Good Doctrine: The Best Thing for a Teenager

There are hundreds of strategies and ploy's to capture the heart and mind of the teenager and cultivate a disciple of Jesus Christ... but there is none that compare to the best strategy of all: teach them the Bible.

Time and time again I see the main distinguishing characteristic of a person who not only claims to be a Christian but also lives it out is that he or she is reading the Bible consistently and intentionally.

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." - Joshua 1:8

Even more importantly I see the connection between accurately understanding Scripture with maturity and obedience in life. It is so crucial for us to have the discipline to consistently be in the Bible and to have the tools and know-how to be able to read a particular passage and understand what the author's intended meaning is!

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

The inspiration and inerrancy of God's Word is the root of our growth and maturity in Christ. Verse 17 begins with "that" which indicates the purpose or result of what was said in verse 16. The result of the fact that the Bible is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness is this: the Christian will be competent and equipped for every good work. What an amazing promise and hope that we have as God's children!

Two Kinds of Professionalism: Good and Bad

Although it is good and God-honoring to be professional in all that we do, there is an inherent danger that lurks just around the corner in our ministries. To get straight to the point, I think the imminent danger is the neglect of the spiritual. When we are focused on administration, logistics, to do lists, efficiency, budgets, advertisements, etc., it is easy to forget about WHY we are doing these things in the first place. That entire list is comprised of means: means to an end. What is the end of all those things? Ultimately, it should be the glory of God. If that isn't our end, then we should rethink what we are doing and why.

There is, however, a good type of professionalism. This is the mindset that I think is better labeled by the word "excellence." When we perform our jobs with excellence, or serve in the church with excellence, or lead our families with excellence, or study and memorize God's Word with excellence God is praised and glorified in us! And that becomes an open door to reach those around us for Christ.

May we do everything with excellence for the glory of God! And God keep us and guard us from cold professionalism in our ministries!

Being Christian in Gadgetopia...

I am now a proud owner of a ipod nano... and my prayer is that I use this little device for the Glory of God!

You might have just asked yourself, "How can you use a nano for the Glory of God?!"

Here is my strategy:

1. Use the Nike+ application to help me get back into shape... which is definitely a part of glorifying God with our bodies!
2. While I run, I will listen to God-honoring music, scripture and sermons that I can get online (including guys like Jim Andrews, John Piper, etc.)
3. All the while be completely willing to give this little device up...Apple really knows what it's doing with these things... amazing stuff... but in no way necessary for my contentment or for my godliness

What a good practice to ask ourselves, "How can I glorify God with ______?"

May we use this criteria for all of our decision making!

Steve Jobs on Not Wasting Your Life

Although his conclusions are not from a biblical worldview, his points are very good! In summary, he argues that everyone should:

1. Trust in some sort of providence or fate
2. See the value and purpose of suffering
3. Continuously think about our mortality

I think you will find this interesting...

What I have learned thus far as a youth pastor...

There is a gap between knowing theology and living it! This gap is not a necessary one but one that is only conquered by experience. Experience has been the tool that God is using to chisel away at my rocky exterior to reveal and form what is underneath. What is underneath? A man striving to find his identity in Christ and put into practice theological truths that are easy to believe yet hard to live out. God has placed me as a shepherd over a portion of his flock and I am overwhelmed with emotions of both inadequacy and joy. My desire for study and knowledge is balanced with my desire for practical experience in seeing the kingdom of God be furthered by the youth that have been entrusted to me and Jonathan (my cohort in ministry). These are some of the principles I have been exposed to in the past six months:

Humility - fighting ambition
Diligence - fighting procrastination and laziness
Faith - fighting worry and unbelief
Self-control - fighting indulgence and addiction

Perhaps the most important thing I am learning right now is that God is working whether I can measure it or not. God has already been doing awesome things in the lives of the youth at Lake Bible! The most important thing for me right now is to be faithful!

Relationship With God

There is a direct relationship between one's relationship with God and the amount of time one spends in the Word and in prayer. Just like any relationship, one's relationship with God must be maintained and nurtured. It is incredible how easy and natural it is to become lazy and sluggish in this. One day you are wallowing in the goodness and faithfulness of God and the next day you are consumed with worry, doubt, lust, anger; all because you decided to sleep in and cater to yourself this morning instead of spend time with God. All of a sudden, you have gone a week, a month, even more than a month without genuinely spending time with God.

Resolved: I will maintain my relationship with God through Scripture reading, study and prayer as much as I possibly can and as often as I possibly can.

My relationship with God is the foundation of all that I am as a believer and a disciple of Christ. God is my source, my light; He is the living water from which I must drink as often as I can. The biggest obstacle is losing the eternal perspective that is required of all who trust in Christ. Once that is lost, sin in all its various forms becomes more and more enticing each and every second. There is no neutrality or pause; either I am growing or I am withering. I choose to grow by the incredible grace of God!

My life is changing...praise God!

Wow!

It has been awhile since I last posted anything. I feel as though my life has completely changed since I last wrote. God has been working in my life ( in my life and Tara's life ). God is always working... but over the last couple months I am realizing that God is changing my desires and my passions. He is making me into the person that I am supposed to be. I am still a far cry from where I need to be and I am humbled because of that fact. However, I am delighted and overflowing with joy because the God who is sovereign over the universe has the unfathomable love to work in my heart and transform me to the image of His Son... praise be to God!

The biggest and greatest thing that has happened recently is the humbling and incredible reality that I am going to be a dad! God has blessed Tara and I with a child and I can honestly say that I have already fallen deep in love with this person. I would gladly give my life for my son or daughter. I am praying for his or her salvation and for mine and Tara's perseverance to live as godly examples to this child and raise him or her in the ways of the Lord.

This change in my life has forced me to my knees! My knees... in prayer... a place that I should have been since I first confessed Jesus Christ as my Savior. Sorrowfully, I look back on my immaturity in my relationship with God and see a Christian with sin in his life and with no progress to be noted.

That humbling and regretful state of facts has pierced my conscience and my heart with a deep motivation to know God more and find all of my strength and reason for living in Him and Him alone!

For anyone who might read this posting, my prayer is that you would do the same. Pray as long as you possibly can and as often as you possibly can. I have not perfected prayer and I won't on this side of eternity. But pursuing prayer and reliance on God (which is what prayer really is) is a worthwhile pursuit... one worth fighting for! One worth dying for!

How can God work in us and be glorified in us if we do not know Him? If we do not rely on Him? If we do not delight in Him?

If there is one thing that I am learning... it is how important and vital for me as a child of God to delight in God and to be most satisfied with Him and to desire to bring glory to Him in everything that I do!

Praise God for His undeserved grace that He has bestowed on us! Let us delight in glorifying Him!

Da Vinci Code - A Challenge to Believers

How should the church react to this book/movie/cultural phenomenon?

So far, I have seen three responses:

• Ban it, burn it - This response is self-explanatory. It is the response that the catholic church has been accused of having (in the media...whether this is true or not I do not know). Many evangelicals are taking this stance as well (more specifically the conservative side of evangelicalism). The main thrust behind this argument is that because the claims are blasphemous against Jesus, any support (financially etc.) would be sinful.
• Watch it... but only to dismantle it - Many people have read the book or will go to the movie in order to educate themselves about the whole phenomenon of the "Da Vinci Code". They do this in order to be able to refute all its claims... or perhaps just better understand what the book is arguing so that they can in turn be able to adequately discuss it's claims with others.
• It's just fiction, folks - This response is held by everyone else (especially non-Christians - why would it matter to them? It's just a good show). Perhaps on the far swing of the pendulum in the direction opposite of the popular Christian reaction there are people who hold this book/movie as a victory against the superstitious/anti-intellectual religion called Christianity.

How can we as believers love God and love our neighbors(which I think is the core of our ethical choice-making criteria) in this situation?

Well, my first thoughts are that every response has merit... yes, I know, that's a horrible stance to take! The "ban it, burn it" stance does have merit because as a believer I do think that the claims in the Da Vinci Code are heretical ( which is no surprise... there is a lot of stuff in society that is heretical - we do not live in a Christian nation!). The "watch it to study it" response is a good middle ground approach - admitting that the claims are false (like much of society's claims) but instead of being ignorant about it, educate yourself. The "just fiction" response is understandable - especially if you are not a Christian... you have no clue what is at stake in the Da Vinci Code's claims if you do not hold the Bible as true and infallible.

As a believer in Christ, I plead for consistency! This is the one area where we can use some improvement. If you think that it is sinful for you to spend money on the book or movie, then listen to you conscience (the Spirit convicts us for a reason!). If you want to see the movie so that you can adequately interact with everyone else who has seen it - then watch it. Do not feel ashamed for watching the movie for that purpose... many pastors, priests and teachers purchase literature from the occult and other religions in order to become better educated about those various beliefs.

If you take the "it's just fiction" response - be careful. The beginning of the book gives a "this is actually factual" atmosphere to the book; do not give Dan Brown the benefit of the doubt with respect to his motives for writing the book. Many people outside of the Christian camp see this book as a victory, an evolutionary leap in the direction of truth and relativism. This is not the place for the believer - this is where we need to be counter-cultural.

Most of all, use this whole situation as an open door to discuss the Bible/Jesus/Christianity with your neighbors - redeem this opportunity! When do we ever have such an opportunity as this to bring up the claims of the Bible with almost anyone we come across - now, because of the Da Vinci Code, it is relevant to discuss it. See this as opportunity.

God's Greatest Gift to Me

God's greatest gift to me this side of eternity is Tara! She is the most beautiful person that I have ever met... inside and out! My love for her has grown every single day since I have met her, dated her, married her... I am truly blessed!

This summer will be our 2nd anniversary and we have grown in our love and respect for each other. Marriage is a wonderful thing when you do not fret and worry about whether or not your spouse is faithful or not; divorce is not even an valid option for us.

Tara, I want you to know that I love you with every ounce of my being! I am so excited to experience life with you... and to grow old with you! You grow more beautiful every day! My heart is yours forever!

I love you Tara!

The Christian Worldview and the Separation of Church and State

Although America is conducive for the lifestyle and freedom of the believer in Christ, one must not make the mistake of thinking that to be Christian is to be American, or that to be American is to be Christian.

America, since its inception, has put into policy a separation of church and state. This is both good and bad from different points of view. It is good because the government has no say in religious matters (unless they threaten civil law) - This gives freedom to its citizens.

However, there are negative consequences that come from this policy. The separation of church and state has caused a subtle bifurcation between religion and societal living. This mindset, or perhaps "worldview", has infultrated the Christian faith. Religion has become a personal matter, and tolerance is the prime virtue.

The question is whether the good outweighs the bad, or vice-versa. Is it realistic to pursue a theocracy? How does the Christian relate to government... the world? Here are some negative consequences on the individual Christian and the church as a whole stemming from the "separation of church and state" mindset:

• Syncretism - Essentially, there is a trend of religion "a la carte" stemming from the prime virtue of Tolerance (which is a good thing, but is it really the best and most important of virtues?).
  
• Christian by day, someone else by night - self-explanatory.
  

These are definitely symptoms of "separation of church and state" Christians, but these symptoms are present everywhere and at all times; any elementary history of Christianity would show this. I do not think that the separation of church and state is really the cause of these problems... it might be a catalyst, but not the cause.

On the reverse side of this thinking, there are negative consequences to pursuing a theocratic-like approach to America (trying to infiltrate the government, pass only Christian laws, enforce them on the entire country). Now, don't get me wrong: Christians have the right to vote and they should vote from their convictions about issues. Good, moral... yes, even biblical laws are great to see in governmental policies because they are good for society. But I think that there is a difference between someone who voices their convictions about issues and someone who tries to enforce their convictions upon other people. Here are some negative consequences:

• Legalism - When Christian principles are followed just because they are "the rules", misconceptions about what it means to be Christian follow. i.e. Someone can be a moral person but still not be Christian.... someone who has placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for rescuing them from spiritual death and separation from God - in the simplest of terms, that is initially what it means to be a follower of Christ. However, when someone just follows the Biblical standards of morality, that's great, but it has not saved them and it has not changed their hearts - which is the real issue, isn't it?
• Animosity towards Christians - I'm sure that a lot of us have experienced this in light of certain people in the Christian Right movement that have overstepped their bounds with their words and have really made all Christians look like Christian nationalist terrorists. That is not what it means to be Christian!
  
• Loss of witness - For those of us interested in reaching our neighbors for Christ, enforcing Christian laws on them is an ignorant approach. How can we reach our countrymen for Christ if we make them our enemies? Outward actions only go so far.... Are we not targeting the inner-person? Will not actions follow? It seems to me that the Bible portrays outward actions as evidence of faith... How can they precede it?

Maybe there is a different approach to relating to our government, our country, our world. Conquering them is out of the picture! Did Christ come to set up a political kingdom, or a spiritual one?