Church - For Our Own Good

 Since we had the intrusion of a miniature "snowmageddon" yesterday we had to go virtual for the third week in a row. While none of us wanted this, it was definitely necessary because the roads got bad last night! I'm usually not too worried about driving in the snow because there was one winter when I was in college that I had to drive home in the middle of a blizzard. An experience like that hardens you, and while last night's snow didn't compare to that blizzard, I also recognize that there is always potential for accidents on the road. The real issue isn't even my driving skills (or those of your parents), but the other drivers on the road. I could be the very best driver in the world and still have to worry because there are other drivers out there who have no business having a driver's license. So anyway, we went virtual last night.

We tried out a new game (I say new, but really it's an oldy) - Scattergories. There is a website that lets you set up a game for free and invite friends, so we gave it a shot. I realized that I am not so good at coming up with words on the spot, but I think we had fun seeing what everyone did come up with. We had a surprising underdog win from one of our middle school students, who I will refer to as Hummingbird.

We had a special guest speaker, our church's very own Serminator, who brought a message on "Why We Go to Church". He opened with a story about his days as a youth pastor and his experience with a foreign car. Evidently, this car had a manual transmission (which meant he had to manually shift the gears, using the clutch). The hydraulic system in the car contained a little message - "Use Castrol Girling Green Only". Apparently, it was common practice for manufacturers to include little advertisements for products in the car, so he assumed this was the case. Well, every six months or so the hydraulic system would break down and he would have to go to a mechanic and get it fixed. And every time, the mechanic would look at it and need to replace the entire system (which was pricey). When the Serminator moved to Denver to attend Denver Theological Seminary, this happened again. But this time, he had very little money and couldn't afford to take it to a shop, so instead he decided to try and fix it himself. He went to a shop to scope out the parts he would need and described his problem to the clerk, who handed him a small plug in a plastic bag. "That's all you'll need," the guy said, and then pulled out a big canister of hydraulic fluid. "You can refill the reservoir with this, too." And guess what the canister said - "Castrol Girling Green". "If you use anything else, you'll have the same problem in about six months." Evidently, that label had been there for his own good, and he had ignored it, causing this recurring problem that he had to deal with every 6 months.

According to the Serminator, church is very much the same way. It is there for our own good. He had us look to a passage in the Old Testament of the Bible, Deuteronomy 10:12-13 - "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?" He broke it down for us in 5 parts:

1. Fear the Lord. This is not the same as being afraid of the dark or swimming in the ocean. Instead, it means to have a deep respect for God and to worship Him as the Lord.

2. Walk in obedience to Him. There is a sense of togetherness that comes from following God and aligning ourselves to His path. Just like going on a hike with others, walking in obedience to God builds us up as a community. It is where we can experience fellowship.

3. Love Him. Obedience to God, walking in His ways, is not a checklist for the Christian to check off. Christianity is not about rule-keeping. Instead, it is a relationship with God. There is give and take, and personal intimacy to be found with the Creator of the universe.

4. Serve the Lord. We have a responsibility (as well as the great opportunity) to work alongside God and help His people as well as others. There is stewardship involved in our faith. God has entrusted us with the responsibility to working to further His Kingdom and spread the message of His Gospel to others.

5. Observe His commands. This is discipleship. A disciple listens to and obeys the commands of the master/teacher. The disciple also carries the responsibility of discipling others - teaching them to obey the commands of God. There is a passing on of knowledge and faith.

All of these things in Deuteronomy are there for our own good. They will help us. Worship keeps our attention on God, fellowship allows us to have community and be encouraged, the relationship we have with God strengthens us in our faith and keeps us close to God, stewardship allows us to express our faith and love to others, and discipleship gives us opportunity to invest in others as we keep the commands of God.

We "go to church" for several reasons. For one thing, it meets the expectations of God. He expects us to gather together as believers regularly. As Christians, we base our lives on the Word of God, and church is one of the places where we study and learn about what God has to say in the Bible. Interestingly, the Bible tells us to meet together regularly, which would include going to church.

And finally, we go to church for our own good. The Serminator shared an illustration that many of us have recent memories of - a fire pit. For those of you who joined us when we met outside for the first part of the Fall, we had a fire pit almost every Wednesday. Well, he had us imagine that we took tongs and removed one of the logs from the fire and placed it on the ground. At first, it would continue to burn brightly. But, over time, the log would go out, becoming dark and cold. Now, imagine what would happen if you took that dark, cold log and put it back in the fire? Naturally, it would be rekindled, and begin to burn brightly again. The Christian life is very much like this. When we are regularly attending church and meeting together, our faith is strengthened and encouraged and we "burn brightly". However, when we stop meeting together and try to do it on our own, our fire begins to fade. Our faith wavers and we struggle to remain close to God. God never intended for us to "go it alone" in our faith. We are meant to meet regularly together and worship, have fellowship, build relationships, engage in our stewardship, and train in discipleship. The church offers all of this. It is the complete package, and not just another item on the Christian checklist.

Church is there for our own good. 

As Hebrews 10:25 advises all Christians, do not give "up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

Prayer - What Does It Do, Exactly?

 So last night we were once again meeting virtually. Technically the wife and I were cleared from the 'rona, but I had asked the Prayer Warrior to share the message and she wasn't going to be able to meet with us in-person. So, we kept it virtual. Had a great time with a little scavenger hunt, and found out Changa has some fast hands. Honestly, I hadn't even finished saying what the item was before he had it on screen.

Well, as you can imagine from the title of this here post, the Prayer Warrior (I suppose her nickname gives it away, too) shared a message on prayer. She opened by sharing that she loves to pray (hence the nickname) and that she usually goes to bed praying through different requests from people which she writes on 3 x 5 cards. She flips through them, praying, until she falls asleep. She shared that she prays through Isaiah 41:10 every night - "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

One of the main points from this message is this: God answers prayer. If you do not believe this, write down your prayers - whether it be on your phone, on a notecard, or in a notebook. Make sure that it is somewhere you can go back to and look at. Then, as you continue to pray over those things, write down whenever God answers those prayers. You see, what usually happens is we will pray over a situation or a request and then forget about it. We never go back and thank God for answering, so we often don't feel like He does. But, He does. He answers prayer. And taking notes can help us to keep track of that and to see that.

What I just wrote above is the practical application from this message, so if nothing else, give it a try. Below are some biblical examples of God answering prayer, as well as an explanation for what prayer can do.

Luke 18:1-7

Here is a woman who demonstrated persistence in her request. She begged and begged and wouldn't stop until the unjust judge gave in to what she wanted. God is not like this unjust judge, He actually wants to work with us and help us (and He wants us to work with Him and help Him). But the point we can take away from this passage is that prayer is not a "one and done" thing. We don't just pray for something once and hope for the best. We should be like the woman and continue to pray, over and over, until God answers. What this does is it draws us to God often (since we are praying more) and then when He does answer, we are more aware of His presence and action in our lives.

2 Kings 20:1-11

In this passage it almost seems like God changes His mind because of prayer. This is not exactly what happens. Instead, what happens is that God tests the king's faith, and the king responds by crying out to God. As the Prayer Warrior put it last night, "The Lord graciously favors those who faithfully seek and serve Him". Prayer can attune us to God in a way that nothing else can, and God answers those who turn to Him. He may not always give us the answer we want, but that does not mean He does not answer at all.

Nehemiah 1:11-2:5

In this passage we see Nehemiah praying in the midst of a very stressful situation. He prays beforehand, and he prays again in the middle of the situation, and God answered. How many times do we cry out to God in the middle of a stressful situation? Probably a lot less often than we should. Instead, we try to handle it on our own, which doesn't always work out for us. We should follow Nehemiah's example to pray when get put in a tough spot. God is always listening, and He will hear you.

Hebrews 11:6 - "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."

The Prayer Warrior pulled out a Russian Nesting Doll as an illustration. They are those dolls that have one big one, then another slightly smaller one inside, then another even smaller one inside of that one, and so on until you get to this really tiny doll in the middle. Well, the point of the illustration is that some people have really big faith, while other people have really small faith. The size of your faith DOESN'T MATTER, as long as you HAVE faith. We just need a little faith, and then as we pray and God answers, our faith begins to grow. The important thing is to pray believing that God will answer.

Mark 14:35-36

What is interesting here is that Jesus, who we know to be God, is praying to God to change His mind. He expresses in this passage a desire to not have to die on the cross. Well, we know that God said no to this part of His prayer, because Jesus did go and die on the cross. However, God did answer the last part, because Jesus said "not my will, but yours be done". Jesus recognized that the human part of him, the part that didn't want to go suffer and die on the cross, was going against what God wanted, and so His prayer was for God's will to be done, no matter what.

God is not a vending machine. We don't put in payer and get what we want in return. Prayer is a conversation, and God often uses it to help us understand (and come to terms with) His will for our lives. Prayer can help us to see what God wants us to do. He gives us direction through prayer.

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

The Prayer Warrior shared a story she had heard from some college friends who had gone to Spain. There was a day where rain loomed on the horizon, but hadn't started to fall yet. One of the friends was out at the store and prayed to God that it wouldn't rain until she got home. The other friend was with her host family and was praying for rain. So we have two different people praying for opposite things - one for it not to rain and the other for it to rain - and God answered BOTH. He made it rain, but until after the first one had gotten home. We can trust God to work for our good, and we should always look to Him in prayer in all things.

A final note is that prayer doesn't change God. Prayer changes us. It engages us in conversation with the all-powerful God of the universe, and helps us to see things from His perspective. It also helps us to see how much He cares for us when we go back and remember how He has answered our prayers in the past. And, this builds our faith. Prayer is not important for the Christian, it is ESSENTIAL.

Why Should God Care What I Wear?

 Hey gang, so for those of you who were at Summit this night, you may still be having some nightmares about the examples I used of what was inappropriate for us to be wearing at Summit. For those of you who weren't able to be there, let's just say I modelled for the examples, and a crop top was involved...

The main topic of the evening was "Modesty". Well, what is modesty? My definition is "everything in moderation", "not too much and not too little", "not too flashy and not too skimpy", in terms of what we wear, just the right amount of clothing.

Where did clothes come from, anyway? This may surprise you, but the Bible actually tells us EXACTLY where clothes originally came from! Check out Genesis 2:25, Genesis 3:7, as well as verse 21: "Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

For context, the first verse there described Adam and Eve before they sinned and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were naked and unashamed. It didn't bother them or God that they were naked, and they didn't need clothes at all. Take note of this - the human body was not meant to be clothed, originally. HOWEVER, before you go joining a nudist colony, it is important to note the other verses there. These are immediately after Adam and Eve sin. With sin involved, now they are ashamed of being naked, and it bothers them. That's right, sin ruined nakedness. The need for modesty is a direct result of sin - disobedience to God. So, they first tried to clothe themselves, but evidently didn't do a very good job because later God makes proper clothes for them. You heard that correctly, God invented clothes.

But what's the big deal? As long as we are wearing something we should be good, right? Wrong. Check out what Paul says to the church in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies."

As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of us. Basically, each one of us is like a living, breathing, moving temple for God. You know how temples are usually considered to be very sacred, holy places? Well, that's our body, now. Our body is a very sacred, holy place, so we should be looking to honor God with how we dress our bodies.

Now, in those verses Paul was warning the church about sexual immorality, and the dangers of it. Jesus gives us a little more to think about: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." (Matthew 5:27-30) I remember as I was sharing this, one of you asked me if I would actually cut off my hand or gouge out my eye. I answered that if God came down and told me to, yes, I would. However, I should clarify that in this passage Jesus is making a point. He is saying that sin goes deeper than just what we do - it is also about what's in our thoughts and in our hearts. Just looking at someone in a lustful way is really bad and can get us into serious trouble. So, Jesus warns us to take every precaution, to do whatever we must to safeguard ourselves against sinful desires and actions.

Clearly, God takes purity very seriously. If just looking at someone can become a problem, then we have to be careful about where we look. Guys, that means not ogling (staring inappropriately) girls or turning them into objects of desire. Girls, that means not ogling guys (even the cute ones on TV) or treating them as objects of desire. And for both sides, it means doing our best to look presentable and to not wear clothes which reveal more than is necessary.

What this means is that as living temples of God, we have to be careful where we look AND we have to be careful about what we choose to wear.

Let me ask, why do we wear revealing clothing? Sure, in the summer there is the practical side of it being more comfortable in the heat. But if we're honest? We wear revealing clothes because we want people to look at us. We want compliments. We want attention, even it draws people's attention to inappropriate places. And that is not okay. People should be drawn to us by our good deeds, our good character, our love and care for others. They should not be drawn to us because of how much skin we show, or how big our muscles are. People should see our actions, not our skin.

In Romans 12:1-2, Paul calls us "living sacrifices" who should not "conform to the pattern of this world". Some students in the past have argued that our modesty policy just doesn't fit with the fashion trends now (just think about our swimsuit policy for summer camp). I am here to tell you that that's not even the point. We should not be conforming to the pattern of this world - just going with whatever the fashion trend is - but should instead be offering our bodies as living sacrifices to God and living the way He wants us to live. That includes how we dress.

Guys and gals, the need for dressing modestly is a result of sin. As long as sin still exists, we will need to be on guard about this stuff. Rather than trying to draw people's attention with how we look, we should be drawing people's attention with how we act and how we treat people (with love and respect). This is what honors God and is a demonstration of our commitment to Him as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Modesty means not looking where we shouldn't be looking, and it means not dressing in a way that draws people's attention to places where they shouldn't be looking. My prayer for all of you is that you will take on the biblical perspective and begin to treat your bodies with the honor and respect they deserve as temples of God.

God Wants Me to do WHAT!?

 Politics. It is a hot topic, to be sure. I know most of you reading this are not of voting age, and yet this past year we were all subjected to angry posts, fierce protests, online arguments, and not-so-friendly (or informative) debates as the 2020 Presidential Election drew near. The last few weeks leading up to the election were filled with hot debates between supporters of each candidate. Here's a question for you to think about:

Why do you think politics and elections are so divisive? Why do they always find a way to drive people apart and cause anger and disagreement?

As I am writing this post, we are on the other side of the voting process. The election process isn't quite over yet, but it is looking like Joe Biden is going to be our next president. Tell me, which side do you think Christians should have voted for? Why?

My purpose here is not to pick a side or endorse one over the other. The truth is, neither side is Christian. The Reds have some values which reflect Christian values, and the Blues also have some values which reflect Christian values. But neither side is strictly Christian. And this is part of why politics can be so divisive - picking one side over another puts some values over others. But anyway, I digress. My real purpose in this post is to share how we, as Christians, should approach politics and elections, and the following passage gives us some insight:

1 Peter 2:9-17 - “9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” (emphasis mine)

There are 3 things I want to highlight from this passage. First, we are not Americans first. Too often when we approach elections and the topic of politics, we come at it from an American perspective, not a biblical one. We are Christians first. We are God's people. Peter says here "once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God". He is talking about the church. The one thing that draws us together and unites us is our faith in Jesus Christ. And the apostle Paul echoes this idea in Philippians 3:20 - "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ". Our citizenship is in heaven, not on earth. Our identity comes from Jesus, not from the Republican or Democratic parties. This means our values come from God, and our main goal is to do what pleases God and what is going to bring Him glory. And what pleases God?

Well, this brings us to point #2. God has instructed us to submit to "every human authority". For some context, this particular passage is part of a letter the apostle Peter wrote to a church in the Roman Empire, around the same time that the Roman Empire was imprisoning and killing Christians. According to Peter, just because the government is a bad government doesn't give us the right to rebel against them. It pleases God when we submit to authority, regardless of whether they are Democrat or Republican.

Finally, it pleases God when we show respect to others. The last verse of the passage above says "Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor". So, that means that when someone opposes my political views (say, they are a Democrat and I am a Republican), I should yell at them for being stupid and ignorant, right? Wrong. That is not showing respect to everyone at all. The apostle Paul sheds a little more light on this in another letter to a young pastor named Titus: "Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always be gentle toward everyone". Here Paul tells us that in our dealings with other people we should not talk bad about them, we should show respect, be considerate of their feelings, and always be gentle. Does this sound like any of the arguments or posts you've seen online or heard from other people? No, probably not. Instead, many Christians have chosen to slander, yell, bully, fight, and be rude to others - none of which pleases God.

God wants us to submit to the governing authorities, whoever they may be. Of course, out first priority is obedience to God, so in cases where the government tells us we have to do something that God says is wrong, we should not do it (for example, if the president ordered that everyone worship him, we should NOT do that). Obedience to God also means treating others with kindness and respect, no matter how mean, rude, or inconsiderate they may be toward us.

Now, after the last presidential election, a lot of people refused to accept the results. They wailed and protested and for the last 4 years have done everything they could to change the results or get Trump impeached. Let me be clear, this is not the way God wants us to respond, no matter which way this election goes. Fighting, arguing, causing division and rebellion - none of these reflect a spirit of submission. Instead, God tells us this in Paul's first letter to Timothy: "I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth".

God wants us to pray for our leaders, including our president. So, as the final results of the elections come to light and the country moves forward, I want each of you to spend some time in prayer over our leaders. And don't stop there, either. Continue to pray over the response of the people (as well as your own response). As citizens of Heaven, we need to entrust the affairs of this world over to God, our ultimate leader and Lord. He is our King, whom we worship and obey, and whom we follow. His will is that we pray for others, treat others with respect, and look for every opportunity to do good in this world as we patiently wait for the next.

God bless and peace be with you all.

Why is Jesus such a Big Deal?

 We usually don't have to look very far to find an act of evil in this world. Check the news, scroll through FB or Instagram, or just listen to what the people around you are talking about and you'll eventually find something about murder, sex trafficking, racism, discrimination, war, abuse, scandal, brutality, and many other injustices. Evil is very real, and each of us encounters it to some degree in our lives.

At Summit, I asked everyone to get into groups and discuss three things involving evil: the most evil thing you've ever heard of, the most evil thing you've ever witnessed, and the most evil thing you've ever done. We got answers ranging from the Holocaust to calling names. It can be easy to play the comparison game and say that compared to the Holocaust (when the Nazis murdered millions of Jews during WWII) me calling my little sister a bad name isn't all that evil. When we make these kinds of comparisons, we can start to feel pretty good about ourselves, thinking "I'm not perfect, but at least I'm not as bad as them." The problem is, even if it is only on a small scale, evil is still evil. Bad is still bad. And as we will get into in just a little bit, the Bible tells us that even a small amount of badness is enough to keep us out of Heaven and away from God.

A common question people have when they look at Christianity's teachings about God and His goodness is this: "If God is so good, then how come there is so much evil and suffering in the world?" We call this the "problem of evil". Many people absolutely refuse to believe in God because they just can't understand how a good God could allow so much evil and suffering in the world. Maybe that's one of your friends, or maybe that's you. How could allow cancer to take a loved one? Or war to ravage countries? Or mass genocide like what we saw with Hitler, the Nazis, and the Jews during WWII? They figure that God must not be real or He would have stopped all that. They figure that if God were real then our world would look MUCH different.

The thing is, the Bible answers this very question. The Bible explains the goodness of God, the problem of evil, and why Jesus Christ is so important to solving the problem forever.

You see, "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". This is Genesis 1:1, the very first sentence in the Bible. As you read through the very beginning of the Bible, you get a picture of a perfect world which God creates, and at the end of creating it all, God looks at the world and declares that it is "very good". At this point, there is no evil, no sin, no imperfection, just God and His creation. He has created human beings (Adam and Eve) and made a special garden just for them and gave them free reign to do whatever they wanted, with one exception. There was only one rule, and that was that they were not allowed to eat fruit from one particular tree in the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now some people have been like "Why did God do this? Why not just NOT MAKE THAT TREE and remove the rule altogether?"

Here's why: without the option to disobey God, human beings would just be a bunch of robots with no choice but to love God. But love that doesn't have a choice isn't love at all, it is just obligation. In order for humans to experience real love, there had to be the option to not love, to hate (which means to turn away from). God gave them a choice in the garden so that they could choose to love Him.

And here's where we get our introduction to the problem of evil. The humans, Adam and Eve, decide to disobey God and they eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good evil (what a mouthful). God had given them a choice to make (to obey or rebel against Him, to do good or to do evil), and they chose to rebel against Him. They chose to do evil, and that choice brought all of the bad, evil, and suffering into God's good world. It created a rift, a chasm, a massive gap between God and people. Originally, we could walk and talk with God, but our choice to turn against Him caused us to be separated - now He is there, and we are here, and there is this huge, impassable gap between us. Since then, people have strayed further and further from God, to do worse and worse things. And even people who want to get close to God can't, because they can't bridge the gap to get across to Him.

The book of Romans in the Bible (New Testament) highlights all of this:

Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Sin is a simple word which describes anything we do that goes against what God says is right and good. Everyone has sinned, which means all of us are stuck on this side of the gap, with no way to get across to God on our own. It doesn't even matter how bad you've been, whether you are as "bad" as Hitler or as "good" as Mother Theresa - all sin is equal in God's eyes, and just one bad thing is enough to completely separate you from God.

Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." When Adam and Eve first sinned, it brought death and suffering into the world - that's where it all comes from, all the evil, the suffering, the death and sickness started when Adam and Eve turned against God. It is the consequence, the result, the "wage" of being against God. But this verse also starts to get us to the answer of "Why Jesus?" - the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Nothing any of us could do could possibly get us across the gap - nothing short of being perfectly good all the time, from before you were even born. On our own, we are stuck on this side of the gap. And that is why Jesus came. He came, lived a perfect life, and took on all the sins of the world when He died on the cross. He offered Himself as a sacrifice for us on the cross and paid the debt that we owed. The cross of Jesus has made a bridge across the gap, so that through Jesus people can have access to God again!

Romans 10:9, 13 - "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved... for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." It is through belief in Jesus, and ONLY in Jesus, that anyone can be saved and have forgiveness for their sins. Jesus said of Himself in John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 3:16 also explains who all has access to this - "For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life."

Jesus came because God loves us, because He is a good God, and what Jesus did on the cross is for everyone. Literally everyone can believe in Jesus and be reunited with God.

Too often people look at all the evil and suffering in the world and ask how there could possibly be a good God. The reality is that the evil and suffering in the world is the result of people turning against God to go their own way. God is the one who has made a way out. He reached out to us and made it possible for us to get to Him - through faith in Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus is such a big deal, because without Him we would be stuck in sin, suffering, and death.

The Bible also tells us that there will come a day when God will destroy all evil and suffering - He will make it go away forever. But, He is not going to do that until everyone has had a chance to find forgiveness, to come to Jesus. That's why we still see so much of it.

For some application, to those of us who believe in Jesus, we are now on God's side. Which means our job is to do good and bring peace to this world as much as we can. We do this by living the way God has told us to live, and by showing kindness and compassion to others, and most importantly by sharing the message about Jesus.

We should not be contributing to the suffering by gossiping about others, excluding people, calling names, ignoring, lying, cursing, showing hate or anger - these are the actions of those who are against God. So, whose side are you on?

What Makes Christianity so Special?

 Hey gang, and welcome back to another Summitable! As you may recall, our theme this year has been "WHY?" - asking those big questions behind all our deeply held beliefs and getting to the bottom of why we believe (or should believe) what we believe.

This week's focus? Christianity.

We have already talked about the fact that God exists, and some of the evidence supporting that fact. But, believing that there is a God is a far cry from believing in Christianity. I mean, there are a LOT of religions out there, and they all claim to have it right. They all claim to be true, and Christianity is no exception. So, if every religion claims to have the right understanding of who God is and how to get to Him, what makes Christianity so special? How do we know that we are right?

Well, in the message time I asked everyone to discuss what they thought was the most important part of the Christian faith - what belief, if taken away, would ruin our faith? Think about that for a minute before reading on. *insert contemplative pause here*

The truth is, the Christian faith rises and falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Anyone can die (actually, pretty much everyone does), but people have this tendency to stay dead. Jesus did not have this tendency. In fact, we believe that His resurrection from the dead is the proof of His claims to be the Son of God and the only sufficient sacrifice for our sins. We believe that the only way to get to God is by believing in Jesus and what He did for us by dying on the cross and paying the penalty for our sins. As I said before, anyone can die, but in order for the sacrifice to be worthy of covering EVERY SINGLE PERSON'S SINS there needs to be absolute perfection and divinity involved. Jesus coming back to life after His death on the cross offers the proof we need to believe that He was who He said He was and that His sacrifice paid it all for us.

IF, somehow, it was proven that He didn't really come back to life and it was all just a hoax, then our faith would be based on a lie and Christianity would fall apart. Our faith really does rise and fall on whether or not Jesus actually came back to life. And this is what separates us from every other religion - our claims can be tested in history. You can "fact check" the Bible. The best part is, so far everything history and science has found has told us that the Bible is true, which means we can trust that Christianity is true.

Now, getting into Jesus' resurrection, I would like to share with you 5 historical facts that just about every historian (Christian AND non-Christian) agrees to be true:

1. Jesus died by crucifixion.

2. Jesus' disciples believed that Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection.

3. The Church Persecutor, Paul, converted to Christianity.

4. The Skeptic, James, converted to Christianity.

5. The tomb was empty.

On point number 1, if Jesus didn't really die, then He had no need to come back to life, and at the same time, that means He didn't die for our sins. There are two reasons we can know that Jesus really died on the cross: 1) the Romans were REALLY good at executions, and had perfected crucifixion by this point in history. Not only was it the most painful and humiliating way to die, but they had ways of making sure you were dead. 2) Other historians (not Christians and not from the Bible) have talked about Jesus' death by crucifixion. It is a real, historical event.

On point number 2, based on their testimony (what they said), their actions, and the way they chose to die (most of Jesus' disciples were tortured and executed for believing in Jesus), we can be certain that the disciple really believed that Jesus appeared to them and had come back from the dead. They weren't liars, they didn't all have some kind of group hallucination, and they weren't crazy. They lived and died for Jesus because they were convinced that He has risen.

On point number 3, Paul (also called Saul - Jewish name) was an active opponent of Christianity. He absolutely hated Christians and saw their religion as complete heresy. He went looking for Christians wherever he could find them to kill them or throw them in prison. In many ways, he saw himself as Batman and Christianity was crime - although he did not follow Batman's one rule. This is the last guy you would expect to find converting to Christianity. That would be like Batman joining the mob. And yet, we read in the book of Acts that Paul has his own encounter with the risen Jesus while he is on his way to arrest more Christians, and it completely changes his life. He not only becomes a Christian, but he becomes one of the greatest evangelists this world has ever seen. He almost single-handedly brought the message of Jesus to the entire known world. Only a real encounter with Jesus could have done this in his life.

On point number 4, James the Skeptic was actually one of Jesus' half-brothers (the son of Joseph and Mary). Having grown up with Jesus, we see in the Gospel accounts that James doesn't see Jesus as anything but his older brother. Try convincing your siblings that you are the Savior of the world! I doubt they'll believe you, just like James didn't believe Jesus. However, in the book of Acts we see this same James, the brother of Jesus, leading the church! He's not just a Christian, he is a basically a pastor. He would have needed super awesome, undeniable proof that his brother (Jesus) was the Messiah in order for him this kind of buy-in. Seeing Jesus alive after being executed by crucifixion would certainly do it.

And on point number 5, some people have claimed that the whole thing was a hoax and that someone just stole Jesus' body from out of the tomb. The people who hated Christianity back then said as much. They accused the disciples of stealing the body. I'd like to point out that Jesus wasn't just buried in the ground. His body was put in a tomb and massive stone was rolled over the entrance to prevent anyone from getting in (with the unintended, and usually unnecessary effect keeping the body from getting out). The Romans actually posted guards in front of the tomb to make sure there was no funny business. There was no way for the disciples to have gotten in and stolen the body - the guards and the stone were in the way. The guards were later killed for not doing their job (since Jesus' body was gone), so we know they didn't steal it. And no body was ever presented. The fact remains: the tomb was empty.

Put these 5 facts together and we have a lot of evidence that Jesus really did come back to life. And if he really did come back to life, then He proved that everything He said about Himself was true - He was the Son of God and He died for our sins so that we could have forgiveness and be found righteous in the eyes of God (this means we're cool with God). This is the foundation of our faith, everything else stands on it, and it is tied to history.

If you're reading this and you are already a Christian, then I hope this helps you to know that what you believe is true. And if you are not a Christian, then I hope this helps you to understand why we believe what we believe. Without Jesus, there can be no forgiveness of sins and we can never have a relationship with God, no matter how good of a person we are. The only way to God is through belief in Jesus, and I hope these facts help you to put your faith in Him.

That's all for today's post. But you should all know that I am always available to talk if you have questions. Don't let your questions go unanswered - look for the answers! Look to God.

As our buddy Paul would say, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!"

Why God?

 Santa Claus, a mystical man who lives up at the North Pole and delivers presents to children all over the world in a single night every year. Most kids believe in him at a young age, and almost always there comes a time when someone tells them the truth - Santa Claus isn't real. Whether someone tells them or not, at some point in our lives we all come to the realization that there is no magic man from the North Pole who delivers our Christmas. Maybe we see our parents putting the presents under the tree, or we notice the fake beard of the Mall Santa. The point is, eventually we figure out that the evidence just isn't there to support belief in Santa.

I was born and raised in a Christian home, brought up in church and started attending a Christian school in the 3rd grade. I have been surrounded by people who believe in God my entire life. I grew up being told that God was real. And yet, even though I do not believe in Santa Claus, I do still believe in God. But why? What's the difference? Both God and Santa Claus are supernatural beings I've never seen with my own two eyes and have been told since I was a boy were real. The difference is - there is evidence for God.

That's right, there is a lot of evidence to support that God is real, whereas with Santa Claus, the evidence is stacked against him. Now, before we go any further in this discussion, I would like you to stop for a minute and answer this question: "Do you believe in God, and why do you believe that way?" Go ahead and write down any reasons for thinking as you do.

Did you finish writing those down? This is an important part of the discussion, so don't skip it just to finish reading my post. I mean, I know it is a wonderful post and all, but you shouldn't rush through stuff like this or you might miss something truly life changing. =)

Alright, so now that you have some idea of what you believe and why (hopefully), let's look at our ultimate source of truth - the Bible - and see what we find. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us this: "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect". Here, Peter is advising the church that it is not enough to simply believe, we must be ready to give answer for WHY we believe. This is why I asked you to write out your reasons.

In the beginning of the book of Romans, a letter written by the apostle Paul to the church in Rome, Paul shares this - "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse" (Romans 1:18-20). According to Paul, the world itself stands as evidence for God's existence, and not just as evidence, but as evidence which is impossible to ignore. Everything that God has made (which is, by the way, everything) points to Him. The Earth, the sun, the plants and animals, the stars, and especially people - all of this points to God.

In the scholarly world there is an argument for God's existence called the "Kalam Cosmological Argument". Simply put, this argument says that we can know God exists by looking at our universe - which is exactly what Paul just said in Romans 1:18-20. This next part might get confusing, so pay attention and read as slowly as you need to. You see, in the last couple of centuries science has discovered some pretty awesome stuff about our universe. For example, there is a scientific law now which states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed - that means that nothing pops into existence out of nothing, and it doesn't just disappear either. Science has also discovered that our universe is in a constant state of expansion (it keeps getting bigger and spreading out), and that it has definite edges (even if we could never reach those edges). This means our universe is a closed system (like giant sealed box). In a closed system, heat will eventually reach equilibrium (which means that it will eventually spread out completely evenly throughout the system). If this were to happen in our universe, it would leave us feeling EXTREMELY cold.

I am sure most of you have heard of the "Big Bang Theory", and no, I do not mean the TV show. This theory came about from all of this information science discovered, and attempts to explain the beginning of the universe as a Big Bang, where nothing exploded into everything. Scientists figured out that with our universe the way that it is, it couldn't have just existed forever - if it had, all the heat would have already reached equilibrium and we would be too frozen to even move. So our universe Had to have a beginning - hence, the Big Bang Theory.

Well, there's another rule out there that everything that begins to exist has to have a cause. Scientists came up with the Big Bang Theory as the "cause" of the universe. The problem is, even if it is true, what caused the Big Bang? I'm sorry, but you can't just have nothing explode into everything - within our universe matter is neither created nor destroyed so that doesn't work UNLESS something or someONE (who has always existed and has all power) caused it. The Christian God, as He has revealed Himself in the Bible, has the power, the knowledge, and the everlasting-ness to have created our universe. In my opinion, He is the best explanation for the beginning and existence of our universe.

Now, if you got lost in there somewhere, let me summarize it for you. Science has revealed to us that our universe HAD to have a beginning - it has not just always existed. Everything that begins to exist has to have a cause, and the Christian God is the best possible explanation for the cause of our universe. This is just one of the reasons which supports my belief in God.

Obviously, I didn't know all of this stuff when I was younger. I had faith in God long before learning any of this, but I found it difficult to explain to other people why I believed in God. I had a personal relationship with Him, had experienced His love and forgiveness in my life, and I looked out at the world and the stars and just knew He was real, but those were just reasons for me to believe, not for someone else to believe, too. The Kalam Cosmological Argument is a way to help other people see that there is evidence for God beyond just blind faith, and I hope that it will help you in your faith.

You know, maybe when I asked you to think about why you believe (or don't believe) in God you realized that you didn't know why you believed that way. Maybe you were raised a certain way, or you went by what felt right, or maybe you just never really thought about it before. I am here to tell you that God IS real, and you can have a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Send me a message if you want to know more.

People will try to tell us that belief in God is ludicrous, or crazy, or just plain dumb. But we know they are wrong. We know that God is real, and we have the evidence to back us up. And because there are people who are going to oppose us, it is that much more important for each of us to be able to give an answer for the hope that we have in Jesus.

I know this is a long post, but it is important for us to recognize that belief in God isn't silly or irrational. If we are right, and God is real, and He really did create the whole universe, then don't you think He would make it so we could know that it was Him? Paul certainly seemed to think so, and I do, too. Trust me, the more you learn about our world, the more you will find evidence for God.

What World? And Who Is Viewing It?

 So, as we are going through the theme of "WHY", we've got to work through some of the basics. Today, we're talking about "Worldview" (also known as your view of the world). This boils down to the lens through which you see the world and how it works. Your worldview is important because it determines how you live - the choices you make, your understanding of other people's choices, and how your life fits in the big picture of the world. Whether we know what it is or not, each of us has a worldview.

For example, think about the classic cup with water analogy. If you look at a cup that has water in it at the halfway mark, and you think it is half full, then you are an optimist. Your worldview tends to look at the positive side of things and make decisions based on that. If you think it is half empty, then you are a pessimist. Your worldview tends to look at the negative side of things and make decisions based on that. The volume of the cup doesn't change, it is all about how you see it.

I've been playing a lot of Call of Duty: Warzone recently and there are two main game types I play: Plunder and Battle Royale. The rules for these games are very different, and both require a very different playstyle to win. In Plunder, you have infinite respawns so running into a firefight blasting away can be fine. Its a very fast-paced playstyle. In Battle Royale, however, you only get one respawn (if you win the gulag or your team is nice and buys you back). It is a lot riskier to run into firefights, and you are punished more even if you get to respawn because you lose all the weapons you found. For the most part, BR is a much slower-paced playstyle. Now, bringing this back to worldviews, if I try to play Plunder with a BR mindset, I am almost certainly going to lose - I'll be too cautious and won't get enough money to win. Similarly, if I try to play BR with a Plunder mindset, I'll be too reckless and die quickly (unless I'm really good, which I am not). In order to win, I have to play with the right mindset, or worldview. And the same is true in life. If we want to do well in life, we have know how best to live - we have to have the correct worldview.

The question is, how do we know what the correct worldview is? How can we know the truth?

We can figure out through a combination of observation, reasoning, and faith. We look at the world around us, see what we can, and then compare that with how different worldviews explain it. For the sake of this message, let's focus on two opposing worldviews: atheism and Christianity. Atheism is the belief that there is no God, and Christianity believes that there is not only a God, but that He came down in human form as Jesus Christ and offered His own life to save ours on the cross. This is the God of the Bible.

Atheism first. An atheist is someone who does not believe there is a God, or any kind of higher power at work in the world. They believe that the world just happened to come into existence, somehow (they offer some explanations, but those only lead to more questions). Most of them believe that humans came about through evolution - that life began randomly many billions of years ago and over the course of those billions of years it evolved slowly into all of the different life forms we see today. They do not believe there is any reason why we are here (why we exist) and that when we die, that's it. They do not believe in life after death. IF they are right about all of this, then that means a lot for us. Without God, or an afterlife, there is no real reason to live a good life. There is no reason why we shouldn't just do whatever we want to whomever we want because there aren't any lasting consequences (except maybe death). So basically, if you can get away with it, do it. By the way, this worldview makes things like mass murder, genocide, and war okay, because there is no real "right" or "wrong" without God. Our idea of "right" and "wrong" would be just a bunch of rules someone made up. Finally, this worldview also means that none of us are special in any way and there is no point to our existence. We have no purpose.

Christianity, on the other hand, believes that there is a God - an all-powerful, all-knowing, loving and personal God who created the universe and created life. He made humans special, in His image, and put us in charge of the earth. He has established what is right and wrong, and we answer to Him for what we do in this life. IF we are right, then there is an afterlife and our choices now affect where we go. He has given us instructions on how we should live and how we should treat other people, and He holds us accountable for what we do here on earth.

Both of these views are looking at the same world, but draw different conclusions. And which one you hold to will change how you make choices and how you treat people. How we see other people, how we see ourselves, and how we choose to live and act are all based on our worldview. From what I have seen in the world, I think the Christian worldview has it right. The Bible teaches us that while God made the world perfect in the beginning, the people turned against Him and messed it up, bringing sin and death into the world. It has been in decay ever since and is waiting for God to return and restore it. Our world is structured and designed in such a specific way that it takes more faith to believe it happened by chance than it does to believe that God made it that way. And we are so unique from every other creature on this planet that is hard to imagine we all came from evolution. The evidence points toward the Christian worldview, in my opinion.

So, what is YOUR worldview? How do YOU look at the world around you? How do you decide what is right and wrong? Why are you here? What will happen to you when you die? These are all important questions that EVERY person needs to answer. Having a poor worldview is like wearing sunglasses at night - you can't see a thing and you're going to get hurt.

So, if you are not sure WHAT your worldview is, below are 7 questions that will help you get to the heart of how you see the world:

1. What is prime reality? (What is really real?)

2. What is the nature of the world or universe around us? (Was it created, did it just pop into being, is it ordered, chaotic, does it even exist?)

3. What is a human being?

4. What happens when a person dies?

5. Is it possible to know absolute truth? (is there truth that is true for everyone, and can we know it?)

6. How do we know what is right and wrong?

7. What is the meaning of human history? (or, who is in charge of history?)

I know this post was a bit longer than normal and definitely on the heavy side. Don't let the heaviness of the topic stop you from thinking about this, though. Your worldview affects EVERY part of your life, so it is definitely important. Anyway, see you next time!

Just... Why?

 Hey gang, so this is the first post of Summitable, our new Summit Student Ministry blog. The purpose of this blog is to offer a quick recap of our messages on Wednesday nights so that you can look back and reflect on messages you've heard or catch up on messages you may have missed. I know a lot of our students have been missing every message because of Covid-19, and that's just not okay with me. So I hope you find this blog helpful, fun, and to use a more scholarly term, edifying! That said, let's get rambling!

We kicked off this year with an introduction to the year's theme - WHY. While questions beginning with "who", "what", "where", and "when" tend to be functional questions, "why" is an inspirational question - it gets at the motivations behind the other questions. "Who am I?" Michael Spatz. "Why am I?" Ok, that's a much deeper question. Haha. "What am I doing?" Writing a blog post. "Why am I doing it?" My motivation is to help my students understand the messages better and be able to go back and remember what we've talked about in the past. Do you see?

Most of the time, we ask questions like "Who is God?" "What is Christianity?" "What does the Bible say about this or that?" This year, we want to go a little farther, asking questions like "Why should I believe in God?" "Why should I believe Christianity is right?" and "Why should I believe the Bible?" Of course, we will get into some of the whats and hows, but the focus right now is on the whys - not just WHAT we believe, but WHY we believe it.

If you are anything like me then you might find it a lot easier to do something or follow someone when you know WHY you're doing it or WHY you're following them. For example, when driving there is this sometimes annoying rule that you have to stay on the right side of the double yellow lines. If that is all you knew about the double yellow lines, you might be tempted to stray to the left side. BUT, I think we all know WHY we are supposed to stay on the right - there are cars going the other way on the far side of the lines! If we cross them, more than likely we are going to get hit. Because I know this, I stay on the right. Make sense?

Well, our God is a God of order and logic - He built our world to function the way that it does and He has given us everything we need to know Him, to follow Him, and to obey what He has said is right. He doesn't ask for blind faith, but has given us valid reasons to believe in Him (we will be exploring some of these reasons later).

For now, let me answer just one "why" question: Why do we have a message time during Summit (Youth Group)? The message time is a chance to learn just a little bit more about God, our faith, and how to live together on this earth. My hope is that each message challenges you to seek God, encourages you in your walk with Him, and offers some ideas for how you can live the right way (God's way).

I want this year to be full of asking questions and pursuing the answers together. This year, what I am asking all of you to do is to ask questions and share those questions with me. We have a Student Ministry Instagram, a Discord server, an email address, and now we have this blog (with comment sections). Use any of these to submit your questions so that we can pursue the answers together.

In conclusion, I think some of you are Christians, but you don't really know WHY you're a Christian. Or, you believe in God, but you don't know WHY you believe in God. Some of you have heard the message about Jesus and the forgiveness of sins, but you don't yet know WHY you need Jesus. Let's look at these questions together this year and figure out WHY we believe what we believe. The WHY is just as important (if not more so) as the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, or WHEN.

God bless yall!