A Leap of Faith

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, so I have a confession. You know back when the Matrix movie first debuted, I was in high school and upon hearing some message about faith that can move mountains, I thought to myself, if I just had enough faith, God would give me the power to fly. I just had to believe… I’ll let your mind fill in the gaps, but I’ll tell you that the end of the story is my wooden futon was now broken… I may have left that part out of the story I told my Mom… (Sorry Mom)

So why couldn’t I fly? Let me assure you it was not due to a lack of “want,” and I really did believe that I COULD fly. However I was mistaken in that my definition of faith was found lacking.

I love the story in Matthew 14 where the disciples are on a boat; it’s the middle of the night, and they see Jesus coming up to the boat walking on the water! They’re freaking out, and Peter (I love this guy) says to Jesus, “Lord, if it’s You, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus says, “Come.” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water. How awesome is that!? Peter didn’t exactly get to fly, but walking on water would definitely have some benefits.

I’ve learned something through both Peter’s experience and my own. Romans 10:17 says that faith comes from hearing the word of God. Like the old game of Simon Says, if God didn’t say it, you’re "out" if you do something He didn’t tell you to do. God told Peter to come to Him on the water, so Peter had a word from God and could act in faith by listening to it, and doing what God told him to do. God never once told me to fly, so what I was doing was not faith, it was foolishness.

A more Biblically accurate definition of faith is: Taking God at His word, and then responding accordingly. It starts with a word from God, and ends with obedience. So if God says that “whoever believes (or has faith) in Him (Jesus Christ), will not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16) we need to be found having faith in what God has said. So I guess the next question to ask is, "What has God said?" To the Bible we go!

Jesus for Sale

Confession time! Okay so, sometimes I struggle with how to encourage students to come to Symposium. I’ve tried to entice them to come for the activities, or the music. I’ve pushed them to come because I think they should. But I can’t help but think about how we do that same thing with Jesus. We dress Him up like the culture and society we live in, we offer bakery and hugs along with Jesus because maybe if they see they can get coffee and listen to cool music, more people will come to our church and add Jesus as a friend too.

 I have a lanyard attached to my key ring which says “Life with Jesus is better.” What does that even mean? Is life here and now better with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior? I guess if you have a fear of death and separation from God, than it’s better than living without Him. But there’s a verse in 2^nd Timothy which says, in fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. WILL BE PERSECUTED! How often do we bring up Jesus with that as the clincher? I can hear the infomercial now: If you call now, not only will you get Jesus with the unbelievable “get out of death free card” (you better believe it!) but you can also have a life of denying your wants and needs. Wait there’s more! If you act now, you’re guaranteed to suffer persecution and be considered an outcast by most if not all of your loved ones! Operators are standing by.

Standing up for Jesus won’t get you millions of dollars, nor will it get you all that your heart desires. Nearly everything in our society tells us that we need to be comfortable. It says we can have our cake and eat it too. I think a lot of well meaning people have adopted that same attitude with Jesus. If we dress Him up like the culture and make Jesus cool, maybe more people would “buy” our product. Yet Jesus himself was bold and manly, and he called out the masses that followed Him. Christ was always testing the hearts of those who dared to call themselves disciples.

Following Jesus isn’t safe. It isn’t always pleasant and comfortable. But in a world of deceit and disheartening news, wouldn’t a true message be greater? I need to stop trying to sweeten the deal and let Jesus Christ be the center. Let’s stop seeking what man can offer us and start seeking the real Jesus.

Babies vs Vikings

       I want you to meet 30 year old Stanley Thorton. He is an Adult Baby. Say what?! That's right, Stanley sleeps in a giant crib, plays with baby toys, drinks juice from a bottle, sucks on a pacifier and perhaps the worst part, the guy wears a diaper! Warning: This video will probably scar you. I don't apologize. There's a point to this... Let these images burn into your brain.

       These images should be disturbing. An adult living like a child is just wrong. But I wonder how many of us are living like Spiritual Babies. In 1 Corinthians 13:11 Paul writes to those in Corinth, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." At some point we ought to put away the toys and the sippy cups and use tools and drink from "big boy" glasses.

      "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." -Hebrews 5:11-14

      ARE YOU HUNGRY? Do you thirst for righteousness, or are you still choking on milk like a baby? I think we are like adult babies sometimes. Now don't get me wrong. When you first become a believer in Jesus Christ, you gotta crawl before you walk. But at some point, we need to grow up. We need to mature... But what does that look like?

 

          No doubt Vikings are strong. (Much stronger than a baby, and I bet they eat a lot better too!) Not only did they row themselves miles across the seas, but they also built their own boats from scratch. Imagine all the axe swinging it would take to chop down trees, and cut logs into planks and hammer them together all by hand! No wonder Vikings are still known today. They worked very hard; an not just at war, they worked hard at all the little things too. Nothing was beneath them. They were willing to take on responsibilities that others delegated or neglected. That's why the Vikings were so great.
         So who would win in a fight, a Viking or an adult baby? It's not even a question is it? Vikings are trained for battle. Their whole lives are a training ground for it. Now contrast that with the generation around you. Are those around you, be-it at school, work, or even church really working hard doing the little things? Or are they "just making it” ? We live in an age of laughably low standards. Almost no one does more than is required. Yet aren't we in a fight? (See Ephesians 6:12) So why then are we not preparing to fight like the Vikings?     Simple answer? Being a Viking is hard, being a baby is easy. The expectations placed on a baby are to eat, sleep, poop and cry when they don't get their way. Are you living that way? What kind of standards do you hold yourself to? Do you succumb to the low expectations society places on you, or will you hold yourself to a higher, more heavenly standard and expectation? 

"For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:14
       

 

Santa VS Savior

 

 Every year, Santa along with his reindeer, caboose the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and thus kick off the Christmas season. The commentators always hype the scene as the pinnacle moment of the parade, and Santa is deemed the MVP, the grand finale!  Children everywhere glue their eyes to the television screen and drool, asking themselves what wonderful treasures he might have in that magic sack.  Now, I’m not going to go on saying that Santa is Satan, although their names do have the same letters, they both wear red, and they both distract millions of people from Jesus Christ on His birthday...  But I do want to encourage you to teach your children the truth about Christmas.  

“Say what?!!” Jeremiah, I’m only a teen, man. I’m not even out of high school yet! If you’re a “Teenager” then you’re expected to be, well, “a Teenager.” But let’s say that you as a young man or woman are preparing for the days to come when you will be the Father or Mother in your own family… What will you tell your children? Have you ever thought about it? I know that I will tell my children that Santa is not real, and that Jesus Christ is why we celebrate Christmas. Let me offer a couple of reasons why.

How did you feel when you found out that Santa wasn’t real? Were you disappointed? Did you feel like there were other things your parents weren’t telling you? I’d like to offer a suggestion. Right now, you are preparing yourself for adult life. Someday soon, you’ll be married, and before you know it, you’ll probably have children of your own, and you’ll need to have already made choices regarding a few things. What will you teach your children about Santa, better yet, what will you teach them about God? 

Let me paint a picture for you… What if Santa wasn’t at the end of that parade? What if instead of jolly old St. Nick, the commentators exclaimed that Jesus was coming!? Yes the Prince of Peace, the Everlasting Father, the Creator of Heaven and earth was here! And there at the end of the parade was a little baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manger. Would all the excitement be lost? Would it be a letdown? Would the shopping malls be vacant on black Friday? Would Christmas lose its importance? 

Growing up, we had an advent calendar made from scratch by my mother. And on the 25^th, there was little baby Jesus, not Santa. I can’t begin to tell you just how thankful I am for that. A parent’s integrity is huge. Yet it’s compromised when a child finds out he has been lied to regarding Santa. Their next question might be “is the Bible and Jesus a lie too?” I think it’s much more important that children trust their parents, than that they put their “faith” in someone who is only accessible once a year. God is with us all year long!

Christmas is about Jesus Christ. That’s why it’s called Christmas, and not Santamas. We celebrate Jesus’ birth (not because He was actually born on the 25^th of the 12^th month) but because that’s when we celebrate the fact that God became a man and lived a perfect life, and died for our sins, so that we might have eternal life if we believe it. Yes, Salvation is wrapped up as the best Christmas present ever, and I don’t care how cliché that sounds. It’s the truth.

Comment below and tell us what you think about Christmas and Santa.

Elephants Never Forget

Elephants are crazy strong. They can haul considerable loads, uproot stumps, and even knock over trees! Some countries hold elephant festivals where these massive creatures dance, paint, and even play tug of war against 100 men, and WIN!

Did you know that these enormous animals can be rendered immovable by something as small as twine wrapped around its leg and tied to a tent peg? That’s right, a small piece of rope or twine can stop one of these present day mammoths. But why?

Turns out, when an elephant is a baby, they shackle it with chains around one hind leg. With all its might, the baby elephant tries to break free, but it can’t, and eventually admits defeat. For the rest of that elephant’s life, it believes that there is no breaking those chains, and so trainers need only to tie a small rope around that same leg, and Presto! The elephant stays put.

Have you ever considered that you as a teenager might be like these elephants? God has created you to do amazing things. You are talented, creative, smart, and crazy strong. Yet because you’re a “teenager,” society expects you to do teenager things, like be awesome at any video game, be wizards in all forms of technology, eat lots of junk food, and update your status on facebook hundreds of times a day. It seems that “growing up” is expected after high school, or once you’re out on your own, or some obscure place down the road.

But are you ready now? What holds you back from taking on responsibility? Why don’t you learn now, how to be an adult? Why not learn to be the best husband or wife, father or mother, business owner, or even live out your faith? No one really expects you to, do they?

In Titus 2:6-8 God charges us as YOUNG men to be sensible in all things, and to be an example of good deeds. Did you catch that? WE are the example! Not the older men and women. What kind of example are you setting for the elders to follow? He expects us to be pure in our teaching. (Do you know what you believe? Can you teach it?) We are to be dignified, and sound in speech.

I’m throwing out a challenge here. Raise your expectations for yourself… not because an “adult” tells you to, but because God created you to. Bust out of the invisible shackles that hold you in place. The twine holds the giant elephant, yet it’s all in his mind. Is it in yours?  

I saw a guy throw up today. It got me thinking, “You don’t see that very often.”  I was mesmerized. Watching someone blow chunks has always kind of fascinated me. In most movies, it always looks fake, but even then, I kinda like it. What is it that peaks my interest? Why do I have this weird attachment to vomit? Maybe it’s like fall. Not fail, like when you try and jump your bike over a railing or do a back flip off of a car and something goes horribly wrong and you end up planting your face right into the pavement (which inevitably causes you to Ralph.) No, I mean fall the season, autumn if you will. The leaves turn and it’s like two weeks and the trees are bare. Teachers no longer have that "start of the year" gleam in their eyes, cute little squirrels have become fat and bloated, and it’s just plain cold.

I can hear you saying, “What does any of this have to do with God?” I know I know, hang on, let me get there. Look, puking reminds me that I’m sick. We are huge failures. The Bible tells us that we are. We can’t do anything good. None of us understands God, none of us seek Him. We’re broken. I admit it. But wait, here’s the kicker: the Disciple John records this awesome conversation in the 6^th chapter verse 27, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal. Therefore they asked Him, “What should we do so that we can work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said, “This is the work of God: that you BELIEVE in Him whom He has sent.””

Everything changes. Just like the leaves, we have a chance to drop our baggage, and start fresh. If we have faith, which is taking God at His word and responding accordingly, we can be doing what God wants us to. This comes with the promise of eternal life where we will have bodies which won’t fail and we can rest assured, there’s no throwing up either.

Too Old?!

   As the new school year approaches, we are sad to see those who have been with us for so long head off into the sunset... ur ... um... college. Our seniors have taught us so much about what it actually looks like to seek Christ, and not just go through the motions. It's also kind of hard, because as a youth leader, I want to continue to pour into them and see them take their relationship with Christ to the next level.


  
Watching our nieces and nephews this past week, we read them some of the Adam Raccoon series before bedtime each night. They really got into the stories. I recall the youngest saying at one time, "Adam Waccoon, I wuv him!" In a particular story Adam Raccoon is supposed to invite all the creatures of Master's Wood to a grand dinner that King Aren is putting on. Adam has a hard time inviting those who he feels might make the dinner less enjoyable, like this turtle who coughs a lot, or Cindy Skunk. He also invites a few who he thinks would look good at the party, and yet they are too prideful or lazy to come. The purpose of the book is to show that Christ has invited everyone to His table, and it isn't up to us to decide who we would like to see there and who we think are chopped liver.
  

Well this story got me thinking. As those seniors leave us, it's easy to ask the question, "Have I done enough? Have I pointed to Christ enough? Did I love well enough?" And just like Adam Raccoon, the best I can do, really ALL I can do, it just invite them to come to Christ's Table. They have to come. They have to make the choice to seek God. No matter if they are around Symposium or not. No matter if they keep going to church or not. No matter what...  

God is our Rock

Symposium will be rock climbing May 20th, so I was thinking about rocks, and I remembered that God is referred to as a rock. While sleeping on rocks might give you a headache, perhaps causing some wild dreams with angels going up and down on a ladder to heaven, most people wouldn't say rocks are very comforting. Unless of course you are out hiking and you get caught in a storm. A cave, or a rock overhang can not only keep you dry, but it might also protect you from other destructive forces. Perhaps this is why David writes in Psalm 18:2, "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."


In the Panamint Mountains in Death Valley National Park, there are some large rocks, but these may not provide safety from a storm, actually, these rocks, may in fact move. Yeah I was shocked when I heard it too. Here watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHJKKdEo8TQ



Now for something even more wild... In 1 Corinthians 10:4 Paul says in passing, "and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ." At first, it doesn't seem too amazing of a statement right? Let's look closer. What does it mean that the rock which FOLLOWED THEM? We know that the rock in the wilderness was a pretty special rock already, it gave them water in the middle of a desert. But now we find out that this rock also traveled with them!? This is certainly an amazing rock, and a spectacular example of how God is a provider, stronghold, and He is certainly mobile. Remember that God is always there, and if you draw near to God, He will draw near to you. (Jacob 4:8)