My Five Favorite Blog Posts from 2014

As we say good-bye to 2014, I'm taking one final look back at my favorite blogs of the past year.

If you've been keeping up with me - or if you are just peeping this for the first time - here's a flashback to my five favorite blogs of 2014. If you click on the blog title, the blog will open up. 

1. Our podcast needs a name ... This was my favorite, because it's still a huge dream of mine to have a faith and culture podcast. My main man Jeremy Hartman and I did a pilot episode, and maybe one day we can find time to record consistently and make it a reality. 

 

 2. Ferguson Aftermath - Why Two Cops Came to My House. If 2014 is remembered for anything, it will be the year of great racial tension which revealed that we are not in post racial America just yet. So here's a blog post about people from my church willing to sit down and have hard conversations, as well as the explanation of why two cops showed up at my house. 

3.  That's an Interesting Way to Cook Chicken. One day, my wife and I may write a book on interracial marriage. It's a joy and a challenge. This blog talks about how the gospel and our different cultures shape both our experience in the kitchen and in the marriage. 

4. Fake Jordans, Real Life. As a Young Life Leader at my former high school Robert E. Lee in Staunton, I work with a group of kids that are expert detectives on how to spot fake Jordans. The great irony is that many times I wish they had the same clarity in seeing the difference between a real and counterfeit life. 

5. A Letter to My Friends Who Have Left the Church... Or have never started it. As the kid who left the church, I can sympathize with those that leave. This my story of why I went back, as well as an offer for you to come back, too.  







If you're thinking of including church in your 2015 plans, come with me on January 4th. Our church, Holy Cross PCA, has a friends Sunday this week, and afterward I'm taking friends who come out for pizza and picking up the tab. 

I would love to know which of these five was your favorite and why it was your favorite. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here. 

This Tuesday is .... A Time To Listen

A little over a week ago, I wrote a piece  in the News Leader.  

It was a follow-up to a blog post that I had written before the non-indictments of officers Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo. One of the things I urged in my blog was that progress in situations like these involve a great deal of listening. 

On Tuesday, December 16 (which is tomorrow at the time I am writing this) a multicultural group of evangelical leaders will be leading and live-streaming an event called A Time To Speak. (Read the press release of the event here.) 

The event - which is being held at the same Memphis hotel where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated - features John Piper, Bryan Loritts, Matt Chandler, Eric Mason and many other men and women that I respect greatly. 

I'm really excited that evangelical leaders are praying and moving to action. In my wildest dreams, I picture a church in my generation that begins to live into the racial unity that the scriptures say has already been achieved at the cross.

And, as my wife Emily Lassiter  and I continue to hope to be part of the solution, we would gladly open our home to anyone interested in catching the re-broadcast of the event at 9 p.m. eastern. 

Just let us know. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here. 

Awful Clothes, Funny Teammates and The Gospel

I never signed up for Fashion 101. My college teammate decided to enroll me. 

They enrolled me because I own shoes like this.

Growing up, I only really cared about basketball and hip-hop. I was so focused on my two passions that I didn't realize there were actual rules to fashion. So when I showed up at Shenandoah University, my wardrobe wasn't fresh. 

Not fresh at all. And that's an understatement.

Shoes weren't Foamposites. Jeans weren't Levi's. And a quick glance through old pictures will reveal that my shirts, as Kanye once told Sway, "Ain't Ralph Though." 

Right: Not Ralph Though... Left: Cross Colours 

The purple Reeboks pictured above (I won them from Champ Sports with a soda top lid) are just one sad example of things that were in my wardrobe. My fashion sense (or lack of fashion sense) didn't sit well with one of my teammates, Larry Tharpe. A post player from Washington, D.C., Larry's disappointment in my wardrobe reached a boiling point one day. 

I promised what happened next is a true story. Larry ran up in my room, pulled open my closet doors, and started angrily body-slamming my clothes, forbidding me to wear most of my wardrobe ever again. 

He wasn't joking! 

I'm sure all of my friends from Shenandoah University are cracking up right now ... unless you are one of the other two people that had the same experience with Larry. 

The New Testament writer Matthew records a story of a guy who has a fashion crisis worse than mine. He rolls up into a wedding party, but his outfit "ain't Ralph, though!" In the parable, everyone is invited to a wedding banquet of the king, but one guy shows up in something that's not appropriate wedding attire. 

The guy - there's always that one guy - is thrown out of the party (like Jaz on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and is severely disciplined.

The question is why. 

In our society, fashion represents social standing. In this parable found in Matthew 22, clothing represents moral standing. The central message of the Bible is clear. Our own morality (represented by the unfit clothing in this parable) could never measure up to God's standards. 

There is no list of do's or don'ts that can make us right with God.  To put it fashion terms, our morality "ain't Ralph, though!" I'm not saying you're not a great person. I'm saying that using the biblical standard of morality, everyone falls miserably short. The picture in the parable is that this guy thinks his own morality is good enough to be in the presence of God. 

By way of contrast, the King accepts the wedding garments of the other guests. The reason is because those garments were provided by the King Himself. The garments provided by the King are a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The gospel is that Jesus came to rescue us from our moral brokenness. My pastor Rick Gilmartin always says, "We don't need rules! We need rescuing." 

Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live in our place. Then He goes to the cross on our behalf to die in our place.  The acceptable garments are a picture of the righteousness Christ provided to cover our sins. 

Jesus is our rescuer!

Imagine I wanted to go to a social event with Larry. If I would have gotten dressed in my own clothes, Larry would have said there was no way I was going out with him looking like that.  I would have had to borrow "acceptable clothes" from someone with better fashion sense. 

This is what Jesus does for those that place their trust in Him. Rather than God grading us on our morality - how well do the do's and avoid the don'ts - God grades us on Christ's morality.  And Jesus was perfect. So Christianity isn't based on what you or I did. It's based on what Christ did. 

Just like I would have needed someone with better clothes to provide me an outfit, I need someone with a perfect righteousness to provide me right standing with God. And that Someone in Jesus Christ. 


I write these blogs as conversation-starters. I would love to know: 

• What is the worst thing you've ever worn? 
• How do you believe man can be right with God? 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here. 

4 Ways to Help Me Help Lee High Kids This Week

I love Lee High kids, and I need your help! 

For the past 13 years, I've gotten to walk side-by-side with many Lee High kids through life. This happens through an organization called Young Life. It's been one of the best experiences of my life. 

On Oct. 24-26, I have the great privilege of taking the current group of Lee High kids to Young Life camp at Rockbridge Alum Springs in Goshen. The camp does cost money, and that's where I need your help! 

Here are the four ways you can help me help kids this week. 

1. Give. Lee High is diverse, both ethnically and socio-economically. In order to take a group as diverse as the school itself, we fundraise and provide partial scholarships. When you give, we can have students do sweat equity projects for free (call me if you have such a project you need done) and then scholarship kids to camp. I hope to get $600 in donations and $400 through the fundraiser listed below for a total of $1,000.00. 

You can make checks payable to Young Life and give at the address below:  

Chris Lassiter

Valley Young Life

142 Richardson Street

Staunton, VA 24401 

2. Buy. I have a book called You're Grounded. For the time being,  100% of the proceeds of this book go to camp scholarship. Books are $10. Buy one from me, or buy one down in D. Moats Barber Shop on the corner of Central and Frederick.  If I can sell all 40 books I have left, I can take four more kids to camp. 

3.  Share. Re-post this blog on your social media sites. E-mail this blog to friends, church leaders, businesses and individuals who you think may be supportive of Young Life at the school. I'll be glad to sit down and explain what we do and how we do it with potential donors. Every re-post and e-mail helps. 

4. Pray for us. Pray that we meet our financial goal and that we don't have to tell any kid no because of financial reasons. Thanks for helping me as I try to help kids. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here. 

Bigger Than Football: P.K.'s Story

Life is bigger than sports. Thank you P.K. Kier for reminding us. 

Before I tell you what P.K. - a sophomore at Winchester's Millbrook High School - did for a 7-year-old cancer survivor, let me explain our connection.  

I went to Shenandoah University in Winchester mostly because P.K.'s dad, Pede, was already there playing baseball. (I didn't know that  going to college together meant Pede would steal all the food in my refrigerator every night, but that's a different story.) 

Growing up, I thought the world of Pede, who live three blocks from me in Staunton. That admiration has only grown as we've gotten older. Most importantly, Pede shared the gospel with me. It has completely changed the trajectory of my whole life. 

At the beginning of the season, Pede e-mailed me an article about P.K.'s four-touchdown performance. I was impressed. Last week, Pede sent me Val Van Meter's Winchester Star article about PK and his teammates. 

I was even more impressed. And the article had little to do with football. 

P.K., his coaches and his Millbrook teammates arranged for 7-year-old Isaiah Truman to be the team's special guest on the sideline. Truman's guest appearance highlighted a week where doctors said that his brain cancer was in remission after a year of treatments. 

P.K. and Isaiah are neighbors.  According to the story, P.K. went to his coach Josh Haymore and told them about Isaiah. The 7-year-old's story includes being airlifted to U.Va Medical Center, a rare diagnosis of brain cancer in a child, and routine trips to the Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C. 

The team, who wore bracelets with Isaiah's name on it, then came up with a way to support Isaiah at the football game. 

I work with a lot of kids. We often talk about servant leadership. We define it as "taking initiative for the benefit of others." Thank you P.K., coach Haymore and the Millbrook football program for being one such example on this occasion. 

When sports is done correctly, it's supposed to teach you about life: how to put "we" before "I," how to battle adversity, how to accomplish goals, how to be part of something bigger than yourself. It sounds like the Millbrook team is learning this lesson. 

If you are thankful kids are still learning lessons through athletics, take the time to encourage the 2014 Millbrook Football team. You can write them at: 

Millbrook Football

c/o coach Josh Haymore 

251 First Woods Drive

Winchester, VA 22603 

At the least, take the time to encourage the team through email in care of coach Haymore. 

His e-mail address is haymorej@frederick.k12.va.us. 

When things make us angry, it motivates us to action. We'll write a letter or send an e-mail immediately. I hope the thought of this next generation taking initiative for the benefit of others will motivate you to take a moment to publicly applaud them. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here. 

Off to college: The next chapter for a Lee High Success Story

If  you've never been properly introduced, meet Liam Fairfax. 

He's front left in the picture above, and he has a pretty amazing story. I've gotten to watch firsthand this pretty amazing story unfold as Liam's Young Life leader. Some parts of that story I've learned in confidence. And those parts I'll take to the grave. You'll just have to trust me if I say that he's been through a lot to get where he has gotten. 

Other parts of his story are public. 

For instance, his high school football teammates all know how Liam helped Lee High beat the Broadway Gobblers in a game he played a few hours after attending his mother's funeral. She battled a long-term illness. Another very public part of his story is he was one of the few minority students at Robert E. Lee to attend governor's school. 

So here's the deal. 

Liam is now at my college alma mater Shenandoah University. He wants to do something in the medical field. 

I know that we could never replace the support system he had in his mom, but I thought it would be kind of cool to form a support system for him nonetheless.  Here's what I had in mind. 

• If you are reading this blog, send Liam a card of encouragement in the mail. His address is: 

Liam Fairfax

Shenandoah University

1460 University Drive 

P.O. Box 265

Winchester, VA 22601 

Make sure that your note of encouragement also contains a few bucks, too, especially if you remember those college Ramen Noodle nights. 

• If you are in the Winchester area reading this, please make sure you adopt Liam as your little brother. My Shenandoah University friends were - and still are - like family to me. So I'm calling on all my SU family still in the area to look out for my main man Liam while he's there at school. 

I wrote this blog to my hometown community and all my friends with ties to Winchester or Shenandoah University. I also want to add one sentence to the black community here in Staunton. 

For years, the older generation of blacks has rightly preached to following generations that education is vital. Here's a kid that has taken you up on that advice. And a major part of his support system is gone. I hope that "WE" will be there for him. 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here. 

Six Reasons Staunton needs a Soul Food Restaurant

In my city, Staunton, lunch options abound.

I can get Thai food, Indian food, Italian food, Chinese food, Mexican food, Japanese food, etc., and that doesn't even mention all the burger joints and sandwich shops.

But something is missing.

That something is soul food.

That might not seem like a big deal. Trust me, it is!

Here are my seven reasons why Staunton needs a soul food restaurant.

1. As a tourist destination in the south, our city should offer soul food. As a lifelong Stauntonian, I'm really proud whenever a magazine gives Stauton a shot-out. But as a tourist destination in the south - one of the 20 best small cities in several publications - we should have a soul food spot. You'd never go to Chicago without eating pizza or Philadelphia and without eating a cheesesteak. When people come south, they should expect to get soul food.

2. The numbers say we should have a soul food restaurant. I was grabbing lunch with my cousin at a Mexican restaurant. As we started talking about this topic, we went online and found an ethnic breakdown of Staunton. The black community is just over 10 percent of the population here. Only one other minority group made up even two percent, but many of the different ethnic groups in Staunton have a restaurant.

3. Food is one of the easiest ways to break down cultural barriers. Each year, our community hosts an African-American Heritage Festival. It's a wonderful gesture where the African-American community in Staunton welcomes the rest of the community in to experience its culture. One of the easiest ways to share that culture is try the food. That needs to happen more than one weekend a year. And that's why we need a restaurant. 

4.  A soul food restaurant could potentially be another black-owned business in a town that needs more black-owned businesses. Full disclaimer. I don't know anything about the economics of running a restaurant. I do know there are a great number of soul food cooks in this city. And I  know I would pay to eat their dishes regularly. 

5. Cultural diversity is a huge part of recruiting a more diverse workforce in our city. Barbers shops aren't just barber shops. And, likewise, soul food spots are more than soul food spots. They are central to relationships in the black community. Because they are so important to relationships, it's an easy way for young black professionals moving into the community to begin to build relationships in a new city. 

 6. Finally, it just fits with the spirit of Staunton. Our city, particularly our downtown, is marked by its uniqueness. There aren't a bunch of chain stores and restaurants. Every store has a story. And a soul food restaurant is one  potential restaurant with a story that our city is missing. 

 I write as a way to start conversations. Do you think Staunton could support a soul food restaurant? What's your favorite soul food dish? 

Chris Lassiter is a Christ-follower, a husband to Emily (read her blog here), a father to five kids and a freelance writer for Young Life Relationships, HipHopDX.com, JamTheHype.com and other publications. His first book, You're Grounded, was published by Moody Publications last year. You can order the book here.