organic christianity

bad news

It has always hit me as very strange that in many Christian groups the good news of Jesus Christ seems to be reserved for the lost man, while Christians are living in guilt, insecurity, and fear of God's anger.  You could be an ax murderer or a Mafia hit man, and the message will be, "God loves you, and Jesus Christ died for your sins.  All you need to do is receive Him by faith and you'll be saved!"  That's right!  Any man who comes to Jesus Christ will be saved, regardless of his past.  However, the believers are getting a message like this: "You dirty, rotten backsliders!  You'd better clean up your act, or God's punishment will fall on you!"  First you get the good news, then after you're a Christian you get the bad news.  In Romans 5 it talks about Jesus dying for us while we were enemies how much more-now that we are members of His family. 

I suggest checking out Francis Chan's sermon series on grace.  He spent several weeks focusing just on grace, which is extremely innovative since you hardly ever hear that message in Church.  You cannot ever get enough of it, even if you've been a Christian for many years, because it is what gives us freedom and life as a believer.   

phantom christian

The Phantom Christian is that imaginary person that many of us are continually comparing ourselves to.  He is the super-spiritual man who gets up every day at 4:00 a.m. so he can pray for two hours.  Then he reads his Bible for two hours.  He goes to work, at which he is top in his field, where he effectively shares Christ with everyone in his office.  He teaches several Bible studies, goes to church every time the doors are open, and serves in many ways.  He is also a wonderful spiritual leader at home-a sterling example of a loving husband and father, who leads stimulating family devotions every day for his "Proverbs 31" wife and perfect children. 

Of course no one could live up to such a standard.  Even if someone could they would need 100 hours in their day!  Rationally, we all know that the Phantom Christian is ridiculous, but the problem is that he is never brought to our consciousness.  He is a vague ghost that sits in the back of our minds, creating a sense of failure to measure up. 

Knowing God loves you and understanding that he accepts you are two different things.  But only when we know and can rest in God's acceptance does love mean anything or practically relate to our lives.  Do you see God's love as some kind of vague, universal, impersonal thing or do you see it as an acceptance of who you are right now?

gift of freedom

At our annual youth Christmas party we decided to do something a bit different then the normal gift exchange.  We collected money for a charity called International Justice Mission (IJM).  IJM is putting an end to human trafficking by extracting slaves from their abusers, passing laws in countries to prevent slave trade and prosecuting offenders of human trafficking.  When I talk about slavery I am not talking about a historical idea but a modern day tragedy.  27 million people are slaves today.  Men, women and especially children are forced to work under tremendous abuse and others are forced to sell their bodies for sex.  250,000 of those slaves are in California alone.  They are in the central valley working in fields for no pay and are being beaten.  Others are in San Francisco locked up in rooms being raped daily.  It is almost too hard to comprehend. 

Instead of feeling bad about the issue and doing nothing our youth group is being educated about this modern day issue and are contributing their money and spreading the word to their friends.  We collected $163 at our party to give to IJM.  All the kids had a key drawn on their hand, which is a symbol of the movement against human trafficking (www.stopthetraffik.org).  They will be able to share their feelings about this issue at school or anywhere else when people talk about their key.  It will also be a reminder to pray for those in slavery.  Our high school students are also reading The Revolution,which gives information on how to be a part of the movement against human trafficking and other major world issues.  This is not the end but the beginning of a journey to leverage our influence for those who don't have any. 

church?

Please leave a comment and answer this question.  How do you define a "healthy" church?

I am reading Ed Stetzer's book, Breaking the Missional Code, and I now have more questions about church than I ever have before.  My journey over the last 4 months has been to discover "organic" christianity, which is Christianity free from man-made thoughts and ideologies.  I am learning and growing as I ask tough questions about my own life, church and theologies.   Breaking the Missional Code challenges churches to understand the community surrounding them and to contextualize the gospel so that it has less barriers for people to receive Christ and attend your church.  I am making a list of what I believe the church should look like.  I am formulating opinions about how it should relate to non-Christians, interact with the surrounding community and deal with social injustice.  What are your thoughts about church?

tanner gardner

Every Thursday during lunch I hang out at Dublin High with FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes).  Today we had a guest speaker from Stanford.  His name is Tanner Gardner, a two time All-American wrestler with a great testimony of how he came to know Christ as his savior.  Not only is Tanner currently undefeated but he also holds several records at Stanford.  The classroom where we met was packed out with students, Christian and non-Christian.  They all got a chance to hear the gospel message where a few students gave their life to Christ.  Tanner is such a great guy and it was so cool to see a humble man who has his priorities straight.  Tanner could of talked all about his athletic accomplishments but instead he focused on his best friend Jesus.  I thank God for the opportunities He has given us to preach the gospel on the public schools of this community.

jaeson ma

Jaeson Ma is a 26 year old lovesick worshipper of God and firebrand for Jesus.  Jaeson is president of Campus Church Networks a ministry dedicated to fulfill the Great Commandment and Great Commission in this generation through catalyzing and cultivating church planting movements on every campus, every city and every nation.  Jaeson is a leader from my generation who I believe is leading a new movement in the church today.  He may not be old, experienced or look like a typical "apostle", whatever that means, but he loves people, people are getting saved in his ministry and he is making it happen.  I highly recommend you check out his blog and even pick up his book The Blueprint.  He will be someone to watch out for.

depression

The youth pastors of Pleasanton in conjunction with Unite 4 Life were asked by Foothill High School to teach on depression and suicide to the entire student body.  Yesterday and Today I spoke for 9 hours in 6 periods to over 180 students.  It was an awesome experience that left me exhausted.  I have a new found respect for teachers.  I was able to connect with so many students from Freshmen to Seniors.  We equipped students to understand the warning signs of suicide and how to get help.  Even though we talked about such a serious subject we had a lot of fun too.  We were sometimes laughing a bit too much.  By the second day there were many students who remembered my name and I was able to establish a bit of trust with the students I taught.  They were calling my name out in the hallways and finally I felt accepted at my high school : ) (I was kind of a nerd in high school)  I hope that lives will be saved because of what we taught.  In the next couple months we will be teaching in the other schools in our community.  I am thankful for all the opportunities I have had in the last few months to minister to students on campus. 

Tomorrow I will be on Dublin High with FCA (fellowship of Christian athletes).  Tanner, a two time all American wrestler, will be sharing his testimony to a bunch of Christian and non-Christian students.  My prayer is that students will accept Christ as their Savior tomorrow. 

jehovah java

Last night our youth group went to Hacienda to bless students with the love of God. We had no agenda to convernt anyone. We just wanted to step out of our comfort zone and bless people. We passed out free Starbucks cards, shared with people that God loves them and prayed for them. It was awesome. We roamed around Barnes and Noble, Best Buy and the movie theatre talking to anyone we ran across. Many of the students that went said that it was the scariest thing they had ever done. One student said he was surprised that people were open to hearing the message of God's love and having us pray for them. I was so proud of all of our junior high students who were so bold. They were walking up to all ages of people sharing God's love. I would bet that most adult Christians have never done something this radical for Jesus. It is evidence to me once again that this next generation is crazy for God. They are bold, full of God's love and want to do something about their faith. We just have to present them with opportunities.

We felt like the Acts 2 church last night. The Acts 2 church was risky and adventerous. They shared God's love wherever they went and were never ashamed of the gospel. Parents of all the ten kids who went out last night should be so proud of them. They were courageous. Of all the things students do on a Friday night in our community I believe we were doing the most valuable thing. Many people were prayed for and heard the good news of Jesus, which is simply that He loves them.

As we sat in Starbucks sharing our testimonies of what God did we came to realize that the number one enemy to evagelism is us. We are so convinced that our culture is secular, peoople are opposed to the gospel or there must be a better strategy to reach people. They are all excuses. There might be an ulitmate strategy to evangelism but while we are figuring that out lets just hit the pavement and love people with no agenda. Lord I pray that we can learn from the young people today who are such great examples of living for God with passion.