Things Bigger Than Us...

Have you ever had one of those times where you realized you were so caught up in your own "life" or "agenda" that you completely missed out on what God had in store for you?  I've had a handful of things on my mind lately that I've wanted to Blog about. I'm going to try and incorporate two of those ideas into this one blog today.

Children have been on my mind heavily the last week or so, children being mistreated, and I don't mean not getting enough attention or a parent missing a birthday party, but I'm talking about horrible and unforgivable atrocities against children. Stories I've read lately include one child who was tied up to a stake in the ground with a collar around his neck outside in the cold and watching his parents beat his pet dog to death and another story coming out of Scotland, where a 5 year old child from Botswana literally had his heart ripped out of his chest while was still alive for some sort of a "ritual sacrifice." 

I'll post links to the stories below if you don't believe me. It is absolute horror. I can't begin to fathom what goes through the minds of people, to hurt and even kill a child. These stories make me think of my own 4 year old son, it brings me to tears to think of something like this happening to him. For those of you who are parents you'll know what I mean when I say I would do anything I possibly could to keep my children from having to experience pain. There is no part of me that ever would want my children to suffer. What in the world is wrong with people that would do these kinds of things to children? 

Only thing I can come back to is that there is an absence of true love, the "Agape" love that our Father in heaven has for us.  John 3:16 is one of the most famous and well-known Bible verses. It has been called the "Gospel in a nutshell" because it is considered a summary of the central doctrines of Christianity. The verb translated "loved" in this verse is ἠγάπησεν (ēgapēsen), past tense of "agapaō".
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
—John 3:16, KJV

Agape received a broader usage under later Christian writers as the word that specifically denoted "Christian" love or "charity" (1 Corinthians 13:1–8), or even God himself (1 John 4:8, ὁ θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν, "God is Love").

The term agape was used by the early Christians to refer to the self-sacrificing love of God for humanity, which they were committed to reciprocating and practicing towards God and among one another. When 1 John 4:8 says "God is love," the Greek New Testament uses the word agape to describe God's love.

A self sacrificing love, a love that knows that there are thing more important than our selves, things bigger than "us." Children are to be loved, my son's memory verse for this month is, "Jesus said, 'let the little children come to me' - Matthew 19:14 (in his voice he says Maffew, but I know what he means). The stories mentioned above just ripped my heart out at the cruelty these two children had been shown vs. what they really deserved. 

On another level I felt God speak to me about children, we are all God's children, not just kids, but adults as well. I had a man come by the church today, down and out, homeless at the moment, trying to piece his life back together. Just before Thanksgiving we had done some things to help him and try and get him back on his feet. He's still trying, has a job, but just lost his spot in a shelter he'd been staying in. I didn't really have the ability to help him from our "benevolence" account again this month. He asked if I could at least get him some food, I told him I was sure I could manage that. 

Now, this all came at a bad time for me in my day, I was on an important phone call when he came in to the church and I had an appointment I was trying to make at 12:30, so I was rushing a bit with this guy. I told him, ok let's go and I'll take you to get some food (in my mind, I'd decided that I 'd take him to get lunch at a buffet somewhere, drop him off, pay for it and still have time to make it to my appointment). So we go outside and load is bike, bag of clothes, backpack, tent, and machete (yes a machete) into my Tahoe and I take him to Western Sizzlin, as I'm going through the line with him (ready to hurry up and pay so I can go), I had a real check in my spirit, "Are you too good to sit down and have lunch with this man? My child?" Yeah, at that moment I felt like a dirt bag, nobody in his situation should have to eat alone, I was about to miss an opportunity to do something bigger than myself, I could encourage this guy, pray with him, maybe make a difference. At least show him that someone, somewhere cared.

Turns out he's trying to get enough money to be able to take care of his wife who is in a nursing home, the right half of her body is paralyzed and they don't really have any other family to help them out. We had a good lunch, he said that his steak was a little too pink, but the fried chicken was good, he was extremely grateful, said that he never gets to eat in nice places like Western Sizzlin. He "snuck" a few cookies into his jacket to take to his wife, and I dropped him, his bike and all his gear (yes the machete too) off at the nursing home so he could spend some time with his wife before going into work, to try and do his best to take care of his family.

There are things in our life every day that are "Bigger Than Us," don't get too busy and miss out on opportunities God puts in front of you. You have the ability to have a great influence on people around you and make a difference in this world, which is full of people that don't know what true Agape love is, you can show it to them. That Self Sacrificing Love that knows no bounds, and is willing to not just give out of abundance but out of need as well.

"Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."

- Matthew 25:40

Story Links Below -
Police: Couple Arrested On Suspicion Of Tying Child To Stake, Shooting Dog
Horror as body of five-year-old boy is found after he suffered 'sickening and violent death'

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5 Questions to Ask When Reading the Bible

I'm re-posting this blog post I read today, it was totally on point. Let's read God's Word intentionally and be aware of what it's communicating!

How exactly does the Bible—an ancient book written thousands of years ago—reveal God’s way to people today? There are several key questions we must ask, the answers to which reveal to us the way. Here they are:

1. Is there a command to obey?

The Bible is filled with divine commands for you and me to obey. There is no question what God’s will is in these areas. Our obedience to His commandments leads us precisely into the center of His will.

Click HERE to read more

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Should You Volunteer In Your Church?

We are busy with work, family, life, hobbies, side jobs, and needing an occasional rest in between...so why in the world would we or should we even consider devoting more of our time to anything? ...like volunteering in our local church...

Faith without works is dead...the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few...go into all the world...what you've done to the least of these...

These are just a few phrases from some powerful Bible verses concerning service. I ask the question, 

"Should You Volunteer in Your Church?"

It's an easy thing to move into the back seat, sit in the back row, and slip into the shadows in your church. There is enough going on and people volunteering we can convince ourselves of a few lies-

1. There are enough volunteers already, they don't need my help

2. They probably wouldn't want my help, I've never done this sort of stuff before

3. I haven't been going to church long enough to volunteer 

4. I come to church, believe in God and pay my tithes, I don't "need" to do anything else

5. If God wanted me to help with that stuff He would send someone to ask me to help

I'm going to address these 5 misconceptions about service, volunteerism and lay ministry within the church. After we address these issues, I'm going to leave you with some awesome scriptures to help you get over that "Should I Really Volunteer?" hump.

1. There are never enough volunteers (PERIOD) They do need your help, sometimes things look like smooth sailing and a well oiled machine, but I can authoritatively promise you, there is always room for more help. New volunteers give relief to current volunteers and leadership, and hey, guess what, you might be the best volunteer ever, which is a HUGE blessing to your church and to God.

2. As mentioned in #1, they do want your help, and it doesn't matter if you've never done this kind of work before. A lot of ministries and volunteer opportunities in churches come with training or give you time to learn from someone already doing what you will be doing. For example, my wife and I oversee the Multi-Media Ministry at our church, we require 10-12 volunteers to fulfill all the duties needed for a service (running cameras, computer/presentation, lighting technician, video switching, recording, live sound mixing, and much more) 

- sounds kind of intimidating, and at times looks even more intimidating. Guess what, pretty much none of our volunteers had any experience doing any of these things before they came into our ministry. We aren't super leaders or excellent trainers either, it boils down to desire, passion, and God. If you want to serve and you put your "All" into it, God will bless it, and will most likely help empower you to serve him to an even greater level.

3. I don't know what the perfect length of time is before you can help out in a church regularly, but again, if you are a believer, God is ready to use you. Maybe its just picking up chairs and tables after events, helping take trash out after small groups or Sunday School, door greeting, or something else, but if you show a desire to help and do it with passion and love, your church and God will notice. You will be blessed and more opportunities to serve will come your way.

4. All those things, coming to church, believing in God and tithing are great! However, we are called to service by God, so yes you "need" to help if you are able because the Body of Christ needs you! 
Mark 10:44-45 
"...and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 'For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.'" -
yeah I went there, I pulled out the Bible to prove my point, if service was required of our savior, and we as Christians are to be Christ-Like, we too should be active in our service to Him.

5. Yup, God has sent a number of people to tell you that your help is needed, dozens of authors in the Old and New Testaments, most likely your pastor at sometime or another has asked for assistance from the pulpit, and if you are reading this now, God sent me to you...and I'm telling you, Your Church Needs Your Help.

Here are a few more verses to help inspire you to lend a helping hand in your church:

Do it to Glorify God
Matthew 5:14-16 
"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. "Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus as an Example
Matthew 23:11 
"But the greatest among you shall be your servant.

Serving One Another
Ephesians 6:5-7 
Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eye service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men,

Showing Love to one Another
Philippians 2:1-4 
If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 

Blessed are the Givers
Acts 20:35 
"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

Love Your Neighbor
Galatians 5:13-14 
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

Jesus came to Serve
Mark 10:44-45 
and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

To the Least of Them
Matthew 25:40
"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

Mark 9:35
And sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all."

By the Strength of God
1 Peter 4:10-11 
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

I pray that this post and these scriptures not only lift you up but help you realize the call God has placed on you to serve Him and the local church you attend. Volunteers are crucial to the mission of the local church, and without you, we can't do what we do.

Be Blessed!
-Ryan

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How We Got the Scriptures...

Let me preface this post by stating that a lot of the content you will read in this post will be from a lesson in a course I took from Global University, some of this will be verbatim from my book, some from my notes, and some will be my comments. I'm terrible at citing and other such APA MLA BLAH BLAH BLAH rules, so consider this my blanket, I'm not plagiarizing statement, I learned this in my Intro to Theology course and am now sharing.

Now with that out of the way, let me say this, we had a discussion in my Young Adults Connect Group this morning about "where did we get the Bible from?" Very good question, I'll do my best to answer that here.

The word Scripture means "holy writings." The Scriptures are holy because God gave them. The term canon means "a rule, a standard, a measuring rod." The canon of scripture refers to books that have met a standard and that the church has accepted as the inspired Word of God. At the time of Jesus, the Jews used the Scripture  about a fixed, well-known group of books - the 39 books of the Old Testament. The 27 books in the New Testament formed over a period of three centuries. During those years, church leaders discussed the list often, and the majority of the church agreed on God's inspiration of certain books. Ultimately, the books that were truly from God testified for themselves. Their placement in the canon was not just the decision of the authors or the church council. Although church councils did meet and discuss the different books, their main purpose was to confirm which books the church agreed on. I believe that the Holy Spirit led the people of God in this process.

In AD 367, the theologian Athanasius considered all the books that were being passed around the church as apostolic writings (writings by apostles). His examination reveled twenty seven books, the same ones in our New Testament today, although he placed them in a different order. Thirty years later, in AD 397, a church council met in Carthage to discuss which books were truly Scripture. Before deciding to include a book in the New Testament canon, the Council measured it by four tests-

The 4-Way Scripture Test in the New Testament

1. An Apostle or someone close to an apostle had to be the author. For example, the Gospel of John was accepted because the apostle John wrote it. However, although apostles did not write them, the gospels of Luke and Mark were accepted because Luke had traveled with Paul and Mark was a friend of Peter.

2. The book had to match what the church already knew to be Scripture. If there was any conflict, the book was not accepted.

3. The book had to be widely accepted by the church. The church as a whole had to recognize that God had inspired the book. If only a small portion of the church believed that a book was inspired, it was not placed in the canon.

4. The book had to have a quality that revealed divine inspiration. In other words, it needed to change people's lives.

After considering all the books, the Council of Carthage confirmed that the only books that measured up to the standard were the 27 books we call the New Testament.

The topic of the Apocryphal books was brought today as well, "why don't we use them and the Catholics do?" Also another very good question, so here is what I can share to shed some light on that. Over the years some have claimed that other books should be placed in the canon. The Catholic Bible and some Eastern Orthodox Bibles contain additional books referred to as the Apocrypha. However the early church did not consider these books to be inspired by God, the books were not included in the Hebrew Scriptures. Some of these books, such as First Maccabees, contain history, but are not clearly inspired by God, while others clearly contain errors and doctrines which are contrary to the rest of the Bible. Other people, like Joseph Smith who wrote the Book of Mormon, have claimed to write for God. Yet their books contain obvious conflicts with Scripture, and they were not written by either an apostle or someone close to an apostle. All of these books, along with the Apocrypha, are not in the canon because they did not pass the necessary tests.

Old Testament - 

Let's talk about the Old Testament for a little bit.

What is the Old Testament?

As said previously, the Old Testament contains the first 39 books of the Bible. The Old Testament was a covenant/agreement between God and Israel, the children of Abraham. God promised to keep His part of the covenant if the Israelites kept their part.

Who wrote the Old Testament and when? 

The OT is a part of the Bible, a term derived from Greek and Latin words for "book." the bible is the book above all other books in that it contains 66 books written by about 40 authors over a period of roughly 1600 years and inspired by the same spirit. God guided the writers to write what he wanted them to write. He carried them along by His Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21).

How did the books of the OT get into our bible?

We refer to the books from Genesis to Malachi as the canon of the old Testament. The OT canon is the list of books that meet the standards for being in God's Word. the 39 books in our OT are the same books that Jesus and the Jews of His day accepted as God's Word. As I said before The Catholic Bible and some Eastern Orthodox Bibles also contain books that are grouped in a class called the Apocrypha. The word Apocrypha means "hidden books" but later came to mean "not in the canon or list." During the time of Martin Luther, the Catholics accepted 7 apocryphal books as well as minor additions to the books of Esther and Daniel. the Catholics did not officially accept the books of the Apocrypha until 1546 at the Council of Trent. Although some of these books were included in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures), they were not part of the Hebrew Scriptures during Christ's time. Neither Jesus nor the apostles quoted any of the apocryphal books as Scripture. While the books in the Apocrypha contain some truth, they also contain error. therefore, they do not meet the standards set for recognizing Scripture.

Some other time I'll do a post about authority and inspiration of Scripture, which is a GREAT topic. Although this is not the most thorough and exhaustive explanation of where the Scriptures came from and why we accept them as they are, I hope it does help to shed some light and understanding on the subject. Again the majority of this content came from my Intro to Theology course and a tidbit from my OT Survey course. I'm not nearly as smart as the blog sounds, I promise.

Be Blessed,
Ryan

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Sacrificial Availability

I want you to think of a close friend or a family member who at any time you'd drop what you were doing to help them out. Now most likely you'd take a phone call from them, run them gas on the highway if they ran out, pick them up from somewhere, loan them money, offer advice, be a shoulder to cry on, right? Why? Because you care, they are important to you, their needs are important to you and their future is important to you.

Now I want you to think about someone you know that you aren't exactly "close" to on the same level as the person we just talked about. Get someone on your mind...

Do they know Christ? If they are a believer, are they grounded? Do they have a good support system, could they benefit from you reaching out to them?

Over the years I've had people come in and out of my life, people that I believe God positioned in my life so that for a time or season I might have some positive influence on them (some more than others). This isn't a "oh wow Ryan you are so wise and almighty" comment, I think God allowed me to learn as much if not more from the experience than what I was able to impart to these individuals. One thing I've taken away from these experiences, which I was reminded of recently in my Sunday School class(we now call them Connect Groups), to truly reach someone and be there for them, we have to make ourselves "Sacrificially Available."

So you might ask, "What do you mean 'Sacrificially Available?'" Well I'm glad that you asked, I feel like it means to make yourself completely and totally available to a person in order to benefit them to the best of your ability. Often times we tell people to give us a call or shoot us a text if they need prayer or anything at all. Frequently we press ignore on our phones or don't call them back for days. This is not being available at all and certainly not on the sacrificial level. 

So why the sacrifice? To be a Christian means to be Christ-like. What did Christ do? Sacrificed himself so that we might have eternal life. Any chance we can sacrifice something to help someone else we are being like Christ. I feel like true "Sacrificial Availability" means that you put another person's needs and priorities above your own, this would be the common behavior in a marriage or between a parent and their children. This kind of activity obviously breeds love, success, maturity, discipline, the list goes on. Why not try this with someone in need? 

Pray that God opens your eyes to see a person in need, or ask that they literally be dropped in your lap. It can happen, and this is the kind of ministry where we can be really effective in sharing about Christ, what He's done for us, and what He can do for them. Think about Phillip and the Ethiopian eunuch from the book of Acts, Phillip was minding his own business traveling from one town to another town and God brought him somebody....
29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth."
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him."
-Acts 8:29-38

Phillip, in this instance, made himself "Sacrificially Available" to this man, and because of it, he was able to lead this man to Christ and Baptize him as well. More often than not, our experiences won't be this simple or short lived, but the moral of the story stays the same. As ambassadors of Christ, we make ourselves available to deliver his message, but we don't just leave it at that. We must make an effort to continually encourage and build up those we witness to. Sometimes the continual contact and conversations will minister more to a person than all our efforts to "evangelize" them. Personal contact goes a LONG ways today.

So again, what is "Sacrificial Availability?" I say it means answering the phone when that person calls, it may mean stepping away from the dinner table, muting the TV show, waking up in the middle of the night, or going over to someones house to let them unload all of their emotions. It means going beyond what any normal person would, because guess what? We aren't normal people, we are believers in Jesus Christ, we are Christians, we are more than Conquers and we are empowered for ministry by the Holy Spirit and called by the Great Commission to go preach, teach, and reach.

Become "Sacrificially Available" to those people you are ministering to, or to that friend who needs your help, or that coworker or classmate that really doesn't have anybody. Go out of your way to care about someone else's needs and make their priorities your priorities. Their future ought to matter to you, they need to be important to you, you should care...

Be blessed!

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The Power of Words....

From an experience I had recently.

Things we say, especially those recorded on the Internet forever, can be very powerful for many many years in the future.

Our words have the power to do good and to bring harm, what are you saying when you communicate?

"The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."

-Proverbs 18:21

Fortunately in the instance I'm referencing, my words did some good. I gave a friend of mine a reference a few years back. She worked under me when we were in a University Television Program. She was awesome at anything she did, but she really excelled in graphic design. One of the lines in my reference was, "(she) is the kind of person you wish you could clone and make an entire team out of."

We are connected through LinkedIn among many other social media platforms, and I happened to see this tidbit listed on her profile. I was shocked to see that she was portraying it front and center on her profile, not because I didn't mean what I said, I did, but I figured there were just better things a person could use to promote their abilities than a quote from little old me. After a little messaging, she shared with me that this quote from me had been very beneficial to her professionally with interviews and promotions and much more. Here is a quote from one of her responses, 
"I have to say this quote has taken me places! ...not only has it given my employers a "better" idea of the kind of person I am, but it has given me a lot of confidence to think of myself in this way and know I can be a valuable team member. Sometimes the job market takes away your confidence! 

So, obviously, thank you. 

Who knew such little things could have such an effect in someone's life, huh?" 

Who knew indeed? It struck me, what if I said something bad about her, or anyone else, and what if those comments had been made in anger, haste, frustration. What if I had posted it on Facebook, text it to a friend, tweeted it, blogged it, etc? What would the affects of those words have been?

The things we say about people have the power to do good...and the power to do bad. What do you choose to do with your words? 

"Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone." -Titus 3:1-2

The King James Version is very clear...

"...To speak evil of no man (person)..."

I challenge you, take a 7 day period of time, and don't say one bad thing about any person. Its gonna be more difficult than you think, but guess what? 

That's what God wants from us 24/7-365

Be blessed!

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Do Visitors Feel Welcome in Your Church?

I don't want to always sound like I'm chewing church people out, I'll preface this post by saying I'm equally guilty of everything I'm going to be talking about in this post. So let's just shoot straight for a minute, which is easier; talking to a person you know and like, or a complete and total stranger? Obviously for most people that answer is the person they already know. Talking to strangers is awkward at best for most people, mix it up and make the setting a church and you've got a whole new bunch of obstacles to make the encounter even more uncomfortable... but it doesn't have to be, and it shouldn't.

A saying from my dad, "You only get one chance at a first impression," this statement is never more true than inside a church. You only get one shot to show people who you are, as a church when they visit. If they don't like it, they are moving to the next church on their list. So the first impression they get of you starts early, with the people you have greeting them when the enter the doors of your church, or as they drive their cars onto your parking lot (I'm a big fan of having parking lot attendants directing visitors to the "easy to find and close to an entrance" visitor parking). 

We talked about it today in an impromptu staff meeting, what do you say to someone if you aren't sure they are a visitor? You don't want to offend someone who's been coming for years, and don't want to ignore a possible visitor... what to do? Get creative, here is an example of an easy and friendly question, "Good morning, how are you doing etc," followed up by a, "Now, how long have you been coming here?" Either they are a visitor, or you've just connected to someone in your church you haven't connected with before. It is a Win-Win.

As a church, we cannot afford to not be friendly, especially to visitors, what kind of Jesus Christ does that convey? "We are only friendly to people we know..." ? That's not the way Jesus rolled. I encourage you to extend a warm welcome to unfamiliar faces in your church this week, whether you are on the "Greeting Team" or not. As Christians we are called to be Christ-Like, He wouldn't ignore someone, so you don't either (myself included).

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Why Young Adults are Leaving the Church...

This is a very well written excerpt from an article I read at CovPresChurch.org, very sobering and depressing on some levels, most importantly it is very informative...
To learn more about "Ignite" our Young Adult Ministry, click HERE!


"Why do so many young adults stop going to church?   Perhaps the most frequently offered explanation is that many students enter college with an inadequate understanding of “the Christian worldview” and an inability to “defend” it against professors who are “hostile” to the faith.  It is unclear how this theory emerged, but it is not supported by the research.  The NSYR found that only 11% of young adults who “stopped attending religious services” did so because of “disbelief.”  The number one answer given was “no reason or don’t know” (41%), followed by “disinterest” (17%).  (This study further found that young adults who attend college are actually LESS likely to “experience declines in religious service attendance and self-reported importance of religion” than those who do not.)

The researchers interviewed very few young adults who had become skeptical of or hostile toward the Christian faith in college.  The majority (about 60%) of those who had stopped going to church sounded something like Brad—one of the young adults who participated in the study.  He attended church pretty regularly with his family during his teenage years, but now, it “kind of depends on how busy the schedule is.  If I get a free Sunday, I’ll go…once in awhile.  But I’m not really into it like some people are.”  Brad did not “lose his faith” in college.  He still believes that “there is a God and…if you believe in Jesus and ask him to be in your life, [you] go to heaven…that sort of stuff.”  In his words, “I still have the same ideas now, I just don’t go to church like I used to every Sunday.  I’ve got a busier lifestyle…higher priorities.”

What the NSYR researchers found is that the young adults who were most likely to stop attending church were those who, though they basically believed the “right” things, lacked a real understanding of those beliefs, appreciation of their importance, and ability to apply them to their everyday experiences.  According to Christian Smith, director of the NSYR project and author of two books on the subject of youth and religion, it was as if the teenagers and young adults were being asked to speak a “second language” that sounded confused and awkward, especially when it came to how their “faith” impacted their daily lives.  Smith coined the term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” to describe what he and his colleagues frequently heard in their interviews.  Most young people believe that God created the world and sent Jesus to die for their sins, but in terms of their everyday experiences, God seems to be little more than a cosmic therapist (to make them “feel loved, happy, secure,” etc.) and giver of moral advice (to teach them how to be “good” people and occasionally help them resolve their “problems”)."

There's a lot of info to take in from this article, one of the most important pieces shows only a small % of young adults leaving the church due to disbelief in God. One encouraging note is that the majority of these young adults have a good foundation in their belief system and aren't entirely abandoning the faith. They know God is there, and that Jesus died for them, but because of their stepping back from church, they do relegate God to the sidelines and seek him only when in need as opposed to serving Him at all times. They are a big fan of the Jesus that calmed the storm, but at this point in time not such a big fan of Jesus the teacher (This is not the case with all Young Adult Christians outside of church, but the majority).

The sad news however, is that the Church (as a whole) is no longer reaching or delivering the Word to Young Adults in a relevant and life applicable way. The claim is that their schedule and priorities are superseding their need to go to church, at least at the regular/traditional church times. That's really not a bad excuse, and I don't think of it as a cop-out. I remember being in college, taking 17-19 credit hours, working 2 or 3 part time jobs, being married, having labs, study groups, senior thesis projects etc...church can take a back seat.  What about the young adults who don't go to college and go straight into the work force, get married young, and have kids young? They are getting a real world shock, they are just fighting to get by, pay off their debt and make ends meet!

So what's the answer? Some might say..."Well they just aren't committed" or "They must not have had a strong foundation" or "If they were living right, they'd make church a priority." Are we really supposed to expect them to make the "super spiritual" "uber mature" adult decision to make church a priority when they are still just discovering what it even means to live as an adult out from under mom and dad's roof? Personally, I don't think any of those viewpoints are correct. Maybe it just happens to somewhat be the responsibility of the "Church" to try and find a means to minister and reach out to this group stepping away...?

Paul gives us a pretty good road map for how to reach those we aren't reaching in 1 Corinthians 9 

"19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Sounds to me like Paul said, "Become what you must to reach those who don't know about Jesus." ...like a Jew to the Jews...like the weak to the weak... get this one, "TO THOSE NOT HAVING THE LAW I BECAME LIKE ONE NOT HAVING THE LAW" ... "so as to win (to Christ) those not having the law." So I think Paul makes it clear, we aren't supposed to just sit here and twiddle our thumbs and expect the lost, the struggling, etc to just come find us, but we are to go seek them out and minister to them in their culture, setting, etc. We need to be doing our part to be reaching them on their level where they are at. Occasionally I'm in downtown Fort Smith, AR around lunch time and I see a community outreach that does sack lunches to the needy, feeding the hungry. Imagine if instead of making those meals available and advertising it to the homeless community, they just sat on their hands and had those sack lunches sitting in a fridge somewhere saying, "well we got the food here, if they want it, they'll come find it!"

We are re-launching our Young Adult Ministry at my church this month, my goal is for us to reach the young adults on a level that church isn't getting to them. Right now, our meeting time is going to be on Wednesday nights at 7:00, that may not be best in the long run. We have to start somewhere and that's where we are best equipped to start, as things progress and the ministry grows, we may evolve into another time, location, style etc for whatever best encourages personal growth as well as reaching more and more individuals. We must make the gospel readily available, even if it takes us outside of our "normal" comfort zone of Sunday mornings. We must also remember, we have a formidable foe in the devil, who is on the prowl like a hungry lion, ready to strike. Each young adult we alienate for our own "comfortable agenda" we make more available pray to the devil...

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Going the extra mile...

Sorry that I haven't been blogging lately, kind of been a little behind with church stuff and have been playing catch up all year so far. A young man got saved this past week and it really just stayed on my mind and I wanted to share about it.

We have a Discipleship Ministry at our church on Wednesday nights, WednesdaysOnPurpose. The ministry consists of discipleship classes that last about 90 minutes. Right now we have 4 different classes going on, to learn more about the ministry, visit our site: WednesdaysOnPurpose.com. 

Right now we are in the 2nd round of "Man Up", a men's class. Well the teacher of this class and his two sons took a first time visitor (who I'll refer to as Young Man) out for pizza after church. The class, as far as I know, went just fine and was engaging and interactive as always. The men of our church just love the class. Steve Gann, the teacher is one of the best we got. I digress, back to the heart of the story, Steve and his sons took this young man out for pizza after church and continued to minister to him, speaking life, testifying about all the great works that Christ had done in their lives, and the importance of living for God. 

The young man obviously was looking for God to show up in a big way. I met him before church, very polite and pleasant, I shook his hand, said hello, and moved onto what I had "going on" that night, I was too busy or caught up in my own schedule to really take the time to realize what God was about to do in this young man's life. But these guys, Steve and his 2 sons...they went the extra mile...the young man sat in church that night listened to the message God had for him, then some "church people" asked him to come join  them after church for some fellowship time. 

They continued ministering to him, outside the walls of the church, after church was over, probably past a time that was convenient for their "schedule". Long story short, that night, at the pizza place...they led this young man to the Lord. He accepted Christ, came to church Sunday Morning, came to my Sunday school class (new believers class), and as far as I know came to church Sunday night and I'm pretty sure is planning to come back to church this Wednesday. 

Steve and his family are continuing to lift this new believer up and encourage him. I'm praying God continues to show up in this young man's life in a new and awesome way.

My whole reason for posting this is to encourage any of you who might read this, to realize that Christianity isn't just coming to church, sitting down, clap a little, put a tip in the offering plate, then go home. Christianity goes beyond the walls of the church, it goes beyond our personal agendas, it takes us outside of our comfort zones sometimes. We need to daily be praying that God helps us to recognize the opportunities he gives us to minister to the hearts of those who are searching for Him.

go the extra mile...

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