We are going to take a brief hiatus from our “Cover to Cover” lessons beginning next Sunday morning, as I will begin a little “mini-series” that I’m calling, “Vintage Jesus” for the month of April. There are so many different ideas and views of Jesus in our world today, that I want to challenge us to think about the real, authentic Jesus… the Jesus we find in Scripture. We will be taking a look at some of his most challenging teachings, one from each of the four gospels throughout the month. Most importantly, I want us to think about how we as his people today are to live out those teachings in our lives each day. I'm particularly interested in hearing from you. What do you think the "average joe" on the street thinks of Jesus? What is the common perception of him? Do you think it is anything like the real Jesus presented in Scripture? Let me know what you think...
Don’t fall behind in your daily “Cover to Cover” readings, though! We’ll catch up from the pulpit in May with the great stories that we’re reading right now in Samuel, Kings and the Chronicles! Here are some upcoming lessons which we'll begin tackling in May...
Samuel... Saul... David, the boy King... Solomon... the Kingdom Divided... the Exile... Esther.... Job... (more to follow!)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Congratulations to Riverside Christian Academy!
This week we want to send our congratulations to our friends down at Riverside Christian Academy. They were recently recognized by the Elk Valley Times as the #1 school in the county. They also received... #1 Principal, Daniel Eldridge; #1 Jr High Teacher, Erika Konyndyk; #1 Pre-school; High School Teacher, Amy Finch; best Pre-school teacher, Heather Smith. While I don't suppose that the Elk Valley poll is exactly "scientific" it does reveal a tremendous amount of support from members of the community as well as school spirit from those who are a part of RCA, both things to be proud of in my opinion. What makes this recognition even more significant is the fact that RCA has only been around for 8 years! They had just opened their doors the year Celeste and I moved to town and had only about 50 students at the time. I remember walking through their first make-shift campus of portable trailers that year. Enrollment is now up around 375. Wow... how far they have come. Most of you know (because I talk about it all the time) that I have been privileged to be a part of RCA's ministry for the last several years. They let me teach Bible to their High School young people... can you believe it? It has been a blessing to me to be able to watch so many young men and women grow in their understanding of God's Word and God's plan for them on a daily basis has been such a blessing. I've also gotten to serve on the board and have seen first-hand the commitment to spiritual priorities that the Board and Administration bring to their work. Of course we have many of our own members who are also a part of this wonderful work at RCA as teachers, administrators and counselors including, this year, my wife, Celeste. (Maybe I'm a little biased, but I think they've got a great faculty and staff!) This special honor given to RCA this week only reaffirms my commitment and appreciation for what they are trying to do. They are making a difference in the lives of families in and around our community and God has truly blessed them. I feel privileged to be a part and am glad that the community has recognized their efforts. RCA is an outreach ministry of the Riverside Church of Christ and as such deserves our prayers and moral support. Let us all send congratulations their way and keep them in prayer regularly.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
National Tragedy
In my Bible reading this morning, I came upon this heartbreaking phrase, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.” (Judges 2:10 NIV) How could this happen, I wondered? This came right after Joshua’s death after the children of Israel had finally taken the land that they had dreamed about for years. They had been blessed beyond measure. God had done so much for them, how could they forget? Slaves in Egypt… crying out to God. He heard their cry and brought them out into freedom. He took care of them, sustained them and dwelt with them in the wilderness for an entire generation, teaching them the way to live and thrive! He empowered Joshua to lead powerful military campaigns into the land, defeating the dirty, rotten Canaanites and establishing Israel in this promised land, fulfilling a centuries-old promise first made to Abraham. After all of this, how could they so easily forget? How could they so easily turn away? How could an entire generation grow up and NOT know what God had done for them?
I heard it said one time that Christianity is always just one generation away from extinction. That may seem a bit alarmist, but isn’t it true? It is the responsibility of every generation to make sure that the faith and the truths of God’s Word are passed on to the next generation. That was why God was so adamant in Deuteronomy 6 when he said, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up…” The goal was to insure that the precepts and principles established in His Word were passed along to the next generation… and the generation after that… and the generation after that and so on.
I don’t want to boast or get a big head or anything, but I really do think that this is something this church has done very well for a long time… instructing our children in God’s Word. We’ve got an incredible group of Bible school teachers and volunteers working with our children’s ministry. All of them love our kids and want for them to know God in a deep and meaningful way. It’s not that there aren’t things we might be able to do better. There always are and we are always looking for new ways to improve… but every Sunday morning and every Wednesday night our children’s classrooms are filled to the brim with eager, enthusiastic young people who are being taught (by word & example) what it means to follow Jesus. This could not be done without our wonderful teachers and adult volunteers. If you think you might be able to assist them and help out in this great ministry (if even ‘behind the scenes’) know that YOU are needed! Consider how you might help. Together with God we are insuring that our young people will grow up knowing the God who created the seas… who rescued Israel… who sent his only Son… and who doesn’t want to spend one day in eternity without each one of us!
I heard it said one time that Christianity is always just one generation away from extinction. That may seem a bit alarmist, but isn’t it true? It is the responsibility of every generation to make sure that the faith and the truths of God’s Word are passed on to the next generation. That was why God was so adamant in Deuteronomy 6 when he said, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up…” The goal was to insure that the precepts and principles established in His Word were passed along to the next generation… and the generation after that… and the generation after that and so on.
I don’t want to boast or get a big head or anything, but I really do think that this is something this church has done very well for a long time… instructing our children in God’s Word. We’ve got an incredible group of Bible school teachers and volunteers working with our children’s ministry. All of them love our kids and want for them to know God in a deep and meaningful way. It’s not that there aren’t things we might be able to do better. There always are and we are always looking for new ways to improve… but every Sunday morning and every Wednesday night our children’s classrooms are filled to the brim with eager, enthusiastic young people who are being taught (by word & example) what it means to follow Jesus. This could not be done without our wonderful teachers and adult volunteers. If you think you might be able to assist them and help out in this great ministry (if even ‘behind the scenes’) know that YOU are needed! Consider how you might help. Together with God we are insuring that our young people will grow up knowing the God who created the seas… who rescued Israel… who sent his only Son… and who doesn’t want to spend one day in eternity without each one of us!
Monday, March 9, 2009
More Americans Say They Have No Religion… is there any good news in this?
I was struck by the heading on the news article I saw this morning… “More Americans Say They Have No Religion.” It piqued my curiosity to say the least. I have found many statistics recently that have described Christianity as an ever-decreasing presence in America, an alarming trend that has a lot of Christians worried. The article, published on FoxNews’ website on Monday by the Associated Press went on to describe a survey that has recently been done by the Program on Public Values at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. It surveyed over 54,000 adults last year and found that the number of Americans who named “no religion” has risen in every state since 2001. Across the board, religion seems to be playing less and less a role in people’s lives. Thirty percent of married couples did not have a religious wedding ceremony and 27 percent of respondents said they did not want a religious funeral. In fact 15 percent of respondents said that they had no religion, a number up from 8.2 percent in 1990. Northern New England surpassed the Pacific Northwest as the least religious region in the country with Vermont reporting the highest share of those claiming no religion… 34 percent. Nationally, Catholics remain the single largest religious bloc in the United States, with 57 million adherents. The Catholic church gained 11 million followers since 1990, but its share of the population fell by a bout a percentage point to 25 percent, due to the increase in population. In fact, no religious group or denomination has increased its percentage of the population.
These findings make me wonder what is happening? Is Jesus less relevant today than he was in 2001, in 1990… or 1960? Why does the trend seem to be downward? Is it because Christians are less-than-perfect representatives of Jesus and turning people away? Perhaps, but hasn’t that always been the case… even since the first century? So, why are fewer people choosing to be religious today? Why are more churches having to forget about “church growth” and just concentrate on “maintaining”? Is there ANY good news or silver lining here?
Ahhh… I’m glad you asked! It is a reminder that we live in a fallen world and that the mission field is wide open! The study found signs of a growing influence of churches that either don’t belong to a denomination or play down their affiliation. Respondents who identified themselves as “non-denominational Christian” grew from 0.1 percent in 1990 to 3.5 percent last year. That is quite a jump! What does this say to us? Well, it says that eople are less and less interested in their denominational affiliations and increasingly interested in “just being Christians.” Wow, they’re singing our song! Haven’t we long been saying that Jesus has called us to just follow him? Haven’t we long emphasized his plea for the unity of believers and against the dividing of his body? “That they may all be one,” he prayed. Perhaps this is an opportunity for those of us who want to simply follow Jesus without denominational baggage to present the message of Jesus to the world … a world that is increasingly interested in Jesus, but not traditional, denominational “churchianity”? Perhaps this is the opportunity we have been praying for to truly be “non-denominational” Christians? The question… what will we do to take advantage of this wide-open door? What are YOU doing?
These findings make me wonder what is happening? Is Jesus less relevant today than he was in 2001, in 1990… or 1960? Why does the trend seem to be downward? Is it because Christians are less-than-perfect representatives of Jesus and turning people away? Perhaps, but hasn’t that always been the case… even since the first century? So, why are fewer people choosing to be religious today? Why are more churches having to forget about “church growth” and just concentrate on “maintaining”? Is there ANY good news or silver lining here?
Ahhh… I’m glad you asked! It is a reminder that we live in a fallen world and that the mission field is wide open! The study found signs of a growing influence of churches that either don’t belong to a denomination or play down their affiliation. Respondents who identified themselves as “non-denominational Christian” grew from 0.1 percent in 1990 to 3.5 percent last year. That is quite a jump! What does this say to us? Well, it says that eople are less and less interested in their denominational affiliations and increasingly interested in “just being Christians.” Wow, they’re singing our song! Haven’t we long been saying that Jesus has called us to just follow him? Haven’t we long emphasized his plea for the unity of believers and against the dividing of his body? “That they may all be one,” he prayed. Perhaps this is an opportunity for those of us who want to simply follow Jesus without denominational baggage to present the message of Jesus to the world … a world that is increasingly interested in Jesus, but not traditional, denominational “churchianity”? Perhaps this is the opportunity we have been praying for to truly be “non-denominational” Christians? The question… what will we do to take advantage of this wide-open door? What are YOU doing?
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