Monday, October 31, 2016

Questions

This week we are having a retreat where students can ask questions about Jesus, God, faith, etc.

A few years ago we did a sermon series about questions and it's okay to not have all the answers and still have faith.

Here's what I'm wondering, do people think they need to have all the answers to follow Jesus?

Or even better, what are your questions about God? And do you know someone who you can talk to about them?

T

Monday, October 24, 2016

"Jesus Ran"

Have you noticed this phrase is nowhere in the Bible?

I have found it comforting and something to aim for lately, Jesus was never really in a hurry. Don't get me wrong, there were still outside forces trying to get Him to move at a different pace just like there are in our lives. He felt pressure (imagine what Holy Week must have been like for Him as the celebrity in Jerusalem one crowd wants to see and the other crowd wants to kill). He had people telling Him where to be and what to do (see John 7:2-9 or John 11:1-7). He had crowds following Him staying with Him throughout the entire day (Matthew 14:13-16).

But they never forced His soul to be hurried.

There's a difference between being fast and being in a hurry. There is a difference between having a lot of tasks to accomplish and being overwhelmed by those tasks. Somehow in the craziness that was Jesus' life He was never overtaken by these things. That's why He's the Prince of Peace and can give peace to all of us that feel as if life is choking us with all its demands.

So in this season of busyness (I used to get sick this time of year like clockwork from being tired and stressed), take a moment and rest. Look to the One who is rest.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  ‎Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  ‎Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” ~ Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30, MSG)

T

Monday, October 17, 2016

Spiritual Health

This was a topic I heard a lot about last weekend (part of why I didn't blog, sorry). It was a convention of people who minister to students and part of the underlying theme (on purpose or not) seemed to be about how to know a student ministry is healthy.

To get there people talked a lot about what seems like a good measure of health but really is not. When someone asks you how your family is you don't respond with, "We're up to 4 members now", but sometimes that seems to be how we measure health. We heard a story about a student who was at everything for their four years in high school, but five years later didn't believe in God at all. So maybe showing up for everything holy isn't the answer either.

The truth is, it's a messy answer. You can't give a one size fits all diagnosis. The other night Lorie was watching a show and a young man had stomach pains, but he was trapped at a house in a blizzard. Luckily the doctor next door came in, but his answer about what was wrong was perfect. "I don't know." He could give some good guesses but without the proper medical equipment the pain could be anything from gas to a burst appendix, or even something more rare.

It is almost impossible for me as an outsider to look at you and judge your spiritual health. There are signs, like the doctor knowing the pain was in the stomach so it's not a broken arm, but to give an accurate pinpoint we need to be able to look inside, and only you can look into your soul. The key is, don't measure yourself with the wrong ruler, perfect attendance does not equal perfect spiritual health.

But you can tell what's right and what's wrong. To do that you will have to be open and honest with yourself, if you can do it...

T