"Feel Good" Gospel

In an addition to what I talked about yesterday about the "feel good" Gospel... Paul actually predicts the situation of the "feel good" Gospel that I have seen a lot of in many churches today in the 4th chapter of his 2nd letter to Timothy.

"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear."

I haven't been working in church ministry for a very long time, but in the short time that I have been, I've seen one issue that really scares me. The mega churches are usually the ones that preach the feel good gospel. Even in Harrison, the bigger, popular churches are the ones that leave attendees feeling happy and glad they are a Christian rather than feeling challenged to do something to make a difference in their community and to live like Christ. I've even seen pastors that do preach the word with sound doctrine either get run out of the church or forced to develop a "happier" sermon style to avoid being run off. The church is in a mindset of satisfying their "itching ears" with what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear.

Gameday

Alright, I admit that I've hit bloggers' block or something. Especially when it comes to my "theological" posts. But maybe this post is a sign of a comeback tour. Or then again maybe its just a grand finale one hit wonder sign of a comeback like you see with a lot of musical artists that try to make a comeback. Guess we'll find out....

I absolutely love Paul's letters to Timothy. I don't know why for sure. Maybe it feels so much to me like they were written to me. Yea, thats probably it. Sit down sometime and read through them. Great stuff! Something I read today and started processing in my mind (then pops the idea "I should blog about it") is from 2 Timothy 3:10-17.

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

As Paul is wrapping up his second letter to Timothy, he gives Timothy a direct order of how to live the Christian life. First Paul writes "continue in what you have learned and become convinced of." This places huge value on tradition. Learning from past theologians such as Martin Luther or John Wesley and the history and tradition that stems from the universal catholic church. So often I see new churches that completely neglect this order from Paul. I have always thought that it would be easier to work at a new church plant because you wouldn't have any tradition restraining you and preventing you from thinking outside the box, but many churches have gone too far. We must appreciate and learn from the roots of our Christian faith as we continue to move forward or we begin to develop off the wall theological beliefs and practices that don't always go hand in hand with Scripture.

Paul then states in verse 15, "and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures." We are to know Scripture and stick to it. The one thing that probably bugs me the most that I see in churches and Christians is the "feel-good" gospel. I was watching Joel Osteen on tv the other night (and it took a lot of willpower for me not to change the channel every 3 minutes) and all I kept hearing was "if you stick with God, you'll get this and he'll bless you with that." He was sharing the story of Ruth (if your unfamiliar with the story, you may want to read it right quick before reading on) and saying that she got her "handfuls on purpose" for being faithful and that if we are faithful, our Boaz will come along and we will receive our "handfuls on purpose." I agree that God will bless us for our faithfulness, but where is the challenge? How many of us are suppose to be Boaz? Supposed to look out for others and be the ones giving out the handfuls on purpose? Instead, we're sitting around waiting for God to deliver ours. In verse 16, Paul even states the purpose of Scripture. Scripture "is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness." I didn't see anything in there about making us feel good...did you? I just feel that Scripture needs to be studied and taught in its entirety. Jesus used HARD WORDS. Jesus challenged and pointed out when his disciples didn't live up to the challenge. Then in verse 17 he tells why we need the training. "So that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for ever good work." The purpose of Scripture isn't to make us feel good about being a Christian until we get to heaven, its to challenge us to become more and more like Christ and to use our gifts and abilities to further His kingdom.

I couldn't help but compare this passage to sports, which I tend to do a lot when I teach Scripture. I'm gonna go with football (although I could easily do basketball or many other sports). If I give a football to a group of kids that have never watched football before are they really going to know what to do with it? Are they going to play the game just like it was designed to be played? No way! Before you can start playing football, you have to have watched it and understood it to some degree (verse 14 - tradition). So my group of kids (who I'm now coaching) have seen football, now what? I'm gonna give them plays, a playbook, so they can learn the plays. If everybody is doing whatever they want then we're not gonna be on the same page and we're not gonna function properly. But when everyone knows where to be and what to do, things work a lot better (verse 15 - Scripture). Next? We have to practice...a lot. And the saying "practice makes perfect" couldn't be any farther from the truth; "perfect practice makes perfect." As we practice I have to teach them technique, how to throw, catch, block, tackle. We have to train, we need to be stronger and faster. And we need to correct mistakes (verse 16 - training). So why are we going through all these steps? Why are we learning plays and practicing? Gameday! We have to go through the steps so that we are equipped and ready to play and win. It's the same in the Christian life, we go through all these steps, understand the game, learn the playbook, and practice (teach, train, and correct) so that we are "equipped for every good work," so that we are serving God in every aspect of our being and spreading the good news of His Kingdom.

It's Gameday. Are you prepared and trained or are you just wingin' it, treating it like just another pickup game?

Spring Break

Well, its spring break. What does that mean for me? Unfortunately it doesn't mean a ski trip (hopefully next year) or the beach. But it does mean that I will have so many more opportunities to just spend time with students (since they aren't sitting in school). Which is the part that I love most about my job (you would think that it would be sitting in an office but its just not). Just yesterday some of us went out to the field and played some softball (really just hitting and fielding). We had a great time and I already got an early start on my farmer's tan (more like burn). There's no telling what I may do this week, hopefully the weather stays nice and provides even more opportunities to do stuff outside. I may play sports that I never grew up playing like tennis or golf or who knows what else. But, as a youth pastor, I do love spring break!

Busy?

My sister, out of desperation to get me to blog, sent me an email telling me that I need to blog. To keep her happy, I decided I would come up with something and maybe it might eliminate this "bloggers block" that I've had for a month or two now. So, I guess here are some things that have been going on in my neck of woods.

We are doing a minor remodel to our youth area at church. For some reason right now some of our walls are black, some are blue, some are white and I just haven't been real high on them. So, we are working on remodeling the youth area to tie into our student ministry name/logo (below) better.

This has kept me extremely busy after hours. We, and by we I mean Kelly one of my youth parents who is the type of person that you want on your side when your doing a project, started off by making big signs that we will hang up when we are done. Let me just say that these signs are gonna be sweet when its all said and done. We've been mudding rough areas and patching holes in walls, sanding, taping, putting up plastic, and plenty of other stuff. At some point this week, painters are coming in to texture the walls, then we will move on to painting. Build a audio/video cabinet with dad to put in and figure out some other wall/door stuff that I haven't even been able to decide on yet. I plan on putting up pics when its all said and done.

I've also been sick the last week or so. Don't really know what I had, never went to the doctor. Mom thought it might have been the flu, but being the stubborn Martens that I am, I wouldn't stay home and rest because it would've driven me insane, so I tried to work. I do feel much better now, not completely back to normal, but thats ok.

I took some kids to Conway for a training for our mission trip on Saturday. We had a great time except for the two boring hours that we were actually in training. I tried calling my sister, but she wouldn't answer, guess she didn't want to talk to me. And, Cici's was closed! I was very upset. We all had our heart set on eating Cici's then we get there (starving) and its closed so we had to settle on Pizza Inn. It just wasn't the same.

Well, I can't think of anything else exciting and I think I've forgotten everything I've done that was more than a week ago, so have a great day!

Prayer of Surrender

I spent the last couple days in Tulsa with my youth group at Planet Wisdom. It was a great student conference with the always hilarious Skit Guys, amazing worship with the Dutton Band, and powerful messages that, at least, challenged me to evaluate certain areas of my life.

I'm not one to share what I am about to share, and as you read you'll probably understand why, but we wrote a prayer of surrender and I just thought I would share what I wrote Friday night.

"God, I want to serve you completely. I want to live my life 100% for you. Help me to not be selfish, or scared, or lazy. Help me to not think I'm better than somebody else. Show me my brokenness and my need for you daily, hourly, every moment. Keep me from the thought that I don't need, that I don't need you, that I don't need others, that I don't need help, that I don't need encouragement. Don't allow me to ignore the issues that really hurt. Don't allow me to wear the mask that  so regularly use. Keep me from being arrogant and not allowing others to minister to me. I am fragile and breakable; help me live my life not afraid to show just that."

Yikes

After 3 weeks, I figure I had better post something or the couple people that read this blog might start getting extremely upset at me. So, I read in a news article today (it was sent to me because I don't freely read news) about something that was extremely shocking to me.

Student auctions off virginity for offers of more than £2.5 million

A student who is auctioning her virginity to pay for a masters degree in Family and Marriage therapy has seen bidding hit £2.5million ($3.7m).

 

Last Updated: 2:25PM GMT 12 Jan 2009

Natalie Dylan, 22, is auctioning off her virginity to fund her master's degree Photo: BARCROFT MEDIA

Natalie Dylan, 22, claims her offer of a one-night stand has persuaded 10,000 men to bid for sex with her.

Last September, when her auction came to light, she had received bids up to £162,000 ($243,000) but since then interest in her has rocketed.

The student who has a degree in Women's Studies insisted she was not demeaning herself.

Miss Dylan, from San Diego, California, USA, said she was persuaded to offer herself to the highest bidder after her sister Avia, 23, paid for her own degree after working as a prostitute for three weeks.

She said she had had a lot of attention from a wide range of men, including "weirdos", "those who get really graphically sexual about what they want to do to me" and "lots of polite requests from rich businessmen".

Miss Dylan said she did not think it was particularly significant to be willing to sell your virginity and insisted that she was happy to undergo medical tests for any doubters.

She said: "I get some men who are obviously looking for a girlfriend but I try and make it clear that this is a one-night-only offer.

"I know that a lot of people will condemn me for this because it's so taboo but I really don't have a problem with that.

"My study is completely authentic in that I truly am auctioning my virginity but I am not being sold into this. I'm not being taken advantage of in any way.

"I think me and the person I do it with will both profit greatly from the deal."

She added: "It's shocking that men will pay so much for someone's virginity, which isn't even prized so highly anymore."

Now, I'm not sure which is more shocking to me. The fact that she is auctioning her virginity (seems like an overpriced form of prostitution) or the fact that somebody is willing to pay 3.7 million dollars just to take her virginity (in a culture where having your virginity is no big deal). Just thought I'd share that little story. Have a splendid icy day.

Modern Day Ninevah....

Well, I just finished reading Nahum today and some things really jumped out at me. Nahum is written to the people of Ninevah (you know, the people Jonah had already visited and warned) to pronounce God's judgment. As I was reading, certain verses popped out to me and really led me to insert the U.S. in the place of Ninevah because of what seems to be a weakening of our country and economy. 

Nahum 3:5-7 - "'I am against you,' declares the Lord Almighty. 'I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame. I will pelt you with filth. I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle. All who see you will flee from you and say, 'Nineveh is in ruins - who will mourn for her?' Where can I find anyone to comfort you?'"

Nahum 3:19 - "Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal. Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty?"

We have been shamed by our economic crisis among other things, yet other countries don't pity us, don't mourn for us. Most nations are happy that we have taken a hit because of how we have been the bully to so many other nations for so long. Nations are truly "clapping their hands" as we face different struggles.

This was just something that I was questioning in my head more than trying to interpret Scripture to today's situations. Read the entire book of Nahum (its only 3 chapters) and let me know what thoughts might be going through your mind.