Church Signs

So, as I was driving to get coffee with my dad after basketball this morning, I couldn't help but notice all of the "creative" messages some churches had on their signs. I feel that some of them were less than legitimate, so here is my humorous and somewhat serious critique.


First sign: "Free Coffee, Everlasting Life: Benefits of Membership."
1. It really bothers me that they only give free coffee to their members. I mean, how would you feel walking into a church and having to pay for coffee while all of the members stand huddled in the corner with as many free cups as they want? Not a great outreach tool, if you ask me.
2. On a more serious note, I feel as though the whole glorious, God-given gift of eternal life is trivialized by the idea that it is a perk, no matter how witty and jokingly it is meant to be intoned.


Second sign: "The Devil makes Voldemort look like a puppy."
- I appreciate the effort to be relevant to the culture, but of all the things you could put on your sign, why put something up that gives the devil any credit for his strength? I mean, I realize he's stronger than any human being, but why not say something like, "Jesus Christ makes Captain America look like Steve Irkle?" :) Just a thought.


Anyways, these are my musings. I'm not really being super critical of either of these churches for their signs, but I do find it funny and interesting to see what they put up sometimes.

I can do nothing, and I'm content with that

God is faithful when I am not. He persists when I give up. That about sums up the last 2-3 weeks for me. I think it would be reasonable to say that, in the short time of those few weeks, I had more anxiety and doubts about faith in my life than I have had in the past year or even two years combined. I was utterly miserable at points, and I definitely couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, I felt as though the darkness would be unending; that I would just have to live with my anxiousness and doubt until the day that I died. 

Thank God that He wasn't going to leave me where I was. This last week, God used Madison, Brad, Jason, and Tanner to speak truth into my life. I began to address doubts that I had pushed aside before. But it definitely wasn't me doing the work. It was God in me working. I was talking to Madison the other night, just going over some of the tough things that had been happening lately, and I ended up saying "I'm so glad that it's God giving me the strength to believe, and not myself." It makes me glad that God brought me to the point where I realized just how true the doctrine of preservation of the saints is. He is the one who gives me strength to have faith. He keeps me going; He keeps me persevering. Romans 1:16-17 says "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'"

I love the part in verse 17 that says that in the gospel God's righteousness is revealed "from faith for faith." God's righteousness and His power are given to us so that we may continue to have faith!

I must admit though, I'm a work in progress. God has used these last weeks to make me feel so helpless that I must rely on Him - for faith, for hope, for joy. Even yesterday, I wasn't sure I could or even wanted to lead worship this morning. I just didn't have it in me. Somehow, though, God got me through preparation and out to practice last night, despite my attitude and feeling. Singing praises to Him is something I will never fully comprehend. The beauty of perfect harmonies played on different instruments, joined with words of truth and praise - there are not many things like it. He used that in my life last night and this morning to bring me closer to Him. As I continue to pursue Him and His truth, my prayer is that He will continue to work in me and give me strength to live my days for Him.

As I am now 8 days from beginning college, and 4 days from meeting some of my classmates, I pray that God will give me the strength to be a light to those around me. I pray that every day I feel the urgency to share the gospel. Easier said than done, though, right? Penn Jillette, in his widely viewed youtube video, asked the question to Christians, "How much do you have to hate someone to not proselytize?" If we really believe that hell is real, how can we not share the gospel? More than that even, how can we look at Christ's command to share the gospel with all nations and not feel insatiably compelled to do so? I'm not sure, but I pray that God gives me that desire to share His gospel. 

That's about it - my thoughts on electronic paper. Last thing though, I'm not sure what Ali leaving is going to do to me...we spent Friday together going Goodwill shopping, going to Olive garden, then randomly going up to Omaha to watch the Patriots game on my Grandparents TV. I'm gonna miss her. At least we'll still have our telepathy to communicate at any time we wish during the day, though. ^_^

Leadership

To start, it's been way too long since I've posted, and hopefully as this next semester starts up, I can get back into a rhythm of posting every so often. I know in my life it is so encouraging to read other people's blogs, and I want to be able to share with and encourage others in the same way.


I'm sitting in a hallway at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City at the National Worship Leaders' Conference. On a rather humorous note - I read a post from a live twitter feed that they have going on a bunch of screens here that said something to the effect of: "Every worship leader here has either a Macbook, an iPhone, an iPad, or a combination of the three." It is really true, too. Worship leaders and their technology...


Throughout this summer I've been learning more and more what it means to be a leader. As the chapel coordinator at camp, I had many responsibilities, many decisions to make, and many people to work with. I had to make sure again and again that I was doing all I needed to do, making the wisest choices I could, and being a patient servant to those who I led. None of those things are easy to do, but they are all necessary for a leader.


I think that, of the three, the place where I have grown most over the last few months is in decision making. So often in our lives we can be so caught up in not offending anyone or not taking responsibility that we can lose sight of the fact that leadership requires stepping out and making choices that either no one wants to take or that no one cares to take. As I look to Christ, the ultimate example of servant leadership, I continue to see that while Christ did serve, He was not a passive follower, but rather an active leader. That's what I need to be. God is showing me more and more that I need to live every day with an unstoppable purpose. I need to have direction. That's what He's working on in me, and I know that He has, is, and will use the people in my life to force me to make decisions so that I can continue to become the man he wants me to be.


I think that's all I have for now. To God be the glory for my salvation and continued sanctification!

Let's put some salt in this tasteless world.

So I've recently started doing an in-depth study of Romans, and today, while reading Chapter 2, God really hit me with some tough stuff. In the latter part of the chapter, Paul condemns the Jews for the way they've been acting. The reason? Hypocrisy. Shameless, God-dishonoring hypocrisy. It would have been easy to just look at the passage and think, "Man, those Jews in Rome were screwed up," instead of actually trying to apply it to my life. But God had some stuff he wanted to teach me, so here's what I got:


The Jews, like us Christians today, had been entrusted with the truth and knowledge about God. How often we just assume that is something that we are entitled to, when, in fact, we are the chosen messengers of the Most High God: the lone truth-bearers in a lost world. That's a pretty big deal, no matter how you look at it. Also, just like the Jews Paul is addressing, God has given us a message to give to the world. For the Jews, it was the Law of God, for us, it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 


Up to this point in the passage, everything was going alright. I mean, how much better can it be? We are the messengers from the Almighty God with a message that will save those who believe it from eternal damnation. What an amazing privilege! But here's where things go wrong. Though we'll sell the message all day about how God will save people if they turn from their sins and follow Him, we don't seem to believe that ourselves. This leaves the world telling us the cliche "Practice what you preach!" And most often we more than deserve such a comment. We might as well be spiritual "lifeguards" who jump in to save the drowning sinner, when we cannot even swim ourselves.


Whether it be our speech, our conduct, our dress, or our preferred entertainment, most Christians (myself included) are not doing the best we could to be different. Not different in the sense of awkward or shrinking back if someone curses, but different because we look like Christ. This doesn't mean that we're always happy - the Bible tells us to weep with those who weep, and that there is a time for mourning - but we should be the ones with our heads on straight. We should know that even though we don't have anything figured out, we rest in the God who does. How amazing of a witness it always is when someone is going through a tragedy, and instead of complaining or pouting, they praise God, for His plans are always better. Our purpose in life is to be satisfied in God and to glorify Him, but, sadly, we often think that that purpose only applies on Sundays.


Salt is salty all the time. It is never tasteless if it truly is salt. Light is always bright. It is never darkness. The problem that we Christians often face is that we are content to be a candle, when God wants us to be a blazing star reflecting His glory and the truth of the gospel. Let's strive to be the brightest reflections of God possible, because His desire for us is indeed that we are sanctified in order to give Him all the glory.

Help Me Give It All

So, this last weekend was pretty great. Getting to hang out with Aaron and everybody else was the highlight of my year so far. The parts of Impact that I sat in on really changed some perspectives of mine, and Aaron and my late-night talks were irreplaceable, as usual (and also him asking me to be his best man - pretty awesome if you ask me).


God's lesson for me over the weekend was really that I needed to be giving more to Him. Specifically, He taught (and is still teaching) me that my time and my possessions are His, and I need to start living that way more. Whether or not I like it, everything will run on God's timeline, and I will be most effective for him if I live in a way that makes that obvious.


It's almost like we're children playing in the Father's mansion. So often we get engrossed in our role playing that we forget that He is the one who is giving us the time that we use and the things we "play" with. Now, that's not to say that we should take our lives lightly: we should live knowing that God has  given us purpose and this is as real as it gets on this earth. But God will give and He will take away, and the timing for when He does is completely up to Him.


That's really about it. The application of this is a huge undertaking, and is only possible by the Spirit's help. But as I begin to surrender parts of my life to God that I previously hadn't, I am sure that it will be completely worth it.

The Test of the Righteous

So for the past two weeks I've been reading the book of Job. It's amazing, I must say. There's so much insight on good counsel, bad counsel, God's power, trials and tribulations, and our response. I can honestly say that, before reading this book, I was going through somewhat of a dry spot in my Christian walk, but reading it has given me new perspective on God and his work.


Job is talked about as being "blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil." He was basically the outstanding person - the Noah, if you will - of his time. Everything was going well for him: God's promise of blessing had benefited him both physically and spiritually. But Satan, being the way he is, doubted Job, and I think you know where the story goes from there. Anyways, As I read through the book, I realized a couple of things about Job's reactions: he was arrogant at times, but he also kept his faith. Throughout the first part of the book, he asks God why he is being punished, despite his righteousness. Now I realize that Job was called righteous in the first few verses of the book, but still, "all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." God would have had every right to punish Job the way he did for even just one sin. 


However, this is not the cause of what happened to Job. Of course, Job doesn't know this, because he didn't watch the whole scene with Satan play out. It's tough to say without being the person experiencing it, but God has every right to put us through trials even if we didn't do anything wrong. This makes Job's response just as wrong as it would have been if he were being punished for a sin. For me, this is tough. How am I supposed to endure hardship with a righteous attitude if someone who was "blameless and upright" couldn't? Thankfully, I have something that Job doesn't - the Spirit - and I am ever so thankful for His work in my life.


Regarding counsel, I think Job has points of warning and encouragement. It warns against being like Job's friends, who were quick to offer their counsel to their friend, not taking a moment to think that they might be wrong. If we do not look at all of the options of what God may be doing in a person's life by looking at God's Word, we cannot give helpful counsel. On the other hand, the book of Job shows what better counsel can look like. In chapter 32, Elihu comes onto the scene, first condemning Job's three friends for their inaccurate and hasty evaluations of Job's situation, and secondly rebuking Job for questioning God. Though he doesn't know the whole picture, Elihu definitely helps the situation by shifting the discussion of the cause from Job's morality to God's purposes.


My favorite part of the book that is both humbling and awe-inspiring is God's response. Just a quick note though - God waited until chapter 38 to respond to Job. Now, I don't know how long this is in days, months or years, but it definitely shows that God may wait to give you his response to your prayers and petitions. When God does give his response in chapters 38-41, I can only imagine a booming voice from heaven that knocks Job flat on his face. Any one of the questions that God asks would be enough to convict me, but he instead decides to speak for four full chapters that reveal his majesty and sovereignty. The fact that Job's response in the middle of these chapters is only two verses shows that he is pretty terrified and/or humbled at what God is saying.


Overall, the book of Job is fantastic, and I'd recommend that you read it if you never have or haven't lately. No matter what, we must remember that God uses us to accomplish His purposes, and this will include trials and tribulations. All we can do is cling to Him, find hope in Christ, and be strong in the Spirit. If we find our joy in Him, nothing on this earth will be able to take away our satisfaction in doing His work.

The Second Best Love Story Ever Written

So lately I've been dealing with the problem of not giving God all control of my life. It's really been a struggle for me, because I'm the type of person that wants to take charge of every situation. Over the years, that quality has been sort of been a blessing and a curse: God's allowed me to be a leader and use my gifts to glorify Him, but I've often gone beyond that and tried to be the god of my own life. Suffice to say, it hasn't and won't ever go well. Jeremiah 29 makes it pretty clear that God is a planning God, and His will for our lives is definitely better than anything we could ever imagine.


The most difficult part of my life that I've not been giving up to God has been how I go about relationships with my sisters in Christ. Like I said, I'm a person who wants to know the details of what my future holds, but God keeps on telling me that that's not how things work in His plan. I feel almost like a pestering child when I keep asking God "Is it her? No? How about her?" and God tells me "I've got it figured out already. This isn't a guessing game. I'll let you know when you're ready." But I'm impatient. I'd like to either know something about who she'll be or take steps towards pursuing her now, but God has other plans. Thankfully He is changing me into a person who is more content in Him right now and not as worried about what my future will hold.


Here's where He's especially convicted me-and what the title of this post means. God is the writer of the best love story every put down on paper. Somewhere in eternity past, He decided that, first of all, He would allow humanity to fall into sin. It wouldn't make sense at the moment to us, but it would be for the best. Then, He would limit Himself to being a human being. I don't think we ever truly appreciate how humbling that alone is. God became man. Creator became creation. But He didn't stop there; He then died for us in the worst way possible. And, on top of that, His death was for people who didn't even deserve to be died for! Romans 5:7-8 says it pretty well: "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That's three different ways He showed his love! Any of those alone would be commendable by human standards. But God went above and beyond, as He always does, and did all three of them.


So I figure, if God is so good at writing a love story, why don't I let him write mine? If I really believe that He is who He says He is - an all-knowing, all-powerful, all loving God who will work all good and bad things for my eventual holiness - why do I cling so tightly to what I want when it comes to love? It's as if I'm trying to one-up a perfectly written romance novel with a cheesy junior high love song. I shouldn't be doing it. But change is difficult; God never said our sanctification would be an easy process. As I begin to let Him take control, however, I keep seeing more and more how His plan is best.