Being Emotionally Relevant

Do you ever wonder what it means to be relevant? That word gets thrown around a lot in the church today. I’m not talking about making God relevant to people, because I don’t think that’s what we’re called to. What I am talking about is this: what does it mean for us as Christians to be relevant to those who don’t know Christ? What does it mean for us to meet them at their place in life and bring the good news to them?

I think it goes far beyond being flashy or “cool.” It’s about being emotionally relevant. We should be empathic with one another, feeling each other’s pain and joy, bearing each other’s burdens, walking in each other’s shoes. When we stop being people who really care for the needs of others (whether it be spiritual, physical, emotional, social, or intellectual) we stop being the body of Christ. I pray that you will join with me in striving to be an emotionally relevant person to those I already know and to those I will come across in the future.

Habakkuk

Do you ever have questions for God? Does life ever seem unfair? Is there something you just can't resolve with God?

Welcome to the club! Join us for a new series starting April 15th as we look at Habakkuk, a dude with a funny name who had some serious questions.

Life isn't fair. Good things happen to bad people and a lot of terrible stuff happens to good people. Bring your questions and join us as we seek God together in the face of these challenges.

Justice

How would you describe justice, specifically social justice?

I read some pretty cool definitions of it today. Here they are.

“Social justice, as I understand it, is when everybody gets what he or she truly
needs in order to realize his or her fullest potential as a lover of God and as a lover of other people.” (Bart Campolo)

Another way of thinking about it, perhaps more simply, is that justice is about righting wrongs. Taking things that are messed up in this world and making them right- relationships, social systems, physical situations, all of that stuff.

Do you agree with these definitions? Would you add anything?

Belong

All of us want to belong somewhere. It's a natural human desire and need. I think it's a healthy thing too... if we do it right.

Too often we're willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to belong to a certain group of people- the popular kids, the cool crowd, whoever it is. But in doing that, we lose our identity, the person God created you to be. What things have you given up to fit in? Playing that game has consequences.

But here's the good news- there's a place we can belong to, a place we can fit in without sacrificing who we are and who God made us to be. That place is the church, God's family. So I encourage you to really consider what lengths you are going to to try to fit in and consider turning to the place that will accept you just as you are.

Do you feel like you belong to God's family?

iGeneration

We're starting a new series next month. It's based on the idea that our generation (I include myself in this, and would say that it's even seeping into prior generations as well) is becoming more and more focused on the individual. We are moving away from life in community to life alone.

We're going to be addressing some of the lies that our culture tries to get us to believe. Here's a little preview:

I am an army of one.

I don't need anyone else.

It's all about me.

I don't need your rules.

I hope you join us on Wednesday nights for this series, I hope it speaks some truth to all of us.


What do you think, is there any danger in the progression from life in community to life alone? I've been playing this progression out in my head quite a bit lately, and I don't like where it ends up. Where do you see this going?

Jr. High Winter Camp

We just got back from jr high winter camp yesterday. It was so fun!

The speaker up there talked about labels- things that people label us as (nerd, jock, loner, loser, popular, stuff like that). We talked about the fact that God doesn't label us like that but sees each one of us as valuable enough and lovable enough to die for.

He challenged us to not label each other but instead to see them the way God does.

So here's what you can do- every morning when you wake up, pray to God that He would help you to see people the way that He sees them. Do you think you can do that? Try it and let me know what happens!

Truth and Culture

We live in a time known as the "postmodern" era. One of the trademarks of this time is the decline of absolute truth. It is becoming harder and harder to say that we know anything for certain or know that anything has always been and always will be true.

Jesus says that he is the way, the truth, and the life. I believe that Jesus was and is the only way to a full life and to eternal salvation. I believe that that is a truth that will never change.

So my question is this: how do we proclaim Christ in this age of diminishing truth? To what extent do we need to change culture? But at the same time, how do we proclaim Christ within our culture?