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So after a week and a half long absence I have returned to benbartosik.com. My MIA status was due to a couple of combined circumstances. My internet at home was down, I was on reading week so not at school, and at work we were busy moving into the new gym so my 3 usual blogspots were unavailable to me.

This break did give me an opportunity to realize just how much we rely on the internet. Like babes to a mother’s milk we crave that connection as a normal part of our lives, barely noticing it until it’s gone. And when it is, that once delicious flow leaves us as Crack addicts on major withdrawal desperately seeking WiFi. Heck, even dial up seems sweet. Basically, we’re all so screwed if the internet actually did go down.

Anyways, all’s good now.  I’m back in action, back in style, and back with a vengeance.

Oh yeah, I saw the Hives last night. It was great.

It’s got a kind of contemporary warehouse/metallic/industrial feel to it. All we need are some curtains and solid lighting for the stage and we’re gold. 

Seinfeld isn’t genius.

There. I said it.
I’ll probably take some flack for this but I stand by that statement nonetheless.

Seinfeld isn’t genius. And the reason is this; it has fooled people into thinking that the mundane, ordinary nothingness of everyday life is actually entertaining. I suppose it can be given the credit of manipulative, or well marketed but certainly not genius. Somehow this show has managed to convince us all that there is something inherently humorous about waiting in line or ordering Chinese Food. This is not to say that I don’t enjoy the show. On the contrary, there are some episodes that I find quite funny.

But that is my point. It’s not the situation that is humorous so much as the people who are sharing it. To say that Seinfeld has some subtly genius insight into life would suggest that my friends and I had that same insight at the age of 15 when we were inventing ways in which to make our life experiences even more ridiculous than they already seemed.

Take any ordinary, every-day life experience; perhaps waiting in a bank line. The humor of the situation would ultimately be relative to the experience of the people waiting in line. A chartered accountant*, for example, may not find anything overly laughable about the situation, whereas someone with a better sense of humor would relay that experience in a totally different view.

It isn’t that Seinfeld, or many comedians for that matter, provide some new and humorous hidden insight into life so much as it is the viewers of the show who have already previously found those situations laughable and enjoy the show for that reason. There is no hidden wisdom to be found in the show. The shows success rests in its ability to target an audience whose own senses of humor allow the show to retell their private experiences through a public lens.

This is why telling someone who doesn’t find Seinfeld funny that they just “don’t understand the subtle genius of the show” is both arrogant and futile. There is no subtle genius and I’m sure Jerry Seinfeld knows this. There are those who laugh at life and there are those who don’t. If one falls under the latter category, trying to understand some hidden insight will only result in frustration because it doesn’t exist. And for those who fall under the former, stop kidding yourself, there is nothing that Seinfeld has that you don’t other than a budget and an audience.

*I apologize for the general assumption that those in this line of work have no real sense of humor. I am sure that there are many chartered accountants in this world who laugh. I just have yet to meet any.

Most Christians I know are terrified of the idea of offending people with their faith. For the most part they play it safe, stay within their comfort zones, and try to spread the gospel message of tolerant love without stepping on anyones toes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice sentiment. But this is not the gospel that Jesus preached.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Mat. 10:34)

That’s provocative language.

I’ll tell you what else is provocative in this culture. A gospel of joy, love, and hope. You go and preach this, in Christ’s name, and I promise you’ll stir up some controversy, something we shouldn’t always be so afraid of. We are to preach Christ crucified; a message that doesn’t rest in fancy wording, strong argumentation, and certainly not comfortable tolerance.

Easy faith, isn’t real faith. Let’s step out beyond what our culture deems acceptable and actually preach the gospel, that beautifully provocative message of love. Christ died and rose again and wants to have a relationship with the people he created and loves. It’s the meat of the message, let’s not substitute it for the easily digested salad of social niceties.

Jazz, meet hip-hop.

I recently discovered the broken beat/jazzy/hip-hop group Outlines and I am impressed. I love creative music. Anything that goes beyond usual musical boundaries and pushes the envelope is something I can dig. The mix of these particular genres usually excites me anyways. Plus they’re French, and that’s always a good sign. Anyways, check out this mp3. It features RZA.

Outlines – “Now That I’m Free” Ft. RZA

I like to rant so here it is. My “bad business” rant for the day. I was shopping today in two places (Chapters and A&W) and this poor customer service skill happened in both places. I’ve also heard it several times before and have failed to mention anything though it bothered me each time.

“Can I help the next person in line?”

A standard customer service line right? Wrong!
Not when you’re the only person in line and they’re looking directly at you. This never ceases to get my ever opinionated goat.

Talk about being treated like a commodity. It felt like they only wanted my money…
An effective customer-friendly way of phrasing it would have been “can I help you sir?” or, “I can help you now.” Or better yet, “Whenever it is convenient for you sir, I am ready and willing to complete your purchase.”

A customer should never be generalized to “the next person in line.” And on Valentines Day nonetheless… It cheapens me.

NBC has announced that although it won’t come back until the fall, now that the Writer’s Strike is over Heroes has been renewed for the ‘08-’09 season.

This is something I’m quite excited about since I wasn’t overly happy with the season finale of this past season although the rest of it has been fantastic. This is also good news for anyone who hasn’t seen this show yet since they can now catch up on the first 2 seasons. This show has continually impressed me since it first started and I would highly recommend it to those of you who are wondering what to watch with the lack of TV this season.

Until then though, I’ll just have to continue on with my other love: Lost and find out who the remaining Oceanic Six are.

And while I’m on the topic of entertainment, Superherohype has just put up a great interview with Guillermo del Toro, director of the upcoming Hellboy sequel and Hobbit movie.

Today marked the first successful completion of the new Springvale Student Ministries Podcast. Jay, Alex, Trevor, and myself round tabled some questions from students, discussed our program, and had a fun time. Definitely worth the listen!

You can check it out here.

“I lift my eyes towards the heavens,
Tune my ear to your commands.
Help me boast in my condition Lord,
You’re the God and I’m the man.”

There’s something about this song that I find entirely humbling. Both the words and the way he sings it are incredible.  This song begins in a sort of haunting mellow tone with just his acoustic guitar and his voice but eventually grows into this amazing session with violins and percussion and it’s just him shouting out his joy in the Lord in whom victory is won. It’s an 8 minute worship session that I find I get completely drawn in to every time. When he starts yelling “victory is the Lord’s!” you can’t help but feel your heart leap with joy. It’s on his Faith CD, check it out.

Tonight I’m giving a brief little message at Sunday Night Alive. I’m focusing on the question “What is it that makes you weep?” In Jeremiah 4 the prophet openly wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to his culture, his people, his generation. He says “My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh the walls of my heart. My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent.” (v. 19) That’s passion. My question is, what is it that makes your heart cry out. Not in a I’m-sort-of-slightly-sad kind of way, but what actually makes you cry out in desperation? The whole Sunday Night Alive thing is about bringing a younger generation from the Stouffville area together to worship God. The point is that we can be fired up and go out into our culture united, with the Spirit of the Lord flowing out of us. But if our heart is not weeping for our culture, what does it matter? Yes we can get together and be passionate, but are we equally passionate after we leave? Anyways, come tonight and you’ll hear me say it all again. 7PM

- God

In response to a discussion in my political science class on whether or not there is a universal standard by which to judge a government on. Here’s my answer:

Minimum human suffering – maximum national wealth.

All governments tend to fall somewhere on that scale. Though I would add that for centuries governments have managed to hide the reality of both aspects on that scale in order to appear effective in a global setting. For example. certain Western nations have managed to sweep their own national debt and poor population under the rug, turning everyone’s attention elsewhere. Now that’s an effective government!

This morning I was reflecting during my devotional time about spending time with God. It was a really obvious and basic thought that I was struck with but it struck me nonetheless. I realized, once again, that so many of us completely miss the point when it comes to our personal time with God. Most of us go one of two ways, we either make it a redundant habit or we tack it on somewhere during the day to appease our guilt. Although we may get a couple marks effort, both approaches are so far off course from what personal devotional time should be. Spending time with God should be a special time that you set apart for that purpose.

The best comparison would be that of a daily date with your love. That time is special and devoted. You’re not doing it because it’s routine and you’re not sticking it in somewhere when you have a free moment. I personally like to meet with God in the mornings. If possible I like to just get a table for the two of us somewhere and sit and interact with what he’s telling me today. So often though do I fall into those previous categories. My heart longs to be with God but I allow the distractions of the day or my selfish nature to interfere. A day will quickly turn into a week and all the while God is sitting at that table waiting for me each morning. Think of the blessings I am missing out on.

Let’s make the most of our time with God by actually giving it to him, not just paying him lip service because we think that’s what he wants. God desires so much more than that; a heart firmly rooted in him.

Don’t get me wrong, I hate winter as much as anyone; but this post isn’t about weather. This is a shout out for all those slow drivers out there who make a bad drive home even worse. I’m all for being careful and not being reckless but pretty well nothing warrants driving 20km/h on a major road. Seriously, if you need to drive that slow, don’t even leave your house. Just stay indoors and leave your car in the driveway. And if you’re not going to drive at a decent speed at least be courteous enough to pull over and let other people by. The drive home tonight felt slow enough that I considered typing this rant as I drove. I hate to even have to say this but we live in Canada. If you can’t handle the weather, go somewhere else. Your driving makes the rest of us, those that understand that winter takes up about 6 months up here, want to simply drive you off the road. I hope your tires all go flat. Thank you.

Over the past couple months I’ve been mulling over the whole “youth-led” student ministry thing and how efficient it actually is. Our Sr. High model is very much about getting the students to take ownership and actually plan and organize things. One of my main responsibilities is in training and engaging student leaders. This task, although daunting at times, is actually rather rewarding. I get to see positive change occur in students and see their own passions and visions become a reality. The problem is that a lot often gets sacrificed in the process. I am a bit of a scatterbrain myself and if I don’t do things as they are immediately on the front of my mind, they often get lost in the mess that is student ministry. This makes having to communicate with and wait on student leaders in accomplishing things a risky business at times. More often than not, I tend to completely forget key administrative tasks in this constant emailing back and forth and waiting as certain student leaders apparently “handle things.”

I’ve caught myself wondering a few times too many if it’s all really worth it. There’s no question that I could just take care of the details while the thing is on my mind and sacrifice maximum student involvement as well as a few days stress. Which boils it down to a simple ministerial question; what are more willing to sacrifice? Student leadership or fine-tuned, stress free ministry? The answer is obvious. I would undoubtedly sacrifice an easier ministry in exchange for the worthwhile stress that student led ministry so often yields because the results are so much more rewarding. Youth ministry isn’t about running a tight-knit program nearly as much as it is about seeing students grow in their relationship in Christ and seeing that reflect in their lives. Part of that whole experience is letting kids try things and sometimes fail as they discover their passions and gifting. Sure you sometimes lose efficiency along the way.

The way in which I finally came to terms with this model is the way in which it points to God’s view of us. In doing His work, Kingdom work, how often does He sacrifice efficiency in order that we might be involved? Of course God could do it Himself, and much quicker and better, but He understands the value of what takes place in our own hearts as we join Him in His work. God cares about the process as much, if not more than He cares about the actual end result. With God, there is no “means to an end.” The means is where the most valuable changes in life take place. And without those changes in any ministry, the end doesn’t even really matter.

Just finished downloading the 2 seasons of the Earthworm Jim cartoon. “Plan A – Senseless violence!” Gotta love it.