When I was younger we used to always talk about how you didn’t need to go to church to be a Christian. We would say things like, “if going to church makes you a Christian, does going into a garage make you a car?” The truth is, a lot of Christians seem to believe that church isn’t very important. Many of you may think church is a waste of time. Maybe you would rather be sleeping or hanging out with friends, than getting up and heading to a building full of people on Sunday mornings. And… to an extent, I would have to agree with you. If you think of church simply as what happens on Sunday mornings, then maybe you don’t need it in order to be a Christian. However, the church is so much more than Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights!

I can’t wait to see you at epic this Wednesday @ 7pm as we challenge the common definition of “church” and find out why you should absolutely be a part of the church. Both locally and globally!

So, what are your thoughts on this question?

-Nearly 90% of Americans claim to pray daily

-Approximately 30% pray for things or events they want

-Another 30% pray for things they want and thank “god” for what they have

-About 25% simply say “thank you” every morning or evening

-Only 42% of Americans are “born again Christians” (according to a rather strict definition)

I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow night. Feel free to leave your thoughts on this question via the comment option. I’ll post the answer to the question on Thursday morning. Peace.

Do angels have free will? Yes. They must. Since I am doing this under protest, I will simply refer you to the comment section (the place where you should be leaving your comments) and tell you to read Vin’s comment. You can then check the scripture that he gave and let me know (via a comment) if you agree, disagree, or need a little more clarification.

Okay, I am no longer bitter about the whole comment thing… The “little more” referred to in the title of this post is about a question I was supposed to answer a long time ago, but I forgot. So Sadie, this is for you… If you open your Bible to Romans 5:13 you will come across a peculiar verse. It says “for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.” What did Paul mean by this phrase. Was he saying that if you sinned before the Mosaic law came into existence you would not be held accountable? The answer… No. That’s not what he’s saying.

You see, Paul answers this question in the next verse when he writes, “Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the One to come.” Death was a direct result of sin. So, people were absolutely held accountable for their sin before the 10 commandments. The reason for this is simple. God’s law has always been in effect. It was God’s law, not the Mosaic law, that Adam broke. Because of Adam’s choice, mankind would be under the power of sin as long as we continued to breathe air. That is of course, until the “One”, Jesus, came to defeat sin. Adam opened the door and brought the power of sin into our lives; but Jesus opened the door and kicked the power of sin out of our lives.

How can we be forgiven and released from the power of sin? It’s simple. We must believe in Jesus as our Savior (Ephesians 1:13-14). I hope that answers your question Sadie. If it doesn’t, let me know by COMMENTING on the blog :).

Can’t wait to see you all this Wednesday! It’s been too long.

This question was asked by a student while were discussing Satan and his former role in heaven. So, before I answer the question. What do you all think. Do angels have free will? Why do you say that? I won’t answer this question unless I hear from at least some of you students (I would love to hear from some “non-students” as well).

Luke 2:1-20 (not quite as detailed as I wanted, but I ran out of time… it takes forever to upload a video)

Verses 1-3: It was custom for people to return to their hometowns for censuses. Basically, a census was a way for the Caesar to know who and how many people were under his authority.

Verses 4-5: Most readers assume that Mary and Joseph got to Bethlehem right before Jesus was born. In all actuality, it could have been quite a bit of time before Mary had Jesus.

Verses6-7: You know, in a lot of Christmas plays or stories, the innkeeper is looked at as if he was a bad guy. Luke never actually says that. The truth is, there was no room in the inn. It is actually fitting that Jesus would be born, in a way, apart from human society. It symbolized the rejection that He would encounter throughout His ministry, on the cross, and ultimately throughout the remainder of time. People have always and will always reject Jesus. It is sad and even confusing if you are a believer, but it is the truth.

Verse 8: I think it is so cool that the angel appeared to shepherds. In this time they would have been socially looked down upon. They would have been the outcasts. Their job made them unclean or unworthy in the eyes of the rest of society. I find this cool because really, they represent us. When compared with the righteousness of God, we are totally unclean and unworthy. Yet we are given the opportunity to be spotless because of Jesus.

Verses 9-11: The angel did what every angel in the Bible does… make sure the people they are appearing to aren’t scared. He is not bringing bad news, but good news. The time had come for the promised Savior to enter human history. We already expanded on verse 11…

Verses 12-14: The sudden appearance of all the other angels seems to symbolize how God often acts. It seems like it takes Him a long time to do something (usually it just seems long to us, but it isn’t that long), but when He does respond it always seems to be exactly what we need. God’s people had waited for the Messiah for what felt like a long time, and now, exactly what they needed. Jesus.

Verses 15-16: I love this… after the Shepherds heard this incredible news, they didn’t sit around and talk about it. No! They acted immediately. How many times have we experienced God or felt his nudge and then we sit around discuss it, think about it, and never actually do anything about it?

Verses 17-18: The shepherds saw Jesus and then began to tell other people about it. This is awesome because this is how God decided to share His love with the world. God’s only plan for sharing the life-giving Gospel is us. He doesn’t have a “plan B”. I also like how when people heard the testimony of the shepherds they were amazed. They’re response wasn’t to believe or not to believe, they were just amazed. I have always been curious about how many of these “amazed people”, would later choose to believe in Jesus as their Savior. Often we are not called to convert everyone talk to about Jesus. Sometimes God is just using us to “amaze” them, that is, to prepare them for things that will happen in their loves later. Remember, we are to be the salt of the earth. What does salt do? It adds flavor to something. In other words, our lives are to look a lot more like Fillet Mignon than chicken nuggets. When we talk to people about Jesus or live for Jesus, we can make people hunger for what He offers.

Verses 19-20: These two verses seem to stress how remarkable and significant the story of Jesus’ birth really is. When you and I really understand that Jesus was born to die to set us free from sin; we should meditate on that truth, share it with others, and praise God for his grace!

I hope you all enjoyed “youth group” tonight. Enjoy your night, tell your parents hi, and be safe. Be sure to leave your questions, prayer requests, thoughts, etc… Remember, it is a public site so anything you write can be seen by others. Peace and I’ll see you soon.

Why is there Pain and Suffering?

The night was filled with questions that occasionally took us a little bit off topic. Here is how we answered the question of pain and suffering. We broke it into two parts. Why it exists and how God responds to it.

Why:

Free Will

Free will is an intrinsic part of humanity. There are many references in the Bible to the free will God has given to His creation. In Matthew 11:28 it says, “Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (NASB) This verse represents an invitation and calls for a response. This same type of invitation is issued in Isaiah 55:1. Each hearer has free will in how they will respond to this call. In the same way we have the free will to decide how we will live our lives in this world. Each person has been given the gift of choice from God. However, this choice opens the door for evil. God didn’t force evil upon us, He simply allowed us to choose.

In the beginning of Genesis we see that there was no evil (suffering) in the Garden of Eden. We do, however, see the existence of free will (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:6-7). When Adam and Eve made a selfish choice, based on their free will, sin entered the world. Suffering is a byproduct of this sin. In order to begin to understand why there is suffering in this world; one must first acknowledge free will. God’s perfect plan was that the world would be like it was in the Garden of Eden, but free will opened the door to sin and suffering. So why would God give us freedom if it meant there was a possibility we could sin and bring suffering? Why didn’t He create a world without human’s ability to choose? In Lee Strobel’s book, The Case for Christ, we find an excellent answer: “Because that would have been a world without humans. Would it have been a place without hate? Yes. A place without suffering? Yes. But it also would have been a world without love, which is the highest value in the universe. That highest good never could have been experienced. Real love—our love for God and our love for each other—must involve a choice. But with the granting of that choice comes the possibility that people would choose instead to hate” (Strobel 2000, 51).

God was willing to give us the opportunity to make choices in this life. He wanted us to be able to choose to love Him and choose to follow in His ways. If we have the ability to choose to do good, we will obviously have the opportunity to choose evil. It is important to note that there are multiple examples of people using their free will for good (Lewis 1969; Strobel 2000).

Fallen World

Continuing in this same line of thought, we see that after Adam rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden things changed. Romans 5:12 says, “therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (NASB) In essence, the world was perfect before Adam’s decision opened the door for sin. John Calvin is noted as saying of Adam that, “his reason, understanding, prudence, and judgment not only sufficed for the direction of his earthly life, but by them men mounted up even to God and eternal bliss…. Adam’s choice of good and evil was free, and not that alone, but the highest rectitude was in his mind and will, and all the organic parts were rightly composed to obedience” (Hick 1966, 118). Adam had the capacity to choose not to sin, the world that he knew up to that point contained no sin, but he chose to sin. That choice changed the world and man would continue to make the same choice generation, after generation, after generation. Life started perfect in the Garden of Eden and we have been plagued by a lack of perfection ever since the fall.

This is where the idea of natural evil (earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc…) can be addressed. In Romans 8:20 we read, “for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it…” (NASB) Just a couple of sentences later in verse 22 we read, “for we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” (NASB) The fall subjected the whole world (nature) to frustration, consequently causing it to never reach the level of perfection God had originally created it for. There are natural disasters and disease because the whole order of the world was thrown off when sin entered. The sin of humanity has stained not just human nature, but all of nature.

Spiritual Growth

“Christian teaching and Christian experience both indicate that the path to the crown is by way of the cross” (Wenham 1985, 79). There is no doubt that suffering refines the believer. James 1:2-4 states, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (NASB) God is so powerful that He is actually able to take the schemes of Satan and use them to refine us. In the book of Job we read that Satan asked permission from God before he launched his attack. Satan was determined to bring Job down, but God used the whole scenario to strengthen Job’s faith.

In Romans 8: 28-29, Paul confirms this when he writes, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” (NASB) God uses every circumstance in the believer’s life to move them closer to the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. Without struggle, we would never progress in our walks (Wenham 1985).

God’s Response:

God Suffering with us in Christ

The most amazing point in the discussion of evil to me is the fact that God chose to share in our sufferings. It would have been very easy and completely justified for God to withdraw Himself from this world. After all, He had made a perfect place and we ruined it. However, He chose to step down into this fallen world and share in the sufferings we brought upon ourselves. This is an incredible reality. Through Jesus, we are offered a suffering companion. We do not serve a God who is immune to the sufferings of this world. Isaiah 53:5 says of Christ, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (NKJV) This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Obviously this is not because I enjoy the idea of my Savior suffering, but because these words truly humble me. The fact that God was willing to leave the throne of heaven for the death penalty of this world leaves me speechless.

Jesus Christ identifies with every form of suffering we will ever deal with in this life. In Christianity we find a God, the One True God, who cares enough about the suffering of this world that He was willing to take it upon Himself on the cross. I dare any other religion or philosophy system to attempt to measure up to God’s response to suffering. To use a common phrase, any attempt to match God’s response will be weighed and found wanting. God showed that He does love us enough to take on the problem of evil.

Hope of Eternity

My wife, Jessica, is an amazing woman. My respect and love for her goes beyond the mere fact that she is my wife. The life that she lives is an inspiration to me and so many around her. When she was younger she experienced some things that I would not wish on anyone. She was abused and neglected by people that were very close to her. Approximately 3 years ago she gave her testimony at a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting at Western Oregon University. She was completely honest about all of her experiences. By the end of her testimony the majority of the audience was hanging on each word she spoke. In her final comments that evening she said this, “I do not share my story with you so that you will feel sorry for me. I share my story because I want you to know what God can do if you give your life to Him. I have had some struggles in this life, but I am comforted by the fact that God has eternity to make it up to me.” Mother Theresa once said, “In light of heaven, the worst suffering on earth, a life full of the most atrocious tortures on earth, will be seen to be no more serious than a night spent in an inconvenient hotel” (Strobel 2000). Paul wrote in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (NASB)

We seem to forget that this is not the life we are to live for. We don’t understand why evil hasn’t been conquered by God because we look at the problem of evil through finite glasses. God has promised a world without pain, suffering, or evil; but to get it we must trust in Christ. Walking this world with Christ does not alleviate all suffering, but it provides the promise that we will one day be with Him forever. Ever since man fell God has been drawing us back to His original plan. Eternity with Him will be the completed circle.

There were also two other questions that came up that we didn’t have time to discuss (I went 20 minutes over…). The first was whether or not God uses natural disasters to pour out His wrath on cities, countries, people groups, etc… The example was Hurricane Katrina. My response was a blanket statement that I need to now explain. I said “No, there is no support for God doing this in the Bible.” The truth is, there is support for God doing this. God did do similar things while leading His people to the Promised Land in the Old Testament and the various accounts of the end times seem to suggest that God will do something of the sort. However, I believe the Bible only supports this idea when God is accomplishing something specific. Either opening the door for the Jews to inherit the land He promised them or creating the opportunity for a specific person to take control of a nation or bringing this world to a close. I do not see any support that God just gets ticked off so He decides to destroy New Orleans or a bunch of Islands in the Indian Ocean. Aaron, I hope that clears up my response to you.

The second question centered around Romans 5:13 where Paul writes, “…but sin is not counted where there is no law.” Ashley and Sadie, I will explain that in a blog this afternoon… I have to get to a lunch meeting.

So, what do you think about the problem of pain and suffering? Is our answer sufficient for you? Why or why not?

At 8:46am on September 11th, 2001 a Boeing 767 piloted by a terrorist, flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The responsibility would soon be linked to an organization known as Al Qaeda. Their reasoning behind the attacks would center on jihad (holy war) and they would claim to be doing the work of Allah. By the end of the day we would learn that 3 other planes had been hijacked and nearly 3,000 civilians had lost their lives.

The Indian Ocean earthquake took place at 7:59am on December 26th, 2004. This earthquake would lead to a series of tsunamis that would prove to be unimaginably devastating. The destruction would be felt by people in all parts of the world. The most recent tallies would state that nearly 187,000 people died and almost 43,000 are still missing and presumed dead. It is also estimated that approximately 1.7 million people were displaced.

Seung-Hui Cho had moved to the US from South Korea when he was eight. He grew up in a typical Korean-American home and decided to attend Virginia Tech University. On April 16th, 2007 Cho’s name became known throughout the country as he did the unthinkable. The shootings began around 7:15am and when he had finished the massacre, 33 people (including Cho) would be dead.

We were sitting at Starbucks talking about the end of the school year. It was June 5th, 2007 and “Katie” was having a difficult time with her home life. She talked about the anger and abuse that was currently taking place where she lived. She told me about the violence, yelling, and neglect that was a daily occurrence. I asked her if this was the worst it had been and her response was not what I expected. She told me that in comparison to what it was like when she was younger, this was easy.

How can a good, all-powerful God allow so much suffering (evil) in the world? This is a question that I have struggled with in one way or another throughout my walk with God. In fact, it is a question that nearly every believer has wrestled with and it always seems to come up when talking with a nonbeliever. People want to know why they would put their faith in a God who has the power to stop suffering, but won’t.

Come join us at epic this Wednesday night @ 7pm as we answer this question: Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?

Can You Really Trust the Bible?

Below is a summary of what we looked at as “proof ” that the Bible is trustworthy:

Biblical Claims

I Thessalonians 2:13

II Peter 1:20-21

II Timothy 3:16-17

One Mind Behind the Bible

The Bible consists of 66 books, written by 40 separate authors. It was written over a time period of 1600 years, 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and  Greek), on 3 different continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe). The authors were kings, peasants, scholars, philosophers, fishermen, herdsmen, poets, soldiers, priests, prophets, a tax collector, a tent-making rabbi, and a gentile doctor. All these authors, from all these walks of life, over a long span of time; and they all agree on each one of the hundreds of topics discussed in the Bible. More importantly, one central message is found from the beginning to the end: redemption through Christ! How is this possible unless God is the One Mind behind the Bible.

Fulfilled Prophecy

Hundreds of prophecies about future events were recorded in the Bible, not one detail of any them has ever failed. The futures of cities, nations, and the world were spoke about with complete accuracy. Specifically, the prophecy about Christ alone completely proves the validity of the Bible. In the Old Testament, which was written over a 1,000 year time period, you can find several hundred prophecies about the coming Messiah. Every single one of these came true in Jesus Christ. The odds of just of those coming true are 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. Or it would be like covering the whole state of Texas 2 feet deep with quarters, putting a red dot on one of the quarters, and randomly dropping it from a helicopter. Then having a guy (who is blindfolded) start walking across the state, picking up a quarter, and having it be the one with the red dot. That’s practically impossible. And that is just for 8 of the prophecies to come true in Jesus, let alone several hundred.

The Effectiveness of the Bible

More people believe in what the Bible teaches than any other religion or creed in the world… and its not even close. Even though it was written hundreds of years ago, it is still just as relevant as they day the last book was finished. We are constantly updating text books or encyclopedias, but the Bible has never had to be revised (there are new versions, but they say the same thing, just in contemporary language.) The Bible changes lives every day. The Bible is relevant to every person, in every culture, in every age, because the Bible is a living message; authored by the Living God.

Moral Standards of the Bible

The morals that the Bible calls us to live by are impossible without God. If the Bible was written by men, they never would have set themselves up to fail. A few authors, maybe, but not 40. We are also taught that we are saved not by what we do, but by grace. Biblical Christianity is the only major faith that does not require some sort of works for salvation. “Religion is man reaching to God. The Gospel is God reaching to man. There are many religions, but only one Gospel.”

Archeological Evidence

The Bible is historically accurate. Even though the Bible is the most critiqued and scrutinized book in the world, no one has ever been able to prove it historically inaccurate. In fact, the more we learn about history, the more trustworthy the Bible becomes. The truth is, many will claim the Bible isn’t true; but no one will challenge it point by point.

Scientific Evidence

The Bible makes numerous claims that we have just recently discovered. To name a few:

The shape of the earth — Isaiah 40:22
The fact that the earth is suspended in nothing — Job 26:7
Innumerable stars — Genesis 15:5
The existence of valleys in the seas — II Samuel 22:16
The existence of springs and fountains in the seas — Genesis 8:2; Proverbs 8:28
The existence of water paths (ocean currents) in the seas — Psalm 8:1,3,6,8
The Hydrologic Cycle (how it rains) — Job 26:8; Job 36:27-28; Ecclesiastes 1:6-7

This week we’ll be talking about why there is so much pain and suffering in the world. I’ll post about that tomorrow…

We really seem to base a lot of our self-worth on our status. Loosely defined, to speak of someones status means to speak of their position in relation to other people. It is sort of like seeing how someone measures up with the rest of society. I guess this isn’t such a bad thing, except we seem to get our measuring sticks from all the wrong places. We define ourselves based on who the world says we are. We let society determine what we think about ourselves. We let the culture around us guide our actions. The truth is, culture and society change. How can we be measured by something that is never the same? Things were a certain way in the 60’s and then they were different in the 70’s. Although current fashion may have a hint of the 70’s, things today are very different than they were just 30 years ago.

I encourage you to come and be a part of youth group this week as we begin a look at the Book of Ephesians. This week we will be discussing your status. I promise you, the discussion will be encouraging. And the source of this status will never change.

So, what are your thoughts on status and self-worth? Do you feel that society should be the ultimate measuring stick for who we are? Why or why not? I look forward to your comments…

chad

p/s — if you are able, please bring bagged candy to youth group this week. we need as much as possible for the Halloween party next week.