as well as to our calendar and contact information.  Remember that God is God, and you are not.  His will wins in every situation.  The sooner you learn that, the easier that college will be.