All-Hallows-Eve

Today's question is, "What is Halloween? How did it get started? What does it represent? Can we celebrate it as Christians?" These are great questions, as Halloween falls on a Sunday this year. Halloween is an annual holiday where people dress up in costumes, trick or treat, carve jack-o-lanterns, and in most cases glorify death and the dead.

We get the name Halloween from the old Scottish holiday "All-Hallows-Even" (evening). As you may know, eve generally means the night before something, think Christmas Eve (the night before Christmas). So Halloween was celebrated as the eve before All-Hallows or All Saints Day. All Saints Day originally started in 609 by the Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome and blessed it to "The Virgin and all the martyrs" and was actually in the Spring. Within 100 years All Saints Day was moved to November 1st and it celebrated & honored all the Roman Catholic saints.

Although many other countries celebrate holidays similar to Halloween which honor and remember the dead (Roman holiday Parentalia, or Mexican holiday "Day Of The Dead"), the one most linked with Halloween is the Irish holiday Samhain, which means "summer's end." The Celts believed that the boarder between this world and the next was think on this day, and that spirits, both harmless and harmful could escape. The families would welcome their harmless loved spirits and ward off the harmful ones. Costumes were worn to disguise people as harmful spirits so they would be left alone. It was also a holiday of gathering before winter, hence the trick-or-treating.

I am not one for Halloween. I don't like to be scared, and I certainly don't like to glorify death and darkness. The only thing I do like is the free candy. I think it's fine to do the fun stuff, but stay away from the dark, scary, things, that don't honor God. It's fine to dress up and go trick or treating, but you need to make sure things are in perspective. If the whole idea of Halloween is uncomfortable, celebrate All-Saints-Day. Dress up as an old saint. Do things to remember and honor them. What ever you do this weekend, remember the LORD God should be honored and praised above all. Be Safe and Happy All-Saints Day.

A Spokesman For God

Who is your favorite spokesperson? What do they endorse? Do you buy what they endorse? What is a spokesperson anyway?

A spokesperson, is someone who is authorized to speak on behalf of another person, organization, or group of people. They endorse the product, meaning they tell everyone this is what they themselves use, and everyone else should use it too.

Spokespeople tend to be athletes, movie stars, or famous people. They get paid to use and endorse various products. A spokesperson represents the product they endorse. Company's think that if they have someone who is cool using their product, then their product will be thought of as cool. People view the product by how they view the spokesperson. If the spokesperson is annoying, then people will think the product is annoying. If the spokesperson is cool, then people will think the product is cool, and buy it.

Did you know that as Christians we are kind of like spokespeople for God. Paul says that "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." When people think of God, they inevitably think of Christians. How Christians act, is how other people believe God acts. Join us this Wednesday at Crash as we continue to look at the role and relationship of a spokesmen to it's product and how we, as Christians, are spokespeople, representatives, ambassadors of God.

Forgiveness B.C.

How did you get into heaven in the Old Testament? Why Did Jesus have to die on the cross? These are two questions that I received in the 'I Wonder' box recently. I sort of answered them last night when we looked at Jesus' sacrifice for us. But I wanted to take some time and explain it a little further.

To answer the first question, let's start with Romans 6:23a (just the first part), "For the wages of sin is death..." Sin must be paid for, it comes with a cost. That cost is blood and death. That's just how it is. Looking at Adam and Eve, they didn't sacrifice anything, but the Bible says, "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." God killed something to provide for Adam and Eve, as a result of their disobedience.

God can see our hearts. He always has, and always will. Before the 10 commandments, He chose people who He knew had good hearts. He made covenants or deals with them. But every time the people messed up. God would have to punish them. When Moses got the 10 commandments, that was really when God told the people His standards, and required blood and death for anything less. The whole book of Leviticus explains God's standard, and what to do if you broke it. "...Say to the Israelites: 'When anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands they must bring... (Leviticus 4-5)" Depending on who sinned, a specific animal was to be brought and killed as an offering. Only then was the person forgiven. Every sin would need a sacrifice.

Flash forward to the time of Jesus. John the Baptist (who happened to be Jesus' cousin) said, "Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)" John meant that Jesus was going to be the sin offering, the sacrifice for sin, for everyone. Finally, in John 19:30, "...Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit." Jesus said it is finished meaning, He was the sacrifice that every sin needs. His blood, and His death, pays for our sin, if we believe.

On the third day, Jesus rose from the grave. He was alive. I've heard a really good illustration of the whole death and alive thing. Jesus death pays for our sin. His resurrection is the receipt. So to answer the questions, "How did you get into heaven in the Old Testament? & Why did Jesus die on the cross?" I'd say, sin requires blood and death as payment. There is no way around it. In the Old Testament, rather than dying themselves people sacrificed animals to stand in their place. Once Jesus came, He was the "Lamb Of God who takes away the sin of the world." He was the ultimate sacrifice. He was the last sacrifice. It had to be Him, He was the only one who was perfect, who could conquer death. He did it out of love.

Take One For The Team

What do you think of when I say the word "sacrifice"? What's the first thing that comes to mind? Sacrifice is defined as, "the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim." Basically something is given up, so that others may profit. There are really three kinds of sacrifice (that I can think of), that we sort of see today.

1. Heroes - Men and women who risk (or lose) their own lives to save someone else, this is called "self-sacrifice". These kind of people are typically police, firemen, and soldiers in an army. Think, those that gave up their lives to save people in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

2. Sports/Teams - This is typically where you will hear the phrase, "Take one for the team." They will sacrifice themselves for the greater good. Think baseball, when a player gets out on purpose so their teammate can get a point for the team.

3. Involuntary - This would be something like animal or human sacrifice. In the Old Testament God required an animal sacrifice for forgiveness. When you think of human sacrifices think of King Kong, the leading female in the movie was involuntarily tied up and "given" to King Kong (luckily she didn't die).

Come on Wednesday night to Crash as we continue this discussion on sacrifice. Specifically we'll look at the ultimate sacrifice, Christ' sacrifice on the cross. We'll descover what He went through, and what it means for us today.

When I Became A Christian

In honor of my birthday on Wednesday (Oct. 20), I'll be answering some questions about me. The questions are, "How old were you when you became a Christian?" & "How did you learn about Christianity?" & "Why did you choose to be a Christian instead of other religions?"

I've been a Christian literally my whole life. I love God SO MUCH that Christian is my middle name. Really it is! But it's not because I love God (even though I do very much). My middle name comes from a great grandpa of mine. But in all seriousness. I became a Christian very early on. I was raised in a Christian home, meaning everyone in my immediate family was a Christian. I grew up going to church every Sunday, and was involved with many Bible studies growing up.

Specifically, I don't remember my age when I asked Jesus to come in my heart and be my savior and friend. It was before 3rd grade, so I was about 7 years old. I had learned in Sunday school about asking Jesus to come into your heart. They had invited who ever wanted to, to raise their hand and pray. I had not a clue what it meant, so I didn't do it. But when I got home, I was still thinking about it. I remember being in my room, folding my clothes with my mom. I asked her what it meant. She explained to me that Jesus was God and loved me very much. But the bad things I did, made it so I couldn't be friends with God. Because He loved me, and wanted to be friends with me, He took the punishment for my sins, so that we would be friends. All I had to do was believe, pray and ask Jesus to be my friend and savior.

Growing up, I always went to Sunday school, camps, Bible studies and youth groups. That was where I learned about the LORD, and what it means to be a Christ-follower (Christian). I even went to Biola University (a Christian Bible college), where I learned even more about God. I couldn't get enough. I can't get enough. In the now 26 years I've been alive, I've learned that there is always going to be more to learn about God. Quite frankly, I'm OK with that.

Why I became a Christian then, and am still a Christian to this day is because it's the only thing that seems real, reasonable and true. Looking back, I can see God's hand. I can see then when He was guiding me, teaching me, loving me, and giving me wisdom and peace. Although I can't feel Him all the time, because of my past experiences, I know that I can trust Him, when I read that He will always be with me & that He loves me.

So to answer the questions, "How old were you when you became a Christian? How did you learn about Christianity? Why did you choose to be a Christian instead of other religions?" I'd say Christian is my middle name. I grew up being a Christian. I learned about it from those closest to me: my family, my teachers, pastors, and college professors, and my friends. I'm still a Christian today, because it's the only thing that makes sense. I must get punished for the bad things I do, and it's a punishment I could never take. So God, because He loves me, chose to get punished in my place, so that He can be my friend.

Unspoken Rules I Will Tell You About

Society has many unspoken rules. Things that we are just supposed to learn to deal with. The thing is, no one ever tells you what they are, they are just rules that society has just made up. They are really evident in junior high and high school. Geeks don't sit or talk to jocks. Nerds don't date cheerleaders, 'cause cheerleaders only date jocks. Rich kids don't hang out with poor kids. Band people are just weird, so stay away from them. The list goes on and on. The reality is, there are unspoken rules society has created that show differences between people and tell us we can't love those different than us.

There have been many books and movies written about facing and breaking these rules because of love for fellow human beings. The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin is about a young teen who has a friendship with a slave which was taboo. Huck runs away with the slave in an attempt to set him free. The movie Mean Girls is about destroying social barriers, overcoming the snobby mean rich girls, and encouraging everyone to get along.

I think one of the best stories written (or spoken about) on the subject of breaking society's rules is that of "The Good Smaritan" as told by Jesus. He frequently broke the rules society has because they don't line up with God's Laws or what He is doing. He constantly challenged people to set aside the rules society has and follow God's rules. The parable of the "Good Smaritan" is a great illustration showing what it means to "...love our neighbor..." and explaining who our neighbor is. All Jr. High students are encouraged to join us tomorrow night as we look at Jesus' attitude towards society's rules, how He responds and what we can do about it. I want to encourage you to read the "Parable of the Good Smaritan" before you come to Crash. It's found in Luke 10:25-37.

How Do I Know What To Do?

Today's question is, "How do you know you're doing what God wants and not just praying and going to church?" This is a great question. How do we know? Of all the things that God commands of us, how do we know which ones are the big ones? How do we know if we are following the "big one's" today?

Last night we learned, according to Jesus, what the single greatest law was, and is, the Law Of Love. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is like it, love your neighbor as your self. There is no law greater than these (Mark 12:30-31)." Jesus says that all of the Law and Prophets (the Old Testament) hang on these two laws. Jesus agrees with the scribe when he says that it's more important than offerings or sacrifices. Loving God and people with every aspect of who you are, is more important than going to church or praying (not that those aren't important). This is what we should be working on.

Wednesday we saw a couple things. First, these two laws, flow out of each other. You love God then you can have the love to love others (even if they are annoying). Second, we saw that if you are loving God and people with all that you are, the rest will follow. If you love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, then you'll want to go to church, you'll want to pray, you'll want to obey Him in everything. If you are loving your neighbor then you won't steal, kill, covet, gossip, fight or even pick on each other.

So to answer the question, "How do you know you're doing what God wants and not just praying and going to church?" I'd say do all you can to love God with your whole heart (emotions, thoughts, feelings), your whole soul (purpose, motivation), your whole mind (knowledge, wisdom) & your whole strength (actions, deeds). As you receive love back from God you'll be able to love others. That is what God wants from us, and that is how you'll know, if you are loving.

It's The Law...

Laws and rules are good. They help keep people respectful and safe. They help guide us in how to live properly and in peace. They are written down and enforced, so everyone knows, understands and follows the same laws. 'Don't steal', 'don't murder', even 'don't speed'; these are good laws that keep us safe and living in peace with each other. Most laws are good, but there are some that seem to be crazy, and less important than others.

Throughout the world there are some strange laws. In Venice, Italy, there is a law that says you can't feed pigeons and another in Rome, Italy that says you can't climb into a fountain. In Canada, they have a law against paying for things over $10 in only coins. In both France and England you cannot kiss someone at the train station. In Moscow, you can't drive a dirty car (at this moment if I were living in Moscow, I'd get a ticket). In Granada, you can't leave the beach and stroll around the city in a swimsuit. In Denmark, you must drive with your headlights on at all times. Lastly, you'll be fined in Singapore if you feed the birds, spit, chew gum or forget to flush public toilets. These laws seem ridiculous and stupid. They seem like they shouldn't even be laws. Does this mean they are less important than others?

We tend to think of laws in terms of degrees or ranking, "This law is more important to follow then that one." Or, "I may have broken a law, but I didn't break THAT law..."

So, which ARE the more important laws? Which are the laws we should follow, and which are the ones we don't need to worry about? Seriously, what do you think? Join us tomorrow night at Crash, as we look at and understand the single law that Jesus thought was the most important.