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A Relaxing Weekend Update

Brian — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:45:00 +0000

After an extremely long week I was ready to relax this weekend. While Erin and I kept pretty busy, the entire weekend had an air of relaxation that hasn’t been around for quite a while.

Friday Night
We had a quick dinner at Chevy’s, probably our all-time favorite restaurant, with some friends, and then saw Changeling, which was much darker than expected. I really enjoyed the movie but it was a little too heavy after such an exhausting and taxing week.

Saturday
Erin and I cleaned the house in the morning and had a nice visit with my sister, Traci, in the afternoon. She even stuck around to join us in a matinee showing of Twilight.

After Twilight, which was a surprisingly enjoyable movie, we had some pizza and played a little progressive spades with friends in the comfort of our clean home.

Sunday
Sunday, Erin and I were honored for our service to the youth group at church. We were given a lovely card signed by the group and gift cards for AMC Theaters and Grandville. Looks like a date night is in the cards.

After church we had a quick lunch at Corner Bakery and then headed home to prepare our dishes for the Pumpkin Party later that night. Erin prepared a Pumpkin Risotto with Shrimp and Asparagus, which was amazing. I prepared a Pumpkin Bacon Soup, of my own design, which was surprisingly palatable. Erin’s dish ended up winning the award for best Pumpkin Main Dish. She deserved it.

And that was my weekend. It felt good to have a slightly slower-paced weekend. They are few and far between, but much appreciated.

Identity Crisis

Brian — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:02:00 +0000

If you haven’t noticed, with my recent departure from ministry this blog has been suffering from a little bit of an identity crisis. It’s a direct reflection of its writer.

I’m not really sure what my place in life is right now. Even though being a youth minister was a part-time job for me, it was an identifying factor in who I thought I was. Now that I’m stepping away from that, I don’t know where I fit in at church, in the blogsphere, or life in general. I’m a little lost.

Please bare with me as I search for my niche.

I Keep Coming Back to This: Love

Brian — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:42:00 +0000

I keep coming back to this. In all of my study, reading, discussion, everything. It all comes back to this one simple, yet amazingly complex and difficult concept. It is the essence of Christianity. And, it is precisely where Christians always fall short.

John 13:34-35 (The Message)
34-35″Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”

I realize I just wrote a similar post to this last week in the context of evangelism, but I’m just struck by this thought tonight. We Christians need to love. It’s the answer to every issue we are faced with in our churches, in politics and in our lives. We need to love and let love guide our decisions.

Love Each Other: A New Evangelism

Brian — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:55:00 +0000

In my slow, and occasional, reading of UnChristian I came across this passage written by Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Consider the rise of the Christians during the Roman era. People were drawn to Christians, not because of evangelistic outreaches or crusades, or through mass media-those didn’t exist. The church grew because Christians were doing the gospel and had a community-a local church-where people really loved each other. During the great plagues that swept Rome in the second century, all of the doctors fled, but the Christians stayed and took care of the sick. They embodied what Christians are called to do. Although many Christians died because they took care of the sick, pagans were drawn to Christ because they saw both the love of Christians and Christianity itself as a better way of life. When Constantine declared Rome the Holy Roman Empire, people thought he did that for political reasons, but he didn’t. It was already Christianized; he just recognized the realities of what really happened.
- Chuck Colson

I don’t know how you feel about his theory of Constantine’s Christianization of Rome, but he poses an interesting hypothesis. He says that people were not drawn to Christians because of their “evangelistic outreaches or crusades.” He says people were drawn to Christians because they were living out their faith.

It’s increasingly becoming my opinion that we spend too much time worrying about converting people and not enough time caring for people. What drew people to Christ, according to Colson, was the love that they proved in their daily actions. Perhaps, it’s time we set aside the mailers, tracts, etc. and get out into our communities and just love each other. That’s probably the best form of evangelism we could ever hope for.

Blog Action Day: Give Your All

Brian — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:59:00 +0000

This probably is not what was intended by those who set the theme for this Blog Action Day, but it’s what I felt compelled to share this morning regarding the theme of poverty.

Luke 21:1-4 (The Message)

1-4Just then he looked up and saw the rich people dropping offerings in the collection plate. Then he saw a poor widow put in two pennies. He said, “The plain truth is that this widow has given by far the largest offering today. All these others made offerings that they’ll never miss; she gave extravagantly what she couldn’t afford—she gave her all.

The passage reminds me that even though I may experience disappointment, and difficult times, there are people in far worse situations, like the widow, giving their all. It’s very rare that I give half of myself, let alone my all.

Today as I consider poverty, I realize how lucky I am to have my home, job and wife, and I’m struck with how much I need to give back.

Small Groups: Something for Everyone?

Brian — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:08:00 +0000

In a small group setting, what’s the perfect balance between fun and spiritual? In our young adults group at church, this is a struggle we’ve had since the inception of the group. The problem, as I see it, is one person’s spiritual, may not be another’s. And to further complicate things, in any given group one person may be seeking something solely spiritual and another may be seeking something solely fun. I realize it’s hard to be all things to all people, but there has to be a balance somewhere. So, where is it? Outline it for me. Please.

One thing our group has yet to try is offering multiple small groups. I’m not sure how I like the idea, but maybe the solution is to create a Bible study small group in addition to the normal fellowship focused small group. I’m not sure how that would work, since it would require people to give up another evening of their already full weeks; but, perhaps this is the best way to go. I suspect that the interested parties would make the time. The trouble is who has the time to prepare the study? It would probably have to be a shared effort to ensure success and the avoidance of burnout.

Obviously I’ve thought about this a little. It’s been a theme that has resurfaced again and again in my involvement with our young adults group. I just have yet to come up with a solution that I’m satisfied with enough to share with the rest of the group. If you have any thoughts, I’d be curious to hear them. This is something that has been weighing on my heart for a while.

Happy Rosh Hashanah

Brian — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:04:00 +0000

It’s hard to believe but three years ago I wrote this post in honor of Rosh Hashanah. A few days later I gave my famous Tashlikh Communion Devotional, in which I asked the congregation to symbolically cast their sins off in the the water (Micah 7:18-20) as is the Jewish practice. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but it was unfortunately met with little enthusiasm and caused a few to wonder who this heretic giving the communion devotional was. Looking back, it still seems like it was a good idea, but what can you do.

Today, in honor of Rosh Hashanah, whether your a Jew, Christian, Muslim, or whatever, I encourage you to take some time and think about last year’s failings, shortcomings and sins. After you’ve done that cast them aside and ask for forgiveness. I’m sure you’ll feel much better about yourself.

Youth and Young Adults

Brian — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:25:00 +0000

A friend of mine recently posted these questions on his blog.

Is it smart to have 7th-twenty-somethings in one ministry together? Why or why not?
What are the advantages of combining into one service for these age groups?
How do you speak to these various life-stages in one service?
Is there enough fun happening at these services?
Is there enough fellowship happening at these services?

While I’m not exploring the idea of a entire worship service geared to this age group, I am curious about the thought of combining these age groups in bible classes and activities. I’ve been strongly opposed to the idea for some time now. It’s a huge age gap and 7th graders are in a completely different stage of life than post-college 20-somethings, but could it work?

In my church we’re faced with this decision because of numbers. Our teen group has significantly shrunk in recent years and because of their small size they are missing out on lively discussions and general interaction with other Christians. While I’ve been opposed to the idea of combining these groups, maybe it’s time for me to change my opinion. Maybe it could work. What do you think?

Words of Jesus

Brian — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:34:00 +0000

I've been thinking lately about how the words of Jesus simply don't hold the excitement and sting that they ought to. Having heard them all my life they have become somewhat boring and commonplace. I don't think that's how they should be. Recently I picked up my copy of The Message and found that Jesus' words had new life for me when I read them from that modern-day paraphrase. Check out the Matthew 5:1-12 below.

1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

3"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

4"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

5"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

6"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

7"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

8"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

9"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

10"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

11-12"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

It's got a little more umph doesn't it?

UnChristian After A Long Hiatus

Brian — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:14:00 +0000

After a several month hiatus, I picked up UnChristian from my nightstand and started reading it again.

A couple things jumped out at me today during my lunch-time reading. The first quote that caught my attention was the following:

In studying thousands of outsiders' impressions, it is clear that Christians are primarily perceived for what they stand against. We have become famous for what we oppose, rather than who we are for. (Kinnaman and Lyons 26)

The second quote that jumped off the page at me was:

They (young Christians) are also sensitive to the way in which Christians engage a broken world and are often frustrated by the poor image that Christianity has. We heard many young believers say that in some circumstances they are reluctant to admit they are Christians. They don't fear being unpopular, but they feel that raising the Christian flag would actually undermine their ability to connect with people and to maintain credibility with them. This is a major indictment of unChristian faith, that to bring those around them closer to Christ, they must distance themselves from the current "branding" of Christianity. They have to put aside unChristian ways of doing things to connect people with the depth and power of the Christian message. (Kinnaman and Lyons 35)

I'll refrain from providing much commentary on these two passages for now, but I felt compelled to share them with you for your consideration. My question for you, the reader, is do these passages strike as big a chord with you as they do with me?