The Millionth blog about the VMA's (why Miley might not be as bad as we thought)

You're probably tired of reading about the VMA's.

I am.

Plus this blog is weeks late, and what I'm about to say isn't new.

There is something disturbingly wrong with the way culture has responded to the Miley Cyrus incident. Miley's performance was pretty gross. No way around that.

But it was also not very different from what millions of other young people her age have done in an attempt to gain attention,  earn respect, and prove independence. The primary difference between her and the rest of college aged America is that there are no video camera's documenting our awful decisions. Even if there were no one knows our name or cares enough to tweet mean things about it. 

Yes what Miley did was wrong and nauseating. Yes, she should be prayed for. Yes, it looks like she's on a pretty dangerous -yet strangely familiar- path. I'm not defending her actions, I'm simply saying that I see myself in her. 

I've done some stuff that I really wish I wouldn't have. I've tried to prove I was grown up in ways that completely proved the opposite. I get it. I'm not saying that all college students go off the deep end freshman year, and I'm DEFINITELY not saying it's okay. I'm just saying what she did really isn't that shocking. 

What is shocking is that Robin Thicke is allowed to be on stage with a young girl, or within a hundred yards of a young girl. His actions were disgusting, demeaning, and unacceptable. As far as I'm concerned he took advantage of a young girl who was trying to find her identity and then used her mistakes for his own pleasure. Sounds a lot like date rape. 

But few people are blogging or tweeting or using sermon illustrations about him. I think it's because then men of my generation are straight up wusses. Calling him out means we have to quit listening to his catchy songs, asking our girlfriends to make exceptions, and talking about girls like we talk about cars and football. It means we've got to man-the-heck-up!

What gives me the right to say this? nothing. 

My past is full of stories where I was no better than Robin Thicke. The only thing that allowed me to marry the most beautiful woman ever and finally live a life dedicated to purity is the grace of Jesus Christ. But that grace is what we must stand in. The grace that takes people like us and turns them into people like Christ. Through that grace we need to set the bar higher for the men of our generation. We need to say that objectifying women simply isn't acceptable. We need to agree that women are made in God's image and should be treated as holy. 

We need to pray for Robin Thicke. We need to seek God that he would realize his need of Christ's love. We need to not allow this egregious example of the state of our culture to be acceptable and unnoticed any longer.

How would you respond to Robin Thicke?

How will you take a stand?

4 Leadership Lessons from Collide

This past weekend I had the opportunity and privilege of helping lead a large event in Sioux Falls, SD. The event was a blast, God proved himself in a mighty way by bringing at least 30 people to himself, and a youth movement was catalyzed in our city. This weekend I was exhausted and empty, but completely in awe of Jesus. There are lots of things I could write about as lessons from these last few months of planning, but I'll stop with these four that stand out.

1. Clearly Communicate Vision: It is absolutely imperative to know why we are doing what we are doing. Decide the vision from the get go. Make it clear, concise, and measurable. Cut out everything that does not directly accomplish the vision. If there is not a clear reason that guides the whole event toward the vision for each individual piece then that piece is unnecessary and distracting.
2. Stress Isn't Worth It: In the end stress only clouds our judgement and causes us to not be able to enjoy the thing we are stressing out about. Worry less, worship more. As Christian leaders we are doing things that we firmly believe are from God. If God calls us to it and equips us for it then God is also responsible for it. That does not mean we should be lazy, it simply means we should not freak out over something that isn't even ours.
3. Rest is Essential: It's impossible to not stress if we are running on empty. It doesn't matter how busy we are we HAVE to put in time to rest and recover before, during, and after whatever it is we are leading. When the leader are tired and stressed they lead tired and stressed.
4. God Always Goes Big: Big to God is just sometimes very different than big to us. We could be thinking that big means thousands in attendance, but God could mean big as in connections across the country and initiation of movements... or He could mean big as in small. In the end God does what He knows is best and if we are serving Him we can trust in that. 

Redemption and Gift Cards

I love gift cards. A gift card is like free money. Some people think that a gift card is a thoughtless gift, as if someone doesn't even know you well enough to buy you a good gift.

I'm pretty okay with that.

All you have to know is that I generally like the outdoors, music, or food and you can make me happy.

Where it gets bad is when someone doesn't even know me well enough to get me a decent gift card. Like the very nice people who got "my wife and I" a bed bath and beyond gift card. My wife is very thankful for the present you got her.

The idea of redemption is spoken of throughout scripture. Christians sing about it and preach about it, but I think it's one of those big words that remain vaguely defined for us. I think that because it was true for me for quite a while. So I put my college degree to use and did some biblical research.

I realized, to my dismay, that the word for "redemption" in the original language doesn't have some sort of crazy beautiful hidden meaning that can't be uncovered in english. (Pastors like it when there are cool hidden meanings cause it makes us sound smart.) It just means "redeem" or "ransom."

Like a gift card. A gift card is something that you redeem. Why? Because it has value. Like a coupon or a discount code. It has value, but that value is of no use until it is used for what it was designed for.

That is redemption. God looks at us and sees value. He sees something that is of great use, something that can do good. Something that is worth it. But He knows that it will never be of use until it is connected with what you were made for- Himself.

Sin has broken us, it has separated us from what we were made for. Until we are brought back to relationship with Christ we are like Wal Mart gift cards at Best Buy- useless.

But Christ redeems us and brings out the value that is locked inside us and unreachable. That value is the image of God himself- who we are made for.

Galatians 4:4-7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[b]6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[c] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

3 Reasons to Pray Boldly

Let me tell you a quick story. I've been a student ministry pastor for about a year now. When I began ministry I felt a distinct word from God that we needed to have a baptism service in about 6 months. We put it on the calendar and started preparing for the service. With the word about the service came the unshakable feeling that we needed to plan to Baptize 10 people, and we need to make that number known. Now 10 people may not seem like a bold number but for a smaller youth group in a highly churched culture 10 people is a big number. I was scared. Less scared and more concerned about my image really, because I knew that when we started proclaiming 10 people and only got 5 I was going to look dumb. You probably know where this story is going, but I'll tell you any way. Up until the week of the baptism we had about 6 people in line. We spent 6 months planning and advertising and got 6, and then the week of the service 3 more people added. I thought "9 is close enough. That's basically 10. Praise the Lord." The day of the Baptism our lead pastor stopped me at church and told me that one more person had called to sign up and we had 10 people.

Since that day God has been pushing me to approach him boldly, to ask him for greater things. The fact is that God is concerned with our tiny requests, but He is powerful for the bold requests. Most of us, myself very much included, ask God for things and then do everything we can to bail God out. We make sure that what we asked for either will happen or doesn't matter. After all the creator of the universe needs us to give him an excuse... I think God is calling his people, church leaders and church members, to start praying risky prayers.

1. We Have His Heart: Scripture is full of passages in which it becomes clear that God loves to do good for His people. He is our Father. If human, broken, messed up fathers can love giving good things to their kids how much more does the perfect God in whose image they were made love giving good gifts to his kids. We have his heart because his heart is for us. In Hebrews 4 we are instructed to approach the throne of grace with boldness because we have an intercessor, Jesus, who understands everything we need.
2. We Are Aligned With His Heart: God calls us to his mission in the world by his power through his love. Why in the world do we timidly pray about him accomplishing through us what He has already told us He desires to accomplish through us? It is not God's heart to give each follower a great retirement plan, but it is his heart for each follower to leave a significant impact on the people they can reach. Why do we nervously ask God for power to show His love? Why do we humbly ask to change our schools, workplaces, or families? That is God's heart and mission! He already wants to. Ask Him like you know the Almighty God wants to change your city.
3. He's Huge: He's God and he loves us more than we could ever understand. He has all resources at his disposal but we ask him for 200 bucks to pay the rent like it's going to drain his checkbook. Approach boldly because your God cares for you. He is growing you and teaching you. He desires your good. He doesn't usually answer exactly the way we thought He should, but He does answer.

Last thing- Boldness is not arrogance. It's not claiming what you think you've earned or deserve. It's reaching out to Jesus who died to prove to you just how dedicated he is to you. We need to start praying bold prayers to see the kingdom of heaven break into our lives and overtake our world. 

Homosexuality: How Do Christians deal with the issue?

Lets begin with a bit of clarity. The issue of homosexuality is more than a sin issue. It's more than a morality issue. It's more than a right or wrong issue.

It's a human issue.

It's a human issue because we are dealing with human beings.

Human beings are innately sexual creatures. We've been so since the beginning. In fact one of the first things we were commanded to do was be fruitful and multiply. Then theres the song of solomon. Which makes the point unavoidable. When we talk about homosexuality we are not talking about an issue, an epidemic, or a choice. We're talking about human beings who, like all human beings, find there sexual tendency closely linked to their identity. It's part of our brokenness. Sexuality was directly affected by the fall. Our sexuality instantly brought shame when sin entered the world, and anything shameful is hidden, and anything hidden is easily confused.

That being said no straight person defines their self by "heterosexuality." We call ourselves firemen or musicians, or we say we're married or love our dog.
If we don't make our sexual orientation our greatest divider for those who call themselves straight, why should it be the primary definer of someone who considers him or herself gay?

By allowing homosexuality to be the buzz word of identity and the pinnacle of "sinful culture" we have perpetuated to people that need the love of Christ that it is their sexuality that defines them instead of their creator. When we start with sexuality instead of humanity we will always end at depravity instead of the image of God. It has nothing to do with homosexuality being sin, it has to do with homosexuals being humans. When we attack homosexuality we are reinforcing that identity is sexuality, then telling people that their identity is detestable to God.

So we need to stop.

We need to learn the power of our words.

We need to stop dealing with the issue of homosexuality and start dealing with the issue of introducing people to Jesus. People. All people. All are loved. All can be forgiven. All can be redeemed. None have to do it on their own. None have to do it first.

Does that mean homosexuals can be Christians?

well... yes.

Does that mean gossips can be Christians?

yes.

The good thing is that it also means you and I can be Christians.

When struggling with a sin disqualifies a person from being a Christian I'm out. So are you.

Temptation is not sin. Jesus was tempted. That means being tempted to look at porn isn't sin. That means having an attraction toward porn isn't sin. That means having the attraction to a member of the same sex isn't sin. Acting on it is.

But lets be real. David had an affair and killed a guy to cover it up. He was a man after God's own heart and wrote most of the Psalms. The cross of Christ is more powerful than any human issue.
But for some reason we think that homosexuality is going to tear apart the church? No. There is no sin, no struggle, no human issue that is greater than our God or more powerful than his cross.
That deserves an amen.

The more we worry about homosexuality instead of worrying about people meeting Jesus the farther we tear the wound.

Sin cannot keep us from his love. Accept him and trust him first. He'll deal with the sin as we grow close to him. It won't be easy. But it also won't be a losing battle.

Helping people enter into and grow in a relationship with him is the only issue Christians need to worry about. We do that by loving them, serving them, telling them, accepting them, befriending them, discipling them.

Yes, homosexuality is sin. That is an unavoidable truth in scripture, but there are a lot of sins in scripture. None of them define someone more than how much Christ loves them. Sin has never kept God from pursuing, accepting, forgiving, and THEN changing humans. The first step is Jesus. The middle steps are Jesus. The last step is Jesus. Worry about Jesus. He's the only one who can take care of any sin.

Highlighting the wrong passage- Why you should get a new Bible

I was talking to a good friend not too long ago and she told me something very interesting. She said that she had to get a new Bible. She said that she couldn't stand looking at the Bible she had written in and highlighted for her whole life any more.
Why?
 Because she had highlighted all the wrong passages.
She said that when she was growing up she was so concerned with what she had to do, how good she had to be, and what sins she had to avoid, that the most highlighted, underlined, and noted passages in her Bible were the ones about discipline, avoiding sin, and working out your faith.
She said it was so prominent that when she looked at her Bible her eyes were instantly drawn to all that she had to do to be a good Christian and past all that Christ does to make us who we're made to be.

Wow. That's powerful. I wonder if maybe we should all get new Bibles.

Many of us have grown up so focused on what we have to do that we completely over look what Christ has done for us. We hear about free grace, unfailing love, and freedom and we look for the fine print because nothing is really free. We're so concerned with our performance that we gravitate to our duty to the dismissal of what Christ has truly done.

The fact of the matter is that salvation starts and ends with Jesus. We are the recipients of something free. We do nothing to earn it or deserve it. What we do comes out of what Jesus has done and life change comes from exposure to who Jesus is. The more we try to change the more trapped in our guilt cycle we become. The more we know Jesus the more like him we become.

Maybe we should all start over with a clean bible and empty margins. Maybe we should start highlighting what Jesus has done and what his spirit is doing. Because really nothing we do deserves to be highlighted compared to that.

God works himself out in us as we expose ourselves to him. Our new life has been gifted to us by him. We take it, we don't make it.

Ephesians 4:22-24

The Message (MSG)

20-24 But that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

No, actually, I'm not tracking...

I'm about to admit something that might get me banned from some churches.

Lots of hymns creep me out.

There I said it. I feel better.
I'm all for metaphors and hyperboles and singing about the blood of Christ that washes away sin, but I think a lot of the songs that we sing just plain freak some people out... and some things we say too...

Imagine you get invited over to a party by a friend and all of a sudden the DJ puts on a song about taking a dip in a fountain filled with some guys blood. I hope you'd be freaked out.

I don't think hymns are sinful, and I'm sure there are lots of people that really connect with those lyrics. I'm also sure those people grew up in church or have gone there for long enough to get all the subtle hidden messages tucked away in those songs.

I just think we need to be careful. If our primary job as a church is to reach people with the Gospel of Christ and make them into disciples we should probably be careful about the things they hear and don't understand when they walk through our doors for the first time. I think sometimes Christians speak their own language. We assume that everyone knows the Bible story we're referencing, we assume that people understand that the blood that flows is not sadistic and the mansion in glory isn't all we think about. We assume to much, and we all know was assuming makes of u and me...

I think we need to be careful. To think about how people feel when they walk into our churches, and if they're going to be introduced clearly to the gospel by the things we do, or if they're going to spend the whole service wondering what the heck an "ebenezer" is.

You could always just go read Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley instead of my blog though... He says it a lot better than I do. I'd recommend doing that.