Here are some of the resources from that conference:

Pre-conference sessions:

• Annotated Bibliography for “Adam & Eve: The Bible, Historicity and Humanity”
• “Adam & Eve, Part 1″ – Greg Strand
• Part 1 Power Point – Greg Strand
• “Adam & Eve, Part 2″ – Hans Madeume
• Part 2 Power Point – Hans Madeume

Conference Sessions:

• Opening Remarks – EFCA President Dr. William J. Hamel
• “The Cultural and Ecclesiological Landscape” – Dr. Bob Yarbrough (volume improves at 12 minute mark)
• “Hermeneutics: A Biblical Framework” – Dr. Bob Yarbrough
• “Creationand Re-creation – Male and Female in the Image of God, The Fall and Redemption” – Dr. Don Carson
• “Family – Husbands and Wives, Love and Submission, Christ and the Church” – Dr. Don Carson
• “Church- Teaching/Authority in Context of I Timothy 2″ – Dr. Don Carson
• “Leadership in the Local Church and a Theology of Pastoral Care” – Dr. Bob Yarbrough
• Final comments by Dr. Yarbrough & Dr. Carson are recorded at the end of Panel Interaction #3

Panel Interaction (Note: The quality of the first session is poor)

• Panel Interaction Introduction
• Panel Interaction #1 – “Culture and Hermeneutics” (Poor Quality)
• Panel Interaction #2 – “Equal in Essence and Dignity, Distinction in Roles: The Home”
• Panel Interaction #3 – “Full Use of Gifts within God’s Ordained Structure: The Church”

Enjoy!  And discuss….

Related articles

• The Characteristics of New Calvinism (5ptsalt.com)
• The Intolerance of Tolerance D. A. Carson (trinityspeaks.wordpress.com)
• Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood (searchandtrace.wordpress.com)

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?  So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead, (James 2:15-17, ESV).

Jesus also gave a very poignant warning…

“The the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.  For I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’  And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers you did it to me,’” (Matthew 25: 34-40, ESV).

Then we know the flip side came those who were being judged who neglected ministry and service to the needy… the sheep separated from the goats.  Mercy to the poor does not save us, but it is fruit of our salvation.  It isn’t “the Gospel” as we have heard some say, but it is an implication of the Gospel.

And it isn’t optional.  So since this is something we all should be involved with I saw that  Bruce Wydick, a professor of economics at the University of San Francisco wrote a helpful article in Christianity Today listing the 10 most popular strategies for helping the poor.  He had 16 different economists rate each strategy on a scale of 0 to 10 in terms of impact and cost effectiveness per donated dollar.  He ranked them in order of greatest estimated impact:

1. Get clean water to rural villages. (Rating 8.3)
2. Fund de-worming treatments for children (Rating 7.8)
3. Provide mosquito nets. (Rating 7.3)
4. Sponsor a child. (Rating 6.9)
5. Give wood-burning stoves. (Rating 6.0)
6. Give a microfinance loan. (Rating 4.2)
7. Fund reparative surgeries (Rating 3.9)
8. Donate a farm animal. (Rating: 3.8)
9. Drink fair-trade coffee. (Rating 1.9)
10. Give a kid a laptop. (Rating 1.8)

Be sure to read the whole article as he lists faith-based organizations that operate with each strategy.  Wydick also offers some suggestions when deciding on an organization to contribute to.

Good stuff.

Related articles

• The Gospel in Spoken Word (caffeinatedtheology.com)
• Good News vs. Good Behavior (caffeinatedtheology.com)
• Quote of the Day- The Greatest Injustice (livesharp.org)

Last week the school district as blindsided by what is now a triple scandal. Everyone is aghast at the crimes themselves. Teachers and parents are angry at the administration’s desperate attempt to restore parental trust by displacing every teacher and staffer at the school. Taxpayers will be billed for the immense costs associated with both the problem and the proposed solution. Some point to the administration’s failure to deal with prior complaints against the teachers. Others place a large portion of blame on the unions that have fought so one-sidedly for teacher protections that

“Current union rules make it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers. Both of the accused men have been racking up complaints of sexual misconduct against their own students for decades, but each one was brushed under the rug and students were transferred rather than fire the teacher.

But the root of the problem goes deeper, far deeper.

The underlying challenge is that, while we are forced to trust people from time to time, people are inherently corruptible. We trust our government to men and women who cannot be completely trusted. We live amongst neighbors without being able to absolutely trust them. People evidence their limited trust when they make pre-nuptial agreements. Now, it is true that we do not completely distrust everyone, but we often cannot fully trust even our closest relations. Incest, domestic violence, abortion, theft from elderly parents, and patricide demonstrate this lack of trustworthiness in the nearest of kin, who really ought to be most trustable. Still, we find ways to cope with the reality that no one on earth is perfectly trustworthy so that we can live and function in this fallen world without become utterly isolated.

One of our ways of coping is that we discourage temptations. We hide our valuables. We lock our doors. We use signatures, passwords, PINs, locks, hiding places, oaths, threats of legal action, and secrecy to protect our interests against injury from—anybody. Mother and father don’t give unlimited financial access to their children. We ask about the character and family of each of our children’s friends. We make our children tell us where they are going and make sure they come back by an hour we deem proper. With a proper jealousy, we would tell our spouse, “No you may not spend all your free time with your new best friend ‘who just happens to be’ a person of the opposite sex.” Our approach to this aspect of life can be summed up in the proverb “Fences make good neighbors.” We establish boundaries and hold ourselves and others on the proper side of each of those boundaries.

So much for our private lives; our public lives are frequently the opposite. We take a libertine approach to public life. It’s not merely that we think law should not “impose morality”, we think public discourse should also not “impose morality”. In the main, society grants that a family can live morally if it chooses to; but too many think that such a family should be very careful to avoid speaking in a way that might make someone feel like we were judging them. Families, if they try to influence others to rise to a higher standard of morality, are condemned by those who insist that morality, like religion, has no place in the public square.

For some, the enmity to “traditional” ethical norms is even stronger. They turn things upside down. They “call evil good, and good evil; [they] put darkness for light, and light for darkness; [they] put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). Some tell us that homosexuality is good because it does not produce children—they see having children as a bad thing. Sex within marriage (except perhaps homosexual unions) is called slavery or prostitution; sex outside of marriage is advocated, for children, as a healthy part of growing up and, for grownups, a sensible way of getting to know if a couple is compatible well before either person should complicate things with the M word. Often, these people consider prostitution to be a perfectly reasonable commercial arrangement. I distinctly remember being scolded on one occasion, “Leave your wife alone!” when I shared what I thought was good news that we were expecting another child. He called good evil. The scolder was one who would have high-fived an unmarried man in the office that had “scored” over the weekend, thus calling evil good. This sort of people turns morality upside down. The Bible warns us “that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (2 Peter 3:3), so none of this should shock us. Sadness us? Yes. Shock us? No.

But these grievous problems develop into a rapidly spreading, deadly cancer when Christians buy into the premises of these wicked ethical systems. When Christians think that it is OK for Christian teens to dress lewdly, for them to use and listen to filthy language, and for them to watch movies with “steamy” scenes; when we think it’s OK for them to act the part of a homosexual in a high school musical filled with sexual innuendo; when we sow the fallen world’s amoral premise, then society reaps a bounteous harvest of immorality. It is not the world’s anti-proselytizing that by itself causes such massive, rapid decay; it is the church’s apostatizing that provides the dreadful efficiency.

Churches hastened this generation’s astonishing slide to Sodom when churches told the world that the Bible does not really mean that homosexuality is wrong. Church leaders said that anti-homosexual remarks in the Bible were conditioned to the culture from which they were made and that they are no longer relevant because our culture views these things differently. Christians told the world that it does not matter what the bible says; the bible is not relevant; the bible is not even true. It was Pilate who first famously retorted “What is truth?” A chorus continues that hellish refrain—accompanied by the church choir.

I am told endlessly, not just by non-Christians but also by Christians (or at least those who profess to be Christians), that we need to face reality: “Our kids are going to do it [drunkenness, drugs, sex, or some other vice], so we may as well face the facts.” Then we (some of us, anyway) give our children advice merely on how to avoid pregnancy. We are pleased when schools give children condoms so that they can have “safe sex”. When Christians deny that parents ought to teach their children right from wrong, much less to expect righteous behavior, we have a serious problem. The worldly are always “progressive” with morality, always pushing the limits of public decency; the world’s desire for a upside view of moral progress is not the worst of the matter. What is far more devastating is Christians legitimizing these corrosive new moralities by saying that it is OK.

Moral decay never stops with the next step. If you permit public broadcasters to take the Lord’s name in vain, they will soon treat you to Howard Sterns’ gutter-mouth (he was potty-mouthed on the public airwaves long before he moved to satellite radio) and Janet Jackson’s so-called wardrobe malfunction (the FCC fined her heavily, but somehow she anticipated that the stunt would either be overlooked or would be more profitable than any fine). If you let them legalize abortion, they will soon force you to pay for it. If you let them legalize homosexual unions, they will condemn a student for bullying who writes an editorial for the school paper opposing adoption by homosexual couples. And barring God’s intervention, things will get worse. But do not blame the world for this. Who were the most effective early cheerleaders for the homosexual agenda? Churches. We must blame ourselves. We stopped reading the Bible; we stopped believing the Bible; we stopped living our lives according to the Bible. We stopped being salt and light to a wicked and perverse generation. “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17a).

American society on the whole (and West Coast society in particular) embrace all manner of immorality saying that it is OK. Some Californians seem to think that sex can be safely used in almost any manner between consenting adults. They are dead wrong. Sexual activity beyond its proper bounds has a powerful tendency to corrupt. And this scandal is just one more example of the powerfully destructive nature of illicit sex. We need to prosecute these accused perpetrators in the L.A. school system to the full extent that justice demands. But if all we do is prosecute perps, we will soon be overwhelmed with more and worse. We need to also repair the breach in our society that generates—and will continue to generate—more and more violators and that at an alarmingly increasing rate.

We cannot expect the nation to be more righteous than the church. The people of God need to follow our Shepherd. And we need to stop following the wolves.

Some points to consider….

This is first and foremost a spiritual issue, and has been so far, far longer than it has been a political issue.  If the church has been more proactive in loving and reaching out to homosexuals we probably would not be facing the political/legal side of this in the state houses and courtrooms.  At least as much, I wouldn’t want to say never, but I think things would be much, much different if we had not punted here.  Which leads me to my second point.

We are really good at speaking truth, but not speaking it in love (I include myself in this category).  Also we often we put the cart before the horse and homosexuals are led to believe they have to change their behavior before coming to Jesus.  That’s behavior modification, that’s not the Gospel.

Our culture, in particular, the homosexual community, has linked sexual attraction with their identity.  Therefore when we reject homosexuality it is like we’re rejecting them.  We have to help youth understand that sexual attraction or temptation doesn’t have to define them.  What we do doesn’t make up the sum total of who we are.  As followers of Christ our identity is in Christ.

We often, wrongly, elevate this particular sin above all others.  Remember we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23).  We also tend to avoid those engaged in this behavior.  How can we reach those we are unwilling to spend time with?  When homosexuals only exposure to Christians is in the political realm well there’s something really messed up with that.

Also many youth struggling with this don’t feel any hope, but I’m encouraged by what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church at Corinth which saw its lion’s share of sexual immorality.

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God, (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, ESV emphasis mine).

First notice homosexuality wasn’t the only thing mentioned here so again we tend to elevate this sin as worse.  Secondly, I love the past tense.  The NIV flows better when it says, “and that is what some of you were.”  God can change anybody period, but His process of sanctification is a lifelong one.  Which leads me to my last point.  God has called us to holiness, not heterosexuality.  I have to wonder how many new believers who have struggled with the homosexual lifestyle have been confused when they find themselves still struggling.  There are obviously well documented examples people who were homosexual, place their faith in Christ, were completely delivered from the lifestyle’s grasp and are happily married with children today.

Others not so much, and they need our encouragement.  The goal isn’t for them to develop an opposite sex attraction, actually the last thing they need is to pursue romantic relationships right away.  The thing they need to embrace is God’s design for our sexuality and to grow in their relationship to Him.  They also need same-sex friends in church to provide encouragement, support and brotherly or sisterly love.

I wanted to embed my handout from that workshop below as a resource.  I am indebted to the work of Exodus International among others who helped shape my thinking and approach.  So I have to give them proper credit.  I also have to say, I’m still a work in process and by no means do this perfectly, but I have some experience working with young people who have struggled with this issue.  So let’s learn together.  I’d love to read your thoughts and ideas in the comment section below.

Related articles

• Can You Have Gay Friends If You Think Homosexual Behavior Is a Sin? (str.typepad.com)
• Can Homosexuals Change? (anotherchristianblog.org)
• Is Homosexuality the Worst Sin of All? (str.typepad.com)
• Homosexuality: A Hard Truth (rmwinters.wordpress.com)

The six words – God. Our. Sins. Paying. Everyone. Life.  They’ve boiled this presentation down.  The Gospel acronym used to go:

• God created to be with him.
• Our sins separated us from God.
• Sin can not be removed by the good works that we do.
• Paying the price for our sin, Jesus died and rose again.
• Everyone who trusts in Jesus alone has eternal life.
• Life that is eternal means living with Jesus forever.

Obviously each point needs to be explained whether it’s the new acronym or the old, but it is a helpful tool for students (and adults) who are learning to share the gospel.

Related articles

• Gospel-Centred Theology (missionalrev.wordpress.com)
• God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God’s Love as the Gift of Himself (searchandtrace.wordpress.com)
• The Exclusivity of the Gospel & Biblical Fellowship (christianitymatters.com)
• The Gospel Alphabet: Q is for Quickening (timmybrister.com)

My friends at Fuller Youth Institute have been researching what makes faith stick as youth transition to adulthood. The study they did with 500 youth group graduates revealed three surprising and key findings. I wanted to focus on the first key finding.

“While churches across the U.S. have tended to allocate financial and personnel resources toward building strong and dynamic youth groups, teenagers also need to rub shoulders and build relationships with adults of all ages.”

Programs and staff are nice, but it’s really about relationships, relationships, relationships. If we as youth workers are not leveraging potential relational connections between adults in our church and young people we are missing the mark. I’m reminded of what John J. DiIulio, the first director of the White House Office of Faith & Community Based Initiatives under President Bush, said about preventing juvenile crime and substance abuse among teens:

“Strategically, the key to preventing youth crime and substance abuse among our country’s expanding juvenile population is to improve the real, live, day to day connections between responsible adults and young people – period… No policy, program or intervention that fails to build a meaningful connection between responsible adults and at-risk young people has worked or can.”

DiIulio was talking community-based programming, but do we really think that it is any different within the Church? Sure we have the Gospel, but look at what the Apostle Paul’s method with the church in Thesslonica. He wrote, “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well,” (1 Thessalonians 2:8, NIV). He brought the Gospel, but didn’t shirk meeting relational needs among those in the church there.

Youth need be exposed to many different adults, period. The Search Institute with their 40 developmental assets note that one key asset for a youth to have is “other adult relationships” this is measured by a young person receiving support from three or more nonparent adults. If we’re not doing that in the church where is it going to be accomplished? Anecdotally I’ve noticed in my 20 years of youth ministry experience that the kids who tend to “stick” are the ones who are engaged throughout the life of the church, not just involved in the youth ministry. Why is that? I’m sure it’s not in small part due to rubbing shoulders and developing relationships with a variety of adults throughout the church.

If youth within the church need this how much more do you think kids on the outside do? Many kids that I know and serve through Serve Our Youth Network lack “significant other adult relationships.”

In fact many I work with don’t have any adult working with them who isn’t paid to do so. Think about that for a second. How would you feel if that were you? If the only way to get an adult to spend any significant time with you is for somebody to pay them – that would really stink wouldn’t it? That is the reality many adolescents face every day. If we in the church don’t spend time with them, who will? Most likely the answer is nobody positive.

The simple fact is that youth within the church and without need people like you to spend time with them in meaningful ways. What are you currently doing where you can include a kid in your life? If we prioritize we’ll likely find we have more time than we think. For the sake of the next generation and for the future of those who will come after this is a need we must not leave unmet. Even if you don’t feel like you will make any impact at all you don’t know what God may do with seeds that you plant.

It is never, ever a waste of time to love a kid.

Related articles

• The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Youth Ministry (king.typepad.com)
• Good News vs. Good Behavior (caffeinatedtheology.com)
• The State of Youth Ministry in America Part 3: Intergenerational Service (followthenarrowroad.com)
• Why Young Adults are Leaving the Church (kimlouvin.wordpress.com)
• Are We Losing A Generation? (friendedbychrist.com)

I find that this book hits a nerve with men:the temptation and lure of sexual sin. How can I battle against such a strong foe? How can I be free from the bondage to this sin? It’s very relevant, given the number of men within the church who struggle with some type of sexual addiction, but especially that to pornography.

While the books does have its good points and parts, I think it really misses the mark. “Bouncing the eyes” is the main solution the authors have to offer–in other words, when you see something suggestive that tempts you, bounce your eyes somewhere else. Not bad, but with the all-pervasive sphere of our visual culture, I’m just not sure this is going to work at all. Besides, I had an Old Testament prof in college who told of how the Pharisees would do this, literally, whenever they saw a woman, suggestively clothed or not. They would literally turn toward a wall (he would jokingly add that was why so many of them had such large noses, from breaking them by running into walls all the time). What this becomes is just another law that slays us.

The authors talk about the cross only minimally and when they do, they seem to assume that the reader is familiar with the cross, Christ’s work upon the cross on your behalf and the power it brings to bear upon your life in Christ. I think this is a dangerous assumption.

You can hear more details about my review by viewing the video book review I’ve just posted over at Random Thoughts From a Cluttered Mind.

Go easy on me; this is my first video review!

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She answered:

The students involved in our research definitely tended to view the Gospel as a list of dos and do-nots, a list of behaviors. We asked our students when they were college juniors, “How would you define what it really means to be a Christian?” and one out of three—and these were all youth group students—didn’t mention Jesus Christ in their answer; they mentioned behaviors.

Did you catch that?  Being a Christian, in their minds, is about what they DO.  Not what was DONE for them.  Their response is antithetical to the Gospel message itself.  Our behavior isn’t what saves us; so how is it that many define their faith by it?  This really isn’t (unfortunately) surprising as many adults view Christianity in this way as well.  We are saved from the law, but then the focus for many tends to go back to the law.  Michael Horton in his book, Christless Christianity, explains why this is a problem:

The law guides, but it does not give.  For all who seek to be acceptable to God by their obedience, love, holiness, and service, the call to obedience only condemns.  It shows us what we have not done, and the more we hear it properly, the more we actually lose our moral self-confidence and cling to Christ.  It stops our inner spin machine that creates a false view of God and ourselves, (pg. 132).

It’s not about a list of dos and don’ts.  We are followers of Christ because of good news, not good behavior!  Christ came into the world to save sinners.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works,so that no one may boast,” (Ephesians 2:8-9, ESV).

We need to be continually reminding our kids about grace, grace, grace… preach the Gospel to them (and to ourselves as well).

Before we are inspired about how to show love to others, we must first ask why?

Quite simply it is because in Romans 12:10 & 13 we are told to be devoted to one another in brotherly love, to honor one another above ourselves.  We are also told to share with God’s people who are in need and to Practice Hospitality. Notice the vocabulary: practice, not perfect.

In America, as a culture and as individuals, we are suffering in part because popular media gears everything to perfection. We are bombarded with messages that if we aren’t the very best at something, we just shouldn’t bother. We compare ourselves to others, rather than knowing our worth in God’s eyes.

I suffer from insecurity and wonder if I can be creative enough to inspire.  Are my tips original? Are the photographs beautiful enough? Are my suggestions too simple for some, but too fancy for another?  The problem: my thoughts revolve completely around me. My creativity, my skills, my ability.  This is not about me but about God’s purpose for me. I suddenly realize the bigger picture; I can’t do it, but I can through Christ who strengthens me.

This dance in my mind between my preciousness in His sight and the enemy’s interjections has slowed me down at times, but God showed me this dance is the very reason for us to love others; to encourage each other. Because we are human we suffer from doubt, insecurity, and rejection of one sort or another.  We are God’s tool to encourage others. God uses us as His hands to love others, but make no mistake it is His power, His grace and the Holy Spirit that do the real work, not ours.

God’s path of creativity in me began with a family history of silversmithing eight generations back, a degree from USC, design school in Paris, then design school in Los Angeles. Call them spiritual or otherwise, but they were the gifts God saw fit to give to me. Who am I to argue with my Creator? They are unique and I celebrate them. What are your magnificent and unique gifts that you can use to inspire others?

I do not want the gifts received as a blessing from God to “turn into spiritual dry rot,” as Ann Voscamp suggests in her book One Thousand Gifts, as the manna did when it was hoarded in Exodus 16:20. I want to use my blessings.

Inadequacies and all, imperfections and all: I want to inspire others to practice Hospitality and to LOVE others.

Creative Ways to Encourage Others on Valentine’s Day

KIND WORDS

A handwritten note with quotes, scriptures and words of encouragement is a wonderful thing to find in the mailbox.

Leave a sticky note on your child/husband’s pillow or be bold and write your note on the bathroom mirror or car window in red lipstick saying “I love you”.

Even an email just to say “thank you for your hard work, you bless me” can make a person’s day. A cute poem, scripture or old photograph will remind them they are remembered.

If someone has lost a loved one, kind words of some way that loved one inspired you to do something better will let them know that their loved one’s legacy is living on.

AN INVITATION, TIME

Take some time out of your days to meet someone for coffee, lunch, a long walk, or even just leave a phone message with a sweet sentiment. If you have more time, take a picnic basket to their home. Set up a lunch, tea or coffee, with all your tea cups and a candle. It is a lovely surprise! Just rinse when you finish and pack back up so they don’t even have to do dishes. They will have a lovely memory of a special time.

THOUGHTFUL GESTURE

Hang flowers on the front door handle, leave a pretty tiny package in the mailbox with a beautiful red bow, or cookies delivered to the front door. Create a breakfast plate for your child that says you are special . This is especially significant if your child has struggled with something recently.

A BEAUTIFUL DINNER

Of course this takes more time, but try for a beautiful table setting complete with candles, fresh greens or flowers and a lovely menu either handwritten or printed out on your computer. (Visit Roxanne’s Pinterest account, via the Inspired Design blog, for darling printouts, including gift tags, and much more.) Don’t concentrate on the gourmet or complicated quality of the meal: remember it is about relationship and encouragement!

VALENTINE’S DINNER

A beautiful table for Valentine’s simply consists of reds, pinks and perhaps some purple. (Although it could be beautiful in all white too.) Of course, it has to have some hearts and some colorful candles. Leave kind words of some sort on each place setting. Every Valentine’s table should have its share of sparkle, of course!

Visit Roxanne Packham’s blog at www.InspiredDesignPublications.blogspot.com for more pictures and Inspired Design ideas for Valentine’s Day.

All because of this ad.

And there sits the shirtless Denver Broncos Quarterback Tim Tebow posing for the underwear manufacturer Jockey.  Tebow has become quite a sensation and has had a phenomenal year with the Denver Broncos.  As a Christian athlete he has had many opportunities to talk about his faith, and his “Tebowing” has been placed center stage.

But let me ask you – does this impact his witness?  I’m not against guys being shirtless playing ball, at the beach, in the pool, etc.  I don’t believe there’s anything immoral about that.  I don’t personally go around shirtless.  You can thank me now… no I mean really, you can thank me.

This, however, is different than just going around without a shirt because you now see headlines like this:

“Praise Jesus!  Man of the moment Tim Tebow appears shirtless in new Jockey ad – and surprise, surprise underwear sales soar”

What do you think, is it appropriate or not?