Rejection

These thoughts have really been going on since last Wednesday night.  

In response to Christ’s command to give up everything to follow him (Luke 14:33) we find some interesting stories in the Bible.

The rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-23 – Christ asks him to essentially give up everything to follow Him. But, the young man walks away sad.

The three men who wanted to follow Christ in Luke 9:57-62 are seen as having priorities higher than Christ that they don’t want to give up.

I mean, these aspects have been hit on time and time again.  We know that Christ calls men to follow Him by giving up everything. But, unfortunately, to be fair, we have to admit that everything for us is hard. Americans especially suffer from “stuffitis”.  We love stuff.  We let everything else get in the way it seems.

But, looking at it logically – the four men mentioned from the passages above suffered from stuffitis too! No, it wasn’t internet, sports, television, etc, but it was just as much stuffitis as us!

Relationships and money are the two that really stick out to me.  Yeah – we don’t respond well to that. We like the tangible – not the spiritual.

But then, those verses aren’t really the ones that hit me.  I know I must give up everything.  What hit me is what verses are NOT there.  Let me explain:

If you look at the two stories of men who decided not to follow Christ, what you see in the end is a transition to another story.  It never paints the picture of Christ’s reaction.  I mean, how did Christ react besides just letting the men go?  How much did it pain Him to have someone say, “No, Jesus – I’ve got more important things.  I’ll get to you when I have time?”  I mean, no Christian in their right mind could ever imagine actually saying that to Jesus in their words – but words are empty a lot of times!  The actions are so loud.  So many people say that…including me.

The reason I ask is because teaching through Crazy Love the issue has come up with some of my students…but, I’ve seen that there are more important things.  No one has said, “No, I don’t want to follow Jesus…” But, I have had some tell me with words something along the lines of, “I know I can’t make a commitment to this or that, because I won’t follow through.” It broke my heart to hear those words. Not because I feel that I have failed as a teacher, but because I realize rejection of the most important relationship ever is happening in a way.  

So I looked for Christ’s reaction.  I was looking for the witty comeback to convict their hearts and start revival in the land…but there was silence.  We don’t really get the reaction because yes, Jesus let them go. But, somehow, I imagine that Jesus looked at them compassionately and painfully just said, “Okay…” Then He went on His way to love and lead others. I wonder if he looked back as He died on the cross and saw the faces of all of those who said, “No Jesus, not today!  I can’t follow you, I have too much stuff going on…” and winced at the thought of rejection?  I don’t know.  It’s all speculation.  I just know that if the call of Christ is to give up everything, and someone chooses to only give up some things, then they’ve disobeyed.

It’s sad.  It hurts.  I want to give up everything, and yet I fail when I try.  And, at the same time, there are others who don’t even try.  It’s painful to be stuck in the midst of rejection when you’re teaching. To be the outsider who looks and realizes someone is saying, “No…” but then I stop and I ask – how is Jesus reacting to rejection?

Book: The Unlikely Disciple

The Unlikely Disicple is written by Kevin Roose.  What’s it about?

Roose is a student at Brown University, who, when he was 19 left Brown University to do a journalistic report to live at Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA.  

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the book. It was well written and slightly reminds me of the college experience that I had. I mean, a highly intensive Spiritual atmosphere.  It was a great experience with tough classes.

Nonetheless, the book doesn’t come without some discussion. I found a blog post of an actual Liberty student here who calls some of the stuff into question…read it for yourself.  I could see his objections.

One thing for me was that the book made me realize how non-Christians view the things of Christians…essentially as foolishness in a lot of ways. 

Overall, I think it was a good book. It was neat to see how he viewed the way that Christians acted (which I think was presented pretty factually in most senses). It will help you to understand exactly how non-Christian people view you in most situations. Understanding their point of view goes a LONG way. 

*Spoiler Alert*

Roose never becomes a Christian. Yet, there is something to be said about the authenticity that he felt at Liberty. Most of what I have seen is that he went back to Liberty and is the same Roose. This doesn’t surprise me, as one must remember that if someone doesn’t actually accept Christ into his or her life, then he or she cannot be expected to live in such a way. My biggest irritation is that some of the supposed comments he has made since returning to Brown have been done in a sarcastic and degrading tone towards evangelical Christians.

Nonetheless, I do recommend the book.  It was good.  It will open your mind.  It will challenge you.

Do it.

Why Are You So Committed?

It’s an idea I have been throwing around lately…

Let me preface this by saying something. Obviously, church attendance and being involved in great deeds in the community, or other things like these do not impress God when they’re done empty. When people attend church, give to the poor, read their Bibles, or pray, and it’s all done in vain – it’s worthless.  We see this repeated throughout the Bible with the Children of Israel in the Old Testament, as well as the Pharisees and New Testament church. Empty actions almost seem worse than no actions…

Nonetheless, everyone has to admit that there are some people that you know that just rock your socks off when it comes to Christianity. When you look at them, their church attendance, their devotion time (which ironically, they never talk about, you just KNOW that it’s there), their giving, their love, their aid to people, etc. show that everything that they do is wrapped up in their relationship with Christ.

Yet, there are others, like mentioned above who either just go through the motions and it seems empty, or there are even those who only go through selected motions and refuse to ever fully be committed to anything that makes them uncomfortable…

I want to know, for those people who attend church when the doors are open, recognize that daily devotions aren’t a checklist, but a meal, pray to a God that is more than an invisible person in the room, give to something that is greater than themselves…ya know, those “radicals”, I want to know why? What made the difference?

I mean, let’s get honest – in today’s Christian society, at least in America, we see a bunch of half-hearted commitment. If you disagree, then go try to plan an event in your church…yes, people will attend.  You know who will attend?  The people that you know will attend!  Usually, predictions are spot on in the church.

Is this to say that people who aren’t committed to church attendance aren’t good Christians? No – but I do think church attendance is important…  The church is the tool of God to spread the message of Christ….seems pretty important to me!

So what moved you from simply a spectator of Christianity – simply where you were involved, doing the right stuff, but in all honesty, it wasn’t whole-hearted following – to playing in the game?  Ya know, those Christians who are always going to be at church? The ones who you know are faithful givers.  The ones who teach, sing, etc.  Or, maybe they’re very quiet, and they just come to church and sit there – but there’s something to be said about them being there, because you can smell fishy people out compared to those who are sincere.

I just want to know – Why Are You So Committed?  Why? What made the difference?  I know there’s the personal decision to say, “Well, this is real! This is something big!  This is God!” But was it someone?  Was it a book?  Did a mid-life crisis happen? 

Just some thoughts…

Book: Why Evolution Is True

I finished Why Evolution Is True by Jerry Coyne last night.  I had been looking to read a book on evolution lately in order to better understand the mindset of those who argue against creation.  Surprisingly, the Coyne book wasn’t bad.  It didn’t take on the same arrogant tone that Dawkins, Hitchens, and other anti-theists take on in their writings.  It was an informative, yet slightly misguided book.

I did learn a lot though.  And that was very beneficial.  Coyne never attacked Christianity, but asked generic questions regarding creationism.  This is where he went off the tracks, assuming his knowledge of creationism.  

Nonetheless, the book was pretty good.  Let’s review:

• The issue of “species” is a pretty big deal.  Coyne claims that 99% of species that have ever walked this earth are extinct (no sources to back the information).  This comes interesting to me as by species, it is meant within a class of animal.  Instead of “species” meaning a new animal, it means a different type of finch, fish, monkey, etc.  This has always seemed to be a fun issue of interpretation.  Anyways, on this issue of Coyne’s assertion he states, ““This, by the way, poses an enormous problem for theories of intelligent design (ID). It doesn’t seem so intelligent to design millions of species that are destined to go extinct, and then replace them with other, similar species, most of which will also vanish. ID supporters have never addressed this difficulty.”  Animals die.  People die.  Death is the result of sin.  Just because the answer to the question isn’t what you want, doesn’t mean it hasn’t been addressed.
• Coyne repeatedly appeals to the idea of “Bad Design” but as I just mentioned, Christians do have an explanation for the messed up things of the world – unfortunately, people who operate from the mindset that there is no God refuses to accept that.
• Adaptation happens. I’ll agree with that.  It’s been observed.  My problem with evolution is the fact that adaptation has been observed – ie. Darwin’s finches – and the argument continues that many little changes within a species add up over time, thus, one form can transform into another.  I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
• One such example that Coyne provides for adaptation is as follows: There are species of orchids that resemble wasps, bees, and other insects.  Sure, I can see that.  And this is showing my ignorance on the issue of course, but the argument is that over time, these orchids have developed leaves or whatnot that look like a bee.  I mean, look at the picture – it looks like a bee.  I just don’t understand what caused the orchid to transform a leaf to look like a bee. Orchids are non-thinking organisms, thus there is no perception of what a bee looks like.  So, does nature just somehow take over and give the orchid the ability to grow a leaf that looks JUST like a bee?  Random mutations within the DNA sequence allow a leaf to begin to grow and change to the point that it looks like a bee, whenever the orchid cannot observe what bee looks like?  Maybe it’s way over my head, but if someone would like to explain how something this complex can happen within an orchid, giving it the ability to grow a leaf that looks like a bee whenever it cannot observe what a bee looks like, then I’d love to have the explanation.  As for now, I just think this is a poor argument.  Kinda like the Christian side whenever someone argues and just says, “Goddidit, don’t ask anymore questions….” I feel like many people say, “Evolution did it, shut up!”  
• Again, my ignorance might be shown greatly here, but another problem I have is of human fossilization. No, I will not go on to say that some of the “transition fossils” presented are not human…whoops.  Anyways, Darwin, Coyne, and others use the argument that humans began evolving in Africa.  Thus, it is obvious that most fossils would be found in Africa of the earliest descendants.  Sure – that’s fine.  I mean, according to the Bible, that area is where a lot of fossils should be found, too, as fossilization occurs whenever organisms find themselves quickly covered by water and sediments…I seem to remember this flood story…nonetheless – a quick look at human fossil records shows that some of the earliest “human fossils” were not discovered in Africa, but instead scattered around Asia, Europe, AND Africa.  I don’t care where they find them.  I just thought it interesting that Coyne really hit on the fact that man evolved in Africa, thus fossils should be found only there, and then whenever man because a thinking creature capable of movement, he moved across the world…yet some of the oldest dated fossils by evolutionists are found in Germany, China, Pakistan, and Italy. Oh well.

Anyways, I enjoyed the book.  I obviously don’t know everything that evolutionists believe, nor will I ever (as I have heard different contradicting ideas from different evolutionists…)  I just wanted to take a step toward understanding the worldview from which they work.

There are many I have talked to who are simply angry.  They don’t want to believe in a God.  They don’t want to deal with that, so it’s a sense of rebellion.  I try to avoid these types of people.

But others are simply unable to come to the conclusion that a God exists.  They see evolution as fact because it makes sense.  They see Christianity (and any religion) as moot because it seems preposterous and impossible.  They reject it because it is not logical – not because they’re angry babies.  I like these people, because they’re nice.

I read this book to understand those people.  I read this book to be able to at least talk to them a little.

One last tidbit, just for fun.  Within the book, Coyne says “probably,” “maybe,” “possibly,” etc. numerous times when speaking of how things evolved, why they evolved, and other issues.  Sure, I don’t expect evolutionists to have all the answers.  I mean, that’s something you hear a lot from them.  ”No, we haven’t found transitional fossils, but we will someday and that will answer all the questions…”  What you hear is faith.  I just wanted to point that one out.  So, don’t bash faith.  It happens to everyone.  

Now, back to reading things I want to read for fun….not that I didn’t enjoy the book.  It had some interesting tidbits…just interpreted the evidence in a much different way.

Raising Support

I posted this on Run 4 Haiti.  I’m open to ideas from the 2.6 readers I have.

I’ve begun to brainstorm the ways I can go about actually trying to raise money this year. VBS costs went up dramatically this year.  Normally it cost $5000 for the week to feed all of the people and other expenses for VBS (this is all the cost to actually execute VBS – I remind you that those of us who take a trip down there for the week pay for our own food, transportation, plus some more to pay our translators and other people…).  This year at VBS, the cost pushed $7000.  Who knows for next year.  I made a small dent last year in that cost.  I mean, I didn’t push or publicize the way that I possibly could have.  I could have done more.

I don’t like asking for money.  I really don’t.  It might come from the fact that I’m as cheap as they come.  As Lindsey and I are trying to get out of debt, I don’t want to buy ANYTHING.  I’m even willing to give up groceries.  But, I recognize that when someone does stupid things, such as run marathons and enjoy it, people are willing to thrown money at it.  I’m just in the middle of trying to figure out how to go from making a dent, to contributing huge numbers.  Not for the sake of “Oh, look how much I raised…” but for the sake of “Oh, look how much we can give!”  

I’d thought about seeing the possibility of having a 5k in my town in order to raise money.  That’s one thought.  I mean, who knows?  The other is of course to go about it the same as I did last year, but this year to actually email and snail mail packets of information to churches.  I have tons of ideas, I just don’t know how to go about executing all of them.  

Anyone have Donald Trump’s number?

So, if anyone has a brilliant idea of how non-profit orgs that are tiny and small and have no big connections can go about raising money – you should let me know.

Crazy Love

I finished Crazy Love by Francis Chan on Sunday evening. I must say, it might be one of the best books that I have ever read.  It is a challenging book for people in ministry, but especially just for Christians.

God loved us so much to send His son to die. That’s crazy enough. But this is the same God who created everything we see. And out of all of this – he paid attention to…US! That’s crazy.

The challenges throughout the book are phenomenal. From lukewarm Christians to taking advantage of the moments that we have to make a difference for the name of Christ – it’s a challenging book. 

If you haven’t read it, you need to BUY it right now. I don’t say that lightly either. I used to hate reading, but this book has made a huge impact on me. Buy it. Now. Go to Amazon. Go to your bookstore. Go somewhere, and buy this book. You won’t regret it.

This book is also inspiring a new series on Wednesday night talks with the youth group from me. I’m telling you, it’s that stinkin’ good. 

In other news – I finished book number 5 last night since September 19. That feels pretty awesome.  I also started book number 6.

Let’s review:

1. One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven by Mark Cahill – good book on sharing your faith
2. Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey – proven book on how to manage your finances 
3. What’s So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D’Souza – deep book on Christianity vs. atheism
4. Crazy Love by Francis Chan – the stuff
5. Serious Times by James Emery White – a look at our culture and how Christians should live within it

Number 6 that I began last night is a book that I actually began back in May and then got lazy when it came to reading. No Perfect People Allowed by John Burke. It was recommended to me by my mentor in youth ministry who is an avid reader. The first 50 pages are solid and challenging.

So, that’s what’s going on in my neck of the woods.  What are you reading?

Back Into The Apologetic World

I’m quite proud of myself, as I have been feeling mighty academic lately.  In the past two weeks, I’ve managed to read three books.

• One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven by Mark Cahill
• The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
• What’s So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D’Souza

The latter will be finished today.  I have more books on the horizon, as for some reason, I’ve really enjoyed reading lately, once again.  It is challenging me daily to study into different concepts and ideas.

One of which I have posted previously.  In fact, I briefly mentioned it on my very first blog post EVER!

In many atheist circles, there is a bogus claim that the story of Jesus Christ is just another account of a god, based off of previous stories told about other Egyptian, Roman, Persian, and Hindu gods.  I’ve had the privilege over the past 24 hours to speak with an atheist I met on Yahoo! Answers, and it has been fun to say the least.  I’d like to share some of the conversation here.

It all started as I responded to the claim mentioned above, that Christ came from the story of Horus, and that Horus was crucified, resurrected, fed 5,000 people with bread, and other great things.  I simply posted:

Can you please show me where these stories occur that pre-date Christ?

Really, it’s a simple request.  I just want to know where these stories originate from.  Show me the book.  Show me the wall paintings and translation of the hieroglyphics that tell the story of the time that Horus fed 5000 people with bread.  Obviously, if this is common knowledge, as is constantly suggested, it is nothing more than easily accessible.

That’s when my new friend approached me.  He sent me an email through Yahoo! Answers with two websites enclosed.  Let me copy and paste his first email below, as it really sets the stage for what ensues:

 http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/HORUS.htm

3000 BC is 3000 years before your christ.

Horus, the Egyptian Falcon-god, is “lord of the sky” and a symbol of divine kingship. His name (“Har” in Egyptian) probably means “the high,” “the far-off,” “the distant one” and is connected with “Hry” (“one who is above/over”). The name appears on Egyptian hieroglyphs in the royal protocol at the very beginning of dynastic civilization (c. 3000 BC).

http://listverse.com/2009/04/13/10-christ-like-figures-who-pre-date-jesus/

seriously man, do a little reading and learning before making claims against people.

I replied back to him after looking at the second link.

Thoughts On Youth Ministry

I’ve posted this before in a matter of speaking, but it’s been on my mind lately.

The odds according to all the statistical gurus claim that students won’t be in church after high school.  Well, whatever you believe with the statistics, that’s fine.

It makes me sometimes look at my group and wonder who will be the ones to stay and who will be the ones to go?

I look at Facebook quite a bit (a wonderful ministry tool) and catch up with old friends from high school as well as youth group.  Of the students who are on Facebook from my youth group days, it’s a sad thing to look at what’s going on in personal lives.  To see where they were, and to see where they ended up is amazing.  So much potential, so much ability, and it seems like it is being squandered in a lot of ways.  I am happy to see some of them still living a Christian life.  But I begin to question, what made the difference?

We all had the same backgrounds – white middle class Christian families with two parents.  We were all committed to being at church on Sundays, Wednesdays, and pretty much any other event.  We heard the same lessons.  We went to the same camps.  We went to the same retreats.  So what gives?

What makes the difference in a student’s life to say, “That’s it, this is for real!  I’m never turning away.”  And for another to say, “That was just a small part of my life.  I might go back to it, but probably not.  For now, it’s what I want and need.”

I just wonder.  I wonder what could have been.  I wonder why.  I wonder lots of things.

Maybe its just me, but it seems like I’m working in a depressing job with the statistics that face the students.  Somehow, this pushes me to keep going.  What happens when your students suddenly say, “This is it!  This is for me for life!  No turning back!”  That’s the payoff.  That’s the future of the church.  

About 16 months worth of youth ministry, and I have to ask…How do we do this?

Of course, if someone had the answer, then what’d be the point of having youth pastors to pour their lives into these students?  Someone who could retain 100% of students is super human.  Students make decisions.  Students are the ones who go their own way.  

It’s a rambling blog, nonetheless, it speaks truth. Statistics are stacked against students.  How do we turn the stats?  If I knew, I’d be the first one to share it.

The Bible

Starting next week, this is what we’ll be studying with my youth group.  The Bible.  Pretty rad, huh?  Who would have thought we’d study the Bible at church?

Anyways, I’ll be digging into the canonization, beliefs, fluidity, etc of the Bible.  We’ll see how that goes.

In other news, I haven’t read a book all summer and I am slacking on most things that I should be doing.  

How’s that for awesome?

Why?

Life is full of many questions. We all know this.  I was thinking today though, do we ever try to answer them?  As an attachment to my last post, I feel that the mission of the church should be to answer the questions of those that we teach.  (Not the main mission, but it should be a goal.

It’s not so much to answer the questions of the people, but instead to strengthen them.

Such as, general questions:

• Why am I a Christian?

I venture to say that the majority of Christians who answer this would keep it surface and typical Sunday School answer.  ”I am a Christian because I had sinned against God and needed a Savior.” That is an amazing answer.  That is truth.  That is Gospel.  But, what happens if we inquire further?

• In light of the world’s opposition to the truth of Christianity, why am I a Christian?

Those outside of Christianity don’t see the need for a Savior from sins.  Thus, when looking at the arguments against God, a Savior, Creation, etc. why are you a Christian? When we answer these questions, I believe it begins a series of events in someone’s life.

Other questions could include:

• Why am I a Free Will Baptist (or given denomination…) ?

It’s sad, but most people in their denomination don’t really know the basic tenets of the denomination. They’re not essential for salvation, but I like to know what I am about before I commit.  

• Why do I attend First Bible Free Will Baptist Church?

Outside of the denominational affiliation, why