In case you need a bookmark

A couple from our church is kicking off a new Sunday School series in June with the Louie Giglio video How Great is Our God. If you haven't seen this video, it is definitely worth watching. In it Louie looks at the size of the planets, stars, and galaxies ("If earth were a golfball...") and considers the passage 'who is man, that you are mindful of him'. Then he turns it around and talks about a central figure in cellular structure: laminin. This is a cohesion protein that functions as the basic 'glue' for cells (that's what I understand, correct me if I' wrong here, Jon).

So, they asked about making a bookmark and I offered to put one together for them. Just in case you are in need for your own printed bookmark, here it is:


Yes, I admit, I just ripped images from google.com. And no, 'Wiki' is not the most credible source of information, but it gets the point across.

New Meaning in Old Places

I just thought that picture was a great illustration.

I used to look at Psalm 23 as the second most cliche passage of scripture (right behind Jeremiah 29:11 and just in front of John 3:16, yes in that order). Its cause was never helped when people used the translation of that particular Psalm as their litmus test for the readability and accuracy of any given translation of the Bible, but to each his own. And I'm just going to say that it doesn't help that the Psalm is nearly always paired with pictures of lambs or a very European looking Jesus who looks more like a 'city boy' in a robe than a shepherd or farm hand. But while the cheesy imagery has remained the same, the felt meaning has begun to change for me.

Recently the second part of Psalm 23 has begun to take on new meaning for me. I have always felt that the first part about not wanting, quiet places, still waters, not fearing evil and such made sense in the storms of life. There's a lot of that that can be taken to heart by the average Middle School and High School student, and especially a college student as they begin to look for a job. However, the second part of the psalm that talks about preparing a table, anointed with oil, cup overflowing never really made sense. It honestly seemed to be a disconnect for me and I never liked the psalm because of it.

In light of life and its many lessons verses 5 and 6 have begun to take on new meaning and purpose for me. They have helped me to recognize the tremendous blessing of love that we have experienced from the people here at BG Naz as a blessing for God. The waters are certainly not still, the pastures don't seem quiet or green, and the path does not appear very straight but still we can easily recognize the table of blessing, the anointing, and the overflowing of our cup that God has provided for us in the midst of this time. And the words of rejoicing written centuries ago can become our own as we look ahead.

The Geezer Club

This afternoon I was thinking about the next three months and what we would be talking about in Youth Group after Easter. Upon considering a conversation with Pastor Joel about the general biblical illiteracy that seems to be so common (even among teens and young adults raised in the church) I decided to do a unit looking at the lives of the Patriarchs. So we will be taking a week for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. While Moses isn't normally listed as a Patriarch he still plays a significant role in the life of God's people, and especially in how they understand their relationship with God.

And so, like all good series, I need a clever title.

Counter-intuitive

In a few weeks we will begin a four-week series on Spiritual Disciplines and how these practices help us move into a posture to encounter God and receive his grace in our lives. The first week we will be considering what Spiritual Disciplines are and why we practice them. For most the very mention of 'discipline' conjures images of strict 20th century school masters wielding deadly rulers or relentless drill sergeants demanding more that physically possible.

The theme verse for this series will be Paul's assertion to the Galatians that, "It is for freedom that Christ has set you free..." (5:1). Richard Foster, in his classic Celebration of Discipline, points out to the reader that spiritual disciplines are meant to provide for us a means of freedom. The gist is that when we consistently and intentionally submit ourselves to seeking Christ, then we will find true freedom.

I think that these practices are very important to talk about, because my suspicion is that most Christians believe that practicing their faith means going to church, reading the Bible, praying, and, if they are really spiritual, tithing. It is important to paint a picture of the broad landscape of spiritual practices that help us to seek after and encounter the presence of God. We need to understand the tools that help us to get there.

Above all, I would be willing to bet that students walk away from their Christian faith because they never truly lived it or encountered the living God that they proclaimed to believe in.

So, we will be discussing practices and then actually doing them in Youth Group. I will be making handouts for them with very do-able practices and exercises, as well as suggesting more in-depth practices for them to test out if they are so daring.

We will be covering prayer & meditation, rest, sacred reading, journaling, silence & solitude, hospitality, fasting & giving, and forgiveness.

This should be a fun time.

Imagining too small

Well after a change of plans last week (January 23rd) when only 4 students came to Youth Group, we did our second lesson in a three-part series on Faith, Hope, and Love.

Again I talked a bit about the Kingdom of God breaking into the world around us and that God uses us as his instruments to do that. We compared the kingdom of the world and the Kingdom of God and asked 'what do we have to hope for as Americans who seem to have everything?' So I asked them a simple question: what would the world be like without all of 'this' (i.e. the defining characteristics of the kingdom of the world)? I asked them to think specifically about what their school would be like without hate, fear, ugliness, selfishness, corruption, etc. The answer I got was disappointing.

They said it would be boring.

Boring! Boring without all the arguing, bickering, and fighting. Boring. The plain assessment of these 'good' middle class Christian kids is that the world would simply be boring without the affects of sin.

This has bothered me, and I've heard this same answer before. I began to think about why. Why is it that we think the best entertainment we have is strife? Why is it that the junk of this world is what we find most exciting. Now, yes, I recognize that as people with sinful natures we find sin enticing. But why do Christians seem unable to see beyond that?

I guess we could get into a conversation about sanctification or something like that, but I think that it has to do with our imagination. I think that our imagination of what God can do in the world around us is simply too small. I think that maybe, just maybe, we find others bickering entertaining because we can't, or haven't taken the time to, imagine what life would really be like if we genuinely loved one another.

The last week in the series is talking about love (but I'm going to use the good 'ole Catholic 'charity'), and it seems that I have quite a task in front of me this week. How do I begin to paint the picture of the Kingdom of God as a world more real and more beautiful than our present home? How do I cast a vision of a possibility for a life that is full and rich and worthwhile when my students may already believe that there live is already pretty good?