Breaking out of the Bubble

One of my friends who is a young adult from my church wrote a GREAT article on TrueU.org. If you are in college, listen to Lindsay's advice. And even if you are out of college, there is still some great wisdom in Lindsay's words.

Great job, Lindsay. And to think I can say "I knew you when.."

(P.S. That's Lindsay in the picture...)

Saved (by integrity)

Personal News
We are in Topeka, KS right now enjoying Thanksgiving with my in-laws. The cousins are having fun, the turkey was great, the laughter is refreshing to the soul, and the football is enjoyable to the football-starved like myself (even bad games like today's Falcons/Lions game!).

Personal Thoughts
On Monday night, since I was on "vacation" (even though I was still at home), I decided to watch a movie. A friend lent me the movie "Saved", saying it would make for a great discussion movie at our next Movie Night for one of the ABFs I oversee at New Covenant. He was right! This movie would generate a lot of discussion.

The movie is about a Christian high school in America. A very crude summation of the story is the "bad guys" are those who claim to be followers of Christ and the "good guys" are those who don't claim to follow Jesus. It was marketed as a "coming of age" story - a typical teen film.

I was familiar with the story before popping the DVD in the player, so as someone fully dedicated to Jesus, I was prepared to be offended. I'll admit, there were parts I was offended, but overall, my emotional response was one of sadness.

I was first sad for Christ. This was my Lord that was being made fun of. Well, I guess they weren't making fun of Him directly, but rather His followers. But if we are supposed to be "little Christs" (as the word "Christian" means), then they were slamming my Lord vicariously.

But I am also sad for anyone who does not know Jesus and watched the film. Unfortunately, the film portrays some Christians very accurately. Why? Because many of us have been extreme hypocrits.

The film's ultimate "moral" theme was that consistency of character counts. You end up hating the "Christian" girl (played by Mandy Moore) because she lacked integrity and Christlike character.

How are you living your life? Are you giving "props to the Big Man" verbally, but then living your life differently? Are you a Christian only because you're caught in a Christian circle of friends, or because you really have met the wonderful, yet terrifying Jesus? Is it evident in ALL you say and do Who you belong to?

Perhaps God can use "Saved!", which wanted to hurt the image of Christians, to actually save some of his followers from a life of inconsistency and characterlessness. I'm praying so...

Essays on Sex

Everystudent.com has some articles on sex, pornography, relationships, and other topics on their website. While the target audience is college students, I think any young adult could benefit from these short essays. The essays aren't a complete help in making godly changes in the sexual areas of our lives, but they could help transform our thinking, which begins the change process.

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Romans 12:2a)

Breaking the Addiction

In my talk tomorrow night at Watershed's Worship Gathering, I will be addressing the issue of pornography, and will be briefly mentioning some ways to get out of an addiction to pornography, especially online.

Here are links to two of the accountability software programs I'll mention:

XXXChurch's Free Accountability Software
Covenant Eyes (this one has a monthly cost, but supposedly have a Mac version coming very soon, which is why I put the link ('cause I'm a loyal Mac user myself!).

My "Jesus" Baseball Card

Just read this in a "Leadership Weekly" email:

Appearing on a Baseball Card with Jesus Christ
I have a small collection of baseball cards. The card that is worth the most is called "Future Stars" and is valued at $100.

There are three players on this card. The first is Jeff Schneider. Schneider played 1 year of professional baseball, pitched in 11 games, and gave up 13 earned runs in those 11 games.

The second player is Bobby Bonner, who played 4 years of baseball but only appeared in 61 games, with 8 runs batted in, and 0 home runs.

The third "Future Star" played 21 years for the Baltimore Orioles and appeared in 3,001 games. He came to bat 11,551 times, collected 3,184 hits and 431 home runs, and batted in 1,695 runs. His name is Cal Ripken, Jr.

Now imagine if you met Bobby Bonner, and he shook your hand and boasted, "Did you know that my baseball card is worth over $100?" You would laugh because you know the worth of the card has nothing to do with him.

That's how it is when we come to Christ and point to our good works, our statistics, and ask, "Is this good enough?" If you want to hold up your stats to God, you don't have a chance. But when you put your faith in Christ, his statistics become yours, and your baseball card becomes worth a lot because of someone else's stats.

Bobby Bonner and Jeff Schneider's baseball card is worth $100, not because of their statistics, but because of what someone else has done.

(Citation: Shaun Brown, Newport News, Virginia)

This Could Have Been Me...

Kyle Lake, 33-year-old pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, TX, passed away Sunday, October 30th. He was standing in water preparing to baptize someone when he was accidentally electrocuted (possibly through the microphone he was using). Kyle left behind a wife, a 5-year-old, two twin 3-year-old boys, and a great church.

Kyle was born just a year before yours truly. I, too, have little kids. And just this passed Sunday our church was doing baptisms (although I was not involved). This realization hit me: This could have been me.

Kyle's "untimely" death reminds me to ask myself "Am I making the most of today?" While I do not want to live life morbidly and afraid of death, I have to admit that I think of myself as being invincible. I know I won't go home before God's timing, but I doubt Kyle thought Sunday was God's timing for his life. He had a great wife. Great little kids. Worked with a great church. This could have been me.

Are you aware of your mortality? Are you making the most of your days? Are your relationships at a place where you could go at any time without regrets? Because you don't know when your calling card is going to be pulled. This could have been you.