What Is Discipleship?

In the never ending quest to study the church and what makes it up, we hit on discipleship last week. What does God expect?What does He want from Christians? Do we just become Christians and then suddenly, we’re good to go? We can just come to church (and even only when we feel like it at that) and sing and go home? Or, is there something deeper?

Anyone who has read this blog for more than 5 days knows that I loathe Biblical Illiteracy. The statistics on Americans who claim to be Christians and their knowledge of the Bible is nothing short of embarrassing. We have tons of education, so what’s so special about learning the Bible?

But, the case can easily be built that God expects a Christ follower to grow in their knowledge of who He is – and never stop growing.

There are a few different points and aspects that Scripture builds as to what a Christian’s life should look like once he or she makes that profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

1. Growing from a child to an adult:
   Let’s begin here.

Ephesians 4:14-16 – “Then we will no longer be immature like children…Instead, we will…grow in every way more and more like Christ.”

1 Peter 2:2-3 – “Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”

Hebrews 5:12-14 – “You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead,

Debt-Freedom

In December 2005, I hit a low spot in my life. I wrecked my car on I-65 in Nashville, TN in morning rush-hour traffic on my way back from early morning work before class. It did no damage to the other car, but it did plenty to mine. As in, an accordion.

Since then, I began to focus more on my finances. I became an avid Dave Ramsey listener. My family was a very financially focused family growing up – not in the sense of get and get and get, but “Let’s make smart decisions because this is best for our family and as stewards of God’s money.” I hated it at the time. I mean, in third grade, I knew what a budget was.  I also knew that I didn’t like a budget because it kept me from doing as much stuff as friends. Our family though, in no way suffered. We were blessed. My father worked and my mother stayed at home with my brother and I. We had plenty and never a worry.

As I entered college, I worked some. But, I wasn’t a fan of work because it removed me from socializing. And it was hard. I worked at FedEx Ground for about 8 months and began training to be a manager. So I quit, because I hated the hours. I picked up a job through the local YMCA where I worked after-school care. It was a $2/hr decrease in pay, as well as about an 8-10 hour a week decrease. But, the hours were better because I was back on campus by 6:30 pm and could hang out. That was until i wrecked my car.

I remember sitting down and talking with a man in the church I was attending who was great with finances. He, like my parents had followed the Dave Ramsey plan and succeeded. He liked me and sat down to look at my situation. When he put it on paper, it looked something like this:

The Importance of the Church

It’s been three weeks since I’ve posted here. I’ve posted almost every other day on Run 4 Haiti with the recent earthquake. Head over there if you’re out of the loop about the mission I work with. Lots of updates on the page.

Last week I started a new 6 week series with my youth on the church. For a long time, I had struggled with the importance of the church – not so much in the sense of where I wanted to do my own thing, but really as to what the Bible says about being a part of a local church. 

Let me first say that I disagree completely with the notion that the traditional way of doing things is automatically the best. I don’t mind doing things traditionally, and in fact, I prefer some things to be done traditionally, but I have come to realize that all of those things are simply traditions.

For instance, why is Sunday morning worship usually beginning later in the morning? 10-11am? Because the 11 o’clock hour was originally chosen to accommodate the milking schedule of dairy farmers. So, it’s stuck. This doesn’t bother me, but it’s an illustration that will be referenced later.

So, what does the Bible say about the church?

Well, let’s look at what Christ says about the church. In Matthew 16:13-20 we see Christ talking to Peter and saying that He will build His church on this rock (read: Not establishing Peter as the first Pope). Whether building the church on the rock means on the faith that Peter exhibited, or through the future actions of Peter as a follower of Christ (see Acts 2:14-36 & Acts 10), we do see that through the action of faith and the messages of Peter that a gathering of believers begins to build.

These local gatherings (Greek ekklesia) is simply that. A local gathering of believers. It means “those called out.” Thus, it’s a local gathering of believers that have been called out from a life of sin.

So if Christ is going to build His church, we find ownership which is then reiterated through Paul in Ephesians.

1. Ephesians 2:19-20: Paul establishes the point that Christ is the cornerstone of the church. The foundation of the church is the prophet’s teaching and the apostle’s teaching. What do these teachings focus upon? Christ. Who is the cornerstone. And the cornerstone of a building is that very first stone that every other stone is placed into line because of. Everything else is where it is because of the cornerstone.

   Thus, I’m sensing this whole church thing is

Haiti Earthquake

I’m keeping a running update over at http://run4haiti.wordpress.com – head over there to keep up with Mountain Faith Mission.

Presently, we’ve heard nothing and are waiting to hear from our Haitians. Phone lines are apparently down.

Please join us in prayer for our friends in Haiti.

Things That Irritate Me

Good morning. I have two topics on my mind of which to write about this morning. Both have a great deal of interest to me. Who knows where this will go.

The Bachelor

Since I got married last May, the things that come on my television have changed dramatically. Last summer, my wife watched The Bachelorette, and I’ll openly admit that I sat with her and watched it. I’ll even openly admit that for a while, I enjoyed it. It was interesting to me to see how people reacted in meeting a complete stranger.

Yet, mid-Summer, something changed in me. I began to notice so many underlying themes within the show. 

Last week, The Bachelor premiered, and of course it was on my television. One of the guys who appeared from last summer’s girl-version is the new bachelor on the show – Jake. Blah blah blah.

As it’s been on (and honestly, I’m in the room, but last night I caught a great Big East battle with Villanova and Louisville on ESPN360.com) I’ve caught parts here and there. Last night, it really began to bother me some of the things that were said, done, and talked about.

For example, the “contestants” if you will, apply to be on this show based upon the person who is going to be featured as the one who is searching for love. So here comes 25 women to compete for the attention of this guy’s “love.” Suddenly, last night, I found all of this the most shallow approach to dating that I have ever seen. Sure, it’s entertaining, but it’s completely wrong. 

How many people would love to have that chance? Honestly, I bet millions of people would love to have 25 people of the opposite sex gawk over them and compete for their chance at love. We’ve turned relationships into nothing more than a 2-hour special on television. These girls complain and whine and moan about how so-and-so isn’t a good person and that they came here with the wrong intentions. The girls cry and claim that they just want their shot at true love, because they’ve been cheated on and etc.

Does this sicken anyone else?

What happened to real relationships? The show is set up (and very scripted in case you’ve never noticed…) for the Bachelor(ette) to have a ring on the finger by the time the finale comes. Say what? Where’s the special relationship? Here’s two or three girls at the end, fighting to be proposed to, and it’s suddenly a shock to the audience about who gets the ring?

I have to question: Is it really about meeting someone, or does the fact that people get their 15 minutes of fame play into it? Why would someone want to have what should be special and private broadcast into millions of homes every week? Maybe some people like that. But, maybe some people don’t think.

So, what’s my point in all of this? I want people to look at this show critically. I know it’s entertaining. I don’t forbid my wife to watch it at all. I just think it shows a great picture of why there are so many relationship problems in the world, today. When we look at what entertains us on television, and how those relationships manifest themselves on the television show, it should come as no surprise that there is a great divorce rate and that teenagers have relationships that last 3 months before they move onto the next person.

Society has come to condone and accept this type of relational behavior.

2009 Recap

2009 was a good year.

Jan-April flew by.

May was a blur.  This thing happened where I got married.

Life slowed in June.

July I was gone almost every week.

August wasn’t much better. That’s when I went to Haiti.

September I started my reading kick.

October-December flew by.

Overall, from a ministry standpoint, I am satisfied. I’ve seen a lot of growth in some of my students. I see lights going on and people getting it. I feel like I matured and grew up a bit as I realized that things aren’t always peachy and awesome in ministry, and that sometimes, the worst part about ministry are the Christians. (Well, it’s the truth.)

From a reading standpoint:

1. Your First Two Years of Youth Ministry by Doug Fields
2. Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
3. One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven by Mark Cahill
4. What’s So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D’Souza
5. Serious Times by James Emery White
6. Crazy Love by Francis Chan*
7. I <3 Mormons by David L. Rowe
8. Letters and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
9. Why Evolution Is True by Jerry Coyne
10. The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose
11. Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris
12. Once A Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.
13. Forgotten God by Francis Chan
14. The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns
15. Basic Christianity by John Stott
16. I Would Die For You by The Higgins Family
17. Turning Points by Mark A. Noll

* Crazy Love could easily be the most influential book that I have ever read.

I don’t really have a goal for 2010 as far as reading goes, other than to simply read more. I’m over halfway through with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship and hope to finish it within the next week. After that, I don’t know what I’ll move on to. I’m pretty worn out, because the final 16 books on that list were read between September 17-December 31. Overkill?  Maybe.

Like Run 4 Haiti – here’s to hoping for more than one update a week.

Teens Thoughts on Sexting

How appropriate that I would log onto Yahoo this morning to see the headline:

Poll: 1 in 4 young people have been involved in sexting

Go ahead and read it for yourself. It’s scary.

For the life of me, I can’t figure out how to address the issue with teenagers. I’m still a young guy; newlywed who barely has my feet wet in ministry. But, it hasn’t seemed to be that big of a deal just to be honest – until now.

This is two articles this week that I’ve read concerning sexting.

In case you don’t know, sexting is when students send sexually explicit photos of themselves to someone else. I suppose that words could be sent too, but with today’s society and photo phones, just jump to the worst conclusion, because it is happening.

This article raises a lot of good points:

1. There is no guilt involved…sorta. “I just don’t see it as that big of a problem, personally” is what 16-year-old Sammy replied concerning the issue. Sammy admitted to sharing nude photos of himself with his girlfriendS.  Yes, that large “s” is on purpose.  That’s plural.  At the age of 16, Sammy has done it twice. Likewise, Thelma, a 25-year-old has shared her photos with love interests, too. She said…”It’s just when you’re talking to a guy who’s interested in you, and you might have a sexual relationship, so they just want to see you naked,” she said, adding that she never complied with those requests.  That language use is scary to me. “Just” is used so casually.  ”Oh, sexting…it’s just sending nude photos of yourself that you’ll probably regret someday!”
2. Why is there only “sorta” no guilt? Well, both interviewees asked that their last name not be used. This is pure speculation, but why? If it’s just “not a big deal” and “just sending nude photos to love interests” then why not proclaim who you are?
3. Guys claim it is hot when girls send photos of themselves. Girls call it “slutty…” and yet most do it anyways.
4. I don’t want to have children now.

There’s a lot to chew on in that article. I mean, just look at your teens, whether they’re in your youth group or live in your home because you’re one of those parent things. What ways do you have to control this and address the issue?

My Generation

This has been on my mind a bit lately, and I’d love to get some thoughts from those of you who read.

Weekly, I usually check out the headlines surrounding teenagers and young adults to really see what’s going on out there. And I’ll be honest, a lot of times it depresses me.

In this present decade of teenagers, let’s look at what they’re facing:

• Sexting. Teenagers sending nude, semi-nude, or very explicit language through text-messages in order to “flirt.” (Just read an article dealing with this where a girl did so, broke up with her boyfriend, the picture leaked to school, and she committed suicide.)
• Sexually Explicit Music. I mean, really…you don’t have to look much further than one post below this where I talk about Britney Spears’ song “3″ which talks about group sex. Add that onto pretty much any other mainstream song from artists of the like and you’ll understand what I mean.
• Failing Morals. The study found here essentially says that teenagers today think lying and cheating are the proper way to live ones life.
• Increased sexual activeness. My buddy David over at iPopculture.net just posted about this yesterday.  1 in 4 teenage girls supposedly has an STD. Need I say more?
• Apathy toward the church. Oh come on!  You know I talk about this frequently.  At least once a month I get on here and complain about apathy.

3

As a youth pastor, I try to stay on top of new culture junk.  I used to listen to the radio on my way to work, but since I only live about 50 yards from the church…that’s severely cut down.

But, thanks to a little handy research, I’ve been able to find Tuesday’s Trash!  I don’t want to start that as a new blog title at all, but as I read through these lyrics and listened to the song…it sickens me and scares me as a youth pastor.  Engage your students or your children about what they are listening to.

Anyways, the song is called “3″ by Britney Spears. Remember her? That innocent little 17 year old who just wanted to be hit?  I actually remember first hearing “Hit Me Baby One More Time” in my home, and my brother goes, “Yeah! She’s only seventeen!” I was like, “That’s awesome!  Teenagers are cool!”

And then she grew up. And there were the sexy, steamy videos, the kiss with Madonna, her going bald (What?), and many other crazy things. And now, she releases this song called “3″.  It’s not an ode to math or about the days of Jonah in the whale – no, it’s about sex of course.

Here’s the lyrics

So let’s look at some things that stand out.

Lost

Sometimes, you just feel lost in ministry.  Not lost in the sense that you don’t know where you’re going.  I mean, I know where I am going in my ministry.  I feel like I have a great future plan of discipleship and ministry. But, sometimes, I just feel lost.

Sometimes, it seems as though even though many of the pieces are put together in the puzzle, there’s that one little piece that can’t be found because when you were eleven, your brother and you got in a fight with them and accidently threw it behind the couch where it was lost forever.  By that, I mean, some days you just feel incomplete.

I know that no ministry is perfect, but some days, there are emptiness.  Some days there are pains.  Some days there is confusion.  Some days there is frustration.  This is all part of the ministry experience.

I have a unique personality.  I like to be in control.  Many people first meet me and don’t think of me as an extrovert, but once someone gets to know me…they wish I was an introvert. 

This is simply ramblings.  On a night I feel lost.  I’m greatly encouraged.  I’m not doubting my calling.  I’m not ready to jump ship.  I just feel lost.

But I know that when you’re lost…you always get found when you seek God.