Student Small Groups

I am so completely pumped about our Student Small Groups. In less than two weeks we will have over 20 volunteers working with around 70 students. Every Wednesday night these groups will meet in various places at the church building to engage in study, sharing, and prayer. I know that God is going to accomplish great things through these groups.
Please be in prayer for the adults and students that will be a part of this ministry. I know that it will be challenging at times, but I also know it will be very rewarding. I believe that small groups will be the most powerful and significant part of our student ministry from this point forward.

shine!
Jason

Student Small Groups

I am so completely pumped about our Student Small Groups. In less than two weeks we will have over 20 volunteers working with around 70 students. Every Wednesday night these groups will meet in various places at the church building to engage in study, sharing, and prayer. I know that God is going to accomplish great things through these groups.
Please be in prayer for the adults and students that will be a part of this ministry. I know that it will be challenging at times, but I also know it will be very rewarding. I believe that small groups will be the most powerful and significant part of our student ministry from this point forward.

shine!
Jason

What ever happened to holiness?

Yesterday I taught the high school class and our topic was holiness. Actually, the title of the lesson was "God's Most Frightening Feature." This lesson has really been picking at me since yesterday and caused me to ask the question above. What ever happened to holiness?
In the rush to be relevant, tolerant, and trendy, many churches and Christians have lost a grip on the holiness of God. Think about it. Think about a lot of the worship songs that are coming out. How many of them sound like secular love songs with God serving as the boyfriend? This love affair with a "warm, fuzzy" God paints only part of the picture.
Now, before you think I am some right-wing, moralist, fundamentalist, hear me out. I agree we need to reach out to people where they are. I am 100% behind grace. There is no way we can reach the lost if we condemn them for the situation they find themselves in. My concern is not with the lost, but with the ones that call themselves saved.
While there are probably a hundred reasons for the demise of holiness, let me ponder a few.
One of the first things I would consider is the whole idea of Americanized Christianity. You know the kind I am talking about. It's the one where your baptism stamps your passport for heaven. The one that has 5 steps to salvation. The one that is packaged neatly and can be picked up at your local Barnes & Noble. The one that produces love songs for Jesus. Need I say more?
When we begin to look at following Jesus as an individual event as opposed to a community endeavor we lose something. Being a Christ-follower suddenly becomes all about me and not about others. It's about what I need to do to get into heaven, not who I need to be to bring heaven to earth. Me. Me. Me. Didn't the apostle John write, "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less."? (see John 3:30)
Which brings me to my second thought. Now, this is where I get into one of those chicken and the egg discussions. What came first, Americanized, individualized Christianity, or consumerism? Or did they both feed off of each other? I ask this question, because wasn't our country founded on individual liberty? So I struggle to see what came first. An economy with "God-given" liberty or a religion where you pick your type of God. Is either really that healthy? Or are both a unhealthy marriage of spirituality and materialism?
All that to say that holiness is not Christianity on our terms. It isn't something where we have wiggle room. We can't pick and choose on holiness.
This has nothing to do with worship styles, translations of the Bible, or even what church you attend. It has everything to do with what your life looks like the 165 hours a week you are not in a building that our society calls a church. It has to do with the words you use. The choices you make. The way you treat others. The things you allow to shape your mind and heart. The people you allow to become your closest friends. The time you spend developing your relationship with God.
Consumerism has unfortunately become the air we breathe. We worry more about how people look when they worship than how people dress and cause their fellow Christians to struggle with lust. We worry more about the color of the carpet that why the skin color of most of the people in our church is the same. We worry more about what the Bible class teacher says than whether or not we even open our Bibles at home.
Our society has turned church into McReligion. The kind where you order what you want, consume it, and you're done with it by the time you get to your next stop. Church is for Sundays. It doesn't matter what my life looks like on Monday as long as I look right on Sundays. I can treat people how ever I want at work as long as I take Communion. I can lie, steal, or cheat to get ahead in school as long as I show up for youth group. I can ignore my neighbor in need as long as I throw a few bucks in the collection plate.
What happened to holiness? What happened to staying pure physically, emotionally, and mentally? What happened to keeping ourselves separate from the ways of the world? What happened to looking so different from the world that we would be persecuted, put down, and abused?
I think that many have traded in the old rugged cross for the little plastic one on the end of a necklace. What would Jesus do?

shine!
Jason

What ever happened to holiness?

Yesterday I taught the high school class and our topic was holiness. Actually, the title of the lesson was "God's Most Frightening Feature." This lesson has really been picking at me since yesterday and caused me to ask the question above. What ever happened to holiness?
In the rush to be relevant, tolerant, and trendy, many churches and Christians have lost a grip on the holiness of God. Think about it. Think about a lot of the worship songs that are coming out. How many of them sound like secular love songs with God serving as the boyfriend? This love affair with a "warm, fuzzy" God paints only part of the picture.
Now, before you think I am some right-wing, moralist, fundamentalist, hear me out. I agree we need to reach out to people where they are. I am 100% behind grace. There is no way we can reach the lost if we condemn them for the situation they find themselves in. My concern is not with the lost, but with the ones that call themselves saved.
While there are probably a hundred reasons for the demise of holiness, let me ponder a few.
One of the first things I would consider is the whole idea of Americanized Christianity. You know the kind I am talking about. It's the one where your baptism stamps your passport for heaven. The one that has 5 steps to salvation. The one that is packaged neatly and can be picked up at your local Barnes & Noble. The one that produces love songs for Jesus. Need I say more?
When we begin to look at following Jesus as an individual event as opposed to a community endeavor we lose something. Being a Christ-follower suddenly becomes all about me and not about others. It's about what I need to do to get into heaven, not who I need to be to bring heaven to earth. Me. Me. Me. Didn't the apostle John write, "He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less."? (see John 3:30)
Which brings me to my second thought. Now, this is where I get into one of those chicken and the egg discussions. What came first, Americanized, individualized Christianity, or consumerism? Or did they both feed off of each other? I ask this question, because wasn't our country founded on individual liberty? So I struggle to see what came first. An economy with "God-given" liberty or a religion where you pick your type of God. Is either really that healthy? Or are both a unhealthy marriage of spirituality and materialism?
All that to say that holiness is not Christianity on our terms. It isn't something where we have wiggle room. We can't pick and choose on holiness.
This has nothing to do with worship styles, translations of the Bible, or even what church you attend. It has everything to do with what your life looks like the 165 hours a week you are not in a building that our society calls a church. It has to do with the words you use. The choices you make. The way you treat others. The things you allow to shape your mind and heart. The people you allow to become your closest friends. The time you spend developing your relationship with God.
Consumerism has unfortunately become the air we breathe. We worry more about how people look when they worship than how people dress and cause their fellow Christians to struggle with lust. We worry more about the color of the carpet that why the skin color of most of the people in our church is the same. We worry more about what the Bible class teacher says than whether or not we even open our Bibles at home.
Our society has turned church into McReligion. The kind where you order what you want, consume it, and you're done with it by the time you get to your next stop. Church is for Sundays. It doesn't matter what my life looks like on Monday as long as I look right on Sundays. I can treat people how ever I want at work as long as I take Communion. I can lie, steal, or cheat to get ahead in school as long as I show up for youth group. I can ignore my neighbor in need as long as I throw a few bucks in the collection plate.
What happened to holiness? What happened to staying pure physically, emotionally, and mentally? What happened to keeping ourselves separate from the ways of the world? What happened to looking so different from the world that we would be persecuted, put down, and abused?
I think that many have traded in the old rugged cross for the little plastic one on the end of a necklace. What would Jesus do?

shine!
Jason

Shhhh....

Imagine a place of peace for you.
Is it sitting in a small boat in the middle of a secluded lake?
Is it the back porch of a cabin in the woods?
Is it a bike ride through the country?
What is that place for you?
Close your eyes for about 30 seconds and just focus on that place.
(If you didn't stop and close your eyes, read the sentence above and follow directions. LOL)
OK. Why do we long for peace? Why do we long for a time of quiet? I believe that God placed that desire for quiet so that we would have times to listen for Him to speak. Consider this exchange between Elihah and the LORD.
"Go out and stand before me on the mountain," the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
And a voice said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:11-13)
I firmly believe that God speaks to us often. He may not speak audibly, but by the Spirit He longs to speak to our hearts and minds. He wants to meet us in those quiet places. Why else would the Psalmist write, "Be silent, and know that I am God!"?
This week the Rochester teens are participating in a Media Fast. (Therefore many of them may not see this until next week.) This is a week where we have dedicated ourselves to not watch TV or movies, not listen to music (other than praise and worship), and not browse the internet or spend significant time chatting. It is a time to turn off a lot of the "noise" that crowds our minds and drowns out the voice of the Lord.
I want to invite you to join us on this journey. If you are reading this weeks later, make an effort to engage in your own media fast. Take time to be silent and know that He is God.
If you are participating or do participate in a media fast I would love to hear back from you when it is over. How did you hear God's voice in those times of quiet? What impact did it have on your walk with God?
If you have any other questions about the Media Fast, please feel free to email me. May God be glorified in all that you do, say, and think.

shine!
Jason

Shhhh....

Imagine a place of peace for you.
Is it sitting in a small boat in the middle of a secluded lake?
Is it the back porch of a cabin in the woods?
Is it a bike ride through the country?
What is that place for you?
Close your eyes for about 30 seconds and just focus on that place.
(If you didn't stop and close your eyes, read the sentence above and follow directions. LOL)
OK. Why do we long for peace? Why do we long for a time of quiet? I believe that God placed that desire for quiet so that we would have times to listen for Him to speak. Consider this exchange between Elihah and the LORD.
"Go out and stand before me on the mountain," the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
And a voice said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:11-13)
I firmly believe that God speaks to us often. He may not speak audibly, but by the Spirit He longs to speak to our hearts and minds. He wants to meet us in those quiet places. Why else would the Psalmist write, "Be silent, and know that I am God!"?
This week the Rochester teens are participating in a Media Fast. (Therefore many of them may not see this until next week.) This is a week where we have dedicated ourselves to not watch TV or movies, not listen to music (other than praise and worship), and not browse the internet or spend significant time chatting. It is a time to turn off a lot of the "noise" that crowds our minds and drowns out the voice of the Lord.
I want to invite you to join us on this journey. If you are reading this weeks later, make an effort to engage in your own media fast. Take time to be silent and know that He is God.
If you are participating or do participate in a media fast I would love to hear back from you when it is over. How did you hear God's voice in those times of quiet? What impact did it have on your walk with God?
If you have any other questions about the Media Fast, please feel free to email me. May God be glorified in all that you do, say, and think.

shine!
Jason