KENosis

Six Reasons The Next Generation is Leaving The Church

After reading Pete Wilson's blog today, I felt a great need to re-post it. Enjoy this article and pray how we as a church can reach out and continue to bring the next generation closer to Christ!

So we’ve all seen the stats. It seems like the church is rapidly loosing influence with the next generation. Barna President David Kinnaman examines the 6 reasons in a new article in Christianity Today.

The six reasons he lists are…

1. Isolationism. One-fourth of 18- to 29-year-olds say church demonizes everything outside church, including the music, movies, culture, and technology that define their generation.

2. Shallowness. One-third call church boring, about one-fourth say faith is irrelevant and Bible teaching is unclear. One-fifth say God is absent from their church experience.

3. Anti-science. Up to one-third say the church is out of step on scientific developments and debate.

4. Sex. The church is perceived as simplistic and judgmental. For a fifth or more, a “just say no” philosophy is insufficient in a techno-porno world. Young Christian singles are as sexually active as their non-churched friends, and many say they feel judged.

5. Exclusivity. Three in 10 young people feel the church is too exclusive in this pluralistic and multi-cultural age. And the same number feel forced to choose between their faith and their friends.

6. Doubters. The church is not a safe place to express doubts say over one-third of young people, and one-fourth have serious doubts they’d like to discuss.

Honor

This little word has been flowing in and out of my life recently. I have heard sermons about it, read scriptures directed to it, lived through holidays regarding it, and had the opportunity to live by, or ignore it.

Honor is one of those words we think we know, or we only equate to the 5th Commandment-honor your father and mother, or honoring a war hero on Veterans Day. But honor is so much more. Honor carries weight, honesty, fairness, or integrity in one's beliefs and actions.  So, that challenged me to sit back and think through my actions, considering them as carrying honor or not.

Do I live my life honestly, fairly, with integrity?  Do I treat my wife, my family, my boss, co-workers and friends with honor? And if I can not treat them with honor, how can I then honor God?  How can God use me to honor people I don't have a relationship with? How can I be seen as different from the world's standards if I let honor pass me by?

I had an opportunity today, to honor someone that I had no relationship with.  We had scheduled a meeting, that honestly, I didn't feel the need to have.  I politely cancelled the meeting, but did not hear a reply back as to whether or not this person recieved the message of cancellation.  I had a choice, not show up and hope they got the message, or honor them.

I chose the honor route, mainly because God has been speaking to me in this manner for several weeks.  As I left, what ended up being a 5 minute meeting confirming the cancellation, the person turned to me and said, "thanks for honoring your commitment".

Life doesn't always work out that way, but I know that God will choose the right timing to honor us if we are faithful in honoring Him and His people, regardless of the circumstance.

How will you honor someone this week?

 

Death by Love

Have you ever loved someone so much you would do anything for them? Have you loved someone so much you would die for them? You may have answered yes to both those questions, but have you ever loved someone so much you would allow someone else you loved just as much to die for them and to die for other people who didn't even know you?

Well, God did that! He loved you without you knowing Him. He loved us all enough to allow His son to die for us, then raised Him back to life so we could all be together! He wanted to prove to me, to you, to everyone, that there is NOTHING He can't overcome!

There is a light, It burns brighter than the sun. He steals the night, and casts no shadow. There is hope, should oceans rise and mountains fall, He never fails. So take heart, let His love lead us through the night. Hold on to hope, and take courage again! In death, by love, the fallen world was overcome. He wears the scars of our freedom. In His Name, all our fears are swept away. He never fails!

All our troubles, and all our tears, God our hope, He has overcome! All our failure and all our fear, God our love, He has overcome! All our heartache, and all our pain, God our healer, He has overcome! All our burdens, and all our shame, God our freedom, He has overcome! God our justice, God our grace, God our freedom, He has overcome! God our refuge, God our strength, God is with us, He has overcome!!

What has God overcome in your life?

As you read this post, this song, is a direct connection to it, enjoy! Take Heart.

I Am...

When God spoke to Moses through a burning bush, He referred to Himself as "I Am", making a statement to Moses that He was everything!  Telling Moses He was everything Moses needed Him to be, all the people of Israel needed Him to be and all we will ever need Him to be! Exodus 3:14

With that simple and very bold statement, God put a stamp on who He was and is, but not only that, I beleive He stamped Moses as well.  Encouraging and enabling Moses to become the leader He, God, had created him to be!

As people we often second guess our abilities, our God-given gifts.  We question if we have enough courage, if we are equipped, or Christ-centered enough to make a difference.  But, God, as our amazing Father is right there saying you can, not because of anything you have done, but because of everything He is!

So, try this, claim God to be the "I Am", because He is. Then fill in your blank as to who He has made you to be in Him!  I am equipped.   I am courageous. I am empowered. I am Jesus-centered. I am a servant. I am enabled. I am a leader.  I am a child of God. 

What do you need to fill in the blank? I am____.

Social Media Detox

I have considered myself to be ahead of the curve, or at least on the cutting edge of social media for sometime now. I remember having Twitter discussions when people still had Myspace accounts! In an age where everyone wants to know everything, and everyone feels the need to share everything they know and experience, life can actually get even more overwhelming. With an almost constant need to update "my status" on Facebook or Twitter, or the compulsion to check other people's status, I find myself on my phone or online more and more. As I sit blogging this, I have received two text messages as well as a mention on Twitter, and two notifications that it's my turn on Wordfeud. Whether your connection point is Facebook, Twitter, Google+, the need to check TMZ for the latest celebrity news or YouTube for the the next great parody, I believe we all need a break. A time to disconnect, unplug from the digital world and reconnect with the Creator. When was the last time you turned your phone off? And I don't mean just the ringer, I mean actually powering your phone off? No email, no games, no status updates? When was the last time you walked in your house, dorm room or apartment and didn't turn your television or computer, the last time you got in your car and did not turn the radio on? We live in a world with so many distractions, we could not hear from God if He was using a megaphone! If you are feeling empty, or like you are not sure the direction your life is going, or maybe just overwhelmed from all the "stuff", I challenge you to join me in a media/social media detox. I am taking the next 72 hours to listen. Listen to God, be in His presence, and hear what He says, be free from distraction, at the very least, hear myself think! So, I will be back in 3 days, I pray you enjoy your quiet time, I am sure I will!!

When God Speaks

I find it hard to hear God audibly.  I would assume that I am not alone in this regard.  Of course if you do hear God audibly, and in fact it is God, please contact me directly so I can listen in on the next conversation!

But seriously, God has not spoken audibly to anyone in quite some time. Which makes me wonder a couple of things. Am I paying attention? Distracted by my own life and what I want to accomplish do I even stop to think to listen to God?  Often times the answer to both questions is a "no".

Recently, I have been struggling in my relational time with God. I find myself doing so many things for Him, without actually spending any time with Him.  I have felt for a little over a week now that I should "up" my time spent with God.  Really be intentional in spending time in His Word, in prayer, thanksgiving and praise to Him.  Of course I neglected to actually do anything about those feelings, but I had them nonetheless. Well, leave it to God to fix that situation.

The last two days I have not slept very well, and I felt God's Spirit prompting me to spend time with Him.  Instead, I have watched more Netflix movies and fallen asleep in my chair, than acutally spending time with Him. For any of you that know me, I am NOT a morning person at all!!  My alarm tends to go off 3 or 4 times before I begin to attempt to get out of bed.  Well, I felt the Spirit of the Lord tell me last night, to read my Bible.  I distinclty remember telling God, "If you wake me up in the morning, I'll spend time with you."  Don't act like you haven't played similar games with God.

Well, sure enough, God woke me up before my alarm this morning.  My wife was even shocked I was awake that early with no alarm!  Well,  I heard the alarm of God, loud and clear.

I tell you this to encourage you, if God is speaking to you, listen. Turn down the noise of life, take 1o minutes a day to read a chapter in the Bible, ask God to help you understand it, pray and praise Him. Do it on your own time, because if you don't, He wants a relationship so badly with you, He may just wake you up!

 

Haiti

On an early Saturday morning my wife and I are headed to the airport to meet eight of our college students and we are all off to Haiti!
There is excitement, and anxiety as we all know God will use us while we are there to make an impact on the people we come in contact with. The overwhelming fact is that we know we will make an impact, but we know there is such a greater need than we can help with physically. The power we do have is to pray for them, and see God provide for them in ways we never could!
We appreciate your prayers as we head down to spread the love of Christ and help the people of Haiti as much as we possibly can!

Daily Word

I had the opportunity to share a devotional with a group this morning and as I was pulling my thoughts together I realized what I had to say was not important or had any great meaning whatsoever. I began to ask God what would He would like to speak through me, and what He wanted me to learn through leading the devotion. As a result He took me down a road of Daily Word. Psalm 1:1-3 says it better than I can. 1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Verse 2 especially spoke to me. Day and night. Often times I open my Bible either in the morning or at night, but rarely both. What would my spiritual, emotional, and physical life look like if I spent double time with God? I mean just regular time with God is good right? Every other day, or once a week, that's good right? But, how would my life change and how much could I impact the people around me, not to mention being impacted by the Creator, if I spent 5 minutes in the morning and another 5 minutes at night with Him? The answer to that question is the last sentence in verse 3-Whatever he does prospers. So, the challenge is to spend 10 minutes a day with 1 chapter or section of verses and apply them to my life, day and night. Is that something you think you can do too? Try it and see how God will prosper you!

Jehovah Jireh

I wish there was a translation of the Bible that switched out all the times God was used and inserted the original Hebrew name for Him. That would be an awesome version! Which leads me to this post.

Jehovah Jireh means Provider.  One of the first instances we see this name used for God is Genesis 22. God has told Abraham to take his son to the top of the mountain and to kill him as a sacrifice and submission to God.  If you don't know the story of Abraham, not only was this his son, it was his only son, a son which God had told Abraham would be the beginning of a nation that Abraham would be the father of, and a son that was given to Abraham at an old age.  So, to say this would be a step of faith for Abraham, is an understatement.

Abraham was indeed a man of faith and a man that knew God wasn't just providing for him, but was going to provide because He was God! Verse 8 says, Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together. And sure enough, God provided a ram at the last minute, as Abraham had raised the knife to take his son's life, Jehovah Jireh- provided.

As we are coming off of the Easter weekend, be reminded that just as God provided for Abraham, He has provided another, His own son Jesus, and through that provision so many other provisions have followed.  No matter your circumstance, even if it seems like the final hour, it may even seem like you have raised the knife, but through your faith, God will provide, for He is, and always will be the Provider for us all!

The Day Before

As we approach Easter and Good Friday is just a few hours away, I began thinking of what Thursday must have looked like for the disciples.

I wonder what the expectation was as the disciples walked towards the house at the start of the evening, what was their discussion, their reflection. They were told there would be dinner, and as they arrived they found their leader, their King prepared to wash their feet. After this humbling experience, Jesus would then gather them for dinner and explain that one of the twelve would betray Him, yet another unexpected experience.  As they found themselves in the garden, where they should have been praying with Jesus, they awake from their sleep to find guards among them taking their leader. Finally, as the night ends each disciple finds himself having denied or fleeing Christ's side at one point or another.

It is now obvious to me why none of the disciples were women. Guys just show up, joke before, wonder why things happen the way they do, and follow blindly.  But, women have an intuition that is unexplainable.  Although, we do not know what Mary, Martha and Jesus' mother Mary were doing the day before his arrest and crucifixtion, I believe they were somewhere praying.  Praying for the dinner, praying for Jesus and each disciple, not exactly sure what to pray for, but having an intuition given to them, by God, to just pray.

Follow your instincts tonight, or just be reminded by this post, to pray, to humble yourself before the Lord and prepare for the next three days to see God's hand move in your life, your families life, and your friends lives.