Robin and Me and You

He was Mork and Popeye. He was the professor Sean Maguire, the teacher John Keating, and the doctor Patch Adams. He was Jack, he was Nanny, he was Genie.

We can still hear his voice:

Good morning, Vietnam!

Ten-thousand years will give you such a crick in the neck!

Bangarang!

There was seemingly no role Robin Williams couldn't play. James Lipton, host of Inside the Actors Studio, claims to have counted the number of distinct characters Williams' Genie portrayed in only a three-minute segment of Aladdin. That number?

Fifty-two. Fifty-two!

The range of his work is remarkable. The amount of characters he played, staggering. But Robin Williams was also me. And he was you. There was darkness just beneath the surface of Williams' life. There was pain buried under the spot-on impressions and genius comedic riffs. And we are no different.

Some of us struggle with clinical depression. Some of us are inflicted with this sickness of the brain, which is just as real and harmful as sickness of the heart or the lungs or any other organ.

Some of us have substance abuse problems. Some of us use drugs and alcohol to numb the pain we feel. Some of us use other things.

Some of us have had the desire to take our own lives. Some of us have tried.

All of us live with darkness and pain lurking just below our well-manicured appearances. And yet the Deceiver whispers to us that we're the only ones with a problem. The question is whether we will listen to his outrageous lie, or be vulnerable enough to expose what's beneath our surface.

And how we answer that question is always a matter of life or death.

I Don't Want to Be a Radical Christian

"Ordinary people who faithfully, diligently, and consistently do simple things that are right before God will bring forth extraordinary results."  - David A. Bednar

Over the past few years, a chorus of prominent Christian voices has told me I need to amp up my discipleship. Shane Claiborne says I need to join an "irresistible revolution" and live as an "ordinary radical." Kyle Idleman tells me I need to quit being a fan of Jesus and decide to really be a follower. Francis Chan tells me I need to be in wild and "crazy love" with God and people. And David Platt says I need to cast off my comfortable lifestyle and become more "radical."

I think I'll pass.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not categorically throwing all these guys and their ministries and their books under the bus. The Holy Spirit has used their voices to challenge complacency--to shake us awake!--and call Christians toward bolder and more sacrificial and more committed discipleship. They are leading us to do BIG things in God's Kingdom.

But what about the small things? What about those everyday, ordinary, and mundane acts of obedience? Because let's face it. Most of us aren't going to do something BIG for the Kingdom. We're not going to start non-profits, move to impoverished neighborhoods, live in third-world countries, write books, or go on speaking tours. While the movers, shakers, and world-changers undertake these projects, the rest of us will go on living our normal, boring lives.

So who's going to talk about doing normal for the glory of God? Who wants to weigh in on being boring for the cause of Christ? There is probably not a big market for these messages. But it's what most of us need to hear. We don't need inspiration to go BIG. We need encouragement to do a lifetime's worth of small things faithfully and well.

Jesus was sometimes about big and radical. He fed thousands of people and preached to thousands more. But he was just as much about small. He spent only three short years in ministry. He poured much of that time into a tiny band of misfits we call apostles. He only wrote something once that we know about, and that was with his finger in the sand before an adulterous woman and an angry mob with stones in hand. (And we don't even know what it was he wrote.) Jesus changed the world, yes, but through smallness.

I'm talking about the Jesus who says, "She has put in more than everyone else" when he sees a woman giving a tiny amount of money out of her poverty (Mark 12:41-44).

This is the Jesus who tells the story of a neighbor who is good, not because he moves his family to a third-world country but because he stops and helps someone as he travels along (Luke 10:25-37).

This is the Jesus who allows a woman to anoint him with oil, a small private gesture of her love for him. Some sneered at this--the money she spent on the expensive oil should have been given to the poor, they said. But Jesus rebukes them: "Why do you trouble her? This woman has done a beautiful thing for me. She has done what she could" (Mark 14:3-9).

"She has done what she could." Not a very exciting book title, is it? "Do what you can for Jesus" is not a line a rock-star Christian speaker uses to fire up a crowd at a conference. Yet we must hear, loudly and clearly, what Jesus is saying:

Don't devalue the small and ordinary things that my followers do for Me.

This is a timely message for a Christian culture that prefers the big, public act of discipleship over the small, private gesture of love and devotion to Jesus. This is a reminder that the little things we do out of faith are not done in vain. This is encouragement to carry on with the ordinary--being kind and patient with our spouses and children, checking on our neighbors, speaking an encouraging word to a struggling friend, giving to the local church quietly and regularly.

As a youth minister, I want to exalt the small and ordinary in the minds of young people. It's more important for me to prepare my students for a lifetime of ordinary obedience rather than prime them for doing something BIG for God. Jim Rayburn, the founder of Young Life, famously said, "It's a sin to bore a kid with the gospel." But Laura Larsen provides a vital critique to this: "while it's a sin to bore a kid with the gospel, it's equally devastating to teach students that the Christian life is always exciting." Living for Jesus is less about doing the most radical and exciting thing we can think of and more about constant faithfulness in the small, everyday stuff of life.

And do you know what's ironic? Embracing the least radical parts of the Christian life is sometimes the most radical thing you can do. Listen to this stirring account from Tish Harrison Warren:  "I’m a thirty-something with two kids living a more or less ordinary life. And what I’m slowly realizing is that, for me, being in the house all day with a baby and a two-year-old is a lot more scary and a lot harder than being in a war-torn African village. What I need courage for is the ordinary, the daily every-dayness of life. Caring for a homeless kid is a lot more thrilling to me than listening well to the people in my home. Giving away clothes and seeking out edgy Christian communities requires less of me than being kind to my husband on an average Wednesday morning or calling my mother back when I don’t feel like it."

I don't doubt that God has gifted some of his children to do BIG stuff. But he's gifted most of us for smallness. For us, living for Jesus is not about changing the world in one grand, beautiful act. It's about seeing the beauty in the ordinary and obeying God in the mundane-ness of life. It's about smallness. And it's about believing that our small acts of faith combined with the power of a mighty God and the ordinary contributions of fellow believers can bring forth extraordinary results.

While some people want to hear from Jesus, "You have served me in big and bold ways," I'd be satisfied with, "My son, you have done what you could. And it is enough." In a Christian culture where bigger is better, going small truly is radical. And if this is what the idea means, I guess on second thought, I would like to be a radical Christian.

(For more on this theme, read this.)

The Church of Macklemore and Madonna

After spending much of yesterday gathered with my church family, I was surprised to find myself in another church when I came home and turned on the Grammy awards. And this time, it was for the wedding ceremony of thirty-three couples, some straight and some gay. (You can watch it here.)

I know it was a church because there were stained-glass windows, a choir singing and swaying in the background, and multiple individuals leading the service. The rapper Macklemore performed his hit "Same Love" during the ceremony, Queen Latifah served as the spirited officiating minister, and Madonna (bearing a striking resemblance to KFC's Colonel Sanders) serenaded the guests during the reception. It was a touching ceremony for many. The cameras cut to Keith Urban wiping away tears as the newly-married couples happily danced to "Open Your Heart" before the in-house audience and nearly 30 million viewers at home.

There was something different about this church, though. I knew it from some of the first few lines of Macklemore's song, which seeks to debunk the long-held Christian conviction that homosexuality is a sin. Speaking about the source of this conviction, Macklemore says, "We paraphrase a book written 3500 years ago." Carmen Fowler Laberge sums up the importance of his lyric: "In this one simple line, he dismisses the entire corpus of Christian teaching on sexuality."

The book Macklemore references is, of course, the Bible. And he quickly and haphazardly shoves it aside. But there are a few problems here. First, not all of the Bible is as old as he believes. The New Testament is around 2,000 years old, and it also speaks strongly against homosexuality. Second, Macklemore is the latest culprit of believing that just because something is old means it's outdated and irrelevant. He regards himself to be a more reliable source for knowledge than the Bible because he exists in the present day. And third, for many Christians, including me, the Bible is not just an old book. It is the access-point for God's revelation in many times and places throughout human history. It shows us who God is, how He interacts with humanity, and what His will is. And specifically, it shows us what His will is regarding sexuality: He designed sex to be enjoyed within the bonds of monogamous heterosexual marriage. This is the decision of a Holy God, and it is not my place (or Queen Latifah's or Madonna's or Macklemore's) to challenge it. But in their "church," the authority of the Bible is obviously not a foundational belief.

Macklemore's rejection of the God of Scripture continues later in his song: "Whatever god you believe in, We come from the same one, Strip away the fear, Underneath it's all the same love." The concept of "love" to Macklemore seems to mean accepting and surrendering to any desires I have. But once again, this doesn't jive with the God I've come to know through the Bible. My God tells me I am more than what I feel, I am more than what I desire, and what I feel and desire is not always good for me.

Scripture reveals a love that is infinitely better than Macklemore's version. The Bible tells me that I am "God's chosen one, holy and beloved" (Colossians 3:12). Because of God's love for me, He felt compelled to send His Son to the earth to die, bearing my sins in his body on a tree (1 Peter 2:24), so that I don't have to be controlled by my feelings and desires any longer. Now that's love. Because of this love, I can embrace the guidance of God's Spirit which dwells within me and leads me out of unhealthy ways of living and into wholeness and peace and joy.

I'm thankful I don't regularly attend the church of Macklemore and Madonna and Queen Latifah. Because I believe the Bible is more than an old book. Because I believe "God loves all his children" so much that he refuses to leave us stuck in our sinful state. I like what the Bible tells me I am a whole lot more than what Macklemore tells me I am. I may not be able to change on my own, "even if I tried, even if I wanted to," but nothing is impossible for God and his Spirit, who is the great Transformer. The gospel of Macklemore tells me I'm stuck where I am. "Even if I tried," I'm stuck in homosexuality or porn-addiction or adultery or lust or sex before marriage. But the Gospel of Jesus tells me that despite my own inability to change, the Spirit can change me into who I am meant to be.

That's a love worth celebrating.

The Story, Then the Choice

1.
"I want you to stop partying," a father says to his 21 year-old son. The two are speaking over the phone because the son is many miles away from home at college. The father caught wind of his son’s reckless behavior through friends, and he'd seen a few pictures of it on Facebook too.

"Ok." The son's reply is disinterested at best.

"It’s not a good idea to do that, son!"

"Dad, I’m just having some fun. I'm just having a good time."

"Well...you need to make a choice. You know the rules. You need to do what’s right."

The conversation goes on like this for a while--the father telling his son to make better decisions, and the son downplaying his behavior. And then the call ends. It’s a Friday afternoon when they speak. A little later that night, the son goes to a party at a friend’s house. He drinks a lot of alcohol. He smokes some weed. And he hooks up with a girl he barely knows.

The father tells the son to make a choice, and the son chooses poorly.

2.
The set-up of this story is not unlike the final chapter of Joshua. The legendary leader of Israel tells the people, "You need to make a choice. You need to do what's right." As a young man, Joshua was a strong and fierce leader of God's chosen nation as he battled for the land the Lord had promised to them. By and large, Israel has conquered and is now dwelling in this land. And now, old and stooped and wrinkled, Joshua motions with crooked fingers for the Israelites to come near and listen.

He says, "Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

The old man declares, "Make a choice! Do it today! And if you care to know, me and my house are serving the LORD!"

3.
But this is not all there is to the text. Granted, this is our favorite part. This is the most well-known part. We love to rip out Joshua's call for a decision and his own declaration of faith and place those words in frames for our walls. But there's more here. Before Joshua gives the ultimatum, he tells a story. And not just any story. This story has been imparted to him by God. In essence, he says to the people, "Gather around here. Let me tell you a story."

What do you think about when you hear those words? A family dinner or annual reunion? Grandpa or grandma or a great-uncle telling another yarn about the good old days? Children's eyes rolling back into their heads and someone whispering to another, "Here we go again--another story"? Or maybe you're thankful for the times when grandpa or grandma said, "Let me tell you story." Maybe you realize that all those stories you heard not only provide a glimpse into who they are, but into who you are--into your story.

The great preacher Fred Craddock tells the story of Scott Momaday, an American Indian writer. When he was a small boy, Momaday's father woke him early in the morning and said, "I want you to get up and go with me." His father took him by the hand and led him, sleepily, to the house of an old squaw, and left him saying, "I'll get you this afternoon." All day long the old squaw of the Kiowa tribe told stories to the boy, sang songs, described rituals, told the history of the Kiowa. She told the boy how the tribe began out of a hollow log in the Yellowstone river, of the migration southward, the wars with other tribes, the great blizzards, the buffalo hunt, the coming of the white man, the starvation, the diminished tribe, and finally, reservation, confinement. About dark his father came and said, "Son, it's time to go." Reflecting on this experience, Momaday later said, "I left her house that day a Kiowa."

4.
Joshua says, "Gather around. Let me tell you a story." And the LORD through Joshua reminds the people of their masterful story:

"A long, long time ago, your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River. Terah was among them, and his sons Nahor and Abraham. In those days, they worshipped other gods. But I, the LORD, took Abraham and led him beyond the river and all through Canaan’s land. And I gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac. And to Isaac, I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the mountains of Seir to be his home, but Jacob and his children followed Joseph down to Egypt. Things got extraordinarily bad there, so I sent Moses and Aaron. I hit Egypt hard with plagues for what they had done to you, my people. And then, I led you out. I brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. And you came to the Red Sea. The Egyptians were in hot pursuit with their chariots and horsemen. The people were pushed to the very edge of the sea, and they cried out to me. And I put a cloud between you and the Egyptians and I let the sea loose on them and it covered them. You saw what I did in Egypt! You watched the whole thing! Then, you lived in the wilderness for a long time; longer than you had to because of your lack of faith. And I brought you to the country of the Amorites. They lived east of the Jordan. They fought against you, but I fought for you, and we won. I gave them into your hand and you took possession of their land, and I destroyed them for you. And then Balak the king of Moab made his appearance. He prepared to fight Israel by sending Balaam to curse you. But I would not listen to Balaam, so instead, he ended up blessing you. I saved you from him. And then you went over the Jordan and came to Jericho. The Jericho leaders ganged up on you. And so did the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. You had many enemies! But I gave them into your hand. I sent the hornet before you and it drove out the two kings of the Amorites. You didn’t have to do a thing, not so much as raise a finger. I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant."

"So now. Now. Therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness. Put away the gods that your father served, and serve the LORD. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

The story comes before the choice. Yes, the choice is vital, and it's a choice between right and wrong, good and bad, and ultimately, the LORD God and other gods. But the choice is not made arbitrarily. These categories are not floating around in the air, disconnected from the way things are. They're rooted in a story, The Story. And when we know The Story, and when The Story becomes our story, our children's story, my story, it becomes easier to choose to serve the LORD. Israel was presented with their story, and then asked to choose whom they will serve. The story comes before the choice.

5.
So I'm wondering.

I'm wondering how this matter between the father and his partying son might have turned out if the son knew his story. If the son knew that "the rules" were not just an arbitrary set of regulations thought up by dad, but rooted in The Story itself. What if the son had been told his story growing up? What if he had heard The Story when he got up in the morning, put his head back on the pillow at night, gathered around the dinner table, and rode along in the family car?

"Son, God loves you with a fierce love. He sent his Son to the earth and his name was Jesus. Son, I know this is confusing, but Jesus is not only God's Son, He actually is God. And so Jesus shows us who God is and He also shows us what a perfect human life looks like. When we follow Jesus, we are becoming more like God, and more like the humans God made us to be. But when Jesus was a young man, He was arrested on trumped up charges and put on trial. He was sentenced to death, and executed on a cross."

"A cross, dad? A cross?"

 

"Yes, a cross. It was horrific. They nailed his hands and feet to that coarse wood, and they lifted him up on a hill outside Jerusalem for all the people to see. Son, I know this is confusing too, but this horrific event is actually good news for us. In fact, it's the best news. You see, we were separated from God because of sin. You'll come to understand what sin is more as you get older. But the Bible tells us that through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, we can be in relationship with God again (Col. 1:20). And what’s more, Jesus didn’t stay dead. On the third day after he died, he came back to life! He was raised from the dead and He’s alive today! And through baptism--and son, I hope and pray that someday you will be baptized--we can enter into this new life too. We can become a member of God’s family, the church--you know, those people we love that we get together with on Sundays and Wednesdays? And everyday, we get to live to bring Him glory so that He knows how grateful we are. And we no longer have to fear death. Son, someday I'm going to die. And your mom's going to die. And someday, a long time from now I hope, you'll die. But because of Jesus, we don't have to fear death since the life He gives us extends into eternity. You see, son, you have a Father who adopted you. You’re part of a family you were not born into. You have forgiveness of sins that you didn’t earn. And you have a future that you don’t deserve."

 

6.

"Son, I want you to stop partying. You know The Story. You know it's not just my story, it's not just your mom's story, and it's not just the story of all the Christians who have long since died. It's your story. You're a part of it, a character in it. And your behavior doesn't match up with The Story you're a part of. It doesn't match up with the story I know you want to tell with your life. So I want you to stop. You know who you are. Now, make your choice."

 

Maybe, just maybe, the son decides not to go the party that night.

How To Teach a Parents + Students Combined Series

At our church last spring, I taught a nine-week series to both our middle & high school students AND their parents. A parents + students combined series was an idea I heard about at a Sticky Faith learning lab at the 2011 National Youth Workers' Convention. Since that time, the idea seems to have caught fire as I've heard about more and more youth workers doing these. And for good reason--there's a slew of blessings that are in store for the church that connects parents with their kids in an environment where faith can be openly discussed. With this in mind, I want to offer some practical tips on how to pull one of these off.*

1. Choose what you teach wisely. I taught on Sticky Faith. (All my lessons can be found here, and you're more than welcome to use them.) My friend Barry Throneberry has taught on the book The DNA of Parent-Teen Relationships by Gary & Greg Smalley. Ask your students and parents what topics they would like to talk about. But be sure that the material you choose speaks to and is relevant to both parents and students. Also, you may want to provide take-home discussion sheets or devotionals based on the lessons for families to use during the week.

2. Choose how you teach wisely. Don't speak to one group excessively more than the other: the neglected ones might tune you out completely. If you're a younger youth minister like me, approach the situation humbly. Remind your parents that you can't speak with authority on raising teenagers because you've never been in their shoes. But also remember that you are probably your church's resident expert on building faith in young people. This gives you enough credibility to speak confidently. If you want an extra boost to your credibility, consider asking an older church member--an elder or youth deacon who has teenage children--to co-teach with you.

3. Host the class in a neutral zone. Avoid the adult classroom, but don't have it in your youth room either. You don't want one group feeling like they're impinging on the other's territory. Whether we like it or not, space and place are big deals for us humans. So locate the class in a neutral zone, like a fellowship hall or church gym.

4. Emphasize that the series is temporary. Inevitably, many of your students will not be excited about being in class with their parents (and in some settings, vice-versa). Say things like, "It's only nine weeks, and then we'll go back to how it was." Be sure you have a stated end to the series, and sell it as a temporary arrangement.

5. Acclimate everyone to the new environment gradually. For instance, in our series we had parent tables and student tables for the first few weeks before mixing everyone together. We slowly waded into this new experience instead of immediately diving head-first into the deep end. If you want open communication in your class, then create a comfortable class environment for everyone. Additionally, I would never require family units to sit together since you run the risk of alienating students whose parents don't attend. Keep those students in mind as you plan.

What other suggestions or ideas do you have?


*My friend Barry Throneberry taught a class about this at a youth ministers' retreat I attended. Another friend, Luke Dockery, is gearing up to teach one of these. I am weaving some of their insights with my own here.

Summer Ministry Highlights 3

August is a month of transition. Our ministry (and my mind) is making a shift from the craziness and busy-ness of summer to the routine and rhythm of a new school year. But before the transition is complete, I want to take a little time to reflect on some memorable moments from this summer of ministry. (These are being posted in no particular order.)

Jonah's Testimony
"God said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses...For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Jonah Deal shouldn't be able to walk. According to some doctors, he shouldn't even be alive. Jonah has muscular dystrophy, a debilitating disease that causes his muscles to become weaker with activity instead of stronger. There is no cure and it inevitably gets worse over time. Yet despite the odds, Jonah stood--yes stood!--before us one evening at camp and spoke about his life with this disease, and how it has affected his relationship with God. For years, Jonah felt like his muscular dystrophy was a curse. He blamed and hated God for giving it to him. But slowly, he began to see how God could use his disability for His glory and the good of others. Jonah's public testimony perfectly captured his personality--it was raw and honest, light-hearted and humorous, inspiring and hopeful. His life and friendship are a blessing to me, and so many others.

Will's Baptism
"See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:36)

On the last night of camp, Will Holder approached me in the dark kitchen of Camp Ney-a-ti during our lights-out singing. "I'd like to be baptized," he quietly said. "That's wonderful," I replied. "I've been praying for this." We went back to our cabins, changed our clothes, rallied the troops, and took that familiar late-night walk to the swimming pool. The act of baptism--in a traditional baptistery, a pool at camp, or a creek in a foreign country--always feels like a "thin place," a place where the distance between heaven and earth seems especially narrow and where God's presence can be sensed more readily. Anytime I have baptized someone, I have felt privileged and humbled to stand in a place where human meets divine in a tangible way. I'm so proud of Will for his decision to begin life with God through baptism.

Time With God
"He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

God had long since begun a good work in each of the members of our Dominican Republic mission trip team. But it was a blessing to see a glimpse of that ongoing work on its way to completion. During an evening devotional, all of our team members shared how they were spending their morning quiet time. Katie Bass told how she had read the letter to the Philippians, and had written a letter in response to Paul as if she was a Philippian. A few of our girls shared how they had written daily goals and prayers to God in their journals to help them reflect on their trip. And many others shared their favorite Bible verses or a passage they had been reading that week. I was wowed at their personal, enacted, real-life faith!

Summer Ministry Highlights 2

August is a month of transition. Our ministry (and my mind) is making a shift from the craziness and busy-ness of summer to the routine and rhythm of a new school year. But before the transition is complete, I want to take a little time to reflect on some memorable moments from this summer of ministry. (These are being posted in no particular order.)

Dru's Decision
"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4).

Going in to our week in the Dominican Republic, one of my specific prayers was that we would take a trip down to the river or the ocean and baptize Dru Morris. Around a month ago, Dru's younger brother was baptized and on that occasion, I told Dru that if he ever wanted to talk about also taking that step, I would be happy to sit down with him. He didn't seem open to the idea at the time. But God had obviously been working on his heart since then. On the Monday of our trip, I found the opportunity to speak with Dru that I had been looking for--we took a walk down the dusty road beside our camp and talked about baptism.

Summer Ministry Highlights 1

August is a month of transition. Our ministry (and my mind) is making a shift from the craziness and busy-ness of summer to the routine and rhythm of a new school year. But before the transition is complete, I want to take a little time to reflect on some memorable moments from this summer of ministry. (These are being posted in no particular order.)

Isaac Steps Up
Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth." But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go" (Jeremiah 1:6-7).

By the second day of Franklin County Christian Camp, a young man had yet to volunteer to speak at our first guys' devotional that evening. When I asked in our assembly that morning for someone to step up, a hand confidently went up toward the back of the room. It was Isaac Lynch's hand. Isaac is 10 years old, in the 4th grade, and was a first-time camper. And he fearlessly delivered an excellent talk that night to a room-full of guys much older than him. I was very proud. Here's a little taste...

Your Students Are Asking These Questions Too

I've got my work cut out for me.

In Refuge, our Wednesday night youth class, we are in the midst of a series called "idk: answering tough questions about faith." Last night, I asked each person in class (which also included some college students) to submit a question he or she has about faith. I don't want to spend the entire series only answering questions that come from my head; I want to hear the questions my students are grappling with, and try to address those as well. So I asked for them. And boy, did I get what I asked for. I'll share some of them with you, because the odds are that your students are asking these questions too.

(Extra) Ordinary- The Life of Mary Parham

Today, I'm sharing a personal post. We buried my grandmother on Sunday and I had the honor of speaking at her funeral. Here's what I said...

In 2004, my grandmother traveled to Ghana, West Africa to visit the Christian school named in her honor. But because of illness, the trip was cut short. She thought she would never be able to return. The Lord, however, had different plans. She did return—twice!—in 2010, and again less than a year ago in the summer of 2012 for a final visit. For almost 20 years, right up to the day she drew her last breath, Grammy viewed the work in Ghana, West Africa as her God-given purpose in life. She could have with the Psalmist proclaimed: “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come” (Psalm 71:17-18). Her intense desire was for the gospel to be preached, the church to grow, and lives to be touched with the love of Jesus Christ through the Mary Parham International School. A few days before she passed away, she spoke on the phone with John Blay Eshun, the African preacher who calls her “mom.” She tried to explain that her health was failing fast, even as he spoke of his hope for her return to Ghana. She told him, “My heart is with you in Africa, but my body is too weak.” Truly, her heart belonged to the work, the place, and the people. And it’s remarkable that as we mourn here today, there are Christians, schoolchildren, families, and villagers on the other side of the world mourning with us.

If Jesus Had an Instagram

If Jesus had an Instagram, He would not be obsessed with the number of his “followers” (nor would he have this number memorized). In fact, many of Jesus’s followers turned away and left him when his preaching of God’s truth became too tough to stomach.

If Jesus had an Instagram, He would not allow the number of “likes” on one of his “selfies” to determine his worth. Jesus’s identity was not wrapped up in his appearance, but was rooted and grounded in his Father’s undying love for him.

If Jesus had an Instagram, He would not view or post inappropriate or erotic pictures. To Jesus, people were not objects to be gawked at but precious beings created in his Father’s image.

If Jesus had an Instagram, He would not post an excessive number of “selfies”. Instead, his pictures would capture how God’s presence can bring joy and new life into this sad, old world. He would post a picture of the smiling children who often gathered around him. He would post a picture of Lazarus, wrapped in burial cloths and walking out of death’s tomb alive. He would post pictures of the stillness of that sea right after He calmed it and the peacefulness of that mountaintop as He prayed on it. He would post fewer pictures of himself, and more of the beauty of others and the world around him.

And finally, if Jesus had an Instagram, He would not allow it to dominate a significant amount of his time. He had only a short time to bring God’s Kingdom to earth, and so do we. There are people to teach and encourage, mouths to be fed, and love to be spread. Jesus would know there was simply too much work to be done to have his nose buried in a glowing, rectangular screen all the time.

*In addition to my own experience, this post is also inspired by two excellent articles on Instagram which you can read here and here.

The Resurrection is a Really, Really Big Deal (Part 4)

In my first post of this series, I said that while we have selected the cross as the symbol of Christianity, I think the earliest Christians would have selected the empty tomb. Now don't get me wrong. The cross is a really, really big deal too. One of the core beliefs of Christianity is that at the cross, our sins are forgiven. In other words, Christ's death on the cross is the once-and-for-all sacrifice that removes our sin. The apostle Peter says that Christ himself "bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:24). By his death, our sins are forgiven!

But listen to what Paul says. He tells another group of early Christians that "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). So let me get this straight. Christ's death on the cross is what provides forgiveness of sins, but according to Paul, if Christ had not been raised, then that forgiveness would never have gone into effect. This is a bit confusing so let me explain it this way.

A few days ago, I planted some grass seed in some bare spots in my yard. To state the obvious, the grass seed is what causes the grass to grow. Grass simply would not grow without seed. However, the seed never fulfills this purpose without a very special ingredient: water. The bag of seed declared, "The key to success is the initial watering." Water is what activates the seed. Now, make the leap with me. As the seed makes the grass grow, the cross of Christ is what causes our sins to be forgiven. However, the cross never fulfills that purpose without the Resurrection. The Resurrection is the water. Without it, the Cross can't do its job. The victory of Jesus over death is what activates the power of the Cross to forgive sins!

And so, yet another reason the Resurrection is a really, really big deal is that it gives us assurance that we can have forgiveness from our sins. The Cross is what produces it; the Resurrection is what activates it. So praise God that the reverse of Paul's scenario is the true statement: since Christ has been raised, your faith is worthwhile and you have forgiveness of sins!

The Resurrection is a Really, Really Big Deal (Part 3)

The purpose of this series is not simply to declare that the bodily Resurrection of Jesus is vital to our faith, but to explain why it is so. Yesterday, I wrote that the Resurrection is a really, really big deal because it proves that Jesus truly was the Son of God. Today, here's another reason why Jesus's emergence from that grave is so important: it tells the world that God's Kingdom is ruled by a living leader.

Are you up for a brief history lesson? N.T. Wright reminds us that there were several other Jewish movements--some were messianic movements and others, prophetic movements--during the one or two centuries on either side of Jesus's ministry. Most of them ended with the violent death of the central figure. And members of the movement (assuming they lived through it) then faced a choice: either abandon the struggle or find a new Messiah. Now, to an outside observer, the Jesus story looks a lot like these accounts. Along with these other leaders, Jesus was killed. But there's one notable exception: Jesus didn't stay dead. And therefore, his disciples neither had to abandon the cause nor find a new Messiah. Theirs was still alive! This is why Christianity has far outlasted these other long-forgotten movements--its leader rose from the dead and appeared to hundreds of his disciples (1 Corinthians 15:6), verifying that He was alive and well. The fact that the Christian faith is still around is a testament to the Resurrection of Jesus.

Every other "spiritual leader" in history has died: Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad, Joseph Smith, leaders of various cults, and the list could go on. Their bones lie dormant in their graves. But the One who kick-started the movement to bring God's Kingdom to earth is alive. Paul says, "Christ Jesus is the one who died--more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God" (Romans 8:34). The gospel is this: Jesus died; Jesus conquered death; and Jesus is alive, this very moment, sitting at God's right hand.

Let us hear, and believe, the words that King Jesus spoke to the apostle John. (And keep in mind, this was during an appearance around 60 years after his death and resurrection.) "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:17-18). May the whole world know that the Resurrection gives assurance that the Leader of God's Kingdom is alive!

*N.T. Wright material comes from Surprised By Hope (New York: HarperOne, 2008), 48.

The Resurrection is a Really, Really Big Deal (Part 2)

Most Christians know deep down that the Resurrection is important. They feel in their gut that the moment Jesus came back to life is a pivotal scene in human history. But many have a hard time articulating why the Resurrection is a really, really big deal. That's why I'm writing this series.

Let's begin with this: the Resurrection is so vitally important because it proves that Jesus truly was the Son of God. 

During his life and ministry, Jesus is billed as God's Son. On two occasions, at his baptism and on the mountain of Transfiguration, the voice of the Father boomed down from heaven declaring Jesus to be his Son: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). In the middle of Matthew's gospel, Peter makes the famous confession that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God" (16:16). And significantly, Jesus tells Peter that this confession was not just something he conjured up in his head, but that it was revealed to him by the Father in heaven. The idea that Jesus is God's Son does not arise from man's mind, but comes down from God. And finally, as Jesus is standing on trial before his death, Caiaphas the high priest asks him point-blank, "Are you the Christ, the Son of God?" Jesus does not waver in his affirmation: "You have said so" (Matthew 26:63-64).

Jesus is unequivocally declared to be the Son of God during his ministry. But then came the Cross. Then came that infamous Friday. When Jesus died, these claims no longer held much water for Jesus's followers. When Mary Magdalene and the other women rush to the disciples to tell about the empty tomb, their story is dismissed as worthless. "These words seemed to them an idle tale" (Luke 24:11). The disciples reject the story of the empty tomb because the death of Jesus had caused them to doubt the power of his deity.

But once the evidence started adding up that Jesus truly did come back to life, it changed everything. The doubt that sprang from his death completely evaporated because the Resurrection verified Jesus's claim to be God's Son. It proved, and proves, that Jesus was who He said He was all along.

All throughout the holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street, the man Kris Kringle claims to be Santa Claus. But it's not until the end of the movie that his identity is verified. It's only on Christmas morning when little Susan gets everything she had asked for from Kris that she comes to believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Kris is who he claimed to be: Santa Claus! Jesus never made his status as God's Son a secret; it was a title He embraced, and his followers knew it. But it was only after his Resurrection that this identity was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. As Paul says, Jesus "was declared to be the Son of God in power...by his resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:4). That scene at the tomb when Jesus Christ rises from the grave shouts at us, "Jesus really is God's Son!"

The Resurrection is a Really, Really Big Deal (Part 1)

The sun had not yet risen. The sky was dark. As Mary Magdalene journeyed on foot to the garden tomb, the world was quiet and the mood of humanity seemed distraught, as if a heavy blanket had been laid over the earth. It was Sunday, and Jesus had died on Friday. The one who calmed seas and cleansed lepers had been crucified. His lifeless body had been taken down from that cruel tree, wrapped in linen cloths, and placed in the ground to join the dead. 

But as Mary drew closer to the tomb on that first day of a new week, she noticed something peculiar. The enormous stone put in place by the soldiers to seal the grave’s entrance had been removed. The tomb was open, and what’s more, the body of Jesus was no longer inside. And scarcely had Mary made this discovery when two men appeared before her in dazzling clothes. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” they asked. “He is not here, but has risen.”

The sky was still dark when Mary arrived at the tomb early that Sunday. The sun had not yet risen, but the Savior had. The stone was rolled away, and Jesus had come back to life.

In our time, we have selected the cross as the symbol of Christianity. We wear crosses around our necks and hang them on our walls and mount them on our church buildings. But I have a hunch that the earliest Christians would have selected the empty tomb. Take Paul for instance. When Paul is reminding the Christians in Corinth about what is "of first importance," he places a heavy emphasis on the Resurrection. He spends a little time on Jesus's death, a little time on his burial, and a lot of time on his Resurrection and the appearances He made after coming back to life (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).

While the cross represents the death of Jesus, the empty tomb declares Jesus’s victory over death. The empty tomb proclaims that death is not the end of the story. To be clear, I am not trying to diminish the cross, and what God accomplished there. I am simply saying that to the early Christians, the Resurrection authenticated what happened at the Crucifixion. So let’s talk about how. Let’s talk about why the Resurrection was and is a really, really big deal. (To be continued...)

*The reasons (and many of the passages of scripture) that I will discuss in the following posts come from a fantastic lesson on the Resurrection that my friend Brad Costello wrote for our summer camp last year.

Here We Are Once Again: A Lord's Supper Reflection

Here we are once again, gathered around the table. We gather week after week to commemorate, to celebrate, and to proclaim God's promise of salvation through Jesus Christ.

How many times do you think you've gathered around this table? Undoubtedly, some of you have found a place here hundreds and even thousands of times. You came to the table as a child, still wet from your baptism. You came to the table as a young adult while wrestling with big questions about God and your faith. You came when you were newly married, your husband or wife taking the elements close by your side. You came when your kids were young and you were barely able to reflect on the profound meaning of the feast. You came when the kids were gone and the space on your pew felt a little empty. And you came in your twilight years, your aged and wrinkled hands reaching once again for the wine and bread.

A Prayer in the Wake of the Newtown Tragedy

O God, our hearts are heavy over the unspeakable tragedy we have witnessed in Connecticut. We are devastated for the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives so violently and tragically. Please bring them the comfort and the peace that only You can provide. Be present with them during their immense grief.

We do not pretend to understand why someone would commit such a heinous act. It is yet another reminder that evil is real and that our adversary the Devil is hard at work in our world turning hearts against You. We know that in this sinful and broken world, hatred and violence and suffering can spring up anywhere. And we know that our lives are fragile, that they are like a vapor which is here one moment and gone the next. We know that we are not promised lives free of violence and pain and suffering.

But O Father, we trust in You. Though we do not know why, we trust in You. We long for the fullness of your kingdom to come- a kingdom in which there is no death, no violence, no tears, no fear, no evil. A kingdom where love and justice and peace will reign forevermore. A kingdom where You, our Sovereign King, will have completely vanquished evil and where You will sit on Your throne forevermore. We declare today as your children, "Lord Jesus, come quickly."

Until then, Father, be with us. You are not a stranger to suffering, You who sent Your one and only Son to suffer and die on that cruel cross for our sins. And so, as your Son Jesus Christ entered into a world of violence and suffering over 2,000 years ago, may He enter into the suffering of so many in Connecticut, and all over our nation, at this hour. We are thankful that we serve a God who hears the cries of His people and who comes down to meet our needs and to heal our hurt. Lord, come down to us now. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Student Leadership Prompts

Student leadership in youth ministry does NOT have to be some big, complicated program. I recently handed out a list of five simple and tangible ways our high school students can be leaders in our youth group:

1. Sit down front during worship on Sundays, and encourage other students to join you. Sitting together during worship builds community!

2. Send a couple texts to students who are not as involved, encouraging them to join us for Bible class on Sunday mornings or Refuge on Wednesday nights.

3. Show excitement and enthusiasm for youth events and activities, and most importantly, for your faith in Jesus Christ. 

4. Schedule an impromptu fun outing, like a trip to a fast-food restaurant or a movie night at someone’s house, and invite some people from our youth group. 

5. Say regular prayers for our church family, youth ministry, students, leaders, and activities. Ask God to bless us as we seek to glorify Him and expand His kingdom.

Our Mission, Should We Choose to Accept It

The leaders of our Youth and Family Ministry at the Winchester Church of Christ met Sunday night and talked about our new mission statement. Without further ado, here it is:

"Partnering with families to prepare young people for a lifetime of loving God, loving others, and following Jesus."

Here are some thoughts that accompany the first three parts of this mission statement:

"Partnering With Families." We believe that parents are the most important figures in a young person's life for developing lasting faith. Is that belief reflected in what we do in our ministry? Are we ministering and equipping our families and not just our young people?

"Preparing Young People." Here's something we must also keep in mind: some of our young people will be involved without the support of their parents. Are we doing a good job of preparing them as well?

"For a Lifetime." How are we helping young people successfully transition from high school into the next stage of life? Are we doing everything we can to increase the likelihood that our young people will stay faithful after graduation and for the rest of their lives?

5 Years In...

Chuck Morris, who teaches youth ministry courses at Freed-Hardeman, recently asked me what I would tell his students as someone who's been at this for nearly five years. These are the two things that immediately came to my mind:

1. Change Takes Time. 

Idealism and optimism are good, but the reality for me has been this: significant change in ministry--in thinking, in attitudes, in programming, in whatever--takes time.

2. Focus on Principles Instead of Specific Models.

Here's an example of a principle: young people need meaningful relationships with faithful adults to increase the likelihood that they will remain faithful. Now there is a plethora of specific models out there to put this principle into action. I spent too much time trying to force-fit ready-made models onto our youth ministry instead of allowing our context to determine how the principle would best fit.