Joyless Living

Things are easy to get caught up in...things like sports teams. Have a favorite? Maybe you are a fanatic. A favorite pasttime? Perhaps you can't get enough fishing, reading, or piano time. I am guilty. My often involve inward journeys. I get caught up in worry, self-hatred, negativity, and doubt. My one track mind likes to play out the worst case scenero for everything. So a confession is forthwith coming. For the longest time I have been caught up in the whirlwind of the postmodern, what's-wrong-with-the-organized-church, the sky is falling discussion. In all of my reading, discussions, and complaints - has this helped me to grow? Grow more cynical perhaps. Grow angry at the errors of our ways. Angry at government or leaders. Much of what is being publised by Christian publishers fuels this fire. I grab a book know that it will grow my discontent but I read it anyway. Is my anger righteous? Is my frustration founded? Perhaps. More likely it is piety and pride.

See I am the chief of sinners. I can point out your sin, the churches sin, and the world's sin. Yet I cannot face myself in the mirror. I cannot stand before God and say "here is my sin Lord". Because that would require surrender. That would require me to die to myself.

Yet here I find myself in the midst of Grace. God who is faithful and just is willing to forgive. Willing to say "my child I love you and I forgive you." Now I must face the mirror. I must fall on my knees before the cross.

The truth is I will probably not cause the next revival. I will not save the world. In fact I cannot even save myself. It is God who loves and acts and moves in and through me that brings about any good. It is God who saves. I am looking at the plank in my eye and asking God to remove it. I desire to serve and obey. The church may not be perfect. It may be modern and the world may be passing it by. But is my love. It is my home. It is where grace falls like rain. It is where I shall live in joy all the days of my life.

What is Revolution?

Matthew 10:39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

It is time to find our lives in Christ.

Revolution is:

Compassion - Love for our neighbors. Sharing the Gospel with all that we meet. In our words and our actions. Caring for the needs of those we encounter. Do our words and actions toward others reflect a life found in Christ?

Commitment - To the youth ministry, to the church, to Christ. For too long we have found our lives in this world and not in God's. We must find our lives in Christ. Do your calendar, schedule, activities...reflect a life found in Christ?

Church - It's the bigger church. Not just youth group, but getting up Sunday mornings to be with the larger church. It is coming to Lent suppers, pancake breakfasts, and church picnics. You are a part of the body of Christ!

The Cross - It's all about Jesus. Everything we do - the fun, the tough, the retreats, the Bible studies, all of it is in response to the great love and sacrifice of Christ.

Where do you find your life?

Never Forgive or Forget

I am sitting in my "other office" right now...you guessed it. Moxie Java. I was working on Andrew Night for a while but this guy across from me is wearing a shirt that is distracting me. It says "We will never forget or forgive. 9/11/01". This got me thinking about forgiveness. In high school youth two weeks ago, the topic of forgiveness came up. The consensus was that it is hard to forgive yourself. If we have trouble forgiving ourselves, it's no wonder we have trouble forgiving others.

This guys tshirt might not be "kind" but it's pretty honest. When someone hurts me, my reaction is to harbor that pain, dwell on it, and get defensive. I don't just extend a heart of forgiveness as I should. I have that Peter attitude from Matthew 18. "How many times am I supposed to forgive?" Isn't there a statute of limitations on this?

I think this is one of the reasons Jesus was so radical. He would look at someone who had been hurt (the woman at the well) or had hurt others (Zaccheus), then just forgive them. It's uncomfortable and invasive. It's amazing and heart changing. When Jesus looks at you and tells you that you are loved and forgiven, something breaks free within. The hard shell of jaded life cracks. Then bit by bit you learn to forgive. You get hurt. You look back at Jesus, urging you to love. Then bit by bit you extend your heart, knowing that you - the chief of sinners - has been forgiven.

What does it mean to be a Christian?

I asked this question in Sunday school last week. Everyone in class felt it was a difficult question to answer. But what does it mean?

We looked at Romans 5. Verse 1 says this: "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." I don't usually just pull a verse out by itself but there is something significant here. Peace.

Sadly in our day we usually find little peace. The noise grows around us - voices, technology, and industry. There are more billboards and neon signs every day. Speed is valued. Bigger is always better. More means greater.

Then we look at our lives, our inner lives. Do we find peace? How can we with all that is going on around us? The pace of life and the stress of life. The broken relationships and disappointments. What is there to cling to? Peace.

What does it mean to be a Christian? It means peace with God through Christ. In a life that can overwhelm us. Peace. In a life that pass us by in an instant. Peace. In a life that has moments of fleeting joy. Peace. In a life that sometimes makes sense and sometimes makes no sense. Peace.

Peace with God through Christ.