Searching for Meaning and Purpose...

After Mary's visit from the angel Gabriel, she goes to visit her aunt Elizabeth (to verify the angel's story & celebrate with family!).  Meanwhile, Joseph is confronting an ugly reality.  He's engaged to Mary- which for most intents and purposes- meant they were married.  Mary is pregnant.  This begins to show and soon he either sees it for himself or hears about it.  Scripture tells us: Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly... In Jewish culture, to have committed adultery meant death according to the law. However, in 1st century Israel, the death penalty was off the table- it was reserved solely for the Roman government. Joseph still could have done a lot of things, many that would be close enough to death (public disgrace through a divorce trial, censure as an adultress, etc.). But he text describes Joseph as a "good" man, which puts some sense into his choosing the m

Last time we set the stage- the culture, the mindset, and the historical setting.  Today we start with just a small town girl... God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee,   to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!” Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born w

Every Christmas the season is ushered in with decorations in stores, the familiar refrains of Christmas music, the scents of holiday goodies and pine, stirring memories and marking the beginning of the season. The music, sights, and scents stir our minds and cause memory recall to Christmases prior- why?  Simply put, because humanity is so much more than just minds- we are sensory beings and our senses are intimately tied to our memories.  Our memories are so intimately tied to our senses that if I asked you about someone or something, you'd likely relate it to one of those sensory experiences: a scent, the way something felt, a taste and not just data.  There's an old Chinese proverb that says, "Tell me and I'll forget.  Show me and I'll remember.  Involve me and I'll understand."  Totally true for most people and I'll tell you, that is imminently on purpose.  The Creator made us to know, understand, and remember with the senses He gave us not just on

If consumerism and tradition/changeolatry (yeah, that's not actually a word- and I may not be Bill Shakespeare- but it's what we're going with!) wasn't enough hard analysis, today we hit on an even bigger issue leading to a loss of being the church in exchange for doing church. Many churchgoers operate on a simple, consumerist principle: I come to church for me.  At their church the message and music may be extraordinary (or not- and they'll complain about it without ever taking any steps to help), but it stops there because it's all about them staring at the back of someone else's head for an hour each Sunday! There's no life and nothing outside of that meeting, because no one connects beyond, "Hi my name's X," "Good morning!" or "The peace of Christ be with you," and a handshake or hug.  Perhaps they pay lip service to "Life Groups," "Fellowship Hours," or "Sunday school classes" and tal

While the consumer mindset and it's influence on the church have largely been negative, there are lots of other issues that we have yet to address that leads people to "go" to church rather than "be" the church. One of those issues is the tension (or outright warfare!) between tradition and change.  Now, don't hear me saying that tradition is a bad thing, because it's not.  However, worshipping tradition over Jesus is not okay!  I'm also not saying change is bad, deciding to change things for the wrong reasons or not being anchored in truth are! Now, in a great many churches, the phrase oft heard is, "But we've never done it that way!"  This is both a denial of any possible need to do other things and a refutation of whatever idea is being presented.   It's fear at its most basic.  There is no need to analyze or extrapolate, the simple truth is they are afraid of losing their comfortable little world.  It's another sterilizati

When we talk about the church, we tend to think of it as a spectator sport.  You go somewhere, listen to the worship band, hear a sermon, & leave.  Maybe you sing along, you might even be tempted to take notes because your pastor is amazing, possibly you drop some cash in the plate, but that tends to be the extent for most of us.  Why?  What caused the church to become something we went to instead of how we lived?  That's the question that bugs me and I'll be looking at a few ideas in the coming weeks... First, the consumer mindset.  How often have you heard the term, "church shopping?"  Referring to people checking out churches, looking for one that makes them happy, has the right slate of programs, makes them feel at home; not actually doing shopping for the church (although if you ask I can give you a shopping list for my student ministry and you can go get everything on it you want for us!). It is so prevalent throughout our society and culture you probabl

Last time I talked a bit about the issues raised by this article ( Youth Groups Driving Teens to Abandon their Faith ) and looked at some of the truths presented.  Now I want to tackle it's primary issues head on and address the problems. 1. Research Methodology Anyone can pull a survey and call it research- especially when you're slating the results.  Their "research" was a survey on their website that if you answered gave you a copy of their movie. Who do you think would be answering their survey?  Strangely enough, people who agree with their basic premise creating and reinforcing their presuppositions but giving it the title "research." Last time I checked, research meant checking a random sample group to determine an honest result?  Hmm... major red flags right here.  Anyone claiming "research" or "study" and doing things only to reinforce their ideas is both intellectually dishonest and attempting to deceive people for the sake o

First, breathe- I haven't lost my calling, conviction, or mind!  Then go read this.   http://www.charismanews.com/us/41465-youth-groups-driving-christian-teens-to-abandon-faith .  Now, let's talk about it. As someone who has devoted my life to teenagers knowing Christ & making Christ known, things that are slanted towards a specific end and involve generalities instead of specifics irk me.  However, they also make me evaluate and think about valid points that are made.  We'll start with valid points- 1.  Family based discipleship is God's plan ( " It is the parents' primary obligation to disciple their own children, impressing God's commandments upon them in the home on a daily basis." ) Totally true.  If you cannot see that in the communal context of Deuteronomy 6, read it again (particularly 4-7): Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone.   And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your str