Back to normal life now...I had a lovely visit with my parents at their home near Dayton, Ohio (hi dad) over Christmas. It was wonderful to have some time to relax, talk with them, visit a few old friends, and generally do little else besides curl up by the fireplace. Too bad there was no white Christmas. In fact, it was pretty much in the 50s the whole time...the entire eastern U.S. has been having an extremely mild winter, unfortunately for the ice-fishing competitions in Minnesota, but fortunately for the golfers in Chicago. Must be global warming. (Oh, wait, there's a gazillion feet of snow over the Rockies...)
(See, Dad, I didn't really complain about the gloomy weather!)
After a much-needed rest and visit at home, I went to the General Youth Conference in Baltimore. As always, it was filled with nonstop challenging seminars and messages from the A-list of truly dedicated, Scripture-based teachers and evangelists. Wow. Some of my favorite parts were the seminars I went to by Samuel Pippin (excellent series on the authority of the Bible and how to deal with some of its difficulties which are often attacked), and sermons by Michael Hasel and David Asscherick.
Speaking of David Asscherick, here's a little description of the kind of young people you can find even in America today.
First of all, it must be said that pretty much every teenage girl has had some "idol" at some point. (Before you get offended at the accusation of "idol worship," let's define this as the kind of crush a girl gets on someone that she really admires, at the point in her life when she is working on maturing emotionally.) If you're a female, admit it, you've had one. Most average girls have crushes on either actors or rock stars. (Mine was Joshua Bell, of course.) If you're a male, I can't speak for you; I don't know what was going through your mind when you were 14.
My friend Jenn put together a chamber orchestra for special music Friday night, and there were a couple violinists sitting near me who were high school girls. As we were onstage preparing for the service, one of the organizers came out and told us that we would be staying onstage for the entire sermon. At that, a few of the girls started piping up, "What!! David Asscherick is speaking, right?? You mean, we actually get to sit right here the whole time while DAVID ASSCHERICK IS SPEAKING!!!??" After the service was over, we exited to offstage, and a couple of the girls just surrounded him, chattering to him with that all-familiar kind of nervous girlish talk, which goes something like, "Yeah, I'm a sophomore and I go to an all-girls private school in Chattanooga but next year I think I'm going to Collegedale Academy and our volleyball team always plays them and my sister goes to..." and so on.
The point is: isn't it refreshing that, if girls will be girls anyway, that there really are girls of the caliber that would idolize...a conservative, Bible-preaching Adventist evangelist?
7 comments:
"Adventist celebrities" do exist. I have heard of people who can't wait to see their favorite preacher on 3ABN or go wild when (usually a) he speaks at a church within driving distance.
Recall too, that I was a strong devotee of a certain pastor in the Dayton area that to my knowledge no longer is a part of the church.
www.rcpunk.com
then click on archive, scroll to bottom, and click on via. This was David Asscherick's band circa 1990-1995. I suggest listening to the "project one" entry and then the song called "my brother". take your pick, really. As a young christian man who has witnessed mr. asscherick in both walks of life, I must say that he had groupies in his past life (not groupies per say, but fans and devotees) as well as in his current vocation. It should be said that for as many souls as David has claimed in his modern life, he had to lay some to waste to get there and his old friends will never understand why he can no longer be their friend.
Pastor Asscherick has been truly blessed by God. Through him God has revealed so many truth's to me, I thank God for him and hope I can thank him personally one day.
Well actually lol, if I don't get to thank him before Christ comes I will most definitely be able to thank him after.
God Bless.
First off, David is a married man. I do not think it is cool that young girls idolize such a "nice young Christian man." Anytime anyone looks upon a man, especially one who is married, they are commiting adultery and therefor breaking the law of God that David so passionatley preaches. I think people need to remember that it is GOD who is speaking through these pastors and instead of idolizing the Pastors, we need to concentrate on what God is telling us through them.
I know David personally, he was a close friend of me and my family. He tought us to look towards God always, and that is what I am doing. I think those young girls need to do the same. If they are concentrating on David and how cute he is, how can they possibly understand the word of God that he is teaching?
Sorry, I didn't mean to start a discussion on lust. Never said that these girls were necessarily attracted to him physically, just that they were excited to meet him. Of course young Christian girls should be taught not to look on a married man in a lustful way, and likewise I don't like the idea of glamorizing/celebritizing (new word?) pastors themselves while ignoring their messages. But that's not the idea here nor the impression I got; sorry to come across that way.
The idea is that anyone who has been a teenage girl probably knows that they tend to be attracted to celebrities (male or female; look at Hannah Montana) for what they represent, not for who they are personally. Just saying that although 90% of American females between the ages of 12-17 have posters of actors and rock musicians hanging all over their walls (and another 9% would if their parents didn't forbid it), it's nice to know that there are still a few girls left who are drawn to preachers who truly preach God's Word instead!
Hope that helps. Inspiration--maybe soon I'll post a blog on the inner workings of the female mind! :)
If you can post a blog explaining the inner workings of the female mind, I will give you valuable cash prizes. We men can hardly wait to hear what makes women tick.
Richard
Well anonymous #1, I went to check out the site, and it was very interesting to say the least. I've always wondered how hard core Asscherick was in his past life. There are a few photos of the band in action there and one video (but I didn't download that one).
I understand your comment about laying waste. I went through something very similar when I left my old life behind. I guess the Apostle Paul is right, for some of us all things pass away and behold, all things become new.
Some people can't understand that, however, having never had the experience. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. One final thought to anyone else who reads this post and comments:
God promises us that if we seek him with all of our heart we will find him. Don't give up.
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