Is the church/youth group to entertain those who attend or is it to make disciples?
Are we to make disciples or converts or church members?
What does it mean to make disciples?
What is a Disciple of Christ? Answers will be given on Sunday night in a couple weeks.
I ran across a good article recently titled “Jesus Isn’t Cool” (http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=1219) and a good Blog in response (http://www.internetmonk.com/archives/2005/09/020017.html), with good comments and then a 30 minute podcast(?) (http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/the_white_horse_inn/Archives.asp) that even though I don’t agree with all these guys’ theology or even church methodology, they make some good comments about what the church is all about. And it’s not entertainment. Click on the broadcast titled “My Kids are Bored in Church.”
Some say, “What you win them with is what you will keep them with.” This means if someone becomes a Christian (or church member) because of a fancy presentation, concert, game night, or good snacks ... that is what they will expect the church to be, if it changes they are no longer interested.
What should our main things be?
The following is a paragraph from the “Jesus Isn’t Cool” article:
“One student … participated in his church’s “”40 Days of Purpose”” campaign, hoping that an exploration of Rick Warren’s popular book The Purpose Driven Life would help. Instead, he reached this conclusion: ““I don’t understand why you need God for a sense of purpose, self-esteem, or whatever … lots of people have that without God.”” This young man was on to something.”
What does he mean by this?
What is God calling us to be?
Sep 28, 2005
Sep 26, 2005
Ducks v USC
Well it started well. Just like I suggested.
USC was intimidated by Autzen, in my opinion. That didn't last too long.
Overall it showed we have a good team (when you count our stadium/crowd as part of our team). And USC is possibly the greatest ever.
Reggie Bush is amazing...its like he is a NFL player is playing with kids. The way he moved, wow! The way he would use hits to his advantage was awesome.
USC was intimidated by Autzen, in my opinion. That didn't last too long.
Overall it showed we have a good team (when you count our stadium/crowd as part of our team). And USC is possibly the greatest ever.
Reggie Bush is amazing...its like he is a NFL player is playing with kids. The way he moved, wow! The way he would use hits to his advantage was awesome.
Sep 18, 2005
Duck Football
So the Ducks pulled out a close one with 23rd ranked Fresno State on Saturday. That means we are 3-0.
Next week we play #1 USC at Autzen. That place is going to rock.
The Ducks need to score early to get the crowd going and then score in every quarter to keep them going, because no one in their right mind thinks of us as favored to win. But if they give us a little hope it is going to be fun.
I wish I could be there, no tickets though. And scalpers are probably asking top dollar. It’s on TV so I’ll get to see some of the excitement!
Next week we play #1 USC at Autzen. That place is going to rock.
The Ducks need to score early to get the crowd going and then score in every quarter to keep them going, because no one in their right mind thinks of us as favored to win. But if they give us a little hope it is going to be fun.
I wish I could be there, no tickets though. And scalpers are probably asking top dollar. It’s on TV so I’ll get to see some of the excitement!
Sep 17, 2005
Sep 14, 2005
Sep 12, 2005
SC3 E-Mail Newsletter 9.12.2005
Contents
1. Something for Your Heart
2. Surf Report
3. Forgettable Fact
4. Potent Quotables
5. Parting Shot
===========oursponsor===========
SHE'S HIP. SHE'S NEW. SHE'S TROUBLE.
Trouble comes in small packages. This one is five feet tall and weighs 98 pounds. Her name is Serenity Harper and she's one obnoxious little bundle of attitude, anger, and animosity. Can the care and concern of Derek, Kimberly, and the rest of the Prayer Club break through Serenity's tough shell—and prove to her that true love does exist?
Serenity: The New Bad Girl in Town—a manga series for teens:
http://www.serenitybuzz.com/
=================================
1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
(John 3:1-21)
I can hear crickets jabbering in the shadows among the trees. Nearby in a clearing a campfire flickers. Jesus and his buddies are talking around the fire. I see them seated there in the dance of darkness and light. Someone laughs. Someone in the shadows coughs.
I've chosen to come at night when no one else can see me. No one else will even know I was here.
But I had to come. I had to meet him for myself. You see, I've heard him speak. I've seen his miracles. He's different. I know that much. There's something mysterious about him, yet something familiar, too—something that's both comforting and deeply unsettling.
I step on a twig, and it snaps underfoot. They all look up, silent now. I emerge from the shadows, and I'm sure they recognize by my clothes that I'm someone important, a teacher of the Jews. A couple of them smile and nod, obviously impressed that I would show up here to talk with their friend.
But before any of them can say a word, I clear my throat and address Jesus. "Rabbi," I say, bowing out of respect. "We know you are a teacher sent from God, for no one could possibly do the wonders you do unless God were with him."
I pause and wait for him to acknowledge the compliment.
But he doesn't say anything. He just studies my face. I can see the flicker of shadow and light on his features as the campfire leaps and twists a few feet away.
I expect him to say something like, "Gee, thanks. I appreciate that. So kind of you to mention it. Just trying to be faithful there. Just using the gifts and talents God has given me." But he doesn't, and that surprises me.
Instead he grunts, "So you think God's kingdom is proven by outward signs? Well, no one can even see God's kingdom unless he's born again."
Born again? What?
I try to wrap my mind around his words. Is he trying to tell me I've never even seen God's kingdom? Does he know who he's talking to?!
Everyone knows Jesus likes to use shocking images in his teaching, images of thieves and seeds and pigs and pearls, but . . . being born again? What's that supposed to mean?
My gaze drifts from Jesus to his disciples and then back to him. Finally, I say, "But how can that be, Jesus? How can someone be born again? You can't reenter the womb!" My words are alive with logic. I'm chuckling a little, but he isn't. Crickets chirp in the background.
"No one can enter God's kingdom unless he's born of water and the Spirit," answers Jesus, pushing a stick into the fire to reposition the coals. In the new light of the fire he must notice the bewildered look on my face because he motions for me to have a seat. I scrunch down on one of the logs they've pulled up beside the campfire. I see his wild features in the blazing light.
There's nothing tame about this man.
"We all know that humans have human babies. Well, God's Spirit produces spiritual babies." A cloud of sparks drifts skyward. "Your problem is that you think it's all explainable. But it's not supposed to be reasonable. The process is as mysterious as the wind. You can't even understand the direction of the wind—its origin or its destination. How can you expect to nail down spiritual birth? How are you gonna fit that into your neat little theological box?"
My heart is beating faster now. His words have an edge to them. He seems impatient with me, like he's talking to a child who hasn't been listening in school.
This guy doesn't beat around the bush, does he?
I watch the sparks rise into the darkness. They ride invisible currents of air, curling up into the night. Wind carries them along toward the stars—the wind of the fire, the breath of the flames. I watch them dance upward into the darkness and then disappear into the unknown. I'm trying to understand all that he's telling me. I really am. But I can't seem to make sense of it.
Finally, I shake my head. "I'm . . . I'm sorry. I don't understand."
And then Jesus loses his cool. He rises and steps toward me, filling the space between me and the fire. "You teach others, don't you? You teach the word of God . . . yet you don't understand it yourself?!"
I blink, unsure what to say. He sighs and shakes his head.
Then he speaks of purpose—the purpose of his life, the purpose of our lives, and the importance of faith at the center of it all. Over and over, in half a dozen ways, he tells me my problem isn't in my head, but in my heart. It isn't facts I need, he says, but faith. Not proof, but belief.
And he speaks to me of fear—the fear of being revealed. He tells me most people hide and are afraid to come into the light for fear that their evil deeds will be exposed.
Light and darkness . . . secrets and revelation . . . truth and lies . . . faith and fear . . . all of his words sail through my head.
He's saying I'm in love with the darkness! The words sting me. That's what he's saying. That's what he means!
The other men are silent. And then the truth hits me like a fist in the gut.
He's right, Nicodemus, you are afraid of the truth, you are in love with the darkness . . . Why else would you have come at night?
I swallow hard. How does he know? How can he see so deeply into my soul? How can he know my heart so well when we've only just met?
"But," he says at last, "whoever lives by the truth, Nicodemus, comes into the light."
His words don't sound like doctrine at all—more like an invitation.
Then Jesus is done. The fire crackles. There's nothing more to say. I nod to him. He nods back.
I look at the men sitting there, listening to all of this, studying me. I wonder how many of them have believed . . . have been reborn . . . have seen the kingdom . . . have stepped into the light.
Then I leave the fire and walk into the shadows again. And I wonder if I'm going into the shadows, or through them? Into or through . . .
His words snap at my heels as I stumble back home through the raven-black night.
Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light.
I notice stars flickering high above me like sparks from a thousand fires that finally found their way home through the night.
Am I walking into the night or through it to the other side?
"Through it," I say to myself. "I'm walking through it."
And I take a step forward.
Toward home.
Taken from "Never the Same: Stories of Those Who Encountered Jesus" by Steven James, copyright 2005, Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission. Order the book here: http://www.youthspecialties.com/product/259517
2. SURF REPORT
~ A Student's Guide to Research with the WWW
A tutorial guide to conducting research on the World Wide Web.
http://www.slu.edu/departments/english/research/
~ ClassBrain.com
Lots of online games in lots of categories
http://www.classbrain.com/artgames/publish/
3. FORGETTABLE FACT
More money is printed for the Monopoly board game every day than for the US treasury!
4. POTENT QUOTABLES
"There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle"
- Robert Alden
"Truly, it is in darkness that one finds the light, so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to us"
- Meister Eckhart
5. PARTING SHOT
Looking for a helping hand? There's one on your arm.
copyright 2005 :: Youth Specialties
300 S. Pierce St. // El Cajon, CA 92020
888.346.4179
1. Something for Your Heart
2. Surf Report
3. Forgettable Fact
4. Potent Quotables
5. Parting Shot
===========oursponsor===========
SHE'S HIP. SHE'S NEW. SHE'S TROUBLE.
Trouble comes in small packages. This one is five feet tall and weighs 98 pounds. Her name is Serenity Harper and she's one obnoxious little bundle of attitude, anger, and animosity. Can the care and concern of Derek, Kimberly, and the rest of the Prayer Club break through Serenity's tough shell—and prove to her that true love does exist?
Serenity: The New Bad Girl in Town—a manga series for teens:
http://www.serenitybuzz.com/
=================================
1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART
(John 3:1-21)
I can hear crickets jabbering in the shadows among the trees. Nearby in a clearing a campfire flickers. Jesus and his buddies are talking around the fire. I see them seated there in the dance of darkness and light. Someone laughs. Someone in the shadows coughs.
I've chosen to come at night when no one else can see me. No one else will even know I was here.
But I had to come. I had to meet him for myself. You see, I've heard him speak. I've seen his miracles. He's different. I know that much. There's something mysterious about him, yet something familiar, too—something that's both comforting and deeply unsettling.
I step on a twig, and it snaps underfoot. They all look up, silent now. I emerge from the shadows, and I'm sure they recognize by my clothes that I'm someone important, a teacher of the Jews. A couple of them smile and nod, obviously impressed that I would show up here to talk with their friend.
But before any of them can say a word, I clear my throat and address Jesus. "Rabbi," I say, bowing out of respect. "We know you are a teacher sent from God, for no one could possibly do the wonders you do unless God were with him."
I pause and wait for him to acknowledge the compliment.
But he doesn't say anything. He just studies my face. I can see the flicker of shadow and light on his features as the campfire leaps and twists a few feet away.
I expect him to say something like, "Gee, thanks. I appreciate that. So kind of you to mention it. Just trying to be faithful there. Just using the gifts and talents God has given me." But he doesn't, and that surprises me.
Instead he grunts, "So you think God's kingdom is proven by outward signs? Well, no one can even see God's kingdom unless he's born again."
Born again? What?
I try to wrap my mind around his words. Is he trying to tell me I've never even seen God's kingdom? Does he know who he's talking to?!
Everyone knows Jesus likes to use shocking images in his teaching, images of thieves and seeds and pigs and pearls, but . . . being born again? What's that supposed to mean?
My gaze drifts from Jesus to his disciples and then back to him. Finally, I say, "But how can that be, Jesus? How can someone be born again? You can't reenter the womb!" My words are alive with logic. I'm chuckling a little, but he isn't. Crickets chirp in the background.
"No one can enter God's kingdom unless he's born of water and the Spirit," answers Jesus, pushing a stick into the fire to reposition the coals. In the new light of the fire he must notice the bewildered look on my face because he motions for me to have a seat. I scrunch down on one of the logs they've pulled up beside the campfire. I see his wild features in the blazing light.
There's nothing tame about this man.
"We all know that humans have human babies. Well, God's Spirit produces spiritual babies." A cloud of sparks drifts skyward. "Your problem is that you think it's all explainable. But it's not supposed to be reasonable. The process is as mysterious as the wind. You can't even understand the direction of the wind—its origin or its destination. How can you expect to nail down spiritual birth? How are you gonna fit that into your neat little theological box?"
My heart is beating faster now. His words have an edge to them. He seems impatient with me, like he's talking to a child who hasn't been listening in school.
This guy doesn't beat around the bush, does he?
I watch the sparks rise into the darkness. They ride invisible currents of air, curling up into the night. Wind carries them along toward the stars—the wind of the fire, the breath of the flames. I watch them dance upward into the darkness and then disappear into the unknown. I'm trying to understand all that he's telling me. I really am. But I can't seem to make sense of it.
Finally, I shake my head. "I'm . . . I'm sorry. I don't understand."
And then Jesus loses his cool. He rises and steps toward me, filling the space between me and the fire. "You teach others, don't you? You teach the word of God . . . yet you don't understand it yourself?!"
I blink, unsure what to say. He sighs and shakes his head.
Then he speaks of purpose—the purpose of his life, the purpose of our lives, and the importance of faith at the center of it all. Over and over, in half a dozen ways, he tells me my problem isn't in my head, but in my heart. It isn't facts I need, he says, but faith. Not proof, but belief.
And he speaks to me of fear—the fear of being revealed. He tells me most people hide and are afraid to come into the light for fear that their evil deeds will be exposed.
Light and darkness . . . secrets and revelation . . . truth and lies . . . faith and fear . . . all of his words sail through my head.
He's saying I'm in love with the darkness! The words sting me. That's what he's saying. That's what he means!
The other men are silent. And then the truth hits me like a fist in the gut.
He's right, Nicodemus, you are afraid of the truth, you are in love with the darkness . . . Why else would you have come at night?
I swallow hard. How does he know? How can he see so deeply into my soul? How can he know my heart so well when we've only just met?
"But," he says at last, "whoever lives by the truth, Nicodemus, comes into the light."
His words don't sound like doctrine at all—more like an invitation.
Then Jesus is done. The fire crackles. There's nothing more to say. I nod to him. He nods back.
I look at the men sitting there, listening to all of this, studying me. I wonder how many of them have believed . . . have been reborn . . . have seen the kingdom . . . have stepped into the light.
Then I leave the fire and walk into the shadows again. And I wonder if I'm going into the shadows, or through them? Into or through . . .
His words snap at my heels as I stumble back home through the raven-black night.
Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light.
I notice stars flickering high above me like sparks from a thousand fires that finally found their way home through the night.
Am I walking into the night or through it to the other side?
"Through it," I say to myself. "I'm walking through it."
And I take a step forward.
Toward home.
Taken from "Never the Same: Stories of Those Who Encountered Jesus" by Steven James, copyright 2005, Youth Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission. Order the book here: http://www.youthspecialties.com/product/259517
2. SURF REPORT
~ A Student's Guide to Research with the WWW
A tutorial guide to conducting research on the World Wide Web.
http://www.slu.edu/departments/english/research/
~ ClassBrain.com
Lots of online games in lots of categories
http://www.classbrain.com/artgames/publish/
3. FORGETTABLE FACT
More money is printed for the Monopoly board game every day than for the US treasury!
4. POTENT QUOTABLES
"There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle"
- Robert Alden
"Truly, it is in darkness that one finds the light, so when we are in sorrow, then this light is nearest of all to us"
- Meister Eckhart
5. PARTING SHOT
Looking for a helping hand? There's one on your arm.
copyright 2005 :: Youth Specialties
300 S. Pierce St. // El Cajon, CA 92020
888.346.4179
Sep 1, 2005
New Orleans - Katrina
New Orleans…it is amazing how bad it is down there. Very sad stories. I can’t imagine losing family, friends, home, all possessions, neighborhoods, everything familiar. And "Fats" Domino is missing.
My prayers are that the survivors might find God and a true relationship with Him through Jesus Christ is all this. God is good all the time! Even in tragedy He is working.
However … who’s idea was it to live 5-10’ below sea level? What were they thinking … with a 20 mile long lake lurking over them just beyond a levee? Whose idea was that?
So now we have 1000’s dead and billions and billions of property damage. Who’s going to pay for it? We are. Our government will give billions. Our insurance companies will pay out billions. Therefore, our taxes will go up and insurance rates will go up. So who pays for these people’s lack of judgment, you and me.
We, in the northwest, live in an area of the country that has virtually no natural disasters that cost the rest of the country, but we pay for them to live in hurricane country below sea level. Where is the fairness in that?
Is it a good idea to rebuild these areas of New Orleans that are below sea level? I think not. Move north, man.
I like what JACK CHAMBLESS, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, VALENCIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE said to FOXNEWS in response to the question “You don’t believe one taxpayer dollar should go toward rebuilding the city of New Orleans?”:
“Well, if we look at Article One, Section Eight of the United States Constitution — and I encourage all Americans to look at that before we start opening up our tax coffers to pay for all of this — we have every obligation to provide for New Orleans in terms of charity, private charity from one person to the other.
But the founding fathers never intended, Article One, section Eight of the Constitution, never intended to provide one dollar of taxpayer dollars to pay for any disaster or anything that we might call charity. What we now have is the law of unintended consequences taking place, where FEMA has come into New Orleans, a place where, ecologically, it makes no sense to have levees keeping the Mississippi River from flooding into New Orleans, like it naturally should.
Now with FEMA bailing out Louisiana, bailing out Florida and lowering the overall cost of living in these places, we have people with no incentive to leave. And the law of unintended consequences means that more people are dying with every one of these storms. They're becoming more and more expensive, more and more property loss, just because the federal government has violated the Constitution to provide for these funds.”
My prayers are that the survivors might find God and a true relationship with Him through Jesus Christ is all this. God is good all the time! Even in tragedy He is working.
However … who’s idea was it to live 5-10’ below sea level? What were they thinking … with a 20 mile long lake lurking over them just beyond a levee? Whose idea was that?
So now we have 1000’s dead and billions and billions of property damage. Who’s going to pay for it? We are. Our government will give billions. Our insurance companies will pay out billions. Therefore, our taxes will go up and insurance rates will go up. So who pays for these people’s lack of judgment, you and me.
We, in the northwest, live in an area of the country that has virtually no natural disasters that cost the rest of the country, but we pay for them to live in hurricane country below sea level. Where is the fairness in that?
Is it a good idea to rebuild these areas of New Orleans that are below sea level? I think not. Move north, man.
I like what JACK CHAMBLESS, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, VALENCIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE said to FOXNEWS in response to the question “You don’t believe one taxpayer dollar should go toward rebuilding the city of New Orleans?”:
“Well, if we look at Article One, Section Eight of the United States Constitution — and I encourage all Americans to look at that before we start opening up our tax coffers to pay for all of this — we have every obligation to provide for New Orleans in terms of charity, private charity from one person to the other.
But the founding fathers never intended, Article One, section Eight of the Constitution, never intended to provide one dollar of taxpayer dollars to pay for any disaster or anything that we might call charity. What we now have is the law of unintended consequences taking place, where FEMA has come into New Orleans, a place where, ecologically, it makes no sense to have levees keeping the Mississippi River from flooding into New Orleans, like it naturally should.
Now with FEMA bailing out Louisiana, bailing out Florida and lowering the overall cost of living in these places, we have people with no incentive to leave. And the law of unintended consequences means that more people are dying with every one of these storms. They're becoming more and more expensive, more and more property loss, just because the federal government has violated the Constitution to provide for these funds.”
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