I have a confession to make, I love the tv show "The Office." And while I am confessing this bit of information, I will make another confession, Dwight K. Schrute is my favorite character on the show. There is a scene (in clip below) where Dwight talks about learning his rules as a child.
While this is funny, the thought hits me as I watch this, how many Christian parents raise their children in the same way. Now of course we would never tell our children they will get eaten in their sleep, well at least most of us, but how often do we still use fear, especially fear of rejection and loss of love, to manipulate our children's behavior to meet our standard. I fear, and in fact I see evidence to support this is true, that many children are raised in a way that they view God as one who loves them or rejects them based on their goodness. And what troubles me even more is they get this from the picture of God that they get from their parents. This view of God completely destroys the beauty of the gospel. The gospel is that God loves us in spite of our rebellion through the righteousness of Christ. God doesn't love us based on how well we "learn our rules" but rather based on the righteousness of Christ imparted to us. Are we raising "godly" children who live a life in fear of rejection if they do not meet a standard? Or are we raising a generation of students engulfed with the love of God through the work of Christ Jesus? We must strive as parents to display the gospel to our children in how we raise them, not behavior modified religion.
13 May 2011
Who gets the glory?
Over the past few days I have spent some time reading through Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia. While I was reading yesterday, there was a verse I read, one I have read many times before that stuck out to me and made me think: Think about my life, my ministry, my witness to the lost.
In chapter 1 Paul is writing of his conversion experience in verses 11-24, and in verse 24 he writes, "And they glorified God because of me." As Paul was changed, God was glorified. If you read back through the preceding verses, there is only one person performing the verbs that are taking place in Paul's conversion, and that is God. It was God who set Paul apart, God who called him by His grace and God how was pleased to reveal His Son. And this is no different for anyone who is saved in Christ Jesus.
Paul never got past his radical depravity and his glorious salvation. As Paul recounted his conversion, as the people in Paul's life saw his changed life, and as Paul proclaimed the gospel of Christ, there was one thing that prevailed; this being the God's glorious grace towards him. As I read this my mind immediately began to think through my life and my ministry. Who gets the glory? As I tell of my conversion, am I the main character? Am I the one who figured it out? Am I the one who just decided to turn over a new leaf? Or is God the main character? Is God the one that gets full credit for my salvation, or is He simply a supporting role? And beyond this, what gospel am I preaching? Am I preaching a gospel that revolves around the mercy and grace of a glorious God, or am I preaching a gospel that downplays our sinfulness and teaches just cleaning up our act?
As we look at our lives as believers, our witness to the lost world, we must keep the glory of God at the center. We must cling to the truth of the gospel, and daily live in the truth that it is simply through the mercy and goodness of God that we are saved and live in a way that people, as they see our lives and hear our story, glorify God because of us.
In chapter 1 Paul is writing of his conversion experience in verses 11-24, and in verse 24 he writes, "And they glorified God because of me." As Paul was changed, God was glorified. If you read back through the preceding verses, there is only one person performing the verbs that are taking place in Paul's conversion, and that is God. It was God who set Paul apart, God who called him by His grace and God how was pleased to reveal His Son. And this is no different for anyone who is saved in Christ Jesus.
Paul never got past his radical depravity and his glorious salvation. As Paul recounted his conversion, as the people in Paul's life saw his changed life, and as Paul proclaimed the gospel of Christ, there was one thing that prevailed; this being the God's glorious grace towards him. As I read this my mind immediately began to think through my life and my ministry. Who gets the glory? As I tell of my conversion, am I the main character? Am I the one who figured it out? Am I the one who just decided to turn over a new leaf? Or is God the main character? Is God the one that gets full credit for my salvation, or is He simply a supporting role? And beyond this, what gospel am I preaching? Am I preaching a gospel that revolves around the mercy and grace of a glorious God, or am I preaching a gospel that downplays our sinfulness and teaches just cleaning up our act?
As we look at our lives as believers, our witness to the lost world, we must keep the glory of God at the center. We must cling to the truth of the gospel, and daily live in the truth that it is simply through the mercy and goodness of God that we are saved and live in a way that people, as they see our lives and hear our story, glorify God because of us.
"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
12 November 2010
What Kind of Men are We Raising?
This morning, while I was getting ready, I was listening to the popular sports talk radio program "Mike and Mike in the Morning" as is my custom. This morning the conversation came up about the amount of time their assistants spent playing video games every week. This particular man, who is grown, married, and has a full-time job, played an average of 20 hours of video games every week. Later in the show people were emailing justifying this amount of time or more being spent by grown men every week playing video games. As I was listening to this, I began to think about if this is the kind of men we are raising in the church. As I look around, I sadly have to conclude for the most part it is. Maybe it's not video games (though often it is), but it seems we have created a culture of boys who never grow up and truly become men. Do not misunderstand me, I am not speaking against playing video games or having fun, but I am speaking against a culture in the church that grows men who sit around and play war/fantasy video games for hours on end, and never step up to the plate to join in on the battle for the gospel and for their families. We seem to have created an atmosphere of adolescence and complacency in men, to the point that they never put on their big boy pants and become the men that God is calling them to become.
As I reflected upon this, the challenge became two-fold for me. First, am I striving to become a man who is truly a man, sold out for the gospel and is strong in leading my family, or am I still a boy caught up in video games and model cars. Am I leaving behind the childish things and striving for maturity, or am I staying back in a state of immaturity where it is nice and comfortable. Secondly, what kind of men ma I building up in ministry? Are we as a church creating an atmosphere that allows men to sit by idly on the sidelines playing games, or are we creating an atmosphere that demands men step up to the plate and be leaders.
Men, which describes you? Are you truly stepping up to the plate and seeking to become a true man of the gospel? Fathers, are you raising up men, or boys who sit by and watch others take charge while they simply play games? If, in the mission of God we are truly going to have an impact , it is imperative that we be men, and raise a generation of men. So put down your Xbox controller and step up to the plate.
As I reflected upon this, the challenge became two-fold for me. First, am I striving to become a man who is truly a man, sold out for the gospel and is strong in leading my family, or am I still a boy caught up in video games and model cars. Am I leaving behind the childish things and striving for maturity, or am I staying back in a state of immaturity where it is nice and comfortable. Secondly, what kind of men ma I building up in ministry? Are we as a church creating an atmosphere that allows men to sit by idly on the sidelines playing games, or are we creating an atmosphere that demands men step up to the plate and be leaders.
Men, which describes you? Are you truly stepping up to the plate and seeking to become a true man of the gospel? Fathers, are you raising up men, or boys who sit by and watch others take charge while they simply play games? If, in the mission of God we are truly going to have an impact , it is imperative that we be men, and raise a generation of men. So put down your Xbox controller and step up to the plate.
08 September 2010
19 June 2010
A Story of Salvation from NY: Austin Wilkins
Wednesday, June 17, 2010, our youth group set off to go door to door inviting people to a local block party. In doing this, we had doors shut in our faces, and people yelling at us for no apparent reason. Despite all of this, God gave us the strength we needed to continue on and invite people to the block party. What all of us prayed to accomplish that day was to share the gospel with those who had never heard. Most of the people we talked to made it sound quite obvious that they did not know the gospel, nor did they wish to. In saying that, there was one man who we found that did not act at all like those we had meet that day.
Born and raised in Staten Island, NY, Dan did not know who Jesus was. When Laura, a member of the mission team from Virginia, and I approached him with our Block Party invitations, he seemed really exited but regretful to tell us that he could not make it. He said he was going to be in a missions bike ride on Saturday. Of course, this led us to ask him if he went to Church and if he knew who Jesus was. What followed after that question was completely surprising to me. Dan said that he was Catholic and for sometime attended church regularly, but had absolutly not clue who Jesus was, so we asked if we could share with him. Dan then did something that we had not seen all day, he actually sat down and ask us to please tell him. The tone of his voice and the look on his face made us realize that we had found someone who really wanted to hear of Gods wonderful gift.
We then sat there and told him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I will tell you this with total confidence, when he prayed to God, accepting Christ into his heart, we knew that he was truly sincere. The sound in his voice, the look on his face, and that he almost seemed to act as if a 100 lb. weight was taken off his back. He then thanked Laura, Tim, Andrea, and my self for doing what we had been doing that day (Tim and Andrea were also in our group and joined in the conversation about 10 minutes in). For a good 30 more minutes we stayed there and continued to answer any questions he had.
Some things that you might want to know about Dan is that he is a former alcoholic, who is going to AA. We told him that he should not blame God that he was an alcoholic but that he should use what he has gone through to help others get away from alcohol. God has a plan for this man, and all of us could tell it. I just want to thank everyone at OCBC and at Salem Church for putting this together. What is being done up here is truly a great thing.
~Austin
Born and raised in Staten Island, NY, Dan did not know who Jesus was. When Laura, a member of the mission team from Virginia, and I approached him with our Block Party invitations, he seemed really exited but regretful to tell us that he could not make it. He said he was going to be in a missions bike ride on Saturday. Of course, this led us to ask him if he went to Church and if he knew who Jesus was. What followed after that question was completely surprising to me. Dan said that he was Catholic and for sometime attended church regularly, but had absolutly not clue who Jesus was, so we asked if we could share with him. Dan then did something that we had not seen all day, he actually sat down and ask us to please tell him. The tone of his voice and the look on his face made us realize that we had found someone who really wanted to hear of Gods wonderful gift.
We then sat there and told him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I will tell you this with total confidence, when he prayed to God, accepting Christ into his heart, we knew that he was truly sincere. The sound in his voice, the look on his face, and that he almost seemed to act as if a 100 lb. weight was taken off his back. He then thanked Laura, Tim, Andrea, and my self for doing what we had been doing that day (Tim and Andrea were also in our group and joined in the conversation about 10 minutes in). For a good 30 more minutes we stayed there and continued to answer any questions he had.
Some things that you might want to know about Dan is that he is a former alcoholic, who is going to AA. We told him that he should not blame God that he was an alcoholic but that he should use what he has gone through to help others get away from alcohol. God has a plan for this man, and all of us could tell it. I just want to thank everyone at OCBC and at Salem Church for putting this together. What is being done up here is truly a great thing.
~Austin
17 June 2010
A Students View on the NY Mission Trip: DeAnna McEntire and Emily Pate
Every day is an opportunity for ministry, but not many of us always take that opportunity. Today, we had the chance and took the opportunity to share. We divided into groups of four that were mixed with the other church groups. Our goal was to go door to door throughout Staten Island and invite people to Salem Church's block party. Not only this, but we also hoped to take the opportunity to share the gospel of Christ.
We had a surprising mix of results. Our experience involved many mean dogs, many slammed doors, and many unfriendly people, and also a few that were receptive. By lunchtime we were already somewhat discouraged, but we remembered the words of John Welborn the night before, when he spoke of how God made the footsteps of three lepers sound like an army in 2 Kings 7. In the same way, the flyers we passed out to a few unreceptive people in New York City could bring people to Christ.
God always works in mighty ways, even when it is unexpected. One person in our group, Austin Wilkins, had the opportunity to lead someone to Christ. He shared the story of the conversion with all the youth and it was very encouraging. Austin will write more about this tomorrow. After a tiring day of dealing with people who brush us off, it was great to know that someone came to Christ. This is the entire reason we came here to New York, even if it was just one person.
Emily and DeAnna
16 June 2010
NY Trip: Day 2
Today was a tiring day. We spent the day painting the apartment of a local family, or should I say family. There were to families sharing a 3 room apartment, with 2 bedrooms, a bathroom and a small kitchen. Each family had a bedroom to essentially serve as their house. there were three beds in one room and a crib and two beds in the other. It was a humbling experience as we often complain about not having the newest, nicest things, while these families were essentially living in an 8x10 room. Because of the language barrier we were unable to strongly communicate with them residents, though we were able to tell the story of Jesus as best we could to the little girl that lived in the house who spoke English very well. Overall, the youth put forth a great days work and we are excited about tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will be going throughout the community, mainly knocking door to door, inviting people to the block party on Saturday and hopefully having the opportunity to share the gospel of Christ Jesus with them. I trust in the Sovereignty of God and know that there will be some among those with which we will talk that He is calling to Himself and that we will be able to share the gospel with some and see some come to salvation. Please be in prayer for us, that we will have boldness and will clearly communicate the gospel and God will save some. Tomorrow will be a report from one of the students on what has taken so place over the week so far.
Tomorrow we will be going throughout the community, mainly knocking door to door, inviting people to the block party on Saturday and hopefully having the opportunity to share the gospel of Christ Jesus with them. I trust in the Sovereignty of God and know that there will be some among those with which we will talk that He is calling to Himself and that we will be able to share the gospel with some and see some come to salvation. Please be in prayer for us, that we will have boldness and will clearly communicate the gospel and God will save some. Tomorrow will be a report from one of the students on what has taken so place over the week so far.
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