All pics this week. Hope you had fun at the Elements Christmas party. I sure did.

I think this is the last post of the semester. Maybe next week, after I’m done with finals, I’ll write some grandiose farewell.

I should also mention that next semester I (David Shultz) will not be writing the blog for Calvary Elements. I’ve enjoyed it immensely and I think we can all agree that we’ve had some good times doin’ stuff on the interwebz together. I wouldn’t trade the memories for anything, except maybe straight A’s on my finals….or like 2 million dollars….or one million. But hey, those are all really awesome things that I’ll probably never get sooooo consider yourselves valued….and truly, all kidding aside, you are valued by me and the rest of Calvary Elements.

It’s been real.

God Bless.

On Friday 11/9/11 Elements is having a CHRISTMAS PARTY. From 7pm-10pm at Erica’s house. You can easily get directions or a ride if you want, just ask me (dshultz14@gmail.com). The party is bad-sweater-optional, butI know a lot of people are definitely going to be rocking some heinous wool.  Contact Timmy for the details (timothyhessels@gmail.com)

Don’t forget to come ICE SKATING with Elements tonight at 10:30pm at the psu ice rink. Cost is 8 dollars if you need to rent skates, and a little less if you don’t.

On to the fun.

this concludes Friday fun. see you at ice skating tonight and if not, see you at food packing for Somalia tomorrow!

have a good weekend!

Not that long ago I re-read one of my favorite childhood novels – To Kill a Mockingbird. There’s so much I love about this story, but this time around God drew my attention to one particular scene. At the time I read it I was struggling with some big questions (about life, God, decisions, etc), and I was hitting the point of exhaustion with how troubled I felt without answers. Literally exhausted (taking a nap, in fact, while sick with a cold), I read these lines before dozing off; they are of Atticus (the father) talking to Scout (his daughter):

“…’but when you are in trouble, you become easily tired’: soon I was hiding in his lap and his arms were around me.

‘You’re mighty big to be rocked,’ [Atticus] said.”

While resting in bed, this picture of the spunky and strong Scout collapsed in the arms of her father came as gift from Jesus. She is clearly too old, too big for rocking in the lap of her Dad, but he embraces her and rocks her anyway. I don’t often hear from God in this way, but in that moment I so strongly sensed my Heavenly Father’s invitation to sit in his lap and rest in his arms. The invitation came in the form of a whisper of Psalm 131:

My heart is not proud, LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
 But I have calmed myself
and quieted my ambitions.
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.

Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.

In the wake the PSU sexual abuse scandal, I had to return to this moment from To Kill and Mockingbird and this psalm. As someone close to a few people who are survivors of child sexual abuse, these last few weeks have been very heavy, surfacing more questions than answers: Why did God allow this in their lives? Where was he when it was happening? Why does God protect some people and not others? Where is the justice for them? Sometimes life’s questions come faster than the answers. They stack and stack (like a Tetris game going south) until we are overwhelmed. As a Christian who feels compelled to not check my brain at the door, this can be a curse. But here’s the blessing: the God of the Universe invites me to stop striving, and no matter how old I get or how much pressure I feel to have it all figured out, God lowers himself to me and waits with open arms.

This is not a cop out answer, but the reality is His ways are not my ways, his thoughts are not my thoughts. They are higher, better, as high as the heavens are above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9). There are many things in this life that I do not “get.” But even in trouble and tragedy, I choose to believe in a loving, good Father God. My mind is finite. I’m really just a child, and the more I come to terms with who He really is and who I really am, I realize I’m just a frail, lost, desperate kid in need of a God who will stoop down, scoop me up, and hold me in his arms of love. May I let go of pride, and choose hope. And may we all find deep rest in the arms of our Abba this week and always.

This. Is. The. Recap. We’re about recapitulate where no man has before recapitulated. Hold on to your undergarments, chiefly your socks, because it’s about to get real.

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Monday was our last night in Proverbs for the semester! That’s actually unbelievable; time goes so fast. Steve started off with an overview of what we’ve talked about in Proverbs: wisdom regarding alcohol & partying, wisdom in discerning the future and guidance, wisdom with money, wisdom with sex and relationships, wisdom and work & laziness, wisdom and the power of words and gossip, and more.

That’s a lot of wisdom and Steve asked the question, “Are we any wiser for it? Have we implemented any of this wisdom?” That’s a great question Steve.

We often times have a very hard time doing what we know we should do. We know we should read the Bible, but we make excuses or “run out of time.” We know we shouldn’t curse, but then despite our best efforts we find ourselves uttering obscenities when we realize we forgot to do the homework. Oops. We’ve all wasted time, procrastinated, and done things that Proverbs has warned us against.

Why???? How do we REALLY change? I genuinely don’t want to sin! I know it offends God and it makes me look like a poor representation of Christ to those around me. I’d love to stop sinning entirely but try as I  might to change my behavior, I  just can’t seem to stop. Did you notice the italicized words?

For starters I think it’s important we admit that we can do no good apart from the Lord. In John 15:5 Jesus says, ”I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” We are powerless to change on our own. Second, and perhaps just as important, is the idea that it’s not our behavior that needs to change but rather our hearts. This is Truth with a capital T.

Solomon, being the wisest of dudes, knew this was Truth too. There are numerous verses in Proverbs that talk about the paramount importance of the heart.

PR 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart,

    for it is the wellspring of life.

PR 16:23 A wise man’s heart guides his mouth,

    and his lips promote instruction.

Whether you realize it or not, you know this is true. Think about the last time you were some place where there was really power, moving worship going on. Think about how you felt when it was done and your heart was focused on God. If you’re anything like me, lust, jealousy, hate, profanity, greed, etc are the last things on your mind. The temptation to curse or tear some one down is gone. Why? Because my heart is fixed on God. It’s no longer some enormous effort of mine that keeps me from sinning, but rather my heart’s love for our amazing and merciful God.

Luke 6:45 says,  The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Trying to modify our behavior is really about us having control. “I  don’t want to sin anymore, so I  am just going to stop.” Perhaps our thinking should be more along the lines of, “It is offensive to God when I sin, so I need to ask God to change my heart so that my actions will follow.”  It’s crazy that we can be selfish in the way we try to stop sinning.

When we try to do good things on the surface to mask our corrupt hearts, it’s like putting a veneer over a cavity. Or a better analogy (the one Steve used) is this:

If I have a fruit tree, and I want it to grow delicious fruit, I can do a couple things: I can nurture it, water it, care for it, and especially feed the roots. Then it will bear good fruit. Or, I can grab a bushel of good fruit from the store, grab a stapler, and start fruit stapling. Same result, right? Yes…and no, of course not.

Stapling fruit to a tree (as ludicrous as it sounds) is similar to us trying to modify our behavior so it looks good on the surface. Unfortunately, like the tree, this isn’t sustainable; the fruit rots and we fall back into the same sins after a lot of wasted effort. We haven’t fixed the real problem.

Our new hearts must come from God. Steve gave these verses,

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

The great exchange. We give our heart to him, he gives us a new heart!

PR 23:26 My son, give me your heart

    and let your eyes keep to my ways,

We trust in him, and he leads us:

  PR 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart

    and lean not on your own understanding;

    PR 3:6 in all your ways acknowledge him,

    and he will make your paths straight.

The words of scripture are encouraging in this regard. We must give up our hearts to God and surrender ourselves and, in turn, God will give us hearts for Him–hearts that are so filled with his love and grace that they naturally overflow into our actions, words, decisions, and use of time. We will be wise only if our hearts are changed first.

I’ve reiterated, a few times in this recap, how important it is that we understand that it is through God that we change our hearts and how it’s not about our effort to modify our behavior. This is true, but I feel I would be remiss to leave it at that. I must clarify that this DOES NOT mean that changing doesn’t take effort on our part. No, changing absolutely requires a lot of effort. Rather it’s a matter of where we direct our effort. Changing the heart is HARD and we can’t do it alone, we need God’s help and we need to pursue him vigilantly and daily.

Furthermore, changing our hearts DOES NOT mean that we should abandon our efforts to stop sinning. In Leviticus 20:26, which Peter quotes again in the New Testament, God issues a very serious command to his people, “Be Holy, for I am holy.” This still applies to us today. We are striving to be like God in every way. We do no get license to sin if we don’t feel like trying to stop. Our hearts aren’t going to change overnight, but rather it will be a long process requiring diligent effort on our part to seek God above all else. While we’re in the midst of this process (i.e. always) we must do our best to honor God with our actions even if our hearts aren’t yet overflowing with love and Godliness.

The walk of a Christian is just that–a walk. We will never arrive at perfection, but be encouraged because along the way we get to develop a real and personal relationship with the Creator of the universe and the Author of humanity’s salvation. God is good.

–

Well that went a lot longer than I thought it was going to. It’s 3:06am eastern standard time which means I have class in exactly 7 hours and 4 minutes…which means I gotta get to bed. Check back tomorrow (today really Dec 1) for a leader post from Erica. It’s gonna be a good one.

Blessings and peace,

David

Somalia Food Packing

Elements, after much toil and trouble, will be taking on the 2-4 time slot with Somalia Food Packing on Saturday. BE THERE!

Right now a huge drought is occurring in the Horn of Africa. Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia are experiencing the worst drought and famine since the 1980′s and in some places it is the driest it has been in 60 years. It is estimated that 12 million people are in need of food aid and 29,000 children under the age of five have already died. The Goal is to raise $34,560 (138,240 meals at $0.25 per meal) and recruit 700 volunteers to pack in 5-7 two hour sessions to help with this great famine.  We want this to be a city-wide effort and have many organizations and community members working together.  Please spread the word and join us in this effort! More Info/Sign-Up: www.fixworldhunger.com

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Again, that’s happening THIS Saturday from 2pm to 4pm!

Aside from that, there are no official Elements events until next week. There have been, however, rumors of an “unofficial” ice skating event taking place on Friday evening. If you’re interested in going ice skating contact me (dshultz14@gmail.com) for some details. I heard Holsing and Hessles are gonna be there, and you know what they say, when two kids whose last names both start with “H” are at the event, it’s awesome.

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We also wanna bump the Jubilee Conference ’cause it’s coming up faster than you’d expect:

Jubilee!

http://www.jubileeconference.com/

Just. Go.

This conference is about two basic ideas: 1) God cares about everything (down to how we build our houses and what we wear). And 2) Us caring about everything through a Biblical understanding is part of the Kingdom Work.

Amazing, amazing, stuff.

I’ve gone every year since I was but a little freshman and I will attest to the awesomeness of the Jubilee Conference.

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We’re also bumping prayer big time this week? Why ’cause prayer is awesome and good and Elements cares about prayers (poetry YEAH!):

Prayer for PSU: I know it’s easy to want to just put all the events of the last two weeks behind us. Let me urge us to not do that. Our response as Christians should propel us into continued prayer for our campus. God promises that if we, his people, humble ourselves and pray…and turn from our idols, he will hear our prayers, forgive and heal our land. (2 Chronicles 7:14). We need to keep praying and interceding. If you want to join in this movement…or would like to be a part of a 24/7 prayer for 40 days, please contact us (lynn@calvarysc.org)

Prayer Through Elements: CLICK THE PRAYER TAB UP TOP ON THIS SITE! SERIOUSLY DO IT AS SOON AS YOU FINISH READING THIS. You can leave a comment and make any sort of prayer request/praise that you want and one of our site admins will put it up on the wall! This way we can all be praying for each other!! We ALSO have a prayer team that meets every week (Thursday, 5pm, meditation room Spiritual Center) and we want to be able to pray for specific needs in our little community and throughout PSU. So post requests, as detailed or vague as you want.

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That’s all the info I’ve got for ya’ll this week. Finish out the semester strong my friends. I’m working on the recap of Steve’s talk from Elements last night too! Should be up tomorrow since we don’t have a student post (I’m blaming you Kari Paul…and you don’t even read this!). Then we’ve got an excellent leader post lined up for Thursday. This ends the informative part of the post, scroll down for things I think are funny.

I realized I missed Friday fun last week. I am sorry, with the break beginning and stuff I was just so excited that I forgot…and peed ma pants a little.

But today I found this awesome picture. I hope you like it. It’s called “Just Two Dogs Running.”

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We Are…Repentant?

²³ Surely the idolatrous commotion on the hills 
   and mountains is a deception; 
surely in the LORD our God 
   is the salvation of Israel. 
²⁴ From our youth shameful gods have consumed 
   the fruits of our fathers’ labor— 
their flocks and herds, 
   their sons and daughters. 
²⁵ Let us lie down in our shame, 
   and let our disgrace cover us. 
We have sinned against the LORD our God, 
   both we and our fathers; 
from our youth till this day 
   we have not obeyed the LORD our God.” Jeremiah 3:23-25

The cries of “We Are…Penn State” have taken on new meaning this past week, a week that we will never forget and don’t want to remember.

I’ve struggled to put into words what this has felt like. I’ve heard more than a few people here compare it to a death in the family, or even our own 9/11, and neither of those is far off. The events of this past week have had a shocking, seismic, things-will-never-be-the-same quality, combined with our entire community processing grief and horror together.

Now, at the beginning of week 2 “after Sandusky,” the response has already begun, with prayer, the candlelight vigil, the blue ribbons for child abuse, and the charitable giving.

While I’m heartened by positive responses, my fear is that we will try to move on too quickly from this. It is crucial that we respond in thoughtful, heartfelt, and as Christians, godly ways, to the events of this past week.

The comparisons to 9/11 or a death in the family are worth exploring, because it should cause us to ask “What exactly has died?”  Michael Weinreb, a writer at ESPN and State College native, wrote an article called “Growing Up Penn State” with the subtitle: “the end of everything at State College.”  “Everything.”  Interesting word choice. It’s not the end of Penn State. It was the end for Curley and Schultz, Spanier and JoePa. It was the end of Sandusky’s unspeakable acts. It is hopefully the beginning of the end for those who were victimized.

But I hope it was the end of something else here: our Penn State idolatry. Here in Jeremiah, he says the in the lands of the hills and mountains, people have believed an idolatrous lie. It’s the same way in the shadow of Mt. Nittany. Because let’s face it, we have given ourselves over to the rampant, idolatrous love of all things football, JoePa, and Penn State. We’re even enamored with our ability to pull ourselves together and show the rest of the world how fantastically great we are at doing good, whether it’s raising money for kids with pediatric cancer, or money for kids who are victims of child abuse.

I use the word idolatry intentionally here. And I mean it in all its awful, gory, biblical sense. It’s not uncommon for Christians to talk about idolatry, and say “I make an idol out of school, or relationships, or comfort.” I wonder if we (including myself) really know what we’re saying.

If we did, we’d probably soften our language, because idolatry is something that is radically destructive. It is disgusting. It leads to unspeakable horrors.

What’s so idolatrous about Penn State, you might ask?  Well, think with me for a minute what we love, celebrate, treasure, and boast about around here:

• Our football program that’s never had a major violation
• The man who built that football, and in many ways the University, St. Joe.
• A world-class University, that could simultaneously be #1 party school and #1 recruiting destination according to the Wall Street Journal. We’ll have our cake and eat it to, thank you very much.
• The myth of safe, secure, comfortable, “Pleasantville” Happy Valley

No wonder people have been talking about the cult of Penn State, and the cult of Joe Paterno.  As one student told me on Friday, “everybody who comes here has to buy in. If they don’t, they transfer out after a year or two.” How do you buy in?

Here in the Valley, we’ve allowed idolatry to flourish.  We’ve been using religious and worship language about our devotion to Penn State for years.

• We have shrines & houses of worship.  The Nittany Lion shrine is the 2^nd most photographed place in Pennsylvania. The JoePa statue. And Beaver Stadium is a house of worship with seating capacity that is second only to one.
• We riot when our idols are taken away (just like the people of Ephesus in Acts 19).
• We worship sexuality, celebrating “do what feels good, it’s just a normal appetite,” words that Sandusky could have used to justify his actions.
• Finally, and most awfully, as Jeremiah says, idols “consume” our sons & daughters. The wicked Israelite kings worshiped the Canaanite god Moloch. This god was worshiped through child sacrifice, through the offering up of the first born in the flames.  When this sacrifice occurred, the musicians were commanded to make so much noise so that the parents would not hear the cries of their child and change their minds. Idol worship drowns out the cries of the children.

Is Penn State idolatry all that different from the biblical versions? No, it’s not. And we are complicit in this. Haven’t you found part of your identity in Penn State? Haven’t you boasted about Penn State in some way?  A little over a week ago, I would have told you I didn’t. I thought I had dealt with that.

But this crisis has uncovered Penn State idolatry in me that I didn’t see.  In my shock, I see how I’ve idolized the myth of Happy Valley, that “those things don’t happen here.” In my sorrow over JoePa being fired, I see how I’ve elevated that man to too high a place. In my defensiveness towards the media and people on the outside “who just don’t get it,” I’ve seen a desire to justify myself and keep the Penn State part of my image intact.  Like many of you, I’ve shed a lot of tears. Much of that was genuine grieving. But some of it was for the departure of idols close to my heart.

How about you? The words of our alma mater have gotten a lot of attention recently, particularly the line “May no act of ours bring shame.” But it’s the first words that have been sticking in my throat: “For the glory of old State.”

How do we sing of the glory of Old State, and reconcile that with the first of the Ten Commandments, “You shall have no other gods before me”? (Exodus 20:3).

No one here is completely innocent. That’s not to say we’re all equally guilty.  But we’ve realized that we do, in fact, bear some of the blame in this, in elevating people too high, in winking at the seriousness of sin and saying “it’s just college kids being college kids,” in helping to perpetuate a system that allows these evils to occur, and in worshiping a University, bragging about it, and finding our identity in it, instead of in Jesus Christ.

So, if we realize we’re guilty of idolatry, what do we do about it? People typically do one of two things with guilt: the first tactic is that we minimize, deny, and ignore. We say “it’s not that bad, not that big a deal.” But the charges here are so awful, so horrific, and already so infamous, that minimizing and denial just won’t work. So that brings in the other tactic: make up for it. Atone for it.

That’s what I believe has already taken root. I’m seeing constant updates online about how much Penn Staters have donated to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network. A worthy cause, and I’m glad Penn Staters want to see some good come out of this. But in the constant tweets and messages, I ask “Why are we doing this? Why do we need to let everyone know?” I fear the same old Penn State jingoism is already returning, the attitude that together, we can “overcome” this.

Do we really think that we can ever atone for these sins? What could we ever do that would somehow atone for the crimes committed against these boys? How do you measure it? How long should we feel bad for? How many blue ribbons should we wear? How many dollars should we raise? What kind of penance can we do? What on earth can atone for our sins?

Nothing can. We can never atone for these crimes. We can’t do enough penance.  To think that we can only dishonors and minimizes the suffering of those poor boys. This is one of those rare instances when, if we’re honest, we see that we can’t right these wrongs. The sins against those boys have damaged them forever.

We need something else, something outside of us. We need someone: a Savior.  As our heroes fall, we’re reminded there’s only one man who was perfect, one man who is worthy of our worship. Like Jeremiah says, “Surely in the Lord our God is our salvation.” Not in us.  We need someone else to take the guilt. We need someone else to deal with these sins, so that justice is served.  That’s the point of the Cross—that Justice is served, sin is punished—but that grace is simultaneously extended to us, the guilty ones.

We can’t approach a Savior by thinking we can work our way out.  That’s penance. We can only approach God through repentance. The difference between penance and repentance is that penance tries to earn our way out, while repentance confesses that we can’t. We are guilty, and can’t save ourselves.  Repentance is owning our sin. It’s humbling ourselves. It’s throwing ourselves at the mercy of God. There’s no other way. Repentance is also turning from our sin. It’s taking action.

How do we know the difference between penance and repentance?

• Well for one, we’ll make it about God, then others, then us. That’s what was so powerful about that midfield prayer on Saturday, when EVERYONE stopped.  It’s about God first, others second. Psalm 51.
• It’s not about us. We won’t brag about what we’re doing. We won’t keep score of how much money we’ve raised.
• We won’t be defensive when the media or others attack Penn Staters, rightly or wrongly.
• We’ll get rid of our idols. Turn from them.

And that’s what we must do now. It’s not time for “back to normal.” It’s time to repent. In the Bible, God commanded his people to destroy their idols, so that they would not be tempted to worship them. I have a JoePa cutout in my basement, which has some other Penn State décor in it. I took down JoePa today, probably some other stuff soon. Spending some time fasting and praying is appropriate. I can’t go back to “normal,” because normal was idolatrous. What about you?

Finally, what about those on our campus who haven’t been driven to their knees? It struck me that the Ninevites declared a fast and put on sackcloth and ashes. We…tailgated and had a football game. Not everyone is repentant. And this is where we, as Christians, come in.

The Bible is full of examples of godly men and women who stood in the gap. People who took action on the behalf of others. Like Jeremiah, who I quoted at the beginning. Many others, like Isaiah, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, repented for the sins of others, even sins that they did not personally commit. Abraham and Moses bargained with God, pleading for him to spare wicked people. Esther acted courageously, believing God had put her there “for such a time as this.”

Friends, it’s the same way for us. This is why God has brought us here—to intercede for our community. If you love Penn State and this community, let’s repent of our own sins, and then identify ourselves with our community, confessing their sins as well. That’s the Christian sense of “We Are…Penn State” this week.  Let’s not get back to normal, let’s call sin for what it is, so that everyone would truly know the power and grace and forgiveness and healing of Jesus Christ. Psalm 79 shows us how to pray:

⁸ Do not hold against us the sins of the fathers;

may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.

⁹ Help us, O God our Savior,
   for the glory of your name; 
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.  Psalm 79:8-9

We have spent enough time exalting football, and people, and Penn State. It’s time to exalt Jesus Christ! For a long time, some of us have prayed that Penn State would be more famous for what God has done, than for football or partying or THON. We now have that opportunity.  The THON mantra of “FTK, for the kids” was a modification of gamer lingo, “for the kill.” Let’s see that redeemed further to be “For the KING!”  Instead of singing about the glory of Old State, let’s sing about the glory of our King!

12/3: FOOD PACKING FOR SOMALIA RELIEF EFFORT: Volunteers Needed: sign up today! Right now a huge drought is occurring in the Horn of Africa. Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopiaare experiencing the worst drought and famine since the 1980′s and in some places it is the driest it has been in 60 years. It is estimated that 12 million people are in need of food aid and 29,000 children under the age of five have already died. The Goal is to raise $34,560 (138,240 meals at $0.25 per meal) and recruit 700 volunteers to pack in 5-7 two hour sessions to help with this great famine.  We want this to be a city-wide effort and have many organizations and community members working together.  Please spread the word and join us in this effort! More Info/Sign-Up: www.fixworldhunger.com

BIG BROTHER BIG SISTER OPPORTUNITY:  Did you know that there are currently close to 100 Centre County children who are looking for a big brother or big sister to be their friend and mentor?  This is an amazing opportunity to show Jesus love to kids in our area.  If you are interested in serving in this way contact Curt at Curt@calvarysc.org.

SERVE OPPORUNITY – Are you willing to serve and love kids for Jesus?
Calvary kidZ conneXion is Calvary’s ministry to infant – 5th grade children, at this time we find ourselves in need of helpers and teachers at our 1250 gatherings. Would you prayerfully consider making a difference in a kid’s life by helping or teaching in one of our kidZ conneXion classes this school year?  There are varied commitment level/roles, so we’d love to talk to you about how you might fit on one of our kc (kidZ conneXion) teams this year!
We are especially in need of a few more teachers for our Table service (Saturday @ 6:30PM) and our Classic service (Sunday @ 9:30AM) at 1250 University Dr. .  Serving at either would give you time to still attend Midtown at the high school. . If you are willing to consider the options, please contact me, Sherilyn Jameson, at sherilyn@calvarysc.org.

The following is the substance of a brief message I gave to Calvary Elements students on Monday night. There’s obviously much more that needs to be said, but this is a start.

1.    We Should Care—for the Right Things

For most of you, it’s a given that you’ll care deeply about what’s happening. It seems that everyone is talking about it, and has strong feelings about it.

But for those of you who are feeling detached from the whole thing, who tend to think it’s just a media circus that’s been blown way out of proportion…think again. We should care about everything that’s happening right now. We should not distance ourselves from this, even though it’s painful and disgusting. Nor should we just be detached in a voyeuristic, morbidly curious way.

We should care because this is our university. We should care because thousands of lives are being changed right now. Yes, we should care because it seems the entire media universe has descended on our little town. But most of all we should care because of the fate of those 8 (and counting) boys whose lives have been unspeakably damaged. We should grieve for them. We should mourn for them.

I’ll confess that when this story first broke over the weekend, the enormity of evil was slow to dawn on me.   I was in denial. Some of my initial thoughts were about Urban Meyer and if he would be Penn State’s next coach.  But then the horrific nature of what transpired snowballed through my mind.  And now that care has descended on many of us like a dark, heavy cloud.

So let me address those of us who care deeply: let’s care for the right things. More than football, more than the University’s reputation, more than JoePa’s legacy, we must care for those kids! Let’s pray for them, as Joe and others have continually reminded us to. Let’s pray that something redemptive can come out of this. Perhaps a new initiative to curb child abuse that puts THON to shame in terms of money, energy, and success?!

2.    Pray for Justice to be Done and for Mercy to Triumph

God desires justice. He hates injustice. He hates those who oppress the weak, the orphaned, the powerless. He hates those who are dishonest, who play favorites, who lead in self-serving pragmatism rather than doing what is right. Because God cares about justice, we should care to. And we should leave justice to him, and to the authorities appointed to carry out justice.

And since all of us stand before a holy God as guilty, and in need of God’s mercy, let us pray that mercy wins out. Yes, even a Jerry Sandusky is not too evil to receive God’s mercy. I see an understandable tendency for people to distance themselves from such a monster. But the truth will not be so neat. Even as new details emerge, and as people condemn and vilify those that should have done more to stop this, we will need mercy. We will need forgiveness. We will need grace. And grace only comes through Jesus.

3.    Be a Light

It’s for times like these that God has put Christians at Penn State. Amidst the sadness, grief, brokenness, confusion, and anger, Christians must be light. We can offer hope. As people sort themselves into camps for and against JoePa, Spanier, the Board of Trustees, the media, and more, we can offer people a different choice: neither blind rage nor naïve hope in the people and institutions that have failed us.  The smug, self-righteous condemnation of people on the outside is offensive. But so is the reflexive defense of anything and everything Penn State. We can offer people the light of Christ—light that exposes the deeds of darkness. Light that exposes what is truly evil and wrong, and calls it that; but also light that purifies and gives life.  We are here for a reason, to be the light of Christ.

And so let me challenge you here, with something that is proving to be hard for me: Don’t be a mere partisan in this. Don’t be content to simply take sides like everybody else, and ride the waves of outrage and media news cycles. Let your opinions reflect those of Christ. Talk about Christ. Reflect on what all this means from God’s perspective, and how this points us to our need for a Redeemer.   Times like these uncover a lot of raw things in people’s lives—minister to that with the Gospel. Offer them the hope and light of the Gospel.

One Final Word: And let me be sure to say this—if you are one of those who have been abused and unspeakably wounded in the ways mentioned in this case, please talk to someone. Please receive help. I know that coming forward and talking about it can be incredibly hard, but come into the light. Receive the healing and hope of Jesus to free you from fear, shame, and guilt. Please, don’t miss this moment.