Jesus is Just OK with...my sin?

As I work with young people and our culture, I see a growing belief among young Christians that is alarming.

It is this belief that sin is a given. It's not right; it's not good; but it's just the way things are. I have even seen this thought process grow into believing God "understands" that is the way things are so He is somehow okay with my sin. He forgives me after all, doesn't He?

But I find this to be a gross underestimation of the power of the Gospel. Just this week I was reading in 1 John and came across these words:

"Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil; whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother." (1 John 3:4-10)

Strong words.

And the struggle there is we all know that it is true that none of us are perfect of ourselves or we wouldn't have needed Christ's sacrifice.

So here are some questions for us to wrestle with:

What does it look like to "make a practice of sinning"?
Is that different from a slip-up or a mistake or a moment of weakness?
What does it look like to "practice righteousness"?
Does being "born of God" give us a way to truly & totally leave sin behind?
How do we live in a way that is pursuing righteousness/leaving sin behind, yet not trying to trust in our own works to save us?

Look forward to your thoughts. God bless.

A Little Cultural Research (Part 2)...

Today I'm continuing my theme on culture as I try to figure out what makes a culture work (or not work).

This week I watched another movie from decades ago - JAWS. This Steven Spielberg directed film debuted in 1975 (the year I was born), was the first movie to be released simultaneously nationwide (creating the Summer Blockbuster genre), and was the first movie to gross over $100 million (which is still a lot of money;).

And even though it is over 30 years old, it is still a great movie. Somehow it overcomes dated special effects and movie making techniques to continue to be a relevant and entertaining film.

My favorite scene is where shark hunter Quint, marine biologist Matt Hooper, and Police Chief Brody are sitting around on this little boat sharing scars and stories. There is something transcendent and real about this interaction that drives to my core.

So the cultural question of the day is:

How does something like Jaws continue to be culturally relevant while other things (see my previous post) do not?

Happy commenting and God bless!

A Little Cultural Research...

So my wife and I were cruising on Netflix the other night after the kids went to bed and decided to watch an 80s classic, Roxanne.

For those not familiar, it is a 1987 film starring Steve Martin and Darryl Hannah about a guy with a really big nose who falls in love with a beautiful woman. It's a modern telling of the 19th Century play Cyrano de Bergerac. The movie is nominally okay.

But it sparked a conversation. We noted that for awhile in the 80s Darryl Hannah was one of those A-list actresses who starred in a lot of big movies but now you don't hear that much about her. On the other side Steve Martin is still going strong.

"Why is that?" we wondered.

So we went on through our week pondering until, thanks to @loswhit over at ragamuffinsoul.com, I came across this:



Now, about 3/4 of the way through this incredibly bizarre video, there is Darryl Hannah...

...hiding her face

...and possible attempts to maintain youth through some facial modifications.

...amid a sea of other used-to-be's, has-beens, and one-hit-wonders.

And this experience left me feeling...

I don't know how it left me feeling.

Maybe sad, sick, nostalgic, amused, confused?

Here were all these people who we once lifted on a pedestal - about 90 percent of them idols and icons from my childhood - and now where are they?

It appears their life has been hard and sad since they left the limelight. And now these once examples of our society's pinnacle of success are reduced to a joke on Swedish TV.

So here are my questions for you:

1) How does this make you feel?

2) What age is the cutoff for this video even to make sense? (As I had a discussion with a room full of teenagers this week in which I found out none of them know who the Borg or Jean-Luc Picard were!)

Happy Commenting!

I Had An Ephiphany the Other Day...

So I can't stop thinking about his concept of Advent this year. Partly it's because I'm teaching the youth about it on Wednesday nights so it's on my mind. But for many other reasons, I'm really excited about this ancient practice. Now, for many of us our only experience with advent was opening those little windows on some Advent calendar as a kid. (I only wish I'd had one as cool as this Smurf one I found online!) Advent though, which comes from the Latin term for “coming”, is actually a season set aside to prepare in great anticipation for the celebration of Christ’s coming on Christmas Day. Now for me, my involvement by opening little doors was simply to mark how close I was to the great gluttonly of gifts that happened on December 25th. The reality of Advent, however, is not in the mere marking of time, but rather a contemplative waiting. In our modern rushed society, we know little of this experience. Advent is meant to slow us down, to force us to savor what this season is supposed to represent. So for many still today, we start four weeks out from Christmas taking time each week to reflect on HOPE, PEACE, JOY, LOVE, & ultimately CHRIST Himself! I’m challenging the youth this year to take some time to reflect on these principles. To take extra time to soak in God’s Word and wait for God to speak. To slow down and make this year more than just a rushed day of presents. And instead making it a preparation for the coming of God’s presence. Will you join us?

New Traditions...

So my family decided to start a new tradition today.

We loaded up the van, drove to the country (okay, actually Cole's Tree Farm), and cut down our own Christmas Tree.



Yes, I let Ethan have a saw.







But he did have adult supervision.



Here he is with his conquest.



So we loaded it up on top of our van and hauled it home.



Set it up in our living room.



Decorated it with a few strands of brand new Christmas lights...







and some popcorn strings...



and of course the topper!



We even made some homemade cinnamon Christmas ornaments.









It was such a lovely day. So much better than sorting through piles of ornaments and artificial pine needles. It was refreshing and natural and the kids loved it.

I think we'll do it again next year.

So what are some of your family holiday traditions? Anything new you're trying this year?

...and more from Trale Lewous!

I don't even like Skittles, but I love this!

All is...WELL?

For the first time in my life, I feel guilty for washing my hands.

Our youth ministry just completed the NO WATER DAY! - a challenge to go one day without using water for drinking or hygiene. This event was designed to help make ourselves and others aware of the global water crisis affecting approximately 1 billion people today.

I had no idea how hard this exercise would be!

Statistics say the average American washes their hands 6-10 times a day. It felt more like 25 for me, as I had to constantly fight my natural reflex to reach for the nearest faucet. The truth is that we individually use approximately 4 gallons of water a day JUST FOR WASHING OUR HANDS, while the average person in the developing world may only have 2.5 gallons a day for drinking, washing & cooking. To give you a little more perspective, we may use 100 gallons or more a day for those combined tasks.

So we went without water and then we came together on our Wednesday service to begin the process of figuring out what response we need to have to these facts.

The Old Testament Law says “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus says to give to others out of your abundance.

The New Testament Church modeled giving to everyone as they had need.

So we will prayerful be spending the next several weeks asking God to help us sort out how to apply these truths. I invite you to join us in prayer and discussion as we attempt begin to discern where and how to get involved.

Looking forward to exciting opportunities this next year!