In The Waiting Room

Whenever you go to the doctor's office, there is a room that you go into, to wait. As comedian Jerry Seinfeld puts it,"There's no chance of not waiting- that's the name of the room." So as you're waiting to see the doctor, you must sit & be patient. You have no idea how long it's going to take; it could be 5 minutes, it could be 1 minute or it could be 20 minutes (or longer even) before you're called in to go see the doctor. You just never know.

Before I started living in my home, I had to wait & be patient. It took almost 4 months from the time I saw the place, till the time I was able to move in. It felt like waiting in a waiting room. I had no idea when I was going to get called, but I just had to sit & be patient. Waiting for something from God, is like waiting for the doctor in the waiting room. You never know what God's timing is going to be like. Sometimes there are things that need to happen before you're called (either on your side or His). During those times of waiting, we need to make sure we are patient and not trying to cut corners.

What's awesome, & makes waiting all the worth it, is that God comes through on his promises. If you've been waiting on God for something, chances are, you're going to get it (if it's within His plan, but that's for another blog). For example, When Joseph dreamed that his brothers would bow down to him, his brothers laughed in his face, but after 22 long years of waiting patiently in God's waiting room, God came through. Joseph was made second in command in Egypt. For me, while I was waiting for my home, I had to patiently wait 4 months before I was called in. Now I have a wonderful place to live that is my own.

Join us tomorrow at Crash, as we see David's patience and waiting come to an end as he called up, as he (finally!!) becomes king. Though he was anointed king as a boy in 1 Samuel 16, it's not until, 2 Samuel 3-5, that David is finally crowned & recognized by the nation of Israel as their king. Tomorrow night, we'll look at how David's patience lasted, and how our patience can last long as well. I hope to see you all there.

Jesus: The Savior, The Son Of God... The Bachelor?

Today's question is one that I've gotten now a couple times (I think by the same person). The question is this, "Why did Jesus never get married?" There is no passage in scripture, no historical evidence, no notion grounded in anything (that I know of) to believe that Jesus was ever married. So Jesus, really, was a bachelor. But why didn't He ever get married? This is an interesting question. Why?

Well, lets first look at 1 Corinthians 7:37-39. Paul, in verse 38 says, "So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better." Why would someone who does not marry do better? I believe that it's because, by not being married you are able to focus on God and His plan more. Now Paul also says that it's OK if you do get married. So marriage or not, doesn't matter. If not getting married is going to cause you to sin, then get married. But if it's not going to cause you to sin, then don't get married. Think of nuns in the Catholic church. As far as I know they don't get married because they are married to God. Jesus came on this Earth to complete the work of His Father (God The Father), which was dying on the cross for the sins of the world. For Jesus, getting married would have be a distraction and a delay from completing His mission, which would be a sin. Jesus never got married because that's not what He came to do, and that's OK.

The second thing that I'd like to say is this; all throughout the Bible and Jesus' teaching, He compared faith in God as that of a marriage. He continually called the body of believers the Bride, while God was the groom. He encouraged the Bride (Christians as a whole) to get and stay beautiful & faithful to the Groom (God). He encouraged the Bride to be open & honest with her Groom. He encouraged her to be patient & enjoy her Grooms love. This, among teachings on divorce, adultery, and making oaths, points to the fact that Jesus had a healthy view of marriage and believed in it strongly. But there is nothing to suggest that He got married. In fact His teachings suggest that He was looking forward to the moment when we would all join Him in heaven, where He could share the close, trusting, committed marriage type relationship with all of us.

So to answer the question, "Why did Jesus never get married?" I'd have to say that He never got married because that was not His mission and would have been a distraction which would have been a sin. He also never got married to one person because He looked forward to the time when He would share the same type of open, honest, loving, passionate, committed & faithful relationship with everyone.

Loving Our Enemies

When I was in high school, I was in a small group at church. It was 8, mixed grade, high school boys and one awesome leader. Most of the guys in my group were cool. They were my friends. But, there was one guy I just did not get along with. He wasn't my enemy really, and we didn't fight, but I just didn't like him. In fact I think I considered it hate at the time. He was rude, arrogant, mean, manipulative and really unsympathetic. Anytime he showed up, I would get frustrated with what he said and did.

Then during a lesson, the speaker talked about loving others, especially those we don't like. He encouraged us to forget about what we think of them, forget what they've done and focus on the good things, focus on the fact that God has called us to love them. Jesus said, "...love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you...If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them... (Luke 6:27 & 32 NIV)." Something in my mind clicked. I still didn't like the things he did & said, but I loved him like a brother in Christ. I saw him in a whole new light, with all new eyes, God's eyes.

Before I finish this blog post, I want to answer a question I was asked from a student that, in a way, ties in with the lesson tomorrow night. The question is this, "How do you love someone when they are threatening your life?" It's a great question. In 1 Samuel we saw that David loved Saul even though Saul was trying to kill him. He spared his life, not once, but twice. When David got tired of running, he left the country. Last week we finished up 1 Samuel, looking at Saul's death. Tomorrow night we'll begin 2 Samuel and read about David's reaction when he hears about Saul's death. Does he dance on his grave? Does he say, "Nanny, nanny boo, boo, I'm better than you!" Does he say, "HA! I told you so!" Or does he see Saul through God's eyes, in a new light, lovingly remembering him, despite the fact that Saul hated and hunted him? You'll have to come tomorrow night to Crash to find out.

Boys Rule, Girls Drool! ... Or Do They?

This week I was given a question that was really interesting, and I'm sure students have asked themselves the same question. The question is this, "...The Bible always says how God used men... it seems like God only ever uses men. Are men & women equal in God's eyes? Are men more important?" This is such a great question and it address the whole question of, 'who's better guys or girls?'

To start off, I want to address the comment about the feeling that God only uses men. It's a feeling that someone has, and I don't want to say it's not valid, but I do want to give you a few examples of God using women. First, just recently, we saw that God used Abigail to stop David from killing Nabal. Second, God used Mary to bring His only son Jesus into the world. Also, the first people to hear that Jesus had been resurrected were women. Not to mention a woman named Priscilla (with her husband Aquila) who greatly helped and supported Paul and were mentioned in many of his letters in the Bible. And then there's the two books in the Bible named after women, Esther and Ruth. Both have great story's of how God used them, and one of which God used to save the whole nation of Israel. And let's not forget Deborah, who was a female prophet (prophetess) and a wife who lead Israel (Judges 4). So you see, God does use women to accomplish His will.

I believe that in God's eyes, guys and girls are the same. Galatians 3:26-28 says it best, "You are all sons of God through Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [emphasis added]" In God's eyes, we're all the same, His creation, His love, & His children.

Another point is that while God is described as a (& the) Father, I believe He displays traits & characteristics that are typically present in both fathers & mothers. While he is like a father in that He disciplines, guides and provides, He is also like a mother in that he is nurturing, patient and caring. We are all His creation, we all bear His image, and we all have character traits that reveal who He is and what He is like.

Imitation Is The Highest Form Of Flattery

We all look up to someone, and strive to emulate them. We want to be exactly like them. Imitation, as humans, is in our blood. We have no idea what to do or how to do things, so we look up to other to help us figure it out; they're called role models. Role models include: parents, older siblings, pastors, teachers, mentors and the biggest group of people most often turned into role models- celebrities. Celebrities seem to be people that everyone have always looked up to and will always look up to. The biggest reason people look up to celebrities is that they seem to have everything that we, as sinful humans, desire: money, power, fame & beauty.

When I was in high school, my small group of 8 high school boys did a bible study on: money, power, fame & (for us girl crazy high school guys) girls. 4 students took one week and lead a Bible study centered around one of these topics. It was a great study. But we all walked away asking ourselves the question, do we really want all this? Throughout the series we always came back to 1 John 2:16, "For everything in the world- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does- comes not from the Father, but from the world (NIV)."

So back to celebrities as role models. Many celebrities including Charles Barkley & Taylor Momsen, among others, believe they're not and nor do they want to be role models. But really, if you are in the public eye, and you have money, power, fame &/or beauty, then chances are there is someone out there looking up to them as a role model. Also there are celebrities that aren't good role models at all. We see them abusing their money, power, fame & beauty for their own gain, heading down a path of self destruction. Tomorrow night at Crash, we'll finish 1 Samuel, looking at chapters 27-31. We'll see the fate of one celebrity and see where his money, power, fame and beauty got him. We'll look at role models discerning what the difference between a good role model and a bad role model.

To finish this post, I'd like to leave you with 2 quotes & a question; "People never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher AND better than themselves (Tyron Edwards)." & "If... you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning (Catherine Aird)." The question is this, who do you look up to? Who do you try to emulate?

Where To Shop?

Tonight, the girls will be getting together in the Loft for Crash Choices Camp-In (Gals). They'll be talking about choices they are faced with, and how to be awesome women of God. In honor of this event, I'm going to answer a question, rather a couple questions, that have to do with choices. The questions are, "Are brands like Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch sinful?" and, "Should Hot Topic be shopped at?" These are all great questions. We all decide where we want to shop. It's good to know what the Bible says about where it's OK to shop at. It's all about the choices we make.

These are, in my opinion, the same question, really the question is, "Where can I shop? Can I buy things from places like Hollister, A&F or Hot Topic?" My first thought, gut answer, is I have no idea. This is probably not the answer you are looking for, but I really don't know. God never says (at least to my knowledge), "Thou shalt not shop at Hollister, Abercrombie & Fitch or Hot Topic. But C28 & Family Christian Bookstore are OK to shop at." But on second thought, I do believe that God gives us guidelines to make good choices, this includes where to shop. For instance, 2 Timothy 2:22 says, "Run from anything that stimulates youth lusts..." This may mean that if the advertisements for a particular store cause you to lust, then maybe it's not the best place to shop. But maybe it doesn't bother you; maybe it doesn't make you lust; maybe it's OK to shop at.

But here's another guideline, 1 Corinthians 10:31-32, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God..." If a particular store only sells clothes that are immodest & don't cover everything then maybe that's not the best store to shop at. If you get something from there that's immodest, and you wear it, it may cause your friends, the people at school and the people at church to lust after you. This is making them stumble. Verse 31 says, whatever you do, this includes where you shop, do it for the glory of God. I can't imagine buying something that will make others lust is glorifying to God.

The last thing I want to say is this, there are organizations, and places you can shop at which will help other people. For example, the company Tom's Shoes, donates one pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair that you buy. The organization "(Red)" has partnered with many companies like The Gap and Starbucks to sell products where a portion of the money goes to help people across the world. This is definitely glorifying to God. This is definitely loving God and loving others.

I can't tell you where you can and can't shop. But I can say God cares about our character. He cares about the "why". It's all about the choices we make. That's why it is so important to think through the choices we make, including where we're going to shop at.

3 Examples Of Doing Right

There is a quote that I... well... quote a lot. It's this, "Always do what is right. It will satisfy some and astonish the rest." Mark Twain said that, and it's a great quote to live by. But actually living it out is hard. Let me give you three examples of doing right, and why it's hard.

Doing what is right might mean serving others without getting (or expecting) anything in return. We are called to serve others. 1 Peter 4:10 says, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others..." It could be as simple as opening a door for someone, or doing a favor, or standing up for someone, whether you know them or not, because it's the right thing to do. You should serve, not to get repaid, but because God tells you to.

Doing what is right, might be helping others by giving them what we have. If we see a brother in need and have no pity. 1 John 3:17 says, "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?". This should especially translate to thanking people and doing right by them. If someone helps you, whether you asked for help or not, you should thank them, and at least be willing to help them when they need help. If you don't do this, you are just taking from people, not giving, not sharing, and not showing the love of God to people. They may even fight against you because of it.

Doing what is right might mean if your friend messes up, helping them clean it up. Sometimes our friends make mistakes: they may have the wrong attitude, act inappropriately, or doing something just foolish. If we can help them clean up their mess and fix it, we should. This goes with the whole, 'brother in need'. If we see someone in need and we can help, then to show them love would be to help fix it.

We need to ALWAYS do what is right. All junior high students are encouraged to join us tomorrow night. We'll look at 1 Samuel 25 to read a story of 2 people who exemplified doing what is right and 1 who failed. I hope to see you all there.

No TV Make Cameron Something, Something...

Last night at Crash we talked about having self control, and the discipline to think through and pray about opportunities & choices we're faced with, so that we can make the best, god pleasing choice. Some of you may feel like you have self control & discipline down. That's awesome! But I want to challenge you to go deeper. There are certain things called, 'Spiritual Disciplines' that you can do to strengthen your faith. These are things that you can do by yourself or with others, to focus on & get closer to God. Some of you may already practice a spiritual discipline and not even know it. Spiritual Disciplines include: studying & memorizing the Bible, prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, silence & solitude, journaling, and fasting. Fasting is giving up or not doing something you love for a period of time. People typically think fasting has to only do with food. But really you can fast from anything. During Lent (the time between Ash Wednesday & Easter) many people fast from different things they love: coffee, music, chocolate, fast food, Internet etc. I tell you about fasting, because, I just finished fasting from something I love. Let me explain.

I love to watch TV shows & movies. I wouldn't call myself a couch potato, but I'd say that I watch more TV than the average person. TV is a hobby for me. I love stories, reading them, watching them and listening to them. TV is full of interesting people with interesting stories. During the month of February, I displayed self control & discipline by fasting from sitting at home watching TV. From the 1st through the 28Th (4 weeks), I never sat at home and watched the TV. I didn't watch the shows recorded on my DVR, any of my DVD's or even play any video games while I was home. I did allow myself to go out to the movies a few times, play video games at a friend's house for his birthday party, and watch the Super Bowl at a friend's house, but that was it. I did it and I didn't even go crazy! In fact, I enjoyed it!

I do have to say, it was very difficult. Within the first week one of my favorite shows had an awesome episode that I had seen a commercial for in January. Constantly I would think of lines & scenes from shows or movies that I loved and wanted to watch. Also, I typically watch TV shows while eating dinner, but not last month. Every dinner during the month of February I ate at my kitchen table. It was weird to sit & eat dinner alone, not doing anything else but eating. I felt bored. It took a while to get used to but eventually my mind slowed down & stopped trying to multitask. I just enjoyed all the extra free time I had. Sometimes I read, other times I talked with friends on facebook, or on the phone. Other times I prayed, or studied Bible verses to memorize. The bottom line is that I practiced a spiritual discipline. I fasted from something I loved. What can you have self control and fast from? What is one spiritual discipline you want to practice?

Look Ma, No Hands!

There is a certain show on TV of grown men doing stupid stuff. They do crazy stunts where they not only have the risk of getting hurt but some of them actually get injured. But as much as they get hurt, they don't stop doing the stunts. They just keep doing it, they've even made a couple movies of themselves getting hurt doing stupid stunts. This leads me, among many other parents and adults, to shake my head and say, "Why?!?!?"

Just because you have the opportunity and/or ability to do something, doesn't mean that God is giving you the green light or that it's right or wise, or that you should do it at all. Some people think that just because you have an opportunity to do something or are able to do it, that you should just go ahead and do it. There is something called self-control and patience, which are both not only virtues, but fruits of the Spirit. Having self control means that you're not impulsively doing what you want, when you want, just because. Self control means that you're waiting, thinking through all the choices before you choose one, the best one, the godly one. Patience means waiting for what you truly want, being content & satisfied, waiting for God's timing, not your own

All junior high students are welcome to join us tomorrow night at Crash as we look at a time when David had the opportunity and ability to not only end all of his troubles by taking out the guy who was hunting him down, but also claiming and affirming his own kingship. Does he exude patience and self control? We'll read 1 Samuel 24 & 26 to find out what he ended up doing and why.