August 6th

The Assembly of God will be having a dodgeball tournament August 6th.

Frisbee Golf

The ideas that Fay had for the young adult group were softball, going to the lake, and playing frisbee. I wonder how well frisbee golf could work? One of the great things about individual sports like horseshoes and frisbee golf is that they don't require a great deal of organization. If we could arrange some sort of day at the lake who knows what could happen.

Accountability

Accountability means a great deal to me. It takes a certain amount of humility to recognize and agree to be accountable to someone, but its worth it. We are all accountable to God anyway, but another person is a visible reminder of that accountability. Anyone who knows me also knows that I have got it wrong a few times, but my desire to be accountable is what has enabled me to go on after slipping and falling.
My opinions may differ than yours. If they do and it offends you then please call me on it. I could very well be wrong.
If I judge a situation unfairly then please hold me accountable. I may have missed something.
If my personal demeanor is not right then feel free to give me an attitude adjustment.
What I am ultimately trying to say is... I don't want to intentionally or accidentally offend you without having a chance to reconcile. Thank you.

Holy Man

Who is the most Holy man that you know? Who is the one who obstains from anything and everything impure? Does he ever have an impure thought or selfish motive? I cannot think of anyone. When I look at my life and compare it to the life of Jesus it becomes clear just how unholy I am. But isn't that a bit of an unfair comparison?What if I could compare myself to anyone holy who wasn't the Son of God? Billy Graham seems holy to me, but he wouldn't say so. Only one man comes to mind even though I know he didn't live a sinless life. John the Baptist is who I think of when I think of holiness. The man had nothing that could have been remotely considered to be sin or temptation in his life. His food wasn't anything to be a glutton about. His clothes were nothing to be proud of or desired. His possessions were none. As a result it was him who brought the message that Jesus was coming. Can only a Holy man such as John be a messenger for Christ? What would that mean to someone who is not even close?
The truth is that none could probably come close to being that holy. I can only be holy in Christ. There are things that I haven't got to the point where I could let go of them like John did. My mind often wanders more so than John's did and my passion wouldn't even be a spark compared to his flame. John had one sole objective and that is all he did. He didn't have a family, a mortgage, or a job. He gave all of himself to Christ. I don't believe that all are called to this level of separation, but all are called to be holy. To me this can only mean that we as Christians have to be willing to separate ourselves from all that is keeping us from doing God's will in our lives and realizing that it could never be enough.

Vision

Star Wars was a dominating force this week. As a result there were several television specials about the series recently. One of my favorites was on the A&E channel. It was a type of biography of the first three movies.
It discussed George Lucas and his vision for the films. He had some limited success before Star Wars, but he didn't have the status he needed to easily do what he wanted to do. He had to find support from a major studio, but none of the studios really wanted to do it. When he did finally get support he still was hampered by time constraints, technological restrictions, and budget limits. There were times when his own film crew was laughing during the shooting.
Lucas had a vision that no one believed in. He just wanted to make a movie that he had a heart for. He knew he could do it, and that it was going to be successful. He didn't imagine that it was going to be as big as it became, but he knew that it was going to go beyond what everyone else expected it to be.
Here is what I learned from this story a vision can't be something that is just proposed and then forgotten. In order to be successful a vision has to be passionately supported and sustained. I think that people have a tendency to let loose of a vision far to easy. When they see the obstacles in front of them they stop pursuing it. They give up the chase.
There are and will be obstacles that the young adult ministry in our church has to face. One obstacle may be a lack of response. Another obstacle may be a lack of resources. Anything can become an obstacle to what I am trying to do. Many times I have doubted my own vision and lost passion for it, but when I remind myself of why I am doing it my passion returns.
I offer this to the young adult ministry team and the young adults who visit here. If God has given you a vision: keep it.

The BF&M

The Baptist Faith and Message will be the topic for the next few weeks in Sunday School. I would like to start presenting some of the material here.

"Christianity is supernatural in its origin and history. We repudiate every theory of religion which denies the supernatural elements in our faith"

"(3) That any group of Baptists, large or small have the inherent right to draw up for themselves and publish to the world a confession of their faith whenever they may think it advisable to do so."

"(4) The the sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Confessions are only guides in interpretation, having no authority over the conscience."

Six Axioms of Religion
1. The theological axiom: God has a right to be sovereign
2. The religious axiom: All souls have equal right to access to God
3. The ecclesiastical axiom: All believers have equal privileges in the church.
4. The moral axiom: To be responsible man must be free.
5. The religio-civic axiom: A free Church in a free State.
6. The social axiom: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Destiny

I purchased my ticket online tonight for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. My showtime is Friday night at 7:00. It is a movie about Good vs. Evil and the movie toys are cool too. It brings back memories of when I would come home after watching a Star Wars or Star Trek movie on the big screen.
There are three aspects of these movies that have always attracted me to films like these. The special effects, the battle against the dark side, and the fact that they make me feel like a little kid again are the main reasons why I am looking forward to seeing the next installment.
I would like to say that these movies reflect Christianity, but they really don't. They define a type of spirituality that is relative and pantheistic. The Jedi aren't ever called the light side. They are just warned not to succumb to the dark side. Ultimately the movies are about "destiny" for Annakin and Luke. So it should be with me as a Christian. I am predestined to be like Christ along with all other Christians. People who don't stop to consider their destiny will probably do nothing with their lives and therefore create a dark side of their own. It may sound cheesy, but I think its true.

The Team

The first meeting of the young adult ministry team took place Sunday. I want to thank everyone who came. You know who you are.

My Gas Pedal

I have a spiritual Gas pedal. It seems like there are times when try to accelerate through my Christian life when I need to be stepping on the brake. My leadfoot can get me into trouble or swerving out of God's will for my life. There is a rush from going fast and that always makes it a hard temptation to resist.
One of my favorite sports is NASCAR. People who don't understand NASCAR usually view it as cars running around in circles. Its more than that. Every curve that is taken is a calculated action. If a driver gives a stock car too much brake pedal he can easily spin out in the turning process. If he gives it too much gas he can fly up the curve and into the wall. A successful driver knows when to brake and accelerate. And he knows how to do it when there are cars all around him. He knows what can happen, and what he can do to control the risk factors he is dealing with.
So it is with people who are maturing in Christ. They learn when to go and when to stop. They calculate how they are going to enter and exit each turn. If we give this life too much gas when God says brake is when we hit the wall. By now I have come to know the wall very well.

The "GOD" Problem

I have noticed that some of the people I know have a "GOD" problem. They have a tendency to suggest that God would not want them to do anything that they wouldn't already want to do. One of my friends has an issue with giving. He doesn't think that God wants him to give any money to his church on a regular basis. So he doesn't give even though he is loaded with cash. He "gives" when he feels like it and leaves it at that. He is just one example of what I am talking about.
We all have a problem doing God's will every now and then. If we didn't then we wouldn't grow in the process. God chooses to stretch us like He stretched Moses, David, and even Paul. I believe God wants us to discard our preconceived notions in hope of glorifying Himself in our ignorance and inexperience.
Now let me just clarify that I am not illegitimizing true callings on peoples' lives. I am not saying that we all should be doing something because its just there to do. What I am talking about is a type of selfishness that inhibits God's work in our lives.
God wants to work in our lives. Not doing His will is a sin because it is disobedience. We should not allow ourselves to say no to God just because we don't like what He wants.

Why young adult ministry?

The Church is a complex organism made up of many different and distinct groups of people. One group that has received a considerable amount of attention in recent years is Young Adults. This is the section of our population between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five (approximately) which, on the whole, is not a statistically dominant group in our congregations.

Despite the presence of Christian churches in nearly every community, young adults in America today still ask what the older generations consider uncomfortable questions. Anyone who teaches young adults eventually will be confronted by some troubling questions.

Life right after high school is one of the most critical times in someone's life. It is during this time that a person either starts college, starts a career, or starts a family. This is a time of newly found freedom, independence, and search for identity. So many young adults start college and don't complete their first semester. They come back home, find a job, and always look for things to do. Some go to college and stay there. They only come home when they have to. While on campus they have plenty to do, but they are exposed to elements both social and scholastic that can threaten all they have come to believe. Then there are the young adults who never go to college. They just find a job and could care less about anything to do outside of their home. Young adults can easily miss their true calling/purpose in life during the most important time for them to know it. They can easily make bad decisions at a time when they are no longer viewed as children. A young adult ministry can help with the needs that seeking young adults have with their freedom, independence, and purpose in life.

The Purpose of the Young Adult Ministry Team

The purpose of the ministry to team is to do events that will minister to the young adults in our area. The team is separated into two levels of commitment. The first level consists of five key people. They are the core of the team who actually help with the prayer, planning, and administration of the events. The next level are for those who want to support what the team is doing, but can't commit like the others can.
The people who make up this team should be people that understand the relevance of what I am trying to accomplish. It is my prayer that this team is a good fit for someone looking to be more involved in our church.

The Blog's Purpose

For Young Adult Ministry Team Visitors;
The purpose of this blog is to act as a crossroads for all the people involved to know what is going on and communicate their interest. It has also been made available for constructive discussion, but it was never intended for serious debate. I have tried to provide content that is relevant to the lives of the people who visit here. Some of it may be more relevant than others, but I hope it all becomes equally relevant as it develops. Also, the blog doesn't reflect everyone who visits, because most people do not comment. This does not bother me, because it isn't for me as much as it is for its visitors. Anyone who posts knows that they aren't doing it to just get a response.

Temporary Hiatus

I am taking a temporary hiatus from what I and the contributors usually post. I am going to be inviting more people to visit the blog and they will need to see what I am about and what the purpose is of what I am trying to do. Thank you for your understanding.