I just got like my 10 millionth invite to the “find 6 billion Christians on facebook” group. (ok a little sarcasm there) All I have to say is…. why? I know the the argument here. We are in the world but not of it. We are set apart, made holy, I get it. But as followers of Christ should we really make ourselves part of an exclusive “group”? These groups do say we are exclusive! I saw an invite for a “Christian Twitter” thing the other day. The tag line was something to the effect of “twitter for us” us meaning Christians. It drives me crazy! If we are real followers of Christ then the bible says, “They will know you by your LOVE.” I’m sure the creator of these groups and things mean well, but having a relationship with Jesus isn’t about groups. In-fact Jesus’ last word were, “Go into all the WORLD and make disciples.”
Rant over – here’s the practical.
Now don’t get all offended and defensive on me here cause you in a “group”. Our church has a facebook group and it’s useful to get information out quickly. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I just see many people using these groups as a source of identity. Even groups as big as denominations. Once an older gentleman in a church I was on staff at told me that if he wasn’t ‘Church of God’ he would be ashamed. While I think it was half way a joke, the truth is many people find their identity in what church they go to. Often people will ask me what I do for a living, my usual answer is “I work with students.” If I’m pressed on the issue I’ll tell them that I’m a youth pastor, but not unless I have to. Why you might ask, am I ashamed of what I do? NO WAY! I love what I do! But I want people to see the difference in me, not hear about it. The point in all of this is we should be showing our love for God by living for him. Not by joining the latest group, using the christian product, and being so “set apart” that you can’t reach those who really need it.
We have been in a study of the book of James in Third Place Youth for a few weeks now, I’m not ready to say it’s my favorite book yet, but it’s stock is climbing quickly. Anyway there is a verse in chapter 2 that has reached out and captivated me. James 2:26 says,
Just as the body is dead without breath,so also faith is dead without good works.
This is very interesting to me. So in-essence your good works is the oxygen to your spirit man. Think about that! You can say you have faith and believe in God, you may know all the religious church stuff, and still be a weak christian, gasping for breath. Your no less of a believer, but your also not a health believer.
I know of an awesome lady, she’s in her 70’s, but just an amazing person. In all of her awesomeness she does have one big issue… emphysema. She just doesn’t breath right. Her lungs have big problems. If you’ve ever known any one with this terrible disease you know how hard it is for them. She is very limited in what she can do, how far she go, and how much activity she can handle. Everywhere she goes she must take an oxygen tank and be careful not to “over do it”. She’s no less of a human, but she is not whole and complete. This is how we make our selves when we don’t have the “good works” to go with our faith. We limit our selves in what we can do, how far we can go, and how much activity we can handle. Those seemingly insignificant acts of kindness deliver the oxygen needed to your faith lungs! They make your make your faith muscles strong, and turn your spirit into a vibrant living creature.
If you’ve been depressed, or just felt weak and down and out, go do something “good” for someone. Your spirit probably just needs some oxygen!
Well here we are again, only this week I don’t like the lesson I’m learning. The last two were fun lessons, things I enjoyed. This week however is a hard one that I don’t like at all. I was reading my bible, (witch I highly recommend) when out of now where a verse I’ve read literally dozens of times hits me in the face.
Romans 14:1 Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong.
This arguing thing is hard for me. I like to be right. I like to make sure others know I’m right. But this last week I’ve been trying my hardest not to argue about anything. Ohh man it’s not easy! But I’m working on it. The thing that I’ve found about arguing is that most arguments are about opinion or perspective. Neither of witch is a good reason to argue. Of course every one has an opinion, regardless of right or wrong, arguing seldom changes things. I believe in debate, there are two side to every coin, there is room for sharing your point of view. But if it escalates to arguing, chances are, you’ve already lost.
Alright peeps, here’s week 2 of “learn something new” actually it’s above here. I have always loved design, art and just being creative. I’ve just never taken time to focus the design part. Well now I am! So what you see as my new blog header is my first attempt at design. I’m diggin doing this stuff. Let me know what you think, I really would like some feed back. Good or bad! I can’t get any better unless someone tell me how I can improve.
I read a few days back that one of the best thing you can do for personal growth is to document every week some thing you have learned, and how you are applying this new found knowledge. So in the spirit of learning here is what I’ve got for this week:
In my quest to become a better guitar player I learned some new chord shapes. It’s amazing many different place you can play a “C” chord on the guitar. I’m finding how much better I can sound in a band setting just by playing the same chord in a different position. I’ve also found that it opens the creative process even more for song writing. As for application, I’m incorporating these new chords shapes into everything I play. Here is an example…
I made this scratch track of a song we’re writing, but it uses alternative chord shapes threw out to give the song a different flavor.
Had this thought last night… kinda silly, but it won’t get out of my head. So let’s say your making a movie of your life, what actor/actress would you cast to play you? You know me, I didn’t stop with me, I cast my family and a few friends. Anyway, I would love to hear who you think would be the best actor/actress for the job of playing you. Later in the week I’ll reveal who I think should play me, so stay tuned and leave your comments of who should play you.
Not that you need it but here’s a look inside my head. Sometimes it helps me to do a brain dump and just throw some stuff out there and get some feed back. Here we go:
1. James 4:17 maybe the most underrated and under taught verse in the bible.
17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
Thought – As followers of Christ how can we read the bible, go to church and hear great (or not so great) messages every week and still not do what we know to do? Maybe that’s the worst sin of all (if there were degrees of sin). Gonna be teaching on this in 2 weeks at 3PY… it could get heated!! I’m a little fired up about this right now. There are so many stories of “Christians” just acting stupid.
2. I hate it when people are abused. If your in a position of authority or power, you should be building up not tearing down! The people around you are not there for you to control, but to help accomplish a goal. Don’t take them for granted.
3. I can’t wait for the pumpkin spice latte to come back to starbucks! that may be my most favorite part of fall and winter.
4. Camping in the rain sucks!
5. I’m looking for good resources on the book of Revelation. Know of any?
I think that’s about all that in my head right at the moment. leave a comment and give me some feed back.
WOW! We had an amazing weekend this last week at Omega Summer Slam! Let me just hit some highlights for ya:
1. 6 Students got Saved!
2. Most all of the Students who attended God did an awesome work in their life. Many re-commitments to follow after Christ and also we saw kids break free from addictions and give up unhealthy life styles.
3. Yeah we had a ton of fun too. Paintball was awesome! and our late night theme’s were so awesome, 80’s night was my favorite.
If your on facebook, and you should be, add 3PY as a friend. You’ll be able to see the pics and videos from our weekend.
Thad White is the Youth Pastor of Third Place Youth Ministry at the Soldotna Church of God, produces the Alaskan Christian TV show "A Hope For The Future" on KYES channel 5, Loves meeting people, anything made by apple, Guitars, and my family.
Thad White is the Youth Pastor of Third Place Youth Ministry at the Soldotna Church of God, produces the Alaskan Christian TV show "A Hope For The Future" on KYES channel 5, Loves meeting people, anything made by apple, Guitars, and my family. 
