Someone famous once uttered these words.
So it got me thinking- how can I foster / mentor / encourage / build up Christian leaders?
Any thoughts?
More to come I'm sure......
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Dude- Where'd the Dudes Go?
So I’m sitting in church the other day….and I’m wondering what happened to the guys. Unfortunately in the minds of most guys my age, the word “Sunday” is synonymous with the word “Football” and the phrase “Sunday morning” might as well be replaced with “WTF?”.
Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that if you don’t have young men in your church, your church is dying. It’s something that frustrates the heck out of me at times, and is one aspect of the church I feel called to develop. The Church is crying for Christian guys with initiative, leadership ability, and intimate relationships with the Father to lead it.
CRYING.
The result has (more often) been that ministries / callings have not been fulfilled, or that Christian women have had to spearhead these efforts. Don’t get me wrong, there are awesome Christian women out there passionately serving God in millions of ways, and in no way can the Church be led without their guidance. I am incredibly thankful for their service and they inspire me every day, but the sad truth is that many Christian women are forced to fill roles that they shouldn’t need to because the guys simply cant step up. The problem isnt that women are leading people to Christ- its that guys aren't.
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure that if you don’t have young men in your church, your church is dying. It’s something that frustrates the heck out of me at times, and is one aspect of the church I feel called to develop. The Church is crying for Christian guys with initiative, leadership ability, and intimate relationships with the Father to lead it.
CRYING.
The result has (more often) been that ministries / callings have not been fulfilled, or that Christian women have had to spearhead these efforts. Don’t get me wrong, there are awesome Christian women out there passionately serving God in millions of ways, and in no way can the Church be led without their guidance. I am incredibly thankful for their service and they inspire me every day, but the sad truth is that many Christian women are forced to fill roles that they shouldn’t need to because the guys simply cant step up. The problem isnt that women are leading people to Christ- its that guys aren't.
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
True Dat
"Being listened to is so close to being loved that most people cannot tell the difference." -David Oxberg
Monday, January 07, 2008
Searching for God Knows What
Dude break has been great mainly because I’ve gotten the rare opportunity to read. I love reading- more than TV & Sports and DEFINATLY more than video games. Maybe that means I’m growing up, maybe I’m an old man. Good books have got to be the best presents ever- and at the rate I’m going I’ll have enough from Christmas to get me through the year. Mainly a lot of awesome Christian thinkers like Don Miller, C.S. Lewis, and Ravi Zacharias. So since I got all these books I figure it’s a shame to read them and not share/discuss/debate what I’ve seen. I know there are quite a few Christian thinkers out there so if you agree or disagree or care at all- please respond or write your own thoughts on your blog because if nothing else, God loves it when we talk about him.
I just finished Searching for God Knows What. Pretty stinkin good. One thing that stood out for me (among many many….which I’ll expand on later) was this. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves:
When I meet a non-Christian do I spend more time & energy trying to reconcile Christianity to them or pointing them to Jesus?
This got me thinking quite a bit. I mean- at least half of the non-Christians I’ve met were driven away because the church has hurt them in the past, and I often find myself being placed in a position where I’m forced to be a reconciler. Usually it takes a few months for many at school to realize that these Christian folks are real people who genuinely care and (gasp!) love them. Many times its loveless contact evangelism, fire and brimstone, and checksheet Christianity clean up work and I often catch myself focusing more on how we’ve twisted the Good News rather than the message of Christ itself.
Crafty little devil isn’t he….
And so I turn into another bitter cynic off in the corner- just what the church needs. At times I find that many of us love to point at the faults of the church without taking any ownership or getting our hands dirty to bring about Godly change. Instead we turn to bitterness- we cross our arms & pout like 4 year olds.
Hebrews 12: 14-15 is awesome here:
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
See? Not only do we “cause trouble” and “defile many” by harboring this bitterness, but perhaps more importantly- we fail to see God and his blessings and are blinded to His purpose for our lives.
I just finished Searching for God Knows What. Pretty stinkin good. One thing that stood out for me (among many many….which I’ll expand on later) was this. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves:
When I meet a non-Christian do I spend more time & energy trying to reconcile Christianity to them or pointing them to Jesus?
This got me thinking quite a bit. I mean- at least half of the non-Christians I’ve met were driven away because the church has hurt them in the past, and I often find myself being placed in a position where I’m forced to be a reconciler. Usually it takes a few months for many at school to realize that these Christian folks are real people who genuinely care and (gasp!) love them. Many times its loveless contact evangelism, fire and brimstone, and checksheet Christianity clean up work and I often catch myself focusing more on how we’ve twisted the Good News rather than the message of Christ itself.
Crafty little devil isn’t he….
And so I turn into another bitter cynic off in the corner- just what the church needs. At times I find that many of us love to point at the faults of the church without taking any ownership or getting our hands dirty to bring about Godly change. Instead we turn to bitterness- we cross our arms & pout like 4 year olds.
Hebrews 12: 14-15 is awesome here:
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
See? Not only do we “cause trouble” and “defile many” by harboring this bitterness, but perhaps more importantly- we fail to see God and his blessings and are blinded to His purpose for our lives.
WHOA!
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