Stress, Anxiety, and other Joy-Killers

Here are the events of the last two weeks. 1) Amanda and I got a new puppy who keeps us up at night and pees all over are carpet. 2) We discovered a leak in the hallway of our new apartment. 3) Maintenance proceeds to tell me they can't find anything wrong, so they are going to wait until it gets worse. 4) It gets worse 5) We begin experiencing problems with our electricity. 6) Maintenance comes back with plumbers who probably lack legal documentation. 7) These plumbers proceed to put a few holes in our hallway wall only to tell me they do not know what the problem is. 8) The plumbers return the next day with a jackhammer 7) After tearing up a little concrete beneath our carpet (which had been torn up in a section of the hallway) they discover it isn't the pipe they thought it was. 8) An epiphany hits one of them and they finally discover that the shower pan is cracked and needs to be replaced. 9) Great...at least they know what the problem is. 10) Problem...our shower is a tile shower. 11) As of right now there is a sheet-rock guy at the apartment patching holes in the laundry-room, hallway, and my closet. 12) At some point today the plumbers are to return to begin work on the shower.
To tell you the truth, this is really the first time that I have been able to laugh a little at the entire mess. Over the past couple of weeks I have been a total and complete stress case. Interestingly enough I have found this stress resulting from my own fear and worries about what will happen next. On Wednesday nights I have been going through the book of Daniel with our youth group. All throughout the book it is evident that the theme of Daniel is God's Sovereingty. In fact, I have challenged my students to yield their worries and anxieties to a God who is strong enough to preserve the lives of Daniel and his friends in life and death situations. Yet here I sit with my insides tied in triple and quadruple knots wondering and worrying about what will happen next. Am I even listening to the messages I am preaching?! God is sovereign, and He is faithful to His promise that He makes in Philippians 4 of providing the peace of God in place of our anxious thoughts. We just need to yield and get out of His way.

A faith that is firm

In preparing for an upcoming message, I recently stumbled across this quote:
"A faith that is firm does not fear to live in such a way that only God can be given the glory."
A profound quote in a world increasingly concerned with self-promotion. Sadly enough, even in my brief time in the ministry, I have encountered other ministry leaders who view their job as more of a competition than a humble answer to God's call. Essentially, this quote is saying that we are to live in such a way that whatever glory we do attract is immediately given to God. In ministry, this means that we are not there to grow our numbers at the cost of commitment to the Word of God. It means that we are not using the pulpit, or in my case music stand, as a platform to show-off our knowledge or draw attention to ourselves. This need for recognition is nothing more than an expose into our desperate insecurity in our relationship with Christ. We are not here doing this work for the praise of man. If we were, men like the apostle Paul would have given up at the first hint of opposition. I will be the first to admit that it is nice to be appreciated every once in a while. But if we are constantly seeking that reaffirmation from man, we are looking for our solace in the wrong place.
Our lives should not be driven by an insatiable desire to have our egos petted by others, but we should live as those driven only by the idea that what we are doing for the kingdom of God is bringing glory to Him, and Him alone. This is the difference between living a life out of the fear of man, and living a life spurred on by the awesome fear of our God.

Ministry Overview

The following is the overview I recently wrote for our our youth ministry at Dayspring. Call it my philosophy of youth ministry if you will...
Unfortunately, in many churches, the youth are pushed to the background as unimportant simply because of their age. However, 1 Timothy 4:12 says:
“let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” (NASB)
It is the belief of this church and this ministry that we are raising up future leaders of God’s church. These students are at a place in life that requires a different approach to ministry, and it is our goal to provide that. However, many youth ministries have taken this idea so far as to sacrifice foundational aspects of ministry. It is the belief of the Common Ground ministry that these students are fully capable of understanding the truths of Scripture. As such, our Sunday and Wednesday night meetings are centered on a significant time of expository study of the Word of God. Not only can these students understand the truths of Scripture, but they need to be exposed to them as well. Too many churches are watering-down the Word to the point that the wonderful truths of Scripture are being lost in translation. II Timothy 3:16 says:
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (NASB)
This process of equipping should begin from the moment we become a believer. If our churches are going to continue to faithfully uphold the Word of God in the face of an increasingly hostile world, we must begin to equip the future leaders of those flocks. Romans 12:2 says:
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (NASB)
This “renewing” is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit as we study and meditate upon the Word of God.
The current generation of middle and high school students are preparing to enter a world saturated with people desiring to undermine Christianity in whatever way they can. It is of utmost importance that our students are prepared for the battle they are about to enter. This ministry desires to see the students of Dayspring Christian Fellowship leave equipped with a solid foundation rooted in the Word of God, so that they might carry the banner of Christ into the world leaving a wake of new disciples of Christ as they go.

Your Input

I am preparing to begin a series with the youth group on ethics. As such, I would appreciate everyone's input on possible topics to cover during this series. We can assume the big ones (homosexuality, abortion, etc.) will be covered, but I would like your input on possible up and coming hottopics that are of concern to the youth of the next generation. Your input is appreciated.

Shelter

The past couple of weeks I have been addressing the issue of creation/evolution with my youth group. They have responded well, but it has really made me realize how sheltered this area is. Even the kids attending public schools are either taught creation or a heavily creationist slant on the pitfalls of evolution. One kid's teacher even gave a disclaimer before teaching evolution saying, "I'm sorry I have to teach this crap, but it's in my job description." Now, some may say that this is the way things should be. To some extent I would agree with this, but I also believe that these kids need to be readily prepared for the attacks awaiting them outside of the proverbial "heart of Texas." Some of these students were shocked to hear that in some parts of the country teachers could lose their jobs for teaching creation. My concern for this group is that they will leave the comforts of this town only to find themselves faced with a world much different than the one in which they currently reside. I suppose it is the task of every youth pastor to try and equip his students with the knowledge they need to resist the attacks of the world. However, I also know that if all they have is knowledge, their faith will crumble under the duress. They need to be overcome by the Word of God in such a way that it fills not only their minds, but their lives as well. Some shelter is a good thing, but there is a fine line which must be walked in order to prepare the next generation for the battle that awaits them.

Sometimes those things happen in life that we just cannot reasonably explain in light of our limited knowledge of who God is and how He works. It's times like these that the simple Christian quip "God is in control; He is sovereign" just don't bring much resolution or peace.
I have a friend going through one of these times right now. He is in the midst of a pretty chaotic storm of emotion attempting to gel with rationality. We have had some pretty intense talks about this whole issue only to realize we have no answer. Here is what I don't buy...I don't buy the typical cop-out Christians automatically go to by simply dropping the phrase "God is sovereign." Of course this is true, but this doesn't even begin to address the process it is to sort through the torrent of emotions that often accompany those moments in life we simply cannot explain. It does not explain away how one minute we can think rationally through the circumstances at hand, while the next we are on our knees in desperate prayer guided only by the muses of passion and emotion. Yes God is sovereign, but man, in his limited capacity, still cries out for meaning in a world that often times appears otherwise meaningless.
Perhaps, rather than offering our "Christianese" quips to brothers and sisters wrestling with such issues, we should instead simply offer a listening ear and time on our knees.

Worthy of the Gospel

Philippians 1:27-"Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.
This whole idea of living in a manner "worthy of the gospel" has been on my mind a lot recently. Partly this is due to a message I am preparing on appologetics. I have been wrestling with what it means to live "worthy" of the grace Christ bestowed upon us. It can be a cliche term thrown around a lot among Christian circles where most of us nod in agreement not really knowing what it is to live worthy of such a high calling. Personally, this has translated into attending church on a regular basis, going to a Christian college, and keeping my nose pretty much clean morally speaking. It is just recently that I discovered what Paul meant when writing this. This answer being found just a few verses later in Philippians 2:3-4.
"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."
Ironically, my preconceived notion of walking worthy had everything to do with me and nothing to do with my attitude toward others.
As I continue to think about the issue of appologetics, this passage continues to come to mind reminding me that much of my appologetic is the life I live every day. Is this life one that represents Christ? Is it a life that is the same in public as it is in private. What does my cover show about my life, and does my life read like my cover?

Meaning

For one of my classes, I am reading Kevin J. Vanhoozer's book "Is There a Meaning in This Text?". Essentially, this is a work examining the way in which Scripture is read and interpreted. In his introduction, Vanhoozer discusses two groups. The "hermeneutic realist" and conversely, the "hermeneutic nonrealist." The realist assumes the existence of some intended meaning prior to interpretation, and the nonrealist "denies that meaning precedes interpretive activity." This idea of the realist vs. the nonrealist is at the very heart of the postmodern attack on Scripture.
Stanley Fish is one of the leading nonrealist critics amongst today's scholars. His main argument focuses on reader response criticism. In other words, a text contains no meaning apart from that which the reader projects onto it. Vanhoozer comments on his hermeneutic saying "Interpretation ultimately takes its cue not from the text, but from the reader's identity" (Vanhoozer, 24). For Fish, there is no one absolute interpretation to any text no matter how straight forward it may appear. It is easy to see how this approach begins to pose major problems to Biblical interpretation.
Another contemporary critic just recently deceased is Jacques Derrida. His theory of deconstruction has served to break down a text in order to rebuild it searching for some projected meaning. (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=deconstruction) Dr. Carl Raschke, a professor in the department of religious studies at Denver University, identifies deconstruction as "the death of God put into writing" (Vanhoozer, 30). Yet again, it is apparent how this poses a severe threat to the authority and inerrancy of Scripture.
Thus, it is important for believers to be prepared to counter the attacks of these great intellectual minds. Unfortunately, believers often fall back on the out of fideism. In other words, we know it to be true because we have faith, and faith is all you need. Vanhoozer calls for faith, but he also recognizes the times call for much more: "Fideism, is inappropriate in an age bedeviled by suspicion" (Vanhoozer, 31). If we are not careful, complacency will take over leaving evangelical Christians reeling in the wake of a postmodern assault bearing overwhelming intellectual support.

Counter Culture

Culture…We live in a world saturated by innumerable cultures, each with their own claim to supremacy. America is an interesting melting pot of many such mores. As believers, we exist in a chaotic hurricane of beliefs these cultures birth. Unfortunately, many of these also challenge the basic tenets of our faith. Furthermore, in this “postmodern” world, Christians are being pinched into an increasingly claustrophobic world of universal tolerance. As older believers, we understand the Biblical standards to be true, lasting, and unchanging; however, we must be concerned for the students, be they elementary, jr. high, or high school, whose beliefs are being formed in the midst of such a relative society. These kids are immersed in a culture that demands their attention. They attend concerts, watch television and movies, and read magazines that all cry out for them to conform to inconformity! The problem arises when they are exposed to Christianity. The gospel cannot exist within the psychological constructs of relativity. Christianity is inherently exclusive in that we have a jealous God who has made it clear through divine revelation that there exists only one path to salvation. Try explaining this to a kid neck-deep in a world preaching a “cant we all…” religion. What I mean by this is: “Can’t we all just get along; Can’t we all put our differences aside; Can’t we all get their our own way; Can’t we all just find our inner peace”? Christianity does not align with this relativity. As a twenty-one year old preparing to enter full-time youth ministry, I understand I will be fighting to repel one of the most potent and sweeping attacks on God’s Word Christianity has ever seen. This is a terrifying and sobering truth. Faithfulness to the Word of God will be of utmost importance if we are to come through this postmodern age a church still committed to the unwavering truths of God. See, the difficult task at hand is to engage this culture without compromise. We must know what these students are encountering; however, we must guard the Word of God from any temptation to compromise we may face. I Timothy 6:13-15 “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time-He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords…” This is our answer when asked how Scripture fits into this postmodern culture. It is not a suggestion but a command. It is a charge to us as pastors to keep the Word of God from any stain of compromise, period. There are no conditional clauses suggesting we might bend Scripture to make us more comfortable. If I have heard one thing from pastors who have gone before me, it is that the fight does not become easier, but exponentially more difficult. The problem is, many pastors see this and flee, via the compromise of the Word, to the safe harbor of postmodern relativism. Christianity is too concerned with people’s comfort today. We are afraid to make someone uncomfortable in their sin! We are afraid to offend, and this takes all the power away from the gospel of Christ. Whether we like it or not, the perfect gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is inherently offensive. No one has discovered himself to be a sinner and gone on rejoicing in this fact. When confronted with the unstained Word of God we see our sin and our need for salvation. There is no way to make that comfortable. So what do we do in the face of a culture proclaiming otherwise? We hold fast to the preaching of the pure, unblemished truth of the Word of God. Scripture is not bound by any cultural paradigm, but it transcends time to minister to us as it did to its original hearers. II Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

Compromise

"instead of frantically trying to justify our reliance on Scripture using an outdated epistemological scheme, let's stop using the foundationalism of the modern period and get on to looking at Scripture and the world through postmodern eyes-the kind of eyes our students have been born with" (Postmodern Youth Ministry, Tony Jones) Are today's youth really being "born" with "postmodern" eyes? See, interestingly enough, scientists have yet to find a "postmodern" gene. I know this is mind-boggling but humor me for a bit. Maybe postmodernism is not some uncontrollable wave of philosophical change inherent in every child being born today. Maybe it is a trend that our culture has created and incubated to the extent that youth today know no other mode of thinking. Tony Jones' statement that students are born postmodern couldn't be further from the truth. It is this world and the believers in it willing to compromise truth that has led to the explosion of postmodernism among today's youth. So, should we pastors then adapt our ministries to this sweeping relativism? Romans 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Paul seems to believe that it is not that we should adapt the Word of God to the shifting cultures of the world, but that we should combat the cultural influences with the static, unchanging Word of God. Psalm 119:160 "The sum of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting." The Psalmist does not say the word is truth only until some new philosophical hermeneutic arises. He says the word is true and everlasting. While it may be true that some good ideas can be taken from those in the postmodern camp, the compromise suggested by statements like the one above need to confronted and called for what they are. They are an affront on the Word of God as everlasting, inerrant, infallible and TRUE!

Sovereignty

Isn't it interesting how we as believers can "write off" such issues as world peace, famine, war, etc. Under the overarching idea of the sovereignty of God. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this, and in fact, it is a good perspective to have. However, we must also be careful not to simply use this cliche to shirk our own responsibilities as believers to prayer and service. Isn't it also interesting how so often the sovereignty of God in our own lives is much harder to have faith in when life is a little chaotic. Sure when it is a major event effecting the lives of some one else we have no problem encouraging them with the Christian "cure-all": "Don't worry, God's will will be done." Yet, no matter how small a trial we endure, we often feel as though we have to stress, or worry, or be anxious because the world is obviously coming off its axis. Believe me, I myself am as guilty as any on this count. But, this is not what Scripture tells us about our response in the face of adversity. Philippians 4:6-"Be Anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." As I think about this verse, it strikes me what a radical idea Paul is encouraging. Human nature begs the mind to succumb to anxiety and fear when we encounter any trial great or small; however, Paul is telling us to be anxious for nothing! Not only this, he urges us to pray concerning these trials with THANKSGIVING!!! How often do we pray thanking God for a trial that He has allowed us to go through? I know I can't remember the last time this was my response to adversity. What an amazingly radical idea. So you think, "Paul was an apostle, he was inspired...He obviously had it easy." WRONG! II Corinthians 11:23-28 details the immense sufferings and trials that Paul endured over the course of his ministry. Shipwrecks, beatings, stoning, imprisonment, traveling dangers, sleeplessness, hunger, thirst, exposure to the elements, and the everyday concerns for those he ministered to. These are but some of the things Paul suffered during his apostleship. All that to say, he is certainly qualified to tell his readers "Be anxious for nothing..." I know I am constantly convicted by this verse. It seems anxiety is one of Satan's favorite sources of distraction in a Christian's life. I urge us, myself more than all, to remember the words of Paul when we encounter our next trial. Can we thank God for the suffering that shapes and molds our lives? Can we rejoice that even in the midst of trials He is doing a marvelous work in our lives? I hope so because otherwise we are merely focusing on our selves and losing sight of the sovereignty of God we are so quick to preach to others.

Emergent

The Emergent Church is becoming an increasingly prevalent institution among Christian circles today. Many of those involved in this movement have become severely embittered towards the Evangelical denominations of today. They view the church as dead and carelessly stagnant. Worst of al, they see the church as content in this state. The sad truth of the matter is that many Evangelical churches do in fact fit this mold. M.C. Wright is a pastor involved in the Emergent Church. He compares the current state of churches to the opium dens of the past. He says, "An opiate dulls the senses, induces a relaxed state, and is sedative in nature. In reality, you can walk into a vast number of churches today, scan the crowd, and pronounce a very similar definition! So many people who fill pew after pew and chair after chair has a numb, expressionless, passionless and purposeless gaze in their eyes. This is the gaze of religion. Pew." Think about it...is it not true that many times Christians can sit through entire services without even thinking about what is being said? The diagnosis of the Emergent church is frighteningly accurate; however, their prescription seems to miss the point altogether. M.C. Wright calls his readers to abandon "religion" as seen in the typical service of three hymns, three point sermons, and should or should not lists. His response is understandably anti-legalistic; however, I do not think the answer lies in abandoning the format of the service. The Emergent Church takes issue with the passionless complacency of the modern church, but changing the format of church does not cure the state of people's hearts. See, that is what really is "turning off" many about the Evangelical church today. The congregation is full of those whose hearts have lost the passion for their God. As believers we have a responsibility to address this problem. Perhaps the Emergent Church taken this to an extreme, but at least they are taking action. We cannot cease to pursue passion in our lives and in our churches.

Title

The title of this blog comes from Luke 19:40. In the context, the Pharisees had just demanded that Jesus rebuke His disciples who were shouting His praises amidst His triumphal entry. Jesus responds to them saying, "I tell you, if these become silent, the rocks will cry out!" As I look around at the current state of the world, and of the church, I cannot help but wonder how long it will be before the ramifications of this verse become all too real. Are we as Christians still awe-struck at the glory and majesty of our God? In the midst of our "busy" lives do we remember to pause and praise Him? What is our prayer-life like? I know that at times, it is hard for me to take but a few minutes out of my day to spend in prayer. And even then, my prayers are all too often only filled with selfish requests. How often do we praise God in our prayers? Are we praising God in the way we live our lives, or are the rocks crying out?