Razors or Band-Aids

Proverbs 12:18

Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing.

We all know that our words carry power and influence, but it is so easy to forget the tremendous impact they can have on a person. It is so easy to find ourselves around our friends joking with each other and making fun of each other's flaws, insecurities, and mistakes. We don't always intend to hurt, but even without realizing it we are sending out words to our friends that are truly damaging. These jokes, one-liners, gossips, and quips come in the form of text messages, Facebook posts and quick audible jabs; but no matter their form they still can be like little razor blades slicing away at the hearts of our friends.

As Christ followers it is crucial to remember that our words not only have the power to hurt, but as this Proverb mentions, they have the capability of bringing healing to others. When everyone else is joking around and being mean we can encourage. When everyone is criticizing someone for their mistakes we can accentuate their successes. When everyone is talking smack about someone on Facebook we can choose to delete the post from our wall. The people around us are constantly getting ripped apart by the words of others, allow your words to do just the opposite and build someone up. Use your words to restore, encourage, edify, promote, and heal the hearts of your friends.

Only a Piece of the Peace

Life is full of all kinds of stresses and anxieties. There could be relationship issues, friendship issues, parental issues, school issues, and many other kinds of issues. Let's be honest, there's probably something right now that is wearing you out and your patience, your strength, and your positive attitude is either stretched to the max or completely wiped out. What in life right now has you feeling overwhelmed, out of control, or stressed?

The next big question to ask yourself is how do you typically try to find comfort or relief from that stressful situation? Who or what do you look to for peace? Some may run to entertainment, things like movies, books, and video games can provide a temporary escape as they follow the twists and turns of their favorite fictional characters. Some turn to things like music because its a medium that helps channel and express their emotions. Some experiment with substances to try and numb the pain; thinking that something like drugs, alcohol or even junk food can take away the difficulties of their current circumstance. Many will try to find peace, comfort, and wisdom in a variety of people or things; but ultimately we all need to look to Jesus for peace. When we run to these things we are only discovering a piece of the peace that our hearts and souls desire.

Jesus is nicknamed the Prince of Peace, the Holy Spirit is called the Comforter, God is all about peace and he wants you to experience peace; even right now as you try to navigate that tough and stressful issue you're going through. Paul said it best in his letter to the Philippians, "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6-7)

The next time you find yourself feeling stretched to the max, don't run to your usual comforts that are so easily accessible. Instead spend some quality time with Jesus. Whether its through a time of talking to God, sitting in silence, reading a Bible verse, or listening to worship music; try to find peace by spending time with the God of Peace. When we do that we are reminded that God hasn't left our side, God is hearing us when we speak to him, God is bigger than our circumstances, God cares about us, and God can use our experiences to shape us into the men and women of God that he desires us to be. In doing so you'll discover all of the peace that God wants you to experience.

Don't Give Up, SING!

Psalm 42:11

Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again – my Savior and my God!

It can be so easy to give up on God and get distracted by our circumstances. We can easily find ourselves discouraged because things are going as planned. We can get frustrated because our situation feels overwhelming or too big to handle. We've all been there, we've all wanted to give up or throw in the towel.

This psalm can serve as a great reminder not to let your feelings dictate your faith.

Just because we're stressed, discouraged, frustrated, or overloaded we have to remain faithful to Christ. Our trust and hope needs to remain in Him and not in our feelings. To keep our trust in Him means that we may need to let go of our plans, relinquish control, and consistently believe that God is in control and He's bigger than our circumstance. One of the best remedies for a discouraged faith would be to spend time praising God. Go onto iTunes, download some of your favorite worship songs, and start singing. Sing praises in your room, sing praises while doing the dishes, sing praises while walking to school, just continue to sing praises.

As we honor God our trust in him increases and our faith strengthens so that we can endure those tough seasons in life.

Tomorrow's New View of Today

John 13:3-7

³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

Many of us are familiar with this text of Jesus washing the disciples' feet. In response to Peter's question he makes a very interesting statement that we can quickly overlook. Logically this didn’t make any sense for the teacher to be doing such an act of servitude for his students. On any other day it would have made sense for the students to care for their teacher/master. Then after this completely selfless and unorthodox gesture of servitude, Jesus says there will be things in life that we don’t always understand or don’t make logical sense. We can’t always make sense of God’s plan or intention, but we must continue to faithfully follow and obey; trusting that God's will is supreme. Especially since in the moment our narrow perspective can inhibit us from realizing the true magnitude and significance of God’s actions. The disciples were probably struggling the grasp the huge significance of having the Savior of mankind rolling up his sleeves and doing the job of a servant/slave. Isn't it true that in heat of the moment its easy to find ourselves questioning God and his master plan?

• "Why didn't He heal this person?"
• "Why can't He just provide the money for this situation?"
• "Why are my parents getting a divorce?"
• "Why shouldn't I mess around with my boyfriend/girlfriend?"
• "Why can't I smoke this or drink that? If I don't I'll get made fun of."
• "Why do I have to be nice to the awkward kid in class?"
• "Why can't I yell at my parents like my friends do to their parents?"
• "Why do good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people?"

It is super easy to question God, but it takes real faith to continue to follow Him when you don't get the answer you want. We can't forget this amazing promise that Jesus makes with Peter, we may not completely understand things right now, but there will come a day and time that we will. Can you imagine what it would have been for Peter when the lightbulb when off for him one day. "OHHH...now I get why Jesus wanted to wash my feet." One day we'll see the BIG PICTURE and we'll be able to understand why God allowed those things to happen, why He chose not to do a miraculous event in that moment, or what He was trying to teach us. The point is don't give up, instead ask God for HIS perspective so that you can see the world through his eyes. Then tomorrow you'll be able to have a new view about the things you're going through today.

A God of Connection

If you were having a birthday party, who would you invite? When you first get your driver's license and your first car, who will get to drive with you on your first legal drive? When a family has a baby, who do they invite to visit them at the hospital? When we encounter special moments in life we usually only think to share them with the special people in our lives. We wouldn't think to invite strangers or socially awkward individuals; instead we would invite people we are most comfortable with. Yet when it comes to the most special moment in the history of mankind, God chose to connect various groups of people of different backgrounds.

Luke 2:8-20 tells of how an angel appeared to a group of shepherds and told them about the birth of Jesus. They then went and visited Jesus after he was born and then went out and shared their experiences with others. In thinking about this story it is interesting to think that some of the first visitors recorded getting to visit the Savior of humanity were a group of grungy, outcast sheep herders. Shepherds in our everyday Nativity set seem peaceful, hygienic, clean, smiling, and socially acceptable. But when we understand the true context of being a shepherd, we realize that these shepherds were a group of people that spent the majority of their time alone in the fields, they were smelly, gross, and maybe even socially awkward and overlooked. Yet God chooses to bring these smelly loners to participate in this pivotal point in history.

As the Christmas season continues to unfold we need to think about how we as Christ followers can take initiative and begin inviting people to connect with the family of God. Remembering that God sees past backgrounds, race, wealth, social status, appearance and all of the other things that we would typically use to disqualify someone from connecting with us. God is a God of connection and he wants to use us to connect people.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Recently at Uturn Jr. High we discussed the topic of lying and how easy it is to be dishonest throughout the day. We can lie by giving false truth, we can lie by exaggerating the truth, we can lie by cheating, we can lie by twisting the truth to benefit ourselves, or we can even lie by omitting/holding back the truth. In fact, lying is one of those choices we can make so instinctively that we may not even realize that we have been dishonest. Lying is also one of those subject matters that has become so easily excused by our culture, whether its a "little white lie" or "kind of cheating" or some other form of deceit we have found it to be culturally acceptable and even justify our deception with logic. "Well its okay to cheat on your homework cause they give you the answers in the back of the book" or "I don't have to tell my parents what I did last night cause they didn't ask".

If you read in Acts chapter 5 verses 1 through 11, you see an example of how God commands his followers to be honest. In this example, there are two individuals (Ananias and Sapphira) who sell their property and give most of the money to the church as a donation. Unfortunately they tell the church that what they gave was the full amount, even though they had decided to hold onto some of the profits for their own personal gain. When confronted about the issue by the church leaders, both Ananias and Sapphira lie about giving the full amount of money and are both instantly struck dead by God. WHOA!

Now this story isn't in the Bible to scare us that if we don't give God all of our money He'll send lightning bolts from heaven to kill us. What this story shows is that God wants the people of his church to be honest with each other. There was no need for Ananias and Sapphira to lie about how much they gave, in fact the church leader even said that there was nothing wrong with them keeping some of the money; the issue came down to their dishonesty and lack of integrity.

Lying is such an interesting topic because we're told since we were little kids "DON'T LIE", yet such a simple command can so easily be overlooked and broken. On the topic of lying Jesus had a simple thought in the book of Matthew chapter 5 verse 37 - Let your "Yes" be "Yes" and your "No" be "No". Again a simple command that is not simple to follow. In fact Jesus even describes himself as "THE TRUTH", so as followers of Christ we need to be making conscious choices to be truth tellers. Another reason to strive for honesty in your life is that lying hurts people. We've all been on the negative side of a lie; whether it was a rumor, some one cheated us, or a broken promise. Deception, deceit, and dishonesty can hurt people and destroy our relationships.

This week we want to challenge you to think about the following questions as we've discussed this topic of lying: When do you lie? How do you lie? Why do you choose to lie? Hopefully as you reflect on these questions you'll be able to discover your motivations for choosing to lie and our prayer is that you'll make the decision to repent of that habit and in the future choose to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

YourTurn Challenge: Penny Prayers

This week at Uturn JH we talked about the importance of establishing a lifestyle of prayer. Prayer should be viewed as a critical part of our life because prayer is about talking with God about everything going on in your life. It has been said before that "prayer is powerful" but I would say that the God we pray to is powerful. Not only is God capable of answering your prayers, but he earnestly cares about you and what's going on in your life. Prayer doesn't have to be contained to a certain room or sound a certain way or require a certain posture of your body. Prayer is about talking with God and as Christ followers it is vital that we constantly communicate with God. Your prayers throughout the day may be prayers of praise, prayers of confession, prayers of thankfulness, or maybe its a prayer requesting God to do something in your life or the lives of others. Prayer should characterize our lifestyle and as Paul says to the Thessalonians we need to "PRAY CONTINUALLY". (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

In order to help us remember to pray we've created a YourTurn challenge that will be very helpful. For one week we're encouraging everyone to carry a penny in their pocket and every time they feel that penny, see that penny, or take that penny out of their pocket they should take a moment to pray about anything on their mind. Our hopes is that one cent can inspire a student to begin having frequent conversations with God. They don't have to be long winded or sound super spiritual; just PRAY.

Where is God when you're in a JAM?

This past weekend we continued our "Hydrate your Soul" series by talking about pursuing your relationship with God during times of struggle, trial, or overwhelming circumstances. It can be so easy to direct our focus on the problems of life rather than keep our eyes on Jesus. Difficult circumstances are never easy to navigate, but we have to remember that as Christ followers we have God on which we can depend and trust. We need to be diligent in following Him even when times are tough. We can't forget that God is still there, his presence is still around us, the Holy Spirit is still empowering us; even when life hits the lowest of the lows. No matter how lonely, discouraged, frustrated, overwhelmed, overlooked, stressed, or stretched we may feel we must constantly do our best to remain faithful to Christ and trust that He can help us navigate these troublesome times. Even though life has gotten difficult, we have to remember that God has not abandoned us, He's still right there, and He still loves you dearly. Its during the tough times that our faith gets thrust into action. Those are the moments when we need to admit our dependence upon Him alone, and look to God for guidance, strength, wisdom, and peace. We also must remember that God can use these difficult times to refine us and teach us to be more like Him. Keep your eyes and ears open to the Holy Spirit so you can see how God is using your circumstance to make you more like Jesus.

If you feel that you're going through a tough time right now, here are some verses that may be an encouragement to you:

1 Peter 1:6-9, 1 Peter 5:7, James 1:2-4, James 1:12, Galatians 6:9, Matthew 5:10-12, Matthew 7:24-27, Isaiah 26:3-4, Isaiah 35:3-4, and Philippians 4:4-9

Pebble in your Shoe Challenge

This week at Uturn JH we discussed that Jesus is our only Savior of the sins in our lives. No matter what we've done or how bad we might think we are, through faith in Jesus we can be forgiven for our sins and be given a fresh start. To remind us of our need for Jesus we decided to put out a week long challenge to any students and leaders in Uturn JH that wish to join us. We've each committed to putting a small pebble in our shoe until Wednesday, June 8th. During that time we'll feel the discomfort of the small rock as it rubs into our feet, but that tiny rocky annoyance will serve as a reminder for each of us that we are nothing without Jesus and we each desperately need him in order to be in right relationship with God. You might even find yourself reflecting on your life and realizing that there is an area of sin in your life currently that you need to repent of. While to some it may seem like a silly or insignificant challenge, we think it will be a great reminder of our need for Christ in our life, and that's something we never want to forget about.

Culture of Respect: Part 2

A few weeks ago we had a great discussion at Uturn JH about the topic of respect and honor. Earlier we posted some thoughts that came from that discussion. This week I wanted to post some thoughts from the youth pastor you rarely get to hear from, April Nault. Usually I get the microphone to share, but she wanted to share some thoughts about this topic too.

"When I think about respect at Uturn, I think about remembering someone's name, not talking while someone else is, or listening to what Sean has to say, but what I realized is that these are secondary issues. What should be my primary focus at Uturn? It should be respecting God. Yes, we want to cut down on disruptive talking or playing with our cell phones, but our heart should be "God, I came to Uturn to worship you and learn more about you." This can be hard. Sometimes our days get filled with drama with friends, a fight with mom or dad, homework stacking up, or ___(fill in the blank)____. This requires me to say, "Okay God, what do I need to check at the door or give to you so that my attention is on YOU and not distracted by something else?" We shouldn't cover up, mask, or even diminish what's going on in our lives, but we need to take the personal responsibility to surrender our anxieties, stresses, and issues so that we can better focus on Jesus. My heart for Uturn is tha we would be characterized as people that show respect to each other, but first and foremost to God."

I hope this is an encouragement to you. Would you partner with us in making Uturn JH a place where we honor God and people to the best of our abilities?

Culture of Respect: Part 1

Uturn Jr. High took a Wednesday night in November to discuss the topic of respect and honoring each other. Amidst joking and kidding around there can be a lot of disrespect occurring within a large group of people. The leadership of Uturn JH had really been praying that God would bring a shift in our youth group's culture. No longer would we be consumed with degrading others for the sake of a laugh, interrupting someone while they're talking, texting during service, or valuing ourselves above others.

In Romans 12:10, Paul encourages the early church in Rome to, "Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." Uturn JH is praying that during this school year we would make an effort to have our group characterized by the qualities described in that verse. When a student brings a guest to come check out Uturn JH we want them to experience the same respect, unconditional love, and honor that Paul wanted to see in the Roman church.

During a discussion regarding this topic an 8th grade student, Salina Atsemet, stepped out in boldness to share her thoughts about creating a culture of respect in Uturn JH. Here's what she had to say:

"For me church is and was always about growing with Jesus and building your faith. Church is supposed to be a spiritual place where we come to learn. When I first came to Uturn, I realized that a lot of people here were focused on drama, who was going out with who, or going to the bathroom and never coming back. This made we wonder what we came to church for; just to hang out with friends, to have immature Jr. High fights, or learn and absorb the sermons and build your faith. Uturn has three rules: Respect God, Respect Others, and Respect the Stuff. Sean has told us these things over and over again. As an outsider I think we need to follow these rules by staying within the boundaries, not starting rumors, respecting our parents, focusing on the lessons, not texting during services, and giving our full attention for the hour we're there. The majority of us focus on friends more than we think about God. I know I'm going to try and respect Sean and the other leaders at Uturn, and I hope you will too."

I'm so thankful for Salina's courage to share her thoughts with her peers, as I know it could have been very scary to do so. I believe God is speaking through her to help correct and encourage the entire Uturn JH group to strive to live lifestyles that ooze respect and honor for others.

UNPLUGGED CHALLENGE

August 11th thru August 21st

Can you unplug from your entertainment and plug into Jesus?

To help us get focused on the upcoming week of summer camp we're challenging all of our Uturn Jr. High students to take up a challenge to unplug from their entertainment and spend more time with Jesus. You'll be amazed how much extra time you'll have and how you're heart will be better prepared to for camp and all that God wants to reveal to you that week.

What we're saying NO to:

TV

Videogames

Movies

Facebook/Twitter

Internet for Entertainment Purposes

Music/Radio/iPods

What we're saying YES to:
Praying about JH camp

Studying the Bible

Listening to God

Personal times of worship

Spending time with family

This is not meant to be a legalist exercise, but rather a chance to get prepared and focused for an exciting and life changing week of camp. Try not to focus on just what you can't do, but be intentional with what you get to do.

Summer Blockbusters and Evangelism

I recently went and saw the new Iron Man 2 in theaters and got to thinking not only about how incredible the special effects were, but I saw a clear connection between summer blockbusters and evangelism. Every May begins the summer rush at your local cineplex as studios send out some of the most anticipated movies of the year. The summer is constantly full of the latest sequels and high budget flicks that create a huge draw to the theater. Which is interesting because summer is usually the best time of year to be outside enjoying the beautiful weather, yet society tends to find itself drawn to the dark, air conditioned sanctuaries of entertainment.

Think about this summer's movie lineup, and ponder which movies you anticipate seeing this summer. Maybe you've yet to see Iron Man 2 so that's at the top of your list, but it could be followed by a long list of cinematic treats such as Shrek 4, Toy Story 3, A-Team, Robin Hood, Twilight: Eclipse, Prince of Persia, or even the latest remake of The Karate Kid. Whatever you taste in movies there's probably at least one or two, if not more, that you're thinking about going to this summer. You'll shell out $10 for the ticket, sneak in some candy in your pockets and if you're in a good mood you'll drop another $15 for popcorn and soda. During the movie you'll be whisked away into another land by special effects and plotlines, and then the movie concludes and you return back to your life.

My question is how did you get the desire to spend the time watching that movie? You might have seen a preview, maybe you read a review or blog, and quite possibly you had heard some buzz of conversation among your friends. No matter the method, excitement was established and it hooked you, you decided to spend your time and money discovering the truth behind all of the hype and hysteria. Then after you start leaving the theater your mind starts to create and articulate your opinions and reviews of the film. Then the outbreak of your movie critique begins to spread as you enter into quick conversations with your friends, peers, and social networks. What's interesting to think about is how quickly our anticipation to see a movie can be affected by these quick conversations and interactions with our peers. When a handful of friends start sharing how great a movie is you'll notice that your interest in it starts to perk up, but when the comments are negative or even nonexistent we can find that our interests begin to fade.

The more I thought about this the more I thought about how our lives can be used to share the excitement of what God has done in our lives. Think about how this metaphor carries over into our spreading of the Gospel.
Movie Trailers/Advertising - As Christians some of us are like the movie previews and advertisers for Jesus. The way that we interact with people, live our lives, and exemplify our faith can either attract or repulse people from Jesus, church, and Christianity. We need to always remember that our lives are living representations for Christ. (2 Corinthians 5)

The Movie - the actual movie experience is like a person's personal experience with Jesus. This is when God becomes real to them. This personal encounter with Jesus could be at a church service, at a summer camp, at a retreat, or even a personal quiet time with God. A relationship with God can't be "transferred" or given to someone by someone else. It is an experience with God that each person must pursue and experience for themselves. Just as having someone tell you the storyline of a movie isn't as good as watching it for yourself. We worship a God that loves each and every person and He desires a relationship with everyone; we should all be pursuing a deeper understanding of who God is, who He's created us to be, and his plan for our lives.

The Buzz - After a personal experience an individual must tell others about it. Think about the joy and excitement you feel after seeing a great movie, you feel that you have to tell everyone you come in contact with. Its not weird, awkward or uncomfortable; its simply sharing your thoughts and feelings about the experience so that others will experience it as well. When God does something in our lives we shouldn't hide it or forget about it, we should share it with joy and excitement. So often I hear people sharing their testimonies and its like they're reciting an old presidential speech with a blank look on their face and a monotone voice. Instead Christ followers should be spontaneously and enthusiastically sharing about their experiences with God because these moments have been real and life changing. Remember evangelism isn't just about rehearsed content, but your tone, emotion, and even body language can play a part in effectively communicating your faith.

Hopefully this summer as you're having a plethora of conversations, interactions, tweets, and Facebook updates; try to mention what's happening in your life more than just the latest and greatest movie you've seen or song you've downloaded. Take initiative to mention what God is doing in your life that week.

UNPLUGGED CHALLENGE

March 28th thru April 10th

Starting Sunday, March 28th our Jr. High Mexico team is participating in a two week challenge to unplug and abstain from media and entertainment. We're doing this to make a personal sacrifice for a short time so that we can refocus our busy lives on Jesus.

Believe it or not our society is immersed and addicted to technology, but its scary how much of a distraction it can become. Studies show that...

• 61% of Facebook users check their accounts at least once a day
• 18% can't go more than a couple hours without checking their Facebook account
• 28% of iPhone owners use Twitter before they even get out of bed
• 40% don't mind being interrupted by a text message during a meal time
• Teens watch an average 1500 hours of TV each year and 900 hours in school each year
• 6 million movies are rented in the US each day
• By the age 65 a person will view an average 2,000,000 TV commercials
• 76% of 8-18yr olds own an iPod/MP3 player
• 66% of 8-18yr olds own a cellphone
• Almost 30% of American households own 4+ televisions
• 54% of American households own a videogame console

As a response to these startling statistics our Jr. High Mexico team is avoiding media consumption.

We're saying NO to...

• TV
• Movies
• Music/Radio/iPods
• Facebook/Twitter/Myspace
• Internet Use for Entertainment Purposes
• Videogames

Instead we're saying YES to...

• Praying for our mission trip
• Reading our Bibles
• Listening to God
• Spending time with people
• Getting outside and enjoying God's creation

Please pray for our mission team as we are out of the country from April 1st thru April 10th. We would love your prayers and support, and would like to encourage you in participating in the Unplugged Challenge.

Active not Apathetic

This week we're focusing on the importance of being active with our faith rather than letting apathy rule our decision making. As Christ followers we are to be constantly out in our communities, social networks and spheres of influence showing the love of God.

James 2:14-20
"What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, 'Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well' - but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, 'Some people have faith; others have good deeds.' But I say, 'How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.' You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless?"

This section of Scripture is such a blunt reminder that we can't just claim to be a Christ follower, we need to show it. It seems so easy to make excuses not to make our faith visible:

• Laziness
• Fear of rejection
• Too busy
• Lack of resources/finances
• Unaware of practical needs
• _________________ (you fill in the blank for yourself)

Instead of living in the land of many excuses we need to proactively look for the needs of people and compassionately do anything possible to help. This week at Uturn we're challenging students to get involved with an issue that is having a negative affect on humanity. Here's some of our ideas:

• Human Trafficking
• Substance Abuse
• Self-injury (cutting)
• Domestic Violence
• Homelessness
• Eating Disorders
• Teen Suicide
• Disaster Relief
• Divorce
• ________________ (fill in the blank with an issue you care about)

Now its not enough just to know that our world has problems; Christians need to be the first one's getting informed, pooling resources and out there doing something to bring the hope of God into hopeless situations.

Hopefully you'll take time this week to think about what humanity issue you're passionate about, identify what excuses you're making that stop you from getting involved and then brainstorm ways you can get out of your comfort zone and make a difference.

Cool Video:
Check out this video of a lady from Eastside Foursquare Church that saw a need and got out of her comfort zone to show the love of God in real ways. Maggie Josiah's Video

Jesus and Dog Poop

April and I have been dog owners since Christmas and for the most part Maeby has been a wonderful addition. She has so much energy and spunk that she’s a constant source of life in our little apartment. We’ve loved snuggling on the couch, her daily excitement to see us come home, and the way she tilts her head to the side and gives you a goofy look. Amidst all of the fun and joys of having a little puppy there are many frustrations. The continual chewing and biting with her little fangs can bring some sharp little pains to your fingers. We’ve also discovered that she’s an avid barker. For such a small dog there seems to be a lot of noise coming out of her, especially at 6:30 in the morning. Lastly we’ve had growing frustrations with the fact that she treats every square inch of our apartment as her personal toilet. I don’t care what anybody says, potty training a puppy is difficult stuff. Some evenings you feel that you go from cleaning up one stain to the next. Recently as I was cleaning up two puddles of urination I vented in my frustration, “I’m tired of cleaning up after you!” Immediately my words resonated within me and had a moment of divine perspective. I pictured myself and my constant struggle to live righteously and how we as sinful people continually choose to disregard and disobey God and his instructions. To be blunt, when we choose to indulge in sin we are choosing to bring crap into our lives. Sin has no place in our lives and is only going to destroy our lives, but God has given us a chance for freedom. Through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ we have the opportunity to break the cycles of sin and be free from its powerful grip. As I was cleaning up after Maeby’s accident in the kitchen I realized that when I ask God for forgiveness he’s lovingly removing the crap and stains from my life. The great thing about God is that unlike me, he won’t get frustrated with you. If we’re struggling with sin, He’s not going to lose his temper with us and get frustrated because we’ve rejected him. He lovingly stands there with his arms open ready to receive us back and offer us a fresh start. Obviously we would be cheapening the undeserved love and forgiveness of God if we chose to cyclically live in sin, ask for forgiveness, return to the sin, ask for forgiveness and return back to the sin again and again. When we accept the gracious love of God we shouldn’t look at it as a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” that we can pull out anytime we feel guilty. God wants us to abandon, runaway from, and reject sin, and passionately follow him with our whole being. Then I believe we are able to begin understanding the selfless love of God and appropriately respond to the fresh start that he offers us.

Popping the Christian Bubble

We recently have been discussing six stereotypes that people outside of the church have about Christians. Our series entitled, Warped Christianity: Bringing Jesus Back into Focus, is based upon the book unChristian. We’ve discussed how nonChristians perceive Christians to be hypocritical, anti-homosexual, judgmental, pushy about conversions, too political and sheltered.

This last Wednesday we chatted about how Christians are seen as sheltered. People view Christ followers as old-fashioned, traditional, and out of touch with reality. The perception is that the church is looking out into the world and running away from all of its “moral filth and evil.” In our fear we encapsulate ourselves in only what seems godly and righteous and we shun anything that doesn’t fit our high moral standards. This sheltered mentality is evident in the church’s attempts at creating “family friendly” or “safe alternatives” to social norms of our culture. Just look at Godspace or Godtube; we are running away from the things our society is creating and trying to make cheap replicas that are Christ oriented.

When I look at Jesus he wasn’t running around teaching people to take the latest social trends and copy them into more godly alternatives. He was teaching people to go and show the unconditional love of God where it needs it the most. If anything he was against people creating little “holy huddles” or “Christian bubbles.”

Examples of Jesus challenging us to break up the holy huddles:
Matthew 5:13-16
Matthew 9:9-14
Matthew 28:19-20
Acts 1:7-8

Obviously there is a balance to be made, we need solid godly friendships that can support us and challenge us in our relationship with God. I believe we all need that sort of godly network or community of fellow Christ followers. What I am against is us getting so comfortable in our exclusive Christian clubs that we neglect to go spend time with people that need Jesus the most. Jesus didn’t just spend time with people that lived righteous and holy lives. In fact he was so UNSHELTERED that the sinners and outcasts of society were drawn to him. They pursued and sought out his company, and yet Jesus didn’t make moral compromises.

So to break this stereotype of Christians being sheltered we must be committed to living lives of purity and holiness, but we also must put ourselves out there and spend time with people outside of the church. We’ve got to stop retreating from or getting defensive about everything we disagree with. Instead we must start be proactive about bringing the unconditional love, mercy and forgiveness of God in tangible ways. Instead of making Faithbook, use your Facebook account to encourage someone or reach out to someone feeling isolated. Rather than complaining about the use of foul language in your schools, start showing respect to your peers and faculty or maybe start randomly texting encouragements to your friends. In place of commenting on the sexual promiscuity of our culture, take a stand and keep your thoughts, words and actions sexually pure or try to raise money and awareness about the sex slave industry running rampant in our culture.

Challenge yourself to get out of your holy huddle this week and show the love of God in a tangible way.

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Bigger than Just You

This last weekend we talked about the story of David and Goliath from 1 Samuel 17. Our discussion covered the common issue of identifying the things in our lives that seem huge and immovable, but with God nothing is impossible. We discussed that God enables us to achieve the things he’s asking us to do no matter how large or intimidating it may initially seem.

Recently I had a discussion with my wife April about the topic of David and Goliath and we started looking at the story from a different angle. So often we look at this legendary story with the perspective of our problems, our issues and our hurdles in life. If you look at the story, Goliath is harassing a much larger demographic than just David, he’s taking on all the people of Israel. This got us thinking that instead of just dealing with the “giants” that only affect us personally, what if there were large obstacles, enemies, or issues that were affecting a larger group of people. Such issues as human trafficking, local homelessness, starving families, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, domestic abuse, etc. are all things that affect a larger demographic than just you personally. As Christ followers let’s be people who start stepping up and challenging these issues.

I’m not saying get on your soapbox or pull out a picket sign. I can’t think of anytime when the love of God can be effectively shared through shouting at someone or holding a sign.

What I’m really challenging us to do is start praying about a realistic need that you see in your community, the nation or even the world. Allow God to stir up a passion in your heart for something specific. Then start praying about what you can do to help those affected. Let’s be a people that put our faith into action and show the love of God in genuine and practical ways. So don’t just stop at praying for someone or giving money to an organization, but start taking practical steps to bring about a change. As we start stepping up and making a difference we’ll start seeing the destruction of these “giants” and “Goliaths” in our society that used to seem so immovable and intimidating.

Good Further Reading:
1 Samuel 17

James 2:14-26

Read and Talk Back

Am I lazy in my faith?
Am I too comfortable in my faith?
Is my relationship with Jesus a routine?
Am I a spectator Christian?

These questions have been rattling in my brain recently and I’ve been challenged to think that we need to be Christ followers who are willing to step into the unknown. We need to be people who are willing and obedient to go outside of our comfort level. I don’t think truly following Christ means everything is easy, comfortable and safe. For example, welcoming someone outside of your circle of friends isn’t always easy. Forgiving someone who hurt you isn’t always comfortable. Admitting your mistakes and asking for forgiveness can definitely push you out of your comfort zone.

In The Gospel According to Starbucks, Leonard Sweet challenges our lazy Christian mentality by saying, “Imagine how different the Christian life would be if it was understood not as something to ponder or to observe in others – but as the one thing in life that has to be fully experienced.”

Jesus also challenges us to be people of action and he warns us against a safe, comfortable and selfish faith in Matthew 16:24, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life.”

I don’t think when Jesus said these words he intended for us to be so comfortable in our faith. Especially when you look at Americans we see a very passive and safe faith that doesn’t want to ruffle feathers or even motivate us to action. We become mere spectator Christians rather than participants. I think we can easily find ourselves sitting in a church service agreeing with everything being preached that fits into our paradigm. But the moment something is said that pushes us to action, contradicts our current perspective or makes us a little uncomfortable we are quick to make excuses like, “well that’s just his interpretation,” or “that’s between them and God, not me.” My fear is that our fear, apathy or laziness could cause us to become “Buffet Christians” who just pick and choose what they want to believe rather than accepting all that we see in God’s Word, in the life of Jesus and what He’s calling us to.

There are many things that God could bring up in a given service that we would simply reject or blow off for one reason or another. Things that may seem a little awkward at first or may cause us to become a more action oriented than usual. Things like fasting, self sacrifice, giving/generosity, serving/volunteering, helping the poor, practicing hospitality, praying aloud, raising our hands in worship, speaking in tongues, getting involved in our church and the local community, asking for forgiveness, giving forgiveness, sharing our faith, inviting someone to church, sexual purity, studying the Bible, prolonged times of prayer, being friendly with people, getting involved with a small group, and the list could go on and on. Some may seem insignificant and simple while others appear way too crazy to be a part of your life. I believe that God wants to teach us and use us in a variety of ways through a variety of different methods, and I think we’re missing out on something if we put God is a safe little box and try to confine Him.

In Communicating for a Change, Andy Stanley had some thoughts on the blessings of being obedient to what God is asking, “Acts of obedience allow our faith to intersect with God’s faithfulness. It is at that intersection that we see God work. And when we see Him work our faith gets bigger.”

That faithful obedience to God’s Word and his guidance is going to stretch us, but it will also bless us. Instead of limiting God’s work in our lives because of our fear or apathy or shear laziness, let’s be a people that push ourselves into the unknown. Let’s be people who through active obedience to God step out of our comfort zones.

Take a few minutes and make a list of the things that would push you out of your comfort zone. Then make realistic and practical goals to do those things over the next three weeks.

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