Searching for Meaning and Purpose...

This post is stolen from the book I'm reading (and blog that is great too!) Stuff Christians Like . I'll start with the part that isn't mine and then add some color commentary at the bottom, because this SO is what we've been talking about, just a lot funnier... Here's Jonathan Acuff: In Atlanta, my favorite radio station is V103, the “People’s Station.” It’s a hip hop station that plays mostly rap and R&B. The best part of V103 is their morning show. Everyday when I’m driving to work they do what they call an “Inspirational Vitamin.” They read a Bible verse and play a gospel song or a clip by a charismatic minister from Atlanta. I honestly find it to be an uplifting experience overall. The thing I find most interesting however is how they wedge the Inspirational Vitamin into their normal programming. What often happens is that right before they transition to the spiritual segment of the show they play some sort of booty song. Let’s say, “I’m in love wit ...

So, after saying that we were done with the purity discussion, I'm to resurrect it for one more post. Mainly because I think we told part of the story and the rest needs to come out. A lot of us struggle with some kind of secret-ish sin (okay, make that ALL of us!). It might be a porn addiction, it might be things we do/say or otherwise, but its the thing that we cannot beat. We've tried and tried, but always fail. If that sounds familiar (which if you're anything at all like me, sounds more like the story of your spiritual life sometimes), this post is for you. Condemnation comes from tons of sources, but we often heap most of it on ourselves for our repeated failures. I know I'm often my harshest critic, because I see the things no one else sees and know the way it " ought " to have gone/been/worked. And I think that's true of most of us, especially those in Christian circles. We know the truth, and the truth is supposed to set us free, but i...

Okay, we've covered a ton of ground and hopefully got you thinking, and maybe feeling convicted. There are choices to make regarding what's been said and what will be said today. The question is who you are going to be at its core: Jesus or something else? Now, let's take a breather and be honest with each other for a second. I'm a youth/worship pastor and I'm the one doing the talking here, does that mean it doesn't apply to me? Heck no! I'm guilty of lots of sin. To be brutally honest, I'm not just a pastor, I'm a guy which means I have some serious issues with my road to purity. Guys are generally visually stimulated to the point that our culture tries to sell everything to us with scantily clad women. I have had serious issues with that in my life and had to come up with a way to beat it so I could get to know my God. The answer for me was to "bounce" my eyes. If that college girl out jogging knew what I was thinking when I...

So we had a great discussion last night in the church van about this topic, and the state of many Christians in general, after our See You After the Pole rally. Each of the previous posts will come in here too, but this could almost stand on its own as we finish up this discussion today. When we speak about purity, the important thing to remember is that it encompasses so much more than sex. Leviticus told us that we should (MUST) "be holy, because I, your God, am holy." It's not a bummer of a rule, instead its the best thing that we can imagine. Think about the person you are closest to in this world. Do you tend to think alike and do most of the same things? If not, do you wish you did more where you were of one heart/mind? The simplest way to explain God's requirement that we be holy, comes down to our relationship with Him. Sin creates distance in that relationship and divides us. God, who loves us so incredibly, hates that and so should we. Most time...

Here we go again... I've hit on some of the issues surrounding purity, and touched on some of the Scriptural truths that we would rather live without, but today we're going to get a bit hardcore in our exegesis (reading what Scripture says, versus eisegesis where we make it say what we want it to say) as we go to the heart of the matter. Some would tell you that being pure is part of our duty as Christians, to which I would agree, partly. The truth is, we need to live life with purity for a LOT more reasons than some "duty." The thing is, to call oneself a Christian literally means "someone who is like Christ or "a little Christ" (think Spanish: adding "ita/ito" to the end off a word makes it "little"). But so many of us don't take that name very seriously, which is why we hit on Christian Atheism Monday! The hard-to-swallow fact of the matter is that we may well be the only Jesus someone sees, which can bee quite frightenin...

So, after yesterday's post you might wonder ho much more I could rant... the answer is A LOT more! This is one of those things that has been bubbling over in my brain this week, matching so many thoughts and combining them together, hopefully allowing me to put into words a lot of what God has been telling me lately. Back to the conversation... Yesterday I talked a little about the connection between how we think and our purity level, especially when it comes to the excuses we make! Today we're going to look at several specific standards God sets and how it relates to us. First off, here's a chunk from the New Testament (Ephesians 5:3-7 NIV): But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy pers...

So often when the word purity is thrown out in a church setting, it is only referring to one thing: sex. I mean, the 90's were the era of True Love Waits (and many did!) and that had to be what purity was about, right? Unfortunately, many would say yes. Why do I say unfortunately you might ask? Because purity means SO much more than simply "not having sex." Instead, we've developed a church culture where it's generally okay to get under a girls shirt, have oral sex, mutual masturbation or anything else as long as we stop short of "intercourse." In fact, so many students have this perspective, which is leeched from the True Love Waits campaigns of the past/present mixed with an equal amount of current cultural thought. What it amounts to in sum, is a ton of students (and adults!) who say they believe in God, but live as if He didn't exist. Craig Groeschel (pastor of Life Church in Edmond, OK) called the phenomena "Christian Atheism" a...