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		<title>The lies we tell</title>
		<link>https://nickgeek.com/the-lies-we-tell/</link>
					<comments>https://nickgeek.com/the-lies-we-tell/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick the Geek]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:47:45 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[All]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jesus Freak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Youth Pastor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian lies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[responsibility]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teaching]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://nickgeek.com/?p=795</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>I cannot blame the population at large for believing and spreading lies.  We judge truth by the authority that spoke it. If you pastor says something is true then you are likely to believe him unless something of greater authority (in your mind) contradicts that truth. Some call this laziness, but in all honesty it is the human state. If a teacher proclaims a truth that you cannot verify on your own you will believe it even if it isn't true.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://nickgeek.com/the-lies-we-tell/">The lies we tell</a> appeared first on <a href="https://nickgeek.com">My Experience As...</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/nickgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/lies.jpg"><img data-recalc-dims="1" height="300" decoding="async" src="https://i0.wp.com/nickgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/lies-300x200.jpg?fit=300%2C300" alt="What can stop the lies?" title="lies" width="300" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-796" /></a>A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post called, &#8220;<a href="http://nickgeek.com/2009/12/no-wonder-people-dont-trust-christians/">No wonder people don&#8217;t trust Christians</a>&#8221; where I related a lie that Christians like to tell. To be honest a great many Christians spread lies and don&#8217;t even know it.  Some of the lies are innocent, like the rope tied to the priest&#8217;s ankle when he went into the holy of holies on yom kippur. You might believe this is a Biblical truth, but unfortunately it is just a cool idea that isn&#8217;t found in the Bible or any other ancient Rabbinic texts. The first time it shows up is around the 14th century, long after the Temple was destroyed. Other lies are more malicious, like claiming that dinosaurs are all part of an Atheistic conspiracy.</p>
<p>Of course not all Christian buy into the lie and it seems that generally the more flagrant the lie is, the fewer people hold to it. I really don&#8217;t know anyone personally that believes the dinosaurs were planted by scientists to corrupt the world so I feel pretty good about the people I know.  I do know many who have believed other lies until I was able to show them proof of the truth.</p>
<p>The question I asked two weeks ago was &#8220;why do we believe these lies?&#8221; I got a lot of great answers and I believe there is truth to them all.  Generally I would say we believe and spread lies because we don&#8217;t know any better. If I give my children an apple and tell them it is an orange their whole life then they will call and apple and orange.  Of course it doesn&#8217;t make the apple into an orange and they will be mocked in school when they look at the flash card for &#8220;A&#8221; and loudly call it an orange, but it wouldn&#8217;t be their fault.</p>
<p>There is a reason why Paul says that people should not seek to be teachers and why Peter says we will be judged more harshly.  It is our responsibility to find truth and to teach that truth. The problem is, straight up truth can be a hard sell, or at least that is what we think.  Look at the news.  They don&#8217;t just report the news they make it sensational because facts don&#8217;t bring in the dough. In pulpits around this country preachers are looking for the next great illustration, something to grab the congregation and fill them with awe. Monday morning the preacher reads about the not so scientific find I spoke about 2 weeks ago and it seems the prayers have been answered.  No time to fact check just enough time to build a sermon around this nugget.  The problem is, the nugget was only pyrite and not real gold.</p>
<p>I cannot blame the population at large for believing and spreading lies.  We judge truth by the authority that spoke it. If you pastor says something is true then you are likely to believe him unless something of greater authority (in your mind) contradicts that truth. Some call this laziness, but in all honesty it is the human state. If a teacher proclaims a truth that you cannot verify on your own you will believe it even if it isn&#8217;t true.</p>
<p>This bring us back to the teachers, the authority that should bring truth. I fully lay the blame on them.  In the case of the lie I spoke of before, it was printed in a Christian text book.  This is not acceptable. It should not be preached or written by those tasked with keeping the truth. If we fail to fact check something and it turns out to be a lie then we are responsible.</p>
<p>Now I understand that there are times when a pastor or teacher might fact check only to find out later that the cited sources are bogus. This is the simple truth, if we mess up even through no fault of out own then we need to set it straight. That is the burden of authority and it cannot be shirked.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://nickgeek.com/the-lies-we-tell/">The lies we tell</a> appeared first on <a href="https://nickgeek.com">My Experience As...</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">795</post-id>	</item>
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		<title>Super Youth Pastor and the Church Split Engine</title>
		<link>https://nickgeek.com/super-youth-pastor-and-church-split/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick the Geek]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:19:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[All]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Adventures of Super Youth Pastor]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://myexperienceas.nfshost.com/?p=248</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Our frigintastical fanatic of freedoms is confronted with an engine of doom. The Bored of Elders has activate the church split machine because SYP was able to resist their mind numbing boredom.</p>
<p>The ground was shaking under SYPs feet and the drywall was already cracking. He stumbled into the sanctuary are saw a large crack forming at the back of the church and crawling to the front. The church was literally splitting in half. SYP rushed back into the bored room and grabbed the Elder Grump.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://nickgeek.com/super-youth-pastor-and-church-split/">Super Youth Pastor and the Church Split Engine</a> appeared first on <a href="https://nickgeek.com">My Experience As...</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><span><a href="https://i0.wp.com/nickgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/church-split-engine.jpg"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-863" title="church-split-engine" src="https://i0.wp.com/nickgeek.com/wp-content/uploads/church-split-engine-300x132.jpg?resize=300%2C132" alt="The church split machine" width="300" height="132" /></a>Our frigintastical fanatic of freedoms is confronted with an engine of doom.  The Bored of Elders has activate the church split machine because SYP was able to resist their mind numbing boredom.</p>
<p>The ground was shaking under SYPs feet and the drywall was already cracking.  He stumbled into the sanctuary are saw a large crack forming at the back of the church and crawling to the front.  The church was literally splitting in half.  SYP rushed back into the bored room and grabbed the Elder Grump.</p>
<p>&#8220;What have you done?&#8221; He cried above the roar.</p>
<p>&#8220;What have I done?  It is what you have done.  You left us no choice.  IF you don&#8217;t listen to us we must split the church for the greater good.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;What are you talking about?  How can this be good for anyone? Tell me how to stop it&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s too late, once the engine has been started it will take on a life of its own.&#8221;</p>
<p>SYP threw the Elder against a crumbling wall and rushed to the one that had activated the machine.  SYP snatched the controller out of his surprisingly strong grip.  It only have one button and pushing it again didn&#8217;t change a thing.</p>
<p>&#8220;Where is the source of the split?&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll never tell you.&#8221;</p>
<p>SYP dropped the man and went to Super Pastor who was fully alert by this point.</p>
<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve done it haven&#8217;t they?  They started a church split,&#8221; Super Pastor lamented.</p>
<p>&#8220;SP you gotta tell me how to stop this.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid you can&#8217;t.  When powers collide it often sets off a chain reaction that cannot be stopped.&#8221;</p>
<p>SYP was already leaving as SP went on.  The second he heard the word, &#8220;can&#8217;t&#8221; SYP headed for the door.  He could barely walk now but found his way to the sanctuary.  The crack was huge.  At the back it was large enough for a man to fall into.  Then SYP did something crazy.  He jumped into the fissure.  SYP figured the Split Engine would be at the base of the opening.  He fell for some time before tumbling into a cavernous chamber.  With his super ability to see in the dark he had no trouble seeing in the dimly lit space, and what he beheld was a sight to see.</p>
<p>There before him stood the single biggest machine SYP had ever seen.  It has massive pistons attached to the foundation of the church and electricity sparked within the spinning generators like lightening.  It seemed to exude doom, but SYP was still full of his high caffeine energy drink and rush straight towards the towering giant.</p>
<p>Despite himself SYP yelled at the beast, &#8220;you come against this church with grease and electricity but I come against you in the name of the Lord, and possibly a little ADD.&#8221;</p>
<p>There didn&#8217;t seem to be a control panel so SYP started pulling at wires.  They shot out great jolts of electricity but nothing slowed the device down.  If anything his efforts seemed to make it worse.  SYP tried using biting sarcasm to cut the pistons from the foundation but they didn&#8217;t react to anything he said.  Super Pastor might have been right, but SYP wasn&#8217;t ready to give up.</p>
<p>He pulled and strained against the shaking and bucking monster but couldn&#8217;t budge it.  The device towered over him and not even super strength could move it.  The cracking foundation was raining down about him now and he could see the split had moved through most of the sanctuary.  The cross at the front was clearly visible now.  The machine bucked SYP and he spiraled to the ground amidst the raining debris.  A huge chunk of the foundation narrowly missed SYPs head.  In frustration he picked up the great chunk of concrete and heaved it at the machine.  It wedged into the sparking generator and fouled one of the contacts.  The machine began to lose steam and SYP began picking up more and more slabs of foundation.  He eventually had to pull out chunks of the chamber wall and throw those into the machine trying to foul the rest of the contacts.  As the last of the shaking subsided SYP collapsed.  The crack had reached the front of the sanctuary but didn&#8217;t split the church.</p>
<p>SYP crawled into the broken and crumbling church.  It had not been split but there was significant damage.  The church would need to have serious repairs done to the foundation and it would be a long time before it was right again.  SYP was exhausted but went back to deal with the Bored of Elders.  As he pushed the door open he saw they had all fled.  Super Pastor stood there in shock.</p>
<p>&#8220;I can&#8217;t believe they did it.  I thought if I didn&#8217;t push them they would never split the church.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;SP, they didn&#8217;t.  I was able to stop the machine.  We have a lot of work to do but they failed.&#8221;</p>
<p>Will the church ever be repaired?  What happened to the Bored of Elders?  Who is going to clean up this mess?  Find out on the next SYP.  Same SYP time same SYP blog.</p>
<p></span></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://nickgeek.com/super-youth-pastor-and-church-split/">Super Youth Pastor and the Church Split Engine</a> appeared first on <a href="https://nickgeek.com">My Experience As...</a>.</p>
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